#hopefully i don get sidetracked

[juusou]

gonn log out until i finish studying this chapter

[yandere-daze]

`Til death do us part

Yandere Riddle Rosehearts x Reader

So I recently got into Twisted Wonderland and I love Riddle so much so I decided I had to do something for him ( as I promised with the drawing). This is what I came up with! Thank you so much for your help and listening to me scream about this @naranciabestboi ! I hope you enjoy it!!

Under cut for length!

Summary : Your parents had made plans for an arranged marriage, Riddle however was not pleased by this at all.

You held the letter in your shaking hands, rereading it´s contents over and over again to see if there was anything you had missed. Surely there had to be some kind of mistake on your part, you had to have misread something. Your reading comprehension has never been the best so surely there was a possibility at least? But no matter how long you stared at that cursed letter in your hands, the same cold hard truth was contained within the elegantly written words that were scrawled across the paper in a neat manner.

 “Dear Y/n,

Your mother and me have observed your progress at Night Raven College quite closely and we are proud to see how far you have gotten with your studies. But don´t let this praise get to your head, you still have a long way to go if you want to one day become a worthy ruler and heir of the L/n name. So please remember to keep studying to one day achieve your goal.

But this is not the only reason I decided to write this letter to you. You see I have the greatest of news for you: Crown prince Ayers of the Devereaux family is currently looking for a spouse to rule beside him once he becomes king and ascends the throne. As far as I remember, you two have met before, haven´t you? It was but a year ago at one of the Devereaux family’s grand birthday celebrations. The young prince seemed to be quite struck with you back then, didn´t he? He is currently accepting offers from nobles all over the continent but your mother and me are very confident that you will prevail. A union between you both would be of great benefit to both of our countries and greatly improve our influence. Y/n please hear me out: I know how you might feel about this arrangement, but we are sure that this is for the best so we are not allowing any sort of protest or defiance from you. We have already offered your hand in marriage to prince Ayers. One day you will thank us for this.

Now then, we wish you the best of luck on your studies and we will hear from each other soon. It has been a long time since we last heard of you, so do send us a reply as fast as possible.

Signed,

D/n and M/n L/n”

 You felt as if a burning hole had just opened up in your stomach as the situation you were in finally settled in. Your parents were trying to set you up on an arranged marriage? With someone you barely knew? Sure, you had met Ayers once but you didn´t have too high of an opinion on him. To you he was a bumbling fool that didn´t know when to stay quiet. You had made it quite clear that his presence wasn´t appreciated, but he either didn´t seem to take the hint or he just straight up ignored your resistance, because he kept asking you to dance with him the whole evening and in the hopes of him finally letting up on you, you reluctantly complied. Which looking back on it now was a huge mistake, as it was what put you into this miserable situation in the first place. You remember back then when your parents caught a glimpse of you two dancing, they looked so very excited for you, something you couldn´t quite comprehend back then. But now it all seemed so clear to you: Even back then, they were trying to find someone to arrange a marriage with, seeking to spread their influence and power. They said that they cared about you and that they only had your best interests in mind but you knew that you were secretly just a means to climb the social ladder even further. Because if they had truly cared about your wellbeing then they wouldn´t have forced you into this situation. Now you knew you were done for, doomed to marry someone you didn´t love and wanted as far away from you as possible. Right in this moment you wanted to vent out your frustration and anger: You wanted to punch the wall, scream your lungs out and let your angry tears flow freely but ended up doing none of that, barely containing your emotions as you heard footsteps approaching, heading right into your direction. You had to compose yourself. Whoever this was, you didn´t want them to see you in this state. You straightened your back as you slowly tried to ease the tension out of your shoulder while willing your face muscles to put a small smile on your face. Hopefully this would be enough to convince anyone passing by that you were fine and didn´t need anyone´s help right now.

Clack clack clack

You heard a familiar sounding fall of footsteps growing closer and closer until the sound faded as the person came to a stop seemingly right beside you. You forced your smile to grow just a tiny amount wider as you turned around to face to face whoever came by.

And as they exclaimed your name, you immediately knew just who was standing before you now.

“Y/n?”

-----

Riddle was on his way to head back to the Heartslabyul dormitory after class, as he saw the vague shape of a person standing just a few meters away from him, seemingly distracted. He at first didn´t plan to pay any attention to it, as he had enough important matters to attend to and surely, he wasn´t the right person to vent their problems to but as he got closer and closer, he was able to identify the student standing there. How could he not? He had practically memorized everything about you. Y/n L/n. The one person that was always there for him when all the other turned away from him. You were one of the only people that he felt like he could be himself with and he treasured your existence like no one else. You were the one spark in his otherwise bleak life that kept him going and gave him hope for a bright future. A future with you, ideally. But he couldn´t get too carried away now. Taking one good scrutinizing look at you, he was able to tell that something was wrong, the smile you had on your face looked forced, far too wide to be considered a natural one. You looked shaken and your shoulders were slightly trembling as if you were on the verge of crying. Just what could have put you into this state? Did someone hurt you? If that was the case then he needed to find out who it was and then have a rather stern…talk with the culprit. But first, he had to make sure that you were okay and maybe cheer you up a bit.

“Y/n?”, he called out to alert you of his presence if you hadn´t heard him approach yet. He wouldn´t doubt it from how distracted you looked. But he couldn´t help but feel his heart swell as your eyes lighted up in recognition and your shoulders lost some of their previous tension.

“R-riddle!”, you exclaimed in slight surprise as you shifted your arms around a bit. Riddle didn´t miss how you tried to casually put on of your arms behind your back, a sheet of paper clutched tightly in your hand as you put in the effort to try and hide whatever that was. He couldn´t help but slightly furrow his brow at this. He could easily guess that this letter was the cause of your distress and he felt irritated that you even tried to hide this from him, even if it was a poor attempt. Did you not trust him with your problems?

“Uhm.. fancy seeing you here haha…” He couldn´t help but chuckle in amusement despite the current situation, you very visibly cringed from how fake your own attempt at casualness sounded.

“Y/n I live here. And also, please show me what you are hiding beneath your back, you look really upset” At this, your shoulders tensed up again as you nervously shifted your weight from one foot to the other while you stammered out an excuse. “I-I don´t know what you´re talking about! I´m not hiding anything and I feel fine!” Your voice continued to stagger as your eyes locked onto anything besides Riddle´s face, which he didn’t like at all. Not one bit. Deep within him he felt the desire for you to look at him, to look only at him and no one else. For you to grace him with one of your radiant smiles that he had grown in love with. Yes, love. Oh, he loved you so dearly, your entire being and soul. He wanted to hold onto you tight and never let go. But he was getting sidetracked now, he really needed to get to the bottom of this current issue that laid before him. There was something you were anxious about and even worse tried to hide from him, that just wasn´t acceptable.

“Rules of the Queen of Hearts No. 404: Never tell a lie when talking to your ruler! And so badly as well. I demand to know what you have there behind your back!” Your eyes widened in shock, surprised that Riddle had seen through your oh so flawlessly crafted lie. Then after the initial shock had registered in your system you were quick to raise your eyebrows at his remark. “My…ruler? Really now?” Riddle couldn´t help but show off a proud smirk at that. “Yes, your ruler. Your dorm leader, you know? It´s basically the same thing but really that´s beside the point. You should not be lying to me in any kind of fashion, especially when you look so horribly distraught.” His eyes softened at the last part of his speech. Yes, he was a bit irritated at your stubbornness but he genuinely wanted to know what had happened. And who he needed to have a very stern scolding with.

“Well…okay. Because it´s you Riddle. I-I don´t think I can tell you myself but please just take a look at this letter it´s just….” You weren´t even able to finish your sentence before Riddle practically ripped the letter from your hands, his gaze practically devouring the words that were displayed on the paper. Y/n parents, they want to set them up on an arranged marriage? With someone like this? He couldn´t believe this was happening as he grew more and more furious, he ended up almost tearing the letter apart from how much his hands were shaking in rage. Who do they think they are, taking his dear y/n away from him like this? He had already planned his entire future with them, how he would confess in front of the rose bushes while watching the sunset together, how they would move in together after Night Raven College, how he would one day propose to them and they would get married... Yes married. They would get married one day. He would get his happily-ever after, no matter the cost. Y/n´s parents had the audacity to take them away from him so they had to pay a price! Riddle was much better suited as y/n´s future husband, he had so much more to offer! They would be fools to choose that Devereaux wanna-be noble over him!

You must have seen how infuriated he had gotten as you laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and as Riddle looked into your watery eyes, barely being able to hold the tears back, he came to a decision. He had to do something about this, there had to be a way out of this arranged marriage, even if it was the last thing he did. That wretched fool wouldn´t get to hold you in his arms, he would make sure of that. And as you circled your arms around him in a hug and wet his shirt as you finally let your tears flow, he came to the idea of just what he had to do to keep you by his side.

His face was slightly flushed from the gentleness of your touch as he ran a comforting hand over your back. “Y/n”, he murmured and you gently raised your head to look him in the eye. “I think”; he continued in a soft tone, so very different from his current mental state; “I think I know a way out of this miserable situation.” Your pretty eyes widened at this and displayed various emotions: surprise, confusion, intrigue, and also... hopefulness. “How so, Riddle? I don´t think my parents can be so easily swayed, they seem pretty set on marrying me off to some wealthy noble.” “And that´s exactly my point.” Now you just looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean? I don’t know what you´re getting at. I don´t think that- “

“Just let me finish explaining y/n”, he lightly scolded you as he waved a finger in front of your face. How adorable your little pout was. He could look at you all day. And he would.

“So, your parents want you to marry this man because they want to gain influence through combining your countries wealth, right?” He waited for you to give him a reluctant nod before continuing. “But what if coincidentally, an even better suitor appeared right before their eyes and pleaded for your hand in marriage? If they had a way bigger influence? They would drop these silly plans, wouldn´t they?” You tilted your head as if to properly think over what your dorm leader just told you before your expression lightened up, your mouth forming a surprised o-shape. “It seems like you understand what I´m trying to say, right? The Rosehearts name is a prestigious one indeed. I don´t think your parents would ever dare to dismiss the chance for their child to be called Y/n Rosehearts, would they? So, I thought of this solution. We write a letter to your parents, saying that you are already in a relationship with me and that we are planning a wedding in the near future. Because of this you can´t accept their oh so gracious offer.” “And then!”, you continued for him.” And then, when Ayers announces that he found a proper spouse we can stop the act and go back to being friends like before! Riddle that´s a great plan! What would I ever do without you?”

Yes, what indeed would you do without him? He wanted to properly enjoy the notion of being so important to you but the rest of your naively uttered comment left a very bitter taste in his mouth. You wanted to go back to being friends? He´s going to agree for now but that is not how this will end. Surely, after you two had spent so much time together pretending to date, he would be able to steal your heart and make you fall in love with him as much as he loved you. You would be his after this, he won´t let you break things off, surely you would see things his way after this.

“Exactly”, he instead said and told you that you two should get to writing the letter as soon as possible so the arranged marriage could be stopped. The very same day, the letter had been written and sent, talking about how you two had fallen in love during your school days and how you were already engaged to him. Yes, that detail was something Riddle was strangely persistent with. “It´s easier to sway them with this”, he had answered to your questions and you didn´t pay it much more mind. You trusted him completely and that´s exactly what Riddle adored about you.

He ran a delicate hand over the word “engaged” before slipping the letter into a fancy envelope and sending it out to be delivered as soon as possible.

Everything would fall into place and you would finally be his.

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

As you had guesses, your parent´s response to you and Riddle´s supposed engagement had been ecstatic, talking about how proud they were of you and how they couldn´t wait for you two to get married. Yeah, you were sure they were; you thought sarcastically. Much to your delight, the plans for you to get married to Ayers Devereaux had been tossed out the window completely as well. At least for the time being. So much to them wanting the best for you, they were only interested in the noble title since the beginning. When you told the good news to Riddle, he seemed almost happier than you were. Well, that is to say a wide smile appeared on his face, which in his standards was a truly rare expression, saved for only very rare moments. This seemed to be one of them.

“I can´t believe it Riddle, your plan actually worked out! I can´t thank you enough for this!” It was true, he had really gotten you out of an almost impossible looking situation, thanks to him a heavy burden was lifted from your shoulder, you felt as if you could finally breathe easy now. “Don´t thank me just yet, y/n. It´s still not over, far from it in actuality.” You tilted your head in confusion at your dorm head´s sudden exclamation, not quite understanding what he was trying to say. “Y/n, don´t tell me you forgot already.” Noticing that you indeed seemed to have forgotten, he sighed in exasperation and lightly shook his head. “Did you already forget the second part of our plan? Perhaps even the most important one? Really, what am I to do with you?” You chuckled in slight embarrassment, not wanting to directly admit that you had forgotten about such an important detail but made it clear that you wanted him to continue. Seriously what was he talking about?  “Alright so think about it like this: Out of the blue, one of the most important students in this school, the dorm head of Heartslabyul has just announced that he was going to get engaged to another student at school. Yet they were never even seen exchanging any kind of affection that could be seen as romantic? That doesn´t make a lot of sense, now does it? You would expect them to act like a couple, wouldn´t you?” You considered what your friend just told you and came to the conclusion that what he just said did make sense, he had a point. “Then what are we supposed to do in your opinion?”, you asked tentatively. You had an idea as to what he might propose but you didn´t just want to assume and push him into something he might not want. He had already done so much for you, you didn´t want to put even more pressure onto him. “It´s quite obvious, isn´t it?”, he answered your question while absentmindedly crossing his arms in front of his chest. “We have to act like a couple if we want people to believe us.”, he added with a slight smirk on his face. You knew it was coming but you couldn´t help but still feel surprised about it now that it was actually said. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don´t have to push yourself like this…” Riddle let out another sigh as he once again shook his head. “Don´t worry, I´m perfectly fine with this. And besides, what would be the alternative to this? Your parents finding out that we were just pretending and going back to that foolish prince to once again start discussions about your potential marriage? Now I´m pretty sure that neither of us wants that.” You wanted to retaliate something, anything, because it seemed pretty awkward for you to act like you are in love with your best friend but you didn´t really have a better idea than him and he was right. “Alright then. So, what should we do first? How are we going to go about this?” “Don´t worry to much about it, I already have everything planned out. Just leave it to me.”, he answered your question with a knowing smile on his face as he reached out his hand for you to take. With a light flush to your cheeks thanks to the gentle contact, you took ahold of his hand and let him lead you to who-knows where.

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

The first place Riddle took you to was the kitchen in the Heartslabyul dorm, where Trey was already working on preparing the tarts and cookies for the redhead´s afternoon tea session. “Ah Trey, it´s good to see you. Would you care to prepare a larger serving for today? I want to share your delicious sweets with my beloved as we drink tea together.” Riddle had said this so casually, with such a practiced normalcy, that Trey´s shocked reaction of almost dropping the tart he had been working on just mere moments ago contrasted almost funnily contrasted with your “lovers” serious behavior. “Your… beloved? Riddle, did I hear that quite right? I think I might have misheard.”, Trey asked awkwardly while trying to fix the mess he had just caused in the kitchen involuntarily.  “Yes, that is quite right. You see, y/n and me share a special connection with each other so it´s only natural that I want to spend more time with them. I assumed that´s what happy couples do, or am I mistaken?” You yourself where almost taken aback by how serious your friend sounded, even if you knew firsthand that it was only an act he had put on. You knew that Riddle was a genius but you didn’t expect him to be so good at acting as well, you were almost convinced by his words alone and he hadn´t even said more than a few sentences. “So, you two are together? Since when?” Trey looked befuddled as he fixed his head that was threatening to fall off from all of its owner´s abrupt movements. You decided to let Riddle do the talking because he seemed to be much more composed than you felt, you didn´t trust yourself to start speaking now without your voice shaking. “Indeed, we are a couple. We´ve been together for some time now but had decided to keep it a secret until now. Y/n was a bit nervous about everyone knowing about us so I kept quiet about it as well. I hope you understand.” Right at this moment, the teapot started making loud noises, indicating that the water was now boiling and ready to be poured. “I understand. To your luck, I actually already made a bit more than usual, so you are more than welcome to take everything here.” “Splendid!”, Riddle exclaimed before looking at you. “Thank you very much!”, you thanked Trey while grabbing most of everything you two needed for your teatime, causing your arms to be completely overloaded with pastries. You said your goodbyes before leaving the kitchen and following Riddle down the hallway. On your way to what you assumed was the garden a familiar looking figure came into view. Judging from the general large statue of this person as well as the tell-tale white fluffy ears, it was Jack Howl that was currently walking right in your direction. When he came closer and finally recognized your face behind the mountain of treats in front of your face, his ears quickly peaked up as he gave you a greeting. “Y/n, why are you carrying all of this stuff? Is this some kind of punishment from the dorm head?”, he tilted his head quizzically while looking at the mentioned person calmly walking beside you. “We are, in fact, walking to the gardens to have a tea party- date. I would appreciate it if you could move out of our way swiftly.” You couldn´t help but notice that Riddle´s tone had gotten a bit snappish, a light glare lingering on his face, indicated by the way his eyebrows furrowed. “D-date? Uh sure, I will but why are you making y/n carry everything by themselves? They look overwhelmed and you aren´t carrying anything. Come on, let me help you carry this.” You smiled in gratitude as you thanked Jack for his great help as he leaned over to take some of the weight off of you, lightly brushing against your arm in the process. Suddenly, Riddle grew very red in the face, the color now rivaling the intensity of his red hair. “Unbelievable! Stop this insolence at once!” Surprised by his sudden outburst compared to his calm state before, you and Jack turned your heads to properly look at him once more. He was fuming, his hands almost shaking. “What´s wrong, Riddle?”, you asked innocently. What had happened? Had you accidentally broken a rule again? But you had done that several times before and he had never reacted this badly in any of the other instances. So, what was wrong? “You want to know what´s wrong? Rules of the Queen of Hearts No. 420: Never touch your ruler´s property! You´ve made a great mistake breaking this rule, Jack Howl!” He seemed truly mad right now for some reason and with a wave of shock you saw him raising his magical pen. Surely, he wasn´t meaning to-

“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”, Riddle screamed as he let his magic roam free. Few seconds passed before the heart shaped collar appeared around Jack`s neck. “Why you-!”, Jack growled. “Riddle why did you do that? What´s gotten into you? He just wanted to help me, that´s why he touched the tarts! If anything, it´s my fault as well.” But Riddle didn´t look like he even wanted to consider your exclamation before he promptly grabbed your hand once more, this time quite a bit more tightly as he started walking ahead and pulling you along with him, not paying any mind to the yelling man you two had left behind. You walked quite some minutes before you two came to a stop at a very familiar sight. You were greeted by the beautiful sight of rose bushed that were painted red and a fancy looking decked table. Carefully you set down everything you had to begrudgingly continue to carry on your own because of what happened just a few minutes ago. The thought still wouldn´t leave your head. Why had Riddle reacted so strongly to Jack touching the sweets? After all, hadn´t Trey technically touched them as well when he made them? How would you even bake something without touching it? You swore, these rules kept making less and less sense to you, this was ridiculous. Seemingly noticing that you were still upset, the redhead sighed as he sat in the chair facing yours as he reached his hand over the table, encouraging you to take it. You were still mad so you refused to do so and instead just stared right into his eyes, trying to convey your disagreement with what he had just done. Sensing your hesitancy after refusing to take his hand even after several seconds had already passed, a steely look crossed Riddle´s face as he sighed once more, this time sounding more disappointed as he decided to take the initiative and practically leaned over the table to take your hand that laid out before you on the table and pulling it more towards where he could reach better. Looking down at your now entwined hands, you felt frustration take over, still not understanding what had happened. “You know”, Riddle broke the lasting silence as he simultaneously ran his fingers over the back of your hand which you interpreted as his way to try and calm you down to make you listen. “I wasn’t mad because of the tarts.” At this, you were surprised. What else could he have gotten mad about then? “But I thought you said that he touched- “ “Yes that is what I said. But I wasn´t talking about the tarts.” Now it was your time to be confused. “But then what…” “You.”, he simply uttered. “Huh? What?”   “I said, you were what I was mad about. That filthy animal was touching you, I couldn´t allow that.” Was he serious right now? “But Riddle, Jack wasn´t touching me inappropriately, he was just trying to help me! It was barely a sliver of a touch!”, you protested. Also... does that mean he saw you as his property? Because that was what the rule implied, wasn´t it? Never touch your ruler´s property! That didn´t sit right with you at all. “That doesn´t matter, he still broke a rule and for that he needed to be punished. How am I going to make people obey the rules when they never get punished for breaking them?” You still didn´t agree with what he was saying but didn´t know what to tell him anymore so you decided to keep quiet and just looked at him with a disappointed glare. Sensing your slight animosity, he rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand in a soothing manner as he tried to calm you down again.

“Okay y/n, I admit, I might have been a bit to harsh to him, so can we please just forget about this and change the topic? I don´t want our first date to start on such a sour tone.” You were begrudgingly going to accept Riddle´s apology, fully aware that it was just in his nature to be a bit strict with rules, until the last part of his statement fully settled in. “F-first date??”, you choked out in shock. Amused by your demeanor, your “suitor” couldn´t help but chuckle.

“That is what I said, isn´t it? If we want people to believe us then we must act more like a couple would, wouldn´t you agree? And one very important part is going on dates with your significant other. Or so I´ve heard. So, let´s make the most out of our shared time together, shall we?” He then reached for one of the two plates you brought along and laid it out in front of him as he put the other one away and meticulously cut a big piece out of the strawberry cake sitting down in front of him. You were about to once again protest, were you not going to get any cake? That was until Riddle dug into the sweet treat with his fork, making sure to gently balance the cut-out chunk on top of the eating utensil as he slowly leaned forward again, fork in hand. You watched him quizzically until the inviting sweetness stopped right in front of your closed mouth as Riddle looked at you expectantly as he softly poked your lips with the fork in an attempt to coax you into opening your mouth for him. “Well?”, he asked with an impatient but also clearly smug expression on his face, “Aren´t you going to open your mouth for me? You don´t want the cake to go to waste, do you?” “Just give me my own pla- “, you were cut off as Riddle used this opportunity to forcefully shove the fork into your mouth and though you were surprised by his sudden impulsiveness you couldn´t help but marvel at the sweet aromas that filled your mouth right in that instant. It was so good, you couldn´t help but let out a pleased sigh.

“See? That wasn´t too hard, was it? And there´s more from where that came from.”, Riddle teased as he cut out another piece of cake with his fork. And though you were flustered beyond belief at his almost out of character behavior, you couldn´t say you minded too much.

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

It´s been a week since you two started this arrangement and everything had been going according to plan. It all went so perfectly, Riddle couldn´t help but think. He still couldn´t help but blush when he recalled how bold he had been that afternoon when he affectionally fed you cake and how you had seemed to greatly enjoy it as well after your initial hesitancy. You were coming around to the idea of you two becoming a couple for real, he could just feel it already. He couldn´t wait for you two to get married, the preparations were running along so smoothly now. He had picked out the perfect wedding venue, a breathtaking garden that was filled with beautiful red roses that would create a wonderfully romantic atmosphere, though he did have to admit that he wasn´t the most well-versed person when it came to decorations. He guessed that he just had to ask you for your opinion when he finally brought the joyous news to you that you would get married in just a few days from now! Wasn´t that wonderful? You two would be joined in a harmonious and happy union for the rest of your life! Ah he felt his heart swell with longing and excitement when he pictured you in your wedding attire, waiting for him at the altar to exchange your vows of never-ending and eternal love. He wanted to hear it so desperately, that you loved him just as much as he loved you, that you would never abandon him and spend the rest of your life together in a far away home. It was his dream, the one thing he couldn´t live without. He had sacrificed so much during his childhood, he was never allowed to have free time or spend time with his friends, he wasn´t allowed to eat unhealthy desert, he was forced to always give it his all even when he was on the brink of passing out from exhaustion. He wouldn´t let anyone ever take you away from him, you were way to precious to him. That was exactly why he had to get rid of any potential threats that could endanger your blossoming love, and the very first person on his list of targets was one Ayers Devereaux, that foolish prince that had tried to marry his y/n before Riddle could even confess his love to them. It had thrown him completely out of the loop and taken him by surprise. He had felt panic, anger, sadness, despair. All of these very strong and intense emotions that had almost seemed to overwhelm him at the time. He couldn´t ever risk this to happen again so he had to act quickly. Now of course he couldn´t just let the crown prince of a rising kingdom disappear into thin air, it would have been way too suspicious and he wanted to avoid the political drama at any costs. So instead, he went with a more pacifistic approach. Instead of having that noble murdered in cold blood, he had instead opted to look for a different spouse for him and set the two up. And from what he has heard from his messengers, his operation went successfully, the both of them were now officially engaged and that prince posed no threat to their love anymore. And on top of that, Riddle had been keeping a close eye on you all this time, spending as much time with you as he could and driving away any other possible suitors that might try to take you away from him. It wasn´t too hard to keep noisy people away from you, just one angry glare sent at the offending party and a threatening raise of his magical pen was sure to make anyone run for the hills in fear of having broken another one of the 810 rules he had promised to keep up. And while it normally would have greatly frustrated him in any other situation that no one had truly made the attempt to memorize all of the rules set up by the Queen of Hearts, it proved to be a great asset in this matter. If no one except him knew the rules by heart then he could just make them up as they were convenient to him and no one would dare to oppose the Heartslabyul dorm leader in fear of getting their magic locked away. Truly it pleased Riddle greatly to see everyone turn away from you after just making up a few rules on the spot.

“Rules of the Queen of Hearts No 666: At exactly 4:20 pm on any given day, the ruler is to spend a shared teatime with their significant other for at least 3 hours.”

“Rules of the Queen of Hearts No 69: It is forbidden to look at your ruler´s significant other if they are spending time together.”

“Rules of the Queen of Hearts No 420: You shall not approach your ruler´s significant other without their explicit consent.”

No one dared raise an eye at any of these unusual rules, after all the unusual was expected with the Rules of the Queen of Hearts. It wasn´t hard to believe that these could be actual rules so no one had caught onto him so far. And that just meant he could spend as much time alone together with you as he liked without anyone protesting. As he thought on and on about how everything had been going just as he had planned, he felt his heart speed up drastically as he saw you approach him with quick steps, a wide smile on your face. Coming to a stop in front of him you were left nearly breathless as you collected yourself before meeting his loving gaze with a deliciously joyous expression.

“Riddle! You won´t believe this! We did it!” How amusing, were you talking about the engagement of that noble? He had just been thinking about it as well, did that prove you two were connected in some way? You had to be, otherwise the wild emotions you caused within him didn´t make any sense. He had never felt this way before but he knew he wanted to hold onto this feeling forever. He decided to indulge you for a bit. “What are you talking about? What happened?” “You won´t believe it! It´s about prince Ayers, you know, the one that was supposed to marry me? Well he just announced his engagement to someone else! We are finally free!” And Riddle couldn´t agree with that sentiment more, you were finally free to both leave this academy together and spend the rest of you lives together, he could hardly wait. “That´s good to hear. Of course our plan worked out.” You took a small bow in front of the Rosehearts before making eye contact once more.

“Really, I can´t thank you enough for what you have done for me! You pretended to be in love with me, all so I wouldn´t get married to someone I didn´t want to marry! So, thank you!”

Wrong. You were wrong. Riddle didn´t pretend to be in love with you, this wasn´t just an act, why couldn´t you see that? He loved you so dearly with his entire being, what else did he need to do to prove that to you?

“-so we can finally stop pretending to be in love with each other and go back to being friends!”

What did you just say? Surely you were kidding? “Y/n what are you saying? Go back to being friends? I can´t allow that to happen.” Your face was quick to fall then, slight discomfort crossing your face.

“Riddle, what are you saying? We aren´t really together, you know? It was all just an act to prevent the arranged marriage, you know that, right?”

Riddle couldn´t help but let out a mirthless laugh at that which seemed to unsettle you even further as you tried to take a step back. But he wouldn´t allow you to go away, to leave him. He grabbed onto your wrist and pulled you closer again, your shaking and pulling not deterring him in the slightest, instead only making his grip even tighter.

“You can´t leave me y/n, I love you! I love you so much! This was anything but a game to me so please, give us a chance! Even if you don´t feel the same right now, these feeling could still grow! There´s still hope!” His breath was ragged now as his shoulders heaved up and down as his body shook. A look of sympathy and understanding now formed on your face and for just a moment, everything seemed okay. You wouldn´t reject him, you would stay by his side. It would all be okay. But his fleeting hope was utterly crushed as soon as you opened your mouth again.

“I´m flattered to hear this Riddle, really I am! But I just can´t accept your confession. I´m really sorry but there is someone else I love, it wouldn´t be fair of me to play with your feelings like that. I hope you understand.” Your eyes sparkled in sincerity but for Riddle, it felt like his world was falling apart right in front of him. You liked someone else? Who? WHO? Who could have caught your heart like that under his own watchful gaze? Who had achieved what he couldn´t?

“Y/n, please answer me. Who are you in love with? I NEED TO KNOW!” It shocked both you and Riddle himself how he had practically screamed out the last part of his sentence but he couldn’t be fazed by this at all now that his dreams were being destroyed right in front of him while you tried to take another step backwards. Riddle noticed the way you were tugging at his arm as a sign for him to let you go but he wouldn´t have any of that. You two were destined to be and nothing would come between the both of you.

“Riddle please let me- “

“NEVER! Rules of the Queen of Hearts No. 911: Never ever break up with your ruler! Especially not right after he had spilled all of his precious feelings for you and opened his heart to you, just to be trampled on and bested by some other wanna-be when he would be the way better choice!! DON`T LEAVE ME OR IT`S OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”

“Stop this Riddle please, you´re scaring me!”, you cried out as you kept struggling in his grasp and then… the tears started flowing. The redhead softened his gaze as he saw the tears run down your cheek and he used his unoccupied hand to gently wipe away your tears as he whispered to you with a decidedly calmer tone.

“Shhh don´t worry, everything will be okay! You don´t need to tell me who it is, I will find out myself and then I´ll make them disappear! I know that you are nervous, we are going to get married in just a few days after all but there is no reason to fool yourself into thinking you love another man! So just let me hold you close for the moment until you have calmed down, okay? This was an eventful day for the both of us so let´s just rest.” As he said this, Riddle pulled your shaking form into a tight embrace and then after meeting your eyes with a gaze that could only be described as utterly obsessed, he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss onto your forehead.

“It´s okay, it´ll all be over soon. Tomorrow we can choose what kind of wedding cake you want and after that we can get your wedding attire measured out, okay? And then, we can finally get married and leave everything else behind. We can finally be happy together forever.”

“´Til death do us part”, Riddle whispered as he got down on one knee to slip a beautiful golden ring onto your finger, adored with a blood red gemstone that cost half a fortune.

Everything went according to plan.

[rynhaswritersblock]

internship (hc) | p.p.

summary: tony stark not only helped in bringing together a group of people to protect earth, but also in sparking young love

warnings: i love this one very cute very fun i think i cussed once? idk

+ + +

- we all know peter parker has (had????) an "internship" with tony sTaNk

- but, despite that being fake, tony does actually have an internship program

- and, luckily for you, you're one of tony's most prized interns

- the moment he looked at your resume he knew you'd be a perfect fit

- your extremely rare high level of intellect shocked him

- in fact, you were almost even smarter than the man

- the two of you bonded right away

- at this point you were able to lounge around avenger hq in sweats and no makeup

- one day tony asked you to help him on his new project

- you said yes, ofc

- much to your surprise, this project was spider-man's new suit

- of course you'd seen videos of the web-slinger on youtube (who hadn't?)

- so obviously this project made you very excited

- you got to work right away, coming to the hq everyday after school

- you and tony were extremely proud of the final product

- he asked you to program the AI for the suit (soon-to-be karen!!!!!!!)

- and that was the first time peter saw you

- you were sat on the ground, legs crossed, holograms in the air as you worked

- too focused on your work, you hadn't noticed a certain boy in the doorway

- tony was giving him the rundown on the germany trip while showing him around the place, but peter got sidetracked when he saw you in the office

- the boy stopped dead in his tracks, focus honing in on you

- luckily for you, you had put on some mascara that day

- but you were still donned in some of your best sweatpants and an old shirt from school that was way too big for you

- yet, peter parker being peter parker, couldn't help but be starstruck (STARKstruck???) when he saw you

- well, every girl in the world was gorgeous to him, for goodness sakes

- but something about you caught him off guard

- "mr. stark, who's that?" peter whispered

- an all-too-knowing smirk grew on tony's face

- "y/n!" he called - your head shot up from the holograms and towards the door, where you made immediate eye contact with peter

- it wasn't long before a small blush grew on your face

- as much as you hated to admit it, you couldn't look at a boy (or girl, too, if you're bi or anything!) anymore without mentally rating their appearance - this is what being single your entire life does to a person

- needless to say, peter parker was HIGH on the list of attractiveness 

- you quickly averted your gaze to tony, grin still tugging on his lips

- "yeah?"

- "this is peter." tony responds, gesturing towards the boy

- "h-hi," peter awkwardly blurts, giving a slight wave

- "hey," you reply, maybe a bit too bReAtHlEsSlY

- a few awkward seconds pass before you give the two a slight nod and get back to your work

- tony begins walking away, dragging peter along with him

- peter hurls series of questions about you at the man, which only made tony's smirk grow

- the two of you began to have more and more awkward encounters at the tower

- most of the time, you'd be working and he'd walk by, seeing you either by coincidence or on purpose

- but sometimes you would just be lounging in the living area, stuffing pizza in your mouth as you watched harry potter

- your levels of nonchalance made peter begin to question if you were mr. stark's secret daughter

- but no one needed to know he wondered that

- the more the two of you saw each other, the more you were on each other's minds

- the small "hey"s began to turn into conversations

- the first real conversation was started by peter (which was only possible through a rare burst of confidence)

- it started with the usual "hey"s

- and then peter asked about your internship

- he saw the way your eyes lighted up when he asked the question and it made him feel warm

- the conversation sparked into more:

- "what about you?"

- "what do you mean.. what about me?" peter asked

- "why do i see you here so often?"

- "oh. uh, also... intern... ship."

- the boys heartbeat began to quicken as you raised an eyebrow at him

- "why are you looking at me like that?"

- "nothing," you smile

- the two of you talk about school and life and stuff 

- after peter bids you an awkward goodbye (he has to go train to do spider things!!) he begins to make his way out of the room

- "bye, spider-man," you yell

- peter whirls around, panic present on his face

- "how did you-?"

- "i'm not an idiot, parker."

- it didn't take your genius brain to connect all the dots (especially cause sometimes when you saw him it would be right after he finished training and he'd be all sweaty?????? which made you forget how to breath just a lil??)

- the two of you began holding actual conversations more and more

- you find yourself watching videos of spider-man swinging throughout the city

- the two of you stalk each other on insta, both marveled by the pictures the other posts

- eventually you say yolo and just follow him

- he follows you back literally like two seconds later

- during one of your run-ins at hq he gets all flustered 

- "you okay?"

- "yeah," peter breathes, "uh, could i, uh, if you're okay with it, could i-"

- "dude."

- "sorry. could i please get your number please?"

- a small smile grows on your face before you reach out a hand, the boy hurriedly grabbing his phone and practically shoving it at you

- you type your name in with a little smiley face and then send yourself a quick "hey"

- you found yourself giddily smiling for a solid few minutes after he left

- one day you find yourself scheming on a way to get peter over to the tower (you were bored as heck; you'd already finished your work)

- then you got an idea

- peter was over mere minutes after you texted him

- he rings the buzzer and you tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to let him in

- "hey," he greets, breathless from the speed at which he hurried over to the tower

- "tony said i need to start doing checkups on your suit every once and a while," you say, silently thanking your acting skills

- "oh," peter nods, "okay"

- he follows you down to the lab, mask still in hand and suit flush on his body 

- you reach one of the large tables, stopping and sucking in a breath before giving him a slightly expectant look

- "i.." you hesitate, "i'm gonna need your..."

-"oh!" peter says with realization

- and then realization hit again

- "uh.. i don't have any other clothes..."

- your face burns bright red before you open your mouth again

- "okay um.. either you're gonna have to hide in the bathroom until i'm done or we try to do it with you still inside the suit... it's just that there'd be a lot of touching if you choose that.." you ebb off at the end of your sentence, chewing on the inside of your lip

- peter immediately gets flustered

- "uh, we can just.. try it... with the suit on........?"

- you nod, taking a nervous step towards him and beginning to mentally berate yourself for not entirely thinking this through

- peter takes a shaky inhale and accidentally takes in the scent of your perfume

- which makes him begin to freak out a little

- you lay a wary hand on him and peter swears he's going to faint

- the two of you had never touched and peter already had a bit too huge of a crush on you

- so this was a lot for him 

- and his heightened senses didn't help

- you carefully (and very awkwardly) press the spider in the middle of his chest - peter starts silently praying you can't hear/feel his heartbeat

- the suit loosens and begins to slip off of his shoulders and you gasp slightly, furiously grabbing it and pulling it up

- "sorry," you smile sheepishly

- peter just half-smiles crookedly as he watches you refocus on the suit

- you give him a wary look before reaching in through the neck and wandering your hand towards the center of the suit

- your attempts to not touch him fail

- your hand brushes against his extremely toned stomach

- the breath catches in both of your throats

- yet you somehow continue, the two of you refusing to even dare to look at each other

- to your surprise, you find a wire out of place

- peter watches as your face scrunches up a lil in focus and melts just a little bit

- your fiddling doesn't get the problem fixed and out of frustration, you tug a little bit

- which causes the suit to slip off of his shoulders

- which causes peter's entire top half to become exposed, the only thing holding the suit up being your hands grasping the wires

- a blush spreads on your cheeks like wildfire as you look down to see the waistband of peter's underwear

- a small squeak involuntarily flies out of peter's mouth, making him mentally punch himself

- your flusteredness disappears when you focus your gaze slightly, seeing red and blue figures scattered across the boy's briefs

- a small laugh falls from your lips

- peter wants to run away

- your small laughter turns into a wheeze

- poor petey just stands there awkwardly

- "pete, are those..."

- you can barely breathe as you double over in laughter

- "are those spider-man underwear????"

- the slightest and weariest of smiles begins to creep on the boy's face

- "maybe..?" he says quietly, voice high

- "that's the best thing i've seen all day"

- eventually you focus again and fix his suit, the uncomfortable atmosphere getting replaced by the two of you joking around

- ever since that day the two of you would become a bit more touchy

- also almost forgot to mention that tony was watching the security camera that day and saw  e v e r y t h i n g  and loved it

- like peter would join you in watching movies after the two of you finished your work at hq

- you'd joke around by stacking your legs on top of each other and kicking each other

- your laughter literally made him so happy

- and you felt the same way about his

- one time you were watching a scary movie (peter intentionally made this happen so you would hopefully want to cuddle)

- a jump scare freaked you the FCK out and you immediately grabbed his hand - even though you cursed yourself, it made peter's day

- probably his whole month

- or life

- every time you got scared, you somehow gravitated closer to the boy, hands still laced together

- by the end of the movie you were curled into him, his arm around you and your head on his shoulder, legs hung over his

- and then the next day you two saw each other and literally pRETENDED THAT NOTHING HAD HAPPENED

- this made the avengers (who had caught onto y'alls chemistry very quickly) quite upset

- the group would tease you two so much kjvhgcjvkl it like wasn't even funny

- when peter discovered his AI (karen!! "hello?? hELLO????") (if you know the exact part i'm talking about i LOVE YOU)

- he immediately thought about you

- "wow, y/n really outdid herself”

- "yes, she did. also, she says hi." the AI responded

- "oh! uhh, i say hi back!"

- (pure angel)

- alright folks now i'm gonna get a little less detailed because i'm past 2000 words at this point and i think we can all tell that i got a bit carried away but let's keep going!

- essentially, the two of you just kept getting closer

- despite the two of you going to different schools, you still had fun lil study parties

- eventually you migrated from the tower and went to each others houses

- peter LOVES your room because it's literally you

- and same goes vice versa

- one day you were walking to the subway to get to the tower after school (beautiful fall afternoon, btw) and peter swung by and scooped you up 

- you screamed a little at the beginning but then got used to it and and had fun and just kinda giggled in his ear the rest of the time

- peter began to worry a little as he swung through the city bc he was so enamored by your laughter all he wanted to do was stop on a roof and kiss you

- and then the idea sparked in his head that he could

- he panicked a little because you two were just buildings away from the tower

- and with one huge swing he landed the two of you on some random roof

- you slipped off of him, eyebrows furrowed as you looked around you

- "pete? this isn't the tow-"

- the boy ripped off his mask (which hurt his nose a little if he was being honest) and stepped towards you, quickly pressing his lips against yours and pulling away just as fast

- "holy shit, dude," you whisper after a moment, head spinning 

- "holy shit?" he asks nervously

- "holy shit."

- you let out an ungodly snort and wheeze, smiles breaking on both of your faces and you let your head drop, pressing it into peter's chest

- you felt him laugh against you and you realized how happy you were (and lowkey hated how cliche it felt but it's fine)

- when you finally caught your air and pulled your head away, the two of you looked at each other with the most shit-eating, cliche, best-friends-turned-something-more smiles

- after a second, with the most boyish grin that made your heart melt, peter asked,

- "wanna make out?"

- "peter!" + + +

peter parker has my entire heart

[deck-of-cards-arc]

The sun shines down upon the base, the rays sweltering and blinding. The one star in the sky looming over the entirety of Carterre. Yet somehow, the darkness still consumed the very likeness of the fortress. Every corner seemed like a shadow with its claws grasping onto the stone brick walls of the place. In the middle of it all, it was all but silence. The wind was still, yet the air was heavy. I was told this place used to be a place of common commerce, market stalls of produce and food used to line the stone walls. It was never intended to be a place reckoned as a fortress, now with the crimson banners and stains on the walls. This was the only place that blocked access form the Noir Kingdom. Hopefully, soon, it would change. And it will, as a lone soldier donned in red metal armour decided to patrol right into my line of sight. They walked too close, possibly could’ve seen the frightened eyes hidden in the darkness of the fortress, so I might as well have struck. One good smack to the head by the hilt of my sword later, that was at least taken care of. The other eyes stepped forward, the one with clubs for her brown irises simply poking the unconscious body with the handle of her dagger.

🌹 “Well, that was easy.”

🔥 “Too easy?”

🌹 “No, because we aren’t spouting clichés today, Ai.”

♦ “Besides, the real difficulty is taking the rest of them out. There's about a hundred of them here”

🃏 “Yeah…so many and so spread out.”

♠ “Focus, the stairway isn’t far ahead. We just have to move further”

🔥 “We’re near the gates, I think I can set the fire there. Should be enough to lead them off.”

♠ “Alright. Rose, get Ai over there. We’ll get into position to move up.”

🌹 “Roger.”

🃏 “Who’s Roger?”

🌹 “No I mean-, nevermind”

I huffed a breath, taking Ai by the forearm and guiding her through the shadows. Shuffling near the walls, hiding behind the mess of clutter surrounding the place, and soon we reached the gates. Ai stood by it, her hands rubbing together as if she were creating a spark. And unsurprisingly, it worked. The fire in her hand was bright and burning, remained as such whilst she lowered it to the grass. It was a good thing she got the endorsement from Morgan, otherwise, this would set him off. Once the fire was set, I grabbed Ai’s arm again. This time, with a finger snap, we were back in the shadows. I peeked around the wall, watching them all act like moths as they were drawn to the flame. From the opposite side, a few of those moths were tied up with vines before they could even move. Morgan raised a thumb at us before continuing up the stairs with Lou. I heard grunts and punches thrown from above us. Sounded like Jacques was in position too. All the pieces were set in place.

🔥 “It’s showtime.”

🌹 “You ready?”

🔥 “Born ready, let’s go”

And with that, Ai and I ran towards our positions. We shimmied close to the walls to reach the opposite side of the fortress. Near a tall structure, I pressed my back against it and cupped my hands. The hermit managed to get up to climb it as I boosted her. I only had to jump up to pull myself up. It didn’t take too long before we sprinted across the roof of the upper floors, where Jacques was next to a pile of unconscious soldiers. I had to do a double-take to notice the pile.

🌹 “Okay, that’s gruesome, wow”

🃏 “Hey! I didn’t kill them. They're just asleep”

🔥 “Rigghhhtt and they’re in a pile because?”

🃏 “There's not much room up here, give me a break. I’ll put them down later.”

🔥 “Fine, fine. Are we ready?”

🔥 “Let’s do it, squad!”

🃏 “SQUAD!”

🌹 “Squad!”

Ai took out her card, taking a deep breath before she flicked it. I didn’t expect that the flame erupting from the card would get so big, but here we are. With a giant flame very much attractive to the moths down below. She reeled back, the flame getting unstable as she did so. I held the card over her hand, giving my reassurance. To regain stability. She nodded, holding the flame higher. Jacques took out their card too, flicking a small but considerable whirlwind to carry the pyre across. Ai watched, her hair was morbidly alight with orange upon the sight of the soldiers’ scurry and panic. I just smiled, at least she’s having some fun, right? The two kept sending the waves of blistering flames across the courtyard> I was just tasked with making sure they didn’t get too caught up in the arson. Even if I threw in my own powerful flames into the mix. With that, the entirety of the platoon was out of the fortress, running to the forest to retreat. We all joking waved them all goodbye as their shapes shrinking into ants in the distance. I placed a hand on both Ai and Jacques’ shoulders, finger-snapping us back to the centre of the fortress. I ran a hand through my charcoal hair, the wind seemingly staying and blowing it. Jacques was already calling the early celebrations, jumping up and down in a joyous fervour

🔥 “Is that everyone?”

🌹 “Got to double-check, we can’t be too sure.”

🃏 “Alright, you go west, you go east, I’ll see the back”

One collective nod later, and it was off searching for the strays. I made my way over to the west wings of the fortress, making the couple turns to a wide-open area, surrounded by the walls and floored with the same stone. Now without the adrenaline sidetracking me, I was able to get a more comprehensive view of the place. Although, there wasn’t much to comprehend. There were supplies but they were very limited amounts in the crates in which I checked. All that was there was just the broken and dilapidated scraps of the wooden stalls that used to occupy the space. Not a lot of food, not a lot of weapons either. This was where the platoon had placed themselves, for the long time being, it was supposed to be their residence. Yet it seemed so barren. None of the ones that fled could’ve taken so much stuff in a short amount of time, so they had such a small supply in the first place…the reasoning behind it was a head-scratcher. Needless to say, it was mostly empty. Not a soldier in sight. That was a relief, at the very least.

I made my way back to the main courtyard, seeing Ai fiddle with the dagger out in the open.

🌹 “Heya,”

🔥 “Rose, have you seen Jacques anywhere?”

“No..? They went to the back, did you check there?”

🔥 “I did, not there”

I placed a finger on my chin. But there wasn’t much time to think when I heard the crackling of fire just behind us.

🃏 “WATCH OUT!”

Instinctively, I ducked and pulled Ai down with me. As we did, a wall of water came to shield us form a wave of flames.

🔥 “THE FUCk-“

“Well, this place still isn’t empty”

🔥 “NO KIDDING!”

🃏 “Guys! Are you okay!?”

“Yeah, we’re okay, what was that?”

🃏 “I-I don’t know, I saw someone rush by and towards you guys. I ran here just in time though. ”

“Great, we got company”

In the silence, there was a giggle. Somehow, a familiar giggle

“Ai? Why are you laughing?”

🔥 “What- I’m not?”

🌹 “Jacques?”

🃏 “…oh no-“

The Joker flicked their card, carrying the water shield next to them. They stood on-guard, even if the grip on their card was shaky. I stood too, Ai behind me. All three of us looked upon the source of such roaring laughter, seeing the flame ignited in the shadows. Out stepped hickory leather knee-high boots, with tight neat laces. Short and tattered black skirt and dress, torn all around the edges. Deep mahogany tunic over it, tightened at the waist with a black leather belt with a golden buckle. Short puffed up sleeves making room for her brown leather gloves. In her long, straight midnight and scarlet hair, a crimson ribbon tied in a bow. She smiled wide upon her carmine clubs eyes landing onto us. If it weren’t for the whip in her hands, there might've been a small chance I though she was friendly.

♣ “Good to see you again. Jackie!~”

🔥 “…why the fuck does she look like me?”

♣ “Yeesh, you couldn’t get partners with less dirty tongues? Yikes, yikes, yikes”

🌹 “Jacques, explain-“

♣ “No worries, don’t let the dimwit slow my introduction down. My name is Reine Trèfle”

🃏 “Ria.”

♣ “Oh! So you’ve heard of me? I’m honoured that Jackie over there is still remembers me. Even If nobody else remembers him”

🔥 “Okay, what the hell do you want?”

♣ “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to kill a very very specific person. Specifically, the joke over there”

🔥 “Oh fuck no, we won’t let you hurt them”

♣ “Correction, you’ll try. And you’ll fail!”

She snaps her fingers, inviting a wave of a groaning chorus to erupt. All of a sudden, from all around us, soldiers donned in the crimson armour stood tall. Many of them blocking the exit. Ria laughed even more and skipped like a child towards the stairway. Towards Morgan and Lou.

🌹 “Same as before?”

🔥 “Gucci”

We split, me taking the west once again. I unsheathed my sword and charged through blade first. I managed to make enough headway, parry after a parry, swing after swing. Quick slices and most of the soldiers were dealt with, though many more came to fill their place. And here I thought there was just a platoon, it was like a whole army was stuffed into the fortress. I turned my head around, spotting Ai being pushed back by a couple of them. I huffed, snapping my fingers. I didn’t look back as my other self took care of them for her. I had to snap my fingers a couple times to handle the influx, actually. Even with many sword swings, there were about three more for every one soldier I took down. I was getting overwhelmed with it all like my head was spinning, or perhaps it was the overuse of my multiple selves around the area. Eventually, it was enough to drive me away. I made my escape towards the back area of the fortress. It was essentially a small field caged by the usual walls and short hallway, leading up to a spot for observing. Or perhaps being flung through to land onto the patch of grass, which was what happened to Jacques. The Joker-bound slammed against the wall, arm over their chest bleeding. The moment I took my eyes off the soldiers, I was pushed to the wall. Being pinned never hurt so badly, the stone scraping my back through my cape, if it weren’t for the fact exhaustion overrode my stamina.

♣ “Well, well, aren't you all a weak bunch. I expected more from Earth dwellers. After all, many wondrous things were said about you, especially after the Ten of Clubs was sent there. But I guess you're just all talk”

🌹 “For someone who hates talk, you don’t know when to shut your damn mouth- GAH!”

♣ “Oh, hush. Since she’s injured anyway, kill her off”

🃏 “NO! Ria, why are you doing this!? We’re here to stop the king!”

♣ “Why do I want that?”

Ria swung her whip again, Jacques dodged. This continued around and around the field. It was only for a brief moment that they pulled out the card and flicked it up. Ria was knocked back, held down by the vines that shot up from the ground.

🃏 “Don’t you see what he’s doing!? He’s causing the imbalance in the world! This is wrong, to hurt people, to kill off the innocent, you taught me that! Didn’t you?”

♣ “PFFFT, YOU THINK I MEANT THAT? Those are just the stupid things that adult teach kids. But as a kid, I already knew those adults were liars. They teach but never preach. They only do so for their own benefit. Make us kids subservient, to be their little slaves.”

🃏 “W…what…”

♣ “I turned the tables on them, Jackie. I gained the system early. None of those morals matter, they just are puzzle pieces to switch around. Put them right and you can fit in perfectly”

🃏 “So…everything you taught me….was a lie…”

♣ “HAHAha, of course! Just like everything in your life! Your fate to be the hero of Carterre, to bring upon peace? Please, that’s just a title that gets you freebies. The only reason I was around you was to get the goodies that came with”

🃏 “You…lied to me? Ria..you lied to me?”

♣ “Hehehe, since when were you a friend to me, let alone a person? You weren’t fated to be a hero, you fated to be a tool”

That was enough for Jacques to hyperventilate. Their breaths quickened, all short and shallow. Gave Ria ample time to burn down the vines and kick Jacques right in the face. As they rolled across the grass, she skipped happily towards them. Her hands reached for her card, trailing the edge of it across the bleeding spots. I tried breaking out of the hold, but teleporting was a no go. Not in my weakened state. All I could do was watch as Jacques was begging to breathe, writhing with tears and screams. Ria was laughing like she heard a joke, maybe to her, the joke was right below her. But that laughter would be cut short with a knife. Or rather a dagger flung past her cheek and enough to catch her off guard.

🔥 “Seriously, explain why you look like me”

♣ “Heh, well if it isn’t the third weak one of the group.”

🔥 “How about you shut up, ya sack of shit”

♣ “How about you do yourself instead of letting other people do it for you?”

🔥 “Hah, bitch say bet”

Ai lunged first, tackling her legs and kneeing her gut. Just as Ria leaned forward, Ai pulled on her skirt and tossed her aside. Ria whipped the other Clubs-bound, wrapped around her arm. The whip seemed to glow red, smoking even. But Ai looked at it with fascination and shrugged. She tugged on it and tossed that far away. Once discarded, the hermit dashed over to Ria, pinning her down with the dagger in hand. If I weren’t so weakly pressed on the wall, I would’ve cheered.

♣ “I think I am allowed to kill you, no?”

🔥 “Go on, try”

The blade was right at her neck, blood might as well be seeping out. Yet the long-haired one smiled so confidently.

♣ “See, you can’t, you have morals. Just like any other weakling.”

🔥 “Oh you really are a piece of shit aren’t you?”

♣ “I accept any name, honestly. But you, you're scared of whatever label they give you. You don’t want to be a murderer, that’s why you’re shaking

🔥 “I-I-I’m not-“

♣ “What's the matter? Are you scared right now? Are you afraid? Without anyone, you're frozen. You need people to be confident for you”

🔥 “Shut up!”

♣ “Am I wrong, Ai? Am I wrong that you’re quivering even if you tower me?

🔥 “I said SHUT UP!”

♣ “Am I wrong to think that you're useless on your own?”

🔥 “SHUT-“

♣ “Am I wrong? Tell me I’m wrong-“

Ria releases a hand from her grasp, gripping onto Ai’s wrist and twisting it. Her screams are bloodcurdling, already the tears have formed.

♣ “-that you're nothing more than a crying coward?”

She kicks Ai back, the hermit rolling over and curled up in gasping inhalations. In that time, Ria was able to reach for her whip. She could’ve killed her right then and there, I wouldn’t be able to stop it. But it was even worse when she didn't take the opportunity, only the adhere whiplashes onto Ai’s back. The hermit was curled in her ball, hands to her head and clutching her midnight hair. The other, in her own sweet time, picked up the dagger and added a few slashes into her back too. My hands clenched, I felt the barest tear prick my eyes as I witnessed it all. I couldn’t even breathe to shout either. To add the literal salt to the wound, Ria gleefully wrapped the whip around her neck and tugged.

It was almost like clockwork, like a chime of the bell. As soon as Ai’s cry for help, cry to breathe reverberated, I felt one of my selves disappear. One last boost of strength allowing me to teleport and cut that bitch’s whip with a swing of my sword. I collapsed on the ground, still conscious but barely hanging on

🌹 “You…aren’t going to do shit”

♣ “You annoying little-“

Before she could even finish her insult, a scream erupted from somewhere. Ria lowered her cut whip and tossed the dagger away.

♣ “Hmm, seems like she did her job. Nevermind you, I best be going.”

🌹 “No, you're not going ANYWHERE-“

♣ “I beg to differ. But then again, I don’t really have to beg too much”

Ria snapped her fingers, flipping her midnight hair ever so mockingly. Her hands spread out as she let herself fall to the sliver of light below her. I almost could lunge at her by the legs, but I wasn’t quick enough. My body fell to the grassy field, my hands gripping at the grass. I heard the rustle behind me, followed by a frail hand at my side

🔥 “A-Are…you okay…?”

🌹 “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay”

I coughed, sniffled and heaved a heavy breath. It all was now a blur of everything. Jacques injured. Ai severely hurt. Ria went as soon as the scream…

The realization hit me, as I snapped my fingers quick. My body leaned against the doorframe I teleported to. And it seemed, it hit me too late. As I breathed the dead air hanging above me, the stench of it clogging my nose like the sobs in my throat. With eyes trailing to Morgan clutching Lou in his arms. Hand in his twilight hair, grasping it tightly. His entire body being grasped tight, even if it were leaking crimson and ice shards poking through his stomach. Morgan took his sight away from his chérie for a moment, to face me an say-

♦ “I’m sorry, Rose…”

---

[trillian22]

Scene nine of Episode IX rewrite

Cut to Rey in the cockpit of the Falcon.

It had seemed ages since Ben had boarded the Falcon, Rey thought. But it’d only been a few hours. She scanned the space in front of her as she maneuvered the Falcon past some debris. As they got closer to Kamino, the more anxious she felt. It didn’t help that the fugitive Ben Solo had now apparently joined their ranks. He and Chewy had reached an understanding of sorts and had spent the last hour getting reacquainted. Rey felt a small pang of jealousy. She longed for some connection. Her soul ached for it...ached for Ben. She smiled as she thought of his dark, intense eyes.

“Rey?”

Startled out of her internal musings, Rey twitch slightly and the Falcon lurched to the left. Ben stumbled toward her chair, caught Rey’s shoulder to steady himself, then quickly recovered and pulled back his hand. Rey felt a blush coming to her cheeks which only made her angry.

“Yes... Ben.” She tried to sound calm but heat was emanating from where he touched her shoulder.

“We need to talk. There is so much I need to tell you...I...I...” His demeanor was different. A softness had come into his features. His eyes were still dark and intense but now there was warmth instead of frigidity. His body language was more open, friendly. Rey looked up into his face. Then the most beautiful and extraordinary thing happened...Ben smiled. It was a brilliant beacon of hope. Rey’s heart sped up and nervously she motioned for him to sit in the co-pilot seat and turned back to the window.

“They’ll be plenty of time to talk. I promise. But we are almost to the cloning facility and we need to prepare.” Rey couldn’t be sidetracked now. She landed the Falcon on a raised platform that looked like it hadn’t been used in decades. She settled the ship into place then rose to leave the cockpit. Ben got up at the same time and they collided.

“Looks like I can’t stop bumping into you. It’s like destiny,” Ben said with a mischievous smile. Han’s smile. Rey tried to put on an air of gravity but was betrayed by her own lips.

“Or maybe it was I who bumped into you?” Before she could see the satisfied smirk appear on Ben’s face, Rey sped out of the cockpit.

Rey gathered her bag, staff, and lightsaber. R2 was already waiting for her and the bottom of the ship’s ramp. Chewy was staying with the ship. Ben bounded down the ramp after her. He still had his red cracked Kyber crystal saber but he’d donned much more inconspicuous clothing. He’d found some of Han’s old pants and a shirt in a compartment and now could easily pass as a smuggler.

“As soon as we find a terminal with power, R2 can locate Level 7.” Rey held up the bracelet for Ben to see. “Then hopefully I get my answers to who I am.”

“You know. I’ve been thinking. Does it matter? You’ve got this incredible link to the force. And you’re linked to me.” Ben reddened slightly. “You have made a family for yourself. Maybe you should let the past die.”

“No. There has to be a reason I’m like this. Why I’m so sensitive to the force. Why I’m so drawn to you.” Rey paused and looked earnestly at Ben, urging him to feel her urgency. “I need to know.”

“Ok. I understand. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.” Then Ben smirked. “As long as you promise to continue bumping into me.”

[diegopetrucci]

A strategy to pick up girls

Don't mind the clickbait-y title. I thought it was fun to have it, but the content is not. I've written a lot of thoughts on mental health and what I've done this year, and I thought it would be interesting to have a few words as well on how I approach meeting girls.

I've broken up with my long time girlfriend earlier this year, and so after almost ten years out of the market I had to re-learn all of this stuff. It's been a fun experience. I've asked friends for advice and recommendations, gone to the internet to find resources, and so on. There's a lot of stuff out there, but I have to be honest, most of it I've found to be pretty dumb. On one side there's the ever present "just be yourself!", which is pretty useless if you don't know what yourself is or if yourself is not a great person; on the other, the internet is full of pickup guides and tricks, which only reinforce you putting up a fake persona, thus making you avoid your longstanding issues and problems.

As usual, I've found that experience is the only way to learn. Which is kind of funny coming from a blog post trying to teach you something. Hopefully, though, this is more of a framework than a precise sequence of steps.

I think there are three pillars that you have to follow to be successful in your romantic endeavours: you have to live an interesting life, you need to be centered, and you need to be direct about your intentions.

The first two are related to my previous posts. The first person that you need to care about to have other people in your life is yourself. I'm sure you can have one-night stands, or even relationships, if you're in a bad place in your life. I had too. But if you want something more, you need to have your things sorted out. I did this by focusing on both my physical and mental health first. I've written a lot about this, so I will be super short: exercise, eat well, go to a therapist to help you fix your issues, find a job you like, find a hobby you love, socialise a lot. Easy on paper, harder in reality, but there's no way around it.

The socialising bit is crucial. I'll be very candid: unless you're in the top quartile looks/body/mental-health wise, you won't get many girls straight up approaching you, if at all. So you have to be able to put yourself in an environment where girls are plenty and you are able to screen for matches without feeling like you're missing out. (Oh, and for the record, I'd give the same advice for girls looking for men.) The worst behaviour I've seen — both in myself and others — has come from having a scarcity mindset, where you feel like the one person you've just met is the only one that could be available to you, and so you become extremely attached and needy. This is so not true. I am not that good looking and yet with a bit of fixing my physique, style, and emotional intelligence I'm able to "meet" a new girl (that something could evolve from) basically every week. So go out, do it often, and "use" your social circles. That is how you fight the scarcity mindset.

Being centered is about knowing what you are, what you like, what you want, what you believe in. And not moving from it to please someone or something. That doesn't mean you can never change, change is great! But forgoing your core values is not okay, especially if under external pressure. It also means having a full-filling life that you can always fall back to — essentially, not being dependent on one thing for your well-being, but having abundance and knowing it. A centered person is one that is confident at saying no to others when necessary — always gracefully, of course — and that is not affected by setbacks because they truly believe in what they're doing.

Being direct is another matter. When you know what you want and need from another person, you should be very clear about it — it’s healthier for both parties. Just yesterday, for example, I’ve met an interesting girl at the NYE party I was at. After a bit of talking and flirting I’ve asked her directly if she had a boyfriend. She said yes (and the guy himself was at the party!). However, the "rejection" has not shaken me (again about being centered!). I’ve continued to talk and dance with her, but the expectations were very clear at that point and we just had fun hanging out. The me from a few years ago (and months, probably) would have circled around it, and started a long and dragged out process of maybe adding her on Facebook, chatting with her every once in a while, and so on, obviously going nowhere. Looking at a person in the eyes and telling them what you want is the only good way forward.

More or less the same has happened on Saturday at a bachata event, after the lessons a girl I was joking with has come to me asking for my number (love the straightforwardness!), and I’ve asked another one I've met outside for hers. Both conversations and their tone have been very clear from the start without being pushy or aggressive, and getting to know each other in the future is just the natural evolution of events. If it hadn't gone well, we'd both be free to pursue other stuff, knowing that all ambiguity had been cleared.

Being direct is also linked to having an abundance mindset. When you feel like you only have one chance because you found the one and then you're done for months or years, you are super scared of expressing yourself truthfully. I mean, who wouldn't? It's just so much pressure. But it could not be further from the truth, and realising that frees you from all the built up expectations you have for yourself, making it easier to be straight with the other person. And, ironically, not caring about an individual encounter, makes it way more likely that it will go well. You demonstrate that you are independent and confident, and there is very little that is as fascinating in a person as that.

--

I honestly think this "strategy" could very well be applied to socialising with friends, or to how to approach your job. It is very generic, but again, its main points of fixing yourself first, losing the scarcity mindset, and being direct are commandments that work well for a lot of areas.

I'm aware I've not posted lines, or tricks, like you could find on reddit or on forums. I mean sure, there are things that you can say that can move the conversation's tone from platonic to sexually charged, but I believe these things are discovered naturally with experience, and again, learning them as a checklist only leads to building up a fake persona. I have been there and it only sidetracked my growth as a person. You should be the best version of yourself, not parroting someone else.

[imagine-loki]

The Baseborn Princess and the Aesir Prince

TITLE: The Baseborn Princess and the Aesir Prince

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 12 

AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a bastard daughter of a king of a far-off realm, the product of his drunken loneliness at battle. His guilt of cheating on his wife drove him to send you to live on Midgard, but due to the fact that his other children (and his wife) adore you, you’re often invited to visit. RATING: Teen and Up

Loki and Clodagh could hardly recall most of their wedding day, it was a blur. So much had to be done and so many faces were there that they could not remember between them who they did and did not speak with. She stood with her husband for the majority of the day, needing his support, feeling as though she was somewhat out of place, but Loki reminded her, again and again, she was as deserving of her place and that he loved her dearly.

Her brothers were jesting with Loki any chance they could get, while also threatening to bury him if he hurt their little sister. Loki knew that Hogun got the same threats, so he accepted them, feeling as though he was being accepted into the family through them.

Clodagh and Amelia were more often talking about the baby than the wedding. ‘I get to see her first, hopefully.’

‘It will take you longer to get back here than mother and father from Alfheim, she won’t get to see her aunt as much as I thought she would.’

‘I know,’ Clodagh hugged her as close as her belly would allow. ‘We’ll see each other though, and you can bring her to visit me when she is a little older.’

‘I can’t believe you and Loki are literally just going hiding in the wild.’

Clodagh laughed, ‘That’s not what we are doing and you know it. You know yourself from Hogun, both Loki and myself are not suited to here, he is not happy either.’

‘I know, he found you and you validated his own feelings that being royal means having to be a certain way.’ Amelia stated sadly. ‘I’ll miss you.’

‘Yeah, I’ll miss you too.’ She pulled her sister close. ‘Thank you, Meils. None of this would have happened if you did not shove me, kicking and screaming here.’

‘You came so far, it’s weird to watch in some ways, you’re still my sister, just so much happier, more at ease with you.’

‘Girls?’ The pair turned to see Lydia behind them. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Just talking about how you are officially free of us all now Mother, now Clods is married.’ Amelia smiled.

‘A mother’s job is never done, even if my last baby has grown up and left me.’

‘Amelia’s younger, she’s your baby.’ Clodagh smiled.

‘Eoin is as much my baby as you two are.’

‘Haha, Eoin’s a baby.’ Amelia joked.

‘You are as much of a child as the one in you.’ Lydia scolded, causing both girls to laugh. ‘And speaking of childbearing and related acts, you need to go with your husband now.’ Lydia looked to Clodagh, who smiled back at her. ‘You are so deserving of this happiness.’

Clodagh pulled Lydia to her. ‘Thank you for everything. I know Genevieve birthed me, but you, you will always be Mother to me.’

Lydia pulled her closer and tried to stop herself from weeping. Since Sika had declared Clodagh of his line, Lydia had openly done in public what she did all Clodagh’s life in private, acted as though she was her daughter. The irony of it all was everyone realised that there was no change in the woman’s treatment of Sika’s lovechild, she was treated as she was before. Clodagh, however, began to give her the title of Mother, something that filled the Elven queen with pride. Sika, on the other hand, slowly, and on more than one occasion, awkwardly, started to be inserted into her life. He spent time with her, learning her as to just about her, as well as spending time with Loki, getting to know his soon to be son-in-law. He realised quickly that even Loki’s words on his daughter did not do her justice. He adored all his children, but he realised Clodagh’s purity was something indescribable, she truly was as precious as the river she was named after.

When she walked back to Loki, Clodagh knew that the room was filled with people, all looking at them, all making lewd comments and whistles, but all she could see was Loki, who was looking at her with the same look. After sticking to their morals, which were tested, they had remained without tearing the clothes off one another until their wedding, now all bets were off, the young newlyweds were anxiously awaiting for their lives together to begin. When she reached him, he smiled. ‘Ready?’

‘As you are.’

‘Come on so.’ He smiled, taking her hand in his.

*

The smaller palace in the country suited the pair perfectly. Loki’s seidr thrived and Clodagh felt as though she belonged. Mortimer’s blindness impeded him so greatly he became a permanent figure in the household, the royal couple even having a little bed in their rooms for him, though in the front part, Loki insisted a squeaking hedgehog was not conducive to a healthy marriage in the bedroom, an area of their marriage that they were learning more about often. Rua seemed to treat the palace as a place to go on occasion for an easy meal or cosy, the land surrounding it was filled with vixens, and come Spring, Loki and Clodagh were convinced there would be little Rua’s infesting the realm en mass.

Not long into their time in the forests, they received word from the city, Mya Hogundoddir had graced the realm with her presence. They went back to the city for her naming, and as promised, Clodagh was the first of Amelia’s family to meet the infant, but they left soon after again but returning as soon as Thor’s wedding came around, the pair blatantly happy to be back amongst friends for a time, but their smiles showed their own contentment with their lives.

*

After a century, Odin decided that he was stepping down from the role of Allfather, he wanted to see out his old age without the stresses of ruling. His Odinsleeps were occurring more often, the Healers believing it was largely due to the stresses of ruling the realm. That required Loki returning to court to assist Thor. he was scared to tell Clodagh, who was content and happy with her life in the country, surrounded by animals.

He walked out to the gardens of the palace and looked at his wife, watching as she bottle fed a deer fawn. He felt guilty, he was about to ask her to leave a place that she was clearly happy in and go back to the prying world of court. With everything considered, he wondered if he could go for a time and return to her when it all settled, but the idea of being away from her for that length of time seemed torturous.

‘Is it doing better?’ He asked as he approached.

‘This is her last bottle. She is old enough to get on without it now.’ Clodagh smiled on seeing her husband. She watched as he remained slightly back. ‘What is worrying you?’

‘Thor is taking the throne.’ Loki informed her. ‘We are being asked to return.’

Clodagh looked down at her hands. ‘Oh.’

‘If you rather stay here, I understand.’ He did not want to give her that option in some respects, he did not want her to be on another part of the realm.

‘I can hardly stay here, so far from you, with all of this, can I?’ She sighed. ‘We knew this would not be forever, that we would have to return to the city sooner or later.’

‘But you don’t want to?’

Clodagh inhaled deeply. ‘The day I took your hand in your father’s throne room, I accepted our future, the day I swore my vows to you that I would be by your side, that I knew what that entailed. I accepted a marriage proposal from the Prince of Asgard, that means accepting the life that comes with it.’

‘Do you hate me?’

‘I never could.’ Clodagh smiled lovingly. ‘Help me up, we may as well pack.’ Loki assisted her to her feet. ‘This is going to be fun.’

‘Why do I suspect that this is going to be half the reason you are unwilling to return?’ Loki chuckled.  

‘Half? My dear husband, you have no idea.’

‘It will not be that bad.’

‘You will pack yourself and think that you are don, I will have to pack for me and deal with everything else in the palace that is required to come with us.’

Loki said nothing more, not wanting to concede she was more than likely right. ‘Huginn and Muninn won’t remember you.’

‘Yes, they will, don’t say such things.’ Clodagh scoffed, recalling the way the two ravens reacted when she returned to the palace on their last visit, they seemed to think she was at risk of disappearing from their sight and were almost ignoring Odin for her.

‘I hardly got any time alone with you because of them, and what they see, my father sees.’

‘I hope not because there was one night that Huginn did see us when you and I…’

‘Oh Norns, why are you telling me this?’

‘I meant to say it to you at the time, but I got sidetracked.’

Loki grinned. ‘Of course you did.’

‘Let us prepare for this.’

*

Loki looked at Clodagh as she dozed against him in the carriage, she was lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking as it moved. He worried about her as she readied everything for their journey. When they said goodbye to the palace that had been their home, she shed a sad tear, but she held his hand and smiled as they turned and walked into the carriage.

The realm was all a din with the upcoming coronation, royals, dignitaries and ambassadors from all the realms were there. They carriage was delayed in the streets as they made their way to the palace. Clodagh woke as they came into the city, so she was looking out the window as they did. They saw the people were looking at them as they passed, but one girl caught their eye, she waved with more enthusiasm than any other.

‘Stop the carriage.’ Clodagh demanded. As soon as she said it, the coachman obeyed. Loki watched in shock as she opened the door before the coachman could descend the steps to do it and walked over to the girl, who beamed happily. ‘Hello Mia, you are getting big.’

‘Hello princess.’ The girl curtseyed and smiled back.

‘No toy?’

‘I am too big for that now.’

‘I bet you are.’ She could not stop smiling. ‘Is my name still different?’

‘Yes, you’re named after a river.’

Clodagh laughed. ‘I am, I am named after a river, it’s true.’

‘That’s weird.’

‘I know.’ Clodagh acknowledged. ‘Do you know, my sister has a daughter and she named her Mya, I know you are Mia, but she actually thought of you when she named her.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, she is Hogun’s the Grim’s wife, so if you ever know that girl, you can think that.’

Mia paused for a moment before beaming proudly. ‘I am glad you’re our princess, but if you are a princess, and Mya’s mum is a princess, is Mya one too?’

‘In her own right, yes.’

Mia turned to a boy close to her, similar in appearance and age. ‘I have a princess named after me, you have a puppy, I win.’ She stuck out her tongue and walked off, causing Clodagh to laugh and make her way back to the carriage before she felt eyes on her. She turned slightly and smiled a different smile as she realised there was a carriage stuck behind theirs, the occupier of which glaring at her. She said nothing as she entered her carriage and looked to her husband.

‘Do you know that girl?’

‘We’re old friends.’

‘I see. Why the sneer?’

‘Another friend is behind us.’

‘Dare I ask?’ Clodagh gave him a smirk. ‘Really?’

‘She has to be here, she is the princess of Vanaheim.’

‘It helps to get pregnant with your brother’s child.’

‘It sounds like it is a family trait.’

That was the last they said as the carriage made its way to the palace. When it arrived, they smiled and watched as they were brought passed the main entrance and around the side to a smaller one. When it came to a halt, they were elated to see Loki’s family there waiting for them. The carriage door opened and before Loki and Clodagh could move, two others rushed out. ‘Grandma.’

‘Look at the size of my babies, hello.’ She knelt down and embraced her two grandchildren. ‘I have missed you so much.’

‘We missed you too grandma, but Mommy and Daddy said we are staying here now, is that true?’ The boy asked.

‘Yes, you are living here with us now for a time, won’t that be exciting?’

‘You’ll be sick of us.’ Loki grinned as he exited the carriage before extending his hand to his wife.

‘I could never….you kept that quiet.’  Frigga watched as Clodagh exited the carriage, one hand in Loki’s, the other cradling a quite obvious baby bump. ‘Three children, in a hundred years, really? Are you planning on having an army?’

‘It’s a good thing it is a big palace.’ Loki grinned as he looked to Clodagh, who was giving him her “Don’t be too bold” smile.

‘Your brother is talking about a second, by the time he comes to a decision, how many more will you two have?’ Odin commented, looking at his grandson as he came over to him to tell him about his attempts at horse riding.

‘At least one more by then, not including this one, Kaitlyn does not like childbearing too much.’

‘The same cannot be said with you it would seem.’ They turned to see Thor coming for them, his own son rushing out alongside him to his cousin, who was only a year older than him. ‘Brother, it is good of you to want to keep the line going, I am not sure what you heard, but Asgard and indeed Alfheim are not having a population crisis, your attempts to assist is not required.’

‘You are jealous,’ Loki grinned.

Thor gave him a small glare before they all walked into the palace happily, and readied for the coronation.

[unshiusomnibus]

#1 - What's Up.

Welcome!

I'm starting this to hold myself accountable to progress in certain goals and projects I have over the next few years (until 2027); less thought, more action forward. Even if the initial results are subpar, there will at least be something on the table to mold into a better product in the future. I don't know how long this series will be kept up for; normally I have a track record of dropping all but a few things, so will see what happens. Some posts in the future may not be very clear due to missing context, but I will try to clear those up as I go. Expect an unstructured mess, I suppose.

There are 3 main projects, currently; all of them are games that operate off the same Unity codebase (named 2D Isometric Boilerplate for now), just with differing assets and gameplay styles. Because a large majority of the code is shared across all 3 projects, the amount of work needed to finish them all isn't as large as it could be; most of the effort is in the game design and asset creation.

Project #1: Yugu. A single-player RPG with a connected world and a tactical turn-based combat style. The story is planned to take place over 4 in-game years, following the adventurers of the 12 characters in the main cast (3 groups of 4) across around 10 story arcs. Driving motivation for this project is the story.

Project #2: GFW. An online game with a focus on PvE, exploration, and social interaction; gameplay is action combat style. Driving motivation for this project is nostalgia that I have for various games, most of them being MMOs.

Project #3: Science. A mobile idle/incremental game where the player customizes units with various equipment types, and slots them into one of many teams to collect more materials to power up the units and equipment. Driving motivation for this project is the world's aesthetic (luxury).

The driving motivation for each project is slightly different, I think the common motivating theme across all 3 would be the visuals and sound. Yugu was the original idea that I had in the summer of 2018 (that in itself sprouted off another idea for a tactical PvP game I had a few months prior), while GFW and Science were other ideas that I developed upon to not sidetrack the scope of Yugu.

If these 3 reach a completed state in the future, I have thoughts for other games I could try making, but for now anything outside of these will most likely stay as thoughts on paper (or text on a screen, I suppose).

Properly getting these done will most likely take years; if I can finish them before 2027 arrives, then I'll consider it a success. If they go well, then hopefully I'll be able to make more games with the revenue... but for now, I would rather not focus on money (althought it would definitely be required in the future for things like hiring and server upkeep), as it feels like I've definitely been burned every time in the past when I focus too much on it.

Aside from these projects, there are also some skills that I want to learn/get better at, in approximate order of personal importance:

Programming. It's important for me, but for the most part I feel as though I've already done the heavy lifting in terms of what's needed to know for programming; however, there's still things that I need to learn and explore, primarily around systems design, networking (reducing impact of lag in online games) and game engines (for the future).

Illustration. I've been trying to study this since April 2018 primarily to be able to illustrate for Yugu, but it still feels like there's a long way to go... when I originally started, I assumed that it would take at least 5 years to reach the technical proficiency that I wanted; I still think that's about accurate, but the types of roadblocks I've experienced while studying is something that I could speak for ages about. In short, I'd like to take it easy here and focus more on enjoying the process of drawing at this stage, rather than being overly self-critical and constantly trying to deliberately improve.

Music composing. I don't currently know this, but I'll be attempting to learn it over the next few years. I think that it'll be difficult to do just like illustration, but much like illustration as well, I like the emotional impact that music can have.

Creative writing, storytelling. For the sake of Yugu; there are more stories that I would like to tell across different time periods and locations in the universe of Yugu, and I would like for people to respect them as good stories, and to adore the characters and world.

Animation. Like illustration and music, I feel that it has high emotional impact (and a useful thing to know for making games).

3D modelling. Normally, I don't prefer 3D models over 2D sprites for a variety of reasons, but in the future I'd like to learn more about them to see if I can make something that I have no issues with, among other things. I think that knowing more about 3D is a useful skill to have if I'm getting into games, even if I don't end up leveraging it as much as other things on this list.

Language learning; specifically, JP, KR, CN, FR. This is mostly just grinding Anki decks, which is overall quite passive compared to mostly everything else on this list. A lot of the media that I consume is in these languages (except for FR, but that one is just a language that I would like to know, rather than any particular reason/material that I would want to read in that language). My goal is to at least pass the top of their proficiency tests (JLPT/TOPIK/HSK/TCF).

There's a lot on this list; I don't really know how far I'll be able to go in each specific category, but I would like to at least try before deciding to concede or not. I don't intend on trying to be a master of any of these for now, but rather to just become proficient enough in them to be able to "cruise" and slowly progress without too much effort required.

Every week (Sunday), I will post a weekly progress update for each one of these things:

2D Isometric Boilerplate codebase.

Character design visuals. Trying for at least one clearly defined character per week, but will most likely have scraps of multiple.

Area design visuals. Trying for at least one area per week, but will most likely have scraps of multiple.

Yugu story progress. Trying for at least one character fleshout (biography/backstory/role in story), and 1-6 acts (at least 1 act, aiming for 6 acts) of cutscenes/game flow.

I may occasionally do other posts about other things on the mind, or posts to clarify information described in previous progress reports if context was lacking. Normally I do write notes of thoughts or plans that I have so I don't forget them, even if I don't end up putting all of them to use; since there's also times where I think of something but can't remember fully what it was weeks or months later... the notes that I have are normally quite unsorted, so this could be an opportunity to properly categorize my thoughts and notes.

If I can find a good TTS voice, I may try uploading certain posts to YouTube as well (as it currently is, I prefer not talking myself). If I can think of proper incentives, will most likely set up a Patreon also.

[impurelight]

Banality Wars Updates

I have a game I'm working on called Banality Wars Carridin. It's a turn based strategy game similar to Advance Wars. I have been posting updates to my patreon here. I have beeen meaning to cross post them for some time now but I finally decided to do it. And because I'm quite behind I decided to post the past 2 updates.

Update For May 29

So I didn't get much work done this month. I got sidetracked by this Code With Friends Event. But I did do a lot still. Most notably I completely changed how the AI decides to build things. It's not perfect but hopefully it won't build so many recons now.

Also I fixed this bug:

That is there are four buttons appearing on one tile when there should be only one button with 3 buttons around it.

It was quite a pain. It was actually an issue with the buttons not being repooled properly. Repooling is a process where instead of destroying the old button and making a new button we keep the old button in a suspended state and use it again later. This can improve performance because the process of creating and destroying a button can be a little costly. Repooling is a pretty simple solution, but you have to reinitialize things correctly, as I learned. I have no idea why it was even working before. These two variables were randomly flipped and... Well, it's fixed now.

Also fixed another bug where units weren't being loaded if they got interrupted on the way to the unit they were being loaded to. That was another nasty one.

I also tweaked 2x05 (Capital Offence) and 2x06 (Reclaiming Hope) with 2x06 being completely redesigned to make it more interesting. Oh, and units can start on Landers to get the lore of that map working.

I also added the trial map 'Like Shooting Fish In A Barrel'. It's not the best map in the world. It's mostly to check if the AI unit generation (that I completely redid) is working correctly but it's there.

Also the UnitActions camera tricks have been significantly improved.

As always to play all the maps open up the console (` or double tap where the second tap is a long press) and enter the command 'unlockall' to play all the maps.

Some other improvements.

Added the 'We Have Been Spotted' check for dialog.

Building a submerged sub now only makes noise if we built it

Rockets have slightly more defense

Improved toast animations

Fix one frame error in confirm dialog

Significantly improved UnitActions focusing on click

Fixed long pressing on maps

Fixed wrong order of actions playing at the end and end game things in general

Update For April 30 (I try to post an update every 2-3 weeks but got side tracked)

The above video shows off my new testing system. I was originally thinking of including it as a GIF but the GIF was 18 megabytes. So I decided to put it on YouTube instead.

Anyways testing is the big thing I added these 3 weeks. Testing is the big thing in software development but not so much in gaming. Like, how would you even start? Unity, and presumably most game engines don't offer some easy way to test things. So instead the only way to test a game is to hire a QA team.

So I guess I was always a little scared of tests. But recently I made a contribution to Google's Flutter project and part of my contribution was I had to write a test. I tried to weasel out of it. I said, "This small change doesn't need a test." But the person reviewing my pull request got me to cave and write a test.

And it really wasn't that hard. I mean, writing a test for Flutter was hard because the entire system is just terrible. But the whole concept of writing a test and checking if the system worked properly wasn't that bad.

So I eventually thought, "Could I write tests in my game?". So I tried Unity's native testing framework. And it sucks. Tons of errors about not finding assemblies and it closed all my scenes when I ran it. But not perturbed I wondered if I could use some other method of writing tests.

And I remembered back to an asset I used: the In-game Debug Console. It's actually MIT licensed and I submitted a pull request a while back. And my pull request got it working pretty well. Maybe I could use it to run tests. So that's what I did.

The entire system is at my: ModularUI repo. I combined it with ModularUI because the testing framework relies on it to insert mock inputs and rather than maintain two separate repos with some stuff disabled in both I decided to merge them.

So when you run it it runs all the tests like in the video and outputs a report of what tests passed:

So you may be wondering, "Does it work"? Because it actually takes quite a while to write the tests. In some cases it takes longer to write the test than it does to implement the feature.

And I'd say yes, it does help. I already found two major issues: the first was UnitActions wasn't disappearing after selecting an option from a multi menu and the second was that long touches weren't being removed.

So onto the actual features.

First off there is a new trial map: Budding In.

As you can see there are three islands. The two that are connected are occupied by the AI. That leaves the player to have to bud in (hence the name) to the current battle. I actually had the idea for the map a while back but I didn't have Landers working. Now that Landers are working I can make it and it's actually pretty good.

You know it's funny, when I was playtesting this map I got that voice in my head, "You're supposed to be doing work, not playing games." Well, sometimes they are one in the same.

Similarly 2x04 (Reason In Madness) has been improved. The original plan of allowing the player to go up to the third island directly is now done. Except due to the AI being terrible it may not be the optimal solution. Like what is happening here?

I definitely have to create some tools to diagnose what the AI is doing.

There's also a new toast animation

Other things:

Fixed That Problem With The Greyscale Shader

Updated To Unity 2019.3.10

Refactored buttons: https://andrewzuo.com/post/616675484059713536/notes-on-refactoring

So that's where I am with Banality Wars Carridin. If you want to play the latest build be sure to visit my patreon.