#and if you romance them they all tell you their lovers went on a quest of their own and they'll reunite with them down the line

[icharchivist]

On one hand, why would you have sex with a guy who clearly curses the people he sleeps with???

On the other hand, at least he's good at that, indeed. I'm a Belial stan, I actually don't have a leg to stand on

Counter point, why would you not have sex with a guy who looks like THIS

and he IS very good at it.

You're on a deadly mission anyway, you'll die sooner than later, may as well have fun while at it--

[veilkeeper]

The Sacrifice of Souls, Part 2

alt title: why im putting corentin in the torment nexus

this is the second instalment of a 2-part essay series. the first part focused on the events of emmrich's quests, as well as my analysis and critique of his quest line overall. this part will focus specifically on the effects these choices have on the romance, as well as my thoughts on how i'm handling the events for my emmrichmancing rook, corentin.

spoilers ahead! beware that both essays are going to assume you have completed The Sacrifice of Souls and at least one of the follow up quests, Heir to the Dead or Will and Testament. if you have not, i suggest returning to this later and playing it out yourself.

so let's start with the most important question of the day:

what happens to the romance after the sacrifice of souls?

good news! no matter what you pick, the romance can continue on unabated. there's just some long-term details and tone changes that need to be considered.

if you choose to save manfred, be prepared for parenthood. previously, the game had poked at the idea of manfred being emmrich's kid, but now that manfred is talking and progressing at a rapid pace, he is in full "magic-flinging skeleton son" territory, and a romanced rook is going on that journey with emmrich. there is also now a near certainty that rook is going to outlive him��regardless of your personal headcanons, the game assumes that rook is younger than emmrich, and now that he's locked into a mortal lifespan that's something that needs to be considered. especially since, as discussed in part one, emmrich's fears of his own mortality haven't really been addressed at all.

but if you're into co-parenting a rambunctious skeleton with an older, gentlemanly necromancer (which, let's be real, is what most people signed up for when they hit those first flirt options anyway), then this path is probably exactly what you were looking for.

that said, let's talk about the lich romance angle. i was worried when i went down this path that the romance would just immediately end, but it actually doesn't! emmrich certainly wonders if it will—before he undergoes his rites, he has a conversation with rook about how they'll navigate a relationship once he's undead. he says that his senses will change, the way he feels (not about rook, but literally the way he feels) will change, and his body will be different. but they agree they can make it work, so hell yeah.

and if you like the whole "immortal lover" trope, there's some stuff here to like. the lich lords, when you arrive to bear witness to the rites, refer to rook as "challenger of the gods, volkarin's beloved", and emmrich waxes poetic about how even after rook passes, the way he feels about them will be immortalized alongside him. there's also a very sweet kiss before he goes into the rite, and rook has the opportunity to tell him they love him, just in case he doesn't come back out. and afterwards, they have a powerful, immortal skeleton boyfriend, so for the monsterfuckers in the audience.... nice.

so what's the catch?

if you're looking for a fairly unambiguously "happy ending", and if you like the idea of your rook parenting for the foreseeable future, saving manfred is your easy option. on this path, rook and emmrich will have many good years together before he dies. there's absolutely still room for angst here because of emmrich's unresolved issues, but there's definitely a more... domestic, low-key quality to this path.

the lich romance has some pretty glaring obstacles, and that's probably a big part of why a lot of people doing the romance might not pick this. first of all, he wasn't joking, he's literally a skeleton. he can put on a glamour for polite company, but he is a skeleton. realistically, intimacy is going to be complicated by that. on top of that, as a lich for the mourn watch, he's going to have certain duties that he can't get away from. myrna herself asks if they're going to be seeing less of emmrich now that he's a lich, and his answer is basically not yet. at some point, some time in the future, he is going to have to go into the necropolis to begin his lich duties and he won't really be coming back out after. so in a very real way, there is an invisible timer on the relationship where it'll basically be dead in the water unless rook makes some serious lifestyle changes* to accommodate that (assuming they're allowed to). so there's some built in angst with the lich romance that may or may not be your preferred flavour, because his job might end their relationship long before rook's mortal lifespan even becomes a consideration.

*theoretically a mourn watcher rook is going to have an easier time with that particular adjustment, but i'm speaking from my perspective as a LoF rook

decisions, decisions

this is the part where i start talking about my rook, but do us both a favour and keep reading, because believe it or not there is still some emmrich analysis in this part, and it might inspire you to do your own dissection for your rook, too.

so my rook is corentin laidir, and from the moment emmrich said the word "lich" he's been quietly freaking out about it. largely because of the whole "you're going to leave me to be a lich in the necropolis" thing.

i had hoped that resolving emmrich's quest line would give me a very clean solution to the lich freak out issue, and it does! ....if i liked the ending where we save manfred. which i don't. controversial opinion, but i don't actually care about manfred enough for corentin to be his second dad, and from a roleplay perspective i don't think corentin would advocate for bringing manfred back.

but on the other hand, the lich!emmrich option is quite literally corentin's nightmare. what corentin wants, at his core, is for emmrich to accept both manfred's death and his own, whenever it may come. he wants emmrich to understand that running from his own fear of death like that is beneath him. is it honouring death to defy it like that, even (supposedly) in the name of service? corentin would argue no, if he could bring himself to argue with emmrich about anything.

selfishly, corentin is also afraid of what eternity means. sure, emmrich says now that he'll always remember corentin and what they have, but what about a thousand years from now? he's afraid of being replaced, and of becoming insignificant to someone who is so, so important to him right now. in this life.

so the question becomes: do i choose an imperfect, happier ending that maintains emmrich's mortality, or do i throw corentin into an emotional blender?

why i'm putting corentin in the torment nexus

one of the problems of being a creatively-minded person while playing decision-based games is that there comes a time when you have to make a choice:

do i work with the options available to me, or do i pull out my scalpel and gut this thing?

and in moments like this, where neither option is quite right, i have no choice but to get surgical. pick what's interesting, and frankenstein that thing into something that works well enough to carry me to the end.

and the fact of the matter is, the lich path is just more interesting to me in this case because it's an angst machine, and because it makes sense for him to get stuck in it. if i dig into corentin's character, in that exact moment when a decision is made, there's no world where he's going to tell emmrich to give up on his life's work just to bring manfred back and stay mortal. but there is a world where he'd recognize that telling emmrich to give up on his life's work for a guy who loves him who he met five minutes ago is a dick move, and then he'd get completely caught off guard when emmrich says he's going to start preparing for his rites now.

so where does this leave corentin?

here's how i'm handling the situation for the time being, unless something comes along that completely revolutionizes how i feel about all this.

every time emmrich has talked about becoming a lich, it's always been a vague future thing with no real timeline attached. in hindsight, it's pretty clear that the only thing delaying the process was himself—emmrich was uncertain if he was willing to risk the danger of the rites. this uncertainty, however, has left corentin with the impression that even if he was 100% sure and raring to go forward, there would be tests and preparation that needed to happen first, and there would be time before the rites could happen.

so when the question of whether or not to save manfred comes up, corentin does what any good boyfriend would and he tells emmrich that he's dedicated his life to potentially becoming a lich, and he needs to be really certain before throwing that away.

corentin is allergic to being a bummer; even when he's really struggling with something, he feels like he can't talk about it if it'll upset someone else. emmrich is desperately afraid of death, and corentin is desperately afraid of being alone, so he's gotten very good at keeping himself... palatable. so when emmrich responds to his encouragement by saying that he'll start preparing for the rites immediately? well, corentin feels locked into the supportive boyfriend schtick. he feels like he has to be unerringly supportive and not question emmrich's decision, even though it is definitely something that effects him, too.

the whole time emmrich's preparing to become a lich, corentin is thumbs up "you got this babe!"-ing his way through it, all while frantically trying to squash down the feeling of impending doom. because he is 100% completely convinced the other shoe is going to drop at any moment and emmrich is going to go to the Lich Corner Store for cigarettes and never come home.

though it should be noted, the skeleton part of "skeleton boyfriend" is really the least of his concerns. it's just everything around that.

and where does this leave emmrich?

he doesn't know it, but it leaves him with a pretty miserable boyfriend. they're going to have to reckon with corentin's issues at some point.

just like they're going to have to deal with emmrich's. becoming a lich is maybe not 100% a good thing, at least not right this second. he says that he "thought he knew its price," and in keeping with that banter i linked in the first part, he seems unprepared for the reality of losing people. it feels a little like he's rushing into it headfirst before the grief can hit him full force and he can get cold feet.

i'm really curious how he's going to feel if something happens to corentin (or almost happens), and it gives him a reality check on his boyfriend's mortality. losing manfred is already unimaginably hard... is he prepared for what it's going to be like when he loses corentin?

because i don't think he's realized that he isn't, yet.

[alcazarofthestars]

Hi, hi! I have a request~ What about Yandere Blade x reader who was a part of astral express? The reader is close friend of Dan Heng, so they are always together because their personality is similar. Like, Blade fall in love with them, but they hate him because he's Dan Heng's enemy. That's it. Anyways, nice to meet you~ :3

Oooo~, so like enemies to lovers or a one sided romance? That's interesting! I really liked this idea so I tried a different writing style, please tell me whether or not you like it! It's nice to meet you too btw!

Summary: After leaving the Luofu due to certain unknown reasons and joining the astral express along with a close friend, [Name] had met a rather mysterious man who called himself Blade. After their encounter, they keep feeling watched... Thankfully their dearest friend, Dan Heng, is always there with them to help! (Takes place after Loufu story quest.)

Warnings: ooc, Yandere, yandere content, stalking, unrequited love, one sided romance, unhealthy obsession, obsession, fighting, bad writing, blood, mc is Stelle, gender of reader is unspecified etc. If any of those scare and/or make you uncomfortable please leave.

Suggested to read in dark mode!

Being a member of the astral express has its own pros and cons even more so since you have the ability to manipulate blood, why don't we go through the pros and cons of being in the astral express crew in [Name]'s point of view?

Pros:

1. You get to travel the galaxy with friends while also going on fun adventures together!

"March, call everyone to come here! We're almost arriving at our next destination!" A cheery voice called out to a light pink haired girl who started joyfully skipping down the astral express' halls with glee. After a while March had come back with two other people one with dark black hair and the other with long grey hair. "Finally," The [HairColor}ette started. "We're nearing our next stop!" They said excitedly while turning to her pink haired friend who shared the same level of excitement as they do while imaginary stars surround the happy duo. Seeing this, the black haired male just sighed while the grey haired girl only hummed in response. "We're only stopping here to get some supplies, remember?" As the male said this, the stars surrounding the duo shattered and fell to the ground. "Really? Aw man, I really wanted to look around..." [Name] pouted as they turn their attention onto their black haired friend. "... Fine, I'll ask Miss Himeko to give us a few days to explore, happy?" He sighed unable to resist his friend's pouting face. "Very, thanks Dan heng!" They said as they hugged him. "Wanna try some of the food there? I heard it's very good!" March chirped happily. "hm... I heard so too. Sure why not." The taller grey haired female responded. "Seriously? You two want to spend the time there?" Their black haired friend deadpanned at them while [Name] went between the two to stop any chance of a conflict. "Ahaha, how about me and Stelle go check out the food while you and [Name] go sight seeing?" March suggested as all the others nodded. "Great! It's settled then! We'll regroup back at our hotel at nine, deal?"

2. Meeting new friends and making new connections while helping others in the process!

The black and [HairColor] duo walked around a historical sight while taking pictures and reading the history of said sight. "Ne ne, Dan heng... Are you hungry yet? We've been walking and looking around for one and a half hour..." They complained to their close companion to which he only hummed in response. "Sure, let's go get something to eat." He said as his dear friend cheered as they took his hand and dragged him at a quick speed. "Hey, calm down. I can walk on my own." He grunted as [Name] finally let go of his hand. "A-ah, right... my bad..." They apologized as Dan heng turned around to dust off some dirt on his shirt, but when he turned around again his dear friend had disappeared from his sight. Meanwhile, [Name] had got distracted by a spiderlily that shouldn't be able to grow on this planet. Intrigued, they went to investigate it only to find a trail of said flowers growing. Curiosity kills the cat they say as when [Name] followed the trail, they found an injured stranger who had many massive wounds all over his body. The unconscious injured stranger had handsome features; like his long silky black hair that fades to red covering one of his eyes, broad shoulders, his ears that both carries an earring one that's shaped like a tassel and the other is shaped like a piercing(?), bandages covering some parts of his body, his strong hands-... 'What am I thinking?! Get it together, [Name]! Stop staring at the stupidly hot stranger and help him!' They thought as they finally stopped gawking at the feature that adorned the injured stranger. 'The nearest hospital or clinic is miles away... But... The hotel we're staying at isn't far! And I think I have some medical supplies in my bag to help him, time to put all those lessons with Miss Himeko to use! Great thinking, [Name]!' They thought happily while trying to carry the stranger.

After a while, they were finally able to get the stranger to their hotel room but to do so they had used an unused long coat and a dark shade of glasses along with a black masker to hide his injuries and disguise him so that [Name] wouldn't get reported by onlookers to the police for kidnapping. Thankfully, by some miracle, it had unexpectedly worked. They placed him on their bed and used some alcohol from their bag to clean his wounds before using their ability to manipulate blood in order to stop more blood from flowing out of his body then patched it up using the stuff she had prepared from her bag and lastly took off his top to place bandages on then placed the blanket on his body. 'I did it! Miss Himeko would be proud!' Happy with their work, [Name] let out a breath that was unintentionally held in due to the stress and sighed before looking at their phone to send Dan heng a message that they're fine and went to explore a bit by themselves while also telling him to meet up at the hotel lobby just as they planned together. Looking back at the stranger, [Name] couldn't help but feel as if they had met/knew him before in the past... (Pls bear with me I don't really know how to bandage a person..)

Not that long after [Name] had gotten very tired to the point they were fighting to keep their eyes open but soon fell asleep while sitting on an armchair that they dragged from under the lamp and moved it beside their bed so they could watch over their patient. Soon, the stranger woke up and the first thing he saw was a gorgeous [HairColor]ette sleeping so peacefully on a chair right next to him. The sight of them made him speechless, breathless even and wonder how such a perfect being exists in this cruel world. He couldn't help but be attracted to the said person who looked like they were blessed by the aeon of beauty herself, expecilly with those features of their's that make you want to keep looking for hours on end. Snapping out of his thoughts he shuffled around the bed to get out but ended up waking up the sleeping beauty (that's what he named you) beside him as they let out a yawn. "Haah... Are you awake...?" They mumbled while stretching their arms up, "Mhm... Do you need anything...?" [Name] asked while offering a smile. "... Where am I? and who are you?" He asked. "Ah, right. Well first of all, we're at a hotel located in St. Freya. Secondly, I'm [Name]. Nice to meet you... uh..." They responded. "Blade, my name." He answered. "Ah! Alright, nice to meet you Blade!" [Name] said as they gave him a closed eye smile to which he only nodded "Likewise." He said while looking at the person that saved him. "That reminds me," They started. "is there anything else you need?" [Name] asked clearly worried about their patient's health and need. "... Why... Why did you save me?" He questioned in a monotone voice, if you didn't know any better than you would've thought he was angry but due to a a friend who is as cold as ice most of the time, you have learnt to read people's expressions and body language to understand a persons true feelings. "A-ah... Well you see, I was traveling with some close friends of mine and we were going sightseeing but I kinda got bored so I went to look around, that's when I found you in a small alley... It wouldn't be kind of me to just ignore you, but since the nearest hospital or clinic was miles away I took you here. I apologize if I did a bad job at cleaning and patching your wounds, I'm not that skilled in these types of stuff... But if you do need anything else just ask me, alright. I need to go out for a while to meet up with some friends, will you be alright here?" What came after their question was nothing but silence that was cut by Blade's answer "... No, I'll be fine." He said with an unsure tone. "... Alright then, please rest while I'm away...!" [Name] said as they took their bag and left from the hotel room door.

"Yes, I'm very sure, March." While looking for her friends in the now crowded lobby she heard the voice of her closest friend, Dan heng. "Hey! You guys! Over here!" [Name] shouted to grab the attention of her dear friends who instantly turned their heads in [Name]'s direction as soon as they heard her voice. "There you are, you idiot!" March angrily said as she ran in [Name]'s direction followed by Dan heng and Stelle who shook her head at March's childish antics. "Whoa there, calm down, March." [Name] sweatdropped. "Do you know how much you scared us? Don't do that again, you hear?!" She said as she lectured [Name]. "Did I really...?" They asked in denial. "Yes, yes you did." Dan heng sighed. "What were you even doing, [Name]?" Stelle asked. "Huh? Oh, I found someone who was injured and helped him." They answered. "Oh. Alright. Wait.... WHAA?!" March exclaimed. "Is he here?" Stelle asked pushing March out of the way affectionately. "Yeah, why?" [Name] responded making Dan heng face palm. "Why didn't you take him to a hospital or clinic?" He sternly asked with a glare that made March snap out of her dazed state. "Ooh girl you're in trouble now...~" She teased making you glare at her to which she sticked out her tongue. "Uhm... Well you see... Uh... the hospital is... too far and I thought he wouldn't make it..." they answered in defeat. Dan heng sighed. "Alright, let me check up on him. You two can go ahead and we'll catch up later." He said to March and Stelle to which they responded with a nod and walked off. "Come on, [Name]. We're going." Dan heng stated as he walked towards the elevator "R-right!" [Name] said before following him, unaware of the pair of eyes that have been staring at their figure for a while leaving the hotel building.

When they arrived at [Name]'s room the stranger was no longer in their bed which made [Name] shocked. "Huh?! Where is he...? I could've sworn I told him to stay here... The wounds wouldn't have healed properly if he walked too much..." The [HairColor]ette panicked. "Hm... It seems that our injured stranger has left a note before leaving." He said pointing out the piece of paper on their bed before picking it up. "H-huh? what does it say?" They asked in curiousity. "It reads; thanks for the jacket, glasses, masker, and help, sleeping beauty. I'll probably visit the astral express in the future to return those, but maybe not. If you're ever in danger call me. -Blade..." A loud silence engulfed the duo. "You... You meet Blade...?" Dan heng broke the silence with his question and wide eyes. "Uhm... Yes? What's wrong...? are you mad...?" [Name] said in worry. "It's-... just-... I'm not mad, just please don't get anywhere near him. He's... dangerous. Alright?"

3. Having a fellow member protect you, even if you aren't aware!

Lately, you have been feeling watched but there wasn't any evidence to your claims. You tried to tell March and Stelle, but they only said "Huh? Really? You sure it isn't just your imagination or something?" and "Maybe it's the angry ghost haunting you for eating my ice cream." You had also thought about telling Himeko and Welt but decided against it afraid that they'll overthink things and make the situation more complicated than it actually is. So as a last resort, you told your best friend for his suggestion and prayed to whatever god that he'll help you out. "And that's it..." You explained to Dan heng who has been listening to you rambling about feeling watched and the chill you feel whenever you leave the astral express for the past hour or so while he sorted out some information on the traditions of different planet that you had collected from your latest solo adventure to a new planet. "Hm... I'm not able to do much, but if it makes you feel better then I'll look out for any watching eyes and unwanted visitors." He hummed. "Really?! You're the best!" [Name] chirped happily. "yes yes, now go to sleep or else you'll be tired for your expedition tomorrow." He ordered which you complied with. Happily skipping down the halls, [Name] has started feeling a bit safer thanks to the previous conversation they had with Dan heng but one thing has been bothering them for a while... "Don't get anywhere near him. He's... dangerous."

On your next exploration trip, Dan heng had advised a plan to help you with your (not so little) little problem the troublesome part is the fact that he didn't give any info or told you about it. As you happily walk around the planet that the astral express had stopped by to gather supplies to find some snacks for March, Stelle, and Pompom while also stocking up on perishables and blankets thanks to Stelle who built a pillow fort during a blackout and accidentally trowing them all away after she was no longer using them since the lights had turned back on. While looking around you had stumbled upon many happy couples out on dates while looking into each others eyes that are full of love, kids happily playing with each other laughing and smiling together as they all ran to hide while playing hide 'n seek, a mother and her son who was helping her carry their groceries as he told her what had happened at school today, and much more. You contently stared at them from afar not noticing the small genuine smile that was appearing on your face, but deep down inside you admit you felt a bit jealous of the happy people spending time with each other wishing you could be like them one day where you don't feel alone. Snapping out of your trance you continue to find what you came here for, the reason you came here in the first place, to help out your mentor, Miss Himeko and your close friends on the astral express. Once again, walking around in search of the items needed, you had started to feel that cold chill and watching eyes once again but when you looked back, there was only two kids playing soccer with each other in the far distance. Brushing off the feeling of being watched as being paranoid, you continued to walk around unbeknownst to you that there was some drama happening not too far from where you were...

"I'm not letting you get anywhere near [Name], and that's final." A familiar stern and serious masculine voice stated, judging by the tone, he must be angry at the person he's talking to. That person being none other than Dan heng. "Is that so?" Another voice chuckled in amusement at his statement. "Do you really think you're strong enough to defeat me? No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to defeat me. I will get them, and you won't stop me, Imbibitor Lunae." The other voice said, knowing well that all he said was true.

Cons:

1.Getting Injured During Missions, Whether It Be A Small or Big Injury

"Ooh! Look over there! Isn't that Mrs. May's purse?" March happily exclaimed while pointing in the direction of a small purse covered in snow. Today [Name], March, and Stelle had gone to look around Belobog as the other members of the astral express went to stock up on supplies once again. While travelling, the group had stumbled across Mrs. May, a very nice elderly lady who lived in a nursing home along with her cats, searching for something. It turns out that one of her pet cats had taken a liking to her purse and would play with it, but then one afternoon the said cat had taken the purse outside without her knowing and returned home without it. Worried, Mrs. May has been searching for it since yesterday without any progress thus she ended up asking the group to search for it. After a few hours of searching all over Belobog, and stopping Stelle from digging through random trashcans on the side of the road, you had found a few signs of the purse such as a strand of light pink silk sticking out in the snow along with some other stuff like money, coins, and a grocery list. "I think it is, at least from the descriptions Mrs. May had given us before we left." [Name] explained as the group went to investigate the purse. "I wonder how it ended up here though... This place is quite far from the nursing home, and I highly doubt a cat would travel this far in this extreme weather..." March voiced out her concern. "I think you're overthinking again, March. It has been days since the purse first went missing, the weather must've been warmer that day." Stelle turned down her thoughts. "Well whatever... As long as we found it it's time to return the purse to Mrs. May now!" March exclaimed. "A-ah... How about you two go first, I'll stay behind for a while. There are some things I want to check out to put in the archives back in the astral express." [Name] explained as the other two nodded their heads at their friends words and turned around towards the direction of where they came from. "Alright then, see ya later, [Name]." Stelle said already walking away. "Bye! Don't forget to call me if anything happens!" March happily said as she too left and tried to catch up with Stelle.

As soon as the duo was no longer in sight, [Name] let out a loud sigh that they were holding in for a while. 'This feels off...' They thought as they started to look around the area for some clues and crouched near a tree to take a short break. 'I swear I felt something off... My mind is playing tricks on me again...' Just as they stood back up, an unexpected force forced them to get blown away into the snow and landed on their hand to stop. 'A... Voidranger...? Wait a minute... What is it doing here?!' [Name] panicked. It's unusual to see a Voidranger in Jarilo VI of all places, after all. Looking at their hand [Name] realized that they were bleeding... sighing then taking out their weapon of choice, [Name] went into a defensive stand. Facing the enemy, [Name] closed their eyes for a second and when they opened them, the Voidranger had already been taken out. Right behind the Voidranger is a familiar figure with long black-ish hair, Blade. "It's you..." [Name] whispered softly, but Blade was still able to hear what they had said but all he gave them was a small nod and said; "If anything happens, just call my name." before disappearing leaving [Name] alone.

2.Getting Lost During An Exploration Trip.

"Aaaaaah....! I hate these types of expedition trips... Why are we even doing this in the first place?!" March groaned as she dragged her feet to follow her fellow comrades who were looking around in some abandoned ruins. "There's some treasures here that we need to retrieve. So just hang in there for a while longer, we're almost there." [Name] explained to their tired friend as March pouted in return. "Well can you please carry my bag? My back is starting to hurt... I mean, why did we even bring these bags in the first place?" March complained yet again as she handed her bag to [Name] who is now carrying it. "And can you believe how-" All of March's words didn't register in [Name]'s mind as everything she says starts to sound like gibberish along with everything else. Soon, [Name] finds themselves zoning out and when they have snapped out of it, they realize that they're now lost. They were in a room with a lot of dust and some... weird purple gas around the room. Looking at their surroundings, [Name] isn't able to find or hear the group. After a while, [Name] had decided to walk around in search of their friends. After a few hours, they were still lost. Hell, it felt like every hallway was the same! Not to mention how [Name] had started to feel dizzy after walking for a while, and this dizziness has not gone away. Frustrated, [Name] plopped themselves down a wall and hugged their legs. "I wish Dan heng was here... or March... or Stelle... or anyone else..." [Name] whispered to no one in particular as they start to sob. "Hic... maybe not Miss Himeko... or Welt... they will definitely be disappointed or tease me..." They tried to calm down. "Alright, [Name]... focus... calm down. What do I do..." they said the theirself and placed a hand on their chin. '... Help... Dan heng... Blade...!' They thought as their vision becomes fuzzy due to their dizziness from before, drowsiness takes over them.

"B-.... Blade...!"

Just as [Name] whispered that, a mysterious figure and fog appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The figure soon became more clear, long black hair that fades to a reddish color, a lean body build, and broad shoulders. Without a doubt, that is the one and only Blade. "You called?" He asked. But unable to keep their eyes open, [Name] had fainted right in front of Blade. "Huh, guess the gas worked better than I thought." Blade mumbled as he crouched down to reach [Name], carefully playing with their hair while enjoying looking at their delicate features. After a while of silence, Blade had placed his hands around [Name]'s body, and slowly picked them up in a princess carry and walked away not noticing the small bag that was left behind.

3.Getting Kidnapped By Your Friend?

When [Name] had woken up, they were no longer in the abandoned ruins that they were in before. Sitting up from the bed, [Name] looked around and realized that they were in an unfamiliar surrounding just as they were about to get up, something was stopping them from doing so. It was a chain on their foot that was locked on both their foot and the bed. Seeing this, [Name] panicked. Not long after, Blade had entered the room. "Blade...?! Great timing! Now come and help me get this chain off my foot-" they said before getting cut off "That won't be necessary. Why would I do that if this is everything I've ever wanted? Having you in my arms, your full attention, your everything!" He exclaimed. "What...? Blade... You're crazy...!" [Name] shrieked as Blade only grinned in response. "Maybe I am. But just know this, I'm only this crazy for you, dear [Name]." He said as [Name] could only widen their eyes in response, afraid of him and his obsession with them.

"You'll be mine, and mine only. Why would you want to separate us?"

END.

Extra HCs:

Whenever you and Blade cuddle he would hug you so tight that you'll barely be able to breath.

You and March would paint each other's nails whenever you have the time.

Himeko can be super strict sometimes when teaching. (Welt having war flashbacks.)

Stelle got scratched by one of Mrs. May's cats

The group was searching for [Name] but only found your small bag and March's bag.

Blade didn't tell Kafka or Silver Wolf cause they would tease the living daylight out of him.

Authors note: I got so lazy at the end... BUT thank God my exams are finished! I'll start accepting requests again. This has been rotting in my drafts since December... I finally finished it!

[soloavengers]

Pawn Behaviors - Beyond the Rift

𓆩 Winterheart 𓆪

[template] - [thorne’s]

❖ BEHAVIORS & HABITS: 

➵ COMMON: 

Excited when prompted to lay out a plan for a battle to come.

Controlled and thinks at least twice before acting. Most of the time, except when comes a moment where she must urgently protect a companion.

Comes off as passive aggressive and sarcastic, though she truly means well. Chastising you means she deeply cares.ᡣ𐭩

^ Not exactly in-line with her inclination, though calm pawns are like that, it’s more of her old Straightforward-ish self peeking through. More often than she’d like or admit…

➵ UNCOMMON:

Grumpy, especially in mornings.

If one complimented a painting she’s working on, she might offer it to them to keep.

She’s good at navigating around forests, thanks to things her Arisen had taught her. Though she might be even better at it than him for some reasons - like being less forgetful and harder to distract, there could be more to it.

➵ RARE:

She’s a good storyteller, should one need to hear a comforting tale for whatever reason, they need but to ask.

➵ DRAGONSPLAGUE: 

Winnie crashes hard when plagued, it confuses her how powerful yet oh so tired she feels.

She has no time for anything but battle, not even planning — especially not planning. Onward to the next fight!! Else she’s out cold, snoring even.

❖ THOUGHTS & OPINIONS: 

➵ THE ARISEN:

Winnie carries her grief over her old Arisen with her at all times, in the way she regards the others.

Her protectiveness over the Arisen is hard to shake, her opinions on them always comes second, for they deserve to see their journey through (and no pawn should go through the pain she went through if she can help it.)

➵ OTHER PAWNS:

Whether in her world or another, she’s professional with other pawns — but it’s not difficult to gain her as a friend, especially should she have attitudes and interests in common with them.

Should Winnie find a pawn unable to take care of their Arisen, she feels a bit of resentment towards them that she cannot help. She would try her best to offer advice, and help the Arisen herself (more than by way of providing curtives,) should they accept it.

She has a weakness for gossip, guilty of talking privately to pawns about the silliest of things (like romance) in the quietest whispers.

A sure sign that she considers one a friend, is a flower crown made with flowers she collected during the journey — one might say it’s a representation of it.

➵ WORLD:

She’s a lover of nature, humans, and art. It’s evident in her actions more than her words.

If a pawn proposed the idea of taking a brief repose, she might agree - but she very rarely asks for that herself. There’s always time later in her opinion, still she might look a tiny bit disappointed if they must press on.

Sometimes she lags behind plucking flowers.

➵ BATTLE: 

Observant, cautious, and unwavering.

She’s most often a warrior, so she prefers larger enemies, the slower to dodge her hits the better.

Winnie is braver the less her companions are, such reaction is less dependent on the enemy, but nonetheless — (my girl carried against the purgeners while I ran around panicking.)

➵ NPC's: 

Ulrika.

➵ QUESTS: 

Winnie is particularly eager to help when a child is involved, a rescue? She’s already there.

Glaring daggers more painful than any poison during the Poisonous Proposal quest. She might have tried to convince Syl not to take it, to no avail.

➵ BONUS: 

I love calling her Winnie! Though she is Winnie mostly to Syl (she’s politely telling others to drop the Ser, and it’s Winter for short!) Not that she wouldn’t answer to Winnie from anyone or comment about it. Worst you one could do is call her by her old / original name, but none would know it, right?

SPOILERS BELLOW —

I am always ready to ramble about her part in my NG+ bullshit, even though *vitally* who knows how it happened? What if the Will of the world exploded with the death of Nex / Pathfinder slash etc and it allowed her deep wishes to come true, making both a cycle and a happy ending? She’s human after the ending because she longed to be one in this recent life — as much as she hated having to take up Syl’s soul (a process which she is too aware of thanks to her former Arisen’s knowledge on the bond,) her wish was for Syl to live as well. Because I can have it so.

Winnie met Thorne and Rani and watched them lose their Arisen (Sparrow and Aser. In some timeline — because it wasn’t my original intention for them to fail uhh,) later than she had lost hers, after all they went through, and all the love they had for their Arisen. She was heartbroken and wished them the second chance she got with Sylvas.

[monsterliker]

I would say that this takes place after BOTW but before TOTK. Hopefully this is good, give me your thoughts and suggestions^^

The defeat of Ganon brought a new hope for the future of hyrule. The townspeople celebrated the demise of the one who had tortured them for a hundred years. However, not all was well.

Zelda, having faced the hero of hyrule, needed to find her other hero. The one she had cherished as much if not more than her knight.

Before the calamity, and before Link, Zelda had a close companion. Her name was (y/n). They had been childhood best friends, and as the two grew older they became closer than friends. Lovers some may say. But they kept everything behind closed doors because of Zelda’s father.

Every distraction Zelda’s goal of awakening her powers was taken from her. And she feared that her beloved would be taken from her too.

So every night (y/n) found their way into the castle, managing to hide from the guards and staff. Every night the two would spend as much time as they could together.

Now that Hyrule was safe, it was time for Zelda to find her beloved (y/n). Luckily Link, the only person to know of their romance, had briefly run into (y/n) during his quest. He however only briefly remembered her. The amnesia caused him to only know that Zelda was very close to the now aged woman.

“You saw (y/n)? Tell me where she is! Now! Please!” Zelda begged. Link was hesitant though. Knowing that (y/n)’s final days are close, and how it would break Zelda’s heart to see her lover now grown old and weak.

After some convincing (more begging), Link told her that (y/n) now resided in her home town of Kakariko Village. Before Link could warn her she was already running to grab her trusty steed. Knowing that nothing would stop her, he wordlessly followed.

Once they reached the village, Link lead the way to the house (y/n) had resided in for the years since Zelda went to fight Ganon.

Opening the door, the house is cluttered with the teeth of slain enemies, swords, bows, and piles and piles of drawings. Sketches of what seem to be Zelda.

Continuing to walk through the house, Link stands in front of a door. He seems hesitant to open it. Keeping his hand on the doorknob, he wonders what he should do. Should they both go in? Should only he go in to tell of Zelda’s return?

Before he could make his choice Zelda pushed him out of the way and slammed open the door.

There, she was brought to tears with the sight. Laying on the bed was (y/n). Her hair had grown white, her smile lines more defined. Everything about her had shown her age, but also her strength. While she was now frail, barely heaving her chest up and down as she breathed, she was also decorated with scaring. Scars from her battles trying to help save Hyrule.

The noise of the door bursting open had woken (y/n), and she slowly opened her eyes to see who her visitor was.

(Y/n) hesitated, choosing their words carefully. Zelda and Link both stood as still as statues, not sure what they are waiting for.

“I never thought I’d see you again, my love. You look more beautiful than I could remember,” she spoke slowly, having to a straining sound to her voice.

“It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten your face, no matter how hard I try to remember it… and I am not a great enough artist to capture your likeness onto paper.”

Tears began to run down Zelda’s face. “But I am here now! I will never leave you again! I promise you we can finally be together,” she cried out.

(Y/n) smiled and motioned for Zelda to come sit on the bed. Which she did. Grabbing each other's hands they sit in silence, basking in each other's presences.

After a while of comfortable silence, (y/n)’s weak grip strengthened a tiny bit. “We all know my days are numbered. I’m just happy that I got to see you one last time…” she said with a weak smile. Even after a hundred years they had the same smile.

“N-no! There’s got to be something we can do! Purah can do something! Right, Link?” Zelda turned to Link who has been patiently standing in the doorway.

His expression fell as he shrugged. The reverse aging had worked on her, but who’s to say it’ll work on (y/n)? That’s even if they get to the lab in time. Long travel would be hard on the aged (y/n), so they would have to go slow. And with her days as numbered as they are, nothing is guaranteed.

“Just spend what time I have left with me, my princess,” (y/n) said, bringing the attention back to her. “Please, my love. I’ll always be here in spirit. You have so much more to do. More important things. Build a better Hyrule in my memory.”

Zelda started to cry again, throwing herself onto (y/n) and sobbing into their chest. “But I need you! I wanted to rebuild with you by my side!” She cried out.

All (Y/n) was able to do was rub her back in an attempt to comfort her. “I will love you, always and forever. No matter where my soul may be.”

(Y/n) lived for couple days. Their days of life filled with happy memories that will be cherished for the rest of Zelda’s life.

She told stories about her battle with Ganon’s minions, and the Yiga clan. (Y/n) was not a soldier or knight by any means. But she still tried her best, and made as big of an impact as she could. She was well respected and taught what she could, always having hope that Ganon would be defeated and she would be reunited with her princess.

These stories would be retold by a tearful Zelda at (y/n)’s funeral. And every chance she got she would put a silent princess at the grave where (y/n)’s body would rest. Forever in the field of Central Hyrule.

Her grave doubled as a memorial site not only for herself, but for all those who were lost trying to rebuild after the calamity.

Zelda would one day be buried next to that memorial, next to her lover. The two lover’s souls finally back together, for the rest of eternity. Never to be separated again.

[cj-writes-stuff]

Reading Wrap-Up | March 2024

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft Forged by Magic by Jenna Wolfhart Brewed in Magic by Jenna Wolfhart Persuasion by Jane Austen

[mini reviews/ratings below the cut]

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft ⭐Rating: 5/5

Starting March off strong, I adored this book. A Fragile Enchantment was my favorite read of February, so I wanted to give Allison Saft's other books a try. So glad I did. Everything from the premise to Margaret and Wes to their slow-burn romance to the climax of the hunt, I loved it all.

Listen, you present me with a grumpy/sunshine dynamic where the lady is scary and prickly with mommy issues, and the guy is a screw up who hides his pain and feelings of inadequacy behind walls of humor and charm, and you give me their slow burn romance where they slowly learn to trust each other and realize they DO deserve love and happiness even when it feels like everyone is against them... and you best watch your fingers because I'm going to bite and chew and devour it.

I'm also quickly realizing that Saft's prose just gets me. It's beautiful. I eat it up. I want more.

There are some weird things about the worldbuilding, though it wasn't a huge deal for me. Just a few moments were I had to pause and think about what time period we're supposed to be in. It's urban fantasy that surrounds alchemy, and some of that went over my head... I just filled in the blanks with my knowledge from Fullmetal Alchemist, not gonna lie. It wasn't enough of a bother to make me want to rate this any lower, though.

Forged by Magic by Jenna Wolfhart ⭐Rating: 2/5

I've been on a cozy romantasy kick, so when I came across this series I was like "Oh yeah, this sounds exactly what I want."

This book follows Daella, a half-orc prisoner to a cruel ice king, and her quest to earn her freedom only to be caught in a major storm. She washes up on this island where Rivelin, a elven blacksmith, finds her. It's supposed to be grumpy/sunshine enemies to lovers dynamic but.... ehhhhhh....

This book was a little disappointing. I enjoyed it and what it tries to do, but it had issues. The writing was super repetitive, and there's a lot of telling rather than showing. The amount of times the book just tells you that Rivelin is grumpy is too much, it even gets to the point where Daella just keeps saying that he's a grumpy blacksmith like... I don't need to be told that over and over again, you can just show me he's grumpy.

It also got so frustrating how easily they'd turn on each other and think the worst of the other, but then be quick to forgive. The romance just wasn't it for me.

The actual plot of the midsummer games was interesting, though... I just wish I liked Daella and Rivelin more.

Brewed in Magic by Jenna Wolfhart ⭐Rating: 3.5/5

After being disappointed by the first book, I had lower expectations for the second book... but this was way better.

First of all, the improvement in writing meant less repetitive telling rather than showing, though there were still moments where I was like, "god I feel like I've already read this exact sentence."

What made the biggest difference was Lilia and Ragnar as main characters and their romance. It was a little rushed but the rivals to lovers element felt better to read than the previous book's enemies to lovers. They're rival traveling brewers working the same festival, there's a mystery behind stolen barrels of ale, and they gotta work together to solve the mystery while someone attempts to sabotage the festival.

Something about these books that I need to remember is that they're low stakes... as in things get wrapped up and work out easily, and as long as I remember that's the books goal, I enjoy it way more. If I went into this looking for deep, nuanced fantasy, I would've hated the ending.

They're fun, though. Easy read, fun spicy romance. I'd read another book in this series.

Persuasion by Jane Austen ⭐Rating: 5/5

I didn't read as many books this month because I spent most of it rereading my favorite Jane Austen book. I've read this before, but I wanted to reread it for a fanfic I'm working on, plus I wanted to annotate my copy. So I spent the reading time taking it slow, taking notes, highlighting, etc.

I adore Persuasion so damn much, like I love all of the Austen novels I've read but Persuasion just gut punches me. I'm a lover of second-chance romance, of exes who go through some shit before ending up together again, and just uuugghhhhh Anne and Captain Wentworth, I can't.

Not much else to say except I'm glad I took my time while rereading. One of my favorite novels.

[tsugihagichimera]

finished DA:I DLC today and I'm still thinking so hard about it

Overall a really really good game that was enjoyable to play and made me very excited for DA:DW

Characters 9.5/10 awesome I kiss almost everyone

Story 7.5/10 DLC made it good

Gameplay 8/10 challenging but not too much. loved the customizable weapons and armor and focus abilities in particular

Area design 7/10 beautiful and interesting open world areas. some places were hard to navigate bc the inquistor's jump/walk physics are a little jiggly. THANK YOU FOR TELEPORTS FROM ANYWHERE

QA 3/10 enormous bugs that made me nervous a lot

Replayability YES playing as a male mage Dalish elf was an extreme flavor in terms of both lore and political standing and I want to replay so bad someday. gonna be hard not to romance Dorian though my wifey

More disorganized thoughts below

I'm glad I never played DA until this year because I would've died waiting for the sequel ... I had so much fun and I want more so bad.

Despite all the glaring bugs (AND THERE ARE A TON OF THEM) the game itself was super duper fun. I think the strongest improvement from the previous DA installments was the characters--maybe it's because I came off of DA2 liking nobody in particular besides Varric (maybe Aveline too tho she hated my rebellion choices all the time), but to me DA:I had the most fleshed out and likable characters. I think the extra scenes you can view for each person added a whole lot to the experience, and they always had interesting things to say, and the interactions felt so organic and charming! I couldn't help but cry near the end when Cassandra started getting all soft on me 😭 and Dorian was the sweetest lover ever like. the way he was so tsun with his words but whenever my inquisitor did something amazing he'd look at him like "that's my man 🥺" so sweet. THE WAY I WAS LIKE "DORIAN I LOVE YOU" BEFORE THE LAST FIGHT AND HE WAS LIKE "YOU BASTARD I KNEW YOUD BREAK MY HEART" I WAS SO DISTRAUGHT!!! IF I DIED AND LEFT DORIAN ALONE I WOULD RIOT ON BIO.WARE PERSONALLY

ugh anyway amazing and lovable characters and drastically improved romances aside, the battle system felt much better to me!! I chose knight enchanter mage for my inquisitor and managed to find a really comfy setup that was challenging but not overly so, not like in the earlier games in the series, where I had to constantly switch the difficulty back to easy. DLC was sufficiently difficult too but not impossible even if I didn't do every single quest beforehand

what else. the area maps were stunning I could tell they really took the repetitive map note from DA2 and went all out with it. I had a fun time with every single map too and they had different challenges and cool puzzles, and I loved that it was open world but contained so I didn't feel like I was always getting lost and overwhelmed. In particular, I remember just looking out at emprise du leon like oooohh... colors .... the stark red lyrium against the white snow was so lovely and unsettling

a few things I didn't like were the amount of OVERTLY BAD BUGS like I know it's a huge and complex game and like classic Bio.Ware blah blah blah but I managed to get a side quest prompt stuck on my screen from the Orlais court mission all the way until the ending lmaooo. a couple times I had to reload bc my character was stuck in some weird half-tactical camera view and couldn't move anywhere. among other big bugs

I liked the story too ngl, main story was quite simplistic but the trespasser DLC made up for it greatly. I sincerely hope they at least kept the writers for Dread Wolf because I would love for the dialogue and character quality to be similar...

also for the love of god please do more bug fixes for DA4 I know it's. it's hard but. please </3

[versadies]

special anniversary | genshin x gn!reader

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ YOU HAVE RECEIVED A LETTER, LET’S SEE WHAT’S INSIDE! ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

salutations. how they celebrate your anniversary (w/ gn!reader)

addressed. diluc, kaeya, albedo, jean, lisa, eula, venti, zhongli, tartaglia, xiao, ganyu, ningguang, beidou, kaedehara kazuha, thoma, gorou, arataki itto, yae miko, and raiden shogun

content. fluff/small-angst, spoilers to inazuma archon quest act 3, spoilers to into the perilous labyrinth of fog event, not proof-read (apologies in advance if there's any errors in this fic!!)

sypnosis. short hcs on how they celebrate your first anniversary

penpals. @scaraslover @saving-for-xiao @dawgimsohot @kazu-topia @chiruru @aqualesha @renamichii

links. teyvat's penpal service

post-script. i decided to make a special post dedicated to my one year anniversary of my blog (january 26, 2021) soo here it is ! hope you guys enjoy this <<3

TAKES YOU OUT TO EAT - zhongli, lisa, ningguang, arataki itto, yae miko, gorou

ZHONGLI would take you out to have a nice dinner in third-round knockout, thinking that the best way to celebrate each other's anniversary is to retrace the memory of how the both of you met and the memory of your first date. unlike most of the dates you've went to with this man, this one was more intimate and romantic.

the staff of the restaurant was happy enough to make things more romantic by making someone play an instrument as the iron-tongue tian tells many stories in the background. it was really nice, you admit. it felt like it all happened yesterday when you first met zhongli at the same spot and same time.

later on after eating, the both of you would start strolling around the harbor together as the stars shines above you, causing you to be busy looking at them to not notice how your lover looks at you with love-eyes, thinking about how he's glad to meet someone like you. it honestly felt like deja-vu throughout the whole date, because it felt like he fell in love with you all over again.

LISA will take a day off to spend her day with you. the first thing the both of you did is have a tea session together, talking about whatever comes into your minds for hours on end. it really lightens the whole atmosphere to hear the two of you laughing over your conversations.

the both of you will also spend time taking a stroll around mondstadt and shop together, with lisa willing to dress up for you and you the same. it's a sweet sight for people passing by to see the humble librarian of the knights of favonius spending time together with her lover - it felt like windblume festival already returned with all the romance between you.

afterwards, the both of you will spend time eating dinner in good hunter eating each other's favorite foods. when sara found out about your anniversary, she immediately cooked another food that's on the house, much to you and lisa's delight. by the end of the day, you two lay on your bed in each other's arms, thinking about the future that lies ahead the both of you.

NINGGUANG will wear the most beautiful dress made with the finest clothing the city harbor could offer to their tianquan, wondering what the special occasion is that made the woman dress up so nicely. to her three secretaries, they know full well enough that their superior will be meeting the special someone in her abode.

obviously, the special someone is you.

given her status and reputation, ningguang made sure to pull every string she has so that no one can know about you and the fact that you're her spouse – mainly because she didn't want any person in her city to look badly on you and the dangers that could be brought to you for being with someone like ningguang.

hence why she decided to celebrate her anniversary with you by letting her staff take a day off outside of the jade chamber and immediately take you in, her eyes brightening at the sight of you arriving her home in your best outfit that you manage to get and buy.

it was a quiet evening to say the least, but it was peaceful enough for you and ningguang to enjoy your date together. she knows you long enough to know what food you like the most, knowing that it puts a smile on your face when you see the wondrous sight of your favorite food plastered over the table, so when she sees how you're so happy eating, it makes her happy as well.

however, what took her by surprise is your response when she asks you about your opinion about the food.

"it makes me happy, of course." you said with a smile. "though, not as much as spending time with the one i'm in love with."

she immediately covers her face with her fan, trying not to smile too much from your response. but you know her long enough to know that she's flustered from your words, causing you to laugh a little at the sight of the flustered tianquan.

deep inside, it does make ningguang happy that she gets to spend time with you without any interruptions from her duties. despite having all the luxury she has that now resides in her new jade chamber, none of them compares to the luxury of happiness that she feels when she spends time with you.

when ARATAKI ITTO finds out that today's your anniversary, he'll immediately invite you to go out with him and eat together in a ramen restaurant. oh, you don't have to worry about the money, a certain fox lady owes him free ramen after a competition many moons ago.

although the place he chose for you is something that isn't something worth in awe for, your lover makes it up by the atmosphere and the pleasant conversation the both of you have. with itto, it's like the both of you can talk about any topic you want and he'll make it fun.

and what's better than spending time with your lover in the best ramen restaurant in town? giving your lover the best beetle of course!

by the time the both of you are finished with your meals, itto will immediately surprise you with a rather large box that turns out to be a special gift from your man. you expected something like a jewelry, a matching hairbrush, or even a trinket that he got from a kid who lost to him, but never a giant looking beetle sleeping. of course, your reaction is up to you – either way, you'll hear your lover laugh.

YAE MIKO will be all too happy to show you just how much she loves you more than any human known in this world during your anniversary. you're not sure why but she seems to be more affectionate when it comes to special occasions – which you don't mind of course.

to start the day, she’ll smother you with so much kisses on your face when the both of you meet up just to see your flustered state. could you blame her? you’re just so cute that she just had to kiss you!

she'll give you a special light novel that hasn't been established in her store yet along with a charm that'll surely give you luck and prosperity as a gift (or rather, gifts). she'll be more delighted if you too give her a gift even if it's less special than hers.

she'll then take you to a nice restaurant where the both of you can be alone and enjoy the meals you share. it'll only take a while before the woman decides to sit next to you and offer to feed you with her chopsticks, laughing in amusement from your flustered state.

"oh but i insist on feeding you!" she said when you tried to protest her request. "this is what couples do sometimes is it not? now open your mouth and say "ah" hehe"

it feels strange to be in narukami island despite visiting there multiple times, GOROU would admit. however, if it's for you, then he's all too willing to come over and spend time with you. especially during an occasion as important as an anniversary.

the two of you decided to spend time together by going to a restaurant and introduce gorou to many dishes that he had missed back when he was busy with his duties, alongside letting him eat his favorite dessert after not being able to eat them for so long.

however, gorou then insisted in trying out a new dish that he'd like to share with you alongside his desserts, not knowing what's in store for him as he excitedly tries the food with you.

the food stored onions.

the moment gorou took his first bite, he instantly froze like a deer caught in the headlights, realizing his mistake as he feels the contents of his food rising up his throat.

"gorou? what–"

"i'm sorry y/n, i can't hold it!" he exclaims, rushing out from the door and towards the bathroom that's beside your reservation room before he pukes his guts out on the toilet.

later after that, gorou swears to always ask merchants if there's onions in the food as you try to make it up to your lover with sweets.

SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND/OR FAMILY - tartaglia, beidou, venti, ganyu, jean

TARTAGLIA will spend the anniversary with you by inviting you to come to snezhnaya with him and meet his family, who are all too willing and excited to meet the person who has stolen his heart and has been mentioned in many letters written by yours truly.

he values his family more than anything alongside you, so seeing you and the people he shares the same blood with getting along makes him happy - especially if they approve your relationship and you as a person overall.

expect them to ask you many questions about yourself and what you think about your lover, who watches the whole thing with a genuine smile on his face – until he spots his mother sneakily bringing out a very familiar photobook that he intends to hide from you in fear of embarrassment, that's when his smile will drop 6 feet underground and try to stop her from showing you many pictures of childe as a kid.

not to worry though, because his smile will easily return when he overhears a conversation between you and his mother while he’s cleaning up the table, listening to you two talking about how his mom is happy that childe has someone as special as you to be his spouse. his smile could only widen more when you confess to her about something that'll change your lives for the better.

BEIDOU was very enthusiastic when she finds out that you're okay with celebrating your anniversary together with her crew, who are all more than happy to help their captain plan the occasion alongside xinyan and xiangling. spending time with the crux honestly feels like you're in a wedding reception with you and beidou being the newly-wed couple, which you admit, does make you feel a bit flustered to think about.

the whole night, your lover always has her arm wrapped around your shoulder or is beside you, the both of you leaning on each other for warmth and comfort as you celebrate your first anniversary with the people your lover considers as family.

while xinyan takes her cue to start preparing for her performance, beidou takes her cue to take you far away from where her crewmates are, her palms begins to sweat from her nervousness as you follow her without any clue of her intentions.

it wasn't until the woman slowly pulls out a small box and opens it for you to see the inside, causing your eyes to widen at the sight of two shiny rings.

"it's a matching promise ring," she said, smiling. "i uh, i found this on display while doing some errands around the harbor, so i thought it would be great if you and i can have matching rings. think of it as a charm that you and i can take whenever one of us is away from the other, haha.."

if only your lover knew that you too have a small box that has a ring, a ring that represents your willingness to spend your whole life together with her by the sea and her crew.

VENTI is more than happy to take you out from the city of freedom and explore around the nation with the help of his dearest friend, dvalin. given that it's the first time meeting the dragon that people feared long ago, you honestly were nervous on how your encounter will turn out.

"so you're the human that my friend has been chatting about for ages," dvalin spoke in an amused tone, causing you to get spooked because of the fact that the creature can talk. "it's pleasant to meet you."

without letting you reply, he instantly starts flapping his wings together, causing strong winds to come at you and venti. "come, i shall take you around and show what mondstadt can offer."

windwail highland, brightcrown mountains, starfell valley, and galesong hill – you name it. dvalin took you and venti everywhere as you hold onto your lover in fear of how high the both of you are, paying no mind to how venti starts laughing at the sight of your scared form.

by the time dvalin lands in windrise – the last stop – the first thing that caught your eye was a blanket that sprawled foods near the statue. although this was an endearing sight, you could only wonder how on earth venti managed to make sara from good hunter make so much food.

“silly y/n,” venti said with a giggle, helping you come down from dvalin’s back. “who said i bought these?”

for your anniversary, you and GANYU agreed to take a two-day break from your duties in the qixing and celebrate. to your relief, your request for your break has been approved and assured by the tianquan herself, who immediately gifted you a gift for your anniversary much to you and your lover's delight.

the first thing you and ganyu did during your anniversary is to visit cloud retainer's abode to pay respects and let ganyu introduce the adeptus to you, who has never met an adeptus in person until now (besides your lover, that is). however, your nervous and doubts have all washed away when cloud retainer expresses how she approves your relationship.

it didn't take long before the adeptus started telling you embarrassing stories about ganyu in her childhood when your lover decides to drag you away from mt. aocang and send farewell to the adeptus, who swore to you that she'll tell more of her stories, as the both of you head back to wangshu inn, where you'll be staying for the next two nights together.

unlike most of the characters, you and JEAN weren't able to spend the whole day together thanks to her busy duties as the acting grandmaster. the woman felt guilty when she told you she won't be able to spend the day because of the overwhelming amount of work to do – but you reassured her that it's alright and that there's always next time to celebrate.

it wasn't alright, you admit deep inside, but you're aware that there's nothing you can do to stop your lover from protecting your homeland with everything she can.

you were too sad to notice how a lot of knights of favonius members often came in and out from angel's share with questionable boxes and party supplies, and how sara from good hunter seems to be giving you a reassuring smile when you told her that you're just spending time finding a gift for your lover as an anniversary gift.

however, when you came to angel's share to buy some wine, the first thing you saw when you opened the door was your dearest friends screaming "SURPRISE" at you, causing you to open your mouth agape in shock.

you were about to ask what was happening, until jean walk towards you and give you a comforting hug with a smile on her face. "i apologize for lying to you. i was spending the afternoon preparing the party for you and wanted to make it a surprise." she explains, kissing your temple.

"wait, i don't understand.." you mumbled, staring at your lover with wide eyes.

you looked at the people behind jean, who're all smiling and waiting for your lover's cue to start the party.

jean then holds out her hand to you.

"let me make up for the times we've missed."

ALONE TOGETHER - raiden shogun, diluc, albedo

as someone who's been in plane of euthymia for so long, EI prefers being alone rather than in a crowded place, hence why she decides to invite you to her palace and spend time with her eating desserts and your choice of food. the archon was honestly relieved that she has yae miko, because if it weren't for her, ei couldn't imagine what she would do to celebrate your anniversary together.

it didn't help that she feels.. nervous for the first time in centuries. since when was the last time she felt like this? the things you do to her are so different, yet... not so bad. still, it felt strange to be so nervous about giving you a gift that yae miko helped her come up with, and she certainly hopes that you wouldn't notice it.

if you didn't notice, then the people watching by did.

it was a surprise sight for people who work in the tenshukaku to see their beloved archon acting like a high-school girl in front of you, a mere commoner mortal who managed to capture ei's heart with unknown reasons. but were they complaining? nope.

when ei decided to push her nervousness aside and give you your gift, you stopped talking for a moment and stare down at the wrapped box in confusion.

"you're supposed to.. open it." she clarifies, gesturing the gift.

you chuckled from her words before doing what she said, the first thing you saw is a kamera.

"...happy anniversary, y/n." she spoke with a small smile. "it may… not be much to you but i heard from traveler and his companion that this item makes a visual record of you at this very moment in time, so it makes a great souvenir. i-i was thinking that this may be good for you and i whenever we spend time together."

your eyes brightens from her explanation, an idea instantly came in mind. “why not take a picture of us together right now as our first picture?”

DILUC decides to spend your anniversary together with him by letting all his staff take the day off and let you stay in dawn winery with him.

whether it’d be picking up berries together in his vineyard, chase each other around the field, cook meals together, or even chill in front of the fireplace — you name it. as long as diluc gets to spend time with you, he’s satisfied with whatever you want to do.

with you, he felt like he’s truly at home for the first time in years. the atmosphere have never felt so.. bright and comforting and the place was filled with laughter and happiness shared. not to mention the fact that he actually starts smiling even if it was just small — and you can guarantee that he doesn’t want this day to end.

which is why he starts to think about the next phase of your relationship as the both of you lay on his bed with you sleeping soundly in his arms. would you say yes if he finally invites you to move in with him?

ALBEDO finds it comforting to spend your anniversary together in the cold embrace of dragonspine with just the two of you in his labratory beside one another. expect him to make a painting of you with his best ability as you pose for him with a grin on your face. it didn't take long before you jokingly whine about why it was taking so long, causing albedo to chuckle.

"stand still, dear. i just want to make sure this painting captures your beauty and features that i love." he said, your cheeks feeling warmer than the campfire nearby from his words.

after a long hour of painting you, albedo will then summon a nice table with dining utensils for you to eat and insists on cooking for you – only for you to protest and want to help him out with cooking your meals.

despite wanting you to just sit back and relax, albedo would admit that it was more... enjoyable to cook with you rather than cooking by himself. your hand brushing against his as the both of you lend each other items or ingredients never fails to make his heart (does he even have a heart?) beat so fast.

by the time the both of you finished cooking and serving the food down on the table, he'll immediately pull his and your chair next to each other, letting you sit down first before he does.

as you compliment his cooking and eat your meal happily, albedo could only smile in response and eat his salad, thinking about how it does taste better than any salad he had ever tried in his life.

perhaps eating with the ones you love makes food better is true, albedo thought to himself, humming in satisfaction.

"happy anniversary, y/n."

STAR-GAZING - kazuha, thoma, xiao, kaeya, eula

KAZUHA spends your anniversary by taking you to the highest spot of guyun stone forest, where the both of you can watch the stars together as you bask in each other's presence.

expect him to pull out a small poem that he worked hard for before reciting it to you, who did not expect the poem to be all about you until your name was mentioned along the lines. if only you knew how much poems he wrote about you that are all hidden in the alcor where no one can find them.

you may not have written a poem for your man, but you do know some of the stars that are shining as always. while you point out some of the stars and explain about it happily, kazuha could simply watch you and listen to you for hours with a loving look on his face.

it won't take long before beidou calls out for you two, telling you that you should come down with your lover and celebrate your anniversary with the crux, who has a feast waiting for you to eat, reminding you and kazuha that you're no longer as alone as you were back then in inazuma.

instead of staying in komore's teahouse or explore around inazuma city together, THOMA wanted to change things up a little and take you somewhere far away from the city, which is the amakane island, where the two of you not only will get to star-gaze together but will also get to see a fireworks show prepared by yoimiya.

the chief retainer could spend years gushing about how amazing you look in your outfit that he hasn’t seen you use until now, his words stumbling because of how breathtaking you look much to your amusement and embarrassment.

it was a cute sight to see you two like a high-school couple, and merchants did not hesitate to tease thoma right at the spot whenever the two of you stop by to buy something, causing the housekeeper to laugh and ignore the way his face turns even more red. even some of the merchants gave you and thoma a huge discount after finding out that the two of you are celebrating your anniversary toegther.

not to mention the fact that thoma actually bought himself matching kitsune masks for the both of you to wear – he'll absolutely gush more about this moment too!!

by the time the both of you found a spot to watch the stars and the fireworks alike, you immediately intertwine your fingers with his, leaning against him with a content sigh as he wraps his arm around you with a grin.

"did you enjoy it?" you asked him, still staring at the sky.

"of course," he replied, pulling you closer to him. "why wouldn't i be when i'm with you?"

coincidentally, your anniversary with XIAO is on the day the lantern rite releases its lanterns and mingxiao lantern, so you decided to take this opportunity to take your lover out from wangshu inn and spend the night watching together.

if it were any other person, xiao wouldn't hesitate to refuse. however, since it's you, xiao won't mind coming out to spend time with you.

you decided to make it up to your lover by treating him to dinner in wangshu inn, insisting to your lover that you don't want to watch the lanterns rise with an empty stomach as verr goldet and the rest of the wangshu inn staff watch you both from time to time in adoration, thinking that the both of you look so cute together (xiao knows you and him are being watched, but he won't say anything due to his embarrassment).

by the time the both of you finished, you decided to go to liyue harbor with the help of your lover's teleportation abilities. you were too busy from preparing yourself to notice the way his face has a light pink shade on his cheeks from how close the both of you are.

of course, knowing that his karma debt could affect those in liyue harbor, you decided to watch the lanterns with the yaksha at the same area as where you and him watched the previous lanterns together, which is near the entrance to liyue harbor.

while waiting for the lanterns to rise, you decided to pick up the lanterns that you made with the help of traveler, thinking that it'd be great for xiao to experience wishing in the lantern and let it fly to the sky.

it was as beautiful as it was before, you admit. watching the lanterns along with yours rise along with the mingxiao lantern as it lights up the starry night was indeed a memorable sight, but not as much as the way your lover's eyes brightens at the sight of his lantern floating high above to the sky in awe.

there's nothing more romantic than mondstadt’s most famous spot that's perfect for couples to hang out in: the starsnatch cliff. call KAEYA cheesy, but he honestly likes the idea of star-gazing with his love while dining delicious foods and drinking wine instead of spending the night in angel's share – which isn't an ideal date for an anniversary, if you ask him.

but then again, star-gazing isn't just enough for kaeya, so he decided to plan a scavenger hunt for you to find him and your anniversary spot.

at first, you found it romantic and a bit cliche – but then you realized just how far you might have to go from the city to wherever the hell kaeya is. maybe it wasn't a good idea to let kaeya plan your anniversary.

by the time you arrived, kaeya was standing not too far away from where you are with a smirk. "how was the scavenger hunt, sweetheart?" he asked.

"terrible, not recommended." you replied in a monotone. "you better have food up there or i'm leaving."

he chuckles. "leaving so soon? won't you at least stay for the surprise?'

by the end of the night, kaeya's surprise turned out to be a very expensive wine that you had never seen in your life.

oh, and a very special ring that made kaeya go from being your boyfriend to your fiance.

given that you're the first person EULA has dated, it's safe to say that the woman doesn't know what to do to celebrate her first anniversary with you, so you have to be the one to take the lead on this and guide her.

you made sure that your date isn't somewhere in the city or anywhere that has people, not wanting eula to get another backlash from others on the day of your anniversary, so you chose a spot that's a nice and quiet area around windwail highland that can show you the view of the city of freedom, with springvale not being too far from where you are – it's a perfect area for a picnic with your lover.

when you and eula meet up in your "secret" spot, expect her to give you a gift – which is a home-made special dish made by yours truly alongside a brooch that matches your usual outfit – however, she won't expect you to give her anything in return, so if you too got her a gift, she'll be surprised and happy.

the two of you then eat each other's dishes with your choice of drink, enjoying the quiet atmosphere around your surroundings.

and what else would be great other than amazing meals? dancing with your lover without a care of the world of course !!!

eula will pretty much invite you to dance with her once she deems that it's enough for your stomachs to rest from eating so much food, and despite your protests that you don't know how, she'll simply insist and pull you away from the picnic blanket.

"shouldn't we be using music?" you asked, laughing nervously as your lover holds both of your hands.

"who says we have to use music?" she said with an amused smile. "there's nothing to worry about – just hold onto me and i'll lead the way."

BONUS - scaramouche

celebrating without SCARAMOUCHE honestly made you sad, but you understood why he has to go away. just thinking about the things the fatui would do when they find out that the traitor who hasn't returned the electro gnosis to the tsaritsa has a spouse made you shudder in fear.

you sat alone by the dining table staring at the untouched foods that you made by yourself, wishing that your lover was sitting beside you celebrating this memorable occasion, but alas, fate is too cruel for the both of you to get what you want.

you wondered what he was doing. is he celebrating alone as well in a hideout? is he safe from the fatui chasing him? you could only sigh, knowing you'll never get to know the answer until then.

"happy anniversary to you, kunikuzushi." you whispered, smiling in sadness. "please come back here safe and sound someday."

unnoticed to you, a lone figure stood a few feet away in your cottage, staring at the window where he can see you eating your food alone, which caused his stomach to twist from the sad sight of his lover. there's nothing more scaramouche desires than to enter the place he considers home and have you in his arms, but he knows it'll only risk your safety.

"...happy anniversary to you too, n/n." he mumbles, covering his face with his hat before walking away, never knowing when will the day come that he'll go back to your waiting arms.

[v-arbellanaris]

“anders is selfish! he selfishly went to the chantry to check whether karl was even really alive despite being an apostate himself, he selfishly offered to go with hawke to the deep roads which he repeatedly says that he hates, he selfishly heals people all across kirkwall for free without charge, he selfishly smuggles mages out of the gallows personally to avoid getting lobotomised/raped/beaten/killed, he selfishly allows himself to have friends and people he cares about while freedom fighting, he selfishly gets into a romance with you, the playable character who continues to pursue him, he’s selfish for saying he would become a martyr for the mages if you killed him because its not like he spent the entire game championing mage rights or anything”

���he’s selfish and EVIL and toxic for being jealous of hawke (experiencing a regular human emotion) even though he’s canonically written as being romantically interested in hawke from very early on”

“he’s awful because he’s the ONLY character to question you about your romance as though it’s any of his business. varric and aveline don’t count, because theyre fictional characters”

“in fact, anders is selfish for even thinking he should be killed/will be killed (potentially even by his own lover) for his actions in kirkwall, despite him and justice making it clear several times throughout the games that being killed in return for the lives he/they took is what he would consider justice for the people whose lives were taken”

“anders is toxic/emotionally manipulative because he allows you, the playable character who can choose out of 5 romances, to pursue him despite his personal fears of you coming to harm because of his life as an apostate, which is shown to be justified literally in his introduction quest when his lover was lobotomised for sending him letters”

“in fact anders, the npc character, is also selfish for allowing you, the playable character who can choose to back off multiple times, to romance him, even though he makes it clear multiple times that he has a cause and that’s his first priority and that he doesnt think this is a good idea for many reasons, but he also grew up in the circle which essentially forbids him from falling in love and weaponises his love for others to keep him obedient and in-line, as we see in his introduction quest, which may be responsible for a lot of his fears about how much harm could come to you for being with him”

“IN FACT, anders, the npc character, is EMOTIONALLY MANIPULATING you, the playable character who chose to pursue him as a romance, by telling you before you even get together that he takes this relationship seriously and has had (SERIOUS) feelings for you for three years and, in a city where people like him are routinely & legally being lobotomised, raped, beaten, locked in tiny cells for hours on end legally and without any repercussion, tells you that youre one of the few good things in his life and he’s lost so much he would do anything to protect you and this relationship, which he thinks will endanger you, but wants to keep”

“anders, the npc character, is overly clingy by choosing to rely on you and tell you that youre important to him too (not like there’s a possibility you might be confused or anything, it’s not like he spends all his free time healing people for free, on the run from the templars, and trying to get other mages out of the circle and generally peacefully standing up for mages and pushing for them to not be routinely lobotomised, raped, beaten, etc) and being vulnerable with you, when his whole life emotional vulnerability (to care about someone else) would be used against him or to punish the other person, by telling you that things are shit and he’s terrified for his future and that of all his people esp because no one seems to CARE what’s happening to the mages but youre the “one bright in light in kirkwall” (not his PERSONAL LIFE) because you stand up for mages and champion them when you dont need to be doing it (if youre not a mage hawke) or it could come at a great risk to yourself (if you are a mage hawke)”

“anders, the npc character who expects you to kill him [irrespective of whether you even want to or not] because his death would be restitution for the lives he and justice took in the chantry and specifically did not tell you about what he had planned or what he would do BECAUSE he was both terrified you’d try to stop him or WORSE try to help him and thus be complicit and therefore also deserving of the same justice he expects for himself, expects hawke to save him which is toxic”

“anders, the npc character, is toxic and unhealthy and claustrophobic for expecting you, the playable character who chooses to pursue a relationship with him out of all the romance options available, to support him emotionally when things are hard for him, to care about the things he cares about -- like oh idk his personal freedom? the suffering & attempted wholesale slaughter of his people? -- to allow him to care about you and be vulnerable with you in turn”

[shroudcore]

Speak now, or forever hold your peace. (III)

Summary: You successfully convinced Eliza to stop the wedding. Unfortunately (or is it really), Eliza has come to a solution that she thinks would be best for everybody and it’s happening no matter what. 

Idia x GN!reader. Reader is MC, or takes the role of MC in this story.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Warnings: none

As if by some miracle, he was still standing—even after you failed to convince Eliza how unnecessary a wedding would be. Now face-to-face with you on the altar, he still couldn’t believe how things turned out. This wasn’t  supposed to happen in real-life. Things like these were the stuff of movies. Or anime. Or dating sims. 

Ace, Epel, Rook, and Riddle were freed at your request. They, along with Ortho, were now arranging the paralyzed students into chairs, since Eliza refused to let them move for disrespecting the “couple”. When you ran out of excuses, some heavily opposed the impromptu wedding. Idia knew why: he wasn’t the only one in NRC who liked you like that. He’d been aware of some schoolmates’ attempts to romance you for a while now. Really, all you had to do was pick a route. 

How did he know, you might ask? It’s not like he secretly researched and listed down his competition so he could keep an eye on them. 

Alright… maybe he did. Heat crawled up to his neck at the thought of anyone finding out. 

“So… we’re getting married,” you said, pulling him out of his thoughts. You spoke slowly, as if testing the words in your mouth. Like him, you couldn’t quite wrap your head around the fake wedding just yet. You fidgeted more than usual—barely looking at his face or talking to him since you joined him at the altar. 

Were you thinking of the same thing? The inevitable kiss after you say your vows?

A weak hum was all he could manage. A smile appeared on your face, showing that you understood. You didn’t tell him to speak up; you never told him to. Somehow, the sight of that smile put him at ease like a recovery potion after a Despair battle ailment. It felt like another day in his room, the two of you hanging out and eating candy. 

“Nice suit, by the way.” 

“Th...anks?” Idia turned his head to the side. If he looked at you any longer, he might combust. Not that he didn’t already. Which was embarrassing btw.

You inched closer, making him gasp and jump back as multiple alarms went off in his head. Really… mind the Personal Space Bubble! Oh wait… that’s right. He’d stopped telling you off for getting too close long ago. 

Your face flashed a look of surprise, which quickly faded into concern as you observed him. When you whispered, your breath grazed his neck and ear. Hopefully his shudder escaped your notice. 

“You okay?” Immediately, you backtrack. “Wait, that was stupid. I know you’re not.”

“So many people watching...” he mumbled. His eyes quickly scanned the hall. “I can’t do this.” And he ended it there. You didn’t need to know how he felt about marrying you.

Again, you understood. Your smile faded and Idia found himself missing it immediately as it went. 

“Sorry, I...” you look down, fiddling with your fingers again. “I really should’ve tried harder to stop this.” 

Idia silently wished for dialogue options, because he didn’t quite know what to say to that. However, it looked like he didn’t need to. You took his hand and squeezed it, a determined fire flickering behind your eyes. 

“This’ll be over soon. Just hold on,” you said, squeezing his hand. “It’s just another quest, player 1.”

At the familiar nickname, he smiled in spite of his thumping heartbeat and everything that had happened. “Let’s do it, player 2.”

“Let us proceed with the ceremony!” Eliza, who had been watching the two of you closely, was eager for the wedding to commence. She clasped her hands in anticipation, looking no different from a normie watching a Rom-com. At her command, the wedding music played again—the same one as before. You gave Idia a look and shrugged. 

“Can’t believe we’re getting married to this music...”

“Sounds like doom, doesn’t it?” 

“Isn’t that what marriage is? Doom?” 

“Haha! E-exactly…” Normally, he would’ve agreed wholeheartedly. This time, he couldn’t help but wonder if that’s how you felt marrying him. 

The ghost officiant returned to the makeshift altar (maintaining a good distance from you). Each NRC student who had the misfortune of attempting a proposal sat in a chair, watching the event. You smiled reassuringly, eyes sparkling like embers. 

“We are gathered here today to unite these two lovers in the bonds of matrimony,” the officiant begins. The darkness of the hall gave him quite a sight: the flickering flames of his hair illuminating your face in blue light. Seeing it, when in the safety and darkness of his room, made him feel this warm, fuzzy feeling he thought was reserved for 2D characters. 

“Do you, Idia Shroud, take … as your lawful spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward—for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, keeping yourself solely unto them for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer " I do". 

This’ll never happen in real life. “I do.” I don’t have a chance, do I?

Confessing would only ruin the bond he had with you. If it meant never losing your friendship, then this fake wedding would be enough. 

He looked at you, standing in front of him as you were about to say your own vows and silently implored Mnemosyne to burn this scene into his memory forever. 

“Do you take Idia Shroud as your lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward—for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer "I do."”

It seemed that you were doing the same. Idia faltered under the intensity of your gaze. “I do.”

“I now pronounce you as spouses. You may now kiss!”

Here it comes. CODE RED! CODE RED!

The way Idia’s face burned rivaled that of his hair. He was becoming hyper-aware of the snickers coming from his schoolmates. Seeing you made him worse—the corners of your mouth twitched and your shoulders shook as you fought back a laugh. 

“Hey! We’re about to kiss and you’re laughing?!” he cried, covering his face. “Kill me now.”

Just like that, your quiet and tender moment was gone. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. Covering your face like he did, you erupted in giggles. Peeking out from the gaps of his fingers, Idia thought about #3 from the Signs of Attraction list he found on the Internet: 

“Another unconscious sign of attraction is mirroring, or matching another person's movements. When people are interested in one another, researchers have found that they tend to mimic each other's movements and gestures.”

Nah. Can’t be. He would have thought it was cute, if you weren’t laughing at his expense. 

“S-sorry! Your hair’s just—” another round of giggles interrupted you. “...burning really brightly!” 

“I can’t help it, okay?” he said, face red from annoyance and of course, the thought of what you were about to do. “Stop!” 

You tried to stop, but just the sight of his red face and hair sent you into another round of wheezing laughter. So hard you laughed, that an inhuman sound came out of you. Immediately, you stopped and looked at him, eyes wide. 

But it was Idia’s turn to lose it. 

“You… sound like… a Minecube pig!” he said, each word punctuated by uncontrollable peals of laughter. The wedding attendees had no choice but to watch on as you and your groom wheezed at the altar instead of kissing. 

“Baaya, what is wrong with them?” a confused Eliza asks. 

“I do not know, but it is apparent that they were made for each other.”

It wasn’t until the annoyed officiant cleared his throat that you and Idia stopped. You straightened up, wiping tears from your eyes as you tried to catch your breath. It was only then that your expression turned serious, but not without a few traces of your mirth from a few seconds ago. 

“Idia, we don’t have to—I’m really, really sorry about this, okay?” you whisper to him. “I know how much you value your firsts…”

“It’s fi—”

“...not that I’m assuming you haven’t had your first uh, kiss yet but—oh god, I uh… ” 

No dating sim—nothing could have prepared him for this situation. But strangely, laughing his ass off with you gave him a spark of courage that he rarely ever felt. In a moment, he would be kissing you. He hopes that courage lasts. 

“Let’s get this over with,” Idia surprised even himself with how steady his voice sounded.

“Oh…” 

You were still, staring at him open-mouthed for what seemed like a few minutes. He stared back, until you were forced to avert your gaze to the ground. Something told him that he was doing something right. A lone voice from the audience chanting “Kiss!” pulled the two of you back to reality. Someone was making an obnoxious kissing sound. Neither of you dared to look and see who it was. 

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” the ghosts joined in on the chant. 

Shyly, you lifted your head back up. “O-okay. Here goes nothing!”

He tried recounting how first kisses were described by people on the Internet, from his manga, and the countless dating sims he played. Some said there were fireworks. Some said it felt electric. Some described the feeling as the rest of the world falling away. One swore it made them feel like the ground disappearing beneath their feet and before they knew it, they were floating. 

Should he close his eyes? Which side should he tilt his head? Where does he put his hands? How exactly do you kiss? Questions, panicky thoughts, and movie kissing scenes ran through his head like a computer reading code. When you leaned in, someone pressed ‘mute’ on the sounds in the hall and all that was left was him and you. 

When you held his face in your gloved hands, it was Error 404. He let his eyes flutter closed. When everything went dark, all he felt was the shy, feather-light brush of lips against the corner of his mouth. Not quite on his lips, just dangerously close. 

Purer than a first kiss, but more than just a friendly peck. The students of NRC witnessed Idia’s hair at its most fiery just the same. 

~~

To be continued. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA Characterization hard

Hehe, hope you liked this. Part 4, the finale, coming soon. 

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

[egalitarian-tomboy]

Natsu's Romantic Feelings for Lucy in Dragon Cry

First off, before I hear anyone say it: Hiro Mashima went on record saying that this movie is canon & it's connected to the final chapter of Fairy Tail. (Before the 100 Year Quest series) So all the things we see happen in this film is part of the Fairy Tail timeline of events. OK we good? Now let's dive in.

We know that this movie has to take place sometime after the battle with Zeref in the mini time-skip before the end of the main series. Since Natsu almost transforms into a dragon with the added power of his demon blood and his response after he's called a demon by the enemy.

So at this point in the romance between Natsu and Lucy, we see in the film how flirtatious he can be with her during the scene with Plue and how well he pays attention to her when he shows her the stars after she had said she wanted to see them. Even at this point in the story, he's becoming a lot more attentive to her emotional and mental wellbeing.

He's protective, but he trusts in her abilities as a Celestial Wizard and allows her to split up from him even if he wanted to protect her during this whole battle.

When Lucy's tear falls into Natsu's mouth as she cries over him, we see his memory of Lucy is clearly more intimate than his memories of his other friends in the guildhall. Lucy isn't wearing her normal clothes, she looks like she's wearing a similar outfit to the one she wore during the infamous hinted NaLu date in one of the ending songs:

Of course her hair is up in pigtails and she's wearing earrings, but the overall vibe is exactly the same. Natsu and Lucy alone together, without Happy, on a date. Even though I don't personally think either of them called it that, I'm pretty sure if it was meant to feature Happy as well, it would've shown Happy flying next to Lucy at the very least. But it didn't. It was just the two of them together. So in a filter like this, it screams romantic date.

So at some point before the final chapter, Natsu and Lucy spent some alone time together as a couple even if neither of them called it a date.

Then at the final scene, where we see the original team Natsu together, I'd like to point out the way Natsu has his arm around Lucy:

You can't tell me that the way Natsu holds Lucy to him isn't similar to how a Boyfriend holds his Girlfriend to him when they're alone together. Even me and my ex-boyfriend cuddled like this when we were at events because I did the exact same thing as Lucy here and held his wrist like that. So the level of comfort between them is already enough to be labeled romantic. Oh yeah, and just because he says they're "Like a family" that doesn't mean he doesn't see Lucy in a romantic way. Because "Like a family" could mean something like:

Natsu - Dad (Husband) Lucy - Mom (Wife) Happy - Son (Child)

So I gotta say, without shoving it into the forefront, Mashima really gave us some more NaLu moments that showcased how their relationship has changed from strangers to friends to something beyond friendship but not officially lovers.

Which is fine because we're getting that built up romantic tension in the 100 year quest series in every arc so far. So we know that Mashima still wants to show us how their relationship will officially start as Boyfriend / Girlfriend or even...as Husband and Wife. *Crosses Fingers*

So to wrap up this post let me say: Natsu's love for Lucy in Dragon Cry can easily be described as a Boyfriend who loves his Girlfriend or as a Fiancé who loves his wife to-be. It's romantic, it's playful, and it's warm. So I'm personally looking forward to the day where we can look back on all these moments and say "What a love story."

[colubrina]

First Lines

I was tagged by @regulusarchieblack and am delighted because I would much rather do this than dishes.

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have fewer than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag some people to take part.

Tried to put these in reverse chronological order (so newwst first)

FORGET-ME-NOT (mg fantasy):   There are many ways a twelve-year-old girl can be invisible.  I want to get this one drafted by September so I can revise it at the writing retreat I am going to.

KEEPING IT REAL (dark angel fanfic):   The job went wrong Probably never going to finish this one (all the troll reviews didn’t help on that front), but I do like it. All angsty and wallowing

IF YOU MAKE THE DESERT BLOOM (dune fanfic):  “I’m sorry, what?”    The tattoo/flower shop AU the world was begging for

A QUEST IS A DANGEROUS THING (legendborn fanfic):   What killed Bree was that she understood and couldn’t even be angry.   Perhaps the sequel will inspire me to go back to this one,.

UNNAMED GRISHA FIC (grisha fic):  I could always tell when Mal wanted to fuck someone.  never gonna finish this.

NO GOOD WITCHES (ya fantasy):  The most important part of high school was looking normal.  Revising this is killing me.

DRAMIONE RIVALS TO LOVERS FIC (harry potter fic): Granger had done it again. never gonna finish this.

BEOWULF (ya fantasy): Beowulf was the worst book ever written.  This got mired down after I was told I’d revised all the joy out of it and I got stuck.

DUST AND ASHES (ya fantasy): The end of the world began with fire, though no one noticed. Gonna work on this one on and off until I die.

AUBRYN (ya fantasy): Aubryn was fixing her lipstick when the fairy fell out of the sky.  My sequel to Small Town Monsters.  I loved Aubryn so much I couldn’t let her go, so I wrote another whole book about her.  That no one will ever read. God, I’m depressing myself writing all this out.  What is wrong with me?

SMALL TOWN MONSTERS (ya fantasy): There was a half-naked boy in her back yard. I’ve been told this is too quiet for the market.  Straight fairy romance just isn’t in even more, even with bombs and and lots of healthy female friendships.

SEA WITCH’S DAUGHTER (mg fantasy):  Sophie was waiting for her sisters to get ready, and they were taking forever.  My Author Mentor Match book, and the one I signed with my agent for.  This one goes on sub this summer. Good times, I say like a liar.  Who doesn’t love rejection and hopelessness? 

BLOOD AND ROSES (ya fantasy)  Camilla stood at the edge of Fairy and watched the old house.  My Pitch Wars book.  Died in the query trenches.  The ending is more cool than logical, I have to admit, but what really killed it was that no one wants to publish more straight fairy books.

THE AZRAEL PROJECT (ya SFF)  The line to pass the checkpoint moved slowly all morning. No one liked this book except my daughter, who loved it and still rereads it.  Did worse in the query trenches than any other book I queried.

BLOOMS THE THISTLE (ya fantasy)  It was hard to pretend she was still a good person on Summoning Days.  The first book I queried.  Got 18 full requests because it was the last gasp of the YA fantasy boom.  Wasn’t a good book. I remember it mostly for the cruelty of a critique partner, who told me “No one would read this unless they were painfully bored.”  If you tell a person this as feedback, you are an asshole or a sadist or both.

I think I’ve run out of anything even reasonably recent.  My favorite is the most recent, but that’s probably just because it hasn’t failed  yet.

tagging:  @medievalfantasist, @fullyvisible, @evolutionsbedingt, @pedlimwen, @naarna, @sparrow-ink, @pia-bartolini, @provocative-envy, @akorah, @cocoartistwrites, @funkyfaerie

[handy-dandy-monster-candy]

Ruathym, part Three

Rating: NSFW Length: 2272 Pairing: Male Drider x GN Reader

The finale for the romance for @kim-monsterlings!

xxx

Much to your surprise, Ruathym gives you space. There are fewer summons and the spies make themselves ever scarcer, until you could swear there were long stretches of time in which you were truly alone. Even more surprising, you found yourself becoming restless and ill-tempered in these moments, losing your patience with even Tinki. (Of course, you make it up to the little, well-meaning creature; spiders, you learn, are surprisingly good at puppy-dog eyes.)

“You’ve been snapping at the staff left and right,” Ruathym says with no small amount of amusement some days later, braiding your hair down your scalp. It’s gotten longer, you realise, and you contemplate cutting it before your captor speaks. “Have I displeased you in some way?”

Yes, you wish to say, but you’re sure that the King has done nothing wrong. Not truly. “No,” you say instead, though it sounds unconvincing to your own ears.

“Hm,” hums Ruathym, tugging gently at your hair in admonishment. “With the way you’ve been acting, one might get the impression that you dislike being far from my side.” You twitch and he laughs, triumphant. “Is that it, my little bug? Have you come to crave the pull of my silk?”

“I wish you wouldn’t mock me,” you grouse, sighing heavily. “It reminds me why I prefer my own company.”

Ruathym chuckles, fingertips skating along the skin of your back before he picks you up and cradles you against him in his four arms. “I thought humans needed time to mourn their losses,” he says, searching your face with something sharper in his eyes than his usual derision. “I’m no reader of minds, my sweet. You must tell me if you have want of me.”

You scoff. You can’t help it. When has being vulnerable ever served you well? You almost bite his fingers when he turns your face to look into your eyes, sighing once again in your defeat. “And if I do?” you challenge, lifting your proud chin. “What of it?”

“Then you shall become my consort,” says Ruathym, with a simple frankness that flabbergasts you.

“Your—what?” you gasp, distantly aware that your lips are flapping like a fish on the docks.

“Do try not to make me repeat myself,” Ruathym replies in exasperation, pinching your chin. “My consort. My lover. Whatever you humans call those of our stations in courtship.”

“But I’m human!” you splutter, struggling to sit up straighter in his arms.

“I’m aware,” drawls Ruathym, helping you get your bearings—at least physically. “Did you think I was sleeping with you because you disgusted me?”

“I…” You don’t have the words. You don’t know what you thought, but it definitely wasn’t this. “You think I’m attractive?”

“What did I just say about making me repeat myself?”

You huff, scowling up into his handsome, angular face. “You wouldn’t be. I want answers, not riddles.”

Ruathym snorts indelicately, one of his few habits that doesn’t come with some modicum of damnable grace. “Yes, I find you attractive. No one else has the audacity to speak to me the way that you do. I find it thrilling.”

“You mean you like it when I’m cruel.” You frown. “That’s not what I’m after. I don’t want to be cruel to my lover. If you want to court me, you do it right.”

Ruathym carefully sets you down on the bed, curling his legs up under himself and draping his humanoid torso across plump, velvety pillows. “Teach me what humans do ‘right’, then,” he commands, gesturing for you to speak.

You flounder for a moment; this was not how you expected your evening to go. “We… We court,” you say dumbly, gesticulating helplessly. “We exchange gifts of trinkets and flowers, we write one another letters, we—well, usually there’s pining involved, I suppose.”

“How dull,” sighs the King, watching you beneath his thick, silvery lashes. “Driders kill for their lovers.”

The weight of his words isn’t lost on you. You think of your brother and his knights—of the entirety of the kingdom laid to waste at your feet. You feel lightheaded, blood creeping up your neck and up into your face. You have to resist the urge to hide from the slow, smug smirk of satisfaction that melts onto the Drider King’s face. Damn the man. Had he been courting you in his own way this entire time? Damn him!

“What about the Queen?” you ask, hedging around the obvious revelation and latching onto one of your more prominent doubts.

Ruathym blinks hard, clearly startled. “What about her?”

“You’re married,” you say, “and she hates me. Won’t she want me dead once she realises her lover’s attention has strayed?”

The King laughs, hard and loud, throwing his head back with his mirth and revealing his fangs. “She’s never loved me a day in her life,” he manages to gurgle after several seconds of laughter, “and the feeling is mutual. We married for politics and to spawn strong children. That’s all. If she so much as schemes to harm a hair on your head, I will kill her or die trying.”

“Ruathym!”

“What? Does it shock you? I protect what is mine, little bug, and you are what I wish to possess in your entirety.”

You bristle at this, though you curse your stupid heart for fluttering in your chest like a tizzied moth. “I’m not a thing, Ruathym. You can’t possess me. Either you love me, or our arrangement remains the same.”

Ruathym shrugs an elegant shoulder, expression shifting into something bordering on thoughtful. “What is love to a human may not be love to a drider, little one. I want you, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. Is that not love? I would kill you before I allowed you to court another. Is that not love? I would lay down my life to protect you. Is that not love, this powerful, ugly thing?”

You don’t know what to say to this. You want to object, but your heart is pounding too loudly, your thoughts are too muddled. Never has someone felt so strongly about you, and while your feelings are conflicted, you can’t deny that there’s something intoxicating about the King and his firm command of you in and out of the bedchambers.

Courtship with Ruathym is… interesting. He sends you poisonous flowers at first for their beauty, unaware that their very touch could kill you. When you correct him, he expresses his disdain for human frailty, but then he sends for roses and takes the care to have their thorns removed so as to avoid any chance of injury. It’s excessive and obnoxious, but it’s endearing in its own way, even if you’ve never been particularly fond of roses. Still, each bouquet is a different colour paired with different complimentary flowers, and you begin to look forward to your weekly deliveries with something like anticipation.

Then there are the letters.

As expected, Ruathym’s lettering is swooping and elegant, more reminiscent of ornamental calligraphy than what one would use for writing to a lover. Still, each letter holds within it a terribly sweet awkwardness that lets you know that he’s never written a letter out of love in the whole of his life. He’s strangely formal at first, addressing you by all of your names in the greetings of his first few letters, but it isn’t long before he’s dropping them all in favour of addressing you as he does in person. It makes your heart flutter oddly in your chest to see ‘little bug’ written in such beautiful, glittering script, shimmering silver on charcoal grey parchment.

Soon, they become less letters and more little notes delivered on scraps here and there. Tiny doodles of advisors dying terrible deaths done in the throes of boredom, or tidbits of trivia from the kingdom at large. Did you know we had 5,363 cattle in the region of the L’Surba Caverns? Neither did I know nor care, one says, and you snort into your tea at the thought of the King sitting proudly while some poor sod with an abacus counted out their livestock from the sum of several reports. While you missed the weight of your crown, you did not exactly miss all of the bureaucracy attached to it.

He takes you on little outings, here and there. At first it’s a simple stroll through the gardens, sharing meals and speaking about your days. Then, as you both grow bolder, outings to meet—or, in his case, intimidate—the people. Finally, with glamours and enchantments, you take to the countryside for days at a time, disguised as a couple or adventurers on a quest. It’s during these outings that you get to know him best, away from the bustle of the castle, where his impetuous charm and rakish smiles lure you to him like a moth to flame, and you crash and burn in his heated embrace.

One evening many months later, you are summoned to a part of the palace that you rarely frequent, for it is usually crawling with servants and vassals of every kind. Now, however, the halls are quiet and still, and the servant who leads you to the chamber where Ruathym awaits disappears like a whisper in the dark. There, in the centre of the room, is a set of robes unlike any you’ve ever seen, woven in shimmering silk dyed the colour of rubies. You approach as if in a dream, running your fingers along embroidery in the shape of tiny silver spiderlings along the shoulders and hems—you nearly jump out of your skin when the King drapes himself across your back.

“What is this?” you whisper, looking over your shoulder at his soft, searching face.

“Your wedding attire,” he says, and he seems unperturbed when you draw away, stunned.

“My what? Your wife!”

“Is dead,” Ruathym simply replies, shaking his head at your unasked question. “We had a clutch of eggs. She went the natural way. The children feed on her yet.”

You grimace at this, though you can’t deny the relief you feel at her passing. “You’re a father now?”

“I am. You will also be their parent, when we wed.”

“‘When’? You’re assuming I’ll accept!”

“Would you deny me?” he asks sharply, eyes narrowing into gleaming slits.

Your stomach flips. “Well,” you say, flustered and at a loss. “This is all so sudden, Ruathym!”

“Is it really?” he asks, reeling you in against him again. “We’ve posed as newlyweds before. Why is it so different now?”

“Because it’s real now! We wouldn’t be pretending!”

“Who says that I was pretending before?” he demands, trapping you between his body and the robe on the mannequin. “It was practise.”

You feel your face burning, and you’re sure you might blend into the robe at your back if given just a little more provocation. “You despicable little—“

“Yes, yes, call me names,” he says, waving away your insults. “Later. Give me your answer now.”

“You know my answer,” you grumble, pushing ineffectively at his chest.

“I know it,” he confirms, smugness in every syllable. “I wish to hear it.”

You kiss him instead, drawing him into a passionate embrace and climbing up into his arms when he lifts you off your feet. You hadn’t seen the bed in the corner of the room, but that’s where he takes you a moment later, tossing your “irritating human clothing” over the edge of it and onto the floor. You expect him to bend you over the pillows. You expect him to claw at your skin, to bite at your shoulders, to whisper filth into your ears.

He kisses you instead.

He kisses you like neither of you have ever borne a crown—as if he could find the answers in the hazing of your eyes when he steals your breath with his tongue, hands in your hair and burning along your spine. He teases you open with his fingers until you’re reduced to begging for release, and then he presses into you with soft, shuddering breaths spilling from his lips, eyes on your face as you toss your head back into the sheets and writhe.

He sighs your name like a psalm when you come around him, and then he pushes into you again and again, his cool fingers threading between yours and holding you firmly against the bed as you shake apart beneath him. You feel something in your chest unbreak when he bites you without fang, staying present for every moment that his lips brush against yours and your name falls into the pool of heat between you.

This time, when he comes, he shatters like a shower of glass and sparks, cresting against you like a wave and pushing you over the edge all over again, throat trapped desperately—willingly—between his teeth. When your eyes focus again, you find him looking down at you with a tenderness you’d never thought him capable of, and it makes you want to hide. “What?” you whisper up at him, trying and failing to tug a bit of the sheets over your body.

“I love you, little bug,” Ruathym whispers back, tracing your lips with his thumb. “I have done and will do so until this heart in my chest stops beating.”

“That’s so dark,” you say, “for a declaration of love.”

“It is my declaration, and I am not a man of light. Would you deny me?”

“No,” you breathe, shyly reaching up to touch his face. “I love you, too.”

Ruathym smiles, and despite his words, it lights up the room. “I know.”

You snort. “Bastard.”

“I know that, too.”

[shivada-jade]

how to be romantic

characters: zhongli, childe (the wingman) ➡ mentions: xiao, venti, hu tao warning(s): n/a unless you havent gone to liyue. why havent you gone to liyue? FINISH THE MONDSTADT QUEST AND GO TO LIYUE.

Zhongli's everyone's ideal man.

Intelligent, amusing, respectful, and extremely good looking.

Zhongli knows many things including Liyue's history and, well... Teyvat's history.

Though, romance is not something he touched base with over the time he spent in Teyvat. He was, after all, a war leader. He was a fighter, not a lover, but over time when he settles down at the harbour, he found you.

Being romantic is for losers, as a certain bard would tell him long ago, chugging two gallons of wine. Pretty ironic how his city turned to be a city of romance as much as it is freedom.

You were someone who did not make him feel like someone to be worshipped as he was once worshipped. You did not make him feel belittled or someone of unimportance. You made him feel whole, and for that he is forever thankful.

He tends to ramble about ancient history, but you assure him you find it as interesting as he does. You would usually tease him saying you might know more than him until you thought you saw a certain Yaksha near by. The certain Yaksha threatened you with the tip of his polearm when he fits you as any threat to Zhongli, whether physically or mentally. Ahah, but it's okay you're both buddy-buddy now. You make the best almond tofu.

Zhongli will forever be yours, he promises you. Through thick or thin or through any rainy day, he promises he will be forever yours. You bro-zone him.

As he sits on the chair drinking his tea, his eyes wander from person to person, noting how many of them were in pairs: pair of siblings, a pair of friends, a pair of lovers, a pair of enemies. Everything is in a pair.

A pair of blue eyes interrupt his thought. Zhongli sets his teacup down and nods to Childe in acknowledgement.

"How do you do, Childe?"

Childe grins and puts his hands behind his head, taking a seat in front of Zhongli. "Oh nothing much. Juuust checking in to see how my favourite grandpa is. How are you? How's the spouse and three kids, living near the beach with their pet hamster? Ayo shawty bae, make sure you-"

Zhongli indeed knows a lot of things, but Childe's way of talking might just be something he may never understand.

"Childe, let us get to the point."

"Right, so! As your awesome wingman who got you the love of your life and even matchmade with countless of other people, I, Childe, the lovable Fatui Harbinger, the hottest person here, the best ginger there is-"

"The point, please," Zhongli says, offering to pour tea for his friend.

Childe refuses with a polite smile, "I have come with thee with a way to spice up your love life!"

Zhongli pauses and then lifts the cup up, sipping the tea, humming to show he heard.

Blue eyes dull and Childe whines, "Come on! I went through so much trouble in making a step-by-step guide on how to be romantic." His arms droop to his side.

The former Archon lifts a brow and places his tea down again, "Amuse me."

"Great!" Childe high-fives himself under the table. His right hand fishes for something hidden in his left sleeve and pulls it out. It was a long scroll of messy writing.

"Ahahah!" He slaps the scroll on the paper. The title read, 60 Impressive Ways to Be Romantic. "Mr Zhongli, you will not regret following these simple steps! You're already the man, but now you'll be... the better man! It works 100%"

"Preposterous," Zhongli chuckles. "I don't think I need this to win over [Name's] heart."

"Dude, [Name] bro-zoned you yesterday."

The wind brings the sound of laughter to Zhongli's ears, as if mocking him. Sometimes, he really wanted to punch the wind.

...

Tartaglia's way of showing romance seems to cost a fortune. Zhongli knows at this point this is one of Tartaglia's entertainment, because halfway through the scroll it scribbled, "AFFORDABLE ways to be romantic :)"

...

You come home to rose petals littering your doorstep and silk flowers perching on your window. A little neat note is clipped in between the door and the door frame.

After working, all you wanted to do is sleep, so that is what you did. You were too tired to notice the change and left the letter falling on the floor.

Mission failed!

Childe pats Zhongli's pat like he was a rejected kid on the playground.

"So what? Maybe step number 38 just wasn't it. Let's skip to step 69."

"There's only 60 steps, though," Zhongli quickly points out.

"Oh.. just change the number 60 to 69. It'll be like 57, 58, 59, 69 and done!"

...

Step 45: Take them out on a nerd date.

Zhongli has already told you so much about his knowledge, he doesn't think there's much to do.

Step 48: Explore the unknown!

You almost fell in a ravine when you and Zhongli went out for a simple walk. No way was he going to let that happen again.

Step 52: How are you all the way here? Make their favourite dish!"

Hu Tao sabotaged a dish once and Zhongli proceeded to think he's a horrible chef.

Step 54: I'm out of ideas. Just don't be a wimp and place an arm over their shoulder while you're against a wall or something. What's the word.. kabedon?"

Zhongli notes the Inazuman term and sweat drops. Maybe Zhongli is a wimp. No he isn't, but he wouldn't know if you would be comfortable with that. He would like to make sure you feel safe around him before doing such things.

Step 60: You made it here, so I'm assuming nothing from the other steps worked. Just ask them out and be direct. If you're rejected then I'm here!

"Well? Why do you like them to begin with?" Childe questions Zhongli one day with a palm resting under his chin.

Golden eyes soften when describing details that make you one of a kind as Childe takes out a quill, ink and a paper.

The next day, Childe ushers Zhongli to meet you. He shoves Zhongli to your house and quietly waits in a bush, listening to what's going to happen.

Zhongli waits outside your doorstep, knocking. He does not have much with him, just a single glazed lily in one hand.

He waits a few moments and you open the door.

"Hi there, Zhongli!"

Zhongli lights up when he sees your bright aura.

"Hello-"

"You're late."

That went downhill really fast, but Zhongli is a man of patience. "I beg your pardon?..." he trails off, wondering what he was late for.

"The letter, the flowers, the little lunches you packed for me these days?" You explain, heaving a basket from inside and showing Zhongli the little collection of gifts he gave you. He thought random people got his gifts instead of you because it would always be gone by the next day without ever seeing you take it.

Zhongli clears his throat, honestly flustered that you took care of his gifts with great care, even placing it in a delicate basket. By delicate, the fanciest looking basket out there.

He reaches for your hand, gently placing a Glazed Lily. "What am I late for?"

You walk back inside, carefully placing the Glazed Lily in a vase and come outside with a blue letter. You curiously ask, "Did you not send this letter?"

Zhongli looks at the letter with a smile gracing his face. In your hand is a blue letter with a small whale stamp in the corner.

To my dearest,

I do not wish to keep my feelings for you caged in. I'm not one to forget many things, but when I am with you, I seem to forget all the pain this world has caused me.

At times I feel unreachable or unapproachable to many people. At times I feel I may never fit in this new life in Liyue I chose, but when you show me the thousands of reasons why I need to stay, I stay for you. I realize when I am not with you, Liyue is dull. When I am not with you, I am cold, but when I am with you, I am full of warmth and happiness.

Your eyes that tell me more stories than I can imagine are stunning. The smile that comes with it tops it all off. Your awful jokes and horrible sense of humour make me at peace, showing me there is a little humour in everything.

I wish I can go on and list more, but my ink is running short.

I simply adore you, my dear.

I can only hope you feel the same for me. My gifts for you are material, but my love for you will be eternal.

Would you be able to free yourself to spend the day with me tomorrow by noon?

Yours,

Zhongli

note: JHDSJNDSDNALNDAHJHDNMDSNMAMNDNMF,,C,MVMNXCVNVCNMCVXNMCVXNMCNMM,JDFSLDFNMSKDAFJJFDKREY3RKNLFDFSNMDDAJLNLAALKADPODMKLCXBEGHRGHGNML

you read it this far EHHDAHDHJ HOW

(childe's pov)

[akaashisupremacy]

How to Find Love

Summary: Iwaizumi is on a quest to find love with an old friend. What can he do to get there?

Iwaizumi x fem!reader/Oc || Read it on A03

Genre : romance, friends to lovers

Hajime Iwaizumi ran into the cafe, eyes wide and panicky. “I’m already twenty minutes late for the date.”

As he composed himself before he entered the place, he took a deep breath. He was determined to enjoy this date because it might be their last. Hiromi had never taken lateness kindly.

“Gomen, the meeting ran longer than expected,“ he said, nodding his head into a bow, too embarrassed to meet her eyes, “I’m so sorry.”

She looked up from her books with a weary smile. Beside her was a pile of four or five books, some of which were beginning to yellow, meticulously tabbed with colorful post-its.

“You still made it,” she said, closing her book “I usually walk out if my date was a full hour late.”

It was a Thursday. She had an afternoon at the library while he had an early off (if it wasn’t for his work meeting). Neither of them worked traditional 9 to5 jobs. He began to wonder if seeing each other would be easier if they did. Iwa was leaving on a Friday for Osaka for the rest of the weekend. He was a physical trainer for a professional volleyball team, which meant that he travelled with them during their season.

They called for a menu and began to order what would be their dinner.

“How’s work?” he asked, surveying her through the menu.

“It’s a lot of reading,” she gestured towards her stack of books, “But we’re at the beginning of a new research-heavy campaign so it’s normal. How about you?"

“Mmm…it’s still the start of the season so most of the team is quite healthy. Some of them are a little excited so we’re just trying to reign them in to keep them from straining themselves.” he said, thumbing through the pages.

He had settled for a hamburg curry rice while she had gone for a bowl of tuna pasta. She looked distracted.

“What’s up?” he asked, leaning into the table now that the niceties were done with.

“I like my job. I like my team. But why do I feel like I’m just grinding day in and day out." she sighed, resting her chin on her books, “There’s got to be more in adult life than this."

“You’ve got to find the reason out on your own because your employer won’t do it for you. Not that I’m qualified to give advice or anything.” he said, looking up from his drink.

“I know,” she murmured, her head rested between her folded arms “It’s just so difficult to find the energy for it sometimes.”

Iwaizumi nodded. He knew what she meant. No one job could fulfill all his desires for accomplishment. He liked his job, but it wasn’t a perfect job. He wished that he didn’t need to spend so many weekends away from home.

Man, this date was sobering.

“You sound burnt out. Maybe take it slower at work?” he quirked his head to match the angle of hers.

“What is it that you want to do that you’re not doing for work?” he asked. Despite less than a year in the workforce, she already looked so glum.

She pulled herself up and swept her books aside, “I don’t know to be honest. Within the next two years, I just want to be published in other big publications. It doesn’t have to be necessarily on food, more like the stuff I write for fun. The stuff I’m willing to freelance while I have a day job, y’know?”

“Like what?”

Their order had arrived. She stabbed her fork into her pasta and gently twirled it around.

“The New York Times has a column called Modern Love where you write a long essay about some type of love. It doesn’t have to be romantic. It can be platonic, familial, or even failed love as long as it is set in modern day. I’ve been meaning to write about my failed relationships.” she said thoughtfully.

Iwa choked on his first spoonful.

“Well, if this doesn’t work out, I can at least write about it. Get three hundred dollars and buy you dinner to thank you for the experience.” she laughed drily.

“Are you always this pessimistic on your first dates?” he coughed, taking a sip of water “Either ways, I’m glad to be of help.”

She perked up a bit and grinned. Her whole face lit up when she smiled. A wave of warmth washed over him.

“Send me a copy when you get published.” he added, “I want to see what you write about me.”

“I’m definitely going to writet that you were late on the first date.” she said without skipping a beat. She was grateful that they had chosen this cafe. There were not too many people even if it was dinner time, yet the ambient noise that filled the air kept their pauses from being too silent.

Iwa stopped eating and squinted his eyes at her, “You are not gonna let me live this down, huh?" She winked at him with a glint in her eye. He smiled in response.

He couldn’t care less about what the New York Times was but she was evidently fascinated by it. He wasn’t going to own up to uncultured swine he was on a first date. He had already been late.

“Anyways tell me more about this Modern Love.” he settled back into his dinner.

She pulled out her phone and began typing, “The Modern Love column came out with questions to help get to know someone. This could be a fun date activity.”

“Sure, you want to give it a go?”

She shoved the phone in his face and scrolled through the questions. “There are three sets of questions. Each set more intimate than the last. You can choose from the first set.”

Iwa lightly held the phone, his fingertips grazing the back of her hand. He chose the first question that caught his eye.

“Number 4. What would constitute a ‘perfect’ day for you?” he read out loud. Hiromi took her phone back and read the question to herself.

“What’s your answer?” she asked.

“I just got back, I hadn’t figured out what a perfect day would be like here.” he shrugged sincerely.

She snorted loudly, “What a cop out answer!”

Iwa looked up and thought for a bit, “A day spent walking around in the city…maybe a day that starts with a morning jog and a hot unrushed breakfast after. Catching up with friends sounds good too.”

Hiromi nodded. She was fully absorbed as he talked. It was like she was going through the scenes of his day in his mind as he described them.

“What about you?” he asked, snapping out of her out of her reverie.

“A day at the market,” she said quietly. ”Any market day is a good day really.”

“To be honest, it doesn’t depend on the activities so much at times. The people you’re with is definitely important. A day at the market can still be terrible with the wrong company.” she added.

“I wasn’t subpar last weekend, was I?” he asked.

“No...you weren’t.” she replied a little more shyly than usual.

They moved onto the next question.

“What roles do love and affection play in your life?” she read out loud, “Doesn’t have to be romantic again.”

Iwaizumi inhaled sharply. That was such a loaded question.

“If you’ll use this for an article and it gets published, you better buy me dinner someplace nice.” he tutted.

“Then make this one good.” she smirked.

Iwaizumi stopped eating for a few minutes to think through the question. Before he answered, he closed his eyes and breathed out slowly.

“It defined my entire career in volleyball. My best friend and I watched a game and we kind of chose to go into the same school team after that because we were both so obsessed with the sport. Our connection was almost telepathic. We barely used signals when it was just the two of us. We basically ran off instinct.” said he softly, his eyes reminiscing a different time.

“Although we went our separate ways after high school, I spent so much time in volleyball that it defined a huge part of who I was too. I mean, if I didn’t play volleyball, I would probably be in another sport, but I’d still think I’d be different, y’know?”

You could tell he was avoiding the word “love.” Iwa was not one to be vulnerable.

“In college when I was in my first serious relationship, it was the type of love that gave me confidence and assurance. But I guess it wasn’t enough…for me to say it deeply impacted my later choices on career and other decisions, unlike volleyball.”

“I can’t help but feel that any defining…relationship I have romantically will be weighed against with my time with volleyball…my first real love…" he tried to laugh it off, but you felt the weight off his words, “And I’ve been lucky enough to have enough love in my life that I don’t need to constantly be in a relationship to feel complete.”

A moment of silence fell in between the two.

“That’s a lot to heap on a relationship.” she whispered in contemplation.

Iwa awkwardly scrambled for damage control, “…no pressure.” was all he managed to say.

“So why try to date? When it’s so tough to find someone who can match up with volleyball?” she asked.

“Companionship?” he shrugged, “It’s still nice to date around.”

“And you’re…nice. I’ve been wanting to date you since we were in college. I’ve liked you for a long time…” his entire face flushed pink.

Her eyes fluttered wide open. Since college? Is he serious?

“Our friends were right,” she said in a hush, “You did have a thing for me. I thought they were just teasing us.”

“You had a boyfriend back then and when you broke up with him, I was seeing someone else.” he exhaled, looking her earnestly in the eye, “Wasn’t it obvious to you?”

Iwaizumi couldn’t tell if Hiromi just didn’t want to speak or was too busy contemplating. She was too stunned to speak.

“It felt like fate seeing you on the plane.”

A million things were going through her mind, she slowly opened her mouth, “Now that we’ve been on two half dates, what’s it like? Is this what you’d thought it would be?”

“College is very different from now, but the short answer is yes.” he nodded, rolling his shoulders back. “Everything just clicks. I’m so comfortable with you. It’s so easy for us to talk. I like you just as much as I did in college…I just really like you. Time hasn’t changed that at all.”

Hiromi looked overwhelmed. She was unable to look him in the eye. She was barely getting to know him romantically and he had long been decided about his feelings for her.

“Do you wanna ask if they sell alcohol here? You look like you need a drink.” he joked. Hiromi didn’t look like she heard him.

"This is so intense for a first date.” she shook her head in what seemed like regret.

“We can stop,” he gently interjected, “We can talk about something else.”

She finally looked up to him and whispered, “Hajime, you’ve just dumped a lot of pressure on me.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to do that,” he smiled apologetically, “Anyways, I’m aware that we’re both at different…stages of attraction. Besides, I think this would be way more awkward if we both were pining.”

“Wouldn’t that be sweeter?” she asked.

“Way too sappy for me.” he waved with his hand. Hiromi let out a small chuckle. Iwa secretly sighed in relief.

——————————————————————————— After dinner, they headed to the arcade to blow off some steam. Iwaizumi offered to carry some of her books to which he somewhat regretted. Her books were like rocks. How the hell was she lugging them on her own in the city?

“I could carry them on my own if it’s too heavy.” she offered.

Iwaizumi looked at her incredulously. She was at least half a foot shorter and much smaller in build. His biceps weren’t going to buck in front of her.

They wandered around the arcade for a bit, unsure what to do first. Iwa silently prayed they didn’t have to do any dancing. Just when they were about to decide on the claw machine, Hiromi pointed towards a small karaoke booth at the corner of her eye.

“Let’s go in there.” she tugged at his jacket.

Iwaizumi flipped through the songs. None of them seemed to be in Japanese. All of them were in English.

“Did you pick up a default english karaoke song?” she asked, browsing through the catalogue. The room was clearly designed for kids. It was so small their knees touched and Iwa could barely sit up without hitting his head on the ceiling.

“Nah,” he shook his head, “I don’t really sing…in English. Any suggestions?”

Hiromi typed in the number of a song.

“I’m about to introduce you to your first usable English karaoke song.” she grinned at him mischievously. Iwa looked at her suspiciously.

The opening notes started to play—some acoustic guitar and a trumpet. The song sounded…Mexican? For the longest time there were no lyrics on the screen. Hiromi swayed to beat as her eyes were glued to the screen. When the song finally began to hit what sounded like the chorus, the music paused for a second.

“TEQUILA!” she yelled into the mic.

Iwaizumi was so startled he jumped up and hit his head on the ceiling. Hiromi was giggling uncontrollably.

“That’s it?!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah,” she laughed, pressing the mic towards him, “You try on the next chorus.”

When the trumpets began playing, Iwa readied himself. The song hits its familiar pause soon enough and he pulls the mic closer to his lips.

“Tequila?” he said tentatively.

“With more conviction, Hajime!” she urged, taking back the mic. On the third chorus, she moved closer to him so they could share the mic.

The music hits its third pause, they looked at each other and yelled, “TEQUILA!”

They both grinned and laughed, almost as if the act of singing about alcohol was like a drink in itself. He could feel her shins pressed against him as she continued to sway for the music. A glint in her eye flickered as she nudged him to dance along with her.

Iwaizumi wasn’t going to refuse. Especially not on their first date. He swayed what he could on the tiny box while the song lasted.

————————————————————————— At the end of the night, they both sat in the train waiting to get off on their respective stops. The carriage shuttled back and forth, pushing and pulling their bodies back and forth into each other.

“Hajime,” she tapped him on his shoulder, “We didn’t finish the last set. Let’s do a quick one before I get off.”

He nodded, “Pick one we can answer with just one word.”

Hiromi swiftly browsed the list, before looking up.

“Finish the sentence, ‘Right now, we are both feeling…’"

Their faces were both so close they could feel the heat of each other’s breath. The back of their hands were touching, but neither dared to reach out or pull away.

“Hopeful.” whispered Hiromi, an evident earnestness in her voice. She was fighting off her shyness just long enough to look him in the eye when she talked.

Iwa smiled, “Smitten.”

Before she could react, the train jolted as it shuffled towards her station.The train stopped at Hiromi’s station and she got up from her seat, taking the books from Iwa’s arms.

He followed her to the exit and watched her as she got off. She gave a small wave from the platform while she watched the doors closed.

Iwa was tempted to press his hands onto the window, unwilling to end their time for the evening. His last sight of her was her smile when the train plunged itself into the night.

“Did he start out his day at the market with a morning jog?” she asked herself, watching the train swiftly pull away.

Iwaizumi took a deep breath. The night had gone differently from how he thought the date would proceed. For one thing, he didn’t expect to confess so early into the relationship.

He took his phone and curiously googled the questions she mentioned.

It turns out the title of the New York Times article was not “Questions to Get to Know Your Date” as Hiromi had led him to believe. Instead, it was titled, “Thirty Six Questions That Lead to Love”.

“Huh,” he said to himself. He shut off the screen to his phone.

36 was too much. In his opinion 3 was enough.

-----------------------------------------------------------

This is part 3 of a series on Iwa living in Tokyo after he moves back from California. Comment or message to be added to the taglist. 

Also, I’ve been feeling quite down lately, so say some nice things if you feel like it in the comments 😬✌️

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4

Series taglist: @itstheee-ha-chan

[dykeseinfeld]

u asked someone to remind you to post about your pjo dual protagonist thalia/bianca au and i am SO intrigued by this idea please say more

anon asked: hey queen hope your homework went good yesterday 🌸…now what were you saying about thalia and bianca 😳 ?

ok y’all i’m here...the moment almost none of y’all have been waiting for....bianca/thalia protagonists with alternating pov’s au

warning it’s kind of super long and may or may not read like a 2nd grader’s semi-coherent game of pretend so under the cut it goes!

so the main things you need to know about this au are 1. thalia survives and 2. annabeth’s + luke’s ages are a lil diff bc canon is my sandbox 3. i can’t decide if percy exists in this au or not (maybe y’all can help me decide?)

so the first book:

would start a few months after grover brought thalia (12), luke (13), and annabeth (10, not 7)  to camp half blood. they were chased by monsters sent by hades on the way, and thalia almost didn’t survive, but ultimately she got lucky and managed to send a bolt of lightning through her spear for the first time and they made it into camp

it’s been some time so annabeth is happy as a clam in the athena cabin doing her 10-year-old-with-severe-mommy-issues thing and luke is actually pretty popular with the hermes cabin bc he actually Met Their Dad Holy Shit and also he’s getting pretty good with a sword

at the same time, thalia is alone in the zeus cabin. everyone has been freaking out bc they all saw the huge bolt of lightning that incinerated a couple hellhounds as they made their grand entrance and What The Fuck Child Of The Big Three???

she’s also further isolated because chiron will take her for private training sessions sometimes, since she is clearly really powerful already and also Hades Himself was trying to kill her (chiron told her the reason was the big three’s pledge not to have kids, and maybe about the great prophecy? if he tells her that then she’s sworn to secrecy)

once grover leaves on another protector assignment, thalia mostly hangs out with luke, and annabeth. luke + annabeth both will try to eat meals with her at the zeus table but annabeth doesn’t want to get in trouble and luke is genuinely making friends in the hermes cabin so thalia will feel bad sometimes and send him back

kronos, seeing this bitter isolated child of the big three’s dreams: it’s free real estate

MEANWHILE

hades is Pissed that thalia survived and zeus got to break their oath And get the glory of a prophecy child

so he sends someone to take bianca (12) and nico (10) out of the lotus hotel and casino a little early.

grover is still their protector, but since the Stirring hasn’t begun in earnest yet and hades is lowkey determined to keep them safe, they make it back to camp half blood with no escort/incident

bianca + nico are put into the hermes cabin, and luke kinda takes them under his wing bc while he’s not bitter he still needs therapy bc this 14 year old has never met a pre-teen he couldn’t try to parent

luke introduces nico and annabeth since they’re the same age and they become really good friends!! she Loves mythomagic and he thinks her dagger is super cool and they’re both just really excited about camp <3

bianca is more reserved and resistant to the whole thing, and she wanders around alone exploring and runs into thalia in the zeus cabin

at this first meeting they get into a bit of a fight bc bianca is still in shock/denial about the gods being real, but thalia at this point has zero patience for this

anyway after that and maybe another scuffle during capture the flag or something they hit it off and become best friends in the way girls can, especially bonding over how they’ve both had to take on raising annabeth and nico basically on their own at the age of 12

~QUEST TIME~

thalia is given a quest for [unspecific reason] and chooses bianca and luke, they go off leaving annabeth and nico frustrated at home

quest hijinks etc, bianca is trying to figure out her parentage + her weird mysterious powers? and thalia is arguing with luke because he’s settling into camp/hero life really well actually but she’s getting progressively angrier with the gods for trying to kill her and also keeps getting dreams from kronos and doesn’t get why he doesn’t seem to remember all of the shit that the gods have put him through

bianca + thalia have las-vegas-style-heart-to-hearts where thalia shares her tragic backstory about her mother and her brother and how hades tried to kill her and even about the great prophecy and how she’s trying on this quest bc of that and her dad but at the same time these dreams are making her suspicious that he might’ve been responsible for her mom’s death.

bianca then shares her own stuff, about how terrified she was being on her own with nico having to protect him but also not remembering most of her childhood and not remembering her parents or how she ended up in the care of this lawyer and just the absolute mindfuckery that her memories/past are

luke is asleep in those scenes i guess lol 🧍‍♂️

anyway eventually they finish their quest in this massive climactic battle where bianca discovers her powers in a huge-showy-”i’m the ghost prince”-way and is formally claimed by hades which thalia sees as this Massive Betrayal obviously and bianca is horrified too because she knows what hades did to thalia but at the same time she’s just so happy to finally understand at least part of her past

thalia just reaches a breaking point though because everyone around her just doesn’t understand her anger and just when she thought she had found another sympathetic person who understood what she was going through she joins hades??? no. no fucking way. kronos reveals that he’s the one who has been sending her dreams, prob by sending some messenger who he possesses or smthing and when he offers thalia the chance to join him? she does (dun dun dun)

main beats of the rest of the series:

thalia and bianca on opposite sides of the war training to be the prophecy child, they come together a Lot and have like melodramatic fight scenes where they talk out their anger and try to get the other to join them bc they don’t want to kill each other

luke is extremely conflicted/betrayed and there’s a titan’s curse moment prob towards the end of the third book where they’re fighting and thalia is trying to get her to go with him but here he actually does go to join her (gasp!!) and is evil for at least one book but his heart’s not in it and he goes back to the good side eventually

by the point of luke’s betrayal, annabeth and nico are growing and developing and old enough to go on quests w bianca and by the last book they’re a main trio of sorts and their hypothetical character development is already making me emotional

there’s just a lot of general sexiness with foils and inner conflicts and bianca doesn’t even want to be the prophecy child but she needs to for the fate of the world and bianca is so angry at thalia bc thalia is a daughter of zeus and could control her powers and is perfect and just meant to be the prophecy kid, not some daughter of hades who they didn’t even have a cabin for before

hm maybe by either the last or second-to-last book thalia + bianca are close to reconciling or at least their interests are aligned for the moment and they read the text of the prophecy together and things go Wild bc they both think “single choice shall end his days” either is about luke or nico and it turns up the gas to their fighting both of them care about both of them and yeah

and then i can’t decide if there’s romantic arcs at all but if there were it would go like this:

just a dash of thaluke where at first it was luke having a one-sided crush but thalia misses him a Lot after she goes to kronos and wonders if it’s that she misses him or if it’s something More until to get him to defect there’s like a melodramatic moment in the fight where thalia kisses him and they go off to be Evil Together but it ends bc luke doesn’t believe in the cause and only joined her in hopes of getting thalia back to his side

once luke leaves/is kicked out thalia realizes that she didn’t love luke she just wanted a family and also in the second half of the series she realizes she’s a lesbian as a parallel to her redemption arc

bianca meanwhile is unconcerned w romance until she has her botl-hoe-moment where within one book she 1. runs into the hunters on a quest and has a thing with zoe nightshade who tries to get her to join plus tells her about that time she met thalia, 2. she goes to calypso’s island and falls in love w her in the moonlight or w/e and has her what-if moment, and 3. when they meet up that book thalia somehow knew abt zoe + calypso and seems almost angrier abt them  than the war?? weird bc bianca knows that thalia is Totally Straight right??

my main point is that bianca/thalia is our friends-to-enemies-to-lovers endgame thank you i will take my pulitzer now