#demons run chapter 16

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Chapter 16: New Moon

Summary:  We turn to Spade Kingdom as history is made and Zogratis siblings are doing their best to be there for one another in these confusing times. The new regime under Queen Ciel of Spade knocks on the frontier of Clover Kingdom, looking for what was once theirs. Jayce keeps the secrets of the Wizard King as he struggles to shoulder the burden of all the work he was left behind with. Fuegoleon embarks on a project that will change his life. Yami and William finish up their insignias to present to Julius when a little girl walks in and throws them in for a loop. A nurse in a far away land wonders why this stranger brings her an impending sense of doom.

Notes: 

- Check the notes at the end after reading! They are super important and provide explanations for some stuff. Science or reminding yall of plot points mentioned in previous chapters. - No NSFW - 5.7 k words

“Do you think he is dead?”

Zenon Zogratis kept quiet.

“I mean he has to be if we suddenly came out of the…haze.”

Yesterday, three siblings were planning a strategy for the next battle to push into Clover Kingdom in Dante Zogratis’s office but then, the hold over them just vanished. The malice that motivated them to scorch this kingdom to the ground just…disappeared. There was an hour of panic and existential crisis then Dante went catatonic. Vanica Zogratis stayed quiet in thought for once while Zenon sprung into action. He pulled back all troops and locked up those he knew weren’t just simply listening to orders but actually wanted to hurt people. He lugged Vanica around to use force where it was needed and Dante joined soon after, with a new resolve glimmering in his eyes.

“He fucked with our heads I get that, but why make us forget Aika? I didn’t matter what we remembered or not—”

“That was a different spell.”

Vanica and Dante looked at Zenon with furrowed brows.

“How do you know that?”

“Do I need to explain magic sensing to you two?” He asked quietly as he turned to look at the snowfall. The streets were blanketed in a soft layer of white and people were daring to step outside again. He felt like he was hearing music for the first time again as a miscellaneous group of kids and adults sang songs of home and about flying and being free.

The cathedral in the capital opened its doors once again and a sweet chorus sang. And the whole city sang with them, out loud, under their breaths, and in their hearts.

Across my memory

“Then why did we forget her?”

“It’s not only us, Vanica.” Dante sat next to Vanica with his hands clasped together. “I heard some of the guards and former classmates of hers talking about them suddenly remembering her all at the same time. Some are theorising that she must have hidden her existence for some reason and that she died so the spell must have disappeared with her.”

“That seems most likely, yes.”

“But why at the same time as our brother’s brainwashing?”

Vanica gasped.

“You don’t think?”

“They must have found one another and fought and both died at the same time.”

“But that means Julius should have also died and we would have received news by now if Clover Kingdom’s Wizard King is dead.”

“Not necessarily,” Zenon interjected, slowly pacing back and forth in front of his siblings. “If Lucius died, Julius wouldn’t die just because they share the same body.”

“Isn’t that the basis of them sharing the same body and Lucius choosing to keep Julius alive?”

“I don’t know why Lucius kept Julius alive but I know for a fact that while they ‘share the same body’ their bodies are not the same. Julius had a papercut and when he switched with Lucius, the cut was gone.”

“You noticed that? How?”

“He spent most of the time in Lucius and Julius’s lap so I’m not surprised,” Vanica teased, scooching closer to Dante’s side as he wrapped an arm around her.

Zenon froze when fond memories hit him.

Far away, long ago.

Julius would laugh as he would tickle little Zenon, revelling in his squirms and giggles and then abruptly switch with Lucius so he could experience it first hand too. Zenon would stop slowly when he realised that the hands stopped and they were a bit colder, fingers a bit longer as they laid on his head. He would stare up at his older brother, confused and be met with dark hair and an impassive face and he would hug Lucius anyways, hoping that it would make him happy just as it would make Julius happy.

Glowing as dim an ember,

Things my heart used to know.

Zenon never knew if it worked, but even if it did, it didn’t matter because here he was, far into his adult life, with a reputation as a psychopath and a tyrant, believing that he was serving his country.

All because of him.

Things it yearns to remember.

They were now under house arrest as Queen Ciel assumed the Spade throne, trying to get the domestic and international matters in order.

A knock sounded on his bedroom door and it swung open without giving them a chance to reply.

“I have a message from Queen Ciel.”

Speak of the Devil. Ironic.

“She requests that the most sensible sibling, Zenon Zogratis, come help her figure out some of the paperwork and other matters.”

“Did she throw in that insult too?” Vanica drawled.

And a song someone sings.

“No, I did,” the messenger smirked as she looked at their anti-magic bracelets.

“Whatever, but believe it or not, we actually did the paperwork and the planning and the decisions together ,” Dante lied. “So you would need all three of us to be of any use.”

Zenon went with it, nodding as the messenger looked at him for confirmation. Dante and Vanica would hate to feel left out and he would rather not deal with the whining when he would come back.

“Alright,” the messenger’s magic whizzed through the air, tying them together, tethered to her. “Follow me.”

Zenon sighed as his two older siblings giggled conspiratorially, and they marched to their uncertain futures.

Once upon a December.

Sister Lily sang a song she had been hearing since last night, wafting from the West, where she heard just this afternoon, was liberated from the Zogratis siblings. She smiled.

Hage laid still at the frontier, the Demon Skull casting a shadow as the Sun set in the West and Sister Lily prayed to the Goddess for the people of Spade. She prayed that they may live free again and smile at the same Moon and stars as her.

Asta and Yuno, the oldest children at the church, bounded around the tree where she sat. While Asta chased him in good-natured fun, Yuno had a determined look on his face.

Sister Lily touched her cheek and sighed.

Ever since that day when Yuno was supposed to give a letter to the Mayor and Asta followed him, they both came back, looking extremely beat up. Yuno hadn’t shed a single tear since that day. When asked why, he said he decided to never cry because he needed to be strong if he wanted to be Wizard King.

She didn’t know what to say except support him in his dream. When Asta said the same thing, she felt sad. As much as he was a strong kid with his heart in the right place, she couldn’t encourage him because when he realises that it is completely out of his reach, he will despair.

She could not lie to him like that.

“Sister Lily! Can you hear that?”

A stampede slightly shook the ground and she quickly hid the two kids behind her legs as she looked at the Grand Magic Zone past the forest in worry.

She could see some firelit torches shining between the trees and smoke. It wasn’t an army. It was neither fast nor big but it was a sizable group of people making their way over.

Sister Lily fiddled with the keystone in her pocket given by their new neighbours. Raymond and Lydia said they were retired Magic Knights and were willing to help if need be. She hesitated though. What if it was nothing?

When the first line of men broke through the tree line, she activated the keystone. She wasn’t taking my chances.

The group made their way to her, the only person in sight.

As they got closer, she could see their clothes a bit more clearly. They were men and women of the Spade Kingdom with their fur-lined cloaks and heavy chains keeping them together. These were soldiers.

Sister Lily’s heart raced as she silently prayed for Raymond and Lydia to come quicker.

Jayce stumbled and braced himself against the cold stone wall. Ever since that day he had been plagued by uncomfortable dreams, sometimes edging on the nightmarish side. He could feel himself getting sick with the lack of proper sleep. The dreams, he feared, were not really dreams but memories. Memories of Julius Novachrono. They were not all of his memories, just the disturbing parts of his childhood in Spade Kingdom.

It came to him as a surprise that he was not from around here but he was not the one to judge. Jayce was also not from around here, but from the neighbouring Diamond Kingdom.

Diamond kingdom where many of his sealed sigils exist.

Every seal, every oath, every promise, all sorts of magic broke down in that room that day.

Between visiting Evan, studying, doing Miss Aika’s paperwork as her proxy, and redoing the broken seals not only in Diamond Kingdom but all over the world: in dungeons, caves, under the sea, in uncharted forests and territories but he had some people as capable at sealing magic help him out in various regions. Jayce was so grateful that he only had to execute the final runes of some of them.

Regardless, it was safe to say that with no proper sleep or food for two weeks, he was haggard as all hell and felt it in his soul. He was understandably afraid to even look at himself in the mirror.

“Yo!”

Jayce turned around, not even bothering to hide his exhaustion.

“Mister Arthur,” he looked past the man and saw the Magic Knight Captains following him. That’s strange but Arthur often was. “And Co.”

Fuegoleon waved in greeting as Arthur peeled him off the wall and supported his weight on him. Jayce shook his hand gingerly once he was close enough.

“Congrats on Captainship again, Fuego. It looks good on you.”

“Thank you, Jayce. But weeks of no sleep does not look good on you.”

He laughed hoarsely.

“How is the paper Miss Aika assigned coming along?” The Captains gathered around them, failing to hide their eagerness to listen. Fuegoleon has been working on an idea that Miss Aika had given to him as a present for becoming Captain. She had not even sat down with him and properly congratulated him but simply sent him a letter and a package of books for him to read and research. Books about fire magic, mundane sciences such as chemistry and physics, electricity and magnetism, a rare book about Time Magic by an unnamed author, and for some reason, spirituality and transcendence through magic that is entirely theoretical and never been achieved before. At least on public record. She gave him such an assignment as a gift.

“Well,” Fuegoleon sighed. “I finally have a title for it.”

“I didn’t know you were working on a paper,” Jien sidled up to him, poking in the side light-heartedly, but inwardly, he was dying of curiosity. Fuegoleon is undoubtedly very smart but he had never heard of the man doing any sort of research or writing a paper. “What is it about?”

“‘Reversibility of Entropy through the Attribute of Fire: An Expansion on Laplace’s Demon.’ That’s the title.” Fuegoleon bore a slight frown as he said it.

“Reversibility of Entropy…” Jien tapped his chin as he searched his memory. “People with the Fire attribute did try that before but research has shown that entropy cannot be perfectly reverse engineered unless…” His eyes widened as realisation struck him. “Unless you can use Time Magic!”

Jayce grinned as the fog lifted from his head. Miss Aika was crazy.

“She is trying to teach you Time Magic!” He exclaimed.

Fuegoleon nodded grimly.

“It didn’t make sense why she would do that but after that day…” She was using him as an experiment essentially, to see how people can develop Time Magic through fire.

“Why would she try to teach you Time Magic?” Nozel raised a curious brow. There was something they were not telling about that day two weeks ago when the Captain’s meeting happened.

Fuegoleon looked to Jayce who nodded.

“Because, Miss Aika, like Sir Julius, also uses Time Magic.”

Nozel and the rest of the Captains were silent for a second, then burst into noise.

“What?!” Nozel hissed.

“Is it a weaker version of Time Magic or?”

“There is a reason why there is no record of Time Magic ever.”

“Yes, even Sir Julius’s ability to wield it is a historical moment but everyone knows it’s strange.”

“Mhm. Even his grimoire looks strange.”

“Well, we hide it from the general public because it’s a tactical advantage but we also don’t want negative attention from foreigners overseas. They would want to use it for all sorts of things.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Jayce exclaimed, holding his head, taking his time to put together a coherent sentence. Everyone quieted down and looked at him.

“There is no record of Time Magic? Ever?”

“Weaker forms of it had existed before but not to the extent Sir Julius has. Wielding it is believed to be forbidden.” Charlotte offered.

“Why?”

Everyone looked away, uncomfortable with the question posed. Jayce was confused. Why the sudden awkward atmosphere?

Nozel squared his shoulders and spoke up.

“Because a long time ago, the Time Devil, Astaroth had declared when he was summoned that Time Magic will never be wielded by anyone because it’s too much power in any human’s hands.”

“Nozel!” Fuegoleon snarled.

“Hold on. Why is everyone on the edge about this?”

Arthur sighed. “Because in the Clover Kingdom, knowing about devils, forbidden magic and stuff is taboo.”

“That’s the issue? Haven’t all of you maimed and tortured before?”

“I mean yer right but you don’t have to say the quiet part out loud,” The tall, lanky Captain with blades on his forearms harrumphed.

“Then y’all can relax a little bit. So you’re telling me that it’s a little suspicious that they both happened to have Time Magic, both know each other, are born on the same day, share the same blood type, and are a little in love?”

“I don’t buy into that hanky panky superstition stuff,” Gueldere began “but same day, same blood type, and same magic that is supposedly forbidden?” He shook his head. “That sounds awfully suspicious to me.”

“Yeah, just like you,” Jack nudged him in a thinly veiled insult.

“It’s not superstition.” Fuegoleon said as his frown deepened. “In a world of magic, it is an indication of important events.”

“Shouldn’t we all be moving along,” Arthur dramatically waved down the hall. “To the study to meet with your Master that you are oh-so-suspicious of?”

“Well, you don’t think that with your two thousand years of knowledge, it’s a little suspicious? Has there really never been any Time Mages as long as you have lived?”

“Wait, he’s two thousand years old?” A Captain whispered to another.

“No, there have been no Time Mages but there are now and yes it is a significant event and as for the coincidence, extraordinary individuals have extraordinary backgrounds,” Arthur explained in one breath. “There is no conspiracy, there is nothing. Don’t go poking your heads where it doesn’t belong now if we can please move along.”

Fuegoleon looked like he wanted to say more but he kept quiet. He could ask after the meeting.

“Can you walk?” Arthur whispered to Jayce, his arm tightening around his waist.

“I don’t know,” Jayce murmured. Just as quickly as he regained his energy, he lost it again. His body felt heavier and his stomach turned. The older man just sighed and picked him up.

“Where are you headed?”

Jayce didn’t even care to be embarrassed to be carried at his grown age. He was far too tired for it. The last time he saw Arthur, they might have been like cats picking fights for seemingly no apparent reason, but next time they see each other, they always go back to normal. That was simply their dynamic. He laid his head on the man’s chest and sighed,

“The study. The armchairs look really comfy.”

“What a coincidence, we’re headed to the same place.”

Jayce was swimming in and out of consciousness. He just wanted some sleep.

“Mmm.”

Sukehiro Yami brought his painting up to sunlight to see the pencil sketch beneath the painting. The Black Bulls insignia is coming along very nicely. He even used his expensive metallic gold paint for the accent colour, and in his humble opinion, it definitely catches one’s eye.

He looked at William Vangeance’s draft of his own squad’s insignia from the corner of his eye. Yami didn’t know much about the guy except that his Qi was all strange and wrong from the handful of times he worked with him. And today, he found out he was also shit at drawing.

Yami was making all sorts of faces but he most probably can’t even see because peripheral vision is blocked by that ugly mask of his. He had always wondered why he would wear that mask knowing that a good bit of his vision was blocked.

But each to their own, I guess.

His fingers itched to reach for a cig but he refrained considering that he was sitting in a lavish study, stuffed floor to ceiling in books on top of books. Julius may actually get mad for once if he waved a lit one near his books. He’ll be considerate for once.

Only for Julius though.

Yami and William froze when the doors to the study creaked open. They turned expectantly for the Wizard King and Captains to walk in but to their surprise, it was a little girl with long blonde hair who invited herself in. She carried some art supplies under her arm and closed the door quietly behind her.

She toddled over to the coffee table the Captains-to-be were hunching over and made herself comfortable on the floor and table-space opposite to them.

“You guys mind if I use this table?”

“Not at all,” William assured her instinctively but he was still unsure who she was or if she could even be in here.

“Thanks.”

They just stared at her as she kneeled on the floor and spread her supplies out on the table. It looked like she had already finished lining her sketch and just got to colouring. She stuck her tongue out as she concentrated. What felt like forever passed as they stared at her but it had only been a minute.

The little girl sighed as she set her pencil down, exasperated.

“Have you two never seen a kid or something?”

“Where are your parents, kid?” Yami blurted before William could.

“I think it’s more polite to ask someone their name first but okay.” She picked her colour pencil up and continued filling in between the lines. “My mom is on a work trip and my dad is also working.”

“What’s your name, young lady?” William asked, slightly embarrassed. He doesn’t see many kids around except maybe on missions or errands in populated areas. He can’t think of anyone at the Magic Knight headquarters who may have a kid. In his field, everyone would almost instantly know if anyone at work had a kid.

“My name is Holly. Thank you for asking, Cool Mask Guy.”

Yami stifled a laugh at William’s shock. Almost everyone thought that mask of his was tacky but that kid’s quick and honest compliment must’ve been nice.

“Why thank you, Holly.” He smiled. “Do you know anyone in this building?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m not some random kid that wandered into the Magic Knight Headquarters.”

William laughed.

“That’s good! Do you like my mask, Holly?”

“Mhm.” She looked up to take a closer look at it. “It looks good in an ironic way.”

It was Yami’s turn to laugh.

“Haha, thank you,” William covered his mouth as he chuckled. “My name is William, by the way. William Vangeance.”

“Cool name too.”

Holly turned and looked expectantly at Yami.

“Yami Sukehiro.”

“Is that first name, last name or last name, first name?”

“Huh?”

“‘Cause I know in the East you say last name, first name.”

He huffed in amusement. No one had ever realised that before.

“Just call me Yami.”

“Nice to meet you, Yami.”

The three fell into companionable silence after acquainting themselves. After a while, Yami had finished his drawing and sat back to stare at the sealing. Holly got bored of colouring for a bit so she started a new drawing, using the two men in front of her as models. William looked up from his sketching and smiled when he saw that she was drawing them, and she was especially being careful with the way she drew his mask.

“Want to know a cool fact about my mask, Holly?”

“Sure!” She chirped. She seemed to be warming up to them.

“The Wizard King was the one who made this for me when I was younger and he made different sizes of it as I grew older.”

Yami listened indifferently. He didn’t know that but that sounds like something Julius would do. He’s got a soft spot for kids.

Instead of amazement, William was met with a warm smile.

“Yeah. Julius is cool like that.”

“You’re on a first name basis with the Wizard King?” William asked, in half confusion and amusement.

Holly went back to her drawing causally as she said, “Yeah. I think I can be since he’s smooching my mom.”

Yami’s head snapped to her, nearly giving himself whiplash.

Blonde hair, light purple eyes, working dad.

“Are you Julius’s secret love child?”

Holly looked up at him in shock and fell back laughing.

William and Yami just stared at her helplessly. If she was his kid, they felt a little betrayed because Julius hasn't told them a single thing about his life even though they have both known him since they were children. He was so charismatic that most people forget to inquire about him or his family. But even when they did, he had always dodged the question. He did let it slip once that he had a sister but no one dared to make any jokes about it. One guy tried it. He tried to make a poorly constructed joke about becoming Julius’s brother-in-law and everyone in the vicinity who heard the joke saw Julius’s face and found out first hand how terrifying he can be.

“I don’t think his secret love child would be hanging around the building where he works!” Holly guffawed, clutching her stomach. She slowly came to as she wiped tears away, feeling a little bad for the men she left in suspense.

“He’s just courting my mom. I think it’s really cute.”

Yami and William shared a look. Wow. They both sat back in shock.

“Why do y’all look like that?”

“Well, we’ve never heard of our Captain—well, not captain anymore but, we’ve never heard of him courting anyone,” William explained.

“He looks pretty good for his age. And he’s really nice and cool. Why couldn’t he get a date before?”

Yami could not stop laughing at that.

“It’s because I didn’t want to.”

Holly leapt to her feet at the familiar voice of her mother’s lover. He stepped out of the mini passage between his office and study and smiled warmly at them, the corners of his lips reaching his tired eyes.

“Julilus!”

William and Yami stood up at his arrival, the latter man wiping tears as he spluttered with laughter.

“Holly!”

Holly ran and jumped up into Julius’s arms and hugged him tight. He buried his face in her shoulder as he felt oddly emotional. He suddenly missed the days when his wards were younger and now they’re about to become Captains, he missed the memories of his childhood, hugging his younger siblings. He was at his wits end about his past coming back to him but he had to be composed. He was doing his best not to think about Aika because he was losing his peace of mind every time he did. It was a little hard not to when he was hugging her daughter but he has been through harder things in life. He can do this.

Julius pulled back with a sniffle and gave Holly a watery smile when she furrowed her brows at him in concern.

“I’ll be fine,” he whispered.

He had to be fine. He was the Wizard King.

Julius turned his attention to Yami and William.

“Congratulations you two,” Holly stayed close to him, resting on his hip, propped up on his arm. “Chairman Kira has finally approved your Captainship.”

“You knew he would,” Yami smirked, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword and his right brought up to his chest in a Three-Clover Salute. William mirrored him with a polite smile. Julius did know he would. His foresight was a blessing.

“We would be honoured to dedicate our grimoires to you, Sir,” they declared in unison.

Julius beamed with pride. He was so, so proud of how far they have come. Two scraggly little boys who had no dependable adults in their lives; he was glad they had grown to not only depend but look up to him and followed his path to become a Magic Knight and then a Captain. He wanted to peer into the future but he refrained. He was sure one of the two would follow his footsteps to become Wizard King as well.

Julius absolutely refused to let them be pawns in Lucius’s game, raised to be lambs for slaughter.

A young woman, a nurse, wiped down her patient. The man lying in bed was tall with dark, dark hair with purple eyes. Well, purple eye. His other eye was covered with an eye patch for her and everyone else’s safety because it thrummed with ominous mana. Everyone felt like they should avoid it and it was no problem because it doesn’t seem to be causing him any issues.

Purple eyes were common, especially where she was from. In her culture, people believed that it was a sign of great potential; for magic or for life. Mainly for magic though. She lived in a Grand Magic Zone after all.

It was a region called Bain, snowy and white. Only specks of colour were the dark wood and leaves of evergreen trees and plants. It was fine by her though because it was not like she could leave. Her people have adapted to survive in the snowy Grand Magic Zone and have a lot of mana but they cannot survive outside of it because there was so little mana everywhere else. Because of the environment, they also had light skin and even lighter hair to absorb energy from what little sunlight they received. Warm blood, almost literal fire, coursing through their veins, which also makes Fire Magic common amongst them.

So the dark hair was somewhat of a rare sight. The man was clearly not from around here.

They do have adventurers and travelers that pass through their Grand Magic Zone but even then it was kind of rare for this dark of hair.

If she was being honest, she was jealous. She wished she had dark hair. She wished she could be an adventurer and see the world. She heard there are places in the world that are just fantastically green all over or even blue. She wished she was from a place where she wouldn’t have this light hair.

Hyperfixation on his hair aside, the young woman massaged her patient’s calves with her Fire Magic, keeping them warm and blood flowing faster as she eased her mana into the flesh.

Most people’s mana just get overwhelmed after a few days of staying in this region but after a week of staying here, his mana which was depleted before, was actually replenishing at the same rate as natives here. Healers have concluded that he was from another Grand Magic Region and was allowed to stay.

“Listen if I just place the pillow over his face,” her partner whispered in induced madness. “It will open up one more bed for us in the ward. These travelers keep taking up spots that us native folks desperately need!”

She just sighed. This clinic was only for outsiders to use specifically so they don’t take up beds and medical attention away from the natives. But she didn’t even bother correcting them because the homicidal behaviour was due to her patient’s unique mana as a Forbidden Magic user.

She had exposure to forbidden magic before so she was fine but her partner wasn’t. Usually they wouldn’t be in this room but they were a bit short staffed today so they had to step in.

“Okay, Mier. Time for you to step out.” She pushed them out with only a bit of resistance but to her shock, they swiftly side stepped her. Mier grabbed a glass bottle near them, broke it against the wall and lunged at her patient.

She could only watch in horror as her body didn’t move.

Mier threw themselves against the prone man but when they fell on top of him, they fell on the bed.

The man disappeared.

“Sad to see someone lose their sanity like that.”

The young nurse jumped when a voice spoke beside her. She pressed her back against the wall as she looked up in fear at the tall man. Her patient had woken up.

He raised his hands and backed off.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She stayed quiet and breathed deeply when anxiety threatened to clog her mind. But in that brief moment of silence, Mier threw themself again at her patient but the man held them at an arm's length and flicked them between their eyes, hard enough to knock them out.

They went slack and the man caught them before they fell to the ground.

“Sorry, I don’t want him to hurt me so I had to do that.”

“Them,” she corrected him reflexively. But she regretted it because she might’ve made the situation worse. He was definitely toying with her but she didn’t want to incur his wrath.

“Sorry, I didn’t want them to hurt me so I had to do that,” the man smoothly corrected himself as he placed Mier onto the bed he was previously in.

She relaxed. Wow. He took it really well and corrected himself immediately. That told her a lot about his character.

“What’s your name…Miss?” She nodded as she conjured up a shaky smile.

“Gwynevere.”

“Like the Princess of Sunlight?” He asked with a charming smile.

She blushed as she looked at his feet. He was trying to make her feel at ease and she appreciated that.

“Yes.” She was the Princess of Sunlight but he didn’t need to know that. “What’s your name? We…we couldn’t ID you.”

“I have a few names but one that is most known in this area is ‘Sarkany?’” He asked and looked at her to see if that rang any bells. She stared at him blankly. It didn’t.

“Could you go talk to your supervisor about it and maybe bring me some clothes, Gwynevere?”

That’s right. He was standing barefoot and naked in his hospital gown and she should probably let someone know he had woken up.

“I will be right back then.”

He nodded with a polite smile and she walked out without turning her back to him.

He was quick and not lethargic at all meaning he must have been awake for a while but he seems relatively harmless for now. She needed to be careful regardless.

Gwynevere went and explained the situation to the Head Healer. He tsked when she told him what happened to Mier.

“These outsiders will put their hands on anybody, I swear.” She explained to him that Mier was trying to kill the patient but he didn’t care. “Did he tell you his name?” “He said the name ‘Sarkany’ should be familiar.”

The Head Healer grew pale when she said his name. Maybe it did mean something then and she just didn’t know.

“Okay, Okay,” he hastily put his coat on. “Get the man what he wants and treat him as if he were our own.”

Gwynevere grabbed onto his sleeve as he turned away to supposedly go see the man.

“Wait, sir. Who is he?”

“I’m so surprised you don’t know but you are out here from that castle of yours to learn about us common folk and the world anyways so know this: That man is Atropos Tolliver and he is Eidolon’s best agent. He is very strong and not someone to mess with.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say to that. She did know about Eidolon but not about Atropos Tolliver. She could tell he was strong and it made sense.

She brought some loose, brown pants, white shirt and a long strip of cloth to tie around his waist while her supervisor spoke to the man she was assuming.

She neared the door and she heard voices talk.

“No, no. Mier may have had trouble but Miss Gwynevere was the perfect caretaker.”

“Thank you, thank you! I’m glad to hear that her training has paid off. I am so sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier, Sir. You didn’t make your portrait public so I hope you understand…”

“Absolutely. Please don’t treat me any differently and contact the guild for the expenses. They should pay it in full.”

Gwyn walked in and felt strange when their eyes turned to her. She handed his clothes to him and stepped back as she looked at the floor.

“Thank you,” he said solemnly and she felt her ears burn.

Later after he checked out, he stopped her as she passed by him.

She craned her neck up to look at him in his one eye.

“I studied Medicine when I was your age.” Gwyn’s eyes widened in surprise. “You demonstrated excellent use of mundane and magic techniques in your physiotherapy for me. Well done.”

“How long were you awake?”

“Long enough. I apologise if that makes you uncomfortable.”

She shook her head.

“No, I was just wondering…You’re welcome. I was just doing my job.”

He patted her on the head as he walked out.

Gwyn stared at his back and wondered if she would ever see him again. Why did she feel that way? She didn’t know. Her heart was beating fast and it was in her throat. That man was scary for reasons she knew, but she wondered about what she didn’t know. The red cloak he borrowed billowed in the wind and the door snapped shut behind him.

That was not the last time she would see him.

Notes:

- In the first scene, the song “Once Upon a December” from Anastasia is playing and the lyrics are displayed in the scene.

- Next chapter, how will the former Wizard King and his wife deal with the uninvited guests? How will Julius and the Captains react when they see Yami and William’s squad insignias? When will Gwyn see Atropos again?

- As you could’ve guessed by now, Atropos is Aika. Aika having transformation magic and it being limited to her being a man was referenced in earlier chapters with Aika’s conversations with Julius.

- Sarkany was also a code name used for her in this region of the world. It’s the name that Sven, the assassin, used when he came to kill Aika.

- Julius is suffering right now but we don’t get to see the depth of it until the next chapter.

- What is Fuegoleon working on? You can ask me all about it on my tumblr or find out in chapter 17 or 18.

- Laplace’s demon is an old idea of determinism in Newtonian days that basically says that if you know the past, you could explain the present and if you know the present, you could predict the future with equations and such. When we’re talking about the future, we’re talking about the movement of objects and particles and such. This idea of determinism in science was cast aside when scientists realised that the world has random components and forces in it that cannot be predicted and this is the science of chaos. A part of why determinism in science doesn’t work is because the entropy of the universe, the disorder of particles as they expand, is very chaotic and unpredictable after a certain extent. So you cannot reverse entropy, physically or mathematically.

- So, Fuegoleon is trying to use his understanding of fire and heat to reverse entropy but that would mean using Time Magic. But it doesn’t have to be time magic specifically, but it can be time magic as a magic form. Magic forms are basically sub classes of the attributes in Black Clover. For example, trap magic even though Zora has Ash Magic, transformation magic when Julius has time magic, memory magic even though Ralph has fire magic, etc.

[boinin]

Blue Lock volume cover analysis

An examination of unusual features and chains among the 31 volumes released to date. Subject to revision.

Like this? Want to reference these points in your own analysis on Reddit, YouTube, wherever? Go ahead! A shout out to this post is appreciated. Straight up plagiarism isn’t.

Volume 8: Mikage Reo

Reo's chains are noticeably shaded green. Guess whose eyes glow green when they're fired up...

In addition, @thyandrawrites has a theory that Reo ties/reties his hair up as a way to maintain emotional composure. The volume covers tend to represent the character's personality or struggles in some sense. If so, this is an early nod to the emotional trials Reo endures during the series.

Volume 10: Tokmitsu Aoshi

No chain weirdness here, but Tokimitsu is surrounded by black gunk in his cover. This may be a visualisation of his anxiety and the way he copes with it: running at speed and bulldozing through his opponents.

Volume 11: Ego Jinpachi

Ego's cover depicts him totally immobilised by the four chains bound to his neck. To date, no other character has been more restrained by the chains. This likely represents that Ego's fate is utterly dependent on the outcome of Blue Lock. His cover also suggests that Blue Lock (and football) consume Ego's life.

Volume 12: Shidou Ryuusei

Shidou's chains have a blue glow, much like Sendou's in volume 27. This glow is far closer to Shidou's collar however. It could imply that Blue Lock is the beginning of Shidou's pursuit of football.

He's also depicted with demon wings. The collar or chains don't impede his movement significantly, unlike other characters. In addition to portraying his incredible physicality, this could also visually represent how Blue Lock has failed to subdue Shidou.

Volume 16: Oliver Aiku

Aiku's chains are wrapped tightly around his arm and he's pulling them taut. The chains themselves appear rusted and cracked, most notably on his collar. This could represent Aiku's relationship with football. He grew jaded with being a striker in high school. Becoming a defender, then the match against Blue Lock, revitalised his enthusiasm. Hence, the chain is holding fast: he's just as ensnared by football (and Blue Lock) as the others.

Volume 17: Itoshi Sae

Sae and his chains are bathed in radiant gold light, which is associated with both divinity and wealth. His chains crumble in one place, and remain barely intact. I offer two interpretations for this. Firstly: unlike the others, Blue Lock does not have a strong impact on Sae—his success as a footballer is completely independent of it.

Secondly: if we take the chain to represent Sae's footballing career, the crumbling chain could allude to a time when football negatively impacted him. Perhaps whatever happened in Madrid? But he came back stronger, as the rest of his chains appear even more golden.

Volume 18: Teieri Anri

Anri is the only character depicted without chains or a collar. While working with Ego is a prison sentence in its own right, the artwork suggests that her ambition and future isn't connected to the outcome of Blue Lock. It can also be interpreted as a nod to the hierarchy within Blue Lock. Anri is Ego's boss and thus, she is free while he is constrained. However...

Zoom in on the reflection on her phone screen. It appears to reflect a wide grin—which can only be one person's. Taking into account her passivity in chapter 247, this detail positions Anri as Ego's accomplice: willing to do his bidding, no matter how amoral.

Volume 19: Michael Kaiser

Kaiser's collar and chains are made of glass, through which his blue rose tattoo is visible. As chapter 243 told us, a blue rose represents the impossible to Kaiser. Glass chains suggests that his ego or ties to football are fragile, and could be broken easily. Symbolically, glass can also represent transparency. As a character, Kaiser is upfront about his talent and desires. Nobody is in doubt about his footballing mantra or his intent to undermine Isagi.

Volume 20: Alexis Ness

Ness's chains are entwined with blue rose brambles, all but for a short length to the top right of the image. While Ness came to love football independently, seeing it as magical, the rose brambles show that his connection to football is now inseparable from his devotion to Kaiser. It also reflects that Ness would not be a professional footballer without Kaiser, as per chapter 242/243.

Volume 24: Hiori Yo

Hiori is the only character shown holding the end of his chain, which is secured by a football-shaped weight. This suggests that Hiori himself is the one in control of his career, rather than external forces. Football is a burden to him, albeit something he can carry. Therefore, Hiori is not ensnared by the chains (or Blue Lock) to the same extent as other characters. Appropriate for a character guaranteed to succeed as a footballer, but who ultimately may not choose to pursue it.

Volume 25: Niko Ikki

Niko's volume cover is hilarious. I'll leave the explaining to Tomo-tan, who lays out the humour and genius of Niko's cover in this great Reddit post.

Volume 26: Don Lorenzo

Members of the New Generation World XI have no chill when it comes to their covers, and Don Lorenzo is no exception. His collar shows bite marks, as though chewed through. Gold teeth are good for more than caramel popcorn, apparently.

Lorenzo's chains are accompanied by what looks like electricity. This suggests that football reanimated Lorenzo from near death, as per chapter 216. It's a visual nod to his playstyle, which resembles the incessant pursuit of a zombie. Guess we can call him Snuffy's Monster.

Volume 27: Sendou Shuuto

A blue glow appears on Sendou’s chains, halted from travelling further by his fist. This may represent the threat Blue Lock poses to Sendou's footballing career. He's already been kicked as the striker of the national team; now in the Neo Egoist League, he must battle for a place on the new U20 line-up. No easy feat, as his sweaty face implies.

Another detail worth mentioning is that the trajectory of one of Sendou's chains appear to align with the chain Aiku's pulling in his cover. This similarity, and the fact that they're both holding their chains, may be interpreted as a nod to their status as former U20 teammates—likely the only ones that will make the new team, going off the latest NEL auction table.

Volume 29: Nanase Nijiro

Debated adding him, but eh—I wrote up Reo's cover. Nanase's illustration (incl. the chains) is shaded green… similar to Rin's eyes and aura colour. His chain jerks right and left in a nod to his ambidexterity.

Volume 30: Tsurugi Zantetsu

Another gag cover on par with Niko's, albeit less clever (intentionally?). Zantetsu's chain is made of shapes you'd associate with a toddler's learning shapes toy.

Volume 31: Charles Chevalier

Charles's cover is a double whammy. He gets two colours like Aiku, reflecting his capricious nature. Gold and metallic are representative of his high worth. The background spirals are a definite nod to the Cheshire Cat, a character Charles states he likes in an end of volume character profile.

The chains are shaped like the devil emojis that appear in Charles's dialogue. The chains also feature two materials: an alternating light and dark metal with no evident pattern. This perhaps represents the way his passes are hit or miss, or the way he decides who to send passes to on a whim.

[lou-struck]

Up All Night

Belphegor x reader

~Belphie gets splashed with Night Cricket essence and is cursed to hear their calling all through the night.

W.C: 3.5k

Warnings: Brief mention of Obey Me Chapter 16, slight angst, Belphie being crabby and kinda mean since he is tired.

Poor Belphegor can hardly keep his eyes open. It may be the early afternoon, but the Avatar of Sloth just arrived back at the House of Lamination after taking a make-up test at RAD. The reason he had to retake the test was not because he got a poor grade or anything; he just was too tired the day off and chose to sleep through all three of his alarms and, subsequently, the exam.

But now that that's over with, he can finally take his afternoon nap,

His head hangs low as he sluggishly trudges through his home. Searching for the perfect place to rest his head. His favorite cow-printed pillow secure in his arms as he pokes his head into your room.

Much to his disappointment, he sees that you are still out running errands or doing something equally as exhausting. Normally, he would have no problem falling asleep in your bed, but today, he is feeling a bit adventurous.

Today, for some reason. He is home alone which means he is presented with with rare opportunity to fall asleep anywhere. 

But where should he go?

Lucifer's office?

Leviathan's Bathtub?

That really comfy carpeted spot in Asmodeus' closet?

All this thinking only tires him out more as he wanders into the quiet living room. And when his violet eyes come to rest on the long plush sofa, he knows what he must do.

'I haven't slept there in a while," he says to himself. His legs feel like they are made of lead as they carry him toward the rose-scented cushions. He doesn't even bother to pay attention to the Akuzon package that rests on the little side table that he passes.

His pillow bumps the table and sends the little package tumbling to the ground. The box rolls a bit, and the sound of breaking glass reaches his ears.

'I hope that wasn't important,' he yawns, shrugging off any concerns he had and plopping down onto the couch and falling into a deep sleep.

Unaware of the nightmare he has created for himself.

~ 

The front door had just shut behind you when you heard a shrill screech of horror coming from the living room. Your breath hitches as you drop your floral printed tote bag to the ground and rush towards the sound, magic brimming at your fingers, ready for anything.

But as you rush through the doorway, you see the purple-haired Avatar of Envy on his knees, hunched over a fallen Akuzon package. The magic at your fingers fizzles away, and you sigh, seeing that Belphegor still sleeps comfortably on the couch despite his older brother's meltdown.

"Belphie, what did you do to my package?" Levi screeches, reaching over the couch and shaking his youngest brother roughly from his slumber.

He stretches out like a cat and smacks his lips sleepily as he sits up. "Oh, hey Levi. What's in the box?"

Levi sighs and looks down at the open box. Pulling out what looks to be the neck of a broken bottle. "It was the night cricket essence I ordered, but you broke it."

The Avatar of Sloth looks lazily between the box and his brothers. "Oh? I guess I did. I'm sorry, Levi."

"What's night cricket essence?" You ask, stepping into the room and sitting on the edge of the sofa where Belphie's legs are.

"Night crickets are a special kind of bug known to keep demons up at night; I wanted to put a few drops of their magic into my energy drinks so I can stay up all night to play games."

Your eyes widen at Levi's explanation; the Otaku hardly gets enough sleep as it is; he doesn't need some hardcore magical caffeine supplement to keep him wired. "No, you definitely should not do that, ever."

He crossed his arms and huffs, "It's not like I can anymore. He broke the bottle, and the shop I got it from just got shut down."

"I wonder why?" Belphie chimes in, sitting up just a bit more to grab your hand. Even though you are seated on the same couch as him, he feels like you are too far away.

Levi's face is a deep crimson color and he looks like he is ready to burst. "That's not the point. You broke my package and now I won't be able to play through my new game all in one sitting. Everyone is going to find all the hidden items before me, and I'll look like a complete loser on my server."

"Yeah, that is what will make you look lame." The avatar of sloth quips back with youngest sibling-level sass. You bite the inside of your cheek as you try to keep a straight face and not damage Levi's already fragile ego. 

"Anyways," you clear your throat, trying your best to desolate this situation. "Levi, you really shouldn't buy things like that. It could really mess you up. And I hate to see you uncomfortable."

Levi looks at you with a grateful smile. "Oh, Mc, you really do care. Even if I am just a pathetic little shut-in. I'm going to make my avatar in the game look just like you as extra motivation to stay alive." he grins, rushing down the hallway, ready to play his game.

Now alone, you look to Belphie, who looks like he is about to fall back asleep holding on to your hand. "Don't you dare," you scold, taking your hand out of his. "You are on dinner tonight, and you are not sleeping through it again and buying takeout."

"But everyone loves Hell's Kitchen." he yawns, looking at you with a pleading expression. 

Standing strong you ignore his puppy dog eyes and give him a knowing look. 

"Fine, you win Mc." He sighs, taking your hand. "But you have to help me since it's too tiring for me to do it all on my own." You fight the chuckles as he leads you into the kitchen to be his sous chef for the evening."

~

Hours later, Belphie finds himself in his bedroom. His stomach is full, his teeth are brushed, and he slips on a cool pair of pajamas. 

He may be able to fall asleep anywhere, at any time, in any condition, but it always feels better to slip into something cool and soft against his skin at the end of the day. 

Beel emerges from the bathroom, a tired smile on his face as he wipes a bit of toothpaste from his lips with the back of his hand. "The Roasted Cockatrice you made tonight was delicious; you should make it more often, Belphie."

He smiles at the taller demon as he slides under his lavender-scented covers. The softness of his quilted down, embracing him like an old friend. "Thank you, Beel; if you like it so much, I can make it again for you sometime, and you can eat as much as you want."

Beel gives him a big, happy smile as he gets into his bed on the other side of the room. "I think I am going to dream about it tonight."

Belphie laughs as he sets his DDD down on its bedside charging port. "Careful Beel, the last time you dreamt about dinner you ended up eating your pillow in your sleep."

He frowns and looks at his mattress, "I really liked that pillow too," recalling the memory foam pillow you got him from the human world. He sighs and slips into his sheets. "Goodnight Belphie."

"Good night, Beel." With a flick of his wrist, he turns the bedroom light on and lets his head rest against the pillow, ready to head off into dreamland.

Minutes turn to hours as his cool sheets heat up uncomfortably, and the enviable sound of Beel's soft snoring can be heard from the other side of the room.

This feeling of restlessness is unknown to the Avatar of Sloth as he tosses and turns, waiting for sleep to take him, but it never comes…

~

The next morning, you find yourself at the breakfast table sipping on a chilled glass of freshly pressed blushberry juice and basking in the early morning shenanigans of the Avatars of Sin. 

Next to you, Beel is devouring a mountain of protein waffles after what you can assume to be an intense early morning workout.  

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Mammon sneakily trying to pluck all the blood strawberries out of the communal fruit bowl without anyone catching him. And so far, no one has. Especially since Asmo's flash keeps going off as he takes and retakes pictures of the adorable latte art Satan made for him. 

At the table head, Lucifer reads the newspaper, the ghost of a smile on his face as he tries to hide his contentment with this family time.

All of a sudden, Asmo drops his phone and lets out a gasp. "Oh Belphie, what happened to you? You look horrible hon."

Your head snaps to the doorway, and your gut fills with concern as you take in Belphie's appearance. His skin is sickly pale, his hair is ruffled beyond what one would call bedhead, and his usually bright violet eyes are framed by deep dark circles.

Had he slept at all last night?

"Shut up, Asmo," he grumbles, dragging himself to his seat and grabbing the pot of coffee from the center of the table.

You could hear a pin drop in the room as everyone watches him pours an impossibly tall mug for himself. He completely ignores the thick wisps of steam that dance on the lip of the mug and inhales the entirety of the dark roast-like air.

Beel swallows the waffle that had been caught in his throat and gently places a hand on his twin's shoulder "Belphie, are you okay?"

"Does it look like I am okay?" he snaps, jerking his shoulder out of his grasp "I heard you stomping all over the place this morning. It's impossible to get any sleep when I have to listen to you all night long."

Your eyes widen. Did Belphie really just say that to his twin? His favorite being in the three realms? Beel's face falls, and he is about to utter a small apology, but he is interrupted by a firm cough from Lucifer, who sets his newspaper down on the polished table.

"Clearly someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he says, staring down his youngest brother with a gaze of fiery crimson. "You should think about what you are about to say next, Belphegor, or you will deeply regret it."

"Whatever, you guys aren't worth my energy." he gets up and walks out of the room, leaving the room in uncomfortable silence. You glance over to Lucifer and meet his gaze. His jaw is clenched, but he gives you a nod of encouragement that has you exiting the room to try and find Belphie and figure out what has gotten him so upset.

You don't have to go very far. Belphegor's steps are unenergized and painstakingly slow, allowing you to easily catch up to him in the hallway. Gently, you reach for his hand to stop him.

"Belphie, what is wrong with you?" you ask, "You never get mad at Beel like that."

His gaze narrows, and he rips his hand out of your grasp way harder than he usually would. "Well, maybe if he learned how to function without sounding like a stampede of elephants is marching through the room when I'm trying to sleep, I wouldn't have to get mad at him."

"Belphie…"

"And why did you follow me?" He says, his features twist into a cruel smirk that has you taking a hesitant step backward. "Is the nosy little human trying to make themselves feel all important by getting involved in our business? Why don't you get out of my face and get back to the human world where you belong."

Ouch…

Pain flashes in your gaze and he finally realizes that he went way too far. "Mc, I-i didn't mean it~" he tries to come closer to you, to apologize, but it's too late."

Your reply to him is cold and dismissive. "Just go get some rest Belphegor. You obviously need it." You glare at him and turn to walk back towards the dining room.

"Mc, wait." He tries to call after you, but you're gone. And when you sit back at your seat at the table you notice that your breakfast tastes far less sweet than it did a moment ago.

~

You have avoided Belphie for the better part of the day, and you have tried not to think of his cruel words. You want to give him time to fix his cranky attitude, but honestly, you don't know if you want to talk to him right now.

It is now way too late in the evening you are hunched over at your desk working on something for RAD when you hear a weak knock on your door. You glance at your little clock. It's 3:45 in the morning. 

Who would be knocking on your door at this hour?

You pad across the carpet and open the door slowly to reveal the disheveled (and honestly pathetic-looking) Belpheghor. 

"What do you want?" you say, tightening your grip on the door, ready to shut it in his face if he says anything rude, but you freeze when you take in his appearance. He looks worse for wear than he did earlier. Clearly, he did not take your advice and rest earlier.

"Please," he murmurs out. "Please let me in"

He looks so pitiful, your cave; opening the door wider to allow him inside. His head hangs low as he drags his feet across your carpet in a zombie-like fashion.

He slowly sits himself down on the edge of your mattress and stares down at his hands as if there is some kind of apology tattooed on his fingers.

"M'sorry." he mumbles at last, his voice raw from frustration. "After what happened last time… I told myself I would never do anything to hurt you ever again. I just wasn't thinking, and it slipped out."

"Clearly," you huff sourly, still licking your wounds from yesterday morning. "If that's really what you think of me, then that's fine, but Beel doesn't deserve to be snapped at either."

He opens his mouth in protest, "It's not like that; you know how much you mean to me, Mc. I'm just not acting like myself." He looks like he is about to cry, and it tugs at your heartstrings. "It's no excuse, but I'm tired."

"Then how about you just go to fucking sleep already then?" you respond. You may just be a human, but the demons aren't the only ones capable of inflicting hurt.

"Because I can't." he raises his voice, and you flinch under the sharp edge to his voice. 

Immediately, he steps back for your comfort. This small act of consideration, even in the heat of the moment, makes you see him not as the monster in your mind but as a piece of your heart.

You think about what he is trying to say.

He can't sleep.

How is that possible?

 He is literally the Avatar of Sloth.

 One time he fell asleep on a rollercoaster because it took too long of a pause at the top before zooming downward.

"What do you mean you can't sleep?" you ask softly. Your feet move on their own, gently closing the distance between your bodies as you sit down next to him on the edge of your firm mattress. "What's going on Belphie?"

Your proximity is like a weighted blanket to him, and he leans in closer to your touch. "I haven't slept at all since that nap I took two days ago by the fire."

"Two days?"

You may not know the ins and outs of the effects that each brother's sin has on them, but you know that Belphie doesn't just sleep all the time because he wants to; he has to. Two days for him must be agonizing. 

Thinking back to the other day you try to think of any little details that may lead you to why the poor demon next to you is unable to catch a wink of sleep. 

You remember sitting next to Belphie on the couch…

And Levi was screaming about a package…

The Night Cricket Essence!

"I think I know why you haven't been able to sleep," you say, reaching for your DDD and pulling up your browser. Searching for anything you can about the demonic caffeine supplement thingamabob. 

The effects pop up instantly, along with several warnings about the consumption of the product. You make a mental note to talk to Levi about his purchase history later, but you continue to scroll about the product. 

"What are you looking at?" Belphie asks, leaning over your shoulder. He is so exhausted he slumps into your side, but you don't mind in the slightest. 

"The effects of Night Cricket Essence," you reply. "It says here that you should only add a few drops into a drink to keep you awake, but it must've vaporized when you broke the bottle.

"So I inhaled the whole bottle?" he blinks.

"I think so," you muse; it seems to be the only way to explain how someone as powerful as him could be affected.

"When will it wear off?" he groans, leaning back onto the mattress. 

"No clue, sorry. I'll keep looking," you murmur, trying to find some kind of a cure. 

You scroll and scroll and scroll until you stumble across something that sounds promising. 

If consumed in excess, the effects of Night Cricket Essence may be counteracted with a cup of chamomile tea.

Is that all it takes? A cup of tea?

It's worth a shot

"Come with me, Belphie, I want to try something to help you." Despite his restless exhaustion, your soft voice and kinder eyes are able to coax him onto his feet. He follows you out your bedroom door and into the kitchen.

He sits down at the counter as you scamper about the room, grabbing everything you need to make the both of you a nice cup of tea. 

For demons, getting ahold of human world tea is next to impossible, but you had just come back from a trip with Barbatos to stock up on some hard-to-find blends. Chamomile included. 

It doesn't take long for the tea kettle to whistle as you pour him a cup. You hand it to him carefully before pouring your own. 

"Let's hope this works," you mumble, blowing on your own glass, but he wastes no time. He drinks it desperately, and a few droplets strip down his chin and onto the tabletop.

By the time he comes up for air, the cup is empty, and you know this is an immediate difference in his appearance. His eyes droop, and he looks at you with a sleepy smile. 

"Thash goose" he stumbles out. You may not have the same twin telepathy that he and Beel have, but you know what he means as he sets the cup down clumsily. 

"How are you feeling?" you ask, sliding around the counter and pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of his head.

"Tired," he mumbles, tilting his head up so you would kiss his lips. His movements are sluggish, but the sensation of your lips on his is enough to keep him going a bit longer. “Can I has slee in yer ruum?” 

"You want to sleep in my room?" you ask, watching as his lids get heavier and heavier.

"Yesh, wanna cuddle."

You smile as he clings onto wakefulness, waiting to hear your answer. "You can stay with me." Your acceptance brings a smile to his face as he sinks onto the tabletop; his head hits the wood with a thud as he finally dips into his well-deserved rest. His soft breathing fills the room as you finish your tea. Once your little tea break is over, you will have to put him on your back and carry him to your room.

~

Three days later, you are once again at the breakfast table. When Belphie finally emerges from your bedroom looking extremely well rested. The others, having been made aware of the situation, breathe a sigh of relief when he takes a seat next to Beelzebub. 

"Good morning Belphie." Beel smiles hesitantly at his twin through his breakfast sandwich.

"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier; I hope you're not too upset with me to go out for lunch."

The smile that appears on Beel's face makes your heart melt as he nods eagerly. "Can Mc come with us too? Food always tastes better when I eat with both of you."

Belphie glances over to you as you nod and directs his attention back to his brother. "I think that can be arranged."

Tagging: @enchantedforest-network

[balsamfir-fics]

a hope redefined (prelude)

Genres: angst, post S1 canon, more angst, romance, eventual smut, established childhood crushes to strangers to lovers, post-pining, becoming machine herald (sort of), eventual dad!vik, political tensions, growing up, the human condition

Pairing: Viktor/AFAB Reader

Warnings: series will have eventual smut, mentions of difficult pregnancy/injury/civil war. this prelude mentions spicy activities.

Summary: Viktor shouldn’t be alive.

He shouldn’t have survived the blast of the Council attack, and even if he did his sands of time should have soon run out. And yet here he stands, part man and part machine, in a future he never planned for and an augmented body he never expected to have.

With no template to follow, Viktor forges a new path towards happiness as he grapples with reconciling the man he once was and the man he could become. Complicated as this path may be, he knows better than to waste an opportunity to spend his remaining years with you, the person he’s kept in his heart ever since you were children. Amidst the chaos of an antebellum Runeterra, Viktor finds his freedom, his future, and his family.

Chapters: Prelude

Chapter Word Count: ~1.3k

Author Notes: Unedited. Threequel and final part to a hope never forgotten and a hope at risk. This can be read independently of its predecessors, though reading those first will better contextualize Viktor and YN’s relationship. Previous fics summarized below if you don't have time to read them!

Prequel summary: YN is Heimerdinger’s adopted daughter; YN and Viktor are childhood friends who grew up together between the ages of 10-16 and separated at 16 immediately after an unspoken confession of love. The uncertainty and cowardice of youth prevent YN from keeping contact until twelve years pass. Over the next five years the two keep orbiting each other, gravity pulling them closer, until Viktor’s hospital stint as per Episode 5 forces YN to reckon with their lifetime of love. The end of A Hope Never Forgotten sees Viktor’s seventeen-year-long hope and longing fulfilled.

A Hope at Risk follows canon for episodes 5-9 of Season 1, with some references to LoL lore for post-Season 1 events. Viktor hides his prognosis and the nature of his Hexcore experiments from YN for as long as possible, until his life is in jeopardy after the Council attack and YN finally finds out. YN and Jayce share the decision-making burden in not destroying the Hexcore so that Viktor's life can be saved. Viktor withdraws while processing all of these black-swan events (Hexcore integration, new city of Zaun, his Zaunite and Piltovan identities, etc), but hopes to work through his demons enough to return to YN. In the meantime, he moves to Emberflit Alley in Zaun where he hopes to rebuild who he is and figure out who wants to be.

If missed, the prior work notes that Viktor refers to YN as 'Sparrow' sometimes, which is because he finds her lively and likeable.

This last work refers to Arcane Season 1 canon first and foremost, then interprets post-Season-1 events by incorporating elements from older LoL lore. The majority of this piece will not follow Season 2 canon as it's not out at the time of writing, but Viktor's plotline in this work is written to be as plausible of a Season 2 fan theory as possible.

The first work in this series deals primarily with hope as per the title; the second deals with themes of loss and survival. Both are about decisions made and avoided. This final work reckons with recovery, rebirth, and rebuilding.

Hope, as the past five years has taught Viktor, is not quite the out-of-reach temptress he once believed it was, but rather a willful act of empowerment that even he is entitled to pursue.

It’s a bit of an odd lesson for him. During decades of wanting, but not having, he thought perhaps hope was a thing intended only for others — never him. He now thinks back to those days, remembering his own failure to quell the little flickers he felt, despite what he considered to be careful, methodological, and supposedly fool-proof efforts. How could his sixteen-year-old self, shown blissful perfection for mere minutes before having his heart torn away from him, ever have fathomed that there was something that came after despair? How would he, at 28, know that the little flame of hope he forgot to extinguish would grow to a blaze of success? Even more important — how could he have ever known that a sickly boy from the undercity could be given a second lease on life?

These second chances he never expected to receive (and one, even, that he still struggles with accepting) are the reason he is here today, he reminds himself. And here so happens to be in the arms of your post-coital form, watching as you struggle to calm your breathing. This affirms two things that he thought to be impossibilities: you’re his partner, and he’s — somehow — alive.

Such boons come with their own set of costs, of course. The cool metal of his peculiar augmentations serve as a daily reminder of what he gave up for science, for life, and for society. In part, he surrendered some of his humanity; though he's grateful to live another day in your presence, something that nearly feels sentient lives within him as sustenance. Nevermind the brief euphoria he felt running at the docks; the Hexcore might be a curse, he thinks, but it saved his life. In other ways, he lost control over his moral sensibilities; the breaths he’s allowed to take now were given to him against his consent, and the corrupted Hexcore remains, undestroyed, within him. Skye’s life was taken by the very thing keeping him in the mortal realm, and he endures the guilt of her death with every second his life goes on longer than hers.

He’s spent the greater part of the past few weeks in agony, mostly of the emotional sort as the foreign, willful hum of the Hexcore inside him makes quick work of healing his most severe injuries. Tormented by his conscience, his fear, and a profound sense of losing himself, Viktor knows he’s made a series of hurtful decisions to part from his entire family in Piltover. He knows that some of these relationships will have seen their heyday and may be beyond repair — not for lack of effort, but by the predicament of the turbulent political climate created in the aftermath of the Council attack. But such efforts must be taken one step at a time, one person at a time. Fixated on working on himself so that he might stand by you as his full self and not a broken, conflicted version, he furiously set plans in motion no matter his uncertainty. At his first sign of some satisfactory progress (to his standards), he allowed himself the small luxury of reaching out to you. He’d intended to only start a conversation, hoping to restore the full effect of your relationship as best as one might during a powder keg of a political situation. At most he’d expected that you might see each other in a few months to a year after letting letters and counseling do the work of rebuilding.

Naturally, you (fearless, fearless you, Viktor thinks) showed up on his doorstep at first chance instead. He would never complain, but after two nights of your warmth in his bed and the impossible pleasure of your daily company, the worries that prevented him from seeing you earlier seep back in.

As if you can sense his rising anxiety, you stir against him now after having come back down to Terra. He smiles at the dazed, incomprehensible murmur you make with your lips against his bare shoulder. You ease him, somewhat, but the kernel of worry remains. Viktor presses kisses to the top of your head. You tighten your arms around him, blinking back into reality under the dim Zaunite glow that filters into his bedroom.

“It’s still early,” he hums. “I’m sorry I woke you for…” (You raise your eyebrows knowingly, pressing naked self into him more intently). Viktor elects to finish his sentence carefully. “…For certain activities.” He coughs, making you smile at the dichotomy of his bashfulness after rather intense morning spent with his face between your legs. “You should get some more rest.”

Never one to be told what to do, you frown slightly, then prop yourself into an elbow. But Viktor is adamant you take care of your health (never mind that he’s notoriously bad at doing the same for himself), especially in these polluted depths. Pulling you to the washroom for the loo and a quick rinse, he then leads you back into his small bed for a few more hours of shut-eye. Later when he tries to wake you for a tardy breakfast, he chuckles at the trail of dried saliva you hurriedly wipe away — at least it’s a strong indication that you’re able to sleep soundly despite the constant bustle in the streets of Zaun. His small unit is a far cry from the sweeping wings of the Heimerdinger Estate that you’re accustomed to, and it’s still much less comfortable than even his modest apartment back in Piltover. In the least, he’d managed to pull together a rudimentary air filter from spare materials he brought with him from the academy lab and hopes that it lasts long enough for the duration of your stay.

Then he realizes something. He has no idea how long you’ll be here in Emberflit Alley with him. Hopefully not long, he thinks. Not because he wants to stop seeing you, no — rather, Zaun is no place for a Piltovan at present, and the small alley he’s in now was chosen for its seclusion instead of its relative quality of living. The dangers to you in the former undercity are many; if not to your health by means of pollutants, then by the constant stirrings of war that are whispered in the streets, emboldened by the Council attack and the topside confusion that remains unresolved. The pit in his stomach grows. You shouldn’t be here. No matter how much he would prefer to bask in your presence.

Nonetheless, you are here and these precious minutes are not to be wasted. You sit up, concerned by the change in his expression as thoughts race through his brilliant mind. “Vitya?”

“Hm?” He shakes his head slightly as if to rid himself of his thoughts, then pushes himself off of the bed to lean against his crutch. “Ah, I made a quick meal in case you might be a bit peckish. It’s not much, but it’s enough.”

You survey him, waiting to see if he might share what he was thinking of. Viktor merely tilts his head in the direction of his kitchen with a half-smile. He waits patiently as you grind your teeth in your decision to stay in bed longer or satisfy your hunger, electing to savor the moments he can with the extra time he’s been given, and pushes away his niggling concerns for now. His leg twinges as if to remind him who he has to thank, but when you slot yourself into him and support his side (arm wrapped tightly around his waist), he melts into your warmth and feels his worries — temporarily — fade into the background.

The road ahead might be immensely difficult and fraught with tragedy, he thinks. But mornings like these make it all worth it. As he wraps his own arm around your shoulders and nestles your head onto his, Viktor silently vows to help ensure that you and Runeterrans — all Runeterrans, not just the privileged few — get to have a future filled with such mornings.

[myemuisemo]

Is there an 18th century manuscript in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? This is the question that opens chapter II of The Hound of the Baskervilles, this week's Letters from Watson.

I have been distracted by the long-s, which appears in manuscripts from the 17th through early 19th century. If Mortimer's manuscript was printed, there are numerous rules that apply to use of long and short s. But surely it's handwritten? In that case, the long-s would appear only in double-s combinations. There are 16 such in the manuscript. I resisted the urge to try formatting the text to see if any of them would appear near a fold, peeking out of a pocket.

Since there's a period of more than a century when long-s is commonly used, Holmes must also be drawing conclusions from the paper, or the shade of the ink, or the style of the handwriting (or printing?).

“You have presented an inch or two of it to my examination all the time that you have been talking. It would be a poor expert who could not give the date of a document within a decade or so. You may possibly have read my little monograph upon the subject. I put that at 1730.” “The exact date is 1742.” Dr. Mortimer drew it from his breast-pocket. 

That "or so" in Holmes' boast is doing a lot of work.

Since the document refers to Lord Clarendon's work, which is The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England (written 1646-8, published 1702-4), the Great Rebellion must be the conflict between royalists and Parliamentarians that led to the execution of King Charles I, the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, and eventually to the UK becoming a constitutional monarchy.

"Godless" Hugo Baskerville sounds like standard demonization of the royalists as debauched and corrupt. However, since Baskervilles apparently held their land consistently through the entire period, they may also have been good at either playing with whatever side was winning or keeping their heads down.

Hugo is neither a nice nor a good man, so there's a certain glee in his being struck down by a slavering hell hound.

In contrast, Sir Charles Baskerville possesses "amiability of character and extreme generosity." His fortune made in South Africa was, nonetheless, derived from exploiting native peoples -- unless he was running a sugar cane plantation in Natal, in which case he likely shipped in indentured servants from India to exploit as workers. (I'm being terse because British colonialism in Africa was an endless pit of awful -- and also heavily romanticized in literature -- and I'm on the verge of ranting into topics where I may have details blurry. The Guardian has a piece.)

The two ethnic groups Mortimer and Baskerville discussed as "comparative anatomy" would today be San, foraging people who rejected British efforts to turn them into farmers and who... oh bloody hell, were deliberately hunted with approval of the government. The other is the pastoral Khoekhoe, who raised sheep and cattle. Did the British colonies try to enslave the Khoekhoe as labor? Of course they did.

By the standards of the day, Sir Charles Baskerville was not a prime candidate to be haunted by his conscience, nor by hell hounds, though.

I'm not even touching Murphy the traveler, whose testimony is suspect due to drink. Argh.

Surely Sir Charles' tip-toe stride was running? But what of his facial contortions? I feel immediate distrust for Mr. Stapleton, based on nothing but James Mortimer's liking him.

The list of people I wouldn't mind seeing eaten by a hell hound is growing. How long will it be before Holmes unravels who really did what to whom?

[syndxlla]

best friends don’t look at each other the way we do

A low stakes, high reward and self-indulgent Zelink fan fiction. Canon-compliant. Takes place between both and totk

Chapter Six: This is Home

Read chapter five here

My masterlist

Song: Run To You by Leah Michele

Summary: Link is brought on to investigate a new strange monster plaguing the farmers in Hateno. He is faced with a new type of post-traumatic experience he doesn’t expect to have.

Warnings: canon-typical violence, suspense and horror, PTSD, squint and theres very base-line sexual content, GRAPHIC descriptions of animal mutilations!

Word Count: 3.5k words

Authors Note: I didn’t update for two and a half months and said “lemme give you guys the best chapter yet” (imo). Thank you for being patient with me. I restarted school, closed one musical, opened and closed a 30 performance long run of another musical and literally fell in love with a man 16-years-older than me in that time lol. Also I wrote this in one sitting and I’m starting chapter 7 now 🫡. Its unedited be nice.

Also please do not make fun of me for using a Leah Michele song for this chapter its so good and it works really good so just shut up. Kloveyoubye

The summer starts to get hotter. A week passes and nothing changes, neither of them ever address the hand holding, Link is fixing the hole in the roof and Zelda is reteaching herself how to fix a clock, an activity she originally learned at the age of seven. Everything is so normal, the sun starts to set a little later, and the fireflies have started hatching.

Link never really thought he would end up in a position to do housework. He tried to get Bolson to fix the hole before Link bought it, but it would take a certain number of wood piles and when Link went out to get them he got a little distracted. And by distracted he means ending the sandstorm in the desert caused by the Divine Beast. It just got put on the back burner, and now here he is, using basic tools to hammer in new shingles. He wipes his brow, his shirt off again. He takes a look at the hammer in his hand, thinking about the savage Lynel sword that same hand has swung.

The passage of time is weird.

Maybe he does want to go back to work. Going from Demon slayer to roof repairman in two and a half weeks is a little jarring.

He hears a groan of frustration from inside the house, and makes his way inside, where it's much cooler.

“Everything alright?” He asks, looking at the girl who’s hunched over the kitchen table.

“No, this is absurd.” She slams the machine on the kitchen table. “I can’t remember how to do the most basic thing in engineering ever.” She frowns.

Link chuckles and places a dirty hand on her shoulder as he walks past her. He moves to the water basin and wets a cloth that he wraps around his neck. “I don’t know the first thing about that stuff, so you have me beat.” He shrugs. “Man, what I would give for an hour at Lurelin right now. Or better yet a weekend at Tabantha. I bet the weather there is a comfortable 60 degrees.” He sighs. Trying to slyly put the worm in Zelda’s ear about a possible trip.

Zelda groans, “I agree. I don’t remember it getting this hot.”

“This is just the beginning, wait until it’s the midsummer festival.”

“A festival?” Zelda’s face lights up.

Link nods, “It’s something they started about thirty years ago. It’s right here in Hateno. People from all parts of the kingdom will travel for it.” Link drinks some water, leading against the counter at the hip. Zelda makes special effort not to admire how his obliques curved. “There’s music and dancing, it’s quite fun. I was invited last year as a special guest. The “chosen hero” or something like that.” Link shrugs.

At that moment they hear a sharp knock on their door. It startles both of them. Link moves to answer it, setting the rag and cup down.

“Dantz, what is it?” Link says as he opens the door to a distressed farmer.

“Master Link, so good to see you,” His voice is shaky, “I didn’t know who else to go to.” Link listens more intently, Zelda even stands. “Two more of my cattle have been killed. When I heard you were back in town I knew you could help me. I don’t know who—or what—is killing them, but it's not a moblin. It’s something darker.” He’s speaking a mile a minute.

“Slow down,” Link stops him, “When did this happen?”

“In the night, I came here as soon as I could. They were covered in something… unnatural. Please, Link.”

Link turns back to look at Zelda. “Stay here.”

“What? No. I’ll come with you!” She moves to him and Link stops her. If this is anything like what Cado saw at the castle, he didn’t want her to be anywhere near it.

Link completely turns around and puts his hands on her shoulders, “Zelda, you cannot.” He stays sternly.

“Why? You don’t have to baby me. I can help you.”

“Zel-“

“I’m better! Please don’t leave me-“ Before she finishes the sentence she’s falling back down, like she was going to faint again. She had gotten herself worked up and now her heart was weary again. Link catches her before she falls, her knees knocking together.

“Oh, Goddess.” Dantz says. “Should I help?” He asks and Link snaps, telling him ‘no’ a little too forcefully.

“Zel, come on, let's get you to bed.” He wraps her arm around his shoulder. “Dantz, I’ll be there within the hour. I’m sorry.” Link says in a calmer tone.

“I understand, Link.” He nods and turns to leave.

Zelda can’t get up the stairs and Link picks her up, carrying her up to her room. He places her in bed as she starts to cry.

“Hey, hey it’s okay.” He brushes her hair out of her face. She takes his hand.

“No. It’s not.” She replies. “Stop telling me it’s okay.” She groans. “It’s ridiculous that I can’t do anything without this happening.” It was the second time this week.

“I have to go help them.” His hand is held back by her, but she eventually lets it go.

He turns to leave her, pulling his green tunic over his messy hair, and getting ready for combat. He isn’t even anticipating a fight, but he wants to be ready. He puts his gloves on, and straps both his sword and shield to his back. He even gets his bow ready because he has no idea what it might be. It sounds serious.

It’s the first time he’s been entirely suited-up since the castle. He forgot how natural it feels. He forgot how much he felt like himself.

Zelda has gotten up and stands at the railing of the loft. “Be careful.” She says in a weak voice.

Link looks up at her, he wants to stay here with her and hold her and let her know that it's going to be okay. “Please rest.”

He walks out the door.

The cattle are lying dead in the corner of the pasture. Flies buzz around them. Dantz and Link examine the scene, a pit in both their stomachs.

“What could it be?” Dantz asks.

Link crouches down, getting a closer look. The gunk is a deep maroon color, almost like malice but thinner, almost like a glossy serum as opposed to a thick slime. Link takes a risk and touches a bit of it that was strewn across the grass, rubbing it between his fingers. It didn’t seem to hurt him the way malice did. He sniffs it, it’s rotten and foul. He gags almost immediately. Link wipes his hand off in the grass.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” He admits. “And I’ve seen a lot.” This was only confirming his worst fears.

“The other ones that were killed were left like this too.” Dantz explains, “There isn’t even any meat taken out of them, only their eyes are gouged out.” He points out.

“Whatever is killing them is doing it for sport.” Link stands back up and folds his arms. “This is bizarre, I must say.” It was starting to be late afternoon, he still had a few hours of sunlight. “What did you do with the other ones that were killed?” Link asks.

“We tried to clean them up and butcher them for food. But the meat inside was rotten, like it was poisoned under the skin.”

Link hears a giggle from behind them and turns around to see the two daughters of the rancher watching them from behind a post. When he catches them staring they both hide.

“How old are your girls?” He asks.

“Siva is eighteen and Catli is sixteen.” Dantz replies. “They are my pride and joy, I can’t let anything bad happen to them.”

Link advances towards them, “Girls.” He smiles, charming as ever. They both sneak out from behind the post, sheepish and giddy. The older steps forward.

“You’re the hero.” She puts her hands behind her back. Link nods.

“Can you girls show me the edge of your property?” He asks, wanting to test a theory. They both happily nod and start to lead him, he notices especially how Siva looks at him as she walks by. She was very agreeable: long, dark and curly hair and alluring eyes. He follows them. They take him past the fence and through the forest, the younger chatting and asking questions about his quests and whatnot. He just smiles and nods, answering with basic “yes’” or “no’s”.

Link’s theory starts to prove right, he sees a set of two acorns on the ground, then a pair of two foot tracks, and eventually, at the end of the property, where two songbirds lay dead at the bottom of a tree, both covered in the same strange goop. Whatever this is, it’s looking for things in pairs. Like two sisters.

Link would never imagine putting these girls in danger, and would send them home in about an hour or two when it started to get dark, he just wanted to lure out whatever was killing with a pair.

He sat down at the base of a tree, and listened as the girls talked themselves up, clearly competing with one another for who can be the most impressive to the hero. Link decides to let them have their fun, it’s not like he was getting this attention from Zelda.

Zelda.

She’s all he could think about. He listens to the girls for a full hour, but doesn’t comprehend a word they’re saying because all he can do is think about the woman he left at home. He wishes he hadn’t left her home, she’s probably sad and lonely. Or maybe she isn’t, perhaps she’s enjoying some alone time. He doubted it, though. He was sure she was fuming at him for just leaving her, for going in such a rush. Proximity can cause problems, maybe this was good for them.

Link must have zoned out because all of a sudden the younger sister was gone, and he was left alone with Siva. This was dangerous territory.

“Where did your sister go?” He asks, clearly uncomfortable.

“Oh! I told her to go get her tapestry to show you! Of course.” Siva says in a tone that was a little too flirty for Link’s liking. She sits next to him, facing him. Link knew the look on her face, and he knew he should stand up and put an end to whatever was about to happen. “Because you know… now we’re alone.” She sighs and leans in.

Stop. Stop. Stop. He tells himself but doesn’t move, he lets her place her lips on his.

Link is not an experienced kisser. He’s had a few drunken nights in the last three years where he ended up in a Gerudo’s bedchamber or a stable-workers hideout, and while those were all agreeable experiences, he’s never actively sought them out. It was always nice to get the tension from his journey off, though.

Link makes the mistake of kissing her back, and she’s sighing into his touch and he’s pulling her in. Being alone with a woman he’s been in love with for three years and not being able to touch her or talk to her the way he wants to has left him with a lot of pent up energy, it felt good to get it out.

Link puts his fingers through her hair, and starts to kiss down her jawline and neck and she’s letting out the prettiest little sounds.

And then he starts to think about Zelda. The sounds Zelda would make, the feeling of her hair intertwined in his fingers, how her lips would feel against his…

Zelda.

Zelda.

“Zelda.” He sighs, and then Savi is pulling away.

“Hm?” She asks, and Link is dazed and confused, thinking with anything other than his brain. He doesn’t know how long they were kissing because suddenly it's much darker outside, and if Dantz caught them like this, Link would be the one hunted down and killed, not whatever monster is out there.

Link immediately feels stupid, this was a rookie mistake. He shouldn’t have let it happen.

“What?” He responds to her, and then out of the corner of his eye, he sees something run behind the tree. “Shit.” He jumps up. “You need to go. Right now.” He pushes her back towards the house. It wasn’t far, she’d be okay. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

She nods, also remembering their reason for being out here. She runs back home and Link shakes his head, trying to refocus. He sees it again, it’s fast, moving from tree to tree, but further away. Link grunts and starts to slowly follow it. He isn’t sure if it saw him. It’s tall, and it’s dark. He would guess it’s a Moblin by its size but it's much too fast to be a moblin. Perhaps a wizzrobe? But he could hear its feet on the grass. Link starts the stalk, prowling towards it like a predator.

He doesn’t think it knows he’s following, because he’s able to follow it halfway up Madorna Mountain before he accidentally steps on a branch that snaps loudly. Again, a rookie mistake. Link was out of practice, rusty. He silently curses himself for that. The beast turns around to look at Link, but he’s able to hide behind an oak tree. It was still a little light out, and the lights from down were getting smaller and smaller as they worked their way up the mountain.

Link stayed vigilant. It’s been a long time since he’s had to fight a new enemy, and he wasn’t sure how powerful this was going to be. It gets quiet, he doesn’t hear it move. Even with Link’s impaired hearing, he had a knack for the details, but not today, not now. A cricket chirps but it’s silenced halfway through its sound. The wind goes still. A cloud covers the moon.

He girds up, and moves from behind the tree to keep following it, but he’s met with a horrific sight.

The creature is standing there, about six feet away from Link.

It startles him. He’s met with a feeling of dread.

It’s tall, probably seven feet. It’s hunched down, a humanoid-sort of beast that looks like a shadow covered in the same maroon gloop as the animals.

Link freezes up, he is paralyzed with fear because he knows exactly what it is.

He knows who it is.

It opens its eyes, those awful, yellow, glowing eyes. He chuckles at Link and it fills his skull. It wasn’t quite human, like it was a pile of goo that was regaining its strength and slowly rebuilding itself into a human. Into a phantom.

They stare at one another, his laughter taunts Link. Link can hear his heartbeat in his ears. His palms start to sweat. He is met with the images of three weeks ago. The battle, the castle, the evil.

Ganon.

Or at least some form of him.

He doesn’t move, he just laughs at Link. The boy swallows, and he wants to run, but he rolls his shoulders back.

“Courage and Bravery are two different things.” Zelda’s words ring in his memory.

He grabs his sword.

The Master Sword unsheathes with a light ring, and it glows in the darkness.

In an instant, the monster is screeching and howling like a Lynel and melting away from the light of the sword. The pure power of the holy blade made the beast slowly melt into the ground, like an ice cube in the desert. It covered its eyes, and screlted into the forest, echoing no doubt into town.

Link walked closer to it, waving the blade, spinning it in his hand until the creature was completely put away.

Whatever that was, it isn’t very strong. It will surely get stronger, though. Link had a feeling this was not the end of it. It left behind a puddle of goop. Link’s stomach dropped when he realized why it was killing for sport and in pairs of two. It was probably seeking Him and Zelda. Unable to differentiate what living things were hylian and what was cattle or animals. The stealing of the eyes surely had something to do with it regaining its strength, but what?

How did it know to come look in Hateno already?

After sheathing the sword and thanking the Goddess, Link took a moment to bury the secretment. He still felt sick to his stomach. Why did he freeze up like that?

Maybe that final battle had more of an effect on him than he thought.

He heads home, explaining to Dantz what had happened and what he saw, sugar-coating it a little and just saying it was a ghost. Link wasn’t sure how long it would stay away for, but hopefully long enough he could talk to Impa about it. Clearly the Master Sword was protecting him. He made a special effort to avoid Savi.

When he gets home, he drops his equipment off, pulling his gloves and boots off and leaving it all in his little corner downstairs. He pulls his shirt off. He would sleep out with Epona again tonight, he would need to to avoid the nightmares. His Mare had that effect on him. The feeling of safety and home.

Zelda was asleep, snoring lightly in her bed. He stayed quiet and went to sit at the table, grabbing a baked apple to silence his rumbling stomach. Guilt washed over him as he remembered what he did today. Savi came onto him, but he knows he shouldn’t have let that happen. He was ashamed of his conduct.

The laughter of the phantom rang in his ears. Flashes of its grin and glowing eyes projected in his mind. He felt ill.

Link disassociated. He sat at the table for three hours and it went by in minutes.

What snaps him out of it are the screams of terror he hears from upstairs.

His mind immediately jumps to the worst possible situation. He grabs the master sword and sprints upstairs. He sees nothing but a scared girl, crying from a nightmare.

“Zelda, what is it?” He asks, setting the sword town and running to her. He kneels by her bed and takes her hand. “I’m here, what’s wrong.” He whispers.

“You’re here?”

“I’m here.”

“B-but. The guardian, it got you. It killed-”

“It was just a nightmare, it wasn’t real.” Link reassures her. “I’m here, breathing, alive as ever.”

Zelda shakes her head, she’s clearly so traumatized that she cannot differentiate dream from reality anymore, she probably thinks him saying that is the dream.

“Here, feel.” He grabs her hand and places it against his chest where his heart is. “Feel that?” He asks, “Bum-bum. Bum-bum.” He whispers. “That’s my heart. Its pumping, it's beating.” Zelda sobs and he pulls her into his chest. “It’s okay, I got you. I’m here.”

He holds her for a moment and then stands up, “I’ll get the stool if it will help you sleep.” He turns to go.

“Stay with me.” She asks, tears wetting his collarbone.

“I’ll be right here, I’ll grab the stool.” He says.

“No, stay with me.” She says, and gestures to the bed.

“What?”

“Please. I cannot sleep without you by my side. I’m too afraid I’m going to lose you again.” She sniffles.

“Zelda I can’t-“

“Why?” She asks. “Because of decorum? Because I’m royal? Because you don't want to get caught?” She picks up her hands ‘None of that matters anymore’ she signs.

Link nods, “Are you sure?”

“Please.” She pleads.

Link moves back to her, trying to control his racing heart. Zelda scoots over to she’s closer to the wall, and Link carefully crawls into the covers of the bed. There wasn’t a ton of room, there would be no way for them to lay in the bed without being in full contact. “Is this okay?” He asks as he pulls the covers up.

She nods.

“Hold me?” She asks.

Link looks at her and it takes every ounce of his self-control not to kiss her. He nods and lays his head down, his chest facing up. He pulls her into his chest, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and his right arm over his stomach to her waist. She tries to control her breathing, and it gets easier as their hearts begin to sync up.

Link wants to cry too, because this is the safest he has felt in a hundred and three years. This is the most at home he has ever been. He mentally-pinches himself because he’s sure he’s dreaming. But he doesn’t wake up, in fact, he starts to fall into the deepest sleep he’s ever had.

Every muscle in his body starts to relax, his eyes get heavy, and the scent of the girl on his chest fills his dreams with images of fairy forests and gentle ocean waves and the time of day when the sun moves into twilight.

This is home.

[anonymous-existences]

Chapter 16 : Wishes and Requests

A Much More wholesome Chapter compared to the last one. Have fun :3 I tried to make this as long as possible for Vibes.

[𝚆𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛, 𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 17, 10:00 𝙰𝙼]

Bruce and Vlad were facing each other in Bruce's Office, Vlad looks like a mess, not too much but his neck was littered with Hickeys that were badly covered with a rushed makeup foundation, he was obviously In a hurry when Bruce Wayne of all people called him over for an urgency meeting regarding Danny and Dante.

Concerning for Vlad's Ears but now that he looks at the situation he sounds more relieved that it's nothing serious, Vlad has an assistant with him who he insisted stay due to reasons he can't disclose. He was a tall pale man with Pure White hair and Red Eyes, one being blind having an odd scar on it which Bruce didn't question.

The "assistant" staring at Vlad Masters almost lovingly and Vlad Visibly avoiding said gaze of the Assistant, Bruce cleared his throat, "You sir is Danny's Foster and God Father Yes? Sir Vladimir Masters?" Bruce finally speaks up which got the Man's Attention, "Yes and Please just Vlad is Fine."

He crosses his legs now his expression a more serious tone, "I don't suppose this... Discussion Is of anything bad they have done... Perhaps...?" Vlad Squints his eyes suspiciously as he picked up the cup of tea in the table Infront of him and takes a light sip. "Ofcourse not Vlad, I was just hoping to get your permission to ask Danny James to be my W—" Vlad cuts him off with a light clink of his teacup on the table.

"I knew That you Mr. Wayne is someone who's into.. adopting wards due to stuff of your past. But truly I did not expect you to set eyes on Our Daniel. But do know that yes! You can ask him but his decisions is for himself, he will decide whether he wants to be your Ward-esque adopted son." Vlad states sternly with an obvious Business Formal Smile.

The Assistant Behind Him looked very pleased, his grin was cheeky and smug as if he knew what's going to happen next... Eerie that he feels as though he's being watched intently and Cautiously at the same time by the servant. Bruce nods at Vlad's statement, "But my Dante Is MY biological son, thus he's mine." Vlad states with a slight tone of threat, "Ofcourse! I won't take him from you nor will I ever try, after all he IS dating my Son Jason now isn't he?" Bruce chuckled in his Playboy type of persona.

"Is that all sir Wayne? Because if so I must tell you that I believe some.. of your wards has been eavesdropping on us by the door. " Vlad states finishing his tea. "This is such exquisite Tea, you should learn how to make something like this Chron." {Nickname he gave to Clockwork for Public Appearances) Vlad eyes his assistant and he merely smiles sweetly.

Bruce looked at the door and soon heard footsteps rumbling running and Bruce excuses himself and heads out of the door. He saw Jason, Tim, Damian and Dick Trying to Play Casual And walking side by side together. "Boys." Bruce says strongly with a deep voice.

"SCATTER!" Damian yells and uses his grapple hook to pull himself up to the next Floor, Jason Running for the window and Jumping out without hesitation, Dick Diving down the flight of stairs as if it's water and Tim running for one of the rooms and locking it before he entered the vents and Crawled. Bruce just facepalms and pinches the bridge of his nose, Stress. But soon his stressed expression was interrupted by a chuckle of One Vlad Masters.

"Children Amiright..? Atleast yours don't paint your hair as you sleep or get it tangled with ribbons and glitter." Vlad says as if just truly used to seeing and experiencing chaotic Kids.

Ellie and Dante are truly chaotic kids, Danny being the Last Logical Voice of Reason taking after Jazz with his method of WWJD or In long terms "What Would Jazz Do?" Which is quite amusing for Vlad to see calculate Danny trying to calm down the two chaos demons from hell—. Cough.

"I wish you luck in your future endeavors and if Danny does wish to become a part of your ward hopefully he also uses his Methods of Calculation on how to settle them down... Just like Jazz.." Vlad muttered with soft endearing eyes and closes them before fixing his tie and hair. "I must leave now sir Wayne." Vlad says and bows politely before walking out whilst also saying thank you to Alfred for The amazing tea he had prepared.

Considering that he is that Odd Meta, Dante Master's Father he would most likely become In-laws obviously due to how Dante and Jason are settling with each other, determined to be with each other through marriage as well. Hopefully he's not as weird.. or dangerous as Dante.

(HE WISHES—)

"I THINK I BROKE A WRIST AND MAYBE ALSO A RIB!" Dick yelled from across the hall from where he DIVEBOMBED FROM THE SECOND TO THE FIRST FLOOR. Alfred sighs and Grabbing his medkit and going to Dick and Bruce just sighs. How does Vlad Handle it? Two Chaos Demons? Damn.

Bruce just thought to himself as he walked to the MEDBAY in the Batcave where Danny is Resting from his injuries, Where a Yeti who they found out is named Frostbite is caring for the "little Ghost Prince" or "the Great One". "Hello there Frostbite..." Bruce greets the giant who was entertaining Cassandra by letting her sit on one of his shoulders. "Ah! Good morning little one." He says with a gentle voice of caring. "I sensed Plasmius's Presence, I suppose you finally had the "Adoption" talk with him?" Frostbite asks nicely as he checks on Danny's Vitals.

"Yes your recommendations to converse with him about it is quiet recommendable as he told what he needed to say... He looked quite tired. I wonder why?" Bruce says as he sits beside Danny's Bed, Frostbite chuckles.

Bruce doesn't remember when he got casual and dropped his guard around the Big Yeti but he was no danger at all unless unprovoked as Dante reassured him, unlike the Fright Knight Ghost, Frostbite had a more chilling yet soft presence that calmed nearly everyone down essentially making him a giant teddy bear for the Batfam and He and Alfred seem to also get along quite well which added more the calmness factor for the ever so Cautious Family of Genius Detectives Batfam Wayne's.

"Plasmius is possibly a mess because he is an Ancient's consort! Or husband as humans like to call it in this era!" Frostbite says as he Replaces Danny's Ectoplasm IV bag with a newer one. "Husband? His husband is a god?" Bruce asks just surprised and shocked genuinely and Frostbite just nods happily.

Bruce stared at the thin fragile boy in the bed Infront of him, "How is he doing? Will he wake up soon?" Bruce asks as Frostbite gently places Cass on his Lap who was still sleeping, "He'll be able to wake up soon as long as we are consistent with the Great One's Treatment!" Frostbite reassures him, Bruce couldn't help but bring himself to smile tho small but still a smile nontheless.

It's been a long time since something warmed his heart or something made him or his family this Calm, for the first time in so long no one was forced to come together but instead they all willingly gathered for Dinner Waiting for Danny to wake up. It's like something made them care for the boy more than they would for others.

Truly it was an odd feeling but Bruce liked it as it brought the family together.

Makes even the Bat's Heart Cry.

[𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝙿𝙾𝚅, 𝚃𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷]

"Uhm, excuse me, I'm here behind in the backseat. Clockwork. STOP TOUCHING MY FATHER!" Dante yells clearly pissed That Clockwork who was driving was Touching... Stuff... Well, he was touching Vlad's Thigh specifically and squeezing. "Gasp. You called me your father for the first time!" Vlad rejoiced mentally and Dante just Clicked his tounge in annoyance as Clockwork looked even more smug and Cheeky. "You Bastard! Get your hands of my Dad! Stop this shit. DO IT IN PRIVATE!!" Dante yells again covering his eyes and Face overall.

"Hmmm... I'll think about it.... No I won't." Clockwork continues to Caress Vlad's Thigh. "I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT MY MENTOR IS FUCKING MY GODDAMNED DAD!! THIS IS THE WORST!!" Dante groaned and Banging his head on his seat, "I need brain bleach hehe—" Ellie says trying to mask her pain as well, seeing your Dad Be Gay and Zesty with another man Infront of you is a universal Second Hand Embarrassment and Humiliation that the two did not want to see, hear or feel. "Please stop." Ellie tries to plead Clockwork, "Yes Chronos, St—" Vlad was cut off by Clockwork Chuckling, "I like it when you call my by my first Name..." He licks his lips and Dante screams.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! STOOOOOPP!! THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING, THIS IS TORTURE!!" He yells still groaning endlessly and Growling as he chewed on a Chewtoy that Vlad had bought for him when he gets too angry. "I DONT WANNA SEE THIIIIS!!!" Ellie yells with Dante, both annoyed and Groaning and now fighting each other for the Chew Toy.

Vlad sighs and rests his face on his hand clearly used to this chaos based by how relaxed he is. "Sometimes the reasons I miss Jasmine is because of these Hell Spawns... Please do not ever get along with Damian Wayne..." He pinches the bridge of his nose in Fatherly Agony.

Clockwork still kept squeezing his thigh and sliding his hand on a part that's private so Vlad slaps his hand, "Too Far." Vlad states and Clockwork laughs in amusement. "Everything will be In place as how it should be Darling Plasmiu—" Clockwork was cut off my Ellie's Screech. Dante gave up and gave her his chewtoy. Clockwork just clears his throat and kept driving.

"Everything soon will make sense and you'll see that the Little Ghost Prince will be happy with a family that'll love him unconditionally and raise him... The Former Queen Regent Jasmine would be happy although she would probably hit me with the Iconic Phantom Creepstick™ if she ever found out the Methods I used is not her ideal choices." Clockwork giggled teasingly and Amusingly, knowing Jazz in the afterlife or in her reincarnation would burn him alive if she ever found out what he did to Danny, it was Amusing still.

Time will always line up the missing pieces and his plan will settle itself the way he wants it to.

Patience is all It needs. And a little bit of Time Interference.

Hehe.

Dan Phantom and Ellie is my Soul Animal.

Totally Feral AND Insane.

[princesspastel8]

Chapter 1: Gravity Falls

Dipper POV

I stare out the window, holding the note Wendy gave me that day 12 years ago. After so long, those years of endless torture from my family, I can finally be free.

No, we can finally be free.

Bill....

Oh, how I missed that damn dream, demon. Years of planning and years of research. The moment weirdmaganen ended and gravity falls was back to normal, something in me felt off. I couldn't stop thinking about Bill.

All I wanted was Bill. The moment he took over my body filled me with so much desire when I got my body back. It's as if he left a piece of himself inside of me. A permanent reminder that I would always be his.

But of course, I was too young and stupid to understand such feelings. Those feelings for Wendy were my hormones raging for some form of attraction for anything that looked appealing. And Wendy took the cake.

I watch as the trees fly by the window of the bus. I yawn, taking a glance at Mable, who is bouncing in her seat next to me. For someone who's 25 years old, she sure still acts like a 13 year old.

Nothing really changed since the two of us left. I grew facial hair and gained a few inches over mable. Came out as gay to my parents, who completely disowned me. Mable was hardly ever in the picture during that time in my life. She was always out partying or hooking up with some guy.

But of course, she was always everyone's favorite. She lacked the awkwardness I gained that should have been equally split between the two of us! Honestly, I hate claiming her as my twin at times.

Her personality stayed the same as well. Still as selfish and naive as ever, which comes in handy at times. We grew distant when I started to change. I felt my personality grow darker compared to her sunshine and rainbows one.

People grew eerie of me by the time I turned 16. Rock music became my best friend, but I wasn't a punk rock emo gothic freak. Those depressed waste of space really piss me off. Maybe that's why I hated Robbie so much. All the fake angst and unnecessary anger grew annoying and out of place, in my opinion. Hopefully, he grew up and gained some balls since I've been gone.

The bullying at school ended once I learned how to fight and throw knives. Knives became my most favorite thing in the world. The sharp yet light blade, the different types of beautiful leather handles. I brought my whole collection with me.

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention I'm moving here. Coming out as gay to my parents while also adding that I'm not going to college really added to the hatred they now shared for me. But it didn't bother me, I left a little gift for the both of them under their bed. I guess I won't be hearing from them for the rest of my life. I chuckle to myself at the thought.

Mable looks at me, tilting her head to the side. "What's funny dip n dop?"

I jump, my smile now in a thin line, "Something you wouldn't understand, Mable."

"Oh, come on, Dipper! You never say anything to me!" She whines while shaking my shoulder aggressively.

One of the things I made clear to Mable over the years is to never touch me. I turn my head to look down at her frame, glaring into her eyes. "Don't. Touch. Me." I said through my teeth.

Mable quickly pulls away and looks down, nuzzling her head against waddles. "S-sorry Dipper. I always forget...."

I roll my eyes but smile and flick her forehead. "Whatever, cheer up. We're here."

Mable looks out the mirror and cheers, already up from her seat and running to the double doors of the bus. And I'm left with the bags, no surprise there. I carry my things on my back while placing her bags under my arms.

I walk off the bus with a sigh, still carrying our bags. Mable is currently in a group hug with Candy and Grenda. I notice Wendy patting her head with Robbie standing beside her. I raise an eyebrow at the rings on their fingers. I'm trying my best to hold back laughter. Those two got married?!

I glance back to Mable and see Pacifica. Her blonde hair is so bright that it's blinding. Standing next to her is Gideon. They didn't look much different, but at least gideon ditched that stupid suit. I finally noticed Soes and my Grunkles. Stan looked the same, but Stanford seemed to age a bit. Maybe stress from researching too much.

"Oh guys, I missed so you Much! And I'm so happy for you two!" Mable cheers, looking at Robbie and Wendy.

Robbie scratches the back of his head as a light blush tents around his cheeks. He looks down, pouting. "Whatever."

"Lighten up, Rob. And thanks, Mable. Never thought I would fall for him again. A lot has changed."

I chuckle, shaking my head at her words. "Damn right it has."

All eyes are on me now. I raise an eyebrow, shrugging my shoulder. "What?"

"Is that really you, Dipper Pines?" Gideon asks in shock.

"Oh wow, Dipper, nice glow up." Pacifica winks.

"Heh, you're finally taller than Mable. Congrats, man." Wendy said, walking over to me for a hug.

I laugh and hug back the best way I could since I'm carrying all of our bags. "Thanks, I guess."

"Kid finally got some muscle!" Stan cheers while patting me on my back. Stanford nods his head and smiles.

"Well, why are we just standing around here for? We have a surprise for you two, my dudes." Soos said while walking forward towards the mystery shake.

Once, Soos opens the door, Mable and I are greeted by cheers of happiness. "WELCOME BACK MYSTERY TWINS!"

Mable rushes in and hugs almost everyone while I stand there and simply wave. The party starts right after we arrive. I sigh, walking up the stairs with Stanford behind me.

"So how have you been, Dipper? Are there any plans for college?"

I shake my head, opening the first door to Mable's and I old room. "Nope. I see no reasoning in college when I'm one of the most bright minded people in this world. College would just be a waste of my brain and time." I said, ending with a yawn.

"You have a point, but having a college degree makes job seeking easier." He pointed out. "And by the way, this will be your own room. Mable has the other room across the hall."

I roll my eyes. Of course, she gets the bigger room - the same room we fought over that day. I smile, dropping my bags near my old bed. "That's great! Thanks, grunkle Ford."

"No problem. I am looking forward to making new discoveries with my great nephew again." He smiles and pats my shoulder. "I'll meet you back downstairs." He said while walking out.

I hum as I unload my things, fixing my room up to my liking. It didn't take long. All I have are my books, journals, knives, and necessities. I walk to Nable's room and throw her bags on the bed. This really is unfair, and it's getting under my skin.

I walk down the stairs, digging my nails into my skin while scratching my arm too hard. I grab a soda from the table and take my place in a corner of the room. While I observe everyone, I notice Pacifica glancing at Mable from time to time. I chuckle, taking a sip of my drink. I knew she had a thing for my twin sister. That'll come in handle one day.

I look to my right, catching Candy and Gideon staring at me. They both quickly turn their heads, faces covered in blush. Does Candy still have that stupid crush on me? Ugh, that'll be annoying, but what's the deal with Gideon?

Candy begins to walk towards me, her smile determining but her eyes nervous. "Hello, Dipper."

"Hm." I said, taking another sip of my drink.

"So how have you been these past years? Have a girlfriend, maybe?"

I chuckle, looking down at her. "Cutting right to the chase, huh?"

She blushes and laughs. "How can I not? You've grown extremely attractive since I last saw you."

"It's called puberty candy. And I was 13 the last time you saw me. I'm 25 now."

She nods her head, "Yes....so I was wondering... now that we both matured..if you wanted to give us a try?"

I try my best to hold back my laughter. Gideon stared at us the whole time, jealously. Hurting her feelings would bring joy, but I can't give my true self away.

"Sorry to break it to you, Candy, but I don't swing that way."

Her eyes widen as if they're being squeezed out of her eyesockets. "YOU'RE GAY?!" She shouts loud enough for everyone to hear.

I sigh heavily, all eyes on us. I did not want this type of attention. I didn't want the whole town knowing I enjoy dick up my ass. That's none of their business. Now I'm regretting not telling her in the harshest way that even if I weren't gay, and if she was the last woman on earth, I'd rather die than to be left alone in her presence.

"You're what Dipper?" Wendy asks a bit taken aback herself, which is understandable.

"Oh wow, dude. Never thought you'd go that way." Soos pips in.

Pacifica didn't seem like she cared. I'm pretty sure it's because of her secret as well. Gideon, on the other hand, looks hopeful. The thought of hooking up with him actually makes my flesh crawl.

I chug down the rest of my drink, crushing the can with my hands. This was so annoying and stupid. "Yes, I'm gay. It's 2019 people. Keep up with the times, and if you have a problem with it, then -" I was cut off by a loud phone ringing.

Stanford and grunkle Stan shake from their shock, and Stan picks up the phone. "What is it?" He answers rudely.

"Yes, that's me. Now that do you -......what?!" He shouts, his eyes filling with dread and grief. "Ok....Thank you. Bye."

Stan ends the phone call, pulling Stanford to the side. He told him whatever the news was, his demeanor shifting. My gunkles turn to both me and Mable, who looks really worked up. "What is it grunkle Stan? What's the matter?" She questions.

"Kids....there's no good way I can say this but, you're parents are dead. A bomb was placed under their bed, and it went off the moment they both laid down....the police have no idea who could've done this. The house is completely destroyed.

The shack is filled with gaps and apologetic expressions towards the Pines family. Mable breaks down into tears, falling to her knees. I force myself to look as hurt as I can. I reach down to lift Mable up, trying to calm her down. Luckily, her friends helped.

Once the news settled, and everyone left, the party is shut down. Robbie, Wendy, Pacifica, Candy, Grenda, and Gideon offer to stay and help clean while Mable, and I head to bed. Mable wishes me goodnight, pulling me into a tight hug.

My face remains blank, but I hug her nonetheless. "Just get some rest tomorrow, mable. They're find who did that to our parents.."

Lies.

She nods her head and pulls away. She walks into her room as I do the same. I sit down on the edge of my bed, reaching for one of my journals. Before I can open it, the door to my room opens. I quickly place it under my blanket, turning around to face who's at my door. It's just my Grunkles.

"Hey Dipper, how are you holding up?" Stan asks while sitting to my right.

I nod my head, staring at my hands.

Stanford sits to my left, rubbing his hand up and down my back in a soothing motion. "We know you're trying to stay strong for Mable, but it's alright to cry."

What am I, five? I nod my head as tears begin to fall. "Wh-who could have done this?" I ask, my voice cracking.

Stanford and Stan pull me into a hug as I sob. "It's ok, Dipper. You and Mable will stay with us. We're here for you guys. Everyone is." Stanford said.

I nod my head, pulling away from the both of them. "Th-Thanks you two....but I would like to be alone right now."

They both nod their heads. "We understand, Dipper. We all need time, and it's ok that you're gay. We still love you the same." Stan said before standing and leaving the room.

"If you need us, we'll be downstairs." Stanford said.

I nod my head, watching them leave. I stand and walk to my door, locking it. I rush to my bed and jump in it, pulling out my journal from under my blanket. I lay on my back, opening the journal. Tears still falling from my eyes, I gently glaze my hands over the first page. Bill's circle. I feel my frown quickly stretch into a smile as I turn to the second page, Bill's human form.

Oh, how he looks so godly. How tan he is, that damn bright yellow tux. Those sparkling locks of hair that I could run my fingers through all day. His twisted smile, I can just hear his laugh bouncing inside my skull.

I place the journal on my chest as I start to laugh. I start from chuckling to heavy cackling. I place a hand over my mouth so my laughter won't be heard throughout the shack. The rush of soon seeing Bill taking completely over me. I slowly close my eyes, thinking of the little song he used to play.

Don't know where

Don't know, wheeeeeen~

Til we meet again...

"Some sunny day...."

"Haha! See ya soon, Pinetree!~"

[vechter]

do you have any fics where dick kicks ass? ive been reading a lot of relationship fics lately and i just wanna see him do some cool stuff! or any comics <33

hmm, all the fics i've read are older ones tbh because going into the dick grayson tag on ao3 is a true test of my patience and mental health now. but here's a couple of my favs:

greatest of ease by ijustwanttodestroy: multi-chapter outsider pov and it's just stellar. it was one of the first few dc fics i read so it will always have a special place in my heart.

strong enough to carry him by one_step_closer_to_death: dick and jason centric one shot. all the angst.

big d stands for big (demon)or by danishsweethearts: multi-chapter and still updating but this one is great. dick grayson as a part time exorcist. great voice for dick.

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul: also one of the first few dc fics i read! multi-chapter, multi-pov, set in the modern comics era which is rare. genuinely fantastic writing and grappling with the morality and ethics of vigilantism. kinda iffy about some aspects of it but i adore this one.

as for comics:

nightwing (1996) #140-153: tomasi's entire run is just great. competent and complex dick grayson, when will you come back from war?

the brave and the bold (2007) #14-15: short story also featuring hawkman, deadman and green arrow, excellent stuff

let them live!: unpublished tales from the dc vault (2021) #2: one shot with a manipulative, earnest and hyper-skilled dick grayson

teen titans (1996) #12-16: this one also features garth, lilith, roy and wally. it has team-leader!dick & rlly shows how much everyone looks to him for directions + how well he can rise to that

justice league of america (2006) #41-60: this one is part of his batman era and it has donna! rlly highlights what a skilled tactician he is + how deceptive he can be

batman/nightwing: bloodborne (2002): i know i talk about this one a lot but it's just so good. dick grayson, you will never recover from that kind of devotion.

jla (1997) #68-75: obsidian age my beloved <3 dick leads a kinda B-team justice league to save the main one and he's great while doing it

batman and robin (2009) #20-22: okay, i know this is primarily a morrison run but the issues tomasi wrote for this are actually pretty solid

detective comics (1937) #871-881: this is snyder's black mirror arc and it has a healthy mixture of dick!bats kicking ass + some really great humour and dialogue. but also there's james gordon jr so rlly goes to show you can't have it all sigh

nightwing (1996) #35-37: part of NML where dick takes back blackgate for bruce. i've said this before but truly, no one shines more than dick grayson in a room full of people who want to kill him

just realizing a lot of the NML and dick!bats eras have some solid storylines if you're looking for a hyper-competent dick grayson. sadly, a lot of dixon's writing blurs together for me so i don't think i can give you individual issues.

hope this list helps, anon!

[whatswrongwithblue]

The Fire in the Sin

Chapter 2 - Reflections

Word count: 2,600. Read on AO3. Series Masterlist. <- Previous Chapter

Chapter summary: The story of Mina's (Alastor's wife) life and death. Trigger Warnings: Canon typical violence, canon typical language, suicidal ideation, religious trauma if you squint, forced marriage, mention of abortion, mentions of dubcon, terminal illness, drug use, domestic violence, murder.

Series Summary:

In the 1950's, Alastor met the woman he would eventually marry but unfortunately his Radio Demon persona went for her soul rather than her hand. He has to learn what it means to love, and cherish, without possessing and he does. Their relationship is beautiful, strong, unbreakable . . . but he carries a dark secret through their marriage for decades until eventually he has to face the consequences of that secret and leave her, without warning, for seven years. He returns, finding her at the Hazbin Hotel, and has to convince her to forgive him, while being literally bound to secrecy, unable to tell her any of things he now is desperate to explain to her.

(This is a duel timeline fic, timestamps will be a the top of every chapter.)

Chapter 2 - Reflections

October 4th, 1917

California coastline, near Sonoma

Mina Gallagher looked out at the Pacific Ocean and wished she was dead.

Fantasized about it, more like.

Growing up in Ireland had given her a enduring love of the ocean. She was in awe of its power; how it could go from calm as a child’s rocking crib to an omnipotent force capable of ripping sea cliffs apart in a matter of hours. Her small, weak body craved that kind of strength, and she would slip her shoes off to stand in the shallow, icy waves, praying to it as devotedly as her parents prayed in mass every Sunday.

As a teenager, she would run away to the shoreline any chance she could and let the ocean be the only witness to her desperate tears. She had thought about swimming out into it then, letting a rip tide carry her away to freedom . . . and certain death. Same thing, really. But she hadn’t the courage then.

When she was married off at 16, she stood through the whole long torturous ceremony, daydreaming not of a groom as most girls did, but of stowing away on a ship and fleeing to America.

A year later, with her husband in pieces in his coffin and her dead baby not yet dispelled from her womb, she got that wish granted. Only she had been no stow away; she had been a proper passenger, with her fare paid for by her new manager.

Her voice, and her body, were his for the time being. They often snuck out on deck late at night and he would fuck her from behind, thinking she enjoyed the thrill of potentially being caught as much as he did, but in reality, it was so she could watch the waves ahead of them and ignore the man grunting from behind her.

Men were such pigs, but they were easy to manipulate. He had thought he was using her, but it was the other way around.

It took her a couple more years to be free of him but eventually she was able to dispose of him. Not as violently satisfying as she had dealt with her husband but with a poison that she was able to frame his assistant for.

There were many downsides to being a woman born around the turn of the 20th century but getting away with murder was one of the rare benefits. No men were comfortable admitting that a quaint little five foot nothing girl was capable of causing them harm, let alone hacking them to bits or slipping arsenic into their drink, so she was never the prime suspect in either of those cases.

The Irish Siren was the nickname the Americans had given her and they loved her scandalous life story and the lyrics that were inspired by it in a way that her conservative Catholic homeland could never.

If she had lived to see the roaring twenties, she really could have come into her own.

Mina coughed into her napkin and it came back bloody.

She had been able to make a living touring the nation, completely reliant on her “God given” talent to sing until the age of 24. Not long after that birthday, the coughing started. By the year’s end, it was clear her singing career was over. She was the Irish Siren no more.

The Atlantic ocean had always felt like home to her, so she had stayed on the east coast for as long as she could. Back home in Ireland, the Atlantic was mercurial and always in motion but here in America, she saw its other face. This Atlantic was calmer, steadier, and more reliable. The fair weather, high humidity, and low elevation of the Carolinas were supposed to be good for those suffering from consumption and she was able to continue making a decent living as a poet. She couldn’t sing anymore but she could still write, though she kept her favorite, darkest pieces to herself.

Eventually the itch to travel one last time consumed her thoughts, a stronger acting force than the disease consuming her body, and she saved up enough money to cross the country by train and buy a house on the west coast. She had always meant to see the Great American West and now that her time was growing short, it was now or never.

The Pacific Ocean was so much more than she expected. Here on the coast it was often overcast and rainy, and tricked her mind into being nostalgic for her lost childhood home. She had loved Ireland’s landscapes, enough to almost make her forget how much she had hated her life there.

It was so big, this new ocean. She purchased a globe so that even in the evenings when it grew too dark to see the water, she could still admire the sheer dominating size of the thing. There could be so many secrets hidden beneath its depths. Lost civilizations or ancient Eldritch style monsters long forgotten by the modern world.

If she had worshipped the Atlantic Ocean, she had well and truly fallen in love with the Pacific.

Mina stared out her window, watching the rain, and accepted she would have to wait for another day.

Her plan was to row out on the next sunny, calm morning, get out as far away from the shore as the tide and her sickly body could take her, swallow the rest of the laudanum, slit her wrists, and jump in the water. Let the ocean and its creatures, depths, and secrets have her body. It was better than a casket and a last devotional ceremony to a God she had turned her back on long ago.

She coughed again, and the wracking overcame her frail form, forcing her to sit down and double over. Afterwards, she breathed in as deep as she could, but it was painful and hardly satisfying to her oxygen starved body.

That perfect day had to be very soon or she wasn’t going to live to see it.

From what seemed like a distance, she heard a knocking, and realized it had been going on for a while but she was so lost in her laudanum she hadn’t noticed.

It was probably just her one and only neighbor, a bizarre middle-aged man with more money than wits, and a rather strange collection of exotic animals that tended to get loose. He came over more often than her physician, asking if she had seen any of his escaped creatures. The conversation always turned into a proper visit, and she didn’t have the energy or the patience for his strangeness today. So she ignored the knocking and continued in her reverie. Maybe the would-be visitor would assume she had finally died and would leave her in peace.

She laughed out loud at that thought and triggered another coughing fit.

The world turned glossy again and several minutes to several hours could have gone by as she watched the ocean waves in her drug induced stupor until a voice from behind her lifted her from the fog.

“Hello, Mina.”

She turned in her seat to face the man in her doorway, unsure of who he was at first. After a heartbeat, her mind registered the face.

“Johnathan,” she said, acknowledging him as if she had any idea of why he was standing in her living room like he had every right to be there.

She thought she had done away with him for good. In no uncertain terms she had made it clear to him that unless she wanted to continue being dissatisfied in the bedroom, there was no point in him staying in California for her. She was too sickly to perform any kind of proper wifely duties for him, too barren to give him any more heirs and frankly he had enough of them already, and she was clearly dying soon anyway. The only reason he had to continue to propose to her was for her money, and she had told him frankly she wasn’t stupid enough to leave her fortune to a man such as himself. That had gotten her slapped and though she hadn’t been physically well enough to fight back, she had born the shiner proudly in the mirror for a couple weeks. At least she had been left in peace because he had stormed out of her house after that argument and not returned. She had hoped either the war or the pandemic would kill him, or that she would be dead herself before he had the opportunity to bother her again.

“More prospecting business dragged you back to town, eh love? Come to try and marry a corpse while you’re at it?”

“You were always such a cold-hearted bitch,” he said, and she noticed he was slurring his words even more than she was. “I’m surprised there’s enough heat in you to keep that cunt warmed up.”

She had her faculties about her enough to know to stand up and begin putting distance and furniture between him and her. He had never spoken to her that way before, not even when he had hit her.

Johnathan was always a short-tempered little shit with those he deemed beneath him but he had been well mannered with her up until his last visit. She was lonely and often drunk or drugged since her diagnosis and had allowed herself to be entertained by him now and then.  But she was realizing too late that she had become arrogant and careless around men in the last couple years of her life and forgotten how dangerous an animal they could be when they didn’t get their way.

And Johnathan looked like he regretted not giving her more than a hard slap all those months ago.

Mina ran, as fast and hard as her tired muscles could carry her, and made it all the way into her rarely used kitchen before he was able to catch up. Not that she had any plan or real means of escape.

But she did have knives.

She was able to grab one out of a drawer but then he was on her, slamming her face into the edge of the counter and she dropped to the floor.

Somehow she managed to roll onto her back and face him, all without dropping the knife. But he saw it and was able to grab her arm before she could drive her weapon into him.

Her arms were as weak as everything else in her body but her grip was still strong enough so that he couldn’t pry her fingers off from the around the hilt, at least not while also trying to hold her legs down as she desperately tried to kick at him.

Johnathan gave up his attempt at removing the knife from her hand and instead turned her wrist so that the deadly point was now facing her stomach.

“Stupid bitch,” he hissed out when she got a good hard kick into his shin. “I don’t want to kill you, stop fighting!”

Oh, he just wants to beat and rape me, how considerate, she thought.

Her face was bleeding badly from where it had made contact with the countertop and she tasted her own blood. Johnathan had strength, size, and health on his side of this battle but she had something he likely hadn’t considered.

She had already come to terms with her death. And she was really, truly, quite insane.

Mina stopped trying to hold him away from her and let the knife plunge into her abdomen. It hurt, but there was little wind to knock out of her lungs anymore and she had so many painkillers in her blood at this point, so she hardly felt more than a deep pressure.

Johnathan’s face was brought suddenly closer to her as he wasn’t expecting the sudden stop in resistance against him so she closed the gap between them by sitting up just a couple inches and bit hard into his cheek.

She clenched her jaw down as tightly as she could and felt the flesh tear and a new taste of blood spurted across her tongue.

He screamed and she laughed.

Mina let go as he pulled away suddenly, clasping a hand over his face and still screaming. She wasted no time in yanking the knife from her own stomach and swinging it up and then down again, burying the blade to the hilt in his neck.

It made a squelching noise as it sank in and Johnathan’s screams were replaced with a wheezing expulsion of air.

She brought the knife out and then right back into his chest.

He fell backward and she stabbed again.

And again.

She didn’t stop until the fatigue in her arms made her stop.

Mina struggled to her feet, using the kitchen counter to pull herself up, and looked down at the body of the man she had just slaughtered with her bare hands. He had not been her first victim. Not even her second. And her only solid thought was it was too bad she couldn’t have done that more often, to more men.

She was so out of breath and getting really, really tired now.

Looking down at herself, she realized most of the blood pouring down her dress was her own and remembered she had been stabbed.

Right. Today would be the day after all.

She stumbled through her house and out the back door.

The rain hadn’t stopped but it was alright because she really couldn’t feel the cold.

Just make it to the water. That’s all I want, to feel it one more time.

But it was so far away.

Her house sat a good 200 yards from shore and she was barely off her back porch before vertigo caused her to stumble to the side. It took almost all her remaining energy reserves to get back up and when she did, her vision was so blurry and her head was spinning to the point that she nearly vomited.

She looked down at the hand that was pressed to her bleeding abdomen, trying to will herself to walk the rest of the way down to the water. It was no good. She was surely going to pass out any second now. If she hadn’t been so out of her mind from lack of blood and opium, she likely would have cried.

When she looked back up, she saw the strangest thing.

A panther was crouched, maybe just ten feet from her, still as a statue and looking right at her. Its coat was shiny and mostly black, but light enough in some places that a dark golden-brown pattern of wide spots could be made out along its sides.

Maybe the knocking had been her strange neighbor after all, at least at first. Come to tell her he was missing a member of his collection and to not venture too far out from her house today.

The panther’s irises were green, with gold around the edges, and her poet’s mind declared it the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

But it doesn’t have a panther’s face, she thought, that’s the face of death.

It leapt for her then and she simply sat down. When it landed, she had a moment to feel its weight push her back into the sand beneath her.

She kept her eyes open as its teeth found her neck but she was already too far gone to feel any more pain.

Next Chapter ->

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Hey I saw that you had a tumblr and that we could ask questions about Fuego’s project

Chapter 16 was honestly really cool for setting up a lot of situations. It had a lot of unexpected stuff that makes me really excited for future chapters🔥

I like how you made a big change to canon because if it’s no longer the dark triad that’s the problem, then what would future problems be? I also like how the past wizard king is still relevant and comes back. And man I like the complex relationships you write. Jayce and Arthur may fight but they know that at the end of the day that they’re still on the same team and have each others back.

I really liked the interactions between the captains even tho it was very little, it gave us some subtle ideas about their personalities and dynamics. But uh oh they know Aika has time magic now I wonder what that’s gonna lead to.

You write the relationships between characters so well and true to canon but also give us more than just canon shows us so good job🔥❤️

Also, it’s so much like Aika to just give out an assignment instead of saying congratulations but I hope she’ll at least praise him for a job well done when he’s done😂

So what is he doing tho? I read into the concepts that you elaborated in your end notes and damn my head hurt.

ANON AAAAAAAA YOU ARE SO SWEET YOU PRAISE ME TOO MUCH

I really do love writing the complex relationships between characters and especially the canon ones because they are all outstanding individuals and we deserve to see how they shine even more through each other. When they say friendship is magic i really wanna show that so thank you anon!!

So Fuegoleon's project.

Yeah it is a doozy but I guess I'll try to give you more context and elaborate more.

So my idea of giving Fuegoleon a project came from my frustration that he didn't really have a spirit dive form yet or any sort of magic awakening

I am also a big fan of Fire Force and science and I loooooved how it showed the versatility of fire and it's role in science because it plays a big role in literally everything.

Black Clover has also shown the potential to be flexible in its magic despite having strict attributes through the various magic forms that people develop like Julius devloping transformation magic, zora using trap magic, ralph using memory magic, and magna using soul chain deathmatch.

Fire as a concept and physical medium has both spiritual and scientific aspects to it and Fuegoleon absolutely deserves to wield some of its cooler aspects besides an oversized lizard.

Fuegoleon's paper title is "Reversibility of Entropy through the Attribute of Fire: An Expansion on Laplace’s Demon."

Let me elaborate on the terms used.

The scientific term IRL is actually the "Irreversibility of Entropy." Entropy is basically how chaotic and random the world is. A solid state object has less entropy than a liquid state object and a liquid state object has less entropy than gaseous state objects. Basically gas is one of the more chaotic states an object can be. In real life science, you cannot physically reverse engineer some processes in the world because some phenomenon disperse in such random unpredictable ways.

Fire requires fuel, oxygen and heat. Once you create a fire and then extinguish it, you cannot bring back the original flame without using new materials and you cannot certainly bring back the materials used to create it in the first place. We currently don't have any processes that can do that because it is physically and theoretically impossible unless you reverse time.

Fuegoleon's job here is to bring back the fire created and extinguished by mana. He can do it using his fire magic but he would easily fall into just recreating the fire instead of reverse engineering it. So spoiler for future chapters, but he would essentially seal his fire attribute but still be able to use mana and use his familiarity with fire to bring back fire that was once there in a certain space.

It's basically a really elaborate science/mana experiment that tests just how much he knows fire as a magic form and also as a non-magic phenomenon.

Laplace's Demon is the concept that if you knew the past and present variable in any sciency phenomenon, you could predict the future of it. And that if you knew it's present and future variables, you could predict it's past. And this has proven to be untrue in our world because there is just a lot of randomness so you can't accurately predict anything but in a world of magic, it can be done because the people in it can physically interact with and move things in a way that we can't.

But yeah, I'm sorry for including nerdy topics in my fic but im also not sorry cus it's my fic 😝

Thank you for reading and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!

[stitched-mouth-vs-the-world]

Welcome to Stitched's first Kinktober! I'm very excited to share what's in my drafts as I am very proud of myself for once. Chapters will be posted midday (BST) everyday, chapters that have been missed thanks to Tumblr will be posted today as soon as I can. If you can’t wait go to my Wattpad or AO3. Here's a run down of what to expect in this book:

Day 1: Master’s Whore (Creampie Kink)

Summary: Vincent Phantomhive fucks his maid just a room over from his 'happy' family.

Vincent Phantomhive x Fem! Maid! Reader (Fic)

Day 2: Making Porn With The Number One Pro Hero (Amateur Porn)

Summary: You had a sex dream about your boyfriend, the Number One Hero, All Might wants to make that fantasy a reality after you punch another All Might slut in the face.

All Might x Younger Fem! Pro-Hero! Reader (Fic)

Day 3:  Being FWB With Ramona Flowers (Casual Sex)

Summary: Imagine being FWB with Ramona Flowers.

Ramona Flowers x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 4:  Before Her Show (Behind The Scenes Fucking / Affair)

Summary: Imagine secretly banging the World's biggest singer.

Envy Adams x Scott's Sibling! GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 5:  Mommy’s Sweet Praises (Praise Kink)

Imagine Layla El Faouly with a major Praise kink.

Layla El Faouly x GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 6: In The Dark Of The Night (Demon Fucking)

Summary: After arriving at and joining a Covent you so didn't want to join, Valak takes an unusual liking to you.

Valak x Nun! Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 7: Just For Research (First Time)

Summary: When Rick discovers his top student is a virgin, he knows he must change that so she can write her paper on human pheromones.

Rick Sanchez x College Student! GN! Reader (Fic)

Day 8: Inappropriate Workplace Behaviour (Office Sex / Boss x Employee)

Summary: Lord Death can't stop jacking off to his decades younger secretary.

Lord Death x Younger! Secretary! Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 9:  Naughty Girls Are Punished (Spanking)

Summary: Georgia decides to teach her mischievous girlfriend a lesson.

Dom! Georgia Miller x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 10:  Hot Ice (Temperature Play)

Summary: Nadia has always liked ice. It was always nice to crunch down on after a cigarette and you liked how cold it made her mouth feels. So by accident one nice, it joins you two in the bedroom.

Nadia Vulvokov x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 11:  Revenge, You Thought (Bondage)

Summary: John enjoys teaching his naughty little thing a lesson and you enjoy learning it.

John Brown x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 12: Car Hookups (Car sex)

Summary: You and Oboro regularly meet up late in his car for sex.

College AU! Oboro Shirakumo x GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 13: Pegging L Would Include… (Pegging)

Summary: You manage to convince L to part take in a kink you've been wanting to try out.

L x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 14: Wet Fucking (Shower / Tub sex)

Summary: Whilst the Handler is away, you and Lila decide to make good use of the beautiful bathtub in the hotel.

Lila Pitts x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 15:  Insatiable Needs (Marathon sex)

Summary: When Steve is unable to satisfy his new wife's insatiable needs, he calls a friend.

Estefania x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 16: Mommy’s Baby (Lactation)

Summary: Carol's duty as a mother is to make sure her baby is always well feed. She's your Mommy now so she must make sure your well fed.

Carol from Cobweb x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 17: Bruno Needs A Spanking (Orgasm Denial)

Summary: Denying Bruno Madrigal an orgasm includes…

Bruno Madrigal x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 18:  Slowly Stripping (Exhibition)

Summary: Julieta can't help but find something so hot about being fully nude in front of her lover.

Julieta Madrigal x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 19: Choking and Gasping (Breath Play)

Summary: Morpheus discovers he loves the sound of hearing you struggle to breathe.

Dream x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 20: Edge You To Death (Edging)

Summary: Undertaker enjoys ruining your orgasms.

Undertaker x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 21: (Nun Fucking)

Summary: Sister Irene teaches you a holy lesson.

Sister Irene x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 22: Only Good Girls Get To Cum (Mirror Sex)

Summary: Ming forces you to watch yourself fall apart from just her fingers, just so you know how much of and dirty girl you are.

Ming Lee x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 23: Pegging Fantasy (Pegging)

Summary: Jaime tells you his biggest sex fantasy and you make it your mission to make it happen.

Jamie Reyes x Fem! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 24: Green Mommy (Monster Fucking)

Summary: Your girlfriend's new power has made your sex life a whole lot more interesting.

Jennifer Walters x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 25: Papa’s Pet (Public Sex)

Summary: Dr Brenner will absolutely use you teach someone a lesson about the consequences of trying to steal what belongs to him.

Dr Martin Brenner x Fem! Reader (featuring 001?) (Fic)

Day 26: Blindfolding The Snake (Blindfold Sex)

Summary: You blindfold your good boy and reward him for all his hard work.

Servant! Snake x Master! Fem! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 27: Othello’s Experiment (Pregnancy / Breeding Kink)

Summary: Othello's newest obsession is pregnancy and all the symptoms that come with it. You've so generously agreed to help him in his little experiment for his research.

Othello x Fem! Human! Reader (Imagine)

Day 28: (Threesome)

Summary: Nemuri, your girlfriend, is shocked to hear about a filthy fantasy you've been thinking about. But still, she's more than willing to help her lover made said fantasy come true.

Midnight x Mt Lady x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 29: (Vouyerism)

Summary: Gabe has been watching you for a while now and has finally decided it time to come out and introduce himself.

Gabe x GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 30: (Size Kink)

Summary: Nana is big and buff for a woman. She is quite used to hearing negative things about her muscly figure. The first thing she's ever received a compliment about her body was when you, her young girlfriend and successor's older sister, make a comment on how sexually aroused you are by her big muscles and all the filthy things you imagine she could to do to you with them.

Nana Shimura x All Might's Sister! Younger! Fem! Reader (Fic)

Which ones are you the most excited for?

[jays-bonnie-on-the-side]

𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐀 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 - 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒

PAIRING : dean winchester x original female character

STORY SUMMARY : in series masterlist

CHAPTER WARNINGS : age-gap. pining. fluff. angst (kind of.) concerned sam. typical bossy, in charge dean.

A/N : finally getting some dean pov in this chapter! feedback is always appreiated. ~a big thank you goes out to everyone who asked to be tagged, your support means so much. check out the story masterlist if you missed previous chapters!

Maricela's POV

My eyes shifted towards Sam once the others went their separate ways to begin their tasks.

He nods in the direction of the adjacent area. "I'll show you your room."

Nodding, I move past Kevin to follow, but not without rubbing his shoulder. He gave me the tiniest smile before I walked down the stone steps into the Command Room. My legs carry me toward the war table so I can swipe my duffle bag and throw it over my shoulder. I jog into the corridor to my left to find where Sam had disappeared, only to see him walk further into the bunker. My feet quickly shuffle to catch up, and once I do, I set a pace to match his lengthy strides.

"It's really good to see you, Mari," says Sam. "But are you sure you're ready for the big leagues?"

A short huff escapes my lungs. "Sam, you act like I haven't worked with you guys before. I think I more than proved myself to you, Winchesters, that I can be of value to the team."

"Of course," he agrees but noticeably hesitates. "It's just that... You know we worry about you hunting by yourself. And now, you'll be hunting with us, which is great..."

"But...?" I stop abruptly, planting my feet firmly on the ground as I cross my arms.

Sam turns around, his face falling when he sees my blank yet expecting expression. He frowns to himself before glancing away from me. His hazel eyes scanned the hall, taking in every detail of our surroundings while taking a moment to gather his thoughts. Despite his attempts to avoid it, he struggled to convey his concerns. Finally, he exhales a deep breath before his eyes find mine.

"I'm just worried something will happen to you. The people closest to us always get hurt or end up dead." He admits. "And I don't want that to happen to you."

His concern brings me a smile. "Sammy, you're so sweet to worry about me. But as long as I'm with you boys, I'll be safe."

The youngest Winchester simpers, but it hardly reaches his eyes. I can tell my words don't bring him any sense of comfort. Yet, it's the truth; I wouldn't trust anyone else with my life. We begin to walk down the cold halls again, this time in silence. We stand in front of door number 16 before he pushes it open. Sam holds his hand out, gesturing for me to enter first. I walk in, glancing around the bare room. It wasn't so bad; it came with standard furniture like any other bedroom and more. It, by far, beats any motel room I've ever stayed in.

"Make yourself at home," I place my bag on the bed before turning to Sam, standing before the doorway. "My room is number 21, Dean's is 11, if you ever need anything."

"It's great, Sammy." I motion around the room, smiling happily. "Thank you guys, this means a lot."

He returns my smile, and this time, it feels genuine. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

"Come on, I'll give you a quick tour of the rest of the bunker," He says, but judging by the size of this place, 'quick' was an understatement.

"Yeah, Irv. Fallen Angels," Dean says into his phone as I stroll into the library. "Well, trust me, they're just monsters with good P. R. So, if you run into one, torch his ass with holy oil."

I settle beside Sam, placing my computer on the table. "What can I help with?"

He assigns me to the 'demon-y' part of the research while he continues with the angel portion. I press the power button, bringing the laptop to life. The familiar hum of the machine fills the room as I eagerly await for the desktop to load. Once everything was up and running, I began to scour through various news articles and sources relating to anything abnormal in the hopes of finding promising leads. A silence fell between our group as we focused on our tasks. Besides the gentle tapping of keyboards and the occasional rustle of papers, the eldest Winchester's smooth voice danced in my ears.

His words reassured me why I had chosen this life: To help others. Knowing that I get to save people while ridding the world of monsters is what fuels any hunter. However, there were many times when I wondered if I had made the right career choice. I used to imagine how different it would've been if those two gorgeous strangers hadn't walked into my life, all because of that damn Lamia. Maybe Luke and I would have ended up together. Or I would've been in college, planning for my future. Better yet, both. No matter the limitless scenarios, the ending was always the same: Life without the Winchesters. And that alone scared me more than all the monsters I have ever faced.

The vibration of my phone drew my attention away from the endless and exhausting disappointment of no leads. Despite my pursuit to find any demon activity, it had become apparent there was a complete absence of their presence. Reaching into my back pocket, I grab the rectangular device to check the caller ID. A frown creases my face, and my brows wrinkle as I stare at the name. Hesitantly, I slide my thumb over the screen to answer the unexpected call.

"Hello?" I greet, getting up to walk away from the group.

"Hey, Mari. How ya been?" He asks hurriedly.

"Oh, you know—still kicking," I lightly joke before my tone turns serious. "What's up?"

"You still do weird, right?" He questions in a hushed voice. "'Cause I got something that seems up your alley."

Bingo!

Dean's POV

My thumb taps the red 'End Call' at the bottom of the phone screen. Gazing over my shoulder, Maricela approaches the telescope, phone pressed against her ear. Her back faced us as she spoke quietly, making it hard to eavesdrop. I watched intently, trying to decipher what kind of call it was with each movement made. She delicately entwines her fingers with her chocolate-brown curls, running her hand through her hair before letting it fall in a soft wave to the middle of her back. After a moment's pause, she turns slightly, allowing the light to catch the natural red undertones in her hair.

Without taking my eyes off her, I nudge Sam. "Who's she talking to?"

Casting a quick glance in her direction, he then refocuses on me and nonchalantly shrugs, "Not sure, I didn't ask."

Mari turns toward us, then thanks whoever was on the other line before hanging up. Her combat boots lightly thud against the wood floor as she walks back to the group. She tosses her phone on the table, allowing a sigh to escape her perfectly full, pink lips. Her russet brown eyes met mine, instantly holding me captive. The sense of time had lost all meaning; the only measurement was the quickening pace of my heart the longer I stared.

The ends of her mouth curled with delight as her cheeks flushed a scarlet hue. She tore her gaze away, breaking my trance, only to steal another glance. Embarrassed, I fixate my attention on the floor, trying to shake the strange flutter inside and get to business. Come on, Dean, I thought. What are you doing? I straighten my posture, standing tall at the foot of the table.

Nodding at her phone, I inquire, "Who was that?"

Her soft yet sharp eyes shifted from the table to me, to Sam, sharing, "That was my cousin, Miguel. He's a Captain in the Army and coincidentally knows I'm a hunter. A friend of his just informed him of an unusual and new case—so new that the media hasn't even covered it yet. And, from what he told me, this could be a case."

"Really?" Sam asks, sitting up in his chair. "What'd he say?"

"Three civilian bodies were found dead in a city bus located on a Naval Special Forces Base in San Diego. The craziest part is that three soldiers boarded the bus, only to exit moments later with their bags left behind but the driver alongside them."

Sammy and I exchange bewildered looks.

"We've hunted on less," says Sam.

I nod before looking up at Mari, giving her a pleased smile. "Good work, kid."

She beams but subtly tries to hide the excitement from my gaze. "We should get going. It's a long drive, and we gotta make it before they clean up the crime scene."

"Why don't you hang back? Sam and I will check it out, see if it's our kind of thing." I speak up, wary of her coming along.

The younger hunter scoffs, shaking her head.

"No way, Winchester. I'm coming with." Before I could protest, she finishes. "It's my lead. So either I'm going with, or we don't go at all."

My eyes divert to my brother, expecting a little help. He closes his laptop before scooting his chair away from the table, standing to meet my height.

"Her lead." He concurs.

And so it begins.

Sam walks past me, going to his room to change into his Fed suit. A smug grin sits upon Maricela's face, only adding to my irritation. I cannot resist rolling my eyes at her sudden surge of confidence. It only took a few hours, but as predicted, they both overruled me. Having the final say was easier with Sam, but with Mari's stubbornness involved, it proved to be a little bit harder.

She picks up her laptop, resting it against her hip before walking towards me. I avoid eye contact, refusing to look at the objector. Her taunting chuckles echo in my ears when she notices my pout. My breath hitches when her fingers wrap around the placket of my overshirt, pulling it towards her. As if she were Wonder Woman using her lasso to hypnotize me, I helplessly surrendered my attention to her.

"We agreed I was here to help, so let me do my job."

I briefly gaze into her eyes before shutting my own. With a cautious but definite nod, I convey my agreement and acknowledge the validity of her point. "Yeah, you're right."

"Oh—I'm sorry," She lets the fabric go before cupping her hand around her ear and leaning forward dramatically. "I don't think I heard you right. Kev, did you hear him?"

She turned to Kevin, who was watching us with a playful smirk. "I don't know... Say it again, Dean."

"Shut up." I roll my eyes in exasperation before moving past her to change into my uncomfortable costume.

She laughs, following after me. "I think you said I was right."

"Don't get used to it," I grumble, expecting to be annoyed.

Instead, a slow and unexplainable smile spreads across my face.

Maricela's POV

"We stopped for that?" Dean asks, annoyance laced in his words. He gapes at the uniforms as I climb into the back seat.

"Of course! What'd ja' think? We would stroll onto a military base and pretend we were the FBI?"

"Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do." He answers in a monotone voice.

On the way to California, I had Dean stop at a friend's house so I could pick up Navy Fatigues for us to wear. My entire plan revolved around the uniforms. I knew from experience that there would be some pushback from the boys—i.e. Dean—but it was a great plan.

"The MPs aren't just gonna let a couple of Feds sniff around their crime scene. It happened on a military base, automatically making it theirs, not federal." I explained. "Now, these fatigues will be our tickets onto the scene, no questions asked. And if they do, I have a safety net."

"I don't think so," Dean argues. "We know how to do our jobs. You're not just going to come in and change what we've been doing for years."

"That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm just thinking sensibly here. We're talking about military police—"

"Maybe she's right, Dean. It's a little different than our usual gigs." Sam speaks up, thankfully agreeing with me.

"No, no!" The older Winchester's voice raises. "We're doing this my way. End of story."

I sit back in my seat, huffing with frustration. Sometimes, I forget how stubborn this man-child can be, and he never has a problem reminding me. None of us talked for the rest of the ride there. Since Dean wasn't the only one who was obstinate, I quietly got ready to change into the uniform. I traded out my glasses for contacts before slicking my hair into a low bun. After untying my bootlaces and shimmying off my jacket, I wait for the perfect time to slide on the fatigues.

When we arrived on base, local and military police flooded the area. Upon doing additional research on the way here—freak thunderstorms and every cow dead within three miles—it was concluded this was a demon-related case. And, as per usual, I was side-benched!

"All right, stay here," Dean mutters before he and Sam exit the car.

Once the doors were closed, I wiggled on the uniform, careful not to be seen by any passersby. My fingers moved at an unparalleled speed as I tied my laces, surprising even myself. Stealthily, I slipped out of the Impala with my cap firmly on my head. As I anticipated, it wasn't going well for them.

"Agents," I call over to the men. "I'm guessing D.C. sent you?"

They turned around, recognizing my voice. Their eyes scan me up and down, taking in my uniform. Sam stares with curiosity and amusement while Dean's disapproving glare says everything he couldn't out loud.

"Yes, ma'am," Sam plays along with a sly smile.

I halt next to Dean, his gaze fixed on me while the soldier across from us firmly asks, "And you are?"

My eyes scan over her name tape: Bates. Confidently, I introduced my cover, "I'm Corporal Maricela Ramirez."

Her eyes narrowly take in my youthful appearance—clearly doubting, she remarks, "You look a little too young to be a Corporal."

"And you look a little too Army to work on a Navy case." Without regard, I sass back. "Sorry, what's your rank?"

Her arms cross over her chest, staring me down. "I'm a Sergeant."

"Well, Sergeant Bates, my Captain ordered me to meet these agents and make sure they got to see the crime scene. So, if you could just let us pass—"

"That so?" She interrupted, her attitude smug. "Then maybe he and I ought to have a chat."

I could feel the boy's eyes on me, waiting for my next move. Ignoring them, I say with nonchalance, "Not a problem. Then, after, I could have a conversation with your Commanding Officer."

"Oh, yeah? About what, exactly?" She challenges.

"How sloppy you look," I say with fake disgust. "Maybe I'll start by telling him how you wear your hair: In a looong braid. I'm sure he'll remind you that when in uniform, if a woman's hair falls below the collar, it must be neatly and inconspicuously pinned, fastened, or secured to the head. Or, I can begin by asking why his officer thinks she can address herself as a higher rank than the first-class private badges she wears. But, hey, if you are telling the truth—no harm, no foul. Right, Sergeant?"

She uncrosses her arms, her demeanor growing softer. My hand reaches into the pocket of my fatigues, pulling out my phone. I extend my arm to hand her the cell phone, asking, "You still want to call him?"

Bates stares at the device, internally weighing her options. I glance up at the Winchesters, each holding their nervous breaths. The tension in the air was palpable as we waited for her response. The officer and I locked eyes, trying to read the other's thoughts. After what felt like an eternity, Bates shakes her head. The corners of her mouth barely lifted into a bitter smile as she exhaled in defeat before walking away. I drop my arm to my side, grateful for the win.

"That went well," Sam was the first to speak as we walked around the transit.

"Thanks to yours truly," I tease, stepping onto the high-floor bus sandwiched between the Winchesters.

"Well, sweetheart," Dean mutters into my ear. "Guess you're more than just a pretty face, after all."

As I swallowed his words, I swallowed back the knot in my throat. My mind raced, trying to make sense of the ambiguous remark. I should have been offended that he reduced my role within the team to mere objectification, and yet, when he pressed his back against mine as he purred the idiom, I was left feeling stupefied. Was what he said meant in a demeaning or complimentary way? Instead of dwelling on it too long, I suppressed the ambivalent thoughts to concentrate on the case.

The forensic photographer was toward the back of the bus, snapping various shots of a victim who was slumped over a few seats. My feet carried me further into the bus and away from Dean before stopping to examine the blonde woman's corpse. I gently lift her blouse and instantly see two scars: one on her lower abdomen from a blade and the other near her ribs from a bullet. A second gunshot scar was accounted for over her left breast, aimed toward her heart. I pulled her shirt back down before standing up straight.

"Her wounds are old—like completely scarred over—old. " I murmur, trying to puzzle the pieces together.

"So is this guy's," Sam adds.

My eyes wander over to see his victim's shirt pushed aside, exposing a similar scarred bullet wound over his chest.

"Hey," Dean walks over. "Anything?"

"Yeah, this guy was shot in the heart." Sam answers.

The older Winchester inquires, staring down at the victim. "That what killed him?"

"Maybe—15, 20 years ago." Sam points at all the victims. "Every one of these bodies has a fatal wound or two or three, but they're all old."

"So, we're looking at meatsuits?" Dean asks rhetorically. "The bodies took a licking, and the demon inside kept them ticking."

"Probably. I think they were possessed, and now those soldiers are." I say, looking at the lifeless bodies discarded around the public transit.

"Hey," Dean's gruff voice utters in a low tone, alerting us. He nods behind Sam toward the front of the bus just before Sergeant Bates steps on.

"Excuse me, agents," Bates says as we turn to give her our attention. She approached with a tablet in her hand before proceeding to share, "We pulled this off a security camera. You might want to take a look."

She gives the device to Sam, crossing her hands in front of her, and waits for us to watch. Parking Lot 4 surveillance begins to play; the soldiers walk off and away from the bus before the driver follows as if nothing had happened. Sam pauses the footage and zooms in on the driver, only to show the woman staring at the camera, smiling sinisterly. I glance at the younger Winchester as his eyes widen, and his mouth slightly falls in surprise. My vision blurs Sam out as it focuses on his brother. Judging by his same reaction—with a hint of anger—they knew who she was.

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: do not steal, plagiarize, translate, and/or republish any of my works* on here or another platform

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[lunarthecorvus]

Inej Ghafa parent's fanfiction recommendations part of Lunar's soc fanficiton rec series

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what a mother was by @cameliawrites

Wordcount: 62k Chapters: 8/8

Characters: Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Grandparents, Inej Ghafa's Aunt, Inej Ghafa's Father, Inej Ghafa, Kaz Brekker

Tags: Mother-Daughter Relationship, Motherhood, Family, Romance, Coming of Age, Prequel, Time Skips, Suli Culture & Religion, Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Canon-Typical violence, Period Typical Racism, Sick Character, Grief/ Mourning, Attempted Sexual Assault, First Love, Implied/ Referenced Homophobia, Eating Disorders, Bittersweet, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending

Author's summary/notes: "She could recount every detail of the day she married Kolhat: the geraniums her sister had embroidered along the sleeves and hem of her dress, one of her father’s old handkerchiefs tucked into her pocket, her mother’s silk veil draped over her hair. She could recall the day she met him, when she was all of twenty years old. Inej was not yet twenty. Shanta still felt as young as all that, and she felt far older." . . . Before she was Inej’s mother, Shanta Ghafa had a mother too. or: ten years and six suitors in the life of Mama Ghafa. My summary/notes: A beautiful retrospective of Mama Ghafa's past, the life she has lived, and all she has loved and lost. Camelia is just an amazing writer and every part of this fic was beautfully written. You can feel the grief and joy of Shanta's life and it added levels and depth to her character that I never would've expected. While reading this I couldn't believe that this wasn't canon and its own book. I would kill to read this for the first time again.

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Sankta Margaretha and Other Tales of Sorrow by @oneofthewednesdays

Wordcount: 18k Chapters: 8/8

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Father, Kaz Brekker, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck

Tags: Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Hurt/Comfort, Family, Angst, Implied/ Reference Rape/ Non-con, Canon Typical Violence, Graphic Description of Corpses

Author's summary/notes: When his daughter was stolen from beneath his nose on the outskirts of Os Kervo, Samir Ghafa lost his faith in the saints. After a letter arrives bearing the insignia of the Lantsov double-eagle, he finds his hope rekindled. But when he learns of the demon of Ketterdam, he begins to fear once more… My summary/ notes: I'm not sure how to write this without directly spoiling it.. but a certain opinion Inej's father has about someone is surprisingly uncommonly found in fics and its so interesting to read how the opinion is formed and how Samir acts because of it. Then consequently how the others act and feel because of Samir's actions. (I was laughing my ass off while writing this so vaguely)

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Ten Minutes in the Life of a Pear by @oneofthewednesdays

Wordcount: 8.9k Chapters: 4/4

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Father, Kaz Brekker, Asha, Hanzi

Tags: Panic Attacks, Healing, Implied/ Reference Rape/Non-con, Canon backstory, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Post-Canon

Authors summary: Four glimpses into breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert with the Ghafa Family. My summary/ notes: A heartwarming fic reflecting on the pain and the way relationships both platonic and romantic can develop and grow throughout the different points in life.

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Runs in the family by DopamineAddict

Wordcount: 99k Chapters: 16/18 (hasn't been updated since march)

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's father, Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey. Tante Heleen, Specht, Roeder, Anika

Tags: Revenge, Family Reunions, Canon-Typical violence, Coming of Age, Inej Ghafa needs a hug, Past Rape/ non con, Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Kaz is scared of Inej's parents he knows hunger for revenge when he sees it, the Ghafa's might be a bit non canon but we only see them from Inej's pov in canon so..

Author's summary/notes: As the Ketterdam harbour grows closer, Priya and Devnand Ghafa steel themselves for the truth of whatever their daughter had been through over the past two years. And for what they might do about it. My summary/notes: Priya and Devnand meet their daughter again after years, they learn about her and what's she's been doing, but the other question that will be answered is what have they been up to since Inej has been taken. (This fic is just incredible, it changed how I saw her parents)

[velteris]

Frieren timeline

The only timeline available on the wiki isn’t super fleshed out with exact dates and counting backwards etc. So I decided to make my own.

Notes:

1. Spoilers for up to manga ch119 (the most recent at this time)

2. Even if it’s likely just a rough measure (“three hundred years ago”), I’m gonna assume when doing my math that it was exactly 300 years, because otherwise I can’t do most of the math

3. I skip most events that don’t have an exact year, eg Fern and Stark respective being taken in by Heiter and Eisen. I do make some estimates (eg Sein’s birthday, we only know he’s in mid-30s so he can’t have been born any further back than year xx).

4. Standardised year 0 as the year the demon king was defeated

5. Realised about 2/3rds through that I could be writing down chapter citations but at that point it was too late lol sorry

behold!

-3,000: Earliest mentioned date, by Frieren re: dwarf beliefs; most people believed the dead turn to dust, so pre-Goddess. Unclear when Goddess actually starts appearing.

[Emperor Boshaft alive, so is Milliarde, Frieren in village]

-1,000: Frieren becomes Flamme’s apprentice

-950: Flamme passes away*

-510: the last time Frieren fought a demon (quite likely Macht, as in year 80 she says 600 years ago, which would be -520. What’s a decade here and there?)

-420: Frieren restores her golden arm

-422: Aura became one of the seven sages of destruction

-322: the last time Frieren saw another elf, Grandfather Voll starts to protect village

-222: the last time Kraft saw another elf

-120: Fass finds Emperor Boshaft’s alcohol, Gehn starts working on his village’s bridge

-26: Himmel is born

-11?: Hero of the South visits Frieren and dies a year later; tells her she’ll meet Himmel soon**

-10: Hero Party sets out from capital

[Hero Party kills Immortal Bose and pushes back Aura sometime during this period]

-3: Goddess arc (Himmel is 23), Hero Party seals Qual***

0: Demon King defeated, Era Meteors, Macht starts to serve^

2: Denken born

20: Macht is braceleted

28: Continental Magic Association started (at latest), Lernen was first first-class mage

29: Denken came to Auberst with his wife (who died when he was in his twenties); Denken’s wife presumably passed away very soon after

30: last sighting of a Darkness Dragon (per random apothecary); Weis turned to gold and sealed

39: Earliest possible Sein birthday (he would be 40); humanity learns to fly

45: Wirbel born

50: 2nd Era Meteors; Himmel passes away; Aura reappears, demon activity increases in north and baby Wirbel makes promise

61: Stark is born earlier in the year after winter; Fern is born some time after harvest festival but before the last three months of the year

68: Graf Granat’s son dies in war against Aura

69: Sein’s friend Gorilla left

70: Frieren and Fern meet

74: Heiter collapses

75: Stark runs away from Eisen

76: Heiter passes away; Frieren and Fern set out on their journey

76.5: half a year spent looking for blue moonweed

77: Fern turns 16 (after spring, latest autumn)

78: 3+ Months spent at seaside town cleaning beach

79: wintered with Kraft, Stark’s 18th bday (after spring), meet Sein around harvest festival (time is a bit funky since it gets cold and then warm after this?)^^

80: El Dorado arc

81: first chapter after El Dorado. As of ch119, we are here, 31 years after Hero Himmel’s death!

and in the future…

97: Tod’s “curse” will engulf the star?

100: Next meteor shower. Fern and Stark would be 39.

149: Frieren promised to be back at hero’s sword village by this time

1079: Frieren may return to the Continental Mage Association :)

*Assuming she died soon after Frieren’s last shown convo with her where she said “it’s only been 50 years”

**Unclear just when was the Frieren/Hero of the South meeting, so it could technically be anywhere before, but -11 is the most recent it could be

***Frieren says it’s been 80 years in year 77. If she’s being precise then this is the date—but I have doubts as Qual was sealed in the Central Lands, and Hero Party should be well into the Northern Plateau near the goddess monument by this point.

^Technically I think Macht starts to serve a leetle bit before the demon king is defeated, but no time frame given for how long it took Macht and Glück to have those convos

^^To be more precise: they start the year’s winter with Kraft. Then it gets warm, and Stark’s birthday happens. Harvest festivals are usually in autumn, which is when they meet Sein, and then it gets cold enough for the gang to wear their winter gear again, and they spend a winter (or a cold snap?) with Sein. When they get to Auberst they spend an additional two months training with Fern while waiting for the exam to start. But when they finally leave Auberst in ch61, and aren’t wearing their winter clothes anymore, it’s still listed as 29 years post-Himmel death??? There’s a mention of it being because they’re in the volcanic belt… But seriously, year 79 goes on and on. I honestly think the authors just forgot to find a good spot to switch that over lol

[rosethornewrites]

T & G reading since 10/30

Finished

Teen:

a Ghost and a Requiem, by 7potato (🔒)

Wei Wuxian was dead.

He didn't remember much, but that's nothing new. He had mere flashes of reality that broke their way through the fog of... wherever he was.

His clearest memory was of a song.

Or: Wei Wuxian remembers what happened to him while he was dead. Things change accordingly.

The Nerd and the Jade Prince, by Asmayi

Best friends Wangxian drift apart as they grow older Or so Wei Ying thinks.

A fic created from a threadfic

you and me, by googiefvcks

lan wangji is hiding wei wuxian in cloud recesses and they're safe, for now. but the weight of the world is on their shoulders and some friendly banter can quickly turn into some deep, painful, emotional talks.

major plot spoilers warning!!

Demonic Possession and other Misconceptions, by LegacyWorks (🔒, 3 chapters)

Wei Wuxian knows from a young age that he’s a spirit. It’s the only thing that makes sense. This body clearly isn’t his, there’s no way. It doesn’t look right. Every so often he sends a quick thanks and a prayer to the Wei Ying who died all those years ago, the one whose body he’s inhabited his entire conscious life. He hopes that the original Wei Ying’s parents are with him now, even if Wei Wuxian misses them.

It takes meeting Huaisang to realize that maybe Wei Wuxian isn’t actually possessing his body. What even is gender.

this river runs to you, by sundiscus

Framed by the soft morning light, sleek hair swept back and pale blue robes not even slightly rumpled, he looks almost inhuman.

He looks like the last person who should be knocking on Wei Wuxian’s door.

In which Wei Wuxian is a curse worker secretly searching for a lost dragon, Lan Wangji is his new assistant, and the two things may not be entirely unrelated.

And The World Went On, by GrapefruitSketches

Day 12: Rebirth (Untamed Spring Fest 2020)

Lan Xichen leaves seclusion. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji persuade him to talk to them about it.

Wei Ying has a very weird day and Wen Chao gets threatened, by Backwards_and_forwards_unpredictively (2 chapters)

In the middle of the Wen Archery competition, the Yiling Lazou drops in. Literally.

(AKA Various drabbles where Older!Wei Wuxian drops in on 15/16 year old Wei Ying)

General:

Loving You From Where I Stand, by GusuBunnie

It hasn’t been long since Wei Ying moved into his new apartment— a mere 6 months, but nonetheless, he loves it. The place was cozy and suitable for a single person like him. Every convenient stop was within walking vicinity and it was a very nice neighborhood. But the most alluring thing, for Wei Ying, was the handsome man who lived in the complex across from his.

Or

Wei Ying is helplessly and deeply in love with his neighbor even though they have never talked.

Jin Zixuan Does the Time Warp, by marigold_sigil (🔒)

Happy endings are not created by wet noodles like Jin Zixuan. Maybe if Lady Fate pushes him two decades into the past hard enough, he’ll actually manage to pull it off. Neither of them think this will really work. Jin Zixuan should have more faith in himself.

Or : How Jin Zixuan trips and stumbles his way into making friends, subsequently keeping everyone alive except the people who don’t deserve it.

Painted Fans, by LaenaEverwood

There are rumors of cultivators randomly falling unconscious in this remote town near Qishan, the victims passing away within a few weeks.

Recently it had claimed another victim.

"Hanguang-jun, I have been given news that may be of great importance. It is from the head disciple Lan Sizhui, regarding Senior Wei."

The brush in Lan Wangji's grip nearly snaps within it's strength.

Or, wwx is found unconscious under an unknown spell, and everyone isn't stopping until he wakes up from his sleep.

redemption, repentance, by stiltonbasket

Five months after the Sunshot Campaign, Jin Zixuan travels to Lotus Pier to ask for Jiang Yanli's hand in marriage.

Waiting on the Night Hunt, by JustAWanderingBabbit (🔒, 10 chapters)

A few post-novel pieces wherein Wen Ning gets some respect. Though he has to work for it.

C1: The Abyss Looks Back

C2: Finding a Use for Stray Dogs

C3: Stepping out of Isolation

C4: Blissful Ignorance, Wretched Knowledge

C5: The Dead Travel Fast

C6: An Arrow's Flight

C7: Learning Experiments

C8: Hide & Seek

C9: The Price of a Thing (read before Pieces of Us fic if you're reading that one too.)

c10: Home is the Hunter

there's a world inside where dreamers meet each other, by harborshore

Lan Zhan dreams. And waits.

Lan Zhan gets glasses…and Wei Ying sees things differently…, by Liebing

This fic is inspired by this adorable art that @kunogi drew from my suggestion on Twitter!

Lan Zhan in glasses

One day Lan Zhan comes to school wearing glasses and Wei Ying loses his god damn mind…

painted in light, by curiositea (🔒, 2nd in a series)

Sometimes Lan Qiren wonders if his nephew resents the rabbits, even if only a little, for making it impossible to completely bury his grief. Are they companions or yet another reminder? Lan Qiren has always prided himself on knowing his nephews, understanding A-Zhan’s reserve and A-Huan’s polite façade. But, without the rabbits, he wonders if he would know just how deep—how down to the marrow, the very atom—A-Zhan’s grief goes.

—

or, a small meditation on a loved one's grief.

I Tried to Be Nice, But My Boyfriend's Bunnies Want To Beet You Up, by katje (🔒, 2nd in a series)

If you had told Wei Ying a few months ago that he would be desperately trying to hold two twenty-five-pound rabbits (who were far heavier than they should be because of their indulgent fathers who were incapable of refusing them treats) back from completely decimating Awful Su She’s stock of bok choy while trying to run his own booth at the Farmer’s Market, he would’ve laughed at the absurdity of the mental image of that statement.

But, dear reader, that was not only a mental image, but Wei Ying’s reality every week for the entire summer season.

OR

Wei Ying and his continuing battle to have one (1) moment of peace at the Farmer's Market

since then i am because you are, by sarahyyy

Lan Wangji nods. “If you must marry,” he says again, “don’t let it be with anyone else.”

“I don’t think you understand the concept of marriage, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says with a smile. “I don’t think I can marry myself.” He lets out a laugh at the thought, before Lan Wangji’s words click in his head. “Unless you mean…”

Lan Wangji holds his gaze.

“Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asks incredulously.

Unfinished

Teen:

Rabbit Charm, by aoeros (🔒)

“You gotta promise me that when you’re back home and settled in, I’ll be the first you come to see. Because I’m going to miss you more than anyone else will, Lán Zhàn. Except your brother, of course.”

“Of course. I promise to come find you first after I’ve settled back in.”

“Great! Then I promise to call you whenever I can. And, I will definitely not forget you.”

I got kidnapped by a model???, by yamadori (Katsumi27)

In retrospect, it was only a matter of time. As much as he wanted it and believed it to be possible, it was silly to think he could get through art school on Madame Yu's dollar. No, it's definitely better this way.

Wei Wuxian finally gets kicked out of art school. In the past three months not a soul from his old life has heard from him and he'd like to keep it that way thank you very much. And although it's been far from easy, things are starting to look up for him. That is, until he's dragged bodily into a world of vanity and flashing lights that he has no business being in and shoved into the arms of the worlds most gorgeous man (or at least man-shaped heavenly being, Wei Wuxian is convinced he can't be mortal).

Lean On Me (An Anthology of Jin Ling's Uncles), by thesassyredvulpes

Six months after the events of the Guanyin Temple, the sixteen-year-old Jin Ling rises to his new role as Clan Leader Jin. As the youngest clan leader in history, he faces challenges and looks to different figures in his life for guidance.

Six men individually offer their insight to the young man, and through him, recall their own stories and identities.

A collection of short stories, inspired by the song lyrics of "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers. Borrows both canons of the Untamed and The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, but leans more towards the live-action.

Story One: Sorrow (Jiang Cheng)

General:

An Unforseen Shift, by Remma3760

Wei Wuxian found a resentful sword deep in the bowels of a famed beast. He took it. That turned out to be fortunate since, it would seem, the sword had more than one purpose. That sword was the key to their escape from certain death trapped in the cave of the Slaughter Xuanwu.

The Unintended, by Indelible_Faith (TheWaterGoddess), Thedivinewriter_20

Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang have a perfect plan. Get Lan Wangji to confess how much Wei Wuxian annoys him out loud. And Jin Zixuan to confess his ill-treatment of Jiang Yanli in a similar manner.

Perhaps “confess” was the wrong word used here… because this is not turning out how they imagined it, at all!