#had to rewrite a portion of this one

[rogueofsoup]

Chapter 5 of Homework on the Moon!

—

A robed limp body was tossed to the ground, the unconscious figure no longer useful. Red Hood had gotten all the information he needed from them, really all he could stomach anyways. The police were on their way to pick up these assholes, and since they were more or less nobodies, Red Hood knew there wasn't any possibility any of them could bribe any potential corrupted cops. He wasn't exactly a fan of the pigs messing with his area, but it was either that or let one of the other bats prance about on his turf. Speaking of which, he'd apparently received another request for an update from the Big Bat himself. It was about an hour ago, so he figured now would be a good time to tell him the Ghost King cult in his ugly corner of Gotham was dealt with.

- Cult in Crime Alley confirmed dealt with

He thought for a moment, then added a last little bit to keep the Bat off his ass.

- Non-lethally

Switching to rubber bullets was, in his eyes, less effective than just getting rid of the problems with real bullets, but they made Dick happy. And Bruce, he guessed. Not that it was really a problem, a gun was a gun and it got the job done. He gave one struggling half-conscious cultist one last kick as he made his way to the exit. Red Hood suddenly stopped as he heard a whimper, the voice seeming a lot younger than the cultists. His head whipped around, searching for the source.

The whimper seemed to echo about, but it was most localized in one area of the apartment that had been used as a base of operations for this cult. Still, it took busting down a few doors before Jason finally found the right one.

A young black-haired teenage girl sat alone in what looked like a giant birdcage covered with glowing green symbols, placed in the center of a giant rune-filled circle lined with a number of candles, each with a bright green flame flickering on their wicks. Red Hood moved in closer, trying to approach the girl when he was suddenly stopped by an invisible barrier. He kicked at the air, finding his boot bounced right off the area starting at the very end of the chalk markings. Annoyed, he aimed a gun right at one of the candles in hopes of knocking it over. The loud 'BANG' definitely scared the girl in the cage, but the rubber bullet did its job and knocked over the candle, somehow immediately putting the flame out. The green flames on all other candles suddenly went out, and the glowing green runes on the cage faded away. Red Hood attempted to walk through the space again, finding the barrier was now gone. Good.

The girl cowered away from him as he approached her cage, whimpering in the farthest point from the door. He immediately went to work trying to pick the lock, but for some reason it wasn't working. Was there a magical element to it? Would it be easier to just break the lock off? Was the lock just for decoration, and there was a different way to get her out of the cage? He tried the latch and-

... Aaaaaand it wasn't locked in the first place. Ok, that would do it. Maybe she stayed in the cage for her own protection? Or maybe the ominous spooky circle around them was what was actually locking the cage? It seemed a little much, but she probably was a meta or something. Or maybe he had interrupted her being sacrificed? Regardless, he opened up the cage. It was better to do that than just leave her to suffer here.

"It's ok, you're safe now," he said, offering his hand to the frightened teen. She pressed herself more against the bars on the opposite side, whimpering more as she tried to stay out of his reach. Jason sighed, taking his hand back.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm getting you out of here," he said, moving out of the path of the door to the cage. "I'm Red Hood. Do you have a name? Where do you live?" Still, she didn't answer.

A moment of realization suddenly passed over her face, perhaps recognition? Just as suddenly as the expression came, she simply phased through the bars and landed right on the hard floor with a thud, squeaking in surprise and pain. She quickly pushed herself away from the chalk markings in a panic. Red Hood quickly ran over to where she now sat baffled, worried she might be hurt. She was definitely a meta, he could tell that for sure.

"Are you ok?" he asked, stepping towards her cautiously. She seemed to switch suddenly from flight to fight as she realized she was no longer powerless to stop what was happening, and she lunged for him as a bright light briefly blinded him.

Gone were her sweatshirt, shorts, and sneakers, now replaced by a black and white costume with a midriff, her black hair and blue eyes changed to white hair and glowing green eyes as sharp teeth bit straight through his leather jacket, almost sinking entirely through his armor. Jason flailed lightly, recognizing perhaps she should be treated more like a feral cat than a scared child. Tried and true first step, showing her he wasn't a faceless monster.

He still wore a domino mask under the helmet, so taking it off wasn't going to right out the gate reveal his identity, but still removing the helmet allowed him to look less intimidating. The girl suddenly seemed to calm down a bit, gently removing her sharp teeth from his arm as she stared at Jason's face. After a moment of silence, the previously scared and angry girl seemed less scared and angry, but slightly more confused.

"You're liminal," she said, looking up at him cautiously.

"Sure," Red Hood agreed, not knowing what the hell that meant. "Little less scared now?"

"Just 'cus you're liminal doesn't mean I don't still think you're a cop," the girl spat, glaring suspiciously.

"Trust me kid, I'm the furthest thing from a cop," Jason explained, his expressions clearly showing a slightly sarcastic amusement. The girl didn't seem to be prepared for exaggerated expressions, and nearly cracked a smile.

"And that's supposed to comfort me?" she huffed, backing away from him and readying herself to attack again if needed.

"Fair point," he said, shrugging. "Would it help to remove the guns? It's the guns, isn't it."

"I'm not a fucking cop I swear to god, I'm not gonna hurt you, and I just want to help," Red Hood explained, not sure what else he could do to appear less threatening with what he had. "Feel safe enough to tell me your name and how you got here, so I can take you to the general location of your home?"

"Psh, like your dumb guns could really do anything to hurt me," the girl scoffed cockily.

Resisting the urge to point a gun at her to test that theory (damn reflexive 'aight bet' movement), he removed the guns from his holsters, ejected the magazines from both of them, and gently set the both of them on the floor while pointing them away from the both of them. Gun safety after all, even if they're not loaded you should treat them like they are. He then put his hands up and scooched a few feet away from the guns. The motion seemed comforting, but still to gain further trust he plucked the com ear piece from his ear and threw it at the open door. He'd deal with Barbra yelling at him about the feedback and delicate machinery later.

"Alright, cool, gross but cool, now do I seem harmless enough?" Red Hood asked tiredly, very much uncomfortable with the strangely Lazarus-green goop that now held him to the wall.

"Hmm, maybe I'd feel a bit more comfortable if youuuuu..." she started with a hint of sarcasm, putting her hand to her chin and tilting her head before suddenly outstretching a hand and shooting a strange green glowing substance at him, flinging him backwards into the wall and sticking him to it.

"AHA!" she cheered, pumping her fists into the air. "And Danny said I'd never be able to web-shoot like Spiderman! 'Can't mimic fictional heroes' my butt!"

"Well, it has been a while since I've seen another liminal," the girl hummed, thinking. "Ok, I'll bite. Metaphorically of course, since I already literally bit you and all."

"I know, I was there," Red Hood replied sarcastically.

"The name's Ellie," the girl finally said. "I was... kidnapped by these jerks, what with my association with the Ghost King. The new one, at least."

"You have connection to The Ghost King?" Red Hood asked.

"You the ghost cops or something?" Ellie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She then burst out laughing at his dead tired expression. "Nah, I'm just kidding, Walker would never let a liminal work in the GZPD. He hates our existence."

"I'm starting to think 'liminal' might be a slur," Red Hood mumbled, his expression showing distaste.

"N... no it's not??" Ellie said, confused. "Are you... recently liminal? Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Not a singular clue," Red Hood sighed. "You could potentially explain all that in great detail to me once you explain to me what your relation to the Ghost King might be."

"No way man, you're a baby ghostie with a rank," Ellie cringed, pinching her nose dramatically and waving the air away from her. "Frankly? At this point I don't care who or what you're working with. Someone clearly hasn't told you the basics of ghost unlife, and I'm not about to let this freak of nature be left without its people, else it might go feral. First off- where have you been getting your ectoplasm? A sewer??"

"... My what?" Jason asked genuinely. "What's happening here."

"Oh boy, guess we're starting from square one," Ellie sighed. Damn her desire to help.

-

Monday finally came, and Monday went. No sign of the prince on the moon. Maybe he just didn't get much homework on Mondays? Batman at the very least got confirmation that one of the four remaining cults had been taken down, though Red Hood seemed to suggest about an hour later that he'd be out of commission for a while. That cult must've been worse than they thought if its members could hurt him so badly, he'd have to send someone to check on Jason as soon as possible if he wasn't returning to the manor. Maybe he'd risk angering him by showing up in person, just to make sure he's ok. He should bring a gift basket.

It was a pain to wait for the boy to need help with his homework again, Clark was tempted on a few occasions to outright tell Batman the kid's civilian name so they could find him and get it over with, but that would be rude. He'd just have to wait for the next day.

Tuesday came, and Superman searched for the teen. And there he was, doing his homework while facing the planet. Superman quickly flew over to meet up with the boy, excited to actually talk with him.

Danny's study session was interrupted by a pair of red boots floating down into his vision. He quickly looked up, then smiled and waved at the hero. Superman smiled back and waved in greeting, then gestured off into the distance. Confused, Danny glanced over to see if there was something on the moon the man was gesturing to that would be important for Danny to know about. He looked around to find absolutely nothing, not knowing what the man wanted. Superman got his attention again, gesturing up. Danny looked straight up, still confused. Superman tried one last time, going behind Danny and physically pointing his head towards what he wanted him to see. Danny looked at Earth for a few seconds, wondering if Superman wanted him to go to a specific location on Earth for some reason. Possibly for reasons of there being an actual atmosphere? And then he realized that in the path between here and the Earth was the Watchtower.

It was the first time Danny had ever actually noticed the giant satellite. It was amazing and beautiful, though very weirdly shaped. He had wondered so many times what it was like on the Watchtower, being surrounded by professional super heroes with the beauty of space just outside the window. Sure, he was on the actual moon right now, but that was different. That was cheating. Being in a ship though? Now that was amazing. A breathtaking feat of machinery launched into an even more breathtaking infinite void of endless beauty beat just flying up there on his own any day. It was kind of how it felt better to earn candy trick-or-treating than to just buy pounds and pounds of candy leftover at the store the day after Halloween.

Superman gestured to The Watchtower again, and Danny smiled and nodded, then wrote in his notebook "super cool". Superman's mind seemed to break for a second, then he dejectedly seemed to request the pencil and paper. The hero clearly hadn't considered simply writing what he wanted to communicate, though to be fair neither did Danny until just now. Danny handed the notebook and pencil over, then watched as Superman scribbled something down. His eyes suddenly widened as the Man of Steel flipped the notebook around, reading its contents:

'Do you want to go do homework in The Watchtower today?'

Yes. YES. YESYESYES A MILLION TIMES YES. Danny nodded as enthusiastically as a puppy that was just asked if it wanted to go on a walk. He quickly started haphazardly shoving his papers and such into his bookbag, an excited ghostly churr escaping his core audibly. He was so excited he was shaking. He was going into The Watchtower. HE WAS GOING TO DO HIS HOMEWORK IN THE WATCHTOWER!! HE COULD LOOK OUT AT SPACE THROUGH A BIG WINDOW!!! He wondered if Martian Manhunter would be in there? Would he get to meet Martian Manhunter??? Holy shit holy shit holy shiiiiiiiit!

Danny zipped up his backpack, the zipper getting briefly stuck a couple times due to his excited speed and jittery movement. Clark almost lost his held breath with a chuckle, amused by the extreme giddiness the boy possessed. The boy likely had never been around so many superheroes before, and now had the chance to go into their big Space Clubhouse. He'd have to admit, Clark kinda started getting giddy too from the energy this child seemed to generate. Once the backpack was all closed up and on Danny's back, Clark flew up and started leading Danny towards the distant structure. Danny flew close behind, even doing a few excited loop-de-loops as he flew.

A bay door opened for Superman and Phantom, allowing the two of them to enter. They landed carefully inside the airlock, the artificial gravity already taking hold as the doors closed. The room pressurized with air, and finally talking was a viable option.

"So! Ghost Prince, huh?" Superman said, apparently deciding that the first thing he should actually say to Danny was an introduction to a pretty big conversation disguised as smalltalk.

"Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that," Danny lied. He was so excited to tell his cool new backstory, but it was also SO difficult to make him seem believably non-giddy about his death and subsequent half-resurrection. "It's kinda complicated, but long story short I kinda sorta got adopted by The Ghost King after I sorta became his biological son, and now I'm a prince. Well, I mean, he wasn't King when that happened, but he is King now."

"... What?" Superman asked, expecting this conversation to go in a completely different direction.

"Anyways, do you know French?" Danny changed the subject, filled with nearly uncontainable glee at Superman's absolutely perfect reaction. "Because I'm taking French as my foreign language for regrettable reasons I'd rather not get into at the moment that definitely doesn't involve a now long-gone crush, and I do not get the conjugation. If you don't know French that's fine, I'm sure there might be another hero with not much to do that might be able to help, if that's cool. I've also got some Math I gotta work on, but I think I can figure it out if I've just got someone cheering me on from the sidelines. Unless you've got something you need to do at any time, my homework can wait for lives to be saved."

"I'm- I'm sorry can you please back that up to you 'becoming the biological son of The Ghost King'?" Clark asked, feeling like he was going to pop a blood vessel with the confusion that one statement was putting him through.

"Oh, yeah, but would it be cool for that to wait until after homework?" Danny said, not wanting to get too off topic yet. "I feel like if I start I'm gonna be here for hours, and I've got a book report I gotta start that's due Friday."

"Oh, right, of course," Superman said, trying to focus himself back on the task at hand. "I'll help you out, don't worry. Oh, though sometime into our little homework session, J'onn is going to want to get a full-body scan of you to see what's going on with your DNA, if that's fine by you-"

"J'onn as in Martian Manhunter?" Danny said excitedly, looking up at Superman with big green sparkling eyes. "Martian Manhunter's here? Today? Now?"

"You're a fan, I'd take it?" Superman chuckled, greatly entertained by the boy's bounciness.

"Do you think he'd sign my copy of 'Life on Mars'?" Danny asked, immediately taking off his backpack and rifling through it until he found the book in question. The look of excitement and wonder on his face was more adorable than anything else in this exact moment.

"I'm sure he'd love to," Superman smiled. "Fan of aliens I take it?"

"Yup!" Danny beamed, then realized. "Oh, I know you're an alien and everything, but, y'know, Mars just feels a little more… tangible? In my mind? Also he's clearly inhuman. Was that rude? Am I being rude?"

"Don't worry, you're not being rude as far as I can tell," Superman laughed, guiding Danny away. "It's honestly a nice change of pace to hear someone preferring the Martian over the Kryptonian. J'onn doesn't have enough fans."

Going through The Watchtower was a dream come true. With permission from Clark, Danny started taking pictures of the place and saving them for later so he could show his friends. He ended up also getting an autograph from Black Canary for someone named "Tucker", though the more interesting interaction seemed to happen when they came across Batman as they were sitting down to start Danny's homework.

"Oh! Mr Batman sir!" Danny exclaimed, quickly getting up and rushing over to the bat. "Two related questions, first one being are you on speaking terms with Poison Ivy?"

"Hn?" Batman hummed, looking down at the excited white-haired Ghost Prince. "She is one of my rogues."

"Yeah, but do you like, talk with her at any point nonviolently?" Danny clarified.

"… I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to ask me," Batman said carefully.

"Are you on good enough terms with Poison Ivy to ask her to give an autograph for a fan, or is it a 'kill on sight' kinda deal?" Danny asked. "Oh, that's the second question by the way. Can you get her autograph for me? Well actually it's for my friend Sam. Oh! And I have a completely different question after you answer the first two, if you can that is."

Batman silently stared at Danny with an unreadable expression for several seconds, seeming to lag.

"Oh, two completely unrelated questions," Danny added on. "No rush."

"… I believe I could ask Ivy," Batman finally answered. "I make no promises on that front."

"Ok, sweet, next question," Danny said, bouncing a bit. "My sister really wants to go to college at Gotham University, but she's worried about potential rogue attacks. Would it be possible to buff up security around the college to make sure no clowns cause any funny business on or around campus? The funny business in question being homicide." Every new word out of this kid's mouth brought Bruce closer and closer to a headache, which wasn't exactly something he wasn't used to, what with him being the father of at least six children.

"I'll see what I can do," he responded much quicker. "The extra security might end up attracting Joker's attention rather than protect against him though, maybe your sister could be given a panic button she could press if something goes wrong?" Danny was Ghost Royalty, so his sister had to be at the very least adjacent. He wasn't about to risk a potential political incident because his sister got attacked by one of his rogues in his city.

"Sounds like a plan!" Danny beamed, giving a thumbs up. "Last question, do you know French?"

"Fluently," Batman responded flatly.

"Do you have the time to help with my French homework?" Danny asked hopefully, but expecting a 'no'. "Superman doesn't know how to help with it in a way I can understand, and I'm really struggling."

"Sorry, I have somewhere to be," Batman apologized, "I can see if I can send someone up, though."

"That would be super helpful," Danny thanked before running back to his spot with The Boyscout. Batman went on his way, pulling up his coms to see who all was available. He was going to visit Jason today, and while he would very much like to help the Ghost Prince himself, his baby boy came first.

Superman had been reading up on math and history so he would be at least somewhat prepared, and he was more than willing to help out with a book report. Amazingly enough, what he had prepared for seemed to be perfect. All but the French, of course, but an inability to teach language was not exactly something he knew how to work with. However, in the middle of working on some forgotten science homework, the bat-tutor arrived very loudly and suddenly.

"Bonjour Prince Fantôme! Comment ça va?" the loud and excited voice of Nightwing boomed, startling Danny. "I heard down the bat-grapevine that a certain somebody needed some help with their Français?"

"Ah, one of three heroes from Gotham I know about," Danny said absentmindedly, lightly surprised.

"Oh?" Nightwing asked, grabbing a nearby chair and spinning it around so he could sit in it backwards, leaning his arms and chin on the top of the backrest. "I assume one is Batman?"

"The other is Robin, but don't expect me to know the differences between any of them," Danny admitted, shrugging. "I've heard there's been, like, eight of them."

"Only five, actually," Nightwing corrected. "Fun fact, I was the first!"

"Oh cool," Danny said, seeming only slightly interested. "Honestly, I just know one kinda died and the current one stabs people."

"Yeah, but the dead one got better and the stabby one is currently in the process of learning stabbing is not ok," Nightwing shrugged. "So! What's famous about me that lets you know who I am despite not being from the area?"

"You do acrobatic flips off rooftops in a tight leotard," Danny said flatly. "What do you think you're famous for?"

"Helping royalty with their French homework I'd hope?" Nightwing cooed, tilting his head playfully.

"Maaaaaayyybe the Watchtower isn't the most conducive place for focusing on homework," Superman sheepishly admitted.

"Noooo, it's so much easier when we can communicate!" Danny whined, looking up at Superman with big green puppy dog eyes. "And I like it up here! You can see space just out the window!"

"I literally found you on the moon," Superman smirked, raising a brow. "I'm pretty sure you could see space even better out there, y'know, in space."

"That's different," Danny scoffed. "You can fly, right? Ever been on a roller coaster?"

"I have," Superman nodded.

"Well, was it fun?" Danny asked. Superman thought for a bit, recalling his experience.

"... Yeah, it was fun," he agreed finally.

"You could absolutely fly in much crazier patterns than that, but it's honestly better when you gotta use the machinery to achieve that feeling," Danny explained. "Sure, I can just fly into space. But when I'm in a ship or satellite? Now that's the stuff. Makes me feel alive. Normal even."

"That's great and all, but French homework?" Nightwing reminded them. "While I'd love to listen to this all day, I do have other things I need to do today."

"Oh, right, sorry," Danny said, quickly digging through his bag for the folder containing his French.

-

Constantine was done with guessing. He was done with living in the dark about this terrifying being that called itself the New Ghost King. He was going to get answers even if he had to pry them from Clockwork himself, which was exactly what he was going to do.

The summoning requirements for something so powerful were quite grand, but it wasn't like it was his first time summoning a god. Hell, it wasn't even the first time he had summoned Clockwork specifically. He tended to avoid him anyways, Clockwork specifically always had something to say about the appearance about his 'core'.

The circle lit up as Constantine charged it, then glowed bright green as he stepped away from it to give the god plenty of space to appear. A dense fog filled the room, then the familiar figure made his appearance.

"Keep fracturing your core, John, and I might have to deal with it myself," Clockwork's voice said calmly, forming legs so to step closer instead of float ominously. He grabbed the man's face, turning it to inspect. "I know you've grown numb to the pain, but please. It's bleeding."

"Nice to see you too, Clockwork," Constantine said sarcastically, lightly pushing the god's hand away from his face. "You're supposed to stay in the circle."

"And you're supposed to not sell pieces of your soul to every demon you meet," Clockwork smirked. "You're going to rip apart very painfully when you die, I hope you know that."

"I didn't summon you here to mother me Clockwork, you know that very well," Constantine glared respectfully.

"Of course," Clockwork nodded, stepping back into the bounds of the circle. "You wish to know about my relation to The Ghost King?"

"What will you want in return for the information?" Constantine asked, ready to pull out a notebook and write down whatever inane request Clockwork had for him.

"Nothing, I am willing to share this knowledge for free," Clockwork explained, shifting into his older form, in the process losing his legs and turning back to the ghostly tail. Constantine gave him a suspicious look, but trusted he wouldn't lie.

"A long time ago, I came across a baby," Clockwork explained. "An infant barely able to understand what was happening, destined for hardship. I was initially tasked with dealing with the child, but in the process of trying to avoid a terrible future that threatened to destroy both my home and yours, I shattered the flow of time by interfering in order to save the child." Technically speaking, all of what Clockwork said was true. In ghost terms, Danny was an infant. He didn't understand what was happening at the time, he had been thrown into this existence by his half-death. And he was tasked with 'dealing with' the child, and the timeline was shattered. Hence his assignment to Danny.

"You... what," Constantine asked, horrified.

"Shattered the flow of time," Clockwork repeated happily. "I don't regret this decision at all. Now, when relating to The Ghost King and Phantom, I don't know what is going to happen in the future for them. I can in fact see the infinite possibilities of what might happen, but what will happen is entirely up to them! Frankly, it's exhilarating."

"You shattered time for a baby," Constantine whispered in horror, shaking.

"Oh no, I merely shattered its flow," Clockwork corrected. "If I had shattered time itself, I would be, well." He shifted into his toddler form, still smiling. "Shattered."

"You broke one of the things you are supposed to maintain on purpose so that you could save a baby?" Constantine asked carefully, horrified by the implications.

"Yes," Clockwork confirmed, nodding. "I then took charge of the infant, and trained him to be king. He is my ward, and I care about him as if he were my own. And Danny, I couldn't ask for a better grandson. He's so lively and chaotic, I've experienced three approximations of an aneurysm in the two years I have known him. I was not even aware I was physically capable of experiencing them! I've been stressed, worried, tired, panicked, angry- though not at the boy mind you-, each and every one of the strongest of mortal emotions all because of Danny and his antics! It's almost as if I am mortal myself! It's so exciting!"

Constantine stared in silent horror. The entire situation is so much worse than he thought. The New King had been raised since he was an infant to become King, the process of Clockwork taking him in involved shattering the flow of time, Danny's main claim to fame for Clockwork was his ability to stress out time, and worst of all, Clockwork was an adrenaline junkie and apparently an emotional masochist. He swallowed the lump in his throat, desperately needing a drink after all this was done.

"A-and the fact of The King and Phantom sharing a ghost voice...?" he managed to choke out.

"I was not present for the incident, which by technicality occurred outside my jurisdiction, and thus my vision," Clockwork shook his head solemnly. "The King had told me that he had found poor Daniel somewhere between your realm and mine, the portal he had been inside when it had activated ripping him and his core apart. He told me the boy was going to simply cease to be, and so he connected his core with the boy's in order to save him, thus making Danny's half death in part his own. Of course it is all hearsay, I reiterate that I was not physically present. The Infinite Realms by technicality is not necessarily connected to your flow of time, after all. 'Time' in a way does pass, but not 'time' as you or I know it."

"So, regarding their cores..." Constantine trailed off, further horrified by all implications occurring.

"The Ghost King and Phantom do in fact share a core," Clockwork explained, nodded. "Though at some point, you may hear another ghostly voice come from the lips of The King. After all, there is another way he has died." And with that, Clockwork vanished without being dismissed.

Constantine stared at the summoning circle as he fished out a flask from his pocket. He did not earn enough to deal with this bullshit.

—

I used Google Translate for the tiny French part because despite taking French in school, I forgor.

Taglist -

@winterstar1412 @tryingahandinholdingapen @spoopyspoony @wackyattack @rosebloodwater @ruelukas22 @markus209 @sagaduwyrm @readingalldaysleepingallnight @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @kawaiikenna @izutard

Short DPXDC Prompts #837

Danny was just relaxing doing his homework on the moon. (It was quiet and had minimal distractions. Perfect for studying). He didn’t expect to see anyone during his studying but after seeing movement out of the corner of his eye he went to check it out. To his surprise: Superman was just sitting on the moon looking down at earth. Chilling.

[basicallyjaywalker]

A Brief History of the Element of Love

Recorded by... (the name is scratched and scrawled. You cannot make out any letters beyond M and T)

Type: Metaphysical

Previous Known Master(s): Elizabeth Chumsworth (née Lamoree)

Current Master(s): Nataly Chumsworth

Abilities: Masters of Love are known for being able to sense emotional connections. Unlike the Element of Peace, they are unable to manipulate or persuade these connections in any direction, only sense them.

Personally, I have sometimes questioned the use of Love as this element's name, as it goes beyond the realms of platonic and romantic affections into those of hate.

At the start of--and according to Elizabeth Chumsworth's personal account, even before--training, Masters of Love are attuned to three types of affection: Romantic, Platonic, and Malicious.

Romantic

Described as feeling like one's heart is on fire and/or feeling like they're "floating."

Platonic

Described as feeling like "sparklers" in one's mind, also compared to "eating an entire bag of pop rocks."

Malicious

Described as feeling a bottomless pit in one's stomach or throat. Hollowness.

According to some personal correspondence with Nataly Chumsworth, multiple of these feelings can be present at once. Additionally, there are "sibling" feelings that appear under the umbrellas.

Familial affection is understood as falling under platonic, but has a feeling more akin to the "crackle of a hearth," comforting as opposed to zealous.

Additionally, Nataly Chumsworth has described a type of "Toxic" love that is a mix of the romantic and malicious categories. She's said the two combine to create extreme nausea, almost like an acid reflux response. She says she's only had the experience twice, but both times she felt physically ill.

"It was like being trapped in vengestone, complete disconnection from my element..." - From personal correspondence with Nataly Chumsworth.

Some evidence suggests Masters of Love have strong emotional capacities and tend toward aiding others in emotional strife, both personal and interpersonal. It is unclear whether this is a product of their elemental powers or not.

Currently, there are no other known abilities tied to being a Master of Love.

First Appearance: Secondary, appeared after the initial share of powers by the First Master and within the second generation, led by his sons. First known Master was Elizabeth Chumsworth

This Element could have spawned as a way to manage the passing of Elemental Powers to mortals, or could have been made in the wake of interpersonal conflicts between the first generation of Elemental Masters. It seems to work with the Element of Peace, acting as its passive counterpart. With Love sensing animosity or affection, it can correspond with Peace to help with mediation. The tendency of Masters of Love to help alleviate personal issues could also be connected. Further research and possible historical analysis needed.

[lunar-lair]

a new star is born...

(but hes more than just a star.

SURPRISE! @ashwii im BACK with the casey idea i mentioned!!! i ended up landing on him being sort of...the gods deciding leo would need someone, at the end of the day. or, uh, universe. and, well, creating stars is so dang confusing, and there was risk later on of it becoming too much for leos power alone to contain all the history and the reactions of or something like that. so they set up a failsafe of sorts: instead of leo collecting these reactions and collisions and beginnings, it would be delegated to a part of him, instead, that would grow slowly and become its own god inevitably. hence, casey! and why hes so late to the party, hehe. ill warn you, this one isnt as Godlytm and more kind of just...familial? and dialogue heavy, and lovey dovey. im tired idk how good this thing is tbh lmao. gonna put it under a read more cause its 2.5K. yeah i went a tad feral on this one. casey and leo r just <3 2 me ok)

It was a slow, quiet thing. 

Leo felt it, in the corner of his brain, his heart, his soul, every inch of him. Like a new star, but bigger. Like a new star, but greater. 

It was like…almost like a supernova, but in reverse. It was so slow. Not agonizing, no, more…

Like something was blooming, like the flowers on earth. Like something was slowly waking up, warm and tired and sleepy. 

Like it was building itself up from scratch, carefully crafting itself inch by inch. 

Leo waited, patient as could be. 

He knew it was one of his, and he’d always wait for his stars. 

It was sudden, sharp and clear and bright and warm. This calling that swallowed up his entire being, this question, asking, 

Are you there? I’m home. 

Casey woke up. 

He felt…small. No, that felt just right. He was tired. Really, really tired. How long had he been asleep? How did he know what being asleep was? Wait, no, too many questions, he needs to…

He jolted, but calmed immediately. 

Oh. The stars.

He was home. 

It was an innate thing, something he couldn’t shake off if he wanted to. He was warm, and he was made for this endless black, a blink of light shining in the dark. 

He stayed there for a while, but reached out. Not with his hands, with his soul.

There was something…someone.

Warm yet cool. Blue. Gentle and focused and ready, sharp, and silly and carefree and-and-

He wanted to see him. He was lonely. These were his brothers and his sisters, he knew that, he knew.

He didn’t need to be told.

He was part of this-this, whoever. This warm person he needed to see, needed to be held by. He was part of them, and he was part of this family. 

And he missed them, even though he hadn’t met them. 

So, he reached out, quiet and careful. 

And waited. 

After a moment, he curled into himself, starbursts on his forearm catching his eye. 

He could be patient. He could be, he knew he could be. He waited so long to wake up, he knew that. 

But he was still so cold out here. 

He didn’t want to be alone anymore. 

Leo started to make his way through the cosmos leisurely, waving hi to stars here and there and asking them what they knew about the new kid. 

According to most of them, he seemed a little more powerful than the lot of them. A demigod, maybe? Leo wondered, though he wasn’t sure how that would happen. Maybe…a minor one…or just a cluster of-

He froze. 

It was quiet, at first, but he could hear it. Could hear it loud and clear. 

He could hear, vaguely, the call of any star, when they truly needed him. Like a ripple, on the edges of his form, stars shifting and moving like an itch that needed to be scratched. He’d always find them, of course he did, but it would always take a moment of thought. 

This was like a shout. A call. A plea.

It was like someone had whispered right into his ear, like they were right next to him. 

Please. It’s cold. 

Dread and worry and pain and guilt and love all poured themselves out into Leo’s core and he was by the starchild’s side in a mere second. 

He softened, an instant thing. 

Oh, he was beautiful. 

He looked like newborn stars. Bright collisions and nitrogen and helium slowly mixing and clashing, stardust and love and new warmth, new light in the sky. He was small, just a kid. Not too young, but about as young as Leo was when he started out. 

He looked like bright light, like the beginning of everything Leo loved. 

The starchild jolted and turned the moment Leo appeared, leaping into his hold and shouting, “You’re here, you’re here!!”

Leo laughed back, pulling back with a grin like honey. Nothing less, for this bright boy. He was human, but well enough, for the beginnings of his stars, for the complex mix and match of chemicals and light. “Woah, hey, slow down, buddy!” He framed his face in his hands, softening when the boy leaned in. “What’s your name, starchild?”

“Casey,” he hummed back, grin quiet and tired, and warm like nothing else Leo had ever seen. “I’m really glad you’re here. I missed you.”

Leo laughed, quiet and only a fraction of the bonfire this boy gave off. Blinding, he was blinding. Leo already loved him with everything he had. “You hadn’t met me yet, starlight.” They both knew better, but they laughed anyways.

“Yeah,” Casey hummed back, sitting down on thin air and pulling Leo with him. He looked around, at all his brothers and sisters and everyone Leo would have to introduce him to when he could, and-oh, Raph is gonna love this kid, he knows it-”I woke up with everyone else around me, but I just…” He took Leo’s hands in his, five fingers folding perfectly between Leo’s three, like he’d been doing it for centuries. (Maybe he had. Maybe he had always been part of Leo, brewing, forming slowly. Like a world egg or the calcium that made his shell, the beginnings of his stars, the delightful afterbirth of the many that had come and gone.) “It was cold. And you’re warm, in-in a special way. None of the other stars are you.” What Casey left unsaid was, they don’t care like you. They aren’t safe like you. I love them, but they can’t hold me like you, and they can’t understand waking up and being and living and holding like you can. And I missed you, and I’m so so glad you’re here, now.

Leo didn’t get it, really. He knew that his stars cared for him like a caretaker and a father, and he would never let them think he didn’t love them just the same back. But he’d never had that, himself. He had his brothers, and…well, he got lonely in a certain kind of way when they were off doing their own things, sometimes. Maybe it was about this star-no, this minor god, his mind shot back, that innate knowledge that stirred from within on occasion-well, maybe it was about Casey being like him. Given form by the Gods, being…simply more than the stars and the humans and the moons and the planets, however much they were beloved. 

Well, he was here now. And, if Life had deigned to give him the gift of this bright, bright starlight, he’d never let him go. 

Leo laughed softly and pulled Casey in, unsurprised when he clung to Leo’s shell like he’d disappear if he didn’t. He set Casey on his hip and stood, an instinctual thing, even though he hadn’t done it before. Stars were never this…physical compared to his form. He couldn’t hold them, couldn’t feel their every-burning warmth.

Maybe that was the difference. Maybe Casey was just cold. 

Leo pulled him in a little closer, and Casey happily reciprocated, hiding his face in his shoulder. “Well, I’m here now, starburst. Say the word, I’ll be there.”

Casey laughed-a soft and bubbly and quiet and absolutely adorable oh Leo was smitten-little thing, but only held onto Leo’s neck and nodded. “Ok.”

They sat there, for a while, Leo curling up a little and just…letting Casey sit there and breathe. It was a lot, to wake up. It was a lot, to miss someone like that. He didn’t want to ever leave him like that again. Never, he promised himself, he never would. 

Eventually, finally, he smiled and huffed a soft sigh, Casey’s stardust hair drifting slightly in response. He looked up at Leo, eyes wide and face curious. Always so bright, even with eyes as gray as a rainy day down on Earth. Leo grinned back. “I should probably introduce you to my brothers.” 

Casey brightened immediately, sunny and sudden and beautifully blinding. He pulled his arms back and pumped his fists up and down, nodding all the while, saying, “I’d love to!!” because clearly he was determined to be the cutest thing Leo had ever witnessed. 

Leo grinned back, a little toothy, and only said, “Hold on tight.” before blinking away to a star near their usual hangout spout above Earth. 

Casey only laughed with glee, though, throwing his arms around Leo’s neck again, grin wide enough to show teeth. (Somehow, they were crooked, and somehow, it was perfect.) “That was so cool!!! How do you do that??”

Leo laughed, one part cocky fool persona and ten parts warmth. “When you’re every star around, you can get anywhere, anytime, starlight. Just another perk.”

Casey grinned. He knew exactly what Leo was gonna say next (because he knew, he knew, how much he loved them and the warmth radiating from Leo’s soul and mind and everything he was a part of, all of the love he refused not to share with every single star he held), but he still asked, “And the other?”

Leo nuzzled his beak into Casey’s forehead, heart bursting with adoration when Casey giggled back. God, he loved his stars with everything he had, but nothing could compete with being able to hold one, with being able to hold Casey and his bright fire, his neverending warmth. He wondered, for a moment, if he could play favorites, and the playful cheering on that rippled back told him he absolutely could. “You and your siblings of course, silly!” 

Raph interrupted any response Casey could’ve given, taking Leo by the shoulders (not noticing as Casey ducked away and Leo carefully pulled him closer) and shaking, asking, “What happened where’d you go?? You left so suddenly I felt a new star show up but it was way brighter than usual wh-”

Mikey pried him off, Donnie following behind with a raised eyebrow. “Raph! Leave him alone, at least give the man a chance to explain!” He huffed, turned away, busy scowling at Raph. 

Donnie turned down and gave a soft gasp, catching his brother’s attention. 

Leo was busy pulling Casey’s hair back, eyebrows drawn. “You ok? Raph kinda spooked you there, huh?”

Casey didn’t bat his hands away, though, only shook his head. “No, no, I’m fine.”

Mikey was the first to lose it, yelling loud enough for Earth to probably hear (and for a comet to go splashing into the atlantic in response). Donnie pushed Mikey away, officially ending his onslaught and far more carefully introducing himself (and Mikey, since he’d been too busy crying over how adorable the boy was to do it himself). Raph was a little sheepish, but he loved the boy immediately, just as Leo predicted. They were bright, the two of them, in a way none of them could compete with. Sunny like Mikey, warm like Raph, smart like Donnie, loving and careful and a bit sassy like Leo. He was always meant to be here; he just showed up a little late to the party. 

“And,” Donnie finally hummed, the other three crowded around Casey at a respectable distance, “who might this little brightspot be?”

Casey grinned, big and wide, crooked teeth and dry lips making him all the more charming. He raised a hand, and said, “Hi, I’m Casey!! I’m the creation of all of Dad’s new stars.”

They all went silent, though for different reasons.

Stardust started falling and everyone else started talking amongst each other-he must’ve woken up like us, just like Leo but more specific, I wonder what this means for future gods-while Leo was busy pulling Casey in, blubbering about “Ohhh Dad that one’s such a classic I haven’t heard it in ages!!! Casey I’d be so glad to be that you can stay forever and ever even after all the stars go out I love you so much-”

Casey only laughed, bright and bubbly, and even Leo’s brothers shut up, even as Leo kept blubbering and pulling Casey in close enough that stardust stained his cheeks. “Calm down, Dad, we’ll have forever together! As long as stars are born, I’ll be here.” Leo settled, but only a little, stardust falling. He seemed more frozen than anything else, Casey still held close to his chest. Casey smiled up at him, gentle, understanding, warm, loving. He knew, he knew. Of course he knew. “I’ll be with you ‘til the end, and I’ll have you ‘til the end, too.”

Leo curled up, pulling Casey in as close as he possibly could. His brothers gathered around as Leo started crying in earnest, Casey only patting his plastron. 

“You will be, won’t you? We’ll have each other…”

Til the end of time. 

Stars will form, and stars will die, and stars will live and exist and be. 

Leo will never have to be alone. 

And neither will Casey. 

Leo pulled back after a while, setting his forehead against Casey’s, smiling, syrup and honey and every comforting thing that Casey knew Leo alone had, soft starlight a perfect match to his bright beginnings. “Well, Case, I’m ready and willing to keep you for forever, long as you’ll stay.”

Casey grinned softly back and pulled away just to dive into a hug. “‘Course. You’re warm, anyways.”

Casey was a new addition to their daily lives, but one taken happily. Him and Leo were rarely ever apart, Casey even taking to welcome new stars with him. Besides Leo, he was closest with Raph, but that was a given. Him and Mikey raised hell together, little hydrogen and helium creations and megalith comets that Mikey could only rain on Pluto, lest all of humanity be forgone. (They looked epic as hell, though.) As soon as Casey was old enough to figure out a corporeal form on Earth-and Leo was assured it would be fine, even if he wasn’t as powerful as them, though he refused not to stick to Casey’s side like glue regardless-they introduced to April. Of course, she was smitten, but as Leo claimed, head held high and grin proud, who wasn’t?

The kid was pretty easy to get along with, anyone would give him that. 

True to his promise, Leo kept Casey close. They always knew where the other was, anyways, but it was rare they wouldn’t fall asleep and wake up together. (Raph would always be grateful to the kid for fixing Leo’s sleep schedule, if nothing else.) They lived every moment they could together, warmth and love and beginning and living and ending. 

Casey was always there for Leo to hold when a star died. Leo was always there to make sure Casey was never alone, always there to be the safe comfort he needed. 

But no matter what happened to them, if Casey really did have to go before Leo did, if Casey was ever left without him, Leo would always have Casey’s bright, starlight smile, and Casey would always have Leo’s stardust tears and ever-warm eyes. 

Beginning and living. They were the start and the living and the end of the same thing, one apart of the other. 

There was no such thing as loneliness for stars. Not if they had a say in it. 

[infamous-if]

✭INFAMOUS UPDATE IS HERE ✭

238K -> 457K WORDS

Please read this post before playing! It's finally here! After five months of writing and rewriting and salvaging and crying and sweating and bleeding I finally finished sort of kind of! Firstly, I want to thank you for your patience and understanding over this duration of this rewrite. It was stressful at times but I'm happy with the end result and I hope everyone else will be too :)

This will be the last chapter I release without beta testers/other sets of eyes so expect errors. I can playtest until my fingers turn blue but I'm just one person </3 I'm bound to have missed stuff.

Please let me know of errors! I tested it a few times with no problems but we know how it goes lol

IN THIS CHAPTER THREE UPDATE:

drama

mayhem

chaos

some betrayal

some surprises

just...read it lmao

PROLOGUE - CHAPTER 2 CHANGES:

**chapter two was too large of a file to upload on dd so I had to split it last minute and I uhhhh dont know how that translates in the demo but it should work lol please let me know if its wonky!**

fixed up grammatical errors and typos

expanded some scenes and added some more choices

you can now choose that your mc has "changed" in some way (drinking, no longer drinking, partier, no longer a partier, negative, positive, attached, detached, or a general default. I was asked to add an MC who "gets around" or hookups a lot but I'm still debating on whether I'll add that since there's already quite a bit lolol)

you can choose to have changed your band's genre before/after seven

TECHNICAL CHANGES:

you will be able to explicitly state your sexuality in the beginning. this was a big ask and I apologize for not doing it earlier! I wasn't good at coding when I started and I knew I always wanted to make the genders separate from MC's sexuality but I didn't know how to do that at the start :) So you can still choose the genders of the ROs for story purposes and variety. IF YOU DO NOT SEE ROMANCE OPTIONS THAT IS NOT A BUG. You simply chose a RO gender that doesn't correlate with the sexuality you chose for your MC. Having said that, if you do see a romance option available and it's not supposed to be there please let me know! That means I may have missed it coding-wise.

the stats have been all fixed! I've added all the necessary variables and such. The stat portion of the game has been updated with the appropriate pages but they're not finished. Still, the stats should be fine.

You will now have confessionals in the stat page! The feature still isn't a thing yet because I haven't come up with the confessionals lolol but you can click on it to see what it's about. Essentially, as you progress through the story you will be able to see confessionals from the cast of Infamous throughout. They disappear and appear periodically so if you miss it, THAT'S IT! You won't get a chance to see them again until MC watches an episode where it's relevant.

There is now a: Discography page, Infamous wiki, botb cast and staff page, and other characters page for organization. Those are not finished but they're there!

I changed a few stat names but their functions remain the same.

You will be able to choose how you would like to be described (masculine, feminine, neither, both).

O is officially gender-selectable.

You can set the genders of the ROs at the start or wait till you meet them.

PLAY HERE

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Audience Participation

Kinktober Day 8: Hypnotism

Three Yandere Vampire Men x Feminized Male Reader CW: Noncon, vampires, vampirism, biting, blood drinking, praise kink, mind control, hypnotism, feminization, polycule, public sex, exhibitionism, public masturbation, praise, oral sex, anal sex, death of a side character, kidnapping, general yandere behavior Word Count: 3.2k

(The EXTREMELY long awaited rewrite of audience participation is here. Not beta read so please forgive any mistakes. REALLY hope this gets a good reception! Don't forget to comment <3)

You were but the humble servant of the wealthiest merchant in your city, Rorik. And he did not accrue such wealth by being kind or generous to the lowly peasants that cleaned his shops or grew the produce that he sold. No, he got his fortune by exploiting the labor of the poor. With rampant poverty in the city it was very easy to do. You were exceedingly replaceable and you had nowhere else to go. When you weren't sweeping floors, stocking shelves, or tending to the fresh produce grown out back you were in the overstuffed shack where the other male employees were stuffed. Of course it wasn't free, Rorik charged each of you a large portion of your income for this "kindness". But there was nowhere else you could afford.

Poor living conditions and low pay were certainly not the end of the abuses you had to endure at the hands of your employer either. It was not at all uncommon for Rorik to fly off the handle and get physically violent towards whichever servant was nearest.

And if all that wasn't bad enough you only got one day off every other week.

Still... it was better than being homeless and mercilessly beaten by the town guards and not having even the smallest crumb of food...

It was one of your rare days off and there just so happened to be a traveling actor's troupe in the city for the week. You had heard their performance was pretty interesting, and best of all they were doing a free performance for nothing but tips today and tomorrow. It would be set up in the town square and anyone would be able to attend. You walked into the square and stood at the edge of the crowd that had already assembled. There was a raised platform so you would be able to see okay, though hearing every detail might be an issue, but that was your fault for sleeping in a bit.

Not long after you had arrived the actors stepped onto their stage and introduced themselves. There were three of them, all men. A large muscular man named Viktor who appeared to be in his forties. He seemed gruff and grizzled, not the type you would typically expect in the theatrical arts. In stark contrast to him there was a somewhat flamboyant skinny man named Oliver who seemed to be in his mid 20s with long red hair. And the third man had an average build and medium length black hair and seemed more cold compared to the other two and looked to be around the same age as Oliver, his name was Sebastian.

The first thing they performed were some small skits that the rest of the audience really enjoyed, they didn't get such a strong reaction out of you but you still liked them. After that as a warm up they did a short play, completely with cool fire effects. It was pretty impressive how only three people managed to play such a large array of characters. And even though they had appeared gruff and cold respectively Viktor and Sebastian were very convincing in each role they played. And the costumes were simply perfect.

It was hard not to imagine being in their shoes. Traveling from city to city, trying new foods, meeting new people, getting to pretend to be someone else, always having enough money. After a few moments of fantasizing, you shook yourself out of your silly pondering and focused on enjoying the performance.

Unbeknownst to you, while you were watching the play, one of the actors was watching you. Oliver. Something about you seemed familiar, as if he had known you all his life. You captivated him, perhaps it was the rags you wore in place of shoes or your tattered clothing that reminded him of his own humble beginnings. He could tell you were daydreaming about what your life would be like if you were like them. It was plain on your face. But you really didn't know how life would be with them. The thirst for blood, skulking the shadows for a quick feed, never being able to set down roots for fear of suspicion.

They were vampires.

And if what happened next had never happened you wouldn't have had to find that out.

As you were thoroughly enjoying the performance, and Oliver was equally enjoying your eyes on him, you were suddenly smacked hard in the head. It was Rorik. And he was even less happy than usual. You cupped your head and grunted in pain.

"Why the fuck are you slacking off here!? You cannot just take your day off when one of the other peasants is sick! Take off next month, if I even fucking let you after this!!"

The shouting had caused a scene and all eyes were on you as Rorik roughly grabbed you by the arm and dragged you away. Tears streamed down your face from a combination of pain, humiliation, and frustration. You couldn't even have one day, just one, to forget your troubles.

Seeing the abuse you suffered cemented Oliver's decision. The troupe would have soon moved on for another location, but because of his previous infatuation with you now combined with seeing you abused as he once was guaranteed that he had to do something. He was sure he could convince Seb and Viktor to go along with what needed to be done. If he couldn't he would just have to push onward and do it himself.

Rorik took you to the general store, the largest of his several establishments, and shoved you in the door before leaving in a huff. You donned the uniform that you kept in the back and began another relentless shift. When it finally ended you hobbled your way to the shared shack, sobbing silently on your way. All the while being watched by three sets of eyes in the darkness. When you got to what passed for your home you washed up and went to the lump of straw you used as a bed to let the sweet void of sleep take you.

Oliver wanted to be the one to fetch you, but he also had other... "preparations" to make. He wanted to get you a little gift that he was just sure you would love. So instead it was Sebastian who was sent to get you. His ability to put people under a trance was as good as Oliver's. But it had just never been Viktor's forte. After leaving your shitty shack you began to shamble off to your job but a handsome man with cold eyes bumped into you.

"Oh hey, sorry about that."

You were going to respond but upon meeting his gaze you found yourself unable to speak. Instead you just let him take your hand and lead you towards the town square and into the outfitted wagon they used as a mobile home. It contained many props and costumes and a long cushioned bench on each side to be used as beds while traveling. Sebastian sat you down and immediately began stripping you and applying makeup before Viktor swapped in and started dressing you up in a beautiful dress. Sebastian spoke.

"We are sorry about your situation."

He brushed your cheek gently before applying a bit of blush.

"We watched you a bit and we agreed. You're going to join us. We were a bit reluctant but... Ollie convinced us..."

You could hear and understand the words but were powerless to protest under his trance. You didn't even want to. The hypnotic spell you were under muted negative emotions, so you just smiled and nodded at the nice man.

"Oliver is going to literally squeal with how pretty you look."

You smiled dumbly at that, you weren't sure why. You were a man and men did not typically wear dresses but it was nice to be thought of as pretty.

Viktor chimed in.

"Heh, yeah, he always had a thing for princesses."

"She just needs her crown."

Sebastian placed a beautiful ruby and silver tiara on you. You were still confused why they were treating you like a lady, but not enough confusion to break the spell, you just accepted it instead. Viktor explained your role.

"Hey girlypop, you're going to be in our play and your part is the princess. Don't worry, you don't have any lines to memorize."

"Yeah, just be good and act scared of the vampire and then happy when the knights come to rescue you. You can do that for us, right?"

You just smiled and nodded slightly.

"I will be playing the vampire, Ollie and Seb will be the knights."

Now that you were adorned in your princess costume Viktor and Sebastian began getting dressed in theirs.

"Oh, Vik! You remembered to tell the guards today's show was adult only right?"

Under the trance your mind vaguely wondered what was so adult about the show, but you easily pushed the thought away.

"Of course."

When Oliver came back to the others, with a box that contained the gift he had gone to get for you, he was already in his outfit. Shining plate mail that really looked authentic.

"Oh wow! She looks just so perfect, I want to take her here!"

Viktor stopped him from practically pouncing on you.

"Not yet, it'll ruin the make up! Besides, the show is about to start..."

//////////////////////

For the most part the show was a normal affair. Though quite a bit longer than the shorter plays from the day before. It started with you playing the part of a quiet melancholic princess who's somber beauty attracted the eye of a vampire lord that wanted to add you to his manor. Everything went normally until the vampire had absconded with you.

The scene after that entailed the vampire fucking the princess. And he did just that, right in front of the audience. He hitched up your dress, slathered your hole in lube and took some time to stretch you out with a couple of fingers, and then slid his cock right up into you for everyone in the crowd to see. As you were instructed you acted scared of the vampire, some of your real confusion and fear bubbling up to the surface. The audience loved your "performance", they could almost believe that you were really being held against your will and ravaged by the big bad vampire. Many of them openly masturbated at the lewd display before them, jerking their cocks or slipping fingers into their cunts as you cried and struggled and pleaded for help, not knowing or caring that you weren't a willing participant.

Though you were frightened and disoriented you weren't completely under your own will and Viktor's cock also fit into you perfectly and you couldn't help but to begin whimpering in pleasure and arching your back in need, pressing your ass back against him with each of his thrusts into you. It didn't take very much of this for your cock to twitch as you came, and it didn't take him very long after to fill you with his seed. You were in a complete daze now, barely aware of what was going on.

After showing your leaking hole to the audience your knights in shining armor showed up to rescue you from the foul blood-sucker. Sebastian "slayed" him by "stabbing" him with his mighty "sword". He fucked Viktor's face hard, to much cheering by the audience.

Now the two valiant knights carried you away from his lair. Oliver was the first to speak to you.

"Fair princess, we have rescued you! Wouldn't you like to show us a token of your appreciation?"

He looked into your eyes and pulled you further into the hypnosis. You really believed you were a princess that had been saved by a violent monster. He kissed you passionately and you returned the gesture. He removed the bottom half of his costume and guided your head to his throbbing cock, the slight musk hitting your nose before you engulfed his entire length in your warm and eager mouth.

As you were bent over sucking Oliver, Sebastian lifted up your dress and slowly pressed his cock into you, using Viktor's left over load as lube. He said some cheesy line about the princess' royal hole being very tight. You weren't really paying much attention, you were more focused on the distracting sensation of Sebastian fucking into you as Oliver gently thrust in and out of your perfect wet mouth as you continued to suck his cock. Oliver felt as though he must be in heaven, he didn't last too terribly long. How could he possibly last while you looked up at him with your lips around his dick while he felt every little murmur and twitch of pleasure being caused by Sebastian?

Sebastian lasted longer since he had already fucked Viktor's face, you came before he did while Oliver praised you for taking it so well and peppered you with kisses. Your cock throbbed and dribbled semen as he did so. When Sebastian finally finished inside of you the "knights" cleaned you up and the play wrapped up with the implication that you'd be taken back to the castle and all was well. The audience clapped, those who weren't still one handed due to masturbating. 

The vampires took you back to their spacious wagon, they had you seated comfortably before Sebastian ended the spell he had you under.

"Wh-what the hell!? Why did I do all that stuff? Why am I here? How'd you make me do all that?"

You were understandably confused and disoriented. You had a somewhat fuzzy memory of everything they had you do. All the sex in the play. Having you here alone. Just what were they and what were they after? The door to the wagon was being blocked by the muscular one, Viktor. So you couldn't just run off. Oliver was excited to talk to you.

"We saved you! You were a damsel in distress so we heroically rescued you from that vile man! Now you can be treated like a proper princess~"

The weirdo kept talking as if you were a woman. It may have made you blush if you hadn't been so traumatized by what they did to you on stage. The whole town would know within hours. It was the most humiliating violation that you had ever endured.

"Y-you drugged me somehow! Or used witchcraft! You're disgusting rapists, just let me go!"

Oliver looked dejected. It looked like Sebastian was about to yell at you but Oliver started talking again. He held out a large box that was all wrapped up for you. He stuttered and stammered, in denial about the words you had for him.

"Y-you're just shy... maybe I should have taken things slower for such a reserved l-lady. I'm sorry. B-but you'll love us, okay? I promise! We will take good care of you, I even got you a gift to commemorate our new relationship..."

You took it and began unwrapping it, not really seeing any other option.

"I'm not a girl! Stop calling me th-"

You were shocked into silence when you saw what was in the box. The bloody decapitated head of Rorik... You reeled back in shock and rolled to the floor. Oliver looked at you like a proud pet cat that was presenting you with its kill. Viktor looked away at the scene and Sebastian had his face in his palm.

"You like it right? I punished him and made him hurt a bunch for you~ Y-you like me now right?"

Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ollie, I told you, most people don't like dead things as gifts... they like flowers and shit like that..."

Oliver sniffled and looked as if he might cry after considering Sebastian's words and seeing the terror on your face.

"Please just let me go, I promise not to tell anyone..." You barely managed to squeak the words out.

Oliver began crying at your insistence to be released while the other two ignored you and tried to cheer up their partner. Oliver grabbed you and pulled you into his lap while you struggled. His grip was like iron. He kept muttering something about being sorry and how he'd get you flowers and make you the happiest lady ever while nuzzling you. You were only getting ever more panicked so Sebastian calmed you down with another dose of hypnotism. It was strong enough to make you enjoy Oliver's touches and reciprocate by leaning into his chest.

"We... may have have messed up by having sex with her so soon... not everyone enjoys being on stage I guess... should have gone slower. Let's just keep them enthralled while she gets to know us! See Ollie? She already stopped struggling."

"Yeah Oliver, just give your little doll time to adjust. Moving in with her new boyfriends is a big step in a relationship. Once you turn her she'll probably be so grateful that she'll be obsessed with us!"

Oliver was convinced. He would just be patient. You could be turned by morning.

"Yeah, you'll love being a vampire! It isn't so fun not being able to stay in one place for very long, and of course blood takes some getting used to... but it's so much better than what you were dealing with and you have us with you too! You'll see we are your heroes and then we'll make love allllll day, it'll be amazing."

Vampires? That should have set alarm bells off in your head, but it didn't. Probably because you were "enthralled" as Sebastian mentioned. Vampires were considered very rare, is that really what they were...? As if on cue, Oliver sank his fangs into your neck. You flinched but then moaned softly. All Oliver had to do was drain you nearly to death then feed you some of his own blood. If he sired you it would give the two of you a special bond and you'd be much more likely to love him.

You clung to him as you faded into unconsciousness, he laid you down carefully and bit his wrist, he allowed a few drops of blood to drip into your mouth. To say he was excited would have been an understatement. He finally had a pretty girlfriend he could dress up like a living doll and bounce on his cock. And he sired you, so not only would you share a soul bond, but you would also still be susceptible to his hypnotism, should he ever need it.

If you ever resisted him he would just subtly change your outlook on things and overtime you would genuinely fall for all three of them. Oliver and Sebastian watched you rest as the vampirism took hold while Viktor went to the front of the wagon to begin the journey to the next town, you would never see your hometown again.

[miss-conjayniality]

♡ SUB!ENHYUNGLINE AS SERVICE TOPS ♡

genre: smut (+ fluff)

pairing: sub!enhyungline x femdom!reader

word count: 2930

warnings: mommy kink (heeseung), cuddlefucking (heeseung), face sitting/face riding (heeseung & jay), daddy kink (jay), mistress x servant/slave (jake), reader wears bdsm attire (jake), bootlicking/foot fetishism (jake), mentions of rope play and chastity cages (sunghoon), slight objectification of all four of them if ya squint, overall themes of power dynamics (i made all four of them extreme simps for reader), reader is afab and uses fem gendered terms

A/N: god….this took fucking FOREVERRRR to finish. I had to rewrite jake’s section SEVERAL times cuz it was harder than expected to combine mistress kink with soft subby service tops. It’s ironic because you’d think that such a pairing is a walk in the park to write about. but the reason it was difficult is because mistress is normally depicted as such a ‘hardcore’ kink while service tops mainly operate in the realm of ‘softness’. funny enough…after overcoming the severe writer’s block i had for jake, i now feel very inspired to write an in-depth fic about jake’s portion.

heeseung.

heeseung is such a shy, sweet little thing. so sensitive. he’d do anything for mommy. whenever he isn’t being a mischievous brat, he’s the most soft-spoken sweetheart ever. he’s head over heels for you. he’s super affectionate and always wants to cuddle with you. there isn’t a single moment where he doesn’t want his arms wrapped around you (or your arms around him). heeseung loves the warmth of your embrace and believes it to be the most magical place on earth.

he’s a loving, caring boyfriend who admires all that you do for him. the dictionary definition of a gentleman. he too wants to give back to you tenfold. heeseung is the kind of man who will beg and plea to please you. he’s eager to make you happy and is drawn to the thought of you using him as your pleasure dispenser. he just wants you to feel good :( there’s no feeling in the world he loves more than seeing his stunning mommy flooded with all the orgasms she deserves. pleasing you is what pleases him.

heeseung is the epitome of a soft sub 🥺 he’s a very attentive and receptive lover. he’s yearning to get his hands on you whenever he can. he loves seeing your expressions whenever you’re getting pleasured by him. and if he ever detects any form of discomfort from you, he stops.

he’s the type to get very soft, mushy, and cuddly and would totally be into cuddlefucking. showering his mommy with so much love and appreciation. and even crying when cuddlefucking because he’s just so thankful to have a lover like you.

“thank you, mommy. thank you for taking care of me. for loving and respecting me. for showing me what real love is, and so much more. you deserve the entire universe.”

heeseung seems like he’d be highkey into face-sitting. it gives him the opportunity to inundate you with bliss while also fulfilling some of his softer masochist thoughts. he wants you to fuck his face until he can’t think coherent thoughts anymore. he’d moan so much under you that you feel the sensations of his whines up your pussy.

“mommy can you pleeeeease sit on my face?”

his desperate pleas continue, “I so desperately wanna get a taste of you while you suffocate me with your pretty pussy. please i need it so much. it’s killing me. it’s all I’ve been wanting all day”

it’s hard to resist the pull of your lover’s desires. heeseung is such a good boy to you. after all, who could possibly resist his dreamy doe eyes? you’ve teased him enough with the distance and finally start giving into the relieved tension. as the two of you are about to head to bedtime, heeseung has a different type of “bed” time in mind. one that involves less sleeping, and more pussy eating.

jay.

i will FOREVERRRRRRRR stand by the submissive dilf!jay agenda!!!!!! he’s the epitome of a simp husband who loves his wife deeply. he has his bratty moments occasionally. but 90% of the time, jay is suuuuuuch a good daddy for his little princess. jay lives to serve you. on every level. making sure you always feel safe, protected, and cared for. he loves preparing mouth-watering açaí bowls for you, giving you foot rubs while you sip the delicious mango smoothie he made for you, letting you use his credit card to buy those pretty n’ pink satin VS robes that have been on your wishlist for a while, carry all your luxury shopping bags while you strut like a bad bitch on the way to his car, have spa days with you, do each others’ makeup and play dress up, and of course….follow your every command.

princess gets what princess wants. all jay wants is for his princess to be happy 🥺 he can’t stand seeing you sad or mad. if you wanna be eaten out or have multiple orgasms, jay will happily let you use him as your fucktoy. you may have many toys that he has bought for you before. toys you can use while he’s away. but no “toy” could ever compare to jay himself. he himself is THEE sex toy. his hair. his chiseled face. his toned, honey-glazed, dusky body. his calming voice accompanied by his smooth moans. his delicious intoxicating cock. the way he so greedily eats you out and fingers you. the way he kisses your entire body and worships it like a goddess. your pleasure is his pleasure. that’s the mantra he goes by. you’re the star of the show.

you may seem like a perky n’ chirpy bimbo at first glance (which you are, of course 😚💅🏼). but beware. there’s so much more to you than that. you may be the living personification of pink glitter, but you’re also lethal & deadly. jay may be the physically stronger one of you two, but you’re the psychologically stronger one. therefore, you dominate him just off emotions alone. just a simple “please daddy? 🥺” with a puppy dog pout is enough to have him at your whim because a good daddy is one who submits to his princess. good daddies follows their princess’ orders and spoils her with all their might.

you really inspire him to open up (both his feelings AND his legs). the moment he opened up to you about being a submissive, he initially felt a wave of embarrassment. after all, who could possibly ever expect a cold, chic, manly gentleman like jay to even consider being a sub? you’d be surprised. once he heard you express approval of such a kink on him, it felt like a breath of fresh air. it’s not easy to become vulnerable about such a thing.

jay never believed in conforming to traditional norms of masculinity where the man is an obnoxious chest thumping caricature who thinks that being “dominant” is the only way to be masculine. he believes a truly masculine man is one who has the guts to be vulnerable and make bold, unorthodox decisions that go against the grain of what society expects from men. he’s well aware of his hot daddy dilf essence. but he isn’t your conventional daddy. no - he’s a submissive daddy. a daddy who serves the princess and gives her that ‘princess treatment’ she deserves.

as jay kisses and caresses your entire body, he showers you with praise and observes your expressions closely.

“princess, you have the most gorgeous body to ever exist and I want to take in every bit of it,” he vocalizes as he fingers you. “sometimes, it’s hard for me to believe that i’m in the presence of a lovely lady like you. daddy always wants to be good for you.”

his fingers penetrate deeper and his gaze darkens as he sees the sly smirk forming on your face.

“even when i’m at work, all i can ever think about is how my pretty princess is feeling. you deserve to be spoiled. don’t ever listen to anyone who shames you for being a spoiled brat or gold digging whore. they misunderstand the love we have for each other”

jay takes the fingers out of your pussy and replaces them with his mouth instead. the tent in his pants only grows stiffer and inundates his mind further. your heat possesses him to submission and he gets absolutely lost in your dripping slick.

“a good husband always submits to his wife. and i take great pride in submitting to such a bedazzling pretty princess like you.”

as he attacks your pussy with his sweet, loving kisses, he innocently looks up at you with the cutest pout ever and asks, “p-princess….am I p-….pleasing you right?” 🥺

jake.

jake is the sweetest, most wholesome boyfriend ever. he has the most heartwarming love for physics, dogs, his family, his friends, and of course……YOU - his mistress. he’s a nerdy little simp who caters to your every whim. all the other nerds envy him for having a drop dead gorgeous gf like you.

jake’s unwavering adoration for you shines through in every gesture and word. his chirpy demeanor is the most endearing quality about him and you think he’s the absolute cutest because of that. he possesses the kind of cuteness that makes you want to pinch his cheeks and shower him with kisses. you love him with all your heart and he loves you tenfold.

in vulnerable moments, jake finds solace in your embrace, relishing the safety and security that your presence provides. he trusts you implicitly, surrendering himself completely to your care and guidance. your approval means everything to him, and he achingly seeks to earn it through unwavering devotion and obedience.

can he be a brat? certainly. jake has his moments when he likes being tamed by his ruthless, sexy mistress. but the majority of the time, he’s mistress’ good little boy.

despite his “nerdy” tendencies, jake possesses a mischievous streak that emerges when he wants attention from his mistress. he might playfully tease you or engage in witty banter, reveling in the opportunity to provoke a reaction from you. yet, beneath his playful facade lies a deep-seated need to be controlled by you. he is a slave to your desires.

throughout your relationship, jake’s submissive nature became increasingly intertwined with his geeky identity. he has a borderline scientific obsession with your body and wants to know everything there is to know about it. he’s longing to discover what pleases you and how to best serve the needs of his mistress.

his love for you is like the gravitational pull of a black hole – inescapable and infinitely powerful. every moment with you feels like a scientific discovery, unraveling the mysteries of love and desire. your dominion is his north star. it guides him through the darkness and into a place of boundless subservience.

servitude is jake’s middle name. his respect for you extends beyond mere words and gestures. he delights in showering you with thoughtful gifts, whether it’s a handcrafted origami flower or a meticulously prepared home-cooked meal. each gesture is a testament to his boundless affection and desire to make you feel cherished.

one might assume that a wholesome nerd like him isn’t into anything freakish or wild. however, the opposite actually rings true. after all…he IS a scorpio man….

you see, jake has a HUGE weakness for you in black leather, latex, pvc, etc. because he knows that once you’re in your kinky attire, there’s no going back. i could totally envision jake being into something like bootlicking. picture this - you sitting on edge of the bed with your pretty OTK black leather boots on, and he licks those boots from the top of the knee all the way to the bottom.

or even better…..you going, “jakeyyy I need help putting on these boots 🥺👉🏼👈🏼”. and jake, being the servile prince he is, is more than willing to take the time tie every intricate knot of your boots. it’s a sensual sight for both of you. he’d also love to do the same thing with your other bdsm attire like fishnets, corsets, etc. because he adores “helping” you put them on.

jake is definitely a body worship guy. he wants his mistress to know how beautiful she is and how much he loves her. he wants you to know he’s always there to pamper you when you need it. all soft and kissy. 🥺 to him, just your mere presence is orgasmic. he feels that the moment you’re scantily clad, his brain is scrambled. even when you aren’t touching each other, you dominate him on a deep, emotional, symbolic level. he’s deeply fixated on you. it’s as if you casted a spell or induced deep hypnosis on him. something about you makes him want to obey you and carry out all your wishes. through it all, jake remains your loyal companion and devotee.

as jake finishes tying every lace to your sexy OTK leather boots, he adorably looks up at you, welcomed by your sultry, penetrating gaze.

“embracing my role as the slave to your desires ignites a spark within me that surpasses the excitement of any laboratory experiment,” he declares as he hugs and kisses your boots, “and i am more than eager to undergo every trial and test in your presence.”

jake begins the bootlicking from the bottom up, his sly smirk never leaving his face. the way he so confidently makes eye contact with you while licking away drives you fucking crazy. this man is so freaky and you love it. taking his sweet time with each foot.

as he makes his way up to your knees, he kisses and caresses them both with gentle, tender softness. “with every command you issue, you rewrite the laws of my existence, molding me into the perfect servant for you, my mistress.”

sunghoon.

don’t be fooled by his intimidating, stone cold front. because beneath it all, sunghoon has THEE softest, mushiest heart ever. he rarely falls in love. but whenever he does, he falls HARD. and you were the one who shook his world and lit up his universe. sunghoon is often afraid to display such a raw, vulnerable side of him to others. after all, love is tough and scary. and sunghoon’s personality is widely misunderstood by others. there’s more to the surface than you’d expect.

but something about you makes him want to unveil himself bit by bit - both figuratively and literally. you make sunghoon want to surrender himself to you. he will move the earth and sky for you and is merely putty in your hands. he’s protective of you like a knight & shining armor with his queen. he will treat his lover like a living deity. he views you as a goddess and is the type of man to get down on his knees for you, hug your legs, and bow down to you the same way ancient civilizations revered goddesses. that’s the level of power you possess over him.

in your presence, sunghoon’s tough exterior melts away like ice in the sun. you become the center of his universe, your light guiding his every step. he finds solace in your embrace, comfort in your presence, and strength in your love. with you, he discovers a vulnerability he never knew existed, yet he embraces it willingly, knowing that you hold his heart with the utmost care. your influence over him is undeniable, like a force of nature bending to your will. sunghoon becomes not just a lover, but a devoted servant to your happiness, ready to move mountains and cross oceans to ensure your well-being.

sunghoon is such a simp for you in a way that would leave heejayke shocked. so much to a level where it’d put soft boyfriend heeseung, submissive dilf jay, and geeky simp jake to shame. they’d never expect someone like him to get so lovesick. they’re so used to his icy facade that they’re unaware of the fire beneath. it takes a special type of person to awaken that out of him. no one could ever foresee such an esteemed man of logic and restraint behave so irrationally for you.

goddess - that’s what sunghoon addresses you as. because it’s true! your dual nature of being kind & nurturing, yet fierce and ruthless is reminiscent of how ancient goddesses could bless or hex you in an instant. it’s what he respects about you. you possess the depth and breadth of the divine feminine. whenever he looks at you, he sees you as someone who commands respect.

and i just KNOW he’s one of those subs who repeatedly says “thank you thank you thank you” over and over when inundated by pleasure from his beloved. 😢 sometimes he feels guilty for receiving it all because first and foremost, he gets off on getting you off.

sunghoon is intrigued by the idea of you with black heels, stockings, a short skirt, etc. while those big, buff, beautiful arms are tied behind his back and you pull him in to suck your pussy. he likes when he’s fully naked and you’re (somewhat??) clothed. it puts on a specific power dynamic that he very well gets off of. he’s willing to bare it all for you, both symbolically and literally. sunghoon is totally the type to cry happy tears of gratitude while he messes with your pussy. he loves it when you have your way and you do whatever you want to him.

he gets off on situations where he can’t touch himself but he can touch you. such as his arms tied back as mentioned earlier, OR a chastity cage so that he doesn’t jerk off while he gets you off. you honestly don’t mind if he jerks off while pleasuring you. you find it hot. but he insists on the resistance anyways because he believes that such a buildup leads to a more intense climax for both of you later on.

just imagine….him with a sweet, pouty face and his loving words towards you as he kisses your thighs and dives into your slick with his lips…..

“mmm…m-my beautiful love goddess,” he cries. “thank you. thank you so much. i am all yours. i exist just for your pleasure. i hope you realize how much I love you. you’re my everything.”

tears start dripping down his eyes because of the immense gratitude he feels for you. the act of eating you out gets him into a deep trance. once he starts, he just can’t stop.

“goddess….your existence is a blessing. i worship you because your presence illuminates my world. i surrender completely to you, devoted to fulfilling your every desire.”

[johnbrand]

Bonding

“I still can’t believe you were trying to hypnotize me,” Corey chuckled, his slightly-dazed brother-in-law sitting across from him on the floor. “What were you trying to get out of me anyway?”

The evening had started out innocently enough. Corey and Paul had gotten along decently in the past. Friendly, but never true friends. They just did not have that much in common. Paul’s life was complex, eccentric, and filled with sexual adventures. Corey, nor Paul’s sister whom he had recently married, had any problems with this, although it was hard for them to relate to. They were settling down, taking pleasure in the simpler things in life.

“I was just hoping to…hoping to…” Paul was struggling, caught between holding back and fully surrendering to Corey.

“Look back into my eyes and relax, Paul,” Corey calmly instructed. “Let that relaxation continue to take over. Let me be the one in charge now. You are willing to give your power to me.”

While the differences between the two existed, both Corey and Paul did truly wish to become better friends. So when Paul had asked to come over on a night his sister was not there, to just have dinner and bond, Corey eagerly accepted. The two had a great meal, talked on a variety of topics, and for some reason had eventually wound up in the bedroom. It was there Paul had tried to hypnotize Corey, but his brother-in-law could have never known Corey was much more experienced in the craft then he was. Paul was under before he even realized the tables had been turned.

Watching Paul’s eyes flutter once more, Corey pushed back the question. “Why were you trying to hypnotize me tonight, Paul?”

Paul’s response was robotic: “I was hoping to convert you.”

“'Convert me’?” Corey repeated.

“You know...make you gay,” Paul clarified, still entranced.

“And why would you want that?”

“So then you could be mine,” Paul uttered. "Bonding like...sexually...as lovers..."

Corey took a moment to process this. A little stunned, but also somehow not surprised. It was a common stereotype for straight men to believe that gay men lusted for them, and Corey was coming to realize he may have actually been a part of this trope. Corey did not know whether to be flattered or offended. It was endearing that his brother-in-law thought of him in such a manner, but also cruel that Paul attempted to manipulate him. And now that Corey knew of Paul’s knowledge of hypnotization, he feared another victim could appear in the future.

“Paul, let me repeat back to you what you just told me.” Carefully, Corey kicked out his feet, removing his socks to let them breathe a bit. He brought up one of the socks to his nose, confirming they would be a potent enough trigger to keep Paul under. 

“You were hoping for me to convert you.” Corey stated this rather than posing a question, forcing Paul to absorb it as a new truth.

“...yes…” Paul mumbled. “...you…convert me…”

“Those weren’t feelings of lust, but of admiration,” Corey continued. “You don’t want to like me, you want to be like me.”

Paul processed this new truth, “I want to…I want to be like you.”

Corey smiled. He could have never predicted for this situation to have arisen from tonight’s activities, but he assumed that it could still be considered “bonding,” seeing as Paul was about to learn, rather take in a lot about his brother-in-law.

With his wife gone for the whole weekend, Corey had plenty of time to work with Paul. Rewriting Paul’s background came first, and luckily Corey already knew a good deal of it from being married to Paul’s sister. Starting from childhood, Corey worked his way up through adolescence. A Halloween costume from age 7 switched from a wizard to a train conductor. An after school activity at age 10 was switched from the community choir to baseball. Age 16 replaced a Toyota Prius with a Camry, Age 17 art elective to woodshop, Age 18 private liberal arts college to public university. It was a delicate process, but as Corey removed integral portions of Paul’s history and supplanted them with his own, the progress became visible.

During the early stages, it was mostly physical adaptations as Paul’s pubescent stages were rewritten to mimic his brother-in-law’s. Longer legs gave him more height, a history in sports put some meat on his bones, a love for bars over clubs put some hair on his chest–and just about everywhere else. 

By the time Corey began restructuring Paul’s twenties, the visible changes became less apparent. The designer, patterned dress shirt and matching pants Paul adorned were dialed down to neutral, off-the-rack colors as one-off production jobs were replaced with a steady accounting gig. Random male strangers to long-term heterosexual relationships added a little softness over Paul’s abs and inched his hairline back to match Corey’s. And from recently renewing a lease in the city to recently placing a down payment in the suburbs, Corey proudly watched as a fluffy beard sprung forth from Paul’s face, just like his own. Corey would not be surprised if others would now assume the pair were brothers, not brothers-in-law.

“Now, I’m going to put away my feet, Paul.” Corey’s funk had fumed up the room. He already knew his wife would complain about it once she arrived back home. “But from now on, when I present you with my feet, you will immediately go back under again, do you understand?”

While mentally still a bit slow, Paul confirmed by presenting his own, now giant feet to Corey. “Your feet…at your command…”

“Good.” With that, Corey was quick with the cleanup process, reminding Paul that all the changes were permanent, he did not know how to hypnotize people nor would ever learn how to, and that he would not remember any of what they had just done together. Their weekend had just been spent bonding after all, drinking beers and complaining about women. Just two brother-in-laws becoming better brothers.

[smartkookiee]

Wounds We Never Show // Prologue: Before It All —jjk.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭

❥pairing: Jungkook x Reader (she/her, afab) ❥genre/rating: 18 + explicit content, enemies to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, these two really do hate each other ❥chapter warnings: Fighting (verbal), swearing, mutual hate ❥word-count: 2.4k ❥Series Masterlist ❥ || Next Chapter fic is cross posted to ao3 - send an ask or comment on post to be added to the tag list

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭

Your final together was tomorrow, after a month of painfully hard work it would finally be over. Except you hadn’t heard from Jungkook  this week at all. From what you can tell he seemed to finish all of his portion of the work. You on the other hand, due to some finals, were a little behind but you had no doubts that you would be able to catch up. 

Not hearing from Jungkook did have you somewhat concerned. 

You both were normal last week but this week radio silence. You had texted him just keeping him updated on the progress of your work. You choked it up to him probably being swamped with his own work, and his own projects for other classes. So you tried not too worry. 

You sent one more text, anxiety rising with each passing minute.

:hey sorry to text you again. I’m just checking in! I should be able to finish in the next hour or two, so don’t worry.

:we are going to kill this presentation in the morning.

May have been a touch late to texting someone, it was 1:30 in the morning. You didn’t care though, he had texted you at like two in the morning before. So, you figured he’d forgive you.

But the second you sent the text.

The lights and your laptop had switched off. You sat in completely darkness. Suddenly the emergency lights shown by your door. You turned on your flashlight. Your laptop was old so your power being out means that you don’t have a laptop to work on. You made your way to the hall where some others had gathered. Asking what had happened.

Your RA eventually came up to your floor and told everyone not to worry, they were going to have the power on soon and to stay in our rooms for now. That we would get some text updates. You decided to not panic yet, soon after you did get a text saying that their was a an on campus outage and the problem would be resolved soon.

“Seriously?” you muttered, going back into your room. You texted Jungkook again.

:hey sorry I swear this is the last one, power in my dorm is out.

:and you know how my laptop is, so I have to wait until the power comes back.

:still going to kill it tomorrow!

Forty-five agonizing minutes later, the power finally returned. You rushed back to your laptop, praying everything was still there. But when you opened your document, it was blank. Completely empty.

“No,” you whispered, frantically searching for any backup.

Your entire month of work was gone. You tried finding a previous version, but there was nothing. Not on your hard drive, not in your email, not even a single backup copy. Every word, every citation, every carefully crafted paragraph—vanished. Except... Jungkook might have a copy.

You grabbed your phone and called him, your fingers trembling. Voicemail. You called again, and it rang once before going straight to voicemail again.

“Jungkook, pick up. Something happened. I need you to call me back.”

Panic set in as you scoured every corner of your computer. Desperate, you even checked old drafts and random notes on your phone, but there was nothing. Your heart sank. You called Jungkook two more times, but there was still no answer.

You were going to have to start over.

You knew the material—you’d been working on it every day for a month—but rewriting it from memory was going to be a nightmare. You took a deep breath, steeling yourself, and started typing. Every minute felt like an hour, but you pushed through. Tiredness clawed at you, and your eyes stung from the screen’s glare, but there was no other option.

Five hours later, you finally finished. The paper was nowhere near perfect, but it was something. A B, maybe a C at best, but it was better than nothing. Exhaustion overtook you the second you hit save, and you collapsed into bed.

It felt like only a second had passed when your eyes snapped open. You scrambled for your phone, the panic setting in again.

10:05 AM.

Ten missed texts and three missed calls from Jungkook.

“No!” You leapt out of bed, pulling on the first clothes you found, emailing the paper to yourself while sprinting out the door. You raced across campus, nearly tripping as you weaved through students, your breath burning in your lungs. By the time you reached the classroom, the hallway was filled with students leaving.

You pushed through the door, your hair a mess, sweat dripping down your forehead.

“Shit, no, no, please.” You spotted your professor leaving and tried to push your way forward, only to be blocked by Jungkook.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” he sneered as you stumbled in, breathless and disheveled.

“Jungkook--” you began, but he cut you off.

“Where the hell have you been? Why weren’t you here?” His voice was icy, and he took a menacing step toward you, making you step back.

“I—I fell asleep!” You stammered, tears welling up. Your exhaustion was really hitting you, and you couldn’t hold them in, “Did you see my texts? My calls? My voicemails?”

“Texts and calls don’t mean shit if you’re not here!” he snapped. “You’re acting like you care, but you clearly don’t. You’ve been flaky this entire time.”

“Jungkook, that’s not fair—”

“Not fair?” he cut in, voice rising. “Maybe you did this on purpose! Maybe you’ve been plotting to screw me over!”

The accusation hit hard. “Are you seriously accusing me of sabotaging you? I’ve worked my ass off for this project!”

Jungkook’s eyes were cold. “And where were you when it mattered? You think your excuses are enough? Friends don’t disappear.”

The recent reconciliation between the both of you now dissolving on the ground between the both of you. You both had taken huge strides to become friends despite your resistance.

“Friends don’t accuse each other of being petty schemers!” you shot back, the anger surging. “I’ve been working all night to fix this, and you’re just throwing all my effort back in my face!”

“Maybe I’m tired of your games,” Jungkook retorted, his voice dripping with contempt. “Maybe David was right about you. Maybe he was right that this is something you do.”

David, your ex-boyfriend. Who had manipulated so many people into believing that you were crazy, when he had cheated on you multiple times. What hurt worse? Jungkook knew all of this, knew that David was an asshole. Knew that David was an awful person who lied every time he spoke.

Now he was throwing it in your face, what the hell was wrong with him?

The sting of his words was unbearable. “How dare you! I trusted you to be reasonable. You said you believed me when it came to what David said about me. How dare you throw that in my face! I came here ready to explain, ready to make things right. But you’re too busy being a jackass to listen.”

“I may be a jackass but at least I can be relied upon.” he said quietly, almost dismissively.

The words cut deeper than any knife. “You know what? I don’t need to defend myself to someone who’s already made up their mind. You’re not worth the effort, since you are so quick to blame others. You’re just like David after all.”

You turned away, feeling tears spill down your face. You walked away, not looking back. You had to save your grades, even if it meant cutting ties with Jungkook for good. Didn’t really matter, you two didn’t know each other that well anyways.

You found your professor, explained everything through your tears, and showed him the evidence. He listened, though his sympathy couldn’t override the rules. He allowed you to submit your rewritten paper but couldn’t let you do the presentation. He promised to grade fairly but couldn’t guarantee a good mark.

You received a D. It was lower than you hoped but enough to pass. Jungkook, however, failed, delaying his graduation.

You felt a grim satisfaction, but the bitterness lingered. The loss of the friendship gnawed at you, even if you hated him. You’d never see him again, and you were more than okay with that.

That was five years ago now.

The memory lingered as fresh and raw as ever. You had moved on, grown, and carved out a space where Jungkook’s existence didn’t matter. That was until you became friends with Melanie, who in every sense of the word was your best friend. Though, because fate is a funny thing, she fell in love with Namjoon. Namjoon’s closest friend was none other than Jungkook.

That relationship kept you and Jungkook in each other's lives for longer than either of you had cared for.

Forcing the two of you back into each other’s orbit. That also meant facing Jungkook repeatedly, each time resulting in fights so venomous you wondered how Melanie and Namjoon put up with it. So many clashes over so many years, so many attempts by mutual friends proved futile in bringing the both of you together. Eventually, everyone gave up and just made sure to never have the two of you in a room together.

Now with Namjoon and Melanie’s engagement, a wedding loomed around the corner.

You leaned against the kitchen counter, mind still reeling from the past. The fallout from that final class had changed everything. Every time you saw Jungkook since then, it was an instant—words turned to daggers, and every conversation became a battlefield. Neither of you ever backed down; pride kept you both locked in a bitter stalemate.

“Just a heads-up,” Melanie said, breaking you out of your thoughts. She hesitated, eyes flicking away as if bracing for impact. “I know how you two feel about each other, but he’s Namjoon’s best friend.”

You knew what was coming, but you still grimaced. “Don’t tell me.”

Melanie sighed. “Jungkook is his best man.”

You clenched your jaw, the anger bubbling up instantly. You had known this was inevitable, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. “Of course, he is.”

Melanie’s living room felt unusually tense, the soft glow of the evening sun doing little to warm the atmosphere. Melanie had always been the bridge between you and Jungkook—constantly trying to keep the peace, but it was becoming increasingly clear that this time was different. You couldn’t just show up, exchange a few biting remarks with Jungkook, and call it a day. This was her wedding. This was the culmination of everything she’d dreamed of, and she deserved your best effort.

Melanie took a deep breath, her stern expression softening just slightly. “I know it’s a big ask, and I wouldn’t push it if I didn’t have to. But Namjoon and Jungkook—they’ve been through so much together. He’s not just a friend to Namjoon; he’s like a brother. And I need you both to make this work.”

You nodded, feeling the weight of her words. Melanie was trying to keep the peace, but the sadness in her eyes was unmistakable. She had seen you and Jungkook tear each other down time and again. Seeing the tears you shed over the times he would hit the nail on the head, and say something that went too far. Held you back from starting a physical altercation with him.

Each encounter was more bitter than the last, and every argument chipped away at the thin veneer of civility you both clung to.

“I promise,�� you said, your voice steady despite the resentment simmering underneath. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Melanie’s lips twitched into a small smile, but her eyes remained cautious. “Thank you. And I mean it, no half-hearted attempts. I need rainbows and kindness coming out of both of your asses.”

You laughed despite yourself, appreciating the way Melanie could still inject humor into even the most awkward of situations. “Got it. Rainbows and kindness. I’ll bring a whole damn unicorn if that’s what it takes.”

“Good, I don’t know what I would do if we had another new years situation.” Although it was years ago, that was probably the worst fight you and Jungkook had. The things that were said and the drink you dumped on him are very present in your mind. Made you laugh to yourself even but it definitely caused a bot of an issues in your group.

You shook your head, feeling a familiar pang of bitterness. “Yeah that was a really low moment for me. I think because of that things between us will never change. He’s still that same arrogant jerk who can’t own up to his mistakes. And I’m done pretending I care enough to fix anything.”

“People change,” she said softly, it was something she tried to convince you of many times. “But I get it. You don’t have to be friends—you just have to coexist.”

“That, I can do,” you said firmly. “I’m not going to let him ruin this for you.”

“Thank you,” Melanie said, squeezing your hand. “I’m so happy you accepted the role. I couldn’t imagine my wedding without you there.”

“For you? Anything,” you replied, your resolve hardening. You would hold onto your promise to Melanie, no matter how much Jungkook got under your skin. This wedding was about Namjoon and Melanie, not you and whatever animosity you harbored toward Jungkook.

The room lapsed into a comfortable silence, but your mind was racing, already plotting ways to avoid Jungkook’s inevitable provocations. You pictured the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the reception—any scenario where the two of you would be forced to interact. You would keep your distance, smile politely, and not engage. If Jungkook’s presence was like a storm cloud threatening to ruin the day, you would be calm. You owed Melanie that much.

“When the wedding rolls around, I’ll keep up appearances and be civil and kind,” you said, trying to reassure not just Melanie, but yourself. “Jungkook might be the spawn of Satan, but as long as I don’t speak to him directly, everything will go perfectly.”

No amount of promises could erase the deep-seated anger you felt every time you saw his face. This time, though, you would have to bury it, if only for a weekend. You would smile through gritted teeth, hold your tongue when he inevitably said something infuriating, and pretend you were above it all.

You had months to prep yourself though. Plenty of time to make sure that nothing Jungkook could do could piss you off.

Nothing that weekend will surprise you.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭

❥ || Next Chapter

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭

[naturesapphic]

idk if you’d wanna do this or not but could you potentially write something fluffy with Billie and a gf who feels dumb all the time because she’s dyslexic and billie helps her and comforts her when she struggles?

Dyslexic

Billie eilish x dyslexic!fem!reader

Warnings: little bit of angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Everyone who was in your life knew you were dyslexic. You had it growing up and you still have trouble with it today. You would get teased for it a lot when you were little and now since you were an adult. You never understood why people were so mean about it, it was just a learning disorder, but the people always made you feel extra dumb for it.

Here you were, sitting at your desk in the office of your shared house with your girlfriend, working on a class project. You were done writing your portion of the paper and sent it to the group chat. Billie was downstairs in the studio working on music. Almost immediately everyone responded, criticizing your work and how you wrote making your face heat up in embarrassment. One person even said that you were going to make them all fail if you don’t rewrite the whole paper.

You were confused but texted them back that you would look over it again. Going back to your paper you reread everything and you understood what they were talking about. What you wrote was jumbled and didn’t make sense at all. It didn’t fit what the whole project was about and you groaned out in frustration. You grabbed your paper and crumpled it up, throwing it behind you not knowing that it hit someone.

“Hey! Watch the tits bro.” Your girlfriend joked which usually made you laugh but all you let out was a little defeated sigh. “Sorry…” you apologized and you felt your chair spin around and you were face to face with your brown headed girlfriend. “Hey…you don’t need to apologize to me babe.” Billie reassured you and you just sat there staring off making Billie worry. “Okay what’s going on. You’ve been up here all day in the office and you look like you are about to pass out.” She said and you whimpered making her get down on her knees so she’s eye level with you.

“I just…I feel so stupid bils! My stupid brain and my learning disability.” You explained to her and how your partners were making you feel like shit. “Hey hey now. First of all, you aren’t stupid, second of all, they are shit heads who don’t know what they are talking about. Fuck them. You are the smartest and talented girl I know. Don’t let their peanut sized Brains make you think any differently do you understand?” Billie says and you nodded your head slowly. “I still have to write this stupid paper and on top of that I have to start completely over since I messed up.” You sigh and Billie gave you a comforting smile.

“Why don’t I read your project over and help you with your paper hm?” She suggested and you gave her a big smile. “Would you please? I don’t get it whatsoever and I feel like my head is gonna explode.” You explained and she giggles. “I know baby but how about I read it over and rewrite it to where you can understand it better how’s that?” She offered and you felt your eyes burn with tears. “Oh bils…you are the sweetest ever. What did I do to deserve you?” You say as you stand up from your chair and place a kiss on her plump lips, making her kiss you back immediately.

“Okay. Now go to bed and rest. I’ll be there to join you in a bit alright?” She softly demanded you and you nodded. You walked over to the bed and got underneath the covers as you watched Billie read over the project and write down some stuff before joining you. You couldn’t ask for a better girlfriend than Billie, who never made you feel stupid or slow. She loved you as you are.

A/n: thank you for the request anon! As someone who has a learning disability this was very nice to write. Anyone who has some sort of learning disability, know that no matter what anyone says to you, you are smart and capable just like everyone else and I’m proud of you :) remember to stay hydrated and to rest! I love y’all! <3

[tobiasdrake]

FUN FACT: Did you know Frieza had a finite amount of soldiers on Namek? (And he doesn't kill his troops.)

Also Appule is kind of important and there's a clearly marked place where Goku's six-day space journey happens in the timeline?

I have a laundry list of grievances with the Dragon Ball and DBZ animes. We're here to talk about one of those right now! The Z anime gives Frieza infinitely respawning soldiers that just seem to pour out of his ship whenever he needs them.

This interferes with a key plot point of Frieza's portion of the Namekian Dragon Ball hunt: That Frieza, for all his power, is rendered helpless when his attack on Moori's village goes south.

See these guys?

These guys ruin Frieza's entire goddamn week.

Get his ass, my Namekian thembruhs.

A consistent weakness of Frieza's forces is that they fight blind. By this point in the series, characters on Earth have been taught advanced fantasy martial arts involving manipulation of ki or chi. They can concentrate ki into attacks more powerful than the wielder, sense ki in other beings and feel incoming attacks without having to see them, suppress ki to become invisible to ki detection, etc. etc.

The Earthlings are goddamn amazing at ki manipulation, and the Namekians are just as good.

But Frieza's Planet Trade Organization represents the uncaring hand of capitalism. There is no artistry in their methods. There is no true discipline or understanding. They're a bunch of paid thugs with guns, looking to gentrify planets for their boss: a real estate mogul. So they rely on fallible technology that fails time and time again when put up against experienced martial artists.

The battle at Muri's village is no exception, as Frieza's forces get slaughtered by the "harmless" interlopers.

With only the elites vaguely understanding, from second-hand accounts, what they're seeing here.

Which, in turn, gives Muri the opening he needs to cripple Frieza's campaign by destroying the Scouters they're using to track down Namekian villages.

This is Muri's checkmate. Muri destroys the Scouters, the technology Frieza relies on to find Namekian villages on this planet and take their Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, his reinforcements wipe out Frieza's army.

That guy right is the only survivor of the massacre.

This is Appule. If you've ever wondered why Appule was so important that he got to be his own distinct character in Tenkaichi 3, this is why. Appule is the last grunt left standing.

Though Dodoria makes short work of the Namekian warriors, the damage is done. Frieza's lost his Scouters and he's out of manpower. He's going to have to fan his men out to search the planet, a planet larger than Earth, by looking around with their eyes. And the only men he has left to do that are Zarbon, Appule, and Dodo--

...are Zarbon and Appule.

So. Y'know. Frieza is two deaths short at this point of being completely and utterly fucked sideways.

As his two remaining men set out to search, Zarbon takes great care to tell Appule not to do anything that might get him killed.

It is absolutely pivotal for Frieza's campaign that these two live. There is no one else on this planet who can do the job. It's Appule who ultimately succeeds in finding the last Namekian village.

For some reason, in their eagerness to rewrite the story so that there are far more soldiers on Namek for some reason, the anime makes this Appule's vampire cousin?

Uh. Okay, man. Sure. In any case, it's Appule who finds the village and Appule who reports its destruction to Frieza. He's not a significant character by any stretch, but you can see why he warrants a bit more name recognition than Frieza Soldier #72. He has more impact on the plot that Cui does, that's for damn sure.

Too bad about Vegeta though.

It's a lot easier for Vegeta to get away with this gambit in the manga than it is in the anime. In the anime, somehow the infinitely respawning Frieza soldiers (who he regularly kills for funsies) flooding the halls don't give away the fact that Vegeta's still here.

But with Appule dead, Zarbon and Frieza are the only people left alive in the ship. It's a lot easier to distract two people for a minute than a limitless garrison.

In the manga, this is the closest Frieza ever gets to team-killing one of his own soldiers. Once he realizes Vegeta has stolen all five of his Dragon Balls, has a sixth Dragon Ball stashed away, and is now just one Dragon Ball away from immortality while Frieza's blind and understaffed? All because Zarbon fucked up?

He says some shit.

So. Yeah. He's not above killing his men when they fuck up so bad that they cost him immortality and give his most dangerous archnemesis the means to topple his empire and end him.

But that's a much higher bar to clear than shooting down his infinitely respawning dudes because, uh....

*checks notes* With the Ginyu Force on their way, Frieza can afford to kill his own guys because the Ginyus are better than them anyway. So he keeps them all in the ship and murders them for no reason despite the fact that Vegeta is actively making off with his Dragon Balls right this second and he has no idea to where.

Yeah. That's. Uh. That's a pretty significant story difference. In any case, Frieza's campaign grinds to a screeching halt when....

That's it. That is the very last one. Frieza's campaign is sunk. Until the Ginyu Force arrives, Frieza has no forces and no resources left. He is an unbelievably powerful man, the most powerful in the universe, and the only way he could ever hope to catch up to Vegeta is by flying aimlessly around a colossal planet and looking for Vegeta with his eyes.

I've often heard people express confusion about where Goku's six-day transit is supposed to fit into the Namekian timeline. This, right here? This is it. At this moment, it's over for Frieza. For the next five days, he is soundly defeated. He's out of the race for the Dragon Balls entirely.

And the only reason Vegeta hasn't won the race is because of that one Ball Gohan smuggled away from him.

So Frieza, defeated, is forced to sit in his broken ship with his thumb up his ass and wait for reinforcement.

Vegeta, with six Dragon Balls, is forced to sit on his balls with his thumb up his ass hoping the talented martial artist Earthlings currently suppressing their ki signatures get stupid and give him something to detect - knowing that if he leaves for a second, those little shits with the Dragon Radar might scoop 'em up from under him.

While Gohan and Krillin, with ki signatures suppressed, make the five-day trek at minimum power to Saichoro/Guru.

It's here. Right here. Where everything stops for five days to pass, and for Goku to approach the planet. All because Frieza ran dry on resources and manpower to keep up the hunt.

[cypherscript]

Danny Phantom sits at a desk, papers stacked high, rubbing his face as an intense headache. There has been an alarming increase of jungle ghosts popping into the Zone and filing complaints.

"This is the last thing I need; people are coming back from the dead, rewriting the timeline, some shmuck is selling his soul like it's a pack of gum and now some human company is decimating the Amazon Rainforest to near extinction."

Stella, a fresh ghost with a space themed business suit who was his newest assistant floats into the room with more paperwork. "Here you go sir. More Amazon complaints, the ones who can recall their deaths report the gunmen had Lexcorp insignias."

"For Ancient's sake..."

"Sorry, sir."

"This is ridiculous, put a hold on any more complaints and let them know I'm stepping in now. I'm grabbing a couple of The Green ghosts and some of the Liminal in the living world. It's time to put this to an end." Phantom raises his hand, the Ring of Rage glows as a portal opens and he steps through into The Green's portion of the Zone.

***

An annoying short fight and Phantom has Undergrowth down, his blue aura flaring threateningly. Undergrowth concedes defeat from his King, "If you are here to End me, then do so. My children are screaming, uprooted and yet here I stay from your decree, my king. Unable to nurture and restore them."

"About that, you kind of jumped me before I could say anything," Phantom lowers his hand, energy dissipating into wisps, "I haven't been fair to you these last few months. I understand your purpose now and I'm here for your help."

"My help? The great King Phantom wants help from me?" Undergrowth's voice cannot hide the mirth on his face.

"I'm being swarmed by new ghost complaints about the Amazon Rainforest. I'm willing to let you out into the Living World with some other ghosts to fulfill your obsessions if you help me restore what was lost and keep the balance."

"I am... how the flesh bags say; intrigued."

"My only stipulation is that you do not kill the human locals or workers."

"...I suppose I can make do with that arrangement. Will my daughter be accompanying me?"

"Sam? I can ask but I do not believe she wants to be your daughter," Danny says as he lets Undergrowth float to his full height. "I'm also going to pick up some of the Liminal of Earth that can influence plants. I will say, the increase the undying happening should make this incredibly easy to persuade them. Gather a number of ghosts who can follow directions and meet back at the Keep."

"As you wish, my King," for once Undergrowth seemed happy to actual call him as such before bowing and flying off to gather the troops. Once more Phantom opened a portal, its swirling green and black causing shadows of the nearby trees to flicker before stepping trough onto a dirty and gloomy rooftop, rain steadily coming down across a city covered in vines and flowers with the sounds of fighting below.

[daycourtofficial]

My love should be celebrated

Pairing: Nesta Archeron x Rhysand’s Sister!reader

Summary: based on this request - you have been trying for months to help Nesta heal, catching feelings for her in the process. One night you decide to bare your feelings for her, only to be callously rejected.

Author’s note: first time writing wlw!! Please lmk how you feel about it. Also this is basically SF but with a different love interest, however I’m rewriting that Nesta lives in a hovel bc like why tf are there slums in Velaris

(1k celebration masterlist 🍾)

“Go away,” Nesta says, closing the door on your face.

“Nesta!” You yell, banging on the door again.

You didn’t hear her steps recede down the hall of her apartment or any other noise from the other side of the brown door, brass letterings spelling ‘4D’ on it.

“I brought soup!” You cringe at the desperation in your voice, but you couldn’t help it. Your thoughts had whirled and swirled of the eldest Archeron sister for months. You have no clue why - she was never close or particularly kind to you, but you always found yourself wondering how she was.

Your thoughts would redirect to her during the day.

Had she eaten?

Was she sleeping?

You could ensure she had access to food, at the very least. So you had spent the afternoon preparing several different meals - soups, dinners, lunches, fresh fruits and vegetables.

You hadn’t let yourself think about actually interacting with Nesta until after you had knocked on her door. Your thoughts weren’t able to linger too long on that as Nesta opened the door, took one look at you, and sneered out a delightful, “go away,” before shutting you out.

You sighed, “I have fruits, cheeses, I made you a ton of food, Nesta. Please at least take it in inside. It’d make me feel better to know you at least had some food available.”

Nesta opens the door, her arms crossed as she fixes an icy glare at you, “do you find me so incompetent I’m incapable of getting groceries?”

Your eyes widen, shocked at how she’d perceive this, “gods, no, Nesta. I just thought-“

“Thought what? I’m too stupid to know how to cook for myself?”

She didn’t move a muscle as she kept you in place with that icy look on her face, blonde hair in a messy braided crown, as if she had slept in it.

“No, I just-I just- I wanted you to have a nice meal,” you stammer out, feeling like an utter fool for how sour this went.

“Then why did you cook it?”

With that, she slammed the door in your face, her footsteps receding on the other side.

-

You knock on Nesta’s door again, the same place you were this time last week. This time the scenario was different.

Your brother had given her a choice: the human lands or the House of Wind.

You found it an incredibly callous choice - certain death or forced isolation, so you asked Rhysand if you could at least be there with her. He reluctantly agreed, asking you and Azriel to stay in the House of Wind, monitoring her progress.

You were at her new bedroom door, letting her know that you were about to make dinner for all three of you. If she wanted to join you and Azriel, she could, or you could bring her a serving.

You received no reply. You could hear her heart beating through the door, it’s rhythm a clear beat through the silence of her room.

You turn, heading down the stairs to prepare dinner. You and Azriel ate in a comfortable silence, discussing the day you two had, swapping notes about the books you were reading. Nesta never showed, and you left a plate for her outside her door.

A plate you saw untouched the next morning.

The next few days took the same form - you go downstairs, prepare a beeakfast for you and Nesta, leaving her serving outside her door. Then you head to the Library to work on your studies, returning to the house for lunch.

Every meal you made a large enough portion for Nesta, plated it, leaving it at her door to go untouched until the next meal was left.

After a week of this cycle, you ask Clotho if there’s any work that can be done in the library.

Yes, I could use some assistance with restocking the shelves, she wrote.

“Fantastic,” you tell her, “I have the perfect female for the job - I’ll let her know.”

And you did, later that night. Through the door you told her about the library, and how “they need someone to help stock the shelves. It’s monotonous work, but at least you’ll move around a good bit. And it’s something to do.”

You don’t hear anything, and that causes you to ramble a bit, “not that you don’t have anything to do. It’s just - the priestesses are nice and the library’s nice and you’d get to be away from me and Az. So, uh, yeah. Bye, Nes.”

After the disastrously embarrassing way you had told Nesta about helping Clotho, you had written off any chance of her doing so. You were doubly shocked to hear it from Azriel, who told you that Nesta actually helped him procure a book he required.

Another week goes by, and Nesta has been working in the library every day, and she even began attending meals with you and Azriel.

She didn’t really acknowledge your existence at them, but you tried nonetheless. Every day you tried - you tried to talk about books, about the theater, about ballets, about the history of Velaris, hell you even began trying to get her to rank the Vanserras in order of most to least fuckable.

She would hardly speak to you, except occasional taunts and jabs. It came to a head at the end of the week when Cassian began staying at the house as well, and began training Nesta and several of the priestesses.

She’d be away for most of the day, between training and her work, so you only saw her at evening meals. She had only just began training, but she seemed lighter, as if she was crawling out of the darkness.

You were proud of her, she was doing the impossible. She was getting stronger, and Cassian and Azriel said she was even making friends with some of the priestesses.

All of her progress did nothing to help the relationship between the two of you. It still stung when she would disregard you. When you’d ask her a question and she’d blatantly ignore you to speak to Azriel.

The weeks of this iciness continue, until one night in the library you’ve had enough.

“Nesta, can I speak with you about something?”

They were the first words you had spoken all day, spending the day trying to plot out this conversation to the best of your abilities.

Nesta sighs, not looking up from her book. “If it’s quick and I don’t have to do anything.”

You sit on the couch she’s sprawled out on, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Um actually I wanted to ask - why do you like Azriel and Cassian much more than you like me?”

Nesta scoffs, eyes going back to her book. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“Well, Nes I actually wanted to tell you I uh-“

Nesta rolls her eyes, waving her hand. “If you truly can’t understand why I prefer their company, perhaps you’d be better off learning how to be less annoying and how to stop following me around like a starved dog.”

Your face heats with embarassment, fists clenching to keep your sob in, but Nesta’s not finished. She blinks her icy gray eyes up at you over her book.

“What? You think I didn’t know you had a pathetic little crush on me? Please. You practically drool every morning when you see me. I’ve seen you up at the training ring watching me.”

Hot tears start streaming down your face.

“Run along, go find someone else to bother. Perhaps they’ll give you a collar and a bone. Maybe even a bed.”

You shoot up, bursting through the library, out the double doors. You push past a confused Azriel before bounding down the stairs, seeking the quiet shelter of your room.

You had been staying here for a few months to help Nesta. She had gotten better, despite your attempts at connecting with her.

There was no reason for you to stay.

You waited until you could stop crying for an hour before darting to Azriel’s room, knocking softly. He opens the door, surprised to find you on the other side of it.

He wants to ask, knowing that your red rimmed eyes are likely because of Nesta. But he doesn’t pry.

He never had.

That’s why you came to him and not Cassian. Cassian would have made you tell him what was wrong, and then he would have yelled at Nesta for being mean to you.

You just wanted to leave. You didn’t want to see her again.

“Can you- uh, can you take me home? I know it’s late, but I’ve stayed here for too long. I should go back to the townhouse.”

You swallow, not able to look him the eye. You felt so… stupid. You knew she didn’t like you, and still your heart couldn’t help beating faster whenever her eyes met yours.

Azriel nods softly, a motion you don’t see, but he surprises you by taking you into his arms, holding you gently, and rubbing your back.

The action makes keeping the tears at bay much harder.

He lets go, not mentioning the tears now lining your face, as he opens his door, letting you in, and walks towards his balcony. He gently lifts you up, and the two of you fly off into the night.

-

Azriel had been conflicted these past few months. He had hoped bringing Cassian into the mix would make Nesta be nicer to you.

He was wrong.

Somehow his presence had made things worse. His heart practically broke in half seeing you rush out of the room, so upset over something Nesta had said.

And then you came to his room in the dead of night, asking to leave only a few hours later.

Azriel wasn’t irrationally confrontational. He preferred to sit in the shadows, observe, let life happen around him.

Not anymore. Not when the life was Nesta being absurdly cruel to you, day in and day out. You, who was so sweet and kind. You, who had tried to convince Rhys to let Nesta stay anywhere else. You, who had painstakingly made every one of Nesta’s meals since her arrival.

She didn’t touch a single one of them.

He stalked into the dining room the next morning, allowing his anger to get the best of him. He wanted to rip Nesta’s throat out after flying you home. Your gentle sobs you tried to hide were still ringing in his ears as he cloaked the room in shadow.

Cassian flinches as his brother stalks in, feet pounding, wings splayed. He walks towards Nesta, who doesn’t give him a second glance.

His gaze stays on her, waiting for her to look at him.

“Let me make myself very clear,” he said, the harsh tones of the shadowsinger coming through. “She is my sister, we grew up together. She is the kindest person I’ve ever known, and none of us deserve her. You do not deserve the kindness she has repeatedly shown you, despite your lack of reciprocity.”

Nesta keeps eating, her fork scraping the plate as she grabs another bite of salad, listening as Azriel continues. “I swear to the mother Nesta, I don’t know what you said to her, but if you ever make the mistake of being so callous and cruel to her again, I will not hesitate to insert myself again into this one-sided feud.”

Cassian looks between the two of them, confused. “What happened? What’s going on?”

Azriel keeps his glare on Nesta as he says, “(y/n)’s left. She’s gone back to the townhouse, likely won’t be back for some time.”

He stands up straighter.

“Perhaps Nesta knows why.”

-

The following weeks Nesta continued her new routine - training in the morning, stocking the shelves of the library in the afternoon, dinner with the brothers. She was spending her time with Gwyn and Emyrie, growing closer to the females she considers her friends.

And yet, every night she finds herself searching for you in every room. She looks for you in the halls of the House of Wind, she looks for you in the training ring, off to the side. Some days she swears she can smell you in the shelves of the books, your scent brought to her on a phantom wind.

Nesta knew who she was. She was cruel, callous, and cold. What she said to you was perhaps the worst thing she has ever done.

She couldn’t stop herself. She couldn’t handle speaking with you about why she couldn’t be nice to you. She couldn’t watch your big doe eyes tell her that you had feelings for her.

No matter how much she might return those feelings.

She didn’t deserve your kindness, your gaze, your time. Maybe she deserves more than this loneliness she feels, though. Her nights have grown colder without you in the house, which sounded absolutely absurd.

Perhaps the house was showing Nesta how icy she had been.

It had been three weeks since Azriel took you from the house, Nesta realizes as she stands before the Illyrian, asking him for one last favor.

“No,” he says, about to turn away before Nesta grabs his wrist.

“Please,” she asks, “please just.. tell her to come. Just a place and time. Leave it up to her to decide if she wants to come.”

Azriel looks a bit apprehensive, conflicted between his love for you and his new friendship with Nesta.

“I’ll tell her,” he says, voice stern, “but if she doesn’t come, you won’t bother her about this.”

-

Nesta was a ball of anxiety, impatiently watching the door to see if you would come. She had asked for you to come see her at the House of Wind, and she was unable to focus on anything all day except for the lingering question.

“You came,” Nesta says, as you walk into the room.

“I’m a dog, if I hear a whistle, I can’t help myself.”

Nesta flinches at your words and the harshness of your tone. She deserved it. She deserved your ire. Still, she couldn’t stop looking at your windswept hair, disheveled from the flight with Azriel. She couldn’t stop looking at you, taking in your familiar scent, when it was all but gone everywhere in the house.

Nesta will take it to her grave if anyone asks why her scent lingers in your room.

“I don’t know how to do this,” Nesta says, unable to meet your gaze.

“How to do what?” You ask, sitting down, back stiff.

She takes a shakey breath, “how to be loved, how to - how to accept it. How to let someone be nice to me.”

You look, but she still wants to say more. You keep your gaze on her, watching as her fingers very subtly dance across her thigh, tapping a rhythm to a song you cannot hear.

“I also don’t know how to apologize.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, not expecting that from her. You clear your throat, “well, apologies usually start with uh recognizing what you did as wrong and saying why it was wrong.”

Nesta’s steely gaze meet yours, her grip on her thigh tightening.

“I hurt you, over and over again. I knew I was hurting you, and I kept doing it.”

She pauses, and you let her take the time she needs to get through what she has to say. She closes her eyes, prompting a tear to fall down her cheek.

“I kept hurting you because I didn’t want you to see me. I didn’t-“

She gasps as you reach a hand out, stroking her shoulder. She looks up at the ceiling, trying desperately to get the words out.

“I was scared and angry and I didn’t want to stop feeling those things. I knew if I hurt you enough you’d go away, because I just wanted to let my wounds fester.”

Her voice drops, as if there are other people in the room. As if her words are meant for you and you alone.

“I was scared that if I let you in, let you see me, you’d.. you’d be like them and hate me.”

You let Nesta’s words hang in the air for a moment. It was a little cruel of you, but she was cruel to you. She can wait a moment. You look at her - her usually icy gaze gone warm in your presence.

“I don’t hate you, Nesta,” you say, blowing out a breath, “I actually.. it’s quite the opposite really.”

You take a swig of your drink, “I actually was coming to tell you that I uh-“

You shake your head, feeling so stupid now. Of course Nesta was dealing with her own shit, how could she possibly be in a place to reciprocate your feelings.

“That I couldn’t stop thinking about you or worrying about you. And it’s stupid, and I know my feelings are my own burden to bear but I just-“

Your words are cut off as Nesta grabs your face, leaning in and capturing your lips in a kiss. Your brain stops working momentarily, her lips soft against your own unmoving ones.

When you come back to yourself, you grab the back of her neck, keeping her head in place as you kiss her back with such fervor.

Your head is spinning when her tongue slides into your mouth, and you keep your lips connected as you move your way onto her lap. She groans into your mouth at the new weight atop her, placing her hands on your hips, pulling you down. You lose yourself in kissing her, her citrusy taste making you unable to think, until a thought comes to you and you pull away, causing her to groan.

“Are you going to be nice to me now?” You ask, eyebrows raised.

Nesta rolls her eyes, one of her fingers playing with a strand of your hair, “maybe if you move back in here, I can start making it up to you.”

She moves forward, kissing up your throat, before stopping right in front of your lips.

“I can make us breakfast in the morning.”

[yellowocaballero]

Writing update

I should probably give an update because things been slightly whack. Roughly, in order:

Was having issues with my medication, and writing got really difficult. Wanted to write Naruto, could not. Continued writing that Jason Todd story because what am I going to do, not write?

Fix medication issues. Feel like I can write again. Open up literally almost fucking random word document, see that it was the first paragraph of the More Than Zero rewrite (the story from my Star Wars No Chip AU) that I never did.

Go nuts.

Sixty pages into doing the rewrite, I decide that actually this story cannot function at all if I don't stop writing it and go write an entirely different story, which is somehow necessary for the quality of this story. Time to write the one of the many other No Chip AU stories I never got around to writing.

Go nuts.

40k of the Neyo story now exists. It's good, mostly.

Realize at this point that I cannot post a 40k fic on Tumblr and that the complete series is now clicked into my mind as an anthology, which means that it needs to go on AO3.

For several different reasons, one of which is admittedly marketing, I would like the series to stand on its own, so I need to completely rewrite the Order 66 story to establish everything about the universe that the ordinary roleswap fics established.

Realize I've gone nuts.

Decide to completely rewrite the Order 66 story anyway, it is at least twice as long and basically completely different.

As I do this, I realize that now the Rex buildingsroman story doesn't work at all, so I need to cut one section of that and rewrite a portion of it as well.

I would also like to make some semi-significant changes to the Bly story.

I am currently in the state of going nuts and will continue to be going nuts until some undetermined point in the future, at which point I will post every single fic in one story on AO3. There will be a metanarrative.

Decide that I was completely correct in aggravating literally everybody by refusing to post this on AO3, because if I had posted it on AO3 then it would have been way more difficult to rewrite all of this. I also feel a lot more confident in the quality of the rewritten versions and have, fortunately, improved over the last two years as a writer.

I think.

SO YES, I WILL BE POSTING IT ON AO3 THIS TIME. OKAY?

This is all BIG news for like maybe three people. All that to say, I will not be posting anything for a bit and then So Much will be posted. The revamped series should stand on its own and not need any knowledge of its parent AU. This is why I've disappeared off the face of the Earth. I will come back with Star Wars.

[bloop-bl00p]

Rewriting Vaggie because she was done dirty

Angel's backstory and my take if Vaggie was a human.

1. Angel Vaggie:

So, back in the Pilot days, I wasn’t a fan of Vaggie being an Exorcist theory. I was like, Vivienne is obliviously a decent writer, of course, she won’t do something so oblivious! The X on Vaggie’s face is because she lost her eye alive!

I was so disappointed, but I could still work with it… then I was double disappointed when the reveal had no impact on the narrative and all they gave us AMgy Charlie for one scene and fixed the conflict in one episode. 😐

That and the plot holes it created, what plot holes you ask? Well, Vaggie still speaks Spanish which means that she’s still Salvadoran but… Adam named her? Assuming everyone changes their name once they get to Heaven, why do they recruit humans to fight demons? Assuming that there’s like a whole process of giving angelic power to enforce a soul, why didn't they give to the whole army the Kamehameha rip-off Adam has? The Extermination would have been much more faster and deadly if they could just Kamehameha Pentagram Cities.

Most importantly, even if they have enhanced speed, strength, or whatever, if they are all humans, why did they think they were invincible?! Surely if they can kill sinners who are human souls, they’ll know that they can also be killed themselves? Right?! RIGHT?!

I hate the worldbuilding in this show, I hate it!! 🥲

Anyway my rewrite of Angel Vaggie, she won’t be Salvadoran and was fully created in Heaven so no Spanish.

Here’s the thing, the Exorcists were created with Adam’s ribs. A little bit of physiology here, ribs can regrow and repair even when a large a portion of it is damaged. So with Heaven's supervision, creating an army of women with Adam’s ribs was relatively a fast and painless process for the First Man.

You’ll ask me, why make them with ribs? Well, the reason why Eve was made with Adam was a reminder that God created her beside him. They complemented each other, I wanted to do something similar. Adam feels content with The Exorcists because he finally has a group of women who actually listen and are interested in him and not some random with wings. The Exorcists are entitled to Adam and feel worthless without following him around and his orders, a bit like Pearl in Steven Universe, they were created that way.

They still possess some form of autonomy and develop their own personality, not following Adam’s orders just feels odd to them. Then someone actually did it and we all know how that ended.

Whoops that must have hurted.

My take on Vaggie and Lute’s relationship ⇢ here ⇠

So, in Hell, Valtiel (I renaimed her) was totally distraught, she was scared and didn’t know what to do, she was so used to blindly following orders. Sparing this child seemed like it was the worst decision she’d ever made but it also felt right, the poor girl couldn't grasp her feelings correctly at the moment.

She managed to survive a few months in Hell by making a relatively short deal with a local gang to receive aid, in exchange, she used her fighting skills to help them steal food and survive as a whole, she did not develop any sense of belonging to the group and mostly did it for survival.

When her deal came to an end she separated herself from the gang and stayed for a long time in different disaffected buildings with other SDFs preferring to continue her path alone, she felt horribly empty, devoid of purpose without following someone.

Until she saw a star.

The Princess was trying to promote her Hotel on the street, and while Valtiel thought her project was very delusional, she accepted. The Hotel was an old establishment but it was certainly more well-kept than where she used to be, and it was free.

I’m sparing the details, they slowly fell in love and Valtiel projected the toxic dependence she had on Adam to Charlie. While the two truly love each other, Valtiel will need to learn to find herself and not depend on others to live. If she were to have her wings back, it wouldn’t angel's wings but a moth's wings. As a way to metaphorically represent the fact that she changed, like a moth.

She never told Charlie about her past.

I renaimed her Valtiel because it meant “Attendant of God” If you go search a list of angels in Christian Mythology, you’ll notice each of them has “El” as the last syllabus. It’s because “El” in Hebrew means God.

1. Human Vaggie:

Lemme do a research real quick…

Wait a minute..

… y’know. I’m starting to believe that Vivienne is just lazy, obliviously this is one of Vaggie's concepts of backstory, the famous one being that she died in 2014.

But am I the only one who sees the potential?!! Like all things are linked! It makes sense! The very militaristic attitude she had during the Redemption Exercises, the fact that she brought the cast to a war front to build their trust, jeez that’s a missed opportunity to do something that is (to me) much more interesting than a theory made by fans.

So as a good writer, I did a little research because someone had to do it since Medrano won’t, and here is what I came up with.

(If anyone sees any historical mistakes report them to me, I really don’t want to disrespect anyone and I know wars in a really difficult subject to write about. Sorry if I offended anyone.)

Her name is Vanessa she was born in 1968 in El Salvador and died in 1990. Before all of that, she and her brother Carlos were both children of war.

They were separated from their mother during the Salvadoran Civil War, the woman tried to flee with them during a fight between La Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN, rebel group) and La Fuerza Armada de El Salvador (FAES, military) but between the gunshot and the terrified civilians, she ended up losing her kids. Vanessa from afar saw her mother getting shot and tried to run away with her brother, he was 5, and she was 12.

The two siblings were later indoctrinated to join the FAES, they never tried to escape as a means to survive since they received food and somewhat clean water, which they originally didn't have in great amounts. However, Vanessa never really supported their ideology and Carlos was too young to really understand what was happening.

The young boy was frail and relatively weak due to his age and malnutrition he only worked in the support staff which was involved in helping to maintain camp operations. Vanessa was also part of it and sticked with her brother as much as possible, but as she grew, she was used to carrying around messages between units due to her being older and stronger, which she hated, it was dangerous and she was disgusted by the idea of leaving her brother alone with these people.

The two of them were victims of SA perpetuated by the soldiers (hence why she’s so wary of men when especially violent ones). Her brother died at ten, due to the poor condition and she blamed herself for it. She eventually died by accidentally activating a booby trap, the explosion sent shrapnel flying, hitting her in the face and causing the loss of her eye she expired due to blood loss at 22.

Vanessa found herself in Hell and tried to survive for a few months both scared and disoriented. However, she still managed to somewhat be fine punching her way inside buildings to steal food and find ways to avoid sleeping outside. She renaimed herself Vaga in reference to the word Vagabundo which means vagabond.

To her, home is where she’s with her brother, without him there’s no home.

Vaga heard words of Carmilla as she started to familiarize herself with English, what she understood was that she dealt with weapons and was a gentler overlord. She eventually met her and they made a deal. It didn't involve Vaga’s soul but just 4 years of working for her, testing weapons and such. Vaga assisted the woman and trained with her daughters, she also learned English and got a better understanding of Hell’s system.

At 26 too, Vaga's deal was done and she decided to distance herself from Carmilla whose door was clearly still open if she needed help. She met Charlie on the street when the Princess was just starting her project, and since Vaga needed a place to crash in, she went in not realizing they’d catch feelings.

Vaga has signs of Complex post-traumatic stress disorder due to being a child of war. This leads her to many emotional outbursts and this feeling of emptiness when she isn't helping, at least she sees it as helping. Her whole life she only managed to survive in a hostile environment by serving others, she may not view it that way but she unconsciously believes the act of Serving is a necessity to keep her alive.

She deeply believed she failed to protect Carlos, so she projected it all on Charlie. This could lead to an interesting conflict between the two, Charlie was highly shielded from the world by her mother, and this hotel is proof that she can survive on her own (in my rewrite at least.) If her girlfriend starts acting like an overprotective parent it won’t do.

While Vaga mostly thinks redemption is impossible, she holds that small tiniest sprinkle of hope that maybe if she managed to get into Heaven somehow, she could see Carlos again and apologize for failing him.

Vaga still hasn't opened up about her past.

More explanation:

Her human backstory is extremely Grave of the Fireflies coded and I admit I recently saw the movie and couldn't help it. It’s my way of coping, this movie destroyed me. Some may ask, why did Vannessa go to Hell, she did nothing wrong.

That’s part of my Heaven rewriting, you see you’re judged by the Seven Deadly Sins and the Holly Virtuous. But they only judge your actions, not why you did them.

Carlos went to Heaven because he was really young and hadn't developed a real sense of morality yet, if he reached 13 he would have gone to Hell. Vanessa died an adult and still helped in the War, even if it was out of her control she still got damned.

Anyway, what do you think of those two backstories?

[ckret2]

What do you think about the new Oracle lore? How she was a Henchmaniac, left the group and (apparently?) helps save the others from erasure after Bill is gone. Do you plan to incorporate that into the fic?

I'm not hyped about it. When everyone knows everyone in a story, it makes the world feel smaller; tying the Oracle into the Henchmaniacs shrunk what should be a very expansive world.

Plus, we know so little about her that "she's the kind of person who'd want to join the Henchmaniacs" and "she's a portal-designing super genius" just feels jarringly at odds with the clairvoyant Oracle-of-Delphi mountaintop-hermit vibe she's had up til now, and we didn't get enough material to synthesize these opposing vibes into a cohesive whole. Though I suppose it helps explain her tendency toward wild drunken parties.

(And this isn't a critique, but if she's the one who initially designed Bill's interdimensional portal blueprints, then it's very funny that after she learned about Ford's epic quest she didn't go "bee tee dubs, sorry about designing the portal currently menacing your universe lmao." Just kept herself OUT of that mess. Let him keep blaming Bill, she's totally got no personal involvement in this, nope.)

That said, the fact that I'm not a fan doesn't mean I'm not gonna make it work in the fic.

A big chunk of my Henchmaniac plans is dependent upon them still being in the Nightmare Realm but also a big chunk of my Henchmaniac plans is dependent upon them WANTING to escape the Nightmare Realm. I can rewrite portions of my existing scenes so that instead of going "it sucks that this place is falling apart, wanna find another universe to move to?" they go "it sucks that this place is falling apart, wanna check out that universe Jessie recommended?" I hadn't had plans to include the Oracle in the fic, but bringing her in as a figure to be distrusted by the Henchmaniacs who aren't eager to leave might add some tension.

[sakura-chan-25]

Nonverbal (Rewrite, I guess)

Pairing: All brothers & MC, Belphegor x MC

Summary: MC goes non-verbal after a panic attack.

Word Count: ~920

Warning(s): mentions of panic attack, going non-verbal as a result of panic attack, a bit of swearing, pet names (hon, lovelies), sound-sensitivity

MC was sitting on the floor, their back pressed against the wall as they slowly calmed down. Any minute now one of the seven demons could barge into their room, yelling that dinner’s ready. Or MC could be lucky and they knock for once or just send a message in the HoL group chat for everyone to see.

As it seems luck was actually on their side today because their D.D.D vibrated next to them on the floor. Satan was on cooking duty today and told everyone to “get their asses into the dining room. Dinner’s ready.” The human answered with the ok-sticker and slowly moved from the floor.

In all honesty, they didn’t want to get up and they really didn’t want to eat but if MC didn’t go, the brothers would worry about them and they didn’t want that.

The panic in them subsided for the most part so they hoped they could endure the brothers’ usual quarrels.

When MC finally reached the dining room, most of the brothers were already there. Belphie and Levi weren’t here yet, meaning Levi probably didn’t see the message because he was playing a new game and Belphie was probably sleeping.

Lucifer asked Beel to get them, so the younger brother couldn’t eat their portion away. That didn’t stop Mammon and Asmo from greeting the human, though. Their voices were full of energy like always and MC couldn’t help but slightly tense up. They recovered quickly and smiled at them while giving the demons a little wave in return as they sat down.

The brothers were confused. Usually, MC would greet them with the same amount of energy and come with a “hello, lovelies!” or something like that back at them. They decided to leave them be for now. Maybe the exchange student was just tired? They looked a bit exhausted after all…

As soon as Beel came back with a sleepy Belphie and a grumpy Levi, everybody started eating. The brothers were all talking together, telling each other how their day had gone. MC didn’t really listen though. They were picking at their food, occasionally taking a bite. It was like they were on autopilot.

Suddenly the voice next to them asked: “Are you alright, MC? You haven’t eaten much.” MC looked at Satan and just nodded. They didn’t feel like talking right now. Maybe they also couldn’t? They didn’t know.

MC’s lack of response however concerned Asmo: “Are you sure you’re alright, hon? You haven’t spoken a word since you’ve been here.” They only nodded again. Satan then decided to ask once more: “Are you 100% sure, MC? You’re usually the last person to be quiet.” MC just gave him an apologetical smile and looked down at their plate. Why couldn’t the brothers leave them be? Why did they have to talk? They just wanted to stand up and go back to their room. Maybe lay down and take a nap? MC was exhausted after all, a nap didn’t sound too bad.

“You’re nonverbal, no?” Levi’s confused voice sounded. Their head snapped up to look at the sea demon in front of them. The human slowly nodded, unsure of the answer themselves. Mammon was really befuddled at that statement: “Huh?! What do you mean you’re nonverbal?” MC tensed and almost whimpered. “Oh, wait. Panic Attack?”

Everyone’s eyes expectantly looked at them. They quickly nodded before crawling under the table. MC was used to the attention of seven demons but that didn’t mean they liked it.

The brothers’ widened eyes looked at each other, not knowing how to react. Belphie groaned and went under the table too, slowly crawling to their rocking form. Their arms were tightly around themselves.

Belphie wasn’t sure what to do and he was glad his brothers decided to keep their eyes at each other or the food and not crawl down too. “Can I touch you?”, He whispered while stretching his arms out.

MC stared at him for a second. In the next they threw their arms around his neck, burying their head into the crook of his neck and using a death grip on Belphie to make sure he couldn’t leave. He slightly chuckled at their eagerness and hugged them back. “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving, MC. I’ll stay right here.”

His hand caressed their back slowly while the other played with their hair. MC was too tired to fight the drowsiness that came over them as they calmed down. Since Belphie didn’t seem to let go anytime soon, they just fell asleep in the arms of the youngest brother under the dining table.

After a while Lucifer looked underneath the table. “Are they alright?”, he asked as he stared at MC’s sleeping form in Belphie’s arms. “Mhm.”, the younger demon nodded, still playing with their hair. Lucifer smiled softly and sat back up, finishing his dinner.

The other brothers soon followed, leaving MC and Belphie sleeping under the table. They would ask the human about it another time. If they prefer, they could talk with MC through the group chat.

After everyone was done eating and put their dishes in the dishwasher, Asmo looked under the table and cooed softly. MC and Belphie were lying on the floor, sleeping. Well, the demon was on the floor, the human was on his chest.

Asmo just had to take a picture and upload it on devilgram! After all, whole devildom had to know how cute his younger brother could be with the beloved exchange student!

A/n: The original was written in second pov☠️ So that is a big difference, plus I “changed” the end a bit and yada yada yada. (Why do I even explain, lol?) Anyways I hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night! :D