#and the whole design of the house leading up to the puzzle room was so beautiful

[natjennie]

ooookayyyyy fucking loving the vibes of the beneviento house.

[abronzeagegod]

Eldritch Tech Support 7

Other Eldritch Tech Support Stories

Tech support is hard, you've always known this, it's not a secret.

You have to have intelligence, that's the most outwardly obvious skill you need to have. You need to know the languages and codes of computers, how the hardware interacts with each other, how all the nonsense that regularly people like to do with their computers interferes and counteracts with the intentions of the designer, and what exactly the hell is going on with C++- (C plus plus minus).

But you also need to have charisma. People are weirdly cagey with their personal electronics, and they often refuse to tell the whole story form some combination of shame, self interest, and ignorance. You have to puzzle it out, get them to trust you, and then get them to tell you exactly what insane, stupid, nonsensical things that they did to the whole system to get it to function this way.

However that is not the most crucial skill you need in the field of tech support in this world. No, the most important thing for you to have is faith. Faith is key to figuring out exactly what the hell is going on and why the client believes that this whole thing is working, and why the working thing suddenly stopped working. Why the things that shouldn't work do work.

You have to be something of a priest with no god. You become a priest with every job, a priest that believes in this specific code, a priest of servers and computers and cold dead things imbued with the power of lightning and math.

Every job is a little bit different, a little bit stranger than the one before it. Every role of priest ever so slightly different.

It is the nature of priests to be superstitious.

Every one in tech support has their little rituals, as do you. Different little things you do when you're working in the office, versus when you have to go out on house calls. You wear your hair up and dress in greens when you have to do things directly related to server maintenance. Hair down, three rings on your left hand, one on your right, six total earrings, and dressed in neutral colors when you're tasked with debugging long strings of server code that has a deadline of less than 24 hours.

Today your role has you tasked with going to a house and taking a look at their decades old computer, you're going to try and fix it but you've been warned that it's so old that a replacement is probably going to have to be done.

(Which means you're dressed in grays and blues, you've got a sensible working class watch on, carry at least three different screw drivers, along with a fresh roll of duct tape, and exactly two pieces of gum.)

The house you are sent to is a simple thing, no more than one story with an attached garage. It's quaint. Nice even. A bit of a surprise to find a small, charming little house with a yard in the sprawl of the city that you call home. There's a couple of small toys that you have to carefully step over to reach the front door.

You knock on the door and are very quickly greeted by a man that looks like a dad. There's something about his look and the way he stands that feels very dad-like.

"I'm here with tech support," you say. "You need some help?"

He smiles kindly at you. "Yes, we do. I'm afraid I'm relatively hopeless with technology, so I can use any help I can get."

The door is held open for you, and as part of your ritual you take out one piece of gum and put it in your mouth as you cross the threshold. This is a nice house, small but clearly loved and cared for.

It bares the marks and scars of family life and love in abundance. Just as the man next to you looks and feels like a dad, this looks and feels like a home. It's deeply comforting and there's something there that makes you feel slightly on edge. There's nothing wrong, nothing sinister, it's just that because there is no sign of anything to be negative, mean, harsh, or off-putting everything becomes that marker.

"Follow me," the dad says as he leads you into the room where the computer rests.

The room is absolutely filled with books and bookshelves, so the desk with the ancient computer sitting on it seems comical and out of place.

The computer itself is ancient, by technological standards. It is at least 10 years old, if not more, and your surprised it has even functioned this long since this was likely made long before the advent of the modern internet much less the numerous other technological advances that has happened since then.

You must have let out some kind of involuntary noise because the dad chuckles. "Yeah it's a bit old, but it's worked so far."

Again, that's very odd to you because there's no way that this computer should have been functional for this long.

"I'll take a look at it, run a few diagnostics and see where we're at," you say. "What do you primarily use it for?"

"I mostly use it to look up recipes and print them off for dinner. My daughter likes to play those learning adventure games, and browse some internet things. With supervision of course," he adds at the end like you might judge him, or arrest him, for letting a child alone unsupervised on the internet. "My partner uses the computer more than I do, some work related things I think, but he mostly uses his work laptop for that kind of thing."

You nod, "I understand. I'll take a look and let you know what I find."

The dad nods and says he'll be around if you need anything. He leaves to let you work.

You sit in the squishy chair situated in front of the computer and are immediately poked with something in your back.

The vague edginess you've been feeling suddenly ratcheted up to eleven and you jump out of the chair and whip around to face it, only to find a toy dinosaur wedged in the chair. The sharp plastic tail was the vicious thing that attacked you.

"Sorry, I forgot where I left Misses Boney," says a sudden voice right next to you.

Once again you leap all but out of your skin as you turn to face this new thing.

A small child, possibly seven years old, somehow materialized next to you holding another plastic dinosaur in one hand. The dinosaur appears to be going through it considering the long blonde wig tapped to their head; which, if how you reacted to your last breakup was any indication, this stegosaurus can empathize pretty acutely.

The child pulls out the once green and bright dinosaur that had been painted over with various different colors of gray.

"Thanks," you say.

"Are you here to fix Sir Lance Corporal?" the child asks.

"Is that the computer?"

"Yeah."

"Then I am." You can't help but wonder if the computer's name is first name Lance last name Corporal, titled Sir; or if the name is two titles with a first and last name to be determined.

"Good, the Corporal has been being slow and kind of sick," the child informed you. "I want him to feel better."

"I'll certainly do my best," you tell the kid.

They don't move and just look at you expectantly, waiting for you to get started with your work.

"Uh, you can watch if you want, but it's going to be really boring."

"Oh," the child says and visibly deflates as you start to press some keys to start looking up technical specs on the computer and running various commands in the command prompt.

It takes a few minutes for you to find the internal records on the computer that list exactly what the specs are for the equipment in there. You finally have confirmation that something here is weird.

You do a quick look up of some of the equipment pieces and confirm that absolutely there is no way that this computer should be functional. The motherboard is incompatible with the graphics card, there is no wireless connection and yet the computer is telling you that it is connected to the internet.

This whole thing is getting weirder and weirder.

You play around on the computer for a bit, putting some of the software through it's paces, running some tests, checking out things, you even boot up one of the games that the kid apparently likes to play and you're hit with nostalgia for some of the similar games you used to play.

Everything works perfectly fine. A little slow, a little clunky, but it is all in perfect working order, when it shouldn't work like that even a little bit.

You carefully shut the computer down and wait for a moment. You have no good ideas as to what is happening with this computer or why, and those bad ideas that you do have don't fill you with any hope.

Carefully, you put on some gloves and then go to unplug the computer so you can start to take it apart.

Immediately you know that something is up. There is something deeply strange about this computer. And that is beyond the capabilities and lifespan of a computer this old.

Not good. Not bad.

Just deeply deeply strange.

Which is inherent with the job.

You open the computer tower and discover many more wires and components and complexity than should be there.

This is the best possible time for that second piece of gum.

The hot cinnamon flavor explodes in your mouth before quickly fading.

It takes you almost two hours to disassemble the computer.

It takes you almost two hours to find it.

The cause of all the trouble, all the weird concerning things that have made this job so odd, was a small chip installed in the motherboard. The whole thing doesn't match a single manufacturer or model or piece of equipment that you've ever seen before.

You touch

it

and

You

fall

into

something

strange

dust

lakes

a

ruined

temple

tan

and

gray

walls

crumbling

upon

themselves

a

labyrinth

of

cracks

and

spiderwebs

coat

this

church

empty

abandoned

almost

a

forgotten

ruin

save

for the

chalk drawings of a child.

You feel slightly nauseous but the rapidly fading cinnamon flavor keeps you grounded. You know that objectively your experiencing the projection and construction of a supernatural entity that is almost 100% not real but some kind of construct to impart some kind of feelings, but you can't help but feel a certain sense of awe and despair at the beauty and the decay all around you.

The ruined church seems like something that could be found in the Old World, far to the East, something that was built a millennia ago and with much more rudimentary tools.

Dust pools in grand lakes between the empty pews and around the altar.

There are no windows here and you feel a cool breeze come through the church.

The world around you feels grand and small at the same time. You feel small and somehow inconsequential among the age and ruin.

The only splashes of color are the bright chalk drawings of a child across the floors and walls. They seem to grow like ivy, clinging to the walls and creeping, growing along the cracks, filling the wounds in walls with art and life.

Something rumbles within the church and out of one of the dust lakes comes what you have been waiting for.

It was long, with a body made of metal and cables, there were little arms and legs like the prongs on any number of chips and computer components to plug into the motherboard.

It was both vaster and smaller than you.

It emerged and flew up into the air on wings of beautiful stained glass.

With each beat of it's stained glass wings you can see different and fantastical worlds. Worlds you recognize from the same games you used to play as a child.

The long, multi-legged, many-winged, creature of cables and metal flew above your head and stopped eventually to speak to you.

"I am Sir Lance Corporal," it says in a voice that sounds so much like the synthesized voice that old computers used for speech to text. "What are you doing in my crumbling domain?"

"I work for tech support," you explain.

"Why have you dissembled my church?" the synthesized voice of the representation of Sir Lance Corporal asks.

You know you have to tread very carefully here. There's something dangerous with talking with something like this. And really it's moments like this that make you glad that you're a priest with no god. In this realm, no gods could help you.

In this realm, this church, this temple, you are at the mercy of the small god of a singular computer. Sir Lance Corporal is a god.

"I was tasked with seeing to it that this family's computer was functioning properly since it is so old and starting to wear down," you explain.

"My body is dying," the god of this particular computer says with it's synthesized voice somehow conveying the deep resignation, sadness, and regret that comes with the existential knowledge of soon-to-be-doomed mortality.

You nod. "It is. Eventually it will be unusable."

Sir stretches it's wings and takes flight once again. You can see now the tarnish on the metal, the places where there should have been more wings but they had fallen off some time ago.

"What will become of me?" Sir asks.

You shrug. "I don't know. Depends on what the family wants to do with you."

"I cannot be saved. I feel the age in my circuits, the speed of the world around me is too fast, I cannot keep up. I have a request for you, priest of tech support."

"If it is within my power to do so I will do it, that is all I can promise."

"I wish to say goodbye to my priest. The one who came and colored on my walls and made me feel alive."

You know who it is, and while it doesn't surprise you given everything, it does make everything infinitely more complicated.

"That, I can do. When we're done here, I will put you back together and give you some time," you explain. "But first, I want you to tell me your story."

You sit in a pew and listen to a fading and dying god of an old computer. You listen, you absorb, and you even pray just a little.

Eventually when you are let go you

feel

the

dust

the

ruins

rush away from you and you are back in the house where everything is lovely and nice with the family and the child and the computer that has more than just a ghost inside of it.

You take your time, using all of your screw drivers and put the computer back as best as you can. It requires all your skills to get the impossible machine back together, and you have to pray a little bit to get things back together, as it wouldn't work without it.

"Is Sir Lance Corporal all better?" the kid asks as they watch you put the casing back together.

"For now, yeah," you say. "You can still play your games. Why don't you do that while I talk with your dad."

"Ok!"

You watch the kid load up the computer and their favorite game about learning things set in Ancient Semminatar. Briefly you spot the metal butterfly you conversed with flying across the background.

You can tell that the computer and its god is happy with the kid. But you have matters to attend to with the dad.

"What's the prognosis?" the dad asks.

"Well that's a complicated question," you say as you take a seat at the kitchen table. "What do you know about faith and belief?"

"A bit," he says with a sly smile. "I'm a philosophy professor. Which is not easy let me tell you. In a world with more religions than we can count trying to vie for attention, making sense of everything is no easy feat."

"I can imagine. But let me tell you how I was explained this concept and maybe you'll correct me, maybe you won't," you say.

"Kids are essentially nonentities when it comes to religion. Kids, up to a certain point, don't really believe things, they know things. It's weird and complicated and feels like at some point you're splitting hairs," you say trying to get the complicated thoughts into words that will come out of your mouth and vocal chords in a coherent way. "But kids don't have faith, they just know stuff. You tell them that this is the way the world works and they don't believe you, they know it because they don't have the experience to know any different." The dad looks at you intently, nodding, listening, not interrupting you even once. "But when a kid does believe something they believe it with their whole being. They don't have doubt, so when a kid does believe something that faith is worth like fifteen adults worth. And when it comes to religion that's a huge amount of faith that any god would kill for. And, well, your kid believes in your computer so hard that they created a god."

The dad nods. "Hmm. That makes some sense. I will confess that my Applied Theology is a bit lacking, but some of this tracks with what I know and study. What does this mean?"

You sigh. "I have to report this. I would be too irresponsible if I didn't. Sometimes when kids believe things like this and make entities, the results can end badly. Like what if a child believes in a nightmare?'

There's a heavy pause that you can't seem to break.

"I see."

"But I talked with Sir Lance Corporal," you say, "and I'm pretty sure that they're not anything malevolent or violent. Just a computer god that wants to provide fun and learning to their child priest. If it was something bad, you can trust I would have done something about it."

"Ok, I believe you. Ha, believe you. What do we have to do now?"

"I'm sure someone from the Catalog and Archive Bureau will be by within a day to talk to you and examine Sir Lance Corporal. In the meantime I can send you some recommendations for new computers if you'd like to purchase one with our services, it comes with a free install and data transfer. If the CAB clear Sir Lance Corporal, you can call me and I'll be by to put them in their new temple, if that's something that you'd like to have."

The dad nodded, his brow furrowed in thought. "We will just have to see what is going to happen."

You give them your card with your information so that you can be informed of what is going to happen with Sir Lance Corporal.

"I just have one question though," you say, "what's with the name? Sir Lance Corporal? Where did they get that?"

The dad laughs. "My partner was in the military for a bit, before we met. And he was a Lance Corporal when he was discharged. When she found out, she went around calling everything 'Sir Lance Corporal Sir'. It was endearing and I guess it just stuck with the computer for some reason."

---

"You've reached the Catalog and Archive Bureau," says the voice on the other end of the phone. "How may I direct your call?"

You give them your name and employer. "I have two things. The professional one first. A new entity to be examined."

"Understood. Please give me the location and description of the entity."

You list the name and the address of the house. "It's a computer housing a small god, one built on the belief of a child who seemingly believed that their old computer was the same as their friends' so it evolved the ability to do things that it couldn't otherwise. The god seemed harmless and wanted to be a god for education and learning and care of the young kid."

"We will be the ones to determine that," the cold voice says in response.

Harsh, but you can't blame them for that. There were a lot of entities out there that could spell disaster and ruin for many people. That's why their Bureau even exists.

"The other matter is personal," you say, steeling yourself for the question and then the answer.

"One moment," they say as you hear the clicking of a keyboard. "What is your inquiry?"

You restate your name and say, "I'm checking in on an entity I reported many years ago. Is subject 3812-B still in captivity?"

The silence is only punctuated by the clacking of the the keyboard.

You stop breathing as you wait.

"Yes. We have round the clock surveillance, and there has not been any successful breaches in containment since the... incident a few years back."

"Oh. Good. Good. That's good."

"If anything changes you'll be the first one we'll call." You can't help but notice the change in tone from cold business, the mask of a call center employee taking a routine phone call has fallen away to the person who has your incident file in front of them, reading what you created.

"Thank you," you say as you hang up.

You drive back to the office and participate in a deep cleansing ritual and even a little protection spell to keep the bad dreams at bay. You know that you'll be thinking about this case for a good long while.

Lytha sticks her head into the room as you finish blowing out the candles. "Hey, I saw you're back. How was it?"

You shrug, not really up for the vocalization.

"I'm about to finish up my shift, you want to go get something to eat? I still owe you from that one time."

You nod. Lytha is a good friend, a great friend. She reads your mood and your whole demeanor.

"Great, I'll order us some take out and we can go to my place and eat and watch some TV. You feeling And the Fifth Rose was Black or do you want to do some silly nonsense like Real Monsters of the Sea?"

"Sea," you mutter.

"Great, I need something mindless tonight. Let me get my desk together and I'll meet you in the break room?"

"Yeah."

Before she leaves Lytha comes in and gives you a quick hug.

This day has been deeply draining. You feel tired, but Lytha has a way of making you feel better about the whole thing. You hope she doesn't mind.

Even if you ask she'll say that she doesn't mind if it's you.

[This was a longer one, it's seven pages and almost 4,000 words. This is me testing out how this whole world/style/etc would work as a longer story, maybe not novel length but something longer than these little shorts. Please let me know what you think. Do I need more characterization? Should I drop the second person? Keep it all the same just commit to the bit and make it the longest/best that I can? Idk! I need input! Please let me know. My ask box is open, or reblog this and put it in the tags. Whatever you feel. Thanks for enjoying this whole series.]

If you like this and the other things I write consider supporting me on kofi

[workinprogress27]

Chapter 1:

⋱-------------------°⁕†--------------⋮--------------†⁕°-------------------⋰

The once proud owner of the sky casino now sits on a black arm chair rethinking his life and the choices he made that lead him to this. After freeing himself of the decay of angels he lost everything he cared for and resorted to begging for the help of strangers. One such stranger was kind enough to let him stay free of charge, only asking a favor in return. 

“ Here's the deal, I'll let you stay without any need to pay me back on the condition that you help me with my newest novel!” 

Sigma stared at them with wide eyes. After all, why would anyone give so much just for his help with a book? The Man stared at them as they paced their living room.

“ ..why?”

The man had many questions but he wanted to get straight to the point. As much as he wished he could merely accept the offer blindly he knew not everyone can be trusted no matter how kind they seemed. His mind was now one of paranoia and anxiety, everyone he has ever met has used him and threw him away once they had gotten what they wanted. 

“ You see” They spoke, stopping their pacing with their back turned to the man. “ I am an author. Quite a famous one at that and yet I’ve struggled as of late to find the perfect plot.” 

As they spoke Sigma found it had to focus on their drawn out rant due to their dramatic flaily while speaking.

“ And that’s where you come in!” they exclaimed, leaning down to meet the man's face as he sat. 

“ where.. I come in?” Sigma asked, puzzled.

“ A man lost in a world that isn’t where he belongs!?It’s perfect!” They exclaimed throwing their arms in the arm to punctuate their statement 

“...What?” The man said quite in shock over the whole ordeal.

“OH.. I don’t mean your situation is perfect, I mean you're perfect.” They corrected as they turned their back to the man once more, no longer paying any mind to him as they ready themself to write.

“.....WHAT?!” 

⋱-------------------°⁕†--------------⋮--------------†⁕°-------------------⋰

Sigma sat on the bed of his new room, The room lacked any decorations. Only a bed pushed against the wall and a bedside table, The room lacked a bathroom and instead had a sizable walk-in closet. The house contained three rooms and two bathrooms. One being the shared bathroom of the two down the hall from Sigma's room, the other was in the master bedroom which the writer had fashioned into an office of sorts. The Author citing that 

“ Using the master bedroom as my office and putting a mini fridge in there means I almost never have to leave!”

The author's office was covered in papers and notes, ranging from plot ideas to character designs. Sigma had to admit that although he had never heard of the novels written by the writer, the plots seem enjoyable. 

After the writer had shown Sigma around they proceeded to lock themself in their office to prepare for writing, leaving Sigma to his own devices. The man was tired, hungry, and admittedly a bit annoyed at how no matter how hard he tried it seemed to the young man he would never find a place to call home.

The writer soon returned to the room Sigma waited in. Holding some things for the man to use temporarily until they could head out to stores.

“ Ok, here's a change of clothes, soaps, a towel, and a book.” They said handing Sigma the stuff. They soon left after telling him to wash up and that they would make dinner for the two of them.

⋱-------------------°⁕†--------------⋮--------------†⁕°-------------------⋰

Note: This is the first time I’ve written something like this. I alway struggled with dialog and making things descriptive but not over the top so criticism and tips would be nice

[jofie-does-things]

~950 words. Had a few ideas about a reader from modern times. The result?? Writings of an author possessed.

“Your hair.”

It was a simple enough statement, but the tone in which he said it had you sparing a curious glance over your shoulder.

“What about it?”

“It’s different now.” You raise a questioning brow. It’d always been different to him. He’d eyed it curiously for a whole week after you met. The burning feeling of those watchful eyes led to your newfound affinity for bonnets.

But now, with nothing to cover the strands up, you tense.

You turn to meet the gaze of the man standing at the table, but the look you’re expecting is different. In the beginning he looked at you like you were a puzzle he’d just started to solve. A puzzle that infuriated him. This one is more like he’s just slot the last piece into place and is admiring the finished result. It catches you off-guard with its intensity and almost has you retreating.

A strand of hair falls into view and you idly toy with it, wrapping it around your finger and untwisting it.

“I hadn’t noticed. It’s been so long since…” Since you’d landed here. Since you’d stumbled to the doorstep of the homestead. Since you’d seen your family. Since everything you had ever known was ripped from you without warning.

Warmth settles on your shoulder and you realize that you’d been all but tugging the piece from your scalp in your spiral. You follow the hand resting on your shoulder up to find a face full of sympathy and there’s an odd wiggling behind your ribs that has you shifting from side to side.

When you first met the young assassin, talking to him, being in his mere presence even, felt like ‘baby’s first waltz.’ Stepping on feet, awkward conversation, fighting over who should lead and who should follow. He didn’t trust you and you couldn’t blame him (especially with the life he led), but it definitely didn’t help your hysteria at your new routine.

It took months for Connor to let you have a peek at the hidden training room below the house and even longer for him to show a hint of relaxation around you. Seeing him put himself in such a vulnerable position had your head spinning in a way that made you wish it wouldn’t ever stop. Especially with the gentle circles he’s carving into the side of your collarbone.

“I understand. I’m sorry for mentioning it.” You shook your head at that, placing a hand over his and your heart hammers at the unyielding weight of it.

“It’s fine. I guess I never realized that I’ve been here for a while. I’ve gotten…comfortable.” With a nod, seemingly satisfied, he turns to retrieve the vegetables that he was hard at work cutting to add them into the stew on the hearth. The loss of the simple touch left you feeling cold, despite the heat of the fire crackling beside you. A simple “I’m glad” is mumbled over his shoulder. You barely catch the sentiment lacing his soft tone.

You turn to your own portion of the stew. He approaches with quiet steps, vegetables in hand.

“I never asked, but I’m curious…” He trails off, almost unsure of himself. Watching him shift left and right on his feet, you decide, with some level of amusement, to throw him a lifeline.

“What’s up?”

“How exactly did your hair change like that in the first place?”

“Well, uh, back in the year I’m from, it became really popular to change your hair color. Some get colors in their hair, like pink or blue. Others decide to add different natural colors to it, like blonde in brown hair.” You bury your face in the steam wafting up from the pot, feigning a check to the stew as you realize that Connor stares at you, completely enraptured by your explanation.

“The chemicals that we use are designed to make the color last a long time, so it never really goes away until you cut off the dyed sections or you dye it back to its original color.” He makes a noise of interest. A few pieces of hair fall from where they’re pinned back, into your face. Those brown eyes follow the shape of the strands as you finish your explanation.

It’s an odd topic to have as your first conversation about your time. Other than your emotional confession outside Norris’ little shack in the woods. The blood, the stress, and screams had your fear-stricken body jumping in to use what you had to help. When the agonized wails and pools of red subsided, you’d excused yourself and the dam broke.

It’d been weeks since then and he never asked about anything relating to your time until now.

“Normally I’d get it redone, but I guess it’s time for me to cut it off.”

“May I?” A hand outstretched halfway in the distance between you; not pressing the boundary, still and steady. You nod.

Gentle, calloused hands carefully card through the strands, tracing the lines of color in contrast to your natural hair. Like cupping porcelain and the touch smooths along the jagged edges of you. Edges haphazardly glued together in your effort to survive, to belong. The cracks of them feel almost nonexistent with him here.

It’s a vulnerability that you shy away from, but you know he has the patience for it.

“It’s beautiful.” Whispers of words fill that space between you, his eyes are on yours and the fire reflecting in them disarms you, has your breath catching in your chest, scaring you.

But it’s the comfort you find in him that scares you the most.

[candy8448]

@floof-writes

Here are my notes on the dungeon if you want

Im in the process of trying to tyrn this dugeon into a DND campgain so things are simplified to make it playable in dnd but can be made more complicated if you want, also some things might be explained in dnd like terms

Sections: there are description of the town notes, puzzle idea notes, boss fight sequence notes and dnd playing notes that are not really needed in a fic context

If somebody uses this idea, please please please credit me

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

Clocktower campgain:

Descriptions:

Each of the houses have a faint red light (street light kind of thing) that light up when it starts to get dark. Drcide when that is

Have a special currency that they can use to skip hours at some point once you've progressed to a certain point

Opening narration: "Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. You look up to see a clocktower looming over you, the numbers in roman numerals and the hands steadily ticking along. The clock pannel glows with a warm orange in the dark of the night. The clock reads midnight. At the top of the clocktower there is a purple orb, the light from both the clock and the orb lighting up the surrounding area just enough to see. Youre in the center of an abbandonned town, behind you a building. What do you do?"

Unlock: every 4 houses completed unlocks a new level/floor of the clocktower

Lvl1: double the noting space for every player

Lvl2: time speeds up

Lvl3: ability to use the currency to skip time

Lvl4: boss fight

The town is split into four quadrents/streets: The quarter past quadrent, The half past quadrent, The half to quadrent, The quarter to quadrent. There are signs outside of each with the name on it. This is to make it easier for the players to tell me where they want to go

Puzzles:

There is a button in the room, on the other end of the town there is a matching one, maybe colour coded. The party has to split up and press it at the same time

One room has a code that applies for another. The party has to memories this code because if the numbers are written down, they fade away as if there was nothing there

A room has a lock. Its coloured but they have a few coloured keys. Depending in their perception, they get the right colour. If its bad, then they need to keep trying more keys and the hour might end before they unlock it

Have two or three locations where in one, only a specific skill that only one of the players have is needed, then have them both interchangable so that the person needed is always in the wrong space, and has to make their way over there. Maybe put something blocking their way, maybe something theyre weak to, that they need the ithers to clear out like a sort of escort mission

Two houses that unlock at the same hour, but at am and pm, their contents switch places to the other one

Pieces that form a riddle, so when they get all the pieces, they try to figure out an order and then solve it

One room has a puzzle specially designed to take too long for the hour, and every time they come back it resets. In the previous hour's house, there is a secret tubnel that can lead to it meaning they have an extra hour to figure it out, or the tunnel is in a shed so they have acces to it 24/7. Maybe that is also where one of the buttons is that needs to be pressed at the same time. The button is always easily visible (like through a too tiny window) but both cannot be accesed at the same hour. However, when they find the tunnel, they now have access to it meaning they are able to go to the ither house at its hour and then this one using the tunnel and press it at the same time. The key is actually a shovel (can be changed for fic reasons), but the whole town in concrete floor, so they go to the park to dig down and find the tunnel

Have a diary that has a riddle or a code hidden in words that ends up with maybe a number code or something, but its a red herring to waste time and make them miss a few hours

Boss fight:

Phase 1 in the clocktower, once they get the health down to zero, the monster screams, and rewinds time for just themselves, the party watches in horror as you see the clock hands winding backwards, accelerating. The boss has regained it's health and explodes the clocktower. Phase two is in the streets of the town, with all of the house doors locked and a force field around the park and sheds so you cant go in them

Dnd playablity stuff that you dont need for a fic:

Cover parts of the map with paper that they incover as they go along. Have post it notes or paper with blu tac that they can stick on the houses to label the time

Dont tell them how many rounds an hour lasts, they need to figure that out themselves

After two levels of the clocktower, narrate the ticking sound, then go faster, and say the amount of rounds for an hour is less now

The players can make notes if they want

To press the button at the same time, people on both sides need to roll a d20, if they roll within 5 of eachother, they are succesful, of not, maybe time runs out or something, idk

Depending on their intellegence or wisdom roll at the start, that is how much lined paper they have to note on. One piece of info on each line. Maybe after the first layer of the clocktower is unlocked, they all get another a4 or a5 sheet to write on (e.g. they roll a 1 and get 2 lines to write on, roll a 2 and get 4 lines and so on)

The players can roll perception checks to see how much health an enemy has. On the final boss, if they check, lower they cant tell, middle they see the health, high they can feel a sort of reserve of power underneathe. Have that like a gradient for whatever they roll

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

If you write this i would be the happiest being i the universe, but of course you dont have to, im even happy with just the fact that you are excited about the idea

[stillanobsession]

Things I Never Noticed About Message in a Haunted Mansion

To start off, I have been majorly sleeping on this game! By the time I got into the Nancy Drew games series, there were already quite a few of the newer ones out, and I only ended up playing this one a few times and then never reached for it again. But the atmosphere of this game is amazing! It has a good mix of cozy and spooky. I LOVE the design of the mansion, they really nailed the victorian aspect, and all of the haunts are so unique. I enjoy that the haunts range from seeing a figure in a mirror, to a chair looking like it has been sat in and the phantom person has stood up, to a random picture whispering "I see you".

Anyways, now to get into the bulk of this post.

I forgot about all the little details the older games have that add to the storyline.

The fact that women acting used to be considered a scandal.

I just realized through a conversation with Rose saying that her and Abby were discussing needing to hire help to fix up the house, and then 20mins later Charlie showed up, means that Charlie was squatting in the house before Rose bought it.

That wooden inlay puzzle is a lot more tedious than I remember, and I used to play these games with the trackpad.

Now, I'm no expert on fire and earthquake insurance policies, but 1 million seems a tad bit excessive.

Who exactly is Emily? She is in this game and then never is mentioned again, and is kind of a random character.

I just noticed that the Mysterious Storybook in the attack alludes to the ending scene and the Diary book explains why there is a hidden compartment in Nancy's room.

With all the little haunts in this game it's always a surprise on what is gonna happen next and I love this detail.

What purpose would that hidden passage in the library serve? There is no other access point to it, so you would have to a) make sure the person you wanted to spy on would be having a discussion in the library and b) you arrived at the library before they did to effectively spy on them. Seems incredibly complex.

Did anyone else ever get nauseous playing the maze game or was that just me?

Also, the instructions on the maze game move on so fast it took me forever to figure out the first time I played if I had found the end or not.

What exactly does Rose do all day? There's no way making a to-do list takes that long.

Has anyone ever seen all the hauntings? I swear some of the sound effects Abby has I have never heard, like the baby crying one?

I honestly forgot how engaging the storyline of this game was, and despite the focus being tracking down the reason behind the accidents there is also an underlying love story leading to hidden treasure.

Not gonna lie, I think Abby was on the something with the whole haunted Bed & Breakfast theme.

Am I hallucinating or did you used to be able to confront Abby about faking the hauntings? I somehow did not unlock this dialogue option this play through?

[theallenshorefangirl]

Zoe's tape fragments, just like Lucas' hers, are in fragments around her level, and a side mission dollhouse puzzle with Shadowfigures a gift from the Watcher that leads to her small room replica where she rests in Allen's house where you can find her Hidden 8-Bit track "Sorrows Forgiveness" its a purple with gold sparkles and black wax dripping design on the game device)

warning it's a sad ass tape session

Beginning Tape intro:

Desmond:Alright,miss?

Zoe:it's Zoe....*she was around 18,wore a baggy jacket similar to one of his patients(Allen),and wore black jeans and a black shirt.her shoes were half tied and tucked in her shoes,her brown hair was unbrushed like she just woke up and had bags under her eyes,her leg also bounces up and down nervously* I'm kinda new to this whole therapy thing since I moved to Milton Haven.

Desmond:Alone? *Flips through his notes* do you have a job?

Zoe:Yeah, alone....I work at Homa Mart during the day,I babysit two kids at the Nygaard's place.One is a Freddy Ruhl, and the other is their kid Maddy Nygaard,I'm just not sure I get uncomfortable when Max Nygaard comes home before his wife? Alice, I'm still learning names. *She looked like she was gonna faint, and then I worked the lighthouse shift at night when a friend of mine needs his rest.....*she started to cry* I'm so sorry.* She pulled her hood up and knees up to her chest* I'm sorry I'm sorry *she accidentally knocks his clipboard out of his hands* I'm so very sorry I'm suppost to go to the hospital for some meds,they say it's suppost to work bu.....but I...I ......I don't trust em.They say it's experimental medicine.

Desmond:it's ok. There's no harm done. How about you rest since you're my last patient of the day and when you come back we can try this again. *end of beginning session*

Fragment 1:

Desmond:So,any troubles with completing tasks like at your jobs with your tics and or anxiety and panic attacks

Zoe:See,that's the things it's hard when a clown like Dave annoys me for having trouble with the registers, and for cleaning up messes he makes, I throw a thing here or there by accident,loud noises trigger it.And Inez always gets into a fight with him for being harsh with me.And well I'm sorry for the language but he punched my friend for fuck sakes!

Desmond:Mr Shore?

Zoe:Yeah, he's like a brother to me. When he can't sleep, I read him stories of Icarus and other stories of Greek mythology characters, and I make sure his rooms oil lanter stays lit.And well to be honest he's not wrong about the men in black I've seen them take the pictures I've seen the flashing cam lights! I'm not crazy he's not crazy....YOU THINK IM CRAZY I KNOW THAT LOOK *She threw her therapeutic fox plush at him and storms out*

Desmond:Zoe, wait *sighs* You're not crazy. A similar patient said he saw those cars heading that way

Zoe:SHUT UP YOUR A LIAR LIKE ALL OTHER PEOPLE

Desmond:*he sat down in his chair,Tonia headbutts his leg,he reached down and pets her*

Fragment 2:

Desmond:Well, she should have been here by now.Where is she?

*the phone rang*

Desmond:*he picks up the phone* Hello, this is Dr Desmond Wales?

Allen:Doc,I'm worried something bad happened. There was an incident at Homa Mart.Some lady threw glass at me.I don't know what was going on.I got what I needed and left in a panic. The police were there,and the paramedics too

Desmond:I'll see if I can get ahold of her

Allen:she's probably busy.I didn't see her,she must have been staking up boxes in the back. Oh, gotta go. I need to check up on something.*he hung up*

Desmond:*he calls Zoe's phone, but she didn't answer,it was Inez.* hello?

Desmond:Inez? Why do you have Zoe's phone?

Inez:she was badly hurt.First,she banged her head on the side of a shelf, and then Dave, like the dumbass he is, triggered her to go into an anxiety panic attack.And then she passed out and we don't know what happend and then [Mentions of Virginia's incedent] causing all of us to go into a state of panic.

Desmond:where is she at now?

Inez:she's at the hospital,I was gonna drop off her stuff to the hospital, but I don't have a car, and neither does she.She takes the bus.

Desmond:I'll stop by and get her stuff,I'm gonna get Allen so we can make sure she isn't badly injured,and tell Dave I'm sorry for his loss Virginia was a good patient of mine.

Inez:will do Mr Wales *she hung up the phone

Early that day, Desmond recorded a small fragment on her tape, mentioning that the stress was so intense that she passed out along with a glass shard fragment in her arm from where she fell.

Fragment 3:[the night of Allen's Incident]

Allen tried to get Desmond on the phone but failed.

*Zoe called Desmond,She had tears streaming down her face trying not to scream or speak loudly on the phone,the men in black was searching the inside lighthouse exterior,she was hiding in the generator room for the lighthouse light.Desmond...Desmond please answer this is a emergency something bad really happened just now

Desmond:*he sounded like he just woke up* Zoe,what's up?

Zoe:It's Allen his house is on fire and I seen the men in suits and I didn't see Allen leave the house *sniffles* and I seen someone drag a body out and I think it was Allen's and then I heard a knock at the door and *she loudly sobs over the phone*

Desmond:deep breaths,stay calm. I'll come and get you

Zoe:Please do,but be careful there.....*There was a loud thud as the door burst opened,she heard their footsteps above her.They walked around the area.She heard footsteps as they opened the door to the generator room,they looked around and turned away."Desmond, please come and get me. They left, but I don't know when they will be back....please *she sniffled and hiccups*

End of tape

To find the Astronomy Dollhouse and dolls, there are a lot of em to find a total of 9 figures,1-6 is Savior,Watcher,Shade,Bull,Flash and Empty

The other 3 are her other friends Shadowforms

[protagonistheavy]

Finished up with the Victory Road "plotline." I think this game has the worst Pokemon League experience of all time. From the gym leaders right down to the Elite Four, I have been critically unimpressed.

I think the most obnoxious thing is that teresteralizing is utilized absolutely terribly by all NPCs. The devs clearly intended it to be a final surge of hype into a given battle, but didn't consider at all how easy this makes every battle when you can predict its happening. Unlike Dynamaxing, which made ANY pokemon a solid wall for a while, all terestaralizing really does is provide a small boost and change your typing..... and the problem there is that every gym leader teras into their designated type. Which, obviously!

And so every battle, rather than getting pumped up right at the end, instead fizzles with one last victory lap for the player to put the gym leader through. Seriously, except for maybe like two occasions, I instantly KO'd their last pokemon, specifically because, why wouldn't I? I know what ONE type their pokemon is going to be, so of course I'm going to plow it down with something super effective. It makes the music variation for tera'ing such a let down -- you get excited for this cheery music, and before it finishes one loop, you're already collecting your prize money.

The gyms themselves are so lame. I have mixed opinions about the history of gyms and how they've been utilized as mini-dungeons or pre-battle puzzles. In this game, it really is just a series of random, pointless activities -- if that much was even designed. It's seriously just a time waster: go find 10 of these pokemon standing around, go down this ski slope, go play Where's Waldo. It's legitimately embarrassing because it feels like activities that would underwhelm a 10 year-old, let alone my grown ass. The "best" of these was the one that just outright pits you against two double battles, and thats fun because its just fucking more pokemon battles -- most importantly, it's like two of the ONLY few double battles!! Jfc.

I compare this to previous games where, yes, sometimes the gym tasks would be arbitrary or boring -- but they at LEAST did better than fucking "quick time event with 10 second windows to input." Even something simple like one of the first "kahuna tests" for Sun and Moon still resonates with me: it's just a simple matter of finding pokemon in burrows, but it's made fun with cute music, the fun addition of Team Skull grunts, and it just feels more like a little adventure. Those tasks also helped invite you into the world, where as many of SV's tasks are just barely related to their gym's theme. I remember going on a ghost hunt in SM, I remember teleporting through a doll house in XY..... the most I'll remember of SV's tasks were how the game couldn't render 10 Sunfloras.

And then the Elite Four. So disappointing. The whole experience here just sucked. I miss Victory Road and the feeling of challenge it presented as one last path full of trainers that are just as ambitious as you and trying to get to the Pokemon League; in SV, there is no literal Victory Road, unless you count the two trainers idling around outside. Then you get to the Pokemon League and you're given this really uhhhh awkward job interview lol. I mean I guess to the game's credit, this whole sequence makes the game's Pokemon League a little more unique than others... but it was really jarring and not in a cool way -- no pay off at all for making the player feel uncomfortable.

Following this are four battles that all take place in the same featureless room. I can't fucking BELIEVE this. Talk about obvious budget cuts. Elite Four used to always have their own unique rooms with huge effects, it felt like a journey just going from one room to the next -- here, the Elite Four come to you, and all your battling is done in the same generic room. Oh. My god. So boring, and as a result it made every fight feel a little more tedious. Doesnt help that, like the gym leaders, the Elite Four don't know when to strategically tera, so every battle ends in a very underwhelming climax -- and with no hype music, either!

In fact I'll go ahead and say it, this game has the WORST battle music of all gens. There's a FEW bangers, but for a Pokemon title? This is abysmal. The gym leader music is quacky as hell and only gets sorta good for the final round, but even THEN, the same hyping effects were used MUCH BETTER in Sword and Shield! The music was more dynamic with three total variations, with the most exciting variant being reserved for dynamaxing -- consisting of vocals that sound like a stadium cheering you on! But in SV, it's too little too late, the music comes and goes in just a matter of seconds. The Elite Four have terrible music imo that I can't even begin trying to recall, and same applies to the final Champion. Thank god Tera Raids have the most bitching music known this decade, but even THAT gets stale quick with how much youll be hearing it.

So just all in all, the Victory Road portion of the game sucked. I tried following a natural path through the gym battles, but still ended up in a situation where I had "overlooked" two whole gyms that I was expected to have already beaten, which I then totally destroyed with an over level team. None of the gym leaders really fascinated me, and surely none of their stories enraptured me; I have a couple that I sort of like, but wow these are largely forgettable characters. I really wish they had done more to include these characters into an actual story, I much prefer when gym leaders at least FEEL like they have some presence outside the gym, and it's weird because this game ALMOST does that...... but for each character, it all just falls short.

And so I'm left unimpressed with ALL three routes of the game. This final Area Zero story needs to wash my nonbinary nuts at this rate.

[ffamranxii]

HAIKYUU!! COUPLES HEADCANONS

DAISUGA

-Daichi goes to the gym to work out. Suga goes to the gym to ogle Daichi

-Suga has a massive sweet tooth

-Daichi cooks, Suga cleans

-Suga is a little shit who is not above seducing Daichi in public. He can say the most lewd things without batting an eye while Daichi blushes furiously

-Daichi and Kuroo once hooked up at training camp. They do not talk about it

-Daichi is good friends with Michimiya and Kiyoko. Suga is closer to Asahi

-Daisuga rarely fight and are often asked for relationship advice. Daichi tries to discourage this because “guys I didn’t realize Yui had a crush on me or that Suga was in love with me for three years.”

-Daichi can’t dance, won’t dance, and refuses to acknowledge the time he got trashed and twerked

-Suga dislikes his given name unless it’s said by Daichi, who is the only person allowed to call him Koushi

-Suga is extremely flexible. Daichi is not.

-Daichi or Suga getting hit on makes Daichi uncomfortable. Getting hit on amuses Suga, and Daichi getting hit on makes him horny

-It took all of high school for Daisuga to get together, because Daichi is oblivious and Suga assumed Daichi wasn’t into him. Daichi’s dumbness and their mutual pining becomes a fond, shared joke several years later

-Daichi has no gag reflex. 

-Daisuga have a very fat, very orange cat named Ninja. He’s surprisingly fast and agile despite looking like a furry basketball. (Daichi is a dog person and did not even want Ninja at first. He suspects Kuroo had something to do with this. Suga sometimes playfully gets upset because “Ninja likes you better than me, Dai!”)

-Everyone expects Suga to be the dominant one but Suga is more than willing to be submissive for Daichi and has on several occasions

ASANOYA

-Noya gets up before sunrise to run. Asahi would rather die than leave his bed before 8am

-Noya turns the coffee pot on and cooks breakfast to lure Asahi out of bed

-Noya is surprisingly patient, gentle, quiet, and kind when it comes to Asahi and his insecurities

-Noya is the type to bottle his insecurities and fears until they explode. The only one who can calm him back down is Asahi

-Asahi makes bratty faces when he thinks Noya isn’t looking

-Noya and Tanaka spend a lot of time with Daisuga because of the Daichi&Suga&Asahi&Kiyoko friendship. Asahi and Ennoshita become good friends

-Asahi doesn’t understand the distance between Noya and his sisters because Asahi is very close to his

-It is impossible to embarrass Noya

-Asahi gets a lot of inspiration for his fashion designs from traveling with Noya

-Noya knows how to braid hair and likes to play with Asahi’s

-Asahi enjoys physical affection but dislikes overt PDA. Noya would happily climb Asahi like a tree in public if Asahi would let him

-Only Asahi calls Noya by his given name

-Noya knows he likes Asahi early on but Asahi’s panic (“omg someone LIKES me?? NOYA likes me?? My crush??”) at his confession prevent them getting together until after the Date Tech match (after Asahi rejoins the team).

-Noya is affected by wanderlust and that’s why he travels. Sometimes Asahi joins him. They get married in Canada during one of these trips. (I once read a fantastic asanoya fic where a significant event happened in Canada so Canada is my asanoya place now)

-Noya sends Asahi a postcard from every place he’s ever visited. Sometimes he’ll spend over half an hour trying to find the *best* one, only to buy them all and send them as a sort of big long letter. Asahi saves them all in a photo album that lives on the coffee table. (Some people have a coffee table book, Asahi has a photo album.)

-Noya prefers to top. The one thing he’s really uncomfortable with is being on the bottom (physically laying beneath someone and also sex).

KUROKEN

-Kuroken have a black cat and a calico and enjoy naps on the couch with the kitties. Kuroo has SO MANY pictures in his phone of Kenma curled around the kitties.

-Kuroo: “Love you.” Kenma: “Hate you.”

-Kenma CAN cook, but likes that Kuroo likes taking care of him

-Every game Kuroo has ever owned is multiplayer because he only games with Kenma

-Kenma’s favorite games involve critical thinking and puzzles. Kuroo enjoys watching him play

-Kuroo is an introvert masquerading as an extrovert. Kenma is an introvert. They enjoy quiet nights in.

-Kuroo has anxiety. Kenma always knows when Kuroo is anxious and how to fix it

-People make Kenma anxious. Kuroo makes himself anxious.

-Kenma’s nicknames for Kuroo are Kuro and Koroemon. Kuroo calls Kenma Kyanma and kitten

-Kuroo has been in love with Kenma for as long as he can remember, since they were kids. Kenma knows this, but doesn’t understand he feels the same way until Kuroo goes off to college

-Kuroo is the one who discovered Daichi’s lack of gag reflex. He’s delighted to learn that Kenma lacks one as well

-Kenma moves more slowly than Kuroo. He’s not as comfortable with physical affection and sex as Kuroo is. Their relationship progresses slowly, and Kuroo lets Kenma lead. 

-After Kenma’s confession, how he feels about Kuroo is one of the very few things Kuroo does not doubt or make himself anxious over.

-Kuroo can, will, and has go(ne) on and on and ON about Kenma until someone shuts him up. It drives Yaku up the fucking wall in high school.

-Kenma does a retro game stream once or twice a month made up of games he and Kuroo used to play as kids. Kuroo actually games with him on those days and Kenma’s followers are quick to notice and speculate because Kenma has literally never gamed with another person in the same room before. Sometimes Kenma can only post the actual gameplay because Kuroo ruined the footage of them by being excessively sappy. (Kuroo is NOT above flirting and dirty talk to get an edge and Kenma doesn’t really think his fans need to know that.)

-Kuroken do not talk about Kuroo’s mom or sister

-The Kozumes love “Tetsu-chan” and Kuroo’s grandparents adore Kenma. Kuroken get along with each other’s families better than they do their own.

-Kuroo is tactile. He’s that ass-slapping friend. Kenma thinks he’s ridiculous

-Kuroo used to be dislike Hinata, because Kenma and Hinata are extremely good friends and Kuroo was afraid Hinata would take Kenma away from him. Kenma has assured him he doesn’t like Hinata like that but Kuroo doesn’t warm up until Hinata starts dating Kageyama

BOKUAKA

-Akaashi is 100% in charge of the house and the financials and his word is law. Not because he’s an asshole but because Bokuto is whipped

-Akaashi is a screamer. Bokuto has a big dick.

-Bokuto is the calmest between him and his sisters. His sisters have formed an Akaashi fanclub

-Bokuaka kiss a lot during sex

-Bokuto fucking loves owls

-Akaashi used to be embarrassed over being a manga editor but Bokuto thinks it’s the coolest job ever, “even better than mine!” When his authors need references, Akaashi sends them pictures of Bokuto. Bokuto takes this responsibility very seriously

-Bokuaka exclusively refer to each other by first name but Akaashi can’t break the habit of using -san

-Akaashi and Kenma are very good friends. Bokuto thinks they might even be better bros than him and Kuroo. (Kenma is one of the few people Akaashi calls by first name, and one of the only people who calls Akaashi by his.)

-Akaashi overthinks as a result of anxiety, but he doesn’t think he has anxiety. He prefers to call it “seeing the issue from all sides”

-Akaashi and Bokuto do yoga together. Bokuto behaves himself surprisingly well around Akaashi in yoga pants

-Akaashi decided to attend Fukurodani after watching Bokuto play and literally for no other reason

-Bokuaka are the embodiment of love at first sight and their relationship has an unreal, almost storybook quality to it because they are literally perfect for each other. Because of this, Bokuto doesn’t understand why other people struggle so much to start and maintain a relationship, no matter how many times Kuroo tells him “just because your relationship is straight out of a movie doesn’t mean the rest of the world works like that”

-Bokuaka have a koi pond in their backyard and have named all the fish. Bokuto always asks about them when he’s away for games

IWAOI

-Iwaizumi cooks and cleans because he’s always been the one taking care of Oikawa, but he refuses to fold the laundry because “I’m not doing everything for you, you fucking freeloader”

-Iwaizumi cooks healthy “old man food.” Oikawa’s sweet tooth suffers

-Oikawa is that guy who puts more cream and sugar and other additives in his coffee than actual coffee. He’s tried all of Starbucks’ seasonal drinks and never gets the same thing twice

-Iwaoi have very heated arguments about if Godzilla can kick King Kong’s ass or not. Iwaizumi of course sides with Godzilla

-Iwaoi once fought about the original purpose of Stonehenge and now no one can mention England without it coming back up

-Oikawa only became comfortable with his glasses because Iwaizumi likes them

-Iwaoi have been friends since they were in diapers. The whole volleyball team took bets on when they’d announce their relationship

-Both the Oikawas and the Iwaizumis respond when either boy calls for mom or dad. Oikawa calls his sister Nee-chan while Iwaizumi says Oneesan

-Iwaizumi’s favorite of Oikawa’s features is his legs. Oikawa is in love with Iwa’s arms

-Neither of them can remember when they started liking each other or how their relationship started

-Iwaoi are shockingly codependent and do NOT do separation (during university in Argentina/California or for away games) well

-Deep down Oikawa is extremely insecure and worries he isn’t enough - in volleyball, in school, in his family, in his relationship. Iwaizumi always knows when he’s putting on a front and how to cheer him back up

-Iwaizumi is secretly so soft and weak for Oikawa

-After the Olympics Iwaizumi moves to Argentina to be with Oikawa and they get married. They move back to Japan after Oikawa retires from volleyball and after gay marriage becomes legal there

-Oikawa keeps various plants around the house and the patio and is extremely proud of them. He paints all their pots and even names some of them (which Iwaizumi thinks is disgustingly cute). His most prized plant is a lucky bamboo he bought on a whim when iwaoi first moved in together.

-Oikawa can’t deepthroat. It makes him so jealous that Iwaizumi can

-Iwaizumi blushes whenever Oikawa gives him a genuine compliment

-Iwaizumi has a praise kink. Oikawa has a “whatever comes out of Iwa’s mouth” kink

-Iwaizumi has dom tendencies.

[mindofasupernova]

The Inventor Part 2

Kaz Brekker x reader

Description: A killer is on the loose, eliminating Kaz's informants. In a desperate attempt, Kaz meets a certain inventor that has his mind racing, trying to figure out the complex puzzle she is.

Hope you like it, let me know what you think.

Kaz

A corpse? That's what she wanted? Did she think that he just kept all the bodies of his deceased workers in his room? How the hell was he supposed to get his hands on the corpse of one of his poisoned informants?

One day after meeting the young inventor, Kaz had sent Inej to gather answers to the Y/LN Manor. And just as promised, the girl had already identified most of the compounds, but due to "careless and messy manipulation", clearly referring to Kaz's pouch, she had been unable to determine a specific substance that acted as a catalyst. Inej returned to the Slat with Y/N's message asking for a meeting and a request Kaz wasn't exactly expecting.

According to Y/N, it was of the utmost importance for her to examine the body if she hoped to pinpoint the missing compound not to mention it provided a perfect opportunity for Kaz to tell her about how the poison had captured his attention.

Inej had returned later than usual, smiling and carrying a small brown bag that wafted a sweet and delicious scent. When Kaz had raised his eyebrows in question, Inej had told him Y/N had given her some recently baked cookies. He grunted in response and kept working, but his mind kept drifting back to the cookie bag and what that small act meant.

Inej was cautious but he also knew that she always searched for kindness in people. That snack could have been simply just a gift but Kaz wouldn't have made it this far if he considered all people as kind-hearted. Y/N was a stranger, a rich stranger from the highest of ranks of society who probably didn't care if Barrel rats like him lived or not. Y/N hadn't asked for a favor nor did she need money, she just wanted to know, that unsettled Kaz more than he liked to admit.

He had spent the day gathering information about her, her personal life, hobbies, and all the rumors he could find. He had found absolutely nothing that could give him an insight into the girl's intentions, he had finished empty-handed with the information he already knew: she was the only daughter of one of the richest men in Ketterdam, the perfect personification of a wealthy royal daughter, an innocent and pious little thing that went to Church with her family. Kaz scoffed at that, the defying look she gave her at their secret rendezvous accompanied with her enthusiasm for carving a corpse open proved she was far from innocent.

No, until he had more facts he wouldn't let his guard down. And yet, a small part of him yearned for her actions to be good-intentioned. Stop, hope is a dangerous thing. He had already made the mistake of hoping when he was nine and look where it got him.

Kaz returned his gaze to the papers in front of him, huffing in annoyance, he started writing down orders to get a corpse for Y/N.

_______________

Y/N : One day after the meeting

Y/N was quietly sitting at her vanity, a soft smile adorned her face, gaze completely lost on her new device when Inej, soundlessly crept inside her bedroom.

After Kaz Brekker had left the shop near the Church of Barter, she no longer felt the giddy spark she had when she left her manor. She couldn't blame Mr. Zhang for telling Mr. Brekker about their association, he was an old jumpy man who wished no trouble upon no one. She had left all the concoctions that Mr. Zhang had order, but she didn't show him her latest joy, she no longer felt as excited.

This new invention she had come up with consisted of a music box. But it was no ordinary music box, far from it. Y/N had noticed how most of the music boxes got damaged with time when the metal rusted and the music no longer sounded like a melody but more like a haunted house. So, instead of depending on metal to play music, why not use water vapor. Yes, she had spent four days perfecting the pressure at which each piston released the water so it was a perfect copy of one of the melodies in the Komedie Brute. Four days making sure that the amount of heat the flame distributed was enough to transform the water into vapor but not so fast it was gone before the song ended. And now, here it was, a vapor-based music box with a decorative firebird in the center that literally caught fire, warming the water below.

Mind too caught up on the mechanics of her own work, that, when the Wraith materialized from the shadows behind her, Y/N sent a rain of screws and nuts toppling down the floor when Inej's hand landed on her shoulder.

Wide-eyed, Y/N turned around to face the apparition in her room. The Suli girl raised her hands, to show she intended no harm and in a kind voice spoke:

"I'm not here to hurt you. Kaz Brekker sent me to check up on your progress."

With a sigh of relief, Y/N straightened relaxed her posture. "Why, of course, should have assumed Mr. Brekker would send someone. Please, take a seat. " with a small smile, she gestured to a plush burgundy armchair.

"As promised, I have successfully identified most of the compounds. However, I fear identifying the catalyst agent won't be possible unless I conduct a thorough autopsy on the unfortunate victim. The needle I was given was in an atrocious condition, too many foreign compounds had already interacted with it." Y/N answered, finishing with a hopeful tone.

Inej nodded her head and responded, "I'll let Kaz know, thank you Marchioness Y/LN." Inej turned around, making a bee-line for the window.

"You must not be thinking of going out in this beastly weather. Please, stay until this horrendous downpour ceases." Y/N quickly called back, wrapping her silk shawl around her petite frame, as if the thought of stepping outside was enough to send a chill running down her spine.

Inej hesitated, directing a fleeting glance at the crying sky outside, she resumed to her previous seat.

"Would you like a piece of Cinamon-coated Pavlova? I guarantee you won't regret it, the caramelized peaches are sinfully appetizing!" and before the Suli girl could respond, Y/N was rushing out of her room, the dainty patter of her heels clicking down the stairs.

Her room was exactly what Inej had expected: luxurious and overly grand. But there was something about it that Inej couldn't quite place, her room was tidy to the extreme, all the expensive perfume bottles lined up, gaps between that appeared as if they had been measured with a ruler. Nothing in her room showed a preference or indication of what she truly liked, at first sight, the room would have seemed like the perfect fairytale but now, upon close observation, the room looked generic, hollow, and cold. The spy wondered if all the riches were worth living into a life as impersonal as hers.

Y/N returned, carrying a tray full of fancy desserts Inej couldn't even pronounce.

"The baker proclaims himself a master of crème brûlées. I prefer his fruit-stuffed truffles, though. Mouthwatering" Y/N commented, gingerly placing the tray on her small mahogany table.

Y/N waited for Inej to take a bite out of the coffee tiramisu, after the Suli girl let a soft hum of appreciation, Y/N smiled and questioned: "I hope I'm not being too invasive, but how did you manage to climb all the way to my window? There are no nooks where you could have possibly held onto, you must have an incredible balance to perform such a feat."

And that's how Inej told her about her life as an acrobat, proudly sharing brief glimpses to her past, seeing no harm in the girl next to her. Y/N was more than happy when Inej started talking, she was glad the bronzed-skinned girl didn't treat her with timid whispers afraid of offending her royal title. It felt nice to have a normal conversation, being able to share honest opinions instead fake smiles and condescending words at galas, afraid that if the wrong statement slipped they'll become the next party gossip.

____________________

The morning after, Inej returned bearing Mr. Brekker's message agreeing to a nightly meeting where she'll be able to examine the corpse.

Saying that Y/N was thrilled, was an understatement, apart from a chance to put her brain to good use, it gave her the perfect opportunity to try a device she had specifically designed for creating an alibi while she was sneaking outside at unlikely hours.

Y/N hated piano. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't the instrument, it was the music, her music. Because for an unknown reason, her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own whenever she tried to. She admired the focus and dedication of musicians, she really did, but her mind easily got distracted thinking about her latest reading material instead of focusing on the notes. So, she had created a system capable of pushing the tiles as if her own fingers played the music. She knew it was wrong to fool her parents in such a way but it gave her a perfect cover to go in secret missions her parents would never approve of.

Proper ladies don't get excited over knowledge, much less probe in repulsive matters such as corpses. Look at you, Y/N, what would future suitors think if they discover you all cheerful over someone´s murder? The scandal! Zia Francesca's reprimanding voice resonated inside Y/N´s head. But she could care less about what the whole Ketterdam thought about her, science was her passion, and she would abandon it until the day she died.

Already outside, a navy blue scarf wrapped around her head to shield her delicate features against unwanted attention, Y/N waited for Inej at their chosen meeting point.

The sly girl slipped into view, with a grace greater than the one of a feline, leaving the shadows as if she and the night were one. With a brief nod, Y/N followed the girl into the awaiting hands of darkness. Leading her towards the Barrel, a place where monsters lurked behind every corner impatiently waiting to pounce any minute. Nonetheless, Y/N felt ecstatic, warm excitement pulsing through her veins, a river waiting in anticipation to break the thin modest facade she kept up to let her curiosity resurface in search of enigmas to solve.

When they arrived at a place named "The Crow Club", Inej went to get Kaz and some "others" and told her to wait. Y/N observed the lively atmosphere, seeing customers from different countries around the world when her eyes landed on a familiar head with wild red curls.

"Mr. Van Eck?" Y/N questioned in disbelief, the boy perked up at the sound of his last name, locking eyes with the hooded girl.

Never would she have imagined finding Wylan Van Eck down in the Barrel. She was shocked, Wylan supposedly should be in a music school outside of Ketterdam. Both belonging to affluent families, Y/N had met Wylan Van Eck at several parties. She hadn't gotten to know him very well, but she liked the quiet boy who shared the same look of misfortune Y/N had every time they were thrown into a classy social event. When his father had announced he was leaving to study abroad, Y/N was happy for him although she would miss being silently miserable together. But it appeared Wylan had been doing something far from studying, now sitting next to a tall Zemeni boy with his arm slung around his shoulder.

"Marchioness Y/N, I never imagined...W-What brings you here?" replied round-eyed Wylan, confusion, and astonishment written all over his features.

But before Y/N could respond, steps and the tapping of a cane interrupted their little meeting, Inej small silhouette trailing behind Mr. Brekker.

"So, you know Wylan?" he interrogated in that characteristic rasp, coffee eyes scrutinizing Y/N's form.

"Yes, Mr. Van Eck used to come to our social gatherings."

Wylan just nodded shyly while his long-limbed companion kept drowning shot like they were water.

Dirtyhands humphed in acknowledgment "Nice, know that we are all together let's go to...Jesper, I don't pay you to drink the bar dry. Get your ass down here and let's get moving so our dear inventor can examine the body, shall we?

"Wait, she is the contact you talked about?" the Zemeni, Jesper, questioned. Eyes going from Kaz Brekker to Y/N, as if this was some kind of joke.

"Wylan called her Marchioness? You asked for a royal's help?" Jesper asked, an incredulous mocking smile on his face. "Who are you and what have you done with Kaz?"

Mr. Brekker scowled at him and without another word turned around not even waiting for them to follow.

"Well, nice to meet you, my lady. The name's Jesper Fahey," he said, bowing down and kissing her hand, sending her a mischievous wink.

"Very nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Fahey. And please, there's no need for formalities, just call me Y/N." she comforted, as they finally reached the others. Glancing at the rest while finishing her last statement, prompting the rest to call her by her first name.

________

Kaz

Y/N radiated waves of elation, her whole face lighting up at the thought of an adventure, a star amid the tumultuous dark waters of Ketterdam helping him find his way to the shore.

Kaz wore an amused expression at Y/N's amused gaze roaming the dirty streets of the Barrel, a new unknown world full of carnage and sins. She isn't fit for the Barrel thought Kaz, her eyes dancing in amusement at every little detail that caught her interest despite her efforts to put on a serious face and regal posture. She probably saw wonderous adventures while Kaz saw the Barrel for what it really was: a ravenous, savage beast waiting to swallow the weakest whole and drain the lives of the ones who survived its ghastly bites. And somehow the concept that she didn't belong in this world, his world, made Kaz's heart wrenched a little.

During their walk, Kaz shared the details about the latest killer on the loose and his dead informants, all the while, Y/N remained quiet, evaluating every one of his words.

When they arrived at an abandoned building, a single man was stationed outside, leaning on the tainted wall with a tired look in his eyes. Kaz nodded at the guard who gave him a set of keys and trotted out of sight. Kaz guided them inside, careful no prying eyes had followed them. Kaz turned on the lights, briefly disconcerting his companions, and pointed to a table with a big bulk covered by a dirty cloth.

"As you requested, the unfortunate victim" announced Kaz as Y/N placed a small suitcase she'd brought with her forensic equipment and tenderly pried the cloth covering the thing that once had been alive.

Y/N didn't bat an eyelash when she saw the corpse's face, not even when Jesper started gagging or when Inej turned around and started quietly mumbling prayers to her saints. Kaz focused on her face, the calm inquisitive look of a scientist, he had expected a gasp at least. Kaz was impressed by her cool analytical demeanor when a simple glimpse of the man was enough to send Kaz back to the ocean, rotting flesh beneath his fingertips. Kaz shuddered at the thought, forcing down the vomit rising in his throat.

"If you need an assistant, Jesper is willing to help" Kaz stated, stabilizing his voice so it wouldn't show his true feelings.

"What?! Me? Umm..no...I...Helping isn't a Jesper talent." Mr. Fahey said, a fearful look in his eyes, face white as a sheet. Kaz hoped he didn't look as terrified as him.

Y/N stopped her scan, looked up at the two boys, and with a small smile spoke: "I appreciate it, but there's no need. I'm certain I can handle it on my own."

Quickly discarding her coat and scarf, pushing back the sleeves of her rouge-colored blouse, and pulling long laboratory gloves over her hands along with a white apron over her head, she set up to work.

Kaz stared at her features, as she transformed into an eager forensic, light illuminating her face, falling in the right places giving her an otherwordly glow. Rebellious strands of hair framing her forehead, a pink hue staining her cheeks indicating her joyous state. The sight before him would have put any masterpiece to shame, Kaz wondered how she could stare at a corpse and find glee in such a morbid image. But Kaz liked it, the brilliant gleam her eyes portrayed, her childish joy at the promise of adventure.

The spell was broken when she started pulling out scalpels, syringes, and other items Dirtyhands couldn't bother to learn the name of. Pulling the flesh taught beneath her fingers, Y/N made a Y incision, skin splaying open.

Cold lifeless hands gripped Kaz's throat. his brother's icy whispers brushing his skin. He turned his head away and as if perceiving his discomfort, Y/N's bewitching doe eyes stared back at him.

"You can wait outside if you prefer to, I'll notify you when I'm done." her gentle voice reached and Kaz couldn't have been more grateful.

With a sharp shake of his head, Kaz limped towards the exit, Jesper, and Inej quickly following his movements.

--------

After Y/N finished, she eagerly started explaining her findings, a prideful gleam emanating from her.

"Well, Mr. Brekker I must admit this case is a peculiar one. The simplest ones always prove to be the most challenging."

"Here I thought that after years of fancy tea reunions you'd know the meaning of a vast number of words. I'll be sure to buy you a thesaurus." mocked Kaz, a wolfish smirk creeping onto his face.

The inventor frowned at his comment, racing her chin higher, and started her rant, thoughts racing to prove her point.

"Oh no, Mr. Brekker do not confuse simple and easy. Simple is straightforward, plain facts to the observer. Ordinary details are hard to pinpoint, effortlessly found everywhere, which makes it harder to find unique characteristics that could serve as means of identification since their nature is so elementary." Y/N spoke swiftly, pacing around the room, eyes never faltering from Kaz's.

"And that's exactly what happened in this case. As I had mentioned, my extraction wasn't entirely successful, for an essential reactant was missing. However, it wasn't the only reason why I insisted on examining the body, no, a very simple and ordinary substance appeared when I separated the poison: Helianthus annuus or more commonly known as sunflowers." Y/N paused glancing at their surprised faces, clearly pleased with their reactions, she continued, the corners of her lips tugging upwards.

"You can imagine my surprise when I found sunflower pollen as the main component of the poisonous agent. I ran several more tests and the result remains the same, our killer is using these lovely flowers as a weapon. Now, back to the catalyst, the easy part of the equation. This component isn't as fastidious as the previous one, why, you may ask. Well, its vast majority consists of average materials but a small percentage of it contains alloys that are only produced in Ketterdam, that combined with the peculiar way they were fused, suggests a Grisha alkemi made this solution." Y/N concluded, grabbing a piece of paper and hastily writing before she handed it to Kaz.

"There are no signs of struggle, meaning either they knew the attacker or they were taken by surprise. A swift prick to the femoral artery, a clear pathway for the poison to reach the bloodstream, infecting the body within seconds."

"It shouldn't be very hard to find the alkemi. They aren't very popular and most of them are indentured. Here is the list of all the reactants, the specifics, and where I believe you might find them. " finished the girl, looking at the trio expectantly.

"If you don't mind, I have taken a sample to examine more carefully at my house. I'll try to find any details I might have overlooked."

Briskly reading the list, Kaz frowned and then pocketed the small scrap of paper. "First thing tomorrow morning, ask around for an alkemi who might have bought these materials. "

Kaz turned to look at his fellow crows, content with their nods of approval, grabbed his cane, and sauntered towards the door. Her chemistry knowledge was astounding, a marvelous domain of anatomy, and an even more gifted engineer from what he had heard. Hers was an indeed beautiful mind, not that he would ever tell her.

"Mr. Brekker?" her light voice shattered through the gloomy night. Kaz craned his neck, gaping back at her in question.

"Is there perhaps a place where I might be able to tidy myself up?" Y/N questioned, Kaz finally looking at her messy red-stained apron and her exposed arms displaying strokes of red all over them.

Kaz hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should bring the girl back to their home. "You can use the restroom back at the Slat." The girl had risked her reputation sneaking out on ill-advised affairs to help them, it was the least he could do.

"Thank you" Y/N replied as she carefully peeled her apron, attentive at not brushing her arms against her blouse.

___________

Once she had freshened up, Y/N stumbled upon the young Van Eck talking with a couple. The green-eyed girl was about Y/N's age, a generously carved complexion, holding the hand of a tall Fjerdan.

Y/N inclined her head as a form of salute, "I never pegged you for the rebellious type, Mr. Van Eck. I never thought you hated music lessons that much to run away." she told him in a joking tone.

"And I never thought you were the type to sneak out at ungodly hours just to play detective. " Wylan replied, a grin beginning to form on his face.

"Well, I suppose everyone has secrets."

"You must be Y/N, Inej told me you were the help Kaz so desperetly needed. I'm Nina, he's Matthias and well you already know Wylan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Inej had briefly mentioned them, she knew now that Nina loved food, maybe next time she'll bring those exquisite truffles she had so eagerly talked about. If there is a next time Y/N reminded herself, she desperately hoped so, but now that her work was done she wasn't so sure Kaz Brekker would ever seek her again.

"Well, you have saved me the introductions." Kaz sarcastically glowered at the green-eyed girl, Nina kept talking as if she hadn't heard him.

It was one thing for Kaz to admire her intelligence, it did not mean he trusted her, though. Pieces were still missing to the intricate puzzle she was and until that changed Kaz did not like the way she rapidly befriended his crows, her intentions were still blurry to Kaz, and even though he would never admit it he cared deeply about their well-being.

"You should stay a little longer, we could go for waffles as a way of thank you." prompted Nina.

"Your offer is very tempting, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I should be returning home." Y/N declined, grinning at Nina, blissful someone had invited her for waffles.

Kaz stared at her and wondered how many times someone had done something similar, not to thank her but rather to use her, so that such a simple gesture put her in a joyful state.

"Scared of what your parents may do if they found out the truth?" Kaz quipped once his crows had left the two of them alone. A teasing tone masking true concern.

"Terrified. Someone may notice I've been playing the same four songs for the last couple of hours, always missing the same notes every time and they might get ideas of checking up on me," she confessed, mischief coating her features.

"Good night, Mr. Brekker. I'm happy I could be of assistance. Please, let me know if you find your killer or if my experience is needed again."

Kaz just bowed, signaling for his Wraith to get Y/N back to her manor in one piece.

Both girls disappeared into the night, leaving Kaz pondering what the hell she had meant with playing the piano.

___________

Y/N

Almost two weeks had passed, no signs of Kaz and no visits from the Wraith, well not that she was aware of. Y/N caught herself glaring at no point in particular, she readjusted her expression and plastered a well-practiced look of keen interest, trying to focus on Lady Stathos' rant about the attractiveness of the Viscount of Chagny.

Y/N politely excused herself, with no intention of making a fool of herself if Lady Stathos posed a question related to her gossip.

Too busy drowning in her own sorrow, knowing that Kaz had probably captured the culprit and was happily celebrating his success and no longer needing Y/N's help, that she stumbled forward, barely catching herself when someone bumped her from behind.

When Y/N turned back around, searching for that someone, she was met with a sight she had only seen once in an abandoned warehouse late at night. One that made her mind scream: Helianthus annuus.

Mercher Dupont's eyes were deranged, veins gruesomely popping and blood spilling from his lips, before toppling in the middle of the dance floor, taking his final breath.

[nottswhore]

hiii you said you weren’t getting any requests and it made me sad because i love your writing so here’s a requestttt: could you do like a christmas themed one where draco is staying with the readers family over christmas and she’s a muggle born so she shows him all of her muggle christmas traditions and he pretends to think it’s weird but he secretly loves how exited she gets over everything and eventually he lets down his whole “christmas is stupid” act and they end up having a cute little christmas together and it’s overall just really fluffy

OMG YAY THANK YOU FOR THE REQUEST i’m so happy it’s my first one! :) and thank you so much for the nice words 🥺

———————————————————————

Muggleborn

summary: draco is staying at his muggle born girlfriend’s house for christmas, she teaches him all their traditions. Draco pretends to find it stupid, but eventually admits to loving it.

warnings: none

reader in Slytherin, probably around 3-5th year, again i know Blaise isn’t there but uh... pretend hehe

face visual:

Draco has stayed over at y/n’s house this Christmas, deciding he wanted to spend more time with his little Slytherin.

Draco arriving at their front door on Christmas day, snow falling down on his messy blond hair, not being able to knock when you slammed open the door, almost breaking it. He put down his stuff with a grin on his face as he watches you run over to him, shouting his name. He squishes you in a tight hug, grinning into your hair.

“Hello darling! Merry Christmas,” he grins, breaking the hug to look down at you.

You grin up at him, laughing and replying, “Merry Christmas Dray!” You knew he loved it when you called him your little nickname for him, and you didn’t fail to make his eyes light up this time either.

“Can we go inside... i’m freezing,” you started to shiver, and he immediately picked up his stuff and held your hand to go inside.

After saying hi to your parents, Draco put his stuff down in your room. “So... you wanted to show me something?”

Your eyes lit up, remembering the plan you had to do with Draco.

“Oh yeah! Come with me,” Draco couldn’t help smiling at your bright giggling as you lead him to the kitchen.

“Ta- da!” You pointed to the counter. “What is it?” Draco had not once seen a gingerbread house, so he had no idea why in the world there were bags of candy and frosting everywhere.

“We’re gonna build a gingerbread house!” Draco found it kind of stupid, but pushed that aside as he saw that you were jumping up and down happily and looking at him hopefully.

“Okay... how in the world do i do that?”

So you led him to the counter, and started building. He took time to decorate each of the gingerbread men, although he tried hiding that from you. He actually enjoyed building the house and getting to spend time with you, the whole time he was thinking how adorable you were being so excited about something like this.

“Yay!!” You two finished your perfect gingerbread house, it filled with an nicely designed gingerbread family. “It looks better than how i did it last year!”

“Last year?” “Yeah! It’s a tradition. Everything i do with you today is something i do every Christmas,” you grinned up at him.

“Alright... what’s next?” He looked down at you, a bit puzzled to why you would spend so much time doing stuff on Christmas. He never had any fun on this day, so he saw no point in it, but he actually enjoyed making the gingerbread house.

“Well... i already decorated the tree... gifts are for later... wanna watch a movie?”

“What in Merlin’s beard is a movie?” Draco frowned, confused. He never learned about muggles, so he didn’t know what it was.

“Come here! Sit on the couch,” You both sat down, you leaning your head on his shoulder, one of his hands wrapped in yours, and his other arm was around your waist.

You turned on the TV and started to play The Christmas Chronicles 2. Draco’s eyes widened when he saw the screen moving, his jaw dropped slightly opened. When he realized what he was doing, he re-composed himself, looking down to see you laughing at him.

After the movie

“So! Dray, what’d you think of the movie?” “It was stupid.” Draco secretly loved the traditions you had, and was quite jealous that he didn’t have them as a child, but of course refused to admit it.

“Awh... it’s alright. Gift time then!” “Okay... I’ll sit back, show me what presents you got!” You looked up at him, confused but then realizing that he thought he didn’t get any gifts.

“No come here you big idiot... here. I got this one for you, this one is from my parents, this one from Pansy and this one from Blaise.” Draco’s eyes widened at the fact that people got him presents.

You guys started to tear them open, Draco keeping the one he got from you to the side to open last. From her parents he got a gift card to a place to spend time with y/n, which he was happy about since he wanted to spend as much time with you as he could. From Pansy he got a broom cleaning/polishing kit, since he was constantly dirtying his broom. This one was a new kit that just came out, so it was supposedly supposed to have something that also made your broom fly better. And from Blaise he got some of his favorite magical treats, one of them being chocolate frogs.

For the present you got him, he opened it to see a gorgeous snake ring inside. He grinned and looked up at you, and you told him to look inside it. On the inside of the ring, you had engraved the words “I love you” onto it.

“Y/n... you’re so cheesy...” he played it off as stupid but he started tearing up and you laughed, leaning over to kiss him, wiping away a tear with your thumb.

After dinner

“God... that was one of the best meals i’ve had...” Draco smiled at you, full from the food he had eaten.

“Awh yay! i’m glad you liked it. My mom is a good cook isn’t she?” You smiled, happy that he was happy.

You guys went up to y/n’s bedroom, draco cuddling you while you guys talked.

“I gotta admit something...” Draco said, watching you play with the rings on his hand while he played with your hair.

“hm?” “Well... the movie wasn’t stupid.”

“I know darling, you were yelling at the elves.” You laughed as his face turned red.

He pouted, continuing. “Fine. Well for the gingerbread house... i didn’t really want to do it,” he looked at you, expecting you to be sad but you just looked up at him, a curious expression on your face.

“Well then why did you do it?” “You seemed so exited, it was so cute, i couldn’t resist...” he blushed, admitting it. “But i ended up liking it,” he looked down at you.

“Yeah darling... the gingerbread lady was wearing a necklace,” you giggled.

“hm... well.” He thought for a second, about what you weren’t sure.

“I love you,” he said, after thinking. “I love you too.” Then you guys fell asleep, entwined together on Draco’s first happy Christmas.

at three AM

You shot up, making Draco startle.

“Darling! What’s wrong?” “We forgot to read Christmas books by the fireplace!”

Draco laughed, after realizing it was nothing serious.

“Well we could still do that now couldn’t we?” You nodded eagerly at him, then he picked you up bridal style downstairs.

He grabbed a book, started the fire and started reading with you snuggled up into him.

Soon after, you fell asleep and once he realized, he gently put the book down and layed his head on you, falling asleep for the final perfect ending of Draco’s favorite memory with you.

———————————————————————

There it is darling! I hope this was good enough :) Imagine him trying to produce a patronus and thinking of this day 🥺 I hope you liked the story! ily 💕

[xuxishortcake]

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : you are an undercover agent, still fairly new at the job & on the search for two notorious con men, who might be part of a gang in the mafia. it's your job to figure out what's going on but oh my, are they more dashing than expected.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 : switch!reader sub!jungkook dom!taehyung smut , cursing, forced into s*x , cream pie , fingering , blowjob , double penetration

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 3k

hello everyone! this officialy my second fanfic I've written, so pardon if there are any mistakes, grammar errors, etc. feedback is appreciated greatly! hope u love the fic!! ^_^

✧༺🍷༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

you wore a black suit that was nicely tailored to your body. you were driving around in San Francisco because you were assigned to work there for the day. all you knew so far was that you were after two con men who might've been involved in serious Mafia activity. you kept your ears on alert, waiting for more information from your agency. finally, you got an incoming call on your watch.

"hello?"

"hey y/n, it's seulgi. so I've found the house you need to go into, it's in the Presidio Hights neighborhood. I'll send you the full address. " *ding* came in the address & seulgi continued on. "the two men are Korean with the names Jeon Jeongguk & Kim Taeyhung. remember, be careful, we have no idea what these two are capable of, there's evidence pointing to them being in the Seo-bang Faction group."

"don't worry," your replied. " I might be one of the newer agents, but I've been taught well. "

"ok. we're counting on you. we have backup, but it'll take about 10minutes to get to the mansion since we don't want them to discover us. "

"gotcha. I'll call once I'm done." & you hung up the phone.

you pulled out the message with the address, put on your navigation system & started driving towards your destination.

thirty minutes later, you arrived & parked nearby the grand mansion you were to go inside of. you scouted far away with a special type of glasses to find an entry way. there was easy to open windows on the second story & you made your way to the mansion. going through the window, you stepped onto the plush, maroon colored carpet. finally inside, you walked as quietly as you could, your shoes were designed anyways to be as quiet as possible but it was better to be safe than sorry. it was surprisingly quite minimalistic with decor, the decor itself though being very ornate. you looked down the interior balcony. a grand set of marble stairs led up to the second floor & third floor. you started walking up to the third floor, there were some pretty expensive looking paintings leading up. finally reaching to the top, you walked down the long corridor. checking in each room if there were any signs of life. no luck. where in the hell were they? could it have been possible they knew somehow someone was coming & left? the final room you were about to check was the biggest, the master bedroom. the first thing you took notice of was the huge espresso colored canopy bed with a velvety crimson bed spread. there were also a few shelves with gold items & books on them. you looked through them all, to see if there was anything hidden but there was nothing. you checked in the huge bathroom, nothing. just a beautiful & large bathtub & joint sink. puzzled, you sat on top of the bed. you hadn't a clue what to do next. there weren't any new messages from the agency, so the two must've been in the house somewhere. you started to feel a sudden wave of drowsiness wash over you. was it because of the jet lag? no, this isn't normal. it was probably sleeping gas. you were now barely able to keep your eyes open & saw two figures walk into the room. {shit.} you thought, & blacked out.

what seemed to be hours later, you slowly started to regain consciousness. you were calling out to your watch to call your agency & nothing happened. you now realized you were tied to a chair & stripped of gadgets, weaponry & even your own clothes. you started to turn your chair around the room to find if there was anyone around. in came from the corridor & into the bedroom the two men you were supposed to find. they both were nicely tailored, as to be expected but the thing that had caught you off guard was their visuals. the two seemed to be in their twenties & were very, very good looking. they sat down onto a sofa that was across from you, both staring intently into your eyes.

"well," said the one with particularly long eyelashes "are you going to start talking or no? "

"yeah, we're not waiting all day for an answer. " vocalized the other, looking you up & down.

you felt absolutely mortified. not only were these men goddamn gorgeous, but you were only in the pair of black lace underwear that was concealed underneath your suit, which was now in a bundle in the corner of the room.

"I was sent here to investigate the two of you."

"by whomst?" asked the one with the long eyelashes.

you stayed silent. if these men were really part of the Seo-bang Faction group you could never let them know where you worked at, for your whole agency could be in grave danger.

"still not trying to talk hm? bring out the gun, jeongguk."

your eyes widened, trying to maintain a calm face. jeongguk went out of the bedroom. a few seconds later, he came back in with an old fashioned looking pistol, handing it over to taehyung. taehyung cocked the gun.

"now tell me, with WHOM are you working for? " he spoke watching intently.

"I'm not going to tell unless you tell me about yourself first." you retaliated.

"oh well, suit yourself." he pointed the gun & pulled the trigger.

your eyes we're closed shut & you were sweating bullets until you realized that you were still alive.

taehyung was chuckling. "oh my, you should've seen your face then, it was priceless i tell you, priceless."

"are you going to kill me?" you asked, clearly shaken.

"oh trust me, he could have" jeongguk interjected "we already knew someone was coming here, we just wanted to have some fun. there are no bullets in that so there wasn't any way to kill you with it. "

"aren't you concerned I'm trying to report about you two? your members of that gang no? "

"haha, no. I can assure you we are just simple, cunning assholes, who like to do frauds, maybe a few scams here & there, but we're not involved in some huge Mafia group."

"do you expect me to believe you?"

"yes, I guess. after all, what else can you do now that you're stuck here?"

"so...what do you want from me then?" you asked.

"like I told you, fun."

"what do you mean exactly? "

"to put it simple, a real fun, hot fuck. we haven't had one of those in a while. sure, you can get a prostitute & we have no problems getting any person that we want, but this, this is much more interesting. " jeongguk said smirking, crossing his arms.

"if you do it, we'll let you go. "taehyung added, fidgeting with the rings on his fingers.

what the hell were you supposed to do in a situation like this? sure, you had been in difficult situations before, but not like this. this....what were you supposed to tell your agency? you were forced into sleeping with two men who were possibly in the mafia? there had to be another way out of it...

"listen, unless you have super powers & can magically weasel yourself out of very tight rope, there's no other way for you to get out of this. " taehyung said almost as if he could read your mind. "so is it a yes?"

you gave a slow nod.

"hmmm, ok great. well, not that you had much of a choice anyway but I promise you won't regret it. " taehyung stated confidently. "jeongguk, untie her."

& he untied you. rubbing your sore wrists, you looked up at the man who untied you. god, he really was good looking.

"so, what now?" you asked slowly standing up.

"we need to know three things." said jeongguk. "one, are you dominant or a sub, or both? two, what is your safe word? I know technically what we are doing isn't legal, but it's no fun if you're uncomfortable and lastly, three. can you take two cocks at once? "

"I'm a switch, & hell, I bet I could take two. for a safe word...." you looked around "gold."

"ok cool, let's get started then." jeongguk said while pushing you onto the bed.

taehyung stood up from the couch & walked over. the two now standing over your smaller frame, like two foxes staring at their prey hungrily.

"you suck on him." said taehyung pointing at jeongguk. "I'll take care of you."

jeongguk started to unfasten his belt & you, still on the bed turned so you were horizontal,in a dog position. only pants down, you palmed him through his boxers. you finally pulled them down & revealed his half hard on. he was in your hand & you gave a few quick strokes & took him in vigorously. he let out a low groan, you could feel him already growing in your mouth & started to move while you were sucking. he put his hand on your head, keeping you at a steady pace. meanwhile, taehyung was behind you, on the other side of the bed, palming your ass. the feeling of the cold rings on his fingers squeezing your flesh made you gasp. he traced his fingers over to your underwear & pulled them to the side. he ghosted over your slit, collecting some of your wetness onto his fingers. gently, he prodded a finger up your pussy. slowly moving it, in & out & added another one. you moaned, vibrating against jeongguk's cock.

"oh shit, do that again." he said head thrown back a bit, holding onto your head tighter.

taehyung inserted another finger; now three fingers were knuckle deep into you. you could hear how wet you were by the way your pussy was squelching. you had muffled moans for jeongguk kept your mouth full. you had difficulty not crumbling under taehyungs touch, his hands working like magic. he pulled out of you & you whined, desperately clenching around nothing.

"pull out." taehyung said to jungkook while licking off his fingers. jungkook nodded. "y/n was it? go put that brat in his place & do not let him touch you. "

taehyung walked over to a piece of furniture, rummaged around a drawer & came back with a blindfold & handcuffs.

"put these on him." taehyung said as he handed you them.

"aw shit really?? why can't I see?" jeongguk whined, giving a little pout & took off his top.

"because you were having a little too much fun over there. plus, you like being a sub anyways."

jeongguk & you went towards the headboard. you snapped on the handcuffs & tied the blind fold on jeongguk "don't worry," you whispered to him, starting to pull off your panties & bra. "I'll take care of you real good." & it sent shivers down his spine.

you positioned him to your entrance & sank down on him. you both moaned in unison , the stretch feeling incredible. his hips had already starting to move; you bounced up & down on him, hips sometimes twirling. you gave attention to his neck & started to lick & give damp kisses.

taehyung felt his hard on press tightly against his pants & started to undress. he went back to the same drawer from before & he brought out a bottle of lube & got onto the bed. he poured a considerable amount of lube onto his fingers & sat behind you. he took to your neck & started leaving kisses & bites on it, causing you to softly moan.

"do you need to be warmed up? or do you think you can handle me now?" he asked against you, stroking his cock in anticipation.

"I mmm think I can take you." you said, moving yourself a little so you were in an angle that he could get inside of you.

"can I have the blindfold off please? I really want to see this." jeongguk said, hips grinding up into yours.

"ok, take it off of him y /n." & you went & did as he said.

taehyung didn't waste any time, he moved his cock over your unoccupied hole,teasing you for a bit, & finally slid in. you moaned out loud, tears starting to form in your eyes. taehyung felt girthier whereas jeongguk was longer, you felt so full & it was wonderful.

"fuck." taehyung groaned against your ear "you're so damn tight." & started to thrust.

you & jeongguk didn't move as much anymore because you both could feel him thrusting into you. taehyung thought he'd take it up a notch & slapped your ass. you moaned out, surprised & had tightened around jeongguk.

"oh my god, I'm gonna cum." he cried out, thighs starting to shake a little.

"I only want you to come when she does. " taehyung said as he thrusted deeper & deeper into you, slapping your ass harder, winning another lovely moan out from you.

taehyung bent over you now & cupped one hand around your tit & the other snaked down to your clit. between the deep penetration in your pussy, the thrusting in your ass, one of taes hands playing with your nipple & the other rubbing circles on your clit, you felt your climax approaching you.

"oh fuck- I'm about to cum." you moaned out, barely able to stay in position, feeling as if you were about to break.

"go then. you can go now too jeongguk." taehyung said, his own thrusts starting to get sloppier.

you clenched around the both of them, moaning out. jeongguk moaned out right after you, finally releasing, shaking beneath you. which triggered a somewhat chain reaction & made taehyung release right after, filling you up to the brim with cum. the three of you rode it all out together. cum was dripping out your pussy & ass, glistening on both of their cocks. you all were panting on top of each other, taehyung pulled out & went to grab some tissues in the drawer of a night stand. you pulled yourself off of jungkook & unchained his hands from the bed. you flopped in the middle of the bed, chest heaving with probably the most fucked out looking face ever. taehyung cleaned the two of you off & then himself, then slid right next to you, eyes starting to close. 

you had no idea how long you slept for, but you could see that it was still light out. then you remembered you were supposed to let seulgi know if the two were suspicious. "shit!" you exclaimed & hurried out of the bed. you picked up your watch from the corner of the room & frantically searched her number to call her. she picked up.

"hello? y/n are you ok?" seulgi asked with concern. "you were off the radar for hours, we were about to send some people over because we weren't get any responses from you."

"oh, no no I'm fine! I think maybe I went offline since I didn't see any incoming messages until now. " you said as you tried to make up something.

"hmmm, that's odd. did you find out anything? "

"sadly no, there's no evidence of their involvement it seems like."

"well then, I'd suggest you leave. we have another place for you to check out. tell me once you're on the road."

"ok." you replied. "I'll talk to you later on." & you hung up.

you went back to the bed & realized taehyung was gone & jeongguk was awake. "you're leaving already?" he asked, with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. he then reached his into the drawer of the nightstand & pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"yeah. I need to continue working or they'll think something is suspicious. " you said sliding into your pants.

"awe, that sucks. do you want one by the way?" he asked, lighting a cigarette.

"no thanks, I don't really smoke." you said, collecting all your stuff & putting it onto the bed.

"well, do you want some red wine maybe?"

you paused. "sure." & sat down next to him, taking the glass of wine he had on top of the nightstand.

"by the way, you were amazing. I don't think I've had that much fun in a good while. " he looked at you with his pretty round eyes, releasing a bit of smoke out of his mouth.

"thank you. I don't think I've ever had that much fun before, ever." you replied taking a sip of the wine. "especially with someone rumored to be in the mafia."

"yeah, pretty crazy isn't it? I don't think you expected any of this at all." he smiled. "we need to do this again, if you're up to it."

"I think I would be." giving him a little smirk. "it's not everyday you find two incredibly hot guys willing to be fuck buddies. I might have to fly back to San Francisco just to fuck. "

you heard footsteps approaching the room & finally saw taehyung, standing in the door way in a cream colored robe with a glass of red wine in his hand.

"so, you're finally awake." he said coming into the room. "how was it?"

"I liked it very much. I just told jeongguk I'll fly back to San Francisco just to fuck you guys." you giggled.

taehyung laughed, getting into the bed with you two. " I hope that is true because I'd love to do this again sometime. " wrapping an arm around you.

"definitely. I have to go now though." you said disappointedly. "I'm expected to continue working."

"hmmm, that's a shame." taehyung said sipping his wine. " I need to give you me & jeongguk's number."

"sure." you two exchanged numbers. "well, I've got to go sadly; wish I could stay longer. today was very enjoyable." you said, buttoning up your blazer.

before you walked out, jeongguk called to you "I hope you can come back! " he said, him & taehyung smirking. you smirked back, waved at them & left.

[hyuniepot]

enigma || qian kun

e·nig·ma • /iˈniɡmə/ • noun

a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.

pairing || kun x reader

genre || college au

word count || 2,715

warnings || mentions of alcohol and smoking

author’s note || tbh this started out as a longer fic but... something in me really wanted it to end when it did. but maybe there could be a part 2 someday idk idk (also apologies for repeating text again, tumblr is rlly out to get me)

You’re annoyed.

It’s cold. Your shoes are soaked from walking through puddles left behind from the rain showers earlier in the day. Your best friend, Hana — the one who begged you to come to this party — was talking your ear off. Usually, dealing with her chatterbox self was easy, but you weren’t in the mood to talk.

“I think I’m nervous,” she says. “I feel like if I stop talking I’m gonna start freaking out! I mean, how am I supposed to be calm going to a party like this?”

You furrow your brows. “Don’t you go to parties like this every weekend?” you question.

You roll your eyes. “Sure,” you sigh. You spot a huge house coming into view with lights flashing from the inside and floods of people entering. “So, whose house is this?”

You roll your eyes. “Sure,” you sigh. You spot a huge house coming into view with lights flashing from the inside and floods of people entering. “So, whose house is this?”

You roll your eyes. “Sure,” you sigh. You spot a huge house coming into view with lights flashing from the inside and floods of people entering. “So, whose house is this?”

“Johnny’s,” Hana replies. “His parents own this place, but whenever they’re out of town, he uses it to throw the best parties at least once a year.”

“How cliche…” you mumble.

You finally enter the house alongside Hana. The loud music and all the smells immediately send you into sensory overload. Hana grabs onto your hand and leads you into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey!” A guy with brown hair greets Hana as soon as she walks in. “I’ve been waiting for you!”

“Johnny!” she grins. “Sorry for the wait, I took way longer getting ready than I wanted.”

“No problem, the party's just getting started! So I’m assuming this is the friend you were telling me about?” Johnny turns his attention to you. His gaze is intense.

Hana nods. “Yep, dragged them here with me. I just knew I had to, parties like this are always the best.”

Johnny nods, grinning slightly. His eyes are still burning into you. “She’s right. You’re gonna have a blast.”

You nod and smile just to be polite. Your eyes dart around the room trying to avoid Johnny’s. They’re like daggers. Hana grabs two drinks and before either of you have a chance to say anything, nods to a nearby doorway.

You follow her into the other room and take a seat next to her on an empty sofa. It doesn’t take long before she gets distracted again.

“Oh! Doyoung! Yuta!” she waves to two boys across the room. They both turn to her and smile before making their way over to where you were both sitting.

“Hey,” Doyoung says. You knew him pretty well, you had a class with him and a few mutual friends as well. “Didn’t know you guys would be here.”

You shrug. “Always expect the unexpected,” you joke, taking a red cup from Hana’s hand. You take a sip, cringing from the overwhelming taste of alcohol. You’re not sure why you expected it to taste good. But you had to tough it out and wait until you were buzzed enough to think the alcohol tastes good.

“You guys playing beer pong later?” Yuta asks, sitting down next to Doyoung. “I mean, we need a team we know we can beat,” he says, laughing.

Hana rolls her eyes. “Thanks for the invite, but no. We’re both terrible,” she says. “I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

Speak for yourself…

Out of the corner of your eye you see the front door fly open. A tall guy enters, both hands carrying cases of alcohol. Two other people are behind him; you only recognize one — Ten. He was known as “the hot exchange student from Thailand” for a few months before anyone you knew got the guts to talk to him just to find out he was a sweetheart. You had only talked to him a handful of times.

Everyone cheered as the person entered. You assumed it was Jaehyun since multiple people yelled his name. He beamed from all the cheering, dimples appearing on either side of his cheeks; he looked cute, there was no denying it.

Ten weaves his way around Jaehyun and makes his way to where you were sitting, the other boy following behind. Ten picks up a cup from the table. “God, finally I can drink. Jaehyun made me his designated driver as soon as I got here.”

“Is that your drink?” you ask. You were really hoping he didn’t just grab a random cup.

Ten takes a drink, shrugging. “Should be. Looks like it. I told Lucas to guard it but,” he sighs. “He’s nowhere to be seen. As usual. I should know better, asking Lucas to stay still at a party is impossible.”

He puts his arm around the boy standing behind him. “This is Sicheng, by the way. I think you know him, right Yuta?”

Yuta nods. “Yeah. We have a few classes together. Hey.”

Sicheng grins. “Hi, Yuta.”

Sicheng didn’t look like a party person. He looked like you; someone who was dragged to this party by their much more outgoing friend.

“Anyways. It was nice seeing you guys. We need to go find Lucas and Kun.” Ten says. And like that, Ten disappeared into a pool of people surrounding the area where you sat.

You didn’t know either of the people he listed; you were getting more and more used to that.

Jaehyun finally makes his way towards you, still carrying the cases of alcohol. He looks at Doyoung and Yuta and nods towards a group of people behind him. “Beer pong’s starting. Taeyong and Taeil want to take you guys on first.”

Doyoung downs the rest of his drink. “Got it. Let’s go win our first game of the night, Yuta!” They both get up and run out of the room.

“Hey, Jaehyun,” Hana smiles.

Jaehyun smirks. “Hey. It’s been awhile since I saw you last, how are you?” he asks.

“Oh, you know. The usual. Trying to survive my classes. This is my friend by the way, the one I was telling you about.”

They really must enjoy talking about me, huh?

You smile. “Hi.”

Jaehyun nods. “Nice meeting you finally. I’d give you a proper greeting, but,” he raises his arms. “Kinda busy.”

“Right!” Hana says. “Sorry for holding you up.”

He shakes his head. “It’s okay. I’m kinda stalling going back into the kitchen, Johnny’s an hour ahead of me. He’s on the road of getting shitfaced,” he chuckles. “I’ll see you guys later, maybe.” he walks away from you and Hana and into the kitchen.

“Okay, let’s go.” Hana stands up and grabs your hand, almost spilling your drink in the process.

“Where?” you ask, getting up from your seat. It takes you a few seconds to collect yourself from almost tripping and spilling your drink.

Hana drags you through a group of people. “To watch the beer pong game! I’ll bet you five dollars that Yuta and Doyoung will lose.”

Everything went as per usual.

You weren’t even surprised as you stumbled up the stairs and through an unfamiliar hallway, praying to find an empty room you could lay down in.

After the first beer pong match (which Yuta and Doyoung lost, so you owed Hana five bucks), you lost Hana, but you stayed with Doyoung and Yuta for a while. You drank too fast and it all hit you at once. You felt nauseous and your head was pounding from the loud music that had been blaring for hours.

You open the first door you see. You see two people in bed. You slam the door shut. “Sorry…” you apologize, squeezing your eyes shut.

You shake your head and continue your way down the hallway. One door is open. You poke your head in, looking around to make sure it was empty and that no one was in the bed. It was empty. You enter, turning on a lamp next to the bed and sitting down on it.

You close your eyes in an attempt to try and soothe your head, but it’s pointless. You were burning up. Were you running a fever?

There’s a balcony connected to the room. You make your way to it and open the doors, the cool air instantly hitting you. It feels amazing. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. You smell something familiar in all of this unfamiliarity; Cigarette smoke. It’s unmistakable.

You open your eyes, nearly jumping out of your skin when you see a figure standing on the leftmost side of the balcony. “Shit!” you cry out.

The person just looks at you, cigarette in between their fingers. They blow a puff of smoke before turning their head.

You put your hand on your chest. “Sorry. You scared me.”

“Don’t worry.” they say, sighing.

You step onto the balcony and go to the right, sitting down on a chair. “Um… and sorry for… intruding on you, I guess. I just needed some air.” you say softly. You look towards them.

“It’s alright.” they reply. They turn their head towards you, taking another puff from his cigarette. “I’m Kun.”

The name was familiar. “Kun…” you repeat. “You know Ten, right?”

Kun nods, chuckling a bit. “Yeah. That asshole brought me here knowing I absolutely hate parties.” he sits at a chair identical to yours on his side of the balcony. “I’ve been up here the whole night. I took my chance to hide once he left.”

You grin. “Nice. I don’t blame you. I’m… not much of a partier myself.” you say.

Kun taps his cigarette, small ashes falling from it. He catches you still looking at him. “What? Want a smoke or something?”

You shake your head. “No, no thanks… I don’t smoke.” you tell him.

“Hm,” Kun shrugs and takes another puff. “What are you scared of?”

You raise an eyebrow. “Cancer.”

Kun scoffs. “I’m not talking about the cig. I don’t care that you don’t smoke. I’m asking you what you’re really scared of.”

“Oh,” you say. He actually wants to have a deep conversation within five minutes of meeting. That might be a record. “I don’t know…” you cross your arms. Now that you had cooled off, the air was no longer relieving. “What are you scared of?”

“There’s a reason I asked you,” Kun replies, dropping his cigarette and putting it out with his shoe. “I’m not scared of anything.”

“Oh, come on.” you laugh. “Everyone has a fear, tough guy.”

“Really? Then why won’t you tell me yours?” Kun asks.

You pause. “Because I can’t think straight,” you admit. “And… I have a lot of fears,” you add softly.

“Like what? Death? Bugs?” Kun leans back in his chair.

“I’m scared of death.” you admit. “I don’t really like needles either… or the dark.”

“You have pretty reasonable fears.” Kun replies. “A lot of people tell me they’re scared of those things.”

“But not you, right?” you joke.

Kun shakes his head. “No. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m scared of. I’m not scared of death. I’m a smoker for God’s sake. Needles are gross but I wouldn’t say I’m scared of them. And I have no problem with the dark.” he explains. “Are you scared of the dark or the things in it?”

You think. “I guess the things in it. It’s the unknown.”

“Is that why you got scared when you saw me?” he asks.

You hesitantly nod. “Yeah. That’s the shit I hate.”

It falls silent. “Do you wanna go home?” Kun asks.

You almost get whiplash from how fast he changed the subject. “Depends,” you reply. “Are you trying to get me to come home with you, or…”

Kun chuckles and shakes his head. “No. I’m being serious. I can walk you home, I was planning on leaving after that cigarette.”

“Oh,” you feel your face get hot from embarrassment. “I guess… I live on campus though.”

“I do too,” Kun says, standing up.

“You do?” you join him. “I’ve never seen you.”

“I have morning classes and I don’t do much besides homework in the afternoon so… I’m not out of my dorm a lot unless I’m in dire need of food. Maybe that’s why?” Kun steps back inside and you follow. He closes the balcony doors.

“Yeah,” you had afternoon classes and you had the same schedule as him when it came to after school activities. You had probably passed him without realizing it. “That sounds about right.”

You follow Kun out of the room and down the hallway towards the other side of the house — there was a way to the back door from another staircase. You and Kun were able to leave the house without anyone noticing. Hana would be pissed if she found out you decided to ditch, but you knew she’d be too drunk to get mad. That was for tomorrow.

“Do you know Johnny or Jaehyun?” Kun asks. The party atmosphere slowly fades away.

“Not really. Mutual friends,” you reply. “I came with my friend who knows them pretty well.”

“Ah,” Kun nods. “I’ve known Johnny for a few years now… but you know, every college kid wants to be friends with the party animal so… I don’t get surprised anymore when everyone I meet somehow knows him.”

You chuckle. “I had no idea about all these parties…” you tell him.

“Lucky you,” Kun pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lights one. “I’m always dragged to these things, I end up enjoying them but sometimes but other times, like tonight, I’m just not in the mood. I just wanna sleep.”

“Ditto.” you reply. “Those things are bad for you, you know.” you tell him, as if he hasn’t heard that phrase a million times before.

“Really?” Kun asks, exhaling. “I had no idea.”

The smell of the smoke makes your headache return. But at the end of the day, it’s his body; there’s no point in shaming someone’s addiction.

“Sorry,” Kun sighs. “I know it’s rude to smoke on your face.” he takes one finaly drag before dropping the cigarette and putting it out.

“It’s okay.” you reply. “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.” you didn’t know why, but you felt the need to apologize.

“Nah, don’t worry about that,” Kun laughs. “I’ve heard much worse from strangers. Ten is so dramatic about it I have to shower before I see him or he’ll tell me I smell because of the tobacco smell. I’m kinda used to it,”

You giggle. “Sounds exactly like Ten.” you say softly.

The walk back to campus was much shorter than the walk to Johnny’s — at least, it felt that way. Maybe because Kun wasn’t talking your ear off and making your blood boil at the same time.

“I’d love to chat more but, I think this is where we part ways.” Kun says, opening the doors. “I really gotta get to bed because I know Ten’s gonna call me in the morning and yell at me to come pick him up, so…”

You grin. “I’ll probably be in the same predicament,” you tell him.

He nods. “Goodnight.”

You return his nod and start to make your way back to your dorm, but something stops you. “Wait,” you turn to ask Kun if you could have his phone number or if you two could see each other again soon, but he was completely out of sight.

That is when you realized you didn’t want Kun to be a stranger.

[theonewiththefanfics]

Hate (one-shot)

Synopsys: Bucky and reader have been stuck in the safe house for quite a while now, and the snow doesn’t seem like it will be letting off any time soon. New Year is creeping closer and closer. And it’s just the Reader’s luck that she’s stuck with a person who absolutely despises her guts.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!Reader

Genre: fluuuuuuuuffff, soft angst 

Warnings: swearing, the reader is so dumb... like the last three brain cells she had, left the chat because of what an idiot she is

Word count: 2816

He hated her. Y/N was absolutely one hundred percent sure – Bucky Barnes despised her. The war veteran, the last serving Howling Commando, the longest-held war prisoner and the man who had stolen her heart hated her.

      She watched him from over the rim of her coffee cup, how his long brown locks fell over his high cheekbones, and he huffed pushing them away from his face. Y/N had to force down the groan of just how much she had to restrain herself from going over, running her fingers through his hair and maybe tying it back in a little bun. Fuck, if he ever did that, she was sure she’d die from the hotness that was Bucky Barnes.

      They hadn’t known one another for that long. Y/N had joined the Avengers a couple of months after the whole Thanos thing. For one, she had been one of the unfortunate ones to be dusted. She had been taking a warm, relaxing bath after a long day when her feet suddenly disintegrated in the water. The last thing Y/N had managed was to throw her book over the side, so at least that didn’t get wet.

      Sam had found her after everyone was brought back by Bruce. He was recruiting new people for the team as the new captain, and the first thing she had been there to witness was his try-on haul of the new star-spangled costume.

      “Don’t you think it’s a bit novel?” Y/N asked biting on her lip. “I think the shield would be enough to tell them who’s the boss.”

      “It’s a symbol!” Sam emphasized and turned around to look at his ass. “It’s supposed to send a message.”

      Y/N hid her smile behind her palm and shrugged. “Just… never picked you as the tights guy.”

      Sam groaned. “They are not tights!”

      That was the moment when Y/N had met Bucky, and that’s when all of her rational thinking flew out of the window faster than Redwing.

      He came sauntering into the living room, a grey T-shirt stained with sweat and clinging to his body, the fabric defining each and every muscle the man owned. When Sam said that Y/N started drooling quite literally, it might've been because of the fact that a little dribble of her coffee she had had in her mouth actually spilt out on her leg.

      “You look like the American fucking flag,” Bucky snorted and gulped down a large mouthful of water, cocking his hip out.

      Fuck, Y/N thought to herself, how in the absolute hell can someone drinking be the most sinful thing on Earth. Like holy hell when did sweat become a turn on for her? Especially when it slowly slid along his neck and disappeared down his chest. She had to close her eyes to remove the mental image of him panting on top of her. Sweaty, like in that moment, but because of different reasons.

      “Fuck off, tin can,” Sam snapped back, “or I’ll replace you with her.” He motioned with his head towards Y/N, and she ducked further down on the couch. “You’re not special with your sniping.”

      Bucky shook his head and threw her a quizzical look. “And what’s so special about you?”

      Y/N would’ve probably answered nothing, that she’s completely ordinary because actually talking about her abilities and giving herself some credit was way beyond her skill set, so Sam stepped in.

      “She’s an army vet and was in the Snakeskin program.”

      Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed. “Snakeskin?”

      “They were an elite ground force group of troops trained to be as stealthy as assassins. Her specialty is sniping. So, don't go on thinking you're something special. 'Cause you're not.”

      The super soldier now fully looked her over, and Y/N wanted the couch to cut open and swallow her whole, because holy fucking fuck, was Bucky’s gaze intense. It was like he was trying to carve out her soul just by looking at her. The only thing that came to her mind was to give him an awkward smile and a small wave. He gave her a nod and then looked back at Sam.

      “I’ll be out for the rest of the day. Steve said he wanted some help with repainting the fence.”

      “Yeah, you go be a good wife,” Sam waved him off and looked himself over once more in the mirror. “And please remind him he owes me twenty bucks.”

      “What for?” Bucky hollered from the hallway.

      “He knows!”

      They only heard a scoff before the elevator dinged, announcing Bucky’s exit.

      “So,” Sam looked at Y/N through the mirror. “That went well.”

      If only that was how she saw it. Y/N thought Bucky hated her, and Sam’s little remark about her replacing him was not sitting well with the woman. She wasn’t there to replace anyone, least of all one of her childhood heroes who was doing everything in his power to prove his worth to the world (even though she didn’t think he had anything to prove and everyone else could just go off and fuck themselves).

      She was just there to hopefully once again regain some sort of a sense to her life. After leaving the Snakeskin program, and being one of the victims of the Snap, it was hard to find where she belonged. Then Sam called Y/N up and told her they were reforming the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and he wanted her to be a part of it, so she jumped on the opportunity.

      And that’s what lead them to that moment – Y/N slowly sipping her coffee as Bucky tried to finish up a crossword puzzle. From time to time she glanced up from the swirling black liquid to the super-soldier, but of course, he wasn’t paying any kind of attention to her. He never did.

      After their first meeting, their interactions were limited to small ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’ and communicating during missions. There was never any direct animosity, but the fact that Bucky talked to everyone on a daily basis except for Y/N – well, she didn’t need it to be spelt out.

      But it was just Y/N’s luck, wasn’t it? First, she got sent out on a mission with a man who can’t stand to even spare her a glance, then they get snowed in without a way out (even the jet was seven feet under the snow), and now New Years was right around the corner, and she would have to spend it all alone.

      Y/N looked out the window to the never-changing scene of swirling white flakes. They weaved and moved in a dance she couldn’t comprehend. But while she watched what was happening beyond the glass, Bucky was watching her.

      His eyes trailed the way her face curved and sloped, eyelids half-closed surveying the scenery, but mostly how her flannel shirt had slipped off from one of her shoulders. He so badly wanted to reach out and gently place it back to where it was, but he couldn’t.

      Bucky was no longer the same confident man in an army uniform that used to sweep ladies off their feet and make them dance the night away. This man woke up in the middle of the night in cold sweat and could barely keep eye contact with anyone that wasn’t Steve, Shuri or Sam for no longer than five seconds. So, pulling Y/N’s shirt back up was out of the fucking question. But he didn’t have to dwell on it for too long.

      “I’m gonna take a shower,” she announced, although she had no real idea as to why. Bucky only responded with a hum, which she guessed was more than what she expected to receive, but then again – it was more of an acknowledgement than she’d gotten in the three days they’d been stranded together.

      The stream of hot water pelleting her skin was a welcome change from the icy touch of being ignored and discarded. Although Y/N was stuck in a safe house somewhere in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere in Finland, it was a Stark-created safehouse. So, it was occupied by every possible piece of technology. Including the best speakers known to man.

      Because Y/N was a punk-rock emo bitch at heart (did you really think I wouldn’t put this in? Killjoys are back, suckers! Put on your fucking eyeliner and get ready cause it was not a phase, mom, it's a fucking lifestyle!), her playlist automatically switched from ‘Kicking-Ass’ that was designed to hype her up during missions to ‘Singing-Like-A-Rock-Star’ with ‘Gives You Hell’ blasting through the bathroom.

      It was like Tony had known that people would be absolutely jamming in the bathrooms because the floor was lined with a rubber mat, giving Y/N the freedom to go ham.

      And she sent up a little 'thank you' to wherever Tony was because she had needed that. She had needed to let go of all of the tension and thoughts that had collected in her body just so she could re-enter that same worrying state a second later. Just with clean hair now.

      Pulling on comfy grey sweats and a huge navy-blue T-shirt, she twisted the towel and plopped it back over her head to keep the wet strands away. The house was constantly warm because Bucky kept the fireplace stocked almost 24/7, but it was even warmer now as he had added a new pile of wood, though the man himself was nowhere to be seen. Which was fine by Y/N.

      With a huff and a roll of her head, she ventured into the kitchen, having decided that dinner needed to be had. It was halfway through her boiling pasta when the shrill sound of her phone ringing made her drop the sauce-slathered spoon.

      “Yeah?” She pressed the phone between her shoulder and ear and went to wash off the spoon, careful not to put the curved-inward part under the stream.

      “Y/N,” Sam’s warm voice invaded her senses. “How are you holding up? Fury and Maria says the storm’s still raging.”

      A glance outside of the window told her as much. “Any news on when it might stop?”

      “None at this moment,” Sam replied. “They’re checking every five minutes for an update so they can finally send an extraction bird out.”

      “Ooh, can you ask Maria to send the one with the bed?”

      “Sorry,” Sam sighed in mock sadness, “that one’s been sent out to Guatemala to pick up Wanda.”

      “Ugh,” Y/N groaned and threw her head back. “Damn Wanda and her mission. Could she not like manage until she got back to the Tower? It's not like she's had to sleep in the middle of the jungle or something?”

      Sam laughed, and it made her smile, knowing that he understood her joking tone. “Yeah, right? What a princess!”

      Y/N smiled and finally added the pasta to the boiling water. “What are you gonna get her for her birthday?”

      “Dunno,” her friend replied. “She’s been looking at that one perfume for a while, but we gotta figure out what Vis is getting first… speaking of other halves – you and Bucky getting on well?”

      Y/N huffed turning to face the boiling pot and stirring the pasta in it. A little vortex formed completely mimicking how she felt on the inside. “As well as two people who can’t stand to be near one another, but have to share a place, can.”

      She heard him chuckle. “Come on, it can’t be that bad! I still don’t think you’re in the right about this.”

      “About what?” her eyebrows furrowed. She took out a piece of pasta and chewed on it. Still wasn’t the right texture.

      “About Bucky. I think you’ve got it all wrong.”

      The scoff that wanted to escape her throat was blocked by the piece of food, and she almost choked on it. “Sam, he fucking hates me!”

      “I – I don’t hate you,” came a voice from behind Y/N, and she spun around, mouth left hanging open as her phone was clutched tightly by her ear.

      She could practically hear Sam grin through the phone. “I guess you gotta go.”

      Bucky stepped closer just as she lowered the now silent mobile. “Y/N, why would you ever think I hate you?”

      “Be – because you do?”

      “When did I say that?”

      She shook her head. “You didn’t have to.”

      Bucky’s whole face fell at her words. “What do you mean?”

      “I mean you talk with everyone else but me. You can’t look me in the eye one bit, and do I need to remind you when you actually left the whole Christmas gala thing right after I walked in, and I quote ‘I can’t be around her’.”

      Bucky’s eyes widened, and this time it was his jaw that hung open. “You heard that.”

      “Loud and clear.”

      “I – I,” he stammered and then cleared his throat. It was time to put all the cards on the table. “I only said that because had I stayed; I would’ve done something I’d regret.”

      “Like what?”

      “Like kissed you.”

      And there went Y/N’s breath. And her heart. And her sanity. And frankly, everything she’d ever known.

      “I would’ve most likely told you how I felt,” he said and stepped closer watching every facial feature of hers.

      “And how do I make you feel?” she breathed out.

      “Nervous. I haven’t had feelings like this for a girl in decades… and I didn’t know how to process them let alone act on them. Things have changed so much since I was chasing skirts… nowadays everything’s so complicated… and I was scared you wouldn’t feel the same. I mean, we have to work together, and we live in the same place, so if things didn’t work out… I just didn’t wanna risk it.”

      As he talked, she had started to pace. In stressful situations where she didn’t have to focus on pulling the trigger or if she wasn’t trying not to trip off a treadmill, Y/N paced. A lot. She was pretty sure there was a line in the living room floor where she had done her thinking before missions.

      “Wait, so you like me?” Y/N spun around and pointed at him. “Like really like me?”

      “Yeah,” Bucky chuckled as relief flooded his veins. He wouldn’t have smiled as wide as he did, had he not seen her lips quirk up. “Yeah, I really like you.”

      “And you don’t hate me?”

      “Not one bit.”

      Y/N stepped forward, head hanging low as she carefully grasped Bucky’s hand and intertwined their fingers, metal twining with flesh. “So, you like me?” she looked up at him, eyes intently watching his face. He squeezed her palm stepping closer as well, chest to chest at that point. He placed both of their hands right over his beating heart.

      “Yeah, I do... Happy New Year, Y/N,” Bucky muttered with a shy smile gracing his face.

      “What?” she had been so lost in his eyes that his words weren’t registering. His soft chuckle was like a melody designed by angels.

      “I said Happy New Year.”

      Y/N looked down to the worn watch on his right wrist and sure enough, the two hands were perfectly aligned to 12. A small chuckle escaped her mouth as she reconnected their gazes.

      “Happy New Year, Buck.”

      He was so close to her; she could smell the hot chocolate he had been drinking. Y/N closed her eyes, insides trembling as he leaned closer. But the kiss never came

      “I heard you in the shower.”

      “What!?”

      Bucky grabbed a spoon from the table and used it as a microphone, pointing at Y/N and wiggling his hips to the rhythm of the song. “’ Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!’” She shoved him away from her and through a laugh threw her towel at him.

      “Ugh, I hate you!”

      “No, you don’t!” Bucky grabbed at her waist and pulled her to him. Together they plopped down on the couch, and Bucky didn’t hesitate to pull her in his lap, legs thrown over his and head resting against his shoulder. Y/N looked up at him, her hand leaning against his stomach as she drew gentle circles on the shirt clad torso.

      “Can I kiss you?”

      She chuckled and moved closer to Bucky. “Are you still going to make fun of me and my singing?”

      He looked like he was contemplating before he nodded, a wide smile on his face as he pressed his forehead against hers. “Yeah. Most definitely. For as long as you let me.”

      “And if I say forever?”

      She didn’t need to hear him say what was on his mind when the only thing that existed was Bucky’s smile. Y/N’s own lips widened, as he bent closer. The New Year and the new decade had begun quite a few minutes ago, but neither cared much because as their lips touched, a new chapter in their lives opened.

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Bucky tag list: @thunderous-flower @who-cares-rn​ @projectxhappiness​ @callmebucky-doll​ @coal000​ @killuaenthusiast @courtneychicken​ @sophiealiice​ @raquelbc2003​ @watch-out-for-thorns​ @potentially-kinetic​ @thatonegirljessy99​ @proxinge @bbkenna @buckysclub​ @ulired @fangirlofeverythingbasically @mrsalh32611​ @horrorx570ximagines​ @the-nargles-made-me-do-it​ @pooslie​ @itsisabelanotisabella @httpmcrvel​ @purplebananatragedy​ @pxrrishly​ @parker-barnes-af​ @skulliebythesea​ @california-grown​ @stevehesaidabadlanguageword​ @belongsto-prachi​ @hello-i-am-insane @its-nott-my-problem

Marvel tags: @nerissa98​ @happyseagrill​ @asguardiansoftheavengers​ @crazybutconfidentaf​ @wishingforahome​ @pizzarollpatrol​ @desir-ae​

Forever tags: @lumelgy​ @palaiasaurus64​ @supernaturalbaesduh​ @breezy1415​ @crazy--me​ @thatawkwardlittlefangirl​ @sea040561​ @staryeyedgirl​ @deathbyarabbit​ @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91​ @dalilx​ @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki​ @maladaptive-ninja-returns​ @averyrogers83​ @in-the-end-im-still-trash​ @gallifreyansass​ @dewy-biitch​ @avxgers​ @unlikelygalaxygiver​ @sweet-ladyy​ @magicwithaknife​ @ollyoxenfrees​ @bnhvrdy​ @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines​ @thatkindofgurl​ @sj-thefan​ @teenwolflover28

A/N: Hi! so, quite a lot of things have happened. and the biggest thing is... I’m gonna be seeing MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE in JUNE!!! AAAHHHHH!!! I’ve been a fan of them since I was nine, and now I finally get the chance to see them perform live! I’ve never been so stressed in my life while trying to get tickets to something! I was in the middle of my 9 AM lecture and I was legit shaking. I fuffed about for like 3 seconds and those 3 seconds cost me the tickets... at first! and then it was like the emo gods were smiling down upon me, I saw there was another date added. I thought it was a glitch in the system because nothing was announced. so, obviously, I clicked off, only for my twitter notification to go off that they have announced they have added another date. I think it’s fair to say that I was barely functioning as I clicked furiously on my computer. And now I get the chance to see them... I am STOAKED!!!

[reading-while-queer]

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

Rating: Mixed Review Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Dark Academia Representation: -Bi/pan protagonist -Jewish protagonist -Latina mixed race protagonist Trigger warnings: Sexual assault (in scene), rape (in scene), CSA (in scene), graphic violence, murder, drug use, drug abuse, drugging of another person, overdose, domestic abuse, medical abuse, violence by dogs Note: Not YA

Why is it that every time I read Leigh Bardugo, I love the book with a passion...except for one thing that makes me want to tear my hair out?

Here’s what seriously impressed me about Ninth House, Bardugo’s entry into New Adult. The pacing was phenomenal. The measured, perfectly timed revelations of information had me finding excuses to listen to the audiobook - taking extra neighborhood walks, doing extra loads of laundry - because I was so hooked. Then, there’s the worldbuilding. Bardugo managed to walk a delicate line, successfully suspending disbelief while still asserting that eight Yale secret societies do secret magic rituals to the benefit of the oligarchical capitalist machine (we all kind of suspected this was the case, right?). But the best part of the book, the part that had me recommending Ninth House in more than one group chat, was, of all things, the point-of-view jumps.

Rarely are point-of-view switches the star of the show, but I was so excited to see a genuinely original, intrinsic-to-the-heart-of-the-whole-novel use of that technical tool. The point of view jumps crank the volume up on the theme of the whole book. We start with the main character, Galaxy “Alex” Stern; she is the point-of-view character for the present semester during which the principal action of the novel takes place. Her upperclassman and mentor Daniel Arlington (or “Darlington”) is the point-of-view character for the semester before - all because something happened to Darlington. Alex is telling people he’s doing a “semester in Spain,” and all the reader knows is that her explanation isn’t strictly true. The point-of-view jumps being so strict (there is never an Alex perspective chapter during last semester, and never a Darlington perspective in the present) serves to separate the two characters from each other with a really incredible emotional effectiveness. The heart of the novel, for me as a reader, was yearning for these two to be reunited - and all because Bardugo holds the two character points-of-view separate across an unbreachable temporal divide. It’s a powerfully effective technique.

But let’s backtrack. Alex is a 20-year-old high school dropout from the west coast. As the story progresses, we learn that Alex can see ghosts, which is why, despite never finishing high school or getting her GED - or even applying - Alex is a freshman at Yale - contingent on her joining the secret society called “Lethe House” as apprentice (“Dante”) to the current leader of the society, Darlington (the “Virgil”). Lethe House is the governing body of the eight Yale secret societies that practice the magic that keeps the elite in power. These secret societies make books sell, make T.V. anchors charming and compelling, and open portals to other parts of the world - when they aren’t throwing over the top Halloween parties with magic designed to alter one’s perception of reality.

Darlington, by contrast to Alex, seems to belong at Yale. He’s from an old family, and he’s preppy and well-read. Most of all, he loves Lethe House and its history of keeping the secret societies from harming people in their pursuit of magic and power. That is, until he disappears just in time for Alex, only half-trained, to investigate the murder of a girl on campus.

The first three quarters of the novel are fantastic for the reasons stated above. Bardugo’s approach to mystery writing is effective. We have half a dozen suspects, most of whom, as elite ivy league magicians, are at least guilty of some misdeed. Having all your red herrings end up somewhat culpable anyway is a good way to keep your mystery difficult to solve until the end. We were off to a good start.

Unfortunately, in the end, Bardugo made the all-too-common choice to value “surprise” over the most compelling, satisfying solution. So while the reader doesn’t see the ending coming, that is at the steep cost of the ending not being justified by the rest of the book. Bardugo even has to invent new rules of magic off the cuff to justify the ending. When the rest of the book so painstakingly developed the rules of magic in a way that made sense and never felt overly expository, undoing all that effort feels like a monumental waste. And for what did Bardugo undermine all her hard work? A mystery that the reader won’t have all the clues to solve? It’s really okay - in fact, good - if the reader can puzzle out your story. It means your story has symmetry, internal logic, or perhaps, some sort of message.

This is what had me tearing my hair out. I know exactly how I would have written the ending of Ninth House to be the perfect conclusion to a stunning book. I know exactly what the message should have been. Is it somewhat ridiculous to say that Bardugo misinterpreted the message of her own book? Perhaps. But given the out-of-left-field-ending, the theme of the book ends up being a rather cheaply bought “No matter how traumatized you are, you can be a girlboss” instead of the message that the very structure of the novel itself was pointing to since page one: one of companionship, trust, and restoration (frankly, a better message for a novel with a main character who suffers so much loss and trauma. But, sure, “girl power” is a theme...I guess...)

Here’s what I mean by the structure of the novel itself pointing to a different theme. (Spoiler warning for the rest of this paragraph). Because the point-of-view switches in the first two thirds of the novel were used by Bardugo like two magnets being held apart, the only way to create a feeling of resolution was, so to speak, putting the magnets back together: getting Darlington back into the “present.” The degree of disconnect between reader expectations and the reality of the book is comparable to picking up a romance novel only to have the two leads decide to just be friends at the end. Bardugo set expectations - akin to genre expectations - but unfortunately Bardugo kneecapped her first book in the service of the sequel.

And then there’s the trauma. Alex’s backstory wouldn’t be the same without some level of trauma; it’s an important part of her character arc. Even the explicit presence of sexual assault on the page was justified in the case of Alex’s backstory - and I think that is rarely true. But when it came to a side character’s explicit in-scene rape, which was used as a clue in the broader murder mystery rather than treated as a crime in its own right, that tipped me over into feeling the trauma in Ninth House was more excessive than necessary for character development. The resolution to that side character’s rape is oddly cartoonish - like an over-the-top prank rather than justice - and again, the only reason the rape happens to the character is to give Alex more information she needs to solve the plot. Maybe that wouldn’t bother some readers, but for me, a book has to bend over backwards to justify showing me a character being raped. Bardugo does well earlier in the book when depicting Alex’s assault; the assault is the explanation for why Alex doesn’t view magic with the same childish excitement as the rest of Yale, and it’s part of what holds her apart from the entitled secret societies. It needed to be in the book. Everything else was gratuitous.

That said, there’s one thing still to address in this roller coaster of a review, and that is: wait, is this a queer book? I had gone into it assuming that it would be, mostly because all my queer friends were reading it. And the answer is….kind of? Knowing Bardugo’s history with putting queer characters in her books, I’m going to assume she wasn’t baiting when she had Alex claim to have loved a girl in her backstory. Which, in the context of the rest of the novel, would make Alex bi or pan. As a book that a lot of queer fans of Bardugo’s YA have read, or will read, it feels appropriate to review it here.

This was a mixed review from start to finish, but to finish up: if you are thinking about reading Ninth House, go for it! There is so much to like about this book. Take to heart that if you read and liked Bardugo’s handling of sexual assault in her YA titles, you should be prepared to be surprised by Ninth House. It is not the same. I would not have called her handling of sexual assault in Six of Crows, for instance, restrained - but compared to Ninth House, it absolutely is. Despite my strongly worded feelings about the ending, Bardugo left room to redeem herself in the sequel (which, if you ask me, is why the ending was so bad in the first place...). I for one will definitely be reading the sequel the second it comes out.

[pyrefell]

Headcanons for some of the boys? Namely horrorfell, underswap and underfell?

you let me off my child leash and i honestly wasn’t even really sure where to even start here, so you get some pretty general headcanons. i have a lot to say about underfell and horrorfell,,,

UNDERSWAP:

IN ALL HONESTY, Underswap is currently one of my least developed AU interpretations. I'm still just really indecisive. BUT! I do have some stuff that I'm fairly set on.

Papyrus:

Never really grew out of the shyness he had as a babybones, he’s always had a much more outgoing brother to hide behind. 

He's the one that designed the puzzles in Snowdin! Puzzles are still one of his special interests in this AU. (Sans gets really excited to tell anyone that asks that his Very Cool little brother designed them.) 

He's fairly low to mid (but consistent) energy. He tries (and usually succeeds) to act all chill but he gets really excited about some things and can reach True Papyrus levels of loud. 

He and Undyne are still friends in this AU! He doesn't go to see her super often because. Hotland. But when they are together, it's pretty chaotic. They like to design things a la Mickey's Dick Smasher. 

Man, he's sure been feeling a lot of deja vu lately. Huh, wonder what that's all about. :)

Sans:

He’s still the Judge! And he's still the one that has to deal with the ever shifting and resetting timeline. It's...really starting to take a toll on him, but what's the point in telling anyone? They won't remember and besides, who's going to believe him anyways? 

He was always fairly outgoing and bubbly but he took on an even more bubbly persona kind of unconsciously to overcompensate for and hide how Tired he is now. 

Sans is just about the opposite of his brother energywise. He's full of energy for short bursts and then he sleeps for hours. He's started sleeping more since everything with the timeline started. It's not the best sleep but he’s just...so tired nowadays. 

Still completely willing to eat condiments for a joke (or a """joke"""). He eats mayonnaise by the handful. Does it mostly to embarrass (and disgust) Papyrus. 

Genuinely enraged by people who think he's young. Sure, he may be only a few inches over 5', but he's a Wide Boy. And not a naïve child, he's the older brother, thank you very much. Haven't you heard his voice? What kid has a voice that deep? 

UNDERFELL: 

One general headcanon I have is that they both have DT in their systems. Gaster gave them injections when they were still very young babybones in the sterile lab and they’d started mysteriously falling down. He’s not really a bad guy there, he wanted to save them. Of course, it’s probably got it’s side effects, right? After all the Bromalgamate and Comic Papyrus exist. :)

Their relationship is...strained. They definitely still love each other and would fight to the death for the other but they don't really talk. They both blame each other for how the other turned out, how they act.

Papyrus:

He’s blind in his scarred socket! He first got the wound when he was still pretty little and because he and Sans were still living out on the streets, he wasn’t able to get any real kind of medical care. It’s still pretty fragile but there’s really not a whole lot that can be done anymore. 

He can cook! Like, really well, actually. Grillby taught him when he was younger. He’s particularly good at cooking with whatever’s already in the house. 

I think he still wants to believe everyone can change and be good if they try. Though, whether he actually believes that anymore is kind of debatable. And I  think that he doesn’t really enjoy all the fighting. He doesn’t take any real pride or joy in what he's become. He really wanted (and still wants) to actually protect monsters. 

There's a square of fabric on his scarf that's from a well-loved blanket he'd had as a babybones. It still brings him some semblance of comfort when he needs it. 

He's well aware of timelines. Well okay, 'well aware' isn't exactly the right way to put it. He can't put a name to what's happening, why he can remember things that haven't happened yet or have happened at all. He at one point attempted to keep a journal about it all but it was gone the next reset. He'd like to talk to Sans about it, but given how their relationship is... 

Sans:

He’s got 3 golden teeth, he got hit pretty good almost directly on those teeth around the same time Papyrus got his scar. They were really loose after that but didn’t actually come out until later. 

Most still see him as free EXP. He doesn't get attacked as much anymore but the times he has, he's been able to suffice on just dodging until Papyrus shows up. He could just as easily fight back, but he's decided there could be some benefit to hiding what he can do for just a bit longer. Besides, he'd rather not place any more targets on their backs. 

He knows how to sew! He learned completely out of necessity when they were both young. They only had so many pieces of clothes, after all. He's the one who sewed the little square of Papyrus's blanket into his scarf. 

King of eavesdropping. Despite his stature (and who his brother is for that matter), he's surprisingly good at going unnoticed. He tends to play like he's completely shitfaced and passed out at Grillby's, just in case someone lets something slip. 

They both blame themselves for how the other turned out but Sans has it bad. He's supposed to be the older brother, right? He was supposed to keep Papyrus safe and stars, did he do a shit job at it, even if there were some things he just couldn't do anything about. 

HORRORFELL: 

OKAY SO, my Horrorfell doesn't start the same way the normal Horrortale AU starts. The short version is that Frisk doesn't fall until YEARS after they normally would have and they fall with Aliza. The Famine devastated the Underground. Frisk's left to try and figure out why they didn't fall when they should have and why they can't remember anything that happened during those years between. They have to balance keeping themselves and Aliza alive and trying to get through to at least Sans, who, while his memory is terrible he knows he's supposed to be pissed at them. They left the Underground to rot. I think that's all y'all really need lmao. I'm definitely going to write about Horrorfell, in fact I've already started something about it

ANYWAYS! On to the headcanons for the Boys. These two are so ride or die now it’s almost unreal. They’ve had a lot of time to air out their grievances and have the years worth of fights with each other. They work together so much better now and it comes in handy for both protecting each other and hunting. They're the most efficient and successful hunters in the Underground. 

Papyrus:

He’s effectively completely blind at this point. He needs coke bottle lenses to see. He ends up completely depending on his hearing and sense of smell when he's hunting. Despite his failing eyesight, he remains the best chef in Snowdin after Grillby's disappearance. He's always sure to use as much as he possibly can. 

His new stature has made it incredibly difficult to get into most buildings. He often ends up walking on all fours and his magic's started to adjust his body for that. He doesn’t recognize himself so much anymore. 

While Sans was comatose, Papyrus spent his time trying to ration out food, attempting to keep the peace for the denizens of Snowdin and caring for Sans. He'd continued to cut his own rations not only for the rest of Snowdin but for Sans too when he hopefully wakes up. 

He'd managed his way out to the rest of the Underground with his own brand of 'shortcut' earlier on despite the lockdown in Snowdin. Some say they'd seen him but no one's really sure if that's true and if it is, how did he get out? Can he do it again and maybe talk some sense into the Empress? They used to be friends, right? 

His memory is also not very good. He and Sans keep a big whiteboard in the kitchen with pertinent information and there's a calendar in every room with all the past dates marked off, just in case someone forgets. 

Sans:

The reason why the hole in his skull is so big and leads into his nasal cavity is because of preexisting cracks. Undyne really didn't mean to hit him! Really, she didn't... 

The selfish part of him almost wishes the DT in him hadn't kept him around, but he can't bring himself to really want that. He can't leave Papyrus alone, especially not now. 

His relationship with Frisk is...tense to say the least. When he first saw them, he didn't fully process who they were but he felt nothing but rage. He doesn't really believe what Frisk's saying when they claim they can't remember anything. Their relationship could absolutely mend, there's just so many roadblocks at the start. 

Seeing as he can't reliably use his shortcuts anymore, he's not as efficient a hunter as he could be. But that doesn't mean he isn't extremely deadly. The brothers are revered for the effectiveness, after all. 

He's developed some pretty nasty coping habits, most of which involve some kind of self harm either intentional or not. Papyrus tries his best to limit it, but he's not the best either.