#but nothing about this au is concrete yet so idk

[minkkumaz]

START YOUR ENGINES

after getting over a bad breakup, you thought going to a racing experience would be different. it was bound to get your mind off of things, right? however two boys in particular couldn't keep their eyes off of you; causing a chain of events that were sure to light fire in your stomach.

RACE TO YOUR HEART series

PAIRING kim woonhak x fem! reader x myung jaehyun WC 4.5k TAGS adults dni. racecar driver au. no poly relationship. mentions of toxic relationship. friendly arguing. mention of fire. jae is a fucking flirt. they both kinda are idk. kys jokes. TAGLIST @skullverse OMI NOTE to begin with, i may or may not be utterly obsessed with this series. i tried to make it as accurate as possible since i know close to nothing about cars in general, let alone racecars (can you tell i can't drive yet.) but i did my best.

adrenaline ran through every vein, every trigger in their bodies. fingers tightly wrapped around the steering wheel as they waited for that sweet start. and when the green flag initiated release, impatient feet slammed on the gas.

engines revving couldn’t mask the sound of each racers ego shooting out of their exhaust pipes. flashes of shiny colors sped by down the hot pavement, a crowd of people screaming the names of their respective favorites. pretty girls in uniform leaned over the the railing, checkered flags in their hands.

but that wasn’t the reason woonhak and jaehyun glanced back and forth from the road in front of them and their rear view mirror. something caught their eye, something much more sincere than any flag girl.

despite the large crowd, you stood out to them. and not because you were cheering louder than everyone, not because you were making a scene, but because you looked bored. that was far from the actual truth, but how could they let a cute girl leave unphased?

the expression on your face remained blank, completely opposite of your excited friend next to you. breakups were hard, and you were unsure if going to a racecar driving event would mend your broken heart. but you listened to her pleas to get you out of the house, knowing she only meant well.

everything was so distracting, but maybe that was a good thing after all. the last thing you wanted was to turn back to the boy you used to love the most, knowing all too well that he destroyed you. it had been months, so putting on a front was easiest part.

the race continued like normal, every man for themselves fighting to be the one that crosses the squared black and white line. both of the boys sped up impressively, shooting down the road to pass on their competitors, yet still neck and neck with one another. titanium skid blocks underneath the cars produced fiery sparks that trailed down the concrete.

tension emit from every corner of the stadium, fans on the edge of their seat. popcorn kernels were discarded on the floor and beer cans were crushed under seats, that being the integrity of events like these. people around you practically squatting, awaiting the cue to erupt into screams.

energy was at an all time high on the track, lap after lap inching closer to victory. racecars zero - six and zero - three were almost going at the same fast pace, leaving any other participant back in the dust. the final lap came around, the names woonhak and jaehyun ringing through the loud speakers.

it was about to happen, the audience holding back even a single blink to perfectly grasp who would touch the finish line first. seconds felt like they were increasingly slowing down, yet before you could count down any longer, a car drove by and the checkered flag was waved down. silence 

“put your hands together for your new first place medal holder, kim woonhak!” 

cheers erupted from the stands, your friend jumping up and down with joy and taking you with her. the boy who’s supposedly named woonhak took his helmet off and waved to the audience, putting hand hearts to the side of his face in a cutesy manner. another boy followed closely behind him and gave him a pat on the back.

people filed out almost immediately, in hopes to catch a glimpse at some of the racers. autographs were being signed in a safe spot away from the track. grabbing your hand, your friend took you down the stairs in an attempt to meet her idol, and the newest winner, woonhak.

you followed along with a sigh, letting her get excited so she wouldn’t worry for you any more. when you got towards the bottom, the catch fence towered above you with great height which caught you by surprise. the line got extremely long, giving you a sense of false hope for a supposed autograph.

“hey, i’m going to go to the bathroom okay? when you’re done i’ll be at the car if that’s okay.” you tell the jittery girl.

“awh alright, y/nnie. i’m sorry if you didn’t have any fun. hopefully this will be quick!” she smiled, waving you off as you left towards the bathroom.

in complete honesty, you didn’t have to use the bathroom at all. you just needed an excuse to get away from the chaos. there was a small closed off area that was open for anyone to stay by, yet it was completely empty. leaning against the wall, you let yourself slide down and plop on the floor.

considering the circumstance, it would take forever for her to get an autograph and a picture, so you busied yourself on your phone for a little while.

however, you failed to realize the cheerful second place winner from the track spotted you trotting away from the crowd, making him grow curiouser and curiouser. he snuck around a few large walls before he wasn’t too far from you, the sound of his helmet clanking against his suit was drowned out by whatever you were occupying yourself with.

“hi, are you lost?” the voice said, poking his head around the corner to look down at you sitting on the floor.

“oh– i’m sorry! am i not supposed to be here?” you jolt at his sudden presence.

“no, you’re totally allowed to be here. i was just curious is all.” he smiled, “i’m myung jaehyun, i don’t know if you remember me from the race but i kind of got second place. no rhyme intended.”

“right, i’m y/n! it’s nice to meet you, where are my manners? i do recognize you.” you try to stand up and shake his hand, but he’s already sitting himself down in front of you.

“don’t worry about it, it’s nice to meet you too! did you enjoy the race?” jaehyun quirked an eyebrow, curious of your reaction. 

“yes! it was great, especially when you guys.. raced?” you respond, though it almost seemed like you were asking a question.

“you don’t have to lie, it’s chill. i kind of saw you in the stands and you looked distracted?” he wondered.

“was it really that obvious? gosh i hope i didn’t throw you off your game by seeming uninterested.” you frown, “a lot has been on my mind recently and my friend offered to take me out of the house. she’s a huge fan of racecar driving, and kim woonhak.. but i’m not sure which one she likes more to be honest.”

“you’re funny, woonhak has that effect on people. but i swear i’m his biggest fan. hopefully you can come to a race whenever your head clears up?” he laughs casually like he’s known you his entire life.

“maybe i will. it did seem pretty tense right before they announced the winner. i was kind of curious myself.”

“then hopefully next time i’ll win, maybe give you a show worth watching.” he grinned at you, making a tint wash over your cheeks.

“right! do you know when you’re holding your next one?” you ask.

“our next one.. i believe at the end of the month? woonhak and i will be driving still, as well as the third place winner, but the rest will be all new drivers from around the world!” he answers you.

“i’ll see, thats not too long from now–” your words were interrupted by a cheerfully excited voice.

“jaehyun! where are you?!” he searched around, finally landing his gaze on you before his face contorted into a scowl, “jae, what are you doing?”

“woonhak, this is y/n. and y/n, you already know him. i invited her to our next race at the end of the month.” jaehyun told him.

“so she can see you lose again?” woonhak teased playfully.

“hey! you got youngest luck, all of your fangirls were screaming your name from the rooftops. the myungz fandom is lacking!” jaehyun defended.

“it’s not luck if it’s twice in a row you lame - o. y/n, you saw me shooting down there, right?” woonhak looked over at you for answers.

“not exactly..? i wasn’t paying the most attention and i’m so sorry.” you mumble in embarrassment.

“it’s no problem, that just means you have to come to the next one!” jaehyun smirks, patting your knee lightly.

“like i said, i don’t know right now, but i’ll definitely consider it!” you brush off lightly, glancing over at your phone.

four new messages and two missed calls, all from your friend. getting caught in between these two boys made you completely forget. there wasn’t going to be an autographing line if the main racer wasn’t there, how could you not notice?

concern washes over your face, making them stop their bickering to look at you. sending her a quick text, you let her know you’ll be back at the car in second.

“i’m really sorry guys but i completely lost track of time. i have to get back to my friend.” woonhak holds out a hand for you to help yourself up, which you accept.

“that’s too bad, i wanted to get to know you a little better. you seem really cool.” jaehyun compliments you out of the blue.

“yeah, me too.” woonhak adds on, his hand still holding onto yours lightly.

“oh, wait! me and woon are going to free run the tracks tomorrow, you should totally stop by tomorrow and hang out!” jaehyun realizes, excitement washing over him like an energetic puppy.

“that’s a good idea, why didn’t i think of that? we won’t be out for very long, and we can show you our cars up close.” puppy number two says, giving jae a high five and a pat on the back.

“i mean, i’m not busy tomorrow?” you tell them, failing to think of a proper excuse.

“then that means..” they both say in unison.

“fuck it, what time do you want me to be here?”

twenty four hours ago, if you had told yourself you would be secretly coming back to a race track with no authorized permission to do so for two golden retriever boys, you wouldn’t believe yourself. whatever convinced you to go through with this must have brainwashed you until you didn’t even know your own name.

though you knew exactly what got through your head, because their pleading eyes never left your mind. your friend would be extremely confused if she found out you were sneaking around with her favorite racers after supposedly ‘not enjoying’ the event yesterday. 

but there you were, walking down by the wall closest to the track in search of familiar faces. it felt weird being in an empty place that’s usually lively and awfully loud. abandoned merchandise scattered along the floor where warm bodies used to stay. chills ran down your spine at this thought.

faint music played in the distance, alerting you that maybe they were closer than you thought they would be. you walked towards the noise to find out, seeing the two of them fixing up their cars. what they were doing exactly? you had no clue, cars were never really your thing, let alone race cars.

“um, hello!” you spoke up, catching their attention.

“y/n, hey!” jaehyun approached  you, catching you in a sudden hug.

“we’re happy that you could make it!” woonhak beamed brightly.

“of course, didn’t wanna go back on my word or anything.” you vowed.

“jae and i were just going to do a few laps, then we were thinking we could order lunch? we’ll give you the best spot to view, and we won’t take long!” woonhak hovered a hand on your shoulder, placing it down gently when you didn’t pull away.

“there’s a section that’s usually super empty, but we personally think it’s the greatest. everyone is missing out.” jaehyun shrugs, putting his arms through the sleeves of his uniform.

“oh, sure! thank you guys for showing me this, i’m very honored.” you nod politely.

“we’re not crazy celebrities yet, so don’t worry about being so formal with us.” woonhak reassured, holding his hand out, “let me take you over there right now!”

you blush slightly as woonhak leads you away, not processing the look of envy behind jaehyun’s eyes. the walk wasn’t very far, but the grip woonhak had on your hand was inescapable. he gave you fond glances every now and then that sent sparks to your heart. you tried your best to push this down.

they were right by giving this specific seating arrangement good rep, as it had an amazing view of the track. taking a seat on one of the benches that woonhak pointed to, he let out a breathy exhale.

“this is it, isn’t it pretty awesome?” he looks out into the distance, admiring the dark asphalt almost glittering in the sun.

“you guys were right, the view is really good. thank you.” you gave your thanks.

“seriously, y/n. it’s no problem! we’re glad to have you here to watch us.” he sits himself down next to you.

“i’m not used to this, is all. i was kind of taken aback when you guys invited me, i guess? aren’t i just some stranger?” you asked the boy curiously.

“stranger, sure. but jae and i think you’re too cute to look so bored.”

“huh?!”

“ah– i’m sorry that was kind of out of pocket!” he laughed nervously, “what i mean is that we’re pretty used to the energy from the crowd, and we didn’t want to leave a single person not excited. he told me you had a lot on your mind apparently, and thought it was a good idea for you to come hang out with us.”

“that’s actually.. very sweet. i’m not sure what to say.” you admit sheepishly.

“you don’t have to say anything, just enjoy yourself!” he stands up from his seat, “we’ll talk more when we get food, i’m gonna go grab my car and you can watch us do some laps.”

“okay, that sounds good!” 

woonhak left you by yourself, picking up a slight jog back to jae. the situation at hand was so random that it made you forget about everything for a moment. hopefully, you’d be able to put everything aside for now and try your best to move on. what they were doing was kind, and disappointing them feared you.

the sun's golden rays painted the pavement in warm hues, you felt a unique blend of curiosity and anticipation. before you, the track stretched out like a ribbon, a playground for speed and skill. your attention is suddenly drawn to two figures pulling up to the start with their cars.

they give you a wave, before the revving of their engines is all you could hear. with a burst of acceleration, they're off, racing side by side into the first turn. you follow their every move, eyes tracking the graceful dance of their cars as they navigate each curve and straightaway. it was a mesmerizing display of skill, the cars almost an extension of their bodies as they maneuver down the road. 

you began to grow glad that they invited you out, feeling much more positive emotion towards the sport than you did yesterday. yet as you focus more on their prowess on the track, you began to realize something else. every time they made contact with you, their desperateness to get you to hang out with them, a compliment slipping from woonhak’s lips not too long ago. were they flirting with you, and you’d been to dense to properly notice?

their couple laps continued as normal, but you find yourself between the exhilaration of their mini race and the growing awareness that maybe they didn’t intend to be exactly friends. unsure of what to think, you continued watching the race in an attempt to ignore the stutter of your heart beat.

once the two boys were finished, they immediately came back to you to see your opinions. beads of sweat dripped down their forehead as they approached you.

“how was it?” woonhak said, excited to hear your input.

“it was cool! i don’t know much about cars but it definitely kept me on my toes.” you reply honestly, watching the both of them smile brightly.

“that’s good you were more interested this time around! next time i’ll have to take you around with me.” jaehyun winks at you.

“sounds fun!” you try your best to ignore his very obvious and dramatic wink.

“we ordered pizza on the way back to you, it should be almost here.” woonhak interrupted, giving jae a light shove, “let’s go back?”

you nod, feeling the bubble of hunger forming in your stomach. the three of you walked back to where you originally started when you got to the track. it was almost like a garage, with various tools scattered everywhere and some bean - bags in the corner. 

arriving back, you settle yourself down on one of the seats while woonhak leaves to get the food from the delivery guy.

“hey, are you okay?” jaehyun asks randomly. 

“i’m fine, why wouldn’t i be?” you perk up your head.

“i was just wondering since you said you had a lot on your mind yesterday. i hope you weren’t forcing yourself to come here today.” his words sounded sincere.

“don’t worry about that, i’ve been trying to distract myself anyways so this was a good excuse.” you explain, “i don’t want to get into any specific details, but i went through a breakup about a month or two ago? it was kind of rough but i’m starting to get over it.”

“oh, shit. i’m sorry y/n.” he mumbles awkwardly.

“hey, if anything you’re doing me a favor. i know we don’t know each other very well, but i’m glad to have someone else to talk to.” 

“glad that i can be here, woon and i will keep you company! we kind of talk a lot? so you’ll know us like the back of your hand asap.” 

“you’re too sweet, i’m shocked you guys don’t have girlfriends yet.” you realize.

“girlfriends– oh, yeah! i do kind of have my eye on someone right now, but i don’t know if she’ll want to go out with me if i asked right now.” he mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck. you internally facepalmed, you should’ve known that he was just being nice.

“oh– if you like her, then you should just ask her. the worst thing she can do is say no.” you stammer, “but maybe my advice isn’t that good!”

“okay then, if you think that i should,” he didn’t argue, “y/n, would you like to hang out with me sometime? it doesn’t have to be a date or anything..”

“me..?” your eyes widened, heart skipping a beat or two, maybe three.

“is there another y/n in the room with us?” he jokes.

“this was probably the last thing i expected, you didn’t have to trick me like that!” you pout, making him smile.

“i just used your advice! but in all seriousness, you don’t have to say yes if you’re still hung over your breakup. you deserve someone good at the right time.”

“you know what? i’d love to go out with you sometime. it could be fun. i just don’t want you to think i’m trying to rebound or anything.”

“y/n, i could never think that of you. you seem very sincere, and i know you’re just trying to improve yourself.”

“that’s a relief then, was there anywhere in specific you were thinking?”

“here, put your number in my phone and i’ll text you when there’s something that pops up! i haven’t really planned that far ahead, but maybe we can do something the weekend before our big race?” he hands you his cell phone, open to the contacts page.

“then i’m in.” you smile at him, punching in your digits before handing it back to him.

“i hope you guys like pineapple on pizza!” woonhak announces, walking back into the room and placing the box in front of you two.

“dude? i don’t even like pineapple!” jaehyun whines.

“i know, that’s what makes it funny.” woonhak grins mischievously, falling back on one of the bean bags.

“bro?”

“i’m kidding, it’s half pineapple and half pepperoni.”

“i’ll eat anything, i’m just really hungry..” you mumble, placing a hand over your stomach.

jaehyun lifted the cardboard lid of the pizza box open, and each of you grabbed a slice to eat. in between rushed bites of the food you shared, you guys talked a lot. jae was right earlier when he said him and woonhak talked a lot, because you ended up learning a lot about them.

they were both still in school, but they did everything online since they were so busy with racing stuff. but besides racing, they enjoy singing and dancing a whole lot too. in all honesty, it caught you by surprise to hear the jump between their two completely different hobbies. they’re good friends with the other racers. as you heard the names sungho, riwoo, taesan, and leehan being juggled around a lot.

each of them were different in their own respective categories, but they were almost the same. both were extremely puppy - like, and had an immense amount of balled up energy. it was charming to you, and you found yourself laughing at everything they had to say. 

when you got the opportunity to talk about yourself, besides relating to the occasional comment they’d make, you were happy to give them a basic run down. explaining all of your little interests, whether you had a job or not, and that you were also still in school. talking to them became as easy as breathing.

night time came by quickly, as much as you were starting to feel like you didn’t want to leave. the pizza box was quickly discarded as you continued conversation with the two boys, but you knew they were starting to realize that you had to go too. the sunset spread orange and purple hues amongst the sky.

“i had a lot of fun hanging out with you guys, really. you don’t know how much i appreciate the invite!” you express your gratitude, slinging your bag around your body.

“we had fun too, you have to come hang out with us more before the race, yeah?” woonhak begged.

“i will!”

“you have my number, y/n. so you know who to call when you’re feeling bored.” jaehyun smirks, which made you remember of the date that you had planned.

“i’ll walk you out to your car since it’s getting dark soon.” woonhak recommended, as you only responded with a nod.

“bye, jaehyun, i’ll message you!” you wave goodbye, the youngest boy treading on your heels as you walked out.

“do you live close?” woonhak asked next to you as you lead him to your car, hands in his pockets.

“it’s just a fifteen minute drive, nothing crazy. what about you?” you return his question.

“i live just slightly closer, that’s sort of how i got into racecar driving. when i was younger me and jae have always passed by the track on our bikes.” he reminisced for a moment.

“you and jaehyun have known each other since you were kids?”

“pretty much, we’ve always been super close. and we live in the same neighborhood!” he exclaimed, happy to be talking about his closest friend.

“that’s super cute, i can tell you guys are stuck to each others hip. i can see some competition there though, but i’m assuming it’s all friendly?” you point out. 

“definitely, we have very similar motives so it’s bound to happen. but he’s like a big brother to me, even though he’s not that far off from me. don’t tell him i said that.” he mumbled, watching as you click the unlock button on your car keys.

“nothing wrong with a little friendly arguing.” you say, “thank you for walking me to my car, and again, for today.

“no problem, but actually i wanted to ask you something before you leave.” he leaned an arm on the top of your car, being tall enough to do so.

“what’s up?”

“would you maybe want to go out with me sometimes? date or not, you’re really pretty and um– i enjoyed talking to you a lot today!” he stammers, an unfamiliar timidness underlying his tone.

“woonhak i–” you were at a loss for words, “i’m so sorry but, jae asked me out earlier and i know you guys are friends so that would be really–”

“i know he did, he told me.”

“what?!”

“we both think you’re cool, y/n. that’s probably why you saw so much of us arguing? fighting i guess? but– we don’t want you to think you’re apart of a competition or anything! like of course it would be cool if me and you could go on a date but i wouldn’t be super pissed if you chose jaehyun or anything and–” he rambles.

“so let me get this straight, you and jaehyun want to go out with me,” you point at yourself, “but you actually like me and aren’t using me for a competition?”

“god it sounds so much worse when you say it like that.” he sighs, “i genuinely think you’re amazing, and if you would let me– i wouldn’t mind taking you out some time! i know you’ll be going with jaehyun too but there’s no hard feelings, trust me.”

“you two are.. very interesting. but honestly, i don’t see why not.” you gave in, watching the boys face light up.

“really?!”

“really. you seem genuine so i’ll take your word for it. granted that’s kind of what fucked me over last time but..”

“y/n i promise i won’t hurt you. we can always be friends, plus it doesn’t even have to be much of a date!” he covers up.

“i believe you, woonhak. i’ll see you around, okay?” you open your car door as he waves to you.

“bye, y/n!” he bids you goodbye eagerly, a large smile never failing to leave his face.

as soon as you shut yourself in the confines of your car, and the giddy boy is out of your vision, you let out the loudest groan imaginable. for once, you weren’t being completely delusional in the thought that both the boys took a liking to you. because now you sat, wallowing in your own self pity, with two dates lined up on your calender.

you were unsure if you were in a good mental position to go on dates, but the only thing that spending the day with woonhak and jaehyun taught you was that it would get better. it had been months, and you were realizing that maybe it was time to move on. you would never attempt to rebound with either of the boys, so on the bright side, you had the time up until these dates to grow.

this didn’t entail that you’d get in a relationship with one of them the second the date was over, but they would at least be in your consideration. with all of that, the big question still remained in your head. what exactly were you going to do?

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RACE TO YOUR HEART series

[mynahx3]

I Tried, I Really Did

Okiii Big warning yall!! This is JJK x reader but no love interest, just talks of their highschool time (Might expand more into this AU) Kinda hinted at with Geto x reader and Gojo x reader but nothing concrete This is a very DARK story with no comfort. Reader gets into a really bad headspace so if this is triggering for you I don't recommend you read it. Ending is kinda up to interpretation but still. It gets dark. Just wanted to write this idea out and it spiraled, might write an epilogue to it but idk. Gonna mainly focus on my other fics after this.

The cold winter air bites at your face, causing a prickling sensation on your skin as you walk down the street. Street lights adorned for the upcoming holidays illuminate the stores. Happy families and couples are walking down the street, eager to escape the cold.  

The last few years have been rough on you due to the overwhelming stress of being a sorcerer. As a young sorcerer, you face the daily burden of curses and loneliness, yet your future is full of possibilities. Still… You couldn’t help but feel tired, burdened by the daily challenges of curses and loneliness. A loud laugh grabs your attention, making you up, you see a group of teenagers. They laughed together without a care in the world, enjoying their time together. Surely thinking they were going to be together forever. At this sight, your mind began to wander to simpler times with people you thought would be by your side forever, the bracelet on your wrist was a reminder. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

“Suguru! Satoru! Shoko and I got ice cream!”  

The four of you had just met earlier that year but were thick as thieves since you were the only first years. You guys were always together on missions and hanging out. Getting into trouble with the teachers and running pranks on them. Each of you were strong in your own right, with the future of becoming strong sorcerers ahead of you. You were especially grateful for your new friends who made the transition to Jujutsu Tech easier. You discovered your cursed technique later in life, considered a late bloomer, and were fortunate to be found by a sorcerer visiting your country. Quickly, you were brought to Jujutsu Tech, a school specializing in curses, to learn more about the world of curses. Seeing your grocery bags, the boys run over to you, smiling and nudging each other roughly. Arguing already on which one they called dibs on. 

“Fine Satoru.” The black haired teen sighed, plopping next to you. Satoru eagerly took the bag to look through it. You each took your own seat against a wall nearby. Suguru looked over at yours, raising his eyebrow at the sight of your new bracelet. 

“That new?” He asked, twirling some of his longer hair around a finger in thought. The teen had started growing it out just before starting high school, so it just reached his shoulders. 

It was a cute beaded bracelet, a simple thing. The color really complimented your skin tone, in his opinion. 

“Yup! Shoko remembered what my favorite color was and bought it for me.” You confirmed, smiling brightly.

“It’s nothing much.” She shrugs, tossing her stick into the bag, going into it to grab the cigarettes she stole, much to your chagrin. You had begged her not to start smoking, having heard how bad it is for people. 

“It’s cheap.” Satoru chimes, earning a smack on the shoulder from you. 

"Well, I love it.” Poking your tongue out at him playfully while he rubbed the sore spot. 

The beginning of school with them was like a dream filled with adventures. Each day you cherish them, growing closer to them. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Your days were bland now. A cycle of the same old thing. Get up, eat, exorcize curses, eat, sleep, and repeat. Nothing was new. Nothing. The only company you had was the occasional visit of your two closest friends, Shoko and Satoru, but those were rare. The two of them also had a busy schedule, as is usual for a sorcerer. Nothing reminded you more of your loneliness than the holidays, seeing people with their loved ones while yours were miles away. You had the financial resources to fly over and visit your family, but your packed schedule filled with missions and training left you with no time to make the trip. Your interactions with your family now solely revolve around phone calls, filled with updates on your life, nostalgic anecdotes, and the occasional words of encouragement that echo through the receiver. As you walked through the streets of Tokyo it began to snow. Raising your hand up you admired the snowflakes falling onto your palm. Mind wandering still, thinking of when it all began to go downhill. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

“You want to stay weak? You're not going to get any better like this.” Satoru looks down at you, sucking onto a lollipop that he had for the entire fight. Still looking as perfect as ever, not having broken a sweat. 

You lay on the floor, tears brimming your eyes from frustration and your face red from the sparring session you had with him. Shoko and Suguru sat in the grass nearby, watching the two of you go at it for the last couple hours. Each round ended the same as the last. 

“Take it easy on her!” Shoko yelled, frowning at the white haired teen smiling away. 

“She shouldn’t have asked to train if she couldn’t keep up!” He yelled back, walking towards her and beginning to bicker with her. Satoru left you in the grass, as usual. Seeing this, Suguru got up, offering you a hand to get up with a soft smile on his face.

""You did well; don't let him bother you," Suguru said reassuringly as he helped you up. Shoko and Satoru continued their argument in the background, but you were grateful for Suguru's support at that moment. "Satoru is just an idiot; you're decent for your level."

"Gee, thanks." You laughed, sarcasm dripping from your tone, brushing the dirt off your uniform. A frown was etched on your face while you rubbed your shoulder, sore from being thrown to the floor countless times.

This was usually how training with Suguru or Satoru went, with one of them always throwing you to the floor. Wiping your tears from your eyes, you let out a huff, silent as everyone talked to each other, returning to sit back on the grass for a break. The three of them laughed about something you didn’t catch, too busy being frustrated and embarrassed by yet another loss against him. 

Lately, you have been training your butt off, only to have the same results. Your cursed technique, illusion creation, was not improving much; despite hours of practice, you still struggled to maintain the illusions for more than a few seconds. Granted, you were already a grade 2, which is higher than the average student could say while in their second year. But being in a class with the three of them, anyone would feel subpar. Two of the strongest sorcerers of this generation, one hailing from a great clan, along with a sorcerer with a rare healing technique. While you were just an exchange student who was thrown into a different country, relearning everything they thought they knew about the world. While you did find solace in your classmates; the four of you became close over the last couple of years together. Still, you couldn't help but feel like you were a random puzzle piece, constantly trying to fit into a picture where the other pieces seemed to align effortlessly. Zoning out, you didn't hear your name being called out—a hand waving in your face.

"Hello!" Shoko laughed, nudging your shoulder. "Welcome back to reality."

You look up and see the three of them looking at you, smiles on their faces. Shaking your head, you laughed with them.

"Sorry, just out of it today." You say this, rubbing your neck and looking back at the sky. "What were you saying?"

"Just thinking we should hit up the arcade; it's been awhile since we all went." She said, All three of them looked you expectantly.

"I'm good, guys." You shrugged your shoulders, sloping as you weakly smiled at them. "Maybe next time."

The group departs after finishing up the training session, with the three of them heading to the arcade. Going back to your room, you tiredly take a shower and change into your clothes. Feeling dejected as you go lay down. Your emotions were taking hold as you looked up at the ceiling. You couldn't shake the feeling of isolation that had been creeping in lately. It was hard to explain, but you just needed some time alone to recharge.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

You don’t know when you got home. The apartment was clean, almost barren, and the fridge was empty from not being refilled recently. Only a carton of milk and leftover takeout from the previous night inside it. You drop your snow covered coat onto the hanger with your scarf, leaving your shoes on the rack. Slipping your slippers on, you go into the kitchen to eat. With no other option, you reheat the takeout. While that was in the microwave, you got a call. Fishing your phone out of your pocket, you saw your parents calling, sighing, and you answered it. 

“Hey mom.” You said, picking up the milk carton, looking at it not even halfway full. 

“Honey! How’s my sweet girl doing?” She asked, kindness in her tone. Your family is loud in the background, as usual. 

“I’m okay,” you replied, pouring the milk down the drain. Your appetite is gone as you toss the leftover food out. 

"Well, that’s good. We miss you, dear; we really wish you’d come over instead of working so much.” She says, “Don’t be getting fat now! You know how you are with food.”

“I know, mom.” You sigh, rubbing your temple. “Tell everyone I love them. I gotta head to bed. Long day.” 

“Well, get some rest; your father says hello! Love you, dear!”

With that, the call ends, and the silence in your apartment deafens. Finding nothing else to do, you walk around, cleaning up the already cleaned apartment. While doing so, you come across an old picture on your desk. Six teens were all smiling together at a carnival in the summer before things went to shit. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

One fateful mission, involving a powerful foe, altered the dynamics of your group forever, leaving behind a trail of uncertainty. 

The once tight group is more spread out now. Everyone felt different now, especially after losing the Star Platinum Vessel. Satoru and Suguru returned from the mission differently. No one was as close; the four of you rarely saw each other. Shoko was always on campus; the higher ups didn't want to risk losing her, while everyone else was sent on solo missions due to the high abundance of curses now. This pressure was felt not only by you but also by Suguru, the two of you looking worse for wear. On a rare day, you happened to see him, taking the chance to check on him. 

“Sugu! How are you doing?” You asked, walking with him in the dorm hallways. He barely acknowledged you, smiling weakly your way. His long hair was down with a tired look on his face, not that you looked any better. 

“I’m fine. What about you? You look tired.” 

You wave off his worry with a hand, dismissing his question with a laugh. 

“Nothing I can’t handle; I gotta suck it up.” You laugh, not noticing the worried look in his eyes for you, too busy noticing the time on your watch. “Take care of yourself, you look like shit man. I’ll catch you later. I've got to go on this mission with Haibara, but I've got to look over the paperwork. We should try to hang out soon, dude; it's been too long.” 

You two never got to hang out, sadly. The mission ended with Haibara passing, something you and your underclassman, Nanami, carried with guilt. The unrelenting stream of missions, coupled with the lack of respite, weighed heavily on your shoulders, eroding your spirit and straining your bonds with those around you. The mounting pressure and constant demands pushed Suguru to his limits, until one day, the weight of it all became too much to bear, and he reached his breaking point, shattering the facade of composure he had struggled to maintain. 

Satoru was the one to break the news to you, waking you up in the middle of the day. Disbelief at his words, anger at yourself for not questioning him more, not checking in on him like you should. Too absorbed in your own missions and feelings. Tears ran down your face as Satoru took you into his arms. The two of you were mourning someone who was very much alive.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

You reminisce about the time when you and Satoru would spend hours training together, sharing stories under the starlit sky, forging a bond that felt unbreakable. The two of you comforted each other greatly after Suguru defected. For a while, you found happiness in your bond with him and Shoko. Sitting outside on your balcony with a cigarette between your lips. The city lights shining below with the snowfall.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

One day, on your first mission as a first grade, you messed up. Your illusions broke, letting a curse run rampant in a town near the forest it was in. With your cursed weapons you tried to defeat it while also helping the civilians nearby go to safety. A child fell in the middle of it, giving the curse a moment to strike. Without a moments doubt you ran them, your instinct screaming to protect the child, causing the curse injured you badly. Satoru had made it in time, killing the curse like nothing and getting you to Shoko in time. The injury plunged you into a deep coma for two weeks, where vivid dreams and fleeting memories danced at the edge of your consciousness, leaving Satoru and Shoko in a constant state of worry and vigil by your bedside. When you finally did wake up, they rushed to your room. 

“A weakling like you needs to stop acting like a hero.” Satoru harshly says this, sitting on the chair next to your bed. He was tired of the circumstances and did not express his worry for you in the best way. Shoko frowned at his harsh words while she rewrapped the bandages on your forehead, checking over your injuries. 

“You just think I’m useless, huh?” You asked, your tone equally harsh at him. “At least I’m trying, not everyone is born perfect.”

He scoffed at that; even with his bandages over his eyes you could tell he rolled them. His irritation with you is clear. Shoko sighed as she wrapped your head gently, sensing the tension between the two of you.

"Enough," she said firmly, trying to diffuse the situation before it escalated further. After a brief glance at her, Satoru turned back to you, his expression softening slightly. Your eyes harden instead, and you look away from him with pursed lips. Shoko finished up changing your bandages, standing before you still with her hands on her hips. Staying stubborn, you didn't talk to either of them, pouting your lip out like a kid.

"Look. All I'm trying to say is you need to be careful." He clarified, choosing his words more thoughtfully this time. Shoko exchanged a knowing look with Satoru before turning back to you.

"We care about you, that's all," she added gently, hoping to break through your stubborn facade.

"Well, I'm fine." You curtly responded, frustrated at the outcomes of the mission and how weak you felt. “Still alive, didn’t die.”

Shoko sighed, patting your shoulder, and turned to leave. Knowing you needed a little space and she needed a smoke break.

"I… I didn't mean to be so harsh. I just got worried." Satoru said quietly, reaching his hand out to take yours, the two of you alone. You hesitated for a moment before squeezing his hand in reassurance, appreciating the genuine concern in his eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry too," you replied softly, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders as you finally let your guard down. "Just tired, Toru."

"Well, what did you always use to say? Suck it up? You'll be fine." Satoru attempted to lighten the mood with that. This only made your mood dampen; not that he noticed, rubbing your hands thoughtfully, he stood up.

"Try to get some rest. The higher ups will throw us back into the fire before you know it. You’ll do better, I'm sure."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The next time you saw him was a couple of months later, over drinks after work. Shoko managed to convince him to come with another friend of ours, Utahime. While those two caught up, you and Satoru talked a bit. You both sat at the bar, drinks in hand. Satoru sipped his virgin drink, eyeing you next to him.

"You’ve been doing good." He smiled, nudging you with his elbow. "That last mission was butter for you, I hear; you're getting stronger."

You nodded numbly, sipping on your own drink, the alcohol buzzing on your tongue. The mood was darker than usual as you thought about the risks and sacrifices that came with each successful mission. While Satoru's praise was appreciated, it also reminded you of the toll this line of work was taking on your mental and emotional well-being.

"Not like it means shit." You muttered, not looking at him. "Curses sprout like weeds, and sorcerers die like flies. It's a never-ending cycle."

His smile faltered as he glanced at you with concern, his blue eyes peering over his sunglasses. You could see the worry etched in his expression, a stark contrast to his usual confident demeanor. Saying nothing more, you took out a cigarette, lit it, and puffed out some smoke. You could feel his gaze linger on you, silently pleading for you to open up about the toll the job was taking on you. But you remained silent, lost in your own thoughts, as you took another drag from your cigarette.

"Thought you hated those?" He broke the silence, swiping the cigarette from your lips and putting it out on the ashtray next to you. Turning to him, your eyes glare at him. Now he could see the bags under your eyes and the dullness of your once bright eyes.

"Sometimes it's the only thing that helps me relax," you muttered, avoiding his concerned gaze. "I just can't seem to shake this feeling of exhaustion lately." He reached out and gently squeezed your hand, offering silent support as you finally opened up about the toll the job was taking on you.

"Do you ever… feel overwhelmed all the time?" You ask, hand shaking a bit. Tears well up in your eyes at your confession. After years of bottling up your feelings, they are coming out. "Our comrades die every day with people in charge who don’t risk a thing. Replacing us is so easy, like defective machines."

"What we do is hard." He agreed, thinking over his words. "It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Maybe you should rethink your priorities and consider if this is still the right path for you." The weight of his words hangs heavy in the air, causing you to pause and reflect on your next steps.

"You think I'm weak." You say with a frown, tapping the counter at the bartender and asking for another. Satoru winces at that, his brows furrowed. He shakes his head.

"No, not weak. Just maybe not cut out for this kind of life."

You take a deep breath, feeling the weight of his words sink in as you contemplate your future. The bartender slides you your next drink, and you quickly knock it back, the alcohol burning down your throat. The burn feels like a release, numbing the doubts and fears that swirl in your mind for a moment. Satoru watches you closely, his expression softening with understanding.

"I'll catch you later, Satoru. I should head home. Happy holidays."

Satoru nods, a small smile playing on his lips. "Take care of yourself," he says softly before you turn to leave, the sound of his voice lingering in your mind as you step out into the cold winter night to begin the walk home.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Now in bed, you lay in thought, tired but unable to sleep. Mind racing with thoughts—ones that give you no comfort in the night. The whirl of the wind is shaking your windows. The pleasant snow from earlier picked up a bit, causing snow to pile up now. Sitting up, you decide there is no better time than now, an eerie calmness over you.

As you move around your apartment, you double-check that everything is in order. Most of your belongings are still packed away. You leave your clean and empty apartment with a note for each of your loved ones, your beloved bracelet left next to it.

Going into the snow you venture to a bridge nearby with a raging river below. It was one you always walked to when you needed to think. A safe space where few ventured. Standing at the railing you lean against it, the wind is bellowing around you. Snow falls gently from the sky for a moment, creating a serene atmosphere. Taking a deep breath, you close your eyes and finally let yourself feel the weight of everything that has happened. Thinking of the loneliness and pain, the last few years have given you despite doing your best each day. You step onto the railing, balancing on the edge as you feel at peace. The sound of the rushing water below is calming, almost hypnotic. Opening your eyes you see snow around you, your breath fanning out in a white fog. As you close your eyes again and take one last deep breath, you feel the decision has been made.

YIKES Yeahhh like I said,,,,,Got dark homies.

[pttucker]

Aaaand we're done! \o/

Well... "done" in one sense of the word since I just did a very quick search and apparently there's like another 140 chapters of side stories and counting. Possibly post-epilogue stuff??? Didn't look too closely since I don't want too many spoilers if I can avoid it. I already saw one vague spoiler relating to 49% Dokja's side story. 😢😢😢

Though at least now with the main novel+epilogues finished all of the mysteries have been wrapped up (as far as I can remember).

I guess I'm still curious about the Library, but even if that's never touched upon in any side story chapters, I think I kinda get it with my theories and how he broke up into many, many different Dokjas and/or was two different Oldest Dreams?

Oh, and the stuff with Dokja & 1863's Sooyoung's blurry faces, I would have liked to have seen that resolved. There were mentions of Dokja slowly getting less blurry that were kinda glossed over but nothing concrete ever popped up for why his face was blurry or if/when it fully stopped being blurry? Unless I just missed some subtle thing?? Like I guess the epilogue did mention that Sooyoung had fun writing in stuff about him being the Ugly King but I don't think she made him ugly, that was just her memories of him?? Either way, poor Dokja. 😭

idk maybe I'm the only one obsessed with things like that. (I literally eventually started a separate section in my ORV Scrivener notes just for all the times Dokja's looks are mentioned in any way.) So maybe it just wasn't deemed important to "resolve"? Or, again, it was but I totally missed it.

Or maybe there's still something about the Library and his looks (and other mysteries I may not be currently remembering) in the additional 140+ chapters out there?

Unfortunately, English translations of Chapters 552+ don't all seem to be in one place, or at least I wasn't able to quickly find them in my first search. I'll keep looking, though. Might just have to cobble together the chapters one by one from various sources. If anyone happens to know where I could possibly find them...

Though I'm honestly not certain if I want to immediately jump into them or if I want to give it a moment to breathe. I actually am a little bit disappointed that I jumped right into the 40+ chapter epilogues right after finishing the main story since I feel like it stole some of the impact from him finding his two separate ■■.

Even if I was really happy to see how they continued living on in the system-less world and how Dokja felt after losing all of his companions to be Oldest Dream. Seriously you never get to see those sort of things after the "happy" ending.

And I did love seeing how it all tied back together with Sooyoung being the author and ORV itself being Dokja's story (which Sooyoung also wrote!) which in turn is our story and getting to see Secretive Plotter and the 999ths again and poor Joonghyuk just not knowing what to do with himself after losing his purpose as a protagonist and him and Sooyoung wanting to save their precious Dokja more than anything and both of them coming to understand Dokja better and so on and so forth.

But if nothing else, I do really want to finally read some fanfiction and otherwise engage with fandom now that the big mysteries are solved. And if I can make one final prediction it's going to be that the top fanfic is some kind of modern, no powers gamer AU or something. Because that's just how these fandoms seem to go. 😂

Anyway, I think it should be obvious from my many, many ORV posts but I really enjoyed the novel! I am very happy that so many things were so well foreshadowed, so much was so carefully planned, so many loose ends were tied up in a very satisfying manner, etc. It's very impressive for such a long, looooong story. I mean, just the fact that you could get inklings that something was up with Secretive Plotter before we even hit Chapter 100 yet not have the reveal come until much later is impressive just on its own.

I guess if I had one complaint it'd be that I didn't quite vibe with the whole "multiple walls to open the Final Wall" thing. Like, I totally was into the idea of Dokja's Fourth Wall being the largest fragment, and I actually thought that Jang Hayoung's wall was pretty clever since it's all about commenting/texting others when Jan Hayoung was created due to Dokja's comments.

But I'm not quite so into the Wall of Samsara and Wall That Divides Good and Evil. Like, I do get how they relate to the story, what with Dokja literally reincarnating into multiple worlds himself and the fact that a lot of Dokja's main theme was that he didn't nicely fit into a box of good or evil. I mean, his literal Modifiers are Demon King of Salvation and Watcher of Light and Darkness. Not to mention, Dokja went through a ton of the novel saying that just because they were evil in one turn doesn't mean they're evil in the next and vice versa, as well as the fact that the had companions on both sides of the spectrum.

So I'm not saying that they just came out of nowhere, but personally I find something to be a little off with them when compared to the other two walls? idk these are just my initial thoughts and I might feel completely different once I re-read the novel and can better appreciate things.

Which, speaking of, I'm debating with myself if I want to do the truly ridiculous thing and start this entire novel over right from the beginning in true Dokja fashion or if I want to be good and maybe give some other universe some love. I was looking at The World After The Fall but...uh...

Not to say that things with tiny fandoms aren't also good!!!

But it does make me kinda side-eye it a little and wonder if I shouldn't just read Solo Leveling...

...or read whatever side stories I can find, aaaaaalllllll the fanfic, and then read ORV all over again. 😂

We'll see.

FYI when I do start reacting to the side stories I think I'll use the tag "orv side story" if anyone wants to block it preemptively to avoid spoilers.

[skazoo]

fire to the rain.

↳ min yoongi x f!reader x jung hoseok

a crime lord, a mental hospital escapee, and a sociopath detective enter a bar.

length. 2.3k

genre. angst, thriller!au?? i REALLY don't know how to label this, agust d and jack do their own thing ig

warnings/tags. language, mention of mental illnesses, murder, arson, implied organized crime, dark themes overall. in this fic's seoul mental hospitals still exist, like arkham asylum/ahs: asylum stile idk it doesn't really serve anything but i imagined it this way.

networks. @kflixnet k-labels

notes. i finally get to publish this fic after soso long can i get an hallelujah?!?! also jack and agust d need to be in a movie together i really need it.

last but not least infinite thanks to the best beta reader i could ask for <3 @l00pyluluo7 MY angel 🫶🏼

hope you like it!

i'm desperate for feedback and i love comments with your opinion!

(cross-posted on ao3 only)

navigation

a crime lord, a mental hospital escapee, and a sociopath detective enter a bar.

you think back to yesterday and you have a hard time recognizing which part of the so-called joke is funny but it was one of the rare times yoongi laughed when hoseok said it so you guess it’s just a you problem.

rain falls relentlessly on seoul’s concrete streets, the raindrops biting into your skin like needles. you walk slowly, hands in your pockets and the hood of your jacket pulled over your head, almost covering your vision. you let your eyes scan the dark alley you’re about to enter, but you see nothing other than a few plastic bags from the restaurant in the front of the building and a stray cat looking for something to eat.

according to the message you received in the dead of night from a —ironically— familiar unknown number, the meet-up is supposed to happen early in the morning but as of right now the sky is dark, the rising sun completely hidden behind a thick layer of ominous clouds. a milky mist bathes the city that has yet to wake up in a gray hue and morning seems nowhere to be seen. 

you grimace. 

if anyone were to ask you, seoul doesn’t deserve anything. 

the freezing cold in winter, the scorching hot summer, the rancid smell, its unforgiving nature, the city you were born in has never done anything for you. not when you grew up in foster care, not when you were denied the same opportunities as your peers because of your ‘slightly disturbing’ nature, not when you joined the police. if anyone were to ask you, in all the years you’ve been alive, seoul has never shown kindness and you’ve come to the point you’d rather see it burn than be a silent victim of its cruel ways. 

no one ever asked you, though. not until you met him first and the other second.

they knew what you were talking about when you told them what went on inside of you and be it in loneliness or personal gain, they enabled you in the only way they knew how. with gasoline. setting fire to the rain.

the phone in your hand says it’s 5:26am. you still have time.

you fish for the unopened pack of cigarettes in your pockets. 

it’s weird how the first thing you think about is sergeant kim and his passionate hate for your addiction. sergeant kim and the conversation you had almost four hours ago.

his voice was a quiet thing when he found you outside of the police station when it still wasn’t raining.  

“detective L/N.”

“sergeant kim.”

“the fires are getting more frequent.”

you let the smoke wash soothingly over your lungs. kept it there before lazily pushing it out. “they are.”

he stood in silence, leaning on the other side of the door, looking at you with a grave frown.

“it’s dangerous, detective.”

you buried yourself further into your jacket and turned your head in his direction, a minimal movement that spurred him to go on.

“and it’s arson,” voice low as he looked around the outside of the station. it was late. uncharacteristically so for him but your case must have been keeping him up at night more than you thought it would. maybe you underestimated his love for the job or his fear for his failures, you don’t know. you don’t particularly care either.

“i thought we’d already agreed on it when we took the case, sergeant. it is malicious. it is arson.”

he frowned and shook his head.

you’ve noticed he often gets these fits of frustration in which he struggles to make you understand exactly how certain things make him feel, as if he needs to explain the reason he’s not comfortable. you think he does it unconsciously but you wonder if sometimes he catches a glimpse of what goes on in your head and his desperation it’s just him trying with all his might to pull you away from something you both know is not pretty. something he knows would put a premature end to whatever relationship he created between the two of you. 

“it’s murder,” just above a whisper. “Y/N, we’re looking for a single man, a madman, a psychopath that uses the same brand of matches every time he burns something down but i’m starting to think it might be a group? do you think it could be possible? i just can’t think about the actions of a single person causing so much pain i–”

“what? so it would take this case from having a chilling lack of ethics to just being ethically questionable? would it make you sleep better at night?”

he stared at you as you let out another puff of smoke that curled around itself and vanished in the night air. it smelled like rain. you thought you saw a gust of lighting from behind a building.

“Y/N, i’m worried about this. i’m worried about you.”

that was a weird thing to hear, naive too, you thought.

sergeant kim namjoon. you’ve known him for years. polite, respectful, driven, maybe too driven. your partner in this last case. he took a particular liking to you after you helped him catch an abuser his first year of being sergeant and as much as it was inexplicable to you it was very easy for him to consider you in no time something more than a mere coworker, a friend, even. you realized with time that he craved human connections no one around the station or the city was eager to give him and he found in your uninterested passivity a sign of acceptance of a new friendship. but you don’t think he’s the clueless, clumsy man he portrays himself to be most of the time. you think he’s just a person who’s so desperate that he’d turn a blind eye, a deaf ear to the wolf in sheep’s clothing working alongside him if it meant he could keep someone close to his pathetically lonely heart. you think he’d be considered wretched and rotten and insane just like the rest of you.

when you didn’t answer he shook his head again. a slow hand passed over his tired face as if to wash away the stuff of nightmares you both have to work with.

“whatever organization or– or crazy person– i don’t know but whoever is doing this knows we’re looking for them. you and i, Y/N. and i’m used to your indifference but i’m worried you’re not taking this seriously. they’re getting closer, i can feel their eyes everywhere i go and i–  this group is–” 

“sergeant…”

he squeezed his eyes shut. to avoid tears from falling from his watery eyes? to ground himself in the shitty reality he’s cursed to live in?

“will you ever call me by my name?”

fuck, he really was naive. still is. always will be.

“sergeant,” you smiled more to yourself than anything but you saw him clinging to it as if it was his lifeline. “don’t compromise yourself over things you wish were true because they’re easier to come to terms with.” he hung from your words. he alway does. “don’t compromise yourself. you’re all you have, sergeant.”

on that occasion you don’t know why you said those words if to really speak to him and reassure him or to drive him away from your business. you just know you did and it seemed to free him of something and burden you of something else. you just know that sergeant kim namjoon passes through your mind numerous times in the weeks that follow the conversation.

you’re walking further in the alley when you’re forced back to the rainy present by the sound your ears capture in the drowsy silence of the early morning. you take off your hood to listen.

someone is following you. you can hear their footsteps, speeding when you are speeding, slowing down when you do the same. you stop in place. you can feel their presence, hear their breathing, their arms stretching out towards you, a hand coming from behind and reaching out. 

a single lit match floats in front of you held by a bodiless fingers.

“surprise.” barely audible, whispered into your neck.

your mouth pulls into a small smile as you stretch your neck to light the cigarette you’re keeping between your lips.

“it’s 5:37.”

a silent kiss is placed on the exposed skin between your jacket and your hair.

“i know.”

“you’re late.” you muse. a drag of the cigarette and you gently blow the smoke in the dark in front of you.

the voice talking to you finally gets a face when the man behind you slowly circles you. he lets his hands travel from your shoulder to your waist as he comes standing in front of you. his eyes are crinkled with glee, his usually mischievous grin softens when he sees how you’re looking at him: amusement hidden by a thin veil of annoyance.

he takes your face in his hands, a rough thumb swipes over your cheekbone. the smell of sulfur hides his usually earthly perfume. 

“seven minutes, love.”

“seven minutes late.”

he huffs out a laugh and lets his hands pass through the wet strands of his hair.

he looks good even with ash in them and eye bags under his eyes. 

it makes you feel weird when you think about these things. when you find yourself admiring him as if you’ve finally found something worthy in the pool of mediocrity you’ve been swimming in since you can remember. it never occurred to you that people —insipid, dull, hypocritical— could make you feel like you didn’t want the world to end anymore. 

they both made you change that about yourself and at first it was alarming how quickly you fell into them. you don’t know what it was but for the first time, you felt seen. not understood or full, no they couldn’t do that with you just as much you couldn’t understand or fill them, but you were visible. you were there, and they were too.

hoseok lazily looks around the dark alley one last time before taking your hand in his and gently pulling you along inside the building, to the flights of stairs that take you to the roof. 

you know that with his silence he’s giving you the time to come back to yourself, to hide again what you know he’s already seen time and time again. it’s still hard for you to freely show what you feel but they’ve never pushed you and often you find yourself wanting to tell them how glad you are about it.

“he’s late too, you know. i hope he gets the same treatment when he arrives, mh?” he quips once you reach the roof and the other man’s dark mop of hair is not standing there, tapping an impatient foot on the cement floor. 

“he has responsibilities. he’s gonna be late sometimes.”

hoseok gasps, “and i don’t?!”

“your only responsibilities are lighting a match and hiding from whatever mental hospital you ran away from, jack. stop whining, you know i don’t particularly like it when you do it.”

he pouts as you blow smoke in his face. you know he wants to argue against words that are nothing more than simple truth but he settles on whining more. “and i don’t like it when you call me jack.”

“i know.”

“then why do you do it?”

“you’re cute when you’re upset, hobi.”

he sputters out something about indulging crazy people just as the rusty door of the rooftop creaks open.

he stands there. the healed scar on his eyes casts a dark shadow on his porcelain skin. he looks the part, you think. born and raised in the same city that doomed you from the start. you also think that’s why you found him and he found you. you’re not that different.

you take the last drag of the cigarette and throw the butt on the floor, putting it out with the heel of your boots.

“did you finish the job?”

you look up at him as hoseok stands behind you. his hand sneaks to your waist. you know he’s sending a proud smile to yoongi.

“you know we always do,” you answer calmly, truthfully. it’s just facts. you always do. you always follow through with his requests. this time it was seoul police getting too comfortable snooping around his business, the next time could be one of his allies threatening his authority a little too much. he trusts you. you trust him. it’s a mutual act of something akin to what people call love. it’s not even that absurd if one thinks about all the things people say they do for love. you’re just humans like the rest of them. fragments of decay.

“and they said i had ‘behavioral issues’” hoseok scoffs from behind you.

yoongi smiles at the picture in front of him. he takes your hand in his, kisses your knuckles. does the same with hoseok. sweeps a thumb over a dark smudge of coal on his cheek. 

the sun must have risen behind the thick layer of clouds —the bubbling of the tempest can be heard in the distance. the three of you stand there, huddled close, subtly holding hands. dark smoke, the blaring siren of an alarm, and faint screams rise from the police station in front of the office building you're in while the rain still cascades unforgiving from the heavens.

a crime lord, a mental hospital escapee, and a sociopath detective enter a bar.

you still don’t get it but you let out a silent chuckle anyway. if it made your partners laugh that much in bed last night then it truly must be funny.

end note. i didn't want to put this at the beginning bc i didn't want to spoil anything but i started writing joon's texts/ voicemails to Y/N after the 'incident' and if you're curious pls tell me i can finish them and maybe do a little drabble spin off on that! lmk <33

[esosage]

Just had a bit of an au idea. Idk if its an au, since its still the characters from the movies only they get transported into another universe, but still.

(Also, this is just an idea, nothing here is concrete. Some parts are still not finished quite yet.)

So how this universe works is that everyone has "rolls." These rolls being fictional archytypes, aka "the hero," "the main villain," "the side kick," "the damsel in distess," ect, ect. Now, each roll has a main objective. The main villain wants to conquer the world, the hero wants to stop the main villain, stuff like that. How you do it is irrelivent, getting there is all that matters.

Im thinking this world kinda revolves around stories, and the creation of them, but i still need to figure out how that would work. (Im thinking its kinda like shrek where a bunch of fairytale characters are thrown together into the same world, except the fairytale's are being made while everything plays out.)

Overall though, the world is very fantasy themed.

Now somehow, and idk how yet, stone, robotnik, and sonic get transported to this world. Each getting their own role and objective, with them needing to complete it in order to get back home. Not sure how completing it allows them to get back home, but i'll figure it out. Maybe they fucked with something they shouldn't have, and the price for it was needing to craft a story/fairytale in order to return, idk. Either way they need to do it.

So, as for their roles and objectives: Stone gets cast into the role of the main villain. He has two objectives, to 1. Conquer the neighboring kingdom (although thats subject to change,) and 2. To keep the damsel in distress to himself, forever. Of course, as the main villain, he has them captured already. But, when stone came into this world they were already captured for him, so he has never met them.

This is very important to note, because the damsel in distress, is robotnik. Honestly, i just made him the damsel on distress for shits and giggles, (and because hed look sick as hell in a wedding dress,) but its also semi important story wise.

As the damsel in distress, robotniks main objective is to "escape his roll as prisoner." Not to escape the castle, but to not be a prisoner anymore. Obviously, being a very litteral person, robotnik takes this as needing to physically escape.

Anyhow, sonic is important because he's the linch pin here.

You see, in order to escape, they have to complete their main objective: But, completing the main objective only returns the person who completed it home. So if robotnik were to escape then he would return home, however, since stone failed his quest to keep robotnik as his prisoner forever, he would be trapped in that world forever since he cant finish his main objective with robotnik gone. This naturally puts stone and robotnik at odds, even if they dont want to fight, but this is where sonic comes in clutch.

Sonic's roll here is "the evil henchman." Meaning he works for stone and helps stone. but, since stone's busy conquering the neighboring kingdom, he also looks after robotnik and makes sure he doesnt escape.

this is an important position for him to be in since his main objective is to "get the damsel in distress, and the main villain married, withought telling them his objective." If you were wondering, this, is why robotnik and stones objectives are so vauge. Its so that each of their objectives can be completed through marriage. Because Robotnik isnt a prisoner anymore if he marries stone, and stone has technically kept robotnik forever if he marries robotnik.

The only problem here is that sonic cant tell them his objective, otherwise, he fails it. Meaning he has to get them together in secret, which is harder said than done.

So while robotnik and stone (once they meet) are freaking out about how their going to complete both of their objectives.. with robotnik straight up avoiding stones proposed plan to sacrifice himself: sonic is in the backround loseing his mind over trying to get these two idiots to just KISS ALREADY!

Anyways, i might talk about more of the ideas i have for this au, because i do have more. But eh, idk. Depends on how motivated im feeling to flesh this out.

[kodydrs]

you want some - porco galliard

a/n: I LIVE!! ok. Attack on titan has my heart, and I literally wrote this when I was about 14 and saw Galliard in the manga, but this is the like, new and improved version. in this, all the scouts are spiders, and idk why. but i head-canon that eren would have spitting spider like abilities, and levi would be a camel spider bc they’re known the cut through their prey. i hope everyone has a nice day and why not reply / reblog, or send in an ask or request.

warnings: venom!porco x spider!reader, porco x fem!reader, reader has invisibility powers, and her mask consists of his pupils disappearing, spiderinamn au, kirstein!reader, have a nice day, not proofread. I am drunk and high when i write this

request: yes / no

ib: none

‘You find anything?’ Jean asked, dangling from his web. You swung between the buildings, sticking to one to reply.

‘Nothing useful. There’s just a bunch of old debris from that attack years ago. Still no life or anything.’ You could hear your brother grumble, the noise muffled by his mask, but the annoyance still filtering through.

‘I could’ve sworn this was the way Zeke went. Damnit.’ You stood in silence as he argued with himself.

‘Oi. There’s no point getting worked up. Just keep searching. I’ll go check Liberio , then meet you back here in 30 minutes.’

‘Yeah whatever.’ You rolled your eyes. If Jean was good at anything, it was complaining. He watched as you slowly blended into the environment, making the most of your chameleon-like ability.

‘You need to stop acting like such a baby.’

‘Like you can talk.’ When there was no reply, Jean realised you’d already taken your leave. ‘Stupid.’

‘Have you seen anything?’ Armin asked through a small earpiece.

‘Not yet. But I doubt anything is here. It looks so deserted.’

‘Sounds just like your territory.’ Jean teased from his own position. ‘Do a ground search. There’s only so much we can see from the air.’

Usually you’d ignore his ideas, but this one wasn’t bad. Detaching your web, you lowered yourself to the ground, careful not to get caught in the torn up main street. You were right in your assumption. The place was completely deserted, mind a few pests here and there. The only noise was the soft buzz of a store light.

‘Hey Armin. What’s this place’s yearly power use?’ There was a loud crackling noise from the earpiece, followed by silence. ‘Armin? Jean? Either of you there.’ Again, nothing but crackling. ‘Shit. I lost reception.’

You did a scan of the remains of buildings lining the main street, and shot a web towards an only stone one.

Most of the buildings were in a rough state, very few having windows, and even fewer having all 4 walls intact. One thing that did stick out though was that random buildings had lights on, illuminating the street.

‘Why would there be lights on in an abandoned city?’ You thought. Your thoughts were interrupted by a high frequency from the mic.

‘Y/n!’ Armin suddenly shouted.

‘Hey! Why’d you have to shou-‘

‘You need to get out of there right now! Something big is-‘

The mic cut out before he could finish.

‘Hello. Armin. Come in. Something big is what?’ With no reply, you lifted yourself to the top of a building, trying to reconnect. ‘Armin? Hello?!’ With no reply, which meant no signal, you were practically alone. Well, you thought.

The dumpster thrown at you gave him away.

Narrowly dodging the flying rubbish container, you looked in its direction. Nothing. Only the empty alleyway.

‘I know you’re there!’ You shout, hiding in your surroundings. ‘Otherwise, I wasn’t aware Shiga had flying objects.’ When there was no reply, you frowned. Crawling to the edge of the building, you looked down, finding nothing. ‘Damnit.’

As you go to stand, your earpiece crackles once more. ‘-ehind yo-‘ Armin howled before you’re suddenly pushed into the concrete.

‘Shit.’ You think, trying your best to get up, only to have your arms pinned down by a gooey black substance.

‘Don’t even try.’ A raspy voice above you whispers. ‘Nothing gets out of this. Not even spiders.’ You felt a hand grip your head, turning it to look up, and you came face to face with 2 large white eyes, surrounded by the same stuff as what had you trapped.

‘What are you?’ You stammer, trying to keep your confidence. It laughs. An evil laugh.

‘We are Venom.’

‘We? Th-There’s more of you.’

‘Relax.’ This time, the voice is different. Instead of deep and raspy, the creature had a softer voice, with a more comfortable tone. ‘There’s only 2 of us. And I'm a human, just like you.’

You watched as the goo melted away, revealing the face of a man. A man with a strong jaw, but soft eyes. An undeniable attractive face, but you couldn’t say that, even if you wanted to. This guy had been decided as a villain the minute you were attacked. You watched as he stepped out of ‘Venom’, coming closer to you. As well as an attractive face, he was also quite tall. Or, taller than you at least.

‘So, what’s a pretty lady like yourself doing in my home?’ He asked. You still frowning, moving to attack him, but being restrained by Venom. ‘Come on. It’s an easy question. You can’t have wanted anything valuable. There’s nothing here.’

‘Who are you?’ If you couldn’t escape, you’d get as much info as you could before someone else arrived.

‘Who am I? Well, I’m glad you asked. Porco Galliard. And you’ve met Venom.’

‘Unwillingly, but… yes.’ Venom didn’t seem to talk your comment so nicely, pulling your arms in opposite directions. It felt like the symbiote was trying to tear you in half. ‘Ah shit.’

‘Hey. Venom. Quit it.’ Porco said, turning to him.

‘Oh please. Let me tear the spider apart. What’s the point in having her around? Her friends will be here soon.’

‘I’m aware of that, but it doesn’t matter. God. You have terrible people skills.’ If Venom had pupils, you guessed he probably would’ve rolled them. ‘In fact, let her go. What kind of person holds a guest down like that?’ You sighed when the squeeze on your body subsided, and you were able to stand. For a second, you thought about going camo again, but if they’d caught you the first time, what was stopping them from catching you again.

‘Don’t try.’ Porco interrupted your train of thought.

‘What?’

‘You’ve seen him now. He’ll find you.’

You stare at the symbiote for a moment, then move to the blonde's eyes. You felt sympathetic for them both. They were stuck in this shitty city. You were only a visitor. Or, a hostage depending on how you looked at it.

‘So what am I meant to do? Wait here for the rest of my life?’ You ask, tightening the grip on your fists.

‘Well that’s an option-‘

‘No, its not!’ Venom cut in. ‘She’s seen me. I get to eat her now. That was the deal.’

‘No. That’s with bad guys. She isn’t a bad guy.’

‘She’s a spider!’

As the 2 argued, Jean’s voice finally reached a signal.

‘2 minutes. I’m nearly in Liberio now.’

‘Please hurry.’ You whisper.

‘What?’

Looking back at the 2 in front of you, you find 4 narrowed eyes.

‘Oh come on. Look, you’ve scared her now. This is why you need better social skills.’

Opting to not come between the 2 bickering, you shot a web at the next closest building, dragging yourself back. You heard a faint ‘hey’ followed by the sound of walls being grasped, but you don’t look back to see what it is exactly. You had a pretty sure idea, and looking back would slow you down. For now, all you had to focus on was getting out of Liberio. And seeing your brother in the distance was your first sign of luck.

‘I’m perfectly fine, Hange.’ You informed, phone being held to your ear by your shoulder. ‘I wouldn’t even count it as an attack. The guys just wanted to talk.’

Hange Zoe is the Captain of the current Spider-People. It wouldn’t exactly be called an organisation, but they’d found that recent, there was more Spiders than ever. Why exactly, they didn’t know. But regardless, Hange wanted to make sure there was a place for them.

‘Even if you think you’re perfectly fine, you may not be. Come around so we can get someone to check. I don’t care who, as long as it isn’t you or Jean. Preferably, I’d like Armin to check.’

‘I’m not getting anybody to check.’ You argued, storming around your kitchen. ‘If I was dying right now, then I’d be… well… dying.’

You could hear Hange sigh on the other end of the call.

‘Spider’s aren’t invincible, my dear. You of all people should know that-‘

‘And I do! I just…’ Now it was your turn to sigh, dropping your mug and holding your phone properly. ‘I’m fine, Hange. I’ll get Armin to check over me tomorrow. I’m just tired is all.’

The line went silent, the only indication they hadn’t hung up being that the call was still active.

‘First thing tomorrow, get Armin to do a check over. Get some sleep. We’ll take tomorrow.’

They hung up and you stared at the screen for a moment.

All spiders had a canon event of some sort. You could barely call yours recent, and it happened to a lot of spiders at the same time, but a large-scale earthquake in your home town 8 years ago, and watching a 50 metre building come down on your parents did the trick. Did the trick for you and your brother.

You wipe your hands over your face and groan. It’d been a long day.

The pizza that’s been sitting in your fridge for almost a week was practically screaming at you the minute you opened the door. You chucked it on the counter and thought about heating it up for about a second, deciding cold pizza is superior.

‘So you have (eye/colour) eyes?’

You’re blending into the wall and shooting webs before you actually see who the person is.

‘How on earth did you-‘

‘We followed you.’ Venom admits, coming awfully close to your face. ‘We figured it’d be easier to eat you when you’re alone.’

‘He figured that.’ Porco adds. ‘But yes. We followed you.’

You’re clinging to a cupboard door, looking around for ways to get to your apartment door when your phone starts ringing.

‘Shit. Jean.’ You mentally curse.

‘Venom. Back up. Let her answer it.’

You stare at Porco, slowly revealing yourself, and he laughs at the way you’re gripping the cupboard. But he nods towards the phone, mouthing a “pick it up”.

With shaking hands, you take your phone and bring it to your ear.

‘Hey.’ You say.

‘Hey. Hange just texted saying you refused to do a check up. Are you all goods?’

‘Y-yeah. I’m fine. Just tired and a little shaken after today.’ As you’re speaking, you don’t take your eyes off the blonde standing in your apartment, seeing him smirk but obviously listen to your call.

‘Do you want me to come around?’ Porco’s grin melts away instantly, and he shakes his head. The decision was really up to you.

You could’ve said yes. You could’ve gotten your brother to come to your apartment, and both Porco & Venom may have left straight away, but something in you does the opposite.

‘No. But thank you. I’m probably going to have dinner then go to sleep. I’m going to see Armin tomorrow for a check up anyway.’

‘You sure? Ok then. Make sure to look after yourself, Y/n. Call me if you need anything.’

‘Yep. Tell Marco I say hi.’ You ended the call, and watched Porco’s look of surprise as you climbed down from the shelves. ‘You happy?’

Neither he nor Venom speak, and you think for a moment that you’re imagining them there. Until you shoot a web at him to make sure and it sticks to his face, sending him into a fit of trying to get it off.

‘Ok, you are actually here.’

‘Of course, I’m actually here.’ He whines, shaking the webs off him. If he hadn’t broken into your apartment. you might’ve laughed at him, but the circumstances were different. With a bit of your fear dispersing after his reaction, you go back to your pizza, taking a slice of it.

‘You want some?’ You ask, mouth half full. Venom frantically nods, and you smile a little bit. ‘Pizza fan?’

‘He’s a fan of anything with meat on it.’ Porco informs, getting the last of the web away. ‘Just throw it and he’ll grab it.’

You do as told and watch as Venom contorts to catch the food. Your smile stays, and you offer Galliard a piece, but he declines.

‘So why did you follow me?’ You ask casually.

Porco seems to freeze, trying to think of an excuse but Venom chimes in.

‘He thought you were hot. And he never gets any girls in Liberio.’

‘That’s only because there’s no one in Liberio!’

You’re slightly taken back by the confession, but you burst into a fit of laughs. ‘Hey. What’s so funny?’

‘You followed me this far just because of that?’

‘W-Well, like I said, we never get any girls in Liberio, so I think it’s justified.’

You nearly took yourself out laughing so hard. Tears were in your eyes as you fell onto your kitchen floor, clutching your stomach for life. Porco just glared down at you, a dark red tint on his face.

‘I could kill you right now and you’re laughing at me!’

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just too funny.’ You apologise, attempting to stand but falling into another fit of laughter.

Venom grinned at Porco, and Porco just flipped him off.

When you calmed down, you breathed deeply, too exhausted to stand up.

‘Jokes aside, that is really sweet, I guess.’ You pat the spot next to you, and Porco hesitates but takes it. ‘If you hadn’t tried to kill me, that is.’

‘I wouldn’t call it trying to kill you.’ He reasons. ‘More like-‘

‘A shit attempt at flirting.’

‘Will you fuck off?!’

Venom melts into the blond’s back, and it disgusts you at first, but then realise that it could be worse.

A blanket of silence covers the kitchen, you both just staring into space when there’s a knock at your door.

‘Shit.’ You curse, jumping to your feet to answer. ‘Armin?’

‘Y-Yeah. Jean told me you needed a check-in after that thing attacked you.’

‘Yeah, but I was gonna do it tomorrow…’ You only realise then that that thing was sitting in your kitchen. ‘If that’s alright.’

‘It’s probably better to do now, if you don’t mind. I promise it’ll be quick. I just need to do a blood test, then check for any visible wounds or bruises.’

‘Uh. Yep.’ The ‘p’ is stretched out as you open the door, allowing your friend to come in. The minute he’s in, you basically sprint around to check your kitchen. It’s empty.

‘Everything ok, Y/n? You seem on edge.’ Armin asks, sitting up a blood bag.

‘Yeah. Yep. Just fine.’ You answer, rubbing your face again. ‘Do you want some pizza?’

‘As you all know, the festival goes from the main street to the subway. Your job today is to stay on the lookout for anything dodgy, or anything that could harm the mayor and her wife.’ Levi told, looking over the spiders standing in front of him. ‘You are not to engage unless you are certain they are in danger. If you are certain, then you are to report immediately, and keep casualties to a minimum. Understood?’

‘Yes, sir.’

The festival was to celebrate 10 years since the earthquake, and to commemorate those that didn’t make it. The mayor, Historia Reiss, and her wife, Ymir Reiss would give a speech, showing respect for each victim, before travelling around the city to orphanages were children whose parents died were welcomed. Unknown to the public, Ymir Reiss was in fact a Spider, which meant that on days such as the festival, it wasn’t hard for the couple to get that extra bit of protection..

‘How are we meant to know if something is the right level of dodgy?’ Connie asked over the comms-device. ‘I mean, some of us might think that people surrounding the place in pairs is dodgy. We probably look like a damn cult.’

‘Just anything out of the ordinary, I guess.’ Jean replied. ‘Although, a bald guy and a chick stuffing her face is pretty peculiar.’

You all heard Connie send a string of curses are your brother, but you just laughed under your breath.

The event was generally pretty safe. Everyone lost someone, some more than others, so everyone was more of less on the same page about the festival.

‘How did you 2 get stuck together?’ Eren asked, looking at the duo through the crowd. ‘And how come I got stuck with Horseface? Why am I even a pair?’

‘Just focus on the mission, please.’ With Levi’s command, the comms fell quiet.

The day was nearly over, and so far nothing bad had happened. The odd protester here and there, but police were able to deal with them without you needing to step in.

‘All good on my end.’ You checked in. Everyone else replied in the same state. ‘Pretty good year if you ask me.’

‘Nah. Some drunk asked how one of Santa’s elves escaped’ Connie screamed. ‘And then he had the audacity to start singing carols to try lure me in.’

‘Suck it up, Connie.’ You could practically hear Connie fighting the urge to reply, but fighting the Captain seemed to weigh out that option.

‘Hey guys. I got something down the end of the main street.’ Armin reported. ‘I think it’s dormant for now, but I might need someone down there soon.’

‘I’ve got it.’ You replied, slowly pushing your way through the crowd. ‘Can you tell me what it is exactly?’

‘It’s like a black goo.’

You stopped in your tracks, frowning.

‘Come again?’

‘A black goo?’

‘I’ve got a visual.’ Eren added. ‘Definitely ain’t dormant.’

‘Do you need back up?’

‘I might in a minute.’ Without further discussion, Eren decided this was dodgy enough to engage, throwing his mask on and swinging into action.

The minute he moved, the symbiote threw himself off the building, shattering the windows as he propelled towards the spider. Eren grunted when he came into contact, goo covering his arms and immobilising him.

‘Shit.’ He cursed, doing his best to try escape.

‘Surely I can eat this one.’ Venom hissed, inching his face closer towards Eren. ‘There’s plenty of spiders around.’

‘Fuck off.’ The brunette cursed. He tried to shoot a web, only for it to be absorbed into Venom’s body.

‘Come on. I can get it over and done with quickly.’ Venom’s mouth was surrounding his head when it suddenly began choking, grabbing at its neck. Eren took the opportunity, spitting acid into the goo. This time, it melted away and he was able to pull a hand free. Free enough that he was able to latch onto another building and pull himself out of the symbiote.

‘Thanks, Y/n.’ You stayed clinging to Venom, arms wrapped around where she knew Galliard was inside of him.

‘H-Hey. Time out.’ The blonde shouted, voice muffled. You loosened your grip, still holding them both.

‘Get the fuck out of here before we kill you.’ You whispered. Venom grunted, but you suspected it may have been Porco instead. As you went to pull your arms away, the organism wrapped around your arms, pulling you into it.

‘I’m gonna need backup.’ You said over your air piece before Venom ripped it out of your ear.

‘You can eat this one, Venom.’ Porco smirked. You winced, feeling the symbiote’s teeth curl around your arm. Just as you thought it was about to bite your arms off, a blinding light cut through his body, eliciting a deafen screech from Venom.

‘You brat.’ Levi degraded as he swung past, cutting through Venom again. You felt as it pulled you away, keeping a hold until it dropped into an empty street.

Venom unravelled, leaving Galliard standing there.

‘Long time, no see-‘

‘Get out of here.’ You hiss, urging him away. ‘If Levi catches you, you’re dead.’

Whether he believed you or not, he sprinted off, disappearing as the other spiders came down the street.

‘Where did it go?’ Jean asked, obviously ready to kill the thing that attack his sister.

‘I’m not sure, sorry.’ You say, hands on hips and out of breath. ‘It dropped me and disappeared. I didn’t see where.’

‘I’ll go find-‘

‘Leave it for now.’ Hange decided. ‘It seemed to have no intention of harming anyone other than us. And we have no idea what it is, so until then, we keep on looking out for it. Return to post until Historia and Ymir are done, then return to base.’

‘Yes, Captain.’

Your apartment was quiet when you got home. Lights were off apart from the one in the kitchen.

‘Please say you chucked the pizza- what are you doing?’ You said, acknowledging the blonde sitting on your kitchen floor.

‘I’m having withdrawals.’ He whined. taking another swig of his can. You just laughed.

‘Too fucking close today.’

‘It wasn’t even. You were perfectly fine, and it wasn’t like he was actually going to bite your arm off.’

‘I thought about it.’ Venom said.

‘Yeah well. Get the fuck out of my body.’ You replied, walking over to the other imposter. Porco took your hand and (with great discomfort), Venom transferred back to his normal host's body.

‘That’s better.’ Porco sang, suddenly brought to life. You shook your head with a smile, opening the oven to see he had in fact chucked the pizza in to heat it up.

‘Are you staying the night?’

‘Well, it’s probably easier than trying to get back to Liberio right now.’ Porco stood up, wrapping his arms around your waist gently and resting his head on your shoulders. ‘The lights finally gave out.’

‘They’ve shut it down?’

‘Mhm.’

‘So where are you going to stay now?’ You place your hands over his, stroking the back of his palm. The man sighed, breathing hot air against your neck.

‘No clue. I’m sure there’ll be somewhere in Liberio that still has power.’

There was a moment of silence between you two, and you leaned back against his shoulder. No one lived in Liberio but them. You knew because you’d been lying to Hange about it in order to keep that small amount of power going there. But they must’ve done a scan themselves and seen no one.

‘You could move in with me?’ The suggestion seemed like some wild thing. Something that hadn’t even crossed Porco’s mind. ‘Then you wouldn’t have to put in as much effort to get stuff, or to come see me.’

The arms around your waist tightened, and you felt a smile press to your lips.

‘We wouldn’t annoy you?’

‘Porco. We’ve been together for 2 years. If you annoyed me enough, you would’ve already.’ You spun in his arms to face him, hands finding his jaw. ‘And Venom can sleep in a dog box.’

‘I am not sleeping in a box!’ The symbiote shouted, enraged by the idea. ‘Let me actually bite her arm off!’

You laughed, pressing a chaste kiss to your partner's lips before reaching for the pizza.

‘Venom. You want some?’

[akolnoix]

I've been following for a bit and I was wondering about your p4 au(?)/rewrite that you have going on honestly seeing you p4 posting has been making me think about it a lot more recently. Also you have a lovely art style!

thank you! it's honestly nothing very concrete, just an assortment of musings that i play around with in my mind for fun... might as well post some of my ramblings (apologies that it's long and a mess)

-im kinda obsessed with trying to make accomplice ending work? the ending itself in p4g is pretty great (seeing the "yu has forged a bond that cannot be broken" text you get for max social link is sooooo good) and fits thematically, it's just that it has like NO proper buildup to it to make it feel even remotely plausible.

so i'm thinking you'd have to really go out of your way to get it. like in addition to maxing out adachi's SL, you can't advance any other characters' SL past like rank 3 or something early on, and you have to select certain dialogue options (like the original game has so many mean/detached responses you can pick to be a dickhead lol), you have to refuse optional hangouts with your friends. and Then you have to choose to not reveal him. so through consistently refusing to truly connect with/care about the people around you, the protag can somewhat reach a similar worldview to adachi, and conceivably relate to him.

-izanami brings up the tv world also being a product of outside perception, but the actual implementation of it in the game feels messy and often like it's just there as a way to give reason for the shadows desiring transgressive things for shock value without committing to them being real aspects of the characters (like, how kanji's shadow is extremely stereotypically gay not just in mannerisms but in overtly showing interest in men, but in kanji's acceptance+future appearances they make sure to assert that the real kanji is not actually gay)

so i've been kinda toying with the idea that instead of the shadows as presented in p4, there would be like multiple fractured shadows in conflict? like i think it would be neat to play more off the tension between how the characters are perceived by the town vs their repressed selves, idk

-i've been turning naoto's arc around in my head a lot over the years... like the easiest thing to do would be transplant the existing (attempted) narrative to a trans woman naoto. but i also want to do right by canon naoto, who sees himself as a man, desires to be one, only gives up on that because he believes he can't become one, and gets treated like dogshit by the narrative for it. so lately i've drifted to the harder challenge of working out the logistics to make a satisfying+believable arc for trans man naoto. i've got concepts but i don't have enough worked out in this regard yet to talk about here.

-im autistic and rise has always read as such to me, so i'm being self-indulgent and making that an overt aspect of her arc. i grew up subconsciously masking my autism, and it wasn't until i experienced autistic burnout just after graduating highschool that i discovered just how much of myself i had been suppressing, and how much was constructed. it was like i had never known my true self until age 18, or noticed just how badly that repression hurt me.

so um. you might say i saw a lot of myself in rise. she's got a slightly different scenario, but still a pretty autistic one. a child with no friends because everyone thinks they're strange, who decides to learn how to be Normal in hopes of obtaining any human connection. but because she can't be herself, the connections she does make don't feel genuine. her becoming an idol specifically is really fantastic thematically, a career all about commodifying not just your body or talents but your very personality, for a girl highly manufactured on every level to appear Normal.

for the brief period you see her in person before her shadow, rise practically has a flat affect and monotone, with everyone commenting on how different she is from her idol persona, and i'd like to actually retain that as an aspect of her character. i'd like to shift her arc to being about relearning that aspect of herself, and allowing herself to be that. even if just among friends. her idol persona is still part of her (she made it after all, and it can be useful), but she was harming herself by thinking it was all she should be.

i've always hated her going back to being an idol (especially the way they executed it ugh) but it might be nice if she stuck with music...

-yosuke internalized homophobia arc is a gimme

-naturally a major aspect is in the differences btw a playthrough as yu narukami vs femc. as an ex-delinquent she experiences more hostility from the general populace and dojima. oh and i don't care for super self-inserty protags so yu and masami have more established personalities+history+etc.

i imagine the narukami sibling dichotomy is that yu tries to be perfect and masami intentionally disappoints (opposite attention-seeking responses to their ambiguously distant parents), and in their trip to inaba yu takes the opportunity to let loose, while masami reigns in the delinquent behavior (because dojima will actually react to what she does). and they both benefit from the power of friendship etc etc

-sometimes i enjoy daydreaming about a "cross-dressing" sequence that's actually fun. where the crew hang out in yu's room or something and try on each other's stuff for fun. and chie gets a buzz cut

-while it's very true that women can be bigots, that p4 claims that kanji would think that men are more accepting of gender nonconformity in men than women is something just. utterly detached from reality. it makes more sense that he thought there was no possibility of acceptance from boys so he never tried, but he thought there was a chance with girls but was rejected by them too, so he distances himself from everyone.

and i think kanji can be gnc AND gay. for many people there is a real fear of stereotype, of reinforcing them, but that repulsion is misplaced. stereotypes are bad when they are used to dehumanize, but to be a effeminate gay man, a fat butch lesbian, a trans woman with a beard, are not bad things to be. and i think it'd suit kanji to have that sort of conflict, and metatextually to take those aspects of canon that were so negatively presented and transform them

and i think it would suit his love of cute things to eventually start dressing cutesy.

-i've definitely got more in my brain i could say or i forgor but this post is long enough

[aeroargonic]

If it’s not too much, what other ideas do you have for that spin the bottle au?

There's been a few fic ideas thrown about, but nothing concrete. These were the ones I mentioned, but we haven't gotten around to establishing them fully yet:

Date between Nya and Chamille.

Some more DarkWildfire polycule shenanigans. I think my co-writer had an idea for them, but IDK if xe planned for it to be a part of the series or something separate.

Lloyd dealing with an unrequited crush on Cole and Cole being a good sport about the whole thing.

Maybe some Jay/Pixal/Zane stuff?

Again, everything is all kinda up in there. So if there's a particular topic that people are more interested in, I'll bring it up to my co-writer and maybe we can come up with something.

[happy-tori-friends]

Please elaborate on your ffxiv au 👀

- 🐑 Anon

its nothing concrete but i just like ffxiv...

some spoilers for everything - including endings shadowbringers and endwalker (everyone should play shadowbringers its so good)

i imagine its like an isekai just for funsies, so dont and did have to adjust to not having their abilities. and also being turned into the ffxiv races. they basically wake up on the cart/boat (i think alphinaud and alisae will be going to limsa via the boat in this au... idk if i'll ever write it but if its something ppl wanna see i am Willing...). tho they all have the echo. technically dungeons are meant to be 4 player but for our intents and purposes we're gonna ignore that. its My AU i get to make the rules

as for jobs... splendont is a marauder/warrior, splendid is a gladiator/paladin, flippy is an arcanist - for jobs he'd be a scholar and fliq would be summoner (tho fliq would also do reaper i think)

idk what the twins would start as but theyd end up switching to rogue/ninja asap, tho lifty would go machinist in heavensward and ive toyed with viper shifty. probably archer for a starting class just for gridania rep. i started at maurader on lifty just for easier access to rogue but that doesnt really matter. rip to splendid who is all alone in ul'dah.

now races... the twins are miqo'te, specifically keepers of the moon (bc thats what i made lifty)... maybe wildwood elezen. and flippy... xaela au ra (im an au ra lover... my main's an au ra and i have a secondary character thats also an au ra who i made to pair with estinien bc i like him was the second option for shipping my main w b4 i went with my beloved g'raha. i was gonna put a picture of my main, honoka miyashiro, here but i forgor. lovingly known as honk.) i was thinking au ra for super bros but i think flippy au ra is better. still not sold on elezen tho. maybe hyur? 23rd the 2nd benchmark comes out maybe i'll make them in that? theyre gonna questioned for their names but... oh well.

ive done arr a few times but ive only played the 2.1+ patches very little (im not done with post endwalker yet either i just started 6.4 but i started levelling reaper after the last trial) so i dont remember Too much (im gonna new game plus some things + i could stream ffxiv lifty's adventures) but i do remember many key moments. i'll put a cut here bc im gonna get into story events

i pulled up to the inn to look at the unending journey. but the openings are basically the same except flippy and dont are working together + the twins are too, and the city-states all send out envoys to each other for funny 'oh hey we all had the same idea lmao' moments and they all get directed to go to investigate sastasha (not b4 the twins take up rogue, getting disappointed when they realize they're actually supposed to maintain the code) where they all meet again and everyone is like 'yay thank god you're okay' and of course after copperbell and beating up some dick, all the scions show up and say "hey you're pretty cool join our club :)'

okay i haven't thought too much about story things in main arr + what grand company they join. but. i think if i go the route of different events being focused more on different characters in place of the wol, splendid being the one to be framed for poisoning nanamo might work best bc he does start in ul'dah + being framed like that kinda fucks with him mentally - 'i should've been more diligent, i shouldn't have just picked something up and kept it, how could i have been so blind?' and being considered traitorous + seeing all that happened at the bloody banquet is. well it's... a lot, especially for him (though he probably thinks he should be used to it considering canon htf but in see what develops he did get sick when he saw mime's body. i think. may in fact be misremembering).

splendont holding the twins close to him as they want into ishgard bc its cold and they can barely see through the snow... and the twins thinking 'we've done something good for once, we were celebrated as heroes and this is what we get?'

stormblood i dont have too many thoughts on either but if i go the route of flippy (or well fliqpy really) being the one to be zenos's main rival... i think fliq and zenos would have fun banter. also he would 100% do the reckless thing with yugiri and try to kill him with very little plan.

i think when there's split paths they do split up (aka at the beginning of expansions where there's different quest chains to start with) but thats all i've really thought about so far regarding some beginnings... i do know that i want splendont and the twins to be the ones to go to amh araeng bc them witnessing tesleen would be - that is if i even end up having flippy and splendid in shadowbringers bc they might stay back to help tataru and stuff... but having did there would make it a bit more painful so i dont know. splendont is considered the shard of azem here, (dont ask how if its an isekai its just how things seem to be rolling) and the one feo ul bonds with so it all ends up working out. also the exarch barely managing to bring all 3 (or 5) over when he finally gets it right is funny.

back on the subject of them having seen tesleen transform, it genuinely freaked them the fuck out and fearing it could happen to dont, lifty and shifty probably beg splendont to let them dispell some of the lightwardens' aether especially when y'shtola mistakes him for a sin eater and after qitana ravel where y'shtola is sure it is being absorbed and tells him to inform her of any side effects. but splendont says 'Absolutely Not. i can deal with it i'm not letting Anything happen to you.'

after malikh's well when he starts having pain and getting sick they beg him again, but he again puts his foot down. they fight about it, and the twins spend the night in a different room in pendants (they cant see ardbert anyways and have just thought splendont was seeing things).

things are tense throughout kholusia, and its very clear that lifty and shifty are afraid of what will happen when they kill the final lightwarden. then their fears are proven true when innocence is killed and splendont starts to turn because he cant contain the light and the sky they worked so hard to bring night back to reverts to the eternal day.

and despite the tension, despite the pain, he looks at them and says 'i promise... i'll be fine. i didn't want this to happen to you.'

'you fucking moron, this wouldn't have happened... if we shared the light,' shifty retorts but he and lifty are too afraid to get close, especially with urianger being weird. and all this time theyve gone with this in hopes of finding a way home, and now they might lose splendont and it feels like they'll never get home.

there's a lot of emotions going on with the exarch reveal bc they also dont want him to sacrifice himself just for splendont either but theres no other choice is there and then emet-selch comes in and that little bit of hope is dashed. and though ryne delays the inevitable it is still, at that moment, inevitable. they do their best to help the scions look for a way to save him but it's very clear that they're pessimistic, heartbroken. afraid that it's true that everyone they hold dear to them is destined to be taken away. if theyd fought harder, if they could have been more convincing...

i have more thoughts about shadowbringers (mostly with the twins being afraid splendont is taking up emet's offer) but i'll skip to the end so if i do write it i dont end up spoiling everything. but after ardbert fuses with splendont, lifty and shifty join him to fight hades alongside whoever else the exarch summoned... and when all is said and done and it's revealed that splendont is no longer being corrupted by the light, after they return to the source and have reported to tataru and krile, and they take a moment to breathe... they plead with him to let them bear some of his burdens, just as they let him do. even if it's for their sake, neither of them want him to do anything like that ever again, and they make him promise. they all cry about it, even dont, because Fuck that was probably so stressful. he does tell them what happened with ardbert though.

endwalker... endwalker. ultima thule in particular. while fliq would be the one to fight zenos at the end if i go the 'everyone has a part to play', and probably the one that gets posessed in 'in from the cold' i think i want dont to be the last one standing in ultima thule and extend it a little bit, in particular so lifty and shifty can sacrifice themselves for him. and at the very end when they are alone again he tells them not to scare him like that again. lifty responds with. 'it was like that for us too. that's why we made that promise. your burden was to go forward, and we helped you bear it.'

'we came back anyways,' shifty adds, but he 100% expected to just. be dead forever. theres a lot of crying again. ffxiv makes me emotional so it makes the characters emotional.

also in elpis splendont being like 'i am a familiar of azem.' and shifty confidently goes 'yeah and we're his familiars' and lifty facepalms. 'thats absolutely not how it works, shifty.'

of course none of this is fully set in stone. flippy and splendid might not even be included at all bc a lot of my thoughts are mostly dont lifty and shifty save for zenos n fliq (if i go this route, one of the twins would be made a pugilist and start in ul'dah) bc i dont have many ideas for the twins to have wol major moments other than thinking about them being framed for poisoning nanamo instead of splendid. this also got really long... i'm gonna have to do this arent i? ffxiv au yes or no poll when.

[naranjapetrificada]

3, 4, 17 for the fic writer asks! <3

Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

If you want to play, pick your fic writing question(s) from this list!

I already answered 3 here, but as for the rest:

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

I guess it depends on what you define "written" as? Like if written means "finished work" then there's the captive/different first meeting AU I was working on before my current WIP that should count. The preliminary work I did on that was the first time I ever thought a longfic was possible, and I want to circle back around to it eventually because I think I've got a fun twist on the captive trope in mind.

Another idea that fits the description above is a fic of a fic, the incredible In Favor With Their Stars. I've got a couple paragraphs of prose and in line with the way the original story is written, some command lines written as well. The idea for it is existentially devastating though so I'm not sure I'll ever be able to write it. I was lucky enough to get to talk to mxmollusca about it and they approved/encouraged me to keep going so idk, someday.

If you mean something I haven't done work on, well, I guess the closest thing I have to that is something I was thinking about when the season 2 teaser first dropped. It was going to be shortish piece in the vein of "let's just get it out of our system" smut where Ed spent the whole time desperately trying to capture it all in his memory, to the point where he wouldn't really be experiencing it at all. The more we learned about the season, the less viable the idea seemed so I eventually scrapped it.

17. talk about your writing and editing process

Well. Talking about the latter is going to be much more concrete than the former, so let's get that out of the way first.

As someone with not one, but two creative writing degrees, I can tell you that actual CWR classes are incredibly hit or miss. My experience was such a mixed bag, including how much better most of the teachers I had in undergrad were than in grad school. It was one of those undergrad teachers who gave me the one piece of writing advice that I've never, ever abandoned: during the revision process (emphasis on "vision"), instead of tweaking an existing document, try rewriting the new draft in a brand new doc.

Maybe it's not something everyone needs to do, but it's something I very much have to do. I do it every time, without fail, and my writing is the better for it. Once I actually start it's hardly a hardship for me, although that probably varies person to person. The quality of every aspect of my writing grew by leaps and bounds once I started doing it. It forces me to truly look at my work in a way I can never really see it otherwise.

As for the writing process itself? That's a lot fuzzier. In some ways, I'm still figuring out what that means for me now that I'm exclusively writing fic. Because my relationship with the experience of writing has fundamentally changed, I guess it makes sense that the way I do it might too.

That's doubly true now that I work from home on a schedule that's not exactly 9-5. I don't have a set time to sit down and do it, nor a daily word quota. Some days I write nothing. Some days I write 50 words. Some days I write 5000. The days I write nothing are usually days I never got around to opening whatever my working document is, because once it's open I'll usually have something to say. I'm sure if I worked more consistently I could work faster, but that would come at the expense of sustainability. In order for writing to be sustainable for me right now, it can't not reward me for it somehow. I have to be enjoying myself or I'll grow to resent it.

[lesbean05]

Ronance day 4

I’m sorry for a lot of things. It being shorter than normal, for one.

TW- graphic depiction of violence

Prompt was Horror movie AU

Idk if it’s obvious but this is based on fear street 1994 idk if it kinda makes sense if you haven’t seen fear street it’s not really related to the plot at all

“Hello, this is B. Dalton’s, we’re closed.”

“Hey, it’s me, when are you getting home tonight?”

“I don’t know, I’m just closing, so whenever Ryan gets his asking-me-out attempt over with so I can lock up.”

“My God, I want to punch that asshole’s face in so bad. I’ll stay up, I bet you haven’t eaten.”

“Fine, I’ll be there in about an hour. Bye babe, love you”

“I love you too.”

Robin hung the phone up with a sigh. She began milling about, cashing in the register and locking the gate to the small store that she had spent way too long getting familiar with.

As she walked across the courtyard towards the exit, a chill ran up her spine. She pulled her jacket closer around herself, and shuddered, her jangling keys were the only sound in the eerily quiet mall.

“All alone now!”

“Jesus Christ Ryan, you dick!”

“Aww, cmon, can’t take a joke? I thought you liked funny guys.”

Ryan was your average kind of creepy asshole, and he had tonight decided to carry around a cheaply made blow-up sex puppet. Normally Robin would nod and smile until she could leave, but she’d had a really long day.

“I have told you time and again shitface, I have a boyfriend.”

“Ahh, yes, the mystery boyfriend I have yet to meet. You sure you didn’t just make him up in that pretty little head of yours?”

He pressed his finger into the middle of her forehead, and grinned, scouring her with his eyes. That was the last straw.

Robin’s nerve finally snapped, as her palm made contact with the side of his face, and he staggered back, clutching his cheek.

“Alright! I get it!”

She huffed and turned around, walking back towards the exit.

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything, weirdo.”

She turned back around and noticed that the gate to her bookshop had popped back open, and she huffed, trudging over, fishing the key out of her bag as she walked.

A small thud came from inside the shop, and Robin begrudgingly ducked under the half-closed gate to find a single book on the floor. Perfectly in front of the shelf it came off. Nothing strange there, she told herself.

She bent down to pick it up, and placed it back on the shelf.

God, I have to stop watching so many horror movies. But no matter how many times she laughed at herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

Something dark passed through the corner of her vision, and she whirled around, almost falling over her feet, to look up and find a shadow in the should-be-empty hallway.

God.

A ghost face mask was staring right at her, and she screamed, almost tripping over, and not looking back as she raced towards the exit. As she got back out into the courtyard, she risked a look behind her and saw the masked figure hot on her heels.

She ran into one of the other stores, crouching behind the counter, breathing heavily, and waited.

She had seen the ghost face. He had a knife.

She heard the soft padding of shoes on the carpet behind the counter, and she held her breath.

Robin screamed again, as the mask suddenly popped into her view, staring straight at her, and charging towards her with terrifying speed.

She decided to make a break for the exit.

The sprint would have taken her about ten seconds.

If not for the fact that the shadow behind her managed to grab her hair and yank her backwards onto his knife, sending a jolt of fire through Robin’s body, and a guttural scream from her throat.

He stabbed her again, this time letting the knife twist, and Robin’s knees gave out as she sank to the floor. A pool of thick, sticky blood was quickly gathering on the cold concrete, and Robin’s entire body was shrieking for it all to stop. Every limb desperately flailed and clawed at her attacker, who had bent down over her to keep stabbing her front.

Robin managed to fumble the mask off.

“Nance? Baby…”

A gurgle was the last thing to leave Robin’s mouth.

BANG!

And the two were reunited.

[wishi-selfships]

Hii!! I’m a CSM self shipper too, whose s/i is also in part one, and I was just wondering if you’d ever like to talk abt Wishi’s role in part two!! There aren’t many CSM self shippers I’ve seen and I’d love to hear abt ur self insert more, especially w the recent stuff!! Like if u go to the same school as denji and all. Only if you’d ever want to share though :D!

OMIGOSH HAII >□<!!!! Omg it's so nice to see another csm selfshipper (even if ur in anon form ,,, haiii anon ☆). AND ANOTHER PERSON WHOS IN PART 1??? HELL EYAAA!!!

Ofc I'd like to talk abt my inserts part 2 role !!! Though I'm not sure if u want Wishi's role or Gabi's.. I'm gonna assume u mean Gabi tho because Wishi most likely won't be present in part 2 <//3

So Gabi's role in part 2 is !!!! Still sorta undecided :3? Well, sorta

Because !!! Gabi and Denji are together by part 2 (I wanna say they've been together since the end of part 1 ?? Eya) like they are officially in a relationship, but idk if Gabi is, like... present?

I know in the beginning of part 2 she isn't, because I wanted there to be a sort of "spin-off" story w/ Gabi going back to America for a while to figure out some sorta problem 💭💭 So like. She's doing that in America while part 2 is going on. BUT IK SHES GONNA COME BACK!!! Just gotta ... figure out when ':3

I've got a few ideas on how I wanna re-introduce her to the part 2 storyline, but I think I wanna see how things progress a little before I make any ideas canon. So far though, I'm sort of leaning into the idea of bringing her back either right after the Eternity Devil Aquarium arc, or during the Falling Devil arc, but nothing quite concrete yet!! I just know she's gotta come back for her bf and their kid (nayuta) <//3

Having said that!! Whenever Gabi comes back, she probably won't go to the same school as Denji. She'd graduate early !!! Get herself a GED n stuff •□• Much to Denji's displeasure (he wanted to go to school w her!!!) But I don't think she'd wanna go to school if she could help it. Might change depending on how the story goes tho!!

HOWEVER I do also have like... an "AU" of sorts where Gabi gets introduced only in part 2. In that case, she'd have a more active role in part 2 - she'd go to the same school as Denji (just in her senior year, so like a grade above Denji? Sorta? At least I like to hc he's in his junior year. Cause I'm fairly sure he's 18 currently? But I thought it made sense for him to be in a grade below), would interact with him, Asa and Yoshida more,,, stuff like that :3c

I'd like to say that Part 2 Only!Gabi would've been present for the Aquarium date (which would've been framed as a hangout bc when Asa tried to ask Denji out, Gabi was there too and she didn't wanna be weird) and would've been over at Denji's place with Asa (The kiss still would've happened, but Gabi wouldn't have been effected much by Nayuta - which is its own plot point that I can elaborate on if someone's interested!!!!), and most likely would've been present in the Falling Devil arc!!!

Theres.. more I can talk about but for the sake of not rambling 4 too long I'll end it here =^•×•^=

[thekrows-nest]

Why do Krows eye color shift to green when his angy? Does he know about it? Does MC find it odd or ask him about it in your AU?

EHEH.

So when I was first muddling around with Krow, I was going with purely just 'anime bullshit' rules. There was no rhyme or reason why they changed colors, other than 'idk it's neat lol'.

But now I have been stewing on other... ideas because a good friend of mine mentioned 'he can't be fully human, what with eyes changing color like that'. So... I'm thinking about things. (: Nothing concrete yet however. Krow is still a VERY new character for me. I literally only made him this month (time of writing this is late September 2022, Krow first came about in early September 2022, yeeeeeah.) Let me just say there is certainly more to him than meets the eye. (And I don't just mean he's a yandere.)

However, he DOESN'T know about it. He's not exactly around a mirror (or thinks to look in one) when it happens. MC/Dove would likely definitely find it odd since that's... not really a thing that happens, and it's quite possible they'll ask him about it. To which Krow would be confused.

"W-what... d-do you mean? M-my eyes... c-change color??"

Likely then he'll try to see if he can catch it happening when he's at home, or at least somewhere private.

But yeah, Krow has no idea it happens, until someone points it out to him, and he certainly doesn't know WHY it happens. But it does freak him out a little.

[wereh0gz]

I'm still thinking about my adult sonic and co

By adult I mean over 200 years old btw lmao

Yeah he's immortal. He's been exposed to so much chaos energy and dark gaia energy and whatnot over the years that it won't let him die. He's essentially made himself into an ultimate lifeform, if he wasn't one in the first place. He also still transforms into the werehog, but he has control over when it happens (except on new moons or eclipses). As the years go on his normal form looks more and more like his werehog form, tho... Weird.

Shadow's still alive too, of course, cos he's the ultimate lifeform (or an ultimate lifeform, i guess). He and sonic are qpps but argue and race all the time like when they were kids. The status of their relationship doesn't change how they treat each other much. He gains more black arms traits and gets better at handling chaos energy too. He still needs his inhibitor rings to stay stable, but he can handle not having them for longer if need be.

Omega's here too. He's pretty much the same lol

Tails is also still alive because I firmly believe he is a nine-tailed fox and they live for a Very long time. By the time sonic's 200 he's gained two other tails and cool new abilities i still need to think of. Most of them have to do with wind, which he learns from sonic, and some illusory stuff to help him keep a low profile, as being immortal could bring him and the others some trouble.

Speaking of trouble, eggman nega takes the role of villain and archnemesis to sonic and co. He wants to take over the world, just as his ancestor/mobius dimension counterpart(???) did. But he's taken a keen interest in immortality after learning that the guy who keeps thwarting his plans is the fabled sonic the hedgehog, legendary hero of mobius from 200 years ago.

He wants to see what makes the hedgehog tick. Study him. Find his weaknesses, both physical and mental, to effectively destroy him. Because if he wants to take over the world, he has to get rid of sonic.

I'm unsure if I want to make this a separate au, or to incorporate it to my sonic eclipse au as a sort of distant future arc, or to make an au of the au? Idk. These are just kind of random ideas I've had rattling around in my head for a while now that I wanted to talk about lol. Nothing really concrete will come out of this for a while. I may do some more designs and random doodles but this isn't something I'll work on a lot for now (gotta focus on finishing the sonic eclipse fanfic! It will happen! Eventually!)

If I do end up incorporating this into sonic eclipse I'll probably involve some of my ocs somehow, but again nothing's really set yet and probably won't be in a while.

I think I'm done rambling now good night

[erigold13261]

How would the arachnikid’s’ parents react to their kids coming out as queer? (I assume Rio and Jeff are super supportive, George is a mixed bag, both Pav and Gayatri’s parents are also supportive, Margo’s parents don’t care, Peni’s dad would be supportive but idk about kits uncle and aunt, idk about Ganke aaand Noir, Ham and Hobie don’t have any parental figures in their lives I think)

Yeah I would say that is basically what would happen overall. Added some more details to each and even expanded on the last 4 (though take Noir's with a grain of salt like I say later on, their story might change some more once I think more of it)

Miles parents are definitely very supportive. Jeff probably asks a lot of questions out of confusion and Rio is asking questions to be more supportive. Both doing so with good intentions but might come off a little judgey to an outsider (Miles knows his parents care. Maybe the scene plays out like the end scene in the second movie, like the reveal not how Rio reacts lol).

George is supportive in his core but he was just so shocked by Gwen at first he said some stupid shit and pushed note away. Definitely not his best moment but he does his best to make it up and be there for Gwen when note returns homes.

I kinda think it would be funny if Pav said he had some big news to tell his parents/family, and they are all a bit worried thinking his powers somehow got even more destructive or out of control, but instead he says he's queer (maybe trans, maybe bi, whatever you want) and the family just sighs with relief it is not about his powers. It would be a weird moment afterwards with them having to explain themselves, but it would be a funny story to tell later one.

Gayatri's dad (I think she only has a dad in this AU, maybe some cousins and extended family, but probably mainly close to her dad) is entirely supportive of her. Definitely asked a few questions and maybe doesn't fully understand whatever flavor of queer she is entirely (again up to you since i don't have a concrete headcanon for her or Pav yet), but does his best to show support and make sure she has what she needs to be happy in life.

Yeah, Margo's parents wouldn't really care. Probably say something like "that's good for you honey" while not even looking up at her in the slightest. It probably doesn't even register with them until she brings home a girlfriend (Tila) and the only reason they care is because Tila is a celebrity.

Definitely Peni's dad is (was) supportive of kit. I think kits aunt and uncle are like, conditionally supportive. Like if things are going good and Peni is doing what fae is told, then sure, they will show respect and support. But if Peni doesn't do what kit needs to, then they don't really show that much care. I don't know if they would be ACTIVELY hostile to Peni, but it's not a great environment (little bonus, I think if Peni's mom was still around she would probably have been on the fence of support. The little relationship that Peni and kits mom had wasn't the best).

Ganke's parents I can see being kinda like Margo's in a sense. Maybe not outright ignoring Ganke, but a "that's nice, just don't make it your whole personality or flaunt it everywhere, it's supposed to be private" kind of way. Like they kinda support it but like, not all that much. They aren't being hostile, but not celebrating it. They have nothing against it, but they also don't want it to be spread around.

Hmmm... Noir... I don't have much in mind about their family honestly. Kinda think if anything they were in a more traditional household for the most part that wasn't too keen on change. I doubt Noir would come out as agender to their parents at all (it is way too complicated to talk about to someone like Noir's parents, they would probably think Noir was gay if they came out, even if they said they were ace, just too much to explain to people being willfully ignorant). I can see them still loving Noir in their own way, which is why they end up sending Noir to Nueva York to get their color fixed, without realizing that Nueva York is not technically the place that should have been their first choice (also like the idea that it was Noir's parents fault they got their color drained for some reason). Take all of this with a grain of salt, I haven't really thought much of Noir's family so this is just something that came to mind and might change.

Similar thing with Ham (I keep calling him Porker, Ham is a much better thing to call her lol). I just haven't thought much of her family or anything. Probably just gonna go with the standard Peter story line with Ham having an aunt take him in and raise him. She would be caring and supportive, probably thought Ham was joking at first but then saw they were serious and apologized for laughing and they both had a long good talk. (I forget why I said Ham was sent to Nueva York, I think it was volunteering to get help with powers, so that fits in with their aunt being supportive).

Finally Hobie. Well if its parents didn't kicked it out just because of its skin condition, I am pretty sure they would have kicked it out when it came out as queer. So yeah, they would not have been supportive at all if they stuck around long enough to have Hobie come out to them.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, so here we are!

As usual, we’ll do an Open Question Night--while my askbox is always open, tonight I’ll be keeping an eye on it if anyone has questions. Anything about any fandom/original project I’ve written about here or posted to AO3 is fair game. I do take prompts, but no guarantees on how quickly I’ll fill them.

All right, here we go!

Star Wars Fic:

I’ve basically only been writing my Year of the OTP fills at the moment. I’m also doing some betaing/podficcing for SWBB, as well as pitching in on the mod side, but not a lot of writing. Hopefully once the event is over I’ll get back to Precipice!verse (which I refuse to let die) and other projects in that fandom, but we’ll see how it goes.

Castlevania Fic:

I swear I haven’t forgotten Incinctus (or the one other plot idea I had, but I want to put more of Incinctus up before I start working on it). I just...yeah, nothing’s really happened this month, lol. Maybe in May...although I do have a lot of family/personal stuff coming up so IDK how much time I’ll have. Work at least should be somewhat calmer now?

BSG Fic:

I really am working on The Other Battlestar in the background of everything else, I swear, lol. Still no official posting/start date, but maybe?? soon?? I hope anyway.

Also been doing Year of the OTP for this one. I’m really proud of the one I came out with this month--it’s an AU that’s been kicking around in my head for a while, and I like some of what I managed to pull off with mirroring bits of language/etc. (May or may not continue this AU; there’s some Interesting things that could go on. This...is probably going to make me sound like a terrible person, but they obviously won’t succeed Completely because that makes for a much less interesting story, lol. But those 4-ish months between this bit and the eventual attack, plus the ways the aftermath would be different, could be a Lot of fun. I did have a few ideas here and there, but nothing like a coherent Story yet.)

Also! Galactica Big Bang is coming along! The amazing fracktastic designed some icons, and I’m putting a banner together/finalizing the FAQ/rules/etc. I’ll probably do a kickoff post sometime this month. Like...what’s normal for this type of event, lol. Six weeks before the signups open? A month? Two? (Technically I missed the window on two, since I’m opening signups on July 1...)

...I also need to actually design the signup forms, whoops...::adds to to-do list::

Original Fic:

Still doing OTP fills; I’m having a lot of fun with it. I did write one thing that was not a fill for a challenge on rainbowfic; might or might not do that again this month, I haven’t looked at the May prompts for Year of the OTP, but they could line up with this month’s RF challenge...

(I also might be going back to the Bridgerton/Regency AU for Lux that I put together a couple years back for a challenge. This is because I saw Les Mis on Saturday and I swear that actually does make sense in context XD

Other Projects:

Nothing concrete in the pipeline at the moment...one of my roommates has gotten back into AtLA again (not sure if that had happened by April’s Coming Attractions post and I’m too lazy to check lol) so a few of the things I poke at in that fandom are floating around. No concrete work on anything at this point, but we’ll see how it goes.

...I think that’s everything! Like I said at the beginning, Open Question Night, etc. What’s on your mind?