#because i wanted to write something happy for ignis for once even if he is getting tormented by prompto and gladio

[juantheashura]

im really sorry if this is offensive or rude in any way but whats the point of ignis being an ro is shes going to be in a relationship with seeker in the end? seems, idk, hurtful for the mc

Nah, it's not rude! Don't sweat it, it's not something I mind explaining, or that I think I've given the needed attention to yet, so I definitely appreciate getting asked about it. This is probably the part of the story that I'm most nervous about, so I'm always interested in hearing y'all's thoughts on it.

So, the thing here is that I find the conundrum that Seeker and Ignis are in kind of interesting. They are blatantly into each other, to the point even people who barely know them (Gloria, for example), can tell immediately. Their pining is clear, and they are both perceptive enough to realize, or at least, strongly suspect, that the feeling's mutual.

And... they don't do anything with that. Because of their own personal issues, true, but they've essentially reached an impasse that neither of them are happy about.

Seeker's grief and his utter devotion to his promises means he refuses to acknowledge his feelings, and Ignis' desire for a safe space where she can have intimacy (both emotional and physical), yet her incapacity to put her own desires and wants as a priority, and her fear of ruining something that's "kinda good but not really what she needs" mean that she doesn't dare present her feelings openly or demand an answer one way or the other from a man whose biggest superpower is how easily and hurriedly he dances away from being serious about anything.

And then in comes the Ignismancer MC, who's chosen to roll the dice despite the blatant writing on the wall.

Anyone that's genre savvy, or has even the slightest bit of knowledge regarding romantic relationships, knows where this ship's heading: Disaster.

But then we come to the crux of your question, namely, "what is the point of an Ignis RO, then?"

And, honestly? To explore what happens when people deny themselves happiness, on the grounds that "they don't deserve it" (Seeker) or that "they're too scared" (Ignis).

Both Seeker and Ignis know the latter's relationship with the MC isn't going anywhere serious (or, well, Seeker knows, and Ignis is slowly accepting it), but they're too scared to back out of a situation that is undeniably of their own devising, and now they instinctively realize that the MC is going to get hurt once they get past their obstacles, because the MC isn't who Ignis wants, and, as Victoria would throw her back out laughing before telling you, Kratis Daimon is far too much a selfish bastard to let anyone else take something (a place, in this case) that he both wants and knows is his.

This, for reference, is something Forlorn is banking on. Note how, at the end of Chapter 4, he all-but promises that he'll help your relationship with Ignis flourish.

As someone who's known Kratis for a decade, and Ignis for half of one, he's perfectly clear that such a thing is impossible.

So what he's planning is, to avoid anyone else getting hurt as these two fools he calls friends continue to flounder, to use the MC as the sacrificial lamb that will lead them to stop denying themselves.

On one hand, that's honestly something Forlorn would do. He's a strategist, above everything else, and unorthodox methods to achieve his goals are how he stayed alive, so this is just him applying his military training to a problem that is absolutely not military, a common fault of his (note his treatment of Aki, for another example).

On the other, it's me, as the author, trying to subtly explain what's the plan, and with all the hints regarding Seeker x Ignis, so that when that penny drops and your relationship shatters, you, as reader, can step back (after a period of anger or disappointment, I suspect and apologize for), and go "okay, this is, at least, in line with what the story kept presenting to me".

Or, in shorter words: The reason for the Ignis romance path is that I want to explore what happens when two people refuse to allow themselves happiness, and just how someone who gets in the middle of that can, and will get hurt.

I definitely understand that such a path isn't traditional, or what a reader of CoG games, or IF in general, would come to expect, and I'd like to think I'm prepared for the flak that I'll undoubtedly (and perhaps deservedly) get over it.

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

It's a path that has a painful ending, undoubtedly. It's, again, non-traditional, goes against expectations, and presents the player with a situation that doesn't have a solution where they can't pass a check, or choose the correct option, and get what they want.

It is, also, a path full of angst, a breath of fresh air when it comes to relationships, and a path that offers a deeper, more personal, more... honest, I think is the best term, view into Kratis Daimon and Laura Coltello, and how their legitimately common situation can cause pain even in those that both don't deserve it, and no one wanted to hurt.

And, you know, I'm not sure of how good a writer I am, but I hope that I am able to sell the second paragraph well enough to make at least some of you overlook the first one.

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

I hope that long midnight ramble of mine kind of helps even a little bit explain my thoughts, but if there's anything that you think I didn't address, or even disagree with, please, feel free to send in another ask and I'll try to answer as fast as possible. :))

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

like a secret in your throat

y’all asked for whump. y’all got whump. title from “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” by my all-time favorite band, My Chemical Romance

whump, hurt/comfort with a happy ending!

tw: manhandling the bard, vampire transformations (side character), non-sexy biting, blood mention, canon typical injuries/violence

---

Geralt looked up from his mug of ale when he realized that Jaskier had stopped playing. Instead, the bard was chatting merrily away with a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark cloak. The hood obscured most of the stranger’s face but Geralt caught the reflective glint of a bead or piece of metal braided into his matted black hair. An instinct tickled at the back of the Witcher’s head but Geralt couldn’t quite place the feeling. Something was wrong about this little tableau but he couldn’t figure out what it was; his medallion wasn’t reacting to anything in particular and Jaskier seemed perfectly happy, lost in conversation with the dark-haired man.

Geralt returned his gaze to his mug and let his mind wander.

Jaskier did seem perfectly happy to be without him on nights like these, when they were back in civilization and the extroverted bard could branch out and meet new people. That was the problem, in Geralt’s opinion. 

Lately the Witcher had found himself contemplating what life would be like on the Path if he decided to travel alone again. Winter wasn’t close enough for him to excuse himself and go North, but he’d developed a strange and uncomfortable dependence on the bard that he needed to be weaned away from. It wasn’t healthy for either of them. 

It wasn’t safe.

If he grew too close to Jaskier, then… 

Wouldn’t that be a weakness? Wouldn’t that be a vulnerability and a dangerous closeness? Geralt couldn’t risk forming a connection like that. He couldn’t allow himself to hope for something so organic and pure to develop between a half-monster and a youthful, bright-eyed bard; Witchers weren’t meant to get nice things. That was not his lot in life.

And yet…

Some mornings, when he only barely cracked his eyes open and used his heightened senses to peek across their campsite, he saw Jaskier looking back at him, a curious glint in those pretty blue irises. Geralt couldn’t pinpoint the emotion the bard’s face held; he was bad at that, and the uncertainty of the younger man’s feelings scared him. He could handle rejection, but acceptance? If Jaskier was as loving and openminded as Geralt thought him to be, it could prove to be a problem. Jaskier was too good for a Witcher. He didn’t deserve to be trapped by a life on the Path, dying too young because he was foolhardy and quick to fall in love.

The Witcher’s introspection came to an abrupt halt when the Jaskier in question appeared beside him, flushed and grinning. “Geralt, dear heart, are you ready to retire for the evening?”

“Are you asking me to bed?” the Witcher smirked, smothering the very real ache in his chest at the thought of curling up next to Jaskier like that. “Or do you need to borrow our room to entertain a guest?”

“Oh, no, I have no plans of that nature.” Jaskier’s already pink face darkened a shade and Geralt’s stomach flipped. “I’m actually rather tired. I was hoping to get some decent sleep tonight before we flung ourselves back into nature tomorrow.”

“Hmm. I’ll be along shortly. Don’t wait up.”

“See you in a bit then, dear heart.” 

And Jaskier disappeared up the stairs.

Unfortunately, the Witcher didn’t realize he wasn’t the only one watching Jaskier slip into their rented room with a longing expression on his face.

---

“We need to set up camp for the evening,” Geralt announced, bringing Roach to a stop and sliding gracefully down from the saddle. Jaskier loved the way his Witcher looked when he did that, like some kind of fairytale Prince or knight errant. The way his long, silver-white hair shifted and fluttered against his shoulders in the dusky light made him look more like a fantastical painting than a century-old Witcher; even with his scars and his pallid skin tone. 

The unconventionally enchanting sight made ballads stir in the most romantic corners of the bard’s busy mind. Words pooled and shifted behind his eyes, arranging themselves into neat rhyming couplets or quatrains. 

Geralt of Rivia, tall and fair,

With golden eyes and silver hair;

Whose glare could even douse the sun,

And send a Gryphon on the run.

The bard barely kept himself from sighing aloud as he removed his pack from across his shoulders and unfolded his bedroll and thin travel blanket. The material felt fragile between his calloused fingertips and he sighed forlornly,  “I’m going to need a new blanket soon.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it. And I’ll get Roach some new reins while I’m in town,” the bard waved his hand nonchalantly, as if spending money was no big deal. It really wasn’t, all things considered. They would be able to travel far more comfortably if Geralt would allow them to stop in Novigrad and access his University accounts more often. Alas, Witchers are stubborn creatures. “I see the way they chafe her poor muzzle, Geralt, so don’t argue. If you really insist you can pay me back by letting me write a song about the color of your eyes.”

“My… eyes?”

“They’re rather pretty, dear heart, and I think the world could do with a ballad about how they glow when you turn your face toward the sun.”

Geralt felt the back of his neck grow hot and he glanced away, “Hmm.”

“Well, let me know what you think in the morning. I don’t need an answer right away.”

Geralt finished setting up a decent pile of firewood and brought it to life with an efficient burst of Igni. He glanced across the flames to Jaskier and grunted, “I’m going to catch us some dinner. Make tea.”

“Yes, sir,” Jaskier saluted, smiling. Geralt rolled his eyes, grabbed his crossbow, and disappeared into the darkening treeline. Jaskier began to hum as he set up their tea kettle and filled it with water from the waterskin. The humming turned to quiet singing as he measured out two mugs worth of tea from the sachet of dried leaves. 

Singing that was cut off with a sharp, sudden cry.

---

Geralt heard the bard scream once. Only once.

The sound punctuated the air before leaving an uncomfortable, grating silence in its wake. 

The Witcher took off towards their campfire without a second thought, allowing his instincts to take over and guide him safely back, the potency of Jaskier’s fear hung thick and sour in the air, growing stronger the closer he came to their clearing. When he burst back into view, chest heaving from the sprint, he widened his eyes at the sight before him:

The cloaked figure from the tavern had Jaskier wrapped in his burly arms. One large, long-fingered hand had immobilized Jaskier’s wrists by pressing them into the dip at the base of the bard’s spine, forcing his elbows out and pressing his chest even tighter against the stranger’s. 

Jaskier looked up at Geralt beseechingly through his dark, damp lashes. His mouth opened in a silent cry of confusion and pain when the man tugged at his wrists and forced his arms to bend awkwardly. The bard wriggled and strained against the stranger’s iron grip in an effort to escape but the man only snarled in irritation and jerked him back into place. “Bad bard. Stay put, little thing.”

Geralt took a slow step towards his swords, trying to reassure Jaskier with his expression that: Everything will be okay. I will get you out of this. I will protect you and keep you safe… somehow. 

Jaskier needed Geralt to pay attention and protect him from harm.

Geralt had failed.

The Witcher watched with wide, horrified eyes as the hulking man keeping Jaskier captive shifted slowly into a far less humanoid form. The baubles braided into his hair jangled and clinked as his nose elongated and his eyes widened. His arms lengthened to form clawed bat-wings and his face thinned and covered over with a layer of grey fur. Fangs burst forth from his gums and slid over his previously humanesque canines. His voice, which had been rasping odd little sounds in the Witcher’s direction, faded into an terrible shriek. 

A Katakan. 

A Katakan that had snuck in and out of civilization without Geralt so much as smelling it; one that had Jaskier pinned against its chest, the claws of its unoccupied hand sharp and dangerous as they hovered near the bard’s ribcage, ready to pierce but unwilling to waste precious blood unless absolutely necessary. It screamed again, even more shrilly. “Want him!”

Geralt dove forward and pulled his silver sword from its sheath. He swung it in an elegant arc and narrowed his eyes, “Let him go and I might let you live.”

The Witcher’s words were a lie and they both knew it.

The Katakan twitched its long ears in annoyance and hauled Jaskier even closer. It wrenched his arms painfully and the bard whimpered, blue eyes filling steadily with tears. Geralt’s heart seized wretchedly in his chest and he tried his best to ignore it; he couldn’t let his feelings distract him until Jaskier was safe. 

“I want him,” the monster rasped, readjusting the bard in its grip. It turned Jaskier around until he was facing the Witcher, releasing his wrists just long enough to pull his hands around to the front before capturing them again. It grazed its two long fangs against the column of Jaskier’s throat and trilled happily. “He sings so pretty. Talks so sweet. Bet he tastes sweet like he talks.”

“Hmm,” Geralt agreed. “He does have a rather pretty singing voice. I suppose that’s why I can’t have you killing him.”

“But he will sing for me,” the vampire shrugged. It shook Jaskier like a toy and the bard’s tears finally fell. He whimpered again when the vampire leaned close and told him: “Sing, little thing. Let me pull lovely music from your veins.”

Jaskier shivered visibly. He gave a few panting, strangled sobs as he slipped into panic, too frightened to move with the vampire’s fangs so close to his neck. He wanted Geralt to finally swing that stupid sword and get this over with. He wanted to curl up in Geralt’s arms and never leave for the rest of his life. He wanted to be taken to Kaer Morhen and hidden away in safety, fuck his music career and the rest of the world. He wanted Geralt to stay in his presence forever, never letting him out of sight again. He wanted…

Before he could finish his thought there was a sharp, piercing, all-encompassing pain at the juncture where his neck met his shoulder.

A keening wail filled the air once. 

The vampire bit down harder, its tongue sliding against the skin of the bard’s neck in an effort to urge the blood to exit faster. 

There was another high, piteous cry for help and then... 

The world went black.

---

When Jaskier opened his eyes again, the world was even darker than it had been before; mostly because the light from both the moon and their campfire was being blocked out by the broad plane of Geralt’s chest, which Jaskier found himself cradled against almost… lovingly. Above him, he heard the Witcher murmuring: “Jaskier, please. Please wake up, Julek. Come on, bard, I kn-”

“G-Geralt?” he managed to croak. He followed it with a very eloquent, “Hunh?”

“Jaskier,” the Witcher sagged with relief, pressing his forehead against the bard’s and breathing in deeply. He tightened his arms around Jaskier, pulling him even closer as his frown disappeared, “Melitele be blessed, you’re alive!”

“Should I not be?” Jaskier asked. He tried to sit up on his own and winced when a bright burst of pain flared out from his shoulder.

“The Katakan- You were bleeding so much and I-” Geralt was, as always, at a loss for words. Jaskier waited patiently, still feeling drowsy and half-alive, and allowed the Witcher to gather his thoughts. His neck ached and his left arm tingled fiercely every time he tried to flex his hand on that side. 

“Did it… Am I a vampire now?” he asked. The absurdity of the question broke Geralt from his confusion.

“No,” the Witcher answered swiftly. “You’re still very mortal-” a hand swept through Jaskier’s hair, calming him further “-And unfortunately still very fragile.”

“Are you going to beat yourself up over this for the next week and somehow twist it around until it’s all your fault?”

“Hmm,” Geralt looked away. Jaskier was still being held so very tenderly in his arms, laid across the Witcher’s lap like some kind of swooning maiden. He rather liked how close he was to Geralt and hoped to stay that way for just a little longer. The Witcher surprised them both by letting a full sentence slip into the air between them, “I don’t like seeing you hurt, Jaskier, especially not when… when I was close enough that I could have prevented it from happening at all.”

“Your medallion didn’t give you any hints about this thing back at the inn when I was talking to him? He seemed completely normal, if a little monosyllabic. I’m used to monosyllabic, anyway,” the bard joked, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. It didn’t work; Geralt lifted his head and stared into the fire, his brow already furrowed as he slipped into his private realm of self-loathing. Jaskier was still laying across his lap, his neck and shoulder giving off pulsing aches with every beat of his heart. 

Eventually the Witcher spoke again, his voice low and full of frustration. “Katakans are different, they don’t- they don’t set off my medallion the way other creatures do, and they can disguise themselves as people. They can move and talk like people; you saw it transform.”

“I did,” Jaskier grimaced. “And it wanted me to sing while it drank my blood.”

“You didn’t do very much singing,” the Witcher grumbled. “You screamed twice and fainted. It nearly dropped you.”

“If I remember correctly,” the bard smiled playfully, “Someone said my singing was too pretty for me to die.”

“Hmm.”

“It was you, Geralt. You said that.”

“Hmm.”

Jaskier tried to sit up again and nearly passed out from the pain that screamed through the entire left side of his body. “I- Geralt, I-”

“What’s wrong, Julek?” the Witcher asked, adjusting the bard until he was more comfortably enclosed in Geralt’s arms, his back leaning against one of Geralt’s bent legs for support. Geralt’s other leg was straightened out before him and Jaskier let his calves fall atop the Witcher’s thick thighs. They looked like a painting, with Jaskier reclined as he was and Geralt looking at him like that.  

“Everything hurts, dear heart. My whole left side feels aflame.”

“It’ll burn like that for a day or so,” Geralt shushed him. “You bled quite a lot, you were bitten, and you hit the ground pretty hard.”

“You didn’t catch me?”

“I was a little busy beheading your attacker and keeping you from becoming a member of the undead,” Geralt scoffed. “Pardon me for not carrying you to safety first.”

“Well since you let me get injured, you have to kiss it better to gain your pardon,” the bard insisted. Geralt’s eyes widened comically and his hand clenched where it was resting on Jaskier’s lower back. 

“It’ll- It would hurt if I kissed your wound,” Geralt replied shakily, trying to escape while he still could. Jaskier wasn’t about to let him. Not again.

“Then you’ll just have to kiss my lips instead.”

“Jaskier?”

“Hush, Geralt. I know how you feel about me, and I feel much the same about you. Let’s skip the words bit, because I know that’s not your favorite, and get right to the kissing.”

“Oh, uh...” The Witcher allowed himself to smile. It was a soft, nervous thing but it made his eyes crinkle at the corners and Jaskier felt himself fall even further in love with his darling Geralt. “Alright.”

Geralt cupped the back of Jaskier’s head carefully, tilting his own chin down, and brought their lips together slowly. The bard’s lips were soft and plush and warm beneath his own, giving just slightly but not wilting beneath his touch. It was better than anything he could have imagined. When they pulled apart, Jaskier frowned. 

“Was it bad?” Geralt asked automatically, more nervous than he had ever been with another lover. 

“No,” Jaskier shook his head. “I just don’t think I’m healed yet. I may require another. Or several more.”

“Well, if the patient thinks it’s necessary,” Geralt grinned, leaning forward again. Jaskier pulled himself up a little to meet him, ignoring the lances of hurt in his arm. “I suppose...”

[teatimecrumpetsandsugar]

ethereal (voltron fantasy/royalty AU) (set up; part zero)

Heyo! It’s your friendly neighborhood Voltron fanfic aficionado- now your friendly neighborhood Klance writer but that’s honestly besides the point I don’t even know why you’d bring up my increasing obsession with them in this Klance fanfic that I swear everyone else will be in, too-

Today, I’ll be writing from a fantasy royalty AU with my favorite show cast ever, even though it may or may not be solely because I want to put water elemental!king!Lance in pretty dresses and makeup and just go crazy with my descriptions of gowns and other things.

I imagine, here, Lance would be from a kingdom with strong ties to Pidge’s kingdom, who has strong ties with Hunk’s kingdom, making them a powerful trifecta. I also imagine that Keith and Lance’s kingdoms are on very thin ice with one another, so Pidge encourages Lance to sit down with fire elemental!king!Keith. 

I also imagine that Pidge’s kingdom is closely allied with Allura’s and that the two of them grew up together, while she didn’t meet Hunk or Lance until she became queen. Also, I’d like to have my beloved Ruler Pidge go by she/they pronouns, simply because I see a lot of myself in the way she dresses and carries herself and I actually believe that these pronouns would fit her, alongside all pronouns.

Hunk and Lance likely grew up together in a very close ally ship and continue to be close friends well into adulthood because that’s just how they are. I can imagine Lance is very vaguely aware of Allura’s kingdom and would never dream of picking a fight with hers since, by default, allying with Pidge made him allies with Allura, but he probably doesn’t know her very well pre the canon timeline because I kind of want to build that relationship from the ground up to make up for what the show did to me-

Keith is definitely allied with Shiro, and Pidge and Shiro were always friends through her older brother, who, along with her father, abdicated from the throne and joined an adventurer’s guild instead (because they believed that Pidge would be a better fit for a ruler and decided that, given how they are, reconnaissance and exploration fit them better. She agreed with this insight, deciding to rule the kingdom the best way she knew how). Shiro, being a much more experienced king and friends with their brother, likely prepared them for the role as they grew into it; the two are on friendly terms, but allied isn’t exactly the right term as none of the people in their alliance knew Keith, so they weren’t sure they could ally with him. 

Lance met Keith at a gala years into his reign; they did not get along.

The system of Magic here will likely be dictated by what element one is born in the kingdom of, (i.e., Lance’s kingdom being the Aqua Kingdom, Pidge’s being the Spiritus Kingdom) and the strength of it in each person will be chosen based on a random set of variables that usually depends on the mood of the Gods corresponding to each element.

Lance- Water (Aqua Kingdom)

Keith- Fire (Ignis Kingdom)

Pidge- Life (Spiritus Kingdom)

Hunk- Earth (Terra Kingdom)

Shiro- Moon (Luna Kingdom)

Allura- Light (Lux Kingdom)

I imagine the reason an alliance is called for with Keith and Shiro’s kingdoms is because a traitor to Allura’s kingdom, either Lotor is planning on starting an entire mutiny with the ranks he’s managed to gather and then, consequently, conquer all of the rest of the kingdoms by force in the name of a long-dead kingdom- the Tenebris kingdom. His parents having died in the midst of a total economic crash caused by a codependent relationship with Allura’s kingdom whilst it was under her father’s rule, he was taken in by the state of Lux by Allura’s request, since they grew up together; unfortunately Lotor held lingering feelings of resentment- towards Lux, for causing the destruction of the only thing he could’ve ever considered his own by right, and towards his parents for always making him feel as if he was of no worth. He wants to conquer the entire world just to prove to himself that he is worth something, though, unfortunately, he’s on a path straight to death.

Might redeem him, might kill him off, might exile him- who knows at this point?

Hunk, I imagine, was a commoner who won the title of king through a series of magic-based trials (upon the death of the last ruler) and now keeps his entire family in the palace with him, using his title to take care of his family and citizens as a benevolent ruler. This likely happened when he was quite young- likely when he was 9 or 10, since magic is an innate thing and, in this kingdom, it’s tested in the youngest members of the kingdom in order to deem who is the most connected to their Goddess Terra.

Allura inherited her title when her own father died in the conflict with Tenebris- he went to battle with the people they’d unintentionally doomed in order to protect his daughter and his people, and died in the process; similar to her story in Voltron except her kingdom survives and Lotor and a select few survivors of the Galra become refugees.

Keith became king by beating the previous king’s son in a battle- his mother, being one of the higher ups in the government, sent word to him that the prince didn’t want to be king, so Keith wound up challenging him for the title. He won, successfully making his way into the world of prestige and getting closer to his mother. The prince left the kingdom shortly after- it’s believed that he ran away to be with someone, but no one is quite sure. All anyone knows is that he’s happy.

Lance wound up being king at a really young age- I’m imagining that, prior to his reign, his kingdom was incredibly strictly patriarchal. The previous king likely only had daughters, and the day of his death, Lance was born with incredibly powerful water magic. As a result, at the age of 6 years old, he was forcibly taken from his poor family and raised strictly to be a perfect king- however, he still saw his sister Veronica frequently in secret, the two of them sneaking around to eat baked goods and try on dresses together. When the palace staff found out, they tightened security and warned Veronica that she was no longer allowed to see him unless she wanted to be publicly executed. After his coronation (at age 8), however, he started making drastic changes to the laws that made the laws against commoners interacting with royalty more lax, and, once allowed to dress himself, started wearing dresses and makeup because it reminded him of home and made him feel as beautiful as he knew he was. He gets quite homesick quite often, and he’s still battling to get his family into the palace with him- he has, however, stripped the kingdom of its strict patriarchy. He constantly tells the kingdom that he hopes to one day pass the throne down to his own future daughter and still keeps the three princesses as his trusted advisors because he believes what happened to them was horribly unjust. The story will be told primarily from his perspective.

Shiro became ruler of his kingdom by fighting his way through gladiator ranks when he was only thirteen, winning the entire kingdom by brute force alone and leaving him with a lot more experience and trauma than he’d have liked. Being the oldest of the current generation of rulers and having inherited a kingdom that was closely related to Pidge’s and Keith’s, he guided them both through the process of becoming a ruler and the process of ruling, no matter how difficult it gets. It’s taken far longer with Keith than it has Pidge, since Pidge was raised a royal and has an innate sense of leadership and Keith is... interesting at the whole being a royal thing. Shiro, having grown up with Keith’s mother on the streets of the kingdom of Tenebris, was more than happy to take Keith under his wing- it helps the both of them come out of their shells more, so they have a mutual appreciation for one another.

I imagine this world will be vaguely futuristic and medieval at the same time- they’ll be able to have video conferences and reach other via communicators, holographic calls, things of that nature; but they’ll also be pretty old-fashioned in their manners of dress, their social systems, their currencies, and the vast majority of their laws. I hope that makes sense.

I wonder if it’s visible here that I spent three hours winging this and started getting more and more into it as I went, or if it’s obvious that I spend most of my time working with really obscure fantasy concepts. 

BAHDHAAHAHA I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THIS- 

If you’ve got any suggestions for relationship dynamics (platonic, romantic, or otherwise), any pitches for traits you think the characters may have based on their slightly altered backstories, or any feedback in general, feel free to share- I hope you all find this as fascinating as I did while I was writing it!

Also, @keefsteefs It’s happening, I’m doing it, it’s gonna be so fricking awesome-

[followthestars]

This isn’t the best, but I had fun writing this part of Second Chance for Happiness.

“We need to get Prompto. Now.” Noctis has a look of pure determination on his face. Ignis and Gladio share a look, realizing that their blond friend doesn’t have any clearance to enter the citadel.

“Highness, there is one problem with that, Prompto has no clearance, we have to run a background check so he can be-“

“Iggy! His parents might not even be home right now! You know they left him alone with he was ten all the time for trips, but he never told us how old he was when they started doing that! It was a fight to even get him to admit he spent a lot of time alone growing up!” The prince’s cheeks are puffed out, something he hadn’t done since… well since he was seven years old the first time.

“Iggy, we can try driving by Prompto’s place, stop in to see how he is if we can.” Gladio is honestly worried now.

“In case you’ve forgotten, none of us are old enough to drive.” Ignis really wants a can of Ebony right now.

“I overheard a couple of glaives mentioning Nyx was acting weird… maybe he got dragged along with us?” The shield sees the small look of hope in Noctis’ face. “Get dressed princess and I’ll go check it out and see if he does remember the future that won’t happen now.”

“Fine.”

Once Noctis is ready, he finds Gladio waiting with a slightly rattle Nyx. “He remembers and is willing to drive us where we need to go.”

Well, that’s one problem solved, though the advisor has one more question. “Do you have a car?”

“I do. I can drive you to blondie’s place too. You think he remembers?”

“Shiva made if clear we’d all go back at the same time, so yes.”

Well, now Noctis looks panicked again. “So, he could be dealing with remembering while completely alone! We need to get to him NOW!”

It doesn’t take long for Nyx to take them to his car or start driving. The guards buy the excuse of Noctis throwing a tantrum because he wanted to see a friend he made at school before the background check finished, so the glaive got stuck on guard duty. Said prince pouts the entire way as a result of that excuse.

When they arrive at the house Noctis is out of the car before it’s completely stopped and sprints to the door, ringing the doorbell multiple times. It takes a bit for Prompto to answer, once more a chubby kid. “Noct?”

“Prom! I was worried!” Well, the blond was tackled to the ground in a hug.

“I’m the one that should be worrying!”

Ignis soon makes his way to the doorstep, peering into the house. “I take it your parents are on another business trip?”

Prompto hesitates before nodding. “I think this one they left before I woke up, because I’ve got a note saying they’ll be back in two months.”

“And did they hire a sitter?”

“They never did before.”

Gladio lets out a sigh and just walks in with Nyx. “We’re packing you a bag. I can’t leave you here alone, we can sneak you into the Citadel.”

That plan of Gladio’s did not go as he wanted considering they were caught in just five minutes by Cor, Clarus, and Regis. “Noctis, what exactly are you doing?”

The prince is frozen before acting on first instinct. He clings onto Prompto’s side and speaks with as much confidence as he can. “Mine.”

Cor makes a strangled sound a second later. Seems he recognizes the kid he had saved from Niflheim as a baby.

[jaskiersvalley]

Firstly, @wizard-dragontamer​ you need a nap! That is utterly cruel. And yet...

A continuation of this.

The year Geralt turned up without Jaskier, there was a sombre mood that settled over Kaer Morhen. It had become expected that Jaskier would winter with the wolves, they’d even started bringing him gifts too, to make up for missing his birthday. Though they did try to cross paths with Jaskier near his birthday but it didn’t always happen. So when Geralt returned looking stormy and without his bard by his side, disappointment was going to be the flavour of the winter it seemed.

As the days got shorter, so did their tempers. Nobody wanted to admit it, but they liked Jaskier there, not just because he made them feel like they were worth something but because he had become their friend. One morning, Lambert didn’t go down for breakfast. He wasn’t there for training. When Eskel was sent to get him, his room was empty. There were tracks in the snow of someone leaving Kaer Morhen, even though the path was a treacherous one.

There were three witchers at the old keep. Eskel didn’t speak much to Geralt, blaming him not just for Jaskier’s absence but also for Lambert leaving. Despite this, he still went down into the kitchen two weeks later and tried his best to make cakes. The first batch were charred black on the outside and still gooey on the inside. He learned that igni was not useful when it came to baking. Once the second batch were out, looking a little lumpy and sunken in, Eskel rummaged through the cupboards to try and decorate them. They looked less than perfect, wobbly and obviously done by someone who had no idea how to bake and decorate cakes. But it was the best they would have that year.

Come evening, he had three sorry looking lumps of baked travesties set out for after dinner. It was a silent affair, the three witchers ate without saying anything and, when they were all done, they eyed up their cakes.

“Thank you for this,” Vesemir said as he regarded his cake like it would explode any moment. A grunt was all Geralt could get out, not wanting to accept any part in this and yet being unable to run away. Hesitantly, they all tried their cakes. There were forced smiles but Eskel knew despite the encouragement. His cakes were disgusting and inedible, he almost gagged on his first taste.

A clang of the front doors had them all on high alert, reaching for knives for protection.

“We’re home!” Lambert yelled and there was the sound of someone muttering from beside him. A very familiar somoene.

“Jaskier!” Eskel brightened up and charged through to hug the bard.

“Oh thank fuck,” Vesemir muttered as he spat out a mouthful of cake. “I thought I was going to have to eat more of this.”

There was a lot of fussing over both Lambert and Jaskier. Vesemir cuffed Lambert on the back of the head, chastising him for leaving Kaer Morhen when the pass was the most dangerous. And for bringing a human back along the path. However, despite his words, he hugged Jaskier warmly and welcomed him home.

Jaskier was led through to the dining hall and a space cleared for him and Lambert to eat. But he spied the sad looking cakes and his face fell.

“Oh my poor darlings,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, I have failed you.”

Geralt was nowhere to be seen.

The next morning, Jaskier made breakfast, made sure his wolves were well fed before chasing them out with the promise of a proper feast in the evening. By the time dinner rolled round, the table was set. Four modest piles of gifts, the customary banner, the card and the hand made party hats were all in place and ready, along with a wonderful meal.

When Jaskier called for his wolves, three of them came running, eager in a way that was more befitting children than men over 100. It made Jaskier smile indulgently. However, he had one wayward wolf to track down.

Despite the call, Geralt was still holed up in his room and Eskel was sent to retrieve him. Sullenly, he stomped down like a sulking child. Only, he froze in the doorway of the dining hall, eyes fixed on his usual spot. Rather than the empty, unwelcoming space he’d expected, there were some carefully wrapped gifts just like everyone else had. Geralt almost turned on his heels and marched out.

“Sit! Sit! Sit!” Jaskier urged him and, slowly, like a man to his slaughter, Geralt settled. “Happy birthday, my dearest wolves!”

Eager hands flew to the cards except for Lambert who made sure to perch his hat on head first. Reading his card, Geralt’s face was blank. With careful, measured moves, he put the card back in the envelope, pushed away from his seat and walked up to Jaskier who twisted in his seat to watch. Suddenly, he had a witcher draped over his back, face buried in the crook of his neck.

“I’m so sorry.” Geralt’s words were soft, hoarse and wobbly.

Jaskier’s hands reached up to stroke through white hair and over the arms looped around his chest. Turning a little more, he pushed to stand and embraced Geralt, letting him sag into his body.

“Just because you’re an idiot doesn’t mean I love you any less,” he murmured.

When Geralt finally straightened up, his eyes looked a little watery and his hair was messed from being stroked at an awkward angle. It didn’t stop Jaskier smiling at him softly.

“That’s better. Go open your birthday presents. We can talk more this evening.”

The evening found them all on furs in front of the fireplace, curled into a pile of relaxed limbs while Jaskier hummed. Uncharaceristically, it was Geralt who fell asleep first, much to the delight of the other witchers. Lambert looked especially gleeful by the turn of events.

“Not tonight,” Jaskier held up a hand to stop him when he reached for the pot of ink that was for writing lyrics and music. “You can draw on him at any point from tomorrow onward. But tonight is the first night truce.”

“Don’t you want to talk to him?” Eskel asked from his comfortable sprawl.

“And I will.” Jaskier looked down at Geralt’s sleeping form and stroked gently over his cheek. “But we have the rest of winter for that. It’s not like he can run this time.”

Not that Geralt wanted to run anymore. He knew he was going to have to apologise and make amends but Jaskier was right, they had the rest of winter for that.

[merryfortune]

Day 5 / Awkward Hugs

Social Interactionism 2021

Event: @hugsaku

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Ship: Wisteriashipping | Spectre/Yusaku

Word Count: 1.8k

Tags: Developing Relationship, Bittersweet, Fluff with a Sad Ending

AN: since today’s Hugsaku prompt overlaps with my birthday, it was only natural for me to write Spectre/Yusaku as a birthday treat to myself (hence why, no spoilers), they can hug twice in this fic as a treat

  Yusaku’s plan, like they usually did, involved three steps. There might be more steps or issues within those three, broad ideas but so be it. That’s also how it usually was.

  One. He would apologise to Spectre.

  Two. He would find the Earth Ignis.

  Three. He would reunite Spectre and the Earth Ignis.

  He wasn’t sure if the steps to his plan were in descending order or difficulty or not, but he would abide by these three steps to the best of his ability. Of course, coaxing Spectre out into the open, one on one, was going to be difficult and it was part of step one. Yusaku could have just sent a letter addressed for Spectre or even an e-mail but he thought that was impersonal. He wanted it to mean something big and something dear because when he wanted to apologise, he wanted to do something more than just create a clean slate between them. He wanted to earn Spectre’s trust and maybe even affection as the third step in Yusaku’s plan would likely hinge on that.

  However, Yusaku thought that Spectre was even more hermetic than him which was saying something. Yet for all that agonising, just sending a summons for Spectre and Spectre alone at the usual spot for his and his team’s encounters with the Knights of Hanoi, though mainly Ryoken, was enough.

  Quite honestly, Yusaku was expecting to be stood up when he waited by the Stardust Road. He stood with his hands laced over the rail and he stared out to sea. All around him, dusk descended with orange skies and indigo clouds; it dyed the sea that lapped at the rocks and cement below a very, very dark colour and just as Yusaku thought that Spectre might not appear, a familiar stranger dejectedly stood beside him, leaning over the rail with him.

  “I didn’t even hear you.” Yusaku murmured.

  Spectre snickered. “Most people usually don’t. If I’m not careful, if I’m not making a fuss, most people won’t notice me at all.”

  “But Ryoken does?” Yusaku guessed.

  “Yes.” Spectre replied with a bitter smile.

  There was a moment of silence between them. It was uneasy but not necessarily uncompanionable. It was just there to acclimatize them between greetings and the actual conversation, of which, Yusaku initiated it and very boldly at that.

  “I’m sorry.” he said.

  Spectre harrumphed. “Whatever for?”

  “For tricking you into destroying your field when we duelled. That was a cruel thing to do.” Yusaku said. “I can tell you have a very genuine affection for your Sunavalon cards. So, I’m sorry.”

  “That’s water under the bridge,” Spectre said, “but thank you. I appreciate the sentiments.”

  “I’m glad. Because, well, I felt bad about that.” Yusaku stated.

  “You shouldn’t though… I goaded you into, remember, I wanted you to do something cruel and I ought to be impressed that you exceeded expectations.” Spectre replied.

  “Well, now I’m trying to do kind things.” Yusaku said.

  Spectre’s pupils dilated at that – and Yusaku noticed even if it was a small quirk of his body language.

  “No, don’t tell me…” Spectre said, realising where this conversation was going, he had thought it was strange that Yusaku would call him out of the blue like this but he figured he would indulge it, he was his master’s servant after all, so he assumed – hoped – it was eventually going to funnel to him.

  “Yeah,” Yusaku murmured, “I am. I want to bring back the Earth Ignis, or just, um, Earth as he’s called.”

  Spectre shook his head. He wanted to chastise Yusaku, but he couldn’t find his words. He just looked stiff instead.

  “I was hoping you would help but I don’t want to force you.” Yusaku added.

  “I’ll allow it to happen,” Spectre elected to reply, “but I won’t help.”

  “Thank you.” Yusaku said.

  Yusaku was expecting the conversation to end there. He was right. It did. But not how he thought it would. Spectre, slovenly, pushed himself off the railing, ready to return to the marina and retire to the yacht for the night because dealing with Yusaku was exhausting but not quite.

  Yusaku was somewhat surprised as Spectre gave him an unexpected hug. He blinked and he felt Spectre’s arms surge around him. His hug was tight and Yusaku wasn’t sure what to do as he felt Spectre’s head beneath the crook of his chin and his arms on his waist. Yusaku swallowed and he half-heartedly tried to push Spectre off him. He didn’t feel in danger, even if Spectre was a peculiar and oftentimes unpleasant person, but he did feel… Awkward being hugged by him.

  “What are you doing…?” Yusaku asked, blushing.

  Spectre got the hint that now was the time to stop and it seemed he didn’t appreciate being rejected like that. He straightened up his coat and looked mildly annoyed. His brows furrowed and his eyes fixated on some weedy flower growing between the pavers on the ground.

  “I thought it was appropriate. It’s a kind thing, isn’t it?” Spectre asked. “You apologised and now you have yet another channel for your sense of justice so. I thought it was the least I could do.”

  “O-oh, well then,” Yusaku murmured, “thank you.”

  “Well, good luck, I might not want to be involved in whatever it is you plan to do to bring back my Other Self but good luck. I will make sure we don’t… intervene on whatever basis we can find to prevent further resurrections of the Ignis.” Spectre said.

  Yusaku hazarded a small smile. He appreciated it but he didn’t know how to say it beyond words. He figured there were other actions that he could take – and he did take them.

  Steadily over the next few weeks, Yusaku with the help of Kusanagi and Ai, he began to piece together the data belonging to Earth. It was getting much, much easier after all the practice that he had gotten with Ai and then applied that to bring Flame back to Takeru and Aqua back to both Miyu and Aoi. Though, that didn’t make the finding of the pieces all that easier, just the putting them back together and Earth was in plenty of pieces but as Playmaker, Yusaku found them all.

  He restored Earth back to form and Earth was overjoyed to see his good friend Ai once more. They had a hug or two with Ai crying and screaming that he was so glad that yet another of his friends was back; just two more to go. Playmaker was fond as he watched Ai jump and down with Earth in his arms, it was quite the sight to behold given the fact that Earth was much bigger and much heavier than Ai.

  But in the midst of that jubilation, Earth looked up with sorrowful eyes at Playmaker. It seemed he knew where this was heading. Even if he and Spectre hadn’t been all that close previously, there was a disappointment to what Earth had in mind for if he came back.

  “I didn’t remember Aqua first,” Earth began to explain as Playmaker, atop his D-Board, made a beeline for where he could hope to find Spectre, either alone or with Revolver, “I remembered him.”

  Ai nodded. It had been the same for him. He had remembered his dear Yusaku before he remembered anything else or any of the others. It was bittersweet.

  “There he is.” Playmaker commented quietly and he saw Spectre on his lonesome.

  He was standing in the shade of a tree. It was wiry with white bark; its beet purple foliage moved slowly on the breeze. That appeared to be the most natural place for him to reside, he was staring out into the distance of the sort of asteroid field-like area on the hinterlands of the Neo Link VRAINS. The roots of the were spilling out the bottom of the rock platform that it and Spectre was planted on.

  Playmaker drew in closer and Spectre looked up at him. He had a morose look on his face. He took a breath.

  “You fulfilled your goal, I presume?” Spectre asked.

  Playmaker nodded and he made a hand gesture. He allowed Earth to follow through on it and Spectre’s eyes widened. For a moment, he looked completely and utterly happy. Childishly happy. But then he flinched.

  Earth lifted his hand and he didn’t know what to say.

  So, Spectre decided to say it for him.

  “It is good to meet you,” he said, “but I don’t believe our continued meeting is advised.”

  Playmaker inhaled sharply. He was surprised – almost offended – to hear that.

  Spectre came closer to the edge, came closer to Earth and he reached up to where Earth floated against gravity. Gingerly, Spectre pet the top of Earth’s head and he liked how the Ignis’s skin felt on his fingertip. There was a muted joy to Spectre’s expression.

  “I did my best,” Spectre said, recalling the Incident, “for my Mother, she would want me happy and proud, so I duelled my best for you. But when I was told, the new goal of the Hanoi was to destroy the Ignis, I accepted that whole-heartedly. So, I did my best. I endeavoured to eliminate the Ignis if it meant I was useful. I – I don’t believe I can go over the past ten years of that goal so easily, to say nothing of the others, Revolver-sama and the Lieutenants, and even if we are neutral, trying to atone. I want to be my best self for you, Earth. Until then, I don’t believe it to be advisable for you to remain with me.”

  Ai made a strange expression, but it was the same that Playmaker was making. A certain defensiveness which had become unguarded as Spectre explained himself.

  Earth nodded. “That makes sense. I can accept that decision, Partner, but when you are ready, I will be too.”

  “Thank you.” Spectre said and he turned to Playmaker. “Can I ask something selfish of you?”

  “I think I know what it is, but it’s not selfish, Spectre.” Playmaker replied.

  “Can you please home him, please? Keep him safe?” Spectre asked.

  Playmaker nodded. “I can do that for you, yes.”

  “Thank you.” Spectre said.

  Playmaker let his D-Board drop a few more levels and once they were at a mismatched but even height, Spectre hugged him again. Playmaker stiffened but this time, he hugged back as he felt one of Spectre’s hands close to his neck and the other round his waist. Gratitude emanated from Spectre’s hug and though Playmaker felt awkward, he wasn’t a hugger, he didn’t think himself good at it, he still tried to return Spectre’s sentiments. He mimicked back and he could hear a repressed sob in Spectre’s breathing as they held each other in this embrace.

[mordoriscalling]

The Colour-Magic Theory (1/?)

Intro

Here comes part 1 of me playing with magic and giving myself Geraskier feels. Hope you enjoy! (Also, no beta, pls have mercy.)

***

From a look, a song and unwanted friendship, new lives are born. The stack of firewood is swallowed up by flames the moment Geralt casts Igni.

“Oh, I love that trick,” Jaskier says and puts his hands close to the fire, warming them after his fingers got stiff from playing the lute in the chill of the autumn evening. “Why don’t you use it every time, I wonder?” the bard asks, observing his companion sitting across the bonfire. “It’s so much easier.”

The witcher only grunts in reply, as is his way, and continues munching on a strip of beef jerky. Jaskier, however, isn’t deterred by the silence, and continues staring at Geralt expectantly. His questioning gaze is like a physical touch. It sends a tingling sensation down the witcher’s spine, the way it always does.

With a resigned sigh, Geralt answers, “I usually want to save my magic for when I really need it, but you were whining so much about the cold that I just wanted to shut you up quicker.”

Jaskier gasps and lays a hand on his breast, about to dramatically take offence, but doesn’t voice his hurt in the end. Something else intrigued him. “Save your magic?” he asks, “what do you mean?”

The witcher measures the bard with the blank “no more questions” look for long enough that any sane person would give up. Jaskier isn’t exactly sane, in Geralt’s (and some others’) opinion, and stares at the witcher right back, unmoved. When it comes to stubbornness, their relation is a diamond cut diamond type of situation.

Finally, Geralt gives in, huffing in irritation. “Magic always has a price. When you take power from Chaos, you have to give something back. The give and take tends to affect your physiological well-being, especially when the stakes are high.”

“So...” Jaskier begins, confused about his understanding of the matter, “casting signs weakens you and that’s why you don’t use magic often?”

“No,” the witcher answers, confusing his companion even further, “My extra mutations... they must’ve changed it. Using magic doesn’t have any effect on my body at all.”

“Fascinating,” Jaskier replies, then immediately gets up to rummage through his travel pack. He comes back to sit across Geralt with a notebook and a pencil in his hand. “What is the price you pay, then?” he asks the witcher and starts writing something in the notebook without waiting for a reply.

“Jaskier,” Geralt growls, “I haven’t told anyone about this.” The bard’s head snaps up and he stares at Geralt in shock. Then, understanding dawns on his face. “Oh.” He clears his throat. “Alright.” The next moment, the page is torn out of the notebook. It lands in the bonfire and turns into ash. Geralt stares into the flames silently while Jaskier waits for him to speak up.

“My powers deplete themselves,” the witcher says, “It takes time for the magic to return.”

“Peculiar,” the bard remarks, “And a pretty shitty deal, too. I’d rather have it affect my physiology than have to wait after every silly spell.”

Geralt shakes his head. “There’s something else. It’s... hard to explain. In a way, I can negotiate with Chaos. Make my magic not exhaust itself as quickly as it should. It’s useful when I’m in a fight.” His mouth sets into a grim line. “I still haven’t figured out the price I pay for that, though.”

Jaskier smiles a wry little smile, not commenting for once, and Geralt lets himself look at the bard, who meets his eye squarely. The bright gold connects with the cornflower blue and time stands still. Just between the two of them, the colour of the bard’s irises is suddenly so vibrant that it alerts Geralt’s witcher instincts. Jaskier tends to have that effect on him. The bard is always full of energy  – all flutter and movement, brightness and sounds – and it’s too much not to be suspicious. Too much for Geralt’s heightened senses as well; Jaskier’s constant chatter almost gives him a headache every day. His singing is even more bothersome, considering that Geralt’s medallion reacts to it.

“Maybe the price is putting up with you,” the witcher jokes, deadpan. “You!” Jaskier cries, directing an accusing pointing finger at Geralt, “You bastard! I’m a delight and a gift to this world!”

Geralt huffs out a laugh but does nothing to deny it. Jaskier may be annoying and strange but he’s a blessing all the same. Since he joined Geralt two years ago, he’s been working relentlessly on improving Geralt’s image and changing the public perception of all witchers. The bard wants him reborn as a hero, which is a fool’s errand, but he’s grateful for it anyway. The thank-you gets stuck in Geralt’s throat whenever he wants to say it, even though he’s already less spat at in villages. Thankfully, Jaskier seems to understand. Many things pass between them with little words.

Later, when they lay down to sleep, Jaskier’s quiet question reaches the witcher’s ears.  

“Geralt?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

“Hmm.”

*

The bard walks a few steps ahead of Geralt, who follows him on his horse’s back. Jaskier is composing. He’s always in front of Roach when he’s preoccupied with the creative process. The song about the healing of the Striga that he’s working on is in the middle stages – the first version of lyrics is ready but every single line needs perfecting. This is exactly what Jaskier is doing now: trying out the sound of every word and looking for ones that fit the melody better.

The bard is so engrossed with the task that he doesn’t notice the obvious – how the nature around him moves to get closer to his voice. Geralt’s keen eyes notice the way each straw of grass and every leaf lean in, just a touch, to “listen”. The air has gone completely still and the meadow is eerily silent; even Roach seems to be holding her breath. Geralt’s medallion vibrates.

The witcher decides that this moment is as good as any to confront the issue.

“You’re not human.” Jaskier freezes in his tracks, his body going rigid with tension. The acidic stench of fear fills the air and Geralt shifts in the saddle, disturbed by the smell for the first time in decades. “I am not,” Jaskier replies, his back to the witcher. “Do you want to tell me?” Geralt prompts, his voice gentle like it almost never is.   The bard turns to face him, face pale and hands trembling. “You really don’t know what I am?” “You should be the one to say it,” the witcher answers softly. Jaskier releases a shaky breath and nods. Stepping off the path, he walks into the tall grasses and strums his lute. When he opens his mouth, he sings in a language which the witcher has never heard in his long life. The tongue consists mostly of croons, trills, whistles and swishing sounds, and it’s enchanting even to Geralt’s ears. The air becomes thick with power immediately. It’s not Chaos, however. It’s a whole different type of magic.

The fae are creatures of nature – they are born from its energy. Guarding its Order and sustaining its sacred rhythms is their ancient task that they’ve always been fulfilling, hidden away in their own dimension of the world. They belong to the magic of nature and they don’t move out of it. Usually.

Jaskier didn’t belong anywhere, not until recently. His rhythm has always been too fast. He flutters from place to place, both quickly bored and immensely fascinated with everything and anything. The skies have always drawn him in the most – he still dreams of being a bird and flying anywhere he wants. In the end, Jaskier’s Queen found his temperament unbearable enough that she didn’t clip his wings any longer and allowed him to mingle with mortals.

Jaskier’s done his fair share of that, along with quite some mischief, but his life of adventure truly began only when he saw the brooding loner in Posada. The man’s restrained disposition and the guarded gold of his eyes were arresting, intriguing. Jaskier instantly wanted to know what secrets the witcher held. A few years later, he’s sure he won’t ever grow tired of uncovering them – every little bit of information, of understanding Geralt better, sends a thrill of rightness and belonging through his being.

Freeing his magic puts him at ease, lets him truly breathe. And so, the bard carries on singing, not afraid anymore. He smiles, radiating happiness. His glamour has dropped a bit and his sharp fangs are showing but the witcher only smiles back with the tiny upturn of his lips. Jaskier laughs in between the lines because from this moment on, he’s well and truly safe.

When the song ends, the meadow is completely silent for a moment, then the buzz of insects picks up anew and the gentle gust of wind returns.

“You’ve said enough,” Geralt remarks, and that’s all he has to say on the matter.

After that, the bard opens up to his companion even more, if that’s even possible. Geralt has a suspicion that Jaskier’s chatter was to serve as a distraction from his magic. Now that it’s out in the open, Jaskier’s silences, previously almost non-existent, has got longer. The bard doesn’t shy away from using his power around the witcher, too, and uses it in various ways to make their lives easier. He enchants a client into compliance when they don’t want to give Geralt the promised pay, or asks plants and animals to tell them where the nearest shelter is. When Geralt has a restless night, Jaskier’s humming puts him to sleep. The witcher’s medallion always vibrates then but Geralt isn’t alarmed by it any longer. It’s become a welcome thrum.

Their dynamic changes but they don’t look for any ways to describe it; they simply live the new way and enjoy it. The lazy, warm afternoons are the most pleasant, when Geralt stretches out in a shade of some tree and dozes off to the sounds of Jaskier's lute. Other times Geralt uses Aard to toss some object and Jaskier tries to catch it, laughing, his giggles lovelier than the tinkle of silver bells. Chaos and Order swirl around them, the sky is blue and the sun shines bright on the lush green grass. It could mean nothing or it could mean the world but what matters is that they both find peace. This is why Geralt doesn’t call Jaskier his friend – the word doesn’t fit.

Then Cintra happens and they part ways for three whole years.

TBC

Part 2

[milkacchan]

Request for anon: 1/2 Hi! ^_^ Can I request a Noctis x Reader fic, where Noctis is in love with the reader & he will protect her at any cost? like, Noct sees that she's about to get shot/stabbed & the only way he can save her is by shielding her with his body. So he does that. & he nearly dies. After trying so hard the bros & the reader manages to save him. From the bros she learns about his feelings & when Noct wakes up she tells him that she loves him too, she always has

2/2 Tumblr won't let me write more than 500 words, that's why I chose to write my Ask in two parts. I'm sorry this got so long. I just wanted to say Thank you. & I hope you're doing well. Please stay safe & take care :)

"Noct-" you breathed, staring at him with wide eyes. "Noct!" Your body sprinted foward on it own. Adrenaline ran through your veins and yourr mind thought of one thing. Saving him.

You growled, swinging your hand, the droids head came off clean. Thank your powers, they never failed to amaze. You fell to your knees by his side, pressing ypur hands on the wound in his stomach.

"Noct- Noct look at me." Worry and panic laced youe face.

His eyes were lidded and he was pale (paler than usual that is). He looked at you, mouth open, blood dribbling out of the corner. "You're gonna be okay- We'll get you out of this."

He smiled softly. He didn't care about the pain in his stomach- or the fact that he was bleeding out. He didn't care about his surroundings or where he was, why he was there even. He wasn't sure he even completely knew why, too shocked to really think.

But you were there. That's all he really wanted. You.

He lifted a bloody hand to your cheek because damn, if he died, he wanted to at least touch your face once before he left. He wanted to express some sort of gratitude.

You leaned into his touch lightly. The words coming from your mouth no longer registering in his head. It was all blurry everything was blurry. The sound, the vibrations, the world around him. He was loosing blood, fast and he knew that.

He'd been harboring these stupid feelings for god knows how long. Since you started officially training? Since he was a kid? He didn't know exactly when, nor did he care at this particular juncture.

"You're so beautiful." He coughed, smiling slightly. "You know that? You always have been."

"Noct, save your breath." You panicked, your hands pressing further into his stomach.

This was it. He had to tell her. He had to tell her now- he wouldn't be at peace, he couldnt be at peace if he didn't tell her. "And I love you." He whispered. "I love you so much."

And that was it. The world started to go. Anything she was saying was going in one ear and out the other because he couldn't hear anything she was saying. The world blurred and his hand dropped and he finally closed his eyes.

He wasnt expecting to open his eyes again. He'd accepted that, so when he heard voices- the voices of his companions no less, he was confused. He slowly opened his eyes, gaze aimed for the tent ceiling. He slowly turned his head to the side, his gaze this time met with you.

Your eyes were closed, you were snoring softly. From the looks of it, this is the first sleep you'd gotten in some time.

"She hasn't left, you know." Gladiolus mumbled, sitting down. Noctis turned his attention to the giant. "Three days and she hasn't left. Refused to eat, refused to sleep. Only left to go to the bathroom."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Iggy slipped something into the tea he made her a couple of hours ago. So she finally would sleep."

"Three days, huh."

"Three days. Took us almost 4 hours to get you where you needed to be. You'll be fine though now."

"I'm sorry. I just- she was going to be- and I had to-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it. We're glad you're okay, prince Noctis."

Noctis scrunched his know, Gladio knew how much he hated that. "Really."

"Don't get yourself almost killed next time, I'll save you from the embarrassment."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He mumbled, watching as gladio got up, flashing him a smile before leave.

He gently took your hand, running small circles on your knuckle with his thumb. He'd told you. He'd told you- finally after so long, he'd told you how he felt. Granted, if he hadn't been dying, he wouldn't have, but he did. It didn't look like it had scared you off, given that you were sitting next to him.

He sighed, wincing slightly at the pain in his side. He wasn't sure how long he laid there, waiting for you. But he did it quietly, enjoying the peace.

There was a small groan and he looked over.

It took you a minute for you to process what was in front of you, he could see the gears turning in your mind as your eyes focused on him. Finally, they widened and you gasped.

"Oh gods you're awake!" You quickly sat up. "Are you feeling okay? Does anything hurt? Do you want me to go get Ignis or Prompto? I mean prompto wont be able to do anything but he's your best friend so-"

"I'm fine," he smiled gently. "Really, I am."

"I mean are you sure? I can-" you started to move and he instinctively grabbed your wrist.

"Please don't go," he mumbled, "I don't want you to leave."

You slowly sat down. His eyes scanned your face, trying to read what you might be thinking.

"Okay," you nod slightly. "I'll stay." You moved closer to the prince, laying back down.

He mumbled a small thank you, moving his hand from your wrist to intertwine your fingers.

He wasn't sure if he was over stepping boundaries. He wasn't sure what he was really doing, if he was honest. Maybe he should let go- maybe he should just pretend that nothing happened and-

"Noct? You okay?" There was a gentle hand on his cheek. He looked up from where he was staring.

"Did I zone out?"

"Yeah, you zoned out. What goin on in the small brain of yours?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just thinking." How was he supposed to bring this up?

"How much do you remember?" You settled against him again.

"Uh.. well I got shot? Stabbed? I don't know- I got hurt," he frowned. "And then-"

"And then?"

His face flushed. "I told you I loved you, I think. Did I?"

"Yeah," you smiled softly. "You did."

"Oh,"

You took a deep breath. "Did um...did you mean it? Like for real?"

His gaze traced back to you. He scanned your face. The red in your cheeks, the way your gaze wavered under his, your lips puffed in a pout. "Yes, I did. I meant every word."

"Promise me, promise me you do."

His thumb moved gently over your cheek. "I promise." He whispered.

He watched you take a deep breath, hand moving up to hold his against your cheek.

"I um..I think I love you too. I know I like you- at least- a lot. I've never been in love- but whenever I feel calm and okay and like I'm the luckiest person ever, to just be by your side." You bit the inside of your cheek. "When we were younger, I used to panic and my heart would like, doe- but now I'm just calm and happy," you finally look up at him. "I think that's love."

He smiles softly, pulling you into his chest. "I'm glad," he squeezes you gently.

Thank gods.

[ffxvficrec]

Gladnis Weekend 2020 Round Up

You can also check out the collection on A03 here.  

Lunches and Letters by Ulan

Every Sunday, Ignis and Gladio share packed lunches at the park.

No, it is not a date.

The Unfinished Face by mooglecharm (morphaileffect) 

Ignis confides in Gladio that he got glasses at a young age, because he felt his face was incomplete. 

The Choice by AnnaTheLoon

Gladio had resigned to fulfill whatever the Amicitia duty required, even at the cost of his own happiness. Until Ignis shows him an escape. 

love languages by seaofolives

“Give me the keys,” Gladio said, on their way to Ignisʼ car. “Iʼll drive you home.”

Ignis stopped, then, and frowning at his feet, told him, “I donʼt want to go home yet.” Oh no.

Gladio looked around, putting his hands in his pockets. “Okay,” he said, watching his friend. He was sulking, holding his fists tightly on each side. He pulled his shoulders up for a high shrug. “So where dʼyou wanna go?”

give and take by shepherd

Gladio and Ignis have thirty minutes. 

[FFXV] The definition of "normalcy" in Amicitia dictionary by anpathio

BH/pre-game era One-two words: panic Situational: First date | having to deal with someone/group that disapproves of their relationship Dialogue: "I can't sleep." | "Trust me... please." 

lessons in crying by seaofolives

There were several things that Ignis had learned to look out for in the duration of their road trip—their journey. The kingʼs irritability, the passing of the seasons, that sense of restlessness coming from a long drive…

And tears.

Share the Burden by AnnaTheLoon

Late one night, Ignis takes a moment to himself to mourn all that was lost after the Fall of Insomnia. Gladio reminds him that he's not alone. 

Not-Boyfriend Shirt by Ulan

There were a lot of things Gladio could say he expected to see that day, but Ignis Scientia in one of his shirts and little else was definitely not one of them.  

expensive tastes by shepherd

Ignis finds something he had lost. 

In the Still of the Night, I Fell For You by lilium_elendir

Young Ignis arranges a camp out at the Citadel to cheer up his liege, but things don't work out the way he had planned. Finding himself cold in the night, Gladio comes to the rescue. 

Gods-Forsaken Dough by AnnaTheLoon

Gladio and Ignis are enjoying an afternoon of baking together. Until Ignis realizes there's something wrong with the bread dough... 

Echo by GingerEl

A collection of moments through Ignis and Gladio's relationships where they use each others words against them - but in a good way. 

the end by seaofolives

“We got it on the ropes,” Gladio cried, running to him where he fell in a crouch. “You gotta do it again—” The boom of rocks ate his words. When they looked up, they found the Ganymede pulling its elbow back until it was breaking through the ceiling.

That great fist plummeted to them, faster than Ignis could breathe—

“Ignis!!”

The impact echoed in the ruined corridor, the dreadful sound shaking Ignisʼ world, trapping it in echoes. He could hear the Crystal cracking, watch time slow down as Gladio crashed upon the ceiling near the end of the path, and fell like a stringless marionette to the floor.

“Gladio!!!”

This was how it would end.

Only words can express how I feel about you by SophiaHoppia

Gladio has finished re-reading one of his favorite books once again and is craving more. To his surprise, there is one single fanfiction about two side characters of said book. He gets engrossed in the story, only realizing after quite a while how the relationship of this material arts teacher and librarian resembles his relationship with Ignis. Or not-relationship because Ignis isn't interested in him or anyone. It takes him even longer to realize that the events happening in the story might be inspired by his real life. As if someone who knew him was writing the story 

nine am by shepherd

Ignis and Gladio spend a very slow morning together. 

Ripped by Soyna

Gladio can't fit Ignis clothes. 

Don't Leave by forbiddengarnet

After Noctis ventured forth into the Citadel to defeat Ardyn once and for all, it was up to Gladio, Ignis and Prompto to bring down the two Iron Giants that had appeared at the foot of the Citadel stairs. As it turned out, though, it wasn’t only the two Giants...

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] In The Arms of Love:  Chapter 4

Ai kept his arms around Yuusaku even as the night turned by and the sounds of outside grew quieter and quieter. He checked on the weather and smiled. Oh, that would make a lovely surprise for Yuusaku in the morning!

Does he have a proper coat? Ai wanted to get up and check, but he had Yuusaku in his arms, and he didn’t want to take the chance on his dear one waking up if he moved. Yuusaku didn’t always sleep well, and Ai wanted to make sure that this time he was actually rested.

But he had other ways to find out what he needed to know.

“Roboppy,” he murmured, speaking not in human but in the shared language of computer programs, “I need to know if Yuusaku has a good winter coat.”

“He has a coat,” Roboppy replied right away. “But it isn’t very thick. He would probably be cold in it.”

Ai pressed his lips together, thinking. He regarded Yuusaku carefully, then checked his other resources. He had access to money – one didn’t take over SOL Technologies and not tuck a nest egg away just in case – and if there was anyone in this world who knew Yuusaku’s measurements, he was that one.

Ai didn’t need to so much as get up to carry out his idea. He rifled through one of the better online stores and made his selection, putting the order in quickly. It would be delivered by morning – an extra charge applied, but for Yuusaku, anything was worth it.

Then he carefully went back over it all and erased his tracks flawlessly. He didn’t want anyone, especially those who might have a grudge against Playmaker, to figure out anything about Yuusaku. Among all of those simulations, one thing had been certain. Yuusaku always outed himself as Playmaker to protect him and that always meant he ended up being targeted.

If that were going to happen, it wouldn’t be because of Ai’s own foolishness.

So, in the morning, Yuusaku would wake up to an elegant new coat that would keep him warm, as well as a thick coating of snow outside. It was the weekend; he wouldn’t have to go to school. Ai checked around for interesting cold weather events they could take part in. Ice skating, throwing snowballs, skiing – well, he didn’t think Yuusaku would like skiing. But skating and snowballs and walking in the snow and hot chocolate

Yuusaku never seemed to want anything that could actually be fun. Ai would take care of that for him.

He considered for a little longer, then put in another order – ice skates. Those could be rented from some areas, but as far as Ai was concerned, Yuusaku should have everything of his own. If he could have gotten away with it – and he wasn’t sure that he couldn’t – he would have arranged for Yuusaku to have a much better apartment.

But that would probably be something that Yuusaku should decide for himself. Ai would keep himself to small presents like coats and skates and making reservations at a good restaurant.

He’d originally intended the money he swiped from SOLtech to go to Yuusaku after a couple of years. Not that Yuusaku would necessarily need it; he was more than talented enough to get a job he’d be happy at with minimum effort. But Ai wanted, even then, to take care of Yuusaku in any way that he could.

Only he hadn’t counted on coming back and since he had, and he knew perfectly well that the little nest egg he’d set up was there, it didn’t seem right to just let it gather virtual dust.

Ai didn’t need to sleep, not exactly like humans did. But he carefully arranged for his body to recharge and set himself into a temporary stasis mode. That passed for sleep, and he could make certain that he woke up when Yuusaku did.

Several hours later, that was exactly what he did. Yuusaku stirred against him, and Ai opened his eyes, recaliberating and focusing, checking the time and reassuring himself that the weather hadn’t done anything that it shouldn’t. One couldn’t always be certain, after all.

“Ai?” Yuusaku blinked at him. “Good morning.”

Ai grinned at him. He thought about getting himself some nightclothes, but there was also the fact that covering up his body was something of a crime against nature. He enjoyed clothes and showing off his taste, but nightwear was something else altogether. He would have to think about it.

But he did like the idea of Yuusaku waking up to see him like that. He would consider the benefits in the future.

For now, he just enjoyed the sight of early morning Yuusaku, with mussed hair and eyes a little sleepy and confused.

“Good morning, Yuusaku-chan,” Ai chirped cheerfully at him. He unwound himself and stood up. “You’re going to need breakfast. It’s going to be a busy day!”

Yuusaku blinked a few times. “What are you talking about?” He started to shift off of the bed, angling towards the bathroom.

“It’s snowing outside,” Ai told him. He could see the tiniest wince of Yuusaku’s shoulders at that. Ah, he had no idea. “We’re going to have fun!”

Yuusaku snorted ever so faintly. “I think I’m going to go back to bed after breakfast. I don’t like the snow.” He must have seen Ai’s expression, since he amended, “Or did you want to go to Link Vrains?”

“We’re going out!” Ai told him. “It’s going to be fun!”

Yuusaku shook his head with a sigh. “I don’t like snow or cold. I’m not going out there if I don’t have to.”

“Oh, you’re going to love this,” Ai promised. “Go on, get dressed. Roboppy’s making you a good breakfast.”

He gently nudged Yuusaku that way before heading off to the kitchen area himself. It wasn’t much of a kitchen – a tiny stove, a counter-top oven that took up more counter space than it should have, a sink, and a couple of cupboards. A bar offered a little more space to put things, but that was it. It was big enough to get various tasks of cooking done, as long as one didn’t want to make anything very complex.

I really have to get him to get us a bigger place, Ai told himself, setting up for breakfast as Roboppy got to work making it. Sounds of water splashing and other movements told him that Yuusaku was at least getting ready for breakfast. He probably wasn't too thrilled about anything else Ai might have planned.

A knock sounded, and before Yuusaku could so much as peek his head out of the bathroom, Ai caroled out, “I’ll get it!”

Just as he’d expected, it was the coat and the skates. Ai carried them inside and set them on the slightly rickety table. Yuusaku peered out, clearly confused at the sight of the boxes.

“What did you order?” He didn’t sound as if he wanted the answer. Ai just waved one hand at him.

“Eat your breakfast. You’ll see this later.” He didn’t open any of it. These were Yuusaku’s presents. He would get that honor.

Yuusaku stared at them for a few moments, suspicion written large over his features, before he went over to start eating.

“Do I want to know where you got the money for that?”

“No, probably not,” Ai replied cheerfully. “Though I could tell you if you really wanted me to.”

Yuusaku regarded him before he slowly shook his head. “No. I think I’ll sleep better without knowing.”

Ai grinned; he thought much the same thing. Yuusaku would probably try to demand he give the money back. Ai wasn’t going to do that. SOLtech wasn’t their enemy anymore, but he thought they’d earned that money after everything.

Once Yuusaku finished, he came over to where Ai lounged waiting for him. “All right, what’s in the boxes?”

“Open them up and see,” Ai told him. “I bought them for you. They’re yours.”

“Mine?” Yuusaku said the word as if he wasn’t sure of how it applied to him. “You got me – presents?”

“Yup. Go on.” Ai waved one hand. Yuusaku eyed the boxes again, then slowly started to open the smallest one first.

He pulled out the ice skates and stared at them. “Skates? I don’t know how to ice skate.

“No better time to learn!” Ai declared before he motioned to the other box. “Now that one!”

If Yuusaku had been surprised by the skates, his jaw dropped at the sight of the thick coat, a deep shade of amethyst. He rested one hand on it before he stared up at Ai.

“Where did you get this?”

“Off the internet. Don’t worry, no one can tell I got it,” Ai assured him. “Put it on! I want to be sure I got it right.”

Yuusaku stared back at the coat. Ai suspected he wanted to wear it a lot more than he wanted to admit. Then, slowly, he slid the coat on, sinking into the warm depths of it. He closed his eyes, ever so faintly trembling, before he leaned over and wrapped coat-covered arms around Ai, holding him tightly. Ai wrapped his arms around him in return, enjoying the feeling of Yuusaku being there.

“Thank you,” Yuusaku murmured. “It’s wonderful.” Then he glanced quickly at Ai. “You didn’t get a thong too, did you?”

“Not yet,” Ai told him, eyes flickering in amusement. “But there’s time until spring. Or I could get you one in Link Vrains. I’m sure there’s lots of people who would love to see Playmaker in one of those – what are they called? Speedos?”

Oh, he did so love to see Yuusaku blush. It could happen so easily, at least for him.

Spring couldn’t come soon enough.

To Be Continued

Notes: Tomorrow Yuusaku and Ai do wintery things. The spring/swimming/thong stuff will probably be brought up in my Aiballshipping Week fills. Though it’s still a trifle too soon to say for sure.

[3w-writer-with-wings]

Next Yu-Gi-Oh! Crossover – Bonds Beyond Worlds

With so many ideas about what Yu-Gi-Oh! 7 will be about, I wanted ZEXAL/ARC V/VRAINS crossover continuation the most. I’ve already discussed this before Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens was announced (here it is if you’re interested https://3w-writer-with-wings.tumblr.com/post/189629945740/next-yu-gi-oh-anime-new-series-or-a-crossover��) and despite new series, I’m still hopeful we will be getting a movie at least. Well, even if we aren’t getting it, I’ll write it down anyway. Only once Yuma, Astral, Yu-boys, Bracelet Girls, Yusaku and Ai get a happy conclusive ending will my soul be able to rest.

Still please don’t hate on SEVENS! It’s a nice and funny show and Yuga is a precious little inventor who doesn’t deserve all the hate.

Main cast

So the main cast will be definitely made of the main protagonists aka. Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku and their partner characters aka. Astral, other Yu-boys and Ai. I also want to include Bracelet Girls since they are very closely connected to Yu-boys, though not directly, more like they have a separate, but just as important mission, maybe they even team up with Rio (since she has psychic-like abilities) and Aoi (who learns about world connection from her brother and wishes to help). If it will possible I’ll also include rivals – though more like supporting characters, the same way Signers and professor Banner were used in the movie. For everyone else it would be more or less just minor roles, but still important enough to contribute to the story (Kaito and Arclight brothers guide Yuma through different worlds, Reiji and Yusho investigate strange occurrences in Arc V and Akira, Kusanagi and Ryouken try to find out where Yusaku went and how to help him). Overall, I wouldn’t include too many characters since I really want to give them meaningful roles. 

How it will connect the series?

VRAINS ends with a surprising findings uncovered by Akira – VRAINS got connected to many different worlds and Yusaku is on his way to unknown part of VRAINS in order to find Ai. While first crossover was connected by time (hence the title Bonds Beyond Time), this crossover will be connected by space. First crossover already made a big deal out of time (Atem was an ancient spirit from past and had to travel back in time to regain memories in order to rest in peace, Judai was a reincarnation of a Supreme King and Yusei fought against time-travelling cyborg from the future) and was therefore connected by time, with Yusei using Crimson Dragon to travel to past in order to stop Paradox from destroying it. This time, the new trio of protagonists will have to travel through space in order to meet. Since VRAINS ended so abruptly, with Yusaku travelling towards unknown part of network, this would be the most perfect point to start this new journey. If that part of VRAINS network somehow got connected to another world or more like a dimension, this is how Yusaku finds himself in ARC V dimension after the events of the fifth series – sometime after the four dimensions merged into one again. Yuya and Yuzu get used to their counterparts living in their bodies and Yuya is yet to defeat Yusho at that point.

Goals

In a way all three series share the same theme of protecting the world and changing it in order to save the ones they love, but with each series, less can be done to save it. Yuma used Numeron Code to save the friends he lost, prevented the destruction of Barian world and turned Barian Emperors back in humans. Yuya managed to seal Zarc’s soul in Reira and get Yuzu back and joined all dimensions into one, but he couldn’t save other Yu-boys and Bracelet Girls. Yusaku was unable to save Ai as Ai was never meant to co-exist with humanity. Therefore I believe this chain of events is in a way connected with Numeron Code – with such drastic change in Astral World and Barian World, the change must’ve affected Original Dimension in ARC V and Dr. Kogami must’ve had a reason to create Ignis (in the most far-fetched logic I believe the change awakened Zarc’s rage and convinced Dr. Kogami that the world is ending and humanity needs an immortal successor). Yuma could also feel guilty and selfish to activate Numeron Code, thinking he might’ve been wrong after all and that caused all the suffering Yuya, Yuzu, their counterparts and Yusaku have been through.

But at the same time this doesn’t mean they should just give up Numeron Code to fix everything and rather look for a different way, considering how much damage it has already caused. Maybe the antagonist wishes to have Numeron Code and their first goal is to destroy it or seal it for good and at the same time deal with the fact that it could bring Ai, Yu-Boys and Bracelet Girls back. Yusaku and Yuya don’t blame Yuma one bit and they both ensure him that their friends are still there, they just need to find another way to bring them back home. At one point they will be back either before the climax or during the climax (Yu-boys are pretty much already in Yuya, but it could be that they gain their bodies at the crucial moment when they are protecting Yuya). It would be interesting if Ai actually knew Yusaku was looking for him but was too scared to face him, thinking he’ll lose him (maybe Astral helps him get over it and during the moment where Yusaku is in danger, Ai comes back in a similar fashion as he did during his duel with Ryouken).

Antagonist(s)

It doesn’t necessary need an antagonist, considering the goals the main trio has is already challenging enough, though it would be interesting to have another antagonist. Rather than having a one that thinks they are doing the right thing but are ultimately making everything worse or a character that is outright evil. I prefer to use a very calculating antagonist who has a good reason behind his actions and truly presents a challenge for the new trio. Antagonist like Z-ONE from 5Ds would nicely fit in this story, but like I said, it doesn’t really need an antagonist. It will be also interesting to include a secondary antagonist or antagonists’ right hand against the girl squad. Since I plan to include Numeron Code (I mean it is a literal Infinity Gauntlet, why the hell not?) the main antagonist’s motivation could be something with rewriting reality and space all over again since Yuma and Astral greatly changed it since the end of ZEXAL. The Bracelet girls also have a connection to Ray and En cards that are also a rather powerful element so there would be no need to include more powerful elements, prophecies or ancient grudges against the protagonist trio. 

This might be a bit far-fetched idea too, but I think it would really interesting to use Yusho as antagonist. Not in a willing way of course, just that someone possesses him and through him challenges the new trio to a duel that decides all. A certain fanfic writer has (Frost190 in “Bonds of Pendulum”) already written down the most amazing duel between Yuya and Yusho that fit into the canon story so well that it made me think just what missed opportunity that duel was. Even though ARC V both starts and ends with Yuya’s vow to defeat his father one day, he never really duels him (though considering Yuri was able to defeat him and Yuya defeated Yuri, he could potentially defeat Yusho as well). Then there’s the fact that Yusho and Yuya haven’t really talked things through face to face yet. While it is clear that Yusho had to leave in order to stop Leo, he left right on the day he was supposed to have this big match. He knew Leo was up to no good, but really, really why he decided to leave on that day? He could’ve at least post-phone that match or be done with it in like an hour or so and then leave. This one thing has bothered me for as long as I can remember and that fact that they never point it out is that more frustrating besides the fact that Leo was magically excused of all horrible things he did. Yusho as antagonist (controlled of course, but using Yuya’s and Yusho’s memories to try to manipulate others) would work very well for Yuma and Yusaku too since Yuma also had to deal with the loss of his father and to Yusaku, Yusho could look like Dr. Kogami – a man who traumatized him for life. 

Climax

Like in Bonds Beyond Time, a big duel with protagonists against antagonist is expected to be the main battle of the movie, I would like to spice it up a bit or use entirely different climax scene. I mentioned before that I would love to see Bracelet Girls in action, so what if they get a seperate mission or another antagonist to fight and this is how they find a way to get their own bodies. With this info they have to reach Yu-boys and let them know how to separate them, though again there could be some trouble or something is happening due to disturbance in dimensions and they have to protect people in them. It would be really interesting if they were the trump card or if they would show up at that one moment when they would needed it the most. Another reason of why I want to include them so much is also because only the powers of Yuzu’s bracelet have been partially explained and considering Ray literally split a whole dimension and a demon in four, they must’ve been nearly as powerful as Numeron Code.

I would also love to expose the new trio of protagonists to their worst fears, showing their pieces of vulnerability there. Yuma could relive his duel with III and all the times he lost Astral and his friends. Yuya could go through the time his father was missing and when he hurt innocent people in berserk form. (In a way I would also love to see Zarc and Ray have a role, at least to guide him and encourage him to not to give up.) Yusaku might expect the trauma from Lost Incident, but it turns out to be the fear of truly losing Ai. Another important challenge would be probably temptation to use Numeron Code for their own interests like maybe it could rewrite Yusaku’s life with Lost Incident never happening, but erase all of Yuma’s friends who got revived. Maybe it could bring counterparts back but cause major disturbance in Den City. Overall I wouldn’t go there too much since I know well that Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku are one of the most selfless people and if anything, they would be fine with giving up on their desire for greater good.

Another important climax (in case I go with it), is Numeron Code. With such insane power of literal creation and destruction it could be again connected to ARC V, with the whole theme of Heavenly Dragons and En Powers. Similar themes also appeared in VRAINS, especially regarding the creation and destruction of life. It could also be that protagonists will be struggling with how to use it correctly or if they should use it in the first place. Another solution is also permanent destruction, but again, protagonists aren’t sure how will this affect dimensions and timelines. 

In all ways, climax will be epic and will join all the build up, struggles, fears and action in one scene.

Interactions of those who never met

This crossover will be able to provide a lot of scenes and interactions between characters of those three series. Yuya, Yuma and Yusaku have surprisingly a lot in common, especially their experiences when dealing with loss and fears. For some reason I’m actually seeing Yusaku opening up to them since they could strangely remind him of Ai and that was pretty much the only person besides Kusanagi that Yusaku trusted enough to share his fears. It would be also refreshing for Yusaku to see duelling as fun (I really hoped that would be the case when he duelled Go for the first time) and befriending more people like Ai told him to. Astral and Ai could also share a scene where they are talking about their human partners and the time once their partners will be gone since they are both sort of immortal beings. I strongly believe one of the reasons why Ai sacrificed himself for Yusaku was not only because he saw a future where Yusaku dies protecting him but because he knew Yusaku won’t live forever like him and he couldn’t handle being all alone without Yusaku or other Ignis. Astral who has been alone for thousands of years before meeting Yuma could teach him how to cherish the time with his partner that he still has. 

Conclusion

Like I mentioned it in the beginning – this would more or less be fix-it story. While I’m okay with ZEXAL ending (better than the one in manga at least), ARC V and VRAINS are in dire need for a better ending so overall, the ending conclusion will give the three series a much more conclusive ending. While I love to write a good angst and bitter sweetness for the end, I do no plan to end it this way (especially after binge watching two anime series in a row that had bitter-sweet but hella sad endings). This will have to be a feel-good ending with cheese on top or at least hopeful feel. I’m aiming for similar conclusion as Bonds Beyond Time, with three protagonists parting ways in hopes that they did the right thing and that they can return back to the worlds that they no longer need to fear they will break. 

The endgame will be obviously with Yu-boys coming back, Ai reuniting with Yusaku and Numeron Code being sealed away or if possible destroyed. If I’m going with “Yuma screwed up ARC V and VRAINS with Numeron Code” way, then I’ll really need to find a good reason to get rid of it or at least find a logical way how. Also he will be dealing with massive guilt and responsibility so maybe… Yuma might go Iron Man with it and others will need to stop him (that might lead to a secondary final duel or more like rescue duel, kinda mirroring final duel between Yusaku and Ai).

So yeah there will be a lot of conclusions to go through, especially if I include original antagonists, though I’m not that sure about it yet.

If anyone has any other ideas, suggestions, theories or anything else related to this topic, feel free to leave it below or PM me. I would love to hear your thoughts on this idea and it will really help me gather more ideas and material for this project that I would really love to write, not just for myself but for all other members of Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom as well.

[thepetulantpen]

(A short addition to my blind!Geralt AU! Bit of a sickfic, this time.)

“You’re sick.”

Jaskier startles at Geralt’s voice, bed creaking beneath him. He’d been writing in his notebook- hard at work with another song, if Geralt had to guess- apparently thinking Geralt was asleep.

“What? No, I’m not.”

Geralt sits up and thumps Jaskier lightly- though, not lightly enough judging by his responding grunt- on the back. The vibration rattles in Jaskier’s chest and reveals exactly what he’s already smelled. 

“Yes, you are.”

Concentrating, Geralt can hear Jaskier’s mouth turn downward in a frown. It’s not very hard- he’s not sure whether the exaggeration is a product of Jaskier’s personality, or an attempt to make it easier for Geralt to “see”. More likely a healthy mix of both, coupled with Jaskier’s considerable need for attention. 

“And how can you tell that?” Jaskier sounds genuinely curious, but doesn’t wait for an answer, “Can you hear the mucus? Smell it? Feel the tiny bacteria in the air?”

“Something like that.” Geralt smiles, hearing Jaskier’s heartbeat pick up in a way he’s taken to interpreting as indignant. 

“I won’t stand for this blatant invasion of my privacy. Keep your witcher-y senses to yourself, you-”

Geralt hums and pulls Jaskier towards him, against his chest, making him interrupt himself with a surprised yelp. He bats at Geralt’s hands weakly, laughing as they trace up his doublet, feeling for the pattern. 

“I’m not exactly reading your diary, Jaskier. I’d find out later, with or without your confession.”

“I’m not convinced you wouldn’t read my diary, if you could.” Jaskier shifts Geralt’s hand slightly, moving it to an embroidered flower. “It’s gold, by the way.”

Geralt nods, satisfied he’s solved the mystery of Jaskier’s fashion choices for the day, and gets up, using one hand to push Jaskier back down when he tries to follow. “You’ll stay here and rest.”

“I’m fine.”

“For now, maybe. We’ll see how you feel tonight.”

Jaskier groans and falls back against his pillow, the thump echoing through their small room. He grumbles under his breath about boredom, but he may as well have said it out loud- it’s all the same to Geralt. 

Convinced that Jaskier isn’t an immediate flight risk, Geralt turns to pack up his bag, running his hands over everything to double check. It’s well-organized, which he can thank Jaskier for. He wouldn’t have thought to rearrange it with a less visually dependent system- he hadn’t changed much, in recent years, figuring his senses would compensate. 

Jaskier, to put it lightly, had thought this was lunatic. 

“Why not give yourself shortcuts? You’re taking an extra minute to do something when you could just help yourself out beforehand.”

“I don’t need-“

“It’s not about need, Geralt. Let me show you.”

One of many instances of Jaskier improving Geralt’s life through sheer force of will. He’s adopted an insistence on convenience and efficiency that Geralt can’t- or won’t, to save himself the indignity- argue with. 

He’ll be able to return the favor by taking care of Jaskier today. With any luck, it’ll be a simple cold, cleared up with rest before it truly sets in. He’s going to run errands, pick up human medicine, and be back by midday to check on him. His hunt can wait until the afternoon, once he’s confident Jaskier will be alright.

“Think about it as a chance to rest your voice.” 

Jaskier flicks him off and Geralt doesn’t bother letting him know that he can sense that. 

…

Before he even enters the room, Geralt can tell Jaskier’s gotten worse. The scent of sickness is stronger, his breathing worse. He’ll need to check Jaskier’s temperature, and make sure he hasn’t taken a drastic turn for the worse.

It’s challenging, between the barrier of the door and the relative lack of sound in the room, but Geralt focuses on the draft as it bounces against things, outlining the scene and giving him an idea of what he’s walking into. Jaskier is curled up on the bed, writing quietly in his journal- slower than the fast, presumably messy, scratches Geralt is used to. 

Jaskier must hear him step up to the door because he tenses, writing coming to an abrupt stop. Geralt opens the door before he can worry and starts pulling out what he’s bought, kicking the door shut to keep his hands free. 

“Geralt,” Jaskier greets, voice more hoarse than it was this morning, “how’d it go?”

“I’ve got stuff for tea.” 

He has... something for tea. The store had been so packed with herbs it was difficult to distinguish between them, and he didn’t want to sniff every ingredient with the owner watching. He thinks he’s found the right things, more or less. 

Jaskier pulls back the covers and climbs out of bed, crouching beside Geralt and his bag to supervise. “Your tea is always nasty.”

“My tea is healthy.” He pushes Jaskier’s hand away, knowing he’s just going to complain about whatever he ends up putting in.

“For someone with a great nose, you really haven’t grasped human taste buds. Would it kill you to add some honey, once in a while?”

“Well,” Geralt tries not to smile, turning away to start mixing, “I was going to use a little of this fresh honey I bought, but I think I’ll have to save it for someone more grateful.”

“Geralt-“ Jaskier starts, but breaks off with a cough, ending his whine before it can reach the truly annoying, high-pitched range. It would be a blessing- if the coughing stopped. 

Geralt pats Jaskier on the back through the coughing fit, fumbling for his water-skin with his other hand. Jaskier finds it first, unscrewing the cap with shaking hands and almost choking from drinking too fast. 

When he’s done, Jaskier pauses to regain his breath and goes quiet- it takes a second for Geralt to concentrate enough to realize he’s smiling, trying to reassure Geralt. 

Geralt frowns and puts the tea aside to face Jaskier- for all the good that’ll do. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

“No, no,” Jaskier coughs again, and clears his throat, forcing his voice to sound almost normal, “Your hunt is more important. It’s just a cold.”

“Jaskier-“

Jaskier puts his hands on Geralt’s shoulders and leans on, so their foreheads touch. “Geralt. The people here need you more than me, right now.”

He takes Geralt’s hand and places it on his chest, under his shirt. The skin is warmer- slightly hotter than it should be- and the rhythm of his breathing isn’t great, but it’s steady. It’s a cold, nothing that Jaskier can’t handle, after these years of travel. 

“I’m still going to make you tea.”

Jaskier laughs, the sound broken up by his sore throat. “I suppose it wouldn’t be that easy to get out of, would it?”

Geralt doesn’t respond, just adds a more generous dollop of honey.

...

It’s a miracle that the hunt ends successfully at all- he’s distracted the whole time, thinking about Jaskier. He gets lucky with a few strikes, more reckless than wise, and ends it quickly, collecting his coin without counting it. 

The smell of sickness is obvious at the top of the stairs, from the opposite end of the hallway.

Jaskier is in bed, under the blankets, and shivering, despite the heat of his skin. It permeates the air around him; Geralt doesn’t even have to touch him to feel the temperature. He puts a hand to Jaskier’s forehead anyway- running a fever, but not a dangerous one, yet. Any higher and he’ll have to seek out a healer, but there’s no point dragging Jaskier out of bed for the same tea they can make here, where he’s relatively comfortable. 

His teacup sits empty at his bedside, and Geralt picks it up to fill it again, mixing stronger herbs, this time. Jaskier stirs and props himself up as Geralt works, blinking slowly, blearily. 

“Ger-“

He cuts off with a cough, a deep, harsh sound. It makes Geralt’s ears ring, and he almost doesn’t notice Jaskier waving, gesturing for something. 

“What is it?” He hates to make him talk, when his voice is clearly shot, but he can’t tell what he’s pointing at. 

“Candle.” Jaskier clears his throat, trying again, with more success, “Some light, please.”

He spends a second debating whether Igni is too dangerous for a small target, then another fumbling with a match. He’s pretty sure he’s lit it, based on the heat around the wick, but Jaskier makes a low hum, confirming. 

Once the candle is placed on the bedside table, next to a new cup of tea, Geralt sits at the edge of the bed, all his senses focused on Jaskier. He helps Jaskier sit up and drink, then goes still as Jaskier leans against him, under Geralt’s arm. 

“I’d read you a bedtime story, but,” Geralt waves, vaguely in the direction of Jaskier’s notebook, now abandoned, “well, that’s usually your job.”

“Next time, I’ll slay the drowners, and you write the story,” Jaskier rasps and laughs, a breathy exhale. 

They fall into silence for a few minutes, none of Jaskier’s usual chatter to fill it. He’s still awake- Geralt can tell from the pattern of his breathing- probably too uncomfortable to fall asleep. In the meantime, he’s making a valiant effort to drain the teacup. No amount of honey disguises the bitter medicinal herbs, and Jaskier’s sore throat makes him wince with every swallow, so it’s slow going. 

“I’ll tell you a story, anyway,” Geralt offers, before he can second guess himself, “Of one my older hunts. Before I was blinded.”

It’s a strange memory to relive- the details are fuzzier than he thought they’d be. He’s struggling to recall the visual elements that Jaskier tends to prioritize when describing things, by habit. He does his best, and decides the color of the monster doesn’t actually make a difference. Jaskier has never been picky- always happy to know how things sounded, how they smelled, how they felt. 

“Your world,” Jaskier told him, once, “is so vivid. I can’t even imagine it.”

“It’s missing a little something, too,” Geralt joked, only half-kidding. 

“No,” Jaskier insisted, “it’s all of mine and more. Sounds and smells and textures I’ll never experience, except through you. Thank you, for sharing it with me.”

Jaskier hums contentedly now, starting to nod off halfway through the third story. His hands twitch, as if aching to take notes, but sleep finds him before he can fidget too much. 

Geralt sits by him all night, carefully monitoring his breathing, heartbeat and temperature. He’s listening carefully for any change for the worse, but the medicine in the tea takes hold and Jaskier only improves as he sleeps. 

(In the morning, Jaskier uses his newly healed voice to yell at Geralt for staying up all night, lecturing him again on taking care of himself. 

It’s worth it, just to hear his voice again.)

[your-1up-girl]

Working on Weapons (Cindy Aurum x Fem!Reader)

Author’s Note: I love Cindy. This is my first time writing smut. I hate it. Please enjoy :)

Word Count: 4756

Link to AO3

Ever since you and the guys first showed up at the garage and you saw her walk towards the car with a smile that seemed to taunt you and a sway in her hips that spoke a language of their own, you knew that you stood no chance against this woman’s spell.

Every so often when you had to make a visit for supplies or do a task for her, you would do your best to turn on the charm. You weren’t bad at flirting, hell one time when you were at a bar, you and Gladio made a bet to see who could get the most numbers by the end of the night. Long story short, you had him beat and had an amazing night with one of those numbers. 

The problem with flirting with Cindy was that she just seemed so used to it that it felt like nothing you did even phased her. Much to your dismay (and Gladio’s utmost entertainment) all of your subtle and not so subtle advances had no effect on her. The winks, cute nicknames that you reserved only for her, lingering touches, soft eyes and smiles that seemed to convey both innocence and hidden suggestive messages. Absolutely nothing. It was driving you crazy. It was at the point that even poor Prompto was rooting for you (“I have to live vicariously through you so you better make this happen,” It was a joke, one followed by a playful shove and a wink).

Just when you were at that point of giving up, it finally happened one afternoon. You all were returning from picking up headlights from that Gods forsaken sewer system. The whole party was exhausted and you wanted nothing more than to take a shower in the caravan. 

“Hey Cin!” You called out catching her attention from another hunter who, from the look of dejection, struck out with her. “We got it.” 

Cindy took the headlights from you but not before giving you elevator eyes, your appearance was intoxicating to her. Perfectly disheveled hair, a tank top that clung deliciously against your chest and hips, small bruises perfectly stamping your skin (some, she made note of, appeared to be about the size of her mouth), and a light sheen of sweat on your skin. If she hadn’t known why you were gone, she may have just gotten other ideas in her head about your look. Not that you noticed of course, Gladio convinced the others to take a hunt that was also in that sewer system. It took far too long to find and kill; with the exhaustion setting in you hadn’t noticed how the tables were turned and the woman of your dreams was now unapologetically checking you out.

“Didn’t realize these little ol’ things would be such trouble.” You smiled at her, combing your hair back with your fingers causing Cindy to flush ever so slightly.

“Don’t worry about it, we’re back and no one got too hurt other than Noct’s pride. But I’m letting you know now, if you want us to go back there for anything else, I’m gonna have to tell you to go fuck yourself.” Cindy laughed. It was a joke and she knew it, the smirk on your beautiful lips and the playful glint in your eye told her that.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind darlin’,” Turing, she saw that Ignis had put the car in her garage to prepare for the lights modification. “Looks like I got to get back to the ol’ girl. She’s gon be shinin’ so bright that the stars’ll wanna take notes.”

“If they wanna learn so badly they should just look into your eyes.” Gods that was corny even her face scrunched up on that one, but she still had that sweet, weak-in-the-knees smile so you assumed she somewhat enjoyed it? Thought it was cute at least?

“Anyways, to save myself from further embarrassment, I'm gonna go. Got a nice cold shower and a hot meal with my name on it.” You turned on your heel thinking the conversation would just end at that but what Cindy said next would forever stay in your mind.

“I thought I was the only hot meal you wanted to eat baby girl?”

...

Did you just hear that correctly? You tripped on your own two feet and barely had the nerve to turn around to see the beautiful mechanic giving you a small smile with slightly parted lips and half lidded eyes. She looked you up and down once more and licked her lips with a subtly that almost went missed by you. You knew that she was practically undressing you with her eyes because you had done the same on many occasions. Wondering if she was thinking about the same lewd thoughts made you unconsciously rub your thighs together. Opening and closing your mouth trying to think of something to say, Cindy just shook her head smiling at the ground before leaving you with, “Have a nice cold shower hun.”

Later in the evening, after you and the boys had cleaned up, and Ignis was making something in the caravan because no matter how late it was Ignis always wanted to make sure everyone was fed. You sat outside reading with Gladio, Noctis and Prompto as they played rounds of King’s Knight. But couldn’t care less about whatever they were doing or about what you were doing for that matter. You read the same page about 20 times now, but you just couldn’t get that interaction out of your head. Had all your flirting finally worked? Or was she just playing you? 

“How y’all doing?” Speak of the gorgeous devil. All heads turned as Cindy approached the caravan. She wore black skin tight leggings, a loose gray crop top that hung off her left shoulder, and of course her signature cowgirl boots. It was nice to see her in casual clothes. The domestic look was one that suited her nicely you thought. You loved it when she wore her work attire but seeing her so relaxed, it made you imagine a possible future with her.

“You look comfortable Cindy. Done for the day? Thought you never close up shop.” Gladio asked. 

“Yeah just about wanted to finish early today; the Regalia looks real nice now that she’s got new lights on ‘er. And you don’t gotta worry about those damn daemons either.” 

Prompto gave out a happy shout at both the no more daemons news and for winning the match. 

“What would we do without you Cindy.” Noctis relayed the gratitude with a slight pout.

“Aw don’t give me too much credit now. I just connect some wires and do some modifications. Speaking of, (Y/N).” Your head snapped so quickly to her she giggled making you blush, “My reason for closin’ early was so I would use you as my guinea pig.” She paused on purpose, wanting to get your reaction at her choice of words. She approached you to where you were, sitting on the table with a tilt of her head and a sly smile she continued. “Well, your weapons that is. See, with Paw-Paw modin’ things for the Prince, figured why not throw my hat in the ring too. If everything goes well, I could fix up equipment for other hunters as well.” Cindy crossed one leg over the other bouncing the top leg lightly as she spoke giving you an eye full of her calves. And dammit, you could not help yourself as your eyes wandered up to her thighs to the curve of her ass. Up her hips and exposed waist and to where the shirt peaked from her breasts, the soft skin of her neck just waiting to be bitten and finally to her face where a knowing smirk and lecherous eyes watched you take in her appearance. 

She had you now more than ever. To think, you had been flirting with her on every occasion you could. All of a sudden she struts over here and says the right words, acts a certain way and you become putty in her hands. “So (Y/N) what’d ya say?” Prompto had to kick you lightly under the table to get you out of your shocked state. 

Stuttering you gave an answer, “I yeah-yes, of course you can use me—My weapons! You can use- fix them if you want to.” Gods just kill me now! Face beat read you could hear Gladio and Noctis containing their snickers at you making an utter fool of yourself in front of Cindy. She didn’t seem to mind however, just turned that smirk into a smile and hopped off the table and began to walk towards the garage. She was about half way there and you were still glued to your seat like an idiot when someone spoke from the door of the caravan.

“I don’t think you should keep her waiting (Y/N).” Ignis took a sip of Ebony.

“Wha-? Weren’t you cooking-? How long have you been-”

“Long enough to know that you won’t be joining us for dinner. Now, you have much better things to attend to than staying here with me and The Three Stooges.” He was right, you got up from your seat already noting how you felt a bit of slickness at your core as you began to walk over to the garage. “Oh and (Y/N),” Turning to Iggy you saw the smirk as he took another sip of coffee, “Have fun.” 

You didn’t say anything and just made your way to the garage. Taking the back entrance seeing that the large main door was closed early for the afternoon. Once inside you saw Cindy working on something at the workbench biting her bottom lip in concentration. She looked up at you when she heard the door shut, “Hey doll come ‘er.” You approached her as she told you to place your weapons off to the far right of the bench. Doing as you're told, you summoned your short sword and placed it on the bench. You turned around but as you did Cindy came up to you and kissed you. She had her arms on either side of you, effectively trapping. The kiss was one with a fever that you made your whole body tense and heat go straight to your core. That feeling bubbled so pleasantly within you.

However, you were in such a state of shock because Cindy Aurum was basically making out with you that you had yet to return the kiss. Cindy stopped to look at you with a hint of fear in her eyes.

“Have I overstepped my boundaries? I’m so sorry hun’ I just, you were always flirtin’ with me, so I took that as an opportunity to- You can leave if I made ya uncomfort-”

“No.” It was soft, you didn’t want to scare her any more that she clearly was. “It’s just that-” You dragged your hands across the exposed sink of her waist and brought her closer to you. Taking your time to feel just how soft it was. Your left hand played with the shirt hem and your right drew small infinity signs on the small of her back. “In all the ways I’ve had this dream play out, that’s all it ever was. A dream.”

It looked like that relaxed Cindy because next thing you knew she placed her lips on yours once more and pulled you close as well. Thank the Gods that your brain returned to a functional state as you kissed her back. Making sure to match the force and passion behind it. 

“Let me tell you baby girl, I am very,” Cindy grabbed your hand, “Much.” Open palm she allowed it to ghost over her breast. “Real.” A quick glance down and a nod was all you need to knead the soft flesh in your hand. The sigh that fell from her lips sent shivers throughout your entire body. 

“You're not wearing a bra?” 

“Oh? I guess I ain’t.” She bit her bottom lip and laughed. “Honestly (Y/N), I’m surprised you just noticed. Just so you know, I ain’t wearing a thong either darlin’.” A whine escaped you and you leaned forward to kiss her again moving in tandem with her as you gave the other breast some attention as well. Her arms found their way around your waist and down to your ass, giving it a squeeze. Every moment that passed you expected one of the boys to shake you awake but the way Cindy felt, her breasts and hands, her dangerously addicting mouth, it all felt too real to be anything but reality. And thank the Astrals for that.

With caution, you allowed your fingers to graze over the nipple, already, it began to harden under the shirt at your touch. The kiss broke only for a moment as Cindy whispered in your ear, “Pinch it darlin’.” 

And that is exactly what you did. Tweaking and twisting the small bud between your index finger and thumb. The action rewarded you the most intoxicating sound as Cindy moaned softly in your ear. In a bold move on her part, she brought one leg in between yours. The moan was one so sinful you didn’t even realize that you were capable of making such a noise. 

That noise gave fuel to Cindy as she applied more pressure to your core with her leg. More sounds escaped both your mouths and you grinned into her thigh, mentally wishing you wore something much thinner than skinny jeans.

“Want to take this somewhere more private?” The infatuation in both hers and your eyes were apparent and Cindy laughed.

“We have a whole garage to ourselves, that not enough privacy for you?” 

“Well, as hot as it would be to eat you out on the hood of the Regalia, I feel that if Noctis found out then he would literally behead us.” 

Cindy smiled at you, with a peck on the lips and said, “I don’t think he’ll mind. What he don’t know won’t kill him, right? But, a bed is always good.” With your hand in yours, she led you to a side upstairs part of the garage. Opening up the door at the top of the side staircase revealed a quaint, rustic studio apartment of sorts. One central open area that had a small kitchen and dining area. There were some built in bookshelves that contained various books and pictures. A small love-seat with two pink pillows located near a door which you assumed was the bathroom. And on a more raised part of the room was a small dresser and her full sized mattress, adorned with pillows and a gray, chunky knit throw blanket. 

On said mattress was the woman of your dreams. Seated on her haunches, leaning forward ever so slightly to accentuate her breasts and hair tousled from your hands moments before, she beckoned you to the bed. Wasting no time, you all but ran to her, crashing your lips against her and laid her gently against the soft duvet covers. Her hands were on your hips again, fingers finding their way to the button of your jeans. You smiled into the kiss and helped her out undoing it yourself and shimmying out of the article. 

“What were you thinking about over there when you came in hun'?” The small circles being rubbed on your clit made it differently to answer but you did.

"Ahhh, just thinking that you got a real nice place. I guess it kind of surprised me." Deciding to return the favor and give an eye for an eye, you lifted her shirt off and tossed it. Taking in her beautiful upper body; chest of full display and nipples harden from when you played with them. Further grinding into her fingers you took one nipple into your mouth and began to suck and flick your tongue across the skin. Cindy arched her back at the sudden stimulation and momentarily stopped the rubbing.

"Oh God's (Y/N) that feels…"  She couldn't finish as you moved to the next breast but still played with the other with your expert hands. "Ah! Based on how much attention you give my boobs, I take it that you're a tit girl then?"

You released from her with a pop, “When it comes to you, I just adore everything.” and began to attack her neck and collar bone. Kissing and nipping at the sun-kissed skin. She held you close running fingers desperately through your hair and leaving scratches along you back, your shirt discarded a long time ago. 

"Keep doing that and I'll have to wear an actual shirt tomorrow hun'." The smirk on her lips was evident that she would do nothing of the sort. The thought of her working tomorrow with the bruises, bites and hickeys exposed for all the world to see made the fire in your core burn even hotter.

"Something tells me you'll be fine. And if you can still form sentences then I'm clearly not doing a good enough job." You started at the valley of her breasts and left a trail of kisses and worked your way down to where her leggings laid just above her pelvic bone. 

"My my my, aren't you all worked up." The comment acknowledged the prominent wet spot on her leggings. You looked Cindy dead in the eyes, hers were a bit furrowed.

"Oh please darlin', don't act all high and mighty like you aren't as wet as- AH!" You rubbed your fingers on that mark and Cindy moaned so beautifully that it grew a smirk on your face. 

You positioned yourself between her legs and licked your tongue across her sex. Cindy threw her head back against the pillows and begged you to do that again. Her thighs found homes on your shoulders and your hands on her abdomen to pin her down. 

You licked her through her leggings knowing that the fabric both gave a good feeling but also was a frustrating barrier. Sucking on her clit one more time, it was time that you took off her leggings. She got the queue and lifted her hips to help you and threw them off the bed. 

Just to even the playing field, you took off your panties and unhooked your bra. Your boobs bounced out of the lacey prison and Cindy didn't even try to hide how she stared. 

Legs spread wide, her clit wet from her own arousal and your mouth you added one finger and watched as she arched up from the bed. The perfect arch of her back made her look like a sculpture at the Citadel. Along with a gorgeous "O" forming on her mouth. 

Your finger moved back and forth. Cindy's grip on the messed up duvet below her tightened. You took this as an opportunity to add not only a second finger but also your mouth to the party. Your other unoccupied hand found and held hers as you continued. 

Some instructions were given, A little to the... Yeah there. Curl your fingers (Y/N). No, that’s more like scratchin’. Oh! That’s perfect. Now, if ya can… go deeper. Ah. Ahh! AH! Yes darlin' right there!

You devoured not only her but every moan, gasp, shudder, and sigh that left her mouth. You sent your fingers deeper, down to your knuckles and Cindy screamed out. “AH! YES! YES! YES! Oh sweet ASTRALS baby girl! Keep going! AH!!” Hands took desperate hold of your hair pushing your face further into her wanton sex. You could feel her walls tighten around your fingers; it encouraged you to go faster but then Cindy called out.

“WAit… wait (Y/N).” There was a hard tug on your hair that lifted you from her slick center. You took a deep breath mouth wet from her arousal and took your fingers out of her.

“Did I do something wrong?” It took a moment for Cindy to respond. It was obvious that she missed your feeling already, what with her flushed face, blown out pupils and the sheen of sweat on her body.

“Naw baby girl… you didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“Then?” 

“It ain’t fair for me to be the one getting all the attention.” The mechanic found strength to give you some attention, her hand rubbing against your sex, she took your moan to memory and held nothing back as she gave you much needed friction to your core. Cindy was more rough with you. Even when she took one nipple in her mouth, she sucked and flicked the bud with force. Teeth were used to lightly tug and twist, her ultimate goal was to bring the soft bud to peak. 

Breaths began to shudder at the stimulation you were receiving. Cindy turned you around so you could lay against some pillows at the head of the bed. Her fingers entered you with ease, you slick with arousal as you held her close. Minimal assistance was given on your part, what with your brain practically shutdown from her actions but Cindy knew how to read you. Noticed little movements, subtle gasps or even when your face scrunched slightly telling her to try a different spot. The ragged breaths that came from both your bodies and the squelching noises that were produced from her working your mercilessly were the only things heard in the studio room. She worked her way up from your breasts and to your neck, leaving the same, if not more marks against your skin that would be a bitch to cover in the morning. 

She gave you a heated kiss and you could feel the smile on her lips as she danced with you. Your bottom lip earned a small bite when you snaked your arms up her back and clawed your way down. When she released your lips, the smile was more present than ever and Cindy licked her own.

“You never told me that I tasted so good darlin’.” A small peck on the lips. “You wanna find out how you taste?” Her fingers left your core and you whined at the emptiness but it was cut short when she put her two fingers in your mouth. You sucked them letting your tongue rub against the pads of her digits. When pulled out she laughed at the face you made.

“Kinda bitter, but I’m not surprised. Noct has been taking more hunts at night and coffee is the only thing keeping me awake.”   

She hummed and you barely caught the whisper of, “Mind if I try?” Before she put her two fingers back in and massaged you. Fingers curled in just the right way, the slow pumps along with her thumb rubbing your clit. Not breaking her gaze at you as your head fell back against the wall with a soft thud at the languid pace she kept. The blonde woman placed a small pillow behind your head to keep you from hurting yourself. 

“Gods! Cindy! Please!” Fingers were removed and placed into her mouth, self-satisfied smile at the flush ever present on your face. Legs on either side of you in a straddle, she put her fingers back in you, catching your neck with her mouth as you bucked at the insertion. “I think you taste divine baby girl.” Whispered against sensitive skin, it formed goosebumps all along your body. 

Finally, you put your fingers back into her. Your breaths mixed beautifully with her moans against your skin. Cindy took your nipple in her mouth again. Deft fingers worked you so well that when you finally climaxed, you stopped working Cindy for just a moment. The way you called out her name as your orgasm washed over you was music to her ears. “AH! CI-CINDY! Don’t stop! AH-AHH! OH GODS!” How she was able to get you so loud, you would never know. Normally, you were a quiet love maker but with Cindy it seemed she could turn you into a pornstar. Giving you one last pump she took in her work. Your chest was heaving, mouth slightly parted, pupils dilated and hair an absolute mess; you looked like sin in your post orgasm state. 

Cindy didn’t blame you for being so worn out but she was impressed when you still pumped your fingers into her. She took mercy on you and began to ride your fingers but not before removing hers from you and placing them back in her mouth lapping up the release you left on her. Her bundle of nerves got stimulation from your thumb. You just enjoyed the sights and sounds of her breasts bouncing, whimpers from sucking her own fingers clean of you, and the soft wet slaps of her grinding, as she took her own release on your fingers.

One final desperate shout escaped her as she fell forward against your equally exhausted body. Both parties laid on the bed and tried to catch their breaths. Cindy sat up against and kissed you, this time it was soft, meaningful and somewhat fleeting. 

“I think we ruined your duvet…”

“Aw don’t worry ‘bout it darlin.’ Nothin’ a quick wash won’t fix. How ‘bout you get this off the bed and I’ll get us a warm towel to clean us off.” You nodded and she hopped off you and to the kitchen to wet a towel with warm water as you made quick work of the duvet and throw pillows. Cindy came back, pulled the sheets back and motioned for you to get into bed with her. Gently you cleaned each other up and placed the towel on the nightstand near her bed once finished. That was also when you noticed that it was so late into the night and you hadn’t eaten anything. Stomach catching up with your mind it made a loud rumbling noise that you both laughed at. 

“I totally forgot that I skipped dinner.”

“It was worth it though right?”

You caressed her chin and guided her to a small kiss. “Oh absolutely. But Ignis’ll flip if he finds out I didn’t eat.”

“Well (Y/N) you kinda did eat.” Cindy sat on her haunches with her legs just barely spread. “I’d say you had yourself a full course meal.” A playful tackle to the bed wiped that smirk off her face as laughter filled the room. You blew against her stomach and she tried, in vain, to push you off. “Okay okay! How ‘bout this: You get yourself to the bathroom if you need to I’ll leave you a shirt of mine and get started on makin’ us something proper to eat? May not be like the Prince’s Advisor, but I consider myself a good cook at times.”

“Sounds like a plan.” To the bathroom you went and did what you had to do there, and true to her word, Cindy left you one of her shirts. The soft fabric was gentle on your skin, it was much larger than you expected it to be, just going past the curve of your butt, and it had the smell of Jasmine, vanilla, and motor oil. When you met Cindy at the stove she already began to warm up what appeared to be a breakfast like dish. She asked you to watch the food as she went to the bathroom herself.

Maybe five minutes passed. You hummed a tune as you cooked the food. Cindy wrapped her arms around your waist, she too wearing an over-sized shirt.

“You look nice like this.” It was whispered against soft fabric and love-bitten skin.

“Like how? In one of your shirts?”

“That, and here with me.” One kiss was barely pressed on your shoulder. “I could get used to late night or, I should say early mornin’, meals with you. Waking up with you. Being able to call you my girl.” The food sizzled on the stove as Cindy all but confessed to you. “That is… if you’ll want to. Don’t wanna force you or anything but, having you here with me has made me more happy than you could now.”

You turned and kissed her. The answer to the request, your hands grazing up and down her back while hers gripped tightly to the shirt you wore. Both of you were smiling before, during and after the kiss. Your foreheads rested against one another as you happily whispered, “Cindy, nothing would make me happier.” 

[nightowlfandom]

Yandere! Ignis Scientia- Freedom

So I’ve been gone less than a month and it’s been so boring smdh. So hey I’m here to write something.

Disclaimers- yandere, blood, gore, violence, mentions of abuse, a man getting turned on my his own violence. I will include line breaks with notes of where the violence will get pretty intense. No smut here, maybe in another post, but yeah.

This was based off a nightmare I had a few nights ago. What may be a nightmare for me might be a distant fantasy for some...do what that what you will with this info I don’t know.

If you readers like my yandere stuff and want more, feel free to let me know by just dropping me a message. Hopefully you’ll catch me on a day where my computer or phone won’t act up like the useless circiut board it tends to be at times. (Just kidding i love my computer, please don’t shut down on me.)

CHECKOUT MY PROMPT LIST HERE!

Leggo.

...

For you, this was normal treatment. Your good for nothing "siblings" always thought the worst of you, and they treated you as such too. You were the dirt they walked on. Even after you moved out and managed to escape them for half a year, they never really escape your life. Why? Why the fuck would you know?

It was like your life didn’t belong to your anymore and it nearly drove you crazy.. Well, almost. You had one person who didn't make you want to scream bloody murder. Your long time closest friend, Ignis. He was the best guy friend you could ask for in a world that seemed like it hated you. He was your rock. You could go to him for nearly any and everything. He was your only source of happiness in your messed up bubble you called a life.

For you to be left at the side of the waters, crying into your fists while they all laughed at you. You could hear echoes of “Good one Emile.” “She deserved it.” “That’ll teach her.”

You were humiliated by the people you were supposed to call family. You didn’t know how to feel anymore. You only had one person you could go to.

...

By this time, it was pouring down rain. The thunder was nearly shaking the sidewalk and you walked like a zombie down the street. You were getting soaked but you didn’t speed up. You felt completely numb like you were hollow inside. There was nothing.

Ignis was busy cleaning up his space when he heard the knocking. He didn’t recognize it. Five evenly spaced dull sounding raps against the door.

“Who the fuck-” he grumbled lowly. Ignis slowly walked over to the door, picking up a freshly polished blade off of the coffee table. It wouldn’t be the the first time someone tried it with him in his own palace. “Who is it?”  

He didn’t hear a response, which caused him to grow annoyed. He hated annoyances. They were so inconvenient. Hiding the blade behind his back he yanked the door open. His face instantly twisted from angered to worried when he saw you standing there staring at your feet.

“Sweetheart what are you doing here? Did you walk here in the rain?!” he asked.

You couldn’t answer, instead you tried to step back to prepare yourself to walk away only to nearly fall. It didn’t help that you had managed to hurt your ankle on the way over. Ignis dropped the blade and stepped forward, putting both his hands on your shoulders. Not caring if your clothes were soaked, he pulled you to his warm chest.

“T-they broke it it.” you shuddered. “They b-broke the crystal.” you croaked. You voice sounded so hoarse that you didn’t want to speak again. “T-they-”

“Shhhh.” he cooed. He knew exactly what you were talking about. A long time ago for your birthday. Ignis had given you a necklace. A crystal charm that he said was ‘an emblem of his care for you’. You never took it off. That is until you made Emile angry enough to yank it off your neck and throw it off a small cliff into the creature infested waters not too far from your home. You had watched it shatter into bits and pieces as it hit the sharp rocks at the bottom. She had walked off with a satisfied smile on her face as you were left to scream at what she had done. “Y/N if you shake any more you might faint.”

“I’m so sorry Ignis. I should have- I could hav-”

“Y/N.” he said sternly, causing you to cease all talking. “You couldn’t have done anything.” he explained. “I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?” you found the wits to look up at him. He took note of your bloodshot eyes, dilated pupils and red nose.

“No! I’m more upset that you risked getting sick just to come here and tell me this.” he shook his head at you. “Get inside.” he let you up the steps, an arm wrapped protectively around your waist.

As soon as you were inside he shut the door causing you to jump.

...

Ignis left you alone to get changed. You had put your wet clothes in the sink. Lucky for you, forgetting your old clothes at his house was a habit. So much so that he started keeping them in a drawer for you when you would need a change of clothes for whatever reason.

You stared at the stranger in the mirror, unable to recognize yourself anymore. You didn’t glow like you used to, you didn’t smile as much as you used to, you weren’t as ambitious, as bright eyed, as curious...as happy as you once were.

All because of them. Those assholes who made it clear that their one and only intention was to make sure you never smiled again. You sat down on the bed, kicking your legs.

“Y/N?” Ignis peeked his head in the room. “May I come in?”

“Oh...Iggy.” you jumped a little. “Y-yeah. I’m all set.” you tried to muster a smile. “Thanks for putting up with me. I shouldn’t depend on you so much.” you sighed. “I feel like i dump my problems on you.”

“Never.” Ignis smiled that handsome smile of his. “If it was up to me, you’d never leave my side.” he chuckled. “I’d lock you up in this house and protect you all the time.” he joined you, sitting down beside you.

“You say such strange things.” you giggled in reply, thinking he was joking.

“...I’m serious.” Ignis’s smile fell. “I’d take you away from it all. You’d never have to feel miserable again. In the middle on the night, when everyone’s asleep, I’d pick you up from your bed...and take you away just so you could be with me forever, and you wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.” he held your hand tightly.

“I wish that was possibly. Those assholes would make sure that would never happen.” you shook your head, looking away from him.

“So we’ll tiptoe around them, get them out of the way.” he slipped his fingertips under your chin, turning your head towards him. “I can’t stand by and just watch this happen to you.”

“Well what can you do.” you gave in and leaned into his touch, resting your palm over his knuckles.

“One day, we’re gonna pack up all our things, and I’m gonna take you somewhere nice. Where ever you want. We’ll settle down and just live. You wouldn’t have to worry about another thing ever again.” he hummed. When he saw you confused face, he couldn’t help but leaned down and kiss your forehead. “Come here.” he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, allowing you to lean on his shoulder.

“We’re gonna go on a trip, sweetheart. I’m gonna take you to somewhere beautiful. We’re gonna forget about all those troubles in your pretty little head. Would you like that, darling?”

You didn’t answer, as you had already fallen asleep.

“I’ll take care of you, Y/N. I’ll take care of everything.”

... (This part gets violent. Skip this part if you’re squeamish)

You woke up the day pretty late in the afternoon. Ignis had laid your now clean and dried clothes at the end of the bed. You couldn’t help but smile a little at the little poorly drawn heart note he left amongst your things.

You got dressed without a hitch, only to realize you had heard banging in the distance. It sounded like someone was struggling. Was Ignis in trouble?! How long had this been going on?! Your curiosity led you to the basement, where a showdown was taking pace.

His loud psychotic laughter echoed off the walls, penetrating your ears and sending off all kind of alarms on your head. You watched as Ignis stared at Emile still laughing. He put his head in his hands before running his fingers through his hair, staining both his face and sandy brown locks in blood. You had noticed his hair fell in his face, making it hard to see his true expression. He wasn’t laughing as if he had heard a joke, that was for sure.

"I was saving you for last." He moaned as if this was giving him pleasure. He shuddered, biting down on his lip. "I wanted my Y/N to have a few words with you before she watches me end the life that made hers so miserable all the fucking years." He giggled. "Aahh fuck." He winced. "I wonder if your blood tastes as disgusting as you are as a person." Your eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, allowing you to see who he was talking to. Emie!?!

You knew her voice anywhere, you estranged tep sister of sorts. If you could even say it that way.

You covered your mouth in distraught. Fear ran through your veins a million miles a second. What was he doing? He was waving around his weapon, pointing accusingly at her and spitting on her everything she opened her mouth to scream for help. What was he doing?

“You’re sick!” Emile growled. “She’ll never love you, especially not if she sees what you’re doing to me.”

Where they talking about you?

“Please.” Ignis scoffed. “I’m merely doing her a favor.” he sighed. “I just wonder if my darling is getting a good view from where she's hiding." He sang. Your heart instantly dropped. Your shaking body didn't dare make another sound. You were you petrified to even consider an escape plan. “She really isn’t good at being quiet. Her shoes make too much noise.”

You stared down at your boots, wide eyed. You were tip toeing! How the hell did he-

"Y/N...come out before I come and get you myself." His cheerful tone dropped an octave or maybe even two. “I don’t want to play cat and mouse right now. I have business to take care of.”

Deciding you had no other choice, you limped around the corner.

"Iggy" you began." You don't have to do this." You whimpered. You could barely stand, so you kind of just hopped over. “Please don’t-”

"Y/N look what they've done to you!" He motioned to your lack of ability to walk comfortably, the bruise on your shoulder. Well technically that was all you...but the rest was their fault.

“Ignis please!” you tried to reason with him. “She isn’t worth it, none of them are. Don’t do this...”

“I’ve watched you put up with these people for too long, my sweet.” he glared. “You want to show these people mercy when they wouldn’t show it to you?”

“That’s not how that works.” you choked. “The wrong thing for the right reason is still the wrong thing.”

“It could be. It could very well be the right thing, Y/N.” he held the dagger out to you. “You could end your pain and suffering. She’s the last one.”

“You mean- Dina...Dexter-” you choked. “Yumi, Wes?”

“All six feet under my darling.” he cackled. “I made sure none of there organs went to waste though.” he motioned over to a pot on the table. “I’ve been using them to keep Emile here alive and well.” he laughed.

“You cooked my family? YOU SICK BASTARD!” she gagged through her cries.. “Y/N HELP ME, PLEASE. I’m sorry for how I treated you in the past but you have to help me!”

Emile? Pleading for mercy from you? You must have been dreaming.

You took the dagger from him, assuming he wouldn’t lower his arm until you took it. You looked between Emile and Ignis. Both of them looked like they expected you to stab the other.

“Y/N we’re family!” she tried to reason. “We’re supposed to look out for each other, remember! That’s what Uncle Sammy would have wanted!”

Call it sadistic, but for whatever reason, that made you mad. Using the only family member who ever showed you affection against you?

“Family?” you glowered. “Since the day I met you, you’ve done nothing more than make my life a living hell.” you pointed out. “And now-” you strode past Ignis. “Now I’m your family? You’ve effectively taken everything from me...even the clothes off my back at one point and now you want to call me-”

You didn’t know what was going on, but you felt an influx of rage building up in your soul. It didn’t feel good at all. You actually felt like you were going to throw up.

You suddenly began having flashbacks. Everything you had endured, everything you had lost, or had taken away from you. Your true family, your real family , your friends, pets, the abuse you had to endure day after fucking day...all because of them. They were the reason you couldn’t ever escape...and it was about to change forever.

“Y/N, my dear.” Ignis sang. “If it’s too much...”

“Do it.” you cut him off. turning away from Emile. “Do it Ignis.” you whispered. “Free me from their grasp.” you pleaded through hooded eyes. “End my suffering and take me away from here...do it.” You handed him the dagger. “Do it Iggy.”

The moment the words left your lips, Ignis smiled a sinister grin. He leaned forward and pecked your lips gently. “Your wish is my command, darling.”

“No...Y/N please-AAAAAAAHHH”

You turned away from the sight as Ignis got in front of you. You ears will filled with screams followed by sounds of ripping flesh.

(OKAY YOU CAN LOOK NOW)

Ignis finished the job. Emile’s body slumped over, still and dead. You thought you would feel disgusting, a sense of dread or hatred towards Ignis or even yourself. You felt nothing but warmth building up in your chest.

“Sweetheart.” Ignis said from behind you. He expected you to be scared and upset at him. He was taken aback when you spun right back around and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you.” you spoke shakily. you had no idea what else to say. You were finally free. Albeit in the craziest manner, you were still free.

“Like I said Y/N...anything to protect you.” Ignis stroked your hair. “Now...do you remember what I said about running away together?”

(....I got goosebumps while writing this...and not in the best way. Like I said this was based off of a nightmare I had a few nights back.)

[hellguarded-a]

Morning Anon!! It's been a while, but I see you're feeling a bit down and definitely you deserve praise and admiration!! I've been reading all your cute hc's about Ignis and he's very cute and very inspiring. Tell us about how you came up with such a good concept!? One day I'll stop being shy and intimidated, and approach you for writing! Until then, know that I really enjoy you and your content and art on my dash! Please keep up the good work, you're doing wonderful!

ahah oh well i think that’s a little exaggeration but uhhHH sure history of this character go--

THREE YEARS AGO.  slowly creeping up on four, some fandom drama made me go fandomless, although i felt absolutely idea-less at the time and felt like i couldn’t really come up with a brand-new concept from the scratch, so i actually went through an extensive list of mythological monsters n was like...  what do i want to write...  because i was dead-set on writing a monster boy like the disappointment that i am

so i wanted something...  not just a species, but some specific creature from mythology and settled on cerberus.  so that’s what i originally wrote.  same url and everything.  was more fitting back then i think, but its still alright and i’m attached to it.  especially when i later saw someone using the url hellgvarded so i was like hehe i did it first

so, cerberus, right.  meaning i wanted to do something funky with some sort of split personality thing given the three heads n such.  well i...  couldn’t do it?  but partially i blame the fact that i couldn’t really connect with his muse in general, nor the world i put him in.  my plotting  /  shipping partner at the time didn’t really help that much.  it was very dull, set in a more cyberpunk-ish setting as compared to a modern parallel to today’s world as his canon is now, he was even supposed to have some cybernetic implants and such, not that i ever decided on those.  admittedly, that part then fuelled shinjou’s focus on that, but i digress.  his human alias was still ignis, his lover at the time was called  noctis  ( hint hint as to how i drew inspo for his brother lmao but really the name is the only connection because i liked the duality )  and he was still some sort of secret agent  /  police force thing, although i never decided on how he’s gotten to earth in that incarnation.  basically he really had no background or anything to him besides that.

so i abandoned that blog due to my inability to connect, and also partially because i managed to feel so completely overwhelmed on it within two days as it literally  exploded.  the promo got such immense traction for w/e reason that i had 200 followers within those two days, which sure it stroked my ego a lil but at the same time?  well first off, it barely let me settle in and also made me feel awful because i felt like i owed ppl a lot...  and i didn’t want to disappoint.  so many ppl jumped in on that concept and????  i actually didn’t have any muse for it?????  so rip.

so i dipped after that and made the  kitsune twins.  which stayed with me for another 2-3 years so i’d call that a success.  i still off-handedly write them on discord and at least one of them is actually important to ig’s canon.  or rather, i eventually revisitted ig to make him a plot device for  shinjou.  before  that, however, he still existed in the back of my mind in a prototype of what  the gonchiye  is today.  the gonchiye actually gave me a platform to revamp a lot of my old muses which i’m actually rly happy about, but.  anyway, back then it was a german-based organization called  die jagdhunde  ( same deal lmao )  but instead of being entirely supernatural based it was a group of humans actually hunting the supernaturals due to supersitions and stuff like that.  sometimes they’d capture some of them and force them to work for them, ig being one of those,  kalisha  being another.  it’s what made me lowkey ship them, but in the end ig ended up having a strong male preference so him and lisha are just kinda like bff’s in their current canon.  by then, i simply had ig as a regular hellhound rather than being cerberus himself as i wanted him to be  mine  rather than being a known mythology being, but he had no background nor development beyond the fact that he was  always  supposed to be a  mature, gentlemanly, but somewhat uptight individual with fire and shadow magic and the ability to phasewalk.  that’s all i had on him.

but again, i tend to hyperfixate so it didn’t become much more than a simple concept like many others, as i focused on the order of the lotus and the twins’ story.  but you know.  eventually i reached a stalemate and i had a lot of background for  shinzou,  but not his brother.  so that’s how the gonchiye became to be, being based on an ancient supernatural pit-fighting organization of which jou was once part of.  i involved  lucius  in all that, made him be the big bad, etc etc, and then had jou be bought off by the yakuza so that’s how he was raised.  i then really wanted a plot for him of infiltration and betrayal, but instead of making a whole new muse for that, i just took one of my old concepts and used that instead.  which was ig.

ig’s muse was also spurred by nata’s  ( @hellhunted )  desire to ship him with her falcon splice, which then alone led to further development of the gonchiye and their scientific endeavors.  anyway point being i made ig, as part of the gonchiye, infiltrate shinjou’s yakuza to get him assassinated, and the whole plague thing got added in a bit later, but it worked out alright.  again, one of my older concepts that i had in the twins’ old canon but wanted to reuse because i didn’t want to drop the idea completely.  so that’s how i got more involved in ig’s character, and then i finally lost the twins’ muses completely  ( much to my dismay, i miss them )  so i focused on ig?  it was surprisingly easy to connect to him afterwards and give him some background,  frankly  i don’t remember how i made him be a hellhound  /  fury  crossbreed  ( i do remember it being nata’s idea but i just don’t remember what prompted it ), but i  did  purposelly lowkey base him off of cerberus to stay true to his origins.  maybe it’s a little on-the-nose to have him be the  ‘son of cerberus’  but i’m honestly quite proud of my cerberus hc which makes it very flexible to work with.  similiarly, to how cerberus had an older brother called orthrus, i had always wanted ig to have a brother, so he  always  had a vague concept for one, so  nox  was around for a hot minute but again.  it took me a while to actually do anything concrete with him as a character.  originally, they were both hellhounds.  now ig is a crossbreed and nox is a pureblood fury.

n really then it was just a matter of writing on discord to get him to where he is now ---  i wrote him in private for about a year before bringing him on tumblr, but that’s how he came to be.  heavily inspired by the cerberus as we know him, and then adapted to my impending apocalypse canon.

[randomfandomimagine]

Finger Guns (Prompto Argentum x Reader)

Characters: Prompto Argentum, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Tags: Fluff, hurt/comfort

Warnings: Guns

Word Count: 1,7k words

Requested by @xwhenyouwakeupx​: Hello! You're writing is so lovely. I was wondering if you could write a ficlet for a fem!reader x Prompto from FFXV where Prompto finds out that reader is terrified of guns but pretends to be fine even though she tenses up whenever she sees them. He does everything he can to comfort her and teaches her that it’s okay and eventually is able to place a gun in her hands. 

A/N: I thought I was very inspired for this one, but in the end I’m a bit insecure about the result. Hope you like it, lovelies!

Prompto Argentum x Female Reader

_

“Score!” Prompto exclaimed at the end of the battle, throwing his fist up in victory. You took a few steps away from his because of his broad movements. “We did it!”

“Could use a nap” Noctis mumbled, stifling a yawn as he began leading the way.

“You always want to nap” Gladio teased him, pushing the prince a little to annoy him.

“Nice job!” Prompto was suddenly next to you. He seemed to have moved while you were busy listening to your friend’s conversations. “Up top!”

You tensed up when you realized he was holding his hand up for a high five. Even if he was a sweet boy, in reality you wanted nothing to do with him. You hadn’t really connected with Prompto and there was something holding you back, you just didn’t know what.

Only to be polite, you threw your hand against his and dedicated him a forced smile. Instead of being satisfied with it, Prompto frowned at your reaction.

“Uh…” He muttered, awkwardly scratching his nape. “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah” You lied, noticing your shoulders were tense and trying to relax your muscles.

“It’s just… Do you have a problem with me?” Prompto whispered, averting his gaze. Suddenly, you felt guilty when seeing his crestfallen expression. “Did I do something to upset you? I-If so, I’m sorry! I didn’t meant to, Y/N”

Inhibited by this, you just stood there trying to gather your thoughts. You couldn’t remember him doing anything specific that explained your aversion for him. Still, it was true that you had been avoiding him and felt strange when he was close to you. Despite it all, you didn’t really know what to reply to him.

“Prompto” Ignis calmly called him, politely intervening. “If I may, I believe I know what the problem is”

The two of you looked at him and then at each other, surprised. You knew Ignis was observant, but it shocked you that he had noticed your issue and that he was willing to step in to help you fix it.

“Y-You do?” You mumbled in astonishment, wondering what Ignis was thinking.

“I do” He assured, nodding his head in determination.

“R-Really?” The blond locked eyes with you. “What is it, Iggy?” 

Feeling helpless, you stared at Ignis. The smallest of smiles gathered at the corner of his lips, but he hid it by bowing his head down and adjusting his glasses to his face.

“I believe she is not upset at you” He calmly motioned over to the guns in his hands. “But she seems startled by your weapons and her distaste of them has spread over to your persona”

You gawked at him for a moment, understanding how right he was. After a while traveling together, the five of you had shared many battles. This meant that for some time you had been startled every time Prompto fired his weapons. If Ignis’ theory was correct, this had nearly conditioned you to have a bad reaction towards Prompto because of his guns.

“Yeah… It’s the... the guns...” You timidly muttered, admitting your dislike for them.

“Oh!” Prompto glanced down to them and quickly back to you, instantly summoning the guns off until they were gone. It brought you immediate relief, which also confirmed it: Prompto wasn’t the problem – you were only put off by his weapons.

You had no problems with swords. Even Gladio’s one, as big as it was, didn’t worry you. However, guns were something else entirely. As often as you had to go into battle, you always tried to distance yourself from Prompto, this became clear to you. His weapons intimidated you enough on their own to on top of all having to hear the loud and startling sound of him shooting close to your ear. Despite how much it bothered you, it felt like something a bit silly to be upset about taking in consideration it was your day to day. It didn’t seem to faze them at all, but they had noticed, as you probably grimaced every time he shot and were willing to help you overcome this issue.

“I-I can stop using them” Prompto offered, giving a carefree shrug. “I can also fight without them, if they scare you...” 

“Actually, we could use your long range support” Gladio patted his back, making him stumble with the force.

“Perhaps the best thing to do would be help Y/N get over her fear”

“Yeah! You have nothing to be afraid of, Y/N, I promise. I know how to safely use them”

“Why don’t you try using them? Wanna give it a… shot?”

“Too soon, Gladio”

“Alright” You laughed a little, relaxing because of their pun and Prompto’s scandalized reaction. “I’ll try”

“Great!” Prompto sweetly smiled at you. “I can teach you!”

“Can we camp first?” Noctis finally piped up after being silent the entire time. “I’m beat”

“Alright, Noct” Ignis agreed with a nod. “That way Prompto and Y/N have somewhere to practice”

_

You felt your hands shaking as Prompto took out his guns. The boys sat not too far from you, relaxing and taking amongst them as Noctis took his long awaited nap. There was nothing that indicated danger, and even if the goal was to teach you not to fear them and how to properly use them, you couldn’t help but to go over worst case scenarios in your head. All of them involved accidentally shooting and hurting someone. Swords didn’t have that problem.

Prompto expertly loaded his guns, making sure you saw every single step. He was convinced that once you understood how they worked you wouldn’t be so afraid of them anymore. You weren’t so sure about it.

“Now” He said once he was done preparing them. “Wanna hold it?”

“Not really…” You warily eyed the gun he offered you, but didn’t move.

“C’mon, it’s okay!” He reached closer to you until you begrudgingly took it from him. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise”

Taking a shaky breath in, you nodded your head. You had to try, otherwise you would never get over this fear. And you wanted to, especially after you realized you had related your aversion to guns to Prompto. It wasn’t that you disliked him, but you had subconsciously started to distance yourself from him because of his choice of weapons.

Prompto moved slowly, trying to keep you calm, as he put the gun in your palm. You gasped a little at the contact, surprised by the weight of it as well as the cold temperature of the metal cover.

“It’s all about gun control” Prompto then said, showing you how he put the safety on. “I’m always very careful”

To demonstrate, he pulled the trigger. Nothing happened as the weapon was locked. It made you sigh in relief, teaching you that he did indeed take all the necessary precautions.

“Whaddya say?” He turned to you, still lowering his gun to avoid it pointing at you even with the safety on. “Wanna try to shoot it?”

You looked down to the weapon in your hand, keeping it as far away from you as possible. It started shaking in your hand at the thought of using it. Feeling helpless, you gulped and looked up at Prompto. He frowned when you vehemently shook your head.

“That’s okay, baby steps” Moving slowly again, he took the gun from you and summoned it off. “You still held it! That’s a lot, Y/N! I’m proud of you”

You smiled a little when he gave you a friendly nudge. At the very least, you weren’t feeling stupid about your fear anymore. It really helped that Prompto and the boys took it seriously.

“We can give it another try later if you want” He offered, fixing his warm blue eyes on you. “You were still very brave to hold it!”

“Yes, please” You heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Prompto”

“No problem!” He beamed at you, giving you such a bright grin that you wondered how you could have disliked such a lovable person before. “I can still stop using them if you want…”

“No, it’s okay. But can you…” You began, but timidly paused. Prompto hummed at you, encouraging you until you felt confident enough to speak up. “Can you try to stay away when you use them?”

“Sure thing!” Prompto chuckled in a cute way. “But I’ll have to make up for it by being closer when we’re not in the middle of a battle”

“Deal” You laughed too, finding that you actually really enjoyed being with him. “I’m sorry that we have to stop now”

“It’s fine! If you prefer, we can use finger guns for now” He held his hands up in that position, starting to run around and dodging as though you were in an actual battle.

You giggled, glad to play into his game: holding your hands up and bending your fingers like they were guns, you pretend to shoot at him. Prompto dramatically rolled to the side, successfully dodging the imaginary bullets. You two started to chase each other, taunting each other and taking cover behind anything you could find. Hidden behind a rusty barrel, you laughed and shoot him with your finger guns.

Several minutes of back and forth later, you had left your improvised covers behind at a certain point. Then, you pointed at Prompto and he was more than happy to play dead in response.

“Ah, you got me!!” He clutched his chest and threw himself to the floor, giving his performance a serious flare despite his smile. “Right in the heart!”

You laughed as you ran to him, kneeling beside him and shaking his shoulder when he fell. Your friend limply moved and held his tongue out. Still he was laughing and opened his eyes when you tried to revive him by tickling his sides.

“Ah! Okay, you got me!” He exclaimed, giggling along with you. “I’m alive, it’s a miracle”

You shoved him a little, feeling a connection with him even after spending such a short period of time together, of actually interacting with him.

“Children!” Gladio called you, bringing you back to reality. “Get a move on, we’re leaving”

“Same time tomorrow?” Prompto asked you, earning an affirmative nod from you.

You offered Prompto a hand, which he took to be pulled to his feet. Contrary to your previous feelings towards him, now you felt calm and safe with him. The two of you went to reunite with Noctis, Ignis and Gladio, smiling at each other.

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