#i also might be in denial as well but ehhhh

[flowergardeninthewall]

After that convo I have to remind myself mostly that ooc fit did say he's not going anywhere, now am I convinced he's gonna get his ass kidnapped and or in major MAJOR fucking trouble when he's away for those two weeks? Absolutely.

Is he going to die? I think it's going to be close, but I think he's gonna pull through

[bonesandthebees]

[“You thought you were going to be punished for helping the princes escape, right?” Wilbur asked, his voice low.] I feel like this might have been a segway to the fact that her loyalty will get rewarded now, or maybe it’s still just trying to figure out how she feels about it. If she regrets it. But then she says that she knows who he is and Wilbur changes tactics. Because he needs to know if she’s pointing a knife at him aware that it’s him or if she thinks it’s someone else.

[“No, I don’t. There are a few theories as to who it is but-” her breathing hitched, her grip on the dagger faltering once again. “I don’t think they’re true.”] I wonder if she actually thinks that it’s not Wilbur (because I feel like that’s the implied rumour) or if she’s just in denial because she can’t handle the fact that he could be right in front of her. It makes me wonder how well-known Wilbur being Phil’s protege is through the galaxy, but I’ll get to that.

And then Wilbur reveals himself using his Voice. And poor Niki can’t believe that Wilbur is actually there. It’s probably too good to be true. She probably gave up on seeing him again accepted that this was her new life. She was doing quite well too (or as well as she can be in that situation). Though I can’t help but feel like [The ruined ship reminded him of the bones of a monstrous sea creature that had been pecked away at by bottom feeders.] is also a metaphor for Niki herself.

(7/10)

-🌲

he was definitely trying to figure out how she felt about helping him and tommy escape that night more than anything else. he wants to know if she resents him and tommy for that, or if she's still glad their lives were saved.

niki genuinely doesn't think that wilbur could be the protege everyone keeps talking about. because remember the wilbur niki knew for most of her life. he wasn't ambitious at all. he had forced himself to be content with his position as an advisor and nothing more. he wasn't cutthroat. sure, he was a good talker, but he didn't have the same razor's edge that phil's protege is said to have. also, niki has no clue how wilbur would even end up as the protege of the emperor of the antarctic empire in the first place, so she just assumes it can't be true and that it's someone else

"too good to be true" ehhhh niki mentions that she's seen wilbur in her nightmares so it's not necessarily a good thing. it's more than she's terrified he's there because she doesn't know what it means. does it mean that he hasn't started looking for her until now? does it mean that he's come to apologize? or is he not going to be the same person she remembers? it's fear of confrontation and fear of the unknown. she doesn't want it to be wilbur because it could just mean so many things and she doesn't know which ones she wants to be true and which ones she doesn't.

she was doing uh... i wouldn't say well but she was surviving. that line you mentioned about the ruined ship definitely fits niki. she's hollowed out. she's been all alone for years in this rusted, falling apart ship, only getting supplies every few months from a nearby trading port. she's in survival mode, and while she's safe, she's not exactly doing 'well'

[heretherebedork]

Not a Guess the Trope, but this time, give ur any thoughts on the following: (i.e. whether you approve of them or not)

MingYo, ForthYo, BeamYo, KitYo, MingBeam, AeyGene, MhokGene, KongM (SOTUS), TwoThird, TineFong, RamDuen, SunKao, TianLongtae, KitYu, MarkYu, TutorZon, PondAe, TinPete.

(unpopular opinion: Wayo is the most shippable character out there. Literally you can ship him with like, anyone.)

Not so much approval as all my thoughts, because no pairing needs approval. But here are all my thoughts, regardless of what they might be!

MingYo/KitYo: Honestly, honestly? MingKit is so fantastically perfect that I have trouble breaking them up.I support adding Yo to them as a threesome, though! MingKitYo is A+ and would be absolutely adorable.

ForthYo: Yeah, sounds good. I’m down for it. I mean, I do love ForthBeam but Yo is also adorable and could just go ahead and maybe... fit right in? Yes, this is just me deciding that I could ship Yo as part of any threesome, though I guess Forth and Beam wouldn't get together if Yo was there... Dunno! But it’s fine, honestly, just fine.

MingBeam: I might need to rewatch 2moons2 to have an opinion on this couple, honestly. I got nothing besides not wanting to break up MingKit because I love them so much. So, not a fan.

AeyGene: This would be the darkest timeline. I think Gene without Nubsib would be very, very susceptible to Aey’s manipulations and lashing out. I could see this happening but it’d be very dark and very unpleasant and would never, ever end happily. Gene can’t help Aey the way he needs and Aey would take Gene apart.

MhokGene: Mhok isn’t good for anyone. He wouldn’t have stood beside Gene, in fact, he might have supported them staying in the closet and hiding. Would not end well.

KongM: Aww, friends to lovers? I think it’d be adorable, tbh. Kong was always so good and so supportive towards his friends. I’d be down for it, as much as I love Arthrit. I could see them being cute and fluffy. Very, very fluffy. Maybe not the most equal relationship, honestly, but fluffy.

TwoThird: Down for it. DOWN FOR IT. Friends to lovers, soft and supportive and adorable! The show would have been half as long and much less dramatic.

TineFong: ... I don’t remember 2gether well enough for this. Sorry.

RamDuen: Ehhhh, wobbly hand? I mean, it could be cute but it could also be just kind of cute. I dunno. I feel like my headcanon of Duen being grey-romantic and asexual colors my feelings about this a lot. I just don’t think Ram would do well in a relationship where the other person had a habit of withdrawing from touch and avoiding direct talks.

SunKao: Uh... Well, Sun is welcome to anyone he wants besides who he ended up with but Pete and Kao had such married vibes. Uh, maybe a threesome again? Down for it!

TianLongtae: I’d be down for this adorable couple! They could transfer and go to the same college and just hang out together all the time and help the village together and be soft and adorable and wander around the town and be beloved village icons.

KitYu/MarkYu: Did anybody say THREEEESOME? Yeah. I do like MarkYu a bit, but I just love them a threesome, no denials. They’d be adorable and Yu would be taken care of and loved and he would be HAPPY and SAFE. My greatest dream.

TutorZon: Hmmm. I’d be okay with it, honestly. Maybe just as a temporary pairing? Like, I feel like they’d try it and decide to be friends but still try it maybe? It’s an interesting one, that’s for sure!

PondAe: ... No thanks. I think Ae would smother Pond in every way and Pond would be constantly frustrated and annoyed. I just don’t think they’d work.

TinPete: You know, if Pete never met Ae in any capacity... maybe. But I think it’d be a very empty relationship. Pete would never be able to drag Tin out of his shell the way Can did because that’s not who Pete is and the relationship would suffer for it. So.. very sad. But possible.

[jokertrap-ran]

[Drama CD]   7′Scarlet Limited Edition Bonus CD: According to the candy in the skull Translations

*Commissioned by @melynir, Thank you! *Spoiler free: Translations under cut

Commissions are still open!

Who is it…? Hurry and name yourself!

I can’t believe it...There’s a murderer among us?

Don’t do this, please! It’s not good to be suspecting each other like this...I can’t...I can’t stand doing this!

You can’t be joking, right? Are you serious? And in the first place…

Yeah. I’m dead serious. There’s certainly someone here among us who’s a murderer, wearing the facade of a human; an undead who has returned to the living.

7’Scarlet limited edition drama CD: According to the candy in the skull.

Undead…? I do know that there’s been a story being passed down around this place that dates back to a long time ago. But...are you...are you seriously saying that it’s true?

That’s right, Kushinada-san. Look. Look closely at the eyes of the owner. He doesn’t seem like he’s joking in the least bit now, does he? And he’s the one who brought it up…

Do you think I’d joke about something like this!? If you’re going to continue fussing about this and being in denial, Isora, I’m going to write you off as the undead himself!

Wha- Why!?

Calm down, both of you! How about you look at Kagatsuchi instead? It seems like he has somehow come to a conclusion about this matter.

R-Really!? Hino-kun!

...Well, I guess.

There’s no longer any need to withhold any information back. Now, Kagatsuchi. Will you tell us exactly what it is that you’ve figured out?

Ngh!

Very well. I’ve actually felt that something was off for quite some time now, but I simply shrugged it off, thinking that it was just my imagination. However, after watching his actions and behaviours for some time...that feeling only got stronger.

Enough of the long-winded talk, Kagetsuchi. Just point the guy out already. Who’s the undead? The murderer not of this world!

I’ll leave the explanations for later then. I’ll tell you who this murderer who’s been making the death toll increase here in Okuzaneto! The worst murderer of this generation! Are you all prepared?

Y-Yes, I am.

Yeah…!

Of course.

The undead...is you!!

What!?

Isora, you say!?

Heh. Hahahaha!! There’s nothing I can do now that I’ve been found out. I’m the undead that has just been introduced by yours truly…

Argh!! Wait a minute--! I really don’t want to act as the undead anymore! I don’t wanna!!

Hey! Isora! That line wasn’t written in the script!

It doesn’t have anything to do with the lines! I can’t help not wanting to do what I don’t want to! I don’t like it! Why do I have to be the undead!?

It’s a role that has to be filled!

You lost at rock-paper-scissors!

Just accept it already.

It’s not like I can, either! I’ve never died before, so I don’t understand how the undead’s supposed to be feeling!

Isora-kun...If your words are true, then you won’t be able to act. Acting, you see, is to express and show something that can never happen; to bring something that you;ve never experienced into reality. Actors who cannot act without having prior experience before will never make it far in this world and they’ll never be able to score a big job either!

You know...It’s not like I want to be an actor in the future or anything.

What? Neko-megane! You seem awfully knowledgeable about these things?

Ah! Could you, perhaps-!?

Urk! O-Oh no…

Could it be that-!?

Please, Hino-kun. Don’t go on any further…!

You’re an only child!?

Ah...That’s all?

Kagutsuchi...You should stop that habit of yours of immediately assuming any and everything. Plus I’ve never heard you assuming anything else about him, other than him being an only child.

I can guess his blood type too!

K-Kagetsuchi! If I may please hear more about that?

I don’t care about his status as the only child or his blood type! Can someone else please take the role of the undead!? It’s not for me. It’s not like I’ve ever acted before. I’m not really good at it and I don’t aspire to be an actor in the future either!

Isora! There’s no need for all that! The only question here is, will you do it or not?

He totally took Isora’s words as if he was just talking to himself…

It’s one thing to make Isora feel that strongly about something, but in all honesty, I’m not one to be putting up with this farce either. Besides, why do I, of all people, have to act in something like this? I am THE Yuzuki, you know?

It’s not like we have a choice either. We’re lacking in manpower. Plus, we only roped you in under the Owner’s orders via Yuki.

Honestly, for crying out loud...Right, someone go fetch Yuki here. I bet he’s the one who came up with the casting and the scenarios. I’m going to make him amend everything before my very eyes!

Yuki says that he’ll only be back late because he has some stuff to wrap up in a meeting regarding a live tomorrow.

A meeting, you say? So he’s off having tea with some idol while I’m stuck here being an embarrassment on his whim?

Well...But he said that Eito-san won’t be participating, despite being the lead. So everyone brought up the question of whether a meeting can really be held without the star. 

But, she said that “I cleared my schedule the day before the show so I can give it my all when the live comes!”

Oh? Really? Wait, Neko-megane!? You’re awfully knowledgeable about Eito-sama…

Ahh!! Now, could you perhaps-!?

O-Oh no!!

Enough of this turn of events; we’ve heard it plenty.

This act of ours is supposed to come before that live, right? Why is this even required?

Seems like everything was set up according to Eito’s wishes! And Yuki whipped up a script real quick after having received the job.

Yuki seems really taken with Eito. I’m sure he went all “Leave it to me! I’ll pour all of my heart and soul into coming up with the script!”

I’m kind of indebted to him…

Even still, why did you have to drag all the people staying in this inn right now? Can’t you just leave this to the high-schoolers or something?

That was also because of Eito’s request. Am I right, Neko-megane?

“Yes. Hanamaki-san would be happier about it if that were the case. And I wanted to join too…”

“I wanted to join too?”

“No, I wanted to play the role of an adult once!” So, Yuki-kun said.

He was the one who wrote this script...but who would’ve thought that it would be centered around the undead. Isn’t this going too far? 

Well, I think he also wanted to do something Okunezato-esque.

But it’s not all that unusual to do a play based on old myths and legends either, right?

Even after all that, this is still a piece that has quite a bit of suspense in it so we need actors with an adequate amount of acting ability.

How ridiculous. We’re not actors, therefore we’ve got no responsibility nor obligation to be acting in this.

Well, I don’t disagree with acting itself. It’s pretty fun, actually. Oh! Or is it that the Owner’s embarrassed to appear up the stage alone while acting?

Don’t be stupid. I’ve already gotten used to appearing alone a long time ago. Speaking off...I dare say that my acting skill is the best out of all of us here. I may look like this, but I’ve received the best pity acting award during my time in school when I had a part to play in the school’s play!

The best pity...acting...award? Isn’t that bad?

In any case! I’m taking my leave from here! I’m not signing to act like a bunch of monkeys under the farce of a play.

Wait. Don’t be so quick to come to a decision, Owner. Yuki-kun went through all the effort of writing the script! Are you sure you want to put all his hard work to waste? He, who managed to pen all of this down during his free-time even though he was all so busy? The script is one thing, but it must have been hard for him to set everything up like this. Adding all of the time he might have spent on this, just how much effort do you think he put into this?

...You’re actually counting them all?

It is said that the average pay is 50,000Yen. Which means that he should have netted about a hundred or so Yen per shift.

Has Sousuke-san gone stir-crazy…? 

But he hasn’t sought payment as if he were working a shift. He was simply doing what he needed to be. Therefore, I think that he has to be repaid in some way, even if it’s to bring what he was working on into reality. Don’t you think so?

Ah...Someone should stop him.

Besides, if we’re so ready to blindside how much work a girl’s putting in, then perhaps we should make the men drop the amount of shifts they’re taking and-

Err, in other words, he’s trying to say that we should do it since Yuki had put so much effort into it. He’d be sad if we don’t so won’t you help us out here?

Amari! That’s just it! That was exactly what I wanted to say!

Seriously? All I just did just now was to wing it-

For Yuki’s sake…? It’s kind of unfair for you to be throwing such a lowball, but...I’ll do it.

Ehhhh? He accepted pretty readily!?

Only this time. And I have a condition.

What is it?

Change the script. It’s not good to be fooling around like that with a script revolving around the undead. It goes against the very will of Okunezato. No matter how much effort Yuki has placed into this, I won’t allow something like that.

After acting along with us this far? I wonder why you’re saying this only now, all of a sudden?

Owner...he must have remembered all the lines by heart. I mean, he’s the only one who didn’t bring a script with him…

Right!? I’m sure he prepared before coming here!

You all...Are you pretending not to have heard what I just said?

No...I understand where you’re coming from. But in all honesty, it’s also pretty hard for me to call this scenario that Yuki has written up to be a job well done.

Really? I think it’s pretty interesting, though.

And just which part exactly are you referring too?

Which part? Well…

The part where the undead opened his mouth and spewed fire, burning everything into ashes! That was impactful!

I don’t really know about that, myself. I mean, destroying the stage? That’s a recipe for disaster.

That’s why we need it to be re-written! So no accidents and woes happen!

It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s just fiction! It’s just a corpse, anyway. And the ending was great too! Everyone breaks out into a dance after the undead being is defeated!

Were you already prepared to break out in dance…? REWRITE!

I suppose rewrite it is...But what will we do about the script? The act’s slated for tomorrow and there’s no way we can write up a new one now.

Simple! We just have to have an original story to base it off. If we are to use an old legend and myth like we’re doing right now, there are tons of it out there!

Ahh...I see. Then...How about Momotaro?

It’s lame but It’s been turning up in commercials lately so it wouldn’t be that odd of a story to be replacing it with. The era, though…

Okaay! It’s decided then. Who wants to be Momotaro? Whoa, wait a minute! 5 people can’t be playing Momotaro!

So you say, but you’ve got your hand raised too.

I’m glad to see that everyone’s enthusiastic about this.

Way too enthusiastic, don’t you think!? Even the Owner has his hand up!

Okay, okay! 5 people acting as Momotaro’s just plain impossible!

Really? I heard that some other place had everyone acting as Momotaro though.

There’s no need to compare to them now, is there? Plus, if everyone’s playing Momotaro, then where’s the bird, the monkey and the dog!? And even if we did make it to the island, there wouldn’t be any Oni.

It’s certainly interesting, but don’t you think this would be hard to act out? If we add the old man and the old woman...5 people wouldn’t even be close to enough.

What if we ask Tsukiyomi-san and Karasuma-san?

The declined.

They...declined…? There was an option of declining!?

He turned it down immediately, thinking of it as simply being a gag prank.

Ugh! I totally thought that I absolutely had to participate in this no matter what…How could I have foreseen this…!?

You know, I’ve always wondered about this ever since I was a kid, but Momotaro must really be one lucky guy to not have died after the Old woman opened the peach as she did. I mean, she sliced it cleanly into half...Oh! How about we have a suspense scene for that? A Momotaro murder! The catchphrase...right! Who killed Momotaro!?

The perpetrator’s the old woman, isn’t it?

To hide the evidence of the act she committed, she closed up the peach and sealed it back up.

And the Old man came back from the mountains, only to be roped into her own conspiracy…

I really can’t see the old granny doing that though...but...I’m kind of interested to hear what comes next!

...Enough. Anyway, we should really think about an act that includes all 5 of us, each in different roles.

Then...How about Urashima Taro? You can be Otohime-sama, Owner.

Rejected! Next.

Then Kintaro! No girls appear in there so it’s settled, isn’t it?

Okaaay! Who wants to be Kintaro? Wha- NOBODY!?

Kintaro...he ends up naked after all.

I...Being naked’s NG for me.

Like hell I’m going to bare my chest for all to see just because of this! REJECTED. Next!

Then, Chikarataro! 

No, no, it should be Monogusataro. 

Sannetaro!!

Enough of the Taro series! Move away from it! Taro, taro, taro..Enough of it!! Isn’t there anything else!? Something simple! Something that everyone knows!

How about you suggest something then? You were the one who wanted a change of the script, so shouldn’t you suggest something!?

It’s not like I can help it now, can I? Let’s go about this logically. There’s not enough time right not to make an entirely new script. Therefore, it’s only plausible if we go for a story that all of us know; all five of us. In other words, there’s only THAT story.

What’s “that”?

Shakespeare!

Shake...-!?

There’s no way we can go wrong with this. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the entire world knows of his works. It may be embarrassing to act his works out, but there is no easier play to enact in this world than shakespeare. All of his stories are famous beyond famous. So even if we’re only capable of doing a patchy job...Hm? What’s wrong? You’re all being so silent!

Ah!? My…!

Ah...Shakespeare, you say?

Indeed. Which of his stories would you prefer? I’ll let you have the option of at least that much.

Ahh, anything’s fine! Right?

Y-Yeah…! That one’s fine and that one too! Right, Kushinada-san!?

Ah...Yes! The tearful one might be good! They say that nothing’s better than a sob-story, right?

Hm…? Kushinada? Which story are you talking about…?

Ah…That one. You know, the one where someone dies…?

Hm...That’s hard. Most of Shakespeare's works end in tragedy. It’s hard to pin-point which one you’re talking about unless you’re more detailed about it. Isora, which work is he referring to?

Ehh!? W-Which!? The emotional one! You know where the main character dies...or not...or so!

And, you know…! Where the main character falls into despair...or not...or so!?

I...see?

A UFO...UFO!!!

You guys...are you saying that none of you know of Shakespere? Is this how it is, Kagutsuchi?

Urk...I don’t know! Goddamnit! I do know of at least Romeo and Juliet though! But something famous beyond famous!?

S-Sorry...it didn’t really feel like I could deny it...There’s nothing but Shakespere, yeah...actually, Shakespeare, who?

It’s finally out now! I don’t know and it’s hard lying about it like that! Having everything out in the open like this feels much better, right? Right!?

No, all of you were pretty interesting. I never thought that he’d take all of you so seriously when you were all just pretending to have understood whatever he had been going on about. I suppose this is truly what ad-lib acting is!

Sousuke-san, you know about it?

Of course! It would do you good to remember the 4 great tragedies at least! Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet. They’re all also famous beyond their time!

Huh? Amadeus? Learlo? Riaju?

It’s all muddled up, you know.

But! I know at least Romeo and Juliet!

Ahem! “Oh Romeo! Where art thou Roemo!”

Enough! Anyway, Owner. Anything Shakesperaren is out of the cards! It’s simply an impossible undertaking!

Isn’t there anything easier? Something with simple enough lines that all of us know about!?

Kushinada, suggest something.

M-Me!? Then...how about Cinderella or-

Blergh! Don’t you think it’s a little disgusting for all the actors to be men for that?

I don’t particularly mind.

Y-You don’t!?

Ahem! “Cinderella! Please finish cleaning the house up before we return home!”

Hey, Kagutsuchi! Don’t go off starting it all on your own like that! And why in the world are you voicing all the female roles!?

“Oh no! The seams on my dress have come off. Fix it for me!”

Did something like that even happen!?

Well then. “I’m going to the ball! I’ll be leaving the night shift to you then~!”

Aren’t there way too many of her mean sisters here?

“Allow me to magic up this pumpkin…!”

Kushinada…! The fairy godmother has appeared even though Cinderella hasn’t made a debut. Isn’t this bad!?

Hurry, Owner! Cinderella! You’re Cinderella!!

You mean...you’re making…me. Me! You’re making me participate in this...farce?

So, say something?

“Ah...I want to go to the ball too…”

CUUUUUUUT!! Owner! You’re way too despondent about this! Are you even putting your heart in this!?

Don’t turn the tables on me! You had other choices, didn’t you!?

Ehh? But it was proceeding on pretty smoothly!

Kushinada...You haven’t really read Cinderella before, have you? Your fairy godmother seems like it came right out of ‘The man who made flowers bloom’!

Seems like we went a full circle from Momotaro and back again to these old tales.

Did not!!

Argh!! We can’t seem to be able to decide anything at all! And look at the time! Can we really settle this and come up with something new before tomorrow!?

And we said that we’d think of something to base if off since it’s impossible to re-write a script now...but our Cinderella’s practically the original one.

Talk and talk, we did. But we still didn’t decide anything in the end…

Enough. Let’s just stick to the undead story…

That’s right! All we can do now is to do our best with the lines that we’ve already memorised!

Humph. In other words, we were all thrown for a loop...only to come back to the original story about the undead. I suppose there’s nothing we can do about it. It was a mistake to attempt changing out act on such short notice. So let’s go with the undead story. However, let’s change at least the ending.

The ending? Oh! You mean the dance part?

Yes! There’s that too, but this entire story’s ending is way too big for my taste. I’d rather it end off properly, you know?

Then, can’t we just end it off when the undead disappears into the forest? Everything else along with the dance should only come after that.

Right! That’s precisely it! We can’t change too much, else it’ll become a flop.

Let’s do that then! We’ve all already memorized our lines anyway so we’ll only be writing off the big celebration and dance.

What a pity~ The dance was pretty interesting too!

I don’t mind the dance...not really, anyway…

Really!?

Hmmmmmmm? You seem to have all your lines down to pat. Now, now, Yuzuki-sama…?

Did he perfect his dance too!?

I...It was only my responsibility, having taken up this job.

That’s amazing, Owner! I admire actors like that with the hardworking trait! They don’t only remember their own lines, but they also go out of their way to remember everybody’s!

I don’t have to?

Amazing! Owner, you’re a blessing from the gods! A natural-born actor!

No, he’s just a veteran.

The celebration’s a no-go but the dance gets a pass! Alright, once more from the top!

I’ll follow after you, Owner!

Scene 18: Flurin Cafe, start!

Who is it? Hurry and name yourself!

I can’t believe it...There’s a murderer among us?

Don’t do this, please! It’s not good to be suspecting each other like this...I can’t...I can’t stand doing this!

You can’t be joking, right? Are you serious? And in the first place…

Yeah. I’m dead serious. There’s certainly someone here among us who’s a murderer, wearing the facade of a human; an undead who has returned to the living.

Wait, hold up!

What is it now, Isora!? Why are you stopping us again!?

Thinking it through, nothing’s been settled at all! I don’t want to act as the undead! I don’t want to!

You were the one who lost at rock-paper-scissors!

What a sore loser…

Um...we’re repeating the same pattern again..

You have it good, Hino-kun. You have a line that goes “YOU are the undead!!”. I have it pretty hard on the other hand...I mean, what is this line!? “Hehehehe. There’s nothing I can do now that I’ve been found out. I’m the undead that has just been introduced by yours truly, Isora!” This isn’t a vow in a marriage or anything like that!

No good...This doesn’t seem like it’ll get itself settled anytime soon...

[anchanted-library]

FFXIV Prompt. 04. Clinch

"Alright then!" Y'Shtola said, a bright twinkle in her pearly eyes. "Speaking for myself, I wish we had done this ages ago. It felt like we never held a remembrance for Minfilia. We could not have asked for a more perfect time!"

"So who'd like to go next?" Thancred asked, eyes still heavy.

"Why not you, old friend?" Urianger prodded. "No one knew her better than you did, save perhaps for Lady F'lhaminn."

"Who is F'lhaminn?" Minfilia asked. 

Thancred smiled fondly. "We can scarce examine every life that Minfilia's touched. But F'lhaminn—the Songstress of Ul'dah—is perhaps appropriate to touch upon. After all, she was Mifilia's mother."

"Her Mother?" the younger Minfilia asked. "But her name, it sounds Mystel... I mean Miqo'te!"

"So you noticed that, did you?" Thancred laughed. "Well spotted!"

The small girl swelled with pride, as she always did when Thancred praised her.

"Indeed, F'lhaminn was not her birth mother, rather her adoptive one. When Minfilia's Father, Warburton, died from injuries sustained from a goobbue attack, F'lhaminn took her in and raised her. The two women could not have been closer had they indeed been Mother and Child."

"Was she the one who raised Minfilia to be such a great woman?" the child asked, eyes sparkling.

"Lady Minfilia hath always been inclined most readily to kindness and compassion," Urianger said. "But the Lady F'lhaminn certainly did her part to reinforce Minfilia's nature. Easy it would have been for Minfilia to travel down paths, led astray by unhappy thoughts and festering sorrow. But F'lhammin worked patiently. Tirelessly. And within no time at all, Minfilia was back to her old, sincere self."

Thancred's heart wandered down the musical passages of his memory before he picked an anecdote of F'Lhaminn, Ryosen, and Minfilia.

He smiled. "Alright. I got one!"

*

"Minilia!" F'lhaminn called. "This way!" She hopped from rock to rock, tail straight as an arrow from her excitement.

"Please wait!" Minfilia called, huffing and puffing. "I... can't... keep... up!" 

She stopped in her tracks, doubled over and hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. A stitch in her side ached so badly she feared that it would last the rest of the week. She felt deeply embarrassed. She may not have been a field agent, preferring to manage the affairs and movements of the Scions from their Headquarters, but she did dedicate an hour every day to exercise—and three on weekends! It was so embarrassing to be outdone by someone so much older than her even by a little bit, let alone to the point where F'lhaminn wasn't even breathing hard while she, Minfilia, could hardly breathe.

"Here," Ryosen offered her his bottle. There was a sheen of sweat upon his horned brow, and he was also breathing more heavily than normal from the exertion. But years of practice meant he probably had hours to go before he would really start to tire. "Have a sip, Minfilia-sama. But don't go more than a mouthful! It will hinder rather than help!"

Minfilia gratefully accepted the proffered bottle and took a deep draught. "Thank you Ryosen-san!" she said gratefully. It was difficult to maintain her usual dignity with her pale hair plastered to her face by sweat, so she abandoned it altogether. "Oh, my hero! Could you be a bigger hero and carry me on your shoulders?" She tapped one of his broad arms as high as she could reach with her muscles all numb. 

Mmmmmh! What had been in that bottle? It was sweet like blueberries and cream, and it's effect was remarkable! She felt like a gentle, cool breeze was spreading through her veins.

"I would love to," Ryosen grinned wide. "But I think you have another malm in you. You are not yet as tired as you think!"

Minfilia groaned pitifully. Ryosen was like a Gridanian life coach at heart, always encouraging everyone to push their envelope as far as they could, never interfering unless he suspected they were out of their depth.

Most days she admired how good he was at this, and acknowledged that there was some merit to letting people persevere and realize just how strong they truly are, rather than stepping in every time they broke a sweat. 

But today she was on the receiving end of his lesson, and looked at him mutinously.

"Now now," he said brightly. "Don't look at me like that! Remember what you told Yda the other day?"

Minfilia lowered her head with exaggerated dispiritedness. "'Can you imagine the pride you will feel when you accomplish your goal?'"

"Actually, what you said was, 'Grin and bear it, squats champion!'" Minfilia groaned again.

Ryosen's eyes grew more serious. "It's alright. You can do this. Besides," he nodded at F'lhammin a few dozen yalms away, where she had also stopped to catch her breath. "If you recover quickly enough you might overtake her!"

Minfilia felt her face brighten. "That lights a fire in my belly!"

"Not too fast," Ryosen cautioned. "Or you'll tire yourself out even worse. I guarantee you will feel embarrassed afterwards if I have to carry you after all while your Mother walks." "Hai!" she cried, loping along the trail. As it turned out, she did manage to overtake her mother briefly, and even completed their trek without needing assistance.

She was feeling quite good about herself as she collapsed onto the shore of the mountain lake F'lhaminn had scouted out on one of her excursions. She lay down on her back, allowing the wind to bring the scents of the many flowers blooming in the meadow. A few butterflies danced above her head before one of them descended lazily onto her nose.

She giggled.

"Well done, Minfilia!" F'lhaminn beamed. 

"Thank you Lhammin," Minfilia gasped, sending the butterfly darting away. "I didn't think I could make it!"

"Not that," F'lhaminn said softly, sitting down next to her. "You clinched yourself a really good man. I'm so happy for you!"

Minfilia bolted upright, her face flushing. "Wh-wh-wh-wh-what?" she stammered red faced. Her face was so hot she thought steam was rushing out of her ears. She waved her hands animatedly in a manner which screamed denial. "It's not like that, not at all! Absolutely not! Ryosen-san is just..."

F'lhaminn laughed, patting her gently. "Oh? So it was just my imagination then. You Certainly don't light up like a hundred suns when you feel his presence. And that unbridled joy that I have never seen you exude is just me too. I understand." She winked. "It's the worst kept secret in Mor Dhona. Even Papalymo has noticed it."

Minfilia tried to quieten down but her face still felt quite hot. "Do you think he... likes me?"

"I think that even he has his own fears," F'lhaminn whispered conspiratorially. "It's difficult to remember sometimes that he was cloistered in Bishamon's temple since he was thirteen. There were some things he never got to experience growing up. Even he still has things he could learn. He would never tell anyone his true feelings first. Does that give you pause? If it does, the two of you will be doing this dance for the rest of your lives. We only live once you know."

Minfilia said nothing. She watched Ryosen. He stood some distance away, getting a fire going to cook their evening meal. She smiled at the thought of his cooking. He wasn't too bad at it, especially when using foraged ingredients.

"See, there's the sort of smile I never saw on your cheeks before!" F'lhaminn sang. "There are smiles, and there are these beautiful expressions that come straight from your soul and light up your whole body, but which we must also call smiles because vocabulary is limited like that!"

Minfilia chuckled. "Yes," she admitted at last, for the first time in words. Her voice was so high it sounded like a songbirds. "I do... I do... l-l-like him." Her Mother pulled a face at her choosing the word ‘like’. "And he likes you too," she huffed.

"What should I do?"

"Decide that for yourself!" F'lhaminn got onto her feet. "I brought you two here, to the most romantic spot I have ever seen, hoping you can work this out like grown-ups. The rest is up to you! Do not let me see you back in Revenant's Toll for at least five hours. I'm keeping count!"

With that, she recited a spell and teleported back to the Mor Dhona Aetheryte. For the second time in ten minutes, Minfilia was so caught off guard it felt like she'd been knocked skywards. "Eh.... ehhhh? EHHHHHHHHH?"

*

The group laughed heartily.

"I do believe thou art making that up, mine Old Friend!" Urianger cried, tears streaming down his face.

"On mine honor, it's true!" Thancred said with mock indignation painted on his face.

"How did you ever hear that?" Y'Shtola asked. “Not Minfilia herself? Or Ryosen?”

"From F'lhaminn of course." Thancred smiled. "She said 'And that's how you put your foot down, Thancred! And that's how you win my girl's heart.'"

Another round of laughter broke out over the campfire.

It was twenty minutes later that Erika broke the silence that followed. "Dinner's ready! I chose Ryosen's method of cooking for obvious reasons!"

*

[howlingmoonrise]

Dear Yuletide Author

Hi! Thanks for signing up for Yuletide despite the hell year it’s been, I hope you have fun with your assignment!

I ramble a lot so everything is below the cut. Obviously you don’t have to follow any of this (though I hope you’ll respect my squicks) but hopefully this will help you out!

general things i like

so much pining. all the pining. pining everywhere plz.

continuing from above, PINING. i mean it. i prefer a thousand times over idiots in love who are having a hard time wrapping their minds around it than an already established relationship.

either gen or romantic is fine! what really does it for me is the development of the relationship, platonic or otherwise. it’s all about the growing intimacy and understanding and character dynamics and interactions and developing trust and finding kinship and growing respect for the other and subconsciously learning to lean on the other over anyone else and--

i love love love enemies-to-reluctant-allies-(to-maybe-friends?)-to-lovers and bickering pairs in general! it’s so much fun and it gives us so many opportunities for character and relationship developments okay i’m a slut for that shit

sticking to the original characterizations and the tone of canon is a definite plus!!!

“missing scenes” and “what if” canon-divergent situations are excellent, as are continuations from where canon left us depending on the fandom! more details on the sections for the respective fandoms i GUESS

casual intimacy is super fun, especially when adapted to the character dynamics. a bickering pair being casually comfortable adds a whole new depth to it, enemy dynamics makes is hilarious since the other half would have zero clue as to how to react, a pair that is already comfortable with each other that they do stuff without communicating is so intimate, mix and match however you like!

fun tropes i enjoy (a bit romance-leaning but if you’re not into that then some of these can probably be adapted): fake dating, accidentally got roped into x and shenanigans of all sorts keep happening, misunderstood confessions, groundhog day au, one or both the characters having stupid levels of denial while technically in a relationship and just not realizing it like What Do You Mean We’re Dating??, that sorta thing.

TROPE SUBVERSION ALL THE WAY!

--

general things i dislike

kidfics. babyfics. next gen fics. pregnancy fics, or even pregnancy discussed in the fic is a major squick of mine. the one exception i make for kidfics is for kids already existent in canon and even then it depends, but no babies or children otherwise please.

future fics/time skips in general, actually. what i enjoy is the relationship development, so huge time skips make me feel like we missed way too much

angst is... mrrmf. it really depends on how it’s done, but usually it feels like it’s angst for the sake of angst instead of giving the fic some actual meat.  as a result of this, i’d pass at least on most content with major character death, sexual abuse, self-harm, gender/sexuality angst, the like. beyond that, feel free to go ahead!

hard AUs are a bit ugh to me. by this i mean AUs that rely heavily on setting, such as high school AUs, harry potter AUs, that sort of thing. i DO however enjoy stuff like soulmate AUs and alternate canon AUs, depending on the concept and on the fandom. more details in their own sections if you enjoy writing those!

i heavily dislike things involving cheating/infidelity, sickfics, and genderbending of any kind is a bit ehhhh for me, as are concepts such as ABO. hard pass on stuff like dysphoria and deep diving into mental illnesses and disorders, too.

script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, i really enjoy prose instead of nearly all dialogue!

stuff with bigotry in general, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc as well as discussions of it is a pass in general. it’s not a HUGE squick but i’d rather not see it if possible

discussions and thoughts on gender/sexuality. if you’re gonna make them gay/bi/etc, make them gay/bi/etc, no exploration of it added. delving into the psyche of it is a hard pass.

--

if you’re going for nsfw

kinks

moderate sadomasochism, uncommon forms of bondage (plants, stuck with strange substance or in awkward position, the shadows from p&tf as restraints, etc), choking/breathplay, xenophilia and tentacles/alien genitals (shadowplay in p&tf for example), moderate degradation, edging/desperation play, ladies topping and calling the shots, bloodplay/knifeplay, long hair dragging over skin, sharp nails/claws (charlotte la bouff, morticia), lowkey cannibalism imagery and hunger, biting, ladies stepping on body parts with their heels on

squicks

scat, vomit, praise kink, daddy/mommy or baby kink, vore, forced feminization, pet play, wound-fucking, abuse, abo, anything involving pregnancy at all

--

PRINCESS AND THE FROG

i am 100% aware this is a weird-ass pairing but gods, the possibilities. it has so much potential. there are few things i like quite as much as a villain and a good person developing a strange sort of kinship with each other >u> this doesn’t have to mean a romantic development, if it’s not your thing! as i said, for me it’s the building understanding and reluctant respect that i really love, far more than the actual romance.

ideas, ideas, ideas. i’m aware this is a rare relationship to either portray or ask for, so i’m gonna try to give some more concrete-ish ones for you to build up on if you have no clue as to how to approach this. 

we could have canonverse with charlotte dealing with the shadowman in some other, unrelated matter while the main plot is occurring, making him feel somewhat guilty about the whole marriage plot with laurence-turned-naveen. cue introspection, or even an entirely different outcome.

or a post-canon sort of hades&persephone plot (please no actual hades and persephone au though), with charlotte curious despite herself and tempted to listen to a shadow/dead/whatever!dr facilier when she’s the only one that can hear him.

in a continuation from above, OR her being dragged Beneath with him in a freak accident and then charming him into helping her back to the surface/living world (very, veeeeery reluctantly on his part, at least at the start, he might have even be thinking of tricking her but then change his mind when the time comes to do it).

i think dr facilier wouldn’t be sure how to deal with charlotte’s particular brand of personality and good humour, and it’d throw him off his rhythm a lot - that sort of thing is always super fun to write.

soulmate au in canon would work pretty well, but with this pairing? you could even do a FULL AU, keeping only basic stuff like the shadowman thing to her normal bougie self; it’s one of her charms. (and their personalities, of course). stuff like charlotte thinking that she wants one thing (her prince-slash-one-true-love, etc) while keeping getting drawn to him time and time again could work on pretty much any era or setting. vice-versa for him, thinking he wants to be rid of her but coming to realize he’d actually miss her if she were to be gone. OR, charlotte deciding she wants this sullen manipulative bastard and manipulating HIM into taking her out and hanging out with her would be hilarious.

if you wanna do nsfw, i have only one major request: charlotte calling the shots/topping. i think this arrangement would be in character for both of them (dr facilier would prob also enjoy having someone else do all the work lol) considering her go-getter attitude, but keeping in mind his manipulative personality i’d be more comfortable if she had some control over what was happening. ASIDE FROM THAT, d’you know what would be fun? a little darkness, and by that i mean consider dr facilier’s shadow joining in on the fun. shadows would also be an interesting sort of constraint. also i know i said charlotte calling the shots, but she can be constrained by the shadows while being amused by it or being used to it (implying it’s not the first time that they’ve used it in bed play and that it’s therefore negotiated), or charlotte could team up with the shadow to do it to facilier instead. charlotte using her nails and facilier being a bit of a sub/masochist would be excellent!

(actually in general it’d be really fun if there was some complicity between charlotte and facilier’s shadow in general, nsfw or otherwise. the shadow being wrapped around her little finger is an excellent concept, especially if facilier isn’t too fond of her just yet OwO)

--

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

oh boy. let me just begin by saying that this really isn’t my usual kind of pairing, by sheer virtue of them being perfectly happy and established in canon. HOWEVER, they’re goth and they’re odd and they’re kinky and they’re delightful to watch interact (i’m familiar with the movie canon featuring anjelica and raúl and a few (few!) of the comics, so idk about other dynamics) and so they’ve managed to creep their way into my blackened little heart.

THAT BEING SAID, my absolute biggest wish for this fandom would be pre-relationship. i don’t mind if canon is twisted a bit for this, considering that they presumably met and proposed on the very same day, so it’s definitely a bit hard to work with. perhaps some shenanigans with the funeral itself? or gomez has a date/fiancée already and so there’s some juggling of priorities here while he’s absolutely falling over himself in order to continue looking at that gothic vision of a woman? or an old family feud, or them just being downright useless at knowing how to deal with proper romance (on morticia’s side, i’d imagine she’d only grow more stoic and be at a loss of what to say. on gomez’s side, it’s probably his first time being speechless, or he’s not speechless but he’s flirted so much in his life that he doesn’t know what to do with these actual literal feelings, what the hell is this and how does he show he actually means it this time??), or morticia has a long string of dead fiancés black widow-style (i think she and debbie would have gotten along great if given the chance okay), or a soulmate au where they don’t realize it’s each other right away, or morticia amusedly pretends to be dating gomez before they know each other to get him out of a bind, or they’re somehow roped into someone else’s shenanigans and don’t know how to react to each other (my money is on either ophelia or cousin itt putting them in a bind), the sky is the limit!

if you’re more comfortable writing established, however, casual intimacy or smut are the best! give me a moment of respite where they are just comfortable basking in each other’s presence, or when they’re separated for a moment at an event or something and the longing is burning all the way across them until they come back together again (y’know, in the good old way of the script). for smut, morticia being a mostly stoic dom maybe? (though yes, i know she’s very much into being tied up and tortured, i can’t really see her as a normal sub unless it’s really something languid and drawn-out - she doesn’t really read as someone who spends a lot of energy doing things others will do for her). they’re both definitely into pain and bondage too; morticia conflating arousal with hunger would also be really interesting to see (think praying mantis or lady spider who is actually very invested on not taking off her partner’s head, but who dreams of it all the same. gomez is, of course, very much into it). something lowkey macabre would be amazing.

things i’d like to see for this fandom in general are:

morticia being her stoic vampiric goddess of a self

gomez being completely twitterpatted for her as usual

burning sultry glares/staring across the room

overly passionate hand-kissing

creepy/gothic atmosphere

you know, like canon. (with non-existent or minimal kid existence, though)

references to horror stuff/general creepiness like sudden lightning, casual poisonings and dealings with death, dracula references, etc, like the movies would be super fun, as campy as possible! half the greatness of the movies come from these imho

--

MONSTROUS REGIMENT

i have a confession to make: it’s been a while since i last read it, and so i fear i won’t be as helpful in giving ideas/dynamics for this fandom as i was in the others. 

i have one request - apart from what i’ve already rambled on about above - and that is for at least polly to be portrayed as female (or close enough, although not quite non-binary). to make it clearer: i usually see them both as female, even if not female-presenting (it’s funny because as i was writing this i actually kept writing about maladict as “he” so frankly it’s whatever, i definitely prefer “maladict” to “maladicta” at least in terms of names though) but chaffing to fit the roles that “female” comes along with, especially with maladict and the expectations for female vampires. i’d rather the fic not have gender or sexuality exploration, since like i said above i think it detracts from the meat of the stuff - if you want to see maladict as male, write him male with male pronouns (keeping the female vampire backstory if you’re keeping it canon, otherwise it wouldn’t really make sense). if you want to make her female, write her female with female pronouns. i’d pass on they/them pronouns though. i don’t particularly care either way outside of polly however, just don’t delve into the psyche/introspection of it please.

if you have different views on their genders and it would make you uncomfortable to write female polly or non-they/them maladict, then that’s fine with me as well! these are just my preferences, and i thought i’d elaborate on them since the fandom has many perspectives on this topic. 

with that out of the way, on to more interesting stuff!

what’s good: their interactions. oh dear loki, their interactions. they have my favourite dynamic in the whole book, and they’re weirdly comfortable with each other (especially since polly lowkey threatens maladict after kicking the other dude in the nads, in my view that moment probably got his undead little heart skipping a beat (do vampires have beating hearts on discworld? i haven’t read enough discworld to remember this)) and they understand each other the best out of the rest of the squad. maladict teasing polly and pretending to be cool before polly catches on to him is absolutely hilarious, and i absolutely love maladict trying (and failing!! horribly!!) at being smooth. also polly blackmailing people left and right is absolutely fantastic.

as you can probably guess, i’d love some canon-verse interactions. perhaps alternate scenes or what-ifs of canon events, or even extra scenes during the ongoing plot of the book. OR, post-book, once they have their own squad of little lads and have to figure out how the hell to handle that, or shenanigans where they have some sort of mission or official event elsewhere and resolutely stick together because “if i have to deal with this then so do you”. or some hilarity with maladict desperately going after every coffee grain available so he doesn’t just bury his face on polly’s neck because she smells so good but that would be an awkward conversation to have and he’d rather die (again) than admit to that. 

what else? AUs! feel free to completely tear apart the canon discworld, though i’d request polly remain her ass-kicking clever self and maladict an awkward vampire. maybe maladict has to deal with diaphanous underwired nightgowns. maybe polly has to deal with diaphanous underwired nightgowns. vampire politics? satirical awkward dracula au? maladict failing horribly at being a vampire (failing at being a female vampire or trying to pass at being a male vampire and failing at that, too)? they’re all great! 

what matters to me is their banter and the way they keep falling into pace with each other, regardless of the way they begin. a good dose of sardonical pratchett-style humour would also be welcome ;)

--

thank you so much for staying with me this far! i hope you have a grand time this yuletide, and that you enjoy your own requested fic as well!