#anyway good luck for whom join!!

[hauntedwitch04]

My Goddess

Rhysand x reader

Words: about 3.5k words

Warnings: smut, smut, I forgot to say smut, a little bit sad at the beginnig, my deepest insecurities, shower sex, rude male

Author’s note: Hi loves! I finally managed to write some more after the crazy week I had. Hope you like it, your witch Becky

p.s some parts are very personal (hair loss part and insecurities), and I'm kinda sorry, but I wrote this by heart and because of this it came out like this, hope you like it anyway.

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KINKTOBER ...........-..........KINKTOBER TAGLIST 2023

DAY 5: Body worship

I have never had a good relationship with my body.

It sounds silly to say, but all my life I've never had a good relationship with me in general, and this is something that I and my brother Azriel have in common.

He since childhood has had to endure the sight of his hands being ruined by fire because of those idiotic half-brothers of ours.

I, on the other hand, have had to endure the sight of my legs, my belly, my face that I do not consider beautiful enough to please anyone, and all of this feeling would end up manifesting itself in extreme anxiety attacks that my physique demonstrates by losing all my hair. I have always been unable to look at myself in the mirror because I cannot stand to see my forehead devoid of hair, along with most of my skull, solely because I cannot fight what I have inside. I think in part I can't look at myself because I feel guilty about betraying the little me, whom I see again every time I look in the mirror, who imagined a beautiful and perfect life, which I am increasingly convinced I will never have. As a child I dreamed of meeting my partner, who would love me with all his life and we would have a family together, always with my brother close by.

My brother, on the contrary, as much as he too believed that he did not deserve a mate, never found any problems in finding a woman to spend a night with, being one of the most handsome men Mother has ever conceived. I, on the other hand, have never had too much luck in love, since every time I saw a man approaching me, my first reaction is to turn away being that I don't want to be disappointed and hurt. And partly because I am deeply in love with my brother's best friend, or rather one of them: the not very famous and not at all attractive Rhysand.

For as long as I can remember, I couldn't help but fall in love with his violet eyes and sly smile, but of course it never crossed my mind to confess how I feel, knowing that I would ruin a friendship I cherish as well as ridicule myself.

Like every Saturday night Mor has forced me to go out with my brother and his two other friends, Rhys and Cass, knowing that I never have too much desire to go out and show off my body. Yet here I am sitting back on a miserable chair in the corner of yet another bar, watching my friends having fun.

Immediately, however, I feel something in the air change, and I notice that a man is sitting next to me. Too close to me. As soon as I notice that closeness I immediately feel uncomfortable, so I try to move away, but immediately I feel his hand resting on top of my wrist, squeezing it tightly.

"Hey baby, where are you running off to?" He says in a faux-sweet voice as a stench of cheap alcohol escapes from his mouth, and immediately I find myself holding back a gag as well as trying not to show my fear.

"My brother and his friends are looking for me, I should go." You lie, trying to push me away but he squeezes tighter and makes you let out a half moan of pain, too.

"I'm sure they won't notice your absence. How about coming with me? We could have fun." He continues by giving me a wink, which sends a shiver all down my spine. I try to pull away again, no longer trying to be nice to him, but this time in addition to holding me close to him, he pulls me closer to him by the hand with which he holds my wrist. I in response to that gesture slap him on the cheek, so hard that the sound seems to resonate throughout the whole place, but I don't care exactly at this moment because I am more focused on his look of pure hatred that he is giving me.

"How dare you little bitch slap me! You should be grateful that someone has the courage to hit on you, you must not have many people trying to bed you at least show gratitude in those who have the mercy to do so." He says in a harsh, rough tone a few inches from my face, even spitting a little.

I have never felt so naked in my life.

I can already feel tears welling up when I hear a voice behind me, noisily interrupting my thoughts.

"I would advise you to let the girl go right away, and maybe our Azzy will only allow you to die after a week of torture." Says a voice hoarse and deep, warm and enveloping as a summer night. Immediately I feel a sense of relief, and I move back to meet Rhys's muscular chest, who immediately wraps an arm around my waist, to make me feel his presence and quietly tell me I was safe.

"You don't need to make all this fuss over a sleazy bitch, if you want her so bad you can have her, even though I had seen her first. Who do you think you are anyway, you little bitch?" Asks the man trying to approach Rhys, pointing a finger at him. Seeing his gestures my friend moves me behind his back, still holding my hand, while with a look capable of killing he looks at the man who is tormenting me.

I feel it emanating pure power, so strong, it sends shivers down my spine. I feel it pass between our intertwined fingers like a night breeze mixed with stardust.

I see his shoulders stretch out so that he stands in all his height, and shows himself in all his grandeur before his enemy.

"Your worst nightmare." He replies with a growl.

Fuck, I need a cold shower when I get home. This is my first thought, then I force myself to stay alert, remembering the situation we are in.

"Rhys it's not worth it to fight with this asshole, please take me-" I implore my friend, before being interrupted.

"What did you call me bitch?" Asks the asshole in front of us rhetorically, only to be slammed against the wall by an unseen hand, clutching at his throat.

"The young lady was just finishing saying something, now you're going to be a good boy, and I'm going to spare you the pain of cutting off your fingers piece by piece, and I'm going to do it with one blow." Young High Lord responds with feigned gentleness as I see him tighten his other hand to make his grip on the man's neck slammed to the wall tighter.

"Please Rhys, take me home, I just want to take a shower and go to bed." I pick up my speech where I left off.

"As you wish. Az, will you Cass take care of this pig?" Rhys asks, turning his face slightly to look at his friends who have since materialized beside us. I see my brother looking at me with eyes full of sadness and anger; he walks over and kisses my forehead softly, before answering Rhys.

"Sure. Can I do whatever I want with him?" Az asks as he shifts his gaze to the man who tried to touch me, his little sister.

"Give vent to your kinkiest perversions and all the imagination you have Azzy. I'll stay with her in case she needs anything, in case I'll let you know right away." Rhys says at first with his usual smirk, looking in turn at the man he was choking on the wall, who now seems to have gone pale with fear, and then turns his face into something serious.

My brother nods and I do not have time to see his next action that deep night-colored fog, quilted with a few stars, envelops me and I find myself in my room.

Next to me stands Rhys, watching me intently. All the power he exuded a few seconds ago has vanished, to make way for the gentle, kind look I'm used to.

"Are you okay?" She asks me in a whisper, as if afraid that if she spoke too loudly I would destroy myself. I look up and stare into his purple eyes, shining like two precious gems, staring at me so intently that I blush.

"Yes, thank you for intervening, I'm afraid to think what would have happened if I hadn't." I say, trying to make him believe that this is why I am upset, and not because of the words he threw at me. I know perfectly well how to defend myself against a man like him, I've been training my whole life to fight against far greater opponents, but it was his words that struck me deeply in the soul.

I try to hint at a half smile, then head for the bathroom and close the door behind me. From the last look I give him, he doesn't seem very convinced by my theatrics, but he doesn't say anything to me and lets me seek solace in some alone time.

Barely alone in the privacy of my bathroom, I open the tub water to cover the sound of my sobs and let myself go into an overwhelming sob. I spend a few minutes huddled on the floor in the corner of my bathroom brooding over the man's words.

You should be grateful that someone has the courage to hit on you, you don't have to have a lot of people trying to get you into bed at least show gratitude in those who have the mercy to do so.

I feel my heart bleeding, as if it had been pierced by a dagger. I don't even notice that the door has opened, too engrossed in remembering how to breathe. Immediately I see Rhys sitting across from me, his eyes detecting how worried he is Without asking he takes me in his arms and sits me on his lap, stroking my back with one hand, trying to calm my sobs, while with the other he pulls up my face, which I am trying to hide in his neck.

"Don't give me any more bullshit. Talk to me, please, that's all I ask. Take all you want, but talk to me, I can't see you like this." He says as he wipes away my tears.

I spend a few minutes in silence, thinking about what to do or what to say, when I decide to stop listening to the little voice in my ear and finally be honest with the man I love and esteem so much.

"He's right Rhys." I say in a sob.

"Point one, I don't think an asshole of that magnitude could be right, and point two, what would love be right about?" Asks the man holding me close to him.

I take a deep breath and totally open my heart to him.

"Rhys, no one will ever want me for who I am. If someone hits on me they either want to get to you or my brother, or they see in me an easy prey to have a one-night stand, believing I would accept their pity gesture. No one wants me for who I am, but that doesn't shock me either because who would ever want a person with a physique like mine. Besides, I look like a hairless cat, but you know the worst thing about losing my hair due to stress? It's that I can't hide how incapable I am of controlling my emotions beyond the fact that I'm obviously emotionally unstable. And then let's not start with my temper-" I begin to mumble, then increase the volume of my voice more and more, until I feel a pair of warm lips settle on mine. It takes me a few seconds to reciprocate the gesture and I bite down on his plump lips with my teeth. He in response, when I release his lip, takes advantage of my distraction to explore my mouth with his tongue. We stay like this for a few minutes, making out like two eager kids in the back of a disco.

Eventually we break away, both of us needing oxygen. I look at him, and for a moment I cannot conceive that the same boy who is standing here in front of me with his hair tousled from my hands being passed through it and his lips swollen and reddened, could at the same time be the most powerful High Lord all Prythian has ever seen, and yet this is the truth.

"I thought the best way to let you know that what you were saying was a load of crap was to let you know with actions, and not just words." He says with his usual smirk, as I fist him on the shoulder, and then continues. "Now I'm going to try to be serious. Believe me, love, when I tell you that I don't understand how every man on this island, indeed in this world, can't help but be in love with you. You are the kindest, funniest, smartest, most beautiful woman, oh for Mother if you are beautiful, you don't know how many times I had to restrain myself from commenting on what I would do to you because I knew Az would kill me, but believe me it was a real pain to admire you without being able to do anything I wanted to do or taste." He says with a wink, then turns serious again. "You are perfect, in every aspect of you, and don't let just a few more curves discourage you, because they are nothing but an advantage to me, because that way there is more to love, kiss and worship than you. And your hair, it's nothing but a testament to your willpower, your strength and what a badass you are. There is not a single facet of you, because each one is a fundamental part of the woman I love." I feel my breath come short, and he seems to understand because he continues. "Yes I love you, more than my own life, I love you as insistently as we need oxygen to breathe, and I wish I could see you with my own eyes and admire who you really are."

I can't help but kiss him again and then say four simple words that somehow seem to take a huge weight off my heart.

"I love you too." I whisper on his lips, before kissing him again. As before we get carried away with the kiss, but this time it seems to get even more passionate and deep, so much so that slowly Rhys gets up, making me get up as well.

He slowly pulls away from the kiss and to move on to kiss the neck area near my ear, then to whisper something to me.

"Would you like to take a shower with me?" He asks sensuously, as I feel his hands touch every single cell of my body, or so it seems to me. I nod, unable to speak, and so slowly we begin to undress each other, as the shower water magically turns on, and quickly becomes warm.

Once naked, facing each other, we look into each other's eyes and I see him smile, before taking my hand and kissing it, and then kissing my wrist, and so on until we reach his shoulder and this time the other ear where he whispers again.

"You are beautiful, and I can't wait to worship you as the goddess you are once we get into that shower." He says, as I feel a chill run down my spine.

We get into the shower and at first the only things we do is leave hot kisses on each other's skin until Rhys picks up the body soap and begins to gently scrub my back. Suddenly then I feel his hands move from the back to the front, where they begin to massage my breasts. I immediately feel my nipples harden under his touch, and the first moans begin to fall from my lips like an old prayer that he does not remember ever learning, but of which at the most opportune moment he remembers every word. He continues to tease my breasts with one hand, while with the other he begins to play with the center of my pleasure. I totally melt under her touch, as if a witch had cast a spell on me. I feel my knees beginning to give way, while he meanwhile continues his attack on my neck as well, leaving bites and marks of his passage. Just as I was about to reach the apex of pleasure, however, he stops, making me moan this time from the pain of not having reached my orgasm. Rhys turns me around with a simple gesture and matches my back to the shower wall as he presses himself on me, kissing every inch of skin available to him.

"I want to taste you on my lips, I can't afford to make you come solely with my fingers love." She says in a whisper, as she kisses my breasts, and takes one of the nipples in her teeth, while teasing the other with her hand. "I want to make you feel the queen you are." He continues, as he slowly goes to his knees and stands at the same height as my pussy. He thus begins to lick and suck my clit, while he teases my entrance with his fingers. Immediately I bring a hand into his hair, pushing him harder against my center, trying to achieve the pleasure I had missed before. Then his lips move lower until they take the place of his fingers, this time I feel his tongue enter me.

For a second I feel as if I can touch the sky with my finger, as I feel the orgasm coming more and more overwhelmingly. What makes me go further and cum, making me convulse loudly and name my beloved so loudly that even on the Continent they know who gave me such pleasure, is the moan he makes against my center's lips in approval.

"By Mother, you are the best thing I have ever felt in my whole life. I could spend hours devouring you, my whole existence, and I would eat nothing but you, but I can't wait to make you come with my cock." Says Rhys unceremoniously. My brain still foggy with pleasure does not immediately process what he is saying, the only thing I understand is that before long I will feel pleasure like what I just felt if not more.

I see him get up, and I do not have time to realize what is going on that I feel his member enter me, and at this moment I discover that there is actually another level of pleasure of which I was unaware. His thrusts are fast and deep, which combined with his sizable cock, cause him to graze my cervix each time, making me scream so loudly with pleasure that I doubt I will have a voice tomorrow.

We stay so wrapped around each other under the pouring water of the shower making love, sharing such an intimate and personal moment with the person we love most in the world. I feel him kissing every inch of skin he meets, when he is not too busy remembering how to breathe, or he is not whispering in my ear how beautiful I am or how perfect he thinks I am.

I can't quite tell how much time elapsed before I felt the sensation of impending orgasm coming again like a galloping horse, but one shared glance between the two of us and we immediately knew that the other was feeling the same thing, so he quickened his thrusts and I began kissing the sensitive spots on his neck, so that only after a few minutes did we reach pleasure by howling the other person's name.

We stand still for a moment, letting the wave of pleasure no longer cloud our senses, confusing us as we enjoy the sensation of the hot water in the shower. Then, I interrupt the silence to note something.

"Well at least we are already in the shower." I say in a joking tone. Rhys immediately begins to giggle as he hides his head in my neck, then continues to be silent before confessing something of his own.

"It seems like a good time to tell you that you are my mate anyway." He says with obviousness as he picks up the shampoo to wash my hair. I look at him shocked at how calmly he dropped such a bombshell.

"And you tell me like this? Like it's nothing!?" I say shocked, and I see him smiling at my reaction, because he knows that after all, there is no happier person in the universe than me, and you can tell by my smile and the twinkle in my eyes.

"And the worst part is yet to come my goddess, we still have to tell to Azriel." Rhysand confesses, with obvious fear in his face, and I can't help but laugh.

TAGLIST

@horneybeach1 @ash04w3 @123345566 @kidsaproblem @lust4lucille @lisamanban123 @alina02 @shodowbane09 @harleycao

[athena-swords]

🎊 Gifts for our NEW YEAR 🎊

PAC

Disclaimer: people I am doing this in all seriousness and all and no it's not for entertainment purposes but ya collective readings so take what resonates

Pile 1. Pile2.

Pile 3. Pile4.

Pile 1❄️❄️🤍

We keep this love in photographs, so if you wanna buy cameras or just capture moments please go ahead and buy it it will give you lots of joy pile 1 new year could be looking as just any new year coming but you know that things are gonna change and maybe the people you are close with now will have to move and you too to other places so cherish this moments.Are you all joining colleges??or like your graduation is being done anyway congrats wishing you absolutely the best .

Maybe you will take the road less taken which will have its own uncertainty but for sure it's gonna be so worth it ,okay first of all whatever type of exams or test you are planning for they gonna give you your desired or expected results and you could be seeing true faces of your close mates and if you feel that you get easily evil eye or affected by others energies don't worry your guides are there to protect you ,this year you could have on issue in financial matter you are being in open to receive energy I see a energetic shit around you and you actually coming into limelight (attention song being played)you definitely should check your solar return chart could bein fire asc sign ok

And I am seeing or more of sensing lot's of puppy love energy so ya talking stages could happen and you ending up liking someone all over just enjoy your "up in the poppy hills" movie vibe so here comes the end of a eventful year wishing you all the best guys take care 💓

Oracle cards: Give it sometime approx 3 to 4 months,the more you live the less you worry,luck is in your favour,My gurl is the prettiest,Be careful with the people you choose

Please comment on your 2024 wishes and reblog means alot

Pile 2❤️‍🩹🥀

Some of you could be getting married or just getting your"THE ONE" for you if you wanted to meet your soul tribe and have been manifesting some wholesome human bond well I am pleased to tell you , you're making some lifetime connections this year , lots of self care products buying specifically perfumes and scented products if 2023 has been the pain the upcoming one will heal all those wounds and the word hork you thought no one saw wanna check some parts of pile 1?? I would recommend there could be a message for you there

Look you need to stop procrastinating!!!like if we wand our desires to turn into reality we need to put some action okkk and studyyyyy like when you study just put your focus on it if need then gurl you have to read it again n ugh that's more tiring.being more organised and balance is always a gift for you this year and a quote for you is "sometimes rejection is protection in disguise"so just jio lol even if it's your lala world I just said a paradox bit don't come to me fantasy and reality just need a little balance and we are good with it.

If you love gloomy weather then congrats you could experience it alot this year.I think you tend to underestimate your intuition and when it turns out right you regret so this year all about working on this and believing ourselves more then others 💗💗

Oracle cards: make a priority list,oh lala it's a love story, it's a yes, please zindagi jiyo baba...,study remember it's "you reap what you sow".

Please comment on your 2024 wishes and reblog means alot

Pile 3📸🦋

My Roman Empire is..... Idk lol.So travels travels and lots of travels in the list 😸 are you planning to fulfill your bucket list or something kya pile 3 anyway you could start talking again with a dear one with whom you could have stopped interacting or cut ties.Having a reunion of some kind being on backpack this could be the highlight of your year sudden plans being made you shifting family dynamics being changed

You again starting to learn alottt like an instrument, occult knowledge,your ancestors, about the world human body and many moreee.Having watermelon with closed ones on a beach or family farm haa such a vibe and keeping your room clean so it does not look like a messy place

Honestly I don't want to touch this past but somewhere along the line if you started feeling that it's hard uk to be happy like genuinely feel so content of life and kinda just at the starting stage of depression well this year is gonna prove your fact so wrong love muah muah have my love ok💓💓

On a side note your Cooking is good please try more

Oracle cards: Are you pretending love,the fingers create magic , living life king size , friends are the bigger enemy.

Please comment on your 2024 wishes and reblog means alot

Pile 4🪴🦓

Headache ahh you could be having them a bit this year ya but but it's because of all the packed schedule you need to get done with which you will be doing for not overthinking about "this" situation of yours someone from past could come back now it's upto you what you will do with them (it seems romantic connection btw).

Do you put this "I don't care" attitude I see you gotta change this one as there will be things you have to be responsible for alot this year.Emotionally you could be working on yourself listening to podcasts and actually making opinions of yours not just blindly following whatever is being said .you confused about something?? honestly sameee sorry for this just that your biggest gift could be knowing yourself more and handling just how you show yourself to the world

Oracle cards: posh lifestyle,lose yourself a little bit, it's not worth it,it worth trying,you know the answer

Please comment on your 2024 wishes and reblog means alot

Wishing you all a very happy New year 🧿🧿🤍

Pls message me my ishman fam i need someone to talk about them 🤌🤌

[dandelion-blues]

#5 What if...

Percy Jackson and the sea fam were on the same cruise of the Draculas?

A PJO x Hotel Transylvania 4 crossover

A Long Overdue Vacation

Now Percy was ready for a break, more than ready for a break, but he didn’t really think that that break needed to include what he needed a break from - gods. Don’t get Percy wrong, some gods are chill like Hermes and Apollo, but well Percy didn’t exactly want to go on a vacation with gods like his dad, step-mom, and half brother Triton whom he all has a complicated relationship with.

But no, family bonding, yay! (Yeah that’s in jazz hands).

It's just Percy luck that when he mentioned that he needed a vacation to Hermes when they were hanging out, that Hermes told Apollo who told Poseidon, and now Percy’s on a cruise ship (and ugh does that bring up some unfavorable memories), on a trip to visit a hotel called Atlantis.

Oh, and Percy forgot to mention that the cruise ship is full of monsters (like Percy already got his monster cruise bingo card crossed out, thanks), but at least they are civilized monsters, like Tyson (Percy’s favorite sibling and cyclops) or Ella, the harpy.

In any case, Percy’s going to try out the pool, and maybe just maybe he’ll be able to relax, but, well, with his luck something is always bound to happen, so he’ll enjoy the calm whilst it lasts.

…

Percy got in the water, hoping for it to be soothing, but nope the chlorine feels terrible to breathe in. Percy’s about to leave when some monsters decide to get in the pool with him. All of them seem to know one another by their familiarity.

“Hey kid, do you want to join in for a game of monster ball?” A mummy? asks.

You know what Percy has nothing better to do anyways, and the water is bearable as long as Percy doesn’t breathe it in, “Sure,” Percy answers.

“Alright!” A tall bluish monster with stitches yells excitedly, “It looks like you’ll be on my team!” His blue skin seems to be stitched haphazardly together, like taking the parts of multiple people and sewing them together, and is completely with little screws on the side of his neck.

Now Percy hasn’t really seen many movies, or even really know much about pop culture with the whole ‘demigods and technology do not mix’, but even he knows this must be Frankenstein.

Percy smiles back, for he can’t help but be enthused by Frankenstein's excitement.

“Alright let’s game plan a bit while we wait for the Dracula’s to enter the pool.” Frankenstein whispers to Percy and to another monster that looks like him but more feminine and to an old looking monster with sharp fangs like a vampire.

Then, Frankenstein seems to think for a second, “Oh and by the way I’m Frankenstein or just Frank Stein.” He reaches his blue hand out to shake, and Percy smiles wider, glad he’s right and shakes back.

“I’m Percy Jackson.”

“Nice to meet you, kid! Oh, and this is my wife Eunice Stein.”

“Hiya kid,” she says in a scratchy voice.

“And this-” Frankenstein begins but gets cut off.

“Vlad Dracula, King of Darkness. I am pleased to meet you, the youngest prince of the seas.”

Percy gawks at Vlad and blushes bright red as Frank and Eunice stare open-mouthed at Percy.

Percy awkwardly averts his eyes, embarrassed by all the attention. How did Vlad even know that? Percy only recently got coronated right after the Giant War ended.

“Now you’re probably wondering how I knew that, huh?” Vlad wiggles his white brows mischievously.

“Now now, no need to tease my son,” Percy's dad’s voice rings out.

What?! When did he get here?!

“Come on, it’s all good fun, old friend.” Vlad sighs. “Oh well, I guess the gig is up.”

Meanwhile, Frank and Eunice Stein’s jaws stop dropping, and they stammer, “Y-your h-highness?!”

Percy sighs, his momentary anonymity gone. It's not like it would have lasted that long, with going to a place called Atlantis, but still. “Yeah…” Percy sighs.

Poseidon grins mischievously, and Percy looks untrusting on his grin and the look in his dad’s eyes.

“What not going to introduce your titles, oh prince of the seas, hero of olympus-”

“Stop!” Percy says mortified, and water automatically splashes his dad. Percy doesn’t need to hear his titles now, and gods there’s a crowd starting to gather. Percy hides his hands behind his face, too embarrassed to really think of the casual way he just interacted and even splashed his dad.

Vlad secretly winks at Poseidon, and Poseidon smiles gratefully, glad his son started to relax and act like a kid again.

Luckily, the crowd quickly loses interest when nothing more interesting happens, and finally, the other Draculas decide to arrive.

Notes:

I actually forgot I wrote this, and I thought I might as well post it.

Besides, I was thinking that I could write something similar now that it's summer and everything. Maybe 😋

First - Previous - Next "What if..."

[sapari]

the thing about fediverse (i.e. mastodon) is that it can actually be a decent social media experience if you find the right instance. but to find the right instance, you either need a lot of patience, or you gotta Know A Guy. i think ive bounced between 10 or so instances over the years and it's only within the last year i finally found an instance i felt good about (lethallava.land/wetdry.world), because i didn't have Fedi Friends to help me find instances

here are some things that might make getting into fedi a better experience:

bring your friends to join with you. if you don't have fedi friends, your social interaction would come from the public timeline. this is like, the equivalent of joining a social media site and following 50 people at random whom you don't know. unless you're an adaptable extrovert, you would probably feel quite out of place

don't bother with the large instances, past a certain size it becomes extremely difficult to moderate and you're more likely to bear witness to some absurd cross-instance drama. if you don't have friends, your posts kind of get lost in the flood. i would classify >2000 active users as too big for comfort

i tried furry.engineer (among a few other furry instances) for a while. get ready to see blurred images constantly drifting past your timeline if you do this. i personally found that mastodon furries are cliquey and complain a lot, though

there is currently a spam wave happening on fedi, just be aware of that, you should probably disable mention notifications on your notifs menu if it becomes an issue. and report all spammers so your instance admin can block the source of them.

also, because of this spam wave, almost all active fedi instances are set to invite only or admin-approval for joining, but approvals run fairly quick if the admins are monitoring it (which they probably are rn)

it sucks that like, of course if you join fedi you're not gonna bring your friends until you figure out if you like it or not, and of course you're gonna try the big instances first, and i think this leads to most new fedi users getting incredibly sick of it fast. it's unfortunate but not much anyone can do about it unless you're willing to jump instances, and if you are i wish you luck (it's better to get comfortable doing so anyway)

in my opinion fedi is meant to be experienced with small-medium communities, the kind where you start to recognize repeat faces

[tempenensis]

Good luck in your games! I don't tend to have much luck with the pulls haha, so I'm sending you all good vibes to get some nice event items ^^.

When you have time, I was wondering if you had hints for translation on Gojo's incantation! I loved it a lot, but don't know if it means anything in particular.

As far as I can tell the words are sort of showing the things that surround a space? Kyū tsuna (the translators i've seen either say nine points or ropes) makes me think of the ropes tied at temples, and temples can be both boundary and gateway but I don't have much context for this one...

Henkō I've seen as "polarized light" which seems to reference the blue+red requirements of purple maybe? But also is this image of a wave pulling in two directions, the word making it both divided and still referring to both possible "directions" at once, so it's a concept like his technique rather than a decision of direction.

The crow and shomyo could refer to the voice/message from heaven and the chant to heaven, which is another "conceptual" gap. Also Gojo is sort of answering a prayer while performing a chant, so he is both the messenger and supplicant maybe?

I don't really get "表裏の間" at all. I've seen it translated as "head and tail" "gap between within and without" and "chasm of front and back", google just says "front and back" but the last character translates to something like "interval". It evokes the concept of the end and the beginning being both as far apart from one another as possible, but also as close to on another as possible which seems close to the concept of purple but it feels like reading into it too much...

Either way, I hope that you rest well this weekend anyways!

raindrop anon

Lol, thank you, raindrop anon. I actually pulled FGO's newest servant, who coincidentally shares the same seiyuu as Nobara QuQd. Now I only need to somehow get Enojun into fgo lol

This is the original panel of Gojou's chanting, btw

九綱 (kukou) means "nine ropes". Nine is sort of sacred number here, might be taken from nine virtues of Shakyamuni (whom Gojou have a lot of reference to). And the ropes, just like you said, act as a boundary like in temple to mark sacred place. It could also refer to the state of intertwining as he does to Red and Blue to create Purple 偏光 (henkou), means "light polarization". I agree with your idea here, that it's most likely referring to Red and Blue and the joining of two techniques. 烏と声明 (karasu to shoumyou). means "crow and shoumyou". In opposite to their reputation in the west, crow in Japanese lore is actually thought as the harbinger of good omen. So messenger is right. The 声明 though, it'll read generally as seimei and does mean message. But here, it's read as shoumyou, which actually refer to a style of chanting in Buddhism. It is a style of chanting Buddhist scripture with music. So not ordinary message, but rather special one?? 表裏の間 (hyouri no hazama), translated literally would be "between the front and back". This could be taken literally but also could refer to one's face shown in public and private. So it might means the space between reality and imaginary, as his technique realizes "infinity" from imaginary concept

Hope this helps! Also, sending much luck to you too!

[summertimemusician]

Linktober (Shadow) Day 10

(Puppet) Zelda

Summer Stop Showcasing Your Love for Twilight Princess and Sleep Deprivedly Writing when Exam Season is Right Around the Corner Challenge (Impossible) /j

Look, we don't talk enough about the Zelda's (or as I affectionately call them, Valkyries) and certainly not about Dusk, whom I am still so bitter that they gave her such a good design but never did anything with it, hence this is my attempt to fix that by giving her the spotlight and some love and give homage to the original Puppet Zelda, Dusk walked so Flora could run it (or well, TP Ganon did so TOTK Ganon could), hence I smashed these two prompts together lol, might make it a two parter after the others are done, but for now as always it's left to interpretation.

As always anything can be read as romantic or platonic or in and out of an LU concept, though the names are used for convenience and to give a rough idea of which kind of scenario we're working with here. Though it's less one of the boys and reader and more one of the ladies and reader this time, if that's not your cup of tea then kindly scroll by, again, this is just something very self indulgent before I pass out and work on the rest lol.

Anyway, good reading!

You slowly but surely came to adore festivals in Hyrule.

No matter the era, it filled you with so much joy whenever your group would come to a new Hyrule during the Hylian holidays, from the Picori Festival in Four's Era, to the Harvest Festival in Legend's, the Pioneering Celebration's in Wind's or the Spring and Summer Equinoxes in Time's and Warrior's, it usually meant your heroes would get the chance to unwind and relax, to eat good food with little worry for a portal (as they strangely didn't appear directly during festival days), you could see the Chain's family and friend's and have such a good time eating or dancing or learning the tradition's from your boy's. Such a stroke of luck came the next time you landed on Twilight's Era, as well as an invitation letter from Dusk to come to Castle Town and celebrate.

(Also translated as 'The nobles are probably hounding her about having 'The One Who Purged the Twilight' make at least one appearance in the castle and she couldn't stall them anymore' by Twilight, with tone tinged by exasperation and aggravation both, albeit much less than the poison of the sharp bitterness of Legend towards the nobility, Wild's tense silence that could mean a memory, or even Warrior's passive aggressiviness when it came to formal events.)

It would be the first time you'd truly meet a Zelda since joining the Chain, and Dusk was likely the most curious case, being crowned queen soon after the Twilight invasion was over and done with and only show during times of war and the only one to have an almost fully cordial relationship with Twilight until the coronation (even Time was closer with Lullaby according to Malon, likely due to knowing her future self). Neither you nor Twilight could say you knew much about her compared to the other's and their respective princesses (or queen's in Warrior's case), so it was a surprise to be invited at all though none of you could say you minded, the plaza of Castle Town was brilliantly decorated in the late autumn sun,  with the decorations glowing orange, yellow and blue witth lanterns and banners all around Castle Town, with decorated shops many stalls rented out for food, games and people, from young children laughing as they played to couples stealing kisses to family and friend's reuniting, it was no surprise you and your boys also got lost in the excitment after having set off from Ordon's own festival, decked out in fall colors and the green many of them favored and paint made to mimic Ordona's markings , you and Twilight getting swept away in the dance at the center with one of the many traveling troupes of musicians, you couldn't help your bright grin to match his as you occasionaly had to dodge running children in between the spinning dancers, clapping along to the song, just a few dances before you had to head on to the castle and finally meet Zelda wouldn't hurt, right?

"Pardon me," Came the soft, musical tone of your new partner, spiriting you away from Twilight with a small smile as he excused himself to find WIld and hopefully some refreshments.

At least that was what you thought, before almost having your heart jump out of your throat by Queen Zelda Vespera Hyrule herself entering the ring of dancers, taking you as a partner.

"Your-"

She spun you around with a hum, you almost struggled to keep up in your shock thought thankfully she held you steady, dark, ash inked hair held steady in a braided crown, looseing around her shoulders and eyes vibrant with vaguely masked cerulean amusement as she shook her head, the lanterns casting burning gold upon her irises, "No need for that. I'd rather my presence not be announced. I thought I'd meet you and Link halfway, away from the court." Another twirl, and she sighs, understandingly, as regal as ever, her gloved palm upon yours warm as you are sure your face is, "He's expressed dislike for the castle in the past and I cannot blame him for such, it's only fair I find him first then, after all he's done for us."

You are briefly separated, as you digest the information and reeling from the surprise, it makes sense. None of the Link's were overly fond of Hyrule Castle and Twilight was no exception, with the nobles who minimally contributed to anything yet demanded reward or for their schemes to be enabled and the complacent knights, easily swayed by the honeyed words of vipers and who were useless in the face of true danger even during the invasion, none of your boys - even Warriors who learned how to swim or drown in that mess - felt comfortable there. You can't imagine it wasn't similar for Dusk, even growing up among them.

... She did seem very lonely, even back then.

You dance back into her arms, nodding easily as you take her in, with her hair braided in white ribbons and cream, ruffled poet's shirt and lightly heeled riding boots, she really did look just like any other young woman out for a night of festival fun, albeit breathtakingly beautiful just the same, "Alright then, would Zelda be fine then?"

Her smile was radiant, as bright as the lanterns in the plaza in contrast to her shaded lips, voice soft like the whisper of a breeze through autumn leaves, "It's perfect, I'm so glad to finally be able to meet you personally." She twirls you, and you laugh as it transitions into an unexpected dip, the disguised queen giggling in turn and it's soft and fluttering, "Link's letters don't do you full justice, the flesh is much more captivating than the imagination."

"Says the Queen of Hyrule," You snipe back, hoping to all being's holy in this land and the realms beyond that you are not flushing crimson enough to outshine the lanterns, you briefly catch a glimpse of Twilight, standing somewhere just beyond the dancers and sipping on an apple cider, you lock eyes and you briefly tilt your chin to Zelda, 'So. This is the Queen of Hyrule. HELP?!'

He briefly looks you over, seemingly studying the situation, then gives you a wolfish smirk at whatever he saw, 'Have fun.' He mouths, taking a long swig.

'Traitor.' You hiss in your thoughts because turns out you are NOT well equipped to handle Hylian Royalty suddenly sweeping you off your feet (literally) without ample preparation and your only hope of composing yourself clearly wasn't going to help, so you smile and continue on, "I'm hardly that much, but thank you, y- Zelda."

"Nonsense," She primly answers, before you switch partners once more, to the left, then back to Dusk, and back again, she tilts her head, humming contemplatively, "Would you mind showing me around the festival? I'm sure Link won't mind if I steal you for a couple moments."

You chuckle, "I hardly know Castle Town all that well myself, I doubt I'd be a good guide." And that's true, you've only seen it distantly, during Twilight's adventure, it could hardly compare to the real thing.

She smiles, somethibg soft and beautiful and sharp with amusement, eyes glinting like clouded aquamarine, rhodedendron eargerness and hydrangea beautiful, "Then I suppose we'll just explore it together then, shall we go?"

"We shall." You answer back, after all, it's not everyday you can say you went to a festival with a Zelda.

She links her arm with yours, grip tight and warm.

(Later, although not much later, Twilight will meet Dusk at Telma's.

She had not even seen you on the way, though she had been looking forward to your meeting.)

[rainisawriter]

Accept Me As I Am – Ryu (PSF #17)

Ficography

Genre: Fluff, angst, slice of life

Prompt: Encouraging someone to achieve a goal (@flufftober)

Word Count: 3,325

Pairing: Reader x Ryu

World: The Rampage

───── ⋆⋅🍂⋅⋆ ─────

Being surrounded by a group of sixteen attractive men, several of whom tended to go around without shirts, could make anyone feel self-conscious about their own weight. For as long as you could remember, you were heavyset, even as a child. You hated it when you were younger but you reached a point in your life where you had come to accept that you were a bit bigger than most.

This confidence started to falter when you joined LDH as a hairstylist, working with the Rampage boys. They were all so beautiful and fit that it was hard to feel okay in your own skin as a heavier person. It probably didn’t help that most of the other staff were also skinny and quite pretty.

At first, you really didn’t give it much thought. You were there to do your job and get your check so you could pay the bills, but then you started to get close to the boys. It wasn’t a hard thing to do because they were such sweethearts that cared deeply for others. They didn’t treat you like an employee, they treated you like a friend.

You kept reminding yourself that you and them were on different levels and, even if they treated you like a friend, you weren’t actually friends. You didn’t speak to them outside of work, you didn’t have their number, and they didn’t know much about you. Despite this, you started to look forward to going to work. 

A couple of your coworkers took notice of this, though. They worked as stylists, choosing and altering the outfits worn by the boys during shoots. They also didn’t like you simply because you were a foreigner who had come to Japan for work. This contempt toward you only got worse the closer you got to the boys.

It started out with just dirty looks and insults whispered among themselves, but it started to get worse over time and they stopped hiding it. Well, they stopped hiding it from you but they made sure to act kind and overly sweet when the boys were around.

You did your best to ignore it, but everyone has their breaking point.

───── ⋆⋅🍂⋅⋆ ─────

You entered the Rampage’s dressing room, offering a smile to your coworkers as you headed toward the back of the room to set up your station. The first person you would be working on was Ryu, so you plugged in the curling iron so it would be ready when he arrived.

When Hana entered the room, she glanced around to make sure none of the boys were there before she headed over to you, a smirk on her lips. You felt dread settle in your gut when you saw her but you forced a smile anyway.

“Good morning, Hana-senpai.”

Her eyes scanned your body. “I can’t believe you’re wearing that. You’re a lot braver than I am.”

You frowned, glancing down at the clothes you were wearing. It wasn’t anything special, just your favorite outfit that felt comfortable to wear. What was wrong with it?

“It makes you look so much fatter,” she barely managed to hold back her snicker. “Then again, if you’re looking for attention from the boys, it’ll definitely work. Not good attention, though.”

You shifted your weight from one foot to the other, about to ask what she meant when the first round of boys started to enter the room.

She smirked at you, malice in her eyes. “Good luck.”

You watched as she approached the boys, greeting them with an overly cheerful tone that was clearly forced. Her eyes never strayed from Ryu no matter who she was talking to and you could practically see the hearts in her eyes.

You tried to shake off the comment and not let it bother you, but it wouldn’t leave you alone. You kept wondering just what she meant by the comment and if there was actually something wrong with what you were wearing.

Was it not professional enough? Did the others feel the same way as her but she was the only one brave enough to speak up?

“Good morning,” Ryu smiled politely, bowing at you when he approached.

“Morning,” you replied, forcing a smile that didn’t reach your eyes.

He took notice of this but wasn’t sure how to ask so he chose to say nothing, settling down in the chair. You carefully removed his hair tie, running your fingers through his shoulder-length hair before grabbing the comb. Normally, you would ask him how he was doing and if he was feeling nervous about the day’s events.

You seemed to have this innate ability to tell when he was anxious and you knew just what to say to calm him down. Today, however, you were silent, brow furrowed as you added waves to his hair. He watched you in the mirror, wishing he could figure out what to say.

“There, you’re all done,” you told him softly, refusing to meet his gaze as you set the curling iron down.

“Thank you…”

You nodded, pretending to rearrange the items sitting on the table. He bit his lip, wanting to just ask what was on your mind but Riku appeared before he could get up the nerve. The older male offered him a smile before sitting down. Ryu bowed to you and then turned, heading over to the row of couches on the opposite side of the room. He found himself glancing over at you frequently. 

Riku noticed the change in your usual demeanor and frowned. “Is something bothering you?”

“No, I’m fine,” you forced a smile, running the comb through his hair. “Did you sleep well?”

“Don’t change the subject.” He narrowed his eyes at you in the mirror, arms folded over his chest. “What’s going on?”

Your lips parted to deny it but then you sighed. “I… want to lose weight but I’m not quite sure where to start.”

“Any particular reason why?”

You certainly weren’t going to tell him the truth. “Well, Halloween is right around the corner and it’s harder to find a good costume when you’re fat.”

“You’re not fat,” he replied sternly, turning in the chair to look at you. “If you’re serious about losing weight, though, I can help. How much experience do you have going to the gym?”

“Uh…” you rubbed the back of your head sheepishly. “I’ve seen videos of people going…”

He chuckled. “Alright, I’ll take you under my wing and help you lose weight safely.”

“Really?” You looked at him hopefully. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all.”

“Thank you so much, Riku-san!” A bright smile came to your lips as you bowed to him, feeling hopeful.

“You’re welcome,” he smiled back.

Ryu frowned, his brow furrowed as he watched the two of you. He hadn’t been able to even get you to look at him, but now you were smiling brightly at Riku? Were you mad at him? Did you find him annoying? He exhaled, reaching up to run a hand through his hair only to pause, glancing at you again.

You would probably be upset if he ruined his hair, though it would give him another chance to be closer to you. He shook his head, letting his hand fall back to his lap.

───── ⋆⋅🍂⋅⋆ ─────

You winced as you entered the LDH building, rubbing your shoulder. Riku was quite the intense teacher, encouraging you to keep pushing while also knowing when it was too far. He had this sixth sense to know when you could keep pushing and when you had to take a break. You didn’t agree with him, though, constantly feeling as if you were at your limit.

You hadn’t exercised in ages, so your body was quick to protest. You were content just doing thirty minutes on the treadmill, but Riku most certainly was not. Rather than focus on one part of your body, he wanted to focus on every part so you currently felt as if you were dying.

Your legs felt like jelly and you worried they would give out beneath you. Your arms felt like they had been filled with lead and it was hard to lift them. Back at home, you had a shitty mattress filled with springs so your back was also hurting. 

It was strange to you, honestly. When you had finished the session with Riku, you had felt exhausted but good. You were proud of yourself for your efforts, especially since you had done more than you thought you could. You had completely forgotten about the aftermath of the day after and you were regretting it. Perhaps you should have been more honest with him about the last time you exercised. 

As you prepared your items for the boys, you realized that you needed to bend down to plug in the straight iron. Your back was crying at the mere thought but you took a deep breath and slowly kneeled down, securing it within the plug. You tried to stand but pain shot through your back, making you wince and return to your knees.

Honestly, you had never realized how much a poor mattress could mess someone up, especially when they were already sore. You briefly wondered if you should just start sleeping on the couch instead.

“Aw, what’s wrong?” Hana appeared, a sickly sweet tone to her voice that was offset by the smirk on her lips. “Did your legs finally give up and refuse to hold you up? I can’t blame them, it’s a lot of weight.”

Your lips pursed at her words and you forced yourself up despite the pain, jaw clenched tightly so you didn’t make a sound. It hurt like hell but you didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.

“Yah, aren’t you going to greet your senpai? Huh?” She scowled, hand on her hip. “You think you get a pass because you’re a foreigner?”

You ignored her, returning to the items on the table.

Her fists clenched as she closed the distance between you, hand grabbing your shoulder to force you to look at her. “What, you think you’re better than me because Ryu-kun gives you attention? He just feels sorry for you, you know. How can he not? Just look at you.”

The mention of Ryu paying attention to you made your stomach fill with butterflies. Thinking about him feeling sorry for you made your heartache, though. Did he truly feel that way? 

She saw that her words were having an effect and she loved it. “Apologize to me.”

“Huh?” Your head snapped toward her. “For what?”

“I know you’re dumb, but you’re not that dumb,” she scoffed.

Hana’s best friend approached with a laugh, sizing you up. “Don’t be too harsh on the foreigner, Hana-chan.” Her eyes met yours and you suddenly felt very small. “Should I talk slower so you can understand? Apologize. To. Her.”

“For what?” You hated how timid your voice sounded, even to you. “I did nothing wrong.”

“In Japan, there is a hierarchy that demands respect. I’m your senior, so apologize for not addressing me with respect,” explained Hana, lifting her chin up, a haughty expression on her lips.

You scoffed in disbelief, forcing yourself to face her. “Where I’m from, you don’t get respect people simply because they were born before you. Respect is something that must be earned, not freely given, and an ugly person like you doesn’t deserve respect.”

Slap!

The sound echoed through the room, startling the others inside. Your head was forced to the side, eyes wide as pain bloomed across your cheek.

“How dare you,” she spat angrily. “How dare a fat, ugly bitch like you call me ugly.”

Her friend scowled at you. “If you don’t like how things work in Japan, then go back where you came from, gaijin.”

The word stung more than it should have.

“Hey! What’s wrong going on here?” Riku rushed over with Ryu close behind, his eyes darting between the three of you to assess the situation. 

Ryu’s eyes widened when he saw the bright red handprint beginning to appear across your cheek. “Are you okay?”

You most definitely were not okay, but you couldn’t tell him that. You swallowed hard, forcing a smile as you stared at the ground. “I’m fine!”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Riku scoffed, folding his arms over his chest as he turned toward the two women. “What happened?”

The two exchanged a look before Hana pouted at him. “I was insulted and called ugly. All I wanted was a little respect because I’m the senior here!”

Her friend nodded. “It’s true, I heard it.”

You looked at them in disbelief, swallowing when Riku’s eyes fell on you. Between your sore muscles, aching back, the comments she made and the current situation, you felt completely overwhelmed.

“What happened?” Riku questioned you softly.

Your lips parted but no sound escaped. The girls were glaring at you, warning clear in their eyes. Ryu put a comforting hand on your shoulder but you couldn’t stop hearing Hana’s words in your mind, repeating that he only felt sorry for you.

You yanked your shoulder from his grip, pushing your way through the small crowd that had gathered around you. You ignored the calls of your name as you darted out of the room, tears stinging at your eyes. You ran until your legs gave out beneath you, thankful that you had found yourself in an empty, dead-end hallway.

Boxes had been piled up against the back wall, the dull lights doing little to light up the hallway. There was a single drink machine against one wall, though you couldn’t remember the last time it had worked, and a simple wooden bench sat across from it.

You fell onto the bench, biting your lip hard as you leaned over, head in your hands. When was the last time you had felt this overwhelmed and emotional? You couldn’t quite remember but it had been a long time. Normally, you were a pro at ignoring things that would have bothered you once upon a time. You had learned to smile through the pain and act as if everything was okay and, for the most part, it was.

All things considered, your life wasn’t that bad. You had a decent apartment, you were living in Japan and you had a job that allowed you to do what you loved. The pay was decent, as well, so it’s not like you were strapped for cash. Your social life was seriously lacking and you had yet to make friends despite having lived there for over two years, but work kept you busy, anyway.

You knew all of this, so why were you suddenly feeling so down?

It’s true that Hana’s behavior had only gotten worse over the past week or so, but why should that matter? You were never friends with her and you knew from day one that she didn’t like you. What was the problem, then? Why did her words affect you so much?

Ryu’s smiling face flashed through your mind and you groaned, feeling your heart picking up speed. You didn’t want to admit it, but you knew you had fallen for the tall male. You also knew you didn’t have a chance with him. Why would he want you when he has someone as pretty as Hana there? It’s not like she tried to hide how she felt about him.

Maybe your life would have been easier if you didn’t fall for the person she already liked. To be fair, though, you never had the intention of falling for him. It was something gradual and slow, something you woke up one day and realized had happened. It’s not like you were actively pursuing him, though. Not only did that feel wrong because you knew she liked him, but also because you didn’t believe you had a chance with him in the first place.

There was a soft call of your name and you tensed up on instinct, making you wince. Tensing up only made your sore muscles and back hurt worse.

Ryu frowned at you as he approached slowly. “Are you okay?”

Your fists clenched around your jeans. “I’m fi -“

“Please don’t lie to me.”

Your eyes snapped to his, surprised by the hurt in his voice and the worry that lingered in his brown eyes. 

“Hana-san has been bullying you, hasn’t she?”

Your nose wrinkled at the term. Bullying made it sound like you were back in high school and that brought back unpleasant memories. “It’s not bullying, it’s just…”

“Just what?” he wondered, settling down beside you on the bench. “I’ve seen the way she glares at you. Has she hit you before?”

You quickly shook your head. “No. No… it was the first time.”

“Does it… hurt?” He cringed at the dumb question. 

“It’s not bad,” you answered softly, focusing on a loose piece of thread on your jeans. At the very least, the sting of your cheek was overshadowed by the aching of your entire body.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Huh?”

“That she was…” He paused, searching for a different word to use. “Messing with you.”

You shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not a big deal, really. I can handle it.”

“You shouldn’t have to!” He cried, surprising you by how emotional he sounded. “No one should have to deal with abuse from others. No one deserves that.”

You lowered your head, blinking back your tears. “It’s easier to just take it. I didn’t want to cause problems…”

“You aren’t the cause of the problem,” he told you softly, large hand resting on your shoulder. “Hana-san and Miyu-san are the problem. They’re the reason you’re trying to lose weight, right?”

Your eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

Ryu shifted, his cheeks dusting with pink. How could he tell you that he felt jealous of the attention Riku was giving you? That it got to the point where Riku could tell and offered up the information to appease him? The thought was embarrassing. “Riku-san mentioned it…”

You exhaled, leaning back against the wall. “She didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.”

He shook his head, eyes burning into you. “You shouldn’t lose weight to make others happy. You should lose weight because you want to. Don’t change yourself for others because if they can’t accept you for who you are, they don’t deserve you.”

Butterflies erupted inside your stomach at his words, filling you with warmth. Before you could stop yourself, you asked, “Do you accept me as I am?”

Though his cheeks darkened, he didn’t miss a beat. “Yes. If you want to lose weight, I’ll support and encourage you, but please don’t do it just because of something cruel Hana-san said. I…” He swallowed, gathering up his nerve. “I like you as you are.”

Despite yourself, a smile slid onto your lips. “Thank you, Ryu-san.”

He nodded, shifting nervously. “If you want… maybe I could help you in the gym sometime? If Riku-san is busy, I mean…”

“I’d really like that,” you smiled, reaching out to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen in his face. “We should get your hair done.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fi – ah!” As you stood up, your back locked up, preventing you from standing up straight.

Ryu jumped up, grabbing a hold of your arm with a frown. “Just how hard did Riku-san push you?” He helped you sit back down, your brow furrowed.

“This one isn’t on Riku, it’s on my mattress.”

“You should head home. I’m sure Haku-san wouldn’t mind taking over for you today.”

“Maybe you’re right…”

“Wait here. I’m going to get you something for the pain.”

You watched him jog down the hall, disappearing around the corner. You smiled, leaning back against the wall and closing your eyes, feeling filled with warmth.

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-> High&Low/Rampage Taglist: @kiraaaeon, @simpforchuchu, @star2fishmeg, @thatpoindexterpixy @manhwabtch

-> General Taglist: @asterhaze, @mrskenpachizaraki

[oneofboth]

Lost peace (full fic)

Before everything: That was my second fic in terms of our AU and the first fic where I used Nico and Toby. I felt kinda cringe about it, because I showed Toby so badly ahaha. Anyway, have a good read!

/

Инфо для русских пользователей: Вы можете прочитать этот ф��нфик на фикбуке и на ваттпад! :)

An important day for Nicole finally arrived. She would be speaking in public for the first time in her department. She prepared a presentation on the topic of extraterrestrial life, which her department had been studying. She also styled her hair and put on some makeup, so that her colleagues would definitely like her!

—Ha! Even if it's not Aperture, I will definitely make a good first impression! -Nico was finishing her coffee.

— You sound.. too confident. -Toby replied. The guy is a student who works in the cafeteria and makes just wonderful coffee. He was the first one with whom... Nicole became friends(?) of all the people she has met. This guy's silent, but if he speaks, it's always on business. Just like now. He noticed the new girl's overconfidence and tried to gently point it out. He felt that such thing would not lead to good.

— I know! And, oh my God, how much strength it gives me! For the first time I am so happy in this place! And do you know why? — she asked a rhetorical question and looked straight into the Toby's eyes, who had obviously not slept this night — Because today the moment has finally come when I can change people's opinion about me!!

—... good luck. -The guy shrugged shoulders and looked away.

— Thank you!

To her own surprise, the cheerful girl looked at her watch. The moment has come!! The moment when she can transform this place from hell to heaven! Of course, Black Mesa will never replace her much-loved Aperture, but she is ready to make this place more pleasant for herself. To make it less nauseating for her to be here. It took a lot of effort to achieve all this, and in a sense it was feigned joy, but she was sure that without it she would not be accepted into this society. After saying goodbye to the student, she enthusiastically moved to the previously assigned room to finally show the best in herself.

She was shaking. At first it was a pleasant tremor. But with each step, Nicole realized more and more that she was afraid. What if everything goes wrong? What if the situation doesn't depend on her again? The girl slowed down, although time was already running out. What if...she still will be a stranger here? Like a small and frightened kitten hiding in a corner from the murderer of its parents. And so she will be doomed to spend some years of her life trapped in a corner and terribly scared.

Feeling an unpleasant itch in her eyes, she wiped away the tears and resolutely looked into the distance. No. It won't be like this! She can handle it! She will definitely cope!

With such thoughts and a phrase that she repeated all the way to the office, she quickened her pace and stepped much more decisively.

Here it is. The audience. The people she's working with now. They were all so different, but they had something in common. Nicole carefully looked around at everyone present. She was trying to figure out what they had in common..? If she finds the answer, she will easily join them!

— So, uh.. — the girl cleared her throat, sorting through the papers in parallel. All the equipment was already ready for her 'performance'—Me..My name is Nicole. I'm new here..

Before she could finish, the weight of the stares that fell on her intensified. Some began to whisper, remembering her and, most importantly, her old place of work. Swallowing heavily, she continued.

— ..yes. As you know, I came here from Aperture. But..But working with you will be... uh.. — She began to stammer. After skimming through the papers with the prepared text in advance, she still did not find where she left off- ..However, it doesn't matter. I'm sure that's not what we're here for.

The girl sighed. Well, her first fail! She wanted so much to make a good impression, but because of her stupid rashness, she couldn't do it. She glanced at this crowd again and caught her eyes on a long, skinny figure who was sitting somewhere behind and seemed to be silently waiting for something. From this cold look that came from that woman, Nicole felt uneasy, goosebumps ran down her back, which made the girl straighten up. There was a heavy silence in the office, everyone was waiting for action from Nicole. And she was finally ready to talk further.

— Recently ours..more precisely, ahem, yours. Your scientists went back to Xen and took several samples of wildlife from there. There were captured boids among them, a whole pack. One of which, however, had one of its wings torn.

The girl pressed the keyboard key and the slide changed to the next one. She quickly looked around the audience again. That woman was still looking at her. It felt like she wasn't blinking at all...

— So uh..as you can see, this cut is quite a major damage for boid, which is why he will no longer be able to fly. But what influenced this outcome of events? Scientists suggest that Boyd was attacked-

— He just cut himself.

The steel-cold voice made Nicole shudder. She wanted to continue, but tried to find the source of the sound with her eyes. Who interrupted her? No, who dared to interrupt her?

— I'm sorry, but don't interfere with my narration! — Nicole frowned.

— Oh, baby, believe me, I already know what you want to say.

That long and slender figure rose up. The woman was looking at Nicole with her bright green eyes. Is it creepy, is it even natural for a person? A heavy black shadow hung over her face, which seemed to be from her hair braided into a bun, or rather from the peering strands that were difficult to style.

— Excuse me? -Nicole couldn 't believe her ears- ..Baby? — she repeated faintly, feeling noticeably annoyed by the whole situation.

— You're probably saying that Boyd was attacked by some... mm...Let's say panthereye, catching poor boyd. Is that so? The woman, who continued to stand her ground, completely ignored Nicole's exclamations.

— Actually!!..

Nicole stuttered again, barely squeezing out the word under the weight of the stares. Audience looked at the sudden dispute between the two. Some scientist tried to cut in and calm the woman down, but she immediately turned her gaze to him and replied:

— Hush. Let her answer. I need to know what ideas she has about the creatures of Xen..

No one else dared to say a word. There was a heavy tension, and Nicole felt a certain ominous aura around the woman. What's going on?!

— Actually, I wanted to say that Boyd was attacked not by a panthereye, but by a tentacle!

— Why?

Nicole had clearly stumbled somewhere. The woman's face twisted into a caustic smile. There was clearly a trick!!

—I.. I assume that a flock of boids flew over the tentacle, which made him want to knock them out or disperse them, since they could interfere with the tentacle hunting.

— ..amazing. -The woman said and suppressed her grin with difficulty.- You really don't have the slightest idea about the animal world of Xen.

Nicole frowned and clenched her teeth. How dares she... Nico could barely restrain herself from replying something superfluous. She wanted to protect herself, but she wasn't sure of anything at the moment. Maybe Nicole is right and this is just a test by one of the scientists!! But before Nico could do anything, the woman continued:

— First of all, boids make resonant relaxing sounds that allow them to avoid excessive aggression of the living world of Xen. Secondly, tentacle and his hunts only benefit from this. All those who heard the howling of the Boids immediately relax and lose their vigilance, which allows the tentacle to grab the victim without much difficulty. Their world is much more complicated than you think, so such alliances and similar cooperation are not surprising at all. -The woman shrugged her shoulders.

— What?..but..but it is absolutely not written anywhere.. -Nicole said, both stunned and angry. The audience also widened their eyes, listening to what the woman was saying. But, for some reason, no one said anything against it. Were they afraid?...

— Oh, you need to read more carefully. And thirdly... Well, that's right, it's already a task of observation. Boid's wing is carelessly cut. It's like it's been torn up. This can be seen in two photos. Well, okay, this can be forgiven, the photo is really of poor quality, you may not notice it. Tentacle blades cut all organic matter like butter, clearly leaving no such defects. The conclusion is — the pack flew after the leader, who, as we know, tries to avoid obstacles. But, for some reason, one obstacle could not been avoided, which is why boid, who was this very leader, injured his wing. And his pack, having no idea what was going on, went down after him. That's how they were caught.

Nicole was stunned. How..Is that right? Even though Nicole didn't know some of the information, like the rest of those present, as it seemed to her, but everything sounded so plausible and realistic! Everything was perfectly connected. It's like that wannabe was there and saw everything firsthand... But that's impossible!!

- yes... Even so! —Nicole finally found her words.— This does not give you the right to interrupt my narration! I have every right to finish it, even if it is incorrect. In any case, I did not come up with this data, it was provided to me! So what's my fault?

—It would be possible if there weren't newbies like you sitting here, who listen to your every word and taking it as a truth of life. Well, they're almost newbies, they've had about a year of experience. And I've been working here for several years. And it's good that I decided to sit here and listen, otherwise this would have happened.. Well, your task as a scientist is to observe and notice errors that may be contained in the texts so kindly provided to you. —the woman stretched and yawned sweetly, smacking her lips several times— Okay, I'm off. There's nothing else for me to do here.

After these words, the woman really left. Nicole didn't even have time to see her name on the badge. The girl just stood there with her mouth open to the noise of the projector and the tense silence from the audience.

***

The next day. Nicole cried all night from what happened. She had never felt so flawed and pathetic before. And all because she was disgraced by this wannabe who thinks she knows everything about everyone. Pffft. Dumb competitor... Does she think that she can raise herself using Nicole? No, that woman is wrong... Nicole wouldn't just give up and wasn't even going to give up! But she didn't have the strength yet. Thank God what happened did not reach The Administrator and Nicole was still allowed to do more serious work. Now she was supposed to be an assistant and help carry out observations of the creatures from Xen.

And while it was not yet time for work, she stood at the table in the cafeteria and sniffed, remembering yesterday. She had the same Toby with her, still not getting enough sleep and still tired. He tried not to point it out, but he knew perfectly well that something terrible had happened when he saw the redness on the nose and eyes of a friend.

—.. I don't understand.. -Nicole finally said in a trembling voice- ..What the hell did she find out? I was just doing my job... Are you being scolded for completing an order?

Nicole raised her wet eyes to Toby. He listened attentively, so he immediately shook his head negatively. In general, the girl tried to seem strong and unyielding. She wouldn't let anyone see her like this, not even her closest friend. But no matter how sad it was, she had almost no control over her condition now. Thanks to Toby for being okay with it and not asking her anything, pretending that everything was as usual. That's what she needed.

— So and I think not... because it's stupid and not polite..

The girl finally stopped running her finger over the coffee cup and took a sip from there. She felt sick..

— ..well. — the student began, but immediately hesitated after that. He was extremely unsure if he should say anything now. But noticing Nicole's eyes, he animated from this look. He sighed heavily and continued- ..There are inadequate people. Who can quite calmly point on something and you immediately find yourself to blame for everything. -He glanced at Nicole briefly, as if asking if he should speak further or not- ..I have one such lecturer. He is... well... it is impossible to get a good mark. Well, that's just the kind of person he is. I have no choice but to almost fall at his feet. Do you understand what I mean?

—..that we don't solve anything in such situations?

— Yes. — Toby nodded — Unfortunately, this is just life. And like..well. I wouldn't get hung up on it. I care about the result, not the process. In such matters, for sure. And... like... Damn, I don't want to teach you or anyone else, but maybe you should think easier about it too?

— Well, yes.. -Nicole sighed. The student is right as never before. She even envied how calm he was about everything. Although she can't know what he's doing alone with himself. Maybe she's crying too, like her?— Really, I can't do anything here. What happened is over. It's worth rejoicing in general and saying thank you to the gods for this, considering it went unnoticed, and I still have some kind of job.

Their conversation was interrupted by another visitor, who began to dictate Toby their order. Stop. A familiar voice..

Nicole looked up at the client. Immediately, she recognized the tall and skinny figure, only this time she was without a lab coat. She gripped the edge of the table. It's her!!!!

— So it's you! -Nicole blurted out on her own.

The woman jumped a little from surprise at the noise and turned around lazily. She looked at the girl with relaxed eyes and raised one eyebrow.

—..Do I know you?

— It's you! You've disgraced me! -Nicole pointed a finger at her.

— Did I embarrass you?... oh, wait! it's you! You are a new one!! -A malicious smile immediately crept onto the woman's face.— How wonderful, we met again!

— Don't act like nothing happened! — the girl banged her fist on the table—And anyway, it would be strange if we didn't meet again! We work in the same department, unfortunately!

— Oh, yes, yes.. The smile widened.

— She's the one who shamed me! -Nicole was still pointing at the woman and glanced at the student for a second. Toby, in turn, looked almost scared, which was unexpected. He stared at Nicole with wide eyes and shook his head negatively, as if trying to tell her to stop. But Nicole did not notice this, all her attention was focused on the woman.— Why did you do that?! It's almost reached the administration! I could have been fired!

—Really? Sorry.

— Sorry?? SORRY?! -Nicole was furious. She grabbed her hair and pulled it, trying to calm down— And that's all you can say?!? What are you sorry about?!

—..I'm sorry that it didn't reach the administration. It should have been.

— HOW DARE YOU! -Nico finally couldn't stand it.

The woman only grinned slightly at this and took the ready-made coffee from Toby. Sipping it and setting it aside, she calmly reached into her pocket, took out the money and handed it to the student. With a grin, she continued to watch as the new girl freaked out and tried to cope with her emotions. She crossed her arms over her chest, and pushed one leg back a little, leaning on the table. She didn't seem to give a damn about the squeals and complaints.

— Are you enjoying all this?! Nicole continued.

— Yeah. And why not? I didn't do anything wrong. And your reaction amuses me incredibly. You're funny, you're hysterical.

Well, that's the last straw. Nicole was about to jump on her with bare fists, completely forgetting about all the rules of decency, when an unexpected yell returned her to the ground:

"I'M THE QUEEN OF THIS CAFETERIA!!!

Nico shrugged and turned around to see what was going on. Indeed, her mind cleared up and she was grateful to this someone for making her mind sober in time. Otherwise, there would have been only a few steps before being fired.

Meanwhile, the picture was as follows: A young red-haired girl in the uniform of a security guard climbed onto the table and was clearly happy about it. That's why there was this shout. What's going on in this Black Mesa..?

— Whoo, well done, Lee!

Nico turned back to the sound. This woman stood with a smile and clapped her hands. Wait. That look. Why is she so.. wait.

Meanwhile, a young guard had already run up to this wannabe and almost knocked her down with her hugs.

—I'll have a snack!!! — The redhead growled and really started biting

the green-eyed one:

-Ow, ow! What are you doing?

The woman calmly took the so-called Lee in arms and kept her at a certain distance from herself. It suddenly dawned on Nicole.

— It's your daughter?!

Both looked at Nico and laughed. The girl recoiled from such a reaction. She looked at Toby, hoping that he knew something, but he was just biting one finger slightly and looking away. What was he so visibly nervous about??

— This is my sister!! — Lee said cheerfully — And you're the one she mocked yesterday, aren't you?!

— What, sister?! -Nico blushed. And why did she come up with the option of being a daughter?..— Wow, that's the age difference-WAIT, WHAT?!

Lee giggled again

—All right, all right, let me go!! I want coffee!

— No coffee. -The woman replied calmly. Nicole, taking advantage of the situation, finally looked at her badge and read "Susan Thompson". And Lee's badge just said "Lee." It is logical, but at the same time it is strange, where is the last name? ...

— ..Should I make her some cocoa? - she heard Toby's voice as Lee was trying to lick her older sister's chin. Nicole looked at him dumbfounded. So he knows them!!!

—Please. — Susan replied and finally put Lee on his feet. She smiled again.

— Well, cocoa will do too! Sis, let's go to brother!!

— Not now. Don't you see that I'm arguing?

Lee turned to Nicole, who was shocked by the number of children in their family, and turned back to Susan.

— But BenreyBenreyBenrey is better..

— That's right.. but.. ah, okay. Let's go —the woman smiled strangely tenderly, giving up to girl.

Lee immediately threw up her hands, began to rejoice and jump. Susan took the finished cocoa, gave the money to the student again, took her coffee and hurried after the youngest, because she ran pretty fast..

Nicole was left with me in complete shock. She took hold of her head.

— What. Was. That???..

—..this.. -Toby stared at her in silence again. There was worry in his gaze.— You shouldn't have fought with her like that..

—Shush. I don't want to hear it. It turns out that you knew who I was talking about all this time. -She looked at him. He shook his head negatively and was about to open his mouth, but Nico curled her lips— No. Not now. I'm sorry, but not now.

Slowly, the girl moved from the cafeteria towards the office in which she would assist. Toby watched her go and even leaned out of his cabin. He knew exactly where this was going. And he felt terribly embarrassed that he couldn't warn Nicole.

***

The girl was sitting at a large control panel. It seemed to occupy almost the entire space in this room. A couple of metal lockers, armchairs, a table, a microwave on it. That's basically it. There was a window in front that led to a chamber with headcrabs inside. There were 5 samples there. Obviously, not the whole pack, only some tenth of it. The chamber itself was designed like one of the Xen islands, just for, it seems, the headcrabs feel calm and comfortable inside.

Next to Nicole was a man who, judging by his behavior and appearance, was no more than 26 years old. He was the assistant that Nicole took over. Johnny, as he introduced himself, was going to be assigned to another department for some time. He stood next to her, hanging over Nicole a little, and carefully watched her name the function of each button, at least as she understood it herself. He was delighted with how quickly she caught on everything.

—Yeah... And this button? -Johnny pointed to a tiny green button somewhere to the right in the corner.

— Uh.. — Nico, who still hadn't got past the morning, looked down. Fortunately, Johnny was a pleasant enough young man and the girl felt less tense with him. There was something about him that relaxed her—..oh! this is..uh... -She scratched the top of her head. The man was still looking at her with a slight smile, giving her a chance to think and remember—..oh, right! It gives access to lighting control!

The girl beamed at Johnny's face. He just stretched his smile in response and nodded.

— That's right. — Finally, the answer that Nicole wanted to hear was heard.

— Hooray! — the girl allowed herself to be slightly pleased, already enthusiastically examining every key on the control panel. Wow, she really mastered it!

— Well, it's time for you and me to finish..

Johnny sighed and looked at his watch. His eyebrows risen slightly, and his face itself expressed some incomprehension. He consulted his wristwatch and checked the time against the wall clock. This time, his brows furrowed.

— Oh, no. I can't let you go yet.. — he said thoughtfully, tapping his watch with his finger.

—Why? -Nicole asked, watching the man's every action.

— She's late..And why today? -Slightly displeased, he looked away.- I can't leave until she comes. I need to pass you from hand to hand.

— She?.. -Nicole tilted her head in incomprehension.

—..oh! So let me tell you about her while she's walking somewhere! At least you'll be a little ready for her... ahem...peculiar character. -He grinned.

Nicole nodded and sat down more comfortably in her chair. She was already stressed out that she would be working with a certain woman. Moreover, apparently, she also has a bad character.. Anyway, Nico was paying attention and Johnny saw it, so he started his story.

— Her name is Alex. The woman is so... uh...spicy. Perhaps this is the word that would suit her best to describe. — The man leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest — To put it simply — petty, aggressive, extremely attentive and just creepy.

Seeing the discomfort in Nicole's eyes, the man laughed and nodded understandingly.

— I understand. When they told me about her, I was a little scared too. And I was even more scared when I found out that she has a close relationship with Breen, huh..

— Stop. — The girl replied — Wait, with Dr. Breen?? The administrator of this place?!

The man suddenly stopped for a while and looked suspiciously at Nicole.

— Wait, are you saying you haven't heard about Alex at all?? She's on everyone's lips here, everyone is afraid of her here. And you've never even asked why they're afraid of her?

Nicole looked at the floor in discomfort and shook her head. Well, she fails again. She obviously has no luck with the team.

— Well, that's it. Yes, she knows Breen personally and complains to him about every disobedience and violation of someone, once she notices it. If she saw your violation and you were not fired at the same second, you can say that you are very lucky! Like you won the lottery..

Nicole swallowed. God, it's a good thing this Alex didn't see what was going on during that presentation, how she got into an argument with Susan. Otherwise, Nico wouldn't be here anymore..

— But don't be afraid! She also has a lot of good other traits! She may be unbearable, but damn, I honestly think she's one of the smartest scientists here. She knows the world of Xen like the back of her hand! For example, she can easily communicate with... well, with these headcrabs, for example! -Johnny pointed out the window at the headcrabs, some of whom were playing and climbing on top of each other— God knows how she understands them, but they really obey her! She treats them like children, haha! Maybe her powers of observation are helping her, I have no idea. But that's not all that's good about her. There are a lot more things, it's just thing what made her so popular here. A real authority, commands respect!

Johnny temporarily paused his story to clench his hand into a fist and lean it against his chest, ostensibly as a sign of respect. He even closed his eyes and bowed his head, smiling broadly. Nicole, in turn, was trying to make sense of everything the man had just told her. That is, there is another person smarter than that wannabe! Wow, if Alex had been there, she would have put Susan in her place right away! But her famous, apparently, approach to work and outlook on life scared the girl. Will they get along here and won't they kill each other in this little room? Only time will tell. But Nicole decided to show herself to be a really great employee. The main thing is that she does not lose this desire and her attention. Night tantrums, fuck them...

— .. in communication, as your boss, — Johnny continued meanwhile, interrupting Nicole's thoughts, — she behaves like your friend. She talks about topics that are distracted from work, she is interested in how you are doing, and so on. But that doesn't mean she's distracted. I'm not afraid to say this, she's always on the lookout. So do not think that you will really have something friendly and she will forgive you for even the smallest mistake that you made because you were distracted by something..

The door to the room finally opened. And she went inside...Susan?!? What is she doing here?! Nicole shrank back into her chair, obviously not eager to be noticed. A wave of thoughts swept through her head, after which it was empty. The girl was just watching a woman who put a cup of coffee on the table.

— Hello, Johnny. Hello.. -She fixed her bright green eye on Nicole.

— Dr. Alex! We were just remembering you! -Johnny immediately responded, for some reason happy to see this woman. Clearing his throat, he pointed at the frightened blonde—This is the new one! Her name is Nicole. I told her everything I know myself!

The woman squinted, carefully watching Nicole. Nicole, in turn, felt as if she was been stripped, looked at from head to toe, then slowly and painfully had her skin removed. Because of this, she shrank even more.

—... Hm... I guess you did. -Susan said softly. Or Alex. Nicole is confused. Frightened eyes began to run over the woman's shirt and noticed the badge, which still read "Susan Thompson."

— B-But..it's Susan.. -Nicole said softly. Unfortunately, she was heard.

— Hah, no. -Johnny chuckled.- This is Alex. What makes you think her name is Susan?

Nicole's eyes widened even more when it was no longer written "Susan Thompson" on the same badge, but "Alex". And again without a last name. How is this possible?! She was standing there and didn't move!!

—.....wh-what..how..in the same place..It was written there..

Johnny frowned and looked at the woman's badge himself. Then he smiled again and returned his gaze to the frightened girl.

— Alex sometimes wears other badges. By accident. Don't worry so much, her name is Alex, that's for sure!

Nicole swallowed and nodded. She stared at Alex's distorted face with fear. Her bright green eyes looked straight into Nico's soul, as if they glowing from a conveniently placed light, and glittering a little lower in the light were...Fangs??!

— Well, okay, I'll go then. They've been waiting for me already. -Johnny sighed and turned to Alex, who looked completely normal.

— Go ahead. The woman replied coldly as she was putting on her lab coat.

— Oh, come on!

The man came up from behind and gently wrapped his arms around the woman's body, wrapping her in an embrace. She tilted her head slightly and rolled her eyes. He seemed to annoy her with that.

— How about a coffee at 4 o'clock? — he did not calm down.

— Refuse. — the woman replied just as coldly, enduring this with the last of her strength.

Johnny had already started to say something when he was grabbed by the face and pushed towards the door. Alex was sick of his behavior. Or maybe..She was in a hurry to be alone with Nicole, who sat back down in her chair after an unsuccessful escape attempt. The man denied and muttered something in the palm of the woman's hand, but as soon as he was released and he was outside the threshold of this room, he pulled a smile again.

— I'll be waiting for you then! Good luck, new girl! -He winked at Nicole and the door immediately slammed in his face.

The girl trembled. Well, that's it. What's going to happen now? She stared in horror at Alex, who was breathing heavily, hunched up and leaning against the door. She saw that the green eye was still fixed on her. Somehow, her eyes were actually glowing. Brightly.

Nicole is trapped. She even sits in the corner. Panicking, she began to run her eyes around the room and think about how to escape. But she did not find anything useful during this search. There were no ideas either. Maybe now is the time to apologize? No... Nicole can't even move, what else to say. She was shackled by fear while Alex had already started her movement, she felt unexplained danger. Woman climbed up from above, clutching the back of the chair as if with claws. She bent one of her legs at the knee and placed it on the chair between Nicole's legs. She lowered her head to the blonde's face.

—What's up? -Alex asked with a kind of growl. Nicole's face immediately gave off heat, either from the heavy and languid breathing of the woman, or from such awkward intimacy. But it's not important to her now. A lot of thoughts were spinning in Nico's head that they were about to fall, given the angle of inclination of the chair now, that she was about to be gnawed, that Alex reminded her of an animal. And the woman was patiently waiting for an answer, although it was clear from the growl somewhere inside her body that she would not wait long.

—I ... -Nicole stuttered with tears in her eyes- ..excuse me..I'm sorry for what was there then..

Alex suddenly cringed all over. There was a laugh that came deep from the woman's throat. Clearly not a human laugh. But after a moment, she calmed down as suddenly as she laughed.

—What's it to me that you're apologizing here? The job is done. You've made it clear to me what kind of person you are, Nicole. —the woman whispered in the ear of the frightened and panicked girl.— Now I see everything. I know everything. So why apologize? On the contrary, you've given me so much interesting information about yourself. Even more information than is in your blood. -Alex growled the last one, even with hunger.

Nicole was shaking. She wasn't sure how it would end. She still couldn't move. She made only a muffled wheeze, trying to say something.

The woman clicked her tongue and stood on the ground. The chair returned to its usual position, and Nicole slid down a little. Her face was white, and there was a heavy feeling of vomiting inside. Alex dusted off her hands. She seems to have come to her senses.

— Okay, that's in the past! We have to work now! She said with her usual smile and went back to her coffee.— Come to your senses, we still have a lot of work to do.

— ..you are.. a monster. -Nicole muttered.

Alex curled up a little with laughter and answered quietly when she calmed down, continuing to drink her coffee:

— Yep. So be careful.

END

[thelazyhermits]

Y'all know how I've mentioned before that I like playing otome games? Well one of the games I played last month has been on my mind cause I keep thinking of how I could incorporate Yuu and some of the TWST boys into the story of that game.

I have no idea why my brain suddenly started doing this, but I figured I'd go ahead and make a post about it cause why not? 😂

Okay, so first off, the otome game that I'll be talking about is Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo, which I would recommend to anyone who likes otome games. While I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a favorite of mine since I didn't get super attached to any particular LI, I still enjoyed the game and thought it was really cute ^^

Anyway, this game takes place in Japan during the Kyoha era, and it involves these monsters called blightfall that are created thanks to people's negative emotions. They've been wreaking havoc in the town of Edo for a while now.

There's a special task force established by the shogunate called the Oniwaban, which is in charge of fighting these monsters that most people don't know anything about since blightfall mostly appear at night, and this is just something they try to keep the public from having to know about.

The Oniwaban mostly consist of individuals called vessels, which are formfolk that have had their memories and hearts sealed. In exchange, they're given the power called Snow Sacrament which allows them to defeat blightfall when they engage them in battle.

Formfolk are human-like figures that are born when an item receives enough love from its owner and is given a name. The main difference between them and humans is that they can change their appearance at will, and they can be killed if you destroy the items they were born from. They also have wooden name tags, which can also be targeted, so they have two weaknesses.

Moving on, the heroine of the game has the ability to see threads that no one else can see, and by looking at these threads, which are attached to everyone's, except for vessels, necks, she can tell what a person is truly feeling, ergo she can see their emotions. These threads can also tell her when a blightfall is about to appear since they're the product of negative emotions.

That's why the shogunate summons her and has her join the Oniwaban in hopes that she'll be able to help them stop the outbreak of blightfall that has been going on for the last several years.

The reason I started thinking of Yuu in this setting is because in the game the poor heroine is ostracized/exiled by the village she grew up in because she could see things they couldn't and she could tell when someone was gonna die from looking at their threads which led them to believe she was the reason those people died.

The heroine lived in the village with her father, but as soon as he passed away, she was forced to live up on the mountain away from the village. Thankfully, because her father was so well-respected by the village, they send her provisions, so she is still technically provided for, even though that obviously doesn't make her situation any less horrible.

It's just really easy for me to imagine Yuu in that kinda character role, because of the kinda luck she has, so my brain just rolled with the idea lol

I could easily picture poor Yuu being misunderstood for powers only she has, and as a result, she's only close to her father, whom thankfully loves her very much and takes good care of her up until his passing.

Because she wants to be useful to her hardworking father, Yuu learns at a young age how to cook and clean despite him telling her she doesn't have to. Plus, she prefers remaining indoors practicing these skills anyway since indoors she won't have to deal with any judging looks or people whispering about her.

However, Yuu does venture outside whenever she wants fresh air. She just typically heads outside of the village, although she doesn't go too far since she doesn't want to scare/worry her father.

It's during one such outing that an eight-year old Yuu happens to find a young wolf that's injured and has an infected wound. The poor thing was abandoned by its pack and left to die since it was in such bad shape.

Yuu couldn't bear to abandon the animal, which was too weak to do anything but quietly growl at her, so she did what she could to treat its wound with the first aid supplies she likes to always carry around with her.

Despite her young age, she's rather good at first aid, because she has a lot of experience practicing it due all the injuries she'd get when the kids in the village would bully her. She learned how to tend to her own injuries so her father wouldn't have to and she had hoped this would make him less worried about her.

However, after she finishes tending to the wolf, Yuu still thinks her father should personally check on the wolf since she's obviously no doctor and is just a kid, and thankfully, when he hears about the wolf, her father agrees to look it over after she begs and pleads for his help.

Since the villagers wouldn't be pleased about a potentially dangerous wild animal being brought to the village, Yuu's father decides to bring the wolf to the old house up on the mountain that's not being used by anyone.

For the next several days, Yuu and her father tend to the wolf, constantly taking care of its injury and offering it food to help it regain its strength.

Yuu spends almost all of her time with the wolf and only leaves its side whenever her father says its time for her to come home at the end of the day.

Thanks to Yuu and her father's dutiful care, the wolf survives its injury and manages to make a full recovery, much to their great relief.

Once the wolf eventually recovers, they expect it to leave and return to the wild, although Yuu hates the idea of having to part with it, but to their great surprise, the wolf decides to remain in the area.

Naturally, that's partially because it has nowhere else to go but mostly because it wants to remain with the people that nursed it back to health since it feels indebted to them and has become attached to them.

Yuu is delighted about this since this means she now has a friend, and she pays the wolf, which she names Jack after a storybook character she likes, visits all the time since she loves hanging out with him.

For a while, time passes like this until a very surprising turn of events occurs that involves a sad, nine-year old Yuu visiting Jack after having escaped her bullies.

While she's not normally one to cry since she thinks she should be strong in order to avoid worrying her father, Yuu is crying when she comes to visit Jack, who becomes worried about her since he's never seen in her in a state like this before.

Jack wants to know why Yuu's crying, but obviously, he can't ask since he can't speak like a human. He wishes he could, though, since he really wants to help her so she'll smile for him again.

As of late, Jack has been having these kinda thoughts where he wished he was more than just a wolf so he could become even closer to Yuu and better support her since there's only so much he can do with a form like this.

Much to his and Yuu's surprise, this strong desire to talk to Yuu and become closer to her leads to Jack turning into a Beastman, which is something that's not in the game so it's an original idea.

Just like how items can turn into formfolk, I thought it'd be neat if something similar could happen to animals when they receive enough love/feel enough love toward a human that leads to them wanting to communicate with/be closer to a human, and I just decided to use the Beastman term since I'm not creative with names in the slightest lol

One thing that's special about Beastmen is that they can swap forms, so they can look like an animal or a human, although their human forms will always have animal characteristics like ears and a tail.

Since Beastmen are rarer than formfolk, Yuu is very surprised to see one for the first time, but she's also delighted that she can have a conversation with Jack, whose current form appears to be the same age as her.

Jack is also pleased with his sudden transformation since he'll be able to talk to Yuu now and be the kind of friend she needs/deserves. He'll be able to support/protect her even better now.

Because the village forbids formfolk from living there since formfolk eat like humans and this small village has limited supplies, it's immediately assumed that the same would be said about Beastmen, so Yuu only tells her father about what happened to Jack.

Thankfully, Jack can turn back into a wolf whenever he wants, so the chances of the villagers finding out about him are low, especially as long as he remains around the house on the mountain where he's been hanging around up until this point.

From that point on, Yuu is even more excited about visiting Jack, and she spends the majority of her time with him because she loves being with Jack who doesn't treat her like she's something dangerous cause of her powers.

They become really close over the years, like family, and it's because of that bond that Yuu has an easier time getting by after her father eventually passes away when she's thirteen, because she ends up living with Jack, who the villagers thankfully never find out about.

Jack is Yuu's rock during the time she's mourning her father and dealing with being ostracized/exiled by the village. While he was already protective of her, Jack becomes even more so after those events.

More than anything, he'd like to tear into those villagers for their cold-heartedness, but he doesn't since that's not what Yuu would want. Plus, he can't risk the villagers finding out about him and possibly trying to separate him from Yuu.

So, instead, Jack focuses on doing everything else he can think of to look after her, like helping with house repairs and hunting/gathering food in the forest, so there's always enough food for the two of them since the village only sends up enough supplies for one person.

Just like a human, Jack grows older as time passes, so he eventually ends up with an appearance like what he has in TWST canon. He gets all his muscles cause he's constantly training in order to make himself stronger, so he can always protect himself and Yuu, because that's what's most important to him.

For a while, their little world just consists of the two of them, and they're perfectly fine with that since they're just so grateful and happy to have each other. However, eventually, their world becomes a little bit bigger.

Enter the Shroud brothers.

One day, while a fourteen year old Yuu is in the forest gathering edible plants, she happens to hear a lot of yelling, and out of curiosity, she decides to check the situation out but fully intends to remain out of sight since the villagers have to be behind the ruckus and she knows they won't wanna see her.

Much to her surprise, Yuu finds out the commotion is about the village having discovered that Ortho is a formfolk, which is something Idia and his parents have been hiding these last few years.

You see, a few years ago, there was a living human by the name of Ortho Shroud. Sadly, he fell seriously ill and died despite his family's best efforts to save him.

Coincidentally, around this time, one of Ortho's favorite toys, a puzzle box that Idia had made for him, became a formfolk and ended up with an appearance just like Ortho's since formfolk tend to end up looking just like their owners.

Because they knew about the village's law about formfolk being forbidden, the Shroud family decided to hide the truth about Ortho's death and bury him secretly, so that formfolk Ortho could take his place.

The only other person that knew the truth about that incident was actually Yuu, because, back when she still could live in the village, she had seen the original Ortho with black threads around his neck which meant death was in his near future, although she didn't say as much because she didn't wanna be blamed for his death.

Yuu found it highly unlikely that Ortho could survive, considering no one with black threads has ever survived before, but she kept those thoughts to herself since she had no proof that he had been replaced. Plus, she didn't want him to get in trouble with the villagers.

Unfortunately, the secret has finally come out, and the village wants Ortho gone by tomorrow. Naturally, Idia and his parents are against this since Ortho's too young to be off on his own, and Idia can't bear to lose his brother again.

Taking pity on them, Yuu decides to get involved after the villagers all return to the village and the Shroud parents run after them in hopes of getting them to reconsider their demands.

Once Idia and Ortho are the only ones who are left, she calls out to them from her hiding spot, catching them off guard. They quickly recognize her, though, since everyone in the village knows her.

Fortunately, they don't treat her like the other villagers do since they don't see her as a monster. The reason for that is because for the last few years their parents have been researching the clan that Yuu's mother came from.

It's her late mother's blood that led to Yuu having her special power because everyone in that clan could see threads like her, and they were often relied on by the shogunate to fight the blightfall.

While the original reason the Shroud family moved to this village several years ago was to be with Idia/Ortho's grandparents who were unable to provide for themselves due to old age/illness, Mama and Papa Shroud soon had another reason for living there, because a few years after they moved to the village, they received an order from the shogunate to research Yuu's mother's clan's sudden disappearance/demise since no one knows what happened to them and why Yuu is the only one with that clan's blood left.

Mama and Papa Shroud, who were both held in high regard by the shogunate due to their brilliant, inventive minds, were all to eager to accept the order because they've always been quite fascinated by the family Yuu's mother came from, so they were all too happy to delve into this intriguing mystery.

As a result, thanks to their research, the Shroud family knows Yuu's situation, and Mama and Papa Shroud really felt bad for the poor girl and wished the villagers didn't treat her so horribly. Unfortunately, there was no reasoning with the other villagers who outnumbered them.

Plus, they were doing their best to avoid drawing too much attention to their family because the whole situation with Ortho.

Anyway, back to Yuu and the Shroud brothers, after she gets the boys' attention, Yuu offers to let Ortho stay in her home, much to their surprise.

While they'll need to make a big show of Ortho leaving so the villagers will be led to believe he's gone for good, Ortho can secretly come back through the forest and hide out on the mountain with Yuu if he so desires. That way he won't have to be completely separated from his family.

Ortho is delighted by this news since he doesn't want to be apart from his brother and parents. Meanwhile, Idia is surprised and confused by why Yuu would help them when they hardly know each other. Plus, they're part of the village that exiled her, even though their family was actually against Yuu being treated so horribly.

Yuu wants to help because she doesn't think it's right to separate Ortho from his family, and she also has noticed that the Shroud family were the only villagers that never treated her unkindly, so that's enough of a reason for her to wanna help them out.

In the end, the Shroud family takes her up on her offer, but it'll be just a temporary living situation since Mama and Papa Shroud intend to ask the shogunate if they can leave the village and plan on wrapping up their reasearch efforts over the next few weeks/upcoming month.

During this time, Idia, who, ever since the original Ortho died, typically spent all his time indoors with formfolk Ortho up until this point because he was so afraid of losing his brother again, constantly visits his brother at Yuu's house, and as a result, ends up spending a lot of time with Yuu and Jack as well.

Thankfully, Jack didn't mind this temporary living arrangement since Ortho's a sweetheart who's willing to help out around the house, and cause the Shroud family never mistreated Yuu.

Thanks to this, the Shroud brothers become a part of Yuu and Jack's little family, and they all become quite close friends.

Because he feels she has the right to know, Idia explains to Yuu about her powers and her mother's side of the family since it pisses him off that she's treated like a monster and that because of the villagers Yuu sees herself in a negative light just cause she's not like everyone else.

Idia also mentions that his parents had talked to Yuu's father about the missing clan as part of their research, but all he knew was that they were dead. He has no idea what happened to them. He was just told by the god of the local shrine that they're all gone now, which was also the story the heroine's father was given in the game.

Yuu is naturally very sad to hear that she's the last of her clan, but she's glad that she's not the only one to ever have had these powers.

She's also puzzled about what happened to her mother and her clan since she doesn't have any memories of her mother. For some reason, she can't remember anything from those years when she had lived with both of her parents, which is also the story for the game's heroine.

The Shroud family knows this because Yuu's father had said as much. Yuu had actually been with her mother when the clan suddenly disappeared, so they think something traumatic must have happened that resulted in Yuu losing her memories.

Thankfully, while he couldn't find his wife or her clan, Yuu's father was able to find Yuu after the incident occurred, and he avoided talking to Yuu about it out of worry that she'd remember painful memories best left forgotten.

That's why Mama and Papa Shroud never tried to question Yuu since, despite their curiosity, they didn't want to endanger her mental wellbeing.

This is why Idia tells Yuu not to think too hard about those memories and says that she's better off focusing on the present than dwelling on the past since finding out what happened to her mother and her clan won't make her current situation any better.

Jack backs Idia up cause he doesn't want Yuu to remember anything that will hurt her, and he also agrees that focusing on what happened in the past won't do her any good.

Even though she really would like to remember her mother, Yuu does think they make a good point, so when she fails to recall anything from what happened all those years ago, she decides to drop the matter, especially after Ortho says his parents are working hard to figure out what happened so she can leave things to them.

Sadly, in the end, Mama and Papa Shroud are unable to figure out what happened to Yuu's mother and her clan, although they do think the snow that's always falling on the mountain where Yuu lives is somehow connected to the clan because it's not natural for there to be snow there all year round, making them wonder if the shrine god that Yuu's father mentioned is possibly behind the constant snow and if the snow has a purpose of some kind.

Even though they're not successful with their research efforts, Mama and Papa Shroud still get permission from the shogunate to leave the village since there's really not much else the researchers can do at this point.

So, once that's decided, the Shroud family leaves and heads for Edo since Mama and Papa Shroud's services were requested by the shogunate which is stationed there.

Yuu is naturally very sad to see Idia and Ortho go since she had been so happy to have more friends, but she's happy that they'll be able to live together as a family with their parents again.

Idia and Ortho wish they could just take Yuu with them since she deserves better than being isolated on a mountain, but Yuu and Jack are a package deal and it'd be rough for Mama and Papa Shroud to take care of two extra mouths.

Plus, with all the blightfalls showing up as of late, Yuu is safer on the mountain, so it's decided that she's better off remaining there.

It's still hard for Idia and Ortho to leave since they got really attached to Yuu, and Idia, who's older than her, feels like he should take care of her like Ortho.

That's why Idia says that he'll come back for Yuu and Jack once his family has settled down in Edo and he thinks that the two can safely and comfortably live in Edo.

Little did Idia know that five years later he'd be coming back for Yuu on the shogunate's orders because her powers are needed to deal with the blightfall.

The reason Idia was sent was because, with his genius mind, he ended up becoming a great resource to the shogunate, especially since, during his time at Edo, it was discovered he had great potential to be a soothsayer, which is someone who can use magic by using their knowledge of onmyodo.

The Shroud family is well-known for having powerful magic users, and Idia ends up being a prodigy, the best the family has seen in many generations.

While he orignally had no interest in using magic and doing this kinda work, Idia started practicing and studying after he moved to Edo so he'd be able to protect his family from blightfall and he had hoped he could solve the blightfall crisis before the shogunate felt the need to seek out Yuu's help.

Unfortunately, Idia wasn't able to accomplish that goal so he's left with the frustrating task of having to recruit Yuu, even though the last thing he wants is for her to have to be anywhere near those dangerous monsters, even if it means he can finally get her far away from that damn village.

However, he can't refuse an order from the shogun, so Idia has no other choice but to go get Yuu, but he's determined to keep her out of harm's way and won't let anyone take advanatage of her like what had often seemed to happen to the members of her dead clan.

Because Yuu is family, and nobody takes advantage of Idia's family while he's around.

Now that I've covered the Shroud brothers, there's one last member of Yuu's makeshift family I wanna talk about here, and he gets brought into the picture after the Shroud family leaves for Edo.

About four years after the Shroud family leaves, a formfolk is born in Yuu/Jack's household, and it's from one of Yuu's old toys. It was a small wooden crocodile that Yuu's father made along with several other wooden animals.

Because the crocodile was her father's favorite animal, Yuu always especially treasured that one after he died, so she'd take extra good care of it and make sure it was always clean as it remained in a shelf that she could always look at.

Because Yuu had a lot of love for that crocodile, a formfolk is eventually born from it, much to her great surprise.

Naturally, Yuu is also very excited since this means she'll have a new family member/friend, and she quickly gives him the name Sebek, which she came up thanks to a book she once read thanks to the Shroud family sharing their huge book collection with her that mentioned the Egyptian deity, Sobek, who is associated with crocodiles.

Jack is a little exasperated by this turn of events because Sebek has such a huge appetite, but he doesn't mind having another face around since he gets along well enough with Sebek. Plus, it makes Yuu happy to have another family member/friend, and he's glad there's someone else to help him look after Yuu.

Sebek here is a lot like his TWST game counterpart, except he doesn't have any negative feelings toward humans, although he does hate the villagers for making Yuu suffer, like Jack.

In this setting, Sebek treats Yuu like his master and is very loyal/decidated to her and quite protective of her.

While Yuu greatly appreciates how dedicated Sebek is to her, she doesn't want him to treat her like she's his master since she sees them both as equals.

Thankfully, after enough time passes, Yuu is able to get Sebek to be more relaxed and less formal around her, and he begins treating her more like Jack, although he still remains overprotective of her.

From the start, Sebek thought highly of Yuu because of all the love she showed him when he was just a wooden crocodile, and he found it impressive that she could remain so kindhearted despite everything she went through thanks to the villagers.

However, after spending time with her as a formfolk, Sebek's attachment toward her grew even stronger because she treated him as an equal and always showered him with so much genuine love and care.

As a result, Sebek becomes quite close to Yuu, like Jack, and ends up seamlessly incorporating himself into Yuu & Jack's little family since the three of them get along so well.

Of course, there are still times when Jack and Sebek butt heads since their personalities are similar, but they never have serious fights and can usually resolve things within a reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately, while Sebek's presence in their lives is wholeheartedly welcomed, he does make their living situation more difficult because of his large appetite, even with Jack's hunting skills.

Which leads to Sebek eventually deciding that he needs to find a job so he can make money to buy the food he needs since he refuses to impose upon Yuu/Jack despite Yuu insisting that he doesn't have to do that.

Sebek is determined to find work, however, since he feels he should be responsible for himself, and he's also hoping that he can make enough money that he can use it to further improve Yuu/Jack's lives that way they don't have to always scour the forest for food.

That's why Sebek goes on a journey to find work since he doesn't want anything to do with the nearby village. He's hoping he can find a town that's not too far from home, so he can make regular trips back to see Yuu/Jack.

Sadly, Sebek's journey ends in tragedy since he ends up turning back into a wooden crocodile after having saved the shogun, whom he didn't realize was the shogun at the time, from a blightfall by shoving him to safety.

The shogun, who had been traveling incognito at the time, had shared his food with a hungry Sebek who had collapsed by the road prior to that incident, which is what led to Sebek risking his life to save him.

After the Oniwaban, who eventually arrived on the scene, later defeated the blightfall, the shogun collected Sebek's item and decided that he'd make him into a vessel since he didn't know who and where Sebek's owner was, only Sebek's name, since this is the only way to give Sebek's life back to him without his owner.

Plus, by having Sebek join the Oniwaban, Sebek will have a stable job and a roof over his head, which the shogun felt he deserved after sacrificing himself for his sake. This is why Sebek becomes so loyal to the shogun and treats him as his master since the shogun always treats him so kindly.

Unfortunately, this means that when Sebek is reborn his memories and heart are sealed, so he no longer remembers Yuu and Jack, which the two are naturally sad about when they finally reunite with him.

This reunion happens when Idia is sent to retrieve Yuu because Sebek is tasked with accompanying him.

Yuu is elated when she sees Idia and Sebek since she had missed them dearly, and she had been worried sick about Sebek whom she hasn't seen/heard from in months.

(Yuu had wanted to go looking for Sebek, but Jack convinced her to wait since it was possible that Sebek had to travel a great distance to find work or that Sebek didn't want to contact them until he had good news about work since he's so prideful and wouldn't ever want to admit he couldn't do what he set out to do.)

She's both confused and heartbroken when Sebek asks if he knows her while Jack is angry since he can't believe Sebek could just forget them like that.

Upon realizing Yuu is Sebek's owner, Idia quickly pulls her and Jack aside and explains Sebek's situation and how vessels have their memories/hearts sealed.

He also tells them that if a vessel's heart/memories were to ever become unsealed the vessel would soon cease to exist, so if they don't want to lose Sebek, they need to accept his memory loss and not force him to remember.

Yuu is devastated by this news, but she, along with Jack, agrees to keep Sebek's past a secret from him since she can't bear the thought of losing him again.

Fortunately, despite his memories being sealed, Sebek seems to unconsciously recognize who Yuu is since he feels drawn to her, and he's kinder to her than he has ever been to any other human aside from the shogun he so loyally serves.

Sebek is also quick to protect Yuu when a blightfall appears in her village after the villagers get all worked up over Idia and Sebek bringing Yuu down to the village from the mountain, like what happened in the game.

Initially, Sebek fights the blightfall on his own since Idia's magic can't outright defeat blightfall, only someone with Snow Sacrament can do that, but Jack ends up joining the fight despite Yuu/Idia telling him not to.

Much to everyone's surprise, after working with Sebek to fight the monster, Jack manages to unconsciously use Snow Sacrament on the blightfall, which, according to Idia, shouldn't be possible.

Idia has never seen anything like this, so he has no idea how Jack can perform a feat like that, and of course, neither does Jack who was just acting on instinct and his strong desire to protect his friends.

The only possible explanation Idia can think of is Jack's prolonged exposure to Yuu and the fact that he became a Beastman because of Yuu led to him obtaining a special power the likes of which her clan posseses, although it sounds way too surreal to him.

While the shogunate's orders were to recruit just Yuu to the Oniwaban, Idia knows they'll be interested in Jack as well, so he decides to introduce them both to the shogun. That way Jack can remain close to Yuu to keep her safe and Jack can use his power to help them deal with the blightfall.

Initially, there are some reservations about joining the Oniwaban on Yuu/Jack's end, but because they trust Idia and want to be with Sebek, they agree to go to Edo with them after Yuu asks the villagers to take care of her father's grave in her absence.

And that's all I've got right now. I'll write more later if I can think of anything else for this AU lol

[eri-pl]

Silm reread 19: Game of Thrones the Children of Hurin

Also maybe this time I will remember to put it in the queue instead of posting immadiately.

TW: you all know which ones apply here. (No details, even less than in the book.)

So, Rían. What's with her??? Postpartum depression?

Anyway, we leave her at her enigmatic death and go to Túrin. He is born in the same year when B&L meet. I guess the bad/good luck is budgeted per year…

Morwen is cool, and it comes to her head to send Túrin to Dorriath in secret. So, we know where we're headed.

Thingol is now a fan of Men (good for him, but in this case— no, wait. It does not bite him personally in the rear. Húrin does later, but maybe he would anyway.

Morwen doesn't want to leave her house where she lived with Húrin, which is more understandable than the version in (poetic text? I don't remember) where she just says that she doesn't want to be given alms by elves. She sounds proud in that one, and in a bad sense.

Saeros. He is a Nando… which ones were those, Green Elves? Riven Elves? anyway he's a jerk. He is jealous because the king likes Túrin. also, his insult (Mannish women running naked in forests) seems kind of prophetic or at least foreshadowy. (Nienor) Also, I only now realized that Túrin's revenge is simply "now you do the thing you've just said my people do". Which is… not nice but stylish in a way.

He dies on bad luck, Turin feels guilty and is afraid that Thingol will put him into prison. So he runs away. Which isn't fair to Thingol, I would say. Or the right thing to do.

He joins a band, they attack everyone from either side of the war.

Thingol forgives Túrin without talking to him, which is very kind of him. also he sends Beleg to go find Túrin because he misses the guy. Which is very lovely.

In the meantime Túrin calls himself "the Wronged". By whom? saeros maybe, but he's already dead. Thingol??? Maybe go and check your assumptions with reality, my guy? Go talk with your elven foster-dad?

Beleg gets beaten, Túrin is sorry and promises to only attack Morgoth's minions from now on. This will be important later.

Morgoth (or something in his hierarchy? Easterlings?) is poetically referred to as "the Black Hand" which is quite unique.

Beleg tells Túrin that Thingol forgave him… and Túrin is too proud to accept it. Seriously, my guy, come on. why. why are you so stubborn to be upset?

Thingol is sad (very relateable, very sweet, in this story he is the good guy in general, very lovely of him).

Beleg gets Anglachel, ignoring Melian's advice. Also, Anguirel is mentioned.

Túrin and his men attack some Dwarves. So…. remember when he promised to only attach Morgoth's minions? Yea. He doesn't keep to it. As we will see, Túrin is one of the worst at keeping his word. And the characters that are on par with him about this are clear bad guys, namely Morgoth and Ulfang.

So of course it goes wrong. But this is not a summary, this is a "things I did not remember and my thoughts" post, so I won't recap all the Mîm story.

Also, we see Mîm complaining on "Elves gave new names to everything" which sounds like a Tolkien's in-joke. Because he loves giving names to stuff.

Túrin is sorry for the death of Mîm's son. As we will see, his "learning from having killed someone and becoming better" skill is on par with Maglor "apology videos songs" Feanorian.

Also, he promises Mîm that if he ever becomes rich, he will pay a weregild in gold. Another promise that later goes nowhere. Also, funnily, the place where Túrin will become rich is Nargothrond. And who years later gets the treasures of Nargothrond? Mîm. So, fate makes this promise fulfilled (more or less), even though Túrin does not.

Túrin gets vibes from Brethil, I'm not sure why.

Mîm forgives him, more or less, convinced by his sadness and/or promise of recompense. they talk a lot and Túrin learns things. also, we get the story of the "Petty" Dwarves and how the Sindar hunted them out of ignorance and how that hate the Noldor for living in Nargothrond which was initially their. (I am certain Finrod did not know this and is not at fault here, this doesn't seem to me like his kind of bad decision. Not talking about things: yes. But chasing other race out of their homes? No.)

Also, weather note. Morgoth becoming more powerful = winters are worse. (Cut to CSL chuckling in the background ;D …but no this is an older trope I think.)

Beleg again, Túrin doesn't want to return to Doriath again. we arent told whether Beleg asked "how is the 'not attacking non-evil peoples' thing going?" but part of me wishes he did)

Anthropology… well, Eldarology: the Noldor have more skill and lore, but the Sindar are wiser. Or are they just wiser than Men? Translation unclear.

Anyway, Mîm hates Beleg, because racial prejudice, and because the bandits respect him.

Morgoth gets a paragraph he totally does not deserve the poetics of, even if technically it is true. Also, we are told that he knows a lot and knows more about his opponent's plans than anyone suspects, even Melian. whom BTW he thinks a lot about.

Also, this paragraph is in present tense which means that either a) the text was written pre-War-of-Wrath b) the translation is messed up again.

Anyway Morgoth hears about the Dragon Helm, realizes it's Húrin's son and sends spies to the area. And orcs.

So, betrayal and capture. Beleg is powerful! Also, Gwindor.

Orcs are afraid of the storm! They think it's the work of the Valar. do they react to every lightning like this? But…. Morgoth can shoot lightnings too (see: B&L)? Maybe they are afraid only of lightning strikes accompanied by rain. (Rainless storms are a thing and they are creepy, make the air feel exhausting, give people headaches and look quite Morgoth-coded)

Beleg dies and from now on Túrin is in mourning, and it never fully goes away. even though he is healed by Ulmo's magic spring.

Also, Anglachel is a heavy sword! Two-handed? At least one and a half probably. I will need to pay more attention to details of the fights. I would love to know what type of sword is it.

Finduilas and the love triangle. Poor girl tbh. Poor Gwindor too,. And Túrin isn't at fault in this particular situation either.

Túrin changes his name again. Plus we het a description: pale, grey-eyed, dark-haired, more beautiful than most Men then (unclear how this compares to modern people). Also, he's got Elven manners and …seems like a Noldo? Does it mean he can speak Quenya? Maybe not.

Anglachel gets a makeover.

Also, túrin gets a dwarven armor, and finds a golden dwarven mask and … I think he is pretty wealthy at this point. And, despite the fact that Mîm had betrayed him (which I'm not sure he knows? Maaaybe from Beleg via Gwindor?) he could at least try to fulfill his promise. Because, you know, promises.

Seriously, if Túrin and the Feanorians averaged with one another on their attitudes to "keeping your word" everyone would be much happier.

But no, he fights in a precious Dwarf-made armor and doesn't care about the poor Dwarf whom he promised to pay for the death of his son.

Finduilas falls in love, it is "stronger than her will". OK, feelings happen. And can't be controlled. I love how they all behave about it, all three are civil and respectful and don't make much drama about the romantic stuff.

Gwindor is like "I love you, but if you don't love me, don't try to force it, follow your heart. But maybe don't marry this guy because he's got a bad vibe." Plus some talk about how such relationships Should Not Be Unless Fate. (I'm not a fan of this. But then, Gwindor had spent a lot of time in angband so I can dismiss some of his opinions as "warped by Morgoth's influence".)

Also, he tells her who Túrin is, which I'm not sure what I think about. I believe that he doesn't try to get her back, just to make sure he's safe. But also, this is betraying of a frnd's secret. But also, this secret was stupid and Gwindor did not, I think, promise to keep it, just was asked to. Anyway I don't think it changes much.

OK, I take it back. It does change something. Just not in the love triangle. Orodreth starts to favor Túrin. which has good effects (the people of Nargathrond stop being trechearous cowards) and bad effects (the bridge, nor enough caution).

Gwindor is against Túrin's ideas, but is ignored, because he's not a good warrior. (there will be a similar situation near the end).

Another good consequence of it is Morwen and Niennor getting to Doriath.

Ulmo sends a warning to Orodreth, but Túrin is too proud to listen and loves his big bridge. and Orodreth seems to be bad at having his own opinions tbh.

We are told that Túrin is proud and wants everything to go according to his will, which reminds me of similar line about Maeglin. Those two parallel each other very much in this moment. The main difference is their romantic situations. Maeglin is in unrequited love, Túrin is loved and … when did he even learn about Finduilas' love for him? Oh, wait, she told him her conversation with Gwindor, so I guess then. It must have been somewhat awkward. anyway he doesn't seem to care much about her.

Nargothrond falls, Gwindor curses the day when he saved Túrin (they all love cursing things) and tells him that only Finduilas is between Túrin and his doom. which seems like one of those I-am-dying-so-have-a-prophecy things (which Brandon Sanderson totally did not borrow from the Silm, along with an assortment of various visuals, but not so much to look unoriginal)

The bridge. And the dragon, who is, like werewolves, inhabited by an evil spirit. It enchants Túrin and gives him a warped self-image and toxic sense of guilt. Also, an obsession about finding his mother and sister.

So, Gwindor's advice was too late. Ulmo's advice was not too late, but has been ignored. and here we are.

Some madness and stuff.

Turin comes to his senses, but decides to go looking for his mother and sister, because he would bring doom upon them. This doesn't sound like a good idea to me, also, he changes his mind all the time. If he kept doing one thing and went to Doriath, maybe he would not land in the incest situation? But I don't know the timeline this well. anyway, it rings wrong, like a bad decision.

He finds Finduilas' grave. And names himself Turambar, which … is Quenya? So he is fluent in Quenya too. huh. I guess Orodreth taught him. Or Finduilas.

Poor Anglachel is put away, but I guess it is a good sign.

Morwen and Niennor leave Doriath…. So yes, this checks out, he probably should have gone to Doriath back then. Also, their motivarions are "despair" and "an unlucky hour of hope" so… this can't go well.

Glaurung has to use 100% of his power to be able to do anything to Nienor, which is extremely cool of her. She's more strong willed than many elves, i think.

But she gets enchanted and runs and runs naked through the forest, which was foreshadowed by Saeros.

Brandir is another instance of "I love you, I won't try to get you but please don't matty Túrin". And he is, just like Gwindor, not great at fighting, because disability.

Anyway, Túrin and Niniel get married. Yay.

Also, we learn that Glaurung sent orcs to Brethil. So, he commands orcs. Dragons are in the chain of command. this is an interesting tidbit for fics.

people ignore Brandir's reasonable opinions (just like Gwindor's), he is upset and stops loving his people.

Túrin ills the dragon and it might have ended better, but he wants to a) get Anglachel back, and b) the satisfaction of seeing his enemy dead. Bad reasons, bad results.And since it's Túrin, the results are unproportionally bad.

Glaurong dies and his magic disappears instantly. It is how this works in the Legendarium, I suppose.

Turin and his sister/wife get a Romeo&Juliet scene.

Brandir kills Dorlas. WHY??? For his cowardice?

Túrin realizes that fate is upon him, curses Brandir and kills him (a rare combo), then goes to sit on the grave and be sad about what he did. Maglor vibes intensify, but he seems to be reaching a little bit of progress here? He asks Finduilas for advice (for her own good, I hope she's in Mandos and not listening to him) because he's got no idea what to do and what would be good for others. Hey, he is willing to take advice! This is a new thing.

But instead, Mablung comes. BTW Mablung is a kind of guy that is in the background of many important events, but surprisingly survives (until he does not).

So, now Túrin sends him to bring his curse to Doriath. (And curses Mablung's mission too)

Yes, definitely Maglor's approach to "learning from your regrets" :Þ

Seriously.

My guy.

Mallory would— You know what? Túrin just landed above the Feanorians on my list of "take them from Tolkien and give the custody of them to sir Thomas Mallory".

Yes, I know the gerne and stuff. but still. I am upset. I keep being upset on reading those even though I know what happens.

…but we're gonna sing it anyway.

[greetings-inferiors]

Okay so I know this is out of order and I haven't touched persona Green in months but unironically this came to me in a dream and Yoshie was already one of if not the most underdeveloped of the main cast so I need to write this down NOW.

Yoshie Takamoto is a party member in Persona: Green of the Lovers arcana. She has a reputation as a sort of princess - she's beautiful, bubbly, and has a near flawless sense of fashion and style, sometimes even wearing a tiara as an accessory. However when she loses her temper she's like a raging demon (the joke is she's partially inspired by Akuma lol). She also boxes, being a top contender for the boxing club's middleweight champion. If you get on her bad side, you might not recover for a few days. She has gorgeous brown eyes and medium length hair that she wears long or in a ponytail if boxing, is on the heavier side with a fair mix of fat and muscle (because quite literally every single party member in the series is as thin as a stick I need one person who's even slightly plump), and is taller than average, but due to Miyuki and Safie already being quite tall, she looks about average height when with the group, about the same height as Nenji (poor Tsuneko she's like a head shorter than anyone else lol)

Being the lovers arcana, of course her story will have to do with her feelings for the male protagonist. But that's not who she has the social link with! Before she joins the group she already knows Kouki from being in the same tutor group, and has already developed a crush, but once she joins the group the only other woman she can confide in (Safie isn't an option for girl talk secrets lol especially not upon first meeting her) is Miyuki, whom she forms a social link with. It follows her escapades trying to make him confess to her, and I haven't even decided if it'll be fruitful yet so oooooh what's going to happennnnnn~

In the sea of souls her weapons are her fists, and when she gets into a fight thorns wrap around her hands like boxing tape. When she tears away the thorns they manifest into her persona Guinevere, a physical based attacker that focuses on dodging opponents attacks and responding with single powerful strikes. The element she wields is fire, and she can use the flames of her passion and competitiveness to give buffs to herself and her party. She has good hp, low defence, high strength, alright magic, and great agility and luck. She's kind of a mish mash of junpei and akihiko in terms of battle style (oh also I bet she has an akihiko poster on her wall he's her celebrity crush (he is a famous boxer right I haven't played arena yet)).

Her dungeon is fairly similar to Yukiko's with some key differences. She dreams of Kouki as her night in shining armour, and getting together and living happily ever after etc., but obviously she has doubts and insecurities that manifest as a terrible, wicked, disgusting dragon, which is revealed to be her shadow. It's also revealed that she just sees Kouki as another man for her to woo and then get bored of and abandon, as portrayed by all of the skeletal knights in the dragon's lair. Upon beating the shadow she admits that she just saw him as another man to "win", and deeply apologises for what he had to see, and that she doesn't actually love him. Kouki's like "that's okay we all have parts of ourselves which aren't great as long as you don't act upon them and treat people well in real life who cares what you dream" y'know the regular persona spiel and then she's like "yeah haha you're so right for that... Wait is it getting hot in here or is it just me" do you get me it's like before she just sees men as like objects or trophies to be won and she's like a badass femme fatale but then afterwards she like actually starts having healthy relationships with men and then it turns out she's actually a loser failgirl over the guy she's in love with do you see my vision

Anyway relationships with the rest of the cast:

Kouki: No chance, no way, I won't say it no no

Miyuki: you swoon you sigh why deny it uhoh

(I'm so sorry I'll actually properly do it now)

Kouki: greatly respects him as a leader of the group but also as just a really nice person. Like when you're acting like an awful person to someone and they're like "it's okay I forgive you" then you realise you sucked and thankful that they gave you a second chance? He could dress better though.

Miyuki: initially she wants to like... Show off that Kouki likes her (because she assumes that Kouki and Miyuki MUST be dating, and bad traits don't just instantly vanish), but once her toxicity starts wearing off and she realises how out of depth she is Miyuki is a valuable ally, both on and off the battlefield. They become besties, a forged in fire friendship type deal, Yoshie is even the first person Miyuki comes out as Bi to (have I mentioned that oh well you're in the same boat as Yoshie if I haven't).

Safie: initially - weirdo, extra, girl what is UP with that hair, later - bestie, matches her energy, realises that straight hair either down or in a ponytail isn't the only way to wear hair and Safie kind of just owns it, why does Yoshie care so much about what other people think she looks like, she should just wear what she wants. Also a sparring partner, her form is sloppy but she can take a punch. One of the only people who can (which makes sense as the tank of the team, and she's not human sooo)

Nenji: initially - loser, creepy, doesn't even want to try and know him, then turns out he can actually be cool when he wants to be, he's pretty quick on his toes even if he's freaking out, and... Although she'd never tell another soul, the anime he recommended her is actually really good. DO NOT LET HIM, KOUKI, OR MIYUKI KNOW.

Shin: initially he's cool but quiet and a bit of a dumbass, you have to like... Fully explain yourself otherwise he'll WILDLY misinterpret what you mean. Also a nerd. Then she realises he's really strong and reliable, incredibly clever, and will always do exactly what you tell him, she's just got to learn to be clear and obvious. She's dying to get him into a badass suit he'd look SO COOL.

Tsuneko: best girl cinnamon roll, must be protected at all costs. Feels sorry for her missing out on a lot of her childhood/school years so starts doing girls nights with Safie and Miyuki which helps get them all closer together. Essentially acts as her big sister, even though they're only like a year apart. Tries to get her into the anime Nenji showed her and they both get really into it and have slumber parties to watch important new episodes. HE MUST NEVER KNOW.

Johnny: thinks he's a dumbass but by this point she sees him as a loveable dumbass. Goes along with some of his shenanigans, and he can actually convince the other guys to get into suits THIS IS PERFECT. He thinks that he can take her in boxing and it misfires every single time but she's not complaining.

[aniron48]

Love Letters - Day 4

I don't know how it's possible, but we're already almost halfway through! You all have made this so much fun, and it's been an utter delight for me so far. 💜 If you're joining for the first time, you can catch up as follows: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

As a reminder, there will be a post around this time (9pmish EST) every night through 2/14. And for those who are all caught up, welcome to day 4 of Love Letters, a 00q choose your own adventure! Congratulations, fellow nerds, you've unlocked the library. Day 4 starts below the cut.

His next stop should probably be to the library.

“Can I help you find anything?” A librarian with bright pink hair and a beard to match walked up to where Bond lingered in front of the new acquisitions shelf, trying to get his bearings.

Bond opened his mouth to decline, but he only had an hour and a half before he had to be back at MI6 for a meeting with the Budget Office, and not much idea where to start. Besides, he’d made sure nothing he borrowed could be traced to him, anyway. He’d taken out the library card in Mallory’s name.

“I don’t suppose you have any books on love letters?”

“Books about love letters? Or with examples of them?”

“Yes. Both. Either.”

“Well, you’re in luck. I pulled a few things that might be of interest for our Valentine’s Day display. It’s just over here.”

Bond followed the librarian, whose name badge read “Kai,” to a table decorated with construction paper drawings of candy hearts. They picked up a book called Indelible: Queer Love Letters through the Ages. “This just came in last month, and it’s gorgeous. Give it a look and see if it’s what you need.”

Bond took the book to one of the nearby tables and began to page through.

Before he knew it, nearly an hour had gone by. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, exactly. Perhaps that love letters from real people would be somehow less than the fictional letter Austen had written for Captain Wentworth—less profound, and more prosaic. There were mundane bits, to be sure, but somehow even they were suffused with light; enhanced, rather than diminished, by the love that brought them into focus.

“I just miss you,” Vita Sackville-West wrote to Virginia Woolf, “in a quite simple desperate human way…I miss you even more than I could have believed; and I was prepared to miss you a good deal.”

And there was profundity, too, a humanity that banked itself like the embers of a fire against the darkness that threatened to overwhelm it. Near the middle of the book, Bond found the letters of Wilfred Owen to Siegfried Sassoon. 

“And you have fixed my Life—however short,” he wrote, almost a year to the day before he was killed in action, barely a week before the end of World War I. “You did not light me: I was always a mad comet; but you have fixed me. I spun round you a satellite for a month, but I shall swing out soon, a dark star in the orbit where you will blaze.”

“What do you think?” Kai asked, returning to Bond’s table.

Bond cleared his throat. “It’s perfect,” he said. “Could I check this out?”

“Of course. I’ll meet you at the circulation desk.” 

Kai took Bond’s library card and scanned it, saying as they did so, “You know, the editors of this anthology are putting together a companion version of contemporary letters. They’re asking people to send in copies of letters they’ve received, to show what love looks like now. If you’re fond of love letters, you should think about sending some in.”

Bond looked down at the circulation desk, rubbing ineffectually at a scuff mark with his finger. He thought of a flooded building in Venice, and all the hopes that had collapsed with it; of the dozens of married women and the handful of married men for whom Bond had been an excuse to pretend, for an hour, or an evening, or a week, that their lives were something more than a string of indistinguishable, empty days. He’d been happy to let them, at the time. He’d been using them for the same thing, after all. But there had been no love letters for him, either, even if he’d never felt the lack until now.

“No,” he said after a moment. “No, I don’t have anything I could send in.”

“Well, you never know,” Kai said, handing over the book. “Valentine’s Day is coming up. You might get lucky.”

“You never know,” Bond said, slipping his library card back in his wallet. “Thanks again.”

As he walked back to MI6, the book safely wrapped in his jacket, he thought, finally, that he might have everything he needed to write Q a proper love letter.

I made up the title of the book Bond looks through, but the love letters (and many more like them!) are real. You can find the letter from Vita Sackville-West here, and the one from Wilfred Owen here.

[et-mberg]

Affection (Isaac McAdoo x fem!OC)

This one may be short, but I still believe it to be adorable.

Thank you to everyone who liked my post about being interested in possible Isaac McAdoo content.

If you would like to read the actual fanfiction (that has only just begun) – you can find it on Wattpad, titled “David Bowie Eyes”

Rhea Ripley as “Bowie” Roscoe

xXx

Just recently Bowie had begun to train with the Boys.

She could no longer work in martial arts, therefore she was much less physically active.

But now, that she could do more extensive training again, having finally fully recovered from her brain surgery, she had to make use of the opportunity.

Sure, she was no footballer, but she certainly could run, do weight training and more similar physical stuff.

She was glad, that not all her hard work in the past had gone to waste during her recovery.

It was after the most recent workout in the gym, when she was sweaty and ready for a shower, that she was approached by the resident Frenchman, “Ma Cherie, I need a favour.”

An eyebrow of suspicion raised and her voice cautious, she agreed, asking what he wanted.

“I have been invited to a wine tasting event by a potential sponsor. I would like to take you with me”

“Okay? Why invite me?”, she was still very much suspicious.

Richard was a flirt, always has been, it was simply a part of him and it did not bother her, it was rather flattering and did good for her self-confidence, but never before had he honestly invited her to something like this, or something without at least one other person from the team.

“We French believe, that beautiful women by our side bring luck”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

That sentence was followed by a loud “Oi!” from Captain Isaac McAdoo.

The amount of “Oi!”s yelled by the guys to get someone’s attention was astounding.

A determined look on his face, well, more determined than usual, he made his way over to Bowie and Richard, the second of whom he did not knowledge for the moment, taking the former’s face gently between his hands.

His voice was stern, possibly somewhat angry, even though his words were most certainly not, “You’re fucking beautiful, Bruv. If beautiful women bring luck, then there is no one else he could take to be luckier.”

Isaac’s next words addressed his teammate, looking at him, but not taking his hands from Bowie’s reddening cheeks, “She’s coming with you. Tell me the dress code and I’ll get her something.”

Isaac looked back to Bowie.

After a determined – that man truly was determination personified - nod, he took advantage of his 13 centimeters height advantage to press a kiss to her forehead and walked away without another word.

Richard was quite amused when he asked, “what just happened?”

Bowie, incredibly confused and flustered, simply answered him, that she would apparently join him before taking her change of clothes and walking off to take a shower, knowing that her boys had enough respect for her, to not peek.

And knowing that Roy and Isaac would hurt anyone who tried.

The Richmond players had better things to do, to even think about that, anyway – an animated discussion:

How did those two think, that they were not together?!

[j2zara]

HI! here to play with dolls! (also good luck and safe travels on your road trip tomorrow! I'll be on the road too, so I'm with you in spirit.)

honestly, going off those vibes: we've been talking some about the clone basement situation, but to go the opposite direction briefly....what's the world like where all three of the clones (+ jaceporter or without jaceporter, in either iteration) do have to go on, like, an extended trip together for The Plan? I'm thinking something like going to deal with matters in the Mountains of Chaos or the former Forest of the Nightmare King. just in general being removed from the basement-and-Elmville-specific flavor of the torment nexus and now in a new environment with different things (such as all the minor trials and tribulations that pop up when traveling for a job, or roadtripping together. traveling by car, potentially. staying in hotels!!) would this fix any of the dynamics. would it make any of them worse. who's mad at whom. who's hooking up with whom. does it depend on where they're going and what they're doing. does it depend on if jaceporter are present or absent off doing something. gimme all the thoughts!

The fact that the preface for this is “good luck on your road trip” sorry I should be killed with hammers for letting this sit so long but it was too juicy. ANYWAY. I’m tired of banging my head against the wall trying to make my latest wip work. LET'S GET THESE CLONES OUT OF THE BASEMENT. ALso sorry this is definitely unfinished but my brain is broken. if i think if anything else i’ll definitely add to it

 Some cursory thoughts:

I think if they were to do a road trip, J4 would really really really try to convince jace to let her drive. She doesn’t like that the world has built itself to be so car-centric but also on a personal level. she got behind the wheel of a car for the first time and can’t be responsible for how she behaves. (She’s me coded) She likes the freedom of it (they have teleportation but like. still). She’s also Porter-coded b/c she secretly kinda likes big cars so she can be a menace on the road the intimidates other people. They are NOT letting porter drive tho (if porter comes. Which he really should. I think everyone should join. It would be so much fun)

The problem is that nobody else wants to drive but J4 insists on only listening to her music and her weird podcasts while she drives (I don’t wanna believe its true crime but it’s probably true crime). Which. Is fair that’s usually how it works but also J4 only listens to bands that play every tuesday in the parking lot of the black pit so her taste is borderline unlistenable to everyone else, especially Jace. Blue can tolerate it bc he’s blue he can endure anything and also thinks its fair and J3 whines a bit but also will be ok with it b/c its Ellie. After people keep complaining is FINE i’ll change the music but J3 gets to choose. And his club music is worse

Her other strategy is that she will turn the music off but i need someone to keep me awake so she’s employed j3 to talk to her the entire time which is almost as annoying as if it were her music. It’s good for a little while bc they do get along but also this does sometimes devolve into petty arguments

Jace is like FINE i will take a shift if it means we can change the station and what was supposed to be a three hour break ends up being like an entire day of jace driving so that he can catch a break. Ellie is fine with this b/c this means J2 or Porter is now in the passenger seat. She gets to be in the back w J3 (depending on the seating she might even be able to nap on his shoulder)

J3: “I want to listen to music” J4: “well i want to listen to a podcast” J2: “Why don’t we compromise! We’ll listen to a podcast that Ellie doesn’t like :)” [puts on the Dry Guys] (I stole that bit from the simpsons)

I am. Compelled at the thought of getting little J2 out of elmville b/c i think getting to meet people who are not Jaceporter would be very good for him. By this point his brain is already cooked so who is to say that it’s not too late and he isn’t weird and offputting to most people but i don’t think he’s a lost cause. It must be remembered. He is also very very very very very very cute. There must be people willing to humor him or shoot their shot!!!! And i am a proponent of this. LJ3’s responsibility is to make sure blue doesn’t piss too many people off by talking the way he does like he’s about to recruit them for an mlm but also make sure he doesn’t get roped into an entirely new cult for himself. I do think it would be good exposure for him as long as jaceporter don’t find a way to twist it and be like “look this is how dangerous and scary the world is which is why we are the only ones looking out for your interests” which. Is probably what would happen. But i don’t want to believe it

I do think. Being out on the road would maybe ease some of the like. Tension of being stuck in the gothic romance haunted townhouse basement, overall. But make some problems worse. Jace is obviously trying to herd the clones like cats (aka unsuccessfully) and this is very exciting for me just b/c i do think getting them out of their element is very fun and they’re all very ravenous but compelled by different things. J2 is probably the one that is easiest to wrangle tho just b/c he’s such a goodboy. J3 is excited to meet new people but J4 i think is machinating how she can get her hands on as many magical items as weapons as possible.

Something something motels and there was only one bed oooooooooohhhhh. If we’re talking about who is sleeping with who, this is an LJ3 test and. Like. I do think there is some There Was Only One Best LJ3 like they start off closer than ever but also at each others throats. Obviously j3 meeting new people is a bit of a. Stressor for Ellie, but i genuinely think none of that is as bad as either the J3porter or j2j3 blip. Poor blue probably has to share a room w/ them but like. To be fair sometimes he’s with Porter and Jace (again it depends on if Porter is with them. If its not then like. Lets be real j2jace are also gonna have to And There Was Only One Bed about it and im not complaining)

Leviathan Specific Thoughts

Speaking of meeting people. We need to get the clones to nasty dirty pirate island. I think. J4 is in a constant tug of war between reveling in nasty dirty pirate island and being like. Oh you guys really are lawless freaks. I do think she could thrive but also get into some real trouble. But she’s making plans to come back later maybe so she can take it over from the inside. And J3 would clean tf up. He deserves a vacation to the gold gardens, i’ve been saying this for forever. (He’s gonna climb james whitclaw like a tree if it kills him, and it nearly does get him killed) It would maybe piss off Ellie but also if there’s one place where she’d be like alright whatever have your fun see if i care its nasty dirty pirate island (sorry i keep calling it that, i just think its funny when Ayda says it). (J4 is gonna hit it off with cathilda while he’s busy anyway. Who said that)

I could be a bit of a Garthy x J2 truther tho. I just think. Garthy has this like. Commanding presence but they’re  also fairly easygoing and calming and not exactly gentle but you know what i mean? Like i think they’re close enough to the jaceporter wheelhouse of their Vibe that J2 could maybe see the appeal. I need Garthy to spoil J2 a bit and have a good time. J2 deserves the strap. Who said that.

J4 and J2 i think would be very very into the Compass Points library. J2 b/c he genuinely enjoys research, J4 because its additional resources to add to her pepe silvia How to Get A God To Grant Us True Life stringboard. J3 would not give a shit. I’ve joked about this before but i think Ayda would. NOT like Jace b/c i think she would find him stressful to talk to and insincere. I think she would feel kinda similarly about J3, but could get along better with J4 and J2 who are the more up-front ones of the clones. Even tho she’s not the nicest, I think Ayda would appreciate J4’s directness. 

If Aelwyn is at the Compass Points, this is the perfect time to mention my “Aelwyn has an adolescent crush on J4” agenda. I’ve talked a little bit abt what i think Aelwyn’s vibe is with the clones but. Aelwyn as a former fellow teacher knows Jace and has neutral to negative leaning feelings on jace but J4 is like hey weird girl. I like your hair and Aelwyn is like. Jace is. Hot now? This is it. This is the person that is beautiful and mean and nasty that Aelwyn always dreamed of.

Meanwhile to J2 she’s like. Bullying kristen about her wranglers coded. Look. I know i’m a librarian but. Why are you dressed for the job that I have, what is your excuse? You’re twenty seven and dress like you’re seventy (He was actually born sexy yesterday but also fifty but also in half elf aging that’s like maybe 30-ish?. It's complicated but still no excuse)

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: LAST TWO WEEKS LET'S GOOO -Danny Words: 2,109 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Close Behind' -by Noah Kahan

LVIII: I Gotta Work a Lot Because Otherwise How Could I Afford Being Stupid?

"Blue Beetle and Spider-man would be best friends but only if they were both teenagers, Peter is like thirty-something now—"

"I thought we were discussing hypotheticals? I obviously mean teen Peter, I don't think adult Peter hangs out with kids—"

"Adult Peter hangs out with kids in a depressing way," Ara interrupts the conversation. "Look."

Percy spots the gods. "Yeah, that's definitely Apollo. I'll wait for you—good luck."

"Thanks, Nemo," Ara reaches for Leo's hand and takes him away.

"Your brother's acting pretty chill about this," Leo mentions as they go down the hillside. "More than you."

"Because I'm not the one with a death sentence..."

"Still," he shrugs. "He lets you handle the sea serpents and asks for your advice on things, it's a big change."

She nods, feeling secretly pleased about it. "We've talked a lot about how we feel with this... straining. We've been doing quests since children, but even if I like it more than he does, I relate to some of his discomfort."

"You're more pertinent with the way you go off on it now," Leo teases her. "Last December you were telling the fates to suck it..."

"Yeah well, after they threw my friends to Tartarus in retaliation, I kind of took the hint," Ara wrinkles her nose.

"Don't shoot!" Leo raises his hands in surrender as they reach the amphitheater, holding Ara's too so she raises it as well.

"There you are," Apollo says miserably. "We were beginning to wonder."

"So you were expecting us, then," Leo keeps a straight face. "I can tell, because you're both so excited."

"We were expecting to be found, bothered and tormented," Apollo pouts, messing with the ukulele in his hands. "We didn't know by whom. Can you not leave us to our misery?"

"You know they can't, brother," Artemis scolds him. "They require our help with their quest, even if the odds are hopeless."

"You two are full of good cheer," Leo replies. "Why are you hiding out here anyway? Shouldn't you be... I dunno, fighting giants or something?"

"Delos is our birthplace," Artemis explains. "Here, we are unaffected by the Greek–Roman schism. Believe me, Leo Valdez, if I could, I would be with my Hunters, facing our old enemy Orion. Unfortunately, if I stepped off this island, I would become incapacitated with pain. All I can do is watch helplessly while Orion slaughters my followers. Many gave their lives to protect your friends and that accursed Athena statue."

"Orion is the one hunting them?" Ara steps forward. "If you consider I need to join their group—"

"The praetor and her crew are still standing, you don't need to derail from your current plan. You and Saggio..." Artemis eyes her with pride and notices the way Leo keeps his hand wrapped around Ara's, and then her expression falls slightly. "Rarely disappoint me. I wish I could say the same about my brother."

"You wrong me!" Apollo gasps in despair. "I was misled by Gaia and that horrible Roman child!"

"Octavian?" Ara raises a brow.

"Do not speak his name!" Apollo plays his ukulele angrily. "Oh, Arae Jackson, you've always been a great devotee, honoring me in so many ways..."

"And yet I haven't got your blessing," Ara points out. "But Octavian got it right away."

"He filled my head with compliments! He told me of the great temples he would build in my honor!"

"You are easily flattered, brother."

"Because I have so many amazing qualities to praise! Octavian said he wanted to make the Romans strong again. I said fine! I gave him my blessing."

"As I recall, he also promised to make you the most important god of the legion, above even Zeus," Artemis raises a brow.

"Well, who was I to argue with an offer like that? Does Zeus have a perfect tan? Can he play the ukulele? I think not! But I never thought Octavian would start a war! Gaia must have been clouding my thoughts, whispering in my ear."

"So fix it," Leo shrugs with no sympathy. "Tell Octavian to stand down. Or, you know, shoot him with one of your arrows. That would be fine, too."

"I cannot! Look!" The ukulele becomes a bow and Apollo uses it to shoot up into the sky. The arrow flares with a pathetic huff, like an explosive with little gunpowder. "To shoot my bow, I would have to step off Delos, then I would be incapacitated, or Zeus would strike me down. Father never liked me. He hasn't trusted me for millennia!"

"Well, to be fair, there was that time you conspired with Hera to overthrow him."

"That was a misunderstanding!"

"And you killed some of Zeus's Cyclopes."

"I had a good reason for that! At any rate, now Zeus blames me for everything—Octavian's schemes, the fall of Delphi—" 

"What's that about, sir?" Ara asks promptly.

Apollo goes back to playing a sad tune. "When the schism began between Greek and Roman, while I struggled with confusion, Gaia took advantage. She raised my old enemy Python, the great serpent, to repossess the Delphic Oracle. That horrible creature is now coiled in the ancient caverns, blocking the magic of prophecy. I am stuck here, so I can't even fight him."

"Bummer," Leo says, looking completely unbothered.

"Bummer indeed! Zeus was already angry with me for appointing that new girl, Rachel Dare, as my Oracle. Zeus seems to think I hastened the war with Gaia by doing so, since Rachel issued the Prophecy of Seven as soon as I blessed her. But prophecy doesn't work that way! Father just needed someone to blame. So of course he picked the handsomest, most talented, hopelessly awesome god."

"Mhm," Ara crosses her arms. "What about my prophecy? You revealed it to Percy before time, didn't you?"

Artemis's eyes widen. "Brother, is that true?"

"Oh, don't give me that look!" Apollo said. "You're in trouble, too!"

"Only because I stayed in touch with my Hunters against Zeus's wishes—But I can always charm Father into forgiving me, he's never been able to stay mad at me. It's you I'm worried about if what our child of Olympus is saying turns out true."

"I'm worried about me, too!" Apollo pouts. "We have to do something. We can't kill Octavian. Hmm. Perhaps we should kill these demigods."

"Whoa there, Music Man." Leo steps forward. "We're on your side, remember? Why would you kill us?"

"It might make me feel better! I have to do something!"

"That solution would be a quick fix with no lasting effects," Ara responds wittily. "You kill us, you secure Gaea's victory. We have a better offer: You give us what we need, and I'll help you deal with the Python."

"We've got this plan," Leo continues. "Hera and Nike said we should come to you and talk it over."

"We need the physician's cure," Ara cuts straight to the point.

"The physician's cure?" Apollo tosses his ukulele dramatically. "That's your plan? I cannot help you! If I told you the secret of the physician's cure, Zeus would never forgive me!"

"You're already in trouble," Leo frowns. "How could it get worse?"

"If you knew what my father is capable of, mortal, you would not ask. It would be simpler if I just smote you all. That might please Zeus—"

"Brother," Artemis scowls, they lock eyes and then Apollo groans and turns away sulking. The goddess gestures at Ara. "Strategus, there are things you should know about the Twelfth Legion. As for you, Leo Valdez, Apollo will hear you out. See if you can strike a deal. My brother always likes a good bargain."

"Valdez is hardworking and intelligent," Artemis tells her as they walk up the hillside. "But he's still a man. I'm not sure he's worth the trouble."

"If he's worth killing, he's worth saving," Ara responds stubbornly. "But I'd rather we stick to business, my lady."

Artemis nods. "Very well. Octavian has been busy, he's purchased six onagers and made alliances with monsters in Gaea's army."

Ara scowls. "He's working with Gaea?"

"He believes he's got control over them, but the moment the battle starts, they'll turn against him and kill all demigods in reach."

"Which won't be that many if those onagers go off first—and I'm assuming that's his plan?" Ara raises a brow. "Octavian doesn't look like an upfront fighter to me."

Artemis nods gravely. "I know the situation with your partner occupies your thoughts, but your duty will not cease until all threats are neutralized."

"I know. And even then, I don't think I'll have any breaks," Ara sighs.

Leo comes back with a weird look on his face.

"What?"

"I—uh, I got the goods," he shows her a small flower. "The curse of Delos. A daisy."

Ara tilts her head. "Interesting."

"You know that thing I've been building since you told me your prophecy?"

The girl frowns. "No?"

"It's that thing I've been tinkering with for ages. I never knew what I was doing, but every time we talked my hands would work on it like my gut was guiding me."

Ara has seen Leo tinker with stuff countless times... but she does remember him building something, it just didn't seem important at all. "Okay... so what was it?"

"An overcomplicated music box," Leo puts the flower in his tool belt and they go to find Percy. "I called it the Valdezinator, a super advanced instrument. Apollo was drooling over it in no time."

"But a music box is hardly a worthy bargain for the cure of death?"

Leo frowns. "My music box plays no Für Elise—it had a special melody."

Ara raises a brow, deciding not to tease Leo over the fact that he knows the bagatelle's name, he would make fun of her for knowing what a bagatelle is. "Which one?"

"The one you sing when you're healing people," Leo shrugs. "Apollo went nuts and demanded to have the instrument since it's his song."

"Huh. I guess he's right. But it's crazy, you got the cure of death by giving him something you already had at..." Her voice dies midsentence.

"I almost didn't give it to him," Leo admits bashfully, unaware of her change of tone. "It didn't sound like your voice, it was mechanical—for obvious reasons—but... well, it felt like it was healing something inside me. It felt like you."

"Oh, gods..." Ara feels dizzy. "That's what this is."

"What?" He blinks. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not a punishment or a prize to pay. The fates know our curse is inevitable, it made us their safest bet!"

Leo stares at her. "I'm not following."

Ara tries to explain better. "The fates don't want the world to end, right? So they took us and our curse and placed us into the plot to be of use. Once you die, the world won't end, and you also break your curse."

"But why would they care about my curse?" He scowls.

"They don't," she replies. "We're just practical—breaking the curse is an accidental perk for us."

The boy stares at her still frowning. "I don't get it."

"Yeah, you do," Ara smiles. "It's what you keep telling me. I shouldn't fight the curse—right now, having it is the only reason we've been given this chance. We're supposed to let it run its course, with only one small tweak. This time, we get the Physician's cure."

Leo starts to understand. "So you're saying the fates didn't expect us to save ourselves, they are using us because we can't?"

"Exactly! You don't make a toaster and hope for pancakes, you make a toaster because you want toast. You don't choose someone who's cursed because you want them to break free..."

"You want them to die," Leo finishes, his face shifting to an expression of understanding. "Right."

"This might or might not break our curse," Ara continues, gently reaching for his hand. "But we are forced to let it happen."

Leo looks at her. "So you'll trust my plan?"

Ara hugs him. "Absolutely not. But if there's a chance I can save you... I love you, and I know you don't stay in places for long," the girl cradles his face adoringly. "So I'm following your lead, that way I might get to keep you."

Leo's hair starts to smoke, he looks at her with the softest eyes ever and his pulse picks up on her fingertips. "I love you so much."

They hold a meeting, and no one is happy with what they hear.

"You just sold yourself to another quest and this one isn't even over," Percy scolds Ara.

"Listen, buddy, we both know Apollo would've enlisted me to do it anyway, at least now I can pretend it was my idea," the girl scoffs, sinking further in her seat.

"What about the legions?" Hazel asks worryingly. "I don't think we can get there fast enough, Ara, we should find a way to warn your camp..."

"You think they won't notice the massive onagers?" The girl raises a brow. "They know what they're facing, we just have to ensure they don't have to face it alone." Ara stands up and ends the meeting.

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

[mogoce-nocoj]

Something Kris-centric, idk, something fluffy about the holiday they're on or something? Sorry it's kinda vague

Btw I'm sure you'll do great, good luck:)

you got it! something fluffy about the boys trying (and failing) to help Kris relax. gen, no pairing, just a silly holiday thing. thank you ❤️

Thailand is beautiful. Kris knows this — he has, after all, been one of the first to suggest it as their destination. He has been here before, they all have. And it's been good, really good if he's being honest. There's just this one thing that has been forming in this mind the day they got here — the guys are up to something.

It starts pretty much innocuously. It's their first evening and they're all at the pool doing what can be called lounging. That is, holding their feet into the cool water, catching the sunset and sipping on drinks. (Longeros, huh, Jan? Bojan would probably tease if he were here. Which he isn't. But that's a story for another time.)

Kris himself is lying on a deck chair, phone in hand, with his head finally empty. Trying to catch the perfect shot of when the setting sun hits the water, he nearly doesn't notice when Jure comes up to him, his bare feet nearly noiseless on the lush grass beneath them. 

What he does hear, however, is the “Kris!” that is half-whispered and half-shouted into his ear. Startled, he nearly drops his phone and wheels around to stare directly into Jure's grinning face. 

“Can you maybe, like, not do that?”

“Sorry.” Jure shrugs and really doesn't look sorry at all. “I was just wondering if you wanted something to drink? Mark is trying to make those new cocktails and he was asking around if anyone wants to try them.”

Kris raises one of his eyebrows. “And you don't want to?” 

“Ah, my beer is still mostly full and Jan and Nace are trying to do something with the pineapples they got from the market. I'm not actually sure if they want to eat them, right now it looks more like they're playing some sort of game where they're trying to hit it with a stick or something?” 

What the fuck, Kris's mind helpfully supplies and he turns around to witness how Jan masterfully manages to decapitate the poor pineapple with one hit of — oh my god, is that a knife tied to a tree branch!? Nace behind him is only nodding appreciatively, one hand on his shoulder like some kind of teacher. 

Kris decides that he will not think of the dangers this could pose to any of their limbs because he's on holiday and Mama-Krisko also needs her break, thank you very much. 

“Anyway,” Jure continues, not bothered at all. “I didn't want to interrupt whatever they're doing, so. Drinks?” 

And yeah, Kris does, actually, want one. (To be honest, there's no one else whom he'd trust more with the drinks than Mark whose eye for photography miraculously also translates to an eye for measuring ingredients. Well, he'd probably trust Nace, too. But not right now.)

“Sure,” he shrugs, yawning. “I'll just wait until the sunset is over —” 

“No worries,” Jure interrupts, smiling. “I'll get it for you.”

And, huh. Kris's narrowed eyes follow him as he makes his way back towards the bar. Because it's not that Jure isn't usually helpful when it comes to these kinds of things except — well, he isn't. His clumsy nature usually leads him to spill more drinks than actually drink out of them and normally they've developed a kind of routine that prevents Jure from carrying any sort of glasses filled with liquid. 

This time, however, everything seems to work out fine. Without any problems Jure returns to him with a perfectly nice longdrink in his hand. It's even decorated with a little umbrella and a cut pineapple piece next to it (Kris dimly hopes that this one wasn't a victim of Jan and Nace's shenanigans.)

He thanks Jure who salutes him before bouncing off to join Mark behind the bar. Sipping on his drink, he turns his attention back to the sunset and realises that he has missed the golden moment of the sun hitting the water — but then again, he thinks, enjoying the cool taste of alcohol on his tongue and the warm air around him, he could get used to this. There surely will be other opportunities in the future. 

*

The other thing happens the next day when they're choosing a movie to watch for the evening. They all want to watch something different, all in varying moods, indecisively scrolling through various streaming platforms. 

“We should watch Footloose,” Kris suggests jokingly, knowing very well that Jan would rather watch anything else than something like Footloose. (Kris, however, enjoys the silliness of it. When you're living a life such as this one, hectic and stressful and sometimes just overwhelming, you learn to enjoy movies with ridiculous premises such as this one.)

Jan, however, only gives him a mild look.

“Sure,” he agrees, shrugging. “Why not.”

Wait, what. 

Kris blinks at him. When Jan doesn't say anything, only moving to make room for Kris on the couch, he doesn't question it, wordlessly starting the film. 

Later, when the movie is finished and Kris suggests heading to bed early so that they can maybe take a day trip tomorrow, they all nod without any opposition. Kris only looks after them in confusion as they head off to their respective rooms because it's never as easy as that. 

Yeah. Something is definitely wrong.

*

“Okay,” he starts the next morning during breakfast. “Something's not right and I need to know what.”

Three pairs of eyes stare at him in confusion. Kris tuts once, placing one of his hands on his table while first pointing to Jure. 

“You usually avoid bringing me things that can break easily like the plague. And now you've been bringing me drinks for two days — and managed to not drop even one of them. What's up with that?” 

Jure only stares at him, clearly not knowing what to say.  

“And you,” he turns to Jan and Nace, “have been eerily agreeable whenever I said something. Like, I'm not surprised about Nace because he's the only one with any kind of sense here but Jan? You didn't even complain when I forced you to watch Footloose. And you hate cheesy romances like that.”

They all stay silent. The cogs in Kris's head keep turning until — 

He pales.

“Oh my god, has something happened back home? Is that your way of easing me in before delivering the information?” 

For one hysterical moment he thinks that the only news that could be so bad that they needed to distract him from it is that they need to reschedule all the upcoming tour dates because god forbid something has happened to Bojan, or any other of their crew members for that matter, or there's been a problem with some venue —

Nace puts his hands on his shoulder, eyes wide with concern. “Everything's fine, stop spiralling.”

Kris exhales once, focusing on Nace's grounding touch. 

“We just —” Nace hesitates. Jan shoots him an encouraging look. “We just wanted to — do something good for you.”

What. 

Kris raises his eyebrows critically. “You what?” 

“Yeah.” Jan nods, emphasising Nace's words. “Because of, y'know. The past few weeks.”

“Because of all the stuff you had to do,” Jure supplies, slinging an arm around his shoulder. “Like, Finland with Bojan and Jere wasn't easy and then Stožice, and you've been doing so much — so we wanted to, uh. Help you relax.”

“Ah.” Kris blinks at them, head suddenly empty. “You wanted to help me relax. By bringing me drinks? And — agreeing with me?” 

All three of them shrug. 

“Did it help?” Jure asks, curious.

And Kris considers this because he actually has enjoyed the last few days. The drinks and the attentiveness and the feeling that people are listening to him. But then again, there's just been this wrongness in the air, too, because as much as Kris likes it when people listen to him, he also likes it when people argue with him and speak their mind and — hm. 

“Kinda?” He decides eventually. “But I had this inkling that — something was wrong. Because — huh.” He hesitates. “I liked it but I didn't like that it felt that you were deliberately trying to — to do something. Like, something you normally wouldn't do.”

He sighs, closing his eyes. 

“Can't you just be — normal.”

When he opens his eyes again, Nace is looking at him with an affectionate look in his eyes. 

“Sure.”

Jan next to him nods. 

“You got it, Krisko.” Jure leans in closer, squeezing his shoulders. “You know that we love you, right?” 

“Yeah,” he says, fondly looking at all of them. “I love you, too.”