#her final act in service to the star and her people

[galpalaven]

Having feelings about my Azem and her death at the hands of the Third and Final Doom to buy the world time to summon Zodiark, even though she hated it, because they needed a plan and someone needed to do something

The sun, torn from the heavens, devoured by the night… eclipsed, extinguished, lost…

[la2yn0va]

Hello there! Can I request some yandere Black Swan, Acheron, Jingliu and Kafka (self aware) x male reader who is single and has absolutely no experience in relantionship yet is down bad for them or has an interest for them

Call me crazy… I get a feeling you like women…

————

Black Swan

She automatically knows you like her. She feels your eyes looking down at her softly, the same way others look at her when they found her attractive.

And she is a bragging bitch about it. “Oh, his grace built you? Couldn’t be me~ he maxed me out immediately~”

She finds your inexperience down right adorable. The way you stutter at least thrice when she’s in your vision. The way your eyes shine when she talks.

When you eventually get dragged into the world of Honkai Star rail, she lets go of all restrains. With no shame she flirts with you EVERY SEXTILLION SECOND.

She makes sure your a flustered and blushing mess, rubbing against you so your hand grazes her chest area.

Getting close enough to make sure her breath attacks your neck and the her lips tickle your skin, while whispering provocative things into your ear.

She always steals you away from people any chance/time she gets/wants to. After all, you LOVE her right~? There’s no issues with acting as you girlfriend (unofficial)

Just to make sure no one interferes in your little sessions, she goes into glass paintings/objects with you (in her trailer she goes into things like glass paintings)

Her hands are always on you in some manner, weather it be romantically around your neck or your arms, or in a more sexual manner.

In short, black swan takes the lead in this relationship

Acheron

She’s pretty confused on why you’re acting different with her at first. However, after a few moments/after encountering firefly and the trailblazer on their ‘date’ she’d finally realize you LIKE her.

She acts more shy whenever your around her, she doesn’t really know how to interact with you. More so because she doesn’t know how to… react to your feelings.

Yes she loves you back, but she’s never had a crush/lover so she’s as lost and inexperienced as you.

Although others are jealous of her, they also find it pretty fucking cute, and make a whole ‘will they or won’t they’ game show.

In battle acheron will always crit for you, and when in idle she compliments you subtly. She doesn’t wanna scare you away.

The ancient scrolls say you believe their video game characters. so she’ll hide her time until you finally get transferred back here, to your real home AND to her.

And when you do get isekai’d by whatever fuckin means, I’d like to congratulate you, as you now have earned a VERY FUCKING SCARY GUARD DOG.

Acheron doesn’t leave your side for a second (unless you ask her to in which case she’ll stand BEHIND you. Or if your in the bathroom)

Acheron quickly learns how to show her love towards you through acts of service, words of affirmation, and physical touch.

She likes to hold your hand, and with no shame likes to proclaim to everyone that the two of you are an item. Which you don’t deny.

Acheron takes the lead in the relationship

Jingliu

The most normal about your attraction to her.

She’ll be honored that you love her, and shows it through ALWAYS crit damaging enemies and taking less health from her allies.

While in idle she’ll (like everyone else) will say a unofficial voiceline towards you, complimenting you and slightly hinting that she knows she’s a ‘video game character’

Another unofficial thing she’ll do while in idle is remove her blindfold and stare into your eyes lovingly YET respectfully.

When you get transferred into the game, it’s basically the same as acheron. But she’s more open and well normal about your relationship.

She’s slightly overprotective and possessive but that’s about it. She spends all her time by your side, weather it be in bed (get yo mind out the gutter) or IN bed (put it back in the gutter) or simply walking/exploring other planets.

She shows her love through..well everything. Acts of service, physical touch, gift giving, etc…

Overall not much to say here, she’s the most normal and a less scary (when not Mara-struck) acheron.

No one takes the lead, yall just switch leading roles every other day.

Kafka

Kafka is also very similar to black swan.

She immediately knows you love her, and she takes pride in it, after all who doesn’t? (Kafka’s the type to make gay men question themselves, as I myself can NOT attest to 😉)

Unlike her fellow…acolytes, she’s much more suave and blunt about her knowledge on your attraction. After all, your so adorable and cute for the god of gods (or as I like to refer to the reader who’s a god in self aware au—THE OMNI AEON)

In idle, she pulls out a blurry photo of your and kisses it while staring right at you. It’s blurry to you but VERY visible to kafka.

She’s also the only person in this who’ll outright state she knows she’s in a game and loves you (like sues in that one episode of gravity falls with his A.I yandere love)

Overall there’s nothing else to add here, she’s just another black swan when it comes to this scenario. OH wait no!

She uses her webs to manipulate you to dance gracefully with her and makes you touch her body while feigning innocence and teasing you.

She takes the lead in the relationship.

Okay I’m done. 4 or 5 more requests to finish

[afyrian]

midnight movie iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader (fluff) wc: 870 | halloween event: day two

    "i’ve always been here, bitch!” a cloaked figure stands in front of you, shadowing you from the setting sun.��

  as he holds up a knife, your hands raise, forearms resting in front of your face. swinging his hand down, the knife collides with the side of your forearm, blood squirting out of your flannel shirt. “you see me now?” the figure screams out, raising the knife once more, only to quickly bring it down against your chest.

  blood seeps out of the pocket square on the shirt, splashing up onto your face as you let out a final scream. bloodcurdling and terrifying, your hands clench into fists against his shirt, your eyes slowly closing. laying there, you wait a moment before a loud voice booms over the set, “cut! oikawa, could you get your vocal coach? maybe work on getting you to a lower octave, it just doesn’t sound right.”

  peeking open an eye, you see oikawa rolling his eyes. getting up from where he was kneeling over you, his head shakes slightly below the hood, “fine, but you should start giving y/n some pointers too. i mean the screams nice but eh her acting’s a bit off.”

  “oh fuck off,” both of your eyes finally open, your hand slapping against his knee, “you’re just jealous that my voice is deeper than yours, maybe i should be the murderer and you can be the final girl.”

  oikawa laughs to himself, “good luck trying to propose that to the studio,” stepping over you to look for his vocal coach and likely the craft services. 

  smiling to yourself, you can feel the corn syrup mixture resting on your face. laying down on the grass, the fake lighting carries through the late night darkness. it’s nearing midnight and exhaustion is starting to coarse through you. the long days, the long nights filming, getting to lay there for a second and stare up to the stars is the only thing keeping you going. 

  “you okay down there?” iwaizumi questions, standing over you. 

  a notebook rests in his hand, a backwards ball cap pushed down on his head. you recognize the red thread along the edges, remembering a bloody knife embroidered into the front of the cap. it was a gift from you when filming started. “just taking a second before the crew has to clean me off again,” you meet his gaze, his eyes gorgeous as ever.

  “mind if i join you?” his voice is softer than when he addresses everyone, hands flipping the notebook closed.

  “sure, it’s actually pretty comfortable when you get past the whole ‘laying on dirt’ thing,” one of your hands pats the spot next to you, the grass poking your fingers. 

  iwaizumi slowly makes his way down to the grass, starting up at the dark sky. it all seems larger when he looks at it from the ground, like he’s an ant seeing the world for the first time. tilting his head to look at you, his gaze softens as a smile twitches on the sides of his lips. “thanks for helping with this project, you didn’t have to,” he murmurs, watching as you turn to look at him.

  one of your eyebrows raise, the other furrowing, “i absolutely did. it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. this grant could make both of our careers, iwa.”

  “yeah, but it could also break both of our careers. it’s a cliché horror film, everyone’s seen something similar to this before,” he looks back up at the sky, hands resting on top of each other on his stomach. 

  pursing your lips, you lightly nod. you know he’s not only right, but also so unbelievably wrong. this film, albeit harboring cliché tropes, was like nothing you’d ever seen before. it was iwaizumi’s creation, and watching him tear himself up for not discovering something more original kills you.

  “this movie is going to be amazing, iwa. you can’t doubt yourself, especially when so many people believe in you and this script. it’s a masterpiece,” you look back up at the stars as well, not noticing when he turns to look back at you.

  you also don’t notice the solemn look on his face. the way his gaze grabs ahold of you in an attempt to not let go. ever since you auditioned for the film, iwaizumi has been intrigued by you. drawn to your unique ideas and the smile that always seems to make its way to your face. yet he’s forced to look away when he considers the power balance between actor and director. 

  a part of him wants to tell you that you look beautiful, blood and all. but all he can do is stare. “thank you y/n. i hope if this does work out for you, making you a famous actor, you’ll still audition for my next role,” iwaizumi noticed the makeup crew walking towards the set, torn between conveying his deepest desires or pushing it even father down.

  “how about we go celebrate after this movie’s release before we start talking about a professional future together,” you joke, hoping he’ll catch the humor in you practically asking him out to dinner, “i’ve always enjoyed a nice boudreaux.” 

taglist (open): @eggyrocks @causenessus @applepi25 @softpia @bakery-anon

@bae-ashlynn @puffychu6781

[genshinluvr]

Yanqing's Babysitting Service

Pairings: Various Honkai Star Rail Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: Your traveling companions have matters to deal with at the Xianzhou Luofu. General Jing Yuan assigns Yanqing, his retainer, to be your babysitter for the day! You and Yanqing were supposed to search for puzzles to complete on the Xianzhou Luofu while the others are occupied, but instead, you two go to Boulder Town.

Note: This is a mini-fic that I have written during my finals week! Finals are done, and I am free from schoolwork! I have a couple of people on AO3 wanting smut for the HSR fanfic, but I'm not sure when I'm going to be making it. I do have smut in mind, but I'm not sure when I'll make it. Even if I do make it, I'm not sure who's going to be the first one to start it off 🤔 I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: Reader gets knocked out cold close toward the end of the fic.

Word Count: 4.5k

Part 2 of Yanqing's Babysitting Service is [HERE]. (Can be read as a standalone fic)

You’re at the Xianzhou Luofu with your traveling companions— March, Caelus, Dan Heng, Mr. Yang, Gepard, and Sampo. Jing Yuan has invited you all to the Xianzhou Luofu because there’s an emergency, and he needs some assistance. The grand doors of the Seat of Divine Foresight open, and you all step into the massive office. Despite this not being the first time you’ve been in the General’s office, you can’t help but be in awe. 

As you all walk farther into the office of the General of the Xianzhou Luofu, you see Jing Yuan playing chess with a young blond male. Jing Yuan and the blond boy looks up from the chessboard. Jing Yuan smiles widely, gets up from his seat, and strides toward your group.

“Welcome! I’m glad that you all have arrived to the Xianzhou Luofu safely! How were your travels?” asks Jing Yuan, stopping before your group.

Mr. Yang gives Jing Yuan a small smile. “General Jing Yuan, it’s good to see you again. The journey to the Xianzhou Luofu was smooth, but there were some minor obstacles,�� replies Mr. Yang, adjusting his glasses. 

March props her hands on her hips. “So, General! What is it that you need us to do?” March asks, gazing at Jing Yuan curiously.

Jing Yuan’s eyes land on you, and his eyes widen slightly, his mouth agape. You blink at the man as he approaches you before turning to the others. You can’t help but have an inkling feeling that Jing Yuan didn’t expect you to be accompanying the group. 

Dan Heng raises his eyebrows at the general. “Is there a problem, General Jing Yuan?” Dan Heng asks.

Jing Yuan doesn’t respond to Dan Heng’s question. Instead, he turns back to you and places both of his hands on your shoulders. Jing Yuan opens his mouth but then shuts it, unsure of what to say. Jing Yuan looks around, searching for something or someone. 

Caelus whispers to Sampo, “Why is General Jing Yuan acting like that? Usually, he gets excited when he sees [Y/N]. But now he looks shocked and conflicted.”

Sampo shrugs his shoulders. “He did mention that there’s been an issue with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, right? If so, maybe that’s what he’s worried about,” Sampo mutters to Caelus, not taking his eyes off the white-haired General. 

Gepard takes a step closer to the two whispering men. Gepard notices the way General Jing Yuan looks at you. He looks surprised, yes, but he also looks worried. Earlier this morning, the General sent a message to the Astral Express, asking for their assistance in dealing with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus: Internal Alchemist and Shape Shifter. The numbers have been increasing, and it was a little bit overwhelming. 

While Jing Yuan is a very skilled fighter and can take down an army of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, he has other priorities to deal with on the Xianzhou Luofu, and having some assistance isn’t a crime. It seems like the General forgot about your presence on the Trailblazing team. You don’t blame Jing Yuan for forgetting about your placement with your traveling companions. They do the fighting, and you do the sitting on the sidelines because you don’t wield any weapons, you don’t have a combat type, nor do you have a path like them.

Gepard turns to the two men. “I think I know the issue,” Gepard states, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh? What could the issue be, Captain of the Silvermane Guards?” asks Luocha as he and Blade walk up to the three whispering men.

Caelus, Gepard, and Sampo stare at the two men, not saying anything. The corner of Blade’s lips curves up when the three men glare at him. Blade chuckles and shakes his head, looking over where you and Jing Yuan are standing. 

Blade looks over at the three men, tilting his head to the side. “So, Landau, what do you think the issue is? You implied that you know the issue,” says Blade, crossing his arms over his chest.

The tension between the men was interrupted by Jing Yuan calling over the small blond male, who remains seated in front of the chessboard. The blond male looks at the General and gets up from his spot before jogging toward you and Jing Yuan. Jing Yuan smiles at the blond male and pats his shoulders.

“Yanqing, meet [Y/N]! [Y/N], meet Yanqing, my retainer,” Jing Yuan introduces you to the young blond boy.

Yanqing’s eyes light up, and he grins from ear to ear. “Oh! So you’re [Y/N]! General Jing Yuan has talked about you nonstop! It’s great to finally meet the, and I quote from General Jing Yuan, lovely and breathtaking [Y/N],” says Yanqing. 

Jing Yuan looks at Yanqing with wide eyes, his pale cheeks turning almost as dark as his pants. Well, not that dark, but the blush on Jing Yuan’s cheek is noticeable. You feel heat rush to your cheeks after Yanqing’s cheeky comment and look at the General shyly. The man smiles at you shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

March snickers behind her hands. “It looks like General Jing Yuan gushes about [Y/N] to his retainer! How cute!” March giggles.

When you and March make eye contact from across the room, March gives you a teasing smile and wiggles her eyebrows at you suggestively. You glare at March and look away, your face feeling really hot under March’s teasing gaze and the other men’s intense stares from behind Jing Yuan and Yanqing’s backs. 

Ignoring the looks people were giving you, you look at Yanqing and smile at the young boy. “It’s nice to meet you too, Yanqing! I’ve heard great things about you,” you say.

Yanqing blushes and smiles at you shyly, clasping his hands behind his back before turning to look at the white-haired general. Jing Yuan stares at Yanqing, then at you as realization starts to set in. Clearing his throat, the tall general points at Yanqing, then at you.

“Yanqing, for today, I am appointing you to watch over [Y/N] as I, Luocha, Blade, and [Y/N]’s traveling companions deal with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus situation,” says Jing Yuan.

The young boy looks at Jing Yuan with confusion and then at you, not saying a word. You blink at Jing Yuan and point at Jing Yuan’s blond retainer. Was Jing Yuan appointing Yanqing to be your babysitter for the day while he, Blade, Luocha, your Belobog and Trailblazing companions are dealing with something dangerous?

March presses her lips into a thin line. “You know, [Y/N] can just return to the Astral Express! I don’t think [Y/N] would be a good sparring partner for someone as skilled and talented as Yanqing. No offense, [Y/N],” March gives you a polite smile.

Yanqing hums and taps his finger on his bicep, looking between you and Jing Yuan. Yanqing wasn’t sure why Jing Yuan appointed him to watch over you while they were away. He has things to do, and as the prodigy, he doesn’t have time to babysit someone Jing Yuan fawns over when they’re not around. 

Before Yanqing could protest, you said, “Jing Yuan, you don’t need to assign a babysitter for me. I can handle myself, and while I’m not from your universe, I can find something to keep myself occupied while you’re all out handling things.” 

Blade huffs with amusement, raising an eyebrow at you. “And how will you do that, little starlight? Do you plan on hanging out in the General’s office while we’re all gone?” Blade asks, raising his eyebrows at you.

You hum, tapping your foot on the ground. You can do that, but you don’t think the people that work for Jing Yuan would appreciate an outsider being in the General’s office. Especially when the office might contain top-secret information. Looking at the large seat in Jing Yuan’s office, you can make that into a bed and nap. While you’re at it, maybe Nanook wouldn’t mind keeping you company until someone wakes you up from your slumber!

Mr. Yang frowns at the expression on your face, nudging Caelus. “You recalled the Hexanexus puzzles you told me about recently?” Mr. Yang asks.

The silver-haired man blinks at Mr. Yang before pulling his phone out, nodding in response. Your phone chimes, and you pull your phone out from your pocket to see that Caelus forwarded a message from the Hex Club regarding the puzzle he solved not long ago. While Caelus replied to the message sent by the club, he didn’t respond to their previous message. 

You raise your eyebrow, looking at Caelus and Mr. Yang. “You two want me to solve the Hexanexus puzzles to keep me occupied?” You ask, tucking your phone back into your pocket.

Caelus shrugs his shoulders, putting his phone away. “If you want to! We’re not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do. We think solving puzzles would be fun compared to doing nothing while Yanqing watches over you,” Caelus replies. 

You don’t mind solving the Hexanexus puzzles around the Xianzhou Luofu! The issue is, well, the puzzles are all over the Xianzhou Luofu, meaning you’ll be all over the place searching for and completing the puzzles. You can run into any monsters at any moment. 

Maybe that’s where Yanqing comes in, but him fighting the monsters alone while you’re cowering in the corner doesn’t seem fair for the blond boy. Yes, he’s skilled and a prodigy, but it’s not fair for him to fight the battles alone. Oh, and how are you going to find these puzzles? You know there are other puzzles besides the Hexanexus puzzles around the Xianzhou Luofu. Like the navigation compass puzzle! You’ve seen them around the Xianzhou Luofu and have always been curious if you can solve them in person compared to doing it on your computer screen.

You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t mind solving puzzles while you’re all away. But what do I do with the prize that’s given to me after I solve them?” You ask.

“We’ll figure that out later. For now, let’s part ways. Once we’re done dealing with the issues around the Xianzhou Luofu, one of us will text you to inform you about it,” says Dan Heng.

You nod and follow Yanqing when he gestures for you to follow him. Before you can exit Jing Yuan’s office, Mr. Yang grabs hold of your biceps. You stop in your tracks and turn to look at the older man quizzically. Mr. Yang sighs and gives you a small smile, placing his hand on your shoulders.

“Be safe, alright? If anything happens, please let us know immediately,” says Mr. Yang, staring into your eyes.

You feel your face turn hot the longer Mr. Yang stares into your eyes. You smile at Mr. Yang and nod, placing your hand over his and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. It’s nice to know that they care about you and your safety. You’ve been in their universe for a short time, and for them to think about you makes you feel warm and fuzzy. 

“I promise I’ll let you all know if anything bad happens. I hope nothing bad happens, but I have Yanqing with me the entire time! He’ll be the one to protect me if none of you are able to make it in time,” you reply, turning to look at the blond boy.

Yanqing nods. Yanqing suddenly looks serious, as if it’s his job to watch over you— as if he’s assigned to be your bodyguard. Well, it’s sort of his temporary job to be your babysitter while the others are out somewhere on the Xianzhou Luofu. Mr. Yang sighs and lets go of your shoulders, giving you one last smile before you bid the others goodbye while walking out of Jing Yuan’s office. 

March exhales loudly, shaking her head. “Just when I thought it was bad enough for an Aeon to be in love with [Y/N], it gets worst! Eight more people developing a crush on my best friend? Oh, I need to tell Himeko about this! This is juicy!” March says, pulling her phone out.

“March, we don’t have time for gossip! You can do that later!” Sampo says cooly, flicking his bangs away from his face.

March grumbles and puts her phone away before walking over to where Jing Yuan stands. Jing Yuan starts going over the plan, instructing what each person is going to do when they arrive at their destination. Meanwhile, you’re at Cloudford with Yanqing, searching for the Hexanexus puzzle to solve.

Yanqing is alert and is making sure you two don’t run into any potential dangers. So far, things are going smoothly, and you two haven’t run into any dangers yet! While it’s fun to explore around the Xianzhou Luofu, it’s not fun searching for the puzzle when it’s not marked anywhere on the map for you. 

“How does Caelus even find the Hexanexus puzzles? Is it marked on the map for him, or what?” You grumble, pulling your phone out.

Yanqing shrugs his shoulders, peeking at your phone. “Maybe he finished all of the Hexanexus puzzles and didn’t recall completing them all?” Yanqing replies in a questioning tone. 

You sigh in defeat before putting your phone away. “Maybe. Then what do we do now? I can’t return to the Seat of Divine Foresight since it’s probably locked. I don’t think Jing Yuan would appreciate me being in there.”

You and Yanqing stand there in silence. You don’t know how to initiate a conversation with Yanqing. All you know is that he’s Jing Yuan’s retainer and currently your babysitter. Of course, he’ll be watching over you until Jing Yuan, Luocha, Blade, and your Belobog and Astral Express traveling companions are done with the things they’re dealing with at the moment.

Are you allowed to leave the Xianzhou Luofu? Jing Yuan didn’t say anything about you not being allowed to leave the Xianzhou Luofu, did he? I mean, maybe he did, and that went flying over your head. 

There aren’t any puzzles for you to solve on the Xianzhou Luofu. Even if there were, you don’t think you would want to go scavenger hunting for those puzzles. That being said, you want to visit the Boulder Town Super League. If you can’t watch your friends fight the Mara-Struck, then you might as well watch some people duke it out. The only problem was how you were going to get to Boulder Town and if Yanqing was willing to go with you since he was watching over you.

You turn to look at the young blond boy. “Hey, Yanqing. What do you think about fight clubs?” You ask, tilting your head to the side while giving Yanqing an innocent smile.

Yanqing looks at you curiously, tapping his index finger on his chin. “A fight club? I’ve never heard of it! Care to tell me what it’s about?” Yanqing asks.

You smile at Yanqing and begin walking toward where the Astral Express is located. Surely the others wouldn’t mind you and Yanqing going to Boulder Town until they’re done with their business, right? Besides, it’s not like you and Yanqing are going to be participating in anything while at the Boulder Town Super League! At least, that’s what you’re hoping. You know Yanqing is skilled in combat, but you don’t think that Jing Yuan would appreciate his retainer fighting robots in Boulder Town on Jarilo-VI.

And that is how you and Yanqing end up in Boulder Town, watching people fight robots to the side while eating snacks. You weren’t sure if Yanqing had anything to eat prior to being assigned as your babysitter for the day, so you think it’d be best to get some snacks for Yanqing to eat before returning to the Xianzhou Luofu.

Yanqing stares at the redhead entering the ring, squinting his eyes. “Do you think someone like him can handle fighting robots?” Yanqing asks, nudging you.

You take a bite from your snack and look at the person Yanqing is pointing at. You hum, tilting your head to the side, shrugging your shoulders. The redhead is shirtless, and he has a prosthetic arm. His hair is pulled back into a half-ponytail. You don’t know who this man is, but you’re looking forward to watching him duel robots and migrants. 

You shrug in response. “I don’t know! He looks pretty capable of taking down a couple of robots. Why? Do you doubt his skills, Mister Prodigy?” You tease, nudging Yanqing back.

Yanqing narrows his eyes and turns to look at you, wiping the corner of his lips. “Let’s make a bet! If you win, I owe you information about the things General Jing Yuan, that foreign trader, and the Stellaron Hunter says about you when you’re not around!” Yanqing says, holding his hand out for you to shake.

Oh? Now that has piqued your interest. What could those three talk about? You purse your lips, tempted to shake Yanqing’s hands to make a bet with the young lieutenant of the Xianzhou Luofu. Before you bring your hand up to shake the blond’s hands, you look at Yanqing suspiciously.

“And what if you win?” You ask, squinting your eyes with your hand hovering in front of his.

Yanqing hums and tilts his head to the side. “If I win, you tell me who you like out of the ones from the group,” says Yanqing, smiling at you innocently.

Now it’s your turn to tilt your head to the side as you blink at Yanqing. What does he mean by that exactly? You like everyone in the group! Granted, some of them are intimidating (Blade), but you do like everyone in the group. Unless he was implying about who you have a crush on. If that’s the case, you weren’t sure if you have romantic feelings for any of the men. 

You shrug your shoulders. Oh well, what can go wrong? “Uh, sure. It’s a deal,” you reply, grabbing Yanqing’s hand and shaking them.

You and Yanqing turn to the ring, watching the redhead prepare his match with the automaton grizzly. It towers over the redhead, ready to charge forward. The redhead summons his weapon, grinning from ear to ear as he prepares to make the first move. The automaton grizzly summons two automaton spiders, both on the verge of exploding.

You scoot back, tugging on Yanqing’s sleeves. “Let’s back up just in case,” you murmur.

Yanqing looks at you with confusion before mimicking you. The battle begins, and everything is going really well for the redhead! He managed to defeat both the automaton spiders, causing them to explode beside the automaton grizzly. The fight was coming to an end when all of a sudden, the automaton grizzly stomped on the ground, causing the redhead to lose balance, sending his prosthetic arm to come off and flying in your direction. Needless to say, you have a slow reaction time because your world suddenly goes back when the metal prosthetic arm smacks your face.

When you open your eyes, you’re in the void with Nanook towering over you. Instead of Nanook covering the sun and sky, your head is lying on Nanook’s lap. Nanook sighs in relief when your eyes flutter open. You look around, confused about how you ended up in the abyss with Nanook.

You sit up, only for Nanook to push you back to lie down. You didn’t protest or fight against it. You rest your head on Nanook’s lap, gazing up at the Aeon with bleary eyes. Nanook gives you a small smile and combs his fingers through your hair.

“What happened?” You mutter.

Nanook sigh. “You got hit in the face, and it knocked you out. Now here you are, with me. Safe in my arms where no one and nothing can harm a single hair on your head,” Nanook replies, smiling at you.

You reach for Nanook’s hands, lacing your fingers together. Nanook lets out a shaky sigh, bringing your laced hands up to his lips, and presses a gentle kiss on your knuckles. So that’s what happened. You were knocked out unconscious. 

You weren’t sure how long you’ll remain unconscious, but you like being in the void with Nanook. It’s nice and quiet here— away from the dangers lurking in every corner. You have Nanook with you, and Nanook can protect you from harm. 

“How much longer do I have to wait to see you in person, Nanook?” You whisper, shutting your eyes.

Nanook hums, combing his fingers through your hair. “Sooner than you think, little one. I won’t keep you waiting any longer, I promise,” Nanook whispers, pressing another kiss on your forehead.

Before you can ask any more questions, the void around you slowly becomes dark. Nanook sighs in defeat, kissing your knuckles one last time. You involuntarily jerk when you feel someone tap your cheek while saying your name repeatedly. You groan, attempting to swat the hand away from your face. Your face hurts, but more importantly, your forehead hurts a lot. It feels like someone chucked a metal bat in your face. Oh, wait, that kind of happened, aside from the metal bat part. 

“Hey, hey, hey! It’s okay! Take it easy now,” says an unfamiliar voice.

You crack your eyes open. Your vision is blurry, and there are multiple people peering down at you, watching you regain your consciousness. You blink rapidly, rubbing your eyes with the heel of your hand. You have no idea how long you’ve been knocked out, but that was probably the best yet worst nap you have ever gotten.

The redhead with the metal prosthetic arm sighs in relief, smiling at you. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I didn’t mean to knock you out with my arm. To be honest, I didn’t expect my prosthetic to fly off and hit you in the face,” says the redhead. 

“Just be glad it didn’t give [Y/N] a concussion, Luka,” a gentle voice interjects.

You look up to see Natasha walk up to where you’re lying. She smiles at you and stands at the edge of the bed. Now that you’re awake, you realize you’re at the infirmary in Boulder Town. Yanqing is sitting beside you, pressing an ice pack on your forehead. Yanqing looks like he saw a ghost— the poor boy is pale and has tears pooling in his eyes. You’re tempted to ask Yanqing what is wrong, but before you can ask Yanqing, Yanqing looks away while still pressing the ice pack against your forehead. 

Natasha does a quick check-up on you while Yanqing and the redhead remain by your side. For your headache, Natasha prescribes you pain medication to take. She instructs you to take it every eight hours, but only if you’re having a headache. Natasha dismisses you, Yanqing, and the redhead.

The three of you step out of the infirmary, not saying a word. Yanqing sticks to your side, Yanqing’s arm looping around yours as he helps you down the stairs. You sit on the last step of the stairs, holding the ice pack on the bruise and a forming bump on your forehead. You turn to look at Yanqing.

“Did he win?” You ask.

Yanqing looks at you incredulously, his mouth agape. “You were knocked out cold by his flying prosthetic arm, and you’re wondering if he won the fight?!” Yanqing screeches.

The redhead chuckles, sitting beside you. “The fight stopped after my arm hit you in the face. I didn’t win or lose, but I was winning,” replies the redhead. “I’m Luka, by the way.”

You tried to smile at Luka, only for it to be a grimace. “Nice to meet you, Luka! I’m [Y/N], and the blond boy beside me is Yanqing! He’s my babysitter,” you reply.

Luka looks at you and Yanqing curiously but doesn’t question it. Your meeting with Luka was brief since your phone was blowing up with text messages and phone calls from your Astral Express and Belobog traveling companions. Blade, Luocha, and Jing Yuan even sent you a series of text messages and phone calls, asking where you and Yanqing have disappeared off to.

Before you and Yanqing could return to the Xianzhou Luofu, you and Luka traded phone numbers. Luka said he was going to find a way to make it up to you when you two cross paths later. Yanqing wasn’t fond of Luka, and you weren’t sure if it was because of Luka’s prosthetic arm flying off and knocking you out or if it was because of something else.

Either way, when you and Yanqing returned to the Xianzhou Luofu, the others were waiting for your and Yanqing’s return. Everyone’s eyes automatically lock on you when you step into the Seat of Divine Foresight. Yanqing didn’t get in trouble, thankfully. However, you did get an earful from the others for wandering off and dragging Yanqing with you. 

“I guess that’s the end of Yanqing’s babysitting service,” you grumble, letting Luocha replace the now-melted ice pack with a new one. “Now I’ll never know what Jing Yuan, Blade, and Luocha said about me,” you lament.

Loucha pauses and looks at you with a blank stare. “Pardon me?” Luocha asks, raising his eyebrows at you.

You blink at the long, blond-haired man. “I don’t know what I’m saying. Ignore that. I did get hit in the face with a metal arm not long ago,” you grumble.

Luocha shrugs before continuing where he had left off while the others go through your phone. You took many pictures while you were with Yanqing, and the men (and March) were glad that you had a great time! That is until your phone chimes and a notification pops up on your screen.

“One attachment from Luka?” Gepard mutters, raising an eyebrow.

March props her hands on her hips. “Who is this Luka person?” March asks.

Dan Heng hums. “One way to find out…” Dan Heng trails off.

Gepard clicks on the notification, sending them to a text messaging app. The attachment shows up, and it was a shirtless, mirror picture of the redhead you met at Boulder Town. Sampo’s eyes widen, his eyes zooming in on the text below.

“I hope this makes up for what happened today. I hope I can make it up to you in person x”

Oh, you have some explaining to do.

Mr. Yang slowly turns to where you’re sitting, crossing his arms over his chest while looking like a stern father, ready to scold his child. “[Y/N]. Care to explain this?” Mr. Yang asks, holding up your phone to your face.

Your eyes widen, and you look away, rubbing the back of your neck. “I don’t think you should be interrogating someone that got smacked in the face with a metal arm right now. I’ll explain everything later,” you reply. “And I’m going to smack Luka for sending a shirtless mirror selfie out of nowhere.”

While there’s nothing romantic going on between you and each of the men, they can’t help but feel something form in the pit of their gut. Yeah, Yanqing’s babysitting service is definitely not going to happen again. At least, not without the other person keeping an eye on you and Yanqing.

Note: It's about to be 6 AM, and I have not slept at all. Once I post this fic on AO3, I am going straight to sleep. It's a good thing it's summer for me now because my sleep schedule is officially fucked. My first mini-fic for HSR omg :o anyway, I am going to start working on a taglist form for my HSR series, and hopefully, I can start tagging people in posts soon. To my new and/or returning readers, please keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! I might post all of my stories on there too, but who knows. You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like as a way to show support! ^^

[iron-rose-art]

Chance Meeting

Context, Reader works at Daycare and was leaving the plex now that their shift was over. They saw a rowdy kid being too rough on a certain gator and their parents weren't around. Although the reader is tired, the reader couldn’t stand by and not say anything to the kid, especially when you know that the animatronics aren’t really programmed to tell a kid to back off. One thing led to another and it shouldn’t be a surprise that a kid that thinks he’s allowed to do anything has a parent that lets him do anything as long as it doesn’t disturb them.

Monty x Reader, no use of Y/N, reader is tired and has to go full Fazbear Inc. customer service mode on a parent

Read on Ao3 too if you wanna

---

“Ma’am, Fazbear Entertainment has full rights to escort you out of the premises for being discourteous in our plex. We ask of you and your family to be respectful to our star members.” You pointedly say with a trained smile on your face. You know the woman’s fuse was on a short timer, a few seconds away from having a meltdown over you telling her kids to act at least somewhat civil to the animatronics.

“HOW DARE YOU!” She bellowed out, her face getting red as she pointed a manicured finger at you.

Yup.

There it was.

You’d would find some humor in her overreaction if you weren’t so tired from your shift.

“You do NOT get to tell me what to do!” She aggressively poked at your chest. “I should call your manager! He’ll get you fired for talking to me like that!”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes and scowl at her, instead standing straight with your feet planted and tipping your head to the side with the same polite smile on your face. “We take customer service seriously here at our Pizzaplex. We also do not allow harassment of workers, it is a serious breach of contract of our terms of services.” You reply back with a calm voice. You can hear the murmurs of the people around you noticing the one-sided screaming match, no doubt your co-workers and managers will hear about this tomorrow. Great.

“I don’t care! I paid to be here and you were the one to ruin it for me and my family!” She jabs you again hard enough to make you take a step back. You clasps your hands in front of you, partially to keep your hands still and partially to give a bit of space between you two.

“If you are dissatisfied with our service, you are more than welcome to file a claim to our customer service office. If that claim is revised through camera footage,” you point to a nearby camera, “audio files, and witness testimony and is deemed as false, you hold a chance of being banned and blacklisted from the Plex. Permanently.” She opens her mouth to retort but you step forward and motion to a nearby Security Bot. “If that is something you wish to avoid, alongside paying for damages done to company property, I strongly advise you to leave for the day.” You watch as she narrows her eyes at you, her gaze flickered from looking at you, behind you, to the security bot and back at you. She scowls but steps back, glaring at you while the security bot starts to guide her to the entrance.

You feel bad for how tight she is holding her son’s hand as she walks away. He looks more embarrassed than her for being told to leave.

“Thank you for your patronage and we hope you have a Faz-errific Day!” You say in your best impression of the bright daycare attendant and wave with a cheery customer service smile as they leave. Once they were far away and the crowd around you lost interest, you turned around and heaved a sigh. Another day, another shitty parent like that.

You open your eyes and freeze when you see the giant animatronic you forgot had been behind you and was the whole reason you were dealing with that mom. Your eyes trail up as you take in the green scale pants, the broad yellow and green torso, the sharp teeth and finally the red eyes behind the star sunglasses.

You look up at Monty and give him an apologetic look, suddenly aware he had been quiet the whole time. “Um, sorry for uh, stepping in like that. Just y’know I’m not really a fan of uh, bratty kids and entitled parents.” You shrug and wave your hands in front of you before fiddling with the collar of your shirt to resist the urge to clear your throat and apologize more. Monty was staring at you unblinkingly, his jaw open enough for you to see a hint of tongue behind sharp teeth. There is the faint sound of a motor whirring but you figure it’s just a noise from somewhere else in the plex.

You stare at him as he stares at you.

Now you’re definitely wishing you were in your car and on your way home. “Do you um, do you need me to call Parts and Service to check if anything-”

“You were able to handle a piece of work parent and now you’re nervous?”  You would be a liar if you denied jumping a bit from hearing him finally talk. You were wanting him to talk of course, but it still caught you off guard. Especially with his voice being deeper than you thought. And he has a southern tilt to his voice box, odd but it’s fitting. He had an eyebrow raised and you realize it’s better to focus on what he asked than think too hard about his voice.

You feel your face getting hot under the scrutiny. This isn’t how you thought your first meeting with any of the Glamrocks would go. “Uh, I mean I deal with shitty parents that don’t actually want to parent their kids all the time so…” You shrug and mumble before you can think better of it. You lean back when he throws his head back as he laughs out loud. It’s a nice laugh to hear; sure it’s rough and gravely, it’s loud, but contagious and so wholehearted that it has you laughing along to the situation as well.

This really is where your life led to isn’t it? You can tell a mom to back off like you’re a lawyer but as soon as you need to talk to a seven foot tall robot gator you forget how to speak. Poof. All ways of talking go out the window. It’s so ridiculous the only thing you can do is laugh. And you can’t find it in you to care if it attracts attention from the crowd this time. It takes a minute before he exhales and makes a motion of wiping away non existent tears from his eyes.

“And you’re cussin in front of me! I could tell on ya if I wanted to y’know. That ain’t very family friendly.“ He cocks his head to the side as he grins down at you, the southern drawl in his voice deepening as he speaks.

You snort as your own laughter dies down to giggle. “I doubt The Montgomery Gator would tell on me for cursing on the job.” You look up at him, his own toothy grin mirrored back by you. You don’t know when you moved closer to him over the short conversation but you’re not feeling the urge to step away just yet.

“You’re not wrong.” He snorts and nods to your shirt as best he can. Or at least you think that’s what you think he was doing. “You sure aren’t what I expected from a daycare worker, y’know?” You look down at the bright lettering of the SuperStar Daycare Staff name tag still clipped on your shirt. With all the ruckus that happened, you completely forgot to take it off once you clocked out of your shift.

"Um, thanks." You weren't quite sure how to respond to that but you figured it was a compliment. You eye up the dented casing on his lower arm. "Are you sure you don't want to call Parts and Services to get that checked out?"

“Nah, m’ handler will check that out when I go down there in a few. You look,” he tips his head to the side as he pauses for a second, “tired, you shouldn’t you be going home now?”

To prove his point, you feel a yawn crawling its way up. You instinctively raise your elbow to hide your yawn and nod at him once it passes. “Yeah, definitely should be on my way home. Hopefully you won’t have to deal with any more shitty parents today.”

“I doubt it.” He says with a chuckle.

“Good good.” You wave at him while you start walking away. “See you around then Monty, have a good night.”

“Goodnight Superstar, don’t be fighting any more parents if I’m not around, you hear?” He lowers his sunglasses to wink at you as you walk away.

You scoff and roll your eyes but still smile at that. You give him one last wave while you make your way to the entrance, fishing out your car keys from your pockets as you leave the plex for the day. You think about the times the little kids at the daycare would say that Monty was scary, but from that little interaction you had with him, you realize he might not be as bad as people make him out to be. You feel a soft smile on your face as you drive home. Hopefully you can run into him and talk to him some more tomorrow, preferably under better circumstances.

What you don’t know you missed is the same gator watching you leave with a fond and curious look on his face, also looking forward to bumping into you while you work.

[debbiecolon]

My second tarnished oc, Rem. He usually wears the nightmaiden twin crown, but I wanted to draw his face unobstructed. His lore is super meaty and I'm quite happy with it!

Rem is a descendant of the Nox, people of the Eternal Cities. He was raised in Sellia, well versed in Night sorceries and taught melee combat by his 'sisters', Nightmaidens who warden over the town. His days are spent rigorously training his body and mind, honing himself into a warrior capable of subduing the most formidable of foes. Easily identified by both his silvery skin and hair, Rem appears more Silver Tear than anything, yet his golden eyes speak of his heritage, which he is incredibly proud of. And it is perhaps because of his heritage that Rem holds very little love for the Two Fingers and the Golden Order.

Rem had been fortunate enough to meet General Radahn in his youth, and had been privy to the demigod studying gravity sorceries. He grows to admire the flame haired demigod and leaves the Sellian territories for the first time when he offers his services to the General, as both sorcerer and swordsman. He stood among the Red Mane soldiers in battle, dressed in the silks of the Nox, looking elegant as a dancer yet fighting with all the ferocity of a beast. His end is met like many others in the Caelid wilds: witness to the scarlet flower bloom, particles of rot saturating the sky, clogging the beauty of the stars.

He wakes after centuries, called back from a peaceful void to return to the Lands Between. His memories are muddled, mostly lost, but through adventuring he remembers himself, for better or worse. He remembers that wretched flower, and he seeks a power strong enough to oppose it.

Rem is an extremely quiet and emotionally guarded tarnished who borders on selectively mute, speaking little more than he has to. He makes very few connections but is not unwilling to cooperate with his fellows, seeing such actions as a great way to garner much needed knowledge. He gauges everything like a threat but closely safeguards those who win his trust and affection, albeit from the shadows.

Beneath his guarded exterior is a deep longing to return to a home no longer there. Caelid is a fetid wasteland and nightmarish shadow of what it once was, and it is the only time that he openly expresses deep pain upon seeing the remains of a land he once loved so dearly. It hurts more than he can bear to know that Radahn lives as Caelid does--as a shell of his former self. He does not hesitate to participate in the Festival, seeing it as a final act of kindness for his beloved General. It is a hard fought battle, but Rem leaves with Radahn's blades as his trophy, swearing to wield the colossal weapons in battle.

Though Rem was raised in a town of sorcery and has proficiency with night magics, his greatest strength comes from physical prowess. He wields all manner of great swords and colossal blades, overwhelming his foes with sheer strength and relentlessness. He embodies duality, using stealth, life sapping mist and poison to turn the tide of what could have been a heavily skewed battle. He does not see underhanded tactics as something to frown upon. After all, combat (and life) does not play fair. Aside from sorceries, Rem has studied incantations on a surface level, enough to know hos to cast a poisonous mist or mend his injuries.

Rem's loyalty to the red haired demigod is akin to a love that is all consuming. It was a love that felt unrequited, but his unwavering belief and devotion to honing himself into the perfect weapon caught the interest of the towering Radahn. They seemed an unconventional pair, but they both bonded quite easily through combat and a shared love of animals. Leonard, Radahn's steed, received many a rowa berry and nose pats from Rem.

He felt as though he lost Radahn twice over. Once, against the one-armed valkyrie and her scarlet rot, and a second time at his own hand. Though it was a mercy, to grant his beloved demigod a warrior's end, a part of him died again with the General. The loss is an ever present ache that leads to the nihilistic belief that nothing in the Lands is worth salvaging.

The pain of loss and his keen awareness of the loss of many others drives Rem down the path of becoming the Lord of the Frenzied Flame. He does so, not to spare Melina from a fiery end, but to bring an end to it all, to be the Lord of the lost and the broken. To put to rest all that distinguishes and divides, hoping that perhaps the flames will consume him too.

[spadesolace]

the idea of yoo - 1.4. what even is love? (written)

previous | next

“you sure about joining me for this service?” you looked at rei who was also putting her shoes on. nodding in confirmation that she does want to do this.

“i wouldn’t worry much about you being bored. father lee would keep you entertained.”

“why?”

“he says some… out of pocket things.”

rei looks at you confused as you fix her top. the sad smile is still evident in your features but not quite like the weeks before. an entire month, you were busy to say the least; working on backlogs and gaining extra for you and rei - mostly for rei.

the mass was quite the usual, you did have a responsibility for being the pianist to which you have to start looking for a new one.

your gaze travels around the people sitting below, rei is right next to you, looking around the amount of instruments just for you.

there’s jimin… i really messed up.

jimin lost her spark, the same gleam you saw when first meeting had been gone - like a star after a supernova, becoming a black hole. hoping that wasn’t the case for the shining star that is yoo jimin.

yeonjun was late, sitting next to his dad, who had quite the expression for whatever they were talking about. he still looked the same from the day he found out - disappointed, sad, and confused.

deacon yoo became white noise to you, you’ve heard the same message time and time again but you weren’t expecting jeno to stand in front. if rei was bored, this got her attention.

“thank you. love! what is love? love is patient, it is kind. it does not envy nor boast, it is not proud… which is why i love this little lady.”

if the heartbreak from the past month didn’t hurt, what jeno would say next will.

“and why - she’d make me a fantastic wife. Jimin, will you-“

“NO!” 

everyone turns around, yeonjun and jimin finally looks at you after a month. you were hoping not in this way, not letting your emotions get the best of you.

“i- uh- i just wanted to add that…” you maintained eye contact with jimin, within the friendship you had developed with yeonjun within the past months you learned one phrase. fuck it, we ball.

“love is-”

“love isn’t pretending.” yeonjun cut you off, taking a deep breath and a quick glance at deacon yoo then to jimin, looking at him so intently. “i know because i’ve been pretending. only for a few months, but it sucks.”

“yeon…” he’s being careful with his wording - not to cause mayhem in the small chapel. one that would make everyone question life and the little town that is kwangya.

“what sucks more is having to pretend to be - not you - your whole life.” that was directed at you, only yeonjun and rei know about it. 

“my whole life, i thought there was only one way to love, but there’s more. so many more - and i don’t wanna be the guy that stops someone loving… the way they want to love.” the yeonjun you first met months ago wasn’t like this. you knew him as the tall guy with pink hair and dances every now and then. he’s matured, understood where you were coming from, and he accepted it.

deacon yoo cuts him off, assuming this whole fiasco is done and getting ready to bring the attention back to jeno, the star of the show, the golden boy of the town, the one who everyone believed jimin is destined for. within years of observing, you learned one thing from yeonjun and jeno; fuck it, we ball.

“i also have been pretending…” gasps throughout the chapel, deacon yoo has given up at this point.

“i know where this is going, naoi y/n. i’m flattered, really, but you and i wo-”

“jeno, for once in your life - can it. i’ve been writing your assignments for the entirety of high school so stop acting like the hero in this story.” he shuts up, backs away and sits down next to father lee. taking a deep breath, you look back at jimin who has been looking at you for a while now.

“if you’ll forgive me, i will just rewrite you one last time.” you look at yeonjun who finally looks up at you, a sad smile, teary eyes, and flushed cheeks - nodding to let you continue on.

“love isn’t patient, kind, humble… love is messy, deceiving, selfish, and… bold.” jimin is confused as you walk down the stairs from the balcony. rei recording everything that is happening and you just let it.

“it’s not finding your perfect half. it’s about trying and reaching, and failing - despite the effort you put in with no promise of success. love is being willing to try something new.” a quick glance at yeonjun, he smiles at you, urging you to continue on.

“love is admiring your favorite art, despite it being overrated - but despite everyone looking your way and admitting that you are no different from the rest. yet, you are. the good thing about being different is that no one expects you to be like them.” everything finally clicks to jimin, from the letters, your actions, how different yeonjun is compared to the letters and conversations she had with him.

“love is accepting them for who they are despite the deception - making them fall for the idea of you.”

“you.”

“... yeah.”

you hold your breath, jimin makes her way. assuming she’d go after you - slap you, scream even, but no. she walks towards yeonjun, somewhat apologetic eyes and a loud smack was all you heard as she leaves. everything goes into mayhem. you started this.

“AMEN!” father lee shouted as everyone started screaming, fighting, having some bits and pieces of realization. yeonjun and his father talking, you couldn’t hear it but all you could is them hugging each other then the sudden scream from mr. choi.

“ARE YOU INSANE?!” yeonjun turn his head away from his father smacking him in the head, a smile towards you and a thumbs up. mouthing we good? you nod as you sign him to cover his head for another smack from his father.

“come on, let’s get going. that’s enough of this chaotic mess.” rei pulls you out of the chapel, letting the noise die down as you walk out and head on home.

taglist [CLOSED]:

@1luvkarina @beawolfbealionbeyou @pandafuriosa60 @txtbrainrot @rinapomu @limbforalimb @yoontoonwhs @noascats @thefckghost @petruchiosstuff

[anchoeritic]

「 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍’𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄. 」

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: dbf!jake sully x fem!reader

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: (18+), heartbreak, angsty angst, jake being lost, reader is tsu’tey & neytiri’s daughter, mentions of heart beating, slight age gap (9-10 years), lil bit of violence.

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: jake sully finds himself back in his original place of rebirth, searching for something more than answers; the girl he once left behind long ago.

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: the start of a new series. this is my first lil passion project so i’m super excited. i hope you all enjoy the first addition. reblogs and feedback are appreciated. ♡

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

0:00

“Welcome home, brother!”

The call of an ikran was heard throughout the forest as you saw a taller figure hop off of it, petting its head reassuringly.

It was Jake’s ikran.

Silence filled the room as he finally faced his front to the family, searching for the voice. Could’ve heard a pin drop from how silent it was in there.

Should’ve known what you were getting yourself into you when you first got caught up with jake.

Your relationship with him was complicated. wrong. Actually, wrong is an understatement; you would get your eyes plucked out by your mother if she ever found out of your sins.

Jake was your dad’s best friend, once an enemy.

He was mistaken for taking your mother’s hand, creating a close bond with her the moment his avatar stepped foot on the land of pandora.

Eywa had chosen him to be here, present. That’s what your mother told you amongst the many other stories shared; like toruk makto. Rider of the last shadow, they called it.

He came flying in on the back of toruk with a look of determination. Might’ve not been the best time after your father accused of him of mating with your mother, but the war was eventually won with the help of the people, your people.

Another friendship between Jake and your father was created that day onwards, forgiving each other of their bad communications, and seeing one another for what they really stood for.

“Jake?” You whispered to yourself quietly, eyebrows furrowed.

“Hey, peach.” following your voice, he shifted his gaze right onto you, looking at you with a sympathetic smile. “You miss me?”

Frozen in place, you stood with your arms crossed. “Thought you were residing at Awa’atlu.”

“You don’t miss me?” He dodged your response.

You rolled your eyes at his words, leaving his question open-ended once again.

The three sighed; your father shooing you away with his hand.

Taking this as your cue to leave, you quickly shuffle away from your mother’s side, running off to another part of the forest.

0:40

“Get it together.” You said to yourself looking down at the river stream, staring into your reflection.

“He isn’t good for you.” Your feet dangled over the waters, dipping in every now and then when the tides would grow stronger. “He never was.”

Reassurances told to you.. by you.. maybe isn’t the best way to try to overcome something as difficult as love is.

Of course, you missed him. It wasn’t like he meant nothing to you. In your eyes, he was your first love. He still is.

The memories shared with him were never forgotten, they couldn’t ever be erased from your mind. the times spent at river creeks, under the brightest stars, they weren’t for nothing.

He wasn’t exactly the vocal type when it came to being emotional. His way of affection was his acts of service: going down on you.

It started as training lessons, who knew it would’ve ended with his face between your thighs, holding you by your hips down as you cried for him to let you finish.

One time turned into two times, turned into every other night. sneaking out of your hammock, making sure you don’t wake anyone, meeting up with him at river creeks.

As much as the attraction was shown through physical touch, sometimes, it got emotional.

His head would be laid on your lap as you hummed a tune, your fingers tracing shapes into his toned chest.

You’d share about your day, telling him the awful stories you gained from teaching the little ones about the plants scattered across the forest grounds.

Everything you experienced with him, it felt like a dream. He was a dream to you.

The way his ears would perk up at the sound of your laughs, his smile widening until his pearly whites were shown. It was all perfect, all of it, until he took his leave without a notice. Especially, without telling you.

Not a note, a single goodbye, just an illuminated pathway of his footsteps leading out and away from between the hometrees.

You still remember that night like it was yesterday. The call of his ikran still makes your ears ring when you think of it, followed by the sounds of your own sniffling.

He’d only send you a ripped up letter with the directions of his new home: all the way at the Pandoran reefs.

But at one point, you became numb at the thought of his disappearance, finally accepting that he isn’t the one for you.

If Eywa brought him here to the clan, she could’ve easily been the one to take him right out.

Kicking rocks, you made your way back to your hammock, slipping into it with ease. The mere thought of jake made your skin crawl.

He left the clan with nothing of him and expects for everyone to welcome him back like this was ever considered his home? You held resentment against him. Maybe, you were just being stubborn too.

“Hey,” a voice called out from behind a tree.

Turning your head around quickly, you went into defense mode, letting your walls build back up.

“Who’s there?” You hissed, pointing an arrow at the tree. “Show yourself!”

You should’ve expected who walked out from behind. God, how stupid were you to give him this sort of entertainment. This was not the type of reunion you were hoping for.

Jake raised his hands up in a truce, signalling that he was strictly here to make peace. Possibly.

“It’s just me,” he started, “lower your bow.”

Shaking your head, you only pulled the string up further, pointing at your target: his head.

God, it took so much in you not to let his brains splatter all over the grounds. Your ancestors would’ve been cheering you on from the sidelines.

“Leave me alone, demon!” he backed up slowly, hands still being held up. “What do you want from me, Sully.”

He looks at you puzzled, shaking his head. “i don’t want anything from you? Just wanted to make sure you were okay, sweetheart—“

Nervous, he put his hands behind his head, showing that he wasn’t looking for any trouble.

“Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that anymore.” You lowered your bow, mounting it on your back again. “You lost those privileges the same night you lost me.”

“Listen—“

“Watch your mouth, I’m not the same naïve girl you left behind.” Your words were venomous to him, it was worse than the bite of a snake, but you can’t say it wasn’t well deserved.

“Just. Just leave me be, Jake.” Sighing, you walked back to your hammock, completely ignoring his presence. You got the last word in, that’s all you cared about.

It wasn’t like he was ever going to. He didn’t even do it when he had the balls to leave the forest.

1:11

That was temporary happiness, bound to be lost but he tried to find a loophole to keep it lasting,

He ran back to you.

An exhausted groan was followed by his footsteps retreating back. You were a hard shell to crack, even tougher than the first time.

The realization didn’t hit you until well after he left you alone; your quiet cries and reassurances to yourself were drowned out by the hard rainfall.

“Please, Eywa.” You looked down at your hands, trembling in the coldness as tears continued to stream down your cheeks.

Your hammock was soaked in the natural waters, goosebumps running up and down your arms.

It was like your tears were the rain. Smaller plants were toppling over, the rain covering every square inch of the forest.

The emotions you held to yourself, the ones you could never speak of out loud, only Eywa could’ve heard you grieving for your old self.

Eywa heard you and made her presence known to you, like the same night you experienced your heart split into two.

The same one Jake Sully had caused you.

1:41 ⤿ 1:00

“Find yourself, y/n.” he rubbed your back, kissing the crown of your head.

The same hot tears were still spilling, but in his hands now. He wasn’t only carrying the weight of his guilt, but the pureness of your tears as they continued to drag him down.

“I-I don’t know how to, jake,” you whisper, “I can’t without you.”

“I know you can, baby,” he’s wiping away your tears with a soft smile on his face.

He held your hand in his tightly, pressing a kiss to the top before placing it over his own heart. “You feel that?”

Bum, bum, bum. The time between his heartbeats became shorter and shorter as seconds went by, the feeling underneath your palm was on the verge of explosion. His heart was strong enough to play a set of drums.

“A strong heart,” you looked into his eyes.

Hee stared back at you with the same smile, placing a hand over your heart. “My strong heart, you will be without me one day.”

“Don’t say that.” You shook your head, sniffling.

“One day will happen sooner or later.”

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #55 – The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

Introduction

The Spear Cuts Through Water was one of my favorite reads of last year, and I’ve been meaning to get around to Jimenez’ other work basically since I finished it. Months and months later, my TBR pile and the library’s hold queue cooperated and I finally got around to it. Of the two, you can definitely tell Birds is the debut novel, but despite the roughness I can’t help feeling like it's also the one I prefer. I do have complaints (of which, more below), and the story certainly has issues with structure and allocation of wordcount, but this really is the rare book where I feel no compunctions whatsoever giving five stars.

Knowing myself, this isn’t entirely unrelated to how fucking heartbreaking it is at points.

Synopsis

To brutally over-summarize, the book follows Nia, a starship captain hauling crops on a freight route from a ‘resource world’ to Pelican Station, one of the great centers of human civilization and Allied Space. Due to the peculiarities of faster than light travel, the round trip that is for her and her crew experienced as a span of months is for the people at both endpoints an absence of fifteen years – a convenient way for her to keep making the same mistakes as far as personal connections and relationships go. On the last loop of the route before her contract is completed, she finds herself taking care of a mute, deeply traumatized young boy discovered miraculously unharmed by the locals in what seemed like a fiery wreck. The boy – at first nonverbal, inexplicably a musical savant, deeply traumatized and mysterious in a hundred different ways – finds his way into her heart to the point that even after they return to Pelican and he’s been turned over to the security services, she can’t stop trying to find out what happened to him and making sure he’s alright.

It’s at this point that the two of them come to the attention of Fumiko Nakajima, the Millennium Woman – designer of the five great stations at the heart of Allied Space, and (thanks to the magic of cryo-sleep and FTL time differentials) one of the last survivors of long-dead Earth. She sees in the boy the possibility of something miraculous – truly instant interstellar travel – and so hires Nia and a few reliable agents to take him into Fringe Space, safely out of view of any of her ‘friends and colleagues’ who might take a similar interest in him. For fifteen years. The story then reveals itself to be one of, basically, child-rearing and coming of age – at least until the moment where the child’s miraculous abilities really do reveal themselves, and all at once things get much, much deadlier.

Structure

The book is – not quite incoherent (the thesis is very clear), but certainly unfocused. At first I thought that was rather the point – the first three chapters are each incredibly effective, melancholic short stories in their own rights'; each leapfrogging into the perspective of a character whose actions or legacy shaped the previous, but with dramatically different casts, setting and plots. These are almost certainly the most aesthetically successful and artistically disciplined sections of the book, and as I read them I assumed it would continue in the same vein for the entire book.

It does not – the book settles very firmly into being the story of Nia and the boy who is later named Ahro. The middle of the book is an almost light-hearted coming of age story, spread across the years Ahro spends growing up in the Galactic fringe with his ragtag accidental family. The final act then dramatically shifts tone again, becoming largely about recovering from betrayal and the destruction of your life, and of striving in defiance of all sense and reason to reconnect with someone you love.

There are, then, three very different vibes here, and I can’t say the shifts between them are handled with the most grace in the world. The book absolutely never stops experimenting with style either, shifting voice, perspective, level of detail, and even format (several chapters are relayed as diary entries) basically whenever the mood strikes it. It absolutely feels like an incredibly talented author showing off a bit beyond their limits – you can see the seams, the allocation of effort between the parts is...questionable, and there are a couple vital characters/subplots who just needed another chapter or two of focus – but it’s the sort of messiness that leaves me incredibly endeared.

Love, and its Discontents

Those first three chapters are essentially short stories connected by setting and a character or two – but most of all they’re connected by theme. Each is, one way or another, the story of the protagonist falling in love – the sort of love that defines a life, that cuts you to the core whenever you remember it – and then having that love fail, leaving the lover damaged or lessened in a way that never quite heals.

Things do not stay quite so melancholic, but for a story whose whole climax is centered around the quite literally metaphysical and reality-shaking power of pure love this book has a bracingly tragic sensibility of it. Love is hopelessly one-sided, or turns rancid with resentment for just long enough to make sure it can never be restored again. Romances end in betrayal and murder, bonds both sororial and paternal in half-thoughtless abandonment, soul-deep friendships in vicious arguments and a severing of ties. Love, the book says, is deeply contingent and often more transitory than it seems – and if it isn’t, that can do far more harm than good.

Nia as a protagonist has plenty of baggage about this. She’s introduced as a woman with deep abandonment issues – that is, she keeps abandoning people and then feeling bad about it (her ship is the Debby, after the kid sister who lived and died seeing her for a few days every fifteen years due to the time lag of interstellar shipping). She latches onto protecting and caring for Ahro almost more as an attempt at redemption for herself as anything about the boy himself, it’s only over time she really grows to love him as more than a talisman.

I can’t say it was particularly well-spent time, but the book does something I love at least the idea of. Nia’s crew is introduced in the second chapter with a fair amount of detail and personality, each of them having little idiosyncrasies and distinguishing habits and virtues; one is a best friend she found stranded on a wrecked hulk and nursed back to health. The whole dynamic is that of the grumbling and bickering but affectionate found family crew you’ve seen in a thousand other stories. So when she commits to spend up to fifteen years of her life taking care of Ahro on the galactic fringe in exchange for truly unbelievable amounts of money, she sits down with them, tells them the score, and asks them if they trust her enough to come with her.

And all but one of them say no, and never show up in the story again. Which is possibly the first time I have ever seen that kind of scene not end with re-commitment and affirmations of trust from at least most of the real characters that were asked.

This makes the whole found family situation with Nia, Ahro and (most of) the second crew that do spend years in the outskirts of ‘civilized’ space with them works for me far, far better than these things usually do. Because, unlike functionally every piece of fiction I can think of that’s ever been promoted as being about found families, this one really does sell it as something precious and exceptional, rare and worth fighting to preserve.

It also gets all but three of the people involved killed, of course, and of those three one’s permanently crippled and death would probably have been kinder for the second. The book’s really big on stretching ‘better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ to the absolute breaking point – right up to someone choosing not to die despite an existence of nothing but torture and pain just for the infinitesimal bit of hope and connection of a loved one singing through the prison bars.

The Banality of Evil

The villain of the piece is, without question, the monolithic and monopolistic Umbai Corporation, something between a neocolonialist conglomerate and a sovereign, expansionist empire in the classic sense with a few affectations from its earthborn roots (the specifics of the politics of Allied Space are vague and in any case more impressionistic than anything like a detailed speculative political economy). Which is kind of fascinating, in that it is specifically the Corporation as a corporate body that is the villain – agency and responsibility are spread across whole bodies of Allied nobility and corporate Judiciary officials, armored Yellowjacket thugs and career-minded techs and surgeons. There’s no CEO or President, no Board of Directors who set the agenda and bear ultimate responsibility – there’s no face to it at all, really. I’m fairly sure no agent of the company ever even appears twice. Which is just interesting on its own terms, given Umbai as an entity defines both the setting and the plot to dramatic degrees.

The world of the Vanished Birds is a horrifying dystopia in a hundred different ways, but until the very end of the book this just isn’t really something any of the characters particularly care about. It’s in the incidental details and the little asides in the exposition – that there is a great apparatus of censorship on every Allied world dedicated to controlling and slowing the rate of linguistic drift to ease the flow of time-shifted commerce, that the culture and economy of Umbai ‘Resource Worlds’ are societies deliberately starved of information and culturally engineered to be easily managed and quiescent single-commodity resource exporters. Even in the distant past, Umbai and institutions like it used their control over the Ark Ships escaping earth to filter the species – denying berths to (among a great many other things) anyone of ‘problematic’ politics or who seemed likely to be an economic burden.

It’s a universe where this system seems to spread inevitably and irresistibly, everything valuable bought up and parceled out for the benefit of the system’s functionaries diligent enough to save for occasional vacations, and the nobles and officials in the vaunted heights of far-off stations and City-Planets (the allegorical applicability is left as an exercise for the reader, a bit of restraint I did appreciate).

It is, again, not a system that’s worth analyzing as a speculative political economy or technical exploration of neocolonialism either present or future – but it’s not trying to be, either. And it works very well at seeming like a real, functioning world that the characters are just trying to live in.

The Anthropocene

Going off where most of its wordcount is spent, I’m not sure you could really call Birds climate fiction. But if someone was making that argument, I’m not sure you have too much ground to stand on arguing you shouldn’t either.

Fumiko’s first chapter, read as a stand-alone short story, absolutely is – the story of a love affair between genius savant designing the great orbital habitats which will sustain a lucky slice of humanity in the stars, and a talented but less world-shaping scientist doing what she can to lighten the burden of the remaining four fifths of the species being left behind upon the increasingly uninhabitable earth. This is where the book’s title comes from – the gradual disappearance of the birds Fumiko loved as a child, even from the sanctuary trying so ferociously to preserve them.

The world presented in that chapter feels just barely familiar enough to be unsettling, a scarred and fortified world that’s still on a clear and irreversible decline – which might be either chicken or egg to the fact that the commanding heights of government and industry have given up trying to save it entirely to focus on an escape to the stars.

For the rest of the book, environmental collapse isn’t really a topic that much comes up – though the human shaping of and impact on the environment certainly does. It’s just largely a matter of deliberate engineering.

There is, however, a very easy allegorical reading of the fact that on discovery of a way to travel instantaneously between stars, Umbai ruthlessly exploits and monopolizes it to attain unprecedented degrees of power and wealth as they reshape the entire galactic economy – all of galactic civilization, really – around the new technology. All without the slightest thought or care that this new technology is based on harvesting a specific and finite resource and their brave new world will collapse entirely without it. Omelas-child instead of oil but still – not exactly subtle, but I do appreciate the book restraining itself from directly and explicitly pointing it out.

Fumiko

The ‘millennium woman’ is probably the most interesting single character in the book, and also almost certainly the biggest structural weakness in the whole thing. Which is annoying to me, personally. She simultaneously has some of the best chapters of the book and also ends up feeling like a ball being tossed around as the plot requires.

Her Methuselah existence is only vaguely justified and explained, and it’s entirely unclear just how exceptional she is (beyond the fact she isn’t unique, anyway) – the story never even gestures to the existence of any of her peers beyond vague mentions of the Umbai executive class or Allied nobility. She’s an oligarch-savant with nigh-infinite resources and cadres of loyalists installed in every institution worth owning – until a single mistake is made and the powers that be unite in a perfectly coordinated strike to kill them all and leave her stranded in the torn up ruins of her private research colonies among the corpses of two thousand executed minions.

A character being ruthlessly crushed without warning or chance of contesting it by the powers that be rings more true when the character isn’t one of them, I suppose? As it was, it felt like being dropped into the climax of a story without any of the rising action.

The effect is, I think, at least mostly intentional. The entire chapter is about Fumiko being so distracted with the failures of her memory and a complete preoccupation with her latest project (Ahro) that she cannot even pretend to remember or care about this whole vast infrastructure she has built up for her own advancement and curiosity, or the hundreds of followers who treat her as a living saint (to the point of not even remembering her friend, confidant and second in command until the moment before he’s executed for, in essence, her failing to consider the consequences of breaking a minion’s heart). The fact that there’s a battlecruiser en route to bury everything she’s built in napalm and she just forgot to do anything to prepare is actually very plausible. In which case, I just wish it had been ore dwelt upon and made a point of. Or just – it felt like she really needed another chapter or two from her POV before things go horribly wrong, I suppose?

Her chapters are very well-done and affecting, to be clear. And her mirrored character arc with Nia – both women who get a certain pleasure out of other people caring about and being more invested in them than they are in return, both dealing cosmically poorly with rejection, both forever decorating their life in half-conscious memory of someone they left behind – is both well done and compelling (Nia gets better, Fumiko’s story in an elaborate murder-suicide/terrorist attack).

Too Long; Didn’t Read

Beautiful, emotionally affecting book. Very much a debut work from a talented author – experimenting and showing off a bit more than be supported, some fundamental structural weaknesses – but nothing I found detracted from the experience. Actually one of the quite rare books where sitting down and writing out a review has made me like it more rather than less.

[medusapelagia]

20 Never fall for a client

written for @steddieangstyaugust (prompt: Careless Whisper – George Micheal ) and @augustwritingchallenge (Prompt: Joker: guardian) Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve/Eddie TW: violence, gun violence, open ending. injuries, blood Words: 1607

The black suit is perfect on Steve’s toned body. The shirt is slim but not so much to prevent movements. His hair is perfectly brushed. A pair of dark sunglasses and a transparent earpiece complete the outfit.

He’s not expecting any surprise, Eddie should just accept an award for his last song and get back home, but he has worked with Eddie for so long that he knows that he can expect anything from the guy, especially now that he’s royally pissed with him. He’s the exact kind of guy who would do something stupid just as payback.

Steve has tried to ask to be assigned to someone else, but with such short notice, Nancy didn’t find anyone available to be Eddie’s bodyguard for the night.

“You ready? Eddie is already throwing a tantrum. He has just yelled at the room service because the fries weren’t hot enough.” Robin’s familiar voice complains.

Yeah, Eddie’s typical behavior.

“I’m on my way. Is Gareth there?” the only people who can somehow manage to do some damage control with Eddie are Wayne and Gareth. Well, Steve too, but that was before.

“He totally refuses to put up with his childish behavior, and I can’t say I don’t agree.”

“I can hear you, Buckley! And you’re fired!” Eddie screams from somewhere in the back but so loudly that Steve hears him clear as the day.

“Max, is the limousine ready?”

“Yes. Just waiting for the big stars, you know?” Max, it’s at her first job but she’s already tired of those VIPs attitude. Steve has tried to explain to her that most of the VIPs are like the Corroded Coffin and she has rolled her eyes, grabbed the limousine’s keys, and declared that she wasn’t going to talk with them. Clever girl.

After a last look in the mirror, Steve leaves the room. Hidden under his jacket he has a gun, a pair of handcuffs, and a Kevlar bulletproof vest. Even if it’s just a short event he wants to be ready and the only time he didn’t wear his bullet proof vest a fucking psycho attacked the actress he was assigned to in front of the grocery shop. 

Walking in the elevator, the eighties music fills the air while George Michel sings, “We could have been so good together. We could have lived this dance forever. But now, who's gonna dance with me?”

Steve tries to ignore the pang of pain in his heart. There’s a reason why he’s so adamant that he wants to change clients and the reason is that the things with Eddie got too personal, and that’s bad. The first rule of being a bodyguard is never to get feelings for the client you’re working for because it will make you less attentive and ready to act. He knows many bodyguards who made that mistake and regret it deeply, but he’s not going to follow that path.

He knocks politely at the door, while Eddie is screaming something about his outfit.

It’s Robin who opens the door weary and lets out a big sigh when he sees him.

“Please, stop him. I’m tired of listening to him screaming about everything.”

“He doesn’t listen to anyone, Robs.”

“He listens to you.”

Maybe before. But after they shared a heated dance and a kiss in a seedy bar a few nights before he’s pretty sure Eddie won’t even consider him.

“Hey, Eds. Are you ready? Max is waiting for us.”

“Make her wait! Can’t you see my outfit is a mess?! It’s way too big! And I can’t pay guitar with a fringed jacket. And who uses fringed jackets anymore anyway? Call Chrissy! I need a new outfit and I need it now!”

Seated on the couch with one leg over the armrest, Gareth is looking at some videos on TikTok, completely ignoring Eddie’s meltdown, but when he sees Steve he turns off his airpods and smiles brightly at him.

“The lion tamer is here! Finally! Can you kick Eddie’s ass and drag him outside this stupid suite? We have an award to accept in… less than one hour.”

“I’m not leaving until my outfit it’s perfect!” Eddie yells again, glowering at the two of them.

“What’s the problem?”

Eddie lifts an eyebrow, looking at Steve through the mirror, “The stupid fringed jacket.” the guitarist complains, “I can’t play with that stupid thing on.”

“Then don’t wear it.” Steve simply declares, grabbing the jacket and stripping him of it.

Under the jacket, Eddie’s wearing a mesh shirt covered in dark crystals that do nothing to hide his black tattoos on his pale skin.

“Are you fucking kidding? The paparazzi will eat me alive if I don’t wear a jacket to cover my nipple piercings!” Eddie replies offended, grabbing the jacket from Steve’s arms.

Fuck this. They have to go.

“Wear mine.” Steve proposes, giving him his suit jacket. Eddie’s is thinner than Steve but they almost have the same size.

For a moment Eddie’s eyes stare at the black holster under Steve’s arm, but he quickly grabs the jacket and looks at himself in the mirror.

“I can work with this.”

“Glad to hear it. Now are you ready to start this show?” Steve asks, putting on the fringed jacket. It’s not as comfortable as his and definitely way more shiner, but it’s Steve's last work for Eddie so he doesn’t think too much about it even if Robin stares at him with huge eyes.

When they finally get back into the elevator, George Michael is still singing softly, and Steve surprises himself by singing along softly. Eddie turns toward him, confused and amused.

“Trying a new career as a singer? Because as a bodyguard you suck.” he declares coldly.

“Maybe. Do you have any advice?”

“Don’t do it. You're absolutely out of tune.”

Steve chuckles, used to their banter, but he doesn’t reply.

It’s the last day, he keeps repeating to himself during the car ride toward the event, the last day he’ll ever see Eddie. It hurts a bit but Steve knows it’s the right choice.

The event has already started and they are getting in from a separate door so there aren’t many screaming fans waiting for them.

Steve gets out first, takes a deep look at the surroundings, and then, shielding Eddie with his body, he drags him inside, while Robin does the same with Gareth. They met Freak and Jeff backstage since they refused to assist with Eddie’s tantrum and preferred to go ahead to the location.

“Nice jacket.” Freak mocks Steve for the flashy fringed jacket he’s wearing.

“Thanks. I heard it’s really on trend right now.” he winks, then he turns toward the other two bodyguards, “Did you already check the perimeter and the fitting room?”

“Everything clear, Steve. No crazy fans hiding in the fitting room or in the vents.”

That was another experience to remember. A couple of fans managed to move through the vents only to fall abruptly into Eddie’s fitting room, breaking a few bones but gaining an autograph.

Chrissy’s high heels click on the floor while she gets closer, “So the plan is staying behind the curtains until they call you for the award. A brief thanks and then back to the hotel because tomorrow at five am we have a plan to catch. Is that clear?”

“Can I grab a smoke? Steve didn’t let me have one.” Eddie immediately complains. 

It’s not true he didn’t let him smoke but he shrugs, ready to follow him outside.

Chrissy sighs, brushing a hand through her hair, “Please be quick, ok?”

“Don’t worry, doll,” Eddie replies, blowing her a kiss and moving toward the backdoor without even waiting for Steve.

As soon as he gets outside he lights the cigarette but takes just a few puffs before starting to play with it.

“Do you really mean what you said the other night?”

“What?”

“That you’re falling in love with me.”

“I do. That’s why I can’t be your bodyguard anymore.” Steve sighs, “I’m sorry.”

“Maybe it’s better this way.” Eddie replies, stomping the cigarette out, “I don’t want you as a bodyguard.”

Steve nods, Eddie has had many lovers but none of them lasted more than a couple of months.

“That’s good,” Steve says, but before he can add anything else Eddie is pushing him against the wall, kissing him hard, his wet tongue licking at Steve’s lips asking for permission while his teeth graze against Steve’s skin.

It’s just a moment of distraction, but it’s enough.

Steve doesn’t even see the shooter, he just feels Eddie jolts in his arms. Instinctively he holds him tight to his chest turning his back to the shooter to protect him with his body.

“Eddie? Eds!” Steve calls, while Eddie caresses his face.

“You ok, big boy?”

“Robin, call an ambulance! Someone shot Eddie!” Steve yells in the little earpiece in his ear, but when the girl starts to yell back he just takes it out and let it dangle down his shoulders. He quickly tears his sleeve to stop the bleeding.

“Aren’t you going too fast?” Eddie chuckles, “It was just a kiss.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Steve yells.

He fucked up.

He knew it would have happened if he remained Eddie’s bodyguard, but he thought he retreated in time to avoid any problem. Instead, Eddie is lying in a pool of blood with a mesh t-shirt covered in crystals.

“Make sure the pictures are good, will you?” Eddie asks him, before closing his eyes.

Steve doesn’t hear the ambulance coming or the Corroded Coffin and his team joining them, he just holds Eddie tight.

[littlepolinlover]

Starting a Polin AU: Actors Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton set to co-star in a film that is decidedly awkward and entertaining. A film that they both enjoyed undertaking— which lead to their friendship and perhaps falling in love.

Teaser:

When she landed a role in this new film, she was excited. She had been working hard to make a name for herself, despite her Mama’s pleads for her to find a real, stable job, “acting isn’t going to pay the bills, Penelope.” And while the work she did paid well enough, there were times where she had to work service jobs, much to her Mama’s dismay.

But she loved what she did, and it was finally paying off. She had landed a handful of roles previously, and they paid rather well. She had started to invest some of her funds, and the returns have been more than fruitful.

In her time performing, she had found a few people that she called a friend, and kept in regular contact with. It helped to have someone to talk to about life, her lack of love life, and just anything in general. Eloise Bridgerton was her saving grace. The girl was witty, kind, and just the best person to be around. She also taught Penelope how to own her self and be more confident.

“You have to love you before you can let anyone else love you, Pen.” She told her and Penlope had to agree. She had to learn to love who she was– a bright, talented, artist. That was all that mattered– not the extra stone she currently weighed, and was trying to work it off, or the blemishes that sometimes popped on her face when she was having her monthly cycle. She just needed to learn to love herself, which was easier said than done.

[thechaoticdruid]

In Another Life

|Ascended Astarion x Oc |Winnie|

Notes: So this is basically something I wrote when I had been stumped on other work. It's kinda like a pilot chapter for a fic I suppose. In an alternate reality where Winnie helps Astarion ascend only to regret it in the end. Also reading some of my other Winnie fics before this one is highly recommended.

Content/Warning: ANGST, toxic break up, Ascended Astarion, AA being manipulative, Winnie snaps.

“I have to do this Winnie. You want me to be safe don't you? Help me do this and I'll be free, truly and completely free.” Astarion stared at Winnie with pleading eyes. Winnie frowned, standing in  place as her heart weighed with the decision she was being forced to make.

“But Astarion, if we do this it will kill all of these people!” Winnie hissed out. 

“These people died years ago! Trust me. All that's left is feral spawn, desperate for blood.” Astarion insisted. 

“They still deserve a chance.” 

“More than I deserve freedom?” Astarion sneered, glaring at Winnie.

“Star, please don't make me do this.” Winnie begged, eyes threatening to tear up as she realized what was happening. She didn't want to lose Astarion. Gods, she already had lost so many people in her life.

“It's me or them.” Astarion’s red eyes bore into her soul as he gave her the ultimatum. Winnie bit down on her lip. She knew what was the right thing to do. She knew that sacrificing them was diabolical and unforgivably selfish, but in that moment it was as if her body acted on its own.

“Alright …I'll help you.” Winnie gave in. 

“Thank you my love.” Astarion sighed in relief before turning around. Astarion had Winnie connect her tadpole to his so he could read the scars off his back and copy them onto Cazador’s.

Winnie cringed as she heard the blood curdling screams of Astarion's old master. Was this what it was like for Astarion the night his scars were carved?  Winnie just kept her eyes on Astarion’s back, taking in the jagged lines of the infernal writing. Once Astarion finished Winnie tilted her head in shame. Most everything beyond went so fast it was like a blur. The dungeon was illuminated red, and the floor beneath them quaked as the ritual proceeded. 

“Soldier, this isn't right! You have to talk some sense into him!” Karlach pleaded with her friend. Winnie didn't even meet her gaze. The poor druid just looked lifeless and full of shame. The room filled with thousands of blood curdling screams. Seven thousand vampire spawn were being turned to dust and their souls practically torn from their bodies. Now forever in service to the archdevil Mephistopheles.

Astarion's eyes were glowing red as a sinister smile spread across his face. 

“I'm free. I'm finally free! Oh it feels delicious!” Astarion exclaimed. Winnie could feel her heart sink. This was a mistake. 

~•~•~••~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

After the Rite of Profane Ascension had been completed and the party had delt with the gur tribe's retaliation Winnie and the others left Cazador's palace and returned to the Elfsong.

Winnie hadn't spoken to Astarion since  the ritual. She was full of shame and guilt. What she had done was selfish and unforgivable and in the end it hadn't even been worth it.  Astarion was not the same man she'd fallen in love with. It appeared any trace of the sweetness he once possessed had been completely snuffed out.  So now she sat on her bed in the Elfsong, fiddling with her journal. She was sketching a picture of herself as a devil, an evil wretched creature. It was nothingless what she deserved.

“There you are my sweet pet. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were avoiding me.~” Astarion’s all too familiar sultry voice graced her ears. The human woman couldn't bare to look up at him.  

“I just wanted….time to myself. I'm tired.” She spoke softly. It wasn't entirely a lie. The trauma from the events had left her rather drained. As she tried to keep her eyes on her journal, Astarion tilted her chin up with his fingers, making her look at him.  Intense and cold as ice, his eyes no longer held the soft sweetness that she adored so much. It honestly felt as if she was looking at a stranger who wore her beloved’s face. If only it actually was just a demon in disguise.

“You have given me a wonderful gift. One I intend to reward you for. Name anything you desire and I shall provide it to you.” 

“I don't want anything.” Winnie replied, pulling her head away from him.

“Love, you can't keep dwelling on those pathetic souls in the ritual. What's done is done and there's no going back. Besides you and I have a glorious future ahead us.” Astarion smiled before taking Winnie’s hands in his. “I want to give you the gift of immortality, so that we may walk these lands side by side forever, as husband and wife.”  Astarion squeezed Winnie’s hands gently. His eyes bore into hers ever so eagerly awaiting a response. Winnie’s jaw dropped as she was at a loss for words. A vampire marriage proposal. Two incredibly horrifying decisions were now presented to her.

“Oak Father's balls…..You want to turn me!? After everything you suffered!? After everything Cazador put you through!” Winnie hissed, shock suddenly turning into anger as she pulled her hands away from him and stood up. One night not too long ago Astarion had told Winnie how incredibly painful turning into a vampire was for him. How he loathed the two centuries he spent as a puppet. And now he was practically asking her to endure the same.

“Oh that was completely different! I'd never hurt you! I love you.” Astarion had smug expression plaster over his face as he noticed Winnie’s eyes soften at his declaration of love. “Is this not what you want, my love? You told me you were mine once before. Now you can prove it.” 

“I want to be your partner not your property!” Winnie huffed out. "I want to be yours by choice not by force!"

“You would be. I don't want to control you. I want you to rule beside me, as my bride, my queen, my dark consort...My most beloved spawn.” Astarion put his hand over his heart. Winnie held back the tears that were threatening to spill. He wanted to make her his spawn. Not a true vampire. Not an equal.

“You haven't once even considered making a true vampire have you? No you don't trust that I wouldn't turn on you.” Winnie murmured out.

“You're being entirely ridiculous, darling. If you can't see what I'm trying to do for you then perhaps you're not worthy enough to be my consort.” 

“Good. I don't want to be your fucking consort. You've done nothing but act like a power crazed fool just like Cazador.”

“DON’T YOU DARE YOU SPEAK HIS NAME IN FRONT OF ME!” Astarion suddenly snapped at Winnie, causing her to flinch. He'd never screamed at her like that before. Astarion took a moment to regain his composure. “You ungrateful wretch. You're lucky I ever took someone as ugly as you to bed-” Winnie’s hand suddenly moved as if she was no longer in control as she delivered a sharp smack across his face. Both of them were rather shocked at the turn of events. Winnie quickly took her hand back, guilt washing over her. The slap didn't even leave a mark on him, his new found strength dulling out any kind of pain he'd previously been able to feel. But the fact that she had actually done this to him was not definitely not expected. Winnie had been so fiercely protective of her love. 

“I….I shouldn't have done that…I'm sorry…”  She spoke up, glancing down at her hand. 

“One should never hit their partner…Even if they are being an insufferable cunt.” Her words were filled with venom, but the tears swelling in her eyes were clear as day. Astarion stumbled over his words, trying to regain his composure before he spoke again.

“How dare you-”

“How dare you! I've given you everything and still you want more!” Tears were streaming down her face as she glared at him. “You may have killed your master but you'll never be free. And I'll be damned if I let you trap me in this hell with you.” With that Winnie turned away and marched off. 

She left the Elfsong that night, ignoring the curses and threats from her ex-lover. The druid had decided to remain at the Blushing Mermaid for the rest of their time fighting against the Absolute and the cult. Astarion stayed with the party despite his and Winnie’s split and the fact that now everyone was once again keeping an eye on him. Karlach even suggested they stake him and be done with it, but unfortunately for her all of the others came to the mutual agreement that Astarion's power would be needed in the fight against the Elder Brain. 

Eventually the day they faced the Elder Brain came. They vanquished their foes and everyone lived happily ever after.  Or…..Well not really. The Absolute was defeated and their tadpoles were removed but still Winnie didn't feel like a hero at all. She stood near the docks, a bit shaken from having to beg her best friend to return to Avernus instead of burn to death, out on that pier.  Her pink eyes watched the waves roll by as footsteps came behind her. 

“Shame you had to be so foolish. We could have had everything you know.” His voice came from behind her. His scent graced her senses as he came closer. 

“Such a waste.”

That was the last she heard from him. Months later a reunion party had followed. Most of the party including Astarion himself had attended. But Winnie never made an appearance at all. In fact no one had seen her since the defeat of the Absolute. It was as if she had all but vanished.

Years went by and Astarion had remained in Baldur's Gate, expanding his influence throughout the city and even acquiring a new consort or two.

His spawn were forbidden to mention the Hero of Baldur's Gate by name, but all of them were well aware of his apparent 'hatred' for the druid. His consorts, Aeric and Belmine even attempted to vandalize the statue the Gate had built to honor their hero. They believed it would please their master if they had disfigured the statue's pretty face. To their surprise however Astarion was not the slightest bit happy about their efforts at all.

"You actually believed I'd praise you for this? For debasing a glorified rock? I should have you both flayed for wasting my time."

"We know how much you despise the druid, my lord. We were only wishing to please you!" Aeric, the handsome young wood elf man insisted.

"Master if you give us a chance we can do better. Allow us to seek out the hero and I will bring you her head." Belmine knelt down in front of the vampire lord, tail lowering behind her. Astarion looked down at the tiefling female with an intense glare.

"Winnie is mine. If anyone is going to end her life, it will be me."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"Winnie! Winnie! Wake up!" The dark haired feline exclaimed as she leapt up on the druid's chest, causing Winnie to let out a grunt.

"Ugh Maddie....What the hells?" Winnie groaned in frustration. The black furred tressym hopped of her and onto the side of the bed.

"Come on we need to get the chores finished and start brewing. There are a few deliveries to make today!" Maddie exclaimed, her tail flicking behind her. Winnie rubbed her eyes, letting out a sigh as she rolled out of bed. Her hair was all frizzed up and a couple drops of drool ran down her chin.

"Up up! Let's not dally." Maddie exclaimed before using her wings to glide over to the nightstand and grab hold of Winnie's hairbrush in her jaws. Winnie walked over and took it from her before combing through her bird's nest of hair. Winnie then stripped down before getting out a green tunic and some boots. Her eyes glanced over at the mirror as she examined herself. She had slimmed down a bit since leaving the Gate and going off on her own.

Winnie had settled down in a small village southeast of the Wood of Sharp Teeth. After everything with the Netherbrain, she just wanted to find peace for a time. Her loyal familiar Maddie had insisted on moving in with her, being very worried about her companion's mental state.

"I say we cook some eggs up for breakfast after we finish chores hm?" Maddie suggested as they exited the house.

"That sounds fine, but some of the chickens are getting a bit of an attitude. Mildred bit me the other day." Winnie huffed as they approached the chicken coop.

"Not sure what it is, but something has had them spooked these last few weeks." Maddie replied before suddenly bumping into the back of Winnie's feet. "Is something wrong?" The Tressym gazed up at what appeared to have caught Winnie's attention. Up high in one of the trees were a group of bats, hanging from a branch. Beady red eyes were scanning over the farm.

"Strange. It's not normal for bats to be up during the day." Winnie stated.

"Hmm... Perhaps they were spooked like the chickens?" Maddie suggested, "either way we best get to work so we don't have to skip breakfast."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

I may or may not continue this at a later date.

~Druid

[ateez-himari]

Himari & ATEEZ [Relationships]

Hongjoong [HimJoong]

.../When came time for the last elimination that would determine which girl would get to join ATEEZ, the members' votes were split in half and the arguments being brought forth put her at a high risk of losing. However to her surprise, Hongjoong was the one who fought tirelessly for her and was the first to embrace her when the winner was announced, which is why she had such a strong attachment to him from the beginning.

.../Since their trainee days he has always been the one who she turns to first when in need of comfort or validation as he grew to be a big brother to her. Whenever the group must complete missions or try something new, she can always be seen turning to him after finishing her part to make sure that he approves of it. At the beginning of their career she was still very shy around other people and would always be seen holding his hand or the side of his jacket. Due to her growth over the years she hides behind him much less than she used to, but the habit of holding on to him does not seem to have left.

.../Because he doesn't show much liking towards skinship she often sits in silence next to him when he works or watches TV, and brings him coffee or food when he stays up late in the studio as her way to show him that she cares. At first he would show his affections through acts of service like teaching her how to rap but it quickly developed into him accepting physical affection and kissing her cheeks while she rests her head on his shoulder, brushing her hair, holding her hand or hugging her from behind. On nights where they are watching TV with the other members, he occasionally sits her between his legs and braids her hair.

.../The two are very close in terms of personality which further reinforces their already heartwarming connection and have been deemed as platonic soulmates by their group members. From the day Himari passed the final elimination, they have shared a special bond neither can seem to explain. When they visited a tarot card reader on the 5th episode of Codename is Ateez, she instantly pointed out how linked the two are.

.../On the days where he is left to work late in the studio by himself or is out of the house until late hours of the night, Himari will sit on the couch to wait for him, which often results in her falling asleep there until he gets home and carries her to their room.

Seonghwa [SeongAri]

.../During the beginning of their trainee days he used to scare her because of his demeanor but he would regularly buy her food, help her with every day chores, compliment her cooking, etc, which eventually got her to warm up to him.

.../The day where she finally stopped being so hesitant around him, he became very protective of her and started looking out for her well-being everywhere they went. If a dress was too short during an interview he will make sure to cover her with his jacket, if a fan or interviewer is being too insistent he will quickly intervene to take their focus away from her, if she trips he is the first to check her over for bruises, he helps her check her makeup during filming, etc.

.../When she goofs around in front of him he rolls his eyes at first but quickly joins in to whatever she is doing, and when he is the one goofing around she does not waste a second in copying him. For example they once re-enacted a star wars scene together in the middle of the kitchen with their only source of light being the lightsabers they were holding which originally started by Seonghwa simply spinning his saber in order to show it off to Atinys.

.../When he is building legos she often hovers around him, fascinated by how easily he puts everything together, which always leads to him sitting her down on his leg and showing her how to do it. There are times where he demonstrates something and then undoes it in order to her to try it out, guiding her through it with a laugh if she gets confused by the instructions.

Yunho[YuRi]

.../Even before the final elimination he was rooting for her but due to the members being forbidden to interact with the contestants in order to avoid any bias clouding their decision, he would simply watch over her training in a sign of support. The moment she was chosen he became her biggest supporter, which intimidated her at first due to the amount of energy he was radiating but she quickly took a liking to it and began cheering him on as well.

.../He figured out that she had anxiety even before her diagnosis was revealed and lets her grab on to his sleeve whenever she needed something to anchor herself to. When he sees that a task is too stressful for her to handle by herself, he immediately rushes over to help and cracks jokes while they work through it, his radiant demeanor putting her at ease almost instantly.

.../He always helps her during dance practices, showing her how she could improve certain aspects of the choreography all the while keeping in mind what her style is like. When the two are bored they will try to learn girl group choreographies together, which often ends with the two fooling around and freestyling. Whenever she does some sort of suggestive move he automatically covers her with his body, leading to her using this as a way to mess with him whenever they are on stage.

.../Due to her joining the industry at a relatively young age, her days were filled with either training or school work which left very little time for her to play video games. When he found out, he introduced her to FIFA and since then the two have been very competitive with each other, the loser of the previous game always asking for a re-match. At some point it became somewhat of a routine for the members to gather on the couch on Friday nights and watch the two battle it out on the virtual soccer field, a routine that goes on to this day.

Yeosang [YeoRi]

.../At first she was slightly unsure how to approach him yet made the first move despite her hesitation. One day when she came back from school the two were alone doing math homework in the practice room, which is when she got the idea of asking him for help despite having an in-depth understanding of the material. Since then she used it as a way to get close to him and bond, later finding out that he knew all along about her being well-rounded in mathematics.

.../He often stays by her side when she cooks in case she needs any help and most of the time they end up dancing to whatever music is playing through the speakers while the food cooks. Because of this, when Himari prepares meals for team dinners, the group often ends up eating fairly late yet none seem to mind as watching the two while chatting over soju is quite entertaining.

.../The members blame him for her occasional brutal boldness as she used to be relatively reserved when it came to any kind of criticism before getting close to Yeosang. Now she has moments where roasts accidentally slip out of her mouth and she doesn't realize it until seeing the members' reactions. When someone else tries to make a bold comment about her, he will immediately jump to her defense by innocently roasting whomever attempted to bad-mouth her.

San [SanAri]

.../The two took formed a bond quite quickly due to their similar cat-like personalities and had a tendency to gravitate towards one another like magnets ever since. There are times when their social batteries drain quite quickly and when it happens, they automatically find each other. Despite bringing out the calm side in one another, pairing the two together can have the opposite effect and make them comfortable enough to bring out their louder side.

.../When put together for games whether it be on variety shows or simply in the privacy of their own dorm, they tend to drift off in their own world and get distracted by the simplest things, almost forgetting what they were originally doing. It usually starts off with Himari finding something interesting then pointing it out to San who becomes equally lost in whatever it is she saw.

.../Due to their love of physical affection they tend to be very clingy and it is rare to find San napping backstage (or anywhere really) without Himari using his body as a mattress while holding Shiber. They never seem to get tired of each other's love so whenever comes times for breaks in between songs during tours, fans can be sure to find them stuck to one another like glue.

.../Despite their wholesome relationship fans were shocked to see that they could also be quite 'demonic' with each other on stage as some of their interactions can get pretty flirtatious (though not as much as her and Mingi's). He often incites her to dance with him during the heat topping remix of 'Fireworks'.

Mingi [MinAri]

.../Being fully aware of his struggle with mental health, she tends to come straight to his side when sensing that something is wrong without asking questions, simply keeping him company. If he opens up about what he is feeling then she will gladly give his words her full attention, often laying against his chest as he plays with her hair to distract himself. Despite the two's close bond, it took her a long time to open up about her own mental health as she thought he wouldn't see her as able to care for him if she was struggling as well. From the moment he found out, they became each other's healing.

.../A few weeks before his hiatus, the two had stopped talking due to the amount of fans that were taking things too far and hating on them for allegedly dating simply because of how close they are to each other. Due to these rumors taking place during a time where Himari was receiving a lot of hate, he decided to distance himself as he knew that this was just another way for people to bash her. When he left, she began feeling extremely guilty as she believed that a large part of his anxiety was caused by these rumors, which was why he was not talking to her anymore. The day he came back to record 'Fireworks' she didn't know how to act, scared that he was mad at her, so she simply gave him a small bow, watching the other members welcome him until he finally wrapped his arms around her. The moment she felt him embrace her, she broke down crying and the two stayed like this for ten minutes until he finally spoke, reassuring her that none of this was her fault. Since then, they have stopped caring what 'fans' had to say and resumed showing their close bond on screen, even taking the freedom to act flirty with each other during concerts.

.../It seems like wherever one goes, the other follows as she can often be seen in the background of his lives either laying on his bed or sitting on the chair next to him. Due to this fans have begun paying more attention to interactions between the two and have found that despite enforcing that they are just friends, their relationship seems much more intimate than the ones they have with other members.

.../He knows about her love for sightseeing and photography so when in another country he always offers to go sightseeing with her as he knows she will not ask first in order to make sure everyone does what they want without feeling as though they have to accompany her.

.../Knowing how much she loves to watch K-Dramas he often invites her into his room at night so that they can spend some time together doing something she loves as he enjoys seeing her happy. Horror dramas happen to be one of her favorites yet since she knows how much he dislikes it she never offers any from that genre, until the day where he found out about this being one of her favorite things to watch. A few nights after that he said he would choose the drama and ended up putting on one she knew to be famous in the horror genre, which shocked her. During the nights leading up to the finishing of the series, they would curl up close to each other and hold hands, which has now become a habit any time they watch TV.

Wooyoung [WooRi]

.../When the two met it was like they had known each other for years as Himari instantly felt at ease around him due to his relaxed and goofy personality. The simple fact of being with him helped her to let go, to be more herself around others even if it meant doing things that people on the outside would find ridiculous. Now they can often be seen messing around together during concerts.

.../It seems as though Wooyoung skipped a few steps in the bonding stages as he immediately started to show her affection by hugging her and kissing her cheeks, something that she was far from hating. Due to this early physical closeness between the two, they're very comfortable dancing against each other on stage as well as holding each other in public and many fans have suspected that Himari's biting tendency was created by Wooyoung.

.../Despite the fact that their friendship started on a light hearted note, the two eventually opened up to one another about their past struggles, leading to the realization that they were more alike than they previously thought as they both shared that crushing sense of loneliness throughout their childhood. They started out as people who were able to give love yet struggled to receive it but thanks to one another's help they managed to overcome this.

Jongho [JongAri]

.../Due to him being the closest in age to her she tried to befriend him from the start but his sheltered emotions made her pull back slightly as she never knew when she was annoying him. When he saw this he quickly decided to help her become more comfortable around him and began messing around with her more which instantly made her at ease. Not only that but he was also quite compliant whenever she initiated skinship and to this day she is the only one who can get away with it.

.../They always work on their vocals together as it is their own way of bonding and, unbeknownst to the other members, often fool around doing karaoke in the practice room. After one of their monthly evaluations, Himari was asked to show the extent of her vocal range as it was not enough where it stood at that point and when came the next evaluation, she was so nervous that Jongho ended up holding her hand as she made it through the song without a single slip up. Since then, they always sing high notes and harmonies either back to back or holding hands to bring each other strength.

.../Many joke that he is her personal bodyguard as he always stays next to her in airports, making a barrier between her and the crowd and is the first to get visibly ticked off when a negative comment or joke is made about her. He also has a tendency to carry her on his back when she gets tired or when she is wearing high heels.

[cyber-skeletons]

hiii:>>>

6 + 9 + 5 for megatron, 1 + 10 for Optimus, and/or 13 + 4 for both:333

hc game

HI FRIEND!!!!!! Once more you have come to bless us with asks I see <333 Sooooo sorry for how late this is, things got busy and stayed busy

Megatron:

6) Something they lost, but would love to have back

My god. I've seen some HEAVY answers to this one and I love toying around with those, but as for what I actually believe in:

Terminus.

9) What calms them when they are upset. 

When she's angry and frustrated, she likes to destroy things. Sometimes those things are people. As for sadness and fear, I'm running away with my age regression headcannon again and saying that she likes to hide under a weighted blanket and listen to a safe, trusted love one's spark pulse as they rock her. If there's no one she considers safe, she'll play an audio file of some random spark pulse and pretend someone loves her.

5) A cherished personal belonging. 

During the war, she tried to keep no sentimental belongings ("no attachments"), but after, when she's in recovery, she holds onto the first thing given to her as a genuine act of kindness and belief in her goodness. (In IDW, a Rodimus Star; in Earthspark, a "live laugh love" framed photo of her and Dot; etc.)

Optimus:

1) Something this character is truly proud of.

Can it be someone? Because my first thought was "Bumblebee." Yes I'm on the "Dadtimus" hype train, but more than just the simple cuteness I genuinely think Optimus's pride manifests in the lives he manages to guide and protect for the better

10) How they deal with pain. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck you just had to hit me with this didn't you. damn. well. The answer is that he ignores it. Optimus is the #1 target of Ratchet's wrath when he comes in with three rust infections and a completely stripped joint because he played the "I'm fine, tend to others first" game for too long. It's to the point of self harm. And mental pain???????? OH, BUDDY. He just meditates on the Matrix until he loses his sense of self and slips into a state of dissociation so deep that he can function again. Sometimes he implodes and has a 2-hour meltdown in his quarters and then he just starts the buildup all over again.

Both:

13) What kind of parent they would be. 

Crying weeping foaming at the mouth clawing at the walls shaking like a little dog. Them as parents is. everythign 2 me

Anyway, Megatron is a hot mess. He oscillates wildly between being the "fun dad" and the helicopter parent. Always obsessed with knowing exactly where they are at any given moment, if their surroundings are safe, if he can trust other mechs to so much as look at them... the moment that sparkling emerges, he's unlocked an entirely new level of PTSD. Also, because he grew up with "wire mother" instead of "cloth mother," he's VERY screwed in the head and doesn't know how to give affection at first. He shows his love through acts of service and protection until he finally adjusts enough to hug and cuddle. When their sparkling becomes a teen, that's when he really hits his stride. He handles the rebellious streak and the angst with an almost supernatural grace and shocking empathy and patience.

Optimus meanwhile is a tempering, nurturing force right out of the gate. He is the Snugglemaster, always willing to provide praise and affirmations. However, he is also just as paranoid as Megatron about their safety and is also a helicopter parent. That sparkling is 2000% homeschooled and has next to NO privacy. He absolutely gets cornered by the likes of Elita and Bumblebee staging an intervention that he's going to crush his bitlet if he doesn't open up that iron grasp, and that Megatron needs a counterweight. After that, Optimus absolutely earns those "#1 Dad" mugs, and even gets Megatron to chill tf out. It's the teenage years he has to watch out for. He struggles adjusting to his sparkling's new interests and struggles and he tries but man... it takes him a long time to break out of seeing his little one with Permababy Syndrome.

4) What they would do if they had one month to live. 

Megatron is no holds barred fighting it with all her might. She'll spend the entire month searching for a cure or a solution, she'll struggle and rage and defy it every step of the way, even if it means leaving her loved ones in a time of peace. She will never go gently into that good night. It is her nature to rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Optimus, if he's not going "finally," then he's using that time to give as much closure to others as he can. Making happy memories with loved ones, tying loose ends, building things. He's already written like three separate speeches for this day, a la "when I am gone, do not lament my absence" and "when you look up at the stars, think of one of them as my spark."

[guess-that-ship]

S11 Round 3

The Moon and Stars

Star and Moon are childhood friends, always by eachothers side. Star is a quiet child, reserved and bookish, while Moon is loud and rough, often picking fights with the other kids. The two are inseparable, balancing eachothers worse tendencies while encouraging their best. During this time, Moon feels herself developing a crush on Star, but keeps it secret. However, as time goes on, circumstance pulls them apart, as Star's parents are killed in an accident and she is forced to leave her home. Now alone, Moon's more reckless tendencies are all she has left.

Life carries on for both of them. Star attunes herself to her magic potential, goes to college, and loses herself in her studies. Moon drops out of school, taking odd jobs and joining in criminal groups to get by. After many years, and by complete coincidence, Moon sees Star on TV one night, and all of those feelings from her childhood come rushing back. Moon drops everything and travels to where Star is, hoping to see her friend again.

When the two finally do reunite, Star is exhausted, both mentally and physically. While the sight of Moon brings her some comfort, the weight of the pressure she set upon herself is threatening to crush her completely. Moon gives her a chance to show her strength, offering to fight her. Moon wins the fight easily, with Star barely able to land a blow. Moon, deep in regret, tries to comfort her, only to find Star clutching a locket Moon had given her in their childhood. Moon, surprised she still had it, shows Star her own, which she had also kept all those years. Finally, the two decide to leave together, allowing themselves to rekindle the love and care they had for each other all those years ago.

True Love's Curse

A spell caused the Cursed to lose his memories of his true love, as well as preventing any attempts to remind him of them. He's spent the last year missing a large chunk of his memories and searching for any way to break the curse, largely failing and getting into various magical mischief along the way.

Meanwhile, the True Love has pledged ten years of service to a dangerous magical being in exchange for the removal of the curse at the end. When the Cursed wanders into the monster's path, the True Love has to choose between his chance to break the curse and stopping the monster from hurting more people.

Encouraged to do the right thing by the Cursed, he chooses to turn against the monster. He's convinced that his time in its service makes him no longer worth the Cursed's love, and he's unable to remind the Cursed of their past together. At the same time, the Cursed falls in love with the True Love, not knowing that it's for the second time. However, he refuses to act on his feelings, as he feels like it would be unfaithful to his forgotten true love, who he continues frantically searching for, unaware that they are right by his side.

[black-arcana]

CARLA HARVEY Opens Up About Decision To Leave BUTCHER BABIES: 'There's So Much That Goes Into Being In A Band'

During an appearance on a recent episode of The Ward Bond Show, former BUTCHER BABIES vocalist Carla Harvey, who works as a grief counselor and an end-of-life specialist, spoke about her decision to leave the band after a 15-year run. Reflecting on BUTCHER BABIES' formation and her eventual departure, she said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's quite interesting because [prior to BUTCHER BABIES] I had come to a point living in L.A., you get opportunities and they're snatched away from you. You make money, then you lose your money. And I was so tired of the entertainment business. And I was, like, 'I don't wanna do this anymore. I don't wanna play music anymore. I don't wanna act anymore. It's too much. Nothing is ever gonna happen with it.' So that's when I went to mortuary school and I was committed to only working in funeral service from then on out. Well, after a couple years of working, I got my dream job at a very big mortuary in L.A. And at the same time, I got an opportunity to start my band and go on tour for the first time in my life. So I had to make a choice in that moment. I've committed myself to this death-care career. Do I drop it all, everything that I've worked so hard for in school, and go on tour with this band and just see what happens one final time, or do I just stick on my path? And I chose music in that moment, and that was 2009 that I really committed back to music, and 2012 we went on our — we were touring non-stop, so there was no way I could work in funeral service anymore. Well, it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me because our career just exploded, and so I got the best of both worlds. I had gotten my education. I had gotten a taste of working in death care, and then I could still live out my dream, and I am so grateful for that. The last 15 years of my life have been spent on stage, entertaining people in a capacity that I never dreamed I would have, especially after so much disappointment in my early years in L.A. So I got to do that. I got to be a rock star. I got to do all the things. And then 15 years later, my mind kind of changed again. [Laughs]"

Elaborating on her decision to leave BUTCHER BABIES and return to the death-care industry, Carla said: "So there's so much that goes into being in a band, especially as you get older and your life changes, you have relationships, you have a partner. I have a stepdaughter, and the idea, all of a sudden, of being on the road 10, 12 months out of the year became just a lot to handle. And in a band there's five people, and half of those people may feel like they want to be on the road constantly all the time and then some people are, like, 'Maybe it's halftime.' So it doesn't always work out for the greater good of everybody."

She continued: "My dad said something to me once years ago, when we had started the band, and he meant it in jest. He said, 'I saw you singing on the Internet. Don't quit your day job.' And at the time I was, like, 'That's the nastiest thing you could say.' But I'm glad I never quit my day job. In fact, all the while, the last 15 years, while I've been on tour, I've been getting more education and getting more certification so that I could continue on because I always had that need to still be in death care in some aspect. I founded my grief coaching company so that I could still be of service to people who need me in that capacity. It was very important to me. And then last year, I was on this major summer tour. We were playing sheds, the outdoor amphitheaters and it was wonderful and every day you're up on stage singing your heart out, but, man, I saw this post about [innovative solidified remains company] Parting Stone looking for a partner success manager. And I thought, 'Man, I wanna apply for this. I wanna see what happens if I can take this job.'"

Harvey added: "There's just so many moments in life where you really have to assess what's best for you. Life changes. And also another thing about the entertainment industry and the music industry, it's not the same as it was for musicians 20 years ago, 10 years ago. My future husband's [ANTHRAX and PANTERA drummer Charlie Benante] in a legacy band. They never have to worry about having a real job — ever. But bands my size? You're not breaking the bank. You're not really earning a livable wage unless you're on the road 12 months out of the year. You can't support yourself. So I've always had other jobs, whether I'm painting pictures for people or doing my grief coaching on the side. That's a day job that I've been able to maintain throughout my career with music. It was a necessity as well as a passion, because otherwise I'd be couch surfing somewhere. [Laughs] I have nothing. So it's really hard to live passionately and just follow your dreams without something to fall back on or something to assist you. And I tell this to a lot of people, and some people are, like, 'No, man. I don't want a backup plan. This is the only thing I'm ever gonna do.'

"I always thought about, 'Okay, this is awesome right now. What about when I'm 60? What am I gonna do then?'" Carla said. "Because my mom is 72 and she's working all the time still. She loves working. We're not 70-year-olds that are gonna be sitting on a couch or 60-year-olds that aren't gonna be out doing something. Life is different. We're still gonna be working. We have to do something, and I'd rather have that be a career rather than a job that I'm forced to have to sustain myself in the [later] years."

Last month, Carla announced that she was launching a new project called THE VIOLENT HOUR. At least some of the early recording sessions for the project have been overseen by producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER and URIAH HEEP, among many others.

Harvey shared the news of THE VIOLENT HOUR's launch in a social media post on September 21. She wrote: "It's coming. I've put my heart and soul into my new project THE VIOLENT HOUR over the last 6 months. I can't wait for you to hear it. Keep your eyes peeled for updates. This is a slower process than I'd like...but...I'm pumped!"

BUTCHER BABIES announced their split with Harvey in July, saying in a statement that "Carla has been an integral part of our journey, bringing her unique talent, passion, and energy to the band," and wishing "her all the best in her future endeavors."

Carla, who co-founded BUTCHER BABIES in 2010 with fellow vocalist Heidi Shepherd, confirmed her exit from the band in a separate post, saying that she was "super proud" of her work with BUTCHER BABIES and adding that she was "not done making music and performing."

Last fall, BUTCHER BABIES completed a European tour without Carla, who sat out the trek in order to undergo emergency surgery on her left eye.

BUTCHER BABIES recently embarked on a three-week European tour, starting on July 27 at the Stonehenge festival in The Netherlands.

This past January, Harvey and Benante announced that they were officially engaged.

BUTCHER BABIES released a double album "Eye For An Eye..." and "…'Til The World's Blind", in July 2023. The double album celebrated the tenth anniversary of BUTCHER BABIES' critically acclaimed debut, "Goliath", released on July 9, 2013 via Century Media Records.

Smitten with tales of the Sunset Strip, Harvey made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles from her Native Detroit to play a little rock and roll…and instead found herself the entertainment report for a groundbreaking cable TV news program. After hosting two series and acting in a variety of television programs, movies and commercials, Harvey took a break from showbiz to earn her degree in mortuary science. She embarked on a successful career in embalming and funeral directing before going back to her first love: music.

In addition to writing and recording, Carla has a passion for drawing and penning comic books. Her love affair with the genre started when she discovered the Incredible Hulk at four years old. She spent the majority of her teenage years holed up in her room listening to PANTERA and developing an affinity for drawing her own scantily clad comic book characters. Dubbed a "comic book master-mind" by Hustler magazine, Harvey's first published comic book "Butcher Babies" (a fantasy, horror concept surrounding her now-former band),premiered and sold out at its Comic-Con San Diego debut, leaving fans chomping at the bit for her next comic, "Soul Sucka". Shortly after, she released her first full-length novel, "Death And Other Dances", to rave reviews. Carla's art has been featured in Famous Monsters magazine and has graced the cover of iconic Heavy Metal magazine.