#but there's something nostalgic to me about seeing it on an actual game boy (color) instead of only the screen itself

[aquanutart]

I was talking and I mentioned that I have my old Game Boy and original Pokemon cartridge. I said, "I think they still work."

I was told, "The internal batteries on the Game Boy cartridges have run out. They're all dead."

"Oh," I said, trying not to show how crestfallen I was. I felt like I was losing nerd cred for not knowing that, although I never kept up with that type of info anyway. I'm here for the fantasy and imaginative aspects of games, and tend not to follow the competitive or technical details.

I tried not to feel anything as I went home. If they were real animals, I reminded myself, I would have had to say goodbye long ago.

But like so many other people, Pokemon was my childhood. It was all I thought about and dreamed about, and the closest thing I could imagine to heartbreak was the knowledge that they weren't real. I spent nearly all my time writing longhand self-insert Pokemon fanfiction--far more than I spent actually playing the game. My Pokemon were with me in my imagination wherever I went. I started playing Pokemon Blue when I was 5, and the last time I had played it was probably when I was 9 or 10. I remembered I had turned it on again one more time after that, not to play it, but to look at my childhood Pokemon.

It was during high school, after a move overseas that completely upended my life, and I was struggling with the crushing blow of being taken away from everything I knew and trying to make sense of anything (least of all adolescence) in another language. All I wanted was to go back to childhood and have everything go back to how it was before.

Seeing my Pokemon, just as I'd left them, had comforted me. I had looked at their stats pages, taken photos of them with my digital camera (that I don't even know if I still have), and then turned it off without doing anything.

That was probably 9 or 10 years after the games came out. It had been a long time since then. I had long since taken the AA batteries out of my Game Boy Color and left it untouched. I didn't even have AA batteries anymore.

It had worked then. But now it had been 27 years... I thought about not trying to turn my cartridge back on. As long as I didn't turn it on, I could believe my Pokemon were still there, the way I remembered them.

On my day off, which happened to be Pokemon Day, I googled and read that some people on forums and Reddit were still able to play their original Pokemon games.

Then... it was possible. I went out to buy toothpaste. At the store, I asked where I could find AA batteries.

It was a big thing for me to be able to go to the store and buy things myself. When I moved at age 13, I felt like something went wrong with growing up. It was difficult to follow what people were saying, and people didn't always understand what I said either. I had been introverted even in English, but now I had enough negative experiences that I became afraid and stopped trying to talk to people altogether.

I threw myself into video games and reliving childhood memories. The internet was where I could communicate in my first language and understand. I lived online and didn't interact with the real world. On the internet I felt like I was understood and could find people who shared my interests the way I did, but in the real world it always felt like I could get hurt if anyone knew me.

I realize now that I could have had a better experience overseas if I'd known how to adapt and socialize, but this was not something I knew even in English, and trying to learn in another language made it ten times harder. I'm sorry now for missing out on interactions that I know I could have had, but I just didn't know how. I wouldn't know how until I learned, and it took me a long time to learn.

I grew up online, in the company of others who had trouble fitting in with the real world, even in their own language. Those experiences shaped me, and the friendships I've made and support I've received online are invaluable to me. The internet gave me a way to live, and through it I learned how to interact with others. But in many ways, for many years, it felt like my life was put on hold and I stopped growing up.

Several years ago I moved back, to not far from where I was born, and I was able to work for the first time. I began to interact with people and feel like I had a place in the real world.

After shutting myself away for so many years, every little step I made out in the world felt terrifying. But every little thing I did on my own made me feel like I was living for the first time.

Even something as little as going to the store and buying a pack of batteries.

I was directed to a shelf at the end of an aisle, and found myself looking at a rack of lithium AA batteries. Did they not sell the old kind anymore?

I walked around to the other side and was relieved to find the familiar black and brown Duracell batteries I'd known from my childhood. I felt more confident about putting in a battery that looked the same as I remembered. The smallest pack they sold was an 8-pack for $12.99. I really didn't need 8 batteries. I didn't have any other devices that used them.

I thought, what if I turn it on and it doesn't work and I'll have wasted $12.99?

I also thought we might already have batteries. I might be able to say, "Mom, do we have any batteries?" and she'd pull out two AAs from a drawer somewhere and I'd save my money.

But somehow I felt like part of what was important about this was being an adult and being able to buy my own batteries.

Yet... what if it just ended up making me sad? Was it better not to know?

I went to the checkout with just the toothpaste and stood hesitating at the edge of the checkout line.

If I didn't get the batteries now, and it turned out we didn't have any batteries, I wouldn't try it. I knew I would just put it off until even more time passed, and then... "Are you in line?" someone asked me.

"No," I said, and I turned around and went back to the shelf.

I bought the batteries.

At home, I took out my original Game Boy Color from the drawer where I left it, the one my dad had surprised me with when I was 5 years old and that I had brought overseas and back.

I put the batteries in and turned it on without a cartridge first to make sure the batteries were inserted correctly. The Game Boy logo scrolled across the screen and it made the familiar blinging Game Boy startup noise. I turned it off again, satisfied.

I took out my original Pokemon Blue cartridge, momentarily having to remember which way it went in, and slotted it in.

I turned it on, watched the whole Pokemon Blue intro out of nostalgia, and then pressed START.

My heart leaped for joy.

MY POKEMON!!!! MY POKEMON ARE ALIVE!!! 🥺🥺🥺

My original Pokemon, that were with me in 1998 when I was 5-6 years old, are still with me 27 years later. I want to cry!!! I love the old sprites, I'm SO happy to see them again 😭😭😭 the Pokemon look so little and cheerful at the same time, which I love 🥺🥺🥺 I know there are people with many more hours on their games, who have leveled all their Pokemon to 100. But these are my Pokemon who were with me through my childhood, and I spent many more hours making up stories about them than actually playing the game. I'm so happy to see them again 😭😭😭

All I want is to see my Pokemon. My other Pokemon are in boxes. Now, how do I get to the nearest PC? Where am I?

Oh... Oh. I have to confess something. When I was a kid, I was scared of the dark cave areas, and whenever I got to them, I stopped playing for a while. (I was stuck at Mt. Moon until I was like, 7.) So I never actually beat the game.

And here I am on Victory Road, with the team of Pokemon I was taking to the Elite Four, without an Escape Rope.

The only way for me to see my other Pokemon is... to finally make it through Victory Road, after 27 years?!

[chongoblog]

My First Pokemon Playthrough

So I've noticed in my time of talking about Pokemon, I've told a lot of various anecdotes that are all a part of my very first time playing Pokemon. I was feeling nostalgic, so I figured I would share what I remember about this playthrough for everyone to enjoy. There may be a tangent or two in there and people who have followed me a while may have heard these before, but hey.

For context, I believe I was about 8 years old at the time, and after collecting some Pokemon cards, watching a kid play Crystal at summer camp, watching some of the anime, and generally being a pretty big fan (I even have Pokemon Yahtzee burned into my memory for some reason...), I finally got myself a Game Boy Advance with Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, some Frogger game (after looking it up, it was Temple of the Frog), Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, and, of course, Pokemon Sapphire.

I remember that my starter was Torchic. I don't remember why I chose that one, although I remember really liking the color red at the time (which I still do), so that was probably why.

I don't remember too much about my team or the general progress I made in most of the game, but I do remember Slateport City. For those who do not recall, in Slateport City in order to advance you need to get into the museum, which is blocked off by Team Aqua Grunts until you talk to someone in the shipyard. There are also Team Aqua grunts blocking the route ahead

Now, my 8 year old brain for some reason concluded that the only way to get past the Team Aqua Grunts was to intimidate them with a high enough level Pokemon or something like that. So one night, while I was supposed to be asleep on a family beach vacation, I beat down more poor level 13 Pokemon than I could count. I learned later what I was actually SUPPOSED to do, which led to me finally fighting the Team Aqua Grunts.....with a level 42 Blaziken.

And since the Name Rater was in Slateport City and my starter had evolved, I figured it was only appropriate to give him the new moniker "MAGMA MAN"

The rest of the playthrough went about as normally as tearing through the game with mostly Blaziken normally would go. There were a couple exceptions though. First off, at the Weather Institute, after I saved the day from Team Aqua, they were kind enough to gift me a Castform, but my party was full, so I couldn't get it. My 8 year old self did not read this. (Remember this, it will come back later). But I managed to make my way through the game, catching Kyogre with my Master Ball and giving it the nickname "LEGENDARY"

Then we come to the Elite Four where I hit a brick wall. I don't remember my team at the time exactly, but I do remember it was MAGMA MAN which had reached about level 80 or so, LEGENDARY which was about level 48, a level 36 Pelipper, two level ~35 Tentacruels, and some other sixth Pokemon I don't recall. And for some reason, I just couldn't beat the Elite Four with this team for some weird reason. The best I could ever get to was Drake. I felt I was utterly defeated.

That's when we bring a new character into the story. A member of my friend group at the time who we'll call "John" to protect the innocent. Now John had a very "uncle who works at nintendo" type energy to him. The group used to play Gauntlet: Dark Legacy together all the time, and when I got the GBA port of it, he convinced me to trade my recently obtained copy of the Pokemon Trading Card Game Boy game for a Gameboy-Gamecube cables, only for me to learn too late that it didn't work like that, and from there, there were no backsies (but then I got ahold of a copy of Pac-Man VS and Four Swords Adventure then I learned to emulate, so who's laughing now).

Anyway, John saw that I was struggling and he decided that he wanted to help me out. You see, he had come across an incredibly powerful and rare Pokemon that couldn't be found in the wild. He had gotten it exclusive, and I had never seen it before. It was called a "Castform". Now John had Ruby version, so he decided that as much as it ached him to part with it, he figured it would be a reasonable trade to trade this powerful Castform for the slightly less powerful LEGENDARY. I agreed.

And then he moved to Ohio.

To this day, Castform is my least favorite Pokemon because of this betrayal. I was so distraught at 8 years old that I completely restarted my game of Pokemon Sapphire. I don't remember much about that second playthrough, but there's a reason why.

This rival battle on Route 110 is somewhat infamous for being quite the sudden difficulty spike. And since I knew how to get past Team Aqua now, I didn't have an over-leveled starter to stomp my rival with ease. After losing to her about five or so times, I got frustrated and figured that whatever team I had wasn't cutting it. So I restarted again.

In my third playthrough, I made it all the way to the rival battle on Route 110. Then she stomped me repeatedly. So I restarted again.

This cycle would go on for, like, 15 resets. I didn't count, but it felt like there was hundreds. As I would keep on resetting and playing through the early-game of Pokemon Sapphire (which I had practically memorized at this point), I would start to take things a lot less seriously, sometimes picking the girl character, making my name random gibberish, etc.

Eventually, on one of these playthroughs where I started with Treecko, I actually managed to beat the Route 110 Rival Battle! And on my first try too! And thus began the epic journey of a girl named DE.

Now, I'd figured at this point that maybe only leveling up one Pokemon wasn't the best approach, so I was trying to balance my teams a bit better (I guess my rival taught me something). I was making my way through the game, and one day I'm checking out my best friend's Pokemon in Ruby, and who do I see in his box, but a Kyogre. I take a look at his name, and I can't believe it. It was LEGENDARY. John had traded it to my friend before he moved.

My friend didn't know that it was originally mine, so he offered to trade it back, which I accepted. LEGENDARY was a disobedient little bastard since I didn't have enough badges, but he got the job done. I don't remember the team I ended up using to finally beat the Elite Four, but it included my Sceptile starter, a Sableye that somehow knew only Fighting-type moves, and two Kyogres, LEGENDARY and LEGENDARY2.

And that's my first playthrough of Pokemon Sapphire. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

[its-aighost]

My Top Ten Monster Hunter Monsters

I'm doing this cause i just watched a video of someone else doing it and felt like it.

Starting with Honorable mentions; Rakna Kadaki, Chameleos, Gogmazios, Lunagoron, Lagombi, Paolumu, Legiana, Valstrax, Espinas, Dodogama, Banbaro, Vaal Hazak, Great Wroggi, and Pukei Pukei.

#10

Zinogre;

Big electric wolf boy with spikey spikes. Also Thunderlord and Styngian are really cool variant/subspecies of the guy. I just think he is cool.

#9

Tetsucabra;

Big rock demon frog, and also my first Hunt as i played the MH4U demo on my 3ds with my sibling. Had never heard of the Monster Hunter series before this point and tried the demo as recommended by said siblings friend. Also I just really like frogs. so rock frog is #9

#8

Kecha Wacha

His armor, his design, his goofy little self. He was a fun challenge early on in MH4U and gave a into the new combat system so nicely. Also his playful kind of attitude makes me want him in something again besides a stories spin off title. I wana see him in an enviroment like world or rise...

#7

Ceadeus;

While the MH4U demo was my first Monster Hunter experience, my first game was MH3U on the 3ds. And that means my first Elder Dragon, was none other then the giant goat whale himself. While the under water fighting mechanic was a slow and painful process, it was well worth it especially with his EPIC BOSS MUSIC. My favorite ost in the entire Monster Hunter series save proof of a hero is Ceadeus Theme! That alone makes him so epic in a nostalgic way.

#6

Deviljho

I actually didn't like deviljho when i first ran into him in MH3U. I was actually terrified of him to the point of nightmares. (mind you i was like 13) But when i got to MH4U and watching some dumb pickle jokes about him later in life, he just kept growing on me. I like his armor, his lore, and his fight is genuinely memorable. yet i still associate him with crimson Quropeco years later because yah... (that bird should also be a honorable mention)

#5

Nerscylla

As someone who despises Gypceros, i only like him if it means my baby girl is in the game too. OG spider monster is so cool. I love the great sword tree for her and her subspecies. I also just like spider monsters given we only have had two (Heard there might be a third in wilds, but trying not to spoil myself too much) I like her kind of creepy skin coat, that if you break it off you see her white actual spider shell. And her armor looks so like, knightly yet alien ish to me... she is just a really cool monster design that i want to see more of in the series.

#4

Gammoth

BIG MAMMOTH POPO MAMA!!!! She deserves to be back in a main line game as much as the other three!!!! While i love Astalos fight and armor and Misitsune's armor and fight, Gammoth just feels so BEHEMOTH and cool, and big! I love her armor and massive weapons'. i love her fight, i love that she is much more a guardian of the mountain then a horrible threat of nature! She big!! just amazing design, amazing fight, bring her back to me!!!!

#3

Lagiacrus

for similar reasons to Ceadeus and Tetsucabra, Lagiacrus was one of my firsts. He was my first proper flagship, and his fight was memorable to me even with the hard to grasp underwater mechanics. Also seeing him in the dark of the deep water with his glowing blue crystal spikes on his back as he unfurls and watches you... In my heart of hearts he is always what i think about when i think of LEVIATHAN. he is the leviathan. Knowing he could have been in World is a devastation to me. But i understand... Also his color palate is phenomenal by the way. That greenish more blue with the cream and then orange sub tones.... he feels ocean.

#2

Goss Harag

... I really like the bears. I love lagombi and arzuros. (Volvidon is eh) but i felt like after a certain point you just leave them behind, and lose the need to hunt them. I really like bears... Then you get Goss Harag, who is the new bear and he is EVIL in all the most epic ways! His scary demon looking face, that turns red when he is enraged! The fact he can make weapons' for his hands! His big fluffy white mane! He looks both cuddly and a serial killer! Like this guy could be put in a horror game and also be a very marketable stuffy!

#1

GORE MAGALA

and not just him, but his entire lore/ growth into shagura magala. In his base form, Gore Magala is such a alien creepy guy with like... very edgy aesthetic. The whole fact that he canonically cannot see you with out his scales that also weaken you... and that all his weopans and his armor all have like, Grim reaper dark lord energy. Then you have the fact that his final true form as the elder dragon Shagura Magala has such a more Heavenly aesthetic, yet still kind of angel of death! I really do love Gore Magala, not only as such a cool flagship and part of my all time favorite MH title MH4U I very specifically remember playing both the Gore Magala fight and the Shagura Magala fight on a bus ride, and having my friend who had no idea what i was playing, cheering me on as i took out both these epic looking six limbed dragon bois... it is memorable.

separate honorable mention;

i was the one that got my niece into monster hunter and was real shocked when she told me her favorite monster was Khezu...

[weerd1]

Yet another tale of how much I owe Star Trek

So this is something I haven’t talked about in years, but I was feeling nostalgic today and wanted to capture something. I wanted to write down how Star Trek got me through adolescence. 

Now, I’d already begun decoding Trek and it was already untying the knots my conservative upbringing was instilling from a young age. I can talk about “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” being so on the nose, but 11 year old me NEEDING to see that message about skin color so badly. However, this is not about Trek making me a better person (which it did); this is about Trek helping me learn how to BE a person.  Much more after the jump...

When I was in sixth grade, in about 1984 (I’m 50 now for reference) I got a copy of the old FASA Star Trek role-playing game. Please keep in mind that at this point, there is TOS, TAS, three movies, the novels, and a few comics, but that’s about it. I was consuming and reconsuming them voraciously when I got this game. As a small-for-his-age, nerdy, poor kid living in a trailer, the idea that I could roll a few dice and…BE in Star Trek was a potent elixir. 

Other people around me were growing up. Toys cast aside, actually interacting with other people in nascent romances; I was rushing home to watch GI Joe and Transformers after school. I was playing with Star Wars figures. I was now going through Starfleet Academy, and all it took was a pencil and 2D10. (Sidenote- the FASA RPG system remains one of my favorite RPGs second only to Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars system.) It was a way of adding the unknown to fanfiction I was already writing through  my MEGO Trek figures. 

I created a character, a descendant of my own (the biggest fantasy at that time being that I would ever find someone with whom I could start a line of descendants), promoted them to Captain and looking in the “Federation Ship Recognition Manual,” picked out a starship: the NCC-1754 USS Kitty Hawk.

My adventures had begun. Borrowing PLENTY from my heroes, my character was half-Vulcan, and 100% self-insert. To me, this was the POINT of an RPG. It was me, but the version of me I wished I could be. 

As the year went by, I picked up MORE novels and managed to find more TOS episodes (mostly on videodisc at a local place called “Movies to Go”). My sixth grade teacher, Mr. Toresdahl, was a Trekkie and would spend time he probably should have spent convincing me to do homework talking trivia. I would pick up the supplemental bits of the RPG: The Star Trek III Starship Combat Game, the miniatures, modules, reference books.

Probably the most important was when I got “The Romulans” which were certainly my favorite Trek villain.  This was helped along in NO small part by Diane Duane and her novels starting with “My Enemy, My Ally,” and later “The Romulan Way.” Without a whole lot coming out of Paramount for Star Trek at the time, there was a lot of borrowing between the existing media.

The RPG borrowed from the novels. The DC Comics series which started after the film “The Wrath of Khan” borrowed from the RPG.*

There was a congruence of some sort forming, and being as into the RPG as I was, it made me pretty well versed in all the lore. I started finding (and eventually writing for) fanzines at that point. I scoured “Starlog” magazine for Trek news and opinion. I was dead set that I would not rest until I knew all there was to know about Star Trek. 

When I started 7th Grade, there was a shift in the world around me.  Junior High meant multiple classes and even “electives.” Again, the whole physical specter of preteen sexuality was unfolding (and the examples around a young boy in the mid-eighties were seldom the healthiest). It was like I’d landed suddenly after the summer on a whole new planet, and I wasn’t sure how to cope with it all. 

But luckily, I had access to a version of me for whom landing on strange, new worlds was old hat. 

And so, I began what I can only now call LARPing life. I decided I WAS Captain Daomer. I invented an intricate “campaign” for myself, where 23rd Century Romulans (thanks again, Ms. Duane) had come back to Earth’s past to change our history, prevent the Federation from forming.** Just luckily, the Kitty Hawk was monitoring tachyon emissions in a singularity adjacent to the Sol system, and picked up the coming changes to the causality chain. At the last minute a hasty slingshot maneuver around the black hole had taken me and my crew to the time and place of the primary Romulan incursion: Southern Arizona in 1985. Of course.

Now, was this just a protective shell inside my head where I would pretend to be Captain Daomer pretending to be Daniel dealing with the intricacies of social interaction in the 7th grade?  Of COURSE not. I told anyone who would listen the whole story.

For about the next six years. 

I was in a small enough town that my school, Palominas Elementary, was a K-8.  I’d been with the same folks and staff more or less my entire school career. So, when I had to take a bus 30 minutes away to the nearest town to begin attending High School, did I change the story? Did I keep it to myself?  Oh no; if anything I became MORE flamboyant about it. Still a skinny nerd, I wasn’t picked on. Why? Because that kid’s the “Spock Guy,” and why would anyone mess with that Spock Guy?

Something important DID change between my Freshman and Sophomore year though. Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted. So, I had to update my story a bit.  My half-Vulcan character had returned to the 23rd century, continued his career, and in the 24th century, after being promoted to Commodore and as a fleet commander claiming the new Galaxy-Class USS Kitty Hawk as my flagship, had discovered post-Tomed Romulans were up to their old tricks.  That allowed me a real coup at one point, as I had caught through some fan publication early wind of Denise Crosby leaving the show, and “accidentally” dropped my knowledge that Lt. Tasha Yar was going to die before it happened on the TV. Proof of future knowledge! 

My Junior year, I was approached by a fellow student who was writing for the school paper and wanted to interview me.  We spent a couple of class periods talking about my “backstory” and I realized this person knew at least as much—if not more—about Trek than I did. The school paper never did run the interview, but some 35 years later that kid, Will Schwartz (yes, THE Schwartz) remains my best friend. 

I had already started to slow the story down a bit the summer before my Senior year, but also that summer, well, I met a girl. We were hitting it off. But when she mentioned going out with me, the school grapevine was quick to ask, “Are you dating that Spock Guy?” 

And she didn’t run away. Indeed, when she’d once demonstrated she knew all the lyrics to Neil Young’s “After The Gold Rush,” I figured she was a girl I should talk into marrying me. When she accepted I was that Spock guy, because after all, her Dad was a Trekkie and had an AMAZING collection of science fiction paperbacks, well that clinched it for me. Today, Jennifer and I are celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. 

So, as I went out into the world after high school, did I never call on Commodore Daomer again?  I can’t say never. Sometimes in a military career when facing danger, or briefing an officer with stars on their shoulders, a mask of stoic Vulcan control would come out of that box in the attic of my brain and get me through. But more directly, Star Trek, and my immersion thereof got me through 7th to 12th grade and gave me a broader world view, a friend for decades, and helped me identify the love of my life.  

Thank you Star Trek for all of that. Thank you creators for the assist. Thank you fellow fans for helping it be such a rich world, and thank you Commodore Daomer for your 24th Century wisdom.

One little coda.  I still watch a lot of Star Trek. Old, new…I don’t like everything that comes out, but I love it all, and that’s something I think some fans struggle with. However, there was a lovely new starship introduced not long ago, and I had to immediately find a fan produced model and make some custom changes.

The Kitty Hawk-A goes boldly... Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning.

*The DC series had some wonderful early issues ALSO written by Diane Duane! Who can forget the Ajir and the Grond? Or McCoy accessing Spock’s katra still lurking within? Wonderful. The fact I’m mutuals here on Tumblr with someone who was such an influence to young me is probably the thing about my life now the kid in the trailer would be most skeptical of. 

**Thanks to Strange New Worlds for canonizing this, by the way. 

[razorblade180]

Back again, but this time for something nostalgic... I think.

Way back, you did a post involving Aether, Venti, and some girls in the church doing a 'game show' involving Aether telling what he likes about them, before the two Anemo boys pull a runner after Barbara interrupts them... Time to reverse it.

In honor of Venti's banner coming back, what do they like about him? Both physically and emotionally.

[The Church]

Venti:Hello everyone, new and returning. I’m positive you know why I invited you here?

Keqing:Did you get permission to use this place, unlike before?

Venti:Excellent question! Anyways, how is everyone?

Girls:Venti…

Venti:Okay. I was joking. I was generously given this time before they start choir practice.

Nilou:So…what’s going on exactly?

Yanfei:Sometimes it’s fun to make Aether flustered. Best way to do it is getting him to playfully ask him questions regarding our relationship since he tries his hardest not discuss things about one of us in another’s company. We’re probably gonna plan on how to do it again.

Nilou:But all of us talk about things all the time.

Amber:He’s a considerate worry wart. So, what exactly is the plan this time.

Venti:Gather around everyone!

All the girls huddle in front of Venti as he leans closer. He inhales slowly, then vanishes. That certainly threw them for a loop. They all looked in different directions until Kokomi gasped, making them all turn around to see Aether sitting on one of the closest church benches and venting standing off to the side halfway between the group. That’s when he pulled out the scariest thing ever. Flash cards.

Girls:Treachery!!!

Venti:My allegiance is fairness and entertainment! What sense does it make to only know Aether’s thoughts and not the other way around?

Kokomi:I’m a little surprised you went along with this.

Aether:I owed him a favor. Somehow I have a feeling this is still going to end up being embarrassing for me.

Venti:Have faith you all! Though I did throw in a few questions that are more trivia based. Thought it would be interesting to see who knows what. Even in monogamous relationships, rarely does a partner learn everything naturally.

Amber:No cheating, Mona.

Mona:W-Why would I for something so simple!? When do I cheat at anything for that matter!?

Venti:Here’s an easy one for everyone. Aether’s favorite color.

Everyone:Gold

Aether:I don’t think you’d have to know me for that one, let alone date me.

Venti:That’s why I called it easy. Hehe? How about this one? Who is Aether’s favorite person?

Girls:Lumine….

Aether:*red* Well when you all say it at once like that it sounds rude!

Venti:What was the first thing that really caught your eye about him?

Amber:Technically speaking, it was your strange clothes. If we’re talking about attractive wise…it has to be your sheepish smile. It was cute how awkward you were at everything.

Aether:Hehe, I was quite literally a lost boy stumbling through a language.

Mona:Well mine is no secret. Everything around you is fascinating and a mystery the stars can’t quite unravel.

Venti:Gee, you sound like Albedo or Sucrose, but that’s pretty fitting all things considered.

Keqing:You beat up the guards…

Aether:Okay, we’ve made it clear my first impressions in nations aren’t that positive. What about after that?

Keqing:I’m merely teasing, mostly. Hmmm, I suppose it was how serious your eyes were at the time. Perhaps it was because of my questions but I liked how earnest and straightforward you were. *smirks* Really hid how much of a goof you could be.

Aether:*smiles*

Yanfei:*red*…I gotta be honest. Midriff.

Aether:And I respect that! Game recognizes game!

Mona:You both are ridiculous.

Ayaka:In my case, stories about you reached me before you actually did, so my interests were piqued for awhile. Imagine my surprise when I saw somehow who looked similarly to Thoma. I felt strangely comfortable from the start.

Kokomi:*smiles* You put me at ease.

Everyone: (That’s such a good answer!!)

Nilou:Personally, I just thought you were cute and wanted to know you. It’s why I was so forward.

Yanfei:Hold on, you asked him out?!

Nilou:Mmhm. He was a little bashful but clearly interested.

Ayaka:You’re bolder than I.

Aether:I had to tell people all the time in Sumeru I didn’t brazenly confront Nilou. If anything, Nilou courted me. I was trying to figure out where a god was at and why days felt looped!

Nilou:If you want something then you should strive to have it if possible. *smiles*

Venti:A fine attitude!! Next question. Why did you say “yes” to Aether.

Amber:Why would I say no.

Girls:Seconded.

Aether:*red*……

Venti:Well then…just obliterate my question then. You could’ve at least played along.

Mona:Then prepare better questions.

Venti:Fine then. Trivia time. Is Aether a top or bottom.

Aether:There’s no way you have an answer on that card!

Venti:That may be true, but I’m asking regardless!

Yanfei:He’s a t-

Amber and Nilou: Bottom.

Yanfei:Huh?

Kokomi:Oh?

Aether:We do not have to have this conversation.

Yanfei:Too late. I…thought he was a top.

Keqing:Switch, but a bottom at heart.

Amber:Ayaka?

Ayaka:*red* Do I really need to weigh in on this? We could just ask him what-

Nilou:Own it.

Ayaka:I would’ve said top.

Mona:Same here! Kokomi?

Kokomi:With, or without Gorou?

Aether:Kokomi!!!!!

Kokomi:Kidding! It depends, so switch I guess.

Mona:Explain yourself!

Aether:There’s nothing to explain! You’re all different people who like different things!

Venti:Okay, but what do you prefer.

Aether:….*blushing* I mean it’s nice accepting advances but I never mind putting in effort. Keqing is right.

Keqing:Woooo! We’ve literally discussed it.

Mona: *squints* You’re never this shy around me.

Aether:Oh you’re different.

Mona:How!?

Aether:I like humbling you. It’s cute, and you don’t hate it.

Mona:….

The Girls: *covers mouths* Ooooh, Wanderer makes sense.

Mona:We do not need to speak about that boy!!

Aether:As for the others who thought I was a top, it just made sense for me to lead. You were nervous and I wasn’t about to make you uncomfortable.

Yanfei & Ayaka:Awww

Venti:Such a gentleman

Mona:Do not praise this menace! He only acts like an Angel!

Aether:*smiles* I don’t know what you mean.

Venti:Next question. W-

The sound of the doors opening cut him off. Barbara walks into the church to wave at everyone as she approaches.

Venti:Ah, Barbara. Where did the time go?

Barbara:Please tell me nothing strange has happened since I’ve been gone.

Venti:Of course not. Nothing but totally normal questions and a few jokes.

The group: (Right…we are in a church) *group guilt sinks in*

Barbara:Well I hate to ruin the fun be we have to set up soon.

Venti:That’s fine, but one more question! Please? *holds her hands* Then I’ll personally stay to help get everything in place. I’ll even lend my musical talents if needed. *bats eyes*

Barbara:…*red* One more question can’t hurt.

Venti:Hehe, thank you, Deaconess.

Group:…When did this happen!? 👀

Barbara:W-When did what happen?

Amber:You two! It’s cute! *gasp* does Jean know!?

Mona:Barbara, blink twice if you need help.

Nilou:Did he write you a song!?

Ayaka:Or a poem!?

Yanfei:How long has this been happening.

Kokomi:Hydro solidarity!!

Keqing:Calm down everyone. Let’s organize our questions.

Venti:Woah! I’m supposed to be the one with the questions! Aether, a little hel-

Aether:*slowly closes door* Byeee~

Barbara:This was the fun activity you were doing!?

Venti:In my defense…it’s way funnier when you have the cards.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

More small ones because that seems to be what I'm doing a lot of again lately after some long stuff that I needed a break from.

Graceful Explosion Machine is surprisingly polished and well balanced for something I got on a whim and had never heard of before. It does a good job incentivizing you to play strategically and use each of your different types of weapons, all of which feel useful in different situations. The balance between the default weapon overheating if used too much, the more powerful weapons running out of energy if you use them too much, needing to stay up close to enemies to recharge your weapons, and the cooldown on the double dash being just long enough that you have to ration it feels well thought out and probably took a lot of playtesting to get right. My only complaints are that usually the tiny easiest enemies in the game are the ones that hit me because I can't see them through all the effects happening on screen and that the later levels are causing me pretty significant physical pain to play. I'm about 3/4 of the way through and still having fun, but we'll see if I just need a break or to give up entirely before I hurt myself like with Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Mahjong Solitaire is...ok just hear me out on this one. I used to have a friend who would randomly gift me bad games on Steam because they knew I'd play them anyway and then complain about them. One of those, several years ago, was Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire, which was actually surprisingly well put together compared to what I expected, even if the horny on main aspects of it were very silly. Sometimes I just get nostalgic for people being like "hey this looks terrible and was 99 cents, have fun" I guess? Anyway it's actually decently made for what it is (and extremely unforgivingly difficult unless you set it to easy mode), and if it were a little less horny some of the costumes would be pretty cute instead of like 70% of them being too ridiculous for me to take seriously. Then again, I'm aroace, so what do I know?

Meet Her There is one of those things where I'm not even sure how I ended up with it, but thank you past me for finding it somehow, apparently. It's a very short VN (like I think I finished it in maybe 15 minutes and saw all the alternate stuff in another 15) originally made for a game jam. It has the color palette of a Virtual Boy game, which really highlights how awful the cheap TV I'm using as a monitor is, but it works well with the art style and music to set the dark tone of it. Speaking of which, do not ignore the content warnings on this one for suicidal themes if that's an issue for you. I feel like it handled what it was going for pretty well, even though like some other stuff I've mentioned recently the writing is a little stiff/awkward. It didn't bother me as much here as it did in some of those others. Also it's very funny how when I looked at the user reviews for it on Steam afterward almost none of them mentioned or seemed to even have picked up on some stuff that was really obvious to me, like right away I was like "oh this is FULL of gender".

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

What's your favorite kind of car?

Do you like video games? Which is your favorite genre? Specific favorite game?

Favorite dog breed?

What's your morning routine?

Favorite writing space?

Best fictional character of all time?

You have a microphone that makes you heard around the world. You can say one thing. What will you say?

Okay, I honestly don’t… care much, for cars. They’re just meh to me. I like bikes better :D

I used to play Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros Wii alllll the time when I was little, and to this day they’re still incredibly nostalgic and hold a lot of good memories. I think I was… six, when I played Mario Galaxy for the first time. My dad played Mario and I played the little player two star—it was freaking awesome, and always something I looked forward to. One of my favorite things to do was collect star-bits for my dad, and freeze enemies. It was just… awesome. So much fun.

However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve liked video games less and less. My brother is the video game guy, and he is a hekkin nerd about it XD

I don’t really play any video games now, and haven’t played any for years, BUT! Zelda Breath Of The Wild has amazing cutscenes and a great story and ZELDA IS VERY LIKABLE and LINK OH MY GOSH LINK MY BELOVED!!! HE EATS ROCKS FOR FUN!!!

I went through a phase a year or two ago where me and my sister came up with loads of fanfic ideas for BOTW, and I still want to write them!! I think it’d be really fun! I’m just preoccupied with DSMP at the moment :)

So long story short, I’m not a video game person, but I really really like BOTW for the story (and also Tears Of The Kingdom).

Favorite dog breed oh goshhhh

I love golden retrievers (special dogs, and also the same breed as Shadow from Homeward Bound, which is my Most Nostalgic Movie and I need to see it again) and I also like golden doodles (same breed as my dog Ginger <3) and I also like german shepherds (really cool dogs they look so awesome) and I also like great pyrenees (giant fluffy darlings the lot of them and they protect sheep)

But I also really really like wolves :D

I don’t have much of a morning routine, to be perfectly honest; I’m a night owl, and mornings haven’t ever been my thing 😅

I guess they’re… chill? I don’t know, not much happens. I don’t even eat breakfast, most of the time.

FAVORITE WRITING SPACE I LIKE THIS QUESTION!!! Okay, so until just a couple months ago, I didn’t have much of a writing space. If I wanted to write, I usually wrote on a very uncomfortable chair in the living room, or sometimes in my bed.

But at the start of this year, I (somehow) got into a writing routine; every day at 8-8:45pm, I’ll sit down at the tiny table in the kitchen, where I stay until 10pm. It’s been my writing place for a while now, and it’s gotten to the point where I feel wrong when I write anywhere else 😅

So definitely that! Actually here’s a picture:

Now you get to read part of my romance story ajsgajsvjav I honestly had No Idea what I was doing as I wrote it

I can and have written other places—a park bench, a cabin, the notes app on my phone—but I much prefer the kitchen table!

Best. Fictional. Character. Oh boy. Deathy. I will probably ramble. Oh boy.

I gotta start with Ghostbur, of course. My beloved, the ghost of all time, lover of the color blue and sheep, Innocent, weirdly relatable, wearer of yellow sweaters… the perfect guy <3

The way cc!Wilbur treated him is criminal. cc!Wilbur needs to be tried for his crimes and found guilty of malicious intent, murder, enjoyment in other’s sufferings, and Far More.

AND THE FANDOM!!! DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE FREAKING FANDOM!!! People either see Ghostbur as an overgrown toddler who can’t understand anything, or they see him as this strange mystical Being who is serious all the time and never smiles and is always sad and depressed.

Neither are true! Stop it! It’s annoying and terrible! Freaking stop!

Ghostbur didn’t deserve what happened to him, and he doesn’t deserve the awful fandom interpretations.

Ghostbur deserves the whole world, and all the sheep in the world, and the softest sweaters imaginable <333

I also really really like Wilbur, Tommy, Tech, and Maul :D

Oooh… hm. That’s a tough one.

I think I’d say…

GOSH DEATHY THIS IS HARD!!!

I’d want to say something about Christianity, but there’s so much to say, and I’d want to make sure people understood and didn’t get confused, and I wouldn’t want to say the wrong thing and give people wrong assumptions.

Oooh… maybe I’d share some of my story, like when I dealt with doubts about my faith. That might help people. Oooh :0

Thank you soooo much, Deathy!! This was quite fun to answer :D

[jamiefantana]

it’s the year 2023 and i made a tumblr

   I read an article somewhere, sometime recently, on the resurgence of Tumblr.  Or what resurgence can be expected.  Apparently a lot of people left because some giant company bought it and took out all the porn.  Imagine that, a giant company buying something just to buy it and not understanding why people like it.

   I mean, I didn’t like it for the porn.  I liked it for thischarmingcharlie, and garfieldminusgarfield, and for how many standup comedians were on there in the Obama years.  But also... why didn’t anyone tell me about the porn?

   Had a Tumblr on here once.  A couple, I think.  One is lost to the ages, I found another and boy is it hilariously emo.  I’m gonna copy the entries down to a private doc, and then try to nuke it from orbit so the secondhand embarrassment doesn’t make me shrink into the earth.  Although... fuck if I know the email address I started it with.  I change emails like others change socks.

   The article was kind of about how Tumblr never really got commercialized.  There are no Tumblr influencers.  The Karens and the conspiracy theorists never discovered Tumblr, or if they did, it confused and frightened them... like higher education or the existence of other languages.  They’re outnumbered on here.  Tumblr is full of young obsessive fan-types with politics progressive enough to make me look like G. Gordon Liddy.  If any middle-aged Elon Musk fan were to come on here, they’d be chased out in an instant by an array of people with rainbow-colored hair and a tidal wave of Schitt’s Creek gifs.  I kinda dig that.

   It’s a little poignant, however, as I look over all of the tumblrs I used to follow and see how most of them stopped entirely years ago.  Multiple years ago.  The most recent entry, barring two people I “know” from twitter, is garfieldminusgarfield with an entry from six months ago.  Holy shit, good for them... still plugging away despite the book deal already having come and gone... fifteen years ago, gulp.

   I’ve been in a nostalgic mood lately.  Been thinking a lot of my college years, of wandering around Urban Outfitters, of a time when I could afford to wander around Urban Outfitters, thanks to student loan money.  If my current life crisis is reminiscing about that one year I spent in Brooklyn ten years ago, and trying to bring back iPods, going to actual websites, and buying point-and-click cameras like I’m the Cobrasnake that never goes to any parties, then I suppose that’s far healthier than buying a matte black sports car and trying to nail co-eds.  

   Anyway, welcome to my Tumblr.  I’m gonna use this to post various essays I also post on tinyletter, plus some more personal stuff that wouldn’t fit on there, plus repost some classic stuff from back in the day from all the old tumblrs I’ve talked about.  Maybe some original photos.  Maybe I’ll convince some people I know to start their own, like my director friend or my artist friend or my game designer friend.  We’ll see.  

[rockybloo]

What’s your favorite fairytale(s) reimagined piece of media? I’ll start first, beanstalked. It already looks so cool and reading about the characters makes me so excited to see more. The character design are amazing, your style is so damn nice to look at and seeing just how much these characters mean to you is so nice to see. MORE UNAPOLOGETIC LOVE FOR YOUR OWN STORIES! Everyone should I their own little fandoms in their heads! Draw those badass monsters! Make your silly little guys kiss! Your brain should be mush from your love of your own works! Also thanks for indirectly bring back my love for my oc’s from middle school, I missed those guys. Your stories have feel so nostalgic, so familiar and comforting but new and refreshing.

T thank yo ou u. I get so happy when people like Beanstalked, I KNOW I SAY THIS EVERYTIME SOMEONE SAYS THEY LIKE IT BUT I'MMA KEEP ON SAYING IT, because it is my baby 😭

AND YES-THE SELF INDULGENCE SPREADS

As for fav fairytale reimaginings-OH BOY here we go because do I have a LIST

Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997): One of my earliest memories of a fairy tale retellings that I actually enjoyed as a kid. There are so many things in it that just hit along with the songs. Honestly, every other live action Cinderella falls flat in comparison for me.

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child: I grew up watching reruns on HBO and it was a big motivation for me to say "fuck it" and make a vast majority of the characters in Beanstalked people of color. Plus, I love the design choices they make for a lot of the characters. And the 90s vibes are just sooo good.

American McGee's Grim: I love this demented little game and its style. The execution makes it worth it to play for me even if you aren't into fairy tales. Plus, how can I turn down technically having the ability to run around inside an ACTUAL level based on fairy tales. I have Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella and I like to play them occasionally just for the fun of it. And yes, that Jack and the Beanstalk is 100%ed

Shrek 1 and 2: I love both these films and they are very nostalgic to me but I especially love the second. It really goes all in on that "living in a fairy tale" aspect with Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming, the Frog Prince, Puss in Boots, etc. Plus, that "I Need a Hero" montage just goes so hard. It's honestly one of my fav animated scenes in a film.

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio: I love stop motion. And I love retellings that know their source material while also adding their own flavor. This film is such a work of art from head to toe and I balled so many times watching. Plus the way it touches on the aspect of life and death makes me so happy.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: I could gush on and on about how much I love the animations and characters but like…everyone has already done that for me so I will focus on what specifically made me love the film. And that's how it handles fairy tales. It takes a much more earnest approach than Shrek, which while I love, you have to admit it can be a bit mean spirited at times. So I enjoy how this movie was more of a "these tales are people living their lives". I love the found family aspect of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Puss in Boots being a legend and a bad ass and cocky like the OG tale. I even liked Jack Horner and how he was just that good classic "I am a dick and I own it" character. Personally, I view him as a sort of commentary on how companies will IP dump things to seem cooler and more successful. In this case, it's Fairy Tale dumping which is DEF something I've seen SO MANY TIMES because companies will thing having a bunch of tales in one thing automatically makes them cool since "DISNEY DID IT SO IT'LL WORK" and they just land flat on their face. I genuinely hope that more films in the Shrekverse have this sort of down to earthness to them…and if no the Shrekverse then maybe some more animated films that genuinely reimagine fairy tales.

Relating to the previous point but I do not care what anyone says that little boy with the cow and the giant covered in greenery was def a fuckin Jack and the Beanstalk reference and I will fight everyone tooth and nail about it I SEE A REF TO MY FAV TALE WHEN I SEE IT DAMMIT

Alice and the Nightmare: A webcomic that's based off Alice in Wonderland. Currently, it's one of the only Alice based reimaginings that I like and the art is just so GOOD??? I am always hyped to read the next update.

I'm sure there is like...a crumb of more but these are the ones that really resonate with me and motivate me to work on Beanstalked when I see them. I keep thinking the list is gonna be longer but honestly...it's the list of fairy tale retellings that I'm NOT into that is the long one. It doesn't help that I occasionally watch the off brand animated fairy tale based movie on Netflix for funzies and come out mildly disturbed.

[biancatronic]

Warning: contains mention of death, horror body.

Gold & Reader Headcannon's

So this is the first writing I've done related to it, I can't help but feel like writing about it, so here we go dear :]

• How did you meet him? Well, did you know he found a Gameboy at his parents' house, they explained that they found him at his friend's house giving him furniture and items they wanted to discard for them to sell or keep and his son gave them the gameboy without explaining the why, at first you were curious to know why he gave it, so your parents gave the box where there were many boxes with nostalgic technology things from the 2000's, looking for the blessed Gameboy, you think with installed cartridge of the famous Pokemon Silver.

You're not such a fan of Pokemon, but you loved to play, loved to catch the little monsters at the time and many favorites and addicted to wanting to catch the legendary and rare, those were good times.

Back home, turned on the game, you noticed some strange bizarre changes in the menu and the opening that had a red, gray, black and white color palette, you didn't care at first, but when you clicked on start the screen went black for about 10 minutes, you thought the game was broken, when you hear a faint groggy snoring voice talking to you in the side, you're pretty sure you saw something pale right on your side by the Gameboy screen.

At that moment, your blood ran cold and you didn't want to turn to face the thing, but you wanted to see what you just released, with sweat that you release but cold turned to the thing that was on your side behind you.

It was horrible, but it visualized everything, a ghost looks like. Pale skin, empty eyes that you can see the flesh inside, white clothes, pants probably torn, white jacket with large zipper, on them with stains of old blood still fresh a little, black hair fringe on the cap with white line in the middle and the rest of it black, his face had a face that showed no emotion, just neutral and serious.

You scream, but you hold the sound by your mouth, you desperately move away from it, let the game crash and you drop more stuff, some bugs that for something you recognized, it was the Unowns, you watched a Pokemon movie that had them, as far as I know, they formed their home a letter of the alphabet.

(And if he doesn't talk? Did they use them to talk to me?) - you thought and ignored the scream you held back and did it anyway with shock. You saw the horror of his body without legs and arms, it was impossible he's alive, but actually it was impossible he levitates e-ah...forget it.

You guys stare at him for a few minutes, suddenly the boy wearing an Unown that was a question mark tilted his head a little to the side was very strange and hideous, but you had to want an answer from him, you started the question by clearing your throat and being indirect to yourself sit down and take a quick look at Gameboy on the ground and start talking with the strange creature.

• He didn't need to use the Unown to pronounce a few words he speaks, but his voice is a scary badly used for years stuck on the console with groggy and faint snoring in it, this one spoke like he got like this, that wasn't the first time he finds someone like a deceased salesman that he took care of the gameboy, he says that the last person he saw broke the gameboy he left he falls to the ground after throwing it, in an attempt to get rid of the victim saw, that gave him the key get out.

• Ah, his name is Gold, but curiously you find out that his real name is Ethan, one of the Unown said his name when he was talking some details of his story, without being so deep that he asked his members.

• Living with him upsets you, first because he's scary, second, he's not chatty, just an emotionless supernatural being with sadness and emptiness inside, but at least you have a roommate you can vent and talk to a little, even though he said less.

• Gold may rarely display a different emotion, but you really want him to get out of his eternal misery.

• Oh yeah, he stays in hidden corners with a cold and lonely environment and sometimes you get scared with him looking at nothing.

• You gave him your clothes the first day you met, you didn't want to bathe, but he says you don't need to, you want his help so much that you can't get along with others so well.

• Gold has an interest in bird watching from his window and garden.

• Gold sometimes asks you. It's you taking a fright anyway, asking him to give something to the Unown or to him, even though he wasn't hungry he wanted to fill his emptiness.

Oh and he eats in a weird way, he forgot how he uses his mouth and can eat or drink with his eyes, whichever drink comes out of his mouth or in the other eye, you help him eat even if the hideous bowels want to suck you inside.

• If you are experiencing distress, depression and think too much about sad things. Gold will console you, even if you don't have emotions, with time you've been with him in months he will hug you along with Unown and Celebi around him comforted you (Celebi can't sing because of Perish Song).

I will do a based Oneshot of this.

Thank You for read it 💟.

[maklineluv]

I’m back with a Random Drama Tag

Tag People You Want To Get To Know Better

I was tagged by @mrsandypants

🚢Three ships: I will focus on fictional BL ships for this question. Tinn and Gun from My School President. They are really super cute and I NEED their story to end happily. Onoe and Kaburagi from Candy Color Paradox. I just find something really intriguing and cute about them together. It’s almost like they shouldn't work but they do. If that makes any sense. I am a Rain and Payu Stan. I loved them together in Love in the Air. Don’t get me wrong I love Sky and Prapai but Rain and Payu just have a chokehold on my heart. 

🚢First ever ship: Again I am just going to focus on fictional BL ships. I was late to the BL game so my 1st ship was actually White and Sean from Not Me. I still absolutely adore them. The amount of times I have gone back and just watched their scenes together is unhealthy. 

🎧Last song: I am going to make this into the last songs plural. Pull Up by VIVIZ. Give me a song with horns any day. Killer by KEY. I love the heavy synth 80s vibe. Honestly by LIMELIGHT. It is just the right amount of cutesy pop for me. Wisp by ONEST. They are a university project group and I just really like this song they put out. Whenever by ONE OFF. This song just speaks to my nostalgic EMO heart. 

🍿Last movie: Cherry Magic! The Movie was the last movie I watched. It was a cute continuation of the series. 

📖Currently reading: I am not currently reading anything. I haven’t had the concentration to focus on reading lately. I’m a slow reader so I need to set aside ample time for reading and I just haven’t been able to do that of late. 

👀Currently watching: My School President. So cute I am loving this series.  Never Let Me Go. This is such an emotionally heavy yet cute series. HIStory5: Love in the Future. I am in a love/hate relationship with this series. Fahlanruk. I put this series on hold because it was annoying me but I plan on finishing it soon. and Boys Planet. I wouldn’t say I am enjoying this show (I can never really say I enjoy any survival show). But I am actively voting. So fingers crossed. 

👄Currently consuming: I am drinking coffee. I am a coffeeholic it is a problem. 

Currently craving: For whatever reason I am craving Cheezies. For my non-Canadians those are a brand of crispy cheese puffs. 

Tagging: I don’t have anyone specific to tag. So anyone that sees that sees this and wants to do it just say I tagged you lol. 

[mackeydoodledoo]

I Only Swim Free: Chapter 4

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x (Fem!)Reader

Summary: You’ve done swimming all your life. You’ve gotten to your dream college on a scholarship for your outstanding freestyle technique back in high school. Relationships never crossed your mind however, that was before you met your swim team captain: Bela Dimitrescu.

Warning: Jealousy, heavy couple-arguments, relationship-neglection

A/N: Rather than having this be a one chapter story, I decided to make this thing a whole series!

“Lost Boys” - Ocean Park Standoff

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

You jolt awake to the sound of your door being knocked on. Groggy, you get up and slowly pace around your apartment to get to the door. Once you open it, Bela is on the other side.

“Bela?” you ask, rubbing your eyes, “It’s almost 3 am, what’s going on?”

“Can I stay here?” She asks, “My boyfriend and I got into an argument and I didn’t feel like staying and- this was the only place I could think of. May I?”

“Yeah, of course,” You say, your eyes halfway open

You could tell that she was wearing your hoodie you gave her your first day of practice the other week.

“You want anything?” You ask, grabbing a snack out of the pantry

“Pass,” She says as she sits on your bed

“You want to talk about it?” You ask, sitting next to her

“When I got back my boyfriend was super drunk,” She begins, “He kept on rambling how I’m beginning to get all touchy and close to you... “

You are though... But, I’m not against it or anything...

“I just... You’re my close friend and I do the exact same thing with all of my other girls,” Bela sighs, “But you- I don’t know why he has a problem with you...”

“Well, let me tell you something,” You start, “I don’t give an absolute damn about what your boyfriend thinks of me. He shouldn’t be having this much control over who you decide to hug, chat with or even be friends with. If I’m going to be honest, he sounds toxic...” 

Bela sighs as she falls back into your bed, embracing its warmth. She groans as she covers her entire face with the both of her hands.

“Why haven’t you broken up with him yet?” You ask

“Because I’m afraid he’ll turn into one of those kinds of crazy exes and then he’ll hurt me and my family, my friends... You,” Bela sighs

“Me?” You ask, “Why would you be worried about me? I can sure handle myself in a fight. I should know.”

You try to play it off as a ‘hero’ kind of tone. But, when you look back down at Bela, she isn’t smiling.

“Because I care about you,” Bela confesses, “Since you joining the swim team, you were the first one ever to show to me that life is just more than swimming.”

“Like?” You ask

“I need to detach from the world every now and then,” She says, “Especially that night I found you on the rooftop.”

“That huh?” You ask, sighing, “I’m not one for parties...”

“I know,” She sighs

You fall back into your bed and offer your arm as a pillow for her. She lays her head against your arm and turns to you.

“Of all my relationships, you’re the only one who’s shown me respect and human decency.” Bela also confesses

“Bela, we’re not dating,” You say, “But, even so, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because all the boys would just bend to my will, I know it’s toxic of me to have them do so but, I want someone who would fall for me, for me.. You know?”

You nod, “Well, I always fall in love with the personality.”

“And?... My personality?” She asks you

“Well, you’re amazing in and out Bela,” You smile, “You’re the coolest gal I’ve ever become friends with. My captains from high school weren’t this close with me.”

“Really?” She asks, “Why not?”

“Cliques in the team,” you sigh, “After the season, none of us ever really got together other than at the banquet a couple weeks later.”

“Hmm,” Bela sighs, scooting in closer to you, “Have you ever... slept with a woman?”

“I wouldn’t say slept with in the terms you’re talking about,” You sigh, “Just cuddling maybe making out... But that’s it. So in other words, no.”

Everything was silent from there. But, Bela still huddles into your embrace. However, you take the opportunity to change into your pajamas. Bela pretty much makes herself at home and is already under your blanket. 

“You’re also welcome here if you need an escape from your boyfriend,” You whisper in Bela’s ear as you hop under the covers with her

She cuddles into your embrace as you begin wrapping your arms around her. Not too long after you manage to get her to fall asleep. The same goes for yourself. As you watch the sunrise peek through your windows you look down at Bela who was still fast asleep in your arms. You couldn't help but crack a slight smile. You move some hair out of her face and place a gentle kiss at the middle of her forehead. She begins to stir and looks up at you with half-opened eyes.

"Morning," she says, smiling

"Morning," you reply back, "Hungry?"

She nods but cuddles into your further, "But, that can wait. Let's just stay here..."

Just as you were about to get situated in her embrace, you could hear a phone ringing. At first the both of you ignored it however, it became persistent. Bela looks at it and groans when she sees her boyfriend's name across the screen. She finally caves in and answers the phone.

"Where the hell are you?" He asks, "I've been searching for you all night."

"Sorry, after the argument I decided to stay with a friend," Bela sighs, “I had no mood to go back into your fraternity house..."

"That’s fine, but it better not be at that kids' dorm," he says, "Can we talk it out during brunch? On me."

"Maybe," she says, hanging up

The puts her phone back onto the nightstand and groans in frustration.

"I'm pretty sure your boyfriend doesn't sound too happy?" You ask

"He feels bad," Bela says, "Maybe I will take him up on that offer..."

"Alright," you say, without trying to sound butt-hurt, "If anything happens I'm only a call away."

"Thanks y/n," she smiles

Bela leaves after changing into a simple outfit for the day and leaves you to your lonesome. You decided to get your work done, at least whatever remaining work you had to do. You wanted to save your photo assignment for last. Hoping you could get Bela to be your model. However, realizing you had photo class the next day, you began losing hope of getting to do a photoshoot with Bela. After a couple of hours you finally finish your school work and decide to watch some of your favorite youtubers play various games. You were currently watching Markiplier play Papers, Please when you noticed your phone going off. You pick it up immediately when Bela’s icon came up.

“Bela?” You call for her, when you hear crying, “Are you okay?!” 

“He isn’t picking up,” Bela sniffles, “I think he stood me up... I know your calf is injured but-but can you come get me?”

“I could care less if my calf is injured, don’t worry love, I’ll come get you,” You say, reassuringly

You slip on your calf brace and slip on some shoes and grab your car keys and rush out the door.

Bela gives you the address to the restaurant that Bela and her boyfriend had agreed to meet up at. You see Bela sitting along the curb just outside of the restaurant, her head in her hands. You stop your car and hop out.

“Bela,” You say

She looks up at you and practically jumps into your arms, sobbing into your shoulder.

“Shhhh,” You coo, stroking her blonde locks, “It’s okay.. It’s okay..”

“He didn’t even call me,” Bela cries

“You know what?” You ask, pulling Bela away to look at her

“What?” She asks

“Would you possibly want to hang out with me instead?” You ask, trying not to sound like a weirdo, “We can do anything you want really. I may not be your boyfriend Bela, but I absolutely hate seeing you torn because of this guy.”

“Sure,” She tries to smile at you but to no avail

“We’ll make it a night you will remember for the ages,” You try to sound optimistic

You made your last stop at a grocery store for some stuff for home as you had just remembered you hadn’t done that yet. You look out to the sky and notice the sun beginning to set. With the time you had remaining, you quickly change the song to “Lost Boys” by Ocean Park Standoff

Let’s take the night off From caring ‘bout tomorrow Let’s take our minds off the things we can’t control Let’s take our clothes off and jump into the ocean Don’t know where we’re going But. it’s somewhere out there!

On occasion you would look over to Bela and you’d see her smiling from ear to ear; enjoying the music you had put on for the both of you. 

We got our whole lives left To make some memories

As you continue singing your heart out, Bela could help but notice that whenever the sunlight would hit you, your eyes would glow a perfect shade of honey. You were driving so she couldn’t kiss you right then and there.

“What is it Bela?” You ask, finally having the change to look at her

What you had noticed, the sunlight hitting Bela, you could see her eyes shining a perfect shade of bright gold and you were sure her eye color was hazel.

“Nothing,” Bela blushes before facing forward again

“Oh! Before the sunsets fully! I need your help with something for photo class!” You blurt out

“What?” She asks

“I need to do photos of something nostalgic but at golden hour,” You tell her, “Or at least that is the theme I’m going for! I need a model for this and I couldn’t think of anyone else but you! What do you say?”

“I’ll help y/n!” She smiles

“I know a perfect spot!” You smile, putting ‘pedal to the metal’

In short time, you reach the spot you had planned; a ‘secret’ spot in the state park that had a lakeside. 

“Oh my gosh...” Bela gasps, hopping out of your car, “This is beautiful! How’d you fin this place?”

“I do some research and I’d sometimes come here when I want to feel alone,” You explain, “You’re actually the very first person I’ve brought here.”

“Me?” She asks, “Why am I the first person?”

“I don’t know,” You shrug, “This was the first place I thought of. Okay! Let’s do photos before it’s too dark!”

You do the pictures and Bela looks through them. The both of you agreed that they were perfect.

“Exactly how I pictured them in my head,” You smile, “Thanks Bela.”

The both of you just watch the sunset over the horizon, the both of you laying your heads gently against each other.

“Can we go back to your place?” Bela asks, “I don’t want to go home just yet.”

“Yeah, sure, you want food on the way back?” You ask

She nods, “But, you pick.”

You just get some pizza on campus and finally reach back to your apartment. The both of you were watching a movie and sitting on your couch. Bela leans onto your shoulder as the both of you continue watching the movie. 

“Do you think he no longer loves me?” Bela asks

“I wish I had the answer for that one Bela,” You sigh, gently rubbing her arm, “But hey, if anything happens you have the team, your sisters, your mother... And me.”

You hear Bela slightly chuckle and slings her arm across your midsection. You smile, knowing you had helped her, even though you two only had met a couple of months ago. 

Realizing what time it was, you begin preparing for bed, Bela decided to stay over again.

“If I’m gone by the time you wake up you can stay if you choose or you can leave,” You say, hopping into bed, “Just remember to lock the door.”

Bela nods as she against follows you into your bed and snuggles herself into your arms. 

“Goodnight Bela,” You say, giving her a forehead kiss

“Goodnight y/n,” She yawns

It was a restless night for Bela. She began overthinking about how her boyfriend stood her up earlier in the day, almost landed his hand across her face during that party months ago. She didn’t want to wake you up as she was aware you had morning classes mere hours later. 

By the time she actually got a decent amount of sleep, you were long gone. She slips on one of your hoodies that had your scent on it and groggily walks into your kitchen. She looks upon the counter and notices a note next to a coffee mug.

Thought you might want some coffee. Not sure how you like your coffee but I have creamer in the fridge and sugar up in the cupboard. I cooked food for you but they’re in the fridge, I didn’t want them to go bad so just warm them up. I’ll see you at practice Bels. - Y/n

She smiles from ear to ear as you had gotten up way earlier than expected just to cook yourself breakfast. but not only for you, but for her too. 

“Oh y/n,” Bela blushes

You were attempting to swim butterfly during practice however, you weren’t getting the arms right and you were looking for Bela to give you some pointers however, she was nowhere to be seen...

“Hey coach,” You swim over to the edge of the pool

“Yes y/n?” Donna looks up at you

“Have you seen the captain?” You ask

“She called earlier before practice and told me she wasn’t feeling to good, but she told me she’ll be at it tomorrow,” She explains

Hmm... That’s odd of Bela to miss practice... Oh well, I’ll check my phone after practice. 

You skip the shower and just put on some sweats and your swim jacket. You immediately go through your phone and see a bunch of missed calls from Bela, and only one voice message. When you listen through it, you beeline it out of the sports center and back to your apartment.

Chapter 5

[blouisparadise]

Here is a list of amazing bottom Louis fics that were posted or completed during the month of January. Between the third month of the Bottom Louis Fic Fest and all the other fics that authors posted throughout the month, it’s clear that this was a great way to start off the year of bottom Louis fics!  Happy reading!

1) Leave It All Here In This Bed | Explicit | 1071 words

One of Louis’s many sleepless nights.

2) Games Are Only Fun If You Win | Explicit | 1554 words

Louis and Harry have a bet. If Louis wins that means he's off laundry duty. If he loses well.

Let's just say Harry won't be complaining.

3) If It Makes You Feel Alive | Explicit | 1691 words

Louis is horny one night on the tour bus so he and Harry fuck while trying not to get caught by the others.

4) Beg Me Silently | Explicit | 2140 words

“So, your boyfriend…is he planning a magic night for you at home?”

Louis snorts. “He’s not, actually. He’s pretty hardworking, you see, so he comes home late.”

“Such a shame.” Harry walks towards Louis, so close that they’re sharing the same space. “You’re so beautiful, Louis. If you were mine, I wouldn’t make you wait for me.”

5) Birthday Wishes | Explicit | 2895 words

Note: This is part 3 of this series.

The one where Harry takes Louis to dinner for his birthday, and gifts him with a vibrating butt plug he wears to the restaurant. Fluffy birthday sex follows.

6) New Year, New Beginnings | Explicit | 3577 words

Note: This is part 4 of this series.

The one where Louis and Harry unexpectedly end up at the same New Year's party. Louis makes Harry jealous, and Harry shows him just how bad of an idea that is.

7) Heaven In These Sheets | Explicit | 3557 words

Bunny Hybrid Louis has it out for his boyfriend’s phone.

8) Pits Of Love | Explicit | 3934 words

Harry smells Louis' sweat for the first time after they've moved in together. His alpha goes a bit wild.

9) First Blow Hits You Cold | Explicit | 3986 words

Louis wears a shirt with a big ass H on it for his livestream, and Harry really, really likes it.

10) Close Your Eyes And Surrender To Me | Explicit | 4209 words

Note: This is the sequel to this fic.

Harry hummed and pressed his lips to Louis’ forehead. “I am very stressed, but I also know you’re stressed and tired too.” He glanced to Louis’ face seeing the confirming nod. “But, if you’re sure you’re up for it.” Harry smirked, waiting for Louis to say it was okay before he laid the boy down on the bed and hovered over him. “I really love this color on you. You look so pretty. Always do.” He spoke quietly, rubbing his hands over Louis’ soft thighs and moving them to his tummy. He then moved his hands up to Louis’ hair. It had been a while since Louis’ last haircut and it was now long enough that he could tie it up in little ponytails and even little braids. Louis currently had two hair clips in his hair. One was gold with little stars on it and the other gold with a moon. “I love your hair princess. Do you feel pretty?” He asked.

11) P Is For | Explicit | 4349 words

Note: The pairing for this fic is Louis/Pedro Pascal.

Louis and Pedro, winter in New York, a coffee machine, and bilingualism.

12) Pull Out Your Heart | Explicit | 5028 words

He wants to apologise, the five letters sit on the tip of his tongue but he does not. It means nothing to either of them.

13) Loving You's the Antidote | Explicit | 5070 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 302: Alpha Harry & Omega Louis are divorced but still spend each other’s heat/rut together because they only really trust each other but things get complicated when Louis (or Harry, author’s choice) spend it with someone else. Cue angst with a happy ending.

14) Sweet Talk With A Hint Of Sin | Explicit | 5095 words

“What the hell are you wearing?” Harry had the nerve to ask, and Louis bristled slightly.

“Well, what the bloody fuck does it look like?” Louis snapped, breaking his seductive demeanor momentarily because he was wearing this ridiculous get-up for Harry. He had thought that this would go over well.

And now that the moment was here, it was going anything but.

Harry’s brain seemingly malfunctioned, completely unbothered by the fact that he was now standing in an actual pool of red wine, or that there might even be broken glass directly next to his feet. He was focused solely on his boy splayed out on their bed. “Are those ears?”

“Yes,” Louis mumbled, reaching up to finger the burnt orange fur of the fox ears. “And a tail,” he said, shifting to lay on his stomach so that his perky ass was on display, showing the way his lube slicked hole had been prepped and was now hugging the impressively sized plug attached to the fox tail.

15) New York's Beauty | Mature | 5274 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 104: AU where Harry is an alpha wolf and Louis is a hybrid kitten. They were roommates. While they were arguing about something stupid, Harry wanted to bend Louis over the kitchen table and knot him right there. He slowly accepted his feelings and extreme desire for Louis, so he started to tease the hybrid until he would beg Harry to fuck him. They fall in love.

Louis needs to feel comfortable with the camera so harry fucks him until he is blushing and calm and gentle.

16) I Went Astray To Make It Okay And He Made It Easy | Not Rated | 5537 words

Note: This is a sequel to #17 on this list.

Harry makes sure to put on his blue truckers hat that has 'if you ain't a fisherman, you ain't shit' printed on it to hold back his hair out of his eyes. He remembers when he came home after buying it and Louis went on for days about much he looked like such a Dad. He made sure to fuck him hard that night and show him that he's a fucking DILF not just a Dad. 

17) You Make My Heart Beat Like The Rain | Explicit | 6611 words

Note: This is the prequel to #16 on this list.

"You're stunning, eh?" Harry whispers, his Canadian accent thick with lust. It usually slips out when he gets horny because he knows it turns Louis on. Harry presses his lips into the curve of his neck. His hot breath makes Louis shiver. He opens his eyes and sees Harry's bigger, tattooed arms wrapped around him, completely engulfing his smaller frame—and, fuck, maybe he is up for it.

Why does his boyfriend have to be such a fucking DILF? He blames it on a twitter thread he read a few weeks ago.

18) Baby, Let Me Love You Goodbye | Explicit | 6837 words

Harry and Louis are going through a divorce after being together for 10 years, so Louis comes over to collect his things, and, well…what’s a little goodbye sex, just one last time?

19) A Place To Call Home | Mature | 8113 words

The thing is, he’s pretty sure he’s found home in a person in his life, someone who’s been essential in everything he’s done since he was seven years old. Through every broken bone, through every breakup, through every failure; through every triumph, personal and professional, and every goal he has scored in his time in Man U, there’s been someone there for it all.

That’s his best mate. Harry. A twenty-two year old with the kindest heart known to man, a slow drawl that is entirely too endearing, with the dreams to open up his own flower shop. A quiet and earnest boy with those he doesn’t know, and open and honest and absolutely lovely with those he loves.

It all hits him, really, the night of their final game of the Premier League. Again, timing is not his forté. They’re gearing up, ready to hit the field for the second half against Liverpool that determines their ranking in the League, when his brain decides to come online (after seventeen years, apparently), and conveniently supply him with the revelation that oh yeah, you’re kind of in love with your best friend.

20) To Love Without Reason | Explicit | 8854 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

“Come on in, soldier,” Louis pats Harry’s chest and walks away, leaving Harry to follow behind.

Harry stands in the living room, looking around at Louis’ dwelling. Family pictures placed high on a shelf, certificates of Louis’ practice, and other trinkets that make Harry entirely too nostalgic.

“I have to warn you,” Louis says as he puts the kettle on, the water droplets from his hair trickling down the golden skin of his back. “The door jams if you lock it so you'll have to leave it ajar.”

Harry acknowledges with a soft hum, too entranced by Louis’ glistening skin to form a coherent reply.

21) It's A Game We Play In The Sheets | Explicit | 9426 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

“Louis is… He’s a boy I’ve been talking to.” He bit his lip, grin evident. “After I watched one of his videos during a Harry Reacts a few weeks ago I messaged him and…”

His sentence was cut short by the sound of a timid little “Hi” being whispered into his ears.

Harry closed his eyes for a second, pausing to take in the online presence of the real-life fairy, before he opened them and smiled. “Hey Lou. Ready to play with me?”

22) One Track Mind | Explicit | 9911 words

“You have a lot of friends, huh?”

Harry nods again. “A few.” The muscles of his bicep flex under Louis’ touch, and the alpha looks a bit drunk from the feeling, his eyes blinking slower and lips quirking at the corners. He’s leaning in, his alpha scent surrounding Louis from all sides.

“Mm,” Louis hums, squeezing his fingers tight, just to hear the sharp way Harry inhales. Then, when Harry is least expecting it, Louis returns the earlier sentiment—leaning up on his tiptoes and pressing his weight into Harry for balance, drawing his lips up close to Harry’s ear, and whispering, “Why don’t you go tell them goodnight.”

23) See You When I Get Home | Explicit | 10308 words

"What are you thinking about?" He repeats Louis' question from earlier.

"You." Louis' reply comes out in a moan. It shocks Harry, and his brain scrambles for the right thing to do, the right thing to say. He doesn't even know how to feel, or if he even heard Louis correctly.

"Me?"

24) Floating | Explicit | 10435 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

The one where Louis has control over water in every form but he doesn't know what to do with it. Harry is here to guide him.

25) I'm At Your Mercy Now (And I'm Ready To Begin) | Teen & Up | 10552 words

Where Louis' soulmark was leaked, Harry keeps his private. They're both famous popstars. Louis is waiting for his soulmate, Harry has a feeling it's him but Louis is completely oblivious.

26) You And I 'Till The Day We Die | Explicit | 10807 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 124: A fic inspired by Groupie Love by Lana Del Rey, where Harry is a Rockstar and Louis is his cute little boyfriend who tries to hide himself in the middle of the crowd. (Preferably set in the 80s)

27) Moonlit Sky Over Gentle Waters | Explicit | 11377 words

Harry left his hometown to sail the seven seas and returns seven years later, yearning for something — or rather, someone — that he isn't sure he can have.

28) Late Night Devil Put Your Hands On Me (And Never, Never, Ever Let Go) | Explicit | 11524 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Harry is a demon that feeds off of people’s nightmares. He finds his next meal in Louis’ dreams where he changes and molds them to become scary nightmares. Soon harry learns Louis is a lucid dreamer- he can act on his own in his dreams. They interact in the real world and have sex in the dream world. when the demon catches feelings for louis, he wants to live.

29) If You're Feeling Lonely | Explicit | 12807 words

The guest list is on the desk. Louis runs through it and stops a third of the way down, a familiar name catching his attention.

Harry Styles.

All he needs to do is confirm whether Harry Styles is the same Alpha whose scent left such a memorable impression on his body.

30) Want You To Play With Me | Explicit | 14335 words

"I'm quite not finished with you yet." Harry whispered right on the shell of his ears and squeezed the girth of his cock, making Louis shudder a sloppy puff of air as the tickling sensation ran through his spine, Harry was intoxicating. "Let me play with you a little more, Lou. I promise I'll give you what you want. Be my good boy, hm?" He slowly annunciated every word and licked a warm line on the nape of Louis' neck — Louis curled in his arms at that. Submitting himself a little bit more.

"Always wanna be your good boy." Louis whispered back and enveloped Harry's hand in his.

31) No Good Unless It's Real | Explicit | 17021 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Louis is a very busy farmer who’s just trying to make it to his next nap and Harry’s the new hot vet that’s determined to infiltrate every area of his life.

32) Tennis Court | Explicit | 18285 words

Louis and Harry are co-workers and Louis is sure Harry hates him because he always refuses to help him with his heats.

33) Joker Is Wild | Explicit | 18444 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 390: A reality show AU where Louis, Harry, Liam, Zayn and Niall are selected to stay at confined in a luxury mansion for 1 month, where they are required to have explicit, graphic sex at all times, like a porn Big Brother kind of show. Every week there are several different sexual tasks and trials that they must overcome together, which all ends in orgasms for all of them. When the boys all discover Louis is strictly a bottom, and a slutty one at that, they all can’t wait to get their hands on him. Bonus if other hot celebs are there too, like Shawn Mendes, for example. Includes lots of hard gay sex, rimming, blowjobs, gang bangs, ass worshipping (Louis ass, of course) and double penetration.

34) Baby, Let Me Love You Goodbye | Not Rated | 20249 words

Louis almost calls Harry daddy. Cue denial, feelings, and way too much dirty talk.

35) Give So Much (Not Enough) | Mature | 24610 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

“For my little lion,” Louis slid the smoothie bowl in front of Oscar, letting him dig in with his little hands. “And for daddy.”

He didn’t process the bowl in front of him, the push across the table causing a raspberry to roll off and fall on his lap, because Louis calling himself mummy may make him feel all sorts of mushy emotions, but Louis addressing Harry as daddy was suddenly having a very different effect on him. Since when did Louis saying daddy out loud render him speechless?

“Daddy’s still sleepy, but we’re up bright and early right Ossie?” Louis’ cooing shook him out of his daze. The man coughed, picking the raspberry off his lap and swallowing it with unintentional, and very unnecessary, eye contact with Louis. “Well, is it better than your protein smoothies and why?”

Harry chuckled, spooning another heap of the strawberry banana goodness into his mouth, “Way better sweetheart.”

A friends to lovers au with tons of mama Louis and domesticity.

36) Short And Sweet | Explicit | 29658 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Louis is a shy university student in a world scarce of male omegas. He's always dreamt of having an alpha despite his sheltered upbringing, fantasizing about being loved and cared for. He's immediately smitten by the mysterious alpha with curly hair, broad shoulders, and the addictive coffee scent.

37) Under Thorn And Bramble | Explicit | 31931 words

Note: The pairing of this fic is Louis/OMC. This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 445: A historical AU where Louis is working as a servant on a farm. The family that owns the farm is exceedingly cruel to him and he is often exhausted and in pain from his work. A mysterious stranger boards at the farm and is very intrigued by Louis, but Louis doubts his interest in genuine. Any pairing fine.

38) Pink In The Night | Explicit | 32324 words

His finger was tapping on Louis’ chat before Harry could even think about it, eyes reading over the last text he’d sent Louis. I miss you. Do you miss me?

Harry had felt so pathetic that December night, alone in the dark room of the Japanese apartment he’d been staying at, the strong smell of alcohol clinging to his clothes.

Louis hadn’t replied, but Harry wasn’t surprised; he had texted Louis a few times before while he’d been away, but there had never been a response.

It pained him to admit that this was their new normal.

39) Coeur De Pirate | Explicit | 34207 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

He tilts his chin up as the Captain strides across the deck, his footfalls falling loudly against the planks. The crew watches them from afar.

Stepping into his space, the Captain wraps an arm around Louis’ waist and pulls him in. He lowers his head to breathe his words against Louis’ cheeks. “I won,” he whispers, “I’ve come to claim my prize.”

40) If The Sun Don't Shine | Explicit | 36330 words

In a world where you meet your soulmates in dreams, Louis has spent the last three years going to bed hoping to finally meet his, only to end up disappointed time and time again. It all changes with a violin.

41) The Pirate And The Piper | Explicit | 38396 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

The one where Harry is Hook, Louis is Pan, and nothing is what it seems.

42) Begged And Borrowed Time | Mature | 40198 words

Prompt 60: Time travel AU where Louis somehow gets thrown back in time and ends up in the dark ages, during the reign of the Styles family.

43) I Ain’t Gonna Fence You In | Mature | 40645 words

Louis Tomlinson is a 18 year old city boy who is forced to spend his summer before his senior year at his aunts farm. There, he meets Harry, a 19 year old country boy his aunt hired to help around the farm.

Maybe the farm isn't the worst place to fall in love?

44) Don't Want No Other Shade Of Blue | Explicit | 43285 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 339: it was foretold that Alpha Prince Harry would be mated to a beautiful male omega with eyes that could rival the stone amethyst, but Omega Prince Louis refuses to believe it.

45) No Easy Choice, But You’re Mine | Explicit | 44963 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Louis is an omega hitman with one last job that goes a little sideways. Harry is the alpha bartender that looks a little too closely and cares a little too much.

46) Sedative Duty | Explicit | 46588 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Pop-star of the moment Louis Tomlinson is on his third-world tour. He decides to hire renowned professional dominant Harry Styles to unwind while on the road. In an effort not to raise suspicion by the crew, fans, and press, Harry pretends to be his bodyguard. He ends up being far more than that.

47) Just Always Be Waiting for Me | Explicit | 46837words

Note: Please be sure to check tags for any trigger warnings.

Harry Styles is a librarian at a private school who is not very devoted to his job but is very devoted to Louis Tomlinson, the resident English teacher, and has been ever since they met six years ago beneath a lonely streetlight.

Louis Tomlinson is a self confessed bookworm whose passion for Peter Pan, the literary classics and Harry Styles' happiness knows no bounds. He's self sacrificing, somewhat self loathing and haunted by a trauma he can't talk about.

Mutual pining abounds in this fic where a Peter Pan quote is never just a Peter Pan quote, caretaking is a love language and a platonic nude is never actually platonic. Louis has a kiss that belongs to Harry but he also has a painful past that might end up hurting them both.

48) Since The Future | Explicit | 48947 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

"It's done."

The words were barely above a whisper when they left Harry's mouth, but they hit Louis with the force of a freight train. It was done. Holy fuck. They had created a time machine. And tomorrow, they were travelling to the future.

49) Dirty Laundry Looks Good On You | Explicit | 50581 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

When Louis Tomlinson finds his clothes lying in a sad soapy mess on top of the washing machine in which they are supposed to be, he acts upon his anger and retaliates. What he doesn’t expect is having to deal with a six-feet tall, curly-haired and dimpled man in return, who seems to arouse confusing feelings within him and to make his life take an unexpected turn for the better (or worse?).

50) Hamartia | Explicit | 66970 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Six years is a long time for Louis to mend his heart back and erase every lingering, stubborn memory of his ex-lover, Harry Styles. But when news of the war being over spreads across the world like wildfire, and he stumbles upon the alpha he vowed himself to never see ever again, he realises that not even a lifetime will be enough for him to pick up the scattered, broken parts of his soul. He's far from expecting the alpha he loved to be struggling in the same way.

All the ointments in the world might never soothe the pain out, but it doesn't take long for them both to come to the conclusion that, maybe, the only medicine to their heartbreaks are what caused them in the first place.

51) Feeling Borrowed, Always Blue | Explicit | 68214 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

Louis has been dreaming of his wedding since he was young - he just never expected it to happen like this. words

52) Mind Over Matter (You Under Me) | Explicit | 73825 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest! Check out the full collection here.

It’s dark outside when Harry finishes practice for the day.

53) Rogue | Not Rated | 94992 words

Louis is a rogue Omega who's suffered through rejection and abuse for the biggest part of his life. He stumbles onto the Styles pack, quite possibly the kindness one he's ever met.

54) Chandeliers And Fake Smiles | Mature | 145010 words

On the brink of winning their first Grammy; up-and-coming rock band One Direction find themselves in the midst of the biggest scandal of their career - right before tickets for their world tour go on sale. in order to save their reputation, Louis Tomlinson must find it in his heart to forgive pop singer and heartthrob Harry Styles after his first impression rubbed him entirely the wrong way. after all, they cannot sell a relationship if it looks like they hate each other.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.

[firstofficerwiggles]

Chapter 5: How the Paintball Battle Was Won

Links to Chpt. 4 , Chpt. 6

Pairing: The Mandalorian x female reader

Rating: T

Warnings: Canonical violence, PTSD for the reader, angst, hurt/comfort

Word Count: ~6400

Author’s note: So this chapter gets more angsty, but I promise it is sandwiched in there between some humor and some serious fluff along with some Domestic!Din thrown in there for good measure. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! (Also, smut is coming in the next chapter for those of you who are thirsty for it.)

“Paintball?” You look up at Mando in surprise, “Isn’t this a game for teenagers?” He’s brought you to a dusty town on Baros with a few hole-in-the-wall cantinas and a sleepy looking marketplace in the middle of nowhere to play paintball?

“I wasn’t sure if it would still be here, but they’re open,” Mando sounds chipper. “I haven’t been here in years.”

“You used to come here and play paintball?” The idea seems ludicrous, that Mando, a seasoned warrior and top bounty hunter, would be playing a game that requires shooting brightly colored balls of paint at your opponents.

“When I was younger and first in the Fighting Corps, we trained here on Baros for a time. We used to sneak out when we had breaks between training sessions to come and play with the local kids.” Mando’s voice sounds nostalgic and happy as he remembers his youth. “I’m sure now that our commanders knew what we were up to, but it gave us additional fighting practice, so I don’t think they minded.”

You try to imagine Mando as a teen boy stealing away with his friends from a probably rigid training schedule to play fake war games with other kids. It’s a charming thought, but it’s hard to picture when you look at the man now. But he’s right, it would have been decent training too… oh, now you understand.

“This is so I can practice shooting live, moving targets.” You’re on to his plan.

“What?” Mando is all innocence, “I just thought since we’re here, we ought to have some fun.”

“I know you think I can’t tell, but I feel you smirking at me under there.” You tell him pointing towards the helmet.

Mando simply chuckles at you and gives your hand a tug towards the entrance.

“What about the baby?” You ask, hoping to stall a little, “He can’t play paintball.”

“He’ll be safe in his pram, and you’ll have a chance to practice protecting him too.” Mando replies. He’s clearly thought this out.

“That might be too advanced for me to focus on shooting targets and guarding the child,” you tell him.

“Yes, but I’ll be here to help you.” His voice sounds warm as he tells you, “You’re going to be great, c’mon.”

The owner of the paintball place seems delighted to see Mando and tells the rest of the patrons in the prep area that they are in for a real treat today. Most of the other people here are teenaged boys, but you’re surprised to see a couple of adults here too including a few other women. Perhaps you were too quick to judge. The teen boys are in sheer awe of Mando and after they openly gawk at him for a few minutes, they’re pestering the owner to find out if they can request that Mando be on their team.

“Teams will be by random draw as always, although people paying together will automatically be put on the same team unless they request otherwise.” The owner tells everyone waiting. “Now, please enter the locker area to suit up and stow away personal belongings.”

You’ve been given protective gear and a helmet to wear to ensure your safety during the game. While the paintballs aren’t lethal, they can still hurt quite a lot without protection. Mando watches as you gear up, and when you’re done you can’t help but goof around and strike a model pose.

“How do I look?” You can still manage to make flirty eyes at him, as although your helmet covers most of your face, the visor only has light tinting so your eyes are still quite visible.  

“You’re adorable,” he tells you. It’s been a little over a week since your trip to Canto Bight and your first Keldabe kiss with Mando, and he’s been growing more affectionate with you, particularly with compliments. He’s still rather shy about physical affection though, almost as if he thinks he’s limited to only a certain number of touches a day.

“Ok, everyone, let’s go over the rules.” The owner calls everyone to his attention and reviews the rules of the game, which are basically, if you get shot three times in a ‘critical target area’ as indicated on your protective gear, you are out of the game.

“Today’s game is your basic brawl. The last team with the most players remaining when the buzzer sounds will be the winners. However, we have a special guest and special rules that will add to the challenge!” The man gestures towards Mando, “If you want to take out the Mandalorian, you need three hits somewhere not on the armor, and good luck with that!” The man says it in such a way that he’s confident no one will be able to get Mando out of the game.

Before the game begins, you check on the child to make sure he’ll be ok. He has his favorite silver ball and a couple other toys with him in his pram, and you’ve tucked in few snacks that he likes in case he gets hungry.

“Ok, sweetie, you’re going to play with your toys and keep the pram closed until Mando or I open it,” you tell him. He coos at you in response and you give his nose a little boop before securing the pram.

“Here, put this on,” Mando hands you a metal wrist cuff with various buttons, “It’s linked to the pram like my vambraces, so that way the child will follow you wherever you go.” He quickly shows you how the buttons operate.

You and Mando get assigned to the red team and are issued paintball guns filled with the appropriate colored balls. There are three teen boys, a man, and another woman on your team. The teen boys are vibrating with excitement at being on Mando’s team; they keep calling him ‘sir’ and asking for ‘battle advice’. Mando is very kind to them, and answers all of their questions in a serious manner. It’s quite sweet really, how nice he is to them, but you’ve noticed that’s generally who he is, so long as that person cannot be perceived as a threat. With your team agreeing on Mando’s plans for the battle, followed by a loud war cry whoop from the boys, you head out to your designated starting positions.

Your adrenaline is pumping and when a loud bell rings out to indicate the start of the game, you’re almost as keyed up as the teenagers around you.  Mando’s plan calls for your team to be on the defensive and wait for the other teams to come to you, allowing you all to maintain better positions and hold on to better cover for as long as possible. It’s a good plan and fairly soon, some of the teen boys from the green team have charged over to your area recklessly, making them easier targets. You get off a couple shots, but your nerves get the best of you and you miss wildly. Fortunately, only Mando seems to notice as your other teammates are on target and dispatch the boys without anyone on your team getting hit.

“It’s alright, just breathe,” he tells you, “Remember you’re a good shot, I know you are.” He places a hand between your shoulders and rubs lightly to help calm you down. He points towards something moving in the bushes to your right and taps your shoulder. You can see another player advancing towards your position.

“Aim your weapon, take a deep breath,” Mando instructs you, “and shoot.” You pull the trigger and watch as your paintball splatters bright red on the other player’s chest plate. You remember quickly that you need two more shots to eliminate your target and so you shoot again. It ends up taking you five more shots but in the end, you’re victorious.

“I actually did it!” you squeal a little in delight and Mando gives your waist a small squeeze.

“Great job, cyar’ika!”

Hmm, there’s that foreign word again. It’s the second time he’s said it to you, and you think it must be Mando’a but you haven’t thought to ask him about it yet. You’re about to say something when a yellow paintball suddenly bursts on Mando’s left pauldron. You instantly whip your head around and fire off shots in the direction of the shooter. A sudden fierceness overtakes you in your determination to take out the player. You channel all your focus into your aim and once again, you are successful, only faster this time.

“That was even better,” Mando tells you, and your heart soars at his praise. He hasn’t even bothered to take a shot yet, he just seems content to watch you.

The game continues and it seems that the other players have caught on to your team’s plan, which leads to a break in the action. Everyone huddles together for a moment, and you realize the rest of your team are waiting for Mando’s instructions.

“So, Mando, what do we do next?” you ask him.

“What do you think our strategy should be?” he counters.

“Well, it seems like we’ve taken out quite a lot of the green team, so I say we head towards the yellow team’s area and try to lower their numbers more.” You figure this is the best way to ensure that your team will have the most active players in the end.

“Why don’t we finish off the green team first? You know, get them while they’re weak,” one of the other players suggests.

“No, her plan makes the best sense,” Mando says in support of your idea, “If we want to be the winners, we have to make sure the yellow team has more casualties.” There’s something about the way he says this that gives you a sense of pride. He’s not just going along with your suggestion because he likes you, it’s because he trusts your judgement and he agrees with it.

You set out in an attack formation as directed by Mando in search of the yellow team. He’s stationed you towards the rear of the group allowing the child’s floating pram to stay behind you, meanwhile he’s positioned himself at the front as an attractive target. You don’t love the idea of Mando making himself the bait, but you recognize that his strategy is logical as the challenge of taking out the Mandalorian will be too tempting for the others to pass up on and thus it should be easier for the rest of you to hit them.

The plan works perfectly and as a barrage of paintballs are launched in Mando’s direction, your team begins methodically targeting the yellow team. You try not to watch as more yellow paint splashes onto Mando’s beskar, because each time it does you feel a spike of irrational anger, how dare they shoot at your Mando. As for himself, Mando is finally shooting off paintballs of his own, but you get the impression that he’s doing so rather leisurely, like he’s not really putting in too much effort. Must be taking it easy on everyone.

Things seems quiet for a moment and you turn to check on the little guy’s pram. It’s still closed up and he’s safe and sound. You’re just turning back to look over your shoulder when a green paintball hits you in the side, right where there’s no padding. It’s surprisingly painful and you double-over, grasping at your side. Mando’s reaction is swift. He quickly dispatches the green shooter and then rushes over to you.

“Are you hurt? Do you need help?” His voice is full of concern.

“I’m fine,” you wheeze out, “just stings.”

“Take a moment and breathe,” he says as he tucks his left arm around you to hold you close to him while he proceeds to keep shooting with his right. It suddenly strikes you as incredibly attractive how he’s managing to comfort you and still fight at the same time.  

You can’t keep yourself from telling him, “Maker, you’re hot.”

“What?” He looks down at you for a second, a little surprised.

“Nothing, I’m just impressed by you.” You laugh a little and pull away so you can go back to the game.

The game continues for a while longer and you’re astounded by how much you’ve gotten into it. You no longer feel nervous about shooting at other people and you’re caught up in wanting to help your team win. You get hit a couple more times, but luckily they manage to miss the critical targets so when the buzzer sounds, you’ve managed to be one of the ‘survivors’. You run over to Mando to assess his ‘damage’ and while he has yellow and green paint splotches all over his beskar, he has only one green spot on his arm in the unarmored section near his elbow, which means that no one managed to successfully remove him from the game either. After a brief count, your team is announced as the victors by just one player. Your whole team cheers and exchanges high fives as you congratulate each other.

“See, I told you it would be fun,” Mando leans down close to you, “You were great, I was impressed too.” He brings his helmet down to touch the crown of yours.

You don’t have a chance to say anything back as the teen boys are at Mando’s side begging him to take a holophoto with them. Mando dutifully poses with the boys as you help out by acting as the photographer. You pull out your own holopad and snap a few holos too for your own enjoyment later.  

You return to the locker room to get cleaned up and back into your regular clothes. You’re securing your holster belt with its real blaster when you realize again how thankful you are that Mando’s gone out of his way to help you learn so much about fighting, even to the point where he found a way to make sure it would be enjoyable.

You head over to where he’s cleaning the paint off his armor with a bucket of water and some rags. It must be a bit hard to do though because there’s no mirror to help him see all the areas that need to be cleaned. You pick up one of the rags.

“Have a seat and I’ll help you get cleaned up,” you say as you motion to a bench.

“Thanks, it’s hard to do without being able to take it off,” he tells you.

He sits with his legs akimbo and you step between them to get better access to the beskar. Fortunately, the paint washes off without much effort, but there’s so much of it and you want to be sure to get it out of the small ridges and furrows of the armor.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” you tell him as you clean, “It really was fun and I think you’re right, it was good training.”

“You’re welcome,” Mando says warmly, and he brings his hands up to your hips to pull you in a little closer. He leaves his hands there as you move to clean his helmet and begins tracing little patterns with his thumbs. His touch is simple, but it makes you feel so fluttery inside. You look down at his visor and give him a little smile as you wipe a streak of gloopy green paint from the crown of his helmet.

“It drives me crazy when you look at me like that,” he tells you with his hands tightening on your hips.

“How am I looking at you?” Your smile widens.

“Like you have a secret and you’re daring me to find out what it is,” he says, his voice sounding deeper.

You chuckle, and as you finish cleaning his helmet you drop your lips down and give it a kiss, “Is that so?” you ask in a coquettish tone and you give him a wink.

Mando groans at you and pulls you in closer, “I’ve had enough being in public, let’s get back to the Crest,” he says. His words and the timbre of his voice fill you with dark excitement, and you nod your head in response.

You bid goodbye to your teammates and hurry out into the street, heading in the direction of the ship. You’re only a short distance from the Razor Crest when you hear a laser bolt whiz past you. You draw your blaster and turn towards the source of the bolt where you see five armed men bearing down on you, Mando, and the child. “Hunters!” Mando shouts to you as he returns fire.

Another blast comes from behind you and you whip around to see three more shooters trying to box you in. Like Mando, you shoot back, your fight mode coming out in full force. You manage to shoot one of the hunters in the chest and you see him fall. You don’t dwell on it though as you scan the area for a possible escape route. You feel Mando tug on your sleeve as he gestures to the left where you can see a small side street. You rush towards the street as fast as you can while Mando provides cover. You’re still wearing the wrist cuff from before so the baby’s pram is following after you. You feel a sharp burning sensation in your side and it almost knocks you to the ground, but your determination to get away is stronger and you push your legs to keep you running.

The narrow street spills out into a broader avenue that is now bustling with activity. You bump into people as you try to get away and it makes you stumble. You look around wildly for help but everyone seems oblivious to your distress. The baby’s pram is still right with you and you’re relieved to see it’s still closed up tightly. But where is Mando? You thought he was right behind you but now you don’t see him anywhere. You turn back to the narrow side street when you see one of the hunters come barreling out of it. He fires several bolts in your direction, one of which ricochets off the pram. People scream and scatter. A primal protectiveness surges within you as all you can think about is how you won’t let this man hurt your child and so you raise your blaster and shoot him twice in the chest. He falls to the ground, but something in you won’t let you stop. You keep moving toward him until you’re standing over him and then you shoot him in the head to make sure he can’t hurt either of you. You should probably feel guilty about killing him, but you don’t. You look down the street, worried that you’ll see another hunter heading your direction, but it seems quiet. You pant as you try to catch your breath and now you realize just how badly your side is hurting, you think it must be from before where the paintball hit you but when you look down you see your shirt is soaked with blood. You sag against a building as you realize you’ve been shot. A woman sees you and hurries over to help,

“We have to get you to a doctor right away,” she’s saying.

“Wait, I need Man-, I need to find Man- Mando.” The pain is making it hard to speak.

“It’s alright, your child’s pram is right here.” She doesn’t understand.

You sway on your feet and she quickly places an arm around you to help you walk. “Don’t try to talk, dear,” she’s telling you as she drags you towards a medical clinic. Everything is getting blurry and you fight to stay upright. When you make it inside the clinic, someone immediately pushes you towards a gurney and you collapse on it just before you black out.

Din is desperate to find you and the child. When he sent you down that side street, he succeeded in taking down most of the hunters. But one particularly large man, a Clawdite, had managed to tackle Din. That allowed another hunter to slip by and head down the street in pursuit of you. After stabbing the Clawdite, Din quickly trails the other man. His head is filled with worse case scenarios but when he finds the body at the end of the street, a sense of relief comes over him. It’s short-lived, however, when he realizes neither you nor the child are anywhere to be seen. Din can feel true fear rising in him that perhaps there were others and maybe you were both captured, when he remembers the wrist cuff he gave you and the tracking device he installed within it. He breathes a sigh of relief again when he pings your signal and realizes you’re nearby.

Din tracks your signal to the medical center, the sight of which makes his blood run cold because if you’re here that means that one of you must be hurt. He rushes inside but before he can ask anyone about you or the baby, he hears a frightened scream and then your voice shouting,

“NO! NO! Get away from me! NO!”

Din is back in full combat mode as he hurries towards the sound of your terrified voice. He finds you in a room with a round floating medical droid trying to administer an injection. You are curled up on the floor in a corner of the room with your hands over your face as you cry out in fear. Din shoves the droid out of the room forcefully before carefully approaching your huddled form.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright, it’s me, it’s Mando,” he says as he tentatively reaches out to you. “The droid is gone, and I’m here.”

You sob something that sounds like ‘Mando’ and launch yourself into his arms. You’re still crying hard when you get out the word, ‘baby’. Din looks around the room and thankfully he sees the child’s pram. He manages to reach the open button on his vambrace and the pram’s dome opens up to reveal the little one safe inside. The baby looks concerned at your distress and he lets out a sad-sounding coo.

“He’s alright, cyar’ika, the baby is safe, you did so wonderful protecting him.” Din holds you and runs a hand over your back, and he continues to whisper soothing words trying to calm you. A noise at the door causes him to look up and see two nurses there who are trying to figure out what all the commotion is.

“Sir, who are you and why is this patient out of her bed?” one of the nurses asks indigently.

“She’s terrified of that droid, you can’t let it near her again,” Din says, scooping you up in his arms and helping you back to the bed.

“Alright,” the other nurse says in a kinder tone, “but you can’t be back here unless you’re family.”

“I’m her husband,” Din snaps, knowing they won’t argue with that, “Now can someone tell me what happened?” His voice is demanding and rough.

“I’m sorry, sir, your wife was shot in the side,” the kinder nurse explains, “She’s lucky because the bolt missed her vital organs but she will need some time to heal. The droid was only going to give her a bacta shot.”

“She’s scared of that droid,” Din repeats, “Can’t one of you give it to her?” His tone of voice makes it clear that it’s a demand not a request.

“Maybe she’s just scared of the shot,” the indigent nurse says, a slight scoff to her tone.

“The shot is fine, just please not the droid,” you manage to say in a weak voice. You look at Din as you explain, “The Empire used medical droids for torture.”

Din remembers how you told him you were punished by the Imps when they discovered your sabotage, but you’ve never gone into details about that punishment. He has some idea now what they must have done to you, and why seeing another droid like that would cause such a negative response.

“No more droids are to come into this room,” Din instructs the nurses.

“Of course, sir, I’ll give her the shot myself,” the kinder nurse tells him, “I’ll be back in a moment.”

Din turns back to you and reaches up to smooth the tears from your cheeks. “It’s going to be okay, I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you.”

“Will you please stay with me?” you ask and you grip his hand tightly as if he might disappear.

“Nothing could make me leave you,” he says as he caresses your face.

A soft whine floats over to Din and you from the pram as the little one wants to know what’s happening. Din steps away from your side to quickly pick him up and bring him over to the bed with you. At first Din tries to just hold him close to you, but the child isn’t satisfied with that. Instead, he quickly climbs out of Din’s arms and onto the bed to nestle up against your chest, he then reaches up to touch your face with his little hand.

“Hi, buddy,” you say softly, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Din watches the two of you as a vast sense of gratitude washes over him; he’s so very thankful that you both are safe now and no lasting damage has been done. He holds your hand again and brings his helmet down to your head allowing him to watch over you and the child as close as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later, you are doing much better after the bacta shot has done its work and the medical center releases you to go home. Din swipes a hoverchair and quickly steers you back to the Razor Crest; he insisted that you shouldn’t walk all the way back to the ship. Once on board again, he gets you safely tucked into your bed still with the child cuddled up against your side. The little guy refuses to leave you alone and even demanded to ride in your lap on the way back to the ship instead of returning to his pram.

With the three of you safely in space, Din returns to the hull. He’s pleased to see you’re resting comfortably as you talk softly to the child and he sets about to prepare some dinner for the three of you. It’s been hours since any of you have eaten and he’s sure you must be hungry. Din’s not as good a cook as you are, but he tries to add the little touches that you do for him like cutting up the fruit and arranging it on a plate, and adding honey to your tea the way that you like. When he brings your dinner over to you, he notices that the child has managed to use his powers to bring several of his stuffed toys over to your bed and he seems to be arranging them around you for additional snuggling.

“You’re doing a great job as a caregiver, buddy,” Din tells him chuckling.

“I keep telling him he’s being so sweet sharing his plushies with me,” you respond with a soft chuckle of your own.

Din helps you sit up, before handing you the dinner tray.

“Do you need help eating?” He asks concerned.

“Nah, I’m fine, Mando,” you tell him, “Really I feel much better; I don’t think I need to be in bed anymore.”

“You’re staying in bed for the rest of the day, and probably tomorrow too,” Din replies pointing his finger at you the way he does when he disciplines the child sometimes.

“Yes, Nurse Mando,” you reply cheekily.

“That’s right. Now eat your dinner before I feed you myself,” he says with a nod of his head.

After you’ve eaten, you’re still sitting up in bed and now you’re playing a little with the child and his plush toys as you tell him a story. Din can hear in your voice though that you’re tired and even though he knows you are doing better, you need your rest.

“Ok, kiddo, I think that’s the end of story time.” He comes over and picks up the child despite his little whines of protest.

“It’s alright,” you say softly.

“No, you need to get more rest,” Din tells you, “Besides, it’s time to get this guy cleaned up before he goes to bed.”

You can hear the sounds of water running in the fresher and Mando saying “Don’t look at me like that, she needs to rest so she can get better,” and it makes you smile. Both of your guys are being so sweet as they take care of you. You stretch back out against your pillows and close your eyes, and before you know it, you’ve drifted off to sleep.

When you awaken a while later, you see Mando sitting on a crate near your bed reading something on his holopad. He’s taken off his armor and is now more relaxed in his undershirt, trousers, and helmet only.

“Mando, is everything alright, what are you doing?” You’re surprised he’s not in bed himself or up in the cockpit where he’d be more comfortable.

“I didn’t want to leave you alone in case you needed something,” he tells you.

“That’s very sweet, Mando, but you must be getting tired,” you say.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” he replies. You know he can go for long stretches without sleeping, but it’s really not necessary now. Maybe there is a way you can get him to rest at least.

“You could come lie down with me,” you suggest and give him a small smile.

“There’s nothing I’d like better, but you’re hurt and you need to rest,” he says, but it’s clear from his tone that he’s tempted by your offer.

“I won’t do anything more than just cuddle with you, I promise,” you counter, and you give him the flirtatious look that you know he likes. It works like a charm and although he lets out one of his long-suffering sighs, he’s standing up and moving towards the bed.

“Alright, we’re just going to cuddle and you are going to rest and try not to move too much.” Mando may be trying to sound stern, but there’s an eagerness to his movements that gives away how much he wants to join you in the bed.

He lies down next to you on his back and puts his arm around you pulling you close to his side. You shift your position so that you can place your head on his chest and rest your hand on his stomach lightly. This way you can lie on your good side and take any pressure off the side that needs to heal. As you settle into him, Mando lets out a sound of contentment making his chest vibrate beneath you.

“Thank you, this is nice,” you tell him, “Plus, you’re so warm and cozy.”

He chuckles at that and rubs his large palm across your back, “It’s getting to where I can’t say no to you.”

“I see no problem with that,” you reply and you give his chest a kiss through his shirt.

“Mmm, I bet you don’t.” His chest rumbles again pleasantly against your cheek.

“Mando, I didn’t get a chance to really thank you earlier, but I want you to know you really helped me back at the med center.” You hope he understands how important he was for you in that moment.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, I could see how terrified you were and I knew you needed me.” Mando says softly and pulls you tighter to him. He pauses and then asks you, “When you said you were punished by the Imperials, did they… torture you with the droid?”

“Yes,” you tell him in a flat voice, “It would give various shots to induce different types of pain. It was horrible. Seeing that droid today felt like being back there, back in that terrible place. I- I don’t want to talk about it too much.”

“I understand,” Mando tells you, “I hate droids… well, there was one once who wasn’t so bad, but mostly I hate them.” His voice is gruff as he tells you this.

“Why do you hate them?” you ask.

“My home was destroyed by droids,” he says, “Everything was gone, my town, my friends, my parents, all killed.”

“Oh, Mando, how awful,” Your heart breaks for him, “That’s devastating. I’m so sorry for you.”

“I was only a child, and I would have been killed too if not for the Mandalorians who rescued me,” he explains.

“You were a foundling too,” you say softly.

“Yes,” he replies.

You’re quiet for a bit as you stroke his chest in a soothing manner. You know he’s supposed to be comforting you, but you want Mando to know that you’re here for him too. He brings his other hand up to cover yours. You realize that his glove is off and for the first time you are touching his bare skin. Your breath catches in your throat at the sensation and you revel in each tiny movement that he makes as he slowly explores your fingers with his. His hand is large and warm, and you marvel at how delicate and gentle he is as he touches you.

“You skin is so soft, cyar’ika,” he murmurs to you.

“Thank you,” you say softly, but then you can’t help but ask, “What does that word mean, cyar’ika?” He’s called you that a few times now and your burning curiosity can’t wait any longer.

Mando chuckles lightly, “Aren’t you the code-breaker? What do you think it means?”

“Oh, I see, a linguistic challenge, hmm?” You’re willing to play along and you take a moment to think.

“Well, you’ve used it in place of my name, so it could be a nickname, but based on context, I’d say it’s a term of endearment.” You lift your head up to look at him as you propose your theory.

“What do you mean?” He questions, intrigued.

“Well, if it were a nickname, I think you’d use it more frequently, and by my count you’ve only said it four times, which makes me think it must be more special than just a nickname. Plus I know you’ve said my name more often than that.”

“Oh?” He sounds amused.

“Yes, and when you said it was important too,” you explain, “Twice you said it when I was very distressed and you were sure to use a calming tone, but then, the other two times were when you gave me a compliment, and those times, you had a more romantic tone.”

He’s laughing openly now and shaking the whole bed as he does. Oh no, you’ve nerded him into hysterics, “Sorry, am I being too analytical?” you ask him sheepishly.

“No, no, I love how logical you’re being, cyar’ika,” he emphasizes the word again and his voice is caring as he tells you, “I’m impressed and entertained by how you think. I had no idea how much thought you’d put into it.”

“Well, am I correct though?” You’re still dying to know.

“Yes, you are,” he says between chuckles, and you smile up at him in response. He calms down a bit and then tells you, “It means sweetheart.” His voice is deeper as he says the word in Basic and you feel your stomach flutter in delight.

“I like that, Mando, I like it a lot; it’s such a beautiful word,” You wish you had a term of endearment for him that would sound even half as beautiful.

“Din,” he says to you.

“What?” you reply confused.

“My name is Din, Din Djarin,” he introduces himself to you, “I’d really like for you to call me by my real name.”

“It’s an honor to know you, Din Djarin,” you reply in as warm and loving a tone as you can, trying to show him how much it means to you that he’s sharing something so personal.

“The honor is all mine, cyar’ika,” he tells you and he squeezes your hand to punctuate his words, “You mean so much to me, I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“I feel the same about you, Din.” Lying in his arms, it’s easy to tell him how you feel, and you realize how much you want him to hear it. “I was so worried when we were separated today, but when you found me, and I knew you were there, it just felt right, like I knew everything would be all right.”

Din pulls you in closer, hugging you as tight as he can without hurting you. He feels your arm snake around his waist to hold him tighter too and he feels a sense of true serenity. It’s a new emotion for him or at least one he hasn’t felt since he was very young. The two of you stay like that for a long time and as he listens to your breathing, he thinks perhaps you’ve fallen asleep. He relaxes his hold on you and thinks that maybe he should try to slip out of the bed so that you’ll rest properly, when he feels you stir.

“Din, will you teach me more Mando’a?” you ask, your voice sounding dreamy.

“Yes, but not tonight, you need to sleep,” he says softly but firmly.

“Ok, good,” you reply with a small yawn.

You settle back in to the bed a little and pull up the blankets around you more. Din starts to pull away from you little by little, but you’re having none of it and you grip him tighter.

“Are you trying to leave?” you ask, sounding only a little pouty, “Don’t you want to stay and cuddle?”

He sighs, “You need your rest, and I’m distracting you from that.”

“I’ll rest better with you here,” you insist.

“I’ll stay if you promise to go to sleep now,” he replies.

“Ok, I’ll go to sleep.” You’re quiet for a few seconds, but then you whisper to him, “Din?”

“Yes?”

“Goodnight,” you whisper, “I hope you sleep well.”

“Cyar’ika?”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking.”

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

Thank you so much for reading! Continue to Chpt. 6 Where no Mando Has Gone Before. If you’d like to be added to the tag list, just let me know!

By the way, do you all remember that droid from a New Hope that gave Leia the shot? That’s the one I was thinking of when I came up with how the reader was punished by the Empire. That thing gave me nightmares for weeks when I was a child.

Tag list:  @overtly-cuteashell @grogusmum @imabeautifulbutterfly @wellofeternalthirst @idreamofboobear @theamuz @fangirlalexia @callmekane @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11 @theravenreads @nicotinebirds @boomtownboy @nova646 @wandering-storm-lost-shadow @becks-things @sleepwithacommunist @mackycat11 @som3thingcr3ative @punkdalek @pinkninja200 @s-unflowxr @ladyjenny19 @peppywitch​ @haley7242​

[dru-reblogs-stuff]

Catch-up Tag

I got tagged by both @buttsmcginty and @lavender-hued-melancholy Thanks guys <3

Favorite color: Currently it's turquoise, because I recently found about the Blue Dacnis. Look at this critter! Isn't it stunning?

Credit: By Andreas Trepte - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Currently reading: Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (and probably some others I forgot about ^.^;) . I'm enjoying it so far but it's a bit... bleak. Honestly, I should have expected that, given it's an icelandic author about icelandic life.

Last song: The last one I Scrobbled was My Mother Told Me by VoicePlay. However the Gent likes to cook to music, and we had a "90's summer playlist" running, so in actually my last song was probably something from the BackStreet Boys or Aqua.

Last series: Currently watching through Castlevania. I usually get ratty about watching vampire things, because their so samey and tame, but anime vampires just kinda hit different. Also the MC being voiced by Richard Armitage doesn't hurt ;)

Last movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. IDK, I was feeling nostalgic I guess. I poured myself a 4-shot of rum, and coincidentally finished the glass just as Jack says "but why is the rum gone?" XD

Sweet/spicy/savory: Right now, sweet. I picked up a cold in Denmark, so my tastebuds are shot and sweet is all I can taste.

Currently working on: I'm writing two Starbound WIPs. The first (almost finished) is about a Greenfinger telling her clan a story using pheromones; the second (just started) is about being stuck on a desert island and all the things you can do with pineapple.

Tagging: YOU! (I still don't have a general games tag list, so like, if you see this and wanna play, go for it)

[every1studio]

“vampire lords” [ateez]

genre: misc. + a lil suggestive + otome-styled (reverse harem) 

ficstyle: bulletpoints (fem reader)

prompt: inspired VAMPIRE PRINCES INSPIRED BY OTOME GAME ROYAL BLOOD 

note: sorry for the wait! I’m officially back and I’ll be posting as often as I possibly can!!! 

Let’s meet the heirs of the vampire lineage. Who would you choose to be your lover and take over ruling the vampire clan?

-HONGJOONG 

(type: the reliable, “leader-worthy” heir that gets picked on by the other princes; known for being a flirt)

(special power:  psychometry - the ability to learn anything about the past or future of an object by touching it)

the one that you met first 

after talking with your father, the Earl, about your living conditions here at the estate, you took it upon yourself to explore the premises 

upon walking around the vampire estate, you heard a dramatic yet gentle melody that belonged to an old harpsichord 

the melody sounded nostalgic even though you don’t remember hearing anything so hauntingly beautiful 

you followed the sound into a glass greenhouse where the harpsichord sat in the middle of the room

you were entranced with the man playing his heart away 

all you could see was his body swaying to and fro with his fingers dancing across the keys 

his hair was slicked back and shined sapphire blue in the moonlight 

his strong brows furrowed as he played the instrument 

the keys he played were furious yet calming; like the beginning of a storm

his hands were adorned with black, sleek gloves

as if he was telling a story about his life; the good, the bad, and the bloody

you don’t know how long you were standing there but when the music stopped, you met the eyes of the man playing the harpsichord 

“you must be Y/N...” he asked as he stepped towards you; his footsteps echoed in the spacious greenhouse

his eyes glimmered red every time he was in the moonlight 

you nodded but unable to speak or move 

his aura was intimidating yet alluring 

but the moment he smiled, you felt like you were safe in this unknown place 

“I’m Hongjoong~ I’ve heard all about you from the Earl! let me know if you need ANYTHING!”

you broke out into a smile but before you could say anything...

Hongjoong brushed the hair away from the nape of your neck with his gloved hand and leaned in real close, so close that you could feel his breath of your skin 

“and when I mean, anything.. I mean anything... princess~”

you stumbled back away from him, “I-I’ll make s-sure th-that I’ll let you k-know when..” 

he was good-looking; seemed playful and almost flirty behind his initial scary demeanor 

he had you flustered

Hongjoong chuckled as he took off one of his gloves and reached to place his hand on your face

but....

will you choose his story?

or will you choose someone else?

-SEONGHWA

(type: an enigma, no one really knows about him except for the other princes; the oldest)

(special powers: shape-shifting and illusion-making)

“stop teasing our guest..” 

you heard a voice coming from behind you 

Hongjoong dropped his hand and cocked his head in annoyance, “I’m doing no such thing, I’m just making sure our guest is welcomed, that’s all..”

you saw a living and breathing sculpture

you felt your jaw gaping; you couldn’t help it 

“you can do that with your gloves on.. you don’t want to invade our guest’s privacy, don’t you?”

as soon as the mysterious man’s sharp gaze lowered to meets yours, you quickly looked away

“I hope he wasn’t making you feel uncomfortable.. please excuse his behavior..I’m Seonghwa..” he places his hand on his chest and gives you a curt bow 

you returned the bow, “I’m Y/N..”

Seonghwa gives you a subtle smile that you didn’t know he could be capable of, “I know who you are...”

he adjusts his outfit and held his hand out for you to take

“do you mind if I gave you a little tour, miss Y/N?”

you nodded as you placed your hand into his

“tch.. I was gonna offer if you weren’t already here... when will you stop having impeccable timing..” Hongjoong rolled his eyes as he walked back to the harpsichord with his hands in his pockets

“when you stop flirting as much as you breathe”

with that Seonghwa led you away from the greenhouse

he gave you a grand tour of the estate starting from the gated entrance 

Seonghwa was short with his words but they were endearing 

but as he gave you the tour, you noticed a couple of things

he always had a couple of crows fly to him every so often 

and he seemed to have a problem with mirrors and reflections 

usually every time you come across one, you would at least give a quick look but Seonghwa seemed to avoid them as much as possible

“miss Y/N.. is there something on my face?”

“hmm? no? why do you ask?” 

Seonghwa leaned in a little closer to you and said, “you’ve been looking at me more than you’re looking at where you’re walking...” 

you started to become a tomato and you could see him sneak a subtle smile

“just kidding, miss..” he murmured and continued to give you the tour 

he was truly mysterious; he was friendly but you could tell that he wanted some distance between how he seems like to you and how he really is 

....

will you choose his story to find out why?

or will you choose someone else?

-YUNHO 

(type: boy-next-door; doesn’t seem like a vampire at all, but has a sensitive, fragile and frightening side)

(special power: alchemy)

“Seonghwa~ the Earl is calling for you- oh! hi Y/N!” the voice came from a tall man

out of two of the other vampire princes that you met, he seems the least like a vampire; he seems like he would be in on a college campus getting some beers for a party 

“oh is that so.. please excuse me, miss Y/N.. I will have to conclude this tour to a halt-”

“a tour? I can guide her through the rest of the way.. leave it to me~” the tall puppy-like man gave a comedic salute to Seonghwa

Seonghwa nods, places his hand on his chest and bows, “I apologize for the unexpected inconvenience.. I’ll leave this miss Y/N in your hands, Yunho”

with that, Seonghwa left

leaving you with a giddy Yunho, “I’m guessing Seonghwa started the tour from the entrance right?”

“yeah he did!” you couldn’t help but answer with a smile since he’s already smiling 

“so all that’s left is the east wing~ shall we?” he stuck his arm out for you to loop your arm through

you giggled at his enthusiasm as you looped your arm through his

you realized that he’s not the textbook definition of what a vampire looks like 

which played pretty well since you could feel comfortable talking to him just about anything 

the way he talked felt so familiar even though it’s the first time you met him; he was probably going to be someone you can lean on

you two made a final stop in front of a pair of heavy-set steel doors; no other room in the estate had these kind of doors 

“this is my room~ the one room you CANNOT enter.. NO MATTER WHAT! OK?” Yunho tried to be playful to lay down the rule because he didn’t want to seem pushy 

“what if I need a late night chat?” you tried to match his playfulness but that backfired  

his eyes hid behind his bangs and he stood between you and the door

“my room is none of your business.. there’s no need for you to waltz inside, just knock on my door.. but you better not go inside, Y/N.. promise me you won’t come into my room...promise me now” 

his voice lowered a couple of octaves and even though he hid his eyes you could see a red glow through his bangs; this scared you, it was like he was a different person; he really seemed like a vampire 

“I-I promise..” 

and like a flip of a switch, Yunho went back to smiling and his eyes weren’t glowing blood red anymore, “good, well that’s the end of the tour! let me know if you need anything~ is there any place you want to check out?”

you were still shaken up by his switch in character, you needed a break from it 

“I’ll just walk around.. don’t mind me.. thank you Yunho~” you waved at him and went on your way...

...

will you choose his story and learn his secret?

or will you choose someone else?

-YEOSANG

(type: shy but romantic; a bookworm)

(special powers: telepathy and telekinesis)

to take your mind off of things, you went to the library and thankfully you were blessed with good memory so you knew where the library was 

you pushed the heavy doors of the library and you were amazed; it was better than any library you’ve ever seen 

there were bookshelves that were lined with books all the way up to high ceiling 

you walked around the library like it was an unknown wonderland

there were spiraling stairs and aesthetic reading areas; this library would rival any others out there in the world 

you were running your fingers along the spine of the books until you came across a secluded reading area 

there were two tall leather armchairs; one of them were stacked with books and the other was occupied by a sleeping beauty

it seemed like he was sleeping; his head was rested on propped up arm with his book in his lap 

you got closer to him and squatted down to see his face; you thought his profile was beautiful enough but now that you’re closer, he’s even more beautiful than you’d ever imagine

you went to reach his face to see if he was actually real or not

“I’m not a statue..” he murmured as he caught your hand before you touched his face; his eyes were still closed 

“h-how did you know I was here? do vampires have super-heighten senses?” you were caught by surprised and was rambling 

you calmed down a little when you saw him open his eyes

all of the heirs probably had different colored red eyes but his were different; it was a true red with gold flecks that made it seem like he had gold splinters stuck in his irises 

“you could say it’s something of the sort..” the man sits up straighter and cracks his neck to relieve some tension

“nice to meet you, miss Y/N.. I’m Yeosang..” he turns to face the books on the other chair and the books start putting themselves away on the shelves 

then he turns to you and reaches his hand out 

you take it thinking that he’s only reaching his hand to shake it but he pulls you up from the ground and wraps his other arm around your waist

“do you really think I look better up close?” 

“HUH?” how can he read your mind? is this another vampire ability?

Yeosang realizes that he’s being more bold than he usually is and let go of you immediately and starts to fumble with the hem of his sleeves

“ ..it’s a special power of mine,  my powers are only exclusive to me and no one else.. I apologize for intruding in your mind space.. I won’t do it again!”

apparently he was so embarrassed by his previous actions that he ran away, giving you no chance to say anything  

“Yeosang?!” you reached out for him but he ran away at the speed of light

what a character, you thought to yourself

... 

will you choose his story and find out what he was reading?

or will you choose someone else?

-SAN

(type: looks edgy and grungy at first but is really sentimental; is also the Phantom Thief, the modern-day Robin Hood)

(special power: magician)

after you left the library, you felt a little hungry so you went to go to the kitchen to find something to eat 

the kitchen staff were exceptionally nice to you and left after they offered you a midday snack; there were finger sandwiches and cream puffs that were exactly made to your taste 

“for a little one like you, you sure eat a lot” 

you turned after choking on your cream puff from being startled 

“hey, miss.. you okay?” the boy offered you some water to clear your throat 

“y-yeah.. thank you-” you paused to wait for a name from the strong-featured man

you were slightly embarrassed to have such an exceptionally looking guy see you being a mess

“the name’s San, at your service, miss~” he showed an unexpectedly cute smile 

geez are all the heirs perfect looking?

yes, yes they are 

“sorry you had to see all of that..” you murmured at the raven-haired boy

it seemed like he just came from an intense workout; sweat glistened all over his body but he smelled like he just came out of a Versace cologne commercial 

“it’s alright, miss.. hey, miss.. you okay?” he got close to your face after inspecting your flushed face and reddened ears but you nodded as you made space between the two of you 

he thought maybe he made you feel uncomfortable or maybe it was just a little awkward or maybe he made you upset in anyway; he needed to break the ice 

“hey miss, do you like magic?” San sat in the seat next to you as he crossed his legs 

“magic? like harry potter’s kind of magic?” you pondered as your doe-eyes sparkled in confusion but your eyes couldn’t meet his

“no like, a magician’s ”magic”.. you know like rabbits in a top hat and stuff like that..” San started to get giddy

“oh... yeah... I know what you’re talking about.. but why did you ask?”

he was ready to knock you out of your socks; he stretched out his arms, pretending to stretch  

“well you seem a little..” softly brushing your hair behind your ear, “distracted..”

he pulled a beautiful amulet from your hair; your eyes widened in shock 

it’s not like he’s wearing sleeves to hide such a fairly large amulet; the jewelry really appeared out of thin air

“you can keep it, miss~ think of it as a welcoming present from yours truly~ see ya later~” San waved at you as he walked out of the room

“wait! this looks expensive! where did you get this? how did you do that-” when you walked out of the room to chase after him, he was no where to be found

...

will you choose his story and find out how he did that?

or will you choose someone else?

-MINGI

(type: gentle beast; only smiles for you; known to others as the vampire assassin)

(special powers: invisibility and hawk-eyes; can switch eye-sight from x-ray, temperature, to long-range)  

you were still confused about San’s magic trick 

unable to pay attention to where you were going 

cue the cliche scene where you trip on your way downstairs to the large dance floor of a lobby

you squeeze your eyes shut but instead of a deadly and nasty fall, you fell onto someone with a strong build

“miss Y/N, you should watch where you’re going..” the deep voice of your savior made you a little too scared to open your eyes

“are you hurt, miss Y/N?” although his voice was deep, it was filled with care 

you slowly opened your eyes and saw his soft eyes that looked like they were a pair of Madagascar rubies 

“n-no.. I’m not.. I’m sorry.. I should’ve watched where I was going..” you tried to shift yourself away so that you weren’t leaning on him for support anymore but you almost fell, again

the deep-voice man held your hand so that you wouldn’t fall, “let me at least escort you down the stairs, we can’t have anything bad happen to the Earl’s daughter...”

“thank you... I’m not used to these steep stairs yet..” you murmured; you probably have a permanent blush by now 

“it’s nice to finally meet you, miss Y/N.. my name is Mingi-”

the sound of the harpsichord could be heard from where you two were

“Hongjoong must still be playing music...”

Mingi nods and turns back to you, “he could play for hours.. miss Y/N? since we’re here on the dance floor, would you mind if I asked for a dance?”

you looked everywhere but at him, “i-if you insist.. it would be a waste of this music and this dance floor...”

without another word, he slips his hand on the small of your waist and interlocked your small hand in his

you felt like you were Belle and he was the Beast; from Beauty and the Beast

it was like you were at a ball, wearing a stunning dress that swayed to follow Mingi’s lead

the fact that he was only looking at you and smiling at you made you believe that Mingi wasn’t as scary as you thought

he spun you out but you felt another hand take you away from Mingi’s

...

will you choose his story and continue to dance with him?

or will you choose someone else?

-WOOYOUNG

(type: kind of childish; is uninterested in many things except for you because he’s met you before)

(special powers: teleportation and mind-control; to control someone physically but not mentally/emotionally after consuming their blood) 

you completely let the other person pull you away from Mingi and carried you like a princess

“you should be careful of him, miss Y/N.. he’s a very dangerous assassin, you know~”

you looked up as you were still being carried; if looks could kill, you would be dead by now

but from your angle, you can’t really make out his full face

“if miss Y/N should be careful of anyone here, it would be you...” Mingi rolled his eyes as he got closer to you and your carrier

the male stuck his tongue out at Mingi and started to dash away

“you’re just mad because you got her taken from you.. sorry, not sorry, but dancing with Mingi is one of the most BORING thing you could ever do~”

before Mingi could get to you, you were shrouded in a poof of a cloud 

when the cloud cleared up, you could tell you were in another part of the estate

“you can teleport?” you asked

but then when you saw his face clearly, you wanted to ask another question, sadly you missed your timing

“wow, you’re not even gonna ask what my name is..” the man places you gently onto a plush sofa 

you looked around the room; this must be the common area 

“I’m Wooyoung, at your service~” he bows quite dramatically 

“I’m guessing you already know my name..” you grabbed a pillow for comfort 

Wooyoung sat right next to you and started to twirl with a strand of your hair, “I know more than your name..”

your eyes opened and got close to him, “you can read minds too? have we’ve met before? did we meet in another life?”

Wooyoung started to laugh at your cute remarks, “no I can’t, that’s Yeosang’s thing... but I’m glad that you were thinking about me~”

Wooyoung cupped your face with his veiny hands and got real close, “we’ve met before.. when we were kids..” 

your excitement caused your forehead to slam into his

“really?! when?! what happened?! I don’t really remember!” 

although you were fine, Wooyoung’s forehead was throbbing

“my head is spinning now, there’s no way I can tell you~” he half-teased, half-spoke the truth

“what?! no way... is there anything I can do to help you?” you were concerned; you have always been hardheaded... literally 

Wooyoung lowered his chocolate red-brown eyes and snickered under his breath, “if you give me a kiss and make it better, I’ll tell you~”

you got up from your seat; blushing, of course, “what are you a kid?! forget it!”

“wait, miss Y/N.. I was just kidding!”

you darted out of the room

...

will you choose his story and go back to find out how you two met before?

or will you choose someone else?

-JONGHO

(type: rarely talks but watches out for you; unlimited strength and does anything you ask of him)

(special power: blood absorption; the ability to absorb blood and/or use it to convert into anything) 

you didn’t know how long you ran for but you turned up in the rose garden, which looked exceptionally beautiful at night; your heart stopped beating at the speed of light and you felt relaxed in the midst of the rose bushes 

there was an exquisite gazebo in front of a moonlit-sparkling lake so you sat there and thought about how you got to this place

how you left the place you called home to get back in touch with your father

how your father was the leader of vampires; which meant you were half-vampire, half-human

how your were suppose to marry one of the vampire heirs to stay protected from the other creatures who want your powers 

it was a lot to take in

you walked closer to the lake to look at your reflection; looking at the glowing red eyes you were always made fun of for, wondering where you got them from

sure they weren’t as bright as the other vampires but they were still red

you were lost in thought; unable to detect the large man-eating koifish swimming up towards you

by the time you realized there were another pair of eyes staring back at you from under the water, it would be too late to jump back to safety 

you felt a fast gust of wind as someone got in front of you

they placed their hand into the fish’s mouth and pushed it down; causing the lake’s water to form into tsunami-like waves away from the person in front of you 

the fish shriveled up and turned to ashes that blew away with the night’s cool breeze

everything happened so fast; your knees finally gave out from shock and you sat onto grass that thrived next to the lake 

“miss. Y/N...” the person called out

because of the moonlight, all you could make out was a man with a muscular build and a pair of glowing dark red eyes

he reached out for you but you flinched

this man had incredible strength and was scared that if he touched you, you would become like the fish

he was hurt by your action but took his hand back, “there are dangerous creatures lurking in the waters.. please be careful.. miss Y/N..” 

you couldn’t help but feel bad, he saved you but you can’t even bring yourself to even thank him

“um thank you!” you finally had the courage to get up to talk to him

that was when the moonlight hit his face and not his back, you could finally see his face

he had his own charming looks; despite of his physically and powers, he was pretty baby-faced and when he smiled back at you, you felt your heart skip a beat

“you’re welcome, miss Y/N.. my name is Jongho.. welcome to the Aurora estate..” 

he walked alongside with you back into the castle but never said a word

sure, it was quiet.. but it wasn’t awkward

...

will you choose his story to find out more about him?

or will you continue the story to choose later?

[ masterlist + guidelines ]