#haha get it Monster high reference

[venominomenon]

No, see, I can't be aromantic, because what if I'm not the most aromantic person to ever aromance, huh? What's the point then?

[waight-gain]

Chapter 1: The Cookie Mixer

Mike and Sam

This whole story is filled with more NSFW scenes than my previous

Mike navigated the crowded room with ease, his tall frame allowing him to scan the space for familiar faces. The air was thick with the scent of sugar and vanilla, tables groaning under the weight of countless cookies. He spotted Sam, his boyfriend, hovering around the dessert table, a plate piled high with an assortment of treats. Mike couldn't help but chuckle at the sight; Sam's love for sweets was no secret.

As he made his way over, Mike noticed Sam's plate was never empty for long. Every time he checked, there was something new and delicious-looking on it. He smiled, appreciating Sam's enthusiasm for the treats. Mike sidled up beside him, wrapping a gentle arm around his waist.

"Enjoying yourself, Cookie Monster?" Mike asked, his voice low and teasing.

Sam turned to him, a smudge of chocolate on his cheek, and grinned. "You know it," he replied, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

As the evening wore on, Mike continued to mingle, checking in on Sam every now and then to make sure he was having a good time. Each time, he found Sam with a new plate of cookies, his eyes shining with excitement as he sampled the various treats. Mike couldn't help but laugh at his boyfriend's antics, feeling a warmth in his chest at the sight of Sam so carefree.

At one point, Mike's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to find a text from Sam. It was a throwback picture from their college days, taken at a pajama party where they had first met. Mike's heart skipped a beat as he gazed at the image, memories flooding back of that fateful night.

Mike had walked into the party, his confidence soaring. He was the star of the basketball team, and everyone knew him. He had worn his favorite underwear, a bold red pair, and a matching tank top, just to show off. The room was filled with people, but Mike's eyes landed on one person in particular – a shy, awkward guy in a silk pajama set, sitting on the couch, trying to blend in.

Mike had never seen him before, and his curiosity was piqued. He made his way over, introducing himself with a charming smile. The guy, Sam, had blushed and stuttered, but Mike had been drawn to his awkwardness. They had talked for a while, exchanging stories and laughter, and Mike had found himself wanting to spend more time with Sam.

As the night wore on, Mike had made it a point to check in on Sam, who seemed to be getting more and more flustered. Finally, as Sam was getting ready to leave, Mike had stepped in front of him, his hand against the wall, showing off his body. Emphasizing their height difference. (Luckily someone had snapped a photo at this moment)

"Hey, want to meet up again sometime?" Mike had asked, his voice low and flirtatious. "Maybe with more clothes on next time? Or less?"

Sam had looked up at him, stunned, barely able to nod. Mike's eyes sparkling with amusement, he took the phone from Sam's hand, entered his number, and handed it back lightly touching his hand.

When Mike had finally recovered he realized Sam had text himself so that he would have his number and replied, "let me know when you make it home safe," adding a winking emoji.

He looked up to find Sam watching him, a sly grin spreading across his face. Mike raised an eyebrow, and Sam just winked, going back to his cookie-tasting extravaganza. Mike couldn't help but smile, feeling a sense of nostalgia wash over him. Leaning against the wall he text Same back.

"Omg glad no one saw that, I cant believe I wore that in public," Mike had texted, referring to his bold outfit from the party.

"Haha thought that would get your attention," Sam had replied. "I think everyone is leaving."

Mike had responded, "There's still plenty of people? Oh I see is cookie monster ready to leave?"

Sam had sent a cookie monster gif, followed by, "Cookie monster peopled out, cookie monster tried all cookies, cookie monster ready to go home and shower."

Mike smiled, looking over at Sam, who was now finishing off the last of the cookies on his plate.

"Alright, alright, we can go, you muppet," Mike said, grinning. "Can you grab the cookie tray? Are there many left?"

Sam nodded from across the room, his mouth visibly full, and headed over to the table. Mike watched him, feeling a surge of affection for his boyfriend. He loved how Sam had filled out since college, his once-lean frame now softer and more rounded. Mike found it adorable, and he couldn't help but tease him about it. He was glad Sam had become more comfortable around him, especially with food, he had tried to get Sam to eat more than salads, veggies, and grilled chicken since they started dating.

"Got it, just a couple, they were a hit, I was watching people try them," Sam texted, as he skillfully dodged people, avoiding any possible small talk.

Mike chuckled, shaking his head. "Sweeeeet, and how many did you eat?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sam just sent a "shh" emoji, his face flushing with embarrassment. Mike laughed, knowing that Sam had probably eaten more than his fair share of cookies.

As they left the party and headed home, Mike suggested they order pizza for dinner, not feeling like cooking. Sam agreed, finishing off the last two cookies from the tray as they walked in the door.

Mike smiled, watching him. "You go shower first, I'll order the pizza," he said, holding out his hand for Sam's phone. "Mine's dead."

Sam handed over his phone, and Mike couldn't help but notice the college photo still open on the screen. He smiled, feeling a pang of nostalgia as he swiped through the photos. He stopped at a picture of them from tonight, noticing how much Sam had filled out since college.

Mike's mind began to wander, thinking about how far they had come since then. He had always been good with numbers and ratios, and baking had become a natural fit for him. Sam had been instrumental in helping him find his passion for baking, and had even helped fund his business.

Mike opened the web browser, laughing at the number of open tabs on the internet. It was a running joke between them, Sam always had so many tabs open, like breadcrumbs of his thoughts.

But as he scrolled through the tabs, Mike's eyes widened in surprise. They were all searches, and not just any searches. They were about weight gain, and arousal, and fetishes. Mike's heart skipped a beat as he realized what he was looking at.

He knew he shouldn't be snooping, but he couldn't help himself. He tapped on the first tab, his eyes scanning the page. It was about the psychology of weight gain fetishes, and how they were more common than people thought.

Mike's mind was racing as he read through the article. He quickly closed the tab, feeling a mix of emotions. He was surprised, but also curious.

Mike ordered a family deal, complete with an XL meat lovers pizza, soda, cinnamon sticks, and a chocolate lava cake. As he completed the order he was overcome with a sense of excitement both to see how much Sam would eat but also a growing lust that would have to wait until after.

Sam emerged from the bedroom, a towel wrapped snugly around his waist, a few droplets of water still clinging to his skin. His hair, a sandy blonde, was damp and tousled, framing his face with a boyish charm. As he moved into the light, the softness of his physique was more pronounced, his midsection having acquired a gentle roundness that spoke of his love for pastries and sweets. The towel, wrapped a bit too tightly, accentuated the curve of his belly, giving him a endearingly rumpled appearance. "Your turn," he said with a smile, his vibrant green eyes sparkling as he handed over the bathroom to Mike.

As Mike stepped into the shower, the warm water cascaded down his body, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't shake off the thoughts that had been racing through his head since he saw the tabs on Sam's phone. Weight gain fetishes? He had never hear of anything like it before, but now he couldn't help but think about it.

Mike's thoughts drifted back to their college days, when Sam was lean and wiry. He had always been drawn to Sam's awkwardness, his shy demeanor, but now he realized that he had also been attracted to his slender frame. But as Sam had filled out over the years, Mike's attraction had only grown stronger.

As he washed his hair, Mike's hands wandered down his body, his fingers tracing the contours of his own muscles. He had always taken pride in his physique, but now he found himself wondering what it would be like to see Sam's body change, to see him gain weight and softness.

The thought sent a shiver down Mike's spine, and he felt a sudden surge of arousal. He couldn't believe it - he was turned on by the thought of Sam gaining weight. It was a revelation that both excited and terrified him.

As he rinsed off the soap, Mike's mind was racing with questions. What did this mean for their relationship? Was Sam interested in exploring this fetish? And what did Mike's own desires say about him?

He stepped out of the shower, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew he had to talk to Sam about this, but he was scared of how he would react to his snooping.

Mike took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He knew that he had to approach this conversation with care, but later, he would feel better if Sam would just tell him.

As he dried himself off, Mike decided he would subtly encourage Sam tonight. After all those sweets, he couldn't be hungry, but seeing how much he would eat would help confirm his suspicions about Sam's desires.

"Hey, pizza's here," Sam called out from the living room, his voice muffled by the sound of the TV.

Mike's heart skipped a beat as he wrapped the towel around his waist. For now, he just smiled, trying to play it cool.

"Coming," Mike replied, his voice a little shaky.

As he walked into the living room, Mike's eyes met Sam's, and he felt a spark of electricity run through his body.

Sam was shocked to see the amount of food that Mike had ordered. "Mike, what's all this?" he asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

Mike just grinned. "It was a good deal," he said, shrugging.

As they sat down to eat, Mike watched Sam with newfound interest. He wanted to see how much he would eat, and how he would react to the food.

As they ate, Mike found himself enjoying the experience, watching Sam savor each bite. The way Sam's eyes lit up as he bit into the gooey chocolate lava cake was almost too much for Mike to handle. He felt a surge of arousal as he watched Sam's tongue dance across his lips, savoring the rich flavors. The sounds of satisfaction that escaped Sam's mouth with each bite only added to Mike's growing excitement.

As the night wore on, Mike found himself subtly encouraging Sam to eat more, offering him slices of pizza and cinnamon sticks. Sam, seemingly oblivious to Mike's intentions, happily obliged, devouring each offering with gusto.

As the food began to disappear, Mike couldn't help but notice the way Sam's belly was starting to protrude, a gentle roundness that seemed to grow more pronounced with each passing minute. He felt a pang of desire, his mind racing with thoughts of what it would be like to see Sam's body continue to change, to see him grow softer and rounder.

As they finished their meal, Mike reached out, his hand brushing against Sam's stomach. The touch sent a shiver down his spine, and he felt a sudden surge of arousal. Sam, seemingly unaware of the spark that had just been lit, simply smiled, his eyes contentedly closed as he leaned back into the couch.

"Thanks for dinner, Mike," Sam said, his voice soft almost a moan. "I'm stuffed."

Mike chuckled, feeling a sense of amusement at Sam's antics. "That's an understatement," he said,"I told you it was a good deal," Mike said, a hint of smugness creeping into his voice.

As Sam shifted himself on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position, Mike slowly reached out to touch his food-packed belly. It was firm to the touch, and he nearly jumped when Sam let out a low, throaty moan. Mike's eyes snapped to Sam's, a spark of surprise igniting within them, followed by a flicker of arousal. "You okay?" he asked, his voice laced with concern, but also a hint of curiosity, his words barely above a whisper.

Sam's response was another low moan, his eyes fluttering closed as he let his head loll back onto the couch. His chest rose and fell with each labored breath, and Mike couldn't help but notice the way his belly jiggled with each movement. Mike's hand remained on Sam's belly, hesitating for a moment before he began to gently caress the soft, rounded flesh. The gentle touch seemed to heighten Sam's arousal, and he let out a soft whimper, his hips shifting ever so slightly.

Mike's eyes never left Sam's face, drinking in the sight of his partner's pleasure. He could feel his own arousal growing, his heart pounding in his chest as he continued to stroke Sam's belly. The fact that it was a secret he was helping Sam indulge in only increased his excitement, and he couldn't help but wonder how far he could push it without being too obvious. But for now, he was content to simply savor the moment, to watch Sam's face contort in pleasure as he touched him in ways that felt both intimate and forbidden.

As Sam sleepily opened his eyes and reached out for the bottle, Mike couldn't help but notice the way his face was flushed, his skin taking on a soft, rosy hue that seemed to radiate warmth. The gentle sheen of sweat on his forehead only added to the allure, making Mike's fingers twitch with the urge to touch.

As they sat there in silence, the only sound the quiet hum of the TV in the background, and the sound of Sam finishing off the soda, Mike felt his gaze drawn to the gentle rise and fall of Sam's chest. The way his belly jutted out, straining against the fabric of his small boxers.

Without thinking, Mike reached out once more, his hand rubbing Sam's belly in gentle, soothing circles. He allowed his fingers to make gentle contact, feeling the firmness of Sam's skin beneath his touch, and the subtle give of the soft flesh beneath. Sam's breath came in short shallow bursts, due to the massive amount of food he had eaten as the soda filled in any space left, but also due to the overwhelming lust they were both feeling.

Mike's eyes never left Sam's face as he continued to gently massage his belly, watching as his eyelids drooped, and his lips parted in a soft, husky moan. The rise and fall of Sam's chest slowed, his breathing becoming more labored as Mike's touch sparked a fire within him. Sam's eyes fluttered closed once more, his body relaxing into Mike's touch, as if craving more.

Mike's fingers danced across Sam's skin, the sound of his own ragged breathing mingling with Sam's as the tension between them grew thicker. The room seemed to shrink, the outside world melting away as they sat there, suspended in a moment of mutual desire. Mike's thumb grazed the waistband of Sam's boxers, the touch sending shivers down Sam's spine. He shifted uncomfortably, his hips tilting ever so slightly as he arched into Mike's touch, his body begging for more.

Mike leaned in closer to Sam, his lips grazing the soft skin of his neck. He could feel Sam's heart pounding against his chest, and he knew that Sam was as caught up in the moment as he was.

With a gentle touch, Mike pushed Sam's boxers down, exposing the fullness of his stomach. Sam let out a low, breathy moan, his body tensing as Mike's hands roamed over his distended belly. Mike could feel the tightness of his skin beneath his fingers, and it only served to heighten his arousal.

The sight of Sam's expanded body was overwhelming, and Mike felt his desire growing even stronger. He leaned in, kissing a trail down Sam's chest, stopping at his belly button to gently flick it with the tip of his tongue.

Sam let out a soft, whimpering moan, his body arching into Mike's touch. Mike took this as a sign that Sam was ready, and he slowly began to trace circles around Sam's belly button with the tip of his tongue, taking in the salty, sweet taste of Sam's skin.

As Mike continued to kiss and lick at Sam's belly, Sam's breathing became ragged and shallow, his hips thrusting upward, seeking more of Mike's touch. Mike moved his hand down, his fingers gently brushing against Sam's sensitive areas, causing Sam to cry out in pleasure.

Mike paused, taking a moment to make sure Sam was still okay. Sam nodded, his eyes closed and his mouth open in a soft moan, and Mike began to touch him again, his fingers exploring Sam's body with careful deliberation.

Slowly, Mike eased Sam's legs apart, his own muscular body pressing against Sam's rounded form, their bodies moving in sync as they kissed deeply. Mike's hands roamed over Sam's body, caressing the his belly and thighs, while Sam's hands reached up to grab onto Mike's muscular back.

As they continued to move together, Mike could feel the warmth building between them, and he knew that they were close to reaching their climax. He slowed his movements, wanting to prolong the pleasure for as long as possible.

With a final, intense thrust, Mike reached his peak, his body trembling as he came, the sensation intensifying with every spasm. Sam let out a soft cry of pleasure, his own orgasm following close behind.

As they lay there, panting and spent, Mike pulled Sam close, his heart beating wildly against Sam's soft, full body.

[altraviolet]

anon ask about humor

I typed up a huge long thing for an anon who asked about humor and tumblr froze! haha! so funny, tumblr! thanks!

while it was wheel-spinning, I took screenshots of everything, and when I reloaded, it all disappeared. so beneath the cut is the copy paste for everything (the formatting is kinda screwed up, sorry). hopefully it will post this time

ETA: ok apparently it did post??? even tho it imploded?? ugh. anyway. you can find the proper post HERE. it has the same information as this post, but might format better for ya

Anonymous asked: hey violet! since i love the humour and jokes in your stories, i wanted to ask for advice on how to write humour/con- struct jokes or what to read or watch to learn about it. thank you for your consideration! cheers

hey anon!

eyyy thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the humor =)

this is a very fun question but a hard one! I'm not exactly sure how to quantify an answer for you because humor tends to come as I write. it springs up naturally for me, as my brain is constantly thinking from the POV of the POV character, as well as thinking about what the other characters are doing/thinking I'll try my best!

Personality vs environment a character's personality will inform their humor style, and their environment will inform the timing and content of their humor at any given moment when thinking about humor and your character, think about their personality, are they sarcastic? bubbly? high energy? low energy? super mean? way too sweet? random? straight laced? all these things would come out in how they joke/insult/riff during a conversation so with the knowledge of their personality, apply it to the environment. if it's a one on one scene with a highly sarcastic character and a very sweet character, who's going to make what kind of comment? what about multiple characters? what about a very dangerous environment: who screams and windmills their arms, who quietly insults the terrifying monster, and who loudly insults the monster?

purpose of the humor are we trying to get information across about the plot? the other characters? the environment? the mood? thinking about the purpose of your humor may help guide you in TEG I would often soften a really emotionally heavy scene with a tiny bit of humor. not always, but often. this was to keep the overall tone of the fic more on the funny side than the angsty side. it was purposefully done- "Ohh boy, this is really tense. who's around who can release the tension a bit?" Siren is a really easy character to do this with- an all caps scream about something mundane is surprisingly hilarious

being funny without meaning to be funny by this I mean, sometimes a character won't mean to be funny, but the situation and their tone and all the Things add up to make something hilarious. the first example I can think of for this is in the beginning of TEG when SW is watching/listening to the mechs sitting at the bar. Swerve and Tailgate are talking about Soundwave, not knowing he's eavesdropping. after a bit of dialog, Cyclonus cuts in with "He's listening to you" and the characters go AHH and Swerve ducks under the bar. Cyclonus isn't actually trying to be funny (or IS he?) but the result is really funny. the characters are faced with the social awkwardness of the things they've said vs oh no SW heard us

long distance jokes/long term payoff the rounded corners is the classic, here. SW going completely bonkers laughing at the data pad was pretty funny. his behavior is abnormal, which draws the reader's attention. mannnnnnyYYYYYYYY chapters later you get the payoff- the reason SW laughed. and hopefully it was funny then, too, because now you, the reader, know why SW laughed the first time

self-referential jokes (short term payoff) I suppose the short term aspect of #4 is as subset of this, or this is a subset of #4, but by this I mean, when you refer back to something from before. have you ever been in a conversation with someone and you talk about something funny in the beginning, and then later someone refers back to the thing, and it injects some hilarity into the current topic of conversation? that's what I mean, here self-referential jokes based on worldbuilding you've done in a fic are especially powerful. think of all the chores that were invented for the LL, and then all the jokes that arose from them. referencing the world helps to make it feel more real, and humor is a good way to do that

whining and complaining some humor is made when people are unhappy with the situation and they complain about it, but in a way that makes fun of it. so if your characters are in a situation they don't like, what are their complaints? can you make them funny?

self-deprecation vs insults vs punching up vs punching down strongly linked to #1, I think, is how the humor manifests. self-deprecation (insulting yourself) vs insulting others. punching up (making fun of people with more money/privilege/etc than you) or punching down (making fun of those with less money/privilege/etc than you). these things will be dictated by personality and environment generally speaking, making fun of yourself and punching up are nicer forms of humor. insulting others and punching down are meaner. what kind of character does which? so here we add another dimension to it- is the intention of the humor to lighten the mood or to hurt others?

the unexpected

as the writer, you can sneaky-sneaky drop some hints for stuff and then write something totally unexpected for the reader, but which makes sense within the context of the scene. ex: the emoji game where SW blasted Swerve with an unexpected 3D emoji that danced. we raised the stakes suddenly, unexpectedly, and silly-ily, but it all made sense within the confines of the scene and the emoji game. I suppose a subset of this could be: 8b. the absurd something WAY outta left field, with less context than point 8, but still cogent enough to make you laugh. speaking of which: 9. what makes you laugh? a guiding principle, lol. what makes you laugh? would your character do/say it, too? would they say it like you did, or change it a little? or would they NEVER, GASP, how dare?! writing what you think is funny is good because it keeps the task of writing fun

So keeping all that in mind, what I did during TEG was just… see what the characters would do. It kinda flowed naturally, as the rest of conversation/action did. I think this comes with practice. You can certainly train for it specifically- doing writing exercises or thought experiments about different situations. But I think… if you can overall just let your characters speak through their personalities, wants, desires, that will help guide you.

That probably sounds kinda wishy-washy but after some practice it becomes second nature!

I hope that helped! Happy writing =D

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Fuuka☆Stampede!

The winner of the mini-stories poll from the P3 Club Book has finally arrived. Enjoy!

___________________________________________

Testimony 1: "Yamagishi? Ah, that quiet, reserved girl, right? She used to be a bit gloomy, but recently she's become a bit brighter. I don't think she has any hobbies... or anything? She occasionally reads some difficult-looking books. Ah, but I'm sure she's in a cultural club, right? The rest- sorry, I don't really know."

Testimony 2: "Fuuka-chan is the best! That fragile appearance, that soft voice that lures the listener into a dream, that clear mind that always ranks highly in grades - everything about her is ideal. She's a beautiful girl! By the way, rumor has it that she's studying hard to get into medical school. Ah, I want to be soothed by Fuuka-chan in her white coat!"

Testimony 3: "Fuuka Yamagishi? You know, she's just so irritating. She's always so nervous and whiny. Well, it's true that her vibe has changed recently. She's always with Natsuki, isn't she? What do you call that? She's like a sheep that is scared of the tiger? Haha, she's just not that smart."

People have many different masks. When you're with friends, when you're with family, when you're with a lover, we each have a different face.

The same can be said for Fuuka Yamagishi, who has a hidden side that cannot be gleaned from various testimonies. And on rare occasions, this side is revealed in front of her fellow students living in Iwatodai dormitory. For example, like this.

"Ahh...huh? Fuuka, what are you doing?"

One afternoon on a holiday, after a lazy sleep, Junpei came down from his room to the lounge to find Fuuka sitting on the sofa, concentrating on something in front of her. On the table, around 20 small pieces were lined up neatly, and next to them were the remains of what appeared to be bags in which the pieces had been kept, piled high.

"Oh, Junpei-kun, good morning... ahaha, just a little collection."

"Hmm? Are these bottle caps? I used to collect them, too, the ones from the Major League Baseball series. That brings back memories."

As Junpei had said, there was a small figure shown in each bottle cap, a type of freebie commonly given with soft drinks.

"Actually... I quite like these things and have a lot of them. Is that strange...?"

It is true that most collectors are men, and women with a collecting habit are quite rare. Moreover, the items lined up in front of her were somewhat, no, quite maniacal.

"What is this? A monster?"

"N-No, it's not! This is the monster from "Monsters from B-Movies, Season 3 of the Nostalgic Monsters Series.""

To Junpei, who had no particular interest in that sort of thing, it was indistinguishable from the special effects monsters he saw as a child, but to Fuuka there seemed to be a big difference. Junpei found Fuuka's unexpected hobby a bit refreshing.

"It's the underground creature that appears in 'Basket Case', and this one is the older brother".

Even though she was referring to the older brother, Junpei, who didn't even know who his younger brother was, could only reply, "Oh, I see." Ignoring Junpei, Fuuka continued her explanation, gradually becoming more excited.

"So, this is the famous Thing. Of course, not the John Carpenter one, but the old one. Oh, this one was hard to get, it's Ash's hand from 'Evil Dead'! It's kind of cute, isn't it?"

Fuuka's momentum was unstoppable, and Junpei was drenched in sweat even though it was not even hot. What had only been a quick morning greeting (it was already noon) seemed to have flipped a strange switch, causing something inside Fuuka to explode.

However, for some reason, Fuuka's expression suddenly clouded over and she let out a big sigh.

"But..."

"Wh-what's wrong?"

Junpei was a little taken aback by the sad expression on her face. After all, Fuuka was a very beautiful girl. However, the words that came out of her small lips were enough to dampen Junpei's wicked, cocky spirit.

"I can't find anything rare."

"Huh? A rare item?"

"Yes. It was a specimen of a dog that appeared in 'The Return of the Living Dead' that was brought back to life by a zombie serum. It was amazing, because even though it was split in half down the middle, it still barked. It was crazy."

Fuuka was laughing carefree. Junpei happened to look towards the TV and saw Koromaru sprawled out next to her, asleep. Fuuka was definitely a dog lover, wasn't she? So Junpei couldn't help but wonder how she could laugh so hard at a dog cut in half.

"Apparently it's super rare, so no matter how many I buy I can't find it. It's a secret, so there's no information on how many there are or anything... I've already got the whole set, so I'd like to get this series too... but I'm getting a little tired."

The 20+ bottle caps lined up in front of her were likely purchased today, judging by the open bags stacked next to them. He didn't know how long she'd been collecting, but she must have bought quite a few by now. Looking at Fuuka's slightly depressed face, Junpei eventually came to a conclusion.

"Okay, Fuuka! Is there anything I can do for you? I'll help you get that rare item. Oh, but don't ask me to lend you money. I'm broke."

"Eh? Junpei-kun...really?...Oh, thank you...I'm happy."

Fuuka smiled shyly. Ah, this is it, Junpei thought. When Junpei had lost Chidori and had almost lost the will to live, it was Fuuka's smile that had casually cared for and comforted him. It was by no means a romantic feeling, but simply a pure and warm thought that he could not allow this girl to look sad.

"But I had no idea you liked horror."

"Huh? I don't really like horror."

"Eh?"

"I've learned a lot about horror movies because I've been collecting these bottle caps."

"Is that so...?"

Touched by the collector's spirit that ordinary people could not understand, Junpei's earlier warm feelings disappeared and a chill ran down his spine. However, he knew that he couldn't go back on his decision, so he summoned all the manliness he usually didn't show and made a strong declaration to Fuuka.

"Okay then, let's start our search for the rare and elusive item tomorrow!"

"Yeah!"

That was the beginning of Junpei's days of suffering.

A week had passed since he declared his intention to help with the rare item hunt, and Junpei was already beginning to give up.

"(Panting... panting... panting...) Fu-Fuuka... w-why don't we... take a break for a bit?"

"No Junpei, you just took a break. Look, we can almost see the dorms."

Helping her find rare items meant accompanying Fuuka on her shopping sprees after school and acting as her luggage carrier. However, carrying her luggage was no joke. On the way from school to the dormitory, she would stop at every department store, supermarket, and sweet shop, buying 3-4 dozen drinks every day. If you did some simple math and assumed that a regular-sized plastic bottle weighs 500 grams, then 4 dozen drinks would weigh a whopping 25 kilograms! Thanks to her diligent savings since childhood, Fuuka's financial situation was such that she could withstand such a large amount of shopping. Unfortunately.

But that was not the only hardship. After buying the drinks, there was still the task of drinking them. Fuuka hated waste, so up until now she'd been drinking them all by herself. Because of this, the number of bottles she could buy at one time was limited, but with Junpei's help this had increased significantly, and she seemed extremely pleased. However...

"It's not appearing... must be rare... agh."

"That's right... hehe."

They didn't know what the probability was, but rare bottle caps should appear.

They didn't.

"It'd be bad if I used up any more of my savings..."

"Well... (burp)... before that... (burp)... my stomach... (burp)"

“But... we can’t back out, Junpei. You’ll help me until the end, right?”

Fuuka stared at Junpei with a thoughtful expression. *I see. So she has a competitive side too...* Junpei felt refreshed again as he saw another side of Fuuka he didn't know. And one by one, these unknown sides of Fuuka were revealed to Junpei.

That was the beginning of Fuuka's rampage.

"Please! If you ever find this bottle cap, could you give it to me? Oh, here's my contact information!"

"Fu-Fuuka... this is really embarrassing..."

On one occasion, he saw a forceful side of Fuuka when she grabbed a customer who happened to have bought the same drink as her and tried to get him to sign a contract to transfer the rare item if it came out.

"I'm going to look for the rare bottle cap... with Juno's fingertips"

"Hey, summoning a Persona here is bad!"

On another occasion, he saw a reckless side to Fuuka when she used Juno's searching ability to try and guess the contents of a bottle cap without opening it.

"Junpei! We'll be fine now! I borrowed a non-destructive testing scanner from Kirijo's lab that was developed for Aigis' maintenance. It'll be easy to find bottle caps with it! But it weighs nearly two tons... How am I going to carry it to the supermarket? Can you carry it?"

And then at another time, he saw a side of Fuuka that seemed perfect in everything but was surprisingly not thoughtful about the consequences.

...If anything, there were many aspects that he would have preferred not to see if possible.

However, they still couldn't find the rare bottle cap... and the final day of the campaign arrived with disappointment for both.

"In the end... it didn't work."

"Well, that happens. My life is just full of no-no's."

As they sat next to each other on a bench at Paulownia Mall, Junpei jokingly said this to her, and Fuuka, knowing how he really felt when he overcame adversity, simply replied with a gentle smile.

"But I'm a little disappointed."

"Is this what they call a collector's spirit?"

"No, it's not that... I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to repay the help I received from Junpei and other people."

"Well, I got to see a lot of unexpected sides to Fuuka and it was fun, so it's all good."

Jokingly, but revealing his true feelings, Junpei consoled Fuuka of her frustration. And then...

"Now that I think about it, has anyone else helped you find the rare item?"

"Ah, well..."

Yes, that's what Fuuka was about to say.

"Fuuka!"

"Eh... Huh? Hey, Natsuki-chan!"

Suddenly, Fuuka's best friend, Natsu, who had recently transferred schools due to family circumstances, appeared.

"N-No way! What are you doing here?!"

"Well, today and tomorrow are consecutive holidays, right? I was a bit bored so I decided to stop by. I decided on the spur of the moment and didn't tell you anything because I thought it might be inconvenient for you. But isn't it fate that we managed to meet?"

"Yes, yes! It really was fate!"

Fuuka happily chatted with her, acting like a child and was asked, "Who's that guy? Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, he's not, he's someone from the same dorm..." This was another side of her that Junpei hadn't seen much of.

"Ah, that's right Junpei-kun."

At that moment, Fuuka turned towards Junpei and gently pushed Natsuki's shoulder.

"She's the other collaborator I mentioned earlier. Natsuki-chan wasn't interested in bottle caps either, but she looked up all sorts of information for me."

"Oh, what's the matter, Fuuka? You still haven't gotten bored of collecting them? That's a really strange hobby, don't you think?"

*Oh, I see*, Junpei thought, when Natsuki blurted out something shocking.

"Oh, by the way, Fuuka. I told you about it before, um... Batarian, I think? The secret one. The campaign finally starts tomorrow, right? Make sure you get it."

"...Eh?"

"...Huh?"

"Hmm? Did I say something weird?"

"Starting tomorrow?"

"That's right. Have you forgotten? The secret spoiler for season 4. I got it through my mobile phone network. It's super valuable information."

An unnatural silence reigned between the three of them.

And then...

"...Fuuka?"

"...Y-yes...?"

"What about my hardships up until now...?"

"…Umm…Sorry."

Junpei's whole body went limp and he collapsed, face down on the cold marble floor of Paulownia Mall, unable to move. Although she seemed serious and reliable, she was actually quite naive and forgetful. But that was another lovable side of Fuuka.

___________________________________________

Tag List: @kerto-p

[f0urxy]

Warning: This Blog post is just me rambling about Taco (II) THIS IS VERY LONG!!

WELCOME OR WELCOME BACK, MY FELLOW PEOPLES! As yall may know I LOVE TACO!! so much. Very very much. SOOO im gonna go in depth about her character!

S1

So, to get started, On why I love her so much, The way shes so much of a complex character. Taco may look simple on the outside but shes written so elegantly, almost as if she was made to win, Haha get it? Anyway. Taco started out in S1 as this idiotic and random person, Which was a smart thing to do, as that attracts viewer attention and which is why she always had a high/low number of votes to stay/be eliminated.

Now, Not like shes all innocent; but personally her strategy was perfection. Not only she tricked the viewers, but also tricked her friends. I genuinely feel bad for Pickle as she was faking it all, but it fooled him, which caused her to get so far in the game, proving her intelligence.

S2

Moving on from S1.. The way she so easily persuaded Microphone into splitting the million with her in order to help was entertaining, as for watching the few episodes of them working together was nice, And the character development Taco gained from Microphone leaving her, Im glad it happened. Mainly because Taco wouldn’t have snapped out of her greed if they never broke apart from each other, as Taco would continue to manipulate her and continue be driven with greed.

It was major character development during Taco’s Tirade as well, such as MePad trying to convince Taco she could change and such, because of the fact after Microphone left her due to being manipulated by Taco she couldn’t change her ways, Expressing this in the lines; “ Clear the slate, Start again, Are you hearing how preposterous that sounds? How do you not comprehend that for someone with my monstrous background? The whole slate, has fallen apart! “ [MEPAD LINE] “ Its too late, “ [MEPAD LINE] “ For me to restart! “ The first few words referring to believing of not being able to clear her name from things she’s done, the following line ‘ start again ‘ with the same meaning. She believes that its too late to restart with everyone and apologize publicly, as this is proven in II 15 ending how she said she wouldn’t hide, and II 16 where MePad says she is still hiding in the first place.

Once she tries to apologize to Pickle, Its clear that she truly cared for him after what she did, because of how upset she was after he died. It was so hard to watch when MePad died, as they quickly put that to the side for a MePad concert, Everyone singing and dancing felt out of tune in my opinion. Although Taco didn’t really reflect on MePads death other than a quick 10 second cry and Microphone muttering ‘ that monster.. ‘, She still is probably upset in the canon timeline about it, Yet happy about the new start she has with everyone, Including Microphone and Excluding Pickle. Though, the little song called I, I was pretty cute :]. I mean, I don’t have much to say, Because she didn’t appear in S3 sooo.. yah. Maybe like a lil tiny section.

S3

I think its funny Silver Spoon says ‘ Queen! Queen! ‘ whenever shes mentioned. Remember the theory that Walkie Talkie was Taco? lol— also I believed SOOO HARD that Walkie Talkie would show up and be Taco. Sigh. Really wish she was featured in S3.

ANYWAY… i hope you enjoyed this blog post, ill see you next time! f0urxy signing OUT!!!

[eravicis]

Solo Leveling // Legends Never Die

Title: Chapter 10 - Grind Series: Solo Leveling ( I Alone Level Up ) Pairing: Sung Jin-woo/Original Female Character Rating: Mature Chapters: 10/? Word Count: ~6304 A/N: It only took… three years… haha… did you miss me? ;; It's been so long that I wonder if people will like this chapter… hope you like it! ><;

Again, I will tag the appropriate tags at the beginning of each chapter to avoid general spoilers.

*agasshi (아가씨) - miss *halmeoni - granny/grandmother *eomma - a casual reference to mother/mom

I tried adding some introspection, but I think that's hard to do in that situation.

Summary: Jinwoo is faced with an ultimatum, and Yoona stumbles her way into an "easy" way of grinding through the system.

—  x  —

AO3

Lizards.

It's a slang term that refers to the people who betray other party members, saving their own skin and leaving them behind. It's not the same as the situation with Jinwoo or Yoona in the Double Dungeon since they had volunteered to be left behind so as not to drag down the party in their escape. These people, however, save themselves for their own personal gain.

Jinwoo recollects a conversation he had with another Hunter named Oh. He clarifies that because being a Hunter is dangerous, it's expected that risk and injuries come with the job. However, the problem with the job is that their current electrical technology loses its functions once it enters the Gate. Or rather, it's more like there is no technology that's able to connect to the other side of the gate. Thus, people cannot watch what's happening inside the Gate from the outside. (It's been said that humans and hunters have yet to develop the necessary tech to withstand the transport through the portal due to the high mana density.)

This makes it very difficult to prove a crime has been committed inside the dungeon. Without the security of technology to monitor inside the dungeons, there is no way to stop a hunter from committing any sort of crime. So the weaker someone is, the more expendable they become. However, if someone is strong, people seek that strength and will cling to them.

But, if a hunter says that they're useless or even get in the way, then, like a lizard leaving its tail behind, a person can end up being cut in more than one way.

And it's this specific warning that repeats itself in Jinwoo's mind as Jinho panics, watching their exit disappear. Even if they tried to stop them from trapping them within the boss room, the attack force was ready to strike them down if anything changed.

Paying attention to details wasn't needed, hm? Jinwoo suddenly understands what Hwang Dongsuk means. 

Dropping the bags onto the ground, he muses that this giant spider monster, the boss, is nothing like his traumatizing experience in the Double Dungeon. In fact, there's a feeling that perhaps this is fate that he gets this opportunity to test his current abilities on a C-Rank dungeon boss.

"That's mine," he says, his dagger summoned to his hand as he prepares for combat.

And for the first time, he smiles with confidence.

—  x  —

The destruction where the Gate opened is disastrous.

There's shouting in the distance, but what remains of the park is gone and, instead, is littered with debris and wounds on the earth from the blasts in the ensuing battle. What people could be saved are pulled off the field and the only people left are some Hunters trying to fend off the boss.

Yoona runs as fast as she is able to get closer. But from a distance, she could only watch who she could assume to be the healer dropping to the ground from mana exhaustion. The only person left standing appears to be a tank, holding his shield up. In front of him is a plant-like creature, tall and massive, that stands easily four stories tall, wood and vines making up its form between its bark. It stands in front of the blue portal, wavering and threatening to allow more creatures to escape the dungeon. Its build is very similar to that of a stocky golem, a four-legged creature with a tree trunk for its face. Glowing green eyes gleam from between its bark as its front arm lifts and quickly drops it.

But the back of the head of the tank bracing for impact is familiar, someone she didn't expect to see so soon on the frontlines.

"Adrien!"

His head doesn't turn, bringing up his shield to block an incoming attack from the large plant-like golem.

Yoona doesn't want to assume, but it looks like she has caught them between waves. This also means that they don't have much time for Adrien to catch her up on what's happened thus far. This creature looks like they're the last one of the group that's managed to escape the dungeon's gate.

The healer passed out, exhausted, with her health low to the point that it's in danger. Yoona sees both of their health bars above their heads, like a video game, and the corners of her mouth twitch. Honestly, how much is the System making her see this as a video game instead of a life-or-death situation?

Clearly, someone has a terrible sense of humor.

She doesn't even think when she utters a healing spell with the wave of her hand, the sparkling glow that comes from her fingers shimmering over Adrien, who's about to take another blow to his shield. He manages to brace it in time as he is enveloped in the healing glow of her healing magic. He sinks into the earth under its forceful weight, cracking and breaking the earth around him, a grunt before he changes it into a yell to shove the creature off his shield.

Yoona slides into place beside the healer, looking over the healer's condition. She's weak, dripping in cold sweat, and exhausted from mana exhaustion, on top of the low health. She waves a hand over her face and utters a heal to watch most of their injuries disappear and finally breathe without the distress.

The creature shudders, stumbling back from how Adrien threw it off-balance.

He spares her a glance back with a small grin. "Much thanks for the assist."

"Of course," she responds with a grin, happy to see her friend again. But this isn't the time to play catch-up.

The creature slams its large hoof-like feet down on Adrien's shield again and he gets shoved deeper into the earth.

"Need help?"

"A little," he grunts and shoves the creature with more strength again once Yoona has finished healing him to full.

Huh, finished healing him. Is there something he should be aware of? Above all else, healed him to full? This is Yoona that came to his aid, right? But, she has… white hair?

The idle thoughts disappear when the golem drops its foot back down on the shield in a rushing force that Adrien gets pummeled, disappearing into the earth under his buckler like a hammer hammering a nail into the ground.

Setting the healer away from the battle, Yoona pulls her staff out from her inventory in a shimmer of electrical golden light and it swirls around her in anticipation of what's to come. With a grin, Yoona twirls the staff in her hand. No longer does she feel intimidated by such a daunting and seemingly overwhelming creature from the Gate, but Yoona is excited to test out just how powerful this new staff of hers is.

—————  x  —————

(!) 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 [POISON] is ineffective against TREE GOLEM!

—————  x  —————

A pity, Yoona thinks. But it confirms that it's a golem rather than a living creature. She had a feeling that the area-of-effect poison would be ineffective against it. Idly, if she was a fire mage, she could probably do some really intense damage. Well, if this were a video game that's based off of elemental properties like a certain little pocket monster series.

Still, she casts a buff spell on herself, which buffs all of her physical and defensive stats temporarily, and takes off running.

The golem notices her and turns in her direction.

It's too slow to respond when Yoona runs until she's just in front of it, and then jumps straight up. With more strength than she realizes she has when she becomes level with its face, Yoona takes this opportunity to stab the golem in its eyes with her spear.

With a roar, it pulls its head away from the offending weapon.

With the strength she now has, thanks to her recent level gain, she pulls back and her staff-turned-spear cleaves clean the head of the golem off of its trunk body. And in nanoseconds, Yoona watches as its vines move swiftly to grab for its head. 

In the same momentum, Yoona doesn't give it a chance to recover, and she twirls in mid-air, grabs an ax from her inventory, and drops its blade down into the center of the trunk where its head once was. With how much force she applies to the ax, she continues the motion with several strikes from her left to her right and back again before the ax breaks from fighting against the golem's trunk.

As it shatters, it disappears into the air in a fit of blue light and sparkles when she releases it.

With its trunk cleanly cut open from her ax, it exposes its center, the core. Different from the monster's magic cores that drop from a monster's defeat, this one is what controls this creature. From somewhere else, its monster magical core will appear.

Dropping down onto the staggering headless body, Yoona lifts her spear and points the sharp blade at the core. Without pause, she brings it down and breaks the jewel-like blue orb, breaking it into near halves.

With a broken groan of wood grinding, it stumbles and drops to its knees, shaking the earth.

—————  x  —————

(!) 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 You have leveled up!

—————  x  —————

She blinks at the notification. Really? How easy is it really to level up like this? Still, she's not going to complain if it means she's leveling up. However, she wishes with every level up, she has something more than that to allot more points into her stats.

Maybe she's going about this wrong. Idly, she makes a mental note to look over the interface again later.

Canceling the effect of her buff spell, Yoona jumps down to the ground where Adrien is busy digging himself out of the hole. He blinks when he realizes the golem is down. His head swivels, blinking repeatedly when his gaze lands on Yoona.

She twirls the staff and replaces it back inside her inventory in a flash of light, making her way over to him. Her gaze subtly narrows when the hairs on the back of her neck lift and she tries to resist the urge to look around, aware that she's being watched. Yoona needs to feign ignorance or else, it's possible that those watching would figure out she's been Reawakened.

"Need a hand?" she asks again. It's amusing considering he's about halfway out of the hole and is still waist-deep inside it.

"Yeah," he says, holding his hand up from the hole. She braces his wrist and pulls him out with surprising ease.

Yoona lets him go as Adrien blinks, looking her over and dusting himself off while she looks at her hand and flexes her fingers. How curious; normally, Adrien is considerably heavier than he looks because he's muscular. Plus, equipped with the gear, he's a size that someone of her frame would have trouble moving. 

"Yoona?"

The incredulous tone comes when comprehension dawns on him.

She turns her head to face him, giving him a small smile.

"No, wait," he says, shaking his head in disbelief and lifting a hand to her and the other to his head, "you can't be her—last I checked, she had black hair and her healing spells literally couldn't heal me to half health, let alone to full." He drops his hand and crosses his arms across his chest with a scrutinizing stare.

"Who are you?"

"Haha." Yoona averts her gaze and nervously forces a laugh, wondering how she's going to explain to Adrien that she experienced a Reawakening and is capable of getting stronger? Hell, she wonders if he would even believe her. Much less believe her about her ability to see now an interface that she calls her own personal video game. Even if the consequences of said video game mean the end of people's lives.

Adrien arches a brow.

"A-ny-way, we should head inside the gate and kill the boss before any more of those creatures respawn," Yoona says, holding her hand to her eyes to peer at their surroundings when there seem to be no more creatures around that have otherwise escaped. However, in doing so, she can't seem to see who it is that's watching her, but she can sense that there are two B-Rank Hunters nearby. They weren't there earlier when she took down the golem, but definitely after.

Maybe if she really tried, she could probably throw a dagger in the direction just to scare the living daylights out of them.

He squints and then stares at her for a moment longer before hefting a heavy sigh. "Alright, I'll let it slide this time but—!"

"—… But what?" She looks hesitantly in his direction. Honestly, lying has never been her forte.

"You owe me some kind of explanation other than what I can only assume is… whatever I think it is."

This time, Yoona's wariness drops and she's left surprised. Taken aback by his vague wording, her brows quickly furrow when her thoughts start running. Assumptions like he's on the radio with the UK Hunters Association or perhaps, the people that she senses that are nearby might have something to do with it.

There's a sharp look in his eye that warns her to leave it at that and radios that all is clear and that he's heading into the Gate.

He gestures with his head for them to head inside and with one final cursory glance around, Yoona follows.

Inside the Gate, a forest with high temple walls greets her with tall trees and high underbrush. They stand in a clearing in the middle of a forest where its canopy shrouds the floor of the forest in shifting shadows. The temple walls make it feel like a maze and the canopy of the trees is the ceiling.

"Damn," Adrien swears.

Yoona has seen her fair share of Gates and sometimes there are new ones to explore. This one is a meld of the typical forest dungeons often found through a Red Gate—a dungeon that locks its Hunters inside until all of the hunters have died or it's cleared—and a typical dungeon. Generally, each one specifically has limitations, much like typical dungeons where there is a direct or a maze-like path to be explored upon entry.

"What? This dungeon isn't to your liking?" Yoona asks, somewhat amused.

"It's fine," he shrugs weakly. "But, I just realized, how are we going to clear the dungeon and beat the dungeon boss by ourselves? We're not exactly high-ranking Hunters."

Yoona feels it's probably safe now to tell him about her recent changes.

"But!" Adrien takes a few steps forward, casting a glance in Yoona's direction with an arched brow. "Something tells me that something happened to you after we left that hell of a place." He steps close to her, relieved and with bright eyes.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gives her a watery smile. "You made it and—" he squeezes her shoulder, "—I'm really glad you did."

Yoona smiles, nodding, and placing a hand on his to give him a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah," she says, feeling a strange lump forming in her throat. "A lot happened."

Adrien quirks a crooked smile, pulling Yoona in for a tight hug. Yoona forces the lump down her throat, appreciative of his genuine care for her welfare. It's been far and few between since people often wanted something from her or found her more of an inconvenience. But Adrien has always been a friend first and foremost, even after they found out their ranks as Hunters.

So when he pulls away, he clears his throat and straightens, giving her another look over.

"Hm."

He glances around the dungeon. Scratching his head, he crosses his arms across his chest and arches a brow. He returns his attention back to Yoona.

"So," he begins, giving her an expectant look.

Nervously, Yoona laughs and averts her gaze.

"You took down that golem with no problem—you wanna share something with the class? Or namely, I don't know, me? Cause I feel like I need to know something before we die trying to clear this dungeon." And then he arches a brow. "And weren't you… hm, I dunno, shorter?"

He makes a gesture hovering over her head and to where she comes up to his shoulder.

Lifting her gaze up to the taller, Yoona clears her throat and places a hand on her hip. She tries not to think about how her height correlates to Adrien. (But, she was definitely up to his chest before, no, wait, smaller? And now, she comes to his shoulder?) "Well, remember the double dungeon?"

The sound of the forest rustles in the back and the humidity is palpable that Yoona wipes at her brow. Even Adrien adjusts the armor he wears as he readies his equipment, sensing the change in the atmosphere. Again, Yoona pulls out her staff with a shimmer of light.

He twirls his sword in his hand before raising his buckler, moving ahead of her as they start venturing into the dungeon. "Is this a rhetorical question?"

Ah, right, stupid question but she honestly blames nerves. She isn't sure how he'd take the news, but she feels like she owes him that much, having been one of the few people who experienced the double dungeon. Adrien is one of the few people that's stuck with her since she started working as a Hunter.

"Wait." He turns his head to give her another look over and looks dumbfounded. "Did you get a Reawakening?"

"Focus, Adrien!" 

He shakes his head. "Talk and cover for me—surely, you can do that, can't you?"

Yoona makes a face but moves after him, positioned behind him for any attacks that would come from the front. She supposes old habits die hard and follows as she sighs, finding she isn't nervous about the dungeon, but rather how he'd react to her news. After all, she hasn't even told Jinwoo about it yet. Maybe it's just easier to tell Adrien since he was there—at least, he was there before she "died."

"There's not much to tell you except I might've Reawakened."

She resists the urge to grimace and slap herself on the forehead.

"'Might've? Might've? ' So you're telling me that your white hair has nothing to do with your highly probable Reawakening?"

Ah, she really can't fool him, can she? Foolishly, Yoona thought she could back out of telling him the truth, but she's come this far. The guilt that Adrien knows before Jinwoo manifests itself in her chest, clawing at her, but at the very least, she owes Adrien. He was there and it's not fair of her to keep this from him when it's all too obvious that he can see the changes.

She scratches her head and sighs. "Alright, so I—sort of, yeah—had a Reawakening, but when I got tested by the Monitoring Division, there was no change in my evaluation."

This is the truth, despite Adrien sparing her an scrutinizing look, opting in lieu of investigating around the corner of the dungeon. Somehow, she has a feeling he doesn't believe her. This is proven true when they clear a couple of floors of the dungeon, most of it emptied when the Gate opened earlier and let them roam outside in their world, and all Adrien does is sigh in the most exaggerated manner.

Dramatic, really.

"I'm serious!" Yoona decides to emphasize. "I was evaluated to still be an E-Rank when they came to the same conclusion you did. They were there when I woke up."

Adrien, again, remains skeptical, but decides after a moment more that he seems to believe her.

Their investigation through the dungeon is anti-climatic, finding that most of the monsters have already left the gate, leaving only the boss deep inside the dungeon. However, there's an odd tingle down her spine at the feeling when she approaches it. Nerves? Anxiety? No, it's probably something like excitement? Oh, yes, that's it.

It's been awhile since she got to test out the limits of her newfound abilities that she's excited about fighting this dungeon boss.

The boss, in the end, is at a higher level than the previous bosses she's fought before.

No, she's wrong.

There's more than one boss at the end, and she's positively giddy.

"But, something did happen while I was down there, and I don't know if you'll believe me," Yoona starts, wondering if this is okay. Telling Adrien before she's telling Jinwoo feels somehow wrong and her grip tightens on her staff before she relaxes again.

But Jinwoo wasn't there.

Would he understand?

"You won't know until you try and tell me, right?" Adrien shrugs. He relaxes now that they've cleared the dungeon. It seems the Gate has already released every creature from the dungeon out into the world. He sheathes his blade and continues to navigate the maze. "And at this point, I can almost believe anything can happen. If we can stumble upon a rare double dungeon that has S-Gate monsters inside it, then anything is possible."

"You think there's more than that out there?" Yoona blinks, incredulous. "And do you think our luck is really that bad?"

"Why not? These Gates only started showing up ten years ago and we still don't know everything about them or why they started showing up. Plus," Adrien pauses briefly to give her another glance, "anything's possible now. I really hope that we're really not that—" he grimaces, "—'lucky' to encounter another one of those dungeons."

Yoona presses her lips into a thin line, furrowing her brows. It's like a conspiracy theory, one that seems common on the internet. She can only imagine why they would come to this conclusion.

Especially when their theory holds true: at the end of this dungeon are two large creatures that she could guess as two boss monsters.

She senses it before she sees it in the next room over. They enter a cavernous room with large trees encompassing the sides and their long branches filling the ceiling and covering the sky. Large tiles and building pieces of an ancient civilization are littered into pieces on the sides, giving the impression the ceiling caved in and its debris is left in the middle of the room.

Movement in the corner catches their attention that Adrien barely lifts his shield in time to brace for impact.

"Adrien!"

It's an explosion of energy and debris that shoves Adrien from where he once stood, his feet sliding along the ground as he explodes into the wall of the temple. Smoke covers him that Yoona can't see whether or not—

Another movement on her other side that she barely lifts her staff in time to brace for impact and she's sent flying into the other wall in her own explosion of debris.

She coughs out, surprised, and barely moves in time when another movement in the smoke catches her off guard that she drops, crouches, and then lunges with her staff.

It barely nicks whatever is attacking her, taking advantage of the brief smoke to hide itself from her view.

But it's strong, sturdy, and she knows she hit it.

It takes a moment more that she dodges the next impact, jumping forward to duck into a roll that takes her a few steps closer back to the center of the boss room.

"Adrien! You doing okay?!"

"Oh, never better! Ugh," he groans as he manages to pull himself from being pummeled by whatever it is that is attacking them.

What on earth is this boss?

No, Yoona sensed two earlier—

The smoke finally clears as she hears the growling, low and deep, that she makes the connection that it's what she had speculated—two bosses.

Well, she speculated one mini-boss and the actual boss but watching as the two jaguar-like creatures circle them told her otherwise. One is slightly smaller than the other with both sporting inky black coats and four large black wings along their back. While they don't have paws, they have talons, moving with surprising dexterity and quiet that Yoona swears they probably also had some kind of paw pad.

And they're both triple her height.

They circle her now as Adrien comes to the center of the arena. Yoona couldn't help the small smile she makes, an excitement she didn't know she could have in the face of danger manifesting in the face of a new challenge. Her grip on her staff tightens and then relaxes again, ready to move in the next moment she's ready.

Now, it'll be a little odd working with Adrien since she's Reawakened, but it can't be helped.

"Adrien, we're going to work together to take them down, right?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here that can help, so yeah!"

Even though she's not looking at him as they have their backs to one another, she can practically hear his eyes roll at her rhetorical question.

But she doesn't get to explain her plan when both of the jaguar-like creatures lunge and it takes all of what strength she has to take the weight of its force against the staff. It's heavy and she barely manages to brace for it. But feline creatures move just as fast as she's able to manage and the second paw comes that she barely manages to angle the staff just enough to block the paw.

However, she isn't quite right and its claws manage to just cut through her clothes that it draws blood.

Yoona winces and thinks of the buff skill that shrouds herself in a brief aura of red.

—————  x  —————

[SPELL: 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 has been activated.]

[Your SPEED and STRENGTH have increased by 30%.]

—————  x  —————

It's a little soon but she wants to take care of this quickly and before her [Fatigue] becomes a problem.

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: "𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄": The opponent will be paralyzed at a certain rate.]

[EFFECT: "𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍": Whenever a spell is cast, foes within 25 ft. of the caster will lose 1% of their health per second.]

—————  x  —————

She pushes back, sending the creature back that it's surprised, unable to find ground at the accelerated speed that comes from [Burn Booster.] The tip of the spear slices through one of its front legs that it cries when it's sent flying into the wall. And in one fluid motion, Yoona turns on her heel with the ease of a dancer to skewer the other that's digging its claws into Adrien's shield, right into its chest.

It reels back with a screech, realizing that this one is the mini-boss when she pulls her spear free to find that there's a red jewel adorning its neck.

"Cover me!"

Adrien tries to read what Yoona commands when she ducks, the other one coming forward from behind her once more with another lunge. He grunts from exertion at the weighted momentum when his shield barely manages to connect with the attacking Alpha. And while he's distracted, Yoona turns to spear the boss creature right into its breast. But it misses the mark of its heart and she braces herself.

Just like its partner did, it rears back with another screech and she pulls her spear back.

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄 has been activated.] [EFFECT: 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 has been activated.]

[The foe's resistance was too high. The effect(s) was canceled.]

[Fatigue: 39]

—————  x  —————

Damnit!

Yoona watches as Adrien falters, thinking victory is at hand when the other jaguar creature manifests and pounces. He barely manages to raise his shield in time as he's sent to the ground, barely able to withstand fang and claw as he's pummeled. His health bar rapidly falls when Yoona utters another [Heal].

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 has been activated.]

[The foes' resistance was too high. The effect(s) was canceled.]

—————  x  —————

This immediately draws both of the jaguar creatures attention to her.

Damnit!

Sparing a glance back at Adrien, she finds him knocked out, but alive and breathing with his health in the clear. With his shield resting on his chest, at least, he's mostly protected for the moment that she diverts her attention back to the prowling jaguars.

How did Adrien get knocked out when she healed him to full? What's more, wasn't he just fine moments ago?

Yoona backs away from the two approaching prowling predators as both of their wings shimmer. The hairs on the back of her neck tell her that they're only going to get faster. There's no way that their only attacks as boss creatures are fangs and lunging claws.

She twirls the staff in her hands, making sure they both can see it, but she's vastly outnumbered. 

Just as she guessed, their wings shimmer and they both seem to take turns lunging as they begin to bounce off the walls. They become faster and faster and she's not able to block each of their attacks. Each one becomes heavier and heavier that she has a hard time keeping up until she's getting hurt. She can hear her health plummeting.

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄 has been activated.]

[The foes' resistance was too high. The effect(s) was canceled.]

[Fatigue: 58]

—————  x  —————

Yoona isn't built to directly take hit after hit like this. And she's getting incredibly tired taking such heavy blows that she can tell if she tried taking any more of a beating, she won't make it. Why are they so fast and somehow, hitting her so goddamn hard ?!

And then, she sees it: her opportunity to break through.

—————  x  —————

[SKILL: 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐃 has been activated.]

[Your SPEED has increased by 30%.]

—————  x  —————

They both jump at the same time and she jumps up higher the moment they cross over one another. With one flick of her wrist, she swings the spear clear across the backs of their neck to the bone of where their spine connects their skulls. Instead, she meets resistance as she slices through the fanciful accessories adorning their necks.

But, it's deep enough to cause serious damage that their cries are enough to make her wince. She lands with another flick of the staff-turned-spear and braces herself, not wanting to give the jaguars any room to breathe. Yoona lunges, going after the jaguar on the right as it falters.

"Heal!"

—————  x  —————

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐙𝐄 has been activated.]

[𝐃𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐒(𝐄𝐒) are paralyzed.]

[EFFECT: 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 has been activated.]

[The opponent will lose 1% health per second.]

—————  x  —————

Rejuvenation floods her, relieving her of the built up fatigue as she begins to flick through her weapons repertoire to slice through the first winged jaguar. She summons forth an ax and slices through the tendons of their legs; summons a sword to finish the job as she cleanly beheads it; and, summons a claymore to double tap as she downward slices through its heart.

Taking that same claymore, she swings with a force the other winged jaguar isn't prepared for. It isn't able to move as it takes the blade straight through its heart. She sheathes the blade back into her inventory and summons the sword once more to behead the jaguar.

She drops to a knee, dropping the sword down to the ground as she hears pings going off once more.

Finally taking a breath, Yoona returns to standing as she swings her braid back and wipes her brow. She picks up the sword and returns it back into her inventory to draw out a dagger. Yoona is going to earn some money for all of her efforts, otherwise; there's no point in being a hunter. And plus, no one else is here, right?

Well, except Adrien and she pauses before going to the corpses of the creatures.

She makes her way over to Adrien, kneeling beside him to check both his pulse and his breathing. Thankfully, her initial glance at both the health bar and mana bar seem fine and he's not in any danger. But she does feel a small bump at the back of his head that matches the small little icon next to his health bar. Ah, did he fall in a bad way that either conveniently or inconveniently knocked him out?

Yoona isn't sure whether or not she's lucky or not that he didn't see how she took out the dungeon's boss. With a sigh, she decides to leave him be for the moment so she can go ahead and extract the mana crystals. The faster she does this, the sooner they can leave.

Using the knife with the precision and training Yoona gained from med school, she cuts out the crystals and stows them in her inventory. As she does so, all she can think about is how this will finally pay for her schooling and finally, start to get herself out of the negatives. Maybe if there's any extra, she can send some to Jinwoo…

At the thought, she hopes he's doing okay, lifting her gaze up at the sky as though her thoughts would reach him.

—  x  —

"Of course you'd betray me; I'm weak."

Jinwoo expects this, but color him surprised when Jinho decides to take his side. It didn't take very long for the words he knew were coming from Dongsuk. Is this really how these people are going to do this?

"Have you… ever killed someone before?" Their eyes gleam menacingly as they stalk toward Jinwoo and Jinho.

Jinwoo doesn't even get the chance to properly think of a reaction when the System seems to do it for him as it pings.

—————  x  —————

[An urgent quest has arrived.]

—————  x  —————

He flinches, at first, thinking the System is simply acting up, but then he gets blasted into the wall behind him.

That's not what really hurts, but rather the reminder of the anger and disappointment he felt back in the Double Dungeon. The Quest Info screen fizzles, like it's losing signal in comparison to where his mind has gone. Disappointment claws at him, irritated that he forgot. Anger burns inside of him until he feels like yelling at the world.

How?

Somehow, he remembers what Yoona told him before.

" To stay angry? I think you can stay as angry as long as you want ."

" Look, anger is okay, grief is okay, spite is okay ."

How? How? How? How?

HOW? 

HOW?

The simple question buries him, enraging him that he's this foolish, this weak STILL to think that he had any kind of trust in another person. He wants to scream, wants to yell, seething in the frustration and helplessness he once had. After all, at the end of all of this, he's at fault.

How could he have…

Forgotten what kind of place this is?

That this place is governed by the strongest, by the "Survival of the Fittest" principle?

His hand grasps hold of the stones next to him, slowly pulling himself out of the rubble as a cool fury washes over him. Jinwoo hasn't been thinking clearly until just now, but he's clear now. After all, time and time again, in all of these dungeons, he's overcome death that he could almost consider it a friend. And yet, he's recovered each time. Going back in despite the possible dangers, he's mistaken that these places were safe.

He was wrong.

The System is telling him, forcing him to commit murder.

They're a THREAT.

Steel steadies his hands when he found that the answer was easy, almost surprised at himself at just how easily he accepted what he's about to do. It's asking him to either kill them or die. Why would it give such an ultimatum if it didn't have something else in store for him? Or perhaps, the system would become complicated if he were to die because he refused to take a life.

This is neither a coincidence nor an act of goodwill and it's obvious now: the System needs him. And what it needs is for him to become strong, to steel himself against all possible foes that he may face in the future. It needs him to be strong.

Jinwoo lifts himself out of the rubble despite the blood covering part of his vision. A cursory glance at his health tells him that they took out just a little under half damage of his total health. That's plenty for what he's going to do now.

Ultimately, the System isn't trying to make him stronger, but rather, he can tell that it simply wants a more powerful version of himself.

Ah, now that he knows what it wants… if the System is going to use him, then he's going to use the System.

He stands and begins walking over toward the murderers.

"Since you guys are playing around with people's lives, I'm assuming that you're also prepared to face the consequences." Jinwoo cracks his knuckles at his sides, energy sparking across his frame in his silent fury. The System is forcing him to quickly accept the fact that these people aren't worth his time, worth the effort of keeping them alive.

"What is this idiot going on about?" asks the one Hunter with a buzzcut.

"Since you call yourselves hunters, I'm asking if you're prepared to become the hunted."

"Dongsuk, I'll take care of him," says a brown haired hunter that has his hair pulled into a ponytail. He approaches Jinwoo with a confident swagger that he even has the nerve of putting his arm around Jinwoo's shoulders.

"Look, man, it seems like you still don't fully understand the situation at hand."

In Jinwoo's right hand, electrical blue lightning flickers as he resummons his dagger.

For one single moment, he thinks of Yoona. Jinwoo thinks of Yoona, a healer, who tries her best to save lives . Yoona, who's becoming a doctor.

And Jinwoo takes his first life with a single flick of his hand.

[husbandograveyard]

Multichapter fics I want to work on (soon-ish) - Previews? Accountability? Interest check? Something in between? I am bad at summaries, when i write them out properly, I will do better hihi. I promise the plots are actually good haha. All these are reader insert, OC fics are also in the making, but more in my personal folders than ready for sharing.

(working) title: untitled | Series: BNHA | Rating: E Pairing(s): Kirishima x Reader | Genre: Drama, angst, romance ↪ cw & tw: sex work, alcohol consumption, insecurities, bleak world ↪ Synopsis: Nearing his 40's, pro hero Red Riot is one of the few in his friend group that hasn't managed to settle down and the loneliness and yearning is starting to weigh on him more and more. He turns to a high-end sex worker, more for the girlfriend experience than anything else, but realizes pretty fast that he is falling for her. Based of one of my favorite Reddit Stories.

(working) title: the right place | Series: Haikyuu!! | Rating: M Pairings: undecided x reader (2 characters, one main pairing) Genre: college (AU), romance, humor, light angst, slow ish burn? ↪ Cw & Tw: AU, childhood friends to lovers, roommates to lovers, SO MUCH pining, miscommunications, failed relationships ↪ Synopsis: You and [character] have been friends since diapers. When you both decide to go to the same college, you make plans to live together in the big city, navigating school and living without your parents for the first time together. There is obvious romantic tension between you two, so why does he keep dating around? And why are you suddenly hanging out with his best friend?

(working) title: Bound in body and blood | Series: JJK (AU) | Rating: E | Pairings: Geto Suguru x Reader | Genre: horror, dark romance, dead dove

↪ Cw & Tw: Vampire AU, Vampire!Geto, Priest!Geto, Blood, so much blood, wounds, mild gore (nothing worse than canon tbh), bullying, traumatic upbringing, abuse, Catholic guilt, Catholic references, manipulation, unhealthy relationship, loss of a spouse, character (un)death, sexual assault, Geto is NOT a good guy ↪ Synopsis: You return to your small hometown you so desperately tried to escape as a teen for the community and support after a traumatic happening. You're struggling to find solid ground again when your childhood friend, another 'escapee' returns a few months after you. He's gone through similar things as you did, and you find a lot of comfort in his presence. But strange things have started happening in the town ever since he arrived, and you're torn between staying in the dark or digging deeper, old love and recent loss.

(working) title: Enstrangled | Series: Genshin Impact (AU) | Rating: E | Pairings: Baizhu x Reader | Genre: horror-ish to dark / monster romance

↪ Cw & Tw: Naga!Baizhu, survival horror?, wounds, stalking, unhealthy relationship dynamics, obsession, talking snakes (Changsheng), monsterfucking, TBA ↪ Synopsis: Every year you spend some time solo hiking and camping to clear your mind and get out of the city. This time the forest you are hiking in has some dangers other than the average predators. And one of them has got his eye on you.

(working) title: Untitled | Series: Naruto (AU) | Rating: M (mature themes, no explicit smut) | Pairings: Itachi x Reader | Genre: medieval AU! Romance, drama, soulmate AU with a twist

↪ Cw & Tw: domestic abuse, doomed soulmates, unhealthy relationships, minor character death, Itachi with visual impairment, family estrangement, healing journeys, trauma, illness ↪ Synopsis: Most people are born with a mark on them indicating their soulmate. Those who aren't, called the 'soulless', are there to marry each other, and those who can't find their soulmates. And you? You wish you were soulless, cause your soulmate is the worst person you ever met.

(working) title: Untitled | Series: Haikyuu!! (AU) | Rating: M (mature themes, no smut) | Pairings: multiple x Reader - endgame undecided | Genre: Post apocalyptic AU, horror, survival, thriller, romance is but a subplot, angst

↪ Cw & Tw: Post apocalyptic society, volunteers, but in a hunger games kind of way, nature has taken over the world, blood, death, gore, wounds, illness, major character death, conflict, arguments, overall dark content ↪ Synopsis: It's been a few years since the incident, and your encampment is running out of resources. You and a handful other 'volunteers' get sent out to find more. But it's a wasteland of survival out there, and who's to say you're alone?

[lelouch]

just wanted to put my day here so i dont forget it

today i went with my sibling to a new part of town, we went alone on public transport, which is a huge step towards independence for me! i'm quite excited as i didn't get lost even alone. it might sound silly to most people, but that is a very big obstacle to go through as i'm not very well oriented and sometimes i get lost even in places i know well.

we went first to a big tianguis, i was freaked out at first because of the sounds, but luckily i had made my meltdown kit and had my earplugs ready :)

later i went alone to a doll market to pick up a monster high, and met a very nice guy who helped me get on the correct train to get there as he was also going to pick up a monster high (core operetta) and when we arrived we talked a little and then went our separate ways :) he was very nice

when i found the guy who had my ghoulia i gave him the money and we talked a little, and we found out we live super close 😭 so we could just seen eachother very fast instead of doing all this lol but well.

i saw a lot of dolls, and in one of the stands there were a lot of draculaura things, and i had a draculaura shirt on haha and i started talking with the person that was selling them and said they liked my shirt :) and then i said their outfit reminded me of uruha and they said that was their reference! later i asked them directions as i got lost [again] they were super nice :)

i got back to the tianguis with my sibling and then we went to a café because i wanted to deliver a letter to a memorial, and we ordered 2 milkshakes, one named Kirby and one named Mokona :) i also ordered a cheesecake that tasted too much like egg.

[according2thelore]

AHHH THAT WAS SO GOOD!!!! I love LS Dean just silently leaving. He should fuck ES sam to get back at them haha. And LS sam is kind of cold blooded for taking that first kiss from ES sam, lol. And to not tell LS Dean is also insane. Sam is insane!!! and we love him for it. crazy crazy boy.

It reminds me of that scene where Sam is hallucinating his younger kid self, and the kid is like “I didn’t want this life,” and Sam is just like tough shit, kid, life ain’t fair, get over it. I do think Sam has that ability to be… a little mean to his younger self. In a way that’s obviously just self esteem problems but I think would maybe make the Deans mad.

haha, thank you! <3

ES!Sam would absolutely bring up the idea of revenge sex, lmao! rash lil monster <3 in LS!Sam's defense, if i had an ES!Dean in my lap wriggling and begging to be loved, i fear i too would do something drastic. but yes!! it is messy and cruel and cold-blooded, which is why i don't think it would actually play out like that but oh boy it's fun to think about.

you're so right--sam is very unsympathetic? for lack of a better word? to his past selves. even people he perceives to be similar to his past selves.

with adam, he tries to shatter the dream of attending school and living a normal life with big dreams. and only dean recognizes the parallels there, and sam immediately dismisses adam's dreams as childish.

with kevin--someone young and scared who has powers he can't understand--he's at best distant at worst reckless and cruel (not picking up his phone when kevin (a junior in high school) escapes torture from a king of hell, WHICH IS SOMETHING SAM CAN RELATE TO? HELLO??).

so i can only imagine how much this is exacerbated by actually having a younger version of himself. it makes sam's issues with self esteem that much more explicit and pointed. while i think LS!Sam (meaning bunker sam) tends to be more sympathetic, i think there's definitely room to explore how ES!Sam's anger and fire makes LS!Sam chafe.

he doesn't coddle him, and gets annoyed with him more easily than the Deans do, which i agree--would make them so mad. because it's hard to look at ES!Sam's-kicked-puppy-pouting and not kill the thing that made him look like that.

thank you for this ask anon! mwah!

-lizzy

(this was in reference to this ES/LS verse post here!)

[mayakern]

now i’m curious what were ur fav MP goofs !!! :0

ok i have a 10 image limit and some of these are multi-image jokes so i’ll try to distill these as best i can. also these jokes are all from i think chapter 4 and later, where i really flourished my sense of humor more

1. marina’s high school crush/bff sharkwanda being a highly contentious contestant on a spoof of top model

this is specifically a spoof of the early seasons, which usually had an assessment within the first 2 or 3 episodes, including a weigh in. as much as i loved trashy tv, i always hated these moments so i thought it would be funny to have a literal shark and to have her be weighed against mostly average-sized humanoids because it would be ridiculous for anyone to expect a healthy shark to weigh the same amount as a human.

there were a couple other layers to this: george idolizing her as a strong, independent woman. george’s brother freaking out because sharkwanda just ate a man on camera and no one’s overly bothered by this. george chastising him for not realizing it was obviously fake/over dramatized for the ratings (and not examining that then this moment of “self empowerment” would also be fake). and then also i named her after a fish named wanda. except she’s a shark named wanda. she’s also the most beautiful and popular girl in the world and she wins her season and becomes a very successful model.

2. the tinsley family thanksgiving outfits. actually their themed outfits in general. i think shit like this is super cute and funny. i also just enjoy writing siblings who rib each other lovingly.

also the part of this where george’s mom has three eyes (she’s psychic) and her dad has no eyes, so her brother has two eyes and for all intents and purposes looks human, but he is a full blooded monster. early on i had some ideas for an off shoot chapter about eli and his struggles with his identity (being a monster but not looking like one and not feeling at home in either community), but it got scrapped for time and also because it felt like too close a parallel to mixed race people who pass as white and that’s not my story to tell.

3. sharkwanda’s cover (up) girl ad campaign during the superb owl half time show. some of this stuff was a bit on the nose, but there’s a line about sharkwanda finally having makeup that doesn’t melt off her face like hot cheese that i still like

4. this multi-strip joke where franny’s dad pulls a turkey out of a hat. just read it there’s nothing to explain lol

5. basically every part of the magic shop scene, but especially the part where percy meets franny’s dad for the first time during a very tense situation and franny’s dad is wearing a skeleton (this is a reference to ranma 1/2). and then also percy sits and there’s a whoopee cushion. it’s incredibly awkward and not exactly haha funny, but it simultaneously cuts and adds to the tension in a way that is very monsterpop.

6. human!franny getting ben a dog toy as his secret santa gift (he doesn’t own a dog) and then dropping it and then it making a horrific, shrill squeak when it bounces

7. the whole situation with chadler, his horrible christmas outfit, the marshmallow gun, and him taking sexy santa ben as prisoner.

8. ben, killed by glitter, soon to be avenged by his crush comrade (or not)

9. george being gifted a framed painting of a photo of herself, asleep during class, which she later carries into an actual museum and gets in trouble for because a guard thinks she stole a piece of art

10. the brotebook

this has been very long but i hope u enjoyed it

[katiebug586]

Sit Down, Shut Up X Digimon AU

I'M BACK WITH ANOTHER DIGIMON AU!

Honestly, the 'I am going to create an crossover that is so doesn't make sense' image sums this up nicely regarding niche special interests and hyperfixations.

Either way, for those of you who aren't aware, Sit Down, Shut Up is a 2009 animated sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development. While it is generally thought of being either a 'you love it or you hate it' show, it has a special place in my heart and despite its raunchy/lewd humor, I find it strangely comforting to watch.

And because I've been getting back into both Digimon and Sit Down, Shut Up as of late, it is only natural that my brain has the 'genius' idea of combining the two. It started with the innocuous question of 'What would the cast be if they were Digimon?' which is something I've asked for multiple other fandoms as well, such as Pepper Ann, Braceface, and Fillmore! to name a few.

I don't have much of a plot super specific to the show in a Digimon setting, but I do have an overall plot which I tend to use in most of my Digimon x (show) AUs involving the 'Digital World' being a near copy of the human/real world, with monsters having jobs, children, school, that sort of thing. All without knowing they're living in a simulation. The characters eventually find out they DO live in a simulation by another race foreign to them (humans), and find themselves having to go to the 'real world', where they find themselves facing a brand new threat, the Seven Great Demon Lords; seven powerful creatures, each representing some type of vice, who were created by the humans to purge the simulation and start over.

But some of them have their own interests in mind…

That's the usual scenario I use when 'brainstorming' (haha daydreaming) but with Sit Down, Shut Up I could go for less of the adult 'raunchy humor' everywhere, and instead incorporate more of an intense/edgy feel more geared towards adults with some added adult humor, rather than the moreso 'for kids' I would do for say, a Fillmore! or Pepper Ann Digimon AU.

Because it's eight champion-level (unless stated) adult Digimon who work in a digi-school and can barely tolerate one another, with some tolerated less than others. Then, everything they've known to be true is revealed to be a lie and they're forced to team up with those same people and kinda try to maybe understand them?

Now, I could see petty drama and 'canon-typical behavior/adult humor' at first being the norm, (kind of like how the sitcom only got thirteen episodes, which is usually when a Digimon season is still lighthearted. Unless you're Ghost Games that is. RIP Bokomon) but then getting Knight Of Cerberus'd and becoming significantly darker. Kind of like what Bojack pulled off, with the perfect mix of adult humor and a meaningful message.

You're probably wondering by now, what did my brain answer when asked that fateful question? Well, here's the Digimon I decided would fit and their lines! Rookie/Child forms are just here for reference, all are at Champion/Adult level unless otherwise stated.

Larry: Lopmon - Turuiemon - Antylamon (Deva) - Cherubmon (Virtue) (Can also become Vice if shit hits the fan)

Miracle: Terriermon - Gargomon - Rapidmon - MegaGargomon (May change Rapidmon and MegaGargomon if I find suitable mons)

Ennis: Elecmon (Violet) - Leomon - GrapLeomon - BanchoLeomon (Ennis is normally a GrapLeomon because I thought it would be fitting to have him at such a high level due to how 'great' he thinks he is and how he'd be himbo material if he wasn't so… Ennis)

Stuart: Guilmon - Growlmon - WarGrowlmon - Gallantmon/Megidramon (I thought Guilmon's/Growlmon's naivety was a nice fit for Stuart, along with the fact that they can and will fuck you up, e.g. Megidramon as an alternate digivolution)

Helen: Tsukaimon - Saberdramon - LadyDevimon - Star Beelmon

Andrew: Kotemon - Dinohyumon - Kyukimon - SlashAngemon

Willard: Piximon. Nobody knows much of his past, and frankly, they don't really care.

Sue: Haven't actually decided yet LMFAO.

[chronologer]

🤥🌈🔥❤️📏👻for the oc ask game! Any oc, I’d love to hear about them!

hehehehe >:3 it’s oc posting time!!! i have many more ocs now and i am v happy to talk abt them, so ty for the opportunity!! i’ve been swamped with stuff so sorry this took like….. over two months haha! <3333

so first a little rundown of four of my new ocs!!!!!!

first i’ve got reynie!! (he/him)

reynie got reincarnated into a book he had read when he was younger but also not really???

the book that he thinks he got reincarnated in was a story about these two siblings discovering this hidden magical world after staying with their distant relatives over the summer

and he got reincarnated as their older brother but again. not really. i’ll get into it later.

but for now he’s desperate not to ruin things bc of his presence

i’ve been on a bit of an isekai/reincarnation kick lately so this is largely inspired by those concepts haha

then there’s the boy (he/him, but eventually she/her(?) <— i decided to trans her gender like… ten minutes ago so my thoughts abt this r kinda incoherent rn,,, but she finds out she’s a she/her over the course of the story, but i’ll use he/him to refer to her sometimes to indicate that those moments are specifically before her big gender realization)

she’s a sad, depressed, overworked high school student who is so lonely she unintentionally ends up creating a ghost/god/cryptid/monster/???????

then the monster is. v angry abt being created then abandoned. so she gets terrorized by them.

she doesn’t have a name bc i honestly just couldn’t think of one haha. calling her ‘the boy’ for now bc it’s what she thinks she is,, but her lack of a name parallels the monster’s lack of a name too so it all works out in the end 👍

and the monster (she/her at first but then eventually they/them <— they were created to essentially be a mirror of the boy’s innermost desires n stuff, so she’s a she/her at first, but then they like…. slowly branch out from that and become their own person and get their own pronouns (?) or smth?? idk.)

they’re the monster that the boy accidentally created. and even though the boy didn’t realize she created the monster, the monster is still angry so they’ve hatched this whole plot to torment her

and plot twist!! they gets attached and the two become weirdly codependent n overall just have. kind of a weird thing going on.

is it platonic? is it romantic? is it familial? idk but it’s definitely kinda fucked up!!

and finally there’s labyrinth (no pronouns??? idk……. they/them for now)

they’re also from a world where there is secretly supernatural shenanigans, but labyrinth has magic powers so they get recruited to go to this boarding school in like… massachusetts or smth, but they couldn’t care less.

as in it literally could not care less. it is physically impossible for them to care about anything bc they are like. two steps away from being fully catatonic at all times. and is also almost completely incapable of forming new memories

yeah they’re like totally dissociating at all times.

(it’s bc they have so much grief over the past that they cannot let go of it and cannot participate in the present)

but they gets better with the help of their very good roomie daniel. yeah 👍

also doesn’t have a name. also bc i didn’t wanna think of one. but smth smth it emphasizes their disconnect to the world and their life, blah blah blah plays into the themes n narratives smth along those lines.

tbh im not supppperrr happy w how i’ve characterized labyrinth??? so i might end up changing everything abt their personality. idk.

so now…. onto the ask game!

reynie is pretty decent at lying, largely out of necessity. he’s trying to hide his knowledge of the plot as much as possible, so once he figures out he’s in a book he starts lying as much as possible so people don’t find out that he knows the future. and he gets away w it, not bc he’s like… a master of lying, but moreso bc his family has no reason to think that he’s lying so they don’t suspect him of anything.

the boy is,,,… okay at lying... she’s good at the things that matter to her, but she’s bad at lying to anyone who knows her well enough, or when taking to certain topics. but also she lies all the time sooo idk.

the monster is the Liar™. biggest liar in the world and also the greatest. if there was a lying contest, they would win it. they are the most gaslighting lying faker of all time. but also tbh it’s lowkey kinda omnipotent and sometimes changes reality so the lie is no longer a lie??? still loves lying tho, especially to the boy to like. psychologically torture her.

labyrinth doesn’t lie. like. at all. tbh they really don’t understand the concept of lying. well, they do, but they don’t really see the need for it?? idk how to explain it. ig they’re not really present enough to lie. sure, that makes sense if you squint really hard. 👍

tbh it depends on what time they are in each of the stories and all bc they r all very different at the end of each of their stories than at the beginning.

for reynie…. hmmm….. he’d probably tell his younger self to not ignore the crippling migraines that he gets and also pay wayyyyy more attention to his dreams. like… get a dream journal or smth. (it’s bc he can see the future in them) also he’d definitely just tell his younger self a complete list of everything that goes wrong and how to fix it

(although this would inevitably end up making other things go wrong and probably worse but reynie would be too obsessed with fixing things to realize this fact)

the boy would probably tell her younger self to not apply to the fancy boarding school bc it’ll murder his health. or maybe she would tell him to apply bc it led to the monster being created??? tbh i think she regrets every decision she made that led her to the monster but after all’s said and done she wouldn’t change any of it. She’d probably tell her younger self that it’ll all work out in the end.

wait actually nvm all that she’d tell him what snacks to buy at the grocery store for the best price-to-flavor ratio. yeah. 👍

the monster would… uhhhh… kinda be the same ig???? idk they might try to speed the whole love-hate-overall-just-weird thing they have with the boy along by telling their younger self that the boy’s actually lowkey kinda funkalicious. groovy mcgroovical. coolio. and that they should maybe not psychologically torture her and pretend to be a ghost n all. or not. they’re whimsical like that.

labyrinth would only give their younger self advice after they start actually moving on from the past and become more present, but it wouldn’t really do anything bc younger labyrinth would not hear any of the advice at all. so it really doesn’t matter what the advice is bc both labyrinths know it wouldn’t change anything. i think they’d just hang out together and braid their past self’s hair :]

hahahhahahhahahahhahhah self destructive tendencies…… hahah hahaaha where do i begin….

reynie….. martyr complex + imposter syndrome + hates being vulnerable so will never reveal anything to anyone ever + huge perfectionist riddled by anxiety so he’s terrified of changing the plot (and doesn’t realize that his very existence has changed things) + has no regard for his own health and safety. overall just really self destructive, especially later on when he realizes that he no longer knows the plot of the story bc he’s inadvertently changed too much, making him,,,, kinda unhinged????

the boy’s mentally ill af!!!! she has crippling anxiety abt everything, which that and combined with her fear of being vulnerable causes her to be very lonely and have no support system to help. she will not reach out for help even if she needs it, which is lowkey the root of all her problems, especially the monster, since they were literally created bc the boy wanted a friend/support system so bad she ended up accidentally making one. also,,, super duper closeted and repressed.

the monster is just kinda of a huge asshole tbh which gets in the way of them forming any genuine human connections. they also hold grudges for ages and ages even when said grudges are completely unjustified, so they get so focused on revenge that it’s difficult for them to grow past it. plus they’ve got a god complex but they kinda are one??? so it’s maybe a bit justified.

labyrinth is literally so overwhelmed by their own grief over the past that they are physically unable to interact with the present most of the time. they can’t even remember their dad’s name most of the time bc they cannot process the present and their current life. they’ve got a lot of trauma and unresolved issues but they’re subconsciously repressing it and refusing to move forward which…. really screws them up…..

had to search up what all the love languages were bc i forgor lol

i’m not super sure abt any these?????? so they’re all liable to change at any given moment lol

reynie likes to do acts of service/give affirmations, and he likes to receive quality time (not that he’ll ever ask for it…)

the boy likes both giving and receiving physical touch and quality time

the monster likes giving gifts and quality time, and is above having human desires like a preferred love language to receive (it’s quality time and words of affirmation.)

uhhhh it’s kinda hard to know labyrinth’s love language??? i think they like giving gifts, and receiving… quality time??? i don’t think they care abt receiving tbh….

reynie’s pretty educated. in his past life he went to college, and in his current life he’s a high school student again, although he’s mainly just cruisin’. he was pursuing more advanced education outside of school, reteaching himself what he learned in college through self-study, but then he found out abt how he got reincarnated into a book and the existence of the supernatural, which caused most of those plans to be put on hold.

the boy goes to some fancy schmancy boarding school for smarty farty kids, although she’s not doing great there, although that’s more of an executive disfunction/the school’s way of teaching isn’t the way that works for the boy/unrealized neurodivergence/etc. type of thing. but she’s still getting a funky education.

the monster’s is super educated but that’s cause they’re omnipotent and omnipresent, so they literally do know everything (at least most of the time [when they feel like it]). they also go to the same school of the boy, but it’s not to be educated, it’s to screw with her.

labyrinth is…. okay???? they do well on tests n all that bc of,,,,, reasons??? but they actually know anything. they’re currently going to the magic boarding school in massachusetts or whatever.

ok so tbh…. they all live in worlds were ghosts are real (or could be real in the case of the boy and the monster) so tldr; yes.

reynie, once he learns abt the supernatural, absolutely believes in ghosts, although that’s largely bc he knows for sure that they exist cause they were in the book. i’m actually planning on having him become a ghost hunter later on, bc he’s going to go on a road trip to do supernatural stuff for plot reasons, and he’ll do ghost hunting stuff for cash (this entire part of his storyline was created when i finally got phasmaphobia a while back haha)

the boy and the monster,,,, uh technically the monster is a ghost??? kind of…. it’s like if god were a ghost but also a building and the boy’s future n past self,,,… it’s complicated. but the monster also gaslights the boy into thinking that they’re the ghost of some dead student from the 60s. the boy definitely believes in ghosts tho, while the monster doesn’t, or at the very least they know that ghosts aren’t naturallly occurring in the world.

labyrinth believes in ghosts, but only bc they were taught abt them in their magic massachusetts school. that’s abt it. they were told ghosts were real, n just kinda went along w it.

thanks for reading and thanks for the ask!!!! i’ll probably end up making some more posts that explain these ocs more, and introduce some of my other ones sometime soon!!!!!!! hopefully…… i also want to draw my ocs soon too but my brain just won’t let me :( sigh….

[kitabasis]

ok I’m working on my monster high redesigns and I can’t decide some lagoona stuff so. Im leaving it up to tumblr.

Basically, her origin has always been the murkiest (haha water pun)—she’s inspired by a lagoon monster from the Amazon, but she’s a sea monster from Australia (or, in G3, from Honduras). None of the places she’s from, to my knowledge, have any well-known sea monsters (I’m open to correction though). Not to mention none of her iterations look anything like the Lagoon Creature (probably because that would be hard to sell to kids).

So, in line of making her have a bit of a stronger monster identity, I’m changing her origin a bit.

i’m debating between making her parents a boto cor de rosa, skylla and kharybdis, or something else if a better idea is proposed.

Reasons for and against each:

Boto Cor De Rosa

+ since these guys are from the Amazon, it makes a nice reference to the home of the monster Lagoona was originally based on (The Creature From The Black Lagoon was from a lagoon in Brazil)

+ it actually justifies her G3 pink color scheme

+ it gives an easy explanation for why she can be on land without a tank like Gil—she’s literally a mammal!

+ Swapping her and Gil’s freshwater-saltwater origins would give more in-universe “justification” (not that bigotry is justified but you know) for the bias against her family—maybe freshwater monsters, especially mammalian ones, are seen as too close to land/humans and “not real water monsters”

+ the “very chill but fierce in defense of those she loves most” personality I’m probably giving her works well with the fact that botos are very cute but have some scary myths about them and what they can do

+ could potentially change her last name to de Rosa as a reference to the “Lagoona Pink” fan nickname, her new origin (if this is chosen), and the birth last name of the woman who designed the Lagoon Creature Mask (di Rossi)

— it would require keeping her pink, which a lot of fans aren’t fond of

— it would require getting rid of her gills and scales because dolphins don’t have those

— her leg and arm fins would be less justified if she’s a dolphin shapeshifter. Although I wouldn’t get rid of them because they’re too iconic

— some of the boto myths are frankly disturbing in a way that i don’t necessarily want attached to this version of the character?

— it would require making her a freshwater monster and Gil a saltwater monster and I don’t know how people feel about that

Skylla and Kharybdis

+ I think it would be really fun if Skylla and Kharybdis were in lesbians and had a teenage daughter

+ original lagoona had 1 sea monster and 1 nymph parent, and both are sea monsters and Skylla was, in some tellings, initially a nymph, so that’s a fun continuity nod

+ she stays a sea monster with fins and scales and such

+ justifies her having a lot of teeth which I just think is fun, even if she never uses them really

+ kharybdis justifies g3 type water powers more or less

+ she could maybe be childhood friends with deuce or something? Because they would both have lesbian greek myth moms

— a little harder to justify she’s from Brazil (which is something I do want to have her be)

[barbaracleboy]

Omega’s Assault: Chapter 2

Here it is! The AO3 link to this Chapter is here (https://archiveofourown.org/works/40301664/chapters/100948392#workskin). If you’d rather read it on Tumblr, then...

Queen Elizant II pointed both of her blades towards the Wasp King, and his soldiers pointed their spears right back towards Elizant and her Explorers. Queen Bianca looked back and forth between the two factions in fear and confusion before raising her hands and speaking up.

Bianca: Wh-what is happening??? Elizant who is...

Bianca was shocked to notice Vanessa II behind the Wasp King, a pair of her own guards blocking her from both sides with their spears.

Bianca:...Is that the Wasp Queen?

The Wasp King let out a chuckle as the captive Vanessa II glared at him.

Wasp King: She is "Queen" of nothing. You may refer to me as the Wasp King, the sole ruler of the Wasp Kingdom!

Bianca: But...Wasps don't have Kings...

The Wasp King chuckled again before bowing lightly to the Bee Queen.

Wasp King: You are Queen Bianca, of the Bees, correct? Charmed, I'm sure.

Elizant: Do not feign pleasantries, you horrible tyrant, your minions have been attacking my people for moons now!

Vanessa lowered her head in shame once more.

Bianca:...How did you and yours get into my hive anyway, Wasp..."King"?

Wasp King: Well, as I would hope you are aware, we Wasps are just as capable of flight as you Bees. As such, my troops and I merely flew up to your hive's Balcony and made our way in.

Bianca: You snuck into my kingdom!?

Wasp King: "Snuck" is a strong word, we were faced with light opposition.

Bianca was disgusted with the Wasp King then, but before she could say anything a wheezing, dusty Hornet stumbled his way into The Hive's Hub.

Vanessa: Fuff!

Wasp King: General Ultimax?! I told you to distract the monster, you worthless imbecile!

General Ultimax: I...I-I tried, y-your highness...it chucked my t-tank like...like a pebble...I landed deep into the Lost Sands...

Bianca: Good gods, are you injured?

Ultimax was about to answer, but before he could (and before the Wasp King could insult him any further) the Deadlander Omega roared once again. Quickly, many of the Bugs there ran to the Balcony to view the creature, and at that point it was scarily close: it had an arm or two in the Lost Sands now, and its gaze was once again fixated on The Hive.

Ultimax: IT'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US!

Bianca: N-nobody panic! Dr. H.B. has been tweaking her strongest machines for hours now, and hopefully they'll be able to ward the monster off!

Dr. H.B. caught the attention of all there when she walked in, huge remote control in her hands, and gave off her signature laugh.

H.B.: C'mon, Bianca, you say "hopefully" like victory isn't guaranteed. Sit back, all of you, and watch some masterfully made machinery do its work!

With a swift motion, H.B. hit a button on her remote and sent several flying Drones out of the Honey Factory and towards the giant Deadlander. Quickly the creature was surrounded by them, and as it shifted its many gazes in (what looked like) curiosity the biggest of the drones spoke.

Heavy Drone B-33: Target sighted. Preparing missile barrage.

Bee-Boops: Readying honey blasters.

Right then did the Bee-Boops started firing blobs of honey at one of the Omega's hands, and before it could fight back it received several missiles to its eyes from the Heavy Drone B-33. The monster roared again, and though it lifted a hand to fight it was slightly weighed down by all the honey.

H.B.: Haha! Witness the power of Bee Technology, boys and girls!!!

The Omega used some of its free hands to grab multiple Bee-Boops and tossed them full-speed towards Defiant Root, breaking holes into several buildings. One even hit the tree itself, leaving a deep mark. Bianca gasped in horror at this sight as H.B. grumbled and started hitting more buttons on her remote. The remaining Bee-Boops continued firing as they circled around, and the Heavy Drone started blasting lasers into the Omega's eyes in the hopes of ending it. Though the monster seemed to be pained, it still managed to swat and smash all the Bee-Boops surrounding it. It even knocked away the Heavy Drone, much to H.B.'s annoyance.

H.B.: Damn it! Come on, come ooooon!

Though it struggled to rise off the ground, the Heavy Drone did eventually make it into the air and even managed to fire off more lasers. These ones missed their targets, however, instead hitting a few of the Omega's wrists. The monster still reacted strongly to these blows and roared as it smashed the Heavy Drone again.

H.B.:...Alright, ya big bastard...if that's how you wanna play...

The Heavy Drone got up once more and started charging for one last hurrah of an attack. The Omega started moving towards it again, and once it rose an arm to strike the Heavy Drone blasted forward at an intense speed, intending to ram into the monster...said monster proceeded to grab the machine, seemingly unaffected by its "ramming". It squeezed the robot in its grasp, breaking it even further. Eventually the Heavy Drone B-33 was no longer in H.B.'s control, and it uttered one last phrase as it started intensely sparking.

Heavy Drone B-33: Damage capacity exceeded. Activating self-destruct sequence.

In an instant the machine had exploded, destroying one of the Omega's hands and causing it to stumble backwards into the Metal Lake. While the creature was stunned for the moment, its massive body caused the displaced water to flood various surrounding areas: the lower levels of the Rubber Prison were filled, much of the water splashed into the Far Grasslands, a third of the Lost Sands were turned to mud, the Ant Kingdom pier was all but destroyed, Metal Island was in ruin, and Bugs scrambled to help each other as many had been pushed into the lake's waters.

Meanwhile, everyone on the Hive's Balcony watched in varying levels of shock and terror. All except H.B., who was forcing out a laugh of "victory".

H.B.: Well, heh...we did manage to ward it off-

Bianca: You cannot possibly consider that a success, Honey Bee!!!

Vi: I mean...i-it is away from The Hive...

Leif: But we doubt it'll be away for long, not to mention the damage it's causing to everywhere else.

Wasp King:...Well, it would appear that Bee weapons can't stop it, and even Wasp weapons seem to struggle...and from what I know of Elizant's forces, I highly doubt they'll be able to do anything.

Queen Elizant II clenched her fist and glared at him.

Wasp King: I refuse to abandon this land [not when I did so much to gain control of it...], so if there are other options for us to fight the Deadlander Omega with I demand to hear them.

The others stood around trying to think of a solution, though some of them were too preoccupied with fear over what the monster may do next. Some were worried for the wellbeing of the Bugs in the areas it attacked, directly or otherwise. After a while, Vanessa spoke up to make a suggestion.

Vanessa: I have heard that the Termite Kingdom has excellent weaponry: if we cannot stop the Deadlander Omega, then they may be our next best bet.

Wasp King: Then I shall gather some troops and head there posthaste!

Vanessa: Wait, Hoaxe...

The Wasp King grumbled upon hearing her say that name...

Vanessa:...I think you should go with Elizant.

Elizant and Team Snakemouth were surprised by the suggestion, but the Wasp King's only reaction was to scoff.

Wasp King: And what makes you feel I care what YOU think?

Vanessa: If the...rulers of both the Wasp and the Ant Kingdoms talk with the Termites, they'll be more likely to understand the gravity of the situation. Thus, they'll be more likely to give you their weaponry, or at least help use it to beat the monster.

Wasp King: Ha! I don't need them to give me their weapons: I need only take them!

Vanessa: Yes, take the weapons we've no idea how to use. Cause conflict amongst the Bugs of this land and help breed disaster when a colossal beast is already threatening us on its own!

The Wasp King growled, not knowing how to refute her logic. Meanwhile, Elizant stepped forward and spoke, though her previously strict-sounding tone had slipped into one more of concern.

Elizant: W-with all due respect...the relationship between the Termite Kingdom and my own has...fallen...I doubt they will accept or listen to me at all.

Vanessa: We need to try, Elizant. There needs to be some way we can stop this monster, and right now it would seem that the Termites are our only chance.

Leif: But...what if they can't stop it?

Vanessa:...We cannot spend all our time worrying about that of which we are uncertain. We must do what know we can, and work to help all we can.

The Wasp King rolled his eyes and scoffed once more.

Wasp King: Ugh, enough of your preaching, Vanessa. Elizant, you are going to join me and my troops on our way to the Termite Kingdom.

Elizant: Team Maki will be coming with me. They are my strongest explorers, and-

Wasp King: Do you not trust me and my soldiers to keep you safe?

Elizant only glared at him further. He couldn't see her face, but he knew how she was looking at him and he knew how she felt about him. There was a tense silence for a moment, one that was broken by Kina walking in with a groan.

Kina: So I really did bring all that junk here for NOTHING, huh?

Maki: Kina...

Kabbu cleared his throat and brought himself forward, both to make a request of his own and also to try and take attention away from Kina's remark.

Kabbu: I-if I may request, your majesty, I suggest that me and my team come with you as well!

Vi: Yeah! I don't want that thing attacking our home either: I'll make the Termites help, one way or another!

While Kabbu scolded Vi for her implications, Elizant put a hand to her chin and thought for a moment.

Elizant:...Very well, Team Snakemouth. You can accompany us as well. We shall hasten work on the Tunnels and have them lead to the Termite Dome, then-

Wasp King: We've no time to wait for digging, you fool! The Termites have a dock, my troops shall carry us through there and we will meet with the Royals then.

Leif: Wouldn't they be opposed to us coming in unannounced?

Wasp King: Ha! The Bees were "opposed" and we came in anyhow!

Now Bianca started glaring at the Wasp King, having grown to hate him in a manner unlike how she felt for most other Bug. In such a short time, too.

Wasp King:...Besides, as you can see, the Deadlander is causing flooding all over the land: the Termites will be too busy with that to fight us off well.

Kabbu: I...I don't want to attack them-

Wasp King: We will attack whomever we must, you idiotic Dung Beetle!

Tensions were high all around: clearly the alliance was not going to be an easy one. Even the little Caterpillar, Yin, was worried, so she started huddling next to Maki for comfort.

Maki:...Queen Elizant...I would like to come, but I need to keep Yin safe...I cannot trust she will be with that Wasp King around.

Wasp King: I don't believe you have a choice, do you?

Bianca: I-if I may interject, Sir Maki...You may leave Yin with me. I like to think I am quite good with larvae: I will protect her to the best of my ability until you return.

Yin: Muh!

Maki thought about it for a minute, and when he was done he nodded and brought Yin into Queen Bianca's arms.

Maki: Please protect her, Queen Bianca.

Bianca: Of course, Sir Maki, I will do my best. I shall do everything in my power to ensure this little darling is happy and healthy!

Bianca raised Yin up and started lightly playing with her before being interrupted by the Wasp King.

Wasp King: On the subject of ensuring safety...General Ultimax!

Ultimax forced himself to stand at ready, in spite of how afraid he was feeling at that moment.

Ultimax: Y-yes, your highness!!!

Wasp King: You and some soldiers are to stay with Vanessa, keep her...safe...

The Wasp King leaned closer to Ultimax, keeping his voice low enough so that only he could hear.

Wasp King: [You and your troops are to keep an eye on Vanessa. If she seems to be planning anything, you are all to put a stop to it. Do I make myself clear?]

Ultimax:[...Y-yes, sire...]

The Wasp King nodded before calling a few of his tropes to go with Ultimax. A few others moved to stand with the King himself, and a few more moved to stand with Team Maki, Team Snakemouth, and Queen Elizant II.

Elizant:...Why must you bring so many of your soldiers?

Wasp King: To carry us, for what reason do you think?

Elizant was silent, but The Wasp King didn't care. The two glared at each other once more before Elizant crossed her arms in annoyance.

Elizant:...Are your troops not going to carry us down?

Wasp King: Ha! Why doe we need to use that if the Bees have an elevator? Use your head, woman...Follow me!

The Wasp Troopers sounded off in compliance, and they all start following the Wasp King. With little other choice, Elizant and her Explorers followed along (though none were happy about their current situation). Before Elizant was too far off, though, Bianca called for her.

Bianca: Elizant...I wish you the best of luck, I pray that you and your Explorers and your children will be unharmed...

Bianca looked to Vi, who was grumbling as she walked with her teammates. After a moment she looked to Elizant with a look more worried than she would ever show to most.

Bianca:...Please help ensure mine are as well...

Elizant:...I will do my best, Bianca. I will try-

Wasp King: Hurry up, wench!

Elizant clenched her fist again and quickly turned around, following The Wasp King in spite of her frustration. Bianca, meanwhile, sighed and held Yin close. Both she and Vanessa walked back into The Hive, heading for Bianca's Throne Room, Wasp Troopers surrounding both of them. Ultimax was following too, as was a frustrated Dr. H.B.

The doctor sighed before looking up at Ultimax.

H.B.:...Hey, uhhh...Fuff, right?

Ultimax: Wha-My name is General Ultimax-

H.B.: Yeah, yeah. That Wasp King guy said you were distracting the monster, right? How were you doing that?

Ultimax: With my tank! The Ultimax Tank, the perfect-

H.B.: What's a tank?

Ultimax: Will you stop-ugh...it's a sort of war machine, a big, bulky, wheeled vehicle with multiple guns and missiles and-

H.B.: What!? Since when did Wasps have those!?

Ultimax: We pride ourselves on our military prowess!!! Now quit wasting my time.

Ultimax turned away from H.B. and started moving faster into The Hive. The scientist, meanwhile, was very excited by the revelation, and was quick to follow the Wasps inside

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

The feelings of trepidation and distrust felt by Elizant, The Wasp King, and their followers never left, even as they all moved through the Lost Sand towards Metal Lake. Vi clutched her Beemerang the entire time, ready to attack the Wasps at a moment's notice, and many of the Wasps shot threatening glares back at the Explorers now and again (though they'd often be frightened off by Kina's own glare). At any rate, the group made it to the eastern edge of the Lost Sands, in which a large hole was made by the Deadlander Omega. It was a well-known secret that the Sands were surrounded by massive walls, but this wasn't given much thought until now, when one was busted through by a creature bigger than most settlements.

Kabbu: Goodness...we really are small, aren't we?...To think that we now call that giant creature our adversary...

Vi: Is it a Giant? Apparently it's called a "Deadlander Omega" or something, but what's a Deadlander?

Kabbu: The Deadlanders are fearsome monsters, unlike any you'd find in your average grasslands. We had to encounter them often in the North.

Leif: But were any of this size?

Kabbu: No...I could never before fathom that a creature so large could exist, let alone how it would interact with us.

Wasp King: Will the lot of you quiet down? Your cowardice will only get in our way...

Kina: Who are you calling cowards, you-

Wasp King: SHHHHHHHHH...Look...

The Wasp King pointed, at the nearby Deadlander Omega. It was still reeling from the Heavy Drone's self-destruction, many of its arms in the Metal Lake, though a few of its eyes were still open.

Wasp King: We need to be careful, and quiet as we can be. My soldiers shall carry us and fly us from here to the Termite Kingdom Docks. I would suggest staying still until we get there, because if we will NOT be stopping to pick up any that fall.

Leif: What if you fall, then?

The Wasp King chuckled lightly, yet disgustingly.

Wasp King: I am the King: I trump all of you in importance.

Elizant: Do not forget that Vanessa's plan involved both of us speaking with the Termites, cretin.

Wasp King: I have NOT forgotten, Elizant, though if you are foolish enough to drown on the way there I will gladly attempt my original plan and take the weapons by force!

Elizant was about to bite back at The Wasp King, but Maki placed a hand onto her shoulder in protest.

Maki: Your Highness, remember what Queen Vanessa said: is it really so wise for conflicts to rise between our groups when that monster is causing so much chaos?

Wasp King: Ugh, you lot keep bringing up Vanessa! And she is no Queen, I already said! Bah...Soldiers! We shall begin our flight to the Termite Kingdom now: fly low, avoid the creature's gaze when you can, and keep your mouths SHUT until we get there.

Wasps: Yes, Wasp King!

The Wasps started getting into formation: each Bug there got two Wasps to lift them up at once (except for Elizant, who got three, and Vi, who got one). As soon as the "passengers" were relatively comfortable, the Wasps quickly got to flying. Luckily for them all, the eyes on the Deadlander that were open were mostly pointing away from their general direction. As they flew southwards towards the Termites, the group were all very tense: most of them struggled to stay still and quiet, with the Explorers in particular not fully trusting the Wasps that carried them. Vi in particular was very annoyed, and she made that clear to the Wasp that was holding her.

Vi: Ugh, will you not grip me so hard?! You're hurting me!

Wasp: Shut your trap, brat, before I drown you...

Vi: I dare you, jerk!

Wasp King: Both of you be quiet! We may attract...

Suddenly, a menacing light shined onto the group of Bugs, and they could barely contain their dread once they had realized it: the Deadlander Omega's eyes were scanning the area, looking for something, anything...and it spotted them. It spotted several Bugs flying and being carried, and it started to slowly move towards them, every second or third step splashing another wave of water onto the already-damaged areas around it. The Wasps and their temporary allies didn't know why it chased them: was it through hunger? Curiosity? Malice? They all knew they couldn't scare the creature off, they knew that they couldn't reason with it (what with not knowing anything about it), and they knew that they couldn't fight it as they were, so they panicked. The Wasps flew erratically, and faster than what made their "passengers" comfortable, in the hopes that they could potentially dodge the Deadlander. Vi, meanwhile, was buzzing her own wings and trying to get out of her Wasp Carrier's hold.

Vi: LEMME GO! I DON'T WANT IT TO EAT ME, LEMME GO!!!

Wasp: Quit scrambling, you stupid kid, you'll-

They were both interrupted by a wave that crashed into them, launching them forward. Elizant and her Explorers were horrified, Kabbu and Leif were in particular, and the Beetle reached out in vain to try and grab his comrade.

Kabbu: VI!!!

Leif thought quickly and launched an icy projectile towards the water where Vi and the Wasp were about to land. It formed a floating of platform of ice, big enough to keep both the Bee and the Wasp out of the water, though they landed onto it hard enough to still be harmed.

Vi: Owwwww...

Elizant: Wasp King! We must mobilize to rescue Vi and her ally!

Wasp King: We will not stop for anything! Do you think we will last if we halt every time one of you pests stumble!?

Elizant: But we need them!

Leif scowled at Elizant: "But we need them!" she said, as if a pair of Bugs (one being still being a child) were but tools to her. Not that the Wasp King was any better, with his lack of care for them being apparent. Leif looked away from the Royals, both in disgust and to make sure Vi was safe. For her part, Vi forced the Wasp off and painstakingly rose to her feet, only to turn around and notice the Deadlander Omega striding towards her. She stood still for a moment, paralyzed, until the colossal monster took a step large enough to send yet another wave her way. Face-to-face with the threat this time, Vi's fight-or-flight instinct made the rare choice of flight, and as she buzzed away (leaving the still-damaged Wasp on the icy platform) she screamed a cry of pure terror: the type of cry one makes when faced with little other options. A desperate cry. The Wasp on the ice had barely gotten himself up before the wave assaulted him, launching him forcefully into the water and bringing him to flail as he struggled to stay afloat.

Wasp: HELP! HELP M-

The Deadlander grabbed the Wasp, and focused a few of its eyes on him as it lifted him up towards itself. The bright light emanating from its many eyeballs pained his, yet the sheer force of its grip made it hard for him to move at all, let alone look away.

Vi had made her way to the Wasps carrying her teammates and just barely caught onto Kabbu's hand. He could see her face stained with terrified tears, the likes nothing they knew of would normally bring from her.

Kabbu: V-Vi?! Are you well??? Are you-

Kabbu looked to the monster and noticed the Wasp in its claws. He wasn't sure if it would eat him or crush him or even truly intentionally harm him, but in his own terror Kabbu was in no mood to find out.

Kabbu: That Wasp!!! We need to help him!

The Wasp King: Silence, you utter idiot! We cannot risk the beast delaying us any further: He got himself caught, anyway. We only need to worry about reaching the Capitol!

Leif glared at the Wasp King once more: between Elizant and now this tyrant, Leif was starting to lose his respect for royalty. Suddenly he formed a chunk of ice in his hands, and he launched it towards the Deadlander Omega, less in the hopes of damaging it and more in the hopes of making it release the poor Wasp. Though the frosty magic managed to catch the Beast's attention, it still held tight to the captive Wasp as it continued moving towards the group.

Kina: ARE YOU CRAZY, WHY'D YOU DO THAT?!?!?!?!

Leif: We're not sacrificing each other! We live together or we die together!

The Wasp King: You worthless fool! Soldiers, drop him!!!

Before anyone else could object, the Wasps carrying Leif let go of him, leaving him at the mercy of the monster and the Metal Lake.

Kabbu: NO!!!

Kabbu forced himself out of his Wasp's hands and dived towards Leif, leaving a terrified Vi to zip down after him: she did feel it wasn't the wisest idea, but her care for her teammates superceded her self-preservation, at least in that instance.

Maki: Team Snakemouth!

Maki immediately got to trying to remove himself from his own carrier, barely being slowed down by both the Wasp's struggles and Kina's shouts in protest.

The Wasp King: Gods, are you all so pitiful!? We should just abandon all of you!

Before Elizant could retaliate she was alerted by a cry from Kabbu: he, Vi, and Leif managed to survive their fall, with Leif having quickly made an ice platform big enough for all three of them.

Kabbu: Hurry forward, Your Majesty! We'll hold the Deadlander off!!!

Elizant: Kabbu!? Wasp King, we-

The Wasp King: SILENCE OR ALL OF YOU WILL BE DROWNED!!! WASPS, DO NOT STOP MOVING FORWARD!!!

Without question did his soldiers keep flying, and as much as it pained Elizant she knew that neither she nor Team Maki could do anything if they were to fall. Maki and Kina watched Team Snakemouth helplessly as Elizant turned away, her expression hidden as always. Team Snakemouth, meanwhile, stared up at the Deadlander Omega as it moved towards them, towering over them. Vi shakily grasped a few Needles and turned to her teammates.

Vi: "W-w-we live together...or we die together..."right, Leif?

Leif placed hand on both of his teammates' shoulders and nodded.

Leif: Right.

Kabbu: Do you hear that, menace!!! We do not fear you! We shall fight against any threat to protect those we care for!

The Deadlander didn't understand Kabbu, perhaps didn't even hear him, and instead emotionlessly brought a hand directly onto him, his allies, and the platform they stood on. Team Maki stared in shock, even Kina being horrified into silence...and this horror was turned to confusion when the behemoth pulled its hand out of the water, seemingly grasping a small orb. This orb contained Team Snakemouth, scared and shivering with the exception of Leif. Leif was covering his face for a moment before he realized the position he and his allies were in. Almost instinctively, Leif put out his hands and held them against the inner walls of the orb. Though the Wasps continued flying towards the Termite Dome, Elizant and Team Maki shared Team Snakemouth's bewilderment as the giant Deadlander did little more than stare at the orb and the tiny creatures within.

Vi: I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die ...

Kabbu: Leif...how...what is this?

Leif: Oh, buddy, if we knew we'd have been doing it a looooooong time ago.

The trio looked around and at each other in confusion for a while, before being interrupted by the Deadlander shaking the orb they were protected by: first lightly, then faster. Leif's face showed clear signs of struggle during the shaking, and though he wished to shout at the monster he couldn't help but feel that he should conserve his energy. Vi, on the other hand, had no such feeling.

Vi: GODS' SAKES, EITHER KILL US OR LEAVE US ALONE, YOU GIANT FUCKING CREEP!!!!!

The Deadlander Omega suddenly stopped shaking and brought the orb closer to one of its eyes, immediately freezing Team Snakemouth in terror.

Kabbu: Did...did it hear you?

Vi: If you heard me I didn't mean it.

The creature continued to stare at them and growled in a manner that strangely sounded more inquisitive than threatening. At any rate, it didn't stare for long before carelessly lobbing the orb towards the Termite Kingdom docks. The orb soared and spun through the air, nearly hitting the Wasp King himself (getting a frustrated cry out of him). Though this was the direction they were headed anyway, Team Snakemouth's fellow Explorers (as well as Elizant herself) called and reached out to them as they flew past, trying in vain to help them.

Elizant: No!!!

Team Snakemouth themselves screamed as they spiraled past before they crashed onto the ground in the Termite Dome. All three Bugs were terribly dizzied from the throw, and had barely the balance or stamina to speak, let alone get up.

Vi: Uuuuuugh, my baaaack! Is this how it feels to be an old lady?!

Before Kabbu or Leif could try and comfort Vi, the trio had several blades and crossbows pointed at them from various Termite Guards.

Termite Guard: You there, where the hell did you come from!?

Kabbu rolled over onto his belly, though his fatigue prevented him from getting up fully. Even still, he raised his arms to show he was no threat and spoke as quickly and clearly as his mind could allow him after having just been tossed like a pebble.

Kabbu: W-w-we are Explorers, from the Ant Kingdom, and we wish to speak to your monarchs!!!

Termite Guard: Ant Kingdom? In what damn world would our monarchs want to speak to anybody from the Ant Kingdom?

Before Kabbu could answer further, the Wasp King and his troops landed, bringing with them Elizant and Team Maki.

Termite Guard: What the-the Ant Queen??? And-who are you supposed to be?!

Wasp King: We require your kingdom's finest weaponry, bring us to it at once!

Termite Guard: Are you mad!? At least answer our question first!

Wasp King: I asked you no questions, I am issuing COMMANDS!

The Wasp King began charging a large fireball, and the Termites were too paralyzed by fear to respond. Before he could throw it, however, he was tackled by Leif. The attack knocked both of them to the floor, and the Wasp King's crown fell of his head and clinked around on the tough dome ground for a bit. Leif noticed that the Wasps they had come with looked strangely...fatigued. They held their heads and groaned, looking pained and dizzied. Before anyone could ask anything the Wasp King angrily put his crown back on and shoved Leif off of him.

Wasp King: Soldiers, fight off those Termites!!!

No sooner than him shouting that did the Wasps seemingly recover and go straight to assaulting the Termite Soldiers. Vi and Kina quickly got ready to fight as well before stopping when Queen Elizant held out her arm.

Elizant: Explorers, stop fighting! Wasp King, we specifically wanted-

Elizant cried out in shock when a fireball zipped past her, blasting into a nearby wall.

Wasp King: Be SILENT, you idiotic embarrassment of Royalty!

Elizant: How dare you...

Quickly, the Wasp King pulled out his axe as the Ant Queen pulled out her swords. They clashed their weapons for but a moment before a large hand crashed through the roof of the Termite Dome. Some Bugs were quick to jump out of the way as soon as it came in, and many of the others proceeded to run around in a panic as more and more of the colossal claws broke into the isolated kingdom.

Termite Guard: IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!

Kabbu: P-p-please, calm down! W-we-

Vi: WE NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!!

Leif: Vi, chill out!!!

As the Bugs inside the Termite Dome scrambled to avoid being trampled, the Deadlander Omega outside had no clue what it was even doing. In spite of the destruction it was causing, the creature didn't see what was in the dome, and almost seemed to be trying to feel around in the hopes of finding out. It took a few more steps, these ones away from the dome and deeper into the Forsaken Lands, but for one of its steps it halted for a moment and stared into the fog. Though none of its many eyes showed any emotion, the Deadlander had an apprehensive sort of aura about it. The colossal beast shuddered before it started heading away from the Termite Kingdom and towards the Ant Kingdom. As its legs broke through more of the Termite Dome, the shock and terror amongst the Bugs inside worsened until they all stopped. Once the Deadlander Omega had left they all stood there, confused, with little remaining of the monster's presence but the structures it destroyed and the sound of its footsteps in the distance.

Termite Guard:...What the fuck was that?

Kabbu: That was the Deadlander Omega, a gigantic menace that has been spreading terror and causing chaos all over Bugaria [though we know not what it wants, if anything] and we all traveled over the Metal Lake because we were hoping you and your kingdom could help us end its terrible rampage before everything that every single one of us holds near and dear to our hearts is trampled like dirt!!!

There was a bit of an awkward silence afterwards, only being broken by the Guard's response.

Termite Guard:...With what boats?

Elizant stepped forward and cleared her throat.

Elizant: We need to speak with your monarchs: your kingdom is known for being very technologically advanced-

Wasp King: Certainly more than hers is.

Elizant:...And we hoped to form an alliance with Queen Layra and King Hector, in order to combine our forces with their weaponry and drive off the Deadlander Omega.

The Termites groaned and muttered amongst themselves, clearly concerned about the proposition.

Termite Guard: Under most circumstances, there'd be no way in Hell our King would want anything to do with you...

The Guard looked upward at one of the many holes that were quite literally punched into the top of their kingdom's protective dome.

Termite Guard:...This ain't most circumstances, though.

The Guard sighed and shook his head before ordering his cohorts to start doing damage control. Afterwards he motioned to both Elizant and the Wasp King as well as their subjects.

Termite: C'mon. Palace is this way.

Both Monarchs present nodded their heads and proceeded to follow the termite, their soldiers right behind. Kina put her kunai back where they were and giggled.

Kina: And that Wasp guy thought we had to fight!

Maki glared at his sister before rolling his eyes, choosing to say nothing. Meanwhile Team Snakemouth leaned over to each other and whispered as they walked.

Vi: I'm with the Termite, what the fuck was that? The Omega broke in and left like it was nothing.

Kabbu: Vi, watch your language, and...I'm afraid I have no clue. Perhaps it got bored?

Leif: Can't be, it was too sudden.

Vi: I dunno, I'm pretty quick to drop things when I'm bored.

Leif: Yeah, but you're a Bee and not...that. What we're wondering about are the Wasps: did you see how they got when we knocked their King over?

Vi: Yeah, what was that? Sympathy headaches?

Kabbu: The Wasp King was very quick to put his crown back on as well...

Vi: That's 'cuz he looks dumb without it.

Vi and Kabbu shared a quiet laugh. However, Leif was too busy thinking to laugh along. Whilst his teammates tried lightening the mood with one another, Leif's mind was focused on the meaning of what just occurred...

Back at The Hive, General "Fuff" Ultimax was sitting by the Plaza's honey fountain and trying in vain to catch his breath. Despite how much he would have liked to pretend otherwise, the Hornet was scared out of his mind, and was barely able to keep his breath anything short of a hyperventilation. After a while he stuck his hand in the fountain and was about to bring some of its sweet, healing honey into his mouth when Vilma caught sight of him.

Ultimax: Errrr...can...can I have some?

Vilma:...Yes.

Ultimax: Thank you...

Vilma nodded and went "Mhm" as Ultimax stuffed his hand into his mouth, trying to drown his terror in sweets. He nearly choked when Dr. H.B. popped up next to him and whistled for his attention.

H.B.: Helloooo, Fuff! How're ya doin'?

Ultimax: GODS, WOMAN, GIVE ME SOME SPACE!!!

H.B.: Fair enough.

The Bee took a couple steps back and let Ultimax breath some more. Afterwards she cleared her throat and asked again.

H.B.: So, how are you doing?

Ultimax:...What do you think?

H.B.: Eeeh, I'd be pretty bummed if I had something as cool as a "tank" get destroyed.

Ultimax: Yeah, I bet you would!

H.B.: Speaking of which, how easy would you say its internals are to work with?

Ultimax sat in silence in a moment before tilting his head at her.

Ultimax: Huh?

H.B.: I mean, it doesn't make much difference to me but would you say it's a complicated machine or a simple one orrrr...?

Ultimax: I-I...I don't entirely know how it works, I didn't build it.

H.B.: Meh, that's fine, reverse engineering's my specialty.

Ultimax: Reverse...what???

H.B.: You know how to use it, though, right?

General Ultimax suddenly shot up and stood as proudly as his wobbly legs would allow him.

Ultimax: Of course I do, have you any idea who I am? I'm the finest General in the Wasp Kingdom, not some dope who just stumbled-

H.B. Ah, nice, so you will be useful!

Ultimax's face drooped and he looked to the Doctor confusedly.

Ultimax: Useful?

H.B.: Come with me to my lab, would you?

As the scientist made her way to her laboratory, Ultimax (with a baffled look about him) glanced around before deciding he had no choice but to follow...

[lamibaritwriting]

Bond Points

Idia and you have been dating for a few weeks. Idia thinks of a good way to "level-up" the relationship.

Notes. Idia/GN! Reader, second-person point-of-view "you," pre-established romantic relationship, fluff, use of NA terms and translations (Gloomurai) and use of Idia's "shi"

~1.1k words

More author notes/comments at the end

It had been just like any other weekend in Idia’s room. Idia sat at his computer, typing away at coding to improve his brother’s capabilities, while you laid on your stomach on Idia’s bed to the left. Ever since the two of you started dating, weekends had just been you relaxing from taking care of Grim by sending Grim to Heartslabyul and you hiding away in Ignihyde, just being an honorary resident at this point with how many people recognized you whenever you walked over with your overnight bag. And just like any other late night, Idia needed a midnight snack.

“Hey, babe,” Idia’s breath hitched when saying babe, an awkward pause between the A and second B got stuck in his throat when he tried out calling you a pet name for the first time, “can you buy me Sunchips and a Monster from the vending machine?”

What prompted Idia to think about doing this? Idia and you had been dating since the both of you came back from Winter Break (after a very confused self-reflection during the week, and some yelling and talking it out when he came back to campus), and nothing much of your relationship had changed besides that hugs weren’t as embarrassing and you allowed yourself to kiss Idia whenever you wanted. Idia wanted to do something for the relationship, instead of letting you take the reins, he thought. Another part of him thought that maybe this was too normie and absolutely cringe. After all, in games and sometimes he heard people on campus call each other by pet names at lunch and–ugh, definitely cringe. He coped and told himself that it was “leveling up” the relationship.

Silence to the left of Idia and his desk. Idia mechanically turned his swivel chair towards his bed, pressing his lips together in a tight line, not letting any embarrassment seep out to look at your face.

If your eyes could pop out of your head, now would be the perfect time for it to happen. By the time Idia looked at you, your eyes were already wide, blinking rapidly as you frantically looked side-to-side as if there was anyone else in the room that Idia could refer to. Of course, who else would Idia be referring to?

Idia watched as the red creeped onto your cheeks and spread to your whole face. Nice. Idia smiled, no doubt his toothy grin turning into a smirk as he watched you, flustered and trying to compose yourself. “Is something wrong? Doesn’t look like you were in the middle of a rhythm game or anything.”

“I, uh,” you picked up your phone once, glancing at it, put it back down, then picked it back up again, probably checking if that moment was real and not some hellish dreamscape. You breathed out slowly, calming yourself, though the blush never left your face. You slid your phone under the pillow you were using, and slowly smiled. “What was that, honey? Didn’t hear you the first time.”

Oh fuck. The edges of Idia’s hair no doubt turned that wonderful shade of pink as his smirk turned more into a lopsided smile. He was sure he was blushing too, based on the warmth he felt from his body. He tugged at the ends of his jacket. “Haha, I know you heard me, but babe, could you get me some chips and drinks from the vending machine? I’ll give you the money.” If you were going to turn this into a game, then Idia wouldn’t lose.

And so it did turn into a game. For the whole week after, the two of you only called each other by increasingly more disgusting pet names you two could think of and search for on the internet.

“Sweetie.”

“Baby.”

“Dear.”

“Darling.”

“Love.”

“Your highness.”

“Dreamy.”

“Shrimpy.” You didn’t like this one, probably because only Floyd called you that when you didn’t ask, and Idia received the hardest punch to the stomach he’s ever gotten from his partner before. (You apologized and gave lots of kisses afterward.)

“Widdle kitty.” Idia tickled you in response. That one was just a low blow to cringe Idia said before, and how had you heard him say that? It wasn’t like you were near him when he was talking about Leona during Halloween… How dare you call him that? (Idia didn’t apologize at all.)

“Hey… isn’t Gloomy and you using ‘shi’ enough?” It was the weekend again, and once again you lied in Idia’s bed, hugging a pillow to your stomach and kicking your feet in the air. “We keep trying different pet names but like… Gloomy is a nickname already, technically…”

“Hmm, I dunno. I think you kinda liked the time I called you ‘your highness.’”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up.” You buried your face into the pillow you held onto, and muffled through the pillow said, “I did, but man…” You raised your head up and looked to Idia. “Did you like any that I came up with?”

“Maybe the more normal ones? But it def felt cringe the whole time.”

You groaned and threw your head back into the pillow. “Sorry, I guess Gloomy and Idia works just fine, huh?”

Idia chuckled and lifted himself from his seat and climbed over his sulking partner. “I’m sorry, did you want to call me something too,” he flipped you over onto your back, “or were you fine with just being my highness?”

The constant onslaught of pet names throughout the week must’ve made Idia’s resolve stronger, because there was no way he would normally say that kind of line. Idia thought he might’ve cringed on the inside, but damn did he say it.

Idia didn’t even know that people could turn this shade of red, and you looked like a beet. Better not to comment on it.

You stammered away, barely getting any sound out, much less actual words, before you pulled the pillow up to cover your entire face. “Shut up, cringe alert,” you said, muffled through the thick pillows that you forced Idia to buy.

Idia hummed in amusement, then pulled the pillow down, and landed a quick kiss to your forehead before crawling off the bed to sit at his computer. If the sound of you kicking your feet meant anything, it meant Idia had won this battle. Nice. Relationship leveled up.

Hey thanks for reading this far ummm if you don't like my... pet name choices feel free to switch them around in your imagination lmao

[rumalumasuns]

"Each day I love you more, today more than yesterday, and less than tomorrow" (Rosemonde Gerard) - With Shu Yamino

Based (loosely) on Beauty and the Beast by Disney (for the first part y'all might wanna listen to this song for reference if y'all don't know it already lol)

Part of my Living in a Fairy Tale series

!- Reader is Gender neutral (if I made a mistake somewhere I apologize and I'll fix it as soon as possible!)

!- Mentions of shooting, blood, killing, obsessive behavior from antagonists, magic curses, gremlins

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, Shu Speaking

Original work by rumalumasuns, 5,175 words (it's long sorry haha), unedited but I will do so when I have time later :)

Once upon a time,...

There was a handsome, young prince by the name of Shu Yamino de Luxiem of the Kingdom of Ninisani. Shu was a peculiar prince. He wasn't like his oldest brother Vox, the Crown Prince, his older brother Ike, an infamous novelist, his younger brother Mysta, an acute detective, or his youngest brother Luca, the Captain of the Imperial Guard. Instead, he was a sorcerer - one with a high aptitude for performing curses.

Although his art was looked down upon by those around him, as curses were seen as taboo, his brothers didn't mind, and even supported him! Shu was a prince, and he could (within reason) do what he desired. His art wasn't useless either: with the help of his curses, many monster and demon subjugations went smoothly.

So, what went wrong?

As stated, Shu was a peculiar prince. It wasn't just because of his curses. Rather, he was interested in many peculiar things, including tales of sky dragons and fairies and mermaids, as well as unusual trinkets. While strolling through the woods, Shu stumbled upon something glowing within the bushes. His curiosity peaked, and he absolutely HAD to see what the glowing substance was, possibly bring it home for research.

Once Shu parted the bushes, he came upon a glorious, glowing piece of...excrement. AKA poop.

"Huh? Why is this poop glowing?" thought Shu, as he began to, without thinking, reach for the poop. Before he could get his hands on it, however, he was stopped by a screech.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU DARE LAY YOUR HANDS ON MY PRECIOUS EXCREMENTOUS SUBSTANCIOUS???"

Shu whipped around in panic, even though he didn't even touch the poop. Behind him was an infuriated gremlin. It stomped its feet and roared in rage, waving its magic staff around. At this point, Shu was confused by such actions. 

"But...but it's just glowing poop?"

"NO! IT IS MY PRECIOUS! FOR YOUR CRIME, YOU WILL PAY!"

The gremlin roared and hastily waved its staff around, chanting.

"WITH MY CURSE, ONE NEEDS TO FIND SOME-ONE WHO SEES BEAU-TY, IN EVE-RY-THING EV-EN IF IT'S THE WORST YOU'VE EV-ER SEEN! BUT WHO ON EARTH WOULD LOVE A BEAST AS HID-E-OUS AS HE? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO! AND SO THE NAR-RA-TIVE CEAS-ES TO BE!"

"Wait!"

But before Shu could stop him, the gremlin cursed the prince. A glow surrounded Shu, and all he could hear was the gremlin faintly cackling as his vision filled with white.

When his vision cleared, Shu found himself on a grassy cliff covered by a forest of tall oak trees that overlooked a small town. In a daze, Shu vaguely noted his location as he scanned a sign that was posted in front of the small town's entrance, showing "Petit Mura of the Kingdom of Ninisani".

".......What just happened??"

Shu gasped, then grasped for his throat, thinking it was weird that his voice came out in a much more low and gruff tone, only to retract his hand quickly after feeling not flesh on his neck, but fur. His eyes widened once he caught sight of his hand- er, paw. A paw with black fur. He then looked down at his clothes, now wrapping around his black fur-covered body. His shoes were gone, replaced with large black paws with sharp silver claws. Shu quickly looked around for anything reflective near his location and found a lake a couple meters behind him. Shu hurriedly ran to it to look at his reflection, and his eyes widened. His face now had a fuzzy snout and thick, pointy ears. The only things that could show that he was Prince Shu were his violet eyes and a small ahoge that was reminiscent of his yellow hair back in his human form.

"I'm...a panther beast? Well, cool, but I have to go back home. My brothers are probably waiting."

So, Shu tried to undo his curse and go on his way, thinking that it would be easy since he specialized in curses. However, he discovered that he couldn't undo it. In fact, he couldn't do curse magic at all, besides summoning a couple shikigamis, which he lovingly called his Yaminions. Perplexed, but getting his priorities straight, he sent one Yaminion to the castle to let his brothers know that he was okay.

Shu then tried to think about what he should do next, but before he could reflect on his situation any further, his train of thought was halted by a small voice singing, coming from the town behind him. Curiosity, as always, got the better of Shu as he crept through the trees until he got to the edge of the cliff and peeped over, not wanting any locals to spot him and chase him away in horror.

"𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞…𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞."Shu observed the person singing as they sang about how they are stuck in a town with life that was too repetitive. They held a book in their hand titled Sorcery Through the Ages.

"They seem kind and knowledgeable...Maybe they're understanding enough to give me some help and shelter until I can figure all of this out..."

Shu’s main objective was to look at the townspeople and find potential people who could help him, including the person with the book. He continued to watch as the person went through the little town, as others (for some strange reason Shu couldn't fathom) began to join in singing. The song by the townspeople was filled with insults and praises alike: how weird the person was for reading such strange books, and how beautiful this person was despite their flaws - in short, the townspeople talked about how the person was nothing like the rest of those in the town. He also learned the person's name through the song: Beau/Belle (Beau or Belle depending on what y'all prefer).

Shu saw how they sighed at the townspeople who doubted them, and how they had to shoo two people - possible suitors of Belle/Beau - away before they went into their home.

After looking over the town for a little longer, Shu decided he needed to find or make a temporary shelter for the evening. He went to one of the nearby oak trees before asking his four Yaminions to help him build a treehouse (really just a wooden tent on a sturdy branch), climbing the tree easily with his new body, and eventually resting in his shelter.

His eyes drooped promptly after settling down, as he reflected on the day's events.

"... What a day...," said Shu, before his eyes closed, and slumber came to him.

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

Shu was abruptly awoken in the dark by one of his Yaminions, who was frantically indicating to the ground. His ears perked up upon hearing rustles and cracks coming from below. Cautiously, Shu craned his neck out of his shelter to direct his vision downwards, where he saw an old man harvesting what appeared to be faintly golden-glowing acorns. Shu watched as the old man hemmed and grumbled about how peculiar his child was to always want these for their birthday.

Resolving to find a proper shelter, Shu slowly and silently shimmeyed (lol try saying that 5 times fast) down the tree. When he was a couple feet behind the old man, he carefully cleared his throat. The old man whipped his head behind in a panic, wondering who on Ninisani would be awake at this hour besides him. He didn't see anything besides the slight glimmer of Shu's amethyst, beastly eyes.

After Shu noted that the old man saw him, he opened his mouth.

"... Please don't scream. I would only like some assistance from you if that is alright?"

The old man pondered a moment before nodding his head.

"Come into the light, please," said the old man. Slowly, Shu emerged from his place in the dark to the dimly lit area that the old man with his faintly glowing acorns was in.

The old man’s eyes widened as he let out an audible gasp. Shu’s full panther beast form was shown to him, something he’d only heard about through the stories that his child read to him while he was working with the acorns. Unable to overcome his shock, the old man fainted.

Shu rushed to the side of the man.

“Oh no, oh no, please wake up!! I just wanted... to ask... for... help..."

Shu tapped the side of the old man’s face and shook his shoulders slightly, before sighing and looking around for a safe place to put the old man (as Shu did not know where the old man lived).

Eventually, Shu decided to bring the old man back to his makeshift shelter, and with the help of his Yaminions, he leaped up to the treehouse, carrying the old man on his back.

After securing the old man in place so that he won't fall even if he woke up in a panic, Shu sighed deeply, hoping that tomorrow morning he could have an actual conversation with the man. He assigned one of his Yaminions to keep watch before he fell into slumber.

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

"𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫? 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮!… 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬… 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬… 𝐎𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞!"

Shu's ears perked up upon hearing the sound of a person venturing through the woods. Lazily, one of his eyes opened, as Shu noted that it was now late morning. Beside him was the unconscious old man, whom Shu believed was the father that the person below was looking for.

To see who the person was, Shu looked out from his shelter, only to have his eyes widen in surprise as he saw the Belle/Beau from the day before now in the woods.

'They must be this old man's child...'

Shu then thought of a plan. Although he never wanted to bargain using someone's life, in this case, he had to if he wanted to gain even a slim possibility of the help that Belle/Beau could offer. So, he called out to them from the treehouse.

"You there! I have your father. I have kept him safe in the woods after I found him passed out. However, I will not release him yet."

Belle/Beau looked around for the source of the voice before spotting a faint outline of Shu's rickety treehouse near the top of one of the oak trees.

"𝐔𝐡𝐦… 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐭? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭? 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐧𝐨𝐰!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, unless you promise me something."

"…𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐢𝐫, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫."

"That... well... I need some help and shelter. You see, I was cursed-"

"𝐇𝐦𝐦? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞?"

"I said I was cursed- darn it, why can't I say it??"

"…𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤."

"Th-There's no need for that! I... I'll come down. But first, may I ask if you have ever encountered mythical creatures before? Such as beastmen?"

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐝𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧- 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬… 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤, 𝐬𝐢𝐫?" asked Y/N in a suspicious voice.

"... Well, you're about to meet one, so..."

Y/N's face pulled into one of surprise before they quickly composed themself.

"𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭."

Y/N stared at the tree leaves, getting ready to use the book in their hand to defend themself, and waited. Eventually, they heard the rustle of the leaves and something heavy made its way down.

First, Y/N saw a black, long tail. Then, they saw pants and a coat. Eventually, all of Shu was shown as he made his descent from the top of the tree, and Y/N saw it all: a panther beastman with amethyst-colored eyes and their father on his back.

"𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫!" exclaimed Y/N as they rushed to his side, shaking him awake. Eventually, the old man awoke, dazed and confused as to why his child was shaking him so hard. Then, he looked around and slowly began to recall the events of the night before. Quickly, he stood up and shielded Y/N away from the beastman.

"What have you done to me?"

"Uh, I haven't done anything. I brought you back to my temporary shelter because you fainted after you saw me..."

"... Oh. Well, what do you want with us?"

"I only would like a place to stay for a couple of months. You see, I have a situation that requires me to find a shelter..."

"What situation?"

"I... I can't say. B-But! I will prove to you that I have no bad intentions. I'll cook and help you with things if you need it: I only ask that you provide me a place to stay for a couple of months. Afterwards, I will reward you greatly."

"Pfft- reward? What could you possibly offer us?" asked the old man with a scoff.

"𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞?" asked Y/N, with a glimmer of hope in their eyes as they clutched their book harder with their hands.

"Uhm, I don't know of other beast people than me, but I can provide you help with my curses, and my Yaminions."

"𝐘𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬?"

Shu then summoned four shikigamis, each swirling around him before tentatively going towards Y/N, who looked upon them with wonder. Noticing their child's excitement, the old man considered taking the beastman in.

"...Alright, we'll let you stay with us. But, if there is any funny business, just know that we will not hesitate to defend ourselves," said the old man, who moved his hand towards a gun that was resting on his hip. Shu nodded in understanding.

"I promise, no funny business."

After a moment of silence, the old man sighed before he motioned Shu to follow him. Shu, the old man, and Y/N went on a path that was covered, likely to prevent Shu from being seen by the townspeople, who would definitely try to chase him out of the town, or even kill him.

While walking, Shu ended up side by side with Y/N, who then turned to him and introduced themself.

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐘/𝐍 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞/𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐋/𝐍. 𝐀 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞/𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"...I'll call you Y/N if that's alright?"

Y/N's eyes brightened before they nodded and smiled.

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞?"

"...I'm Shu. Shu...Kurano."

"𝐖𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦."

"Haha... do I?"

"𝐘𝐞𝐩! 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜! 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠!"

Shu watched as the person continued to praise him (unknowingly), feeling slightly warm inside. No one had liked his practice in curse magic, much less find it interesting. Everyone else besides his brothers feared or disliked it, even his own servants. But, not this person.

'This is nice,' thought Shu, as he continued to converse more with Y/N. Through their conversation, he found out about how Y/N moved to this town when they were little, and grew up being told how unusual or strange they were for being interested in peculiar things.

"Me too, I'm like that also. Growing up, the people around me thought I was weird, haha."

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧!" laughed Y/N.

Y/N then talked about how they recently were constantly bothered by these siblings who were infamous in town, Gastro and Gastria LeGuem, who tried to court them and show off to them.

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 '𝐍𝐎'! 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝?"

"Not at all, they sound like tough people to deal with."

"𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞."

Little did Y/N know, Gastro and Gastria were obsessed with Y/N. They both knew Y/N's habits, their favorite foods, and their three sizes - and they wanted to know more. They wanted to make Y/N theirs (to share, they weren't sure yet but they figured they could battle it out). So when Gastro and Gastria detected a new presence entering the L/N household, they became on edge.

Just after Y/N helped Shu settle in, they heard a frantic knock on the house's front door. Y/N peeked out from the little window in Shu's room, only to groan when they saw Gastro and Gastria outside.

"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭? 𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"Why are you looking for your soulmate?"

Y/N turned from the window to look at Shu.

"…𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞."

"That... sounds so amazing! I've never heard of something like that."

"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

The two smiled at each other for a moment, until loud banging came again from the front door. Y/N groaned again, muttering curses under their breath.

"𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐢, 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"Alright, good luck!" Shu gave Y/N a thumbs-up as they left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~downstairs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭?" said Y/N in a slightly harsh and frustrated tone.

"MY LOVE! I am so happy you could grace us with your presence," said Gastro, who bowed deeply and tried to reach for Y/N's hand to give them a kiss on it, before he was pulled away by his sister.

"YES, MY LOVE! We came to make sure that everything was okay in this household. Is there someone who came to visit? Your house smells... different. Musky. I do not like it."

Y/N sighed.

"𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭."

"I SEE! Well, Gastria, I guess it is alright then. Will you, Y/N, let us into your house for a moment? I would like to give my greetings to my future father-in-law," said Gastro, as he began to force his way into the house.

"𝐍𝐨! 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮!" and with that Y/N slapped Gastro out of the doorway. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞!"

The door slammed in Gastro and Gastria's faces.

"...Brother, something is not right. Y/N clearly lied to us just now."

"I know, sister. It is obvious that Y/N loves us."

"Well, there's that, but I clearly sense another presence in there. It is not our future father-in-law, but it is definitely male."

"*Gasp* No! Well, we just have to kill him off, don't we sister?"

Gastria grinned maliciously.

"Yes brother, we do. Let us go get our guns ready."

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

A couple months passed, and Y/N thought that these might be some of the best months of their life. During that time, Y/N and Shu got to know more of each other, and Y/N did not see the LeGuem siblings at all. They were satisfied, thinking that they finally got rid of the siblings once and for all.

Y/N and Shu read books together, discussing the content, and Shu talked about his adventures and encounters with peculiarities. There were the occasional admiration speeches from Y/N whenever the topic of curse magic was brought up, as it related to Prince Shu.

"You know, you're really an odd one Y/N. N-Not in a bad way or anything, but in a good way! It's just, don't you think curse magic is scary or weird?"

"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝? 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?"

Shu's chest felt warm. Lately, he kept getting these warm feelings whenever Y/N expressed their interest and acceptance of Prince Shu and his curse magic (well, because it's about him, obviously). He had a feeling he knew what this warmth meant, but he decided to push it to the back of his head for now.

"Alright you two, come and eat some breakfast," said the old man. The old man had been observing the interactions between his child and Shu, and while he was at first afraid that Shu would do something, he found Shu to be quite helpful and kind. Much better than anyone else in the town (besides their town's librarian, who always had books to share with Y/N). If only Shu wasn't a beastman...

His train of thought was interrupted by someone bursting through their door. Shu whipped his head up, only to make eye contact with the LeGuem siblings.

"AHHHHH Y/N MY LOVE! YOU ARE IN DANGER! I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED SOONER!" exclaimed Gastro, looking at Shu in rage and in disgust as he started to raise his gun.

"Y/N, SWEETIE, LEAVE HIM TO US. GO HIDE WITH FATHER-IN-LAW!" said Gastria in a shrill voice, as she grinned and cocked her gun to Shu's chest area.

"𝐍𝐨!" exclaimed Y/N, as they pulled Shu to the side just as the first shot was fired. They took Shu's paw and urged him up the stairs, as the old man threw some plates at Gastro and Gastria to distract them.

Once Y/N and Shu got in his room, Y/N brought out a bag of emergency supplies for Shu.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞! 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞-"

"But what about you!" asked Shu, as his paws enveloped the hand he was holding.

"𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞! 𝐆𝐨!" said Y/N, as they opened up one of the back windows and pushed Shu out. Shu landed on his feet paws before he turned to look back at the window. He saw Y/N motioning frantically to the road they took when they first brought him to their home. Although Shu didn't want to, he eventually sprinted down the road, not looking back. His speed as a beastman allowed him to quickly get back to the area he was in before: the forest on a cliff overlooking the town.

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

A couple days passed, where Shu was lazily living a solitary life in his treehouse, worrying about Y/N, when one of his Yaminions, which he sent to watch over Y/N, frantically floated to him.

It made motions on his paw, crumpling up like origami and animating with its paper form who he assumed to be Y/N getting brought to a stake a burning.

He sat up with a start.

"They're going to burn Y/N at the stake?? But I thought Gastra and Gustrio or whatever loved them?? What happened? What about their father??"

The Yaminion crumpled up into a different scene and showed Gastro and Gastria beating up the old man, who kept trying to protect Y/N from them before Gastria raised her gun and shot him in the head. Y/N fell to the floor, shouting curses at the siblings, before clutching their father to their chest. The siblings left Y/N with their dying father in some room, and locked them up, as Y/N continued to cradle their father as he slowly died. He said something to Y/N, then went limp. Y/N sobbed silently over their father's corpse. The Yaminion then went back to its original shape.

"...So, just because they refused to like the siblings back, the siblings killed their father and now are going to kill them? WHAT?" Shu stood up, enraged, and resolved to help Y/N, even if it meant getting killed. Y/N was one of the only ones who believed in and accepted him, even as a beastman and Shu was willing to finally acknowledge what he felt for them: love.

He jumped down the tree, his Yaminions floating after him, as they rushed towards the town. Dusk was approaching, meaning Shu did not have much time left to save Y/N.

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

When he got to the entrance of the town, Shu sent his Yaminions to find where Y/N was placed for preparing for the "burning ceremony". Lately, Shu had found that he could perform a little bit of some other magic as long as he used their elementary spells (level 1 and 2 spells). So, he used his level 2 spell of cloaking with the shadows to be able to sneak around town and find the siblings who were causing all this trouble. If possible, he wanted to deal with them before they could harm anyone else. People in the town were milling about, lingering around the stake that Y/N was going to be burned at.

"I heard that they were a witch who enticed a magic beast to come into town for a while before the LeGuem siblings caught on and saved us!"

"Oh, bless those siblings! They are always such a help when it comes to the big hunts."

"Yes. They're also so charming! It's about time that Y/N got their retribution for rejecting such amazing people so often."

Shu scoffed internally at the gossip from the people he passed by.

'The siblings aren't charming, they're crazy!' thought Shu. 'You can have them, just leave Y/N alone!'

After a couple minutes of searching, Shu found the LeGuem siblings in a pub, as the people within sang praises of them for protecting them from the "witch" Y/N and for being so good-looking and strong.

Shu waited for the siblings to come out, before he revealed himself, much to the horror of the townspeople.

"IT'S THE WITCH'S COMPANION!"

"SAVE US, GASTRO! SAVE US GASTRIA!"

The siblings smirked at the desperate cries of the siblings before they pulled out their guns and started shooting at Shu. Shu called upon his level 1 wind magic spell "Deflect" and was able to make the bullets go around him and stop their motion. Gastria became uneased, as she never had to deal with an opponent who used magic, while Gastro growled in frustration, disliking Shu's move. He began to recklessly shoot at Shu, and the bullets began to go toward the townspeople. In a panic, the townspeople scattered away to their houses, screaming.

Shu didn't pay any mind to the screams as he started to make attacks of his own, summoning level 2 fire spells to burn the clothes and hair of Gastro and Gastria, leaving Gastria bald and Gastro's shirt in smoldering tatters. The siblings yelped as they continued to reload and shoot at Shu, though their attempts were futile. Shu would've won if it weren't for the fact that Gastro and Gastria directed their attention to someone behind him.

Gastria and Gastro cackled in madness, before shooting at Y/N, who had a yellow outfit adorned with gold, probably for the burning ceremony.

"NO!" Shu sent a gust of wind to direct the bullets away from Y/N, who held their father's gun in one hand and a shield in the other. They would've been fine even if Shu didn't do anything, but Shu didn't care. His priority was to protect them.

And he did, at the expense of his own protection. Laughing harshly, Gastria pointed her gun at Shu.

"For Y/N's love!" she exclaimed before firing her remaining two bullets into Shu's chest.

"For our love!" exclaimed her brother, who followed suit and gave Shu bullet wounds in the leg and arms.

"𝐍𝐨!" cried Y/N, as they aimed their gun and shot at Gastria and Gastro's hands. As they practiced with this gun a lot with their father, all of Y/N's shots met their mark, leaving Gastro and Gastria to scream in pain and leaving their hands immobile. Their guns left their hands and flew to the ground near Y/N, who then crushed them using the shield in their hand.

Shu's Yaminions flew from behind the shield (as they were there reinforcing the shield in case any bullets came for Y/N). They hit the back of the necks of the LeGuem siblings, knocking them unconscious, before quickly going to Shu.

Y/N followed them and ran to Shu's side. They gasped at the multiple bleeding wounds he had, and his Yaminions, who once frantically floated around Shu to try and save him, were now drifting to Shu's side and fading away.

In a frenzy, Y/N ripped off a part of their sleeve and applied pressure to the wound bleeding the most, gasping as tears formed in their eyes.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲- 𝐨𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐢𝐭'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝-"

"Y/N..."

Y/N looked over at Shu in shock, tears streaming down their face as they continued to try and staunch the bleeding.

"… 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐒𝐡𝐮?" replied Y/N shakily as they continued to apply pressure.

"... I love you."

"𝐒𝐡𝐮, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰!-"

"Y/N... I'm afraid I'm running out of time."

Shu chuckled weakly, his smile strained and pained, and he looked upon Y/N and placed a hand on their cheek, slowly wiping away a tear.

"I love you."

Those were Shu's last words before he closed his eyes.

Y/N sobbed, as they desperately clutched onto Shu's hand, and looked at Shu, his clothes now soaked with blood.

"𝐌𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨… 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒, 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄!"

Y/N's tears fell onto Shu's face as they looked upon him, before letting out a quiet sob as he remained unresponsive.

Then, they remembered something, and hurriedly took off their pendant made out of the wood of the glowing acorns and placed it over Shu's heart. Y/N then started chanting.

"𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞. 𝐁𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢��𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞! 𝐒𝐨, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞!"

Their pendant glowed and Y/N saw the bullet marks in Shu heal as the bullets popped out from his body.

It was silent after the pendant stopped glowing. Y/N held their breath, eyes trained on Shu's chest for any breathing movement.

After a couple moments of dead silence, Y/N was about to lose hope before Shu gasped suddenly and sat up. He pawed at the places where he was shot, only to find that he was completely healed.

He turned to look at Y/N, who had tears streaming down their face before they hugged Shu fiercely, muttering "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐓𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐢-𝐬𝐚𝐧" and "𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲!"

"You... you saved me? With your acorn pendant? But, you were supposed to use that for your soulmate..."

"𝐒𝐡𝐮, 𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞."

Shu looked at Y/N with shock and disbelief.

"Are you sure? I thought you wouldn't like me since I’m this way and all..."

"𝐎𝐡, 𝐒𝐡𝐮…"

Y/N shook their head before gently holding Shu's paw.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

Shu felt his heart stutter before he brought the hand that was holding his paw to his chest, bringing Y/N closer to him. The two seemed to have the same desire, as slowly they began to get closer and closer. Y/N placed a hand on Shu's face, making him lower himself until the top of his snout was now below their lips.

A moment full of tension passed, before Y/N put their lips on the top of Shu's snout, giving him a gentle kiss.

Shu felt his face grow hot, as his tail started moving around in happiness and wrapped around one of Y/N's legs.

Y/N pulled away, a satisfied grin on their face before it turned into one of shock as Shu's body suddenly started to glow a blinding white. In a panic, thinking that the acorns didn't do their job and now Shu was going to go away from them, Y/N reached out for him with one arm, while the other arm covered their eyes.

"𝐒𝐇𝐔!"

But just as quickly as it started, the glow ended as well, leaving not Shu the panther beast, but Shu the human sorcerer prince.

"…𝐒𝐡𝐮?"

Shu's eyes were closed, as the light blinded him as well, before he slowly opened them.

"...Yea?..."

"𝐘𝐨𝐮… 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧?? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝? 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥?"

"Uh, huh?" Shu looked down at himself. His shirt was loose and in tatters, though all his articles of clothing were able to shrink back along with him. In place of his paws were his pale hands, and he was barefoot.

"I, I'm back! I turned back into a human!" exclaimed Shu, before looking at Y/N who was confused.

"I was cursed, but I couldn't say this to you at all. But now, I'm back so... I-Is it weird?...," asked Shu shyly, as the silence afterward stretched longer and became slightly awkward.

Slowly, Y/N walked to Shu, before hugging him.

"𝐈, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐮. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝," said Y/N in gentle joy, as they gripped onto Shu tighter with their arms.

Shu, still in slight disbelief over his sudden transformation back into a human, hugged them back tightly. He lightly started sobbing.

“Thank you…thank you for loving me.”

Y/N grinned.

“𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚.”

After they broke apart from the hug, Y/N looked at the side of Shu’s face as he held onto their waist, pulling them into his side. Shu looked in the distance, towards the direction of the castle where he had to go next. Y/N smiled at him in understanding before looking at the same space.

Together, they reveled in the peace that they earned.

Then, Y/N broke the silence.

“𝐁𝐮𝐭…𝐒𝐡𝐮…𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞…𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝.”

Shu froze before turning to look back at Y/N, horrified but laughing at the same time.

“NOOOOOO- I mean I love you, but NOOOOOO-”

Their conversation continued filled with giggles, happiness, and love.

And they lived happily ever after~

The End.

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

Epilogue:

“SHU!!!! YOU’RE BACK!” shouted Shu’s brother, Mysta, who was sobbing loudly, face flushed and with tear stains down his cheeks as he ran to Shu.

“SHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!” exclaimed Shu’s other brother, Luca, who ran excitedly to Shu, passing Mysta, and gave him a big bear hug, not noticing that Shu was holding someone’s hand.

Ike was descending the stairs of the palace entrance in a much more calm manner, although his excitement and relief were shown through his fast walking strides towards Shu and his face showing a wide smile.

Vox was right behind Ike, laughing in relief at the sight of Shu, while also noting the presence of the person standing behind him with mild interest.

While Shu was staying in Y/N’s town, he had been regularly corresponding with Vox through his Yaminions, so Vox had a feeling that this person was this Y/N Belle/Beau L/N who was mentioned in Shu’s letters. Vox was happy that they were both safe, especially after the LeGuem incident. The LeGuem family happened to be a small barony that supported the town that Y/N was in. They were now stripped of their title, with the LeGuem siblings being put in the imperial prison on the outskirts of Ninisani.

He watched in amusement as Ike managed to pull Luca and Mysta off of Shu before asking the person next to their brother to introduce themselves. The person proudly introduced themself as:

“𝐘/𝐍 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞/𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐋/𝐍, 𝐒𝐡𝐮’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 :)”

“…..WHAT?!?!?!?!?”

Vox chuckled to himself.

Things were going to get even noisier in their Palace de Luxiem.