#clem was also hard to figure out honestly

[spacedlexi]

I remember seeing ur first fanarts of TWDG back in the day and I'm SOOO happy to find out u are still drawing violentine on this day and age!!! u have improved so much is unreal

also I loooove the way you draw the two of them, Clem looks like such a cutie pie and you draw Violet SOOO pretty u made me realize how pretty she actually is in game, they are so well done and akin to their in game models ur job is unreal!!!! /pos

WAAA THANK YOU ANON 😭 i know you can really track my improvement through all my twdg fanarts its wild seeing my early stuff. nothing helps improvement more than being brain broken about characters. if i dont draw the little guys in my head i'll die

and aaaa im so glad you think so 😭!!! vi was the hardest to deconstruct. her shapes and features can be so dramatic from different angles sometimes. the lighting in game doesnt flatter it as well as it could, but when it does she looks Great. my girls got cheek And jaw bones shes Intense. and i love drawing clem with her soft little heart shaped face and big beautiful eyes :) theyre both just so much fun to draw

[swallowtailed]

palisade 41

honestly don’t really know where to begin here.

because, like, we all kinda knew this was coming, right? odds were it had to happen sometime. now it has.

but there’s still a real cosmic unfairness to the timing of it. figure died right after they decided they didn’t want to. breaking the wheel of their resurrection is fine and all, but they fought so hard to escape clem and join perennial that it doesn’t really ring true to me.

hearing future in the same sentence reminded me that there’s another suite of definitions for figure, aside from the noun meaning shape or form—the verb meaning guess, consider, imagine.

i’m inclined to read future and perennial as two sides of the same coin—two views of the principality. future sees an inevitable road toward culmination, perennial sees that it’s all the same fucking cycle. also, future seizing on a moment of power from perennial and turning it to their own ends.

real gur just cannot catch a break. they’re stuck with future, inside their own reanimated corpse, guarded by the shell of figure? some real eternal torment there.

so, you know. shit sucks!!

i was really, really hoping eclectic would steal future, and it would also have been incredible for gur sevraq (who, as we know, stole the future) to be stolen from future, but the dice fall as they will

really interesting contrast between the two sides of this arc wrt divine/axiom/mortal/etc relationships. thisbe is guiding integrity and communicating with ebullience, building relationships across ways of being. figure is destroyed just by exposure to divine power, subsumed by the weight of a god rearing up on its own. the axiom being willing to treat with thisbe, the divine destroying figure. which is maybe less about those powers than about the hands moving them—instrumentalization as always a core theme of palisade.��

of course it is also a cautionary tale of the capriciousness of dice. if figure and gur had gotten to speak with future i can imagine it going more like thisbe’s side. but maybe not! we’ll never know.

characters being demanded to envision a future was one of my favorite beats in partizan and it was really cool to hit that again (and to call back to leap!). but also heartbreaking. cori, happy and safe…

aw fuck the crew’s still gonna have to find out that figure is dead… mortality of course goes hand in hand with grief. much like valence’s death i think the positioning of figure’s death is ultimately going to be shaped most by reactions to it

dre’s pc deaths are always so fraught, huh. valence and chine were also kind of messy, sudden deaths—no clean tragedy. which, like, is life, but also, ;-;

the music was incredible. like breathing. and the way the dirge just stops—blinks out.

eclectic drawing up the seismic power of opposition, his own power, was really moving. a bit of grace in that moment.

i’m not sure where they’re gonna go from here, especially in terms of character arcs. it’s a rough downbeat. kind of falls in line with the conflict turns, though—fighting back and forth down to the bitter end. might be a bleak finale although at least one more thing seems set to unfold in this arc so honestly who knows

incidentally, bets on that: the smell of computer parts immediately made me think of the nobel, but the mechanical whine heard across the continent made me wonder if it could be palisade waking up (/being woken up). either way, it’s definitely getting to be alarm clock time, right?? (on the other hand maybe this is just motion activating all across palisade, but a bunch of motion factories just got taken down.)

it’s nice that the a-plot crew were having a fun heist though. cori deserves an alise breka mission

tragedy-ass podcast.

[somethingsomeart]

I'm back on my bullshit again~! A more proper view of Hunter!Tahir (where he's not suffering my memes for once) as I imagined him while I played through The Northern Passage IF demo @northern-passage And small scenes and interactions with the characters: Lea Chen, Merry Harlowe, Clementine and Noel Lykaon

Special appearances by Dot (the horse), a badly carved turtle, a little lucky bell and the Rot (and Tahir at the end of the demo)

Fangirlish rambling under the cut! It long

This honestly largely took this long cuz I could *not* figure out which scene I wanted to use for Noel! Xe has a ton of really great scenes but in most the Hunter wears their cloak (as per usual) and I really wanted one where that doesn't happen. Cuz, for Tahir, Noel is one of the people he's the most comfortable just being himself around rather than a hunter, cuz xe is hunter too but kind and he makes it easier. And since Tahir is an idiot who didn't even care to check for the wraith before going for Clem, he's kinda unconscious when they first meet!

So I ended up picking the scene in front of the door after the Hunter accidentally-on-purpose opens the Vel, where, to hide xirs fear and concern ('m guessing), Noel makes a joke that actually has the Hunter laughing. A short moment of almost normalcy surrounded by something that, of the group, only the two fully share.

Meanwhile Lea (he/him from a d3 toss) gets to be a gremlin! It was honestly a cute and really natural scene that I'd been itching to doodle for a bit so here it is! (Tahir's horse is called Dot cuz she has a dot in the centre of her forehead. She's a lusitano uwu I'm dating a horseboy, I gotta respect the horse) Tahir's favourite (non alcoholic) drink is actually coffee so Lea won himself some extra points right there! That he immediately lost for laughing at Tahir's suffering >:'(

Merry gets the scene with the little carved turtle cuz my thoughts were pretty much the same as Tahir's when I read the scene. It was really cute! It felt like seeing Merry rather than the pirate captain who is trying to protect her town, almost vulnerable and caring for just a little trinket that matters to her. Basically, Merry cute, cute Merry cute, I draw

Clem gets to tell a story! A story that, I'm sure, isn't going to be deeply meaningful nor anything. This is also a moment where Clem reaches out to the Hunter with an offer to protect them so I really wanted to include it. Despite how scared they seem, they still offer to come to the Hunter if he calls, and, ye, wanted to draw that!

And Tahir! As the Hunter. Tahir has brown eyes in the narration but he normally has amber ones, so I kept here even if it's hard to see ':D

Alcohol for his poison of choice. Favourite magic is sword. Touch starved as much as touch averse, no, he doesn't get it either.

He promised Jorah and he means to keep that promise, but gods if he’s not tired…

Very protective of his people: Noel, Lea and his dads mentors in particular, but Merry and Clem too (and whoever might need protection but these people most of all atm). In part thanks to that promise, and how it does help remind him to not hate others for… well, most of what being a hunter means, but it has led to him internalising a lot of that anger into a lack of care for his own safety that then leads to him being almost self-sacrificing when others are in danger. It’s fine tho! He’s fine!

He’s always fine, he has to be.

I haven’t figured out yet which romance path he’s gonna go for yet! Merry cute, Lea is delightful drama, and Noel is an absolute darling (sorry, Clem, you're not an option for Tahir, but at least that means less angst in your life??) so I am dying here!!

At this point in the demo Tahir’s managed to fight with Lea, but still agreed to talk, and lit his pipe (delicious scene btw, 5 stars~), was not kicked out of Merry’s ship cuz he kept away from the books but did get kicked out of her office when he went there to talk (yes, it hurt. A lot. He felt like such an idiot), been flustered by Noel and had a surprisingly not terrible conversation with him before they went to the isolation district, and made a blood pact with Clem, that came back to bite him in the ass (but also not really cuz wow! Keres hurts), he wants to have a little chat, Clem…!

He also got punched with the butt of a knife in the face by Duncan but paid him back in the final-current-demo-fight >:) (Duncan is awful in the absolutely best way possible! Had a lot of fun in his scenes and really enjoying hating the guy)

Really excited to get to find out what the hell Jorah is doing there, and working with/for Keres and Duncan?? In future chapters. (Also, Tahir would like to know where's Rodrick?? Where's dad, dad??) Also to find out more about the Hunter’s new “little” tagalong (aka, the Firstborn, I'm still going all in it's them!). Tahir actually doesn’t hate them, since they’ve only hurt him (as far as he knows) and not his people so there’s a good chance they’ll maybe be actually able to talk??

If you read this far, wow.

[ninthprime]

post where i just talk about what im palisade shipping. because im bored.

bucci real. i like to think about how gucci ended up in this deep. how lonely are you that the fish who you know used to scam you and did war crimes is the one you’re falling in love with!! why are you having romantic thoughts about being great heroes and saving everyone with them!! brnine likes gucci of course but i truly don’t think they realized how deep it was until that pre-sun convo. and its like oh gucci is in deep with me. well i’m not gonna process that in my brain because i can’t connect to my own emotions. it’s toxic they’re not good for each other but its ok. care for each other anyway.

brnine/jesset is real too you know it is. but i also think that’s jesset occasionally wanting to make out with them and brnine would probably agree but is not processing it and is just thinking Jesset’s my best friend! ok brnine.

this does mean gucci/brnine/jesset is real i think. bucesset. as it has been dubbed. usually i dont think its romantic with gucci and jesset but it’s. A Relationship. what if we mind melded once and hated each other and what if we were currently each other’s ally on the terrorism council nonetheless and what if we were both in love with a pathetic war criminal. i want them to freak out about brnine being on the pact ship together. i want them to both be a little fucked up about how they nearly just had to give themselves up to the bilats. i want jesset to make gucci promise to not fail brnine like they both did valence.

you all know gurbalence is the forever ot3…for years i have thought of them every day…you know we will get it. ali is already providing us a steady stream of balence. and you KNOW we will get gurlence. you know dre and austin will make that happen. you know gur and brnine are going to have to exist around each other via figure proxy. and it will be awkward and bad. but they are associated forever by grief :) do you think brnine has opinions on the gur puppet. hey if they try to free gur do you think someone will have to make him another body. hey do you think brnine has thought about how they have the notes and tapes that are valence and gur’s legacy recently

i think figure/gur (figur) (you know we have to call it figur) could be real but i need to see it. i KNOW how much a dre pc loves a npc romance. but it could also be so bad for them in the wrong circumstances…them being tied together ties them to clem in many ways still…they have such similar hurts. it is probably not great to finally gain freedom and then have a spider bound to you. but also i think they could understand each other. figure will definitely project on them a little as is their habit. i have to see the flirty quotient…well sometimes gur is just naturally like that.

i did mention this recently in replies but secretly though the figure ship i have been thinking about a lot this season is figure/thisbe. honestly it may be my largest ship this season. but i have been nervous to talk about it because the best thing about thisbe is that she does not see things the way others see them so it is a hard sell while still true to her character. but im not seeing things right. they like to rush into action together. figure wanted to know if she was being treated well and seems to have picked up on how she sees the world differently and will defer to her judgement. thisbe made a clock just for getting them away from clem and prioritized it for multiple missions. they are like a plant to her and now they have plants growing from them!! i think figure will be very grateful and may try to make it up to her and it will be cute and funny. this is thisbe’s weird little crewmate and she is going to hook them up to the blue channel irrigation system and provide them beneficial nutrients. this will be satisfying to her and they will feel very safe.

cori/elle real. they will kiss i think. what i need to see is for them to talk about devotion more. what made you realize you didn’t believe elle. what happened to you as a double agent. can what you know cut through cori’s pain. can it cut through her devotion. how can you share this with her without her punching you again. do you care enough about her to share this. i want to see it all on screen

my friends are much better than me than talking about arbitred the hot new ship but it’s real. sending someone a digital ham slurper is real. when you don’t have a candidate because that’s so demeaning but you work closely with a weird little cyborg girl that’s not romance you know that’s just putting someone under a microscope and thinking they’re entertaining. it’s not like you feel the nonhuman equivalent of a satisfied rush when she sends you an emoji and talks about how successful the two of you are at selling contracts together. simply an incredibly beneficial business transaction. you are sending her five more ham slurpers and watching her say npc dialogue about this.

this isnt a big ship yet but i want to see more of the crusade squad because i miss ignadiah and ramondre the swordbearer rivals. i think hets are allowed if they are constantly trying to destroy one another. they are so much fun to me.

[owlbelly]

nearing the end of my Imajica reread & it's been hitting me hard with the patented Clive one-two punch of big feelings (actually crying about Taylor & Clem this time, always crying about Pie) & deep criticism/embarrassment (literally what the fuck is going on with the racism, also Judith's whole plotline is a gross slog honestly)

i am constantly astonished at how one author can be SO good and SO bad at the same time! i do think Imajica is all around his best effort (whereas Cabal has a great premise & poor execution) but good lord there's so much to unpack here. file under "books that are super important to me but that i won't recommend unless we're close & i know you can filter-feed the good shit"

have to figure out what i'm doing next...my TBR pile right now includes Baru Cormorant, All Systems Red (which would probably take me one evening), The Books of Jacob (the opposite of that, it's HUGE), The Alchemists' Council (which i managed to find a copy of in a thrift store within months of Masson DMing me about citing my zine in a paper she's writing?? so obviously the universe needs me to read it), Sacha's new one The Forbidden Book (!!!)...

life is short BOOKS ARE LONG (that's why i read so fast)

[meaming-screals]

i wanna ask, wich driver would you like to see on screaming meals?

Ohhhh this is a tough one because I honestly have a head cannon that Marcus will eventually do this full time and dive into Motorsport media if he doesn’t do racing himself so it’s open a lot of possibility or guests. (Or at least I hope he does.) Sorry if this is a little long, I've watched my fair share of motorsport podcasts and I just think this one is so special.

It's hard to determine but this is my list nonetheless:

1) people we have no idea about (photographers, managers, race engineers etc.)

I would absolutely love this idea. These are the people that spend the most time with drivers in the most unfiltered way and they’d be close enough to not hold back. They likely would've had enough of their (especially Marcus') neuroses to really just put people on blast. If I only could pick one though, my pick would be to have MP Motorsport’s Coordinator Jen. I think she's a real hidden powerhouse in the paddock, taking on so many vital roles during her career and I always love hearing stories of the behind the scenes that keep this crazy travelling circus running. With how hectic everything gets, she's bound to have crazy stories of things going wrong or figuring things out last minute. Also, imo, she always puts out some of the best photos of the weekend. They're always so candid and full of personality which is really hard to capture well in photos. She may be more reserved but this would also be the perfect opportunity for Clem (the newest co-host in town) to solo host or only host with James along with Felipe as a returning guest following his championship win. Jen would have the comfort of two people she's already close with as well as someone who's able to be more inquisitive, structured, and relatable to the audience. Would also love to hear her perspective on what it's like as a third party, non-racer, watching someone go through the motions of winning a championship. (Also big bonus: she's a Kiwi!)

2) Paris Armstrong

Younger sister energy goes hard and you know we’d get the most embarrassing stories about Marcus from her because at the end of the day, he’s not an F2 Motorsport driver; he’s a pain in the ass that she’s unfortunately blood-related to. It’s also always interested me that most drivers move away from home so early in their lives. It’d be great to see them touch on what growing up was like given that they now live in London together/originally started the Screaming Meals Instagram together.

3) Lando Norris

He’s been mentioned quite a bit on the podcast already through karting stories even though they don't claim to be close. I think his dry humour, quick wit, and generally cluelessly upbeat personality would be really fun to have on the podcast. Not to mention, having him on the podcast I think would be the best foray into having higher profile F1 personalities on the podcast that aren't close friends. (Screaming Meals special where they all go karting again for old times sake? Ft. Callum Ilott? We can only hope for now.)

4) Liam Lawson

Triple the trouble. I know they technically don’t get on well or aren’t particularly close, but it’d be fun to hear the return of Marcus going full kiwi because at this point, Clem sounds more kiwi than Marcus does. It's also because I wonder if James has any stories of bumping into Liam during the NZ karting circuits because it's such a small circle. Liam is pretty chaotic so I think it'd be interesting to see what the dynamic is like. I'm pretty sure in this case, to have a non-awkward episode there might have to be a secondary guest. The obvious pick would be Juri Vips because he's close with both Liam and Marcus but uh- idk how that would really work.

5) Robert Schwartzman

While bringing Jehan, Callum, and/or Enzo on the same episode. I'd love for them to recount their old Prema days. Some of the wildest stories we've heard so far were from the episode with Callum so there's bound to be more from their end as well. I'm mostly thinking about that boxing story between Rob and Enzo. (Another specials idea where they do a boxing challenge to relive that one training camp?)

6) Guanyu Zhou

Although we don't see it as much, Zhou does happen to be quite close with them. (As pictured in the latest Screaming Meals IG story.) That would be something really interesting to listen to because Zhou is such a reserved character on the Paddock. He's definitely got a sense of humour and I think having a space like Screaming Meals where they can just banter and go back and forth, we'd be able to see a new/hidden side of him.

7) James Harvey Blair (The man himself)

James, James, James. Ngl I think he really carries this show. He's given us some of the greatest moments so far and I think people really overlook a host like James. For podcasts, it's so important to have a host or a character that the audience can channel themselves through and in this case, I think it's James. He's always so on top of keeping the questions going and while he is the brunt of a lot of jokes, I hope he really gets the love and appreciation he deserves. (I think sometimes you can see the jokes kind of get to him) Having a podcast on him and what his story is besides "I'm just a no-name insurance broker" would be special. If anything, having it as a birthday special would be really nice. Also, what is it like being in a space that he was so close to for so many years while not driving himself? Growing up, it's so hard to let go of things that are so familiar to you; that basically built and raised you as a person. I'm always so interested in that narrative, of drivers that had to at some point make the decision or were forced into making the decision of stopping motorsport. (Also James casually just name dropping he works for Lloyd's like it's not one of the world's biggest and oldest powerhouses when it comes to insurance and finances???)

8) Rory, the Editor

Just let me know what goes on behind those cuts and bleeps. LOL but all jokes aside I just want to know how Rory ended up as their editor and what it's like travelling and working for Screaming Meals. What were his other experiences before this? Was he working in motorsport or did he somehow just fall into this??? So many questions for the floating voice off camera. Again, another birthday special featuring Rory would be really fun and a great way to show their appreciation for the work he does on the podcast.

Anyways, there's a reason I love this podcast sm and It's because I think it really offers what the sport is missing/needs in order to progress and grow into their newer audience. People like to hate on new fans or fans joining just for the personalities of the drivers but those aren't reasons to discredit them as fans of the sport. They watch the races, keep up with what's going on and if that doesn't make you a fan I don't know what does. Often what the sport needs are these personalities to draw people in first, especially when it comes to grasping a younger demographic that you need in order to build a long lasting fanbase so the sport doesn't die out. Older motorsport media doesn't do a good job of hooking in a newer fanbase, especially for F2. It's dry and it often seems too overproduced to really get genuine stories from drivers who are a lot newer and shyer to the media ring. We're just seeing the emergence of an audience looking for these more modern media outlets such as WTF1, PitStop, and TG1F to name a few. Screaming Meals is in the optimal place to become a motorsport media mainstay and is already quickly becoming a ticket for a huge uptick in F2 support. This could translate to more eyes and opportunities as a whole for the series and feeder drivers itself. Too bad the FIA and F2 media don't see more value in this, but hey, they can now just take the show and run with it without having to bend to the whim of some mega media conglomerate

[downydig]

OK quick question what does Tinny thinks of everyone?

buh okay! ill separate them out so its easier to read!

raggedy ann: highly respects her. thinks she's the one in control. often says "YES MAAM!" in response to her. would die for her honestly, sees her as a very important figure (he's right honestly)

raggedy andy: thinks of him as just a step below ann. of course he knows how aloof andy is and doesn't trust him a lot with running the playroom. he DOES, however, consider him good at keeping secrets. often he goes to andy for comfort or to confide in something. he also may or may not find him very charming

maxi fixit: he has a special connection with him. sees him as an uncle figure. they get along so well and enjoy each others company a lot for both being made out of metal; there's a kinship there. he also goes to him for if he has a dent or scuff on his body. they often discuss the happenings of the days and how marcella is growing.

uncle clem: kind of sort of old love? they both enjoy discussing military whatnot. clem doesn't enjoy him using his popgun much, it can be a trigger for him, so tin likes to shuffle away and use it behind the banister so clem doesn't get upset. tin really respects clem and finds him very kind. both tin and andy are the only ones that really get to see clem's soft side; mostly because it tends to come out before bed.

the camel: the camel finds the tin solider a bit exacerbating. tin is a bit high energy for the camel so they don't interact too much. when they do the camel usually fusses about his popgun or his loud metal clanking. tin isn't fond of the complaining so he doesn't talk to him unless he's in a more positive mood.

susie pincushion: she can't really do much to fix him up like maxi fixit can since he's made of metal, but she still likes to fuss over him! she'll wipe dirt off his face with her thumb or make him little cloth shirts so he stays warm in winter. tin solider finds her very sweet and likes the attention she gives him sometimes. though sometimes she babys him and he has to object.

twin pennies: :-/

topsy: finds her very silly and hard to understand. she's very loppy and stretched and it wigs him out a little bit. he wouldn't let anyone on but he finds her intimidating due to her size...

grandpa: feels similarly about him like maxi fixit. looks up to him since he's an elder of sorts. he's also very close to ann and often gives her advice, so he follows him as well. though there are instances where ann will just repeat whatever grandpa said and tin will be like "GREAT IDEA RAGGEDY ANN!" grandpa reacts to the stolen credit with an eyeroll however.

barney bean bag and socko: dude they each had like one line there's nothing there im not going to go in on them lol

so yea that's what i have so far! :-D

[cozycryptidcorner]

The Mad Prince, Chapter 11 (sfw)

Chapter 10

“Are you sure?” You ask, gaping, and Clementine glares at you in response. You’re suddenly hyper-aware of how she has dedicated her entire life to identifying, hunting down, and killing driders, all while on the bloodied front lines of a war, so she is currently an expert on such a topic.

“Am I sure that the front line footage that some soldiers died to send back to base is somehow fabricated?” She asks, testily.

Your brain is buzzing like a thousand fireflies have crawled into your ears. “But that doesn’t make any sense, Clem.” 

“You’re absolutely correct,” she still sounds vaguely pissed, but that’s her default tone. “Which means that there’s more than meets the eye, and we now have to figure out what.”

 The keias values honesty, Elias’ words come back, unbidden, if you ask, he will answer.

 “We can’t go prodding around now, though, because that will throw a lot of weird suspicion on you.” You bite at the skin around your thumb, trying to figure out how to go about this in the most delicate way possible. 

After a moment of hard silence where you are almost too aware of how loud your breathing is, Clementine prods, “you and the prince or whatever he actually is weren’t acting too couple-y.”

Annoyance starts dripping into the hollow of your chest, and you feel a build of angry pressure beginning to rise. “He- he didn’t tell me he was engaged.” 

For the first time since her bubbly mask fell off, she shows some semblance of human emotion by almost choking on her spit. Quickly, she gets herself under control and shakes her head as though she might have expected such, then sighs.

 “I mean, and his fiance was assassinated. Elias told me she died of sudden heart failure, but like she was a drow and-”

“A drow?” She turns to you again, her eyes narrowed until they were almost slits, “as in, two legs and walking upright? Are you sure?”

“Y-yes,” the indignancy of being lied to by omission is still thrumming through your chest, “and he apparently really loved her.” 

��Obviously so, because it would have been rather illegal for him to marry outside of his species.” Clem sits back up from her lounging position, plucking a flower that grew right in front of her legs.

You don’t like all this new information being rained down upon so quickly, but you suck in your breath and try to take this one in stride. There’s a dull thudding in your head, like a distant drumbeat. “So there are race-based marriage laws?”

 “Of course, didn’t you know?”

No, you’re suddenly acutely aware of how unprepared you are. “The matchmakers didn’t make me aware of that.” You suppose it does explains a lot, like how stressed the prince is at you meeting the rest of his family, or how he doesn’t seem to want you to go out and explore on your own, and such. 

Clementine lets out a gruff sigh, you suppose from frustration at having to hold your hand like a toddler throughout a warzone. You try to not let that bother you. It’s… not really your fault, is it? You didn’t want this to happen, if you could go back to your completely shitfaced self as you were about to enter all pertinent information to Starward Matchmakers™ glowing neon booth, you would bludgeon the back of your head with a bat.

“Okay, so someone is trying to kill you,” she holds up one finger, “and we know from that assistant guy that they are very capable of doing so,” she adds another finger, “and you aren’t even in the good graces of your princely other half, assuming that drider is who he says he is.”

You swallow thickly, feeling positively ill, pressing your fingertips into the pressure points on your temples in the hopes your brain might untangle. “Clementine?”

“Yeah.”

“The Starward Matchmakers™ did match me with the prince, right? This isn’t some kind of weird mistake? Or like… or like what they were trying to do with you?”

“Do you know anyone with the budget of a large government’s military that can handle a bribe of such proportions who might think it’s funny to pull such a dangerously cosmic prank?”

 “No.” You look down at your hands as the last bit of hope that this might all be a nightmarish misunderstanding slips through your fingers.

Clementine softens, though only slightly, letting out another sigh and very awkwardly giving you a pat on the back, which is about the most she’ll ever offer in the way of sympathy. “Tough it out. Paint a pretty smile on that face of yours and maybe make out with him a little.”

 “Clementine!” You raise your voice, then look self consciously back at your guards as they assess whether or not you need their aid. “That’s not how this works.” 

“This is exactly how this works, kid, even if he’s an alien spider, he’s still a male.” She rolls her eyes. “And stop acting like a prude.” 

“Yeah, but he is,” another wave of frustration razes through your blood and right to your fingertips. “One time I kissed him, he thought it was essentially a marriage proposal.”

 Her face wrinkles into a grimace, but she seems to take in marginal good humor. “Okay, so he’s a virgin. That makes things easier, maybe just show him your ankle or something, he’d drool all over it.”

You’re going to say something snippy in response, maybe tell her that she should do the ankle-showing, but the mental image of the fucking drider prince of Lolth freezing as he stares at a bare leg and foot does have a level of absurdity to it that makes you choke your words down into a wry laugh. “I don’t know, maybe it will give him brain damage.”

“All the better to finish this war finally,” Clem stretches out her arms, “Anything else you’d like to fill me in on?”

“Heikka Nisesh, you know, the famous war criminal? He was supposed to be my first physician, but I threw a big enough fit that I ended up with a basic drow doctor.” 

She immediately tenses, her entire body going into an alert that is unique to a trained soldier. “Tell me you’re joking. Now.”

“I’m not.” 

There’s another expression in her eyes, now, one that you’re not at all familiar with. Panic, of which she’s obviously trying to settle so the guards don’t become suspicious and approach to get within hearing range. With a shuddering, tense breath, she shakes her head and tries to orient herself back into reality. With no small amount of room in her tone to be anything more than a command, she says, “know that they and I mustn’t ever meet, do you understand? We can’t cross paths, or this whole thing is going to dissolve.”

“Do you want to talk-”

“No.” She stands, glancing over at the guards. “I’d like a tour now.” 

Shakily, you agree, getting up so fast you almost faint. There’s a brief dizziness rattling around in your skull, but you manage to get everything under control enough to show her around.

Whenever you aren’t in the gardens, you have to be very, very careful of dancing around talking normally and not revealing too much. Because ‘girl talk’ is supposed to be about boy troubles and gossip, but having a whole conversation about the crown prince monarch’s shortcomings when there are an indeterminate amount of people listening and reporting back to him doesn’t hold any appeal.

So the present conversation immediately drops as you give her your very restricted-access tour, the long hallways of the floor she is on, all the while she disguises her memorization of all exits and entrances as admiration for the architecture and ornate doors. There’s an odd kind of pinch throbbing between your eyes, and you have to stop for a moment to give yourself a moment to breathe. 

“Are you alright?” For once, Clementine drops a shred of her false personality, her hand grabbing onto your arm almost tightly to hold you up if you faint.

 “I just- I think I need to sit down.” The edges of your eyes blur somewhat, the top of your brain fuzzing over like someone poured a soft drink into your skull.

 “Can you walk?” She asks, glaring at the guards when one of them steps forward, probably to carry you.

 “Yeah,” you lie, hoping that you can just will yourself to keep from passing out, “I think your room is close enough.”

When you wobble just a bit, Clementine wraps her arm around your waist and props you up with her hip, then quickly gives up the strain of one arm and trades it in to pick you up like a baby.

You protest, of course you do, but there’s little you can do to actually wriggle out of her grip. Shockingly, it’s not the first time she’s had to carry you because of an almost skull-splitting headache, though the last time it was because she side-swiped your legs out from under you and your forehead was the thing to take the brunt of the fall. She also wasn’t so nice about it, either, dragging you to the side of the room by the arm like a ragdoll to await a medic.

Now, you suppose with the guards eying you, she can’t yank your limp body back to her room, and you’d honestly rather let her carry you than one of the drow guards. Once you get inside her apartment, she almost unkindly tosses you onto the couch, mumbling something about an ice pack or blanket.

“Did you call for someone?” She asks, and it takes your brain a muddled moment to realize that she isn’t talking to you.

Quiet mumbling, all things you can’t catch. 

Almost impatiently, she yells, “are you both fucking daft? Call the assistant, what’s his face. The one with the white hair! Yes I mean the prince’s first servant, who else did you think I’m talking about?” Her words shift into a language you don’t understand as she walks over to the kitchen, but you’ve heard enough foreign swear words to know that she’s probably cussing them out of a job.

 It doesn’t take too long for Elias to arrive, or maybe it took a long time, and your brain is just so fried you didn’t notice.

“Why isn’t there any ice in the foodkeep?” Clementine’s already pounced, and you’re not sure if this is her ‘worried best friend’ character or her actual self about to dress someone down for putting one of her soldiers in danger.

“For what, exactly?” Elias sounds slightly taken aback by the show of aggression, something rattling in his hands.

“For her head, stupid, she’s almost burning up!” Again, her language dissolves into something unintelligible, though her tone gets the message across. Maybe she’s showing a bit of both sides for your sake.

 “I have some pills,” he almost sounds defensive, now, “it will help with the pressure, her head should-”

”Give me that,” Clem snaps, and you hear even more rattling as she looks over whatever he was about to give you. “What the hell are these?”

“Painkillers,” Elias takes her fury in stride, probably having dealt with much more significant threats in his day, “the best and highest dose for her human body. They were just imported from one of your human pharmaceutical companies, Bionova™, it’s what the matchmaker files suggested we get her.”

There’s another round of rattling, but then footsteps as Clementine sits herself on the couch, just in front of where your legs tug under a blanket she absentmindedly threw onto you earlier, and hands you the bottle.

Now you manage to sit up, despite the angry tightening in your skull, like each individual blood vessel in your brain is squeezing the gray matter down a size. Holding the pill bottle in one hand while scratching your arm nervously in the other, you ask Elias one more time. “You say these were imported?”

“Straight over the border,” Elias promises, “no one would want anything to happen to you.”

 I beg to differ, you think, but pop the lid open anyway. The dull thrumming in your head has you almost desperate to do anything to get yourself rid of it, so you put one of the pills on your tongue and swallow it dry. Clementine, at least, is already rummaging through her cabinets until she finds a glass to fill with water.

“The keias has been notified of her condition, and will come as soon as he is able.”

You try not to roll your eyes, to be entirely honest, even shifting your irises sends a sharp nail through your head. “Tell him not to rush on my behalf.” 

Again, Clementine sits by your side, handing a glass of water over and watches you gulp it down like a dehydrated animal. Elias, also, seems to watch you with a nervous regard in his eyes and dismisses the soldiers with nothing more than a couple of words. When the extra ears are out of the suite, he turns back over to you.

 “This doesn’t leave this room,” he starts, glaring over at Clementine, “but I want you to be aware that he can’t seem to have any weaknesses for you, which is why he isn’t rushing as quickly as I’m sure you’d like.”

Letting out a breath, the pain of the headache getting to you, you ask, “why are you telling me this?”

Elias looks at you, not with anger, with disappointment, and that’s the thing that makes you feel almost ashamed with how you have been treating the prince as of late. “So you do not feel abandoned, your grace.”

Oh, right, it’s back with your grace, Elias’ own way of giving you a super polite cold shoulder. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Also, just as a precaution, the prince will want your doctor to look over your state, but I believe that it would be pertinent to have a so-called house call instead of going down to the clinic in person.”

“Probably, yeah.” The aching throbbing between your eyes has reduced your language usage down to the basics, and it takes you a hot minute to process anything anyone else says. Clementine had been missing for a moment, but she suddenly returns with a damp cloth she places over your eyes. 

There’s a tense, but calm conversation, and as much as you’d like to try paying attention, you can only focus on the dull throbbing in the rear of your head. More talking. You curl up into a ball, the couch large enough so that your knees don’t hand off the back, and you try to dig your fingers into any pressure points of your skull in the hopes it might ease the tension.

Suddenly, a hand comes to rub the side of your arm. “Hey, princess,” Clementine whispers almost soothingly, “you’re going to wait for the doctor and spend the night here, okay?”

You mumble something in affirmation.

 The doctor comes, you hear her voice and feel her prodding touches, but you don’t feel like you’re capable of even offering a meager greeting. There’s a pinch of something in the crook of your elbow, and the feelings cease, slowly. You don’t remember the point in which you fell asleep. Only that you wake up with Clementine conked out in the chair opposite of the furniture arrangement. 

When you wake back up, it’s because your head feels like someone took an ax to your skull, it almost causes you to faint from the pain itself. All you can do is lay on the couch, arms wrapped around your head. It feels like every bone in your body is bruised or fractured, but your head takes the brunt of the pain.

Someone is talking again. You don’t have the ability to focus on them. 

You’re not sure if you can fucking survive this, but gentle hands help you sit up, and there’s yet another sharp, pinching pain in your arm. After a moment, there’s a softness washing over you, like a manifestation of light and comfort flows through your veins and eases the suffering. 

You’ve felt this way before. 

When you open your eyes, the room is washed in a kaleidoscope of colors you hadn’t noticed until now, and you’re surrounded by a bunch of people that you know, you think you know, but your brain takes its sweet time putting names to faces. “Oh. Hello.”

The big one puts a hand on your head, running it down the side of your face. You don’t think you mind so much, but the smaller one is watching him with the eyes of a predator. “How are you feeling?”

“Very fucking high.” You click your tongue against the roof of your mouth, just to make a noise.

“That’s completely normal, keias.” There’s a taller woman, her robes a pleasantly warm gray. “The drugs have overwhelmed her system, she will be more lucid in a few minutes.”

“Of course.” The big one turns to you again, and you look at his face. He’s… angular, alien, but beautiful nonetheless. You don’t think you’re afraid of him.

“What does that mean?” You ask, your lips heavy and difficult to move.

“What?” It’s the smaller one that speaks. 

“That word they just said. Keias.” You think you know what it means, but you want them to explain it to make sure. 

“It’s a royal title?” The big one stares at you, quizzically, as though trying to figure out a puzzle in front of him.

“A royal title?” You don’t think you’ve ever met actual royalty before, at least, you don’t think you have. There’s a lot you don’t remember about yourself. “Are you like a king?”

The smaller one snickers at this, then says, “babe, no. He’s a prince.”

“A prince?” You look at him again, your eyes wide. “You’re a prince?”

He doesn’t seem flattered, only oddly concerned. Turning to the female in robes, he says, “she didn’t possess memory loss when she was last dosed.”

“I gave her a different, faster-acting painkiller.” The woman taps on the screen of a datapad. “It works to block out different parts of the brain, but she is lucid enough to get on a starship, memories, or not.”

“So it’s not actually dulling the pain, it’s just telling the brain not to process it?” The smaller woman asks arms crossed over her chest. 

“Exactly, which is why it’s fast-acting and doesn’t lose effectiveness over time. The memories can be a side effect, but they should return when the drug filters out of her system.”

“You say ‘starship,’” the prince!!! observes, his many eyes narrowing slightly.

 “I did indeed, your grace.” The female is not intimidated. “I think it would be best if my patient spent some time in lower gravity conditions, which can be best produced in a starship while in space.”

 The prince stares at her for just a moment, as though he cannot believe she would suggest such a thing. “Nisesh says a drug can be produced to aid in here acclimation.”

 The female scoffs. “Nisesh believes they might become a god with enough drugs at their disposal. I mean no disrespect towards you, your grace, but sometimes the best cure is the most obvious one.”

 The prince is quiet for a long, tense moment, but the doctor doesn’t back down. It’s the smaller woman who speaks up, her voice almost laced with an underlying threat, “if that’s what’s best for her, then you need to get it done.”

 His eyes snap up, and he assesses the woman with a critical eye. Then he nods sharply, once. Turning back to the doctor, he says, “how long do you suggest she stay?”

 The doctor taps something onto her datapad. “I would have preferred she acclimate slowly, spending a longer time in orbit than she has, but since her body managed to stay together so well, I think you might find an improvement pain-wise within a day. So long as her body bounces back quickly, mind, because it might take longer for her to recover.”

 “You will join us, then, so you may monitor her condition.” It’s not a request, but an order.

 “Of course, keias,” the doctor bows at him, then steps away, tapping on the datapad.

 “I’m coming, too.” The way the smaller woman speaks leaves little room for arguments. There’s something almost… admirable, you think, about the way she stands up to the bigger one, even though he looks very capable of snapping her human body in half.

 “That is… acceptable,” the prince says.

 Without much thought, you reach over and touch the end of his hair nearest to where you sit, the strands soft and silky as you pull them closer. “Has anyone told you that you have really nice hair?”

 He stares. After a moment that consists of the woman snickering quietly, he says, “actually, yes. Yes, I have.”

 You must have blacked out again because when you wake up, you are not in Clementine’s room. In fact, you’re no longer on Lolth, because the sleek, brilliance of the space is nothing like the solid, ancient architecture that you had grown accustomed to. And just beyond the edge of the large bed you’ve been placed in is a window.

 There are no windows on Lolth, really, because there is nothing to gaze at when a society grows from the inside of their world, instead of the outside. As you sit up, you notice the echoes of a headache pulsing in the back of your skull, where the spine connects, and it feels like you had a rough fall. But when you place your feet onto the thickly threaded rug and stand, you find that you do it with some semblance of ease.

“You’re awake.”

 You almost jump out of your skin, because the prince is hiding so efficiently in the shadows of the room that you didn’t notice him until he spoke. “Y-yes.”

 A moment of awkward silence follows. You’re still wearing the same clothes as you were giving Clementine the tour- oh fuck, Clementine-

 “You were asleep for a day and a half.” His voice interrupts your hazy anxiety. “I was… concerned, but the doctor said your body was repairing itself.”

“I suppose so.” You wrinkle your forehead, realizing there is dryness choking your mouth, tongue something like sandpaper against the inside of your cheek. With little ceremony, you strip out of your outer shirt, your skin singing with no longer being suffocated by cloth, your camisole much more sheer and thin. “I need some water.”

 The prince rises to a stand, “allow me. Please.”

 You’re not sure what he means by that, but he opens one of the cabinets of what you’re now seeing is a starship cabin, then fills a glass to the brim with the tap. His movements are jerking, unfamiliar, as though he’s having his own issues with growing used to a different form of gravity. When he hands you the cup, you’re standing right by the window, staring out at the stars.

“God,” you say, after quietly thanking him, “I forgot how much I missed this view.”

 “They are beautiful,” he says, “it’s difficult to believe that they are each suns of magnificent strength from this distance. They all seem so… small. Insignificant.”

There’s a moment of quiet contemplation as you down the whole glass of water with minimal effort, then you remember what you wanted to ask him before. Looking at his reflection instead of actually making eye contact, you question, “where’s Clementine?”

 “In her own cabin, or perhaps roaming around.” He pauses, mulling something over in his head. “She is- has... character, isn’t she.”

 “You’ve got that right, believe me.” You let out a sigh, vaguely remembering her wordless glares, her face fuzzy in the more recent ones. Then, just for the purpose of watching his face flush dark, you say, “she thinks we should just fuck and make up.”

 “Is- is that how humans solve all their problems?” He asks, though you can see the question was a fight to release. There’s a tension in his shoulders when he talks about sex now, but thankfully, he is without the odd aversion he had before like he’s… like he’s trying.

 Still, the way he says it… you burst out laughing. “Oh, if sex could solve all your problems, then-” you abruptly stop yourself, realizing that this might have been a step too far outside of his comfort zone.

There’s an awkward moment of silence shared as the both of you stare out into the void, then the prince turns around and stares at you, hard, and you feel a trickle of fear thrumming up your spine. Finally, he says, “don’t. Don’t do that.”

You swallow thickly. “Don’t do what?”

“Pull away.” He stares back out to the stars, sharply, all eyes narrowing. “You show me the smallest part of yourself, and then you refuse to give me anything more. I don’t like it when you do that.”

You’re quiet for another moment, then, “well… you didn’t really approve, before.” 

“Didn’t… approve?” He echoes in the fashion of a question, glancing in your direction. “What do you mean?”

“You seemed uncomfortable when the subject of sex gets brought up.”

 “Ah.” He leans back slightly, his facial features relaxing slightly. “I see.”

“So I stopped.”

“There’s more than that, though.” He turns back to face you, his expression softer. “It was worse when that abomination was present. You would hide parts of yourself from me, especially when it was here.”

“The- oh.” You remember the Starward Matchmaker™ representative’s oppressive presence, and how you walked on eggshells around her. “Right. Yes. The company doesn’t want me to fuck anything up.” 

“A bit hypocritical of them, then,” the prince’s gaze goes back out towards the stars, “as their formula is supposedly infallible. If all parts of us are compatible with each other, then there should be no reason for you to keep some pieces of yourself hidden.”

You stop staring at his almost translucent reflection in the window and look at his face, his profile washed in the smattering of light easing in from billions of lightyears away. More to yourself than to him, you say, “I guess that’s true.”

“So you will stop trying to keep yourself from me?” He asks, firmly, looking over at you, too.

“I-” you swallow thickly, looking at the fingerprints you left on the otherwise flawless glass in your hands, “okay. Yes.”

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[sweetchup]

Monarch Butterfly

Anonymous asks: Chrollo and his so that both think they’re playing each other... maybe she’s sweet and cute looking so she plays into it and he thinks she dumb and naive and she thinks he’s just a rich kid that took one philosophy class

Type: Chrollo Lucilfer x theif! Reader

Au?: None (same universe as Cute Little Princess (pt.2) and N.E.R.D.S (pt.1))

Word count: 4,000+

Warnings: Smut, Unprotected sex, Chrollo being a Sapiosexual, Dom/Submissive, Angst, angst and angst. Yay, I’m so sad.

Author Note: welp. In a simple sense I went overboard, hehehe, since I instantly got an amazing idea. I might actually make a part 2 to this one if it gets popular enough. I honestly fell in love with the concept once I started writing. I hope you like it anon.

“(Y/n), are you thinking of trying something stupid again? Don’t think I can’t see that look on your face.” Clementine says, blowing a puff out of her cigarette as she looks over to you. You only laugh at Clem, reaching over to pull one of her short blonde corkscrew curls. You watch it bounce back and forth for a moment before answering. “I don’t think it’s stupid. I’m just thinking of having a little fun, that’s all.”

“A little fun my ass. Do you know where we are right now?”

“A party?”

Clementine sighs and shakes her head, “You idiot. We are in a fancy hotel at a party, being hosted by Emperor Fushi who is crowning his eldest daughter, Himiko, and her future husband, Tai.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s that serious.”

Clementine squints her eyes at you as she exhales one last puff of her cigarette before putting it out. “How so. Enlighten me Miss (Y/n).”

“Well,...” you pause for a minute to gather your thoughts, “this is the second time Himiko has been engaged in less than a month. Her first husband was Phinks Magcub who randomly went missing around a week and half ago, along with Emperor Fushi’s youngest daughter.”

“Yeah, they apparently fell in love and ran off into the sunrise. Like so cheesy comedy”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” you murmur. Finally spotting your target again. Clementine lets out an ‘Hah?’. You ignore her noise and just signal her to move down the stairs with you, “I do believe they fell in love and disappeared but I don’t think Mr. Magcub was actually in love with Himiko. Mr Magcub and Himiko got engaged about three ½ weeks ago and Mr Magcub disappeared 1 ½ weeks ago. What do we know that happened in between that timeline?”

You hear her gasp and you smirk a little bit. “T-the theft of The Dragon Eyes Collection!”

“And who do we know that’s crazy enough to do that?”

“The phantom troupe! Wait, (Y/n) is one of them—“

“Yep, one of them is here,” You squint as you go to search for him again. Oh. There he is, “And it’s their leader.”

“(Y/n) wait don’t. We don—“

You act as if you're checking something in her hair and whisper into her ear. “Clem. He already has the two Crown Jewels. That’s our mission and I need to go retrieve them. We may also get the info on the Dragon Eye Collection. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, please hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

You pull away and Clementine sighs before smirking. “Don’t be a stupid ass though.”

“I won’t.” You whine as you sashay away. Your heals click down across the tile floor as you get closer and closer to the bar. You hear a whistle and look to your left to see some young prestigious men eyeing you. Practically undressing you with their eyes. Bingo.

As you finally come to the bar area, you locate him. You can’t see his face right now, due to his back facing you, but it’s obvious it’s him. His bulb-like earrings give him away from like a mile away. You smirk before giving your best sweetest smile. You poke the black haired leader on the shoulder causing him to turn around.

“I-um. Oh god. I’m sorry but can I sit next to you?”

Chrollo gives you a smile. “Yes, of course. Is something the matter, Miss?”

“Oh, no. I’m just not a fan of parties and I was trying to go back to my room but, I got a little scared when a couple of men were staring creepily at me.”

“But, wouldn’t I make you nervous as well? Afterall you don’t know me.”

“Ah I guess-s you do. I’m sorry you are just the first one I saw. I guess I’ll leave, I’m sorry to disturb—“ you say, attempting to get up.

The black haired man grabs your wrist. “Oh. I don’t want you to leave. I was just curious.”

You sit back down. That worked perfectly, he reacted just as you thought he would. You once remembered a person telling you that the leader of the Phantom Troupe has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and his curiosity. And you could tell just by watching him from the balcony, that stealing the Crown Jewels was just like child play for him, so he was bored sitting here at the bar. And even if he didn’t look like it, He was practically looking for anything to possibly entertain him.

So, you walk in, a rich looking damsel in distress waiting for someone to come save her. Chrollo will, of course, take that. You check off all the marks needed to satisfy himself and he had many possible ways to do it. He could steal your Nen, break down your mind, use you, steal from you, or simply just do all of them.

This was where he messed up though. He never would have imagined he would run into someone just as intelligent as him, you.

“I’m Chrollo, Chrollo Lucilfer, by the way.” Chrollo says, leaning against the bar counter.

“Oh! Nice to meet you Chrollo. I’m (y/n). (Y/n) Okage.” You murmur the last part under your breath as if you don’t want him to know. But, he definitely caught it. Perfect, he took your bait. Now he thinks you're an Okage.

“An Okage huh? Wow, call me impressed.”

“Ahh it’s not anything that impressive. It’s just a last name after all.”

Chrollo raises an eyebrow as if he’s saying really. So you’re an Okage, huh? Now he is really interested. The Okage family is a prestigious military family that is known for their very rare Nen. Chrollo is definitely not letting you out his clutches now, he’s going to quietly lure you into his web and pounce. But the question is how…

Ah, that’s how. Chrollo eyes the group of men on the left side of the room, whistling and eyeing every woman that passed by. This worked even better because they were also blocking the exit.

“Would the group of men that happen to be eyeing you, them?”

He points to the group before looking quickly back at you. He watches your doe like eyes blink a couple of times before looking off in that direction. You seem to shudder and clearly show your fear as you see them.

“Y-yes that’s them.” You say, clutching tighter onto your purse. You hear Chrollo let out a small ‘ahh’ as you finish talking.

“Well I was just wondering how you're going to get back to your room without them noticing. After all, they are blocking the door.”

“Oh no. Your right. Do you know if there’s any other doors that lead to the hotel part of this building?”

“Sadly there isn’t. But...,” Chrollo suddenly stands up and extends a hand out to you, “I’d be happy to escort you back to your room.”

“Really?!? Thank you so much!” You say, taking his hand as he leads you away. As you're about to leave you spot Clementine and, secretly, use your hand to signal her.

Clementine smirks into her drink as she notices it. So, the spider has been beaten at his own game eh? Man she might call you stupid but honestly you are the smartest partner she could ever as for. It also doesn’t help you make this job ten times more interesting when you're around.

She just hopes you didn’t get him too caught up in your fun. He’s definitely not like the others you’ve faced.

———🕸—🕷—🕸———

“C-chrollo, W- Wait. I haven’t even taken out the keycard.” You murmur, let out soft moans into his ear as he bites and sucks on your neck. Maybe you made yourself a little too appealing to this guy. Though, at the same time, you can obviously tell him lusting over you is all fake. He just wants you to let his guard down so he can steal from you. Also, you can feel he doesn’t even have a bulge right now.

“Give it. I’ll take care of it.” Chrollo groans, grabbing the card. Once the door to the hotel room is unlocked, Chrollo picks you up and throws you onto the bed. You squeal as he pulls your dress off you and then takes off his shirt and bandanna. Huh. Honestly he’s not half bad, he’s got some nice chiseled muscles going on and an interesting forehead tattoo. Though his patience could use a little work.

You moan out his name as he gives small open mouth kisses all the way from your stomach to your lips. Once he reaches your lips he stops and gives you a passionate kiss.

Honestly, even though this is nice and all, you have a job to finish. Sorry Chrollo. Hope you’ll forgive me on this one.

One moment, Chrollo is pushing you down onto the bed and in charge but in the next, his body feels a hundreds of pounds and it’s even hard to move an muscle.

“W-what?” Chrollo murmurs confused as to what’s going on. You huff as you roll him off of you and he lands next you on his back.

“Fuuuw, Damn Chrollo you weigh a lot. You should lay off the muscle training for a while,” You say, stretching your back. Now, let’s see where those Crown Jewels are. Scurrying through his clothes you find two tiny marbles stuffed into his pant pocket. You bring both up to your eye and examine them as you sit down on his lap. As you look into them you spot the two crowns in one and the Dragon Eye Collection in the other. Score!, “Ooooo! What an interesting ability. Conjures never cease to amaze me with what they come up with.”

You see Chrollo tense, attempting to move, as you throw them on top of your dress on the floor. “Don’t try Chrollo. My Nen won’t be making you move for quite some time.”

“How so?” Chrollo asks, his face blank, unreadable. But, it won’t work, you can see right passed that little trick of his.

“Now I wouldn’t want to tell you that silly goose. I’ll meet one of your conditions if I do so.”

You see Chrollo eyes gleam for a second. He was surprised. He’s had people figure out what his Nen is before but no one has been able to find out his conditions. Not his enemies, not the people of Meteor City, not the Zoldyck’s, not even the troupe. Only he knows what they are. Chrollo licks his dry lips, he’s knows he’s walking on shaky ground right now. “A condition? Are you talking about my Nen? (y/n)? If that is really your name. Though I highly doubt that’s your name. Afterall—

Aww how cute, little Chrollo is trying to change the subject last minute. You decide to cut him off in the middle of his rant, “Yes it’s really my name and yes, I’m talking about your Nen and conditions. Honestly, I already knew you could steal abilities around 3 people had already told me. So it just left me to how. How did the infamous Chrollo Lucilfer, Leader of the Phantom Troupe, steal people’s Nen without their knowledge? Well, it can’t be something that catches them off guard. Afterall, that will grab too much attention and you would have found out already. Yet it also can’t be something too far from the topic of “Nen” either since you need to steal it. So I just observed you as you walked around the party today, after all their is an—“

You pause for a second as you feel something. Is this really happening right now? You test the waters and spread your legs a little bit more wider. Chrollo has definitely gotten a boner while you were talking, it’s a fully hard one too. You decide to roll your hips a little and watch as Chrollo let’s out a moan. You laugh a little at his reaction, “Wow. I’m not sure if I should be happy or offended that me talking turned you on more than the flirting and grinding we did all the way in the elevator.”

Chrollo chuckles, his hair sprayed around on the pillow below him. He’s still trying to keep his tough act up, even now. “Well, there’s a word to describe that actually. It’s called Sapiosexual. By definition it means that someone is attracted to their mind over-r… shit.”

Chrollo clutches onto the sheet below him as you start to slowly grind on top of him. “You know, I’m starting to believe you just really like to hear yourself talk. Either that or you just like to avoid confronting things you don’t know how to figure out in that moment.”

Chrollo doesn’t respond. He just chooses to close his eyes while you smile down at him. “Not talking? Aww sorry I didn’t mean to hit a nerve, Chrollo. Here let me make it up to you.”

You lightly lift yourself off his lap and slowly begin to unbuckle his belt. Looking away quickly, you tried to see Chrollo for a reaction but there was none. Oh well, you can’t rush the good things after all. You’ll have him a mess eventually.

Finally, you pull down his pants and boxers off. Leaving his hard length out in the open; you reach out and hold it lightly in your hand. Wow, he really was a Sapiosexual. The tip of his cock was a pretty red shade with light drips of precum spilling out, showing he was practically craving for release. Hmm...You know what you’ll do. “Wow Chrollo, you're really straining for release. I should help you out. Hmmm... I’m not sure if you're a germaphobe or not so I’m just going to start with my hand….”

Chrollo still had his eyes closed so it gave you the perfect opportunity. As you continue talking, you pulled your panties to the side and lined him up with your entrance. Careful not to get too close so he figures out your plan. Honestly, you were soaked, his cock was honestly really thick and big so you knew it was going to feel absolutely amazing. Also, Chrollo is an entertaining man. You wouldn’t mind have sex with him multiple times if you have to.

“....so Just let me know if it’s not enough ok? I’ll switch to my mouth if so.”

You wait for a second for him to respond but he only lets out a chuckle. Still trying to play it cool. Oh well, you brought this on yourself Chrollo. You take a deep breath and sink down onto his length.

You hear chrollo let out a loud groan as you sink every inch Chrollo has to offer inside you. Even while you are just staying still it makes you feel as if you are about to burst. But, that’s not the important thing right now. You bring your hips up and start off with a slow rhythm, watching as Chrollo is attempting to bring back his composure.

“So,... where was it I left off again? Oh yeah. So I was observing you at the party. Be extra careful to catch changes in people’s aura and listen to what you were saying to them.” You say, rambling off your thoughts. You feel Chrollo twitch suddenly inside you as you speak. You decide to reward the poor man by moving your hips at a faster pace. Maybe you got a bit too excited coming across someone like Chrollo. Clementine will definitely scold you later but, oh well. “I noticed you had stolen the Nen ability of 6 out of the 21 Nen users you talked to at today’s party. Observing you is how I determined the conditions. The first condition I found out was when Mr. Noz and Mr. Casey wouldn’t show you their Nen, and theirs weren’t any of the ones that ended up being taken. The 6 you did take however did show you, meaning one of your conditions is the user has to show you.”

You flinch as you feel Chrollo’s hands grab onto your waist, a bruising clutch against your soft skin. Crap, your Nen was warding off faster than you thought. You have to quicken this up, as much as you didn’t want to. You lean forward onto chrollo’s chest, allowing him to be squeezed more and sucked deeper into you. It definitely made you more vulnerable since it meant his cock was bashing against your g-spot with every flick of your hips but it was also working well on him. You could tell since he was panting and groaning into your ear like crazy. You just needed to hold on for a bit longer.

“T-the second condition I confirmed also with two people. One being a woman whose husband explained to you her Nen ability. You didn’t end up stealing hers so that meant one of the conditions had to do with the person telling you about their Nen. T-Then—then when you went to…”

Oh god, you hide your head into Chrollo’s neck. It was too good, you were honestly begging for mercy. You would slow down the pace but Chrollo has gotten feeling back in the muscles of his hips so he was just thrusting up erratically into you. Chasing after his release.

“What’s wrong (y/n)?” Chrollo murmurs into your ear, causing you to whine and shiver at his mesmerizing voice, “W-what did I do next that 100% confirmed the second condition?”

You don’t respond as your brain was practically melted at this point. Though, Chrollo won’t take that as an excuse. Chrollo, with most of the feeling back in his body, flips you over so he was on top. He stops his thrusts and holds your legs down so you can’t move. You whined as you looked at the silvered eye man above you. “I asked you a question, my little butterfly. And I expect you to answer it.”

You pause and don’t say anything, not wanting him to boss you around. He smirks and pulls all the way out before bashing right back into you, hitting your cervix. You grunt, pain flickering through your body.

You glare at Chrollo above you and he only does it again. And again. Waiting for his lovely little butterfly to answer him. On the 6th thrust is when it gets interesting, this time when he bashed in, your cervix had eased up. Allowing him into the depths of your womb. Your eyes widen and Chrollo chuckles, both of you knowing what this means.

You try to fight against it but Chrollo successfully cross your legs. Making it so you squeezed around him even more. He lets out a sigh, losing his composure as he begins to make small little thrusts, trying to stay in your womb. “Answer me my little butterfly. You and I both know what’s highly likely to happen if I cum this deep in you. There’s no way around it if I do. So answer me.”

He was right, there was no way around it if he does. You’ll just have to follow his orders, waiting for him to drop his guard again.

“T-then I confirmed it when Mr hansu wouldn’t explain to you how to function his ability after you saw it, only about how flashy it is. Meaning your second condition is the person has to tell you the general function or uses of the ability. The third—“ you let out a small sigh as you feel the knot in your stomach about to explode. It also didn’t help you could feel Chrollo begin to twitch inside you, if you came while still explaining there was no question he would cum, hard. “The third, I confirmed through your expressions. Sometimes you would do the first two conditions but not follow up with the third condition since you hadn’t found the ability interesting to you. But when you did, you always had them touch the handprint on your conjured book. The ones that didn’t touch it, didn’t have their abilities stolen.”

You let out a sigh, you were done. You listed all of his conditions. Now he just needs to stop thrusting into your womb.

“And the fourth? The fourth condition?” you blink as he says this. T-there was a fourth condition? Oh god you had forgot strong Nen ability usually had 4-5 conditions not 2-3. Your heart races up as you flicker fastly through your memories.

Nothing else was similar between all the people he talked to. Which means that it’s either a time limit or a magic word that you hadn’t caught. It’s more likely the time limit so you’ll go with that.

“Y-your fourth is a time limit. I confirmed this because strong Nen types need 4-5 conditions and nothing else was similar between the people you talked to. T-This—this means the only likely answer is a tough time limit. From what I observed it took you about 45 minutes to steal from one of the businessmen-men so it’s something higher than that but it has to be shorter—oh~ than 3 hours since that gives too much time and isn’t as strict. Hah-ha-Happy now?”

Chrollo humms for a minute thinking, before he lets out a groan. Come on Chrollo, pull out. You can tell he’s about to burst.

“Chrollo pull out-t, you're about to cum.”

Chrollo groans as you say that, leaning his forehead against yours. Damn, you felt your walls twitching and tightening. You were going to cum.

“You can tell little butterfly? You're so smart my butterfly. All mine.” Chrollo murmurs, pressing kisses against your collar bone. “ I enjoy you, you are so entertaining, so smart, so special. Like a rare specimen. My special butterfly. Trapped in my web forever. Fuck—”

As he says that you finally feel him cum, also allowing the knot in your stomach to finally burst. You bite down, hard on his shoulder, as your whole body shakes underneath him in ecstasy. You thought your brain was mush before, but now it had completely melted into a liquid. It also didn’t help that you loved the feeling of him pumping hot cum into you. The feeling of something so dangerous that also felt so messy and primary sent a flame through your nerves.

You let a couple of pants out as you finally come to. Turning to your right you see chrollo his eyes close since he was out cold. You had hoped when you bit his shoulder and broke the skin that, with your nen, you could put him to sleep before he had cum in you but it seems that hadn’t worked out. As you're trapped underneath the handsome man, you decide it wouldn’t hurt to observe him for a little. Ever so carefully you lightly run your fingers through his hair and then to tracing his features before finally running them across the tattoo on his forehead.

“(Y/n)…” your heart clenches and your fingers tremble as you hear him whisper in his sleep. This is bad. You finally decide it was time to get him off you and it was time for you to make your leave. With a huff, you roll him over before covering with the sheets. You give him one last look before you begin to get dressed, deciding not to even bother cleaning up the cum he pumped into you. You would deal with it when you got back home and we’re able to take a shower, right now you just needed to get the hell out of here. Though before you leave, you decide to neatly fold Chrollo’s clothes and place them on the nightstand beside him, a parting gift if you will. As you place the clothes down and go to leave, a hand grabs your wrist.

You turned, shocked, as you looked at Chrollo. He was hardly able to keep his eyes open and was struggling to even hold onto you. “My Little butterfly… you aren’t going anywhere… you're mine”

You look at him blankly for a couple of seconds before letting out a sad laugh. Damn it. This was supposed to be a fun time but nothing can ever have a happy fairy tale like ending can it?

You lean down placing your forehead down on his. Looking deeply into his silver eyes. “Chrollo. I am your little butterfly. I bet I forever will be but…but…”

You turn your head to the side and savor the last kiss you'll ever share with this man. This extraordinary man that gave you a night you’ll never forget. You slowly pull away watching as his eyes begin to droop again.

“But, Chrollo, you have to be careful. Afterall, A monarch is deadly to a spider.”

And, with that, Chrollo was out. And so were you, not a single trace of you remained in that room. It was like the monarch had never been trapped in Chrollo’s web in the first place.

But, the scars left on those beautiful butterfly wings of yours, Is enough proof that you were there. And that you left, damaged.

[averylainey]

A Second Date

Clementine and Louis have a second date to continue getting to know each other better.

“I hate you,” she jested. “I love you too.” He smirked. “Even if you do have a weird thing for cowboys.” “Damn it, I do not! You’re never gonna let this go, are you?” “Absolutely not.” 

~  AO3  ~  FF  ~

Clementine grit her teeth and dug her nails into her bed sheet as a sharp pain shot up her leg. She  raised her head slightly and looked to the foot of her bed where Ruby was busy dabbing the limb with a wet cloth to clean it. The redhead insisted on cleaning it every day until it scarred over. It was already a miracle that Clementine had survived the amputation; Ruby didn’t want to test their luck with an infection. She gave the other girl a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry, hon. I know it sucks, but it’s gotta be done,” Ruby said, rubbing the injured girl’s other leg in a futile attempt to soothe her. 

“I know,” Clementine grumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and resting her head back against her pillow. Of course she was grateful to Ruby for looking out for her, but God, did this suck.

It had been a little over a week since she returned home, and her recovery was going a lot more smoothly than anyone expected it would. The color had returned to her skin, and she was able to stay awake for the better part of most days. The pain was still overwhelming at times, but with the help of painkillers and emotional support from the other kids, she was able to push through it. 

AJ had been particularly attentive-- not that that was at all surprising. He spent most of his time by her bedside when she was awake, keeping her spirits up and making sure that she had everything she needed. He wasn’t beside her today, however. This was the first day he had left the walls of the school since they came home. He had initially been reluctant to go too far away from her, as even though she was improving, he was still terrified that something would go wrong. He was still terrified that he’d lose her. But that morning, Clementine was finally able to convince him not to worry-- that she wasn’t going anywhere, so he hesitantly agreed to go hunting with Aasim and Louis. 

When he headed out, leaving her alone in her room, part of her regretted telling him to go. Having him around kept her from thinking too hard about her condition. She tried her best to suppress it, but she couldn’t help the grief she felt over the loss of her leg. She knew that her disability would make life a lot harder from here on out; there were so many things she’d probably never be able to do again….

A light knocking at the door brought Clementine out of her thoughts. She propped herself up on an elbow and called out, “Come in.” 

The door opened and Louis stepped in. 

“Hey,” he greeted her with a grin and shut the door behind him.

“Hey, you.” She smiled affectionately at him then raised an eyebrow when she noticed that AJ wasn’t with him. “Where’s AJ?” 

“He wanted to help Aasim get a rabbit ready for dinner,” he told her then glanced at Ruby, who was still busy tending to Clementine’s leg. “Uh, I can come back later if you want.”

“No, it’s ok.” She stared down at her leg and frowned before meeting his eyes again. “Honestly, I could use a little moral support.”

Louis mirrored her dejected expression and walked the short distance to her bed. He crouched down beside her and took her hand in his.

“I’m so sorry, Clem. I--”

“Hey, I said I need support, not a pity party,” she interrupted.

He dropped the rest of his sentence with an amused exhale and squeezed her hand. “Right. Sorry.”

“So… how was hunting?” Clementine asked, wanting to shift the conversation away from her plight.

“Pretty good. We caught a couple rabbits, and I showed AJ how to reset the traps.”

“That’s good.” She chuckled before adding, “Guess you’ve replaced me as his sidekick, huh?”

“Hey, he’s the sidekick,” Louis joked, earning another light laugh from the girl. Of course, the sight of her laughing brought a grin to his face, as it never failed to do. 

Clementine looked lovingly at him for a moment before extending her arms to him for a hug, which he happily gave. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“For?”

“Just, y’know... being here. It helps.”

He pulled slightly out of her embrace and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ll always be here.”

A soft giggle from the end of the bed caused the pair to separate. Ruby had finally finished cleaning the girl’s wound and was looking fondly at them. They both blushed and lowered their eyes; they had almost forgotten she was there….

“Y’all are too cute,” Ruby remarked, shaking her head. She noticed the redness on their faces and gave them a small reassuring smile. “You don’t have t’ be embarrassed. It’s real sweet how close you two have gotten.”

Ruby picked up a roll of bandages and turned her attention back to Clementine’s leg. 

“I’m a lil’ jealous,” the redhead admitted, still looking down as she began to wrap the fresh gauze around the limb. “Not, y’know, of either of you specifically,” she quickly clarified. “Just of what y’all have, I guess.”

Ruby paused and looked back up to them. They were staring at her expectantly, apparently waiting for further explanation, so she continued:

“I used t’ read those sappy romance books the old English teacher kept in her desk and wish I could experience somethin’ like that,” she continued and smiled sadly at her hands. “I stopped a while ago, though, when I realized it wouldn’t ever happen.”

“Well, how do you know it won’t?” Clementine cut in gently. 

“I dunno… Not a lotta people left... And I doubt any of ‘em would like me.”

Clementine was surprised to hear that she felt that way. Did she really not realize that Aasim had a massive crush on her? He wasn’t exactly very subtle about it….

“You don’t know that. Maybe somebody does,” the brunette hinted.

She looked to Louis, who had his hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide the huge knowing grin that spread across his face. He dropped his hand and opened his mouth to speak but was stopped short by a light tugging on his wrist. He glanced down to find Clementine gripping it then shifted his gaze to her face and gave her a questioning look. ‘Don’t,’ she mouthed, knowing exactly what he was planning to say. As much as she herself wanted to just tell Ruby about Aasim’s crush too, she knew that they shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them. Louis pouted but obeyed and stayed silent.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at their behavior but chose not to question it.

“I don’t think so,” she sighed as she tied off the fresh bandage on Clementine’s leg. “Well, think I’m all done here.” Ruby stood and wiped her hands on her pants. “Anything else I can get’cha?”

Clementine shook her head. “I’m ok. Thanks, Ruby.”

She gave a little nod in response and turned to leave the bedroom. Clementine and Louis watched as she exited the room and gently closed the door behind her. They stayed quiet for a moment, listening to the sound of her footsteps down the hall fade away.

“I can’t believe this,” Louis quickly broke the silence, shaking his head in incredulity.

“I know, right?” Clementine agreed. “She really has no idea.”

 “I gotta tell her.” He turned to Clementine. “Come on, you shoulda let me tell her. This is too perfect.”

“No, he needs to tell her.”

“But he won’t, Clem. It’s been, like, a year.”

“Just... give it a little more time. He’s not very good at hiding it; she’s gonna find out eventually.” 

Louis crossed his arms and quirked his brow at her, clearly unconvinced. Noticing his skepticism, the girl continued:

“What if someone else told you that I like you?” she asked. “Wouldn’t that have kinda ruined it?”

“Honestly, I would’ve just thought they were fucking with me.” He stared at the door and frowned, pausing to consider her point for a minute before sighing in defeat. “...I guess you’re right.”

“Of course. I’m always right.”

He smirked at her. “I’m still gonna keep harassing Aasim about it, though.”

Clementine snickered. “That’s fine; you should. Just don’t tell Ruby anything.”

“Deal.”

Louis looked down in thought for a second. He sat down on the bed beside her and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “So, um...anyways... I actually came in here for a reason,” he said.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Well, y’know, I figured you must be bored laying in here all day, so I thought, ‘Hey, what better time for our second official date?’” He pulled his deck of cards out of his coat pocket, set it on the bed between them, and looked to her with a hint of anxiety on his face as he waited for a response. 

She gave him a soft smile. “That’s a good idea. I am pretty bored.” 

Louis smiled and let out a breath of relief, which Clementine took notice of.  

“What? You thought I was gonna say no?” she asked as she sat up and rested her back against the wall.

“I mean, not really, but”-- he shrugged-- “you never know. Maybe, in the last thirty seconds, you realized you actually hate me.”

Clementine rolled her eyes. “No such luck,” she joked before focusing on the deck of cards sitting on the bed. “So, did you have a game in mind?” she asked the boy.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Y’know, I still don’t really know a lot about you, so I thought we could play the game we did the night you first got here. Remember? Highest card asks a question?”

“Yeah, I remember,” she confirmed. “Is War the only card game you know?”

“Of course not; it’s just the easiest. I know Golf, Spades, Cribbage, some that I made up...” As he listed off card games, Louis split the deck in half and handed half of the cards to Clementine. “I also know how to play Poker, but I hate it.”

“Why?”

“It’s boring.” He paused before mumbling, “And Violet always beats me.”

The girl chuckled. “Really?”

“Yeah. She’s impossible to read. I think she’s secretly a lizard-person,” he said, somehow keeping a completely straight face.

Clementine burst out laughing. 

“Don’t tell her I said that,” Louis added, as he laughed along with her. 

“Don’t worry; I won’t.” The girl’s smile faltered. “She… doesn’t really talk to me anyway.”

Not wanting to ruin the mood, Clementine quickly changed the subject. “So”-- she held up the stack of cards Louis had given her-- “are we gonna play?”

Louis nodded and gave the cards in his hand a quick shuffle. They each drew a card from their respective stacks and flipped it over; Clementine won with an eight of diamonds. 

“You win,” Louis said. “What do you wanna know?”

Clementine looked up and thought for a second. She couldn’t think of anything particularly creative to ask, so she just asked the first question that came to her mind:

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Damn, we’re already starting with the real hard-hitting questions, huh?”

The girl smiled and rolled her eyes in response before looking back at him expectantly. 

“It’s green,” he told her. “What’s yours?”

Clementine raised an eyebrow and smirked at him. “Hey, I thought only winners got to ask questions,” she teased.

“Ok, new rule then: losers can ask follow-up questions.” 

“Fine,” she chuckled before answering, “Mine is pink.”

“No way. You’re lying.” 

“What? What’s wrong with pink?”

“Nothing!” he laughed. “I just wasn’t expecting that. I thought you were gonna say something hardcore like black or blood red or something.” His expression softened. “That’s kinda cute-- that it’s just pink.”

The girl snorted, trying to hide the slight blush that crept onto her cheeks at his words. “If you say so.”

“Wait, what kind of pink, though? Hot pink?” Louis suddenly asked. 

“Ew, no.” Clementine wrinkled her nose at the thought of that obnoxious color. “Just regular pink,” she specified.

“Ok, good,” he chuckled and took the card she had drawn out of her hand, stacking it with his and setting it to the side. He motioned for her to draw again for the second round. “After you.”

Clementine drew another card from her stack and flipped it over: six of spades. Louis followed and produced a three of hearts.

“I win again.” The girl smirked at him. 

Louis shook his head and said flatly, “You’re cheating.”

She scoffed. “What? How do you even cheat at this game?”

“You stacked the deck.”

“It’s your deck!” she laughed.

“Alright, fair point… I got my eye on you, though.” He winked at her. “What’s your question?”

This time, she already had a question in mind. “Where are you from?” she asked. “Before you came here, I mean.” 

Louis smiled and answered, “Baltimore.”  

“That’s cool; that baseball guy I met was from there,” Clementine shared.

He raised his eyebrows. “No shit? What was his name?”

“Javier Garcia.”

“Wait, seriously? I’ve met him.”

Clementine’s eyes widened. “Really? When?”

“Yeah. Well, kinda. My grandparents used to take me to the baseball games in the city sometimes. He signed a ball for me. I think I still have it somewhere...” He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “I can’t believe you met Javier Garcia and didn’t tell me.”

She giggled at his enthusiasm then shrugged. “You never asked.”

“Alright, you gotta tell me everything now. How’d you meet him?”

“Well… I, uh…” Clementine sighed, slightly embarrassed of how she had acted back then. “I almost shot him; then, I tried to rob him.” 

Louis snorted. “Really, Clem? I mean, I knew you were edgy, but damn.”

She rubbed the back of her neck and said sheepishly, “Yeah… I was going through some shit at the time… He was pretty cool about it, though.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. He was a pretty cool guy in general,” she said and placed her card atop the other discarded ones. “He’s kinda like you-- little less dorky though.”

“Dorky!?” Louis clutched his chest and feigned offense.

“In a good way!” she quickly added with a laugh before switching focus to her stack of cards. She held them up and asked, “Round three?”

“‘Round three?’ You’re really gonna act like you didn’t just insult me like that?” He continued pretending to be offended as he drew another card. Before Clementine could respond or even draw a card herself, he blurted out, “I win.” and revealed that he had drawn an ace. 

“Not necessarily,” she protested. “What if I get an ace too?”

“I’d be very shocked.”

Clementine picked the top card off her stack and lifted it up in front of her face so that he couldn’t see it. She smirked. “It’s an ace,” she told him.

Louis looked at her skeptically and peeked over the top of the card to see what it really was. “That’s a four, darling.” 

The girl sighed and dropped the card. “Fine... I guess losers do deserve to win at least once.”

“Exactly,” he agreed before asking his question: “What’s your favorite kind of music?”

Clementine smiled; that was such a him thing to ask. She pursed her lips as she considered the question. Music hadn’t really been a part of her life like it had Louis’. When she and AJ were living on the road, they avoided it for the most part; it was unnecessary noise. She had probably heard more music in the past month at the school than in all her years on the road. 

“Honestly, I don’t know. I never really had the chance to listen to much music before I came here,” she admitted. “Sometimes me and AJ would listen to some rock CD in the car; I guess that was pretty cool.”

“Rock? That makes sense.”

Clementine shrugged and moved to draw another card, but Louis interrupted her:

“Wait, you’re not gonna ask what mine is?”

“I already know what yours is.” She smirked at him. “It’s obviously super girly pop music.”

“Ah, shit! How’d you know!?” he joked. 

“Gut feeling,” she joked back as she grabbed the next card off her stack.

She drew a Jack, beating Louis’ draw of a nine.

“Yes!” Clementine pumped her fist in celebration of her victory. “I have a good one this time.”

“Oh boy,” Louis said, slightly worried. “What is it?”

“What’s your biggest irrational fear?” she asked.

He eyed her suspiciously. “Um, you’re not trying to get ammunition to use against me are you?”

“No!” she laughed. “I’m just curious.”

“Ok...” Louis sighed before answering, “I’m terrified of wasps.”

“Wasps?”

“Yeah. I hate them. A couple years back we found a wasps’ nest under the lookout tower. I wouldn’t go outside for a week.”

“Are you allergic to them or something?” the girl asked.

“No, they’re just… fucking demonic, y’know?” he replied as an involuntary shiver ran down his spine at the thought of the wretched insects.

Clementine giggled. “Yeah, I guess they kinda are.”

“I’m glad you understand,” he chuckled then raised an eyebrow at her. “So, what’s your irrational fear, then?”

 “Oh, I’m not scared of anything,” she responded matter-of-factly.

“Everyone’s scared of something.”

“Not me.”

 Louis pouted. “Come on, I told you mine.”

She stared into his pleading eyes for a moment before groaning and giving in. “I guess I’m kinda creeped out by mirrors,” she confessed.

“What? Mirrors? How could someone as pretty as you hate mirrors?”

“Ha ha,” she replied sarcastically before explaining, “They give me a weird feeling... like they’re watching me or something.” She shuddered. “I don’t know how to explain it; they’re just creepy.”

The boy gave her an amused look. “Not gonna lie, that’s… a pretty weird fear. Was not expecting that,” he said.

“Hey, don’t judge me.” 

“I wasn’t.” He held up his hands. “There’s nothing wrong with you being scared of mirrors. In fact, if you want, I’ll go smash every mirror in the school for you right now.”

Clementine snickered. “I think I’ll be alright.”

“Ok, if you say so.” Louis picked up his stack of cards, preparing to draw for the next round, but before he did, he added, “If you ever change your mind, though, lemme know. I will do it.”

“I’ll let you know,” she promised. 

The pair each drew another card, and this time, Louis won with a seven of clubs. He held his card up to his lips as he considered whether or not he really wanted to ask the question he had in mind. Clementine cleared her throat and raised her wrist as if she were checking an imaginary watch, teasing the boy for taking so long to ask his question. So he decided to just go for it: 

“Alright, I gotta ask… And I’m not judging, ok? But...” Louis reached over her and picked up a book that had been laying on the opposite side of her bed. He held it up in front of her and asked,“What the fuck is this?”

“Oh God.” Clementine could feel her face begin to burn when she saw the cover. It was one of those cringeworthy western romance novels with a shirtless man in a cowboy hat on the front. The terrible thing was mixed in with a stack of a few books that Ruby had given her a couple days prior. The girl tried to explain herself:

“It’s a book Ruby brought me to read when I get bored. She gave me a few different books, and-- and I already read all the others. So y’know, I thought reading it would at least be better than staring at the ceiling. I--It’s super dumb. I swear I’m only reading it to laugh at it.”

Louis smirked at her babbling. “Right. Sure.” 

“I promise!” Clementine really wasn’t lying. The book was horrible-- probably the worst thing she had ever read in her life. It was almost impressive how bad it was, and that made it hilarious to her. But of course, Louis wasn’t going to let her off that easy.

“So what’s it about, then?” he asked as he scanned the pages, stopping when his eye caught a particularly cringeworthy passage. He smirked at the girl beside him and began to dramatically recite it:

Annabelle watched with wide eyes as he dismounted the horse, his bare six-pack glistening in the afternoon sun. God, he was sooo hot. He took off his cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his hair before turning to her and smiling. “Howdy, baby. I have come back for you,” he said in his deep, sultry voice.

Clementine lied back and buried her burning face into her hands. “Please stop,” she laughed. Of course, he ignored her and continued reading:

“Oh, Bill. I knew you would.” She ran into his arms and kissed him passionately. He tightened his hold on her and pulled her to the ground with him. He tenderly stroked her-- 

Louis cringed. “Oof, that’s a little inappropriate,” he mumbled to himself and quickly flipped a few pages ahead until he found a different section to read. “Here we go.”

Luckily for Clementine, before he could start reading whatever awful new passage he found, the dorm door opened and someone stepped inside. Louis lowered the book and turned around to see who it was. He smiled when he saw that it was AJ.

“Hey, little dude!”

“Hi,” AJ greeted the older boy then raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of Clementine lying back with her hands covering her beet-red face. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m just reading Clem her favorite book,” Louis replied nonchalantly. 

“It’s not my favorite book! I hate it!” the girl blurted out. 

“Oh, stop lying, Clem. Your secret’s out; you might as well own it.”

“I hate you,” she jested.

“I love you too.” He smirked. “Even if you do have a weird thing for cowboys.”

“Damn it, I do not! You’re never gonna let this go, are you?”

“Absolutely not,” he laughed, planting a quick kiss on her cheek. 

“Lou, I swear to God when I get out of this bed...” Clementine playfully threatened.

“I’ll go into hiding,” he chuckled and stared down at the book in his hands. Something suddenly occurred to him. “Wait, so Ruby gave this to you?”

Clementine nodded. “She did.”

“I wonder if this is one of those sappy books she was talking about.” He mindlessly flipped through the pages then slipped the novel into an inner pocket of his coat and flashed her a sly grin. “I’m gonna show it to Aasim-- tell him to take notes and act it out for her.”

“Great idea,” she snorted. “You can torment him instead.”

“He is pretty fun to torment.” He grinned mischievously then glanced at the door. “...I’ll be back.”

Clementine watched as Louis stood and rushed out of the dorm room, his coat flapping behind him. She chuckled to herself as she heard him running down the hall. She loved that idiot.

“...I don’t get it,” AJ suddenly said. “What just happened?”

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo,” Clementine chuckled. “He's just being a dork.”

End Note: Thanks for reading! ♥

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

An Explanation of Why Louis and Violet are Both Terrific Love Interests [4/5]

+Why both romantic routes are not only amazing but better than other games I’ve personally played in the past.

+Why some people are idiots and get off on picking stupid fights.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

[catherine and unlikable love interests/love triangles]

I would rather hop onto a rocket and travel through outer space alone than date either of you- full offense.

Catherine is a game that... exists. 

Catherine came out in 2011 and follows Vincent Brooks, a man who is tormented by supernatural nightmares while torn between his longtime girlfriend Katherine and a girl who is the embodiment of his dream girl, Catherine.

That’s not confusing, right?

Basically, it’s a romantic-horror-puzzle game where you gotta beat sheep at puzzles in your dreams because if you die in the dream, you die in real life, and you also have to decide which K/Catherine you want while simultaneously cheating on both of them because you're actually dating them both in secret. 

Now, you might be wondering why I would add a game like this and how I could possibly compare it to TWDG. 

Well, there’s a simple answer to that, but first, let me introduce you to Vincent and both the K/Catherines.

Vincent is an idiot and not very likable. He makes dumb choices and does dumb things, and a lot of times, it’s hard to feel sorry for him. Of course, him being the playable character, you can make him better or worse than this, to which he does get a lot better [and yet somehow more infuriating] as the game goes on. 

Love Interest #1: Katherine

Katherine went to high school with Vincent and they eventually started dating later in life. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Vincent, and she really, really wants to get married. Like... that’s the whole thing with Katherine: She wants to marry Vincent. 

But, oh no, Vincent doesn’t want to marry her because he’s afraid of commitment and anything adult-related and this irritates her, and that’s fair. 

But then suddenly she’s pregnant and that does nothing but make Vincent freak the fuck out. But then suddenly she’s not pregnant...? I dunno, that part always confused me. 

Overall, Katherine’s alright, but honestly, she’s not my cup of tea. I don’t really remember much about her from when I played the game except that she’s really persistent about marriage even though Vincent obviously isn’t mature enough or committed to her. 

Then we’ve got Catherine who is.... oooof. 

Love Interest #2: Catherine

Catherine’s some girl that Vincent meets when he gets drunk at a bar and ends up having a longtime affair with her over the course of the game. This Catherine is everything that Vincent wants in a girl, and he even says so himself, however, he can’t remember the time that he spends with her because, spoiler alert, she’s actually a succubus sent to seduce him. 

She’s immature, giggly, seductive, and kind of annoying and a little crazy, not gonna lie. She’s also my least favorite of the two. 

Those are your choices.

Now, your endings based on who you go with...

If Vincent goes with Catherine’s route and ditches Katherine, he literally becomes the King of Hell. 

I’m not even kidding. 

If you get the good Katherine ending, Vincent and Katherine get married and everything’s sunshine and rainbows, but in the good Catherine ending, he overthrows the current King of Hell and takes the throne with Catherine as his queen. 

Those are your endings. 

Sure, why not?

Now that I’ve told you a little bit about each of the girls and the outcomes of dating them, let me give you my simple answer to the question you may or may not have asked: 

Both of them are unlikeable and I didn’t want to romance either of them. 

That is a big problem in a game that is centered around Vincent growing up and deciding which girl he wants to be with and how that’ll affect the rest of his life!

Another big problem with these two girls and the story is the trope that makes all our eyes roll: Love Triangle.

Now, you might be wondering, “Well... CJ, aren’t all games that present two potential romances considered a love triangle?”

Great question. I believe that there are two types of love triangles: Tolerable and Insufferable. 

When I think of an insufferable love triangle, I think of Character A falling in love with both Character’s B and C, then proceeding to selfishly drag both along because they can’t decide which one they like better for the sake of adding conflict and drama to the plot. 

In Life is Strange, you can totally smooch both Chloe and Warren, but Warren is so forgettable that it feels like Max is just trying to see if she does actually like boys rather than “Oh man, do I like Chloe or Warren more? I can’t decide!” when she 100% decides on Chloe. This is tolerable because it doesn’t matter. 

In Persona 4, you can be a dingdong and date all of the girls [but not Yosuke because Atlus gets off on making me cry] in secret but then you get fucked over on Valentine’s day when you have to break each of the girls’ hearts because you can’t spend time with all of them without being found out as the world’s biggest cheater. That’s not a love triangle, that’s just the protagonist being a huge, cheating ho. 

In ANF, the love triangle is insufferable with David and Javi “fighting” for Kate’s affection and it sucks, as I’ve stated previously

In King’s Quest, they actually gave us a breath of fresh air: Regardless of who you choose, the other will be 100% supportive. If you romance Vee, Neese goes on to say how cute Vee and Graham are. There is no jealousy, there is no Graham being an idiot because he can’t decide which girl he likes better so he tries to romance them both. It’s more like he’s trying to get to know both of them and see which girl he connects with more. Tolerable love triangle. 

But in Catherine, that’s the story: Vincent can’t decide if he should stay with Katherine or pursue a new relationship with Catherine, so he continues to date both of them and be a big cheater. He eventually figures his shit out towards the end of the game based on your choices, but it’s still infuriating to watch him fuck things up more rather than coming clean to one of them and ending it. INSUFFERABLE. LOVE. TRIANGLE.

In TFS, this isn’t an issue because it’s tolerable. You can consider everything with Louis and Violet a love triangle because they both hold feelings for Clementine, but the difference is that Clementine can’t date both of them and then drag them through the mud with her stupid indecisiveness, which results in unnecessary drama and both of them being heartbroken. Alongside that, Louis and Violet won’t hate Clem or each other for her decision.

It’s similar to King’s Quest where Clementine takes the opportunities presented to her to get to know them both before pursuing the one she feels more fond of and wants to romance. 

Louis and Violet don’t get jealous, bitter, pouty, traitorous, or mean if you don’t pick them. I imagine they’re a little bummed because they really did like Clem, but it says a lot about their characters that they don’t lash out at Clementine and/or the one she’s dating. 

I mean, can you imagine?

When you break things off with Catherine, everything seems to go smooth until she runs to the bathrooms and then proceeds to beat the shit out of Vincent. 

Which yeah, he’s an idiot and you’re actually a succubus from Hell but damn! 

As for the other Katherine, she shows up and breaks up with Vincent like “Oh yeah btw I’m not actually pregnant so.... goodbye, have a nice life.”

So, at least she has a little more chill.

But I still don’t like her and that’s an issue! 

Do you want to know what my canon ending is for this game? The one where Vincent says fuck it and goes to outer space. He defeats the sheep dream demons, decides marriage isn’t for him, bets on a wrestling match, wins, and goes to fucking outer space. 

I decided that being alone in outer space was a better ending than being happily married to Katherine or becoming the King of Hell with Catherine. 

Because when it finally came for the game to end and I got one of the okay Katherine endings, I was so sick of both of them. I didn’t want to be with either of them, I wanted Vincent to be single. 

Can you IMAGINE feeling that way while playing TFS?

That was never an issue with Louis and Violet. 

I love them both, and I had no qualms with choosing an ending with Louis. 

Another thing that I do want to point out is, yes, I understand that the space ending is Vincent freeing himself and doing something he wants for once and that’s apart of his growth as a character. 

I also think that TFS did the whole “Main Protagonist doesn’t want romance so they don’t pursue it” perfectly and Louis and Violet are still amazing in that route, which I can’t really say the same for either of the K/Catherine’s. 

In conclusion: Louis and Violet are some of the most lovable love interests I’ve ever encountered in a game and while their respective endings weren’t perfect, they could’ve been a lot worse. 

Continued in Part 5

[spacedlexi]

yea, you definitely have some same face problems. even in the examples you provided everyone's nose looks almost the same, the face shapes look basically the same, the lips all have about the same profile.. the characters are extremely expressive but i think the way you draw people is very methodical! i think you just need to push that a little harder. in the second image you can see the variety the best, but they all still have about the same facial structure. (1/2)

you just need to push it more! maybe start by experimenting with making eyes or chins different sizes (abt all the faces you provided in that example came to the same little point), or drawing real people's faces next to each other in your style (helps with drawing identifying features) i think expressiveness is often sacrificed in favor of facial variety and you have that shit DOWN so i honestly think if you just pushed that variety a little harder your art would really rock the house (2/2)

ok now im just gonna straight up disagree with you. in those examples you can see pointy noses with rounded bridges and round noses with hard straight bridges. i dont even always draw a bridge in clems case because i make her bridge flat and nose round. i didnt draw ajs bridge either for the same reason. ive only recently started softening violets bridge because when i looked at her reference recently it wasnt as sharp as i remembered.

and for the lips some characters have thicker lips while others are smaller and some have rounded tops and some have that heart shape indent, which may be soft or sharp itself.

also when you say "same facial structure" i dont agree either about that specific image youre talking about. clem has a heart shaped face with a visible chin, while ruby is similar her cheeks and chin are softer. louis has a longer face, harder but still soft chin/jaw with less cheek, while mitch has sharper hard features like a sharp jaw and chin with a cleft, plus visible cheek bones that the others dont have with less cheek. i dont even know what you mean when you say they come to "the same little point" you mean chin? they do not all come to the same point... theyre also not very pointy? in mitchs case its hard and flat...

and with eyes im Always drawing different shapes? the only thing im always fighting myself on is not making them too big because i myself have big eyes and i always push it in my drawings when i dont mean to.

heres a little chart i draw sometimes when im trying to figure out how to draw a character i havent drawn yet or when im trying to refine ones im already familiar with. i line everyone up like this and try to give them as unique and identifying a shape as possible. obviously it can only go so far when im trying to also capture the characters likeness, but it helps me see each individual aspect of their face and try to make them their own. like for clem i give her cheek and chin but no cheekbone and a soft jaw, overall soft heart shaped. violet has cheekbone And cheek, plus a rounded chin and harder jaw, overall triangular shape. minnie has cheekbone but no cheek and a strong and hard jaw, overall square shape. idk how you want me to diversify them more than this?

and heres an (older) example of me trying to make characters that share lots of similarities look distinct

i feel like youre Trying to be nice so im not trying to be mean here. i just dont agree with what youre specifically pointing out... im already doing what i can to avoid same face so youre just gonna have to give me time on that i guess...

[aesthetic-survivor-of-twd]

You've mentioned you like Nick a lot. What are your thoughts on his character? Also, how would you change the shitty treatment he got after ep 2?

Nick to me, was a very important character because he represented what a character like Ben could have been if he was provided the time to own up to his faults and then worked towards improving and growing as a person (Ben admitted to his faults and accepted his determinant death, but didn’t get a chance to properly make up for them).

I grew to like Nick really early on because he was a very flawed but real character with raw emotion. I often feel like a lot of the characters in Twdg, though realistic - kind of have a bit of exaggeration to them that makes them stand out as very much “comic book characters”. Nick however, felt very much human.

-

In episode 1 when we first meet him, he nearly kills us and gets told off by his uncle. Now this is the part where you are supposed to think he is a total jackass and in most games this would be the “asshole character” constantly trying to undermine and screw with the main character.

But he isn’t. Later on he apologises to us then explains his (pretty valid) reasoning of why he is trigger happy. Does that mean he is justified in all that he does? No. But it does provide context and gives us insight into him as a person - being that he is actually a pretty kind and loyal person that doesn’t think before he acts and lets his emotions get the better of him.

We also see more of this when we go with him and Pete to the lake, where we also learn that Nick’s only male parental figure in his life is Pete - someone he respects but we also learn tends to feel pressure from and underestimated constantly which leads to him having a bit of an inferiority complex and need to prove himself to people (which in turn, leads to his screw ups because he doesn’t think and acts on those impulses).

All in all, episode 1 sets us up with a really solid concept for a character and one that promises a lot of growth. And it’s this build up that makes his ultimate fate in episode 4 leave a bitter taste in my mouth. 

-

Episode 2 is very much Nick’s episode. Yes, even when Kenny showed up and took the spotlight at the beginning that episode was very much an entire development arc for Nick, so much so that in 2 episodes he became the most developed character in that entire season.

That scene in season 2 with him in the shack with Clem is one of my favourite moments in the entire series. So much emotion and deep dialogue came from that one scene and it was that exact moment that established to me just how amazing this season could have been, because that entire conversation is the embodiment of makes “The Walking Dead” special. Not the walkers or constant drama, but just two people sitting together and forming a bond despite the shitty situation they are in.

And Nick’s character only got better from there. He willingly puts himself at risk so Clem can run away (amusingly the opposite of Ben) and even thanks her for not giving up on him. It’s kind of interesting in a way, because a lot of people view Luke as the close companion or older brother figure of Clem, but you could honestly make the argument that Nick also fits that role given how much the two of them can bond in the season.

He has a lot of moments that make him flawed (killing the dude on the bridge, nearly shooting us, his anger, letting an 11 year old drink, ect) but is also written in away that stops him from being dislikable (owns up to his mistakes, is honest, caring, quite brave actually).

The thing that really made him stand out from Ben as character though is when he kills Matthew (I hope I got the name right) and actually WANTS to tell the truth and it’s Luke who doesn’t want him to. Nick takes responsibility over his actions and tries to make it right.

And I ADORE how that entire outcome played out with Walter and the fact that we can decide whether or not we actually view him as a good guy or not and our answer determines whether Walter sees him worth living.

Which is also the sad point because this is when his entire character takes a nose dive because Nick Breckon only wrote the first 2 episodes and the writers began changing each episode (and so did the character development). Which isn’t a bad thing per say since it happened with TFS. But I do think there was way less communication for this season than there is for TFS among the team.

-

In episode 3 Nick gets shoved to the side along with the rest of the cabin group in favour of Kenny, quite literally getting benched as he sleeps most of the episode. The only noteworthy thing being his sweet moment with Clem where he clearly sees her as part of their group and his moment of faith in Luke and the last we see of him is helping Luke chase down Sarah.

And then in Episode 4 he dies off screen...

And there lies one of the biggest problems with Season 2.

They build up so much character development with these characters and the start of arcs but never truly follow through with them to the end.

And I understand that not everyone gets a chance to improve as a person or get their “big moment” I get that, I do. It’s just not realistic. Some people die having never improved as a being or doing what they want to do, that’s the tragedy of life.

But from the context of the narrative that Season 2 set up - it makes NO sense.

Now, I didn’t expect Nick to become some insane walker killing machine and the MVP of survivors in the apocalypse - hell, he didn’t even HAVE to survive the season.

But he definitely should NOT have died the way he did in episode 4, and that’s the hill on which i’ll forever die on.

I don’t know how I would have handled Nick’s fate personally, but I do think he shouldn’t have died until episode 5 and that his death should have meant something. 

Looking back on the season as someone who hasn’t played it in years, I think what I would have done was keep the Luke vs Kenny rivalry that was the original narrative and then maybe had Nick die similar to Luke (maybe protecting him - or Clem if you were loyal to him). Give him a death that’s fitting of someone trying to prove himself to people, who genuinely wants to protect his friends and let him do something for once that actually benefits the group instead of fucking up and putting them in danger, even if that still ends in his death.

Because it’s a hell of a lot more poetic and fitting than sticking his character model on a fence and being like “yeah he ran to get help, but I guess he got bit lol” especially when the other characters barely acknowledge it and it just ends up rubbing salt in the wound.

Because when you do lazy shit like that, you are then just conforming to the idea of which this Season proposes (in episode 4) that characters who aren’t “strong” or hardened survivors can’t survive or will die being the pathetic idiots that others view them as.

It happened to Nick and it also happened to Sarah (though Nick suffered the worst I think).

My biggest gripe with this season is honestly the lack of empathy and interest it has in it’s own characters. The season started off so hopeful and like it had passion behind it, only to then decline into...whatever that was.

And I know that there are issues that go on with the company, and I’m sure there were things beyond the writer’s control (such a time constraints, ect) which made it hard for them to give it 100%. I know.

But knowing how much potential Season 2 had if it were handled a little better will forever continue to annoy me a little bit.

[fanfic-inator795]

Headcanons and thoughts about Warren and Hypno/Hippoworm (is that the ship name? *shrugs*)

I had a LOT of shipping thoughts about these two while at work today, so I hope you guys like hearing about them:

Because of getting his mezmeroo attack redirected back at him, Hypno doesn’t remember his and Warren’s first meeting. Though if someone told him about it - and about Warren ruining his plan - he honestly wouldn’t hold THAT big of a grudge over it, just because he can’t remember enough to be upset and it’s so far in the past now it doesn’t even seem to matter

Given that they didn’t interact much in ‘Stuck on You’, Hypno doesn’t remember that meeting either. Literally his first impression of this strange worm man is him literally dragging a chair into the ELoM meeting and then straight up zapping a hotel worker. So… pretty good first impression

Warren on the other hand, who does remember their first meeting, was not at all impressed with Hypno at first and just considered him to be a sub-standard villain at best. (he’s kinda jelly of just how big and tall he got to be thanks to his mutation though)

A few days after ‘Evil League of Mutants’/getting blasted off again by a turtle with a ladder, Hypno runs into a rather down and depressed looking Warren who’s just wandering around alone. Not knowing him very well though liking him well enough, Hypno stops him and invites him back to his place for tea

(the semi-flashback during Warren’s big speech in WaHSiaT, the bit where Hypno pulls the paper off a sad Warren with a five o’clock shadow is a dramatization of this. Gotta make it sadder to pull on the heartstrings, lol. Also where was his gauntlet in that scene?)

The two start hanging out regularly after that, mostly just talking or watching tv together - which is where they get their love of making fun of people on tv together

Warren also really appreciates Hypno’s genuine kindness and gentleness - and the fact that he doesn’t forget who he is, heh

He tries to be nice to Hypno in return because of this, even if he sometimes still talks a bit too much about himself at times. Hypno doesn’t mind too much

The point where they first open up to each other - Hypno revealing how he lost his hippo Doug and Warren being genuine about just how much being forgotten and losing his career hurt - is the big turning point in their relationship.

Are we ever gonna learn what happened to Doug, btw? Like, seriously what’s the story there? and while we’re at it why does Warren hate the turtles so much? 

Hypno: “We may have lost a lot through all this… But, hey, we found each other, right? So, maybe it’s not all bad.” Warren decides that he agrees.

He moves into Hypno’s place shortly after

Originally Warren agreed to be Hypno’s magical assistant just to try and get his face back out there and earn some fans, but eventually found that he also liked helping Hypno and making him happy

Warren just naturally sits on Hypno’s shoulder or head when they watch tv, Hypno not minding at all (besides, makes it easier to cuddle)

their fave gameshows to watch (and make fun of) are Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right and America’s Got Talent (Hypno likes making fun of the bad magic acts, and when the acts are amazing Warren will tell him they’re not NEARLY as amazing as him)

When Warren has a bad day, Hypno will wash/condition his hair and give him a scalp massage, letting his roomie vent all he wants while Hypno scrubs his troubles away

When Hypno has a bad day, Warren will get him fresh fruit, something Hypno’s loved ever since his mutation

On one occasion: “Kiwis for my favorite kiwi!” “…*sigh* You just couldn’t resist, eh?” “Nope!” 

Warren also gets Hypno flowers sometimes, since Hypno really seems to like them

Hypno may or may not be keeping the first bouquet Warren ever bought him - yellow tipped with red roses - alive with magic

Trying to be as proper and dignified as possible, Hypno almost never curses - which means Warren totally teases him whenever he lets a ‘bugger’ or a ‘god dammit’ slip

Warren on the other hand couldn’t care less about swears. He doesn’t swear every other sentence or anything - I’d imagine it would be hard to get a job in television if that were the case - but if he’s really worked up or angry he won’t try to censor himself

For the first few weeks of their relationship, Google was Warren’s best friend. Now, Warren knows (almost) every New Zealand phrase there is

Going off his ‘my golden voiced amigo’ line, Hypno loves listening to Warren sing to himself whenever he’s in the shower (technically the bathroom sink since he’d just end up getting washed down the shower drain but w/e)

This also means that karaoke nights between the two of them are frequent

Their first Big Fight was over Hypno’s doves continuing to try and eat Warren and Warren nearly zapping their feathers off. 

It wasn’t bad enough to break them up, but Warren was all pissy and purposely annoying the rest of that day while Hypno just gave him the cold shoulder

After a day of this they got lonely and missed each other, so they apologized to each other and Hypno spent the rest of that week diligently training his doves

Hypno’s rabbits, on the other hand, Warren doesn’t mind at all, and if one is out and hopping about and Hypno isn’t there, Warren will usually pet it/curl up on it

Warren’s a naturally fairly neat and tidy person, so he doesn’t mind too much when Hypno skips out on his side of the chores, even if he’s still slightly annoyed

to make up for this, Hypno does most of the cooking around the place and always has a cup of coffee or tea waiting for his roomie/best friend/boyfriend

When they first realized Warren and the Gauntlet were being hunted down by Draxum, Warren tried to leave, genuinely worried about Hypno’s safety even if he tried to play it off at first

Hypno refuses. “I can’t lose you too!”

This is the first time they tell each other they love each other (with how naturally Warren said it in WaHSiaT, that couldn’t have been the first time)

Warren fell into a depressive state after losing ‘Charlotte’. Hypno comforted him the best he could, but after a couple days passing with nothing changing, Hypno thought that maybe Warren was mad at him for the role he played in losing the gauntlet. So, Hypno spent the whole day and a good part of the night out of the apartment, figuring he should just give Warren some space

This led to him coming back and finding Warren in the middle of a complete and total emotional breakdown

He’s sad and angry about losing his cool power glove, but even moreso, he’s afraid that without it not only is he weak, but he’s truly forgettable and useless - even to the people he loves most and who love him. His Channel 6 co-workers forgot about him, why wouldn’t Hypno eventually?

This led to LOTS of apologizing/comforting/reassuring/hugs and kisses on Hypno’s part, with Warren eventually crying himself out on Hypno’s shoulder and the two of the sleeping on the couch together

After going back to Clem’s and not finding another magic artifact that feels as ‘right’ as the gauntlet did and discovering that a simple handgun would send him through a freaking wall on recoil, Warren decided to just have a taser on him as his new weapon. At least a taser is similar enough to a lightning-shooting gauntlet. He names it Charlotte the 2nd.

Hypno also uses his magic to shrink down a couple of his razor rings to give to Warren. Even if Warren can’t control their aim with magic, they still cause a decent amount of damage to an enemy with a hard enough throw.

Despite practically being together since Warren moved in, when the two of them officially decide to go from best friends to boyfriends they end up inviting all their old ELoM mates over to celebrate and announce the good news (minus Draxum, naturally). Todd and the Sando Brothers are happy for them, Repo could care less, and Meatsweats says congrats but is mostly just trying to figure out how to get Warren alone so he can maybe get a taste of his regeneration powers

He gets smacked on the snout with Hypno’s wand and nearly takes a razor ring to his face for his troubles.

Hypno still tries to help Warren with his plans whenever he’s a particular ‘revenge against those dang turtles’ mood and Warren will assist when Hypno has a scheme of his own, but mostly the two of them keep each other satisfied enough that they spend most of their time hanging out, watching tv and practicing magic (and cuddling/kissing) together

PHEW! Like I said, I had a lot. BUT I hope you guys liked it! ^v^ btw, I may turn that whole emotional breakdown bit into a Hippoworm oneshot, but if any hardcore Warren and Hypno shippers wanna steal that idea, go for it! *thumbs up* ^v^

[ericsonclan]

Prisha Joins In

Summary: Prisha meets with the rest of the kids and talks about her future at Ericson.

Read on A03:

It was a little over a week later when Prisha came out to grab dinner and instead of walking back inside actually paused for a moment and looked meaningfully at the bench where they all sat. Clementine, noticing her hesitance, quickly gave the needed encouragement. “You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” “Thank you,” Prisha took a seat at the last empty spot, next to Willy. Awkwardly clearing her throat, she looked around the table. “I know that by now I should probably know everyone’s names, but I could use a refresher,” “No problem at all!” Louis chimed in from his seat at the front of the table atop a backwards-facing chair. “Of course you already know me – Louis, Clementine, and Violet…” Violet shot daggers at him in response to the obvious pause in his voice. “… And going down the table next to Violet we have Ruby, who you’ve met in her trips upstairs to check on your arm, Aasim, our resident nerd, Omar, the master chef, AJ – head ninja of the Ericson clan, and Willy who… well, Willy was with Violet when they found you and brought you here!” “Yes, I’d heard that mentioned before.” Prisha turned to Willy. “Thank you. I owe you my life,” “Aaaw, it was nothing! Violet was the one that carried you most of the way back. She’s also the one who figured out you weren’t a walker so I didn’t shoot you!” “Willy!” Violet hissed. “No, it’s alright. I probably did look like a walker from far away, with my busted arm and having just dragged myself out of the river,” “If ya don’t mind,” Ruby said, leaning forward, “Could you tell us a bit about what happened to ya? Did you travel far downstream?”

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a blur, how long I was in the river for. It felt like hours. We were miles away from here at the time, so I wasn’t just hallucinating that timeframe,” Prisha looked around the table. “And of course I would have told you if I thought Ericson was in any immediate danger. I know I was pretty much out of it for a few days, but I would have remembered that. Aasim was nervously tapping his fingers on the table’s edge. “What happened to the rest of your group. Are they…. Are they still alive?” Prisha looked down at the table. Her expression had tightened. Ruby glared at Aasim and lightly slapped him on the shoulder. Willy and AJ leaned forward, trying to get a better look at Prisha’s face. A warning arm from Clementine drew them back. “Ed didn’t make it. I saw the looters shoot him. And Gavin had lost a lot of blood. I’m not sure about Garrett, but they wouldn’t have willingly left him alive,” She paused as the emotion caught up with her, cutting off her voice. A stray tear rolled down her face. Ruby stretched out an arm to take her hand. Prisha flinched momentarily, but accepted it. As Ruby rubbed her thumb comfortingly across her hand, Louis took a turn. “There was a kid in your group. Marie. Her and her mom, did they?...” Prisha pulled her hand out of Ruby’s grasp to swiftly wipe away the tears on her face. “They were both taken. I think they were looking to take captives – ones they could control. They probably would have taken me too, but the one trying to drag me away had me pinned on the edge of a cliff. I decided it was better to take my chances in the river than with them, so I fell back and took him down with me. When I surfaced, I saw that he’d hit some rocks near the river’s edge when we fell in. I suppose that’s the one bit of karmic justice in all this, that the fucker’s dead. Of course, the cost of my freedom… was my arm. I suppose I should be grateful that it wasn’t my head too,” “Fuck gratitude,” Violet mumbled. The group was silent for a second, then Prisha chuckled and raised her bowl with her good hand. “Hear, hear! I’m pretty sick of counting my blessings in this whole shitshow,” Louis was next to pick up his bowl in support, followed in short order by all the others. There commenced a series of bowl clinks and laughter as everyone got into the spirit. When everything had settled down, Clem clinked her spoon against her bowl to get the group’s attention. “I know it’s been on everyone’s mind, so we might as well address the elephant in the room.” “What elephant?” AJ asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I’ll explain in a minute, kiddo. Prisha, we wanted to give you time for your injuries to heal before we brought this up with you, but there has been discussion amongst us on whether you should be allowed to stay or not if you want. After some thought, we’ve all agreed that we would be fine with you staying. It’s another mouth to feed, but from what we know of you we’re sure you’ll be able to pull your weight around here. Whether that’s hunting for food outside the walls or helping with the greenhouse or reinforcements within, we can figure out something that works for all of us,” “I – thank you,” Prisha said quietly. “I’ll help in any way I can. I swear I’m not going to let myself hold you guys back in any way,” “Aaw, Sug,” Ruby chuckled. “Have you seen this group? It’s not like we’re in tiptop shape either! Everyone’s had to learn to make do, what with Violet learning to hunt despite her eyes and Clem losing her leg-” The shock on Prisha’s face made her pause. “Wait, did you not know ‘bout Clem’s leg yet?” “No, I didn’t. Wait, seriously?” Prisha turned to Clementine in confusion. Clem nodded, turning around on the bench to free her legs and pulling up a pant leg to show her prosthetic. “It took me a lot of hours to learn how to walk again, but everybody chipped in and pulled the extra weight till I could.” “I had no idea,” “Happy to hear that. It took me months to figure out how to walk with it and even longer to look natural while doing it. But this wooden leg… it gave me my life back. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but you’ll get back to yourself too,” Prisha blinked quickly as tears welled up once more. “God, I swear I’m not usually such a basketcase,” “It’s alright hun,” Ruby assured her. “It’s a big night for you,” “That’s right,” Clementine agreed. “All we’re trying to say is, don’t push yourself too hard. We’ve all been there before, needing an extra hand. That’s why we have each other,” “That’s why we’re a family,” Louis added with a smile. “Wow, Louis, way to put the pressure on,” Violet muttered. “Aaw, c’mon, what’s wrong with that?” “It is a bit much,” Clem said gently. “But I was just trying to-” “Thank you,” Prisha interrupted. “Really, for everything. I appreciate it more than words can say,” “You’re welcome,” Louis replied, smirking at Violet before pulling out his well-worn deck of cards. “Now that that’s settled, how about a game of cards? The game is war." Prisha smiled. “Sure, I’m down,” “Then let the games begin!” Everybody, take a card, then pass it down to those who can’t reach. Now everybody knows the rules…..” Louis’ directions faded from Prisha’s attention as her eyes roamed the courtyard. So this was her home now. Not a bad place to be, all things considered. It was honestly better than she’d hoped for in quite some time. The circumstances that got her here had made her feel like there was no future for her in this apocalyptic world, yet these people had brought her into their group like it was nothing. When in fact it was everything. Looking down at her good arm, Prisha gazed at the worn out, tattered friendship bracelet on her wrist. I’m doing what you told me to, Maren. Still breathing, still fighting. Her thoughts were interrupted as the deck was handed to her. Taking a card, Prisha felt a smile cross her lips. It was a high card. Things were looking up.

[zellybelly]

True Colors

More Clouis, because I just love them so much. But I do love Violet. She is awesome, but I mean, it’s Louis.

Anyways, I’m rewriting the party scene a bit, because I would have loved to have seen some more dancing. 

The song I chose to base this off of was Better When I’m Dancin’, Down Under or Mountain Sound by of Monsters and Men, but you can choose whatever song you’d like. 

Clementine pushed the door open with her free hand. Ruby told her about the party and asked if they could use her water heater to make some tea. Of course, she was eager to come to the party so she agreed. 

“Looks like things are coming together.” She commented to Ruby with a small smile. She handed her the water heater and Ruby gave her a nod of thanks.  “Yeah, but we still need to figure out lighting, music, and something to write on that banner.” She nodded over to a blank tarp on the ground.

“Well, if we’re going to die, we should have some fun first.” Clem pushed her lips together, staring at the colored jars. 

“Music? You’re going to play the piano all night?” She heard AJ ask Louis.

“God no. I actually want to attend this thing.” Louis laughed. The laughter made her heart flutter, distracting her from the jars. 

“It wouldn’t be a party without some kind of mood lighting.” Ruby winked at her and Clem responded with a chuckle. “I’ve been going back and forth between colors for ages. Green’s calming, but purple is nice...”

Clem tilted her head, “That is a hard decision. I think it’s between purple and green. Or... why don’t we do all 3 colors?” She offered, “Then we don't have to choose? And it would look cool, with all the colors.” She shrugged.

Ruby laughed, “Is that cause you can’t pick either?” Clem looked away, face burning with a small nod. She gave her a shrug and closed her eyes when Ruby started to laugh again. She joined in with her, and their laughter echoed throughout the room.

“What are you two ladies laughing at?” They turned to Louis who was showing AJ the record player. His hands were on his hips and he gave them a playful grin.

“Clem and I can’t decide a color,” Ruby explained for them.

“Yeah, I just think that too much of one color might be a bit much.” Clem shrugged, “But what do I know? I’ve never planned a party.” She shrugged it off, “But I guess that’s why I’m here. To learn.”

Louis raised an eyebrow, “Just to learn?”

Clem repeated his action, ���Well, maybe to have fun too.” Neither of them noticed that they had stepped closer to each other and were standing right in front of one another. They only noticed when Ruby cleared her throat.

“Okay, enough of whatever this is, we got a party to prepare!” The redhead dragged Clem away over to the banner. 

“Are we using this for some kind of party theme?” Clementine asked.

Ruby shook her head, “Not exactly, it’s meant to be more motivational.” She explained, “But whatever we write, we gotta keep it short. It’s not as big as it looks.”

It didn’t take much for Clem to get an idea. “We’re getting them back.” She said.

Ruby turned to her and gave a nod, “Quick and straight to the point. I like it.” She turned to the others and they nodded with agreement. “Tenn’ll break out his paintbrush and make it happen.” She placed her arm on Clem’s shoulder, “Thanks for helping. And Willy was asking for ya, he’s in Marlon’s office. Said he had a surprise for the party but wanted to show you first.” Clem nodded to her and headed out the door to the Headmaster’s office.

“Willy? Did ya need you me for something?” The teen asked when she got to the office to see the younger boy sitting on the ground surrounded by books and boxes.

“Clem! Check it out!” Willy stood up, “I found a whole bunch of books on boats!” He showed her the book in his hands. “Talks about some awesome stuff like fires at sea and explosions. The key is the boiler.”

Clem had to cut in, “Meaning... what?” She asked. She wasn’t seeing where this was going. Did Willy want to make fireworks for the party? But that had nothing to do with boats.

“I have an idea about how to stop those assholes from coming back to the school after we’ve rescued the others.” He explained. Clem’s mouth widened in an ‘oh’ manner. Now she felt stupid. It was kinda obvious what he was going to. “And from hurting anyone ever again. We’re going to blow up the boat.”

Clem nodded, “I really like that idea. It’s dangerous and flashy. And...” She paused and gave Willy a soft smile, “I know Mitch would approve of this. I’m in.”

Willy gave the girl a smile, “Yeah, I couldn’t think of a better memento for him than to blow that boat out of the water.” He growled out, but Clem wasn’t even worried. She felt the same way. She’d love to see this go down. “But the tricky bit is timing the bomb so it goes off after you’ve gotten off the boat.” She leaned against the door and nodded. 

“Also, I don’t want to be mean, but is it me or is there a bomb obsession at this school?” “Oh, it’s not you, there totally is. But for good reason!” And yet, Willy never told her the reason. “Trust me. This’ll work, we’ll be okay.” He assured her. Clem nodded at him.

They heard the music starting up in the next room. Either the walls were thin or they were being loud. Probably the former. No one was that stupid this far into the apocalypse. “Alright, everyone! Get ready to boogie!” Both Clem and Willy turned to the door where they heard Ruby’s voice erupt.

“Looks like we got a party to go to.” Willy nodded and picked up the bomb.

“Clem? I’m sorry for earlier, for how I treated Tenn. I know it wasn’t his fault.” The boy looked down at the floor. She smiled and walked over to him.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, “That’s very nice Willy, but I’m not the one you should be saying that to.” She gestured for him to follow her to the party.

When she opened the door she was greeted by bright color highlighting the room. Jazz was playing, and in front of her was AJ. She could see him dancing to the music, mainly movie his feet back and clicking his heels.

She crossed her arms and smiled, slightly moving along with the music. She looked over to Willy who moved over to Tenn and she smiled when she saw them making up.

“Ruby!” She walked up to the redhead. “This looks awesome!” “Couldn’t have done it without you. Using all the colors was a great idea. But just wait till what else I got planned. But for now, just go an mingle, maybe dance.” 

Clem smiled and turned when she felt someone grab her hand. It was AJ who was tugging her over to a large space where he was dancing. “Come on Clem! Let’s dance.”

Clem bit her cheek, “I don’t really know how but okay.” She giggled as the 6-year-old dragged her over. He let go of her hand and watched him dance. She swung her hips a bit and began to move her feet along with the music. She decided to spin with her arms out. 

She stopped spinning when she turned to Tenn, Ruby, and Willy. She walked over and grabbed Ruby’s hand and pulled her into dance. The two girls laughed and spun together. She waved over Willy and Tenn, and the two young boys joined the others swinging to the music.

She let go of Ruby’s hands and joined over with AJ and Louis. The latter was watching the former more than dancing himself. “Come on Lou.” She called and the boy’s head turned to her. “Dance with me!” She offered her hand.

Louis crossed his arms, “Do you even know how to dance?” He laughed.

“Nope.” She replied, popping the ‘p’. “But like I said, I’m here to learn.” 

Louis just shook his head and took her hand. He pulled her to him and spun her around, “try to keep up.”

She just smiled.

“Okay then.”

I was going to continue, but I honestly have no clue where I would’ve gone with it.

But I hope you enjoyed it