#and everything he learnt about humans was from the books in the library

[vivanightcity]

talking RP makes me miss my little idiot who larps as a human from a regency era novel but has no fucking idea about anything at all.

[koolades-world]

Words cannot express how much I adore your writing, ESPECIALLY when it comes to Satan, like hands down one of the best Satan writers🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️ but besides that- I would really love to see how the brothers react to MC who is… well… sensitive. As in- they care a lot about the brothers, and would obviously never even dream of hurting them let alone in reality. So I picture MC being extremely upset of the power they hold due to the seven pacts after the first time they use ‘stay’ (lesson 26-15). Then cue the events that result in MC getting the ring of light. Them being borderline horrified of their strength and tries to isolate themself thinking they might be a threat to brothers, even though at the back of their mind they know that the brothers could never actually be fatally injured because of them.

hello! of course :)

thank you so much for the satan writer compliment GAH he’s just my little guy and I’m glad people like my take on him. my sweet satan. hes the flame, and i am but a tiny moth drawn to his character potential and literally everything else about him

also, thank you for specifically requesting what you wanted!! usually I have no clue what people want and just guess haha. it's a little longer than a drabble would be so idk what it is anymore lol

hope you like where I went with this! did both satan and luci. enjoy <3

Sensitive Mc who's afraid of hurting the brothers

Satan

Satan was alone in his room, reading, when he was suddenly hit with a concerning thought. He had been meant to gift you that human world book he'd managed to find a second hand bookstore. Coincidentally, the two of you had been talking about that same book just yesterday, so he had to pick it up for you. He'd actually been hoping the two of you could read it together because he'd never read it. He could already imagine reading it aloud to you, how you’d be cuddled up in his lap, arms around him and using him as your personal pillow.

After he finished the page he was on, he grabbed the book. He'd probably have to reread everything he read before thinking of you, but that was alright. He’d learnt to treasure every moment he could with you. You were the only thing that could truly cause him to temporarily lose interest in a book.

With that, he set off, book in hand, to find you. First he check your room. It wasn’t unusual to not find you there. His brothers often dragged you elsewhere. Next he checked the library, his brothers’ rooms, and the attic, but it was to no avail. That was when he started to get worried. He started to call you and text you. He could see that you were reading his messages and the calls were ringing all the way through, but you didn’t reply once.

That's when he started to freak out. Every bad thing that could've possibly happened ran through his head. He stopped, and took a deep breath to clear his head to try and think more rationally. He knew he needed to find you, and while he knew telling his brothers was the best course of action, he figured he'd check your room one last time, just in case he managed to miss you somehow. As he stepped into your room and shut the door behind him, he caught sight of you. You were seated away from the door, head down on the table.

"Mc! There you are. I've been looking for you." He stepped towards you and put his hand on your shoulder. You jumped very suddenly, and whipped your head around to face him. The expression on your face wasn't one he'd ever seen you make. You looked deeply fearful, more so than when facing one of his angry brothers, or himself for that matter. The two of you made steady eye contact for a moment, before you suddenly stood up.

"Mc?" Satan was confused and concerned. You placed both of your hands on his chest and pushed him away as hard as you could before running to the opposite side of the room. "What's the matter?" He recovered quickly from his minor stumble.

"Stay back! I'm a monster. I can't hurt you. You mean too much to me." Satan got deja vu. He swore he'd said something exactly like that in the past. Your hands shook as you held them out in front of you, urging him to stop his advances towards you. You seemed to be struggling to hold them up, as your arm began to fall and your fingers could hardly stay upright. He saw himself in you in that moment. Afraid, alone, and confused, just like how he felt when he first came into being. While he wanted nothing more than to go comfort you, he found himself frozen mid-step towards you. This sent you into another fit of tears.

"See? I can't do anything right." You sobbed.

"Mc, please unfreeze me. I promise you, you can't hurt me." He could hear the desperation growing in his voice, and he was sure you could too.

"What if I hurt you on accident though? I don't know what I'd do. I care too much about you to do that to you." You tried to avoid eye contact, since looking into his eye was too painful.

"It's going to be alright. It'll take a lot to drive me away from you, because I care. If it ever gets to the point of you hurting me, I won't be upset with you because I know you didn't mean it. I trust you no matter what. Everything you just said proves that. Now, please, let me hug you. You need one." You eyed him skeptically.

"I don't trust me." You swiped away some of the tears with the back of your hand, but they kept flowing.

"You've already done so much for this family, and for me. Please, let me return the favor. I'll always be by your side. If the situation ever arises, we can work through it together. I'm not afraid to do what it takes to remain by your side." He silently implored you to meet his eyes, and when you finally did, he knew he'd gotten through to you.

"Alright. Come here." You smiled a little through the tears, and let your arms fall to your side. Like magic, Satan was able to move again and he quickly rushed forward to scoop you up. He held you close to him, gently wiping away your tears.

"I hope you can sense how much I care about you." He rubbed your back and sighed as you began to hug him back.

"Thank you." He knew that hurting him was probably the thing you feared most. He understood that, and promised himself that the two of you would work through that fear together. You changed his life, and wanted to really make sure you knew and didn't undermine how impactful you actually are to him.

Lucifer

It was late. Lucifer had already completed his nightly rounds and was doing paperwork, as usual. He'd made it through about half his stack, and had resolved to finishing it by morning.

He heard the the quiet footsteps of someone walking by his room, down the hall and up the stairs to the attic. With a sigh, he got up and followed whoever it was. He was too late to catch whoever it was, but he decided he'd let them get to the to top of the stairs before he went up after them.

He stood there for a moment, thinking. The only people who went to the attic were the twins, and occasionally you, if one of the twins happened to be up there. Really, only Belphie liked to be up there, and Beel and you just followed him, because he'd never seen either of you up there of your own volition. He wasn't sure why whoever it was needed to be up there at this hour. Belphie and Beel are usually knocked out at this hour. As he passed Levi's room, he heard the sound of a videogame and an angry sigh. Soft music was coming from Asmo's. The rest of the house was dead silent. Lucifer heard the stair at top of the staircase creak, meaning they'd reached the top landing. With that, he set off after them.

Once at the top of the stairs, he initially didn't see anyone and he quickly questioned if he'd been hearing things. Then, he spotted you sitting next to the window, hugging your legs and chin resting on your knees. Before he could speak, you beat him to it.

"Hello." You didn't turn around, or move at all.

"Mc. What are you doing up at this hour?" He stayed where he was, hoping that your conversation together would be quick.

"I could ask you the same thing." Usually, you'd say that with vigor, or some sort of enjoyment in your voice, but, your voice was flat.

"Very funny. Now, answer the question." He crossed his arms. While you were behaving a little strangely, he hoped it was just because it was late and continued as he usually would.

"Couldn't sleep. Didn't want to bother anyone." You sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You are welcome to join me in my room tonight, if that might help." He felt a little sympathetic after you'd told him what was wrong. It would be nice to have them in his room as company, and a motivation to work faster.

"I've just been... thinking, is a good way to put it." All of your thoughts seemed jumbled, because everything that come out of your mouth, despite seemingly thinking hard about it, came out strangely.

"That's oddly vague, Mc." He took a few more steps towards you, but you still kept yourself turned towards the window. You remained silent, so he took the final few steps until he was right behind you.

"Lucifer. Will you make me a promise?" You turned to him slowly for the first time that evening. The little bit of moonlight streaming in through the window half illuminated your face. He could tell you hadn’t slept at all that night, maybe longer. The circles under your eye were very telling. The way you looked back at him unsettled him. That in itself spoke more words than he could ever say. There was a far off look in your eyes, like you were staring right through him. He never thought he'd be afraid of you, but the way you were behaving was scaring him.

“Of course, my love. Anything.” You turned back to the window, but he could tell you kept looking at him through the corner of your eyes.

“Promise me you’ll stop me if I ever do anything that might hurt your or your brothers. At any cost.” That sentence sent a shiver down Lucifer’s spine. It was an accomplishment to say that you could make a chill wrack through the body of Diavolo's right hand man, but this moment was anything but joyous or celebratory. The implications of your statement were grim.

"What are you talking about?" He stumbled on his words a little, unsure how to approach what you just asked.

"I'm not really sure how to put how I feel into words. But, that's what I do know." You glanced between him and the view outside the window.

"If you could, please try to enlighten me." He sat beside you

"I'm unsure of the power I have. I feel like I shouldn't have this. I'm unworthy and afraid of what I might do. You saw what I did on accident. I didn't mean to really make all of you stop like that. I know it didn't hurt too bad but... I just don't know how I feel." You sighed again.

"I understand how you feel, I believe. You're more than worthy to wield the power you do. It's not easy to quell the seven avatars of sin, but, you are, aren't you? Do not discredit yourself. I'm sure you know you could never hurt any of us, right?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow at you, awaiting your response.

"I'm not discrediting myself, I'm just afraid is all, alright? Sorry if I've felt distant lately. It's just been on my mind for a while." You snapped to face him again.

"I see. Please, do not isolate yourself like that from us again. We can work through this together. I know you're afraid of hurting us, but the day that happens is the day the Devildom freezes over, alright? We care." He paused. "I care."

A gentle smile made its way across your face. "Thanks. I think I'll always be a little afraid, honestly. But, I trust you, and I know you mean what you say." Lucifer remembered what you'd said earlier. He hoped he'd never have to follow through that.

For now though, he hoped to treasure this moment with you, and hopefully help you get to bed with the little nugget of peace he'd given you.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

I just can't wrap my head around the narrative purpose of Nina. Her characterisation was lacking, she didn't leave any memorable impression I even forgot what she was about other than a leverage for Johan or a refuge in a way.

Her motives were not really mapped out well I feel like the author could've expanded on that more. It overall left a bad taste in my mouth.

What do you think?

About Nina;

I agree with you. I read a lot of Nina metas and i understand what she was supposed to symoblize (Nina; human, Tenma; God, Johan; Devil) but i think Tenma fits the role of human anyway and it doesnt work in Nina's case because she is not some random victim whom Johan killed her parents. She is her brother so her forgiving him at the end (especially when she already forgave other villains) doesnt work out as 'act of love'.

So the reason I think she isnt much memorable to you, thats because she is too similar to Tenma during the series.

They are good people who helps others

They investigate Johan separately but somehow at the same time.

They both project their inner monster on Johan so they think killing him will solve everything

Both use guns

Their interaction with Dieter is same

Everyone loves them

They are the only people Johan cares about and only people he lets them live Though Nina is different, her personality is more expressive and extrovert but this side of Nina is barely seen. Only at the beginning and ending. Tenma's character and ideals makes sense for his character because he is a doctor, also why he is obsessed with Johan but Nina as Johans sister, she couldve been different. More personal, more obsessive.

This is the problem with writing "good people". Her place in story is also mess and kinda replacable....yes, even though she is Johans sister. When i said replacable, i mean a lot of scenes were just there. Even if she wasnt there, nothing would change.

After not being able to meet her, Johan never go after her. He is more obsessed with Tenma, not Nina.

After escaping from her brother, she didnt need to meet Neonazis. Another character would stop the bomb and Tenma would see Johans writing anyway.

Her training from sugar man is just side character story, couldve been Tenma and same with meeting old cop. It couldve been Tenma who met the guy and nothing would change.

Even if Nina didnt come library, Tenma still wouldnt shot Johan. Her "dont shot him" scene with Nina has no build up and cringe. Johan didnt even interact with her at all in that scene and Nina also doesnt attempt to talk with her brother. She literally acts like random cop who suddenly appeared in the scene.

Other characters learnt "nameless monster" book, or 511 or the mansion etc on their own.

Nina remembering her flashbacks, or learning other book stories etc was important information only she knew but she never shared those informations with other characters. Its almost as its just written for audience to learn, to understand Johan.

Her interaction with Johan at broken house, that was meaningfull. That was only them after all but that scene didnt change anything for Johans plans. Johan was already remembering his memories and planning his suicide anyway. Only usefull information is that Nina found out Johan will kill himself but neither Nina and Tenma cared that information enough to do something different. Then at the end everyone find a way to find Franz's town.

At the end, another usefull and important flashback we get with Nina. Only Dr Gilleun heard this but its not like he did anything about it. Then Nina ran to Johan and told him she forgave him. Of course. Of course, it is important but its not impactfull (for audience) if Nina can forgave other characters. And once again, this doesnt stop Johan.

And no, Tenma wouldnt shot Johan even Nina didnt come. Even Nina didnt tell him to save Johan later, he would still save Johan. Literally any other character could say that.

And at the end, Nina lives her life again just a normal girl. Tenma is the one who is with Johan and his words 'You had a name' is what saves Johan at the end.

I am not saying she isnt important character. She is but as character, she didnt change things much, even though she shouldve as main heroine. She shouldve played more role that affects things around her, especially her interaction with Johan. But it didnt.

We could maybe say the same thing for Tenma or other characters but not really. There is already a certain role Tenma symbolize, humanity, saving lifes and most other characters are just side characters. But thats the thing. Nina isnt meant to be side character. She was supposed to be main heroine but even characters like Lunge and Eva, even they mess up or dont do much, they are still more memorable because their invidiuality shows itself. They affect the storyline in their own way.

I think we shouldve seen her inviduality more rather than her just going after on her own. I mean, on her own way, different than Tenma. Most importantly, i wish we shouldve seen her love for her brother, her family (Fortners) but her connection with them, our connection with people shows us who we are. Maybe she shouldve traveled with Tenma, then their connection would makes sense. And definitely we shouldve seen more about the her connection with Johan and her memories as Anna and after remembering, it does affect her so she shouldve done something to affect things around her as Nina, as heroine but none of these happenned.

So i understand why she can be forgotten because we dont see much of her really. And thats a shame. I wish she has done more, and more on her own way, more different than Tenma, more personal because its her brother but she acts like they are strangers so well. I think she isnt well written.

[indigo-scarf]

Character Profile: Theodore Nott

I. Canon

II. My headcanons

• Theodore’s parents struggled to conceive him. As fanon has it, Theodore’s mother was as “elderly” as his father, and the couple struggled to have a child. The meaning of Theodore’s name, “gift of the gods”, also corroborates that.

• His mother died when he was a child, or perhaps even in childbirth. Another popular fanon theory I accept: it was witnessing his mother’s death that enabled Theodore to see Thestrals.

• His father was cold and distant. Nott Sr was the type of stoic pureblood who expects his wife to do all the child-rearing, but his wife wasn’t there. Besides that, I have more questions than answers about Theodore’s family:

- Did his father and mother have a good relationship? - Did his father resent his mother for struggling to conceive? - How much time did Theodore get with his mother? - If she died in/due to childbirth, does Nott Sr resent Theodore for it? - Or does he love his son but just doesn’t know how to show it?

• Theodore is a pretentious nerd. Growing up without much company, he found refuge in books, libraries, and the persona of the independent intellectual who doesn’t need anyone.

• He uses intellectuality and logic as shield from feelings and trauma. He pretends everything is cold rationality, so he can act like nothing actually affects him. He’s never had a model for dealing with emotions in any way other than shutting them off.

• Theodore hates being called “Theo”. He finds it condescending, and finds nicknames in general overly-familiar. Fortunately, the Slytherin boys all call each other by their surnames; Pansy is the only classmate who calls him “Theo” anyway, just to annoy him.

• He doesn’t rely on external validation. He didn’t have that growing up, so he’s had to learn to do without. Unlike Draco or even Blaise, Theodore doesn’t feel the need to show off or put others down. Being self-assured of his superiority in his own mind is usually enough for him.

• He finds the Death Eaters contemptible. Since Theodore “does not feel the need to join gangs,  including Malfoy’s”, I imagine him equally uninterested in Voldemort’s gang. He might believe in pureblood supremacy, might even find it important to have someone defend it, but he doesn’t romanticise fighting for a cause. Intimately familiar with death from a young age and with no reason to admire his father, Theodore is cynical about war and politics. 

• He’s quiet. He reads, writes, listens, and observes much more than he talks. 

• He keeps his opinions to himself. Saying the wrong thing at home could easily put his father in a bad mood, so he’s learnt to be strategic about speaking. He does love to correct others and call out their logical fallacies, though, and uses contrarianism as deflection.

• He sees people from a detached distance, as if they��re potential characters for a novel, or psychology case studies. This is a simultaneously contemptuous and non-judgemental worldview: humans simply behave the way they behave, they’re not any different from objects affected by scientific laws (or magical laws?). Only a few people — Theodore and the thinkers he admires — manage to exercise true critical thinking and go beyond inertia.

• He has a crush (or a squish) on Draco. Theodore can’t help finding Draco’s flamboyant personality and sheltered naivety endearing. However, he tries to repress this, because affection is silly and he doesn’t want to get attached. When Draco joins the Death Eaters, Theodore immediately knows Draco isn’t cut out for it, and Theodore feels conflicted, but at least partly validated in his fear of loss.

• Draco is conflicted about Theodore. Sometimes Draco appreciates that Theodore is a good listener and can hold an intelligent conversation, but sometimes Theodore feels safe enough to challenge Draco too much, ironically driving Draco back to his usual yes-people.

• Theodore is eventually forced to confront his humanity. Maybe after Hogwarts he finds himself completely alone and realises he doesn’t like that. Maybe his father dies and he can’t ignore his mixed feelings about it. Maybe he decides to pursue Draco romantically.

[introverted-ghost]

Hello, how are you doing? :))

Just realized how ~weird~ it is that we have been friends for this long and I do not know your name. I don't mean your real name necessarily, but just some way to call you? Lmao I literally cannot believe I am only now asking this, I feel like a terrible online friend :((

Funny how internet friendships work tho. Like I know you're a half-psychic pisces, and your favorite color is green, and you like The Owl House and The Ninja Turtles and Ninjago, and you have cats and several siblings.....

But I don't have a way to call you.

????

Honestly wtFUCK.

So imma ask you some questions to know you a lil better, if you don't mind.

1. HOW CAN I CALL YOU OMGGGG

2. Favorite candy

3. How was this past week? Anything fun?

4. What kind of books do you like? Not gonna ask favorite book, but just talk to me about books :) you like reading, right? I know you like comics, and reading comics is reading. You can talk to me about comics.

5. What is your favorite fun fact? Can be about anything. I'll tell you mine: a human teeth has 32 calories.

6. YOU HAVE CATS, RIGHT? I HAVE THIS MEMORY THAT YOU SHOWED ME SOME PICTURES OF THEM. RIGHT?? TWO OF THEM. I DIDN'T MADE THAT UP. RIGHT????

7. Do you still wanna be friends after this mess of an ask? Lmao.

Sorry. Currently 2:00 am. I shouldn't be allowed to use internet at this unholy hours.

I’m gonna fucking die I just finished answering this then tumblr crashed and it was gone. Anyways~

1. To be honest I don’t really care what people call me. Most folks call me dryad but I also go by edland, xero, kylan, and rian or anything else really since I don’t super care

2. I don’t think I have a favourite candy so I went to check what was in my stash which was virtually nothing (Imma have to stock up once I get paid) but there was a container of pink lemonade lemonheads (which are pretty good btw)

3. Id probably have to make a whole separate post to cover everything I did but basically we went camping a lot in different places across the province each night (depending on where you’re from that may not seem too impressive but I’ll tell you in messages the size of it compared to Colombia so you get the picture)

4. I like fiction stories, usually fantasy but chill if it’s not. I recently (yesterday) got a book from the library I asked for ages ago (it took extra time since the one they gave me originally was in Chinese so I returned that one and asked for one in english) it’s called journey to the west btw. I know a lot about it and have watched many adaptations of it but it’s nice to be able to read it. Yes I also like comics

These are all the Tmnt comics I have so far

5. I don’t know if this is my favourite fun fact or if I’ve already told you or if you already know since you’re super smart. The Latin words for 7 8 9 10 are septem octo novem decem respectively. You may recognize them as the 9-12 months of the year, which you would be correct. It bothered me that it doesn’t match up but they were named during the Julian calendar which started in April (that’s also how April fools started) so with quick comparing I learnt that it STILL DOESNT MATCH UP :|

6. I do have cats. Three of them though

First there’s Meredith he’s the oldest by a month

Then jingles

Skip ahead 5 or 6 years and you got Maggie (this picture was taken after she was spayed and we had to put her cone on when I wasn’t there to watch, she tried to escape while I was at school but just ended up making things worse for herself)

7. Yes of course I do!

Now you answer them! Well except 5 since you kinda already did. And 6 since it was kinda a me specific question. And 1 since I already know your name. And a modified 7 (do you still want to be my friend after this mess of an answer?)

Also go to sleep ��

[rouecentric]

Hi! Idk if the request is open can I request who made me a princess with sister atty and father claude with reader who want to go home to her world, so she used amnesia spell on them both thank you ❤

Requests will always be open unless stated otherwise on my pinned post, hope you enjoy reading this!

fem/fem aligned!reader

TW: MENTIONS OF COMITTING SUICIDE, BEING CONFINED

-You were tired, angry and hurt. I mean, who wouldn't if anyone was in your place? Being a princess would be a dream to a lot of people, but becoming a princess in your next life with a possesive father and sister, no one even knew you neither the fact that the emperor had a child other than Athanasia

-Being confined in the palace without being able to go outside by your father, the emperor of the Obelian empire, can do harm to you, both physically and mentally

-You didn't even belong to this world, and somewhat neither did your "sister", too

-So, as the spoiled and beloved daughter of emperor Claude de alger Obelia who won't get married and doesn't have to go to any classes she doesn't like, you spent most of your days in the imperial library and taking magic classes, trying to find a way to be able to induce extremely strong amnesia or open up a portal to another world

-Day by day, your magic grew stronger and your knowledge on various kinds of magic increased, mastering all kinds of magic, until you found out about dark magic, a dangerous and forbidden form of magic made illegal by the Obelian law, so finding two entire bookshelves about dark magic in a hidden corner in the imperial library is shocking

-You decided to enchant a diary that had a lock and key to have more and more pages everytime you finish writing a page, but it never grows bigger, making it an infinite diary

-You wrote down everything there was in the books about black magic instead of taking the books, deciding that it was dangerous and risky if someone finds them in your bedroom, and so you studied holed up in youe room every second when you had free time from being with your family

-Claude and Athanasia were happy that you found something you loved, supporting you in every way they could, hell, Claude even offered to teach you things he knew! (you begrudingly accepted after realising he had more experience with using magic as a whole)

-When you found out it was impossible to go back to your world as your original body died in that world, you cried for twelve days and silently grieved for twenty days, hesitantly agreeing with yourself to keep yourself in this world instead of just ending your own life

-You put your anger and sadness into studying and mastering every single magic there was to get away from your current family, even being better at magic than Lucas, who was the magician of the Black Tower

-You learnt dark magic so efficiently and mastered it so well, that whenever you now used it, it never has any side effects!

-With your plan of mastering dark magic was completed and you casted magic to permanently change your appearance/eyes, it was now time to take your things and then cast magic on everyone in the palace which consisted of Claude, Athanasia, Lily, Lucas, Felix, Jeanette, Ijekiel, and the staff that worked there

-Although it took up some of your energy and mana, you had enough to run to a place outside that didn't have strong defense magic and made a portal to a village just meters away from the capital so you could sell your stuff

-As promised, your magic worked really well, and everyone forgot who you were and that you even existed! But it had one minor side effect, you appeared in their dreams. Well- your physical appearance wasn't shown, instead, it was a mass of black fog forming a teenage girl's body and whenever you talked, your voice was staticy and glitchy, but not too much as they were able to understand what you were saying, but not being able to describe your voice and match it to a human's

The dream, or, well, memory, Athanasia had right now was weird.

She looked at the door infront of her, two knights standing outside and guarding it, ignoring the person(?) that was loudly hitting it and desperately screaming to let them out while footsteps were nearing her in the hallway.

"Don't worry, Athanasia, your sister is just acting bratty because she broke a rule I enforced for her, just give her time." her father, Claude, calmly announced, holding the younger person's shoulder.

"But [censored] is going to be hurt if she'll continue banging the door so harshly.." she pouted, looking back at the door.

'Why is the person's name censored? and sister? I don't have a sister. Unless this is an alternate universe of this world or dark magic was used on me..' she thought with a inwardly confused expression.

-after that, she had magic voluntarily used on her to stop those kinds of dreams as they were ruining her sleep

-While claude sometimes also had dreams like those, most of them were nicer, more.. docile, if you will

-In his dreams you were always quiet and were almost doll-like in his dreams, always shaking or nodding your head instead of vocally answering his questions

-Was it because of how he wanted you to act? More like a doll than a human being that he could nurture, care for and dress up? He and neither did you know, only the deepest and most twisted parts of his brain knew

-When you sold all of your belongings and bought commoners clothing with sanitary products and a bag for travelling that you enchanted that had infinite space, you headed to a small and quaint medium-sized village near the borders of the Obelian empire, with multiple forests, lakes and rivers, it definitely was the best place to reside in for the rest of your life, and if for some reason your magic wore off, you could always run away to another stronger empire

-The villagers welcomed you warmly and even pitied you for your made-up backstory, being a runaway servant from an abusive low-titled noble family

-The house you bought was nice and big enough for you, a two story building with a big backyard for farming and gardening, your bedroom being on the second floor with a balcony and bathroom, and in the first floor a small living room and kitchen

-Your job was fairly simple, a humble seamstress that sold clothing for cheap

-But with your rising paranoia that your family will find you and forcefully take you back, you casted multiple defensive barriers from different kinds of magic

-Although you're not able to go back to your world, this is most likely the best case scenario for you, the true happy ending for someone who deserves it.

[lazydoodlesandfanfic]

The Final Test (Stephen Strange X Daughter!Reader)

Characters: Stephen Strange X Daughter!Reader

Universe: Marvel, Avengers

Warnings: None

Request: Could I request a doctor strange x daughter reader fic where she’s in college and wants to go to medical school and be like him but is stressing out about her grades and his approval etc. and she ends up like burning out or something and she is worried about disappointing her dad but he ends up reassuring her and stuff? Also I love your writing!

You’d always wanted to be a doctor. It was a want you’d had since you were a young child. You always wanted to play hospital with your friends or with adults who you were around, you took the time to learn the names of medical equipment instead of just calling it the ‘heart thingy’ or the ‘thing that goes in your ear’, and when placed into a library, you always sought out the medical section, grabbing the nearest book that looked like it was to do with medicine, and going to read it with the other children who’d picked out books about dogs and dragons. You were passionate about it, it was clear to everyone, and it was also clear to everyone where the source of it all came from: your father, the best surgeon in his field.  

Your father, while not being great with most people as you grew up, being rather arrogant and proud, was always soft and attentive to you. You spoilt you rotten, you had to admit, he even bought you actual medical equipment (that was safe) for you to play with so you could be like a real doctor. He absolutely adored that you wanted to be like him, and many of your fond memories with your dad was with him holding you close, telling you things to do with the human body, explaining how parts of the body works, and other things along those lines. Instead of counting songs or childhood rhymes, your dad made up his own and taught you them, teaching you the names of the bones in your hands, or one about all your internal organs and their function. Others thought it was weird or even inappropriate, but for you and your dad, they were loving, sweet memories, and information you knew would benefit you in the future. 

So why was it that now, when it mattered most, you were struggling to remember everything he had taught you himself? 

You had managed to get into medical school, and you had managed to get into your final year of exams before you would go into residency, but before that, you had the big tests. You’d gone through all your years of schooling, practically already knowing the answers to the questions, being top of your class, and you had to admit you may have adopted a bit of your dad’s pride about it, but all of that was gone now, replaced entirely with shame and embarrassment. 

You’d had a mock exam last week, and the second you laid eyes on the first question, everything you had learnt just left your head, and it all went downhill from there. You left that room knowing you’d flunked it, and last night your results had come through, and it confirmed it. You’d failed, miserably. 

You’d not slept a lot that night- you’d spent half of it crying, and then the other half trying to get a grip, grabbing all your book and re-teaching yourself everything, and trying to quiz yourself. You knew this, you knew you did, and you made yourself your own little quizzes, writing down questions to stuff as you went, but when you shut a book and tried to do the quiz you’d made yourself… blank. Nothing. That confirmed for you that this wasn’t a fluke. This was a genuine problem that could ruin your career and dream of becoming a doctor, and you had little to no time to fix it, and not even an idea on how to fix it. You were desperate, and more importantly, you were scared. If you couldn’t overcome this, then you couldn’t become a doctor. You couldn’t pursue your dream, and your entire life had been directed at achieving it. There was nothing else you wanted to do, and really, nothing else you thought you could do. If you failed this, it was all over, and that was terrifying. So with no other ideas on what to do now, and also needing some sort of comfort, you turned to the one person you knew you could- your dad. 

While he spent most of his time at the Sanctorium, he still kept a separate home that he lived at with you, not too far away. Before his accident he spent almost all his time at the hospital, but now he spent it at the Sanctorium, and you preferred it this way as you could visit him whenever you liked, and that also meant you could go see him now. You walked quickly into the building, not idling around to draw attention, closing the door behind you before turning and walking up the stairs, knowing the way perfectly to his office space, and you didn’t even bother knocking, just letting yourself in, closing the door behind you and sighing heavily, putting your head on the door, and catching your breath, and trying to gather your thoughts. You did so for only a moment, before you heard him.

“Y/N?” He asked you, his words wrapped with fatherly concern, quickly followed by the sound of a chair moving across the wooden floor. “What’s the matter?” He asked you. You turned to look at him, watching as he started to come from behind his desk. 

“I need a hug.” You admitted to him, your voice a little raspy from all the crying a few hours prior. Your father came to stand in front of you, his head slightly tilted as he examined you for a moment, noticeably your face that still showed the recent signs of crying your eyes out. “Please?” You asked. 

“You don’t have to ask, honey.” He told you, wrapping his arms around you without wasting another second, and you immediately felt ten times better, though the waterworks also turned back on. You couldn’t help it, and honestly you didn’t care, you needed to get it out of your system, and you knew without a doubt your dad wasn’t going to judge it, and that was confirmed as he didn’t say a word, just rubbing your back as you cried. You felt his cape wrap around you tightly as well like a blanket of assurance, bundling you up and closer to your dad. No judgement, just love, which is what you needed. “What’s happened, hm? What’s upset you?” He asked quietly, still holding you closely. 

“... I failed the mock exam.” You admitted. “And it wasn’t like I was off by a few… I flunked it. I’ve gone over all my textbooks, memorised it all, made sure I knew it, and then I tried quizzing myself but even then I couldn’t answer it. I know the answers but when I’m put into a position where I have to prove it I just… blank. I forget. And I don’t know what to do! I only have a few weeks until the actual exam!” You explained to him, looking up at him as you finished your rant to see his face. You felt one of his hands raise and pet the back of your head reassuringly. 

“Alright, it makes sense why you’d be so stressed out about this. Come on, sit down with me, alright?” He told you, moving to the side, presenting a portal to another part of the building, and you walked through with him, sitting down in one of the two available seats, him sitting in the other, pulling his chair closer to you so he could lean closer to you and hold your hand as he spoke with you. “There’s clearly something going on in your head- even if you’re not aware of it. Putting the test aside- what stresses you out that could be related to it?” He asked you. You sniffed, thinking of what it could be- what did you have to be stressed about? You knew you knew your stuff, you knew that if you could do that test through actions instead of on paper you’d nail it.. What the hell were you scared of? Then it clicked.

“I’m… I’m scared of disappointing you.” You admitted to him, looking up at him. You immediately saw his eyes soften, almost sadden, his head tilting a little as he looked at you. “You taught me everything I know- you're a mentor, you’re the one who unlocked the medical world to me… you’re my dad, and I want to be just like you… what if I screw this up and… disappoint you?” 

“Y/N. Look at me.” He demanded you with a rather strict voice, which honestly surprised you, but you listened. Your dad had very rarely been strict with you growing up, but every time he used that voice, you listened, and you listened closely. “You know I love you, don’t you?” 

“Yes. Of course.” You answered without hesitation, there was no doubt in your mind, after all. 

“Do you remember when you were 5 and you wanted to do ballet because your friends were doing it?” He asked. You nodded, smiling at the little memory- it was a short lived hobby, quickly growing bored with it, just like the attention of any 5 year old. “How did I respond to you?” 

“...You took me to get all the stuff I’d need for my lessons, shoes, leotards, tights… you even went and learnt how to do the hair for class.” You reminisced, and he nodded. 

“Do you remember when you were 12 and wanted to try skateboarding?” He asked, and you nodded once again. “And I took you to a well known store for skating to get your first skateboard and to learn what you’d need to keep it in good condition?” 

“Yeah… and now it’s collecting dust in storage probably, next to the tutu’s.” You commented. 

“That’s not the point.” He brought you back to the conversation. “The point is… I don’t care what you want to do, what I care about is that you enjoy it and it makes you happy, and if it does, I will everything I can to support you in it. It doesn’t matter if they’re collecting dust, because for a short moment, you wanted to do it, and it made you happy. Yes, I love that you want to be a doctor, that you want to follow in my footsteps… but if it’s making you miserable… if you fail, and you can’t get your doctorate, I don’t care. You’re still my daughter, and I’ll help you find what you want to do with your life.” He assured you, and immediately… you felt relief. A weight you didn’t know was there, was suddenly lifted from your shoulders. “So, Y/N, what do you want to do?” 

“...I want to be a doctor.” 

“Alright then.” He nodded, a grin on his face immediately. “Let’s go get some books, I’ll put together a test, and we’re going to work through this until you nail it.” 

Hope you like it! If you have any questions, please send them in! 

*Not my gif

TAGS:  @klanceiscannon14​ @marvelhoeingismyhobby-blog​ @bellamyblakemorley @dummiesshort  @abbybills22-blog​ @mutantjediavenger​ @theoraekensnotsosecretlover​ @alicedanganh @sleutherclaw @sleepy-coffee-bean @stawwpp  @courtneychicken​  @graysonmalfoy​ @bellero​ @originalpottervengerlock​ @supernatural-pan​ @esoltis280​ @lady-of-lies​ @lenaswritingandstuff @macbetheliza @mandywholock1980​ @cdwmtjb8​ @caswinchester2000​ @determinedpines​ @huntheimpossible 

[tartagliad]

Seeing you for the first time pt.2 (ft. Albedo, Xingqiu, Venti, and Razor)

summary: how they react when seeing you for the first time

G/N reader

warning(s): misspellings, grammar mistakes (?), some scenes from windblume festival in Venti's and some from Razor's lore and a little angst ig

fluff!

(A/N: hey there, I'm back..this time I wrote for the other characters, i hope you enjoyed it)

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Albedo:

You met this boy at Dragonspine

That boy literally spent 24/7 of his life in that place ._.

He was at Starglow Cavern, painting cave structures and some hilichurls

You entered the cave and continued your adventure there (finding the history about the place)

Suddenly, a bunch of hilichurls started to attacked you..

There he saw how calm you are in that position, just swaying your sword back and forth elegantly

He just stands there and didn't realise that you've finished fighting the hilichurls and stared at him

"You know..it's not nice to just stand there and do nothing" you joke

"Oh..uhh sorry, I kinda zoned out.." he blurts

"ahaha, it's alright..i can see it on your face" you said

Albedo is literally stunned by your appearance, your figure, your eyes, everything

"I'm y/n, are you always go to this place?" you asked him

"Oh uhh, yes actually..i always do some research on this place..I'm Albedo btw" he respond

"Ahh I see.." you said, after that you accidentally saw his paintings

There was a painting of hilichurls and sketches of..you fighting?

"uhh are those your drawings?" you asked him

His face flushed because he got caught sketching a portrait of you

"Uh..yeah, you were an interesting...'view' let's just say..so I decided to draw you" he confess

You actually find his drawings beautiful yet pleasing to look at

"Wow..these are beautiful" you speak

The boy is literally out of words ngl, he's used to get some compliments from other people, but somehow..compliments from you made him flustered

"a-ah..w-why thank you.." he said

"Uhm..maybe you could come and join me next time..maybe pickup some materials or sightseeing areas of Dragonspine" he adds

"Of course, I'll go with you" you said

You two always spend time together at the mountains, well.. even though you don't go there everyday..lol

You always helped Albedo on his 'unusual' experiments or even tell him your stories of your adventures

The boy loves your eyes, he literally could get lost in those beautiful pairs..

Even though he painted it or sketches it..the feel is still different compared to looking at it directly

The feel just makes his heart race..<3

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 ���𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.."

Xingqiu:

Like Albedo, he always spent most of his time at a certain place, for him..the place is the library

So... you obviously met him there

He was looking for a book that he wants to read since the last couple of months

The book was actually rare that not many people knew or read it..so he's looking for it

You actually borrowed the book from the library and you wanted to returned it

He currently asking the librarian when you suddenly walk to the counter and returned it

"I heard that you want to borrow this book?" you asked

"Oh..yes, I've been wanting to read it for sometime now" he answered

"It's quite rare that people actually read this book though and yet it actually caught your attention" he added

You nodded and smile at him "Yes actually, I was reading a few pages and then I was so in to the book, i have to borrow it"

You both laughed as you leave the library

"My name is Xingqiu btw, may I ask yours?" he asked

"I'm y/n, nice to meet you Xingqiu"

There, you two talked for archons know for how long

You two sometimes switched books from your collections or maybe go out and find some interesting books

Other than reading, Xingqiu enjoys going on adventures with you

Seeing the nature around him makes him feel lighter

He really loves to read books though, but he tries to make you comfortable as much as possible around him

Maybe he'll try to take you out on a stroll around Liyue Harbor or maybe eat at Wanmin Restaurant, depending your mood

Sometimes you guys planning to pull another prank on Chongyun LMAO

He wants to make sure that you're comfortable around him and feel happy around him

All in all, he wants to see you enjoyed his company

"𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘟𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦? 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.. 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦..𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦"

Venti:

You met him at The Windblume Festival

It was your first windblume, so you're still confused about the traditions that happening around

He was in front of the Cathedral finding students for his poetry class

When he saw you, he waved at you and you approached him

"Hey there! New to the festival?" he asked

"Oh yes, I've lived in the city for awhile but i never experienced this festival before.." you answered

"Ehe, allow me to explain it. The Windblume Festival is a Festival in Mondstadt celebrating the thousand winds. Usually, the people of Mondstadt offers windblume to the anemo archon and to their special loved ones" he explains

"The people actually have to take their matters into their own hands, so they don't really have anything to get helped with" he added

"Is that why when I asked if anyone needs help, they say they don't need one?" you asked again

"Hehe, that's right" he says, "Oh, I haven't introduced my self haven't I? ehe, my name is Venti, the most popular bard in town!" he adds

"Your that bard, I've heard great things about you, my name is y/n, I'm just a regular adventurer.." you replied

He shrugged and acts a little nervous when you said that

"So uh.. want me to take you around town and see what people are doing?" he offered

"Sure, that would be nice.." you said

With that you two took a stroll around the town

Seeing people prepare gifts for their loved ones, the atmosphere feels so wholesome

You guys even took a little trip to Windrise, and he even play you a tune or two

You really enjoyed his company and he’s enjoying it too

During the festival, you guys grew closer together, and maybe you guys would perform together in front of the Cathedral

You were really happy that you have someone to enjoy the festival with

Even Venti feels a lot of joy hanging out with you

He wonders that he could be with you for a long time..

Well, whatever he is feeling, he wants to grow more closer to you :3

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.. 𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦..𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦? 𝘦𝘩𝘦"

Razor:

Bless this wolf boy :")

You two met at his habitat, Wolvendom

You were currently adventuring at that place

When you're peacefully strolling around the place, you saw a bunch of wolves dead..

So you rushed to see where it was coming from

There, you saw a boy fighting against an abyss mage, boi... that thing really do like to cause trouble

The boy looked really angry despite the mage killed his wolf packs

You determined to help him and so you did..

After you two defeated the mage..he turned to look at you, "thank you... lupical, dead.." he said

This baby almost cried because he couldn't save all of them, only a few of them that are safe..

"I tried to protect them...but I failed...", he said in a sad tone

You looked at him sympathetically, "aww..it's alright..you tried your best, it's not your fault.." you said to him

He looked really sad and disappointed, but at the same time he felt kinda relieved that someone was there to help him

"Why did you come here..?" he asked, "Oh, I was just adventuring and then I suddenly found you..." you said

"My name is y/n.." you added, "I'm Razor"

"Do you come from here Razor?" you asked again, "yes..I was raised by wolves, Razor has no human family" he said

You were shocked that there's actually someone who is raised by wolves

"I see..." you said, "I think some of your wolf friends got hurt..may i help?" you offered him

Razor nodded and help you as much as he could

"There, that should do it.. they can't move that much for awhile, but they'll be alright.." you said to him

Razor was very grateful that he could find you, maybe he would be doomed if you hadn't come..

"You're strong...can Razor learn from you..?" he asked shyly :")

"Of course, I would be happy to teach you" you say

Razor smiled a little, he wanted to learn from you so that he could protect his lupical if something bad like this would happen

The next day, you came back to Wolvendom and train him

He picked up the lesson pretty quickly, and he now learnt how to use his Vision

You even teach the boy how to write and read loll v:

You came to Wolvendom couple of times, and besides train him, you helped him hunt some meats to eat

You never really force him to come and live at the city, but if he wants to visit it once or twice..you bring him there

Razor is really happy now that he learned new things from you and also has a friend that helped him..

Sometimes he wonders if he could protect you from danger too

He just didn't want to lose you like he loses his other wolf friends

Razor silently swore to him self that he will protect you from any danger that you encounter

Overall, you guys cared about each other and wanted to protect one and other, he just wishes that you'll be saver around him <3

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘳... 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰..𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯..."

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(A/N: AHHH this is not like I wanted in my head...I hope you liked it, leave me some suggestions what I should write next, I still have some couple of ideas, but requests are open...so yeah ANYWAYS- thank you and good day :D)

Here are the rules if you wanted to request

[dont-touch-the-phlebotinum]

"You're quiet."

Jaskier blinked, as if he'd forgotten Geralt was still there, sat across from him in their small camp. The fire made shadows dance and shift across his skin, though Geralt could tell Jaskier was sat uncharacteristically still. "I'm thinking," he replied.

"Doesn't sound like you."

He didn't seem to hear the jibe. "You once said it was impossible to make more witchers."

Geralt hummed in affirmation.

"So that means one day you're going to go extinct."

"Yes."

A frown brought new shadows to Jaskier's brow. This was the reason for his introspective mood, then – though Geralt didn't know why Jaskier was concerned. He would be long gone by the time the last witcher met his end. Geralt would have said as much, if it wouldn't have meant acknowledging Jaskier's mortality, and the ache that the thought of a life without him brought to his chest.

He stayed silent instead.

Jaskier looked back at him. "What do you think will happen then?"

Part of him thought the world would go to shit. A smaller part thought it would be well deserved. But he'd learnt not to pay much mind to those voices within him, drowned out by lute strings and an endless stream of optimistic chatter.

"Humans will adjust," he said. "Come up with something new to replace us."

"But everything you know will be lost."

He shrugged. They were quiet for a moment as Jaskier returned to his introspection, and Geralt watched him, sat frowning at the campfire until he seemed to settle on an idea and leapt to his feet. He pulled out his notebook and positioned himself in front of Geralt, the same way he did when waiting for details of Geralt's latest hunt.

"What now?" said Geralt.

"Tell me something. Anything."

"Why?"

"How many decades have you spent hunting monsters? If there's some record of all the things you've learnt maybe whatever comes next will have a better chance."

He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what your songs are for?"

"No, my songs are for repairing your tattered reputation," said Jaskier. "Which is why you'll find that none of them mention what an obstinate bastard you are. There's a vast difference between storytelling and cold, hard fact."

"So what, you're going to write a witcher encyclopaedia?" said Geralt. "There are already books on monsters."

"Written by scholars locked away in a stuffy old library, who'd probably never even laid eyes on the beasts they were writing about. How much of what you know about fighting monsters did you learn from those books rather than by going out and actually facing them?"

"Not much, I suppose."

"Right," said Jaskier. He tapped at his notebook. "So start talking."

Geralt sighed, but he obliged Jaskier, as always. He had already given Jaskier the rough details of the wraith contract he had fulfilled that evening, but he went back and filled in the gaps. Not just what he had done, but how he would have changed tactics if the hunt hadn't gone as planned, and of every other way he knew to fight and win against them. He talked until the fire began to burn down and Jaskier's wrist had cramped from his frantic scribbling.

It soon became a routine, after that.

Each evening, whether sat around a sputtering campfire or amidst the warmth and noise of a tavern, Jaskier would pull out his notebook and look to Geralt. Geralt answered his questions, reluctantly at first but then, as the nights grew longer and the fresh pages in Jaskier's notebook fewer, the words flowed more easily. He told Jaskier of common advice he had discovered the hard way was incorrect; of things he had learnt swapping stories with other witchers; of the lessons he had been taught during his training as a boy.

When Jaskier had filled every page of his notebook, it was Geralt who bought him his next one.

Jaskier still wrote songs, of course – more than ever, now that he no longer had to annoy, plead with, or bribe Geralt for every detail – and he would play them for Geralt's input once he had tucked his notebook away for the evening. But where they would have once spent their nights sat talking about anything and nothing, or venturing out to find a more intimate form of company, now they simply settled in beside one another and got to work, a strange comfort to the familiarity of it.

Maybe somewhere along the way Geralt had started to believe Jaskier, that a witcher's knowledge was too important to lose. Maybe he just enjoyed seeing Jaskier's face light up each time Geralt shared something new.

"I should take you to Kaer Morhen," said Geralt one cold afternoon, darkness already fallen around them and the promise of winter's approach on the air. "You could take a look through the library's records; hound Vesemir and the others for all the stories they could give you."

"A whole season surrounded by witchers," said Jaskier. There was a spark in his eyes that warmed something within Geralt's chest. Something Geralt wasn't ready to examine too closely.

"Think you can handle it?"

Jaskier grinned. "Try me."

[tales-unique]

FAULTS OF THE HEART  III

The tension doesn’t dissipate entirely over the coming days, but you find that it doesn’t get any worse either. It merely stagnates and that bothers you more than anything. You’ve both fallen into a routine wordlessly as though it was always there, something you didn’t realize until you’d been doing it over and over. “Not hungry?” Alucard's question breaks your train of thought, bringing you back to the real world. “What?” You ask, blinking down at your practically untouched plate of fresh fish and vegetables, “oh, no, it’s just,” you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. Alucard frowns over at you from the other end of the table, setting down his knife and fork.

“What is it?” He asks, his voice gentle, which makes your tumultuous emotions fester even more. “I don’t know,” you shake your head, frustrated with yourself, “I just feel so, so stuck . My arm isn’t healing fast enough, I can’t do anything, I just feel so useless right now!” Alucard opens his mouth to speak, but you cut him off with a vicious snarl. “And you aren’t helping!” That swiftly shuts him up and you regret it the instant the words have left your mouth. He sees it in your expression, the way your eyes widen and your lip twitches, and merely lets out a weary breath. He knows the routine of your moods as of late, only because he’s been subject to them already, but it’s still not easy to deal with. “I-I’m sorry,” you whisper, slumping in your chair. You were just so tired of everything . “I didn’t mean to snap at you,” you breathe, wincing at the tightness in your shoulder. It’s healing but when he cauterized the wound to stop the bleeding it made it difficult to move your arm without discomfort. “I know,” he replies, but his tired expression doesn’t quite match the softness in his voice, “it’s alright.” “No, no it’s not alright,” you rebuke, your hand tightening to a fist atop the table, “I do this every time and I always take it out on you.” There’s a sense of peace that briefly washes over you when you admit your shortcomings to Alucard before the numbness takes over. You push your chair back and stand, not wanting the moment to turn to pity like it always did. Alucard doesn’t stop you as you leave, no doubt going to sequester yourself in your room. He’s learnt that leaving you be is the best way to get you to calm down and view the situation objectively. It’s the only way that he can bring you around to the idea that he understands the way you feel.

It’s just after dusk when he finally hears you stir. He’s sitting in the old drawing room, reading one of the many books still salvageable from the library. Though your footfalls are light he can still hear them over the crackling of the fire in the fireplace and he places his book down upon the arm of the chair with a small smile. You’re not wearing shoes again, something he could never quite understand. You loved being barefoot. Especially outside, on rainy days and sunny days alike. He found you one early morning following a frog through the dew-covered grass and it was the first time he had truly seen you laugh since you came to the castle. Tiptoeing to the door, you gently knock on the old wood before peeking inside. You knew he was inside because of the firelight emanating from the ajar door. "Can I come in?" "Yes, of course." You nod, slipping inside. The room is warm and inviting and it helps ease some of the tension you have. It settles like lead in your stomach, but you try to push it away as you take a seat in the high-backed chair next to him. Alucard watches you as you get comfortable in your seat, pulling your legs up to your chest, leaning back. Yet you still look stiff and it betrays your nerves. He tries to give you a comforting smile but it's wasted since your eyes are firmly fixed upon the flames. "I'm sorry about earlier," you murmur, picking at a loose thread in the seat cushion. "It was understandable," he hums, "I know you meant no real harm." When you finally meet his gaze you see an understanding there that envelops you and you feel some of the tension lift. It's still there but you don't feel as though you're anchored by it anymore. It's a shame that it’s gone all too soon when Alucard quickly looks away from you. "It still wasn't fair on you though," you huff, stretching out in the chair and wiggling your toes. Alucard remains quiet. It's his turn to stare into the fire now, purposely avoiding your gaze. He tends to retreat within himself when you present him with human kindness, catching himself before he falls for it. The trauma he had endured throughout his life wasn't so easily erased, no matter how approachable you made yourself, and he would never allow himself to fall into that trap ever again if he could help it. "Are you okay?" The question throws him, forcing his gaze away from the flames and back to you. Your brow is creased with worry, your eyes glistening, and for a moment he truly believes that you are genuine. Defeated, he cannot take the weight of your concern upon him, nor accept that he finds you as captivating in the firelight as you had been in the moonlight. All he sees in you is another chance to be hurt again and he refuses to willingly be a victim. "I am," he replied smoothly, a practiced lie, tilting his head in curiosity, "what makes you think I'm not?" Your mouth opens but the words wilt and die on your tongue. There's no real answer you can give that doesn't sound stupid in your mind, and it shows. Alucard's expression softens as you struggle to answer, allowing you to compose yourself. "I don't know," hesitant, you resume picking at that loose thread again, "you look so tired, and so sad sometimes. I just want to help .” Even after considering what to say the words are still awkward and you inwardly cringe at how pathetic they sound out in the open. Under Alucard’s unreadable, silent stare you begin to fidget, wishing that the ground would open and you could fall into the abyss to spare yourself the embarrassment. You notice that he, too, seems to be considering his response, much to your dismay. You just want him to get it over with and tell you what a fool you are and move on. “You needn’t concern yourself with me,” he sighs, melancholy marring his angelic features, “really, I’m fine.” “Says the man with people on spikes outside his front door.” Alucard is stunned; it could have been a biting jab, or a sarcastic barb, each of which he would have expected and been prepared for, but instead the words are tender and the look upon your face even more so. He’s unprepared, there is no deceit he can muster in the face of such honest care, so he speaks the only words that seem appropriate. “They deserved it.” You nod, having expected as much. Even though you’re eager to know the tale that goes along with them you can’t bring yourself to ask. It’s too morbid, even if they were, as Alucard states, deserving. “I know it doesn’t really mean anything, but I’m sorry for whatever they did to you, Alucard,” you murmur softly. It doesn’t take away the pain that was inflicted, or the scars that are left behind, but you hope that it will show him that you are not like those people. And he knows it. You’re nothing like Sumi or Taka. You haven’t lied, you haven’t tried to hurt him, nor have you given him any indication that you will do so. Wherever you’ve lashed out you’re quick to apologize once you’ve simmered down and not once have you asked anything from him since begging to live. You are real, and that scares him more than anything. “Thank you,” he answers after a long moment of silence, his eyes distant, “truly, I...Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” You nod, taking this as your cue to leave him to his solitude. No doubt he has much to contemplate and sleep is beginning to tug at you like a petulant child. With a barely concealed yawn you bid him goodnight, leaving Alucard to curiously await what will happen next.

[seungmvnnie]

Ravenclaw!Renjun x Slytherin!Reader 

word count; 2.7k words (longest one yet, my bias really do be showing)

warnings; *very* suggestive kissing, female reader, bullet point au, unlike the other fics in this series, this one is pretty much entirely based on the build up to the relationship and has little about the characters together, enemies to lovers au. also i researched year 7 DADA content for this to make it realistic so never say i dont put effort into my writing ahahaha

Huang Renjun had been your enemy the second you had stepped foot into your first class at Hogwarts

It was only natural; you both came to school, bright eyed and ready, with the expectation and aspiration to be top of the class

you had read through and memorized all the books on the provided reading list before you had even boarded the train - everyone thought you were made to be a ravenclaw which is why it was a bit of a shock when you were sorted into Slytherin, but you supposed it was your ambition

you had planned to become the youngest minister of magic there had ever been since you were 4

which meant going to Hogwarts, achieving the highest grades and being top of your year, becoming prefect, head girl and going on to work in the ministry and work your way up

little did you know, Renjun also had big plans

to ruin your perfect record

the very first lesson you had with him; you hadn’t even noticed the quiet ravenclaw who sat behind you

that was until the Professor asked a question and he had stated the answer so confidently, you almost flinched

you had answered the first few, which was why his voice interrupting was so shocking

you hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to open your mouth

you knew the answer of course, you just weren’t as quick as he was

which is why the next time your Professor asked a question, you made sure to get there first

it continued like that the whole lesson, a vicious back and forth game of who could answer first

you enjoyed some healthy competition and all, but it was like he was purposely trying to annoy you

the final straw was when you turned around in your seat at the end of the class to glare at him and he had that stupid smug smile on his face that you learnt to despise over the next few years

ever since then, everything was a competition to you two

and everyone at Hogwarts knew it

quidditch

house cup points

you name it, you’ve had an argument over it

neither of you even played quidditch but you would still argue with him about how Slytherin was better

you even once partook in a particularly heated game of wizard chess that ended with a flipped chess board and a few choice words being shouted at each other

there were many people that Renjun didn’t like but you were the only one that could make him flip a wizard chess board in rage (Although, if you asked him he would say you were the one who threw it)

wizard chess was banned after that

everyone hated you for it

this competition was helpful to an extent; you were top of the class in most classes, except the very, very few in which Renjun had beaten you

your days were spent in the library, cramming as much as you could, the desire to beat Renjun outweighing your need for sleep or basic human needs

needless to say he was the exact same but you both made sure to sit as far away from each other as humanely possible in the library

you could honestly say the best day of your life was when you realized that you had made prefect and he didn’t 

that got held over him for a good two years

then again, Renjun could also say that he beat you in your O.W.Ls, so it evened out 

when you started dating Han Jisung in 6th year, who was another Ravenclaw, you had him reporting back Renjun’s grades in the classes you weren’t in with him

you both competed for who had the least amount of detentions given - you had 2, which were both caused by the few times your competition had turned physical and you had shot a few jinxes at him, and Renjun had 5, two from his incident with you and the other 3, a result of his unfortunate friends 

which meant both of you had pretty much squeaky-clean records

you attributed your near perfect grades and having the best record in your year as the main reason why, the summer before seventh year, a neat little green pin with, ‘head girl,’ had arrived in the mail

of course, you were happy that your parents were proud of you, but you felt a vindictive joy knowing that you had something new to hold over Huang Renjun

That was until, you showed up on the first day to the first prefect meeting on the Hogwarts express and were met with the one and only Huang Renjun, the pin on his chest sat bright blue with ‘Head Boy,’ proudly etched into the metal

according to the pale look on his face, he hadn’t expected you to be Head Girl either

Professor Lee, the Headmaster, seemed to recognize his mistake almost immediately, considering he had two teenagers debating each other in his office before the school year had even started

“You can hardly expect me to work with him-”

“Of course, you can’t expect us to work together, I actually know what I’m doing-”

“Know what you’re doing? You weren’t even a prefect you poser-”

“You’re right I wasn’t, but I’m still smarter than you!”

the Headmaster had silenced you both with a wave of his hand, before you could retaliate with the fact that you’re beating him at potions, what does he mean, smarter than you?

“Okay. If you can’t work together, that’s fine. However, I expect one of you to make the mature, adult decision to step down from your position, not push the other one to resign.”

You looked at each other

there was no way either of you were going to do that

He stared at you both for a moment, before sitting down calmly at his desk

“I chose you both because of your maturity, exam results and impressive behavior these past 6 years. I would appreciate if you both put aside this feud and worked together for your student body.”

You stared at your hands, refusing to look at Renjun as shame gnawed at your chest

“Now, back to your dormitories.”

And so you were stuck with him

you thought that perhaps, Professor Lee’s words of wisdom would create a newfound maturity

but no, he was the exact same annoying little shit he was before

just this time, he had authority

As Head Boy and Head Girl, you were required to do prefect duty late at night together

which essentially meant you both had to walk around Hogwarts late at night on a Friday and Saturday and make sure no one was out of bed and wandering the castle when they shouldn’t be

you spent those nights in an awkward silence

you wished you could split up but you had to walk around together for, ‘safety reasons’

realistically you thought that schools were meant to be safe to walk around late at night by yourself but Hogwarts is just built different

as head boy and head girl you were given the most hectic two days of the week as well, which meant you had broken up more parties than you were comfortable to admit

you had even caught your boyfriend at a few parties, but you discreetly avoided giving him detentions

he couldn’t say anything though, he had let off Donghyuck and his girlfriend when you had found them making out

speaking of which

the amount of times you had caught a half-dressed couple attached to each other was just kind of gross

the amount of time you spent with Renjun was starting to defrost you both a little

not a lot though; just simple things like how you would ask him how he found the potions homework

sometimes it would spark an argument, but you could now have a conversation without some sort of spiteful remark

you kind of had to; otherwise you were just left in silence

your time spent together was usually uneventful

 until the weekend of valentine’s day

that Saturday was valentine’s day and the day of a hogsmeade trip

Jisung had asked you to go, but you had an important Herbology exam on Monday, not to mention you had to be alert for prefect duty so you couldn’t be running around Hogsmeade

he had seemed annoyed, but he had always known how much your future meant to you

it seemed Renjun had thought the same because the only people in the library, or it seemed the entire castle was the two of you

prefect duty that night was the least awkward it had ever been

he had even said something that had made you laugh

however the lack of awkward tension between the two of you counterbalanced with the awkwardness of having to check every single broom cupboard you happened across as, as you had expected, many people had been affected by valentine’s day

what you hadn’t expected though, was to spot your boyfriend leaving the Gryffindor common room, hair disheveled and his t-shirt on inside out

“Jisung? What are you doing out of bed at this time?”

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights 

“Sorry, the Gryffindors were throwing another party again. You know what they’re like,” he laughed awkwardly

your eyes flickered down to the red and purple bruises which littered his neck

“I didn’t put those there. You were cheating on me, weren’t you?” You asked so matter-of-factly, that Renjun was somewhat taken aback

you were using the voice you used to answer the teacher or argue with him

you didn’t seem emotional at all

Jisung looked like he wanted to pretend, but his face fell into a tired, yet annoyed look

“Can you blame me?”

You blinked at him

“Yeah.”

“Your whole life is dedicated to another person, (Y/N).” Jisung gestured to where Renjun stood

“No it’s not! Don’t be so ridiculous.” You had scoffed

“You didn’t go out with me today because you wanted to beat him in a test and be awake to spend time with him.”

“That’s not true!”

“You didn’t spend time with me on my birthday because you couldn’t miss a prefect meeting or Huang would hold it over you. You made me spy on him, and he tried to get me to spy on you too. Ever since dating you my life has just been this whirlwind of Huang. You do realize everyone in school thinks you’re in love with each other!”

He was shouting at this point

You looked at him, unable to argue with him this time, but the coldness in your eyes refused to budge.

“That doesn’t give you the excuse to cheat. I’m breaking up with you.”

He rolled his eyes

“Fine. At least now you can fuck Huang to your hearts content, considering the whole school is already betting on it.”

Before you even had time to react, Renjun had shot across the hallway, raising his fist and, with a sickening crunch, broke his nose

“Renjun!” 

You grabbed his arm, pulling him back before he could do anymore damage

“Go to the hospital wing, Jisung.” You instructed

He glared at the two of you before swinging on his heel and leaving

you and Renjun didn’t look at each other for the rest of the night

or the next few weeks after that

Jisung had told everyone what had happened

he kind of had to, the bruising around his eyes gave away the events of the previous night

the whole school were watching you and Renjun intently, now that they knew how he had punched Jisung for you, thinking that this was finally it

you were finally going to get together

but you didn’t interact at all

not even to correct each other in class

the truth was, both of you were deliberating your feelings for each other

Jisung was right

you had told yourself that everything you did was for your career path, but why then did you have such a hyper fixation on Renjun?

you did well in life without your on-going rivalry with the Ravenclaw

was it just petty stubbornness? or was Jisung right in thinking that it was because of some other reason?

You found yourself staring at him in some of your classes

he was good looking, there was no denying that

but did you like him like that?

Renjun had been having the same internal battle 

why did he suddenly find it in himself to punch Jisung in the face?

that was incredibly unlike him

just the way he had spoken about you and to you had made him so angry

the year flew in, and soon it was June and you still hadn’t spoken to each other

It wasn’t until your very last day doing prefect duty that the silence was broken by you

“How’d you think you do on your exams?”

he looked at you, shocked. You hadn’t spoken to him in 5 months.

“Uh- good. I go stuck on familial curses on the Defense paper, but I think I did okay in the end.”

“Oh, I wrote that the spell needs to be tied to the bloodline as opposed to the surname.”

“I thought it was that you had to tie it to the surname, because it doesn’t count as a blood curse?”

“No, because if the caster doesn’t understand familial relationships it doesn’t work, any first year could understand that.”

He went quiet for a moment before mumbling,

“I’m going to cast a goddamn familial curse on you in a moment.”

“Why are we like this?” you asked, stopping your walk to pause for a moment in the middle of the hallway

He stopped too, but he refused to look at you

“You started it...” He grumbled, staring down at his feet.

You rolled your eyes

“Why did you punch Jisung?” You asked blatantly

His head shot up in surprise

“Why did you have Jisung spying on me?” He challenged back, taking a step forward

“Why did you have Jisung spying on me?” you repeated

you both fell silent, and only then you realized how close you had gotten

you didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered down to your lips for a moment

“If you’re going to kiss me, kiss me. Don’t pussy out now.” you uttered, your words sharp and cutting

“Oh, shut up.” He replied, rolling his eyes

“Make me.” You challenged

Grabbing your waist, he pulled you to his body, colliding your lips with his violently

you let out a muffled sound of surprise, not expecting him to follow through, but upon feeling the smile which had grown on his face at your shock, you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you

you couldn’t let him win, not after the past how many years of sexual tension

your lips competed in mess of sloppy kisses, his hands moving down from your waist to your hips, pushing you against the wall in the hallway as yours moved to the back of his head, grabbing a fistful of his hair, using the way he gasped at the feeling to deepen the kiss, sliding your tongue into his mouth

you let out a shameful groan at the feeling of his body pressing against yours and almost whined when he pulled away

your lack of contact didn’t last long, as he attached his mouth to your neck, biting down sinfully

you threw your head back against the cool stone wall which felt deliciously cold against the the heat of Renjun to allow easier access to him as he continued to suck marks into your skin until-

“Renjun?”

You practically threw Renjun off of you, ignoring how erotic the sight of his mussed hair and swollen lips were

in front of you stood the two hufflepuff prefects, Zhong Chenle and a girl who’s name you could never remember, staring at you

the girl seemed shocked, but Chenle simply had raised an eyebrow, a mischievous smirk on his face

you had forgotten him and Renjun were friends

“You do know I’m going to have to give you both detention for making out in the hallway. By your rules.” 

Renjun rolled his eyes

“New rule. We’re the exception.”

[yostresswritinggirl]

Scholars’ Chit Chat Prologue Submission

XXX

Cyno x Reader (Platonic, possibly romantic in the future)

*Lore dump warning

*Spoilers for all the Archon Quests and speculations of Teyvat

*Really it’s all serious talk

XXX

This is basically how you and Cyno met

XXX

The libraries of Sumeru are quiet, like how they’re suppose to be.

It is a new semester after all, the freshmen are still getting a grasp of the large campus, though Cyno does guess that soon enough they will be awed of this place.

Walking among the tall shelves, he tries to locate the section he had been researching on, but a voice calls out to him, breaking his concentration.

“Hey, you ever thought of why were you given a Vision?”

He turns to the source of the voice, only to see you there, sitting on top of one of the book shelves as your legs dangled from it.

“I would say that it is a question worth discovering with my entire life.”

“Huh, to think that you would answer so naturally… Wouldn’t one first ask who I am or ask why would I want to know that?”

“Because, first, I know who you are and second, those who come to this place seek knowledge.”

“Oh, so I had become the talk of school despite me being here for the first day?”

“Indeed, you were known as one who had declared to not take part in any sort of Mysticism studies yet aim to unveil the mysteries of this world. They called you naive yet you had earned the highest scholarship obtainable. It’s kind of hard to not let such news spread out.”

“Well, there are certainly advantages and disadvantages with this commotion, but that’s not my main focus anyways.”

“And may I ask what that would be?”

“To search for answers to fulfil my contract with the God of Wisdom.”

“Contract?”he questions, not capable of following your conversation, you slyly smiled at this.

“Unfortunately, this upcoming topic requires a fee to unlock~ I don’t mind sharing my findings to others, but when it comes to something as rare as words from an archon….”

“You get the idea, a price is required for everything after all.”

“…”

Cyno stared at you as if you were pulling his leg, but his reaction made you smirk even more.

“Oh, I won’t be asking for much, something like… Your name, perhaps?”

Suddenly realising that he hadn’t introduced himself yet and was reminded in such a playful matter, Cyno couldn’t help but let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Cyno, a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hmm… You know that one’s name is important, right? Names hold power, not necessary the one given by your parents but the one that defines your soul. There are quite a few stories mentioning that giving your name to someone is the same as giving a part of their soul to them.”

The male however lets out a laugh at your advice.

“Thanks for the warning, I’ll keep that on mind.”

“It was nothing, and to the end of my bargain, yes…’ you began as you jumped off the shelf, landing right in front of him. “Well, it’s more like a bet than a contract if I’m being honest.”

“Which is?”

“To find out the truth behind Khaen-riah’s fall, or more specifically, the reason behind the alchemist Gold’s fall, before I graduate.”

“?!”

The kingdom that had technology and Mysticism developed greatly even without an archon, then was destroyed five hundred years ago.

Not much is known about Khaen-riah, and yet...

Cyno, was shocked, no, shocked isn’t enough to describe how he’s feeling.

“That’s... nearly impossible, isn’t it? Just what sort of offer did he gave you to tip the scales-”

“If I succeeded, he would answer me anything I want to know about.”

“A-Anything?”

“That’s right~”

...

“What happens... If you fail?”

Everything comes with a price, as you had said.

“Then my life would be in his hands, for him to decide my fate.”

Despite only knowing you for not long, Cyno cannot believe what you had risked.

“Are you out of your mind?! What would you possibly want to know that you’re willing to-”

“To understand the laws of this world.” You answered one a simple matter.

“It has been so long that the human race had been existing and yet none of us came close in finding the truth of the world...”

“Or perhaps someone did, and they failed to tell anyone?”

“Even Khaen-riah itself is advance with Alchemy, history tells us that their greatest alchemist Gold fell and became quite a threat... But why...?”

“...”

“What I’m trying to say is that we’re too trusting towards the gods cause we’re told to do so since we were born, you know what I had learnt after being tricked once? Doubt everything when you first see it, question it’s existence and see if you can use another point of view to perceive it.”

“Why do you doubt the gods?”

“That’s because I believe in humanity’s wisdom. I believe that even without the gods, humanity can still take care of themselves as fine.”

“If you need to rely on someone else in order to live, then what’s the meaning of living in the first place?”

“This is... quite a lot...” Cyno mumbled.

“It is a lot to take in, I agree.” You nodded as you leaned against a shelf.

“Our senior Lisa left this place after mere two years and went to Mondstadt to be a librarian despite her being a genius the Academia hasn’t seen for 200 years... Is it because she saw something that nobody else realised?”

“So what you’re saying is... There’s more to the bigger picture?” Cyno guessed as you snapped your fingers. “Bingo.”

“But that being said, questioning the gods is the same thing as raging treason against this world... “ Cyno pointed out with worry. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Indeed, *I’m trying to understand the rules of this chess game, so that humanity, the supposed audience of this game gets the chance to participate in it.”

“And if we can win this chess game or not, is entirely up to our legacy...”

“You have too much belief in humanity... Or should I say you have no intention of losing in the first place?”Cyno predicted with a sigh.

“Hm, seeing that you’re being so interested in our bet, perhaps you would like to become my partner in crime?”

Hearing this, Cyno finally realised that he was tricked at the point when he answered your question about his Vision.

“So that was what you were going after for all along, huh?”

“Haha, yup~ I mean, our archon didn’t state anything about not able to team up with others, so why not?”

“Able to ask anything from the God of Wisdom himself, what else more can a scholar wish for?”

Cyno understand that your words are trying to lure him, but in truth, who can give up this opportunity?

“I mean, even if we fail, I’m the only one who would lose anything so it really sounds like a pretty good deal to me~”

“And would you mind me asking for a warrant from you for the time I would be spending on this?”Cyno requested, surprising you for a bit.

“Well, how about my name? You’ve heard about me but haven’t known that yet, correct? With a part of our souls in each other’s hands, no one can run off easily, don’t you think so?”

“Alright I accept the of your con-”

“It’s a promise, not a contract.”

Cyno pauses at your sudden seriousness, he then takes notice of the frown on your face.

“...”

“You want this partnership to be built on trust and not just a piece of paper?” He guessed.

You softly nodded, trying not to meet him in the eyes.

But there’s no way that he would accept that, you two only just met after all-

“Then I promise, that I will be your partner in crime upon this bet against the Dendro Archon.”

Wha-?!

Cyno offers you a small smile. “Everyone has their own reasons, I too wish that I can understand you better within these few years... That is if you wish, of course.”

I’m glad.

“Yeah, likewise, Cyno.”

“I also by offering my name, promise that we will find out the laws of this world and allow humanity to earn the chance to be a part of this chess game.”

“My name is-“

XXX

*The chess game is referencing The Feynman Lectures on Physics, it is also referenced from Honkai Impact 3rd (another game of MiHoYo) Honkai Quest event by the character Delta, it is possible that it works as well for the world of Teyvat.

(One way that's kind of a fun analogy to try to get some idea of what we're doing here to try to understand nature is to imagine that the gods are playing some great game like chess. Let's say a chess game. And you don't know the rules of the game, but you're allowed to look at the board from time to time, in a little corner, perhaps. And from these observations, you try to figure out what the rules are of the game, what [are] the rules of the pieces moving.

You might discover after a bit, for example, that when there's only one bishop around on the board, that the bishop maintains its color. Later on you might discover the law for the bishop is that it moves on a diagonal, which would explain the law that you understood before, that it maintains its color. And that would be analogous we discover one law and later find a deeper understanding of it.

Ah, then things can happen--everything's going good, you've got all the laws, it looks very good--and then all of a sudden some strange phenomenon occurs in some corner, so you begin to investigate that, to look for it. It's castling--something you didn't expect.)

And welp, Exiled, mind me adding this?

-To their future child(ren)

And this is how your parents met//slap

With the Gnosis shaped as chess pieces and with MiHoYo’s other games referencing this...

Well theories will be theories until they’re truly revealed.

Until then Snowdrop’s gonna freak out on what the heck I just wrote

There will be continuations... Just please don’t look forward to it... OwO

Oh I do NOT mind AT ALL, Snowdrop. CONTINUE. This series looks so freakin cool and refreshing even!

[pompompurin1028]

Hi Kat! How about 3, 4, 11, and 15 for the ask game? <3

Thanks for the ask Coff! Sorry about the delay

3 things ask game

3. 3 songs that mean something to you

Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera

Pale Blue by Kenshi Yonezu

For Good from Wicked

4. 3 topics you’d love to learn more about

1. Art History

My friend took it and he had me help them proofread their essays and just hang out with each other, and the topics seem so interesting, it's not something I'm familiar with but I would love to learn more about it

2. Psychology

Behavioral psychology seem like an interesting thing to understand

3. Chinese literature

I am Chinese after all, and though I have studied some passages in and throughout school, I actually hated it, I felt that it was too difficult (and still do) since most texts are written in old Chinese which is so difficult to understand because a lot of times words with two characters are shortened to one character which makes them almost incomprehensible and you have to guess, and characters could have a very different meaning from what they mean now too and texts hadn't begun to be written in vernacular Chinese until the 20th century so the majority of the texts we studied are such, we also had to be forced to memorize all the passages and also had reading comprehension on unseen old passages which makes it even harder. But as I grew older, didn't have to study them for school anymore, and think back on the passages the more interested I got, things I didn't grasp and thought was quite absurd in the past had me intrigued, quite a bit of Chinese texts of the past at least the ones we learnt intertwine philosophy and literature as well. With the internet there are usually translations, maybe it'll make it easier to pursue them once again, just not in an academic setting

11. 3 books that you would recommend everyone to read

Once again I'll just be adding some books I enjoyed or found interesting, not in any particular order

1. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I read this last week and actually really enjoyed it a lot more than I imagined. It just gives you a moment to reflect on alienation (is work/school alienating you from your loved ones? your passion? you hobbies? society?), it also makes you think about what is humanity?

2. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

I found it an extremely interesting reading experience and I still think about it sometimes. There's this short of feeling like I hadn't grasped everything there is to this book. Is it about the dangers of the pursuit for knowledge? Or the effects of the loss of innocence from gaining knowledge? Was it just a dream, or a nightmare? Also it can be described to be Kafka-esque, so mentioning Kafka before this, this book came to mind. It's a very short novella (best read together with visuals) with a bit of horror elements, and my first step into Haruki Murakami's work as well.

3. Otogizoshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu by Dazai Osamu

I did read this in my Chinese so the translations may differ in meaning, but I actually really enjoyed these stories, and when I read them I couldn't help but read through them in a couple days. It's basically four of Dazai's rendition of traditional Japanese fairytales, and I just found them so interesting to read! In his works, Dazai tends to add his own thoughts or feelings to his works and this is no different, if you've read No Longer Human, it's a bit different from it, although I too really enjoyed NLH, and at times you too can see some melochonic aspects you see in it, parts of it almost feels ironic, some are genuine and show the kindness in his literature. My favorites were The Stolen Wen and Urashima-san!

15. 3 quotes that have a special place in your life

1. 「請你更積極地愛這個俗世，恨這個俗世，一生都沈浸享受其中吧」 from Dazai Osamu's Blue Bamboo

It means "please actively love this world, hate this world, immerse yourself in it all your life" the actively sounds a bit weird but it makes more sense in Chinese😅. Although there is an English translation for this short story but it says "You must become even more attached to the world, and spend you life immersed in the hardships it presents you with", I just found myself liking the Chinese translation better

2. "You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain." - Tom Hiddleston

This was a quote I loved when I was younger

3. "How we ought to live? No one can say. All we have is the right to waver, like stray dogs that have hit rock bottom" from BSD

[carriagelamp]

April l was apparently the month for me to revisit some children’s authors who are steeped in controversy at the moment. So here’s my hot (well, lukewarm) takes on issues that absolutely do not need a single other person talking about them. Also some actual good books that I read this month!

Badger in the Basement

The Animal Ark books are a childhood classic — though I recently found out that apparently there’s a difference between American and British publications, and the American versions didn’t include a lot of actual COOL animals which is… bizarre. As a Canadian stuck in the middle of this, this nonsense drives me nuts. This one was about the main character, the daughter of pair of vets, trying to protect a local badger sett from men wanting to participate in badger digging and baiting. These books are always feel-good, and it was a nice single-day-read while I waited for a library book to come in.

Chi’s Sweet Home

The cutest manga series about the misadventures of a little kitten, Chi, who has been adopted by a loving family. I’ve never bothered to read them in order, but apparently this time I stumbled across the last in the series -- whoops! Still, stood on it’s own pretty easily, and it was a fun read! Things get tense when the family realize that they may have found Chi’s original home… and may have to give up Chi forever.

Earth Before Us: Dinosaur Empire!

This was an odd graphic novel, I feel like I’m not sure who the target audience was exactly. It was a nonfiction comic done in a Magic School Bus style, with the purpose of teaching current, up-to-date facts about the animals that lived in the Mesozoic Era. If you’re into dinosaurs, you’ll probably enjoy this! The art is absolutely adorable, I love the dinosaur illustrations, and I learnt some really neat facts. That being said, the pages are really dense, and there’s a lot of info crammed in… some of it will probably go way over a child’s head without specific additional teaching or a very strong personal interest. But that being said, a dinosaur obsessed kid is still probably going to really dig this… as would a dinosaur obsessed adult. It wasn’t my cup of tea exactly but I’m sure it is someone’s.

assorted Dr Seuss Books

I love these types of controversies because it means getting to listen to every moron who has never had an opinion on Dr Seuss ever start generating a mile of them out of the aether. So many people are so mad about the six books that are getting retired and I bet most of them haven’t even read them. These are not the friggin Cat In The Hat or The Lorax or even the likes of Yertle The Turtle. I was raised by a grade one teacher, was a voracious reader who loved Dr Seuss, and wrote my university thesis on children’s literature, and I still only knew two of the six books on that list. So by all means, if you want to write an essay explaining why those specific books are worth clinging to, feel free, but if you haven’t even heard of them maybe it’s not a big deal. *grumble*

Anyway, my grousing aside, it gave me the urge to reread a bunch of Seuss books, including the two retiring books I personally knew: McElligot’s Pool and To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. I do still enjoy both, especially McElligot’s Pool which always sparked my imagination, but it’s obvious why they’re being retired and I personally think it’s the right choice. There’s so much good kidlit out there, we can survive without these.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden

A f/f romance manga, fairly standard fair though cute if you’re looking for some historical angst, pretty dresses, and mutual pining. A young Japanese woman moves to England in the hopes of meeting a writer (Mr Frank) who she has long admired. Along the way she is employed by an enigmatic woman with plenty of money, rumours, and melancholy following her. I’ll be honest, uncut romance isn’t really my genre, but I’ll probably still try to the second book to see if the story picks up.

From The Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary

It’s no secret that I’ve been on a Hogan’s Heroes kick. This is the autobiography of Roberty Clary, who plays my favourite character in the show, Louis Lebeau. And holy shit what a life this man has had. He was a Jew growing up in France before the start of the war, and who was one of many children taken away from his family and sent off to the concentration camps in Germany. This was an amazing, intense, inspiring, and heartbreaking read… it has Clary’s voice all over it, and it tells everything from the charming childhood he had, to the horrors of the concentration camps, the brutality of survival, and then about his exciting journey into the entertainment industry afterwards. It’s an experience, would recommend if you’re a fan of the show.

The Ickabog

The second controversial author I read this month. Originally I was going to give Rowling’s new book a miss, given everything that’s been going on over the past few years, but in the end my curiosity got the better of me. Politics aside, it was a fun read! Not groundbreaking, but enjoyable enough and written in an interesting style. It didn’t read the same as a lot of modern kidlit, it felt more like a cross between a classic fairytale and a Dahl book. Perhaps a bit like Despereaux. It tells the tale of how an idyllic country gradually falls into ruin through the ignorance, inaction, and greed, and how a supposedly fictional monster hides the very real, human monsters at the heart of the country. It was cute and pleasant and I’m glad I decided to get it from the library, though for anyone who is choosing not to engage for political reasons: you aren’t missing anything major.

Franklin In The Dark

A Canadian classic. I don’t think there’s a single person my age who hasn’t read or been read a pile of these books, and the nostalgia is so comforting. I found this on Youtube and listened to someone read it to me, and honestly 10/10 would recommend for a calm evening.

The big reason I decided to seek this one out though, was because I finally got to the M*A*S*H episode that inspired this entire series! In the episode C*A*V*E, in which Hawkeye is freaking out over his claustrophia while the camp is forced to take shelter in a nearby cave during some intense shelling, he mentions that if he had been born a turtle he would have been afraid of his own shell, and that the other turtles would make fun of him cause he’d be forced to walk around in his underwear. And so this first story about a young turtle who’s afraid to sleep in his own shell and drags it around behind him. So if you were ever curious, Franklin the Turtle is in fact named after Dr Benjamin Franklin Pierce. (this is also why the French version is named Benjamin!)

Wolves of the Beyond: Lone Wolf

I loved the Guardians of Ga’Hoole books as a kid but I never read the Wolves of the Beyond series. This first book was an interesting read, Lasky does a great job creating worlds and societies for the animals that inhabit them. Lone Wolf is about a deformed wolf cub who was abandoned in the wilderness to die. And he would have, if a desperate mother bear, who had recently had her only cub killed, hadn’t stumbled across him and saved him, vowing to raise him as her own...

Petals

A “silent” graphic novel. It has beautiful artwork and is told entirely through pictures, no text at all. It’s loves and heart-wrenching, though it left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied… I felt like there should have been more. Still, a neat story.

The Southern Book Club‘s Guide To Slaying Vampires

What a banger of a novel!! I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s about a group of suburban mothers in the ‘80s who form a book club out of a shared need for community and a love of grisly true crime novels. But when a strange drifter appears in town and starts setting down roots… and when children begin disappearing… these women need to band together to confront the horrors that have invaded their neighbourhood, and face down not only a terrifying monster among them but the patriarchal system that allows it to flourish. To quote the preface:

“Because vampires are the original serial killers, stripped of everything that makes us human — they have no friends, no family, no roots, no children. All they have is hunger. They eat and eat but they’re never full. With this book, I wanted to pit a man freed from all responsibilities but his appetites against women whose lives are shaped by their endless responsibilities. I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom.    As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.“

The Weirn Books: Be Wary of the Silent Woods

I love Chmakova’s graphic novels, though I’ve only ever read her slice-of-life middle grade series before. This one is pure fantasy and very fun. It’s about two cousin “weirns” — witches with demon familiars — who attend the local night school. Things get strange though when an ominous figure appears outside the old, abandoned school house deep in the Silent Woods, and begins tempting children down its path…

I’m very much looking forward to word of a second book and was honestly kind of surprised that I haven’t heard more about this book given how popular her other series is. This has all the same charm and quirks but for those of us who prefer stories based in fantasy rather than reality.

And A Bonus...

For some masochistic reason I got a Garfield book out of the library. Jeez, if I didn’t love these as a kid, I found them absolutely laugh out loud hilarious, and now I just don’t see it anymore. But here I will share the one strip in the book that actually made me laugh

[justanotherlifeff]

How 'bout a Bakugou fic where he's in love with an older woman, lets say his senpai. I just love the idea of Bakubae pining after someone who's a little bit older than him 🤤

Not my senpai

Bakugou stared at the big red zero on the test paper in his hand with an angry expression. Ofcourse he, THE Bakugou Katsuki couldn't get a fucking zero on a test! There must have been some sort of mistake! As if Aizawa was reading Bakugou's mind, he looked at Bakugou and stated, "Bakugou, there hasn’t been any mistake in my grading if that's what you're thinking. You got perfect scores in every other test except for English. If you want to be a top hero, your English speaking skills need to be top notch since famous pro heroes are sometimes sent on missions abroad. You need extra tutoring and we'll talk in details about it after classes are over.". "Yes, sensei.." Bakugou grumbled, almost blowing up the test paper in his hand as he crumbled it and shoved it in his bag. The worst part of it all was that he was the only one in class to fail English. Iida, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu came from expensive middle schools which gave them good English skills since they already learnt it all from back there. Midoriya was always good at taking notes which is why he managed to keep up with English as he also took help from Iida and Todoroki. Uraraka and Tsuyu took help from them as well and managed to pass the English exams. Kaminari and Sero knew English from video games while Mina and Kirishima learnt it from american fashion and fitness blogs. Koda learned English from cooking videos while Jirou learnt it from singing English songs. Satou apparently had relatives abroad and therefore, he was taught the language by his parents. No one knew how Ayoama knew such good English while the others simply seeked guidance from Yaoyorozu. Hell, even Mineta knew enough English to pass the exams thanks to watching way too many English porn videos! Bakugou was the only one with the massive ego to not ask for help from anyone which in turn came back to bite him on his own ass.

When class was finally over, Bakugou sat at his chair angrily, waiting for his discussion with Aizawa. He knew that getting extra tutoring would improve his English skills and ofcourse, he didn't want to be topped by "shitty deku". Then again, taking help from people was rather embarassing for him. However, it's not like he had an option in this case. While thinking of all these, he didn't notice the third year student slip in the classroom. Bakugou was currently in the second year of UA. During his first year, he was able to manage English classes somehow but now that lessons got way harder, he managed to get his first failing grade in his entire life. Bakugou's trail of thoughts was broken by Aizawa speaking to him. "I don't have any extra time to give you extra tutoring and nor does the other teachers. (L/N) here would be helping you with English because of that. She's one of the big three of the third year and she's got the top marks in every year so don't underestimate her and behave. Talk to her and set your extra lesson timings." Aizawa drawled before getting out of the class with his sleeping bag, leaving Bakugou with you. "Hey, I'm (L/N) (Y/N) from 3A and I'm glad to help you out with English. So, Bakugou-kun, tell me when you're free and we can work out a time to study together?" you told him with a small smile as you sat on the chair infront of him. "Am free after classes everyday for 2 hours." Bakugou muttered with a scowl. "I see. You're not too friendly are you? Well, it doesn't matter. As long as you cooperate and as long as your English skills get better, you don't need to play friends. I'll see you after class on Wednesdays and Thursdays alright? See ya tommorow." You stood up, your polite smile gone to replace your face with seriousness. Well, atleast you successfully broke his expectations of you being a random extra cause it was like you read him by his expression alone.

"(L/N)-SENPAI IS GIVING YOU EXTRA TUTORING? GODDAMNIT WHY DID I NOT FAIL ENGLISH?!?!?!??!" Kaminari wailed at the information passed onto him for the 100th time. "Why is dunce face acting like that?" Bakugou asked Kirishima, tired of Kaminari's fanboying over you. "You really don't know anything about (L/N)-senpai do you Bakubro? Her quirk is similar to principal Nezu and she pretty much is smarter than a computer. She can tell exactly what you're thinking by just looking at you cause she's so good at reading a person's body language and she apparantly got into the hero course without having any physical quirk just cause she apparantly made a different student hit a building in a certain place that made all the other buildings in Ground beta fall over crushing all the robots. Principal Nezu already requested her to take over his position as soon as he retires. She won the sports festival three times in her year cause she uses everyone's quirk against them somehow. As far as I know, no one really understands what's going on in her mind cause she always has this polite smile on her and so far, no one has been able to befriend her or get anywhere close to her cause she somehow always shuts them out. She's pretty much the prettiest, smartest and the most untouchable girl in UA. Which is why, Kaminari is shitting himself cause (Y/N)-senpai would never go out of her way to tutor someone and you're seriously lucky cause she's probably the smartest person in Musutafu besides Principal Nezu." Kirishima explained. At the moment, Bakugou clearly understood why your expression suddenly changed just because he scowled. You probably understood that he thought you were an extra when in reality, you were anything but one. The whole ordeal, somehow, made Bakugou feel embarassed about judging you without knowing shit.

Wednesday came sooner than he expected and Bakugou knew that he had to compensate for embarassing himself. Ofcourse you probably thought that he infact was the extra cause you were clearly way smarter than he was. While you tried to find his issues with English, he was feeling uncomfortable thinking about the events from back then. "Bakugou-kun, I'm not looking down on you cause you looked down on me. I can understand that you figured out my quirk from someone but it's alright. People tend to judge others and that's normal human behaviour. Now that you feel bad about it, that's enough for me and we can just forget that happened." you told him, again with that polite smile. "Okay." Bakugou muttered feeling awkward since he wasn’t used to people reading him like that. Like Kirishima mentioned, you really were extremely smart and you figured out exactly what made his English skills weak in a matter of minutes. While he had a good understanding of grammer, he clearly had no practice when it came to implementing it. After talking to him for a while, you figured out his interests quite easily and for the next few months, you brought him books that he might like for him to read out loud to you. Bakugou was a smart person as well and it didn't take him any more than the next three months to master English well. By then, the two of you read over a hundred books together in the library. The two days of tutoring turned into all seven days a week and Bakugou found himself drawn to you after the first month. While you were polite and cold at the begining, you started to laugh at Bakugou's dry offensive humour. Bakugou found your smart remarks funny as well, letting out a deep chuckle at times. The books you got him were all up to his interests at the beginning but with time, they ended up being books that you genuinely enjoyed which made Bakugou learn more and more about you. You, like him, were a misunderstood person. You understood exactly what others thought of you which made you detach yourself from people. Everyone always thought of you negatively behind your back and they believed that you wouldn’t figure it out. The only problem was that you always did. People were easy to read after all and you understood why people found you to be too intense. People are naturally made to be scared of the unknown and no one really knew you. Well, except Bakugou. You opened up to this certain boy because he always showed what he felt. To him, there was no reason to hide his feelings, he would say that he dislikes someone on their face. You liked that bold attitude and you found yourself opening up to him, thinking of him as a friend or maybe more.

When Bakugou looked at the red 100/100 written on his English test paper, a smirk formed at his face. He couldn't wait to show it to you and brag about his English skills. He knew that he wouldn't be here without you but then again, you already knew that. He loved that he didn’t have to voice his appreciation out loud to you since you always picked up on his subtle gestures of appreciation unlike everyone else. Hell, you were smart enough to see the good in him, to see everything else other than his prickly exterior. He finally knew why Kaminari was fangirling over you months back since ge found himself doing the same. You were the embodiment of perfection to him and now, three months later, he knew that he was head over heels in love with you. However, unlike you, he didn't have any way of predicting you. You were older than him by an year. Hell, you were a senior student and you always rejected everyone who asked you out. You'd be starting out as a pro hero in less than a few months while he'll still be a high school student and ofcourse that meant that you’d most probably reject him. With all that negative thoughts, he went to the library to meet up with you for tutoring sessions. Given that he already aced his exams, there was no more reason for you to tutor him anymore. The thought that you probably wouldn’t talk to him again made him feel sick at the stomach. "Hey Bakugou-kun! How did the test go?" you asked him with a genuine smile as you sat at one of the tables in the library. With a cocky smirk, Bakugou held out his test paper, showing off his perfect grade. To his surprise, you stood up and did a little weird victory dance as you clearly looked extremely happy. "Damn, (L/N), you seem more happy about my grades than I am" Bakugou teased you, making you blush furiously as you realised that you literally danced like an idiot infront of him. "It's (L/N)-senpai Bakugo-kun! Besides, all teachers feel happy when their students get perfect scores you know!" you tried to defend yourself by teasing him. Usually, he would tease you back with some sort of insulting remark but this time, he was quiet. You knew about his feelings for you for a while. After all, Bakugou wasn’t very hard to read. To be honest, you found yourself falling for him as well. However, you wanted him to make the first move. You were older than he is but that didn't mean that you’d have to take charge in every case. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he couldn’t gain that confidence and now that your tutoring sessions came to an end, you didn't know what to do. "Senpai huh..." you heard Bakugou mutter, his hair hiding his eyes as you saw a small smirk on his face. "I refuse to call you my senpai, (L/N). You may be an year older than I am, you may have a quirk that makes you a hundred times smarter than I am but I saw through you. Don't think that I didn’t notice those blushes on your face whenever I teased you or how you look like the world ended now that our tuition sessions are over. I seriously was confused at the begining but now, I'm pretty confident that you like me, don't you, (Y/N)?" Bakugou asked, looking straight at your eyes as he called you by your first name. To say that you were blushing would be an understatement as you were completely red by his boldness. "As far as I'm concerned, you're not my senpai from now on. You'll be my girlfriend instead. If I'm wrong, then you can walk away from me and I'll not bother you again." Bakugou stated, a blush forming at his face. He didn’t think this through. Infact, as soon as he saw your sad expression, he decided that he needed to confess now. It as now or never. Bakugou was never good with feelings and you understood why his confession sounded more like a declaration that you were his. A small shy smile formed on your face as you looked at him and said, "Alright, I'm not your senpai". The next thing you knew was that you were pulled into a deep passionate kiss.

Bonus: "YOU'RE DATING (L/N)-SENPAI??!?!?!?! WHY DID I NOT FAIL ENGLISH GAHHHHHH" Kaminari was bawling in the 2A common room while Bakugou looked at Kirishima with an annoyed expression and told him, "Tell Dunce face to shut his trap." Kirishima only looked at Bakugou with a shocked expression thanks to the news that Bakugou was dating you being thrown at him moments ago.

[Author's note: I've been wanting to write something like this for a while. Hope you liked it!]

[pathofcomet]

how can i love the heartbreak, you’re the one i love

fandom: ikemen vampire

pairing: isaac/MC

summary: written for isaac week, day 1; prompt: firsts. OR  Isaac recounts meeting his lover, and what it means to love to begin with. (AO3)

notes: This narrative is inspired by whatever the fuck Jeanette Winterson's books make me feel.Title belongs to a song by AKMU.

Isaac can remember the first time he has seen her, his heart thrumming in his ear, trying to make his disinterest visible. In the end, what is it to him, that there is now a woman here, disrupting their everyday lives, even as she is supposed to help out? Like with everything else that doesn’t interest him, Isaac actively ignores her.

That is, until he cannot anymore.

The first time he found out that he is supposed to be a vampire; and a monster on top of everything else, an aberrant even in the midst of the scariest of creations, he remembers the taste of his own death. This must be, then, a punishment from God – for wanting to overcome the most logical, most obvious step of life. Physics, as he has learnt to know them, relies on that which can be proven.

He doesn’t have the calculations for this place, for the reason why his heart is beating in his chest again, for all the memories that he carries from a life that is centuries old at this point, or for the failure that his particular body presents.

He only knows that when thirst overcomes him, ignored for too long – the tickling at the back of his throat turns into an itch, and then into an open wound, clawing at his being, clouding his judgement, darkening his vision. He came back to life just to not have entire control over it.

He has promised, in the clarifying moments after he almost bit her, after her edges cleared for him, by virtue of her tantalizingly sweet blood – he promised that this first misstep will be his last.

It’s the first promise that he breaks, in this second life he’s given.

To be fair, this entire thing feels like it’s his first time, all over again. And Isaac is mal-adjusted and clumsy, like a new-born, like a baby. He knows she jokes sometimes, that the geniuses of the world are so bad at knowing basic worldly skills. Arthur, despite his inability to go without it, has no idea how to get the mix of coffee just right, to his own liking. Vincent, bright and smiling and understanding almost to a fault, cannot see the ugliness, pick at the shadows. Mozart, so focused on his art that he forgets his words should be filtered. And then, finally, Isaac, with his lack of words entirely.

Even now, so much further down on this path she agreed to share with him, he catches her smiling as she reads a book – and he stops on the spot, dumbfounded, feeling his tongue heavy in his mouth, his head heavy with words he doesn’t know how to say. In the morning, as she kisses him, he’d like to tell her he loves her, with the same ease that she possesses. Maybe keep going: with his gratefulness, thanks that he’d like to lavish upon her always, for choosing him every single day, a choice that she keeps on making. With her beauty, which disarms him entirely.

But Isaac fidgets on the spot, patiently ties the ribbon in her hair, most annoying strands of hair out of her face. Isaac stares, opening his mouth and closing it again with no sound in-between, wringing his fingers together.

And she chuckles, her soft lips over his cheek or forehead – or pressed harshly against his own mouth. His fault as a genius, the touch of humanity, to teach him humility.

Isaac still tries. It’d be a first not to.

If an experiment fails, you just change the variables. With her at his side, it’s really hard not to change, or at least not want to change.

That’s a first in itself, as well. Isaac, his life so long and so objectively successful – thinks he has the recipe to living quite perfected. He has avoided most tragedies of living (though isn’t living in itself a tragedy?), he has poured his most in his studies and research. But to have her by her side, always open, always charmingly demanding, makes something inside him shift.

He wants to be better; he wants to finish his writings sooner, so he can join her in an evening of reading in the library, by the fire, comforted by the sound of her heartbeat, the fast turn of the page as she’s immersed in a story. He wants to be a good professor, so that when she comes and visits the university, the Recteur can speak of him with pride to his beloved, the students respect her by virtue of what she means to him.

And he wants to give her the gift of surety. He’s had a long and objectively successful life to learn the possible readings of a gesture, and centuries added on top of that; she has a couple of decades. His heart aches with fondness at the miracle that she is, alive and here and his. It doesn’t feel fair, to be loved so much.

And of course, Isaac loves her, his first love, coming so late. He would have waited forever for her, and it almost feels like he did. He’s glad he didn’t quite have to. Isaac, in his mal-adjusted and clumsy way, tries to make it known.

He kisses her wrist over breakfast, thanks for straightening the collar of his shirt before he heads out for work. He picks all the books on her beautifully scrawled list from town. He sits through her favourite theatre plays, even if he despises the author (Shakespeare). He waits for her in his office with a cup of tea, exactly to her liking (Earl Grey with two teaspoons of sugar and a bit of milk). He knows those things, at the top of his head.

And she smiles, like she knows. After all, if there is someone who can read him at a glance, it’d be the woman who has his heart. Maybe it’s because she knows that he wants to do even more; he never settles with his research, why would he when it comes to his curiosities about love?

Love. What a strange word. An even stranger feeling. The expanse of her skin, where it touches against him in the cold hours of the night. The familiarity of her smell, when she hugs him as a welcoming. The thoughts of her, that accompany him in his lonely hours. Her kisses, soft lips against his. Opening his eyes to her hair splayed over his pillow. Her.

She’s heading in town with Sebastian; stops by his room to ask if he’d like anything. He stares instead of replying, the familiar limits of his abilities welcoming him once again. Isaac shakes his head.

“Return soon?” he says, plea and order, shy inquiry and desperate yearning both.

She promised she’ll read one of his papers. He corrects more easily, when ideas come in her soothing voice – even if she continues to vehemently deny any understanding of his subject. Maybe this time together is all the more precious exactly because of it.

She leans close to him; Isaac pauses his writing, just in time for the touch of her hand, playing through his hair.

“Of course,” she says, voice soft and tinged with… love.

Isaac looks at her, how darling she looks, how dear she is to him.

“Y-you know,” he starts, and then sighs, resting his forehead against her waist. She wraps her arms around his shoulder, protective and lovingly.

“I know.”

“I still want to say it,” the slightest pout in his voice.

She lets him go, he straightens in his chair. Expectant, fingers crossed in her lap, like she shouldn’t hurry because Sebastian is waiting for her, like she’s not keeping him from his work: she stares at him.

Isaac’s tongue pokes out, wetting his lips – a dash of colour that catches her eye. She wants to kiss him; she always wants to kiss him. Her want for it is the closest she’ll feel to his hunger for her, she imagines, so she calms herself down, like he almost always does. She opens her hand, palm up, an unspoken invitation.

Recognized, Isaac laces his fingers with hers, raises hers to press it against his cheek, with the adoration of one who holds on to love for dear life.

“I love you,” he breathes, murmurs, the words barely even there.

“I know, you’ve been telling it to me for a while now, you know?” she replies, bringing his wrist to her lips.

She kisses the thin skin, his pulse fluttering under her lips, a mimicry of his own gestures.

“I-it’s different,” he stutters, his face warm.

“It is,” she hums in agreement. “But not more.”

Oh.

She taps her fingernail against his mug: his tea, as he prefers it (green tea, with a slice of lemon and a teaspoon of honey), prepared by her earlier in the morning, before getting ready to go out for her errands.

The vastness of her heart, knowing him in his entirety. Disarmingly so.

“Won’t take long,” she adds, and she’s gone and he’s alone, but not entirely so.

Not when everything around him is proof of what they share.

Oh.