#i am not made for conducting research outside

[supernaturalscribe67]

Favors

Words: 6,851

Pov: 3rd Person

Pairing: Crowley x Male!Reader

Warning(s): Language, SMUT (18+), Rimming, Teasing, Male on Male penetration, brief orgasm denial, Bottom!Reader, Top!Crowley

Summary: (Y/N) is a well-known researcher and hacker in the hunting industry, dedicating his life to protecting innocent people all around the United States. What happens when the King of Hell comes to him with a problem he needs help solving and a deal that (Y/N) cannot turn down?

Request:

Hope you are having a good day/night

Omg I absolutely love the Crowley x older Winchester brother reader fic you did for me

I was wondering if I could request Crowley x Male reader smut

@xweirdo101x

A/N: I haven't written smut in so long, I hope you like it! Plus, this is my first time writing male/male smut, so feedback is really appreciated! MINORS DNI!!!!! Much Love!

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It was beautiful that morning. Light barely shone over the treeline, the warm colors faintly casting a reflection across the lake that sat outside of the small house. The ground was littered with red, orange, and yellow leaves, decorating it like some cheesy floor pattern on a Welcome Mat. The wind whipped through the branches, conducting the trees in a synchronized dance. Morning Doves sang their harmonious tune. 

It was 8:30 AM. (Y/N) sat peacefully in the rocking chair that was nestled in the corner of the aged porch. A blanket draped over his lap, and a warm cup of steaming coffee in his grasp. It was mornings like that that gave him a sense of serenity, that reminded him of the world outside of his profession. That was why, in the mornings, he had one rule. One simple rule; 

No phone calls before nine. 

Granted, lives were at stake. Hunters all across the United States were taking on various jobs as he sat there, and some needed information quicker than others. He made an exception to the rule in case of an emergency, but nothing more. Most of his life was consumed with research and phone calls while he sat in a stuffy room near the back of the house. He knew that, when his reputation in the hunting community became well-known, he would need to set some rules and boundaries to allow himself some personal time. Some time to relax and reflect. 

Not everyone followed those rules, however. 

A buzz from his phone sounded next to him. It sat on a small, rusted round table next to the rocking chair. (Y/N)’s gaze turned towards the phone as it shifted with each violent vibration across the metal. He could feel the vibrating under his feet against the wood. Across the screen, Sam Winchester was written. A heavy, yet somehow content, sigh escaped past his lips as he reached over and picked up his phone. A part of him said that he should ignore it, but the other was telling him that it could be urgent. The Winchesters rarely got in contact with him before noon. 

“Hello?” He answered, his voice deep and calm. 

“Hey, (Y/N)! Dean and I were wondering if you could look something up for us?” Sam’s voice rang through the receiver, a little too cheery first thing in the morning, in (Y/N)’s opinion. They must have been up for hours by then. 

“Is the information urgent?” 

There was a long pause. “Well…”

“Mr. Winchester, what is my rule?” 

Another long pause. “No phone calls before nine.”

“Exactly, unless there was someone actively dying and we were under a time constraint. Are we on a time constraint, Mr. Winchester?” 

“Please, call me Sam.” 

“Are we on a time constraint, Sam?” 

Pause. “No. We just wanted to get whatever information we could before we headed to the police station to talk to the officers.”

“You and I both know you’re going to gather even more evidence about the case after the fact, so I think it would be wise to just go ahead and make your way to the police station. They might answer some of your questions, they might not. Hell, you might have even more questions for me by the time you’re done.” 

“You’re right, you’re right. Uh…I guess I’ll…give you a call back when we’re done.”

“After nine, of course.” (Y/N) nodded slowly. 

“Right. After nine,” 

“Thank you, Sam. You know, I always love talking to you. You’re easier to communicate with than your brother.” 

Sam chuckled deeply. “Thanks, I get that a lot,”

“Well, it’s true. Anyway, go talk to the police, and then let me know of anything you might need, alright?” 

“Alright, bye,”

“Bye,” (Y/N) ended the phone call and replaced the phone in its original position. 

He brought the cup of coffee up to his face, blowing cool air onto the surface. Steam curled around the mug as he took a sip. There were some people he didn’t mind receiving phone calls from in the morning, during his off hours. Sam Winchester was one of them. Always so polite when he had to remind him, he almost didn’t mind having to repeat himself over and over again. He knew how stressful the physical aspect of the hunting life could be, but Sam was one who never let his anger appear evident when they conversed that early in the morning. His brother, on the other hand, seemed to hold all of the anger for both brothers on his sleeve. (Y/N) had many unpleasant conversations with the older Winchester, but he also had some satisfying ones. In the end, he didn’t mind working with the Winchesters. They were the ones that called him the most. They were the ones who kept him busy and were appreciative when he was able to give them the information that they were in search of. That much he was grateful for. 

“Hello, darling,” a scratchy, baritone voice broke the placid silence. 

(Y/N) showed no physical reaction, yet he felt as if his heart had lept into his throat. It raced rapidly and he felt the familiar sensation of gooseflesh appear on his arms. He couldn’t necessarily blame it on the cool breeze. In front of him, Crowley stood, hands deep in the pockets of his black peacoat. A smirk was placed on his lips, covered by the beard that had grown out since the last time (Y/N) saw him. 

He had met Crowley some years ago through the Winchesters. It was then he had gotten his first taste of the types of connections Sam and Dean had. When they originally told him about one of their contacts being the King of Hell, he was rather skeptical at first. Rumors travel fast in the hunting world, and (Y/N) knew all of them, especially the ones that star Sam and Dean Winchester. Yet, when he had initially met Crowley, he was pleasantly surprised. He never expected an individual with a clean, lavish appearance as he. He never expected the accent either. It had shocked him at first, but not negatively. In a way, he had always assumed that the King of Hell was going to be some grotesque monster that would seem as if they dwelled deep in a humid cave. He could blame that on his ignorance. 

Since then, the handful of times he had interactions with the King of Hell, he would not say they had been horrible. Quite the opposite, they had been fairly pleasant. Crowley was cordial towards him, speaking to him in, what (Y/N) had first assumed was, a respectful tone, but later concluded that it would be more accurate to call it professional. Crowley was charismatic, a businessman. He knew how to get what he wanted out of people, and (Y/N) could see why they fell for it each time. Crowley knew exactly what to say and when to say it. That accent of his could put anyone in a trance. 

(Y/N) sat the cup of coffee down on the side table beside his phone before he placed both of his hands in his lap, his fingers folded over one another. “Good morning, Crowley. How…unexpected of you to pop in this early in the morning.” 

“Quite,” Crowley paused as he looked around, studying his environment. “I must say, I never expected a man such as yourself to own a place with such beauty.” 

(Y/N) slowly nodded. “While I appreciate the backhanded compliment, I am currently off the clock. That is if you needed anything in the first place and didn’t just stop by for some idle chit-chat.” 

“I never ‘chit-chat’. I did come by to ask for your…assistance with something.” 

“As I have said, I am off the clock. If you need my help with anything, you can come back at nine o’clock.” 

A smirk appeared in the corner of Crowley’s mouth. “Check the time, darling,” 

(Y/N)’s eyes shifted over to his phone. Hesitantly, he reached over and clicked the screen, illuminating his background of deep purples and blues. 

9:01 A.M.

As he looked back over at Crowley, he noted that the smirk was still there. Crowley shrugged, the ruffle of fabric filling the silence. 

“It’s time to clock back in.” 

(Y/N let out a sigh as he slapped his hands onto his knees, standing from his seat. He caught the blanket before it was able to fall off and folded it thrice. He then turned and laid it over the back of the rocker. He placed his phone into his pocket, then grabbed his coffee mug, the steam having dissipated since Crowley had arrived. 

“Let’s head to my study, then,” he mumbled. 

He walked past Crowley towards the screen porch door. Before he had the chance to grab it, Crowley opened it for him, startling (Y/N) for a moment. (Y/N) nodded his head. 

“Such a gentleman.” He murmured and walked into the house, Crowley following soon after. 

The foyer was small but tidy, so it seemed bigger than it was. The new floors glimmered in the morning light, and the walls were decorated with various pieces of artwork. (Y/N) took pride in renovating the older house, making it a place he was happy to call his home. 

When he had found the house for sale, he was surprised, initially, by how little it cost. Seeing the state upon purchase made him understand the drop in price almost immediately. It took several months for him to turn the once run-down house into a livable place, one where he wasn’t afraid of catching asbestos poisoning every night. Since he completed the remodeling, he has made sure that the house is well-decorated, comfortable, and clean. 

To the right of the foyer was the entryway into the kitchen. It wasn’t that large, but with one person occupying the house, he found it unnecessary to include more counter space in the renovation. To the left was the living room, well-lit with natural light in the morning and even brighter with the overhead ceiling fan at night, comfortable enough to seat many different people if he ever decided to have guests over to mingle. Ahead of Crowley and (Y/N), down the hallway, sat three doors, all of them ajar. Directly ahead was his bedroom, to the left was the guest bathroom, and to the right was his study, the one place where (Y/N) found he was spending most of his time throughout the twenty-four hours of the day. 

(Y/N) kicked off his slides, placing them next to the front door, before replacing them with a pair of slippers. He then gestured down the hallway with his head. 

“This way,” he said as he began to walk down the hallway. 

The study was a masterpiece in it of itself. The walls directly beside the door and adjacent were lined with built-in bookshelves, courtesy of (Y/N) himself. On the shelves sat various centuries' worth of lore, categorized by decade, topic, and alphabetized by the last name of the author, if the author was known, that is. On the other wall sat large windows lined side-by-side, the curtains pulled back to allow sunlight in. Sitting at an angle in the middle of the floor was a heavy mahogany desk, similar to one that would be found in a lawyer’s or politician’s office. A rolling desk chair sat behind it, something cheap yet comfortable. On top of the desk were different books that were opened to certain pages that (Y/N) had left off on, a notebook with a ballpoint pen, an LED keyboard with a matching Bluetooth mouse, and a large, curved monitor with two smaller monitors on either side. Two chairs sat in front of the desk, a place where hunters had sat multiple times when visiting and discussing business with him. 

(Y/N) rounded the corner of the desk and sat down in the office chair, the cup still grasped between his hands. He took another sip of his coffee as he scanned over the cluttered surface of his desk. As he moved books out of the way, his tongue poked into his cheek. Finally, with a triumphant ‘ah’, he pulled the brown coaster from underneath one of the book spines. He placed his mug on top of it, bent down, and turned on his computer. 

“Alright, if you want to have a seat,” (Y/N) gestured to the chair. 

“I prefer to stand.” 

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged and typed his passcode rapidly into his keyboard. 

The three monitors lit up with work he had been focused on the day before. Carefully, he saved documents and exited out of files. When the files were all tucked away and his screens were cleared, he turned his attention back to Crowley. 

“Now, what is this problem you’re having? And, please be quick about it, I have some hunters that are going to be calling me back to gather information for them as well.” 

“The Winchesters can wait,” Crowley said as he stalked forward. 

(Y/N) fought back the urge to ask how Crowley had known the Winchesters were the ones to call, for he knew the answer already. 

“Now, I seem to be having a bit of a rogue demon problem.” Crowley began to pace around the room, his eyes seeming to study the different texts that lined the walls and the scenery outside. 

“Don’t we all?” 

“Mine’s a little different.” 

“How so?” 

“You see, I control the demons, right? Specifically, I control the deals that come in when humans summon us to the crossroads. I expect demons to persuade these people in some way to get these deals by possessing family members, friends, and the like, while others are sent when they are summoned to take these deals. It’s a rather layered process, too many demons, too many steps, but it works.” 

“I see,” (Y/N) hummed as he folded his hands on top of the desk, back slouched. 

“Recently, however, it has come to my attention that there have been several demons who don’t necessarily, well, like me.” 

“I can’t imagine why,” (Y/N) mumbled, his words dripping with sarcasm. 

Crowley ignored him. “And I’ve found out by a rather reliable source that a handful of demons have been rebelling against me. Some are just not persuading people as they are supposed to and running rampant in the street while others, the ones who are summoned, are taking these individuals' souls without giving anything in return. They mess with the deal.” 

“Do you not see that as a win in your situation? You get their soul no matter what, Crowley.” 

“Ah, you see, I do, but I am a man of my word.” He stopped and placed his hand on his chest. “When deals are made, they are not meant to be broken. They are taking their souls and sending them right back to the pathetic life that they came to fix. I don’t like humans as much as the next demon, but a deal is a deal, and it should not be messed with.”

“How…noble? What does this exactly have to do with me?” 

Crowley reached into his peacoat, pulling out a sheet of folded white paper. He walked over and placed it on (Y/N)’s desk. On it was a list of locations and dates neatly written in calligraphy. Most of the locations were paired with a date from a couple of days ago, some a couple of weeks, and some were marked from that very day.

“This is a list of all known demon locations and times that they were last seen there. The crossroads demons I can deal with on my own, they will be harder for someone like you to find, but these are the demons that were supposed to be possessing family members and the such. They’re lower-ranked demons than others, so they lack the necessary powers to teleport, makes them easier to find.” 

“And what am I supposed to do with this?” He gestured to the paper with his hands. 

“Find the demons on that computer of yours, tell me where they are, and I will take care of the rest.” 

(Y/N) slowly nodded. There had been many instances where he had been able to find the location of a monster for different hunters by hacking into various CCTV cameras across the country. Some places had more cybersecurity than others, but overall, it was a simple task, something he had picked up the first month or so after he started learning the art of hacking and coding. It wouldn’t take that long for him to track some of the demons. 

“Why should I help you?” 

“Think of it this way, darling,” Crowley walked over, stood behind the desk chair, and placed a hand on (Y/N)’s shoulder. 

The violent buzzing interrupted anything Crowley was going to say. (Y/N)’s legs vibrated in time with the buzzes. He reached into his pocket and fished out his phone. Sam Winchester flashed across the screen. He held up a finger to Crowley. 

“Hold on, I have to take this,” he said. 

Just before he was able to accept the call, however, Crowley snatched the phone from his hand. 

“Hey!” 

“Ah ah ah,” Crowley tsked and wagged a finger. “We are in the middle of a deal.” He ended the call and placed the phone in his pocket. 

(Y/N) clenched his jaw. He held out his hand. “Give it back, Crowley.” 

“Not until we finished our deal, darling,” 

“I never said we had a deal.” 

“Then it appears you’re not going to be getting your phone back.” 

“Crowley,” he growled. 

Crowley chuckled deeply, his chest rumbling. “So tense,” he smirked. “It must be hard. Being out here all by yourself. No ring on your finger, which means that you haven’t got a wife or husband. I’m guessing you don’t have a partner either, considering all you do is sit here and help other hunters.” Crowley slowly ran a finger over (Y/N)’s shoulder blades, eliciting a shiver from him. “How about this deal, then,” Crowley leaned down, his face merely inches from (Y/N)’s. “I get rid of some of your tension and you find the demons for me, deal?” 

Crowley’s breath was hot against (Y/N)’s face. The closeness caused his stomach to churn. (Y/N) wouldn’t deny that Crowley was an attractive man - demon, he corrected himself. He had thought so since the first time they met, yet he knew the dangers of getting involved with demons. That was why a small part of him was weary of the Winchesters, seeing how easily they got along with the King of Hell. ‘Got Along’ wasn’t necessarily as accurate as ‘tolerated’. He corrected himself again. When Crowley spoke with that accent, and when his voice was deep and gravelly, it was almost as if (Y/N) was hypnotized. 

That accent of his could put anyone in a trance.

“Crowley,” he breathed, unaware that his heart had begun to beat faster. 

“The demons get killed, I get what I want, and I leave you more satisfied than you have ever been before,” Crowley’s hand slowly moved up and began to trace along (Y/N)’s jawline. His fingers stopped when he got to (Y/N)’s chin. He tilted his head up so that they were looking into each other’s eyes, their noses brushing against one another. “Have we got a deal?” 

Crowley’s eyes were just as hypnotic as his voice. It was as if (Y/N) was staring into an iced glass of whiskey. It was hard to believe that, behind those eyes, stood a dark entity who controlled the deepest, darkest depths of Hell. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him, telling him that it was a bad idea, that he should retreat and reject the offer. 

(Y/N) was completely mesmerized. 

“Yes,” he whispered faintly. 

The corner of Crowley’s lips curled upward. “Then let’s kiss on it.” 

(Y/N) didn’t have a chance to respond before Crowley’s lips were on his. 

It was heated, hungry, and (Y/N) was slightly ashamed to admit that it had taken his breath away. Ashamed to admit just how engrossed in Crowley’s charismatic attitude he had been. Swiftly, (Y/N) stood from his chair and he was pressed against the desk in an instant. Crowley’s hands worked their way underneath (Y/N)’s t-shirt. It wasn’t long before Crowley’s coat and (Y/N)’s shirt were on the floor. As Crowley reached behind him to grab at the backs of his thighs, (Y/N) pressed his hands firmly on his chest. 

“Not here, not here,” he pulled back from his lips, panting from the lack of oxygen. “Let’s go to my room.” 

Crowley smirked and ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Lead the way, darling,” he pulled back. 

(Y/N) was quick to pull himself away from the desk and turn to walk out of the room. His strides were long and silent, almost as if he was floating out of the room and towards his bedroom. Crowley followed behind him, moving just as fast if not a little bit faster. He tore off his tie and dropped it onto the floor as they entered the room. Their lips slammed into one another once more as they fell back onto the bed unceremoniously, their bodies bouncing. 

(Y/N) was incredibly hard, he felt like a teenager on prom night. He tried to think back and remember the last time he had sex. Had it been two, maybe three weeks? Months. No. Two or three years, it had been. He had lost count. Crowley had been right, he had been so absorbed in his work that he had neglected the wants he never knew he had. The needs. He had found himself to be so uptight as of late that the lack of sex hadn’t been something he considered a factor with such a change of mood. Maybe the sex was just what he needed. It seemed that Crowley knew more about him than he realized. 

(Y/N)’s primary goal was getting Crowley’s clothes off. He wanted to see him, wanted to take in every inch of him. Before he was able to grab at Crowley’s belt, however, Crowley pulled back and lifted a hand to stop him. Again, (Y/N) was breathless. He stopped and looked up at him with a questioning gaze. 

“Let’s skip the stripping, shall we?” His voice had gotten deeper, darker. His voice alone should have sent the sirens blaring and the red flags waving in (Y/N)’s head, telling him to stop, telling him that it was a bad idea, but all it did was deepen the lust and make his cock twitch in his boxers. 

With the snap of his fingers, their clothes had vanished. Immediately, (Y/N) noticed the temperature change, causing his nipples to harden into stiff peaks. He wasn’t worried about his own body, however. His attention was all on Crowley. 

He took his time to examine his lover. His eyes trailed. He noted the hair that was meticulously placed over his pecs, the curve of his stomach. Crowley didn’t have a six-pack, but he was nowhere near fat. A slight pudge was probably the best adjective to use. He spotted the tattoos almost instantly, something that came as a surprise to him but wasn’t unappreciated. Crowley’s happy trail started right below his belly button and trailed down to his pelvis, and the mere sight of Crowley’s cock made (Y/N)’s eyes go wide. 

Crowley was huge. 

Bigger than he had ever seen on a lover before. 

To say he was surprised was a massive understatement. He never expected Crowley to be sporting a cock of that size. (Y/N) felt inept next to him. Yet, despite his unbelievable length, (Y/N) felt his mouth water and cock twitch at the thought of it being inside of him. Crowley chuckled. 

“Like what you see?” He questioned. 

“Yes,” (Y/N) breathed, although he knew the question was rhetorical. 

Crowley’s chest rumbled as he leaned down and began to leave kisses down (Y/N)’s neck, down towards the valley of his pecs. He stopped at his nipples, giving each of them attention with small licks and a suckle. A gasp fell from (Y/N)’s lips as his hands occupied themselves with exploring Crowley’s body. (Y/N)’s mind was fogged over, the feeling of being that close to someone already so intense. He really did feel like a teenager. 

“You’re so beautiful, love,” Crowley purred as his lips traveled further down his body, ghosting over his stomach. “Almost disappoints me that I’m going to leave you a whimpering mess by the time I’m done.” 

“Crowley, please,” 

“Begging already, I see.” 

Crowley’s lips moved down until they reached (Y/N)’s own happy trail. Just before he reached (Y/N)’s cock, he pulled back, earning a disappointed groan from the man below. The smirk on his face told (Y/N) that Crowley loved the effect that he was having on him. That it was boosting his ego, and if he had been in the right state of mind, he would have stopped right there. The King of Hell didn’t need more of a complex than he already had. 

“Spread your legs for me.” 

(Y/N) complied, legs parting as Crowley moved onto his stomach. He left kisses on (Y/N)’s inner thighs. 

“Have you had anything in this pretty little hole recently?” Crowley asked. 

(Y/N) hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “No,” he admitted. 

“Then I guess I’ll have to open you up, won’t I? I don’t want to hurt you.” 

It was an oddly sweet sentiment, coming from a demon. Something that a part of (Y/N) didn’t really expect. Yet the other part of him told him that it made sense with Crowley’s character. He was a businessman. He made deals and he kept them. He wanted him to feel good, and (Y/N) wouldn’t be satisfied with his part of the deal if he was in pain. 

“I have lube in my nightstand,” (Y/N) spoke up. He could feel Crowley’s hot breath hovering over his exposed hole. 

“I’ll get to it, darling,” 

Crowley’s tongue lapped at his hole, and (Y/N) swore that he would come from that single lick. He couldn’t hold back the moan as Crowley’s tongue worked around the pink muscle, almost teasing it. The tip of his tongue slipped past the ring for a moment before retreating. Crowley’s arms wrapped around both of his thighs and seemed to pull him closer with godly strength. Then, when he was closer, Crowley’s wet tongue finally slipped past the tight muscle and wiggled its way into his hole. 

A deep moan escaped past (Y/N)’s lips as one of his hands shot down and gripped Crowley’s hair. His head was thrown back in ecstasy, thankful for the pillow that was underneath him, thankful that he had decided to move to the bedroom instead of the study. He had concluded that the lack of sex didn’t make him feel like a teenager again, he was a teenager. Rather, it seemed he had a teenager’s lack of control. His cock was twitching, begging to be touched, begging for Crowley to wrap his hand around it and stroke. (Y/N) was too lost in pleasure to do it on his own, and it was just foreplay. Crowley was only preparing him for what was yet to come. If Crowley had him seeing stars already, he knew that Crowley’s prediction of him turning into a ‘whimpering mess’ would be accurate. 

Crowley’s tongue was skilled. He reached places inside of him that (Y/N) didn’t even know existed. All too soon, he felt the familiar jerk of his balls, the tensing muscles begging for release. The knot in his stomach was forming. 

“C-Crowley,” he moaned. “I’m gonna come. I-” 

Crowley hummed against him and pulled back as soon as the warning came to be. Visibly, (Y/N) relaxed, but his face expressed disappointment, much to Crowley’s amusement. 

“Already close to release, and I haven’t even touched your cock yet,” Crowley teased, and the words caused (Y/N)’s cheeks to darken with blush. “Can’t have that. I want this to last. I want you to break.” 

Crowley hovered over (Y/N) again, their noses inches apart. (Y/N) could feel Crowley’s cock brush against his, causing his cock to twitch violently. Again, Crowley chuckled. He turned his head and reached over to the nightstand, opening the small drawer. It wasn’t as cluttered as the top of (Y/N) desk, but he had to admit that it needed to be cleaned out. It didn’t take long to find the bottle of lube, though, barely used. When Crowley moved back, he kissed him. That kiss was softer, sweet, the complete opposite of the others they had shared. 

He pulled away and sat up, leaning back on his heels as he uncapped the lube. He squirted a generous amount onto his right index and middle finger before he set the lube to the side, open and ready if he were to need more. He rubbed his fingers together to spread out the liquid before lowering his hand to (Y/N) wet, needy hole. His index finger began to circle it and he saw how (Y/N)’s cock twitched again. The smirk remained on his face. 

“Are you ready?” He asked softly. 

“Yes,” (Y/N) barely gave him time to finish the question. “Yes, Crowley, please,” 

“I’ll never get over how sweet that word sounds.” 

Crowley pushed one finger into him and the stars promptly returned. (Y/N)’s mouth hung open as if he were to say something, but nothing came to mind. Words didn’t exist anymore, only Crowley and his fingers. It didn’t take long for Crowley to begin to pump his finger into him, his dark eyes focused on (Y/N)’s face, intensely taking in every reaction he gave. Sweat began to glisten on (Y/N)’s brow, dripping down the side of his face and onto the sheet below. His hands were fisted at his sides, straining the bedding. When Crowley felt his hole loosen even the slightest, he added his middle finger. 

After several seconds of having Crowley insert his second finger, the knot was back and forming inside (Y/N)’s stomach. It was tight and just kept getting tighter with each stroke. When Crowley’s fingers curled ever so slightly, (Y/N)’s body violently jerked and he had to hold onto the bed as he fought back the orgasm that was quickly approaching. He went to say something, but all that came out were moans and whimpers of pleasure. He didn’t trust himself to stop Crowley before his impending climax. 

Of course, Crowley was observant himself and knew when to back away. 

Crowley pulled his hand away from him, leaving his hole empty and his mind screaming for release. Crowley brought his fingers to his lips, wrapping them around his digits as he suckled the leftover lube and flavor off of them. He quirked a brow as he took his fingers out of his mouth. 

“Strawberry flavored?” He questioned. 

(Y/N)’s chest rose and fell at a rapid pace. His chest and face gleamed with sweat, ever more apparent because of the morning light that filtered past his blinds. 

“It was all they had left.” He was able to mutter. 

A deep chuckle rumbled within Crowley’s chest as he grabbed the lube from beside him once again. That time, he put some into the palm of his right hand and capped the bottle, setting it back onto the side table. He wrapped his hand around his cock and lathered it up with the lube. He hissed, jaw clenched at the cool temperature. 

“You don’t mind raw, do you, darling?” He asked as he shifted in the bed so that he hovered directly above (Y/N) writhing body. 

“No,” (Y/N) was quick to respond. “No, I don’t mind just, please, please Crowley.” His desperate cries would have normally made him embarrassed, ashamed of the mess he had turned into, but he couldn’t care less. His brain didn’t belong to him anymore. It belonged to Crowley. His body wasn’t his, it was Crowley’s. All of him belonged to Crowley. 

And he was fine with that. 

“I’ll go slow,” Crowley said. “Let me know if it’s too much for you to handle.” 

It was too much to handle when Crowley was eating him out, but (Y/N) knew what he meant. He gave a quick nod of understanding. His hands immediately moved from the sheets to Crowley. One hand was placed on Crowley’s shoulder, while the other reached back, fingers entangled in the mess of brown hair. 

One of Crowley’s hands was placed on the bed, holding himself up, while the other hand reached down and grabbed his cock. He guided it to (Y/N)’s hole and, when he felt comfortable with the positioning, he moved his hand and placed it on the other side of (Y/N)’s body. Slowly, he moved his hips forward, the head of his cock pushing past the ring of muscle with some resistance before he entered him. 

(Y/N) wasn’t seeing stars anymore - he was seeing a whole galaxy. The slight painful strain mixed with bliss as Crowley pushed the head of his cock inside of him was almost too much to bear at first. He felt like his balls were going to explode with pleasure. His nails dug into Crowley’s shoulder and scalp as he continued to inch his way inside. Crowley studied (Y/N)’s face, the way his mouth hung open and eyes closed. When half of his cock was engulfed in his warmth, Crowley pulled back out a couple of inches before he thrust back inside. (Y/N) couldn’t stop the sounds from escaping his lips. Equally, as such, Crowley let out a deep, guttural groan. 

“So tight, darling. So…fucking tight,” he growled out, sounding almost feral. 

“M-More, Crowley, please, more,” (Y/N)’s voice had gone up in pitch and the need was laced throughout his tone. 

Crowley didn’t need any more indication. His hips began to pick up in speed, slowly at first, but after a while of making sure that his lover wasn’t in any pain, he went faster. While (Y/N) wasn’t able to take all of Crowley’s length inside of him, what was able to fit resulted in a cacophony of moans that echoed throughout the room. The bed rocked, the frame squeaking underneath the pressure as Crowley rhythmically snapped his hips. 

When (Y/N) had gotten used to the pleasure - ‘used to’ wasn’t the right phrasing, but rather adapted to it - he was able to open his eyes long enough to reach up, cup Crowley’s cheeks, and bring himself up to kiss him roughly. Crowley returned the kiss. Their tongues danced with each other. (Y/N) could taste a mixture of himself and the strawberry-flavored lube on Crowley’s tongue. 

Each thrust brought a new wave of pleasure, Crowley’s cock brushing against his prostate. (Y/N)’s cock and balls jerked and he knew that he wasn’t going to last much longer. He pulled away, one of his hands falling to Crowley’s chest, which was equally as sweat-covered as his. It was difficult to find the strength to speak, at first, but he mustered up what little control of himself he had to do so.  

“Crowley,” he moaned. “I’m gonna come. Please, can I come?” 

“Not yet,” Crowley sounded breathless. “I want to come with you.” 

“Want you to come inside me.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes!” He moaned loudly as Crowley’s cock stroked his prostate again. 

Crowley growled as his lips dove down towards (Y/N)’s neck, littering it with small kisses, teeth scraping over his skin. 

“I can’t wait to fill you up. Can’t wait to make you mine,” Crowley growled. 

(Y/N) did everything in his power to hold back his orgasm, the one thing he had been trying to reach all this time. It became harder and harder the more they went on. Finally, he felt Crowley’s thrusts start to sputter, and Crowley’s grunts and moans were getting higher in pitch. Crowley reached between their bodies, his hand finding (Y/N)’s cock and he began to stroke it in time with his thrusts. 

“Come.” 

And that was all the permission he needed. (Y/N) came hard, cock spasming violently in Crowley’s hand and balls convulsing as he shot his load onto his and Crowley’s chests and stomachs. Planets, stars, galaxies, universes, it was almost as if (Y/N) was lost in time and space itself. If he didn’t know any better, he swore he would have passed out from the pleasure had it not been for Crowley keeping him grounded. 

Following his orgasm, he felt Crowley still inside of him and, soon, felt the warm sensation of his load deep within his hole. They stayed there, interlocked with one another, their bodies completely frozen in time. What felt like ages later, Crowley slowly pulled out of him, a wet pop echoing throughout the room, before he collapsed beside him on the bed. (Y/N)’s arms fell beside him, his chest moving rapidly as he struggled to regain his composure. 

As he lay there, post-orgasmic clarity set in. 

He had fucked the King of Hell. 

More importantly, he had fucked the King of Hell and liked it. 

God, he was such a terrible hunter. 

His eyes trailed over to Crowley, who was still recovering from his own orgasm. He could see faint, red scratch marks across his face, chest, and right shoulder. (Y/N) didn’t even realize his nails had dug into him until then. Crowley turned his head towards him. 

“Well you weren’t the whimpering mess that I assumed you would be,” Crowley began. “But I’ll take begging any day.” 

(Y/N) couldn’t help but roll his eyes and he had found the strength to speak to be gone by that point. What was he even supposed to say to him? Thanks for the sex, I’ll go find your demons now? With one-night stands, he would always just get up, grab his clothes, and walk out of the motel room, but this was a little different. He was in his own home. Was he just supposed to kick Crowley out? That would seem a bit rude, wouldn’t it? 

“Care for a cuddle?” Crowley’s words broke his train of thought.

“A what?” His voice had returned. 

“A cuddle.” 

(Y/N) snorted. “The King of Hell wants to cuddle.” He said it more like a statement rather than a question.

“I take care of my lovers, (Y/N). Aftercare is just as important as foreplay.” 

(Y/N) opened his mouth to speak, but found, again, that the words were lost to him. He just gave a simple nod and the two of them moved closer together. Crowley wrapped an arm underneath his shoulders and over his waist, pulling their naked bodies close. (Y/N) placed one of his hands on Crowley’s torso, his head lying against his chest. A part of him was expecting to hear a heartbeat echo in his ear, but the lack thereof only reminded him of his sins. They sat in silence for a while, embracing one another. Crowley’s hand slowly rubbed (Y/N)’s hips, and it made him realize just how sore he was going to be for a while. 

He didn’t care. 

“You know,” Crowley finally spoke up. “If you ever become too tense, you can always give me a call. I have no problem giving in to your needs.” 

“I’m not that desperate,” (Y/N) mumbled. 

Crowley chuckled, and (Y/N) could feel the vibration against his fingertips and cheek. “I beg to differ, darling, with the way you were just begging for release.” 

(Y/N)’s cheeks heated up. He knew what he had done was wrong, but whoever said that hunters had to be perfect? Or right, for that matter. No one had gotten hurt - maybe he would hurt for a while after this, but that was beside the point - and demons were going to be hunted down as a result of their deal. Crowley wasn’t a selfish lover, quite the contrary. He was the best that (Y/N) ever had. He was only human. Despite the moral aspect of it all, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have someone like Crowley just a call away. 

For his needs. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

[incesthemes]

tag game!

thank you for the tag, @according2thelore 🥰

Do you make your bed? i basically live in my bed, so no. i want it cozy and making it makes it un-cozy.

What's your favorite number? 3! or rather, repeating 3s. my mom and i look for repeating 3s out in the wild ever since she heard about some kinda christian number thing relating to angels (idk i don't go there), and it's become a whole Thing. i like that we can share it :)

What is your job? i do translations...! spanish and japanese, mostly. i translated a video game last year too which i'm very proud of!

If you could go back to school, would you? yeah tbh. i hated school for disability reasons, but i really enjoy sitting in lectures and learning things. structured learning is great and super easy so i'd love to return. i'd be the kind of person who would get like 20 masters degrees if college were free.

Can you parallel park? noooo..... i never got that far lmao. i don't have a license and i would like it to stay that way for as long as i can get away with it. peace and love ✨

A job you had that would surprise people? i did an internship with the linguistics department while i was an undergrad where i helped do some menial work for a larger research project the school was conducting? i sucked at it though, lol

Do you think aliens are real? statistically speaking there's basically no way there's NO other life in the universe, so yes i do. i'm even fairly confident there has to be intelligent life outside of humans somewhere out there. i do not have any belief in any kind of alien life form having made contact with earth, though.

Can you drive a manual car? yes, actually. which is apparently shocking to people, considering i don't even have a license lmao

What's your guilty pleasure? i have an addiction to solitaire? i downloaded the app about a year ago but i am on level 329. ok girl get a grip

Tattoos? none yet, but i've had my first tattoo figured out since i was in high school. i just don't want to deal with the cost and care of it (lazy + poor...)

Favorite color? a very warm, light pink! almost peach-colored.

Favorite type of music? folk music :) and by folk i mean like. literally the songs people sang around a campfire 300 years ago. like dúlamán and the irish rover and rolling the woodpile and whatnot. but i also really like more modern folk music (big fan of umm santiano, plumbo, celtic woman, the builders and the butchers, mumford & sons, poor man's poison, the longest johns, stuff like that...) and country music. basically a bunch of genres along that sort of continuum.

Do you like puzzles? puzzles like jigsaw puzzles? i hate them, but once i start doing them i can't stop. logic puzzles or whatever are totally my jam, though. seriously i love them so much. i'm not interested in more hands-on puzzles like blocks and stuff.

Any phobias? nnnnno. i was scared of the ocean (specifically and exclusively trenches inside the ocean) growing up but then i got over that, and i've been working on getting over my fear of bugs so they're not super scary anymore either. i also used to suffer from trypophobia but it really hasn't been much of a problem in recent years. idk what happened there, though.

Favorite childhood sport? olympic-level sleeping? idk i tried a lot of sports at my mother's request when i was a kid, but i didn't like any of them. now i enjoy ice skating, but i live in the deep south where it's 80F nine months out of the year so like. lmfao

Do you talk to yourself? YES it's a generational thing. everyone on my mom's side of the family does it so i just picked it up naturally. i make myself laugh constantly ✨

What movies do you adore? my letterboxd Top Four are: the witch (2015), death becomes her (1992), the phantom of the opera (2004), and showgirls (1995) so it's kind of all over the place. i like movies with either very strong, well written stories or campy dumpster fires—NO in-between. the more artistic a movie is, the more likely i am to enjoy it. some other movies that really stand out to me

la sociedad de la nieve (2023)

late night with the devil (2023)

midsommar (2019)

the love witch (2016)

creep (2014)

mamma mia! (2008)

master and commander (2003)

zoolander (2001)

o brother, where art thou? (2000)

ravenous (1999)

romeo + juliet (1996)

the mountain men (1980)

the devils (1971)

beyond the valley of the dolls (1970)

so you can make of that what you will.

Coffee or tea? i don't actually like either unless you count southern sweet tea? i like chick-fil-a and mcdonald's sweet tea... but i drink almost exclusively water. if i'm feeling fancy, i like lemonade or like... craft root beer specifically. or sarsaparilla?

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up? an architect is the earliest i can remember back to, but i switched my passion project every couple of months and never really settled on anything.

i'm really bad at tagging, but let's go with ummmm... @schizosamwincester, @sam-winchesters-gay-lover, and @aceing-on-the-cake! no pressure though haha

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 38

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

The air was tense as the group watched Malitas, prepared for an attack should he turn hostile.

“Questions?” He spat, looking at the group. “What questions?”

“What spells did you cast last time you were here?” Shadowheart asked, deciding to get straight to the point. She had expected to see a look of surprise or anger when he realised they knew what he’d been doing. Instead, she saw confusion. He looked like he might question why she was asking, but decided in the end just to go along with it. 

“I cast two spells - one to conjure the book, which I cast twice, and one to summon the portal. Are you satisfied?” Shadowheart narrowed her eyes, certain there must be something more to this. 

“Did you do anything to anyone while you were here?” she asked, trying to keep vague enough to not make him realise she was asking about Saff, but specific enough that he had to answer the question. Unfortunately, all it achieved was more confused looks.  

“What are you talking about?” he asked. 

“Answer the question,” she said firmly. While it wasn’t possible to outright lie while under the spell’s effects, it was possible to avoid the question, if one worded their responses carefully enough. Malitas shook his head in annoyance, clearly unsure how to answer the question.

“...I spoke to people? Is that the answer you want?” he said in exasperation, then turned to Saff. “Saffron, what is going on?” he demanded, sternly enough that she flinched slightly behind Gale.

“I’m the one asking the questions,” Shadowheart said firmly, wanting to get his attention off Saff after seeing her reaction. 

Briefly, the wound on her hand flared. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hide it, not wanting to show any weakness in front of Malitas. Gritting her teeth, she opened her eyes and looked at him again, and was glad he didn’t seem to have noticed as it took him a few moments to take his attention away from Saff. 

“Why?? What have I done to arouse such suspicion?” he demanded as he turned back to Shadowheart. 

“You’re really asking that? After how you acted last time you were here?” She responded incredulously. Even if he hadn’t cast anything on Saff, his actions last time were enough to warrant suspicion in her mind. 

He sighed and looked away for a moment, though there was a look on his face that seemed to imply he agreed with her. 

“Alright, I can see why you would find me untrustworthy. In fact, perhaps this Zone of Truth is fortuitous, as I had something I wished to say to you all that you would likely not have believed otherwise given how suspicious you clearly are of me.” 

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. 

“I do not hold any ill will towards any of you. Quite on the contrary, I wish to help you. I have been researching how to cure all of you, as I’m sure you have gathered by now. I wish us to be allies against the common enemy we have in this Cult of the Absolute. And… I understand that my conduct last time was not conducive to such an outcome.”

He took another deep breath and Shadowheart had to smirk to herself - he was clearly not a man who was used to having to apologise, and she very much enjoyed seeing him squirm as he was forced to do so now. 

“I made a grave mistake yesterday, one I wish to rectify.”

He reached into the bag he had slung over his shoulder, pulled out a book and turned to Gale. 

“I am told this is incredibly difficult to acquire outside of Candlekeep. As such, perhaps it is one you have not been able to read yet… and perhaps it will provide the answers you need.” 

He walked over and held the book out to him, notably staying within the Zone of Truth. Gale took it and looked at the title engraved on its ageing cover - Netherese Artefacts and Their Uses. His eyes widened slightly - he’d tried to get hold of this book while in his year-long exile, but had been unable to from the confines of his tower. 

“I have taken the liberty of bookmarking anything I thought sounded relevant to your condition,” Malitas added. Gale glanced at the various bookmarks sticking out of the pages and opened the book to the first one, seeing Malitas had left some notes - in Common this time - detailing possible connections between the artefacts described in the book and the one in his chest. 

“If your offer to allow me to help study the orb is still on the table, I would like to take you up on it. But I understand if you would prefer not to work with me on the matter,” Malitas continued, stepping back to the centre of the spell that encircled him. “I also do not expect you to give your answer now if you need some time to think. I only hope that you consider it.” 

Gale remained quiet. Truthfully, he didn’t know his answer. He didn’t need help with the orb as much as he had done before, though despite it now being stabilised, it still had an effect on his magic. Having it removed entirely was certainly preferable to simply having it stabilised. Malitas’s apology seemed genuine enough - he supposed it had to be, given the Zone of Truth - yet, if he was honest, he still didn’t want anything to do with him. 

“This is a very sudden change of heart,” he commented as he looked up at Malitas from the book. 

“Yes, well… Saffron’s words last night made me reflect, and… I realised what a mistake I’d made. I should never have said such things to you. It was a lapse in judgement… one I hope you can forgive me for,” he said, echoing Gale’s phrasing last night in regards to his own mistakes with the orb. “But as I say, you need not decide now.” 

There was a moment of quiet among them until Malitas spoke again. 

“Though I must confess, while I can see that my words last night could be seen as hostile, I still don’t understand what exactly I’m being accused of here. What spell do you think I cast?” 

They remained quiet, none of them wanting to give away what had happened - though he noticed a couple of them glance quickly towards Saff. He followed their gaze and saw her look away, tensing up. Gale subtly took her hand in support, but not subtle enough that Malitas didn’t notice. 

“Saffron?” he asked, his voice softening from its usual sharp tone. She flinched slightly, squeezing Gale’s hand, firmly keeping her gaze away from him…

Shadowheart pulled his attention back as she moved to pick up his notebook from the table, then walked up to him and placed it in his hands. 

“We’re done with your research. You can go now,” she said simply, before stepping back out of the zone. He looked at her for a moment, then glanced back to Saff, before looking down at the book. 

“Did you make any progress with it?” he asked, turning to Gale, who twitched slightly at what he had to now tell him. 

“No… I didn’t,” he admitted. Malitas looked like he might have wanted to make a smug comment on the matter, but instead held his tongue. 

“Well, then I shall continue with it,” he said, before the book disappeared with a wave of his hand. 

“Before you go,” Gale started, holding his hand out slightly to Shadowheart, indicating to her not to drop her spell just yet. “I have some questions of my own for you.” 

“Then please, ask away,” he said, holding his arms out in an open gesture before putting them behind his back. 

“The spell you detailed in your book - would you be able to cast it yourself?” 

Malitas looked surprised, and rather offended, by the question. 

“You think I wouldn’t be able to cast the spell I have outlined in my own research?” he asked in disbelief. 

“Theory is one thing, practical application is quite another. Now please, answer the question,” Gale said firmly. 

“Yes! Of course I would be able to cast it,” he said confidently, though Gale looked at him sceptically through narrowed eyes, his disbelief very clear. “To doubt my word right now is to doubt the skills of your cleric,” Malitas said, gesturing to Shadowheart. 

“The Zone of Truth doesn’t guarantee you can cast the spell, it only guarantees you believe you can cast it, which speaks less to your skills and more to your ego,” Gale pointed out.

Malitas’s eyes widened as the others stifled laughs around him. 

“I have come here trying to make amends, and you would stand there and insult me and baselessly doubt my abilities?” he said, anger starting to rise in his manner of speech. 

“When I tried to make amends you were only too happy to insult me and baseless doubt my abilities,” Gale countered. 

“I hardly think that was baseless…” Malitas murmured, unable to hold his tongue anymore. 

“And neither is this - I have seen your attempt at spell crafting.” Malitas gave him a confused look. “Has abscondere cicatrices a crudeli iudicio mundi,” Gale said, reciting the spell Saff said he’d given her to hide the scar. “If that’s the best you can come up with for something so simple, you are hardly qualified to call yourself a master wizard.” 

Malitas twitched as he looked to Saff, who was very firmly keeping her gaze away from him. He turned back to Gale. 

“You judge my abilities based on one unfinished spell written under circumstances you do not understand.” 

“Oh, I understand them perfectly fine,” Gale insisted. “I think, despite all your grandiose claims, your skills are no greater than that of a novice.” 

Malitas looked like he’d been slapped. They’d certainly found a way to strike a chord with him. 

He clenched his fists as he seethed, clearly having to keep himself calm. When he finally spoke, it was through gritted teeth. 

“I think, Gale, it’s time you and I had a word in private.” 

Gale felt a charge of Weave in the air, and in an instant, everyone around them collapsed to the ground and the Zone of Truth disappeared. 

Gale gasped and stepped back, his mind racing as he looked over the unmoving bodies of his friends. Instinctively he dropped the book and raised his hands in a defensive spell, but before he could cast anything his muscles seized up and he found himself completely unable to move, struggling against the magical restraints that bound him. 

“Let me make one thing absolutely clear, Gale,” Malitas said, the hint of a threat in his voice as he began to approach. “If I wanted to attack you, you would be dead before you even knew what was happening.” Gale’s arms were pulled down to his sides as Malitas stopped in front of him, arms still behind his back. “So don’t try to fight me.” 

Gale struggled against his restraints as he glared at Malitas. 

“What have you done to them?!” he demanded, his voice straining. Malitas rolled his eyes. 

“They are asleep. I told you, I want to help you all, not hurt you. Now, as for the spell you mentioned - when I wrote it the scar was significantly worse than it is now, the discolouration covered half her face and, most importantly, the clerics trying to heal her had placed a number of enchantments on her intended to fight the necrosis - I had to ensure my magic would not interfere with theirs. It was also written in a rush in the hopes of giving Saffron some semblance of her life back as soon as possible. She then found her own solution to the problem before I was able to finish a revised version of the spell. Does that clear up your doubts?”

Gale seethed and reluctantly had to admit that that made sense. And given the current state of his companions, he also had to reluctantly admit that Malitas had not been exaggerating his abilities. 

“Ok, fine! I acknowledge your skill. But if you want to help Saff then this is not the solution!” He insisted, still struggling against the spell that held him. “I know you’re trying to protect her but all you’re doing is hurting her!” 

“Am I?” He challenged, cocking his head to the side slightly. “I suppose you’d prefer I stand aside while you dig your claws into her?” 

He was taken by surprise by that phrasing as Malitas narrowed his eyes at him. 

“I had resolved to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m starting to think that was a misguided decision. I know your intentions with her. I know what you want from her. I will not allow you to use her for your own desires while you find your way back to Mystra!” 

“It’s not like that!” he shouted, tugging against the restraints. “I swear to you! I am not using her and I have no desire to return to Mystra!”

“Hah! You expect me to believe that?” he laughed incredulously. “Returning to Mystra is your only hope to regain the power you lost. I don’t believe for one moment you would ever throw that away.” 

“If you don’t believe me then wake up the others and let me declare it in the Zone of Truth,” Gale said, but Malitas just laughed and shook his head.

“Somehow I don’t trust your cleric friend to be impartial in this matter and ensure the spell’s effectiveness on you as she did on me,” he argued. 

Gale sighed deeply and looked away as he realised what he’d have to admit to convince him. 

“You want to know the truth? Fine. Everything you said about her last time, about what she did and how I felt about her… it was true.” 

Malitas’s expression shifted to one of surprise and curiosity as Gale winced. 

“I did not realise it until it was spelled out for me. She used me and left me for dead.” 

Finally he looked back to Malitas. 

“Why would I want to go back to someone like that?” 

“Because she is your only chance for power,” he replied, still not convinced yet. “I have read a lot about you over these last few days, Gale Dekarios, and those that know you paint a very clear picture of a wizard hungry for power, driven by his ego, his skills matched only by his ambition. No matter how powerful you became, you sought more. Even when you were with the goddess of magic, it was not enough for you, and that lead to your downfall. Now you can swallow your feelings, beg forgiveness and regain that power once more, or give it all up. I think I know which one of those is in your nature.” 

“You’re wrong,” he said firmly, holding his gaze. “I don’t want any of that back.” “Really? I doubt that,” Malitas said, folding his arms. “Mystra can offer you endless power. Saffron can offer you…”

He trailed off slightly, his expression softening just slightly as he looked down at Saff, sleeping soundly by Gale’s feet. 

“Saffron can offer you a great many things , but I don’t think you’re the sort to appreciate any of them.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he growled, but was taken by surprise by the unexpectedly soft look in his eyes as he answered. 

“Saffron has not a malicious bone in her body. She sees the best in everyone, no matter what they do to her. When she loves, she does so with fierce devotion. She will give you everything she has… and I can see no outcome other than you destroying it all and breaking her heart.” 

He stepped back, his usually icy demeanour returning. 

“You would have me stand aside and let it happen. I think not. Saffron has already suffered enough due to my inaction, I will not make the same mistake again.” 

He turned to walk away, raising his hand to dispel the magic and end the conversation. “You’re talking about Aryn.” He paused, his hand lingering in place. 

“She told you about him, then,” he said, still facing away from Gale. 

“She did. She told me what he did… and how you tried to help her. I know you’re trying to protect her and stop it happening again. I know you blame yourself and think you have to make up for failing her before. But you can’t fix it by stopping anyone else from ever getting close to her. What happened was terrible, but it wasn’t your fault, and this isn’t the solution.”

It took a lot to force himself to try to sympathise with Malitas right now. He didn’t even know if what he was saying was entirely true - were Malitas’s actions truly driven by guilt? And even if they were, was that enough to justify everything he’d said? Gale wasn’t sure, but he knew he had to say something to try to get through to him, otherwise he might be about to make an enemy out of a very powerful wizard. 

There was a long pause, the air thick with tension. Malitas remained completely still, unreadable… til finally Gale saw him let out a breath as his hand lowered, and the magic that was holding him in place finally released him. He stumbled forward slightly, regaining the feeling in his muscles.

“I wonder how easily you’d say that…” Malitas started, his voice quiet and reflective, “...if you were the one that could have stopped it.”  

His tone was one Gale had not heard from him before - soft, even pained. He looked down slightly, contemplating the question. 

“Perhaps I wouldn’t be able to say it easily. Perhaps I would blame myself as you do. But I would know that trying to scare off anyone who falls in love with her is not the answer.” 

“Is that truly what’s happening here?” he asked, turning back now to face him. “Are you in love with her?” 

“I am,” he answered sincerely. “I know you think I’m another Aryn, but I swear to you, I would never hurt her. She means everything to me.” 

“After just 12 days? You barely know her,” he countered. 

“We’ve been through more in 12 days than I’ve been through with anyone else in my life. We’ve faced perilous odds, fought side by side, helped each other through everything… I don’t know if I could have done it all without her.” 

Malitas took a long look at him. 

“And when the fights and perilous odds are gone, and the thrill of adventure is replaced by the tedium of domesticity, will you still love her? When your evenings are not spent celebrating your survival, but filling out taxes and doing laundry, will your passion remain? Or will you find yourself craving the wonders that Mystra showed you? Will you yearn for the infinite impossibilities open only to a goddess, that Saffron could never give you?”

“No,” Gale said firmly. “This life - adventure and danger - it’s not for me. Laundry and taxes… that sounds wonderful if I can do it with her. Yes, there are many things Mystra can give that Saff cannot… but there is so much more that Saff can give that Mystra cannot.” 

Malitas watched him for a long moment, assessing him, his mind ticking over unspoken thoughts. Gale had never felt so scrutinised in his life, but he held his ground, confident in his words. 

Finally Malitas let out a small sigh as his gaze moved down to Saff.

“She deserves the world, Gale…” he said softly, watching her for a moment before looking back to him. “Can you give that to her?” 

“I can give her the world, and so much more,” he said confidently, even a bit cockily. He could swear he saw just the slightest hint of a smile pull at the corners of Malitas's mouth. 

“Then I suppose I have no choice then but to trust you… for now, at least. But if you hurt her, Gale… well, I will leave it to your imagination what I will do to you,” he said, making a small gesture to the rest of the group, a reminder of what he was capable of. Gale felt a vague sense of déjà vu as he found himself reminded of Astarion threatening to drain him if he hurt Saff. He wondered which of them would get to him first should that eventuality ever occur.

“A good thing for me, then, that that won’t happen,” he replied. Malitas watched him for a moment, before finally stepping back. His gaze went to Saff and softened once more. 

“Gale… if what I think happened last time I was here is indeed the case, then… please, tell her I’m sorry. I never intended to make her feel that way.” 

There was genuine remorse in his voice as he spoke. Gale was sure Malitas had the same initial thoughts as him, about reminding Saff of Aryn. Now that they knew it wasn’t the result of a spell, that theory seemed to be the only explanation. Yet she’d been so convinced it wasn’t that…

“You think you reminded her of Aryn?” he asked. 

“It’s happened before,” he said quietly, his eyes still on her. “Someone or something has triggered a flashback for her. Those memories still affect her far more than she lets on.” 

Gale looked down at her too now, sleeping peacefully on the ground next to him. 

“She was pretty sure that wasn’t what happened.” Malitas looked up at him in confusion as Gale raised his gaze back to him. 

“She said that the flashbacks always felt very distinctly the same, and it didn’t feel like that yesterday.” 

A flicker of surprise crossed Malitas’s face. 

“Hmm, if it wasn’t that, then… I don’t know. But… I do know that trauma does not always follow its own rules. Regardless, please, let her know that I am sorry.” 

“Wake her up and tell her yourself,” he said, but Malitas shook his head. 

“I don’t think she wants to see me right now. Perhaps, for the moment, that is for the best.” 

He turned and took a few steps away, back to the clearing in the centre of the group. 

“I will return to my research. What will you do now that the githyanki were unsuccessful?” 

“We head to Moonrise. We are told it’s where the cultists gather.”

Malitas turned back to him in shock.

“Moonrise Towers?? You’re actually going to go to the Shadow Cursed lands??” he gasped in disbelief. Gale gave a nod. 

Malitas’s eyes widened and for a moment he looked like he might be about to fly into a rant and take back everything he’d just said about trusting Gale and call him insane for agreeing to such a plan of action. Instead he bit his tongue and took a deep breath. 

“There must surely be better options?” he asked, as calmly as he could.

“If you’ve got any suggestions, I’d love to hear them,” Gale replied. Malitas sighed and shook his head, realising they had no choice. He was quiet for a long moment as he looked at Saff.

“Protect her, Gale,” he said softly.  

“She can protect herself,” Gale replied confidently. “But I’ll be there to help her if she needs it.” 

Malitas sighed but decided that was an acceptable enough answer, then raised his hands and began to incant a spell to return home, a portal opening before him after a few moments of concentration. 

Gale knelt down and picked up the Netherese book Malitas had given him, looking at it for a moment before looking up and watching as Malitas stepped through the portal, contemplating all that had transpired between them. He still didn’t forgive him, neither did he really want to work with him on the orb or even spend any more time than he had to in the same room as him. But, he supposed, at least they weren’t enemies.

With a bright shimmer the portal disappeared, and as it did, the others began to wake. 

Gale moved next to Saff as she stirred and helped her sit up. “Are you alright?” he asked softly. 

“Mmm… yeah…” she murmured, rubbing her eyes as she looked round at the rest of the group as they slowly sat up around her. “What happened? Where’s Malitas??” 

“I think,” Gale started as he glanced towards the spot where Malitas had been stood before stepping through the portal, “we have come to an agreement.” 

***

Spots of sunlight danced across the room as the suncatchers gently tinkled in the breeze from the window. The first flowers of spring were starting to blossom on the plants that lined the shelves, filling the air with their aroma. 

She smiled. This was the only place she ever felt at peace. She so rarely got to come in here, and while she was devastated by what had happened to Saff, it did allow her time to enjoy sitting in Saff’s annex after watering the plants. 

She glanced down at the reports on the desk next to her. She’d finally finished reading through them, and even though they didn’t describe Gale in a particularly flattering light, none of them described him as anything close to evil or dangerous. Just a bit full of himself… which is something she didn’t think Malitas could criticise anyone for. Plus, if Saff was falling for him, she didn’t think he could possibly be as insufferable as some of these reports were making out.

There was the distant sound of magic. She sighed sadly, then closed her eyes to enjoy the quiet serenity of her refuge for just a moment more, before picking up the papers and heading back through to the main tower. 

She found Malitas in his study, staring out the window once more. He always did that when he was deep in thought. She walked in quietly, knowing his lack of a dismissive wave was unspoken permission to enter. 

“How’d it go?” she asked nervously. She knew a lot was riding on this. 

“Not as smooth as I’d hoped, but successful, I suppose,” he muttered, then looked over at her. “Have you finished reading them yet?” he asked, nodding to the reports in her arms. “Yes. I don’t think he sounds as bad as you say… a bit arrogant, sure, but not dangerous.” 

“Nothing in those papers gave you serious cause for concern, then?” 

She shook her head. He hummed in thought as he looked back out the window.  

“Well, we’ll soon find out if my concerns are justified. He claims to be in love with her… I’m sure the two of them will be together soon, if they aren’t already.”

“In love with her…?” she whispered, unable to stop the smile that came to her lips and the warmth that came to her heart. Though her smile faded to a look of nervousness as the thought came to her of how suspiciously accepting Malitas was being of this. 

“So… you’re really gonna let this happen?” she asked. He glanced over at her with a slight smirk. 

“You think I shouldn’t?” 

“You know that’s not what I’m saying.”

He chuckled and turned to the window again. 

“Yes, I’m going to let it happen. I don’t see that I have much choice at this point, if I continue to argue I will lose Saffron. I would rather be there for her when he shows his true colours. I believe he will not hurt her in the short term at least, so I am content to leave her with him for now. As for the future… well, we shall see.”

[sophieinwonderland]

On Why I Identify as a Tulpa

This is a question that's come up a lot in the past, and so I thought it would be helpful to just have a single post I could link to whenever it comes up in the future.

Personal Experiences

Let's start here. I found the tulpa community when I was confused and didn't know what I was. The tulpa community were the first to tell me that I was real, and make me feel valid as a person. They helped introduce me to new skills and allowed me room to grow and learn about myself.

There was no hostility. No fakeclaiming. I was welcomed with open arms. I am eternally grateful to the tulpa community for giving the the room to grow.

A Vast Wealth of Resources

In the years since its creation, the tulpamancy community has amassed one of the largest reservoirs of knowledge of plural skills in existence, with over a hundred guides on how to create headmates, how to reinforce them, how to create and immerse yourselves in the inner world, how to impose, to switch, to partial possess.

There is no other plural community with this level of resources for endogenic systems. And one big reason for this is how they approach plurality...

Plurality as a skill and science...

Much of the endogenic community revolves around unquestioning acceptance. Every system is different. We don't need to know why. Just accept people as they are.

Spiritual systems especially don't try to explain their experiences because the experiences to them are something unexplainable.

The DID and OSDD community have their own resources, but those are generally focused on recovering from dissociative symptoms and working together better. Which is a great for them.

But the tulpamancy community is the only one that really approaches plurality as a skill to develop and train. We're the mad scientists. We're the ones who are pushing our understanding of the psychology of plurality forward by teaching practices that can induce hallucinations and dissociative experiences, and recording those experiences so others can learn from them.

I think tulpamancy is more than just making tulpas. It's a specific mindset associated with the tulpa community which isn't as present in other spaces.

Active research into endogenic plurality is focused on tulpamancy

This includes the upcoming FMRI study, which will be the first to ever to be conducted on any endogenic systems. It's important to support this research however we can, for all endogenic systems. And for me, that means identifying as a tulpa and helping others to take up the practice who are interested.

The origin of the appropriation claims are bad faith

The system who popularized this was an anti-endo. They say they're Buddhist, but they're not a Tibetan Buddhist, which is where the practice originated.

You won't find any Tibetan Buddhists outside of anti-endo and syscourse circles who are upset over the term. Certainly, no actual spiritual leaders have ever taken issue with it.

The Dalai Lama himself has said that other cultures can use Tibetan Buddhist meditations.

“Many Christians tell me they believe in Buddhist meditation, which can be learned by Christians. We teach right attitude. We teach meditation, which can be quite deep. These would be things that the West can take, and I think it is clear that Buddhists should practice certain Western methods, too.”

Here's an AMA with a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner who created an emanation.

And this paper details how the Western tulpa was created as a cultural exchange with the aid of Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup

Anti-Endos will attack any terms we use

The above anti-endo that pushed the claims about tulpamancy being appropriative also claimed the same about alternatives like "thoughtform."

»» CAN I USE “THOUGHTFORM”? «« If you’re using it seriously, I would prefer you didn’t. “Thoughtform”, as it is understood by westerners, originated from a misinterpretation of the term sprulpa.

Prominent anti-endos even started spreading the rumor that the term "endogenic," in relation to systems was first used by Freud dismiss DID as fake. (Endogenic itself was a response in opposition to older terms like "natural multiplicity" which medicalists claimed implied multiplicity caused by environmental factors was "unnatural.")

These claims were nonsense and meant to smear the endogenic community. Freud never said the word "endogenic," and "endogenic" and "endogenous" are common words in academic papers used in a variety of contexts to refer to things with internal origins.

Still, when a poll was made asking people's opinions on the term "endogenic," and that poll was circulated by anti-endos (including the ones who started the rumor in the first place,) more than 60% said that the current use of the term endogenic was harmful.

So in the end, it doesn't matter if you call yourself endogenic, a tulpa, thoughtforms or anything else. The people who want to hurt us will find an excuse to attack us and the language we use to define ourselves.

And this is why we cannot give ground on our terms. Why we cannot change ourselves, hoping for their acceptance. Because we will not be accepted as long as we exist in public, and this debate has never really been about the words we call ourselves but about our very existence.

If we call ourselves thoughtforms, then thoughtforms will become contentious, just as anti-endos have twisted "endogenic" into something contentious.

I believe that we have a duty to take a stand against those seeking to hurt us and our community.

[willing-but-not-able]

Some of Barbatos' lines are my hot cheesy bread and butter. This is the result of that. I also logged in today, saw it was his birthday then immedetly forgot it was, so I guess this can double as a birthday gift for Barbs 💞

A Royal Sacrifice

Wc: 1.7k

Warning: somehow this turned a bit angsty. Not a lot, but just a little bit of saddness.

...

As the door to the Demon Lord’s Castle opened up, Barbatos was greeted by a face that he knew was coming, but he still found himself in slight shock at your appearance. Not because he wasn’t expecting you, but because he was.

Your face had a sweet smile, underlying something else he dared not to think about.

“Am I early? You looked shocked?”

He cleared his throat. “No, of course I knew you were going to be here.” He moved out of the way and gestured for you to enter.

“That power of yours is handy.” You walked in, but not very far. Watching him close the door Barbatos looked back at her once it was shut and they were alone in the large entrance.

“The Young Master is eagerly awaiting your appearance. No need to wait on me.”

His words felt a bit cold, you couldn’t help but think Barbatos was rushing you. Before you could think to ask him that, Diavolo’s voice stole your attention.

“(Y/n)! I’m so glad you made it here safely.” He started down the stairs and made his way over you two.

As much as you knew your visit was for Diavolo, you couldn’t help the weighing feeling you got from not being able to talk to Barbatos about his behavior. Of course he wasn’t acting inappropriately or treating you with disrespect; but it felt… odd how he was acting.

Barbatos left you and Diavolo to speak. So you focused on Diavolo as you walked together.

“It hasn’t been that long since I was last here. It almost feels like I live here at this point.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it. This castle gets very lonely after a while and having someone else around makes it lively.”

You giggled. “Though I don’t suppose this time is for leisure?”

“No, unfortunately. I wanted to meet with you to discuss an issue that’s been occurring. Lately, some denizens have wanted to move to your region.”

“Really? I guess that explains the influx of Devildom residents coming by. I thought it was simply just a random event going on. Perhaps Leviathan summoned Lotan in the town square or Beelzebub ate through everything.”

Diavolo laughed. “No, if it was that I would have told you. No, I’ve conducted some research and found they simply want to live there. Some want a change of pace, others are just getting started and feel your land is perfect for someone just starting out.”

“I can see how they would feel that way. Though I hope they don’t assume I’m going to prioritize them over my naive borns.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk with you. I wanted to have a proper system in place for anyone who wants to leave here and go there.”

“Now I can see why you wanted me to stay a while.” You held your tongue as your thoughts started to wander.

All of a sudden that cold feeling Barbatos seemed to give you washed over you again. Though he wasn’t anywhere around you, perhaps this is what the feeling was attached to. You shook it off, and continued speaking with Diavolo.

As time went on, you and Diavolo spent extensive hours discussing something that you both could agree on. In the end, the day was met with only one thing you both agreed on. With more headache than you two could handle, Diavolo called your meeting to an end and you shared a more relaxed dinner together.

Of course during this Barbatos refused to remain in the area. He simply brought dinner, refilled glasses and explained he had other matters to attend to. This wasn’t the best feeling ever, but being a ruler of an entire region made hiding your feelings all the easier. Not that it didn’t hurt. You still had feelings after all, and those feelings ended you up here—outside Barbatos’ room. You wanted desperately to knock on the door, but something made you stop. As you stood there you wondered about how all this came to be.

Weeks before this stay, you were invited to a ball Diavolo was hosting for a new Human resident. You enjoyed your time, but found yourself suffering at the forced social interactions. You managed to escape, but not without Barbatos noticing. Worried, he asked if you were okay and his words eased you. He had a way of speaking to you that you came to enjoy and after that short meeting, you were desperate to spend more time with him.

Being some of the few who were staying at the castle after the ball, you found every way to run into Barbatos and it seemed he enjoyed your presence as well. In fact, you knew he did after he spent the night in your guest bedroom.

Things seemed almost magical after that. It almost made you want to marry in fact, but that brought you back to reality.

This was why Barbatos was avoiding you. No matter how much he may have cherished you, he can’t leave the side of the Demon Lord. That thought made a tear fall from your eye and you let out the breath you were unconsciously holding. As you tried to muffle your cries, the door opened and Barbatos was there in front of you. Neither of you said anything, but you quickly composed yourself and tried to brush things off.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s late, I shouldn’t be here.”

“(Y/n)?”

“Yes?”

He said nothing for a long time. You could almost feel your tears welling again, but somehow you were able to keep them at bay while he stood in front of you.

Barbatos let out a sigh. “I’m sorry that you have to suffer like this.”

“Barbatos, please, I’m not suffering.”

“You know very well that’s a lie. I don’t even need my ability to know that much.” He stepped forward and cupped your face.

With his gloves off you instantly felt goosebumps at his warm skin on yours. Your hand came up as well and tried to pull his away. Your resistance was weak and soon your eyes closed, stepping forward you felt Barbatos arms around your shoulders. You shook against him and soon your words came out.

“I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that I’m putting you in this position or the fact that I’ll never be able to have you.”

Barbatos said nothing, but he started to pull you into his room. While you weren’t very familiar with it, it felt horrible that this was the first time you’re seeing it. All your excitement to learn more about Barbatos was carried away by the sorrow you felt in this moment. Barbatos guided you over to a bed and you two sat together, still holding on tightly to one another.

“I knew you’d come to the same realization I did, but I had to be sure.” You looked up barely able to hold back your tears anymore. “I looked ahead and saw what I needed to.”

“Our future isn’t one you can see… because it may never happen.” He remained quiet, but in your state, you spoke again. “What if I relinquish my role? That way I can just live here with you.”

His head shook. “Even though I knew you would say something like that, it still surprises me how willing you are. For me, you’d lose everything you built, everything you own.”

“Because while I do care about that, I can’t sustain things on my own forever. Your love for me is something I’ll never get with anyone else.”

“You will, (Y/n).”

Your eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? I don’t care what you saw, do you really believe I could love anyone else but you?”

“I’m not saying that because I saw anything, I’m saying that because of how wonderful you are. I know someone will eventually fall for you the exact same way I did.”

“So I’m supposed to move on because I’m charismatic? I refuse to believe my life ends up with someone else.” You managed to break from his grasp and rubbed your tears away. “There has to be something where I can prove that no matter the situation we found ourselves in, we… might have a chance where everything works out.”

Facing him, you saw the look in his eyes. Barbatos’ usual composed appearance almost seemed broken here.

You took his hand in yours. “You know as well as I do that I oppose the future expected of me. First of my reign to never marry and you think I would change that just so we don’t end up together?”

He squeezed your hand and let out a sigh as his head dropped to rest on your shoulder. “I never expected to meet someone like you. Even when we first met, I didn’t think anything could come of it, but now I can’t see a world without you.”

“And if we share that sentiment, then we’ll find a way.”

His arms snaked around your waist, pulling you back against him. “With your will, I don’t doubt you would find a way. It’s just, I saw you still as the ruler of your region. The only conclusion I could come to was… you moving on.”

“I don’t know what will happen, but I know one thing and that’s the fact that you would be the only person I want to marry. Otherwise, after my reign is over, my role will be taken by someone else unrelated to me.”

He looked up at you. “You shouldn’t want just anyone to take your role.”

“I know, but if that’s what it takes to be with you then so be it.”

For the first time since you saw him, a smile grew on his face. This lifted your own spirits and you smiled as well.

“Then, we’ll experience this future together. You and all your puzzling decisions.” Barbatos once more held your face in his. “May I indulge myself and have you tonight?”

Your eyes started to close. “Yes, do whatever it is you want with me. At least we’re sure about this.”

🍊 Soooooo, I was gonna have a smut attached to this, but this ending was too good for that. I did write a smut tho, which you can check out here (be careful minors).

It just didn't seem right adding to this part.

Thanks for reading~ <3 🍊

[odusseus-xvi]

Hello!

I saw you trying to defend aypierre in a few comments, especially regarding his antisemitic behaviour in the election.

Although I don't think it properly counts as antisemitism, he still compared someone to h**ler, which is absolutely disgusting and in no way a "coping joke" or smiliar.

Furthermore I would like to mention that he's been purely racist, hate raiding a poc streamer, who was also a minor at the time

[ https://twitter.com/bowtietwt/status/1681420670419312640?t=Qe7fE2_H00SRbiB5ADJuWA&s=19 tweet with evidence ].

Other than that, he has not been properly dealing with being called out [NOT cancelled, no one is trying to cancel him), blocking people and even saying that the apologies are not worth dwelling on.

This behaviour cannot be excused and writing it off as just french humour" or anything similar is vile.

I'm not defending him really, am mostly confused, for the H*tler thing, this really doesn't explain to me in what way this is disgusting, like yes the dictator is a monster, but he did not compare SOMEONE to him, but a black and white mc skin photo. I genuinely don't understand why is that so bad, I understand that mentionning the guy on stream may a bit insensitive, but like, the name isn't a slur as far as I know. It's not that I don't want to admit, more that I genuinely don't understand...

As for the other thing It's absolutely horrible if it happened yes but the tweet you gave me is not evidence, that's just a random person on twitter saying he did that. That tweet just confuses me (just realised it's a year old... Do we have any other proof or is it just that ? Because it's really weird and random.) I'm not saying this is not true, just that I need more info. Do we actually know if Aypierre's the one sending them ? (what the fuck is that ? when was that ?)

Also for the H*tler thing, I never said that when we made jokes about it in France that it was "coping joke", I said that it's not a taboo thing for a lot of people BECAUSE in the past it was used as that.

Again I wanted to say I'm not defending him, I know he had been weird in the past, and I don't even follow him that much, I was just weirded out by the H*tler comment because it just seemed strange to me to be revolted by it. As for the other stuff it is grave, though I have nothing to work with outside of one old tweet.

Edit : I don't know if you'll see that, but thank you nonetheless for the second thing, I don't know if that's how it happened but it's still good to know, and I'll maybe conduct my own research... ? I don't know, I'm not interested in calling out anyone, but I'll not defend him either.

EDIT 2 : Did my research : Hope you see this

Also, I don' need an answer, I'm not interested in continuing talking about the discourse, ultimately I realised it doesn't concern me, and talking more about it would feel like overstepping bounds on both sides of the argument, and I don't want to hurt anyone.

[sincerelyyycece]

you call it a problem; i call it a solution.

Confrontation erupts during an urgent assembly involving Sirius Black.

note: futuristic city setting (is that how you call it?), a unfamiliar creature is threatening your city, flirty sirius in the middle of a citywide emergency lol, brief mention of having a sexual relationship with sirius, some characters mentioned are either my ocs or a name i came up with last minute hehe

sincerelyyycece © ─ all rights reserved. please do not repost/translate/copy any of my work.

Chaos reigns as the fabric of our world unravels, on the brink of collapse. Anxiety and fear are palpable, etched into every face I encounter. Children grapple with confusion, unable to comprehend why safety measures confine them indoors. The outside world grows increasingly perilous.

I am Y/N Y/L/N, a medical specialist affiliated with Astro Gen. My journey began upon graduating from medical school, where I distinguished myself as a top performer. Through unwavering dedication and resilience, I earned my place within this esteemed organization. Over the years, I have contributed to the development of numerous life-enhancing technologies, each one a testament to our mission to better humanity. It is this commitment that finds me at the heart of our headquarters today.

We were summoned for an urgent meeting. Upon entering the conference room, I observed a palpable sense of panic, stress, and worry among the attendees. My gaze landed on my friend, Leonetta Relleve, the CEO, who was visibly attempting to address the concerns raised. It was evident she, too, was feeling the strain. Letting out a deep sigh, I took it upon myself to address the room. By clearing my throat loudly, I quickly garnered everyone's attention.

"If I may request everyone to please compose themselves and return to their seats," I stated formally. "Rest assured, your inquiries will be addressed, but for now, let us proceed with the meeting." With that, the room settled down as individuals resumed their seats. A smile from my friend acknowledged my intervention. "Very well. As we are all aware, a video message was broadcasted citywide yesterday." Leonetta commenced her explanation as the digital screen displayed a peculiar blue-green creature with eyes as dark as voids.

Leonetta activates the video, and a chilling voice fills the room as the creature begins to speak. It accuses us of disturbing its people and taking something that rightfully belongs to them. In retaliation, it threatens to wreak havoc on our world. However, it offers a truce if we return what belongs to them. The dilemma lies in our ignorance of what exactly that item is. I've already instructed my team to conduct research and scour through files in search of clues.

"Ms. Y/L/N?" Leonetta's voice snaps me back to reality, a trance I hadn't realized I had slipped into. Sheepishly, I glance around the room, having zoned out, staring at the blank screen. "I apologize. Could you please repeat what you were saying?" With a deep breath, I refocus on the meeting. "I was asking for an update on the creature's demands." Leonetta cocks her head, and I shake mine in response.

"We're currently combing through the laboratory for any files, missions, or specimens that might be relevant to the creature's habitat, but so far, we've come up empty-handed," I explain politely. Leonetta nods in understanding. "And where is General Black?" she inquires. Almost as if summoned by Leonetta's question, General Black enters the room, slightly out of breath. "Apologies for the delay and interruption, Madam Relleve," he offers.

"Please take a seat, General." Leonetta motioned toward the chair beside her, which happened to be adjacent to mine. General Black made his way to the seat, acknowledging me with a nod and a grin. Sirius Black, our city's general, was not only one of Leonetta's closest confidantes but also a secret known only to me. In official capacities, she was referred to as General Black or General Padfoot, but in private, he prefers the name Sirius.

"I was attending to our borders," he reported to Leonetta, who responded, "Very well. Let's proceed with the meeting," prompting nods from everyone in the room.

As the meeting drew to a close, Leonetta requested that Sirius, Officer Lenaro, Lead Scientist Pendley, and myself remain. It was then that the true discussion commenced. Once the door was securely shut, Leonetta activated a button, revealing a map of our city.

"Did you really have to make such a grand entrance earlier?" I whispered to Sirius. He chuckled softly. "Thought you enjoyed a bit of drama," he retorted.

As we walked past us, Leonetta softly urged, “Could you please cease the bickering?” I acknowledged her with a nod. “As previously discussed, this situation is a high-risk emergency,” Leonetta emphasized, “where everything we've built may be at stake.”

“All personnel are currently under full lockdown,” Sirius informed us. “I've deployed all available soldiers to the borders and patrols are ongoing.”

“That's reassuring,” Leonetta remarked. Officer Lenaro raised a hand to speak, drawing our attention. “Have we devised any solutions?” he inquired. “Regrettably, no,” Leonetta sighed. “We've attempted negotiation for a peaceful resolution, but they insist on reclaiming what they believe is rightfully theirs,” Lead Scientist Pendley interjected.

“Could we consider a preemptive strike?” Lenaro proposed, causing my eyes to widen. How could he suggest such a thing when we're clearly at fault? “This might involve utilizing advanced weaponry and strategic manoeuvres,” he elaborated. Pendley and I exchanged knowing glances, both understanding the folly of such an approach. I glanced at Sirius, surprised to find him nodding in agreement.

Surely, he couldn't support such a reckless course of action. It would only lead to our downfall. “I don't believe that's wise,” Pendley interjected. All eyes turned to her, and sensing her discomfort, I stepped in to support her. “I concur,” I added, redirecting the attention to myself. “While safeguarding the city is paramount, we must also consider the potential repercussions of aggression and explore avenues for a peaceful resolution.”

Sirius cautions that adopting a 'peace and love' approach could endanger lives. I observed my brows knitting together. "It's likely to exacerbate our problems," I argued. "This isn't the right course of action," I added. Sirius, however, supports Lenaro's proposal, asserting it could resolve numerous issues. Pendley attempted to intervene, but Sirius remained resolute.

"Much is at stake here," Lenaro emphasized. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, feeling frustrated with the military duo. "Yes, a lot is at stake, but their plan is problematic," I remarked. Leonetta seemed swayed. "You call it a problem; I call it a solution," Sirius countered defiantly, earning a glare from me. Suddenly, I criticised the plan, caught up in the moment. With Sirius's pride and ego, I knew he wouldn't yield, and indeed, he matched my fervour.

Our argument escalated, with Pendley and Lenaro attempting to defuse the tension. "Both of you, enough!" Leonetta commanded, bringing our bickering to a halt as we turned our attention to her. "Your conflict isn't helping us find a solution," Leonetta remarked, her tone now gentle and diplomatic. "I suggest you both take a walk." We protested, but Leonetta's pointed gaze left us with no choice. "Separately," she clarified. I sighed and acquiesced, gathering my belongings and stepping out. Sirius followed quietly behind me.

As the door shut behind us, I caught Sirius's voice uttering, "This is your doing." I turned to him, disbelief etched on my face. "My doing?" I exclaimed incredulously. He nodded, prompting a scoff from me. "How could this possibly be my responsibility, Sirius?" His eyes widened at the use of his nickname. "Lower your voice," he cautioned. I rolled my eyes once more. "I thought you enjoyed it when I spoke up?" I countered. He chuckled, his tongue poking at the side of his cheek. "If only you had let us proceed with the plan, we wouldn't find ourselves out of the office," he lamented.

"As I've said before, no. That plan was flawed," I interjected. "Those beings serve a purpose on this planet. If we simply eradicate them, we become nothing more than a murderous species. We'll antagonize others left and right." He fell silent at my words. "Furthermore, they could offer valuable insights. Embracing their existence might lead to advancements in technology," I elaborated. He nodded slowly. "Alright," he conceded. I grinned.

"I'm going for a walk now," I declared. He gently took hold of my hand. "You'll still come to see me later?" he inquired. I smiled at him. "That depends. You've managed to piss me off," I teased. He pouted, pleading, "Please." I chuckled, lightly patting his cheek. "Of course. But first, I need to attend to some files in the lab." His face lit up. "Goodbye, General Black," I called out as I strolled away from him.

I find myself seated in my office, meticulously scanning the pages of the fourth file I've reviewed. My gaze drifts towards the growing stack of files in the corner of my desk, prompting a weary sigh. It's becoming evident that this evening will extend longer than anticipated. Regrettably, I'll need to notify Sirius of the cancellation. Stretching in my chair, I resolve to persevere. With determination, I return to the contents of the file in hand, hopeful that a solution to this tragedy will eventually reveal itself.

[possiblylisle]

On the Pond's Surface: Part Three

They wanted him to make a hole in reality.

                “Just a small one, if you can. We don’t want anything too crazy happening on the ship lest we have a repeat of what happened with your—”

                Grant glared at the researcher, and they shuffled backward in fear. His eyes had changed again and now they were unsettling to the staff. While some conducted their tests, they made him wear a sleep mask to hide his eyes. At first, they tried to get him to simply close his eyes but that had done nothing to relieve the unnerve.

                The whites of his eyes were black and speckled with little bits of the reverse’s brightness. His pupils were glowing with it too, but he felt no change. He’d only known something was wrong when the morning doctor had nearly fallen over at the sight of him.

                “Just a small hole please. I’ll refrain from offending you further,” the researcher said meekly.

                Grant grumbled and closed his eyes, trying to center himself. He didn’t know how they expected him to do what they wanted, or why they thought he could. He had a vague feeling of what to do, but that may have been the itching. The tingling of the antimatter in his body was hard to ignore, but in this moment, he needed to focus on it. Will the feeling to collect in his hand. Or that’s what he thought he was supposed to do.

                When he asked the researchers how they expected him to create a hole, they shrugged and tried to avoid giving a real answer. None of the old accounts on dreamers had ever said how they manipulated reality, only that they could.

                He pushed himself to concentrate further, blocking out anything that was not the tingle of antimatter. His breathing was steady, and he could feel the writhing beneath his skin begin to move. It slithered under his flesh, tying itself in a knot as it slipped through his arm and into the palm of his hand. Then he willed it to the surface, forcing it to leave the flesh and blossom on what it considered the wrong side of reality.

                He felt a flash of heat. That intense heat. The very same from his seconds spent in the reverse. Opening his eyes he saw it gathered like a tiny star in the palm of his hand.

                “What should I do with it?”

                The researchers were all pressed against the wall, their eyes closed or looking away from the brightness of the antimatter in his hand.

                “Use it to make a hole.”

                “No! Are you crazy?”

                “What do you think he should do then?”

                “Reabsorb it or something. It would kill us if he used it to tear open a hole to the reverse.”

                Grant tuned them out and squeezed the star in his hand. It weighed nothing. No. It was less than nothing. The true antithesis of the mass carried by regular matter. He squeezed it again and the star popped, sucking all the sound out of the room as it did.

“From what we’ve gathered, it appeared to be a bubble not to unlike the ones we use to cover ships during a skip.” The researcher was older and seemed more at ease with the situation despite the absurdity of it. Her hair was black laced with a few long strands of the silver that signified a growing age. A stainless-steel nametag was pinned to her cardigan. Doctor Aoi Wakako.

                “It didn’t look like one to me. Skip bubbles are supposed to be dark when they’re holding your ship.” Grant toyed with the antimatter flowing under his skin. Mindlessly compelling it to move and change shape.

                “That is because we saw this bubble from the outside,” she paused, squinting at him in concern. “You do know how bubbles work, right? If not, I am more than qualified to explain.”

                Grant sighed and dropped his arm, allowing the antimatter to act on its own. “I know how bubbles work. We load a skip drive with antimatter, program its output, and then when we get ready to skip across the pond, the drive surrounds us in antimatter and dips us through to the reverse.”

                It was basic knowledge. Every child born and raised on the flotilla knew the basics of skips and why it was so important that every step in the process was followed perfectly. If one tiny thing was wrong, then, well, the ship would end up like Grant’s home.

                “That is… good enough. Do you know why we must bubble ourselves?”

                “Because regular matter can’t exist in the reverse. I’m aware. You read the reports. You know that I’ve witnessed firsthand what happens when a ship has no bubble.” He sighed again, slumping back on the couch and resting his head against its stiff pillows.

                “That’s not what I meant, Grant. I mean do you understand why it must be a bubble of antimatter?” She was leaning forward then, and her eyes were widened with interest, like she was begging him to not know so she’d have an excuse to explain.

                “Doctor Wakako, I worked as one of the main technicians for my ship’s skip drive. I know how they work and why they need to work that way.”

                All spacers knew why a bubble was necessary, but not all of them knew why it worked or how important it truly was in the grand scheme of the universe’s workings. He knew. Of course he knew. Skip drives and FTL felt like the only things he’d ever cared about in school and that had bled into his adult life.

University taught him what he wanted to know, but it never felt like it did when he first learned of it as a child. Now it all made too much logical sense. The wonder was gone. He didn’t excitedly stay up at night, talking to Kimi about all his different theories. He just knew. The bubbles were antimatter that clung to a ship, letting its regular matter exist in the reverse to exploit the fact that the speed of light was the minimum for movement in the reverse. But it could not protect the ship alone. Regular matter coated the inner side of the bubble and the two, probably, touched at some point, mixing into the real structure of the bubble. But it was the orientation of it that worked. Antimatter on the outside to protect from the reverse, regular matter on the inside to keep the outer shell from bleeding away into the reverse too quickly.

Even with all that, not all antimatter was usable in a skip drive. The antimatter used to fuel a skip drive was special, able to exist longer in the regular side without being torn apart, just like he was special; able to exist in the reverse for longer without being ripped into atoms.

“I understand it well enough, but one thing is bugging me. No one has told me why the bubble popped.”

Doctor Wakako chewed her lip, thinking. “That is not easy to answer. You are the only survivor and therefore you’re the only one who might know why it popped. The other drive technicians in your flotilla seem to think that the ship’s course wasn’t properly calculated, and the bubble disappeared before the ship could leave the reverse.”

He felt as though he should be insulted. He wasn’t the one who had run the calculations for the skip that day; it was a member of his staff. They were all capable, he knew as much because he was the ones that kept them in order. He taught them the vitals of what they needed to know. But even then, one tiny mistake was more than enough.

He sighed, moving on. “One more thing: when I was in the reverse without a bubble, I should have experienced time dilation. At least a few extra minutes should have passed on the regular side of the pond while I was in there.”

Wakako clucked her tongue and looked down at her lap. “You did experience time dilation. It’s clear no one bothered to mention it until now. Your ship was missing for an hour and a half before returning.”

Time dilation. Time travel! It didn’t feel real. He’d experienced time dilation. An hour and half of regular reality slipped by him in only a few seconds. He’d traveled forward in time; he’d done it. If Kimi were still alive, he knew she’d make some sort of joke about it, call him the world’s worst time traveler, or say that maybe he hadn’t experienced time dilation but was just daydreaming like when they were kids; living in his own bubble. A bubble of regular reality… antimatter shell, regularity lining.

“Doctor Wakako…” he trailed off, realizing that what he wanted to say would sound insane, or desperate, or both.

“Yes Grant?” Her head was slightly tilted, and her eyes were curious.

His mouth moved without noise, thoughts still collecting, fermenting into words. “Do you think it would be possible for a piece of the reverse to travel backward in time if it leaked into our side of reality without a bubble?”

“Yes? That’s kind of what we understand stable antimatter to do. It leaks into our side but starts decaying because it is moving backward in time. The most popular theory is that because antimatter only exists naturally in a part of reality that is always moving faster than light and therefore always rapidly moving forward in time, being forced to exist in a place where it cannot break the light speed barrier causes it to experience backwards time dilation.”

Grant hummed, looking down at the antimatter under his skin, compelling it to move. “Interesting. Thank you, Doctor.”

Tag List:

@capnmachete @leahnardo-da-veggie @tamiveldura @lorifragolina @liminalgoddessworld

@humbleartspawn @orion-lacroix @insecure-pilot @xenascribbles

[sharpwitfic]

Aesop Sharp x Reader (Platonic, but the boundaries are starting to blur)

Eh, game spoilers for like one quest. If you know Penny the Elf, you are all clear. Part 4/?

Stitches and Draughts was closed for the evening. It was the most unfortunate night of the month in which the resident poltergeist would be allowed his fun as part of your arrangement for buying the shop he haunted. As you gathered your things to return to the castle, you were disrupted by a knock at the door. There was no chance you would allow a client into the shop minutes before the ghost made good on his part of the arrangement.

“We’re closed. You may visit tomorrow morning. Penny will open the doors at sunrise. Do have a lovely night,” you heard the elf call to the other side of the locked door.

Professor Sharp grumbled and turned away at the elf’s dismissal. You rushed out the back door, where you conducted your research to greet him. “Please, do come in. Briefly. What brought you by?”

“Your shop light was on. I was at Pippin’s looking into a new batch of Murtlap tentacles. I wanted to ask you about your research in private. To be frank, I am not comfortable discussing the possibility of a partnership in my classroom. Surely, you understand the boundaries between mentor and student aren’t to be crossed into partnership at this time. As your days as my student will soon end, I thought it might be an appropriate time to review your work. I was quick to dismiss the suggestion in the moment, but I see your talent and would like to hear more about what you are proposing,” he offered.

Reaching into the pocket of his waistcoat, you helped yourself to a glance at his pocket watch. Within the hour, the poltergeist would wreak havoc on your shop, basement, and laboratory. It was sure to be a sight you wished to miss. “Step inside. Just for a minute. I’ll collect my research.”

Following your lead, Professor Sharp stepped in through the back of your shop. The back room was smaller than the storefront but comfortable for conducting the business as well as your research. You had used the space as you had used the room of requirement. Potions bubbled in one corner, and plants grew in another. Most embarrassingly, as you motioned to it to offer him a place to sit, the sofa was strewn with blankets - unmade and clearly slept on with increased frequency. He took the tome of your collected research from your outstretched hand and began to read through it intently. “This is a rather sound hypothesis,” was all he had to offer.

“Thank you. I’ve put nearly a year into independent study since I aced your NEWT. I believe potions to be the key to containing ancient magic outside of the goblin silver. Your confidence means a great deal to me. I’d like to offer you a cup of tea and allow you to spend as much time as you like reviewing my work. Regrettably, the shop cannot be occupied tonight,” you explained, hoping he wouldn’t ask about the reason for your sudden departure.

Stretching his legs from his seat on your unmade sofa, he closed the tome and tucked it under his arm. “Understood. I need to return to school, regardless. As do you. Until commencement next week, I believe you have a curfew. There will be no sleeping in your office for you on my watch. I’ll walk you to the floo flame.”

“I respect your respect for curfew, rules, and boundaries. I do,” you promised. “Next time you find yourself at my door after closing, there will be no curfew. As it is, I still have an hour to return to my room. I appreciate your offer to escort me to the floo, but it’s a lovely night. I’d like to walk.”

Standing, he rubbed the side of his hip and nodded. “Next time I find myself at your door after your shop closes, I will have read your research and will be prepared to discuss it fully with you. You may start my education on the matter on the walk back to the castle.”

“You don’t trust me to make it back unsupervised? Truly, if I were going to sleep here tonight, I would allow you to stay and study. You can stay as long as you like, all but one day a month. Today is that day. I will return to the castle before curfew. That is a promise,” you offered.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he leaned closer to you and offered his arm, along with a rare smile. “It is not by doubt or duty that I wish to accompany you. Using the floo network would be best for my leg, of course, but walking with you and listening to your ideas will be good for my mind and, despite the rumors of its nonexistence, my soul. Shall we?”

[totaldramaronpawhatever]

A Writer’s Introduction

“Waking up inside McLean Academy without any idea on how I got there was weird, but I should’ve expected it. The later seasons made it clear that if you were selected for a season you would HAVE to participate until you got eliminated in-game. So, after getting up from the desk I awoke in, I looked around the school to see if any other contestants were nearby.”

“I actually found one in the hallway outside of the classroom I woke up in! She was busy writing into a journal of hers, but she quickly shut it once she noticed I was there.” 

“Oh, you’re awake.” She said, tucking her pencil back behind her ear. “Well, hello. My name’s Millie, can I ask what your name is?”

...

“Well nice to meet you Priya, and your assumption is spot on. I am an All Star, and so were the fourteen others who woke up here. You’re number sixteen so I’m guessing you’re the Lottery Winner? I’m the All Star Survey Analyst, which means that I conduct social research to recognize trends, collect feedback, and determine common denominators between any given group of people. The hardest part is getting people to actually take the Survey, but I wouldn't be an All Star if I couldn't do that. I'm actually writing a book on All Stars myself and would love it if you told me a little more about yourself later. But first, we should go to the Gym and meet up with the others." 

[driftward]

Goblet Building Permit, Ul’dah, Office of the Building Inspector Building Title: Aetheric Studies Laboratory Aurora Laboratory Permit for: Secure Class 3 Laboratory to be constructed as per regulations (see addendum) Location: Plot 52, Ward 29, Subdivision Requested by: Zoissette Vauban Co-signatories: Students of Baldesion; Gage Acquisitions; Garlond Ironworks Notes: Per revision sheets

~*~

Much like the passing of the seasons, another threat to end everything came and went, and Zoissette found herself adrift once more.

It was not that there was not plenty to occupy her. There was. Always more legal work, always another minor emergency that benefitted from her attention, always more grant requests, always more people to help, always more training to do, always more sorties to lead, always more duty to perform.

But somehow she either found or made time for herself, and there was always the question of the research she wished to perform, scratching ever urgently at the back of her mind. Research she would pursue, as to the truth of the underpinnings of this star and the realms beyond.

She had learned much, and had so much more to learn.

And so Zoissette studied. Looking carefully over her own notes taken over the many years. Early arcanistry. Lessons from Papalymo. Ancient Nymian codices and indices. What had been learned from the Crystal Tower. From the city of Mhach. What she and Y’shtola together had gleaned of anima. From adventures and explorations of the Isle of Val. From the people she labored alongside with in service to the star and to their own research. Considering the energies involved and what had been learned from the First regarding the astral and the umbral, light and dark. A shift to the modern understanding of the elemental wheel. Everything from everywhere, from Allagan ruins to entire other realms.

She would need some things, and some time, and more information, always more information, but she was certain she was on the path to solving many mysteries.

So, away from her friends, outside of her usual lab, she found a place where she could safely conduct some dangerous experiments without risk, and she set to the task of setting up a new laboratory. This one would store some dangerous artifacts, and be capable of harnessing and focusing aether and energy and more besides.

It would require time and effort, supplies, money, and new technologies. And she would need some very special permits and specific permissions.

She was working on the permit paperwork for said laboratory in her office when Klynt dropped in unannounced. This was not unusual for the Roegadyn. She was a mercurial creature, at best. Zoissette glanced up at her as she entered.

“Hello, Klynt. What do you need?”

Klynt had noticed some time ago that Zoissette asked that a lot by way of greeting, as though she was a stranger to the idea of someone wanting to stop by just to talk. Always expecting that someone would expect something of her. Klynt badly wanted to break her of the habit, but wasn’t sure how.

Stopping by for social visits just because more often would help though, she was sure.

“Nothin’. Whatchu workin’ on.”

“Paperwork I am certain you would find boring.”

Well, she was probably right, but Klynt was game to at least hear about it.

“Sure. What’s it for?”

“It is for a laboratory I am having built to further my research.”

Nope, Zoissette was wrong. This was interesting.

“What’s wrong with Gage’s workshop? I thought you loved working there.”

“I do, but I am planning to do some more dangerous work. I want it to be off site and away from other experiments and people.”

“Dangerous?”

“High energy levels, unbalanced aethers, that sort of thing.”

“Sounds neat. Whatchu gonna call it?”

Zoissette looked up at Klynt with that perplexed look she often got.

“It is just a laboratory, Klynt. It hardly needs a name. And it is meant to be flexible, so a description of its function would hardly suffice as a title.”

“You should give it a name. The Baldesion Annex has a name.”

“Yes, that is named after its founder.”

“Maybe you could name the lab after yourself, then. Vauban Laboratories!”

Zoissette’s face shifted almost immediately to her distantly polite look, and Klynt immediately realised her mistake.

“Nah, never mind, sorry, forgot for a moment that a lot of your family is kinda awful.”

“It is not that. It is just that - I am hardly a Vauban, Klynt.”

“Your city took you back.”

“I am not naming the laboratory after myself, Klynt.”

“Alright, but you should still name it. We give names to things that are important us, because we care about things with names.”

Zoissette stopped what she was doing, and seemed to be looking through the table, rather than at any of the papers on it. Klynt wondered what was going through her head this time, but it wasn’t as though she could just ask. Zoissette already had her guard up. Pushing would just wind up doing exactly that - push her away.

“Eh, just think about it,” said Klynt. “Who’s helping you build it, anyroad?”

“…by its nature, I have to contract out quite a bit of it. Gage, of course, is helping. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn are disbanded, unfortunately, but Y’shtola and Urianger have agreed to release some data I will find useful. The Ironworks, of course, can be trusted to be discreet and are the only people who can meet some of my requirements. To start, though, the Students of Baldesion are providing the bulk of the initial work and permits.”

“Huh? Why?”

Zoissette leafed through her papers, and pushed a design diagram over for Klynt to look at. “The primary assembly that will need to be built around is a gloriole containment based on what Ryss and I learned from Mhach. You recall Ozma, of course.”

“Yeah, and its bastard father in the Isle of Val. Oh, and the cute lil’ one that Ryss made.”

“Yes. The ‘cute little one’ that Ryss spearheaded making, with assistance from the Students of Baldesion. The cute little one that, as I recall, you leapt on top of and tried to ride around like a chocobo before promptly knocking yourself out when it went out through the workshop door and your head failed to do the same through the door frame.”

Klynt grinned. “Hey, it was hard to control and very zippy. Like riding a big smooth marble.”

“I do not know what you thought would happen, or where you learned enough to make that comparison.”

Klynt just shrugged, and Zoissette sighed. “Anyroad. I need their cooperation. Ryss has decided to take her research in a different direction than I intend to explore, but her, myself, and Krile have all agreed that the data is too dangerous to be released to just anyone. So, officially, the Students are actually building the initial laboratory. There are other agreements in place, clauses about who gets what in case of accident, so on, so on.”

Klynt nodded agreeably as Zoissette signed one last piece of paperwork, and began to sweep all of her work back to herself.

“And now I need to file everything and go talk to the on site engineer. Is it alright if we catch up later?”

“Oh, yeah, sure, of course,” said Klynt, giving Zoissette a jaunty two-finger salute. Zoissette began to rush out, but stopped, and smiled at Klynt.

“I do mean that. I appreciate that you stopped by. I will linkpearl you once I am done filing all this.”

“Well, you’d better now, I’ve never been stood up before, and if you’re the first to do that to me I’ll be just heartbroken”

Zoissette rolled her eyes but laughed as she left, and Klynt chuckled as she watched her go. Once she was gone, she thought to herself for a few moments. She did not know any of the Students of Baldesion directly - she and Krile just did not interact much, and G’raha always seemed to be on the bounce - but she knew a guy who knew a guy.

She activated her linkpearl. “Hey, Thancred - it’s Klynt, yeah. Listen, you have an in with the Students of Baldesion, yeah? Hey, listen. You want to do something nice for Zoissette and also be the funniest guy in Eorzea?”

~*~

Some moons later, Zoissette and the Xaela in charge of construction made their way through the laboratory. He was tall and probably handsome, she was not sure; all she knew was that he smiled too much and wore too little. But he had come highly recommended, and frankly, she was willing to ignore his eccentricities if he could deliver.

And deliver he had.

She was beyond delighted. The laboratory had been made to her exacting specification in every detail. The building was well sealed against the outside, with carefully designed emergency systems that would ensure safety in case of accident. The Ironworks had come through with some Allagan automated systems, which hummed whisper-quiet in the space. The gloriole assembly had been carefully and correctly build, and now sat in the main space, a spherical containment assembly around it. Off to one side were instruments and tools, and on the other, a place where crystal energies could be fine tuned and studied. The laboratory was flexible and capable and everything she could have wanted or imagined and more.

The Xaela grinned at her as she finished checking everything over.

“It is perfect,” she said.

“Great,” he replied. “We even managed to get that last minute change request done, too. so if you’ll just sign off, we can be on our way.”

Zoissette took the papers from him, and looked over the acceptance criteria, checking them off one by one. “Change request? I have not made one of those in sennights.”

“Yeah, it was from the Students of Baldesion. Check the revision pages. It wasn’t anything major, nothing functional, just for the cornerstone plate and your plaque out front.”

Zoissette frowned, and looked.

“Change request: building to be named Aurora Laboratories. Requested by: Krile Baldesion, Students of Baldesion. Note: You’re welcome!”

Zoissette just shook her head and closed her eyes. After a moment, though, she smiled, and laughed a little, and signed the paperwork.

[yzanjiiii]

𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗴 #𝟭 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲

I've always been attracted by the beauty of politics in business. How people can settle and manage their financial transactions through efficient communication, proficiency, and the development of plans using scientific methods in research to patch up gaps and establish projects based on solvency. Selling your business necessitate you to be able to speak persuasively, and I admit that it was still challenging for me to gather my thoughts and be confident enough to approach people and persuade them about something, despite the fact that I am a Political Science major and thus expected to be good at public speaking. However, our interview activity gave me the opportunity to venture outside of my comfort zone. In a larger perspective, it made the realm of politics and entrepreneurship converge in a sense that I was able to practice the art of identifying grassroot problems to provide solutions for the betterment of learning and quality education, which is entirely the definition of politics, and to make it income generating, we have to devise a product or services to cater the needs of the people, which is in the business realm, and for me to be able to show my innovative skills, I have to also link the realm of entrepreneurship hence, I believe that I can pour out all the learning application of my three years residency in political science in this subject.

EXPERIENCE

The encounter itself was enjoyable. During our preparation phase, I was able to demonstrate my leadership skills by devising techniques to make our workload more efficient by assigning ourselves quotas to meet. Personally, I wanted our data to exceed 100, but owing to forthcoming requirements, we opted to limit the quota at 50-60 interviewees. I assigned the deadlines, responsibilities, and established a bureaucratic framework to guarantee that each of us fulfilled our tasks; thus, before the interview, I ensured that the Google Drive was available for the uploading of our documentation, specifically images, videos, and recordings. Google Docs is also ready for the consolidated report, which includes both the quantitative and qualitative data. To avoid delays, I have also assigned the secretary to monitor task completion.

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW/D-DAY

During the interview, it became increasingly difficult to identify students who are not shy in front of the camera and are willing to participate. Fortunately, I know a lot of people at the university, which gave me an edge in finding interviewers. An individual interview was initially conducted, but I later realized that it was time consuming and made the interviewee more shy due to the pressure and tension of becoming embarrassed, so I have to make small talk with the interviewee first to ensure that I will be able to break the ice and allow comfort to kick in. We experimented with combined interviews, team interviews, and partner interviews alongside Eloisa. As a result, we were able to troubleshoot problems during the interview by devising plans and trying out different techniques. Regardless of the outcome, I believe it gave me confidence to take risks and become resilient, both of which are essential in entrepreneurship, especially since one major challenge is dealing with people with different tastes, preferences, and attitudes.

D-DAY

INTERVIEWEES #1 and #2

Eloisa and I with our first interviewee from the program of Sociology. The problem identified was the absence of comfortable tambayan with good food.

Our second respondent is from BSED PE and the problem identified was waste problems.

INTERVIEWEES #3 and #4

The third interviewee is also from BSED PE and the problem identified was mental health issues due to the pressure being felt by students.

The fourth interviewee is from the College of Business and Management major in Finance. The problem identified was ventilation due to poor budgeting of the university.

INTERVIEWEES #5 & #6 and #8 & #9

The fifth and sixth interviewees are from the program of BS Bio. The problems identified are transportation and printing problems due to the location of printing services.

The 8th and 9th interviewees are both from the program of AB Political Science. The problem identified is waste problems.

Bonus GIF

Caught on 4K: Ma'am Butalid, the program coordinator

INTERVIEWEES #10 & #11 and #11, #12, #13, & #14

The tenth and eleventh interviewees are both from the College of Education. The problem that was identified is also the prevalent waste problem.

All four interviewees (11-14) are from the program of AB Political Science and the problems identified were insufficiency of educational tools, transportation, waste problems, and illegal business (no permit).

INTERVIEWEES #15 & #16

Our fifteenth interviewee is from the program of BS Math and the problem identified was waste problem.

The last interviewee is from BSED PE and the problem identified was waste problem.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

Following the interview and consultation with the instructor, we were able to share our views, suggestions, and data results, so with waste management being the most pressing issue at the university based on our data gathered from the series of interview, we looked for potential products and services that would be the greatest solution. We had a lot of prospects for the proposal because I came prepared, and I had already researched sustainable products online through various platforms to make our decision process easier. Following the deliberation, it was decided to proceed with the conversion of leaves into paper, with modifications such as colour classification and scented option.

RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEW

The first pie chart shows the result of our joint interview. It has been revealed that there are 8 identified problems and the top three are the following: (1) Waste problems, (2) Transportation, and (3) Ventilation. Meanwhile, for the consolidated result, it was revealed that waste problems still hold the top issue that the CMUans are currently facing and have been posing grave concerns weighing 53.8 percent out of 55 respondents being interviewed. Therefore, we have decided to go with a visionary EcoVenture product called "EVERLEAF" which means everlasting leaf which aims to stop deforestation and degradation of the environment 🌿

REFLECTION

Through this dialogue, I have come to understand that that, despite the fact that we are in a micro level setting, the problem that we are facing in the university is ubiquitous since corporations do nothing about it because they just care about profit. Sustainable practices are difficult to implement since they may inhibit economic growth, which is something every businessman avoids. The ongoing problem of deforestation, erosion, and forest fires will exist unless we begin to develop regulations and sanction big industries. Thus, this subject is an excellent way to enter the VentureVerse because anyone may be a businessman, but not everyone can sustain their business owing to the ups and downs of business hence, it needs strong mentality.

LEARNINGS

Furthermore, this interview helped me identify my strengths, such as strategic leadership, critical thinking, resiliency to troubleshoot unforeseen problems that require immediate solutions, adaptability, time management skills, and the ability to remain rational at all times in order to manage the team. While I accept my inadequacies, such as my public speaking abilities and approaching strangers, it has provided me with opportunities to identify areas for improvement. It taught me that mistakes and failures are inevitable and necessary for learning and growth. Every master was once a beginner in their chosen industry. As a result, I feel that by constantly improving and allowing oneself to admit mistakes, I will be able to recognise threats that are critical for mitigating macro consequences on the endeavour.

To summarise everything, I am excited for the thrills of this rollercoaster journey. The uncertainty makes me rosier about the future. Risks are what keep me alive. It piques my interest in exploring new horizons. I am challenged to venture beyond of my comfort zone in order to try new things and discover more about myself.

[valkieds]

Do u have more info about your human experiment/fusion au? Im always a sucker for those 😊

It’s not super thoroughly thought out but I do!

So essentially godfather is trying to create a “god” via a weird magic/science-ish combo of fusing souls together. The intention is the eventually do it on Akehoshi papa but you gotta test it out first, y’know? So Nagisa is used as a blank slate template, gf and co. being under the impression that someone without a sense of self would merge better with more independent souls. And that’s when Ibara comes in, freshly plucked out of the military camp for his genetic closeness to “god” (godfather). The experiment is conducted but, because of Ibara’s strong individual will/very different outlook from Nagisa, the fusion isn’t completed perfectly, leaving an extra pair of eyes on the outside and their two souls very much not fused on the inside.

They remain stuck in that research facility for a while longer, Ibara being very resistant to any attempts made by the researchers to check up on how the body’s holding up. He and Nagisa take turns being “awake” and controlling the body, although sometimes they’ll both be active at once (and sleeping is just them both being mentally asleep at the same time). Ibara, in his infinite wisdom, winds up driving the body into a multiday exhaustion coma after staying awake for multiple days straight trying to prevent the body from being messed with at all. After he and Nagisa wake up, they decide to try and escape and use gf’s death as an opportunity to sneak out (during which, Ibara just tells Nagisa to rest while he handles it and that by the time they wake up they’ll be somewhere calm and free :>)

But now they’re effectively homeless. They spend a while scavenging for food and, through an incident of trying to steal from some rich person’s trash, wind up being at the Tomoe household for a while. They mostly stay in a more isolated room from the rest of the house, but Hiyori gets curious and eventually meets Nagisa. Because they’re not very sure how Hiyori would react, Ibara just has Nagisa be the one speaking while he mentally helps Nagisa figure out what to say and pretends to be asleep.

Gatekeeper comes into the picture because obviously the human experiment fusion is on the loose somewhere and was last spotted somewhere near the Tomoe estate. After some time, he gets into contact with the two of them and “adopts” them but really he just gets them a comfortable place to stay and acts as their benefactor. From there it’s a lot of getting used to a “normal” life while still also being a literal fusion of two people. … I typed out way more than I thought I would whoops. But yeah that’s the bulk of the au and I’m glad it caught your attention enough to ask about it lol. I too am a sucker for human experimentation AUs so it’s nice to see y’all are out there

[leonsrightlations]

The Earth is Online Chapter 14

Startled, Tang Mo took the ID.

It was a metallic silver card with no photo on its face. In the upper right corner was an electronic chip. On the card’s left side, there were three lines of words simply engraved.

Full Name: Luo Fengcheng

District: S-City Team A

Position: Team Leader

After Tang Mo finished looking at the card, he passed it to the others. All of the six people looked at it once and finally returned it to Luo Fengcheng’s hand.

“Why did you deceive us before and say you were some kind of game designer?” Li Bin asked.

Luo Fengcheng took back the card, his expression unmoved. Indifferently, he said, “Everybody will have their own secrets. You hid your ability. For you, your ability is very important and special. My identity is a bit special. Can’t you understand not wanting to reveal it at the start?”

Luo Fengcheng glanced at everyone and continued, “You don’t need to doubt the authenticity of my identity. All of you know that this tower attack game opened very suddenly. From the time the tower attack game was announced until we officially entered, there were only three minutes. I couldn’t prepare a card in advance to fake the identity of a Black Tower researcher.”

Lin Qiao thought for a moment and suddenly seemed to think of something. Right as she wanted to speak, Luo Fengcheng looked at her. “You also don’t need to suspect whether or not I possess an ability and can make a card in a small amount of time. If I really had an ability, why would I want to make an identity card for a Black Tower researcher? I could make an identity card for a game designer. Like this, you wouldn’t suspect me and I could earn a little bit of your trust.”

Luo Fengcheng blocked everyone’s words.

Finally, he looked at Tang Mo. Tang Mo had no expression on his face. He coolly watched Luo Fengcheng, his gaze slightly focused.

Luo Fengcheng said, “I am a Black Tower researcher. You don’t need to doubt this point. The Black Tower descended half a year ago. You should all know that the Black Tower researchers were guarded and didn’t have contact with the outside world. In those three days, I was continuously researching at S-City’s Black Tower. I didn’t have the opportunity or need to murder. Additionally…” His voice paused, and Luo Fengcheng put his hands in his pockets. “If I really wanted to kill, I would only have required a proper reason and there was no need to move my own hand. I could have someone help me resolve it. Moreover, I was protected by a lot of people and was unable to murder.”

It wasn’t cold, yet everyone shivered. Tang Mo still fixedly watched Luo Fengcheng. He understood the other party’s meaning. Before the Earth went online, there were discussions on the internet saying that those researchers wearing white coats who appeared under the Black Tower actually only played a small role. The truly important researchers were all protected by the country. From the front lines, the minor characters gathered data and the country secretly conducted research.

Aside from the deep mountains, old forests, and vast seas, as long as Black Towers were in the city, they were all inevitably located at the city’s center. If the country established a research institute beside the Black Tower, then it was tantamount to being a living target and announcing to the world that their base was located there.

This kind of internet discussion wasn’t verified by the government, but a lot of people believed it without a doubt.

Tang Mo believed that Luo Fengcheng was a Black Tower researcher. Just now, he’d surreptitiously exerted his strength, wanting to break that card. However, it was unclear what material the card was made from, but he unexpectedly couldn’t snap it. It must be known that his current strength was extremely high. He could move a freight truck with his bare hands. Since he was unable to deal with the card, it could be seen that it was very unusual.

Just as Luo Fengcheng said, if it really was an ability, it wasn’t possible to make a card like this. The identity of a Black Tower researched was too conspicuous. Right now, the stowaway most desired to hide their identity and wouldn’t parade around town like this.

Excluding the cook and junior high student [1], whose faces were blank, the several other people no longer had doubts toward Luo Fengcheng’s identity.

If someone like this wanted to kill someone, I’m afraid they really wouldn’t need to move their own hand. Maybe they simply couldn’t kill at all.

The probability that Luo Fengcheng was the stowaway was extremely low.

Everyone had to talk about what they did in those three days. Tang Mo and Li Bin were set aside for the time being. They now turned to Lin Qiao.

“When the Black Tower announced ‘the Earth is online,’ I remember I was in class. What class was it… Oh, that’s right. That day was Wednesday, the 15th. Wednesday morning’s first two periods are advanced math class. Because the Black Tower suddenly spoke, none of our classes finished and we all went back to the dorms. The school even sent out a mass message telling us there was no need to panic and to wait for notice.”

Lin Qiao carefully recalled, “Actually, I was a ‘Black Tower Optimist.’ I like to play survival-type games. I’ve played all of the survival games that have been recently released. At the beginning, I didn’t take the Black Tower seriously. After I returned to the dorm, my roommates and I chatted about the Black Tower for a long time. We might have talked until night time. Anyway, during those three days, our school didn’t have classes and I always just stayed in the dorm playing games. The cafeteria was also temporarily closed and for those few days I always ate take out, staying in the dorm and not going out.”

Li Bin said, “That’s all?”

Lin Qiao continued digging for thoughts. After a long time, she shook her head. “The four people in our dorm were all originally from S-City. However, my dad passed away early on and my mom went to N-City for a business trip. After the Black Tower incident, my three roommates all returned home the next day. I stayed alone at the dorm. That morning I had just gotten up and was brushing my teeth when I heard the Black Tower announce the news. I still didn’t know what had happened until I turned on the computer to play games and found there was no internet. Then I walked to the neighboring dorm and knocked on the door, only to find…everybody was all gone.”

Speaking up to here, this female university student, who had always shown courage and a big heart, was unable to hide the fear that dwelled in her heart. She swallowed and tried hard to keep calm.

“During those three days, I really always stayed in the dorm playing games and didn’t kill anyone. I’m really not a stowaway. After the incident, I just wanted to go to N-City to find my mom. I didn’t anticipate that before I’d even left S-City, I’d be pulled here. You all believe me, I’m really not a stowaway!”

Li Bin nodded his head and looked at Tang Mo and Luo Fengcheng.

The two of them had no objection. Li Bin then walked in front of the next person.

The wealthy second generation, Li Wen, looked at Tang Mo, breathed deeply to ease his nerves, and said, “On the first of the three days, I went to N-City to find friends to play. On the second day, we were still playing. That day should mainly have been spent drinking wine. On the evening of the second day, my dad called and had me come back home. I had drunk a lot that evening and couldn’t return, so I intended to take a nap and go back the next day. As a result, I was suddenly rear-ended by people on the freeway. I fell under the freeway. After I woke up, I saw Tang Mo. I don’t really get all of this Black Tower stuff. All I know is what Tang Mo told me. I only know that I was rear-ended because the other drivers suddenly disappeared. I’m not a stowaway since I’ve never killed anyone.”

Everyone looked at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo nodded. “I first met him on the freeway. His car had been rear-ended. But I’m not clear about his previous matters.”

Li Bin frowned and said, “Why did you say it so simply? Say it again with a bit more detail.”

Li Wen had a bitter face and he thought for a long time. “I already remembered it all the way through before, but I basically spent all of those three days playing with friends, drinking or something. I didn’t do anything unusual. It shouldn’t be necessary for me to say all the things we played, right? It was just ordinary playing and really isn’t important… Drinking wine? Playing ball? Hic, okay, my friend even brought along a few female stars to play…”

No one listened to Li Wen’s words anymore. Lin Qiao wore a disdainful expression.

Li Wen innocently said, “Hey, hey, you all made me say it, okay. What can we play…”

Just then when Li Wen had been speaking, Lin Qiao had already explained the current situation to the cook. After the cook figured out the situation, he was particularly nervous. Sweat the size of beans dripped from his head. He stood perfectly straight and, seeing everyone’s gazes come to him, he promptly said, “I…I am a cook, but half a year ago after the Black Tower appeared, my boss was afraid and ran off. I was unemployed. After that, I depended on delivering takeout to make a living. During those three days, I delivered takeout the same as usual, but since a lot of people didn’t go to work, I had a lot fewer orders. And…and nothing unusual happened. It was just delivering takeout. On the morning of the third day, when I went out the door to make deliveries, I suddenly saw the people on the street disappear. Then I went home in fear.”

Li Bin said, “Can you say it a bit more clearly?”

The cook anxiously wiped his sweat. “Let me think…Oh, right, I remember I delivered to two high-end neighborhoods. One was over there at Anding Temple. [2] The gate guard wouldn’t let bikes enter so I unexpectedly had to walk inside to deliver the meals. There was also one near People’s Square. [3] Other than that…what should I say? What do you think I need to say? You say it and I’ll definitely tell you. I really didn’t kill anyone, ah, really! I’m not that stowaway or whatever!”

The cook looked at everyone’s eyes in anxiety. Tang Mo thoughtfully looked at him, then walked up to the young woman.

Peng Yu Wen had always been standing at Lin Qiao’s side, timidly watching the other people.

Lin Qiao said, “Don’t be afraid, Wen Wen. You just tell us what you did in those three days. The real stowaway must be unable to hide their fox tail…” [4] Lin Qiao’s gaze circled over Li Bin and Li Wen as she said, “You just tell us.”

The young woman nodded her head and said in a whisper, “I’m also not a stowaway. I didn’t kill anyone. I’m the same as this jie jie. [5] Our school also didn’t have us come to class. I was taken home by my mom and dad and then always stayed at home. My dad still had to continue going to work. My mom’s workplace said she didn’t need to come to work, so she and I stayed at home together. Then…”

The young woman’s eyes reddened. “Then, on the third day, my mom suddenly disappeared. I don’t know anything. She just disappeared.”

Lin Qiao pulled on the young woman’s hand and softly comforted her.

The young woman was choked with sobs for a while, her expression pale and her voice hoarse. “The night before my mom disappeared, she even spoke with me, telling me there was no need to fear and that, as long as I was good, she would take care of everything. Mom…my mom, she’s gone…”

The young woman was once again unable to suppress her tears and they rushed out of her eyes.

Among the seven people, there were only two girls. Lin Qiao tightly held this thin and weak young woman, gently caressing her back and continuously comforting her.

Li Bin looked at the two girls and his brows slowly tightened. He opened his mouth, but still hadn’t made a sound when Tang Mo said, “Li Bin, it’s your turn.”

Li Bin startled, then nodded and spoke about his experience. “I work at a public relations company responsible for marketing planning. After the Black Tower incident, our company didn’t go on break and we were required to continue going to work. I myself was a bit conflicted toward the Black Tower and wanted to take a leave of absence, but there happened to be a big project at this time and my boss wouldn’t give approval. I could only continue to work. On the second day, I was pulled into a Black Tower game. That Black Tower game was called…” Li Bin paused for a long time. His expression was strange as he said, “It was called ‘Why Do You Want to Eat Such a Cute Sheepy.’”

Everyone: “...”

Li Bin raised his head to look at Tang Mo. “You should understand, right? I was just suddenly pulled into a strange place. I didn’t do anything at all. The Black Tower announced the start of the game and even announced a heap of bizarre rules. I was pulled into this game with three unfamiliar people. After the four of us entered, we all had sheep doll costumes on. The Black Tower said that we now had to play hide and seek with a wolf in a maze. If we were grabbed, we’d be eaten. We had to find a mysterious egg at the maze’s exit before we were eaten. Only in this way could we overpower the wolf and win the game.”

Li Bin seemed to also feel this game was too childish. His head dropped in exasperation. “When the four of us entered the maze, we decided to split up. Since there was only one wolf, our probability of survival was higher like this. It wouldn’t be as bad as being completely wiped out. [6] Afterward, I heard two of my companions’ miserable screaming and guessed they’d been eaten by the wolf. I hurriedly ran. However, I couldn’t find the maze’s exit and even sensed that the wolf was getting close to me. It had almost caught up to me when the Black Tower suddenly said that the game was over and that my other companion had found the mysterious egg. I don’t know what happened after that. I just won in a confused manner and returned to the company.

“I immediately wanted to tell other people about this, but for some reason I had no way to talk about the game. Regarding the game, I couldn’t make a sound. The people at the company all thought I had overslept and arrived late and that I’d even been late by the greater half of the day. But I had no way to explain myself. I didn’t dare go to work again out of fear and planned to drive back to my hometown the next day. Later, I still hadn’t made it home yet and everyone just disappeared.”

Li Bin lifted his head to look at Tang Mo. “You were also like this, right? Unable to tell anyone else about this matter. Really, I couldn’t say a thing!”

Tang Mo shook his head. “The time when I finished the game was very coincidental. Not long at all after I had finished, everyone disappeared.”

Li Bin said, “But I really am an official player.”

Luo Fengcheng’s tranquil voice sounded at this time. “As a matter of fact, there was an omission from what I said just now. It isn’t only the accidental murderer who will have an excited reaction when their crime is exposed. Any murderer, regardless of whether it’s premeditated homicide or not, will have a reaction when their murderous behavior is pointed out by someone.”

Li Bin’s expression transformed. “What do you mean? I really am an official player, not a stowaway. The stowaway is obviously…”

“He isn’t talking about you,” Tang Mo said.

Luo Fengcheng glanced at Tang Mo. “Any ordinary murderer, when the big mole spoke about the definition of a stowaway just now, would certainly have some subtle change. There are only two kinds of murderers who would be indifferent: The first kind is the antisocial type of murderer. They don’t feel that killing is wrong and so won’t have any abnormality. The second kind is the naive type of murderer. Maybe their age is too young or maybe they’re ignorant. They don’t know the meaning of what they’ve done, so even if their identity is exposed, they won’t have too big of a psychological burden.”

Tang Mo nodded slightly. “Actually, before your first words, I was exceptionally suspicious of you, but in my heart I still hoped it wasn’t you.”

The tall, thin, elegant young man walked up to the two girls and slightly bent down at the waist, looking at that timid and fearful young woman.

“The first words you said revealed your identity. However, you’re only eighteen years old. Who did you kill? Why did you kill?”

Li Bin said loudly, “That’s right, the stowaway is her! I noticed it just now.”

The hand Lin Qiao was using to hold the young woman went rigid and she quickly let go, moving far away from her.

The young woman’s face was covered in tears. She fearfully moved backward two steps and, choking with sobs, said, “I haven’t, I’m not…I didn’t kill, I didn’t…I…I…”

“You are a stowaway.”

With a serene expression, Tang Mo delivered the final blow.

[PREV] [TOC] [NEXT]

Character Refresher:

Li Bin (李彬), 29, male, works at a PR firm.

Peng Yu Wen (彭玉雯), 18, female, first year of university. Small, looks like a junior high student.

Tang Mo (唐陌), 23, male, librarian. Our protagonist! :D

Li Wen (黎文), 25, male, unemployed. A foolishly sweet second generation who plays around with female celebrities!?!?

Lin Qiao (林巧), 20, female, university student, Gamer.

Zhao Xiang (赵翔), 32, male, former chef.

Luo Fengcheng (洛风城), 28, game designer Black Tower researcher, wears glasses and looks refined.

Uncle Mole (鼹鼠叔叔), a cute and patient mole. ^_^

Translation Notes:

[1] She’s an eighteen year old in her first year of college. She just looks really small and young. I’ve been addressing her as ‘young woman’ but the text refers to her as 小姑娘 (xiao guniang), which is more like ‘little girl.’ I might go back and change this at a later time. It just feels weird to refer to an eighteen year old college student using the same language that’s used for Mosaic (also a 小姑娘).

[2] Anding Temple and Anding District (where Tang Mo was previously headed) are not real places in Shanghai, but I think they’re probably based on Jing’an Temple and Jing’an District. Here's a photo of the temple:

[3] People’s Square is a real place in Shanghai. It’s home to the Shanghai Museum as well as Shanghai’s municipal government. He's implying that he delivered to a government employee.

(That cool round building on the left is the museum.)

[4] To hide one’s fox tail is to conceal your true (bad) nature. The saying comes from stories of fox spirits who often like to disguise themselves as humans (and other things!) in folklore. Fox spirits aren’t necessarily evil and sometimes even do good, but they’re definitely tricksters and deceivers.

[5] big sister

[6] 一锅端 - to even take the cooking pots, to be totally cleaned out/wiped out. The closest English equivalent is probably “even the kitchen sink.” Which is a weirder way to phrase the same kind of sentiment of “take even the things that normally wouldn’t be taken.” That’s usually true of English, though… Always weirder than necessary…

Translation P.S.:

I was inspired to draw Li Wen's alibi this week while translating... what a little idiot.......

[stellarred]

STP S3 Fic: "Revelations" Pt 1

"Can I get you anything else, sir?"

Picard looked up from the Starfleet report he'd been analyzing to see Harvey standing there with a large teapot.

He smiled. "No thank you, Harvey. I'm fine for now."

"Very good, sir."

Picard watched as Harvey left the room. He leaned back in his large chair taking in the silence of the popping, warm fire behind him. Turning his head, he could see the autumn leaves on the tree branches outside his window fluttering in a cold, brisk wind.

He closed his eyes and took a slow breath. It was late November, and the creeping signs of colder weather and shorter days reflected the persistent melancholy in his heart.

Picard appreciated the stark beauty of winter, but in his heart he craved warmth and light.

The Sun...

Picard had been feeling depressed for the past few months. Although he'd sincerely made an attempt to nurture his relationship with Laris, it was as if something inside him kept saying, "Give it up. This is not for you."

He then thought of the afternoon when they had broken up. It was a sad day. It had rained profusely that late morning, and Picard could still see her leaving the chateau in a long, black cape for the transport pod to take her to the city.

Picard got up out of his chair and went to the window. He pressed the palm of his hand against the cold glass. The cold window was just as cold as it was that evening after Laris had left, as he stood staring out at the grey mist lifting off the fields in the distance. Slowly, the clouds in the night sky wafted away leaving bright stars smiling down at him. Comforting him.

Beckoning to him...

"What am I doing?" Picard whispered. He gazed up at today's sky, the rays of a golden sun burgeoning through thick clouds.

"Something is missing," he thought.

He turned as he heard Harvey return.

"Sir, you have a visitor," he said.

"A visitor? Who is it?"

Harvey shifted slightly.

"She requested that I not say, sir."

Picard's eyes widened. "She?"

"Uh yes, sir. She said that it was to be a surprise. "

Picard smiled and walked over to him. "Well, show her in."

Harvey turned and left the room. Picard was glad for the company. It had been a couple of weeks since he'd had any visitors or guests, except for a few simulcrae transmissions of Will and Geordi.

Picard turned as Harvey entered the room followed by a woman with shoulder-length brunette hair and wearing a shapely blue dress. He caught his breath when she smiled.

" Jean-Luc."

"Vash. It's you!" Picard smiled broadly as she quickly embraced him.

"It's been a long time," she said.

Picard leaned his face against her head; he could smell the familiar scent of her perfume, and he remembered the softness of her hair.

"What brings you to Earth? The last time I saw you was--," his voice trailed off.

Vash smiled. " Well, I've been on Earth for the past year conducting research with Dr. Raschmeier at the Daystrom Institute. "

"Volker Raschmeier? He's the foremost authority on the pre-dynastic temples of Atara IV."

"We're collaborating on a study. It's really fascinating."

"I never thought I'd see you again, Vash," Picard said breaking their embrace to sit on the sofa.

"Yes, our last time together was...interesting to say the least," she replied tossing her graying hair over her shoulder.

"Interesting is one way to describe it. I'm sorry for the way things transpired between us. The fact that...Q put us through that ridiculous Robin Hood ordeal didn't help either. I'm just glad you and my crewmembers weren't hurt in Q's game."

"It was a tense time. But, Q did prove that you love me, though," Vash said, her eyes twinkling.

Picard shook his head. "No, that was completely unnecessary and intrusive of Q. Again, I would've done the same for anyone," Picard replied.

He paused. "But, I think...he had another reason for why he did it."

Vash leaned in. "What reason?"

"Nothing, Vash. It was nothing. I just thought he, well...wanted you to leave with him because he didn't want you and I to..."

"To what?"

Picard shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He sighed and studied Vash's face, still beautiful with a few faint lines and greying hairs framing her features.

"Why did you leave with him?" he asked clasping his hands together.

Vash shrugged. "He told me that he could sense that I wanted adventure, that we had a lot in common, and that he could show me exciting things in the galaxy. It was fun, sort of. For a while, at least. " Vash's voice trailed off.

"May I ask what happened? Was Q a poor traveling companion?"

Vash rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't know, Jean-Luc. He was glad to have someone to be with. He seemed very lonely and faraway at times."

"Oh?"

Vash stared into space reflecting on her travels with Q.

"He and I got along for the most part. But, there were times when he seemed as if he wanted to be somewhere else. I just couldn't take it after awhile. He could be so arrogant. I had to beg him to take me to the places that I wanted to go. But he kept showing me things that he said--" She stopped and looked at Picard.

A moment of silence passed.

" He kept taking me to places that he said you would enjoy."

"I would enjoy?"

Vash sighed. " Jean-Luc, I swear he talked about you a lot. I mean, a LOT!"

Picard shrugged, and he felt his cheeks turn red. "Oh, hell. I'm blushing," he thought. Merde.

" I admit that I am too much in love with finding artifacts and how they can benefit me. That mentality doesn't exactly leave much room for understanding the fine nuances of interpersonal relationships. But, I could tell that you meant something to Q."

Picard held his breath. "I agree. He's always had a...respect for me. From an adversarial perspective. " He coughed slightly.

Vash raised her eyebrows.

"Are you kidding me? He has far more than respect for you. Like I said, he often went on and on about you. Jean-Luc this, and Jean-Luc that. Every time I even mentioned coming back to see you, or even sending you a transmission to share news with you, he brushed it off. Then, he would either ignore me for the rest of the day, or all of a sudden he wanted to cram as many excursions as he could into our plans."

"Well, Q has always been a mercurial sort. I'm just glad he's gone," Picard said. He then stood up and crossed over to the window to look out again.

"Really, Jean-Luc? Why do I get the feeling you're not?"

Picard turned, his hazel eyes flickering with irritation. He wasn't being honest, and he knew that Vash could tell.

"I...saw Q recently. He-" Picard stopped and resumed looking out the window.

"He died." A wave of sadness washed though his heart.

Vash looked down.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why? It's over. He's gone, and he's not coming back. I think."

"He was special to you, wasn't he? Admit it, Jean-Luc. " Vash stood up.

"No."

"Well, you were definitely special to him. If I may be so bold to say, he had feelings for you."

Picard quickly drew an intake of breath.

"Vash, I--" he said, his heart pounding in his chest.

"I don't know. I personally don't miss him. But, looking back I don't think he was fully happy. I think his heart belonged somewhere else."

Picard leaned his forehead against the cold window glass. He closed his eyes.

"Just as...your heart belongs somewhere else, too," Vash quietly added.

Picard opened his eyes and turned towards her. He sighed.

"Do you want to stay the night? There are several guest rooms."

Vash shook her head. "No thanks, Jean-Luc. I'm staying in the city tonight. I'm leaving for the Daystrom Institute in the morning."

Picard smiled. "I'm glad you came by."

"It was my pleasure."

"I'll have someone show you out."

"No thanks. I know my way out. Take care of yourself, Jean-Luc. May I ask you a question before I go?" Vash asked.

Picard smiled. "Of course. Anything."

" Why haven't you found someone to share your life with?"

Picard looked down at the floor.

"Vash, it's..." he stopped. Not again, dammit.

"I don't mean to pry. Sorry. I can just tell that you lost something or someone."

"It's alright. It was complicated."

"Wherever they are, I'm sure they're thinking of you, too."

"I'm sure."

"Just never give up looking for what you really want. True happiness doesn't always arrive in the form that we dreamed of. Often what we have always desired and loved, what is good for us...has been in front of us from the very beginning. We've just been lying to ourselves. "

Picard stood silently as Vash turned and left the room.

The room was silent except for the soothing tick of the tall clock in the corner.

Picard once again went to the window and looked out. He felt a deep sadness throughout his body, a longing.

His hazel eyes looked upward into the sky, which was now a bright, clear blue with a few white clouds passing overhead.

The Sun was now shining.

Picard swallowed hard; he felt a lump in his throat. He closed his eyes.

No, he must quell this thought. How can this be? Has it been so bloody obvious all along? Is he this afraid? Is he so willing to torture himself like this?

Picard's voice trembled as he whispered,

"Q, I miss you."

[shivunin]

WIP Whenever

Thanks for the tag back @heniareth!

Here is a piece of a mermaid AU I've been working on in hopes of finishing before the end of the month. I have some great sections that I am really looking forward to executing, but here is one of the fun pieces---an alternate version of the Arlathven, in a world where the aravels are amphibious and can be made sea-worthy when necessary. I put it under a cut because it's a touch long.

Tagging back @greypetrel and @ndostairlyrium, but no pressure. (if anyone else has something they'd like to show, lmk and i will tag you c: )

The waves were gentle today; the Arlathven tossed gently around the little group, swaying from one end of the flotilla to the other with little fanfare. Beyond their little corner of the deck, people wandered back and forth over the walkways laid between the ships of the Dalish and the murmurs of the gathering rose above the whistle of the wind and the splash of the water against wood. 

Emmaera sat with her legs crossed, listening to one of her fellow Firsts, but her mind was elsewhere. It had been elsewhere for weeks now, ever since she’d returned to the clan at sea, and it wandered back to the same place now. 

“Lavellan?” one of the others—Ralaferin, she thought—asked with a frown. “Did you have anything to add?”

“Hmm,” Emmaera sighed, “I don’t know, honestly; you know I’ve been out of the loop for two years now. Matters were different when last I heard of them. So the humans are at war; what else is new? We didn’t intervene when Ferelden forced Orlais from their shores. I don’t know that there is anything the clans can do about this dispute over the throne or the unrest in Kirkwall, save offering safety to our cousins in the cities.”

The other four stared at her, various expressions of perplexity on their faces. 

“We were sharing what we’ve done the past few years,” Sabrae said, her wide green eyes glittering in the sunlight. “I’d heard that you were conducting research on the ruins to the west. Alerion said she’d heard about strange lights throughout the ruins, even when there was nobody inside them. Did you see anything like that?” 

Lavellan traced the patched knee of her leggings, searching for the words. The stitches that held the cloth together were neat, even, and very small. If she were to take them off and look at the other side, she knew she’d find her own name embroidered into the cloth, the Elvhen letters slightly clumsy despite the neatness of the rest. The shoulder of her tunic was mended in the same manner, as were half the clothes she’d carefully packed away in her trunk. 

Emmaera had always been horrible at mending things. 

“Yes,” she said at last, and the others looked at her expectantly. 

“Well? Go on then,” said the Ferelden First—Emmaera couldn’t remember her clan name—and more than one of the others nodded in agreement. 

Well. She’d known that she would have to spill the lot of it sometime. She shouldn’t be surprised that it was happening now; if nothing else, the Arlathven was good for gossip. 

Lavellan straightened up and clasped her hands in her lap. Where to begin when there was so much to tell?

“When I was a child and my father vanished, I developed a fascination with the ancient mirrors,” she began, “and the island’s ruins had markings on the outside which indicated there might be one within…”