#because that means i still have the ability to naturally fall asleep

[nexus-nebulae]

so today's one of those "any minute im not standing up im falling asleep" type days

[starlightwayfinder]

Do you have any headcanons about Ven you'd like to talk about?

Always!! Okay first, here’s the fluffy ones:

He gives good hugs. Really good ones. The kind you can just melt into! He brings a sunshiny warmth with him wherever he goes, both metaphorically and literally.

You could make him laugh with the cheesiest jokes ever. It wouldn’t be hard at all.

He can’t actually talk to birds/animals ‘Disney princess’ style, but they will let him get unusually close, or will approach him without fear. Terra and Aqua were baffled at first, but now they’re used to it and forget that other people will find it weird.

He’s got a decent book collection in his room. It’s mostly a mix of Keyblade history, astronomy, and fairytales. He and Aqua will sit together and have tea while they read.

He can and will fall asleep anywhere. Again, Terra and Aqua are just used to it by now.

He likes watching the sunrise almost as much as he likes stargazing.

He spars with Terra the most, and always gets upset that he’s holding back. Terra, however, is just trying not to send him flying by accident.

If he and Terra do roughhouse, (they are ‘brothers’ after all..) it’s very playful and all in good fun. Aqua just sighs and makes some comment about the friendship between boys. 

Unsurprisingly, Ven likes to feel the wind in his hair—which most of the time means going fast on his Keyblade glider. He would also love roller coasters, surfing, etc. 

He also loves flying and will go back to Neverland every now and then for more pixie dust.

He’s a fast runner and does pretty well in races on Destiny Islands, but he’s not a super competitive person, so he doesn’t care too much about winning.

He helps Kairi get into a training routine when she moves in. He becomes a bit of a mentor, but more in the sense of a fellow student/friend who already knows the ropes.

He has a cd player in his room for listening to his favorite songs. The others try to show him how to play music on his Gummiphone, but he doesn’t use it for much beyond taking pictures and the occasional phone call. He’d probably be a little shy about calls because it’s so unusual to him.

Since he was asleep for 10 years, he doesn’t know any of the new slang and has slightly outdated tastes, haha.

His favorite season is Spring, but he doesn’t dislike any of the seasons. You can bet that when the weather warms up, he’ll be outside enjoying the sun and looking for dandelions.

He enjoys all types of weather too—except for bad storms, which he’s always disliked.

He got a little bed for Chirithy that goes unused because they always fall asleep in his arms. 

And here’s the deeper ones:

Ven is overall a sensitive guy, which means he can’t stomach most violent or disturbing movies/games/etc. The problem with this is that he can’t stand being treated like a little kid either. I imagine he would be the sort to agree to watch something out of peer pressure… then be unable to fall asleep at night thinking about it. Finally Terra or Aqua has to step in and say “you don’t have to make yourself uncomfortable to fit in”. 

That sort of thing is frustrating for him in general. Thanks to everything that’s happened to his heart and mind, he technically *is* kind of younger—yet, it’s also just his personality and who he is. It’s not necessarily due to a lack of maturity. 

That being said, I think he’d be really good with kids—and I know I’ve said it before somewhere, but he would make a great camp counselor or something. Can’t you imagine him leading activities or songs with a group of kids?

He’s more shy in UX because he’s surrounded by older Keyblade wielders and used to being rejected by them (since he doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of physical strength or magical ability.) In BbS, he’s more outgoing because he’s been living with the same people for years and it’s all exciting and new. He’s always been an introvert, but he still loves making friends… It just doesn’t come quite as naturally to him as it does to Sora, and Ven’s more likely to think he did something wrong if someone dislikes him. 

In other words, he’s the sort of guy who would go to a party and end up sitting on the floor to pet the dog the whole time.

If someone does hurt his feelings, however, he’s quick to forgive them and try to restore the relationship.

Thanks to Ven being a more sensitive person, he’s very comforting and compassionate: a trustworthy friend to talk to when you’re feeling down. He’s especially nonjudgmental and a good listener. I imagine most of the guardians’ first impression of him is either ‘quiet and unassuming’ or writing him off as silly / immature. Typically, only Terra and Aqua see that deeper side of his personality—but if the opportunity arises, he gets a chance to shine.

Since he’s pure of heart, he really can’t wrap his head around *why* people would use the darkness/be cruel to others intentionally. It doesn’t click in his mind at all. He’s not ‘innocent’ in the sense of being *ignorant* to that sort of thing, but rather just never feeling the urge to act that way. Does that make sense?

He’s a genuinely good, sincere guy. I love him 💖

[miss-anachronism]

for requests. i need. valen x male magister merlin. im a sucker for this guy. anything really. thank you!

Ooh, I’ve never read an x reader/MC fic, let alone written one! New territory, as exciting as it is scary.

I’m not so sure I have a good grip on Valen’s character, but I tried to write it from his perspective. I hope this suits your needs! It gets a bit philosophical. And sorry if its OOC :,)

He isn’t sure what to think, really.

They’re sitting around a dying campfire, just outside the borders of the Dark Forest. Lorsan is pacing somewhere in the distance, muttering to himself, or to the wind, maybe. Trying to figure out what’s happened to his home. Korin leans against a tree, tending to his wounds- courtesy of Merlin. The magister himself is across from Valen, wrapping his own wound and chattering with his hamsters.

Logically, Valen knows that the lesson he should have taken from this scramble is a lot more profound than what’s been on his mind. He should be contemplating the Wilders, the forest, their next steps, how to protect the refugees. And he’s trying to, but it’s just that something- someone- keeps catching his attention.

He didn’t know Merlin could bleed.

It’s such a silly observation. But as Valen watches the angry red wound on Merlin’s forearm, his gut twists. It’s like seeing a god’s flesh tear, and seeing that its blood is the same bright red as his own.

Valen isn’t sure what exactly Merlin is. As far as he knows, no one does, not even Merlin himself. But to the average young Lightbearer, he’s a myth. A legendary figure that you might glimpse once in your life, but would never get to meet. Never speak with, let alone camp alongside. Fight alongside. Merlin throws his head back to laugh at something Chippy has said, and something stirs in Valen’s ribs, something he knows is dangerous.

All of this is dangerous. Merlin is not someone to be loved; Valen has seen what happened to Mirael. Forgotten about, left in the dust, accidentally as it was. The way she watches Merlin, her face made of mixed admiration, bitterness, and regret. He wonders if she would take it all back, if she could. Scariest of all, when she bid them farewell, the look in her eyes sent an ugly pain of jealousy through Valen’s chest. And he doesn’t want that to happen to him, selfish as that may be. Every time Merlin falls asleep, he risks waking up knowing nothing.

Besides, what is Valen to a hero of myth? His whole life has been barely a blink in Merlin’s. Whatever he is, there is no reasonable way Valen could ever mean something to Merlin the way that Merlin is beginning to mean something to him. Merlin will outlive him a thousand times over. And he’s probably met a thousand different people, fallen in love with quite a few of them. Someone who has experienced so much life, so much loss, can they still love? Could they ever?

And yet, he bleeds. It’s such a human weakness that it seems impossible. Valen knew heroes could bleed; he didn’t know gods could. Merlin does not go about the world serene and calculating, watching every moment with practiced ease. He stumbles, laughs, misses with his spells. He jostles Valen’s pauldron excitedly when they win a fight, he’s the last to flee when they lose, ensuring everyone else has disengaged safely. He has only one dimple, on his left cheek. Sometimes he speaks so fast his words blend together, and Hammie has to remind him to slow down. It’s endearing. It’s human. Valen doesn’t know what to do with it. Because it was so much easier, to write off affection as admiration. When the pieces had first clicked, he thought it all made sense. The natural pull that the magister gave off- yes, of course, it was just Merlin’s nature. But they’re a week into this camaraderie, and Valen keeps noticing things like the lick of hair on his neck that doesn’t sit flat.

Pretty fucking annoying, that’s what it is. Valen’s always prouded himself on his ability to swerve out of love’s path. He can flirt and charm all he wants, but at the end of the day all the love letters he receives are ink and paper, nothing more. Whenever someone seriously reciprocates- god forbid- he disengages as smoothly as he can, lest they get the wrong impression.

But Merlin has changed all that, somehow. Impossibly so. He supposes it’s in his nature, to take everything and turn it upside down. Valen doesn’t want to flirt with the Magister, to laugh as he flushes under his praise. Well, it would be nice, he always has liked the attention; but the thing is, that isn’t the point. With Merlin, he just wants to be. No performance, no elaborate courtship. Just… be. Together. All this, for someone who is more myth than man.

It seems like the scariest thing he’s ever faced.

“Valen?”

He jumps as the magister suddenly speaks, and realizes with mounting embarrassment that he’s been staring the whole time. Luckily, the magister grins good-naturedly- and ah, there’s that dimple again.

“Lost in thought?”

“You could say that.”

He leans back on his hands and forces his face into a smirk. It’s easier than he anticipated; despite everything, Merlin makes it simple to be around him.

“I’ve been meaning to say,” Merlin mirrors his position as Chippy and Hammie scuttle away, the former setting off on a quest to climb the nearest tree, “I really appreciate your help in all of this. Coming along, and aiding me- far past your assigned duties. It isn’t lost to me.”

Valen gives him a look. “Of course, magister. I’m not one to leave danger to fester; I’m sorry you ever had that impression of me.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s…” Merlin’s brow furrows as he collects his thoughts. “You know, you seem so… charmingly nonchalant. Like nothing bothers you. But that clearly isn’t true. You care a lot, Valen, and it’s really, really nice to see. You’re someone who is just… good, you know? And I appreciate it.” He grins sheepishly. “Sorry. Kinda cheesy compliment. I’ve lost all my memories, you know, but being around you- and Lorsan, Cassadee, Mirael- honestly, I don’t feel like I’m missing much of anything. Everything I need is right here.”

He shrugs and turns back to the fire, as if he has not sent Valen’s mind reeling. Functionally, Merlin has been aware for only a week- one week out of thousands of years. He’s wondered how he’s been so calm about the whole thing, and…

And it’s hard to believe, but it’s much harder to doubt what Merlin says, not as he stares into the fire with that soft smile. It dawns on Valen that he probably knows more about Merlin than Merlin does- all of the legends, at least. And yet, despite that insurmountable legacy, despite the name and title that bears unimaginable weight, Merlin is… content. Content in just moving forward, and hoping he’s doing the right thing.

And isn’t that all that Valen’s doing, as well? He doesn’t deserve all this praise; he always shies away from large displays of gratitude, loathing how awkward they make him feel. Because he’s just moving forward, and trying to do the right thing. It’s a simple motive, really. Faith, and what effort it takes to retain it. He always thought Merlin would have some deeper, existential knowledge of the world that would put all else to shame- access to the secrets of the universe, and what not. And, certainly, his magical capabilities are second to none- but his philosophy, the way he lives; it very well might be human after all.

Maybe the usual Merlin, the one with all his memories, is the knowledgeable, immovable sage that Valen grew to look up to. Maybe, once restored, Merlin will become that god-like fairytale hero, wisdom surpassing all others, power knowing no ends.

Selfishly, Valen hopes that never happens. That the Merlin in front of him stays the same, annoying dimple and all, and keeps looking at Valen like that. Like he sees something in him that Valen never knew was there. He hopes Merlin never raises above their quips, their banter.

He know’s it’s all in vain. But god, he hopes.

[balkanradfem]

Looking back at past insecurities

So as you all know, I am today very wise and mature woman; I say smart things, and I have good opinions. However, there was a time when I was but a wee child, with no insight, but I still had opinions. And insecurities, like all female children, I was worried about my looks.

One of the things I was upset about, was the appearance of my legs. Women's legs were shown in media as the main attraction back in the early 90s, when I was consuming movies and cartoons. Even in animation, a signal that a beautiful woman was behind the corner, was a dainty, curvy leg being shown from behind the wall, to distract and lure an unsuspecting character. My leg was not curvy or dainty. My legs looked muscular. They were also very hairy. I would look at them and feel like maybe I am not a girl enough, maybe I got too many traits passed down from my father, and now I didn't look like a girl, and I wouldn't count as one, and I could never pass a successful female cartoon character, a thing that was very important back in the day.

It's also, when you're a teen, you're convinced that any visual flaw you have is the reason why nobody will ever love you. It's funny now, but when you're 14 it feels real. So I believed I would be left behind by the world, because my legs were so unsightly and I shouldn't ever allow anyone to look at them, the disgrace. The shame.

I have since lived a fair bit of my life, and found that my legs, not only look muscular, they're very strong. They give me immensely good balance, because my feet are also large, and my thighs hold a lot of weight, so my center of balance is very low. Nobody can push me and have me topple over, I stand still. I rarely fall down because of how naturally good my balance is. I was able to go running, even after being sick for months, and I could do it for half an hour without training, just because of how naturally strong my legs are. I can do leg exercises without any issues, even without being consistent with it. Now I'm mad that my arms are so weak and I can't lift things as well as I can use my legs. My ability to walk, run, keep balance, climb, exercise, have been invaluable to my life. I'm never looking at my legs with anything but admiration because they're a powerful asset to me.

Another thing I had felt a bit bad about, was the size of my nose. I thought it was too big for my face, and it wasn't really. It was too much media with tiny nosed women that have swayed my opinion of how big women's noses are allowed to be. But, I thought I'd look better with a smaller nose, and that it was making my face be ugly, so it was a reason to drown in sorrow. (I say this jokingly. I only felt a little bad).

I look at the mirror now, and I'm laughing because this nose is big so I could breathe really well! I really thought as a teen that I would do better with a smaller nose? That's where my breathing goes trough! My lungs are, blessed and healthy, and this means I am not struggling to breathe, I am able to fall asleep breathing trough my nose easily, I can blow a lot of phlegm when I'm sick all at once, and clear my nostrils easily, this is a very functional and good nose to have! And it's the correct size for my face, I would look ridiculous with any other nose than my own.

A lot of my opinions have changed, because I've aged and experienced life, I've met a lot of people who didn't have what I had. A pair of healthy legs, a good functional nose. I've befriended people who had something wrong with their leg, or had one missing. People who struggled with breathing. I've met older people who had trouble with their hips, arms, shoulders, back, eyes, skin. I sadly, got some parts of me non-functional too, so now I can't run or walk as I used to, and I experience problems and pain on almost daily basis. So now it feels very silly to be critical of appearance of perfectly good, functioning, healthy and helpful body parts; they're giving me great joy and ability to do whatever I want with them!

And I also believe I never would think to feel shame about the appearance of my nose, or my legs, if I hadn't been exposed to media that was very particular about how women, or female characters could look. It was like being told 'this is whats expected of you', and I couldn't reach it. I was a teen, and teens are more sensitive to appearance than any other demographic. It made me distressed. There was nothing I could do but feel like something is wrong with me, and I would be proclaimed ugly because of this severe flaw. Somehow males were never subjected to standards that harsh; they would receive onscreen representation love regardless of the muscles in their legs, or sizes of their noses, I wonder why is that.

It would have been so nice to see hairy, muscular, big nosed women in the media when I was a kid! Then I would look at my legs and nose and think 'yes, I am just like that female superhero, I am going to kick ass when I grow up'. Wouldn't that have been nice to grow up with?

[rayflowcherry]

Introduction to my Multiverse (Nightmare-centric)

Part 1: Crossmare (I didn’t mean for it to be this long)

Ships: Crossmare, Driller

Nightmare:

Passive and Corrupted are the same person, his appearance has changed drastically, and yet some of his past personality are still there (according to Dream).

Quiet by nature and isn't afraid to speak up his mind.

Looks cold and uncaring 'cause he is used to bottling up his feelings instinctively, making him look like that.

Composed, mature, keeps his inner child in check, never letting it out because he thinks that it's embarrassing.

Sexuality: AroAce, Agender (doesn't care about pronouns but mainly uses he/they).

Age: 500+

Takes care of Killer, Dust and Horror ever since they've joined his gang but keeps their relationship professionally. (‘Single father’ - Error)

The first person to meet Cross who was crying and passing out in his empty AU, looks after him for a while before sending him on his own way.

He and Dream are having a truce, their relationship still remains awkward though, sometimes meeting up to check on each other in Ccino's cat café and having conversations (a bit like gossip).

Neutral with Error and Ink, friendly but not that close to them, at least they don't do anything harmful to each other then all ends well.

Has a really good memory so he knows almost everything about all the AUS, not to mention he travels a lot to gain knowledge, build a mansion for the past 400 years.

When he first became corrupted, he wreaked havoc everywhere, losing control and destroying every AUs he landed upon 'cause of his hunger for negativity, not until Reapertale did he finally stop, Reapertale!Toriel prevented him from doing any further harms.

Reaper Sans is like a father figure to him, he teaches him how to control himself and helps him whenever his corrupting power is too much (along with Toriel), takes care of him for 100 years.

Loves reading books, especially fantasy ones, whenever someone gifts him a book, he will get a bit emotional.

He only wears his old crown on special occasions, if not, he would keep it in his drawer.

Cross usually writes letters to him on his travels, slowly building their relationship, they often stumbled into each other on some random AUs and conversed for a while before parting ways.

Good at singing lullabies, and sometimes dancing in the night every time he feels like it. (Only Dream knows about this)

Rarely sleeps, one time he falls asleep like a log for several days, making his idiots worried and called Dream for help.

Doesn't have a favorite food nor drink.

Killer flirts with him once which makes Nightmare really confused, causing the other to be slightly caught off-guard and explained it to him afterwards. (Nightmare still doesn't understand the innuendo 'till this day)

Helps Dust get through his nightmares and guilt in the middle of the night. (Dust sleeps a lot better and his Papyrus almost never appears to haunt him anymore)

Likes cooking and gardening with Horror, they always talk about some random topics, otherwise they would enjoy the silence between them. (Introverts)

Scared of cats, lets Killer keep them but won’t get near them. (There are four cats)

Knows about Killer’s crush on Dream, but he won’t interfere or do anything (unless necessary).

Likes the rain, always reminiscing and standing under it for hours.

Immune to pain, his touch feels like acid so he refrains from touching the others.

Suppressing his emotions so no one will ever know what he feels.

Can shapeshift into anything, but he rarely uses this ability ‘cause it mostly makes him feel uncomfortable, besides, he doesn’t want to freak the others out.

Intentionally making himself taller to match the height of the others because he was scared of being seen as weak and helpless.

The atmosphere in his mansion is very relaxing and comfortable, contrary to popular belief.

Cross:

Still feels guilty over the fact that he killed everyone.

Grateful for Nightmare looking after him after he passed out from crying too much.

After Nightmare explaining to him that saving his AU is almost impossible, Cross mulled over this for a while and talked to Nightmare before coming to a decision, ignoring X!Chara’s insistence on saving their world, he decides to travel the AUS to know more about the multiverse and maybe get some friends along the way.

Sexuality: Bisexual (Canon)

Age: Early 30s

Stoic, more outgoing with Epic, has a bit of a crush on Nightmare (slowly turning into something more in the future), easily angered if something annoyed him too much, mostly calm.

A traveler who likes helping people, hanging out and making memories with them, usually writing letters to Nightmare about his travels to keep him updated. (Doesn’t know why he started doing it, but he won’t stop anytime soon, receiving letters back from Nightmare everytime was worth it)

X!Chara always teases him about his crush on Nightmare. (Brat)

Meets Dream along the way, discovering the fact that Nightmare and Dream are brothers and sending about 6 letters in panic to Nightmare after that.

He and Nightmare often bumped into each other on some random AUS, they would converse in any restaurants or shops, sometimes things would get too awkward for them. (Sillies)

One time, Cross saw Nightmare standing under the rain, he was quickly approaching the other and sheltering him under his umbrella, noticed his droopy mood and tried to lighten it up. (Nightmare appreciated it, started to have feelings for him unknowingly)

Scared of cows. (Of course)

Occasionally, he visits Nightmare’s mansion, stays for a few days and leaves.

Cross finds Killer too flirty for his liking but doesn’t dislike him for it much. (Feels a bit jealous whenever Killer gets too close to Nightmare)

He and Dust likes each other’s company, they are usually talking and making jokes, bonding over their trauma and guilts.

Cross likes Horror’s cooking, the food is always delicious, especially the tacos, he sometimes helps Horror and Nightmare with gardening.

Can handle pain so Nightmare’s touch maybe hurts a little but he can hold hands with him for minutes. (They did hold hands for brief seconds, Nightmare was still shocked about it because Cross seemed unfazed)

Has heard of Ink and Error, still hasn’t met them yet.

Somehow he got addicted to chocolate.

Has a hard time falling asleep, though when he sleeps in Nightmare’s mansion, it feels easier.

Only Killer and X!Chara know about his crush on Nightmare. (Cross never figures out how Killer does, ‘it was obvious’, that man said)

Wants Nightmare to accompany him on his journey, become his traveling partner and whatnot. (Going to ask him but he doesn’t have the courage to do so)

[rouiyan]

𝘞𝘌’𝘙𝘌 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘠 𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘌𝘙𝘚 ; 𝘛𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘙 [ 𝘭.𝘮𝘬 ]

⧏ RELEASED — READ FULL FIC HERE ⧐

marks manages to land himself in a forty-two hour drive across the country with his archaeology major ex-girlfriend in the passenger seat. but for the duration of the whole ride, the only thing he can think about is that one twitter meme that states that “a majority of archeologists are women due to their natural ability to dig up the past.”

✧ photographer!mark lee x (fem.) archaeology major!reader ✧ exes to lovers, road trip au, referenced college au ✧ fluff/angst, hurt/comfort

✧ full fic w/c : 25.2k ✧ teaser w/c : 828 ✧ teaser disclaimers : food tw, knife tw, profanity

author's note — uhh.. well this is kinda awkward. i know i haven't posted content in a long ass time... sadly, this is by no means an official return to writing, but instead a piece that i've written on and off for over two years! now that i've been given a window of unoccupied time to finish it to my liking, i hope you look forward to it! i've missed you all btw

「 DAY 00, 01:42 PM 」— CUPID DABBLES IN BURNT TOAST

"oh, come on. i thought you were nicer than that!"

it's at times like these where mark is led to think that haechan only considers him as his very best friend for three things. his toaster, his car, and then of course, how easy it is to torment him.

he’s experienced enough to know that the guilt he feels is really only a direct result of haechan's guilt-tripping antics. and so he responds sarcastically, "yeah, nice enough to save a girl from a week of being in close proximity to the person she hates most in the world."

the toaster dings and haechan catches the two pieces of toast in their flight. he sticks one in his mouth, breaking off a bite, whilst turning to toss the other onto his friend's plate. chewing roughly, he leans back onto the counter opposite of mark, watching in contempt as the latter spreads jam across the burnt slice of bread.

haechan points a finger and juts it in his direction, offhandedly commenting, "i'm starting to think that it's you who hates her," a fact that both friends know isn't true. and because of that, mark doesn't make a big deal of denying it. "i don't hate her. i'm just..." he trails off and haechan takes the opportunity to craftily stage his intervention.

"not trying to make her uncomfortable?"

"yeah, i guess."

"not wanting her to hate you more?"

"there's that too."

"not over her?"

"hey, not cool."

a passage of silence elapses as mark sets the butter knife aside in exchange for his orange juice. gulping it down, he gets through two thirds of the glass before haechan perks up again. "actually, i think she still has a thing for you."

mark sputters, barely swallowing his drink before it could hurl out his disbelieving mouth. trying to smooth over his show of defiance, mark recovers a nonchalant expression as he deadpans, "there's no way. you know better than i do that she fucking hates me."

haechan takes another bite, aware but indifferent at how the crumbs have been gathering at his feet. his eyes trail absentmindedly to the clock on the wall behind mark, but only briefly for the hands are far past where he'd expected them to be. shoving the last of the toast into his mouth, he rushes to gather his belongings whilst uttering to his bewildered company, "shit, i'm gonna be late. pack it up."

obediently downing the rest of his orange juice, mark grabs his half-eaten, jam-slathered, burnt-to-a-crisp toast in one hand as the other reaches for his car keys on the way out. the unbearably hot sun of an early summer afternoon only hurries mark further along to his car, his wishes that he had worn shorts instead of jeans already too late to come true. but once both car doors have been shut and seat belts have been strapped, haechan carries on with his agenda without missing a beat.

"just give her the ride, mark. she'll keep you company and, i don't know, make sure you're not falling asleep at the wheel. and plus, she said she'll split the toll and gas fees."

mark shoves the last bite of toast into his mouth, the charred-ness of it procuring a nice crunch. even after he swallows, it takes him a second to respond. and though his answer is still far from budging, it sounds more like a justification, as if he needs convincing of his own opinion. "tell her it's cheaper to just catch a flight. and faster too."

exasperated, haechan retorts under his breath, "that's the same thing i told you," to which mark gives a raised brow, not catching what he said. instead of repeating, haechan only says, "just take her. you guys need to make up anyways."

that renders mark quiet for the rest of the ride as he tosses the thought over in his head. it's a thought that he knows he's been pushing away for far too long, hoping one day it'll become redundant enough to simply forget about. unknowingly, mark begins to speed a little, his turns become a little tighter, and when the traffic light signals red, the nose of his car is pulled daringly close to the car in front.

mark parallel parks shoddily in front of the archeology department building four minutes earlier than google maps had estimated. his best friend looks over at him expectantly and that in itself is enough to squeeze the reluctant words right out of him. "fine, i'll think about it."

haechan's face lights with a satisfied glow as he swings his backpack over his shoulder, making his way out of the car as quickly as he can. and just before mark can think to wish him good luck on his last exam of the spring semester, haechan blurts out the one crucial detail he had neglected to bring up until now.

"thank god, because i already told her you said yes."

copyright © 2023 rouiyan all rights reserved.

[heartbrkr]

roommate pros and cons

SUMMARY The trials and tribulations Haechan goes through just to get a very tired you to bed.

PAIRING roommate!lee haechan x gender neutral!reader

GENRE roommates!au, idiots in love, mutual pining, fluff, comfort

WORD COUNT 695

WARNINGS none but a single swear word

AUTHOR’S NOTE wow first proper drabble. with a lot of alliterations because they're fun. i really loved writing this <3

MASTERLIST | REQUESTS: OPEN!

You don’t care if he’ll mock you and pull on that stupid smug smile he usually does when you initiate affection first, it doesn’t matter right now. All you longed for was his warmth, the one that radiates through your body the moment you attach yourself to him. 

Haechan’s mean, yet meaningless quips about your clinginess fall on deaf ears because all you can hear is the pace of his heartbeat with your head leveled to his chest, knees trying their hardest to maintain their form to stabilize your position. You hear his pulse quicken and the right side of your mouth quirks upward the slightest, but you’d rather not bring it up now; you don’t want to risk him pushing you away as petty punishment. That isn’t something you need right now.

Concern comes creeping up on him due to the lack of any type of response, so he pulls you up and engulfs you into his arms properly. Naturally, like a moth to a flame, your face pieces itself into the slope of his neck and shoulder. Jasmine, wood, and the slightest linger of sweat.

“Hey.” He properly acknowledges you, no bullshit lines embellishing his words for the first time tonight. Though, one single word was spoken, you could hear the worry in his voice. Your continuous steady breathing tells him no information aside from the fact that you’re probably not ignoring him, just resting. He can tell you’re not asleep by the twitch of your hands and the way you shift your body here and there, but he thinks you wouldn’t want to keep standing.

Though you aren’t sleeping, you don’t notice Haechan has moved— your almost limp body still in his hold— by your doorway. 

He puts his hands on your shoulders with the right amount of weight to turn you around to face the inside of your room. You whine in protest, but he manages to keep you facing forward. “I’ll assume standing up while you’re about to fall asleep isn’t comfortable.” 

You don’t know how (you don’t have any energy to), but the moment his grasp loosens the slightest, somehow your head is back on his shoulder, much to his dismay. Well, not quite. In fact, he enjoys it; Haechan so madly adores you the same as you do, but neither know. He enjoys it to the point that he starts to feel as if it’s wrong, that you aren’t in your right mind for him to feel like this.

And his intuition is right, you aren’t in your right mind, that’s exactly why you keep sticking yourself to him. “No matter how comfortable, my bed isn’t as warm as you.”

From his neck up, Haechan starts to feel a rush of blood. He wants to turn his head to the side out of rare embarrassment, but you’re still there. It’s a good reminder for him that all of this is happening, it’s strangely real. “But this,” he gestures to the both of you to the best of his abilities, “is not comfortable.” 

You don’t notice he reiterated what he had previously told you, but with your response, it seems like you did. He hasn’t regarded it either, he’s really focused on you getting your deserved eyeshut. He’ll ask you about your day tomorrow. 

“Just tell me you want to get rid of me.” You say lightheartedly; he doesn’t take it that way.

“That’s not my intention. You need to sleep properly.”

“I will if you’re beside me.” An invitation. Not a direct one, but still an invitation.

He reroutes the both of you to the restroom, switching the light on before attempting to let you stand on your own and face the tiled walls and shower curtain. An indirect acceptance. “Let’s get you ready for bed first, okay?”

Again, you turn around and try to protest, but he lightly scolds you to use that remaining energy to freshen up instead. He’s back in your room, gathering all the things he needs to do your night routine. A smile progressively graces his face the moment he hears the water run.

Your roommate is a promise of a sunny morning.

[kronosveritas]

I’ve always loved Agent North Dakota, but my fondness for him is only becoming stronger the more I think about him.

(Quick break from my regularly scheduled Tuckington bullshit but I just have to get this out there. I apologize in advance if any is wrong, this is just a collection of my thoughts on North. More art coming soon)

Because, hear me out. North was assigned Theta as his ai due to his kind and nurturing nature as a person. When theta can’t sleep instead of “pulling him” (taking him offline) North stays up late with him, sometimes walking the halls of the Mother of Invention while talking to him to help him fall asleep. If that doesn’t work, you know he stays up with him all night. ALL NIGHT.

This already seems incredibly selfless and kindhearted, but it’s actually even more selfless than you’d think, because the agents are shown to almost all be quite scared of the Director, including North. The Director is also shown on multiple occasions to not care about the AIs feelings (which isn’t surprising, considering how he treats the Alpha). North stays up with Theta because he wants to be there for him, and make him feel better, but this is actually incredibly risky because it means that any training he has to do the next day he will be doing without having rested at all, and FILSS (the project freelancer onboard computer system) has been proven to be able to track even the slightest difference in reaction time and other factors during training (think of that scene when Carolina was training martial arts with the holo targets over and over again) that would inevitably be impacted by not sleeping at all, so this means North probably has to push himself ridiculously hard just so he doesn’t fall behind in stats, regardless of how crazy exhausted he probably is.

Even so, if he’s missed enough sleep I bet there have been times that his stats for that day’s training dipped slightly and the Director probably yelled at him and criticized/berated him for who knows how long. And North wouldn’t have been able to offer any sort of explanation in his own defense because he knows that if the Director found out what was going on he would most likely order him to pull theta on the nights where he can’t sleep, which North had previously told York makes theta even more scared.

In addition to this, he may actually be one of the smartest of all the freelancers, or at least the most perceptive/best judge of character. Why? Because he started to figured out what was going on with Project Freelancer before almost ANY of the other agents did. Correct me if I’m wrong, I haven’t watched these seasons in a while unfortunately, but he/York were the first ones out of all of them to figure out that the Director was lying to them about the “insurrectionists”, the first to suspect that the Alpha was being tortured, and the first one to question whether Project Freelancer were actually the good guys.

I bet that’s part of the reason that North was trained to be a sniper. I mean, yes. He was probably chosen for the sniper specialist position in Freelancer due to his incredible natural/pre established skill at the ability from his regular military duty too, but most likely a lot of his sniper training was DONE at Project Freelancer. I bet this is because the Director wanted him to be an agent due to his incredible combat sense and sharpshooting ability, as well as the fact that he had a twin who was also being recruited (and the Director is a sick son of a bitch, so he wanted to do his experiment about driving one of them crazy, which as we know ended with north being killed), but he still feared North’s natural intuition and compassion, as well as his moral compass, which were much more in tact than that of some of the other freelancers (Maine or Carolina for example), and he wasn’t really holding something over him to bait/keep him there like he sort of did with Wash (based on the guidebook). Initially, yes, North fell for the Director’s bullshit and thought that the Freelancers were the good guys, but even though he probably had fewer direct interactions with any of their enemies than ANY of the other top agents since he was a sniper and a stealth operative, he STILL was one of the first to figure out what was going on. Because he’s likely smarter than many of the others, and he’s a good person- and that’s what the Director forgot to take into account when trying to completely brainwash his agents (and almost succeeding).

ALSO, I mean, come on. The guy can DUEL WIELD SNIPER RIFLES WITH PINPOINT ACCURACY. In season 10 episode 19 (I think?) when he, Tex, and York are breaking into the Mother of Invention and trying to free the Alpha, he shoots SEVEN rockets out of the air that were fired by a LAU-65D/SGM-151 missile pod, meaning that upon being fired all the missiles fly into the air in crazy, unpredictable curving directions before converging on their target with heat seeking accuracy (so, aka- they aren’t just traveling in straight lines, their movement is random at speeds in we can safely assume are at LEAST excess of 100mph, because according to most statistics I can find on the internet, average rocket launchers shoot projectiles at around 294 meters per second (657.659 miles per hour), though we can assume these ones are slower than that based on eyesight, but still probably above the 100mph mark. And he shoots all the missiles in the span of only a couple of seconds before they can hit Tex, their mark.

This is while he is DUEL WIELDING sniper rifles! So not only is his accuracy INSANE, his reaction time is arguably even BETTER.

And the missiles he hit were not only traveling incredibly fast, but aren’t even large targets, or moving in straight paths, and he manages to destroy them all before they find their mark. BECAUSE he’s using two sniper rifles as well, I feel the need to point out that he also can’t use the scope on either one of them, so his accuracy to hit SEVEN targets traveling in RANDOM patterns, THAT FAST, is all just with his eyes, not any sort of scope or ironsight. Of course, it’s assumed that Theta is helping him to some extent somehow, but like, Theta doesn’t control his movements/aim or anything, and doesn’t increase his reaction time. Also, we at least know he verbally didn’t have time to ask Theta to do too much to help him before those missiles were fired since it happened so ridiculously fast.

CONCLUSION/TLDR: god DAMN he’s good.

[writtenbyaris]

my creative writing process as a planner 🌟

the idea:

story ideas come to me at the most random and inconvenient of times. right before i fall asleep, when i'm in the shower, during my classes, etcetera. my main rule is to always write them down, whether it's in my notes app or a slip of paper or a journal... i'll forget it if i don't.

i try keeping it simple at this stage and not thinking too deeply about it, otherwise it becomes quite overwhelming. sometimes ¡'ll make a pinterest board depending on what the idea is. if it's more of an aesthetic, then i can make a moodboard out of it to help inspire me more. however, if the idea is a plot of some sort, that can be a bit more difficult.

character and world building:

this is my favorite part. once i have an idea set in stone and i'm ready to work on it, i begin building the characters and the world around it. i figure out the mechanics of the idea and how it can relate to characters and the world they're in.

at this point, i'm definitely making pinterest boards, playlists, and picrews to feel more immersed in the skeleton of the story.

i still keep it as simple as possible, and try to enjoy it. when i try juggling too many things at once, i end up wanting to abandon the project. slow and steady is the key for me :)

creating the story:

now we get down to what being a writer actually is.. transforming the idea into a story. i have to at least come up with one major plotline to start. i usually write in my journal during this stage, but sometimes i'll use notion to organize everything and keep track of it all.

oftentimes, the main plot will come to me when i'm working on character and world building. sometimes it's even the idea that first popped into my head. the story is usually influenced by dreams i've had, my own every day experiences, and other media i consume.

arcs, subplots, themes, etc:

this stage is for the smaller details that are vital for the story to flow and actually work. it's like a puzzle that's finally coming together.

for me, a story isn't a good one without arcs and themes, so those are of utmost importance. subplots are necessary to make the world more immersive, give readers insight on the characters, and keep the story naturally flowing. everything has to be woven back in to the main plot or idea, though.

i will say, this is the stage that tends to give me the biggest headache :P

zero draft:

jumping into a first draft as a heavy planner is too scary for me. so i came up with the idea of a zero draft. basically- zero expectations.

this is the backbone of my story. in this stage, i'm basically just taking myself through the steps of the story. i organize the plot and subplots into chapters, and with each chapter i go through all the beats of each scene. literally every. single. thing. that happens.

i don't usually include dialogue in this phase, but i do mention when a character will be in a conversation. all the focus should be on putting a needle and thread through the story and tying it all together.

first draft:

the first draft is somewhat easier for me because i do a zero draft. so, i know everything that will happen in a chapter and just have to utilize my writing abilities to make it rhythmic.

this is the first stage where i write dialogue, so it tends to be corny. a lot of my writing can be cliche and basic as well. that's what editing is for though!

i usually stress the most when writing my first draft, because it's the first time the story is actually being written in the format of a novel. by the end, it's not always very good either. but i do not look back at all, which means absolutely no editing until the first draft is finished.

and so on…

once the first draft is finished, then comes draft two. it's enjoyable to be able to read your own work all over again, though it's sometimes embarrassing as writing does improve with practice.

i focus on one chapter at a time-reading slowly, editing, filling in plot holes, fixing anything that changed later in the story. i try to catch as many details as i can.

usually, after as many rounds of editing one likes, the draft would be sent to an editor and beta readers. then i'd look into publishing companies (can you tell i haven't gotten to that point yet? lol)

are you a planner or a pantser?

[vanilla-c0c0]

William Rex route - ch.1 summary

All possible disclaimers are valid! I'm not a mother tongue speaker and I'm doing this for fun. 100% accuracy is not guaranteed. I highly recommend you guys read the prologue before reading any route!

MC is sleeping and in her dream, she hears a graceful lullaby, someone calling her in.

"Come, come. Who was it that killed you?"

Then, she wakes up. After the prologue, she fell asleep for a little while, exhausted from everything that had happened. It would be better if it was all a dream, but now she cannot fall asleep again due to the rising anxiety and fear. However, her stomach rumbles out of hunger. Suddenly, a soft knock makes her whole body tense up, and someone says "Sorry for the late hour. Are you awake?". It's William, the one who conducted the assassination thanks to his ability, and the one who started playing the piano right after. He must be a lunatic, and yet he must also be the most diligent member of Crown, MC thinks.

She doesn't trust him enough and doesn't want to open the door. As she pretends to be asleep, her stomach rumbles again, even louder than before. William hears that, and says that if she doesn't want to open the door to get to know each other better, then why don't they go get something to eat? He asks with a sweet voice as if he was comforting a child. The voice draws MC in, who decides to open the door; after all, she cannot stay locked up forever (plus, he behaved really gentlemanly too and promised not to use his powers needlessly). After she gets out, William smiles as if he already knew she would have opened the door.

They go to the dining room where MC sits down at the table and William sits down at a chair a bit further away from the the table. The prepared meal is for MC only, and William takes a glass of wine since he had already eaten before the mission. MC wonders if he had had the meal prepared just for her and then came all the way to her room just to call her. In front of such a warm and delicious-looking meal, she feels appreciation melting away her stress. Still, she hesitates to eat, which prompts William asking if the meal is not to her liking. She's actually worried because she has no knowledge on the proper etiquette required to eat in front of a nobleman. At first, William is a bit taken aback, but then he tells her not to worry and simply use the manners that are most natural to her.

[Player choice: all of them give you +4 points] MC: (But that's... what would I do if I were rude...?)

William reassures her once more; "...You're tolerant of outlaws but you're pretty strict with yourself. I heard from Victor that you paid for the stolen goods after you protected the thief that ran away". MC realizes she was being watched all the way back then, and lowers her gaze out of embarrassment: she acted out on an impulse, and even though she protected the little pickpocket, their circumstances didn't change at all. In an effort to shake off that awful feeling of self-pity, she reaches out to a muffin on the table. "Thank you for the meal".

Finally, the last bits of uneasiness left in her completely disappear. In the meantime, William is playing with an envelope, casually taking a sip of wine from time to time. As she's looking at him, she notices his long white lashes covering his red eyes, admitting that he truly is a captivating beauty. His fingers with blood-colored fingernails trace the sealing wax with a golden butterfly imprinted on top. She has a flashback to the events of that evening, when he had asked for her name, reaching out those blood stained hands towards her (note: idk if his hands were actually blood stained or if she's talking about his nail polish); at that time, she froze on the spot out of fear of being killed, but all he did was squat down and gently hold her in his arms (note: the verb used is 横抱き which literally means "carrying (a child) under arm"; again, this behaviour of his that make it seem as if MC is a kid). While doing that, he apologises, saying that an actual apology will surely come later on. MC now wonders if those words maybe meant that he was planning on sparing her life all along? She doesn't know what to think of him anymore: is he insane or is he kind? Is he perhaps both at the same time? She cannot grasp his true identity, but probably because there's a lot she doesn't know about him yet. Maybe, it's better not to know. Maybe, she shouldn't want to know. And yet.

"Who... who was that man that was killed?" The question slips out of her mouth, and William answers: "Well...he was a vermin who was not only trampling freedom and dignity, but was also bleeding dry the sweet nectar that abounds here in England". (note: this phrase was so difficult omg... in case anyone knows better than me the line is この英国にはびこる、自由と尊厳を蹂躙し、甘い密を搾取する害虫さ). MC continues asking questions, this time wondering who was playing the piano, and why they had the man kill himself instead of simply murdering him. William says that once he has decided to kill someone "evil", it's his principle to kill them as brutally as possible; otherwise, there'd be no point in him doing "evil".

MC: "Why would it be meaningless if not cruel...?".

William is silent for a bit, and then he smiles happily with a cruel smile. "Those who have riches and power at will and trample on the freedom of others without hesitation... What do you think it is that they fear the most?" As he answers her question with a question of his own, MC doesn't really know how to respond. Seeing her struggling to find an answer, William rests his chin on the palm of his hand and smiles gently. "If it was possible to explain and understand everything through words, life would be quite empty, wouldn't it? If you're interested in me then you should experience it through your eyes, your ears, your skin... it's more enjoyable to unravel the truth yourself, right?". Then, he suddenly remembers something and takes a knife out of his pocket.

The decorated golden knife gleams mysteriously in the moonlight, and MC is terrified. Did she say something wrong? William tells her not to worry, he won't thrust that knife into her all of a sudden; however, his power is equal or greater than that of the knife, and the same goes for all the other guys. Isn't it unfair that her life is the only one being threatened? MC is speechless, but William says that he wants to talk to the poor robin (MC) on equal terms as much as possible; so, as she's writing down his sins as the fairy tale master... if she feels like she wants to judge his crimes, then she shall stab him with the knife. In return, he will resign himself to her judgement.

William: "Will you take it?"

MC is, once more, shaken to her core.

("I couldn't believe my ears at the unexpected words; my heart thundered wildly at the dangerous invitation.")

("What the hell is he even talking about? Stab a person.... with this knife? There's no way I can do that... No matter who you're up against, you shouldn't be pointing a knife at someone. And yet, even though I thought that, my fingertips were drawn to the golden knife.)

William:"Here you go."

Despite the cold metal inbetween them, as MC reaches for the knife, she briefly touches William's fingers. Despite knowing she shouldn't stare, she cannot look away; reason can't catch up with her body that's moving on its own. William has a strange gravitational pull that draws her in, and before she knows it, the cold knife is glowing dimly on her palm.

MC: "Did you use your powers...?"

William happily laughs in return. "No? For my ability to work, I have to look at your face and command you. The words "Will you take it" were but an invitation, not an order." MC cannot comprehend; did she, on her own will, accept the knife? She feels as if she's going crazy, and she's terribly frightened by the whole ordeal. In a frenzy, she stands up, thanks him for the meal and runs away. For the next month, she has to live without her using the knife, lest she won't be able to return to her daily life. For that sake...

William: "...Good night."

For that sake, don't fall for his temptation.

[...]

When William steps into his room, he stares at the chessboard. "Have you come up with a good move?".

Victor: "No, not at all."

According to William, the mansion they went to tonight was a "hit". He holds out the envelope he was toying with earlier in front of Victor. "Victor, if this is proof of the resurrection of the "Golden Butterfly" then I will take the lead on this matter."

Victor: "Mhmh, I don't mind. I've also reached a conclusion on my searches, too: MC is completely white. She has nothing to do with the police, the Capitol, or even the butterfly. She's simply an unlucky child who happened to be there."

William: "Unlucky? No way. She came here because she was bound to come."

Victor asks if that's a conclusion he reached based on his own insight, and William hums in affirmation. According to Victor, it must be surely right, then; also, there might be the need for a birdcage. But William won't need such a thing, he likes birds singing, after all. Furthermore, he doesn't have many hobbies to maintain.

[...]

The next day, Victor summons MC to tell her about her duties. She's ready to jot down the endless list of rules she'll need to follow for her job, notebook in hand. Over the course of the night, she had enough time to sort out her feelings and thoughts. The weapon she received is for self-defence purposes, and when she felt her body move on its own, that was probably out of fear. As she's readily awaiting for Victor to tell her what she should or shouldn't do... he simply tells her she can do whatever she wants. The only two things are that when she goes out of the castle she must always be accompanied by someone, and her reports to the Queen should be regarded as a record of her observations on them. He doesn't mind her writing down how they appear in her eyes, but MC feels a little lost at the lack of instructions. Since the Crown members all act independently and at different times and occasions, it'd be best to find a person she can stick to. MC thinks back to the night prior, and she believes that William is probably the least safest choice. However, before she can say anything, Victor claps his hands and proposes William for the role, since he's about to start a mission. He's the no.1 in Crown, and even the Queen herself remembers the Evil King. As they're saying this, William appears. MC reminds herself once more not to fall for his temptation, or else... she has a feeling she won't be able to go back.

☆ chapter 2

[eveandtheturtles]

Leo - The rainy weather- NSFW

Summary: It's dead of the night, Leo needs some comfort, but it's gonna change the nature of your relationship. Will you dare?

Everyone involved is 18+, btw requests are open again if you want something written with Raph.

Ship: Leo x Reader

@madammuffins @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @sharpwindow @dilucsflame33 @pheradream15 and I hope you don't mind @leosgirl82

The storm was raging outside. It's been three days since the nonstop downpour plagued New York. You didn't mind it though too much. Safe in your own apartment, warm and ready to retire for the night the sound of rainfall over your window was comforting.

You briefly wondered if your terrapin friends were still out there, patrolling the streets. You hoped not. No matter their mutant physiology you'd rather they didn't have to fight for the city in this weather.

With that thought in mind you went to sleep.

It was still dark outside when you woke up to an insistent knocking on your window. Grabbing your trusty baseball bat you got out of the bed and went to check what it was.

"Leo?"

There he was. Miserable and soaked through the bone, sitting on your fire-escapes on the other side of the window. You dropped the baseball bat and rushed to let him in.

"Hey... sorry for dropping in on you like this," he said climbing in. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I mean- yes but that's alright," you fussed around him.

"Sorry, I'm... dripping water everywhere," he apologized, looking more at his feet than you.

"Is... everything alright?" You slipped your hand into his and squeezed.

In the time you have known the turtles Leo was never this subdued, a little broken. He was level headed but optimistic, cool, responsible. It was what drawn you to him. This Leo made you worried.

He looked at you as if he just noticed you were there. Something just snapping him back to reality "Yeah, all cool, I- I should go, let you sleep." He turned around trying to leave. His hand slipping out of yours but you held on tight.

"Leo... let me help you," you said softly. With your free palm you reached to his face and to his cheek, holding him gently.

He bit his bottom lip. His knees hit the floor and you held him tight as violet sobs wrecked his body. His face burried in the crook of your neck. You tried to sooth him to the best of your ability, letting his emotions run their course. Eventually, he calmed down.

You led him to your couch, where he poured his heart out. This whole weeks was heavy on them. The rain seemed to enable criminals. Something about being hidden from view with the heavy rain. They usually handled things like this better but- Tonight someone, an innocent person, died right in his arms and it just left him empty. Cold and hopeless.

You didn't know what to say because- what could you say to make it better? You only held him tight, hopeless in your desperate need to hep him. He held onto you like a life line.

At some point he let go. You grabbed a blanket, made hot choclate and turned on Netflix. When you sat down he leaned into you, soaking into your warmth. You put on Trollhunters, it seemed to be his favourite, and let it play. You were still tired and despite the emotional rollercoaster the small lull made you fall asleep pretty quick.

You somewhat woke up later to the feeling of being moved. You looked up to Leo carrying you to your bed. He laid you gently onto the mattress, bringing the sheets up to tuck you in.

"Leo?"

He paused and looked at you. "I should go," he said. There was something in his voice that told you he didn't want to, it was his own sense of duty telling him to leave. It was what would be expected of him. At least that's what he thought.

He was wrong.

"You can stay," you told him. You were about to add that the couch was all his if he wanted but you saw the look on his face. A small oh went off in your brain as you realised something.

You smiled softly. Then your night shirt fell off your shoulders. He froze.

"What-"

"It's ok. Stay," you insisted. "I want you too."

He nearly chocked but when you took his hand his knee rested on your bed as he slowly started climbing in.

"Are you sure?"

You nodded. You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him. At first he hesitated. Then all his desire, desperation and need for comfort poured out at once into the kiss. The bed protested as he pressed you into the bed, locking you under him. Your mind went blank, filled only with Leo. His calloused hands slid over your body. The texture deliscious over your breast. He growled and your sighed when his mouth found your neck. His teeth grazing your delicate skin over your pulse. You moaned when he bit down then kissed the mark.

He wanted to forget himself. He wanted to feel again. To not be cold.

You pushed gently at his shoulders flipping him on his back. He had to half sit in your bed, the shell awkward on human mattress. Your straddles his lap, kissing him again. You had to slow him down a little. Soften the kisses a little. Let him experience rather than burn. You held him tight and close. Stroking his cheeks and neck. Kissing his throat, nipping rather than biting. You placed his hands on your back and breast. "I'm here, I'm here", you hoped your actions said.

You slipped lower, your eyes locked on his as you undid his trousers, then pushed them past his hips, knees to finally toss them off the bed. His thighs were so well toned. You ran your hands over them, squeezing them. You kissed over them, trailing over to his cock.

You paused, giving him a moment to refuse but he was so enchanted with you. He nodded, giving you free rein to do anything you wanted.

You kissed him at the base, holding his shaft gently. Your tongue slipped out licking a trail around him. Slowly, you kissed and nipped your way up, stopping to suck at the side of it.

He was still holding on, muffling his moans with his hand. That wasn't your goal. You were going to make him scream tonight. Neighbors be damned. Let them be jealous.

You tightened your grip around him while you reached his head. You placed two kisses on each side and pressed the flat of your tongue to his slit, then dragged it slowly, licking off that precum gathering there. He gasped. Good. You licked, and kissed his crown, gently sucking on his skin just below it. Your thumb rubbed the underside of his cock while you pumped him steadily in shallow movements.

Leo gripped onto the headboard, throwing his head back. "God," he moaned, eyes shut and you smirked.

"Look at me, Leo," you ordered and he did. "Let it go," you said. "Watch me."

And then you locked your lips around him. Your head sunk down and you sucked.

A desperate moan tore out from his throat. You kept going. Using your tongue, your hand, your mouth. You were going to bring him to his high. You gradually were picking speed, alternating between sucking and kissing him until he was mewling under your, pleading with you to let him finish. You felt him tense up and at just the right moment, you sunk as low as you could and sucked as hard as you could. The yell of your name never sounded sweeter. He gripped the back of your head, fisting your hair in as the hot seed shot down your throat.

He shivered, moaning deeply as you slowly pulled back up, sitting up between his legs. He watched fascinated as your throat moved, swallowing the rest of his cum. He pulled you close, then slammed his mouth over yours, tasting himself on your tongue. You felt him twitch and harden again under you. This was your mission today. Make him feel good.

You lift yourself up, reaching between you. His eyes followed your hand as you positioned him at your entrance and then let him fill you up. Tight, snug and thick. A most pleasant stretch.

The two of you gasped and you moaned your name next to his ear. His hands gripped tight on your hips. So tight you knew you'd have marks there. Good. You moved.

Leaning back, holding onto his shoulder, your hips rolled. You drunk in his moans.

"I want to hear you," you groaned, hitting that good spot inside you.

You held on. Listening to his moans and groans as you rode him into oblivion. Your muscles squeezed around him making him cry out. The rhythmic movement of your bodies, the sound of meeting and parting between you, the scent of sex filled the room and urged you forward. More, more, more. More heat, closer together, more alive. You barrelled towards your peak and when Leo's teeth closed on your shoulder you fell, hard and deep. You heard him whisper your name and then cry out as he joined you.

His arms were tight around your waist as you slumped against his plastron. His face burried in your hair and you felt the gentle sob break away from him. But this time it was full a relief, gratitude and hope. You stroked his head and kissed him gently.

"I'm with you," you said.

Your alarm clock interrupted the quiet moment but you quickly quieted it down.

"You should go," he said sniffling a little.

"Nah, I'm calling it in, I deserve to anyway," you chuckled. "Do you want to go back to the lair?"

"Not yet, I want to stay with you for a bit longer," he admited and you smiled. "Alright. We should call Donnie-" a big yawn escaped you. "later."

"Yeah," he chuckled and you felt so happy at the sound of it. "Later."

You both snuggled together in your bed, leaving the world to deal with it later.

[luffyvace]

Chuuya x gn reader ★

alright so there’s plenty of chuuya x fem reader and ik my males might feel tired of having to deal with gn reader- so i’ll be doing a x male reader version.

it might not come out immediately after this but i’ll try and get it done sometime soon ♡

ps: enjoy ;)

alright so i’m going with a reader that’s in the Port mafia

it’s highly likely your strong (ability or not)

if not very intelligent

so i’m going to make you chuuya’s new work partner

let’s say you got together because you were his ideal partner

with your beautiful (color), (hair type) hair

and your gentle (color) eyes

he also liked your personality as well

he liked the way you presented yourself

whether you spent hours making yourself look good or just threw on some jeans and a fashionable shirt and jacket to match

he likes your style

so with a little liquid confidence he confessed to you

turns out you thought you was handsome and charming

random

but

dont tease him—about anything not just his height.

he doesn’t like to be made fun of and will talk to you like how does dazai

maybe a little less aggressive tho

when you first started dating he’d flirt with you shamelessly

(but never at the wrong times, like a important meeting)

his pick up lines don’t always land but sometimes they’re a complete hit and fluster you, catching you of guard

he’s better with gestures when it comes to flirting

like putting an arm around your waste and bringing you closer

or smirking at you all sly

he really knows how to get your heart beating when he’s not trying too hard

but once you two are official..

he likely was never in a serious relationship with anyone before you so give him the benefit of the doubt on some things

i don’t exactly think he’s a playboy or anything though

probably found a few people attractive here or there

i feel he would avoid having flings because it would total his big bad reputation if they said something

plus if an enemy of the port mafia found out they could potentially use that against him

which is why i feel he prefers to keep your relationship private

he doesn’t want to feel vulnerable in knowing people could use you to get to him

although he’s confident in you

he feels if your strong you could protect yourself

and if your intelligent

you could beat the person trying to harm you psychologically

like with planning and timing

then they fall into your trap :)

just as you predicted 🤓☝️

😋

if your none of these things

he’s confident he’d be able to protect you himself

he’s always bragging about how strong his ability is anyway

”what idiot would wanna mess with gravity”

*insert cocky smirk here*

another thing

his love languages are gift giving, acts of service and quality time when he can

seeing as though your both members of the port mafia your both pretty busy

you guys try to make as much time as you can for each other in your schedules

which usually works since your partners and have a lot of the same missions

you cherish the simply quiet and peaceful times when you share them together

you try to make the night as special as possible

making pancakes together

(hopefully one of you can cook—he’s not the best at it, for the record)

going out for a walk and visiting your favorite places

shopping

lunch at some fancy place

‘he’s got it—it’s on him ;)’

coming home and relaxing, maybe watching a movie

cuddling and falling asleep

whoever gets up first runs the other a hot bath before dinner :)

and the other cooks once they get up

this is what i mean by when he’s not trying too hard

its romantic in itself if you let it come naturally

forget about the traditional roses and chocolates

quality time is the best time

for gift giving he gives you lavish and expensive stuff since your jobs pays well

but he’s still thoughtful enough to make it something you like/care about and use

instead of just shoving shiny jewelry (men’s or women’s) in your face and expecting you to be happy

sometimes you both forget important dates because of your hectic and random schedule

but you both always manage to pull through for your anniversary

you gift him lavish wine packs

and new tailored suits 😋

as for acts of service he’ll do little things for you if you’ve been more busy than him lately

like if you’ve been meaning to go shopping

but your job keeps calling you in

just give him the list and he’ll go for you

or if your having back pains he’ll hire a expensive chiropractor to help you :)

chuuya wasn’t made for boyfriend material or anything

but with time it’ll certainly seem like it ☀︎

i tried to make this something all brackets of people could read- i hope it worked :)

good day folks!

[midnight-glasses]

Hi again! Thanks for answer my question <33. My request is Yandere or normal Carla Tsukinami x Yui headcanons. Btw, I love carla x yui too <33

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude for your kindness and enthusiasm towards my content. Therefore, I will fulfill your request to the best of my abilities and I hope you enjoy it!

To be honest, I am not a big fan of the character Carla Tuskinami, my favorite couple in this franchise is definitely Shinyui.

However, I cannot deny that Carla is an interesting character, his dynamic is truly endearing.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing these headcanons, and I am considering the possibility of writing about Yui and Shin too.

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS:

Cuteness overload;

None;

Yui initially fears and is intimidated by Carla's cold and mysterious demeanor, but gradually starts to see his softer side as their relationship progresses.

Carla's soft side towards Yui becomes more apparent as their relationship progresses, and he becomes more protective of her.

Carla is initially reluctant to show his softer side to Yui, but her kindness and warmth eventually breaks down his walls.

Yui's strong belief in God resonates with Carla's sense of duty to his race and family, and they find common ground in their faith.

Carla becomes more protective of Yui as their relationship deepens, even going so far as to put her needs above his own.

Despite his cruel tendencies, Carla is capable of deep love and devotion to those he cares about, and Yui becomes one of the most important people in his life.

Yui's naivete and indecisiveness sometimes frustrate Carla, but he learns to be patient with her and guide her towards the right decisions.

Yui's kindness and compassion towards Carla help to bring out his better nature and challenge him to be a better person.

Yui's influence on Carla also causes him to become more compassionate towards vampires, even though he still harbors some resentment towards them.

Carla's willingness to put Yui's needs above his own sometimes causes conflict with his own sense of duty and pride as a First Blood.

Yui helps Carla to let go of his desire for revenge against Karlheinz, and they work together to create a better future for their race.

Carla and Yui are dating and Shin is still a part of their lives. They make an effort to include Shin without leaving him out.

They might sneak secret glances and gentle touches when Shin's back is turned or when he is otherwise occupied.

Carla might make an effort to include Shin in their activities or conversations, as a way to alleviate any tension between them.

Yui might become more hesitant to express affection or initiate physical contact when Shin is around, feeling self-conscious or nervous about being seen.

Carla and Yui often have lively debates about the themes and meanings of the books they read. They challenge each other's interpretations and explore different perspectives.

Carla sometimes helps Yui with her schoolwork, explaining difficult concepts and encouraging her to do her best.

Carla and Yui often read books or watch movies together in the evenings, snuggled up on the couch.

Yui and Carla have a special ritual where they brush each other's hair before bed. It's a calming and intimate moment that helps them relax after a long day.

Yui loves how soft and silky Carla's hair feels under her fingertips. She's always careful to be gentle and not pull too hard on any tangles.

Carla enjoys having her hair brushed by Yui because it feels like a soothing massage. She often falls asleep while Yui is brushing her hair, feeling safe and cared for.

Yui loves to play with Carla's hair, running her fingers through it and braiding it into intricate styles.

Sometimes, when they're in a rush, Carla and Yui will brush each other's hair at the same time, standing in front of the mirror and giggling as they accidentally get their brushes tangled.

Carla loves to watch Yui sleep, finding peace in just watching her breathe and feeling grateful to have her in his life.

Yui cook Carla's favorite meals, clean up after him, or do little things to make his life easier such as packing his lunch or preparing his clothes for the next day. These acts of service demonstrate her love and commitment to him.

Carla could surprise Yui by leaving small love notes for her to find throughout the day. He could leave them in her bag, on her pillow, or in her lunch box. The notes could be sweet and romantic, or silly and playful, depending on what he thinks Yui would enjoy.

In contrast, Yui could plan a surprise picnic for Carla in the Banmaden gardens, complete with all of his favorite snacks and drinks.

Yui could also surprise Carla with tickets to a play or musical he's been wanting to see.

Carla's love language may be acts of service and physical touch. He may not be the most expressive with his words, but he would likely show his love for Yui through his actions, such as doing things for her or making sure she is taken care of.

In terms of physical touch, Carla may show affection by holding Yui's hand or placing his hand on her shoulder or waist. He may also enjoy cuddling and physical intimacy as a way to express his love for her.

Yui might initiate cuddling, hold Carla's hand or lean into him during a movie, or give him a massage after a long day to show her love and affection.

While not as high on her list as physical touch and words of affirmation, Yui also appreciates when Carla does little things for her.

Carla could surprise her by cooking her favorite meal, doing the dishes for her after dinner, or even just taking care of some household chore she's been dreading. These acts of service show that Carla is thinking of her and wants to make her life easier, which can be incredibly meaningful to Yui.

Yui loves it when Carla reads to her in her deep, velvety voice. Sometimes, he will put on different accents or voices for each character, making the story come alive in a new way.

Carla and Yui enjoy quiet nights at home, simply enjoying each other's company and conversation. They often talk about their dreams for the future and make plans together.

When Carla and Yui talk about their future together, the topic of having children naturally comes up.

Carla is excited about the idea of starting a family with Yui and often talks about their future children.

Yui is initially supportive of Carla's desire to have children in the future, but becomes a little freaked out when she learns about Carla's expectation of having more than four children, she starts to worry about the practicalities of raising such a large family.

Carla and Yui have a heart-to-heart talk about their expectations and plans for the future, and come to a compromise. They decide to start with a smaller family and see how things go before making any firm decisions about having more children.

In the end, Carla and Yui have two children, and both of them are happy with their decision. Carla still occasionally talks about having more children, but they both know that they are happy with the family they have.

My favorite part of this writing was exploring the different ways Carla and Yui expressed their love for each other, as well as how they navigated their relationship with Shin still being a part of their lives.

Thank you for trusting me with your request, and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further requests!

All my written content is original, however, I do not claim ownership of the characters depicted. ©2023-Present.

[lynnuvo]

A Piece of Cake

(A/N: Making this instead of studying for my quizzes :3)

Characters: Y/N + AcademicML (Male Lead)

If sweet encouragement doesn't get you fired up to study, academic rivalry will. Regardless whether you're one to harbor envy or just want to get by, nothing irks you more than AcademicML shoving his perfect scores in your fast. He's been doing since you guys became friends after a school project last year.

You two seemed to click over a common interest, but the downside of getting to know each other was becoming an enemy for the highest rank in your grade level. If only you hadn't showed him your rank during a hangout with friends. His expression fell flat for only a second, but you were watching him. Of course you were going to notice.

Once everyone parted ways and went home, he suddenly began messaging you more often. You two still had fun conversations, but his bragging about academic successes made you question sometimes whether he actually hated you. You never had the gall to question him, though. Wouldn't that make it seem like you thought too highly of yourself?

A couple months later, things took a change at the start of midterm season. He pestered you a whole day for "non-date study dates."

"I just want to help you," he whined, not unlike when he got pouty about losing a board game. "It's okay if you don't want to, but I really wanna! I want to see how you study, too. I can help! I promise!"

"Are you sure you don't want to ask any of our other friends?"

"I only want you." He shook his head vigorously. "Not that like, I mean! Like studying buddies, you know? I feel like doing it with you would be more effective."

You told him you'd think about it, and you did that night. After some time, you messaged your acceptance to his request by inviting him over to your house. It could be fun! That morning, you prepared snacks and were quite surprised he brought some as well. He even included multiple of your favorite chips.

"How did you know?" you exclaimed, opening one immediately.

"You mentioned it a while ago."

True to his word, he provided a couple study tips on topics you didn't understand much. And he did take note about your studying method, though it wasn't as positive. His comments clearly favored his own, but you were having none of that. You knew how to study best for you. His methods were best for him. And his must have been working well since he didn't request for any help at all.

Which made it all the more shocking you beat his score on the same subject's exam by a whole 10 points.

It didn't sound like much on paper, but against one of the smartest people you knew? It was A LOT. When he messaged his score to you, you became so excited you could hardly remain still. Finally, you had had something to shove in his face. Oh, the taste of sweet revenge! It was unfortunate you two's exam times nor buildings matched or neared each other's, but thank the heavens technology existed.

That night, you messaged the news in all caps. He replied back in all caps, denying the fact even after you sent proof. He came around to congratulate you, though, and he joked that his presence while you studied paid off.

"It was only one day," you shot back.

His next message read, "One day of me helping though 😉"

When you two eventually exchange goodnights, it was way past midnight. Guess you had too much fun bickering with him to realize how late it was. Putting away your phone had minimal effect on your ability to fall asleep, however. You couldn't stop smiling, daydreaming about bragging to him in-person tomorrow. Maybe you could even get more congratulatory praise.

You didn't have to wait long, though, because when you left the house the next morning, you spotted him waiting at the sidewalk in front of your driveway with a box in hand.

"A cake," he stated, handing it to you while he took your bags (you didn't tell him to; the exchange happened so naturally). "for beating me, I guess."

[ghostfest]

Hey dear I just want to ask few questions if u don't mind

diD u ever did any meditations

Did u ever doubted void or loa

Before entering into void did u worked on SC if yes then how did u do it

If a person so obsessed over void so much have very shitty self concept and have worst situation in life like if I don't enter into void my situation is like I have to suicide what are the suggestions u give to me dear

and I tried a lot of methods everytime I get full symptoms I fear and my symptoms go away

Due to my 3 d i even don't want to live

I'm very sorry to hear about your life, genuinely I FULLY understand what it's like to have a shitty or abusive 3D and wanting to give up. I have doubted the void, shifting and LOA many times. It's natural and normal to doubt it after you've been told it's impossible all your life to get your desires, so try to not be angry or frustrated with yourself if you have issues with belief. And kind of. My way of working on my SC wasn't interesting, but I mainly did it by taking a short break so I'd be less obsessed and desperate with the void and then it sort of happened naturally where believing in it and myself became a LOT easier. I didn't really work on my SC on a giant way that took a long time or anything like that, and I won't lie to you and say that SC wasn't hard for me to because I myself still struggle with SC, but I was optimistic and hopeful about the void state and I wasn't thinking very negative things like "I'm never going to get in and I'm just going to fail again." In this position, my only real option was to have hope, faith and belief. If you're in a bad place right now then that's the main option you have which is to believe and work on your SC for the void because it's not going to hurt you to do so. Think about it like this. If you don't get in the void, then technically you're not losing anything except time (though time doesn't even matter), right? You're not technically not losing any object or anything you have in the 3D right now because of it right? You technically have nothing to lose if nothing changes. But you have EVERYTHING to gain if you're faithful and hopeful and you use your belief to enter the void. If you're even here that means you believe in the void and you believe it can help you, which is great.

It sounds like what you in specific have to worry about is fear and calming yourself as you enter the void. Affirm to yourself things like you're safe and you're okay and it's fine or try to just push past the symptoms. You can also try to visualize being in water, darkness or a safe place if that helps you according to other people (Visualizing being floating in water has helped me before SO many times) You don't even NEED symptoms, actually you can just keep going even if the symptoms feel like they've gone away. Also, anon; Don't forget the void isn't the only method to change your entire 3D. If you're having too many struggles with the void then switch methods if it makes you more comfortable. It sounds like you can get in though if you work on your fear you've got the ability to get in though. Like I said I'd recommend you affirm through the symptoms, visualize something to relax you or push past them. It's not very good for entering the void if you focus so much on symptoms and your physical body, anyway. If you still struggle with this, then you can try to affirm as you fall asleep or affirm in the day that you'll wake up overnight in the void.

[illuveterian-archives]

The Last Illuveterian - Part 6

CW: blood, murder, PTSD, weaponry, knifes

As soon as I awoke the next morning I put on a t-shirt with a hoodie, stretchy jeans, and some tennis shoes. I made my way down to the kitchen to find an already prepared breakfast for me. It was something that I was definitely still adjusting to at the time, but I ate what was provided, I needed the extra energy for sure. After eating I went back to the library, there was something I needed. “I need to learn how to use my magic,” I called out as I reached the table. A leather bound book appeared as I sat down. The cover read, translated, ‘Illuveterian Magic’, and the author was my father, which caused me to pause. I didn’t even know his name until I started doing research. Neither did I know my mother’s prior. Suppose that information isn’t usually handed out to small children in favor of the “mom” or “dad”.

Describing how exactly I trained my magic would be near impossible. It’s like concepts but they are tangible to a person. It certainly took many years, over many of which other things occurred. So I’ll just create a list of everything I’ve managed to learn so far, as I’m sure I’ll learn plenty more in the future.

I have learned how to teleport consistently.

I can monitor my energy levels easily.

Most recently I have figured out how to float which is quite fun

I can move my pocket dimension door as I please.

I found out that I have access to the Earth’s afterlifes and can access them as I please.

I have found a way to share my healing process with friends through soul sharing.

I can create these thorn-like spikes that jut from the ground and into whatever I please.

I can summon things from my pocket dimension and return them as needed.

I can “show off” my magic through blue flames that surround my body as well as heated fires from my body.

I can move things with thought now. I believe it’s called telekinesis.

I can look human, though only for a few hours at a time as it’s incredibly exhausting.

One I found out accidentally is if I happen to fall asleep or pass out in nature then animals seem compelled to “protect” me while I’m asleep and surround me until I wake up. That freaked me out the first time since I woke up to a cougar on top of me.

Another accidental discovery is that I can hear when anyone says my names so long as it is intended for me. Which essentially means I technically can be “summoned”, however I do have a choice on responding.

Unless I have a decent amount of food or energy drinks on me, I do have an energy limit for all of this, and some abilities are more taxing than others.

As soon as I had a basic grasp on how to use my magic, which took roughly a year and a half, making me 21 at the time, I decided to then practice hand to hand and weaponry. I went out to the void and had the pocket dimension lay out several options to choose from among the list were: Swords of varying shape, staffs, a variety of bows and arrows, hand scythes, and a couple full length scythes. I picked up one of the full length scythes. It came just short of my height and had a broad blade. Truthfully I just thought it was the coolest looking weapon of the bunch. Once I had that selected all the other close range weapons vanished and were replaced with some longer ranged options. The bows remained. So I’d be picking two to use. From the new group one particular weapon caught my eye as it was something I hadn’t seen before. A oblong piece of metal attached to a long rope. I picked that one up to examine it, but the others all vanished before I could return it. Meaning I had my two weapons: A scythe and a Meteor Hammer.

Learning to wield these was much the same as my magic, though arguably a bit easier as they didn’t take near as long. Of course working immediately with two weapons as such was also trial and error. Meaning I occasionally left practice a new, or multiple new small scars. And let me tell you, a solid chunk of tungsten hitting you in the head because you swung your arm half an inch too far to the left really hurts, and I’m lucky my bones can no longer break. About 4 years into this I felt sufficient enough in my abilities to move on. I wanted revenge.

I began my planning. There were a total of 8 men that had caused my hell. The pocket dimension gave me a newspaper that stated three of them had died in a farming accident. Unfortunate. Leaving 5 left, including that Matthew Collins. I spent a total of 12 days planning everything. I was going to take them out one by one and make sure they knew it was me. So within those days I practiced calligraphy and summoned a small scalpel. The plan with that was to carve my first initial into each of them, as fancy as possible. Just so they can feel a fraction of the pain they made me feel before they die.

I made my way to the first house. The judge. I knew he was home alone since I watched his wife leave for a “girls night” just prior. I sat outside the back door for several minutes, my pulse racing as I worked up my nerve. As I sat I thought about everything I went through because of this man’s callous decision. How much I suffered as a child for no reason because he refused to see past his own biases. A rage flooded me before it was overwhelmed with calm. Standing where I was, my face sat in a neutral expression, while anger burned beneath. My pulsed had slowed considerably and I gripped the scalpel. The scythe remained stored in the pocket dimension for the time being. The porch lights came on as I moved to the door. A small flick of magic fixed that issue and I was covered once more in darkness. It happened to be a new moon that night and the stars shown little. What was visible of my body emitted a small glow, though not near enough to illuminate anything around it. Similar to illuminated numbers on a wrist watch. Just enough to be seen and not something I could change. 

The darkness did not hinder my vision in the slightest, as it is common for many creatures to have good night vision. As I came closer to the sliding back door I could see easily into the house. The judge was sat facing away from me in the living room, close to the front door. The tv was on and the volume was quite high. He had no idea I was even there.

The door slid open and closed silently. I made each step carefully forward, though he never did hear me come up behind him. One simple touch to the back of his neck and he couldn’t move anymore. Frozen where he sat. I walked around the couch slowly, his breathing increased as he finally knew of my presence. I crouched a tad to meet his eyes.

“You-!” He started, panicked. I reached forward to put a finger to his lip.

“Shh,” I whispered. And he was silent. I could see his fear grow as he tried to both speak and move. Yet neither happened. “You brought this on yourself,” I continued as I scanned his form for a location to place the calling card. I wanted to touch him as little as possible and settled on the back of his hand.

I carved a meticulously detailed ‘R’. It had more lines than I cared to admit. It took a good few minutes to complete, and by the end the judge was a silent sobbing mess. It gave me joy to see him suffering as I had. Though he had it considerably better in those minutes then I ever had it. Once I was done I took the scalpel and made eye contact with the man. I had intended to be scary by licking his blood off of the blade. Most other monster species do eat humans so I thought it may taste good. However as soon as it touched my tongue I immediately gagged. It tasted foul and if I could physically throw up, I would have in that moment.

Fortunately for me, the judge was too busy blubbering in silence to notice any of it. I stored the scalpel away in the pocket dimension and summoned my scythe. It was comfortable to hold, and I was at ease knowing what I was about to do. With one swift motion I took his head clean off. Even then I did not falter. From my pocket I took a large paint pen and wrote “CORRUPT” in large lettering on the wood coffee table. I then stood to make my leave. I had no further need to be quiet so I simply teleported to the next man’s house. I repeated the same process for the first 4 of them, aside from licking the blood. Each kill went a little smoother than the one prior. Even for the man who had shot me through the head, I was unnaturally calm.

It was at the final house where I faltered. The residence of Matthew Collins. Though my face remained neutral still and rage continued to burn throughout me, it now mixed itself with panic. I approached the door, it was an old screen that I knew would make a lot of noise. My body shook involuntarily as images of his face flashed through my mind. It seems whatever calm had controlled me before was failing. I began thinking of everything I had gone through again. Anything that he, specifically, didn’t do to me. My shaking calmed and I steadied myself. I walked around the single story farm house and peered through each window. I finally found him through one. Asleep in a bed.

Instead of going through a window or door, which I knew would immediately wake him, I chose to teleport into the room. It made much less noise, almost none, even. I didn’t want him to look at me. Instead of using touch to paralyze him, I took out my meteor hammer. I wound up a swing and hit him on the back of the head. There was a very loud cracking noise and his snoring stopped. Red pooled around the metal and I quickly pulled it back. I took the scalpel and began carving the R on his cheek. Twice I dropped it, as I was shaking so bad. The finished wound was full of wobbling lines and jagged edges. I put the scalpel back and began pacing about the room. The scythe wasn’t enough for me, though I wasn’t sure why. I just wanted to be done and home. I wanted to take a hot bath and go to bed. Yet I remained in that house, and Matthew Collins remained alive. The faint aura all humans carried still flickered so I knew his heart was still beating.

All of a sudden his hand twitched and I jumped, which seemed to jump my body into motion. I moved without having decided to, and I made my way to the kitchen. I searched each drawer until I found it. A long kitchen knife, exactly like the one he had used on me. A new wave of panic fell over me, though I moved anyway. I went back to the bedroom and issued him the same torment he issued me, though it didn’t have quite the same result. 228 stab wounds. Unfortunately, on his massive frame, all his limbs remained attached. When I was done, I was tired and covered fully in his blood, tears flooded my cheeks. I fell and collapsed there, falling through the floor to my pocket dimension. To my delight, the bath in my room had already been drawn. The room smelled of perfumes, though the metallic stench of blood overpowered it seemingly with ease. 

Not bothering to disrobe, I climbed into the tub. Allowing myself to fully submerge beneath the water. So many emotions washed over me at that moment. Like whatever calm spell had been over me finally left. I was overcome with too many things. Fear, panic, grief, relief. All, of course accompanied by flashbacks. Visions of Matthew Collins, the smiling man, still managing to come after me. The only thing that kept me even slightly grounded through that was the feeling of hot water surrounding me. Other than that, I couldn’t seem to tell reality from the paranoia. This panic attack lasted for several hours until I was eventually just too tired. I slept under the water of the bath for a few days. The pocket dimension kept it warm and clean as I did so.