#i don't remember which was but i recall that for a while the chapters weren't coming out weekly

[laugtherhyena]

Is csm chapter 168 dropping tomorrow??

[aettuddae]

business matter — chapter 70.

↳ synopsis: two of the most important kpop companies covet a partnership with a huge global brand, only to be surprised when the deal is extended to both labels. fearing potential sabotage and cynical strategies to secure exclusivity for just one of them, both CEOs resort to desperate measures. in a bid to maintain trust and prevent betrayal before the signing, they come up with a pact: forcing a fake relationship between the leaders of their star girlgroups. if one side attempted to fail the other, they threaten to expose it all to the conservative south korea.

masterlist | prev | next

[written chapter]

[a/n: the reactions of the fans are not happening at the same time as the events written.]

a large team with cameras and employees of different categories were in a field not far from the city. from the makeup area where they also got their microphones to that piece of land where there used to be nothing, but now there was a recreational structure for the recording, it was about twenty minutes by car. the filming crew surrounded the cast of azza time!, which was meeting for another week to produce a new episode.

the celebrities were casually chatting about everyday topics and also conspiring about what today's maze could be, already accustomed after three years to the dynamics of the program in which the production devised confusingly ordered circuits in which there were different games as obstacles that required general knowledge, intelligence, and also physical skill.

serim often asked herself how she had ended up being part of this kind of program and not one where she could merely sit, eat and talk, as she knew there were many.

after waiting a moment, the director was heard throughout the set announcing that they would begin recording, so the regulars stood next to each other looking at the camera to start the program.

“so…” sejeong, who was standing next to serim, leaned even closer to her friend so that she could talk to her without anyone else hearing. “is she your girlfriend today or not?” she asked as she watched the guests approaching from a distance.

serim returned an annoyed look, causing sejeong to laugh with accomplishment. “they asked us to act friendly in front of the camera.”

“in that case, i hope she doesn't go into acting.” she commented, looking at karina, who showed irritation on her face.

they received the indication that they were already being filmed and then jaesuk, the main host of the program, began the presentation of the episode and gave way to a short exchange of words between the arranged cast, to finally introduce the guests.

“…they finally returned to azza time with their first full album, ‘armageddon’, aespa!” the four members entered the camera vision and were welcomed with applause from the mcs.

the group introduced themselves, as well as one by one, and then their new project, courtesy questions that are asked at the beginning of any variety show took some time, in which the leader of aespa did not deign to place her eyes even close to the position in which the leader of heaven was, as if they did not partially live together.

“serim-ah." jaesuk called, catching her attention. “you are an idol, are you close to the members of aespa?”

“well…” she turned to look at them, noticing that winter and ningning were holding back the urge to laugh, while giselle looked terrified at the possible answer to that question, and karina had her eyes on the ground. “we have recently promoted together, as you know,” she recalled. “we are co-workers, we can still become closer." she replied, careful with her words.

“didn't you exchange contacts after the episode they appeared in before?” another member, jukjae, chimed in, surprised that they weren't close.

“to be honest, i don't really remember that episode.” serim's answer caused her mates to laugh.

“that sounds like serim.” sejeong accepted.

“from among them,” the star of the conversation pointed to the guests with her hand. “karina and i…” the aforementioned raised her head quickly to look at her seriously, causing serim to smile sideways, smug. “we are the closest.” she adverted, turning her gaze from the girl to her work friends.

the others started talking over each other asking questions, after all, they were quite close since they recorded together every week and even met after when they could, but it wasn't enough to know who was in their inner circles, so they were fascinated by the new information of a possible friendship between their beloved serim and another of the most popular idols in the country.

“karina and i,” this time she spoke to the camera, possibly because she was disturbed by the furious gaze of the blackhaired woman who was staring at her. “we met through what she describes as…” she gave a sigh and thought for a second. “a business matter.” she nodded her head, affirming the memory of jimin using that term. “we've spent a lot of time together” she added. "at work." she commented, creating even more tension than there already was between her and the guest, but seeming like an ordinary anecdote to those who had no idea of ​​the context behind it.

“i can't believe we're on the same team again." sejeong complained to serim as both of them, part of the red team, entered the maze prepared for that day.

the azza time labyrinths were artificially assembled sets that were easy to dismantle, but they needed large spaces to be settled up in, which is why the episodes were always recorded in open fields or large spaces such as baseball stadiums or sports courts. they were generally themed based on what the guests were promoting, and in this case, the topic was an alien invasion.

the dynamics of the program is that the participants are divided into two randomly chosen groups that have to explore the map until they find the exit, completing missions, playing games or passing obstacles along the way, and once reached the end they cannot win without a certain number of these carried out.

“it's destiny trying to tell us something.” she brought her hand to her chest acting in love with her.

“serim, could you behave?” the oldest punched her shoulder in frustration. “karina is right there." she joked, without having the latest news on the relationship between these two.

ningning turned to look horrified at the brunette, then at her leader to capture her reaction, but she just, very poorly, pretended she didn't hear, while serim swallowed hard and opened her eyes wide as if she were trying to tell her friend to shut up with them, although she didn't see it since with her competitive spirit she had taken the lead in the team. even so, the atmosphere did not become uncomfortable since the other two members of the cast did laugh at the joke, although they may not have understood it very well.

without giving time for there to be any type of interaction between the two leaders because of that comment, a sharp shout from sejeong was heard, and as a result, the two members of aespa who were on the team reacted the same out of inertia. when they turned a corner they ran into an actor in an alien costume, and once everyone saw what it was that had scared the woman, they simply burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. once they grew normal with it, serim approached the boy and took a letter that he had in his hand to open it so she could read what it said.

unconsciously, due to her restless, game-loving and impatient nature, jimin pressed her body against the older girl's, trying to grasp the instructions to start the mission as quickly as possible, wrapping her touch around the other's upper arm and leaving her cheek only a tilt of her head from jang's skin. but serim loves being right, in addition to being in control of every scenario, and considering the grudge and annoyance she held against jimin at that moment for the attitude she had adopted that they were complete strangers, she couldn't help but notice the girl's closeness, nor contain the victorious smile that appeared on her face, creating a pedantic and arrogant aura, which only unfolded with karina abruptly breaking apart from her side in madness.

“let's see if i understood." dongyeon spoke after hearing the explanation. “he" pointed to the alien. “is going to sing in an extraterrestrial language and we have to guess what song it is?”

"exactly." assured ningning funnily before the mini-game.

they prepared to carry out the activity, sitting on some stools that the production prepared for them and paying attention to the man when he began his part, failing in some, but eventually getting four of the five songs right that they needed to complete that point of the race.

everyone was waiting for the next melody, leaning on the edge of their seats, ready to shout the answer. the boy awkwardly started humming something after receiving the name and the show's stars took a moment to guess what it was.

“ah!” serim exclaimed after identifying the sound, feeling a tap on her shoulder from one, very passionate about the game, jimin, who seemed to have also deciphered it and wanted to communicate it to someone in some way. “snsd!” she shouted, upset.

“party!” yu finished.

for just a second everything was silent, but the moment it was confirmed that it was the correct answer, they both squealed happily. the song began to play through the speakers so they could complete the next part, which was to dance and sing it, to which they both got up running. serim got to the center faster, but she has always been terrible at remembering choreographies, so she stayed static, although not for long because as soon as karina caught up with her, she pushed her out of the shot and started performing impeccably.

upon seeing the youngest, the vocalist remembered the steps and returned to her position, covering her work mate in front of the camera lens and continuing with the dance. however, this one approached quickly and she used the full weight of her body to rush at the girl who had interrupted her, quickly returning to the middle to continue from where she had left off. jang stopped to look at her in disbelief, but quickly regained her determination and approached with wide steps to wrap her arms around her waist and lift her off the ground, carrying her back through the air to leave her behind, going back to the center to finish the challenge by herself.

“girls, remember that you can dance together, we are all one team.” tried to intervene jaesuk from his seat, although in any case, all the spectators found the leaders' tom and jerry act entertaining and funny.

but no one listened to the man and the main dancer once again gained the spotlight by pulling the older's shirt until she was off camera, ending in serim running back towards her and grabbing her by the torso again, but this time maintaining her grip, no longer trying to dance, but to prevent the girl from achieving what she wanted.

"let go!" perhaps because of the distraction of wanting to win, she didn't give that order with bitterness, but rather charged with the emotion of a child who wants to continue playing.

“no! it's my favorite group, i have to answer!" she refused, still having her captured in her embrace.

“it's my favorite group too, nam…” she realized. “serim." she retracted herself, trying to get free.

“it can't be because you and i would never have anything in common.” she contradicted.

“i liked snsd before you did!” seeing that she couldn't get out of the woman's arms, she changed her strategy and began to try to throw her to the ground.

“how would you know when i started liking snsd?” she struggled to maintain balance.

"intuition!" she responded simply as she finally managed, after kicking serim's foot and causing her to lose balance when it lifted suddenly, to get her to fall off. although perhaps she didn't expect the vocalist to take her down too.

“they both got the point for the team.” someone from the staff announced. they hadn't even noticed that the song was no longer playing.

"that's not fair!" from the ground, jimin pointed accusingly her index at the person who said that, with her back against serim's front and still in her hold, still too blinded by her desire for victory to notice what position she found herself in.

"i don't believe you!" serim continued.

“it is possible, we are playing as a team.” interrupted sejeong, appearing in their field of vision above them. "get up please."

after several hours of recording, the red team was on the fifth mission, and this was one of those that required physical dexterity. before them stood a platform that swayed, decorated as if it were a spaceship. in the middle of it, there was nothing more than a tube that connected from the floor under the machine to the ceiling of the place, which had various steps that wrapped around it, and a little higher hung a series of figures in moons, stars, hearts, and butterflies of different colors. on the sides of the wobbly stage were two baskets.

the game consisted of reaching the required figures and placing them in the containers without anyone falling off that surface that kept rotating and moving up and down. those in charge of climbing to reach the emblems were ningning and dongyeon, while jaesuk and sejeong were the ones who had to throw them into the barrels trying to fill them, and karina together with serim worked as hinges, holding the previous two so that they do not fall, but also ensuring that those who climbed didn't either.

the figures were very high, so the hosts really had to work hard to reach them, but dongyeon managed to get a pink star, as requested in the game instructions, and went down to pass it to serim who would get it to sejeong. but as soon as the last one stretched out to try to throw the object where it had to enter, as it was her first attempt, she lost her balance and also the support she had in serim's hand, almost falling into the water that was under them. fortunately, her friend, with speed and agility, released her grip on the tube, taking advantage of the fleeting moment in which the platform was tilted on the opposite side, but elevated on hers, she approached kim, hugged her against her body, and returned to hold on just in time so they wouldn't be propelled out of the game.

on the other side, ningning already had a green moon in her hand, but she was still on the iron bars that functioned as steps. it was difficult for her to go down because of the movement, leaning on her leader so that she could tell her when it would be appropriate to step. but the blackhaired woman had her eyes distracted by serim and how she was hugging sejeong, which is why she was not paying attention to her maknae when she tried to get down just at the moment when the ground rose on their side, causing the girl's foot to suddenly rose and with it the rest of her body that was still over the metals that formed a staircase, leaving her hand trapped in the one it was wrapped and causing her thumb to bend unnaturally as she did not adapt to the abrupt change in position. the youngest girl's scream echoed throughout the place, accompanied by her body falling on top of her bandmate as she released her grip because of the pain.

upon hearing her, the game stopped and the production, as well as the group's staff, came to help her without delay. taking her off the set to the car they had arrived in so she could be checked by a doctor, followed by karina, while the others were notified. everyone gathered outside to deliberate about what had happened and wait for answers about whether they could continue recording, while the members of aespa gathered around the car with their manager and others to see how serious the maknae's injury had been.

after a moment, when she saw the emergency staff leaving, serim decided to approach the girls.

“hey, ning, how are you?” she gave her a kind smile.

"fine." she assured her, she didn't look distressed. “it's a sprain, but it's not serious, in a few days it will heal.” she raised her hand to show it. “they only gave me this.” a splint held the injured finger in place, wrapped with some bandages to support it.

"i'm happy to hear you're well." she walked over to lie against the truck next to the opening where ningning was. "but what happened?" she put her palm on the girl's leg, which made her nervous and so begin to mix up her words when trying to explain, without getting her to understand.

"it was my fault." karina interrupted, gaining the attention. “i should have been attentive to help her get down, but i wasn't.” she explained.

“no, it wasn't anyone's fault.” ningning denied. “my finger got caught in the tube, no one would have imagined that would happen.” she clarified.

“either way, it was my role to prevent something like that from happening.” yu repeated.

“you seem to have a tendency to lose control of things.” serim observed, her tone slightly hostile to her.

"what do you mean by that?" she furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her with annoyance.

“whatever you want to understand.” she shrugged her shoulders. “ning, have they already told you if you will be able to continue recording? maybe you should rest.” she turned to see the named one.

“serim, i think i already told you more than once, but you don't know me enough to make assumptions about me.” she warned irritably.

“don't you get tired of repeating the same things over and over again?” jang turned her gaze to her in distaste. “even jesus rested.”

“i wouldn't have to keep repeating the same thing if you would just stop acting so immature.” karina defended herself.

“i'm done talking to you.” serim cut off her words.

“how can you be so unbearable?” she took a few steps to get closer to her.

“that question is too personal, i'm sorry, i thought you didn't want to know anything about me.” she pushed herself from the vehicle and faced her.

“can you two not fight? ningning almost ripped off her finger…” giselle tried to stop them.

“is all the resentful attitude you've had today is because i rejected you?” she crossed her arms. “poor little serim, finally a woman says no to her.” she hummed mockingly.

“what resentful attitude are you even talking about?” she inquired unperturbed.

“your constant laughing, looks and comments with double meanings.” she recounted. “that speech of yours about how we met that you gave at the beginning, was it necessary?” jimin was furious.

“i was just repeating what you told me.” she argued with an innocent tone. “and for someone who doesn't want to know anything about me, i noticed that you were very aware of what i do all day.” she tilted her head, looking at her expectantly.

“how can i not notice the stuff you do if you are over me all the time hoping that i do something you can hold against me?” she exclaimed, raising her voice.

“did i force you to do those things that i ended up rubbing to your face?” she responded, turning up the volume of her sentences.

“i didn't do anything to you all day!”

“aside from letting your groupmate get injured because you were too focused on what i was up to?” she exclaimed exasperatedly. “or did you really think i didn't catch you staring?” she spoke normally again, but still with anger.

“fuck you, serim.” she said angrily and turned around to leave.

“fuck me yourself!” she shouted loudly for karina to hear as she walked away from her.

[szynkaaa]

Black Myth: Wukong Journal Entries Part 1

Summarizing some of the journal entries that I found interesting because why not fanfic research?? who knows not me

All the journal entires can also be read on the fandom wiki page

Starting with the Mount Huaguo monkeys because I too, am wondering how they were faring after SWK died.

Circus Monkey (chapter 3 New West)

After Mt. Huaguo was destroyed, the Macaque Chief (flying monkey we fight three times in Chapter 3) led a bunch of monkeys away

arrived at Flaming Mountain (chapter 5) but a plague broke out and Macaque Chief asked for the sick monkes to be tossed into a called

This did not like that, so they decided to stop following the Macaque Chief and they wandered around

lived among humans, pretended to be monkey performers, did not make good money, so they decided to rob the audience while performing.

they killed them, stole their things and moved to the next city

The moved tot he New West, heard Macaque Chief is there too but avoiding them because he feels guilty

circus monkey became circus monks

Tenner (chapter 5 Flaming Mountain)

Centuries ago, Court razed Mt Huago once more

lots of monkey left the home after they heard of SWK death, and because SWK was buddy buddy with the Bull King they decided to go to Mt. Huago

Bull King hated monkeys because of SWK betrayal LOL, but he still gave them shelter and the monkeys were often bullied by other yaoguais

The Flaming Mountain Keeper (dude who had the hots for Princess Iron Fan) treated them with kindness and gave them food and support

Plague struck, monkeys fur fell out and they had sores and boils all over their skin spreading across their back

Macaque Chief casted the infected into the Furnace Valley. Dude said not my circus not my monkeys lol

Keeper came and saved them and cured them. Wings spread from the boils off their back

Keeper taught them how to fly and enlisted them as his minions

first thing they did was purge the Macaque Chief's camp, killed all the other monkeys, only leaving the Chief alive, who then fled to the New West

Macaque Chief (Chapter 3 New West)

Yellobrow helped Macacque Chief retracting his black wings

Macaque was a Chief under SWK

Yellowbrow offers the Macaque Chief to stay and help him rebuild the Thunderclap Temple

"If you had the abilities of that monkey who wreaked such havod in the Celestial Palace, it would have been others who would have suffered." - Yellowbrow

My personal thoughts and musings:

based on the entries from Tenner, I guess it's been more than 100 years since SWK died, I recall reading somewhere it was 270 years but I don't remember where I got that number, so if anyone knows let me know. I like that they added information on what happened to the monkeys at Mt. Huaguo. Chapter 6 felt very Unfinished (fitting title) in terms of also environment - there weren't much enemies around beside the court soldiers and bosses to fight. And when I first walked into the waterfalls cave, my first thought was how empty and abandoned it look like. There are stone tables and chairs and peaches scattered around, but it looks very much like no one has been there for a very long time.

Also the Macaque Chief is NOT the six-eared Macaque, he died in JTTW killed by SWK.

So we know that

SWK left the court and buddhahood behind to just chill with his homies

in retalition the Court started killing his monkey kind

SWK killed himself in order to be completely free

the court very likely continued to massacre and raze through Mt. Huaguo

which then led to Macaque Chief leading some other monkeys away to find a new home

When the Old Monkey is telling the stories of SWK and sending out monkeys to retrieve artifacts, we see a bunch of other monkeys holding staffs too (spot the anime protagonist lmfao)

we do not see or find any other monkeys when we arrive at Mt. Huaguo

My theories and headcanons:

Without Sun Wukong's protection, Yaoguai's run rampagne and the monkeys are not able to fully defend themselves

also when we arrive and on our way to the Stone, we get attacked by court soldiers

My theory is that because they know SWK will be reincarnated, and they want to prevent that, they have soldiers stationed there to attack whenever someone triest to obtain all armor parts and reach the Stone with SWK remains

hence also why the monkeys had to leave, because they would get attacked by court soldiers on sight

I don't think ALL of them left, we do still see monkeys at the beginning of the game

Overall when I played through Ch.6 there was a also a strong feeling of excitement of reaching the end of the journey soon, but also sad because it Mt Huaguo just felt so empty. it's supposed to be SWK's home and he wanted to leave buddhahood behind to be with his kin. To me, that already paints an image of mt Huaguo, being a lively and happy place.

I do wonder what is gonna happen next now that SWK is back. I suppose words will go out that the Monkey King is back, and that some of the monkeys will try to return again? I also wonder what the DO was thinking when traveling and having to fight his own kin. Does he know the history of his mountain? Hopefully the DLC will answer some more questions for us

And that's it about the monkeys! I'm still reading the Journal Entries, and will tackle the Tigers from Chapter 2 next!

[acciocriativity]

THE 'U' IN 'US' - AN ATEEZ SERIES - CHAPTER ZERO

Summary: You weren't really the lonely girl™ of campus, but it does feel like it when you look around, and there's no one by your side when everyone else are talking and whispering between each other. You did have "friends", more like "group projet friends" that you managed to get for yourself, but they were the ones that were real close, you were there only when they had an extra empty seat. But it seems like the gods above took your nonchalant facade as a challenge. Oh, you don't think you need friends to survive through college? Bet.

Pairing: Non! idol OT8 ateez x reader (platonic)

Tags: college! au; hybrid! au; ateez! au; fluff (a whole lot of fluff and wholesomeness); angst; hurt/comfort; mentions of mistreatment and abuse.

WC: 2,2k

N/A: It's finally here!! Please reblog and let me know your thoughts, the feedback is really important to me 💕 If you want to be tagged, also let me know!

INTRO MASTERLIST ONE

Ateez Masterlist

Don’t you remember us?, the words repeating in your head as you stared back at the brown haired boy. Now that your attention was on him and him only, you noticed the smallest of ears picking up from his hair, the color blend made it almost invisible. He was not a human, he was a bear hybrid, and you remembered exactly where you met him for the first time.

The police station was a complete chaos that day. It was a sudden change from the monotony of the small town your father started working at the beginning of his career. There was at least double the people walking left and right. Doing what? You’d never know, but it seemed important enough that you’re too scared to interrupt any of them to ask where was the bathroom, much less your father. He was not in the best mood since you moved, and you hated to be the reason for more stress. Also, he busied himself in conversations you could only watch from a distance, not even keeping his eyes on you sat at an old chair.

He won’t even notice that I left…, how stupid of you.

You wandered off, walking next to the walls so no one would bump into you while carrying a stack of thick papers. There was no sign of a bathroom in the room you were, you didn’t even know where you were, no idea it was the heart of that police station.

You kept walking further and further out of the room into the empty hallways at the back, ignoring the signs at the top of each door, too focused on the triangle dress symbol you couldn’t find. You turned right, but you only found a single wooden door.

The sight was discouraging to say the least.

You sighed, or you thought you did, because you heard it, but it didn’t seem like it came out of your own mouth. Then you heard another sigh, now you were sure it wasn’t you.

You stared at the door a little longer, then up to the sign at the top of it, it said ‘RH waiting room’. You didn’t even know what RH was. A waiting room so far back? Maybe there is a bathroom inside of it. That was enough for you to grab the handle, but it wouldn’t open.

“You have to be kidding me”, you said as you looked up to the ceiling, but you hoped all the gods above could see your disappointment. You were out of luck for the 4th time this week.

Inside the room, there was only silence, something you didn’t notice right away. If you were there, you would be able to feel the tension and fear as the hybrid stared at the door.

“Hey, is there a bathroom in here?”, Jongho repeated the first words you said to him back to you. “You remember now, yeah?”, he could see the embarrassment coming back as you recalled what happened after that, which made him giggle with the others.

You never remembered that moment as funny, because your father told you what RH stood for and why anyone would be there in the first place. But he did.

“Wait, that’s actually the first thing you said to him?”, the one with the bunny ears asked, while laughing so hard he almost fell.

“Yes, I did Min…” you tried to recall as he leaned forward, a glee of expectation in his face as you said his name. “…gi, of course, Mingi”, you said as casually as you could.

He seemed so happy, you felt bad that it was whispered to you behind his back. You would get to it eventually, he did make a good impression of himself when you first saw him too.

“I do think I remember each one of you”, you said as you looked at each of them, one getting harder to greet than the other, until you reached the last two, Yunho and Hongjoong. They didn’t seem to hold any grudges against you, Yunho smiling wider than Hongjoong, but that was a given considering the little you knew about their personalities.

“It’s okay if you don’t, it’s been quite a while”, the blonde boy gestured it wasn’t a big deal with his hands. “I’m Yunho”.

“You didn’t have blonde hair back then…”, you trailed off as you remembered the one day you wished to forget.

“Nor the height, it’s truly unfair”, Wooyoung said with a sad tone as he gave the blonde one a side eye, but his fluffy red tail continued to bounce back and right with energy.

That comment made everyone giggle a little, even yourself. It was true, he grew up well that one, he seemed well nurtured too. That thought calmed your heart a bit.

“So can we sit, then?”, Mingi asked then sighed as if he was standing for hours by the table. Even his long bunny ears were tired of standing on top of his head, alert of all movement around him. He got one lightweight slap on the arm for that. “Ow… why-“, before he could whine, you interrupted.

“Of course, but there’s no-, Hongjoong, Yunho and San already went to get some extra chairs before you could finish the phrase, while the other 5 got comfortable in their sits.

Only then you noticed they wouldn’t be eating since there were no plates

“Do you guys want some?”, you asked as you looked down at your food.

They all declined, including the three ones that just came back with chairs, but you could see some of them eyeing your fries for a bit too long, so you slid the plate to the middle of the table.

“So, every single one of you came to study here, and this is a complete coincidence or this conversation has another purpose than to chitchat?”

In your mind, there was a clear answer. They wanted something from you, and you’ll be glad to give it to them if you could, but what can you do when the cases closed so many years ago?

“We saw you around campus”, Wooyoung said as he leaned over the table, you noticed one of his hands holding onto San’s arm, just like you remembered. “We didn’t think you would recognize us, though”, Hongjoong added after a beat of silence.

“So you followed me here? I don’t get it”, you looked at each one of them.

“No, w-”, Jongho said, but then looked at San and Yunho’s guilty smiles and back to you. “Kind of, some of us saw you around two other times, we weren’t sure it was you the first time, but your scent didn’t change much from back then…”, his voice losing its confidence and volume by the end of the phrase.

“We hoped you would be here, we did not see you today”, Seonghwa cut him off as he leaned forward. His smile was shy, but you could see it was sincere. “That’s the only time of the day we all have to be together before dinner, so don’t worry, we weren’t stalking you together like this”, he giggled while talking and then gestured to them all at the end of the phrase.

The effort Seonghwa had to make to not cover himself with his ears were more than he could express. He was glad his tail was out of sight, clinging to Hongjoong’s thighs in search of some comfort.

It was a weird feeling to be in front of you after so long, and Seonghwa knew the others would agree. He noticed how Yeosang was uncomfortable, readjusting his position on the chair every so often, and how San’s legs bounced without him even noticing.

“Well, that’s good to know”, it was easy for you to smile when they were being so adorable without even making an effort. “But that doesn’t really answer my question, so did you guys just wanted to talk?”

On one side, you had Mingi and Yeosang barely looking at you, at anyone for that matter. Then you had Hongjoong and San, apparently the air was so dry to the point they needed to wet their lips every 3 seconds. Seonghwa, Jongho and Yunho were too awkward to say it first, they could only smile to try to hide their own embarrassment. Wooyoung was eating to keep himself calm.

“Is it that bad?”, your joke made Yunho and Seonghwa giggle and shook their heads. “Then you can tell me, it’s okay, did I make that big of an impression in some of you when we met?”, it was supposed to be a joke, they were supposed to laugh.

But all of them nodded. In such a serious way, too, they weren’t awkward smiling anymore. Their staring suddenly became intense. You couldn’t pretend they didn’t mean it, and you didn’t know what to do with that information.

What could you say? You didn’t do anything to help them, you couldn’t do anything at that age and with the little independence you had. Not to them, nor any other hybrid who stepped foot into that police station.

Your silence spoke for you, and your surprise spoke more than you intended to.

“We just wanted to see how you were doing and to show you how we were doing”, Hongjoong broke the silence.

“I’m glad you all are doing well”, they recognize a certain softness as you said those words, they knew you meant it from your heart.

It was this softness you carried with you whenever you spoke to them that made such a big impression. Humans tend to be harsher while talking to hybrids, maybe because they couldn’t see themselves in their position to be kinder or because they thought hybrids were born stronger and less emotional, they wouldn’t care about those things, right? Up until they met themselves, the only kind one was you, even when it was so brief they barely met your eyes.

“You weren’t even scared”, you barely heard Yeosang’s voice, but the other boys heard him as clear as the day.

He seemed like he was in another world, since he wasn’t looking to anyone in particular. Yeosang jumped out his skin when Seonghwa nudged him on his ribcage. The red colored his cheeks, ears, and nape as Wooyoung did a poor job at hiding his laughter.

You did laugh yourself, but you cleared your throat. “Who wasn’t even scared?

“Hmm, you, you didn’t seem scared when we came by”, Yeosang said as he searched for something to look at to calm himself down, but you did deserve the respect of being look at while being spoken to, so he ignored his instincts and all the bullshit he learned to look at you.

“Why would I be scared of you?”, you said as you watched all of them.

That didn’t even cross your brain, you only realized now. You were too busy wondering why someone would break the ultimate rule of society ‘do no talk to someone wearing headphones’, because that would be much more rare than a hybrid attack out of nowhere. Okay, that wasn’t a real statistic, but it could be.

Yeosang thought you were talking about him for a moment, but then he noticed it wasn’t the case. It was clear no one would ever be scared of Yeosang or Seonghwa, they were at the bottom of the hierarchy, even Wooyoung wouldn’t scare many hybrids, much less many humans. The other 5 were a different matter. By their tails only, one would know they were predators hybrids. Jongho could be underestimated, but smart eyes could tell he was a bear hybrid and not to be messed with.

They were surprised by your genuine question, including Hongjoong, but he felt like he shouldn’t be. You seemed to be just like the kid he met.

“Most people would, but you don’t seem like you are capable of being scared of hybrids, do you?”, Hongjoong said as he observed your body language.

His words carried more meaning than he let it show to the others, but you got it, of course, you did. You also remembered.

“Guess my mom was right when she said I’m not like everyone else then”.

“Fuck, I missed you”, those were the first words San said to you and it caught everyone off guard.

It sounded so genuine and raw, San himself didn’t know what to do now that he said it. Until now, he was observing, checking in with all of the others body languages and emotions, Wooyoung’s more than the others only because he was right beside him. But his own emotions were boiling inside of him, he had to say something to you, but he couldn’t find the right words, well, until now.

Wooyoung was only surprised by the sudden emotion coming from San, but he couldn’t say he was surprised he felt that way in the first place. You must not know to this day what truly happened to them when they met you, but your kindness was the only thing they had to hold themselves onto and if it was up to him, you would never know.

“I’m- I-“, Choi San was blushing like a school girl and that was enough for all chaos break loose.

The other students couldn’t help, but get curious to know what the hell was so funny as laughter dominated the whole cafeteria and to know who were those hybrids that no one saw before.

Tagslist: @asherthehimbo @katsukis1wife @a1i33a @idfkeddieishot @pyeonghongrie-main @h3arteyes4mingi

[islands-0f-violence]

Kimetsu no... Isekai?

Synopsis: Modern Era MC is thrown into disarry inside the Demon Slayer universe. What could go wrong? Pairings: Various X MC/Reader

❝Under the harsh light of day, MC appears! Groggy and confused, our lovely MC has to figure out how she went from attending boring seminars to slaying demons within hours. With no memory to conclude how she got there--or why she got there--our MC adventures through the Taisho era with Tanjiro and company trying to figure out just why they're there, while trying to keep the story as linear as possible. Though, it's getting harder and harder to keep secrets as they keep piling up.❞

Chapter 1 [NEXT]

I winced at the bright light that suddenly enveloped my face. Covering my eyes from further abuse, I sat up in my bed and rubbed them out. I could've sworn I shut the curtains tight so this wouldn't happen. Upon placing my hand down on my bed, I felt a peculiar texture and immediately snapped my eyes open. Around me was greenery, something that isn't in my bedroom. I stumbled up from my bed—which happened to be made of moss—and looked around.

Where the fuck am I?

The last thing I remembered before dozing off was watching TenSura. Ah, what an anime. No! No time for that right now! I gotta figure out what happened. I felt around my person for anything but found nothing. I'm stranded out here with no phone or supplies.

Honestly, it's probably just a prank my friends pulled. Though this feels borderline too far, I suppose they wouldn't actually leave me for dead in the middle of some unknown place, right?

Right?

Sighing, I began to walk around. Well, not around, in as straight of a line as I could. I can't waste time going in circles. After a few moments of walking, I came across a dirt path. I'll be damned, I'm not completely lost. I still don't recall any dirt trails I'd personally know near me, though, so I just hope I'm not too far from home. Or a gas station. I really have to pee right now. I kept walking for quite some time and felt like I was getting absolutely nowhere. Suddenly, the trees and greenery around me got thinner and thinner. Once the trees had ended, I walked out into a nice field. On either side of the path I'm walking lies some sort of vegetable or something. Maybe rice? It's set up so weirdly… I don't think this is anywhere near my house.

Looking further ahead, there was a bright blob in the middle of the road. It wasn't moving and didn't look like any animal I'd seen, so I continued forward toward it. Maybe it'll have some telling of where I'm at.

As I got closer, my stomach began to twist. I felt such an intense wave of déjà vu wash over me, but I shoved it aside. Once I approached it, it became clearer and more person-sized? No, not just person-sized, but just a human! I crouched down beside them, they weren't making too much noise. Honestly, I was concerned because they were just trembling there.

"U-Uhm," I started out, but it felt like I haven't used my voice in days, "excuse me? Are you ok?" I went to reach out to nudge their shoulder when they stopped moving altogether. Their head snapped up suddenly and this man's amber eyes were locked onto mine.

And then he opened his mouth.

"AHHHHHHHHH! I thought I heard someone coming, but I thought I was crazy, but it turned out to be an angel sent from above!" In mere seconds he had pushed my back and was nuzzling my cheek, a sobbing mess. "You've got to marry me! MARRY ME PLEASE! I might die soon!" My face exploded in color as I tried to shove the strange man off of me. Looking around, there was no one here to help me so I panicked and began to hit him.

"Off! Get off of me!" He seemed to not care as he continued to cling to me and beg for marriage. I don't think I'm ready for that. As I continually assaulted him, I got a closer look at his face.

It was snotty, but I instantly recognized the blond and orange hair, the bushy brows, and—oh god—the haori. How could I not recognize this pattern sooner? My swings got weaker as I put the realization together and he seemed to quiet down a bit once he noticed, but I swung harder once I remembered cosplayers exist.

This man could just be pretending to be Zenitsu to cop a feel of random girls and blame it on his character! With this new fuel to my anger, I successfully kicked him off and scrambled backward onto my feet. I brushed my shorts off from the dirt path. He pulled himself back up and began to walk on his knees towards me, hands are done in a praying motion. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasemarryme-" he babbled.

"Ugh, just get away from me, it's pathetic you have to cosplay that just to touch a girl." He blinked, seemingly not understanding a word I said before he lunged. Screaming, I tried to turn and run off from his sudden attack, but he was too fast. Lightning fast. Does this kid do track in his spare time?

"You can't leave me here! I'll probably die on my next mission and if I do I'll never have the chance to marry someone so you have to marry me right now!" He was getting desperate, his fingers digging into my hips from how hard he was gripping. I was actually starting to tear up when suddenly his weight was forced off of me. I looked up and saw a man in a green and black haori, a box strapped onto his back and an irritated look adorned his face as he faced the blond.

Did I stumble into a cosplay reenactment scene and they used me as the girl? They began bickering, running through the same shtick as I slowly boiled with anger. Would it not hurt to ask someone's permission? Maybe I wouldn't have minded or even dressed up for it!

"This is so fucking stupid, next time ask someone before you involve them in your games." I snapped at the squabbling pair, effectively stopping their argument and I turned to walk off, hoping to find someone competent enough to help me.

"Stop! You're going to be my wife!" 'Zenitsu' reached out again, grabbing my shirt and yanking me back. I fell on my ass pretty hard and let out a groan. He squeaked and crawled over with speed to my side. "I'msosorryididntmeantopullyouthathard-" I held my hand up and stopped him, which to my surprise he did.

"A-Are you OK?" I looked up to see 'Tanjirou' reaching his hand out as if to help me up. I accepted and he pulled me up gently, even stepping in between me and 'Zenistu.' At least one of these guys has manners.

"Yes," I paused, contemplating asking him for directions. "Do you know how I could get back home? I don't know this area very well. We shouldn't be too far from [address], right?" His look changed to an uncertain one as he looked me over. This further puzzled him, I guess.

"[Address]? I haven't heard of anywhere like that near me. Which prefecture are you from?" Prefecture? Excuse me.

"Look, we're not in Japan so don't play with me right now. I'm looking for [address] in [State/Province]. You can drop the act." I swallowed as the boy in front of me struggled to understand. Even 'Zenitsu' was quiet, trying to figure out what I was talking about. Is it that hard to stop with the reenactment to help someone who's lost?

"But we are in Japan? What are you talking about?" I opened my mouth to further argue with him but stopped myself. I woke up out of nowhere in the middle of some forestry area. I don't remember getting there at all, not to mention I clearly remember laying in my own bed last night. To say I am confused is an understatement. I genuinely believe this is fake and there are cosplayers in front of me, but a part of me is scared. What if I'm actually here?

I shook my head, it's not possible. Looking back up at 'Tanjirou' who was waiting patiently for me, I reached up to run my hand through his hair. Before he could object, I already had his strands between my fingers and I felt over his head for bumps from possible wig caps. None. Leaving him red-faced and stammering, I turned to 'Zenitsu' who had watched the interaction with jealousy. I proceeded to do the same to him, which he absolutely enjoyed. But still no wig cap. I pulled my hand away to his disappointment and examined it for any spray-on dyes.

Ok, this has got to be either a really good dye job or my ass is in Kimetsu no Yaiba. And yet, for some reason, I felt calmer than I should. Maybe it's because I don't thoroughly believe it yet? And honestly, as excited as I am for an isekai, I at least want to know if it's real, y'know?

"I- Sorry, I just needed to know if this was… really happening." I covered it lamely. "What I mean is, I don't remember coming to Japan."

"How could you not remember coming?? You speak the language." The blond pointed an accusing finger at me. This puzzled me, I don't think I'm speaking Japanese. In fact, I don't hear it either.

"But your outfit… tells a different story." 'Tanjirou' commented, looking me over once more. I look down at myself to see the loose pair of shorts I sleep in and a random [design] shirt. There is literally nothing wrong with my outfit. Well, I guess unless I am in an anime set back in time, there is.

"Shut up! There's nothing wrong with her outfit!" OK, maybe this actually is Zenitsu. He giggled and crawled forward, reaching for my thighs when I slapped his hands away. "That's ok, I can wait for my… my…" I expected him to say wife, but it looks like he was going for something different. "What's your name?"

Of course, they wouldn't know your name, dipshit. "Sorry, it's [Y/N]."

"[Y/N]." Tanjirou tasted, slowing the pronunciation. "I knew your accent was strange, but this definitely backs up that you're a foreigner. My name is Kamado Tanjirou, but please, call me Tanjirou."

Not missing a beat, the blond beside him scrambled up and grabbed my hand, smiling. "I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu. Your future husband." I pulled my hand from his grasp and stifled back a laugh. Me? In this situation? Fanfiction could never beat this.

"You said you don't know your way around right? Well, more specifically that you don't know how you got here, you could come with me and I could take you to a nearby village?" That sounds like a shit idea, to be dropped off at a random village and just left. However, I could travel with them to their next mission and see if this place is actually real.

I opened my mouth to respond before Zenitsu butted in. "You! You got in my way once already, I'm not letting you again! We're going together!" He dramatically pointed at Tanjirou, seething at the idea of the two of us traveling alone.

"Fine, we'll go together then, but I do have a mission we need to complete." Zenitsu panicked and began to have a full meltdown again, to my and Tanjirou’s disappointment. After his scenic spazz attack, Tanjirou managed to hoist him up and get him to walk a way with us.

"Better now?" The redhead smiled at the other.

"Mm, yeah, but I'm hungry." I walked along the other side of Tanjirou, making sure I stood away from Zenitsu. Tanjirou reached into his haori, pulling out an onigiri and splitting it. He handed one half to Zenitsu and offered the other to me.

Not gonna lie, it looks good, but provided I'm experiencing this in real life, he's going to need it more than me. I shook my head, "Keep it, I feel nauseous. " I didn't lie, I do feel sick right now, but I'm not sure if it's just nervousness or not. Tanjirou opened his mouth to offer again, but I grabbed his arm and had him take a bite. He was surprised at my action but didn't bother offering it again. I know he was hungry, too, so I would keep chewing and swallowing as well.

"Eh?! Really, just eat in front of her?! Don't you have any other food!" Suddenly flustered, Tanjirou swallowed harshly and began sputtering.

"I-I'm sorry, this is all I had left-" I slapped Zenitsu upside his head for making Tanjirou panic. Not saying another word, Tanjirou finished his half, not trying to invoke anything like that out of me.

"Give it a rest! I'm not hungry, can't you listen?" I glared at the blond, who teared up in response.

"[Y/N]-chan, you've been hitting me all day! Why can't you hit Tanjirou like that?!" He brokenheartedly bit into his snack.

Tanjirou paled and looked at me. "Tanjirou hasn't been acting stupid! Also, it's only been like 20 minutes since we've met?!" The redhead was relieved to see I wasn't gunning him down. Tanjirou stuck his tongue out at Zenitsu before a crow circled above them and cawed out.

"Tanjirou! Zenitsu! Start running to your next destination! Run! Run!" Hearing that in person, yeah a little creepy.

"AHHHH- THAT CROW! IT JUST SPOKE TO US! crowsarentsupposedtodothatright?!" Zenitsu fell to the ground, having one of his episodes again. Instead of helping him, Tanjirou and I just stood there, staring at him with a blankly stare. Was it ever right for me to simp for this scrub?

( ˘▽˘)っ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

The rest of the walk was decently calm, except for the occasional whining of Zenitsu wanting to stay back. We eventually reached our destination, which was a tall manor, mansion? Big home. Yes, that. I can't remember what happens here too well since it's been a minute, but there should he some kids around here. I scanned the area.

"I smell blood, lots of it." Tanjirou sniffed.

"Smell? I don't know about that, but I can hear something from inside… you hear it, right?" They looked at each other, and then at me. I looked back at them blankly.

"Huh? Did you ask me something?" They deadpan. Zenitsu begins to repeat it when Tanjirou interrupts him.

"Look, children. " We follow his gaze to the tree line where a young boy and girl stood, clinging to each other with wide eyes. Zenitsu is startled for a moment since he didn't hear them, but Tanjirou took the lead and stepped towards them carefully before crouching down to their height. I followed behind, hoping to not frighten them. "Hi! Is this your house?" The kids shook their heads and he continued. "Could you tell me what's wrong? I'm here to help you." After they showed no signs of speaking, Tanjirou pulled Zenitsu's sparrow out and presented it to them. "Look at what I have, it's a sparrow." It took a moment, but they relaxed and one of them finally spoke up.

"Th-There's a monster in there!" The boy choked out. "We were with my brother and a monster grabbed him! We followed them here with his blood but… he was hurt badly." The kids teared up. I wanted to hold them close and tell them it would be ok, but it felt weird. Like it wasn't my place.

"That was very brave of you two, to follow him all the way here. Don't you worry, me and my friend here are going to help him and reunite you three." The girl's eyes sparkled.

"Really?! You're going to save our brother!" Tanjirou gave her a kind smile and nodded.

"Hey, do you hear that? It's like drums." Zenitsu spoke up seriously, staring at the second-floor window. What happened here again? I listened closely, trying to hear what he was hearing but couldn't.

No-

I got up and ran towards the house but by the time I got there, I was too late. A body flung itself from the second story and landed mere feet in front of me. I stared down at it, wide-eyed, feeling the blood spatter hit my bare legs and cheeks. I heard the other two run towards me, Tanjirou crouching over the body. I remember this scene, as he's the one who comforted him in his last moments. Could I have saved him if I caught him? Or was he too far gone before that?

"Hey! Are you OK?" Zenitsu turned me around to face him, I stared at him blankly for a moment. He had a look of concern and his hands were around both of my wrists. I shook myself out of it and gave a half smile.

"Yeah, just wasn't expecting that." That was a lie. "I just was trying to hear what you were hearing." What I really didn't expect was a legitimate dead body. I didn't expect the realness of the situation. If I enter that house with them, will I come out like this next? I'm just an anomaly. Anything could happen to me.

Zenitsu felt around his person until he found a spare cloth that he happened to have. He placed one of his hands under my chin to look up at him and used the cloth to clean off what splattered on my face. He had a soft smile while he was doing it, and damn I almost melted right there. Well, that was until he finished with my face and dropped down, wiping at my leg while placing his other hand firmly on my ass to hold himself up. "I'll get you cleaned up, [Y/N]-chan~" This ruined it and I planted my foot against his chest to push him away. He fell backward, losing his grip on the cloth he had and I used it to quickly get what he didn't before he sat back up. "So mean…"

I turned to Tanjirou who finished laying the boy in a respective way. He turned towards the kids and gestured toward this man. "Is this… your brother?" They shook their heads and he sighed in relief. "Then we still have time." He bowed to the body before getting up and walking over to the kids. He took his box off and handed it to them, smiling. "This will protect you. I and my friend are going in for your brother, so just wait here with [Y/N] and everything will be alright!"

Thank God, he didn't expect me to go in with him. Zenitsu, however, looks like he was just given a life sentence. "I don't know if we should Tanjirou! I can't fight!" He cried. I glanced over at the kids who stared at him in obvious disgust. Eh, maybe I do wanna go in. I could see him make a fool of himself in front of those kids. Tanjirou's only response to that was to grab him by the haori and drag him to the entrance.

"We'll be back, [Y/N]! Stay with the kids." He waved as he and Zenitsu entered the building. I sighed, looking back at the box of his sister and the children. If it weren't the day, maybe I would take a peek inside. I crouched down beside it, reaching out to examine the materials used, and suddenly the box shook, and scratching sounds emitted from it. I jumped, and immediately felt stupid since I expected it to happen. The kids screamed and dashed for the main door.

I got up and ran towards them after I realized they were making a b-line for the entrance. "No! Don't go in there!" I was a few inches short of grabbing the boy's kimono when the door slid shut. I stood there, mid-run and my hand outstretched where the boy once was. I can't go in there, I won't live! But I have to, what will Tanjirou and Zenitsu think about me if I let those kids run in there?

Actually, Zenitsu wouldn't blame me one bit.

But that's not the problem, it's immoral. I reached for the door and went to open it, but it wouldn't budge. I glared at it and tried again. Still, no movement. I took a few steps back from the door and looked at the frame and—there! The door was slammed so hard, it broke the door frame. The door is now jammed into the wood, and therefore not moving. Huh, I guess I don't need to go then. Kicking the frame in slight frustration, I made my way back to Tanjirou's box and sat on the ground beside it. Soon enough, there were scratches coming from the box again. I furrowed my brows. Does she need something?

"Hello?" She doesn't know me yet, so I don't want to just start calling her name. "Is there someone in there?" I was met with silence. I waited a bit longer to see if she'd respond, but it seems since she can't sense Tanjirou outside the box, she doesn't want to. Tanjirou… "Are you worried about Tanjirou? He's going to be OK, trust me! He'll be back soon." I stopped at that, not wanting to give her too many details. Just give her hope for his return.

After a moment, there was more movement in the box, with no scratches this time. She must've been stressed before with Tanjirou leaving her here. I hope that brings her some peace.

It felt like a good hour, but eventually, there was movement from the house. Zenitsu came barreling out of the same window as the guy from before. In his arms was the boy from earlier. I gotta admit, he looks pretty cool when he's doing selfless stuff. I ran over to where he was going to land and, again, fell short and watched as he hit the ground. Fortunately, I knew he was going to be OK already.

The boy, however, didn't. "Ah! Are you OK?!" He gasped out, pointing at Zenitsu's head.

I looked closer and winced at the stream of blood where his head hit the ground. "Yeah, I'm better than ever since I got out of there, why?" He rubbed his head sheepishly and then froze when he felt something wet. Bringing his hand back in front of him, he saw blood and screamed. "TH-THAT'S WHY!" I pulled the cloth he was using earlier and pressed it against his wound for him. In response, he giggled gratefully and flushed. Man's was just dying and now he's blushing. Great.

A crush suddenly emitted from the other side of the building and a boar-headed figure rounded the corner. "I sense a demonic presence!" And then the most guttural cackle came from him. He started towards Tanjirou's box.

Honestly, I could care less because of damn this man's chest. Stop, stop ogling him right now, [Y/N]. I can't stop. Stop. I can't stop. Stop. I can't- UGHSG, get to Nezuko now! I can't get distracted by him, he's literally targeting her.

I half expected Zenitsu to get up as he does in the story, but he's too busy begging to be babied further by me to do it. I groaned and sprinted towards the box, Zenitsu sitting up confused behind me. I blocked Inosuke's leg as he came to kick back the box. His foot met my crossed arms and knocked me back into the box. A corner lodged itself into my back and I gasped in pain. Jesus fuck, that hurt.

"You, woman, get out of my way!" He pointed a sword down at me, tip at my nose. I scowled and pushed the box back further, backing up with it. He brought his sword up to swing it down when suddenly there was yellow in between us. Zenitsu stood there, arms out. "St-Stop! Leave her and the box alone!"

"There's a demon in that box and if you don't move I'll have to take you with it." Zenitsu stuttered for a moment, aware that he was right.

"No! Well, I mean! I know that! I'll ask Tanjirou when I see him, I just haven't yet." He glanced around nervously.

Inosuke didn't like this answer and pulled his arm back. "I don't care! I'll take him and his box out!" He proceeded to punch Zenitsu, who recoiled back at me. I caught him and stabilized his stance so he didn't fall over. Inosuke continued his pursuit and kicked Zenitsu's legs out from underneath him and began to kick him while he was down. In reflex, I got up and tackled the boar. This pisses me off too much to be able to stop and watch.

He laughed maniacally as we rolled over each other, fighting for dominance. I swung at him at any chance I got, but it was like my punches weren't doing anything to him. I kept my stomach and face as protected as I could, but there was only so much I could do when being rolled around on the ground. I could hear Zenitsu yelling out, but eventually, Inosuke's fist met my stomach and I gasped for air, letting go of him. He took advantage of this and got another hit on the side of my face. My ears were ringing and I tried to make out voices from it but had a hard time focusing on them and trying to breathe. I could feel myself being sat up as I began to breathe again. My hearing was clearing and Zenitsu was snapping to get my attention.

"[Y/N]! [Y/N]! Can you hear me? Oh my god, are you alive?!" I looked around before answering him, seeing Inosuke knocked back and Tanjirou standing above him, seething.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. It just made things fuzzy for a moment." I tried to get up but immediately got pulled back into Zenitsu's lap.

"No! You shouldn't get up after getting hit like that!" My eye twitched.

"Zenitsu, I'm fine. It just, like, stunned me for a moment, I guess." I tried to pry myself from his grasp again to no avail. I glanced over at Tanjirou who watched us with disgust I know people could only hold for Zenitsu. His attention was snatched by Inosuke once again as he began to sit up.

"I understand! Fight me, with your fists!" Tanjirou sweat dropped and told him no. Inosuke ignored him and lunged at him, Tanjirou missing just barely. I wiggled out of Zenitsu's grasp while they had their squabble. Eventually, Inosuke's head was grabbed and Tanjirou slammed his head into the boar's. There was a sickening crunch that I even heard and I winced.

"DIDYOUGUYSJUSTBREAKYOURSKULLS?!" Zenitsu screamed, shaking his head back and forth at the scene. The boar head slowly came off Inosuke and I stared in anticipation. Blue hair and vibrant green eyes were revealed and I squealed. Of course, I clamped my hand over my mouth, but I don't think it matters since neither guy was looking my way. "EH?! A girl's face! How could someone with your personality be so pretty!"

Inosuke turned towards Zenitsu. "Got a problem with my face?!" He huffed.

"No! There isn't a problem! It's just that most people, including me, would consider it an attractive face!" Tanjirou smiled nervously. This seemed to rile Inosuke up further. I had no comments, I just wanted to soak up this moment and look. He caught my gaze and lunged forward again.

"You! Do you have a problem with my face? Stop staring!" He growled as Tanjirou and Zenitsu caught him halfway. "I'm going to fight all of you! Fight me! Headbutt me! Just fight me!"

"Stop! We can't do that!"

"Stop! It's taboo to fight with each other! Is it really that fun to you? To beat those who are weaker than you??"

The guy flexibly bounced back, doing a flip and landing in an interesting pose. "Fight me now! I'm flexible, strong! I won't take no for an answer."

"Stop bending like that! You've got broken ribs! That can't be good for you." They cry.

"There is no one else like me! Only I can do this! Aren't I awesome?! Aren't I?!" He smiled up at them in his scorpion pose. "Now fight me!"

"No!" Everyone yells.

"You know what! I'll tell you my name! Hashibara Inosuke! You better remember it!" He stood up straight.

"How is it spelled??" Tanjirou piped up.

Inosuke was taken aback. "Spelled?! Eh! I don't know how to spell, or read! I just know my name was written on my loin-ACK!" He paused. We watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell back.

Zenitsu screamed. "Is he dead?!" Tanjirou quickly knelt down beside the man and sighed in relief.

"He's just unconscious! I bet I gave him a concussion when I headbutted him." He smiled.

"A-Are you OK?" The girl spoke up, Tezuka? Teruko? Teruko I think.

"Yes! I was born with a really hard head, like my mother!" He smiled proudly. Teruko grinned at him and reached up.

"Could I touch your head?" He nods and lowers his head for her and she runs her small hand across it, even tapping it. "Wow, it is tough!" I lean in and reach out as well. Might as well do it, too, since he's offering. My palm came into contact with his forehead and he turned red. I ran my thumb across it and the red mark and smiled.

"Yeah, it's hard." Zenitsu began whining behind me, disappointed.

Tanjirou stared for a moment before he got up hurriedly. "I-I think we should start burying the dead. There were countless people in there." He started off in the direction of the house, before making Zenitsu give him his haori and taking his own off to make sure Inosuke was more comfortable. After that, he barely spared me a glance before taking Zenitsu with him inside again. Was I not going to help?

( ˘▽˘)っ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

Yeah, I helped more than they wanted me to. How do I know this? The moment they brought the first bodies out, I helped with the burials and they kept trying to push me away. I proved stubborn and kept assisting where I thought I could. There was a sudden movement from behind us and we turned just in time for Inosuke to get up and face us.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked.

“We’re burying the dead, you should help.” Inosuke turned his head up in distaste.

“I don’t need to help, I see no reason to bury them.” I opened my mouth to say something since he was so rude about it, but Tanjirou beat me to it. Honestly, I preferred his response anyway.

“Oh, it’s OK, I see. You’re too injured to help, right? Please, lay down and get some rest. I wouldn’t want you to overdo it.” He gave a coy smile. I had to stifle my laugh. Way to go. Even Zenitsu looked impressed.

Inosuke growled and pointed at him. “No! I can do it! I can bury more bodies than you ever could!” And with that, he ran off back into the estate. With him hard at work, we got everyone buried properly. Paying one last bit of respect, we turned to leave. In the distance, Inosuke was rushing head-first into trees. Tanjirou’s crow circled above us, calling out and shocking the children.

“Go down the mountain!”

“Is that crow really talking?” Shoichi asked.

“Crows actually have higher intelligence than most people believe. It’s very possible.” I smiled down at him. He nodded in thought.

We walked for another 10 minutes before the path split and the three siblings took the left. They bowed and thanked us for escorting them down. Zenitsu caused a scene, dragging Shouichi down, and begging him not to leave us. After some convincing, we pulled him off and went our separate ways once the crow handed the ward to the kid. As soon as they were out of sight, Inosuke began to pick another fight with Tanjirou.

“Come! Fight me, you!” He pointed at the redhead. I groaned inwardly.

“Dude, can’t you calm down?” I poked my finger into his forehead, pushing him back.

“You! Weak woman, fight me as well!”

Ticked, Tanjirou spoke up again. “We have names you know! I’m Kamado Tanjirou, and this is Agatsuma Zenitsu and [Y/N]!” Inosuke laughed at this.

“Alright, Gonpachiro Kamaboko! I’ll beat you.” He stated seriously. Zenitsu and I could help it and laugh.

"Excuse me, who? I don’t know who you’re talking about!” Tanjirou whined.

“You! Gonpachiro!” In response to this, Tanjirou retorted with his proper name.

I sighed. “This is exciting.”

Shortly after that argument, we came to a gate with a Wisteria crest on it. I marveled at the size of it as the crow came back within distance and landed on Tanjirou. “Rest! Anyone who was injured, rest!” Tanjirou raised a brow, skeptical of the crow's comment.

“Huh, what about earlier when I was fighting with my broken rib and leg from the mission before?!” The crow looked sheepish and let out a dry cough. Inosuke popped up on the other side of him and grasped his tail, holding him up.

“Let’s eat him.” I gagged at the idea of it, and the crow itself screamed in discontent, flapping to get away.

The gate creaked open and an elder woman stepped through, a warm smile on her face. “Hello, welcome. You guys are demon slayers, right?” There were glances my way before they curtly nodded. Well, except for Inosuke.

He stood beside her, poking a finger into the side of her head. “What are you? A demon? Huh?? You look weak.” Steam escapes through his mask.

“Rude!” Tanjirou exclaimed, but the old lady seemed unbothered.

“Please, come in.” She turned to the side and entered the gates, walking ahead at an alarming pace. In hopes of keeping up, I quickly scrambled after her, and the others followed shortly. She led us to one room and gestured inside. The boys entered and before I could step foot, she stopped me. “Here, I have a separate room for you to change in.” Huh, understandable. She led me not too far down the hall to another room and handed me a clean yukata. It was just white with a faint, generic pattern in it. So simple. “When you’re done, you can come back down the hall to the left and I’ll have food prepared.” I nodded and she left before I could say thank you.

Once I had changed and put my scuffed-up clothes to the side, I stepped out into the hall. It was empty, except for the faint noises coming from Tanjirou and the others. I honestly didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t worry too much as I had the sound of their voices to follow. I came up to a lit-up room with a crack in the door. I pushed it open to reveal four sets of food, Tanjirou and Inosuke were sitting next to each other while Zenitsu had the empty spot reserved beside him, waving me down. I tentatively took a seat beside him, causing him to squeal.

I picked up my chopped sticks and tried some of the food, a little clumsily, might I add. I liked most of it and picked around a few parts I didn’t quite enjoy. Across from me, Inosuke had his boar head off, eating away at his food with his hands. Huh, I wonder if they’ll care if I do the same. One day if I get tired of it, I’ll break down and do it, too. “She’s a monster!” He shovels a mouthful of rice and shrimp in his mouth and begins to speak again. “Granny’s a monster! She does things too fast!” Tanjirou recoils in disgust.

“Use your chopsticks!” Inosuke stops for a moment and grins before snatching some of his food off his plate. Zenitsu was clearly bothered at the sight, but kept his mouth shut in fear of falling victim, as well, I’m sure. Tanjirou went to put some more of his food on Inosuke’s plate, but I stopped him and proceeded to place what I had left on my plate on his. Honestly, it was mostly the things I didn’t like from the selection, so it wasn’t a loss for me. “Oh, I wouldn’t have minded, [Y/N]!”

I shrugged. “I didn’t like that anyways, might as well give it to someone who will eat it.” I took a drink of my tea. He nodded back in understanding and continued to eat. Zenitsu tugged on the sleeve of my shirt and offered his chopsticks to me.

“[Y/N]-chan! Feed me please~ I’m so tired.” I groaned and declined.

“No, thanks. I’m not interested. If Tanjirou and Inosuke can feed themselves, you can, too.” I huffed. He pouted and began to eat again, albeit dejectedly.

After everyone was finished, they went to the room they were originally in. There were three futons set up in the boy's room and I inwardly groaned. I expected this, but I’m too nervous to say anything about it so I’ll just suck it up. I walked back to my room alone and shut the door behind me. The room was scarcely decorated and a decently fluffy-looking futon was in the center of the room. I sunk into the bedding and turned over, thinking about today’s events.

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

Where's Mommy?

Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Part 13

Summary: Wolffe's wife suddenly dies, leaving him a single father in the middle of a war.

Pairing: Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Characters: Wolffe, Cara (child OFC), Sinker

Tags & Warnings: heavy angst, mention of death, off-screen death, spousal death, grief, hurt/comfort, family fluff

Word Count: 1.4k

Author's Note: Okay, so I know I said that this chapter was going to be the funeral scene, but it is not. Next chapter, I promise. I tried to fit everything into one chapter, but it got way too long, so I split it. While this chapter does not contain the funeral, it is still very emotional as Wolffe recalls memories of his wife. I don't like to exposition dump, which is why information about her has been sprinkled in, but I felt it was time for readers to get further knowledge about Wolffe's wife before we collectively say goodbye. Side note, is this my first chapter with zero dialogue??? Wild. As always, please enjoy 💚

Beta: @beating-a-dead-plot

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Wolffe's heart pounded as he led Cara out onto the terrace. She held his hand and walked beside him without argument as Sinker walked ahead of them, hands folded neatly behind his back. He obscured most of her view, but she didn't try to break away from Wolffe's hand to see around him. Instead, as more and more people came into view, Cara shifted to a guarded position and trailed further behind Wolffe. He noticed her hesitation and squeezed her hand to reassure her as they approached the formation that Sinker filed into.

The terrace was full of clones, some in uniform and some in armor, most of whom Wolffe had never seen before, still, there were many that he did know, including the entirety of the 104th Battalion, Commander Fox, and several members of the Coruscant Guard. There were a few Jedi in attendance besides his own, but he ignored them. It didn't matter to him whether the Jedi paid their respects, but he had to admit that if there was one custom he was thankful the Jedi and Mandalorians had in common, it was burning their dead.

Wolffe's wife wasn't Mandalorian, but neither was he, officially. He wasn't trained directly by the Mandalorian bounty hunters, like the Alphas or the Commandos, but he was trained by Alpha-17 who upheld those same traditions and passed them on to the Commanders. Newer clones didn't always understand, and not every commander had the time to instill those traditions into their men. They may be fakes, copies, and imposters, but the culture gave them something to hold onto; something that made them feel like real people.

From what he could see at a distance, the funeral pyre was hauntingly beautiful. The wood was artistically arranged and perfectly level and the wisteria flowers outlining her body added a degree of femininity to the scene that made Wolffe's heart plunge into his stomach with a level of ferocity he wasn't expecting. The authenticity was unrivaled. There was more care and concern put into that one pyre than had ever been afforded to a single clone on the battlefield. He would have to remember to thank Sinker properly for all of his efforts in preparing it.

As they approached the formation of clones in the front, Wolffe sucked in a breath when he saw his in-laws within the gathered crowd. Their audacity to show up to their daughter's funeral after disowning her, cutting her out of their will, and throwing her on the streets, made him sick. When Cara was born, her parents made it very clear they wanted nothing to do with her either; something about the child of nature's greatest abomination being a stain on their superior bloodline. His initial instinct was to throw them out, but he remained calm.

However, his in-law's presence brought memories of their first meeting flooding back. At the very beginning of the War, before 79s was a clone bar, there weren't many places on Coruscant where a clone could get a drink or unwind, but there was one run-down tavern on the lower levels that let anyone in. That was where Wolffe first saw her; messy auburn hair, crystal blue eyes glazed over from being drunk, and skin so pale he thought she would burn under the neon lights. A man at the bar tried to cop a feel but Wolffe decked him without a second thought, and, as a thank you, she threw up on him. It was love at first sight.

After cleaning himself up, Wolffe was able to get a look at her ID and find her address, because there was no way he was going to leave her alone as drunk as she was. It surprised him that someone from the upper levels would hang out in such a dingy bar, but he wasn't one to judge. He hailed a taxi and paid with whatever credits he had to get as close to her address as possible, but still ended up carrying her on his back for the last stretch. She was loud and obnoxious the entire way, endlessly wiggly, and shouted pure nonsense in his ears.

When they finally arrived at her residence, he was greeted by her frantic parents and was subsequently arrested by the Coruscant Guard on charges of drugging, kidnapping, and assault. Without a single chance to explain himself, Wolffe was placed in binders and tossed into a holding cell at the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. He sat in that cell all night trying to figure out how he could've messed up so badly on his first visit to Coruscant that his general probably thought he was the most incompetent commander in the GAR.

In the morning, however, it wasn't his general who came to get him, but a woman.  Wolffe didn't recognize her at first. Her clothes were elegant, made of fine linen, her auburn hair was neatly wrapped in a bun, not a strand out of place, and her soft blue eyes shone with compassion against her pale skin. It was her eyes. That's when he realized she was the same woman he carried home from the bar the night before. She was the last person he expected to show up at the Detention Center to bust him out, but he wasn't about to be ungrateful.

She introduced herself and then proceeded to profusely apologize for what happened. Wolffe was shocked when she started crying while explaining how she only wanted to have a fun night out away from her high-class lifestyle and strict parents. She never intended for anyone to get hurt by her shenanigans, especially the man who protected her honor and was kind enough to bring her home after she was too drunk to walk straight. In her eyes, he was a hero, not a villain, and she couldn't let her parent's influence lock him away forever, so she had him released.

It wasn't long afterward that they started seeing each other in secret, away from the prying eyes of her parents and the GAR. One thing turned into another and they both fell hopelessly in love. She knew he was a clone, and that her parents would never approve, but she didn't care. Even after Wolffe protested, saying they should break up, she insisted that she would regret leaving him over something so trivial as family status. So, she professed her love for Wolffe to her parents and they slammed the door in her face. It was the bravest thing Wolffe had ever seen.

She was left alone with only the clothes on her back and the credits in her pocket. Wolffe wanted to help her adjust, but she refused, asserting that she needed to make it on her own if she wanted to be seriously involved with him. Weeks later, when Wolffe arrived back on Coruscant after his first mission, she had a job, an apartment, and the beginnings of her own life. Fear crept into the back of his mind that she moved on and didn't want him anymore, but when he arrived at the coordinates she sent him, she welcomed him home with open arms.

It was that same night when they accidentally made Cara. It wasn't something either of them planned on, but they were both young, in love, and lacked certain levels of education on the matter. They learned quickly though, and even with the options and obstacles presented to them, they decided to keep Cara. They both knew it wasn't going to be easy, and Wolffe felt guilty about letting it happen, but his wife was ever the stubborn woman and she knew that it was meant to be, even if it terrified Wolffe more than any battle ever did.

Their first moments together felt like they happened only yesterday, but now, they were just memories. Memories that Wolffe replayed in his mind as he desperately tried to grasp onto every remnant of his wife he could, afraid that he'd lose her completely if he didn't catch all the pieces. There was still some part of his mind that didn't want to believe she was dead, even as he looked over at the funeral pyre with her form��her auburn hair, blue eyes, and pale skin–lying on top of it, just waiting for him to light the fire and fill the air with her remaining essence.

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[gazeopard]

Kique: Anthro or no anthro?

So I was looking at the preview for Chapter 14 and I noticed how one of the big cats is lifting Ranach (I'm assuming it's him by the double-nicks in his right ear) by the front of his cloak with his front paws. I'm not gonna link it because it's on Patreon.

I don't know if his readers/fans have noticed it yet, on Patreon or otherwise, but over the years he's been recently trying to incorporate more and more anthropomorphic characteristics onto his canine and feline characters. Case in point, his gratuitous and unnecessarily graphic NSFW pages, where he puts his characters in various human-sex positions. Then there's several rare moments in the comic where he plays around with his anatomically-accurate quadrupedal dog and big cat characters and suddenly makes them do things with their paws and hind-legs such as this:

Non-anthro dogs should not be able to cross their hind-legs like that. They can "sploot" similar to the way Jahla is, but "splooting" is where dogs, cats, and others such as squirrels spread their hind-legs out on both sides of their bodies. Jahla is lying flat on her back, but her hind-legs are cross over one another the way a human would.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. It's perfectly fine to give quadrupedal characters the ability to use their paws as hands. After all, that's what "anthropomorphism" is: giving human traits or characteristics, physical or emotional, to non-humans. They don't always need to have bodies with human anatomy fully bound to being bipedal and wearing clothes to be considered "anthro"/"anthropomorphic". But the problem is not that the characters are anthropomorphic or can hold things in their paws. The problem is that this is occurring far into the sequel and none of it was present in Asmundr. If I recall correctly. When characters out of nowhere start exhibiting such traits several pages ahead without any explanation (and when such traits are used so sparingly), there's a problem. It's interesting how for the majority of Asmundr and its sequel, he's had all his characters completely quadrupedal with lack of evolution in their paws, where they can't grip things using their digits like human hands. But now, he's been slowly and gradually changing the rules throughout the rest of the comic. In Home, we've had a few other rare and weird occurrences where dogs and cats would do things with their paws, including but not limited to the awkward-looking panel where Kargo apparently snapped his own arm to grab one of the raiders in a strangle-hold while stabbing it in the neck, and we had Feaf holding up the Golden Lioness feather. And later again when Zahira holds the aforementioned feather after Feaf gives it to her. Characters are also now embracing one another with their forelimbs, which doesn't break the suspension of disbelief too much, as it happened many times in The Lion King and Simba's Pride, but up until Home I don't think we ever saw characters being capable of supporting or holding each other like that. There are possibly other instances where these things happen, but I don't remember the rest. Where was all of this in previous chapters? Where was this in Asmundr? Why weren't these characteristics present throughout the comics? If he had gone in this direction from the start, it would have saved his readers and himself the grief of making excuses and constant head-scratching.It would explain how they'd be able to put the armor and tunics on, as so many readers were scratching their heads in an older chapter. It's weird that he's pulling these rare and sudden behaviors from his characters' anatomy on his readers like this. Screenshots taken by the old CCS blog from the first time Kique had the comments open and posted Page 305 on Smackjeeves:

Symbolism? Where?

So many readers were scratching their heads and getting frustrated by his vague answers for how his dog characters could put the armor on, and he excused it away by claiming the clothes had magnets created by the aliens. I know magnets were established earlier in the story, but I don't remember if it was always there or if Kique had gone back and edited the page to include Roamer's speech-bubble including magnets. I'm sure he didn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did go back and add some things since he's had a bad habit of doing that, even with the Roamer x Kargo panels and pages, making it seem like Roamer was always uncomfortable around him or hesitant even though he never was, until Page 214 on Chapter 7, where Kargo is being intimate with Roamer until Roamer basically tells him to slow down and Kargo obliges... which by the way, was so generous and sweet of Kargo to do, slowing himself down and allowing Roamer to catch up and get more comfortable around him. Unlike Rogio. The page initially had slightly different dialogue that Kique edited, but still has the same meaning. It baffles me that Kique dragged that dude through the mud, made him go full OOC and irredeemable, and then killed him off, only to bring him back and forcing him into a poly relationship with Roamer AND Rogio (the dog who betrayed him and used Roamer RIGHT AFTER THE PUP FUCKING BROKE UP WITH KARGO BTW) and after Rogio "saved" him from the spirit world complete with reopened wounds from his death and forcing Kargo to believe he owes his dept to Rogio. All so Rogio can look good. But I digress. Why these dogs even need clothes when they have thick fur meant to protect themselves against winter, I have no idea. And why they even have shirts, I have no idea either. I remember he'd draw his old German Shepherd fursona and his old girlfriend Meg's feline fursona in a Don Bluthy style where, naturally, they were quadrupedal but still able to hold things in their paws and balance on two legs, since they were heavily inspired by All Dogs go to Heaven and Madagascar. Wurr, No North and Lost Scent have also done this (and I'm currently trying it out with my own art/story). If these anatomical aspects of his characters were always present since Asmundr, if he had gone in the anthropomorphic All Dogs direction from the start, it wouldn't look so out-of-place. I'm curious about what his readers think of these instances or if they've even noticed it yet. With Avantifeigr, I can buy it because she's a heavily-modified canine that has always had hands and the ability to grip things since her introduction as a monster. And climb, even if Kique made her conveniently forget how to until the fire at the Meteor Tribe.

But yeah. This is what happens when you make up your story and its world-building as you go and publish the first draft without editing, redrafting, and polishing. EDIT: Someone reminded me in the comments of these pages. It looks so awkward. Same with this one with Raimo (the black GSD-looking dog) and Lifa. Piccolo snatching the stick and pointing it at Raimo's chest looks very awkward. There was also this scene with Rogio that I overlooked.

[blankwashed]

Sleepless Shadows (Part 5)

Chapter: I II III IV V VI VII

Satoru smiles when you say his name. He shifts his weight up so that he stares at the ceiling.

"I wonder how I'm going to sleep tonight, on this broken bed and smelly sheets. At least I have you with me," Satoru says, not looking at you.

"Si- Satoru, I have to apologise. Previously when you were paying for this room, I felt so bad. I-I wish I could repay you in any other way," You were truly feeling bad.

"It's no big deal, dear. I have a lot of money, remember? I know this place is utterly trash but its okay. At least I have good company here," He turned and you realised, where the fuck did his shirt go?

Blushing and turning your head to the other side, you spoke softly again, "S-Satoru..can you sleep? C-cause I don't think my body is-"

He cuts you off.

"No I can't either, darling."

Your face immediately flushes and you could even hear your own hearbeat. It was beating at a fast pace having palpitations, you figured.

Satoru is shirtless? What the fuck? I mean the room technically did not have any air-conditioning but it was a cool night, wasn't it?

You definitely bit your lip. If you were at home, alone, you would start touching yourself, imagining it was him. Carressing your shoulders up to your thighs, marking each and every spot as his— Not now!

Fuck having a hot teacher, really. You cursed in your mind.

"Darling, face me. Why are you so shy? Have you never seen a man shirtless?"

You held your breath with your face turned the other side, "I—I have…I have three brothers, Satoru," T-This was the most awkward you have ever been around Sator—you meant your sensei!

"Then why are you so shy around me?" You could SWEAR to the heavens that you knew he was smirking. Fuck.

"B—because I think it's not right for me as your student, even though we're out of school grounds to look at your bare chest," You just tried to come up with excuses at this point but deep down you know you wanted more.

Satoru cracks his neck, clearly he was stressed at the moment.

"Who said that it was wrong? I don't see anyone else here. It's just me and you, sugar plum. I know how you feel about me. The way you chew your pen when you look at me while I'm giving a lecture in class, with your legs on top of each other. Don’t even get me started on me spotting you trying to look at my cock, huh? Seeing whether I haven’t gotten rid of my morning wood. You’d like to help me on that?"

You just wanted to dissapear at that moment.

"Also, whatever student's say will somehow come to the lecturer's ears you know? Were you aware of that, my sly minx?"

Your mind just went blank at that moment, trying to recall what you told your friends about your crush on Satoru. Obviously with heat rising up to your ears, you weren't able to.

"I—I have no idea what you're talking about, sir…"

He scoffs.

"We're back to formalities, cupcake?" he sighed.

"N—No nothing like that, Satoru. I just feel that it's strange for me to call someone that I respect so much by their real name" You were justifying yourself and again he cuts you off.

Satoru slithers a hand underneath you to bring you closer to him.

"Angel, you said you wanted to repay me for this room right?"

You gulped, is he going to say what you think he's saying?

"Y—yes Satoru…"

He licked and bit his lip.

"I'm stressed now, dear. About my car and how stressful work has been these few days. So if you could help me with a certain problem, a predicament if you will," he spoke in a low, sensual voice that made your soul almost jump out of your chest. Is he saying what you think he's saying?

Your risque teacher comes closer to your ear and wraps his arms around your body.

"Are you up for it, my angel?"

You wished you could just crawl into a small ball and disappear. Woosh.

"S—Satoru?" You finally turned to face him and obviously with your jaw dropped, slightly. He started to move his head side-to-side, cracking his neck again with a lick of his lips which made your fingers fidget under the blanket you tucked yourself into. Was that just his habit or did he mean something else?

Remembering what the woman at the front desk said, chocolates and champagne, of course! You got up and dashed for the chocolates and champagne bottles, wanting to buy some time before you could think about what to you wanted to reply Satoru with. In your gut, you were wishing that the chocolates and champagne were are least decent enough to take Satoru's mind off whatever he wanted to do with you. His tastebuds have already tasted premium luxurious chocolate, so he might not bother about these cheap ones but you hoped it would buy you some time.

There was no doubt that you wanted to please him in that way but you were new to all of this and have never done such things with anyone before. Your mind was fogged up thinking about whether you wanted to give all your firsts to Satoru, your lecturer, someone you practically only meet during class hours. The more you think about it, you shouldn't even have agreed to go out to have supper with him in the first place, you were the reason why all of this happened.

You looked back at Satoru, offering him the chocolate that came in boxed form while munching on them yourself. “Here! S-Satoru! These aren’t that half bad. M-Maybe if you have a few you might calm down,” You said loudly, due to how nervous you have become.

Satoru stood up, approached you and knocked the chocolate off your hands. Aww they were actually not that bad.

“Don’t you want this, my dear? This is the perfect opportunity and you’re just going to run away from it? I thought there was a connection, with you agreeing to go out with me and how I can clearly see how wet you have become just being in the same radius as me. It’s not that hard to see, sugar plum.”

Is Satoru Gojo really begging for you to touch him now?

This time you dropped to your knees right in front of him. Did you have a choice? Did you know what to do? I mean you’ve seen some videos and heard people talk about it, is it going to be the exact same?

“Don’t worry baby, I’d guide you. J-Just like in class..” His breath hitched while taking your head towards his cock. You were feeling full, like you were sucking on a big lollipop. He thrusts into your mouth, showing you how to do it till you were swirling your tongue and trying to tease him just as he has been teasing you all this while. Like the innocent lamb you were, you were making sure your tongue gets right in between his folds, making him grunt. Lunging forward and grabbing your hair but not pushing himself onto you made you moan onto him and he showed that he clearly got pleasure from that. You made a note in your mind that he’s sensitive when you do that, making sure that you only do it when you want him to be putty in your hands. “Oh this is fun,” you thought to yourself.

Satoru’s full length was hard for you to take in and he didn’t want to force it on you. With little knowledge about how this was done, your hands wrapped around his cock, trying to stroke it with the same rhythm as how you were sucking. He threw his head back and groaned loudly while jerking into your mouth as you remained pleasuring him at the same speed. You were choking, at one point and that increased his pleasure.

“T-that’s right..my best student also knows how to please her teacher, doesn’t she? F-Fuck it’s always the innocent lambs that do it the best,” Satoru groans in pleasure. That was an ego boost for you, trying to keep the pace up even though you were crying. He was too big for you. Satoru noticed your tears and he pulled himself out which left your mouth empty and that made you whine.

He stroked your cheek and you made a groan at first, still wanting more of him.

“My sweet darling, am I too big for you? Want more of me?” You felt a little smirk after saying that. Wiping the involuntary tears off your face, you shook your head, trying to seem brave and a little more experienced than you actually were. It was embarrassing to be seen as a virgin at your age.

“Really dear? Then you wouldn’t mind if I did this?” Satoru grabbed your waist and brought it closer to his. You wanted to scream or shout but that would turn him off. “Losing my first time with my lecturer isn’t that bad, isn’t it? It would be an achievement actually,” you thought to yourself.

Moans came out of your mouth when he bit his lip and started to take off your panties, his cold hands touching your heated skin. You were sure they turned him on even more, so you guessed that there was no more looking back. As he was holding it in his hand, he sniffed it and softly groaned, “Baby you smell fucking delicious,” and then he proceeds to stuff it in your mouth. “We know the walls in this place are thin as fuck, I don’t want people to hear my girl’s loud screams, do I?”

He aligned himself again once more and slowly inched himself into you. The pain was excruciating at that point but thankfully your shouts were muffled down.

“S-shatho..” You tried to call out his name. He looked like an ethereal god at that point, enjoying how painfully tight you were with his head thrown back and his hands reaching to grab your breasts. He also realised that you were a virgin and how he just penetrated and broke your hymen, but he was enjoying himself a little too much to bother about that. As painful as it was, Satoru was going slow and that helped a slight bit for you to adjust to his size. He also noticed that you were bleeding from the penetration but he didn’t bother as this motel probably has to deal with situations like these, he didn’t care.

The panties in your mouth was starting to get so wet from your saliva so you decided to just spit it out. There he saw your face, full of pain and pleasure, trying to keep up with his momentum. Satoru dipped down to take a nipple into his mouth, swirling it and nibbling on it slightly. You were contented with the sense of pleasure you were getting for your first time. Just before he released it he bit on it, earning a loud moan from you while grabbing a hold on his white hair and jerking your hips forward made Satoru smile sinisterly. Oh what has he made his top student become?

At that point the pain became pleasure and you’re already reaching your release as so as him. His movements start to become rapid with mumbles of “Oh I love yous”, “Should’ve fucked you sooner” and “How have I been resisting all this time”.

“Where’d you want it baby girl? Ah- fuck it,” Satoru forced you to kneel on the floor and opened up your mouth before stuffing his cock back into it. He was close to his release, you figured. With your tongue you drew figure eights onto his cock head repeatedly, hoping it might help him. Just as your tongue went into his slit, that’s where he released his load.

Your eyes were closed at that point with a mouth full of cum. Were you supposed to spit it out or swallow? You weren’t sure so you swallowed all of it down. Tangy, bitter still slightly sweet, hmm.

“That was a bold move, dear,” Satoru said as he came out from the toilet, you were assuming he went to wash his cock off with water. You were embarrassed now, thinking that all forms of relationship have been broken with your lecturer.

“If you had told me that you were a virgin, I wouldn’t have taken it so far you know?” he said as he came closer to you in a soft voice.

“I-I didn’t want to seem inexperienced, I-I hope I came up to your standards, sir…” Satoru looked at you with disapproval as you called him sir. Again.

I'm so stressed from uni...writing is my only escape really. I also have kind of nervous to write the sex scene but I'm reading and trying to, I hope I reach up to my reader's expectations! i also think this fic might end at possibly before it reaches part 10, after sex idk what they're going to do

Update: I got it, here comes drama~

More update: there’s more sexy scenes here LOL

[scaly-freaks]

random thought that occured to me in the middle of the night after reading chapter eleven of tgowarl, but no matter how loving amara's parents may have been when they actually did give her attention, it truly is the cruelest thing to be subjected to their happiness - when, as even amara says, its such a rare thing to procure for oneself in the world :(( i know im stating the obvious and that was likely the point for the reader to understand, but it truly does explain her rebellious streak perfectly. they unintentionally made their child feel alienated, like she were peering at them through a window - into their a warm house, while she froze to death outside enduring the blizzardous winter. apart from the blatant neglect, it's the worse thing they could've inflicted upon her as a child (among the lesser evils).

it's quite pitiful... how she grew up viewing her own parents relationship as the golden example of love. a love so pure, it's become selfish in it's pursuit.

don't get me wrong, im sure we can all agree in unison that amara generally does not have the wisest taste in her choice of partners, far from it - but the image of her parents taunting her by comparison at the back of her mind most certainly would not help in encouraging amara to make better decisions. just feeds into this hopeless belief that happiness is unattainable because amara's highest standard to reference from is her own parent's relationship, which would probably make any other relationship seem dull. i suppose that's why the next best thing for amara is that all consuming love? because if she managed to enter a relatively healthy relationship, it still wouldn't be like her parents relationship. the kind of love that grants blissful ignorance to everything else. it'd fulfill a role, but overall amara would be empty imo. where as if she's indulging her 'type', even if she's ashamed of herself because 'there can only be so many mistakes' one can allow themselves to make, horribly enough... at least it'd satisfy her. its a very.. bad, self destructive mentality of course - but if nothing else will ever compare, might as well do what provides you the most satisfaction right?

okay sorry for the rather long ramble, it just became a sudden hyperfixation to me since i love nuance in psychology like that ^^

*instils voice with the sheer tenderness of Colin Farrell's Irish lilt* Oh I absolutely fucking adore this ask.

I'm so, so happy someone mentioned the parents thing, because I wrote this part of her background specifically with the hope that people would mention and comment on it (and you did!! YAY!!!)

Emotionally immature parents can go so many different ways. A lot of the time, they fail to understand or accept their mistakes because their view of the past is tinted with rose-lens. That in itself is painful for the child. I imagine at some point, Amara accused them of some of the things she complained to Aegon about, and got blank stares. They unintentionally gaslighted her by saying but baby you were happy, we remember you were, don't you remember this day when we went to that one place and you were so happy? Neglectful parents often point out things they did for you that they specifically recall because it was out of the ordinary for them to do. Rather than realise that their moments of attention were so few and far between that now even the smallest of them becomes a huge gold star for their "efforts", they think the child is remembering wrong.

If her dad beat her, or her mother snapped at her, I think Amara would cut herself off from the emotionally a lot easier. But instead, what she did was mature a lot quicker, but then become their emotional support child. She hid all her troubles the way parents should hide from their children. She turned them into the vulnerable party who needed protection; maybe if she hadn't, they might have soldiered up quicker. But she was a kid and she made a judgement and they just weren't attentive enough to realise that she had.

And then as you said, the golden ideal of their relationship becomes her aim. But since she's a child, failure hits her harder. She hasn't yet learned that you make mistakes and keep going. So when she realises her first relationship is failing, and it isn't the true love her parents share, she stays in it almost as if to punish herself for it. She can't match up to her parents, so she's just a piece of shit that deserves to suffer until something magically 'clicks' and she'll be better.

She's definitely afraid of prioritising Aegon over Jaehaera for fear of Jae ending up like her (and with plenty of people in the Keep ready to take advantage of a royal, there's dangers for Jaehaera that Amara herself can't predict but knows are coming).

But onto the subject of the way her parents raised her and how it correlates with Aegon.

So far, what she seems to seek out in her romantic partners (and her friends) is a parent. Mirian is very maternal. Alys is obviously older, and definitely a dominating force (Amara bowed fast under the way Alys patronises her which is lowkey hot but I digress). She would also make friends in KL who were much older and more worldly, for instance prostitutes, pimps, sailors, guards, you name it.

And then you have Aegon. The father of the realm, the ultimate symbol of paternalism, but suddenly she's his jester. She obviously has to obey him, but she also gets to point out his flaws and turn them into comedy that he'll laugh about. She refused to see the flaws in her own parents until it got to a point where her body and mind were unable to take the pain.

But with Aegon, this new parental ideal, she's cutting at his flaws from the start. That ruins the fantasy of 'replacement father'. If she was just a servant at court, she'd be obedient, she'd probably even respect him from a distance because of everything he's been through. Amara never wanted or meant to be his jester. It happened because he wanted it to happen.

And then suddenly, for the first time in her life, there's someone who's paying attention to her the way her parents should have, but who goes way overboard with it. She chafes at the bindings because she's accustomed to protecting herself, but at the same time, hates admitting how good it can feel. The more she finds herself sinking into it, into becoming the little girl who just needs someone to protect her and make the decisions for her, the guiltier she gets over what might happen if Jaehaera goes ignored. The princess is going to be well-protected in the castle - she won't run loose in the streets of KL like Amara did, so it'd be easy to just let her be cared for by others.

Amara herself is at risk of being an emotionally immature parent now because her needs as a child are still waiting to be fulfilled, but she's forcing herself to become the mother she never had for Jaehaera at the same time. And if she fails at this, she's going to hate herself.

It's a huge, huge psychological mess for a 23 year old honestly. Imagine discovering you view your potential lover as a replacement dad, whilst fully knowing he was a neglected child himself and can't fulfil that role properly, and THEN you both have a daughter as the cycle threatens to repeat.

Okay, I have a lot of thoughts still, but I think I rambled wayyyy too much in answer to your lovely ramble, nonnie, so I'm going to stop here.

[lowkeyorloki]

I have been missing asis loki more than a tad.

Possible melancholic moments (for him):

Finding out sweetheart isn't pregnant (I feel like he was a bit hopeful)?

The whole Nat situation (especially when it came to light).

Dealing with Narvi's questions after the break(up). I know Narvi missed her loads and that Loki had maybe started to (or did?) see her as a mother to Narvi by then.

I would happily devour anything asis related. I have considered getting it printed but I am worried you might add something new that I wish I could have put it the book too. If it's okay with you, of course?

Hey there anon! I understand missing the fic. It's quite nostalgic for me, as it spanned almost my entire collegiate career. Before I respond to the meat of your message, let me just say: YES OFC YOU CAN PRINT IT!! I don't think I'll add anything to asis, but I do want to revise it a bit more. I have no clue when I'll do that though, so I wouldn't wait or anything. Also... if you print it, remember my beta made a cover for the fic. Also also,,, I would love a copy 🥺🥺🥺

Anyway, onto your actual ask!

Finding out sweetheart wasn't pregnant was a very bittersweet moment for Loki. Loki loves sweetheart, and he knew even at that time that he would want to have kids with her. Meeting sweetheart made Loki ponder over everything he had given up hope for: marriage, a partner, more kids, etc. etc. When it became clear she may be pregnant, it made Loki realize he not only wanted kids, but he wanted them sooner than later due to Narvi's age.

Realistically, Loki knew it was selfish of him to want sweetheart to be pregnant. He also knew - especially after her reaction to possibily being pregnant and the whole breakup situation - that maturity-wise, she wasn't ready. Still, when she told him she wasn't pregnant, it was definitely hard for him to hear. He chose his words very carefully in that moment; recall he said "I'm happy for you. I know that's what you wanted."

In terms of the Nat situation, Loki found it unfortunate, but he didn't ultimately care outside of its effect on sweetheart. He was concerned that she was losing her best friend, but to Loki, who has only had himself, Thor + Jane, and Narvi, it may not have registered as big a deal as it should. Loki was completely fulfilled once sweetheart stumbled into his life, and so I think in a way, he subconsciously assumed it would be the same for her.

On top of that, while Loki can objectively understand he was wrong in the Clint situation (that was how I weaved his status as a villain into asis - I wanted to incorporate all aspects of his character), he made it very clear he didn't regret it. Because what happened with Nat is an offshoot of the Clint thing, Loki would have been even more apathetic to the whole thing. Both Loki and Nat have a bitterness towards each other from that, and it's a bitterness neither could fully ignore for the sake of their relationship with you.

Finally, as we saw in the Loki chapter, Narvi doesn't ask much about you/sweetheart. He simply tells Loki he misses sweetheart. Loki mentions the fact that sweetheart was a mother figure to Narvi during their breakup and the months after. Basically, Loki shut down anytime Narvi mentioned her. We saw him delve back into bad habits (such as the drinking of copious amounts of wine, or not eating) in the months they weren't together, and commiserate in general. I think in this time, Loki provided very little information to Narvi (which we saw him totally beat himself up over in the chapter he narrated). It was hard for both of them. Loki's response to devastating situations is definitely avoidance, and I think that carried over to any of Narvi's questions.

Let me know what you think of all this! Thank you for the ask and your compliments. Ily very muchhhhhhh 🫶

[animeloverskylarmoon]

Byakuya Kuchiki (Bleach) Short Story: Chapter 1

"You're slow."

"G-Gomen, Kuchiki-taicho!"

You replied trying to match pace as you jumped through the skies of Karakura Town.

Just your luck that you would get stuck with this stickler.

Truth of the matter is you weren't even a seated officer. Usually you were fine hiding out in the fourth squad barracks healing the wounded.

However, for this mission they'd requested someone to accompany the team on this trip to the world of the living and your Taicho had so graciously nominated you. Now you are tracking activity with Byakuya, Rukia and Ichigo. You understood why Rukia was here. She was always trying to assist her brother. Ichigo has just stumbled upon you three and decided to join.

"Are you certain this is where the others were?"

"Of course I am. I took down the first two. You think I'm stupid!!"

Byakuya didn't reply to Ichigo's statement which only irritated him more.

You sighed internally.

Between dealing with this perfectionist and hoping these hollows had taken a vacation, you were nearing your limit. You weren't used to this. You kept feeling like you would make one wrong move and be banished from Byakuya's sight. He wasn't that heartless, but his gaze was chilling.

It's obvious that whatever had been here is gone now.

For the next half an hour, you all do a sweep of the town. When it's decided that the threat is diminished, you all retire to Kisuke's shop to regroup and possibly implement a new plan tomorrow.

Rukia and Ichigo have left for a while. Byakuya refuses to stay in Kisuke's place, so he'd also left. Now it's just you. It's weirdly peaceful. You have a chance to gather your bearings.

Think.

The night has already fallen.

The day feels like a complete waste and you can't help but wonder if it's your fault.

You flash step, landing on the roof of Kisuke's shop, a bit defeated.

"Why are you still awake?"

You scream at the voice, and Byakuya just watches you blankly.

"G-GOMEN!!!"

You bow repeatedly, and he says nothing, standing there, looking up at the sky.

It's awkward, you don't know why he's back here. Maybe he was doing another check for the hollows.

You feel another pang, sitting down slowly.

His dedication is just another display of how amazing he is in this position.

You're nothing more than a healer, and an average one at that.

The reminder is painful.

"I know the only reason I'm here is because of Unohana-taichou. I really think you guys could have gotten someone better."

You laugh awkwardly, scratching your head. It's embarrassing to admit that you're weak. Compared to Rukia, Byakuya, Ichigo, your abilities were that of a bug.

Useless.

"Unohana was not the one who requested that you come, it was me."

You freeze at his words.

"You may not recall, but when Aizen injured me, you were one of the reapers who helped me heal. I had already accepted my faith. I almost abandoned my only family. Your hands were shaking as you worked to summon your kido. You were scared. Something about your gaze was comforting. It was a sign. Even though you were afraid, you did the job. It was a reminder that fear did not have to be absolute."

You barely believe it. You hadn't even remembered the moment until he brought it up. So much had gone down then. It felt so far away.

"I admire your strength, despite your clear weaknesses. You..remind me of someone. Someone strong that I knew."

Your eyes are shaking. You can't say that you ever expected those words to leave his lips. Especially not directed at you.

"T-Thank you Kuchiki-taicho!!!"

You bow, because at that moment you aren't sure what else to do. You almost feel like crying. When you straighten, he smiles.

Actually smiles.

"Call me Byakuya."

You might just die.

[softboiledteacozy]

Resounding of Silence - an aehei horror fic

Leaving you all with a fic I have lost all interest in because of Reasons, but which was still developed enough to make me at least want to share it with you all. Inspired by the recent retro style mystery horror game Bloomtown, this was a Genshin AU where Aether and Lumine spend a creepy summer in their grandfather's remote mountain village in Japan. Here, they befriend Yoimiya, Heizou, Heizou's canonically unnamed friend, Kazuha, and the Kamisato siblings, and they spend a summer looking into a rare occurrence in the woods. Years later, Aether comes back to town, remembering little about the experience, and as he settles down to spend another summer here, mostly alone, he starts to recall bad things that happened that ended in the death of one of the kids, and with dread he realizes that whatever happened back then still haunts him to this day.

Behind the cut is chapter one.

Chapter 1 - Nothing but ivy

The pines in the mountains of Japan filter the sunlight here in ways Aether has never seen anywhere else. The dappled light of the woods takes him for a moment back to his childhood - summers spent running with Lumine through the cedars that grew near their home, through forests that gently sloped into the beach, the gritty pine needle-covered floor giving way to soft sand.

And yet, despite their deceptive similarities upon first impression, it is the air that really feels different. Their childhood home had been heavy with the tang of salt, the murmur of the waves echoing through the thin trunks, the soft susurrations interspersed with their footsteps as they weaved through the trees, laughing, play-fighting with sticks turned swords.

Here, the air is heavy, almost pensive. There is distant birdsong - the sound foreign to Aether's West Coast ears - and a light, thin mountain breeze which brings with it the sharp, fresh scent of pine. Here, it feels as if he's walked into a cathedral of green, submerged in amber light. Aether feels as though time might congeal here, fossilizing everything found within. For a moment, he feels the urge to turn around and leave. But where would he go, trapped alone halfway across the world?

"Aether!" A voice breaks through the silence in a sharp burst, and the moment of oppression is gone, just like that.

"Ms Yoimiya," Aether hums, turning to face the girl running down the trail to meet him. His Japanese feels heavy on the tongue, unpracticed, but he knows it'll pick up the pace fast. "It's been a while."

"Ages!" Yoimiya agrees. She stops short of hugging him, but the way she jumps in place tells Aether his old friend is happy to see him too. "When did your hair get so long?"

Aether runs a hand through his bangs, thinking back for a moment. Behind him, a long braid swings to and fro, as if showing off. "Uh, around high school, I think? It's been pretty long since college, and I think Lumine just kept cutting hers shorter the longer mine got."

"So... she's bald now?" Yoimiya asks in mock horror.

This makes Aether snort. "No, no, nothing quite so drastic. She stopped after an uh... interesting attempt at a bob."

"You can't just say that and not show pictures, Aether!! You're killing me." Yoimiya actually reaches out and starts gently shaking Aether now, prior inhibitions be damned. Still, it's anything but annoying, and Aether good naturedly sways along as he fishes for his phone in his pocket.

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of blackmail mat- er, photographic evidence. Ah- I think I ran out of battery on the way over from Tokyo, but I promise to show you later."

"Is that why you weren't answering your texts? I was worried you didn't have a data plan for Japan yet."

"International traveler plan," Aether flashes his sleek phone at her. "Too bad this is also currently a useless hunk of junk until I-- ah, shit." He stares at the phone as it slips from his hands and falls squarely onto a thick root, the corner colliding and instantly cracking the screen in the process. "...So much for that."

Yoimiya brings both hands to her mouth with a gasp, staring at the scene of the crime with eyes wide. "Oh Aether, I am so sorry. I hope it still works at least."

Aether gingerly picks up the broken remains of the phone and grimaces as he inspects the damage. "I'll honestly be surprised if it even turns on at this rate. I don't suppose there's a repair shop in town?"

With a grimace, Yoimiya shakes her head. "We'd have to take the bus back to the town where you got off at the train station down at the very base of the mountain. Unfortunately, we kind of are in the middle of nowhere up here." She sighs, letting the bad news settle before adding, "Though that has its perks too, you know? You have got to see the stars at night. It'll take your breath away."

Tearing his gaze away from the broken phone, Aether manages an actual smile at that last comment, mostly happy to see that Yoimiya remembers his love of the night sky all these years later. "I'm sure it will."

Yoimiya nods down the path, where the trees seem to thin out and give way to an open area. "Come on. I'll treat you to some ramen, and you'll feel right as rain. Race you!"

She quickly sets off down the path without another word, and Aether can't help but follow at the same pace lest he lose his way. They sprint down the stone path out of the woods, and something in Aether, a deep, base instinct coiled in his gut, is glad they're finally leaving it behind.

* * *

The town has not changed much in the 15 or so years since Aether had first (and last) stepped foot inside. Back then, he and his sister had been sent for the summer to their estranged grandfather's house, where their mother hoped they'd reconnect not only with the old man who knew them only through letters and pictures, but also to their ancestral heritage, as she'd called it. That summer, he and Lumine had followed the old man around town like a pair of golden ducklings, learning how to cultivate his garden and helping him around the small local clinic he managed before they were even allowed to explore town.

At first, Aether and Lumine had seen the trip as a cruel ploy to keep them away from their friends for a whole summer, and a whole ocean away, too! They'd been separated from their home turf, and they were convinced they'd wither like uprooted plants in the secluded mountain village, armed with nothing more than their basic Japanese and each other.

And yet, much to their shared surprise, they'd instead found a new love out on the road - the new sights, the buildings, the food, the people. Everything they saw on their journey brought new wonders each day, and it made them hunger for more.

After that first taste of exploration, of freedom, they'd felt as though they'd been let loose on the world, and they'd never looked back, taking a leap into the unknown to eat the world with nothing but the other's company as a constant. They'd relied on the connections they formed along the way, friendships which seemed to open paths to even more new experiences.

And yet, they hadn't come back to this first stop since. Tokyo, yes, and several other Japanese landmarks, but the quiet mountains of their mother's childhood had remained untouched, unspoken of, and neither of them could really tell what kept them away all these years.

Their grandfather had passed away some years ago, leaving the clinic to an apprentice who had quietly kept it running. Until this year.

A month ago, Lumine and Aether had received an email from Yoimiya - with whom they'd kept constant digital correspondence ever since they'd met that summer - urging them to come back after the doctor staying at their grandfather's old clinic had suddenly packed his bags and left without a word.

They'd decided this was as good a chance as any to inspect the property, and to reconnect with their old friend after years of only exchanging emails and the occasional actual, physical letter.

'We'll make the most of it,' Yoimiya had suggested. 'Come stay for the summer, if you've got the time, so you can enjoy the local late summer festival. It'll be like an extended slumber party!'

Aether had jumped at the opportunity, having just come back from a work trip to Maldives, but Lumine, off in the verdant jungles of South America with a group of recent friends who needed her expertise in picketing, had taken a raincheck, promising to catch up with them once she was done. The festival didn't start until August, after all, and their grandfather's old house probably shouldn't be kept waiting.

"Aether, I'm literally chained to a tree right now," had been Lumine's exact words. Aether had asked for a branch as a souvenir, and Lumine had snorted and hung up on him.

* * *

"It's too bad Lumi couldn't travel with you," Yoimiya sighs. She slides a hearty bowl of ramen Aether's way, and Aether's stomach growls heartily in response.

"I'm used to traveling alone," Aether lies smoothly. The truth is, he misses his sister terribly, especially on milestone journeys like this. It's not so much that they don't travel alone, it's that they know when not to. So yes, maybe Aether is a little sore about it, but he's not about to sour his enjoyment of this trip just because Lumine isn't here to see it with him from the start. He wonders if this makes him less important than a single tree in the whole Amazon. Surely he's more unique than a tree in a forest? He decides to just let this go for now, knowing that way lies madness.

As he takes his chopsticks and cradles the bowl of ramen closer to him still, seeking its warmth even in the warm July day, he finally manages a nonchalant shrug. "Anyway, she'll be here before long. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Other than breaking your phone, you mean?" Yoimiya reminds him with a small laugh. She quickly clamps her mouth as she realizes what she's just said. "Ooh, sorry, sorry, it's too soon to be making jokes, isn't it? Well, if you need to make a call, you can use the landline at my place. Much more reliable than a cellphone up here anyway."

"I was more worried about not being able to take pictures, actually."

"Oh in that case, I might be able to help you! There's a second hand store on main street. I wouldn't put it past them to carry a few old cameras."

"Oh? Analog stuff, huh?" Aether hums.

"Most likely, yeah," Yoimiya agrees with a smile. "I'll lead you there after you settle in, if you like. We made sure your grandpa's house was nice and clean for you and Lumi to use. Honestly though, the guy who was renting it kept it very tidy."

"What was his name again?"

Yoimiya hesitates, tapping her chin a few times. "You know what? For the life of me, I can't remember. I know every single person in this town by name, but this guy... Well, he was a bit of a recluse. Or, well, not quite a recluse. He did keep the clinic running. He was just not a very chatty person, you know?

"We're pretty certain he was some sort of ascetic. Even grew his own food in the garden! Now I'm kind of regretting not getting to know him better before he left."

Aether laughs. "He sounds like the kind of person my grandfather would have left his house to, all right. From what we know about him, he was always very... particular about who he let inside, ever since my mother was little."

"My dad told me much the same thing," Yoimiya agrees with a nod. "I guess he wanted to make sure his place was kept in good shape because it was used as a clinic. Don't want anyone breaking any important vials."

"Probably," Aether chuckles, remembering the earful he and Lumine had gotten once after they accidentally broke a whole batch of some weird green powder. "How's your father doing these days?"

"Getting on in years, but I think he's enjoying retirement. I'm pretty much in charge of the family business these days, but my dad does still enjoy helping me design fireworks for the bigger festivals. And even though he's pretty deaf now, he still loves sitting down to watch the shows up close. "Actually, you'll get to see my work in just a few weeks!" Yoimiya claps once, grinning at Aether with a sparkle in her eye that matches the fireworks Aether remembers seeing light up the night sky 15 years ago. "Ah! I'm so happy you're back for the whole summer! We're going to have an incredible time, Aether."

Aether raises his glass, a matching beer with Yoimiya, and they drink to that. "I'm sure it'll be a blast," he says smoothly, which makes Yoimiya giggle.

"I should make you pay for the meal just because of that pun."

"Now, now, little Yoimiya. It doesn't do to treat guests like that," a distinguished voice cuts their banter short. "This dish is on the house, courtesy of the owner."

Aether turns to find himself face to face with a tall woman in a cook's apron. She wears a kerchief wrapped around her head, light pink dyed hair sticking out in small tufts behind the cloth. The aforementioned owner of this restaurant, Aether surmises, judging from the way she handles herself (and from the fact that her apron bears the logo of the restaurant - a kitsune lounging inside an udon bowl, wearing a block of tofu like a towel over its head).

She looks vaguely familiar, too, though she's definitely too young to have been managing the restaurant the last time Aether was here. Perhaps he met her mother when he was little?

"Ms. Yae!" Yoimiya gasps. "Please, I will happily pay for the meals. I was just teasing my friend here, since he just got here today and-"

"Ah, ah, ah," the woman says, holding up a finger. "I'll have none of that. Young Aether here knows better than to reject a gift freely given, I presume?"

'How does she know my name?' Aether can't help but wonder. All he can do is nod politely as the light shock passes.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Ms Yae hums, leaning closer to Aether as if to sniff him out. "Oh dear, you do still speak Japanese, don't you? You used to be so fluent when you and your sister were little."

This at least confirms his suspicion, though Aether for the life of him can't place this woman. "Y-yes, ma'am, I do. Thank you kindly for the meal."

She nods her head in acknowledgement before glancing Yoimiya's way with a smug smile, as though saying, 'Well, there you go.'

"You come back soon, you hear?" She offers Aether one last teasing smile before turning to leave. Aether raises his hand to wave goodbye, but the mysterious woman is already gone, presumably behind the curtain leading to the kitchen.

"Well aren't you the popular guy," Yoimiya giggles. "I don't think Lady Yae has ever offered anyone a free meal before. Ever!"

"Really? Maybe she just wants to lure the tourist in with some tasty bait," Aether grins, though something about the whole exchange unnerved him.

"Well? Did it work?"

Aether looks down at his empty bowl and nods. "I'll say. If my sisters were here, they'd both have asked for seconds, but I think I'll just have to come back later. I'm stuffed."

"Ready to go back then?"

Aether thinks of the old house, of dark rooms and a small garden, of winding wooden staircases, of their mother's old cozy room, of disjointed flashes of memory which for some reason refuse to connect into a whole picture, and he nods. "Let's go."

* * *

A clinic, Aether reasons as he pauses at a landing, should not be this far uphill. Especially not when the steps are small and made of moss-covered stone and built right into the mountain. He's supposed to be fit, damn it, so why is he getting winded? Especially when Yoimiya is already waiting for him at the very top of the steep stairs, looking as fresh as a summer breeze.

"Sorry, this is a shortcut I tend to take whenever I have to head out this way," she apologizes with a small bow as he finally reaches her. "You can also head over to the temple from here, though you have to go through that patch of woods over there before even reaching the first torii."

Aether stops at the top of the stairs, one hand resting on the railing, and he follows the path with his gaze, squinting at the dense woodland that obscures any glimpses of the temple. Was this place always this overgrown, this dark?

"It's just down this street now, come on! Your grandpa had a nice yellow bicycle, if I remember correctly. I bet you can use that to move around town easier, especially if you'd rather stick to the main road."

"At least it's all downhill from here," Aether sighs, glancing down the slope to the town below. The view is nice, at least, with the small town nestled amidst the pines as if someone had carved a spot for it among the trees and dropped it whole to take root.

"It is, though the festival grounds are higher up still, on temple grounds. I hope you brought your hiking boots." Yoimiya gestures for him to follow, and they make their way down the road.

"Yeah, they're in the bag. Thanks for the suggestion." Aether honestly regretted his earlier choice of white tennis shoes. They'd been great for the plane and the road over, but not so much for uneven paths through the woods, especially considering he'd ended up having to walk a lot longer since the bus stop that reached all the way up to town didn't exist anymore. Lumine would have chided him over it, but Aether wasn't about to sacrifice a good fit even when common sense told him he knew better.

"Here we go, number 28-09," Yoimiya announced almost reverently. "Niwa-san's house."

"This hasn't really been my grandfather's house for years now," Aether grimaces.

But Yoimiya shakes her head adamantly. "Even his apprentice referred to it as Niwa's clinic. You have to remember, Aether, things don't really change in small towns like this."

Aether is quiet for a moment as he mulls over Yoimiya's words. How much has changed since the last time? How much has remained the same? It is a little shocking how little of that summer seems to have stayed in Aether's memories, beyond that urge to keep on moving which had stayed with him and his sister ever since. Did Lumine remember more? Was it just his own memory which was proving faulty? Aether has the urge to call Lumine and ask her, but he realizes with a start that he doesn't have the number to reach her anymore. It hadn't even been her own number he'd called last, since she had left her phone behind to help her remain anonymous in the protest. So much for that twin connection...

Aether. Aether...

"Aetheeeer," Yoimiya's voice breaks through his thoughts once again. This time, she's dangling a keyring in front of his face, perhaps hoping this will catch his attention.

Aether blinks and grabs hold of the keys without a second thought. Aside from the house keys, there's a purple cat charm hanging from the ring too. The work of his grandfather's tenant, he assumes, since the old man had never struck him as the type of person who enjoyed superfluous details like this.

"You okay?" Yoimiya asks him, softly resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Aether mumbles. "Just tired from the trip, I guess."

"I'll give you some space now, so you can have a look through the house and get some rest. We stocked the fridge and pantry with a few days' worth of food, but if you need anything, there's a market on main street. Big blue roof, can't miss it. And there's a konbini just two blocks away, too."

She starts looking through her bag then, until she pulls out a small notebook and a pen. As she leafs through it to find a blank page, Aether catches glimpses of what he assumes are firework designs, with a lot of technical scribbles hastily jotted down. Once she finds a blank page, Yoimiya draws a crude map of the town, marking the clinic, the shrine, the shortcut, the restaurants and shops, as well as her own house. Once she's done, she rips it out and hands it to Aether.

"Since you don't have your fancy GPS handy right now. Thankfully the town is small enough for pen and paper. Feel free to add anything else you find useful! That second hand shop should be right over here, by the library."

After carefully pocketing the map, Aether nods. "Thanks Yoimiya, for everything, really. You've given me a warmer welcome than I ever would've expected, so I'm grateful for that. I'll see you around tomorrow?"

Yoimiya beams at him and nods. "If you need anything, you know where to find me. I'll tell everyone you're here so tomorrow you can meet up with the others. They'll be so happy to see you again!" Without waiting for a response, Yoimiya waves at him and sets off, pausing only to point out where the old yellow bike is parked.

Aether stands there in the middle of the street for a while, staring at the road blankly.

'Others...?'

[iturbide]

I'm curious, what would your ideal FE be?

And do you have any particular FE concepts in mind?

So, fun fact: I actually talked about this a while back.

...and by 'a while back,' I mean 'five years ago,' because time is soup.

So because that's a heck of a lot longer than I remember and a lot changes in that amount of time, let's come at this fresh and see what changes and what doesn't.

So I still really want to keep the lead character concept: dual sword/mage older sister and priest younger brother (with natural promotion to dual healer/mage) is a nice shift on the usual Fire Emblem formula, where we rarely see female Lords in the lead who are set to inherit the throne or male healers (and I can't recall the last time one was a prince, barring Brady with Chrom as his father and I guess Forrest though he's not in the immediate line of succession since he's Siegbert's cousin meaning Xander and Siegbert would need to be removed from the equation before he'd be in line for the throne but since Leo's a prince I think that technically akes him one too and now I'm just going down a rabbit hole of technicalities).

Intro/tutorial would be fairly run-of-the-mill, border skirmish type thing against a small incursion from a neighboring nation and going out to take care of it. But something I think would be fascinating is an expansion on the usual mid-battle recruitment and the option to spare foes that we saw at times in Three Houses: I want every main chapter enemy to have a name and unique portrait. I want there to be a frankly ridiculous number of characters who could theoretically be recruited depending on who approaches them, and I want every enemy to have an option to spare them even if they're not recruited.

Think of it: you go into battle and you see that every enemy is an individual. Every enemy is someone you can engage with. And you can approach any one of them with any of your units and talk to them. As you play, you start to get to know the different personalities of your units: someone may have a kind and gentle approach that's more likely to convince someone who's not exactly keen on fighting -- but that same approach might get steamrolled over by another person that's more set in their ways. Conversely, one of your units might be blunt and straightforward, and could butt heads in a constructive way with someone like that, but whose approach would scare off a more timid foe. Maybe approaching another unit with a character just recruited in the same battle can be helpful -- one of them bringing a friend or close ally over, because they don't want to hurt each other -- or maybe it can backfire spectacularly, with the enemy unit accusing your new ally of stabbing his comrades in the back, which shuts down all attempts at conversation.

It could be an interesting risk/reward system that encourages getting familiar with your various units beyond just their mechanical strengths and weaknesses: knowing their personalities and being able to employ them to take enemies off the field and bloodlessly thin the ranks could be a lot of fun -- plus, it's something that's not required. You don't have to try and bring them to your side -- you can breeze past those little dialogue snippets and just take them out if you want. And at the end of combat, if they weren't recruited, you have an option to spare them or kill them. If you spare them, you might see them again in another battle, and maybe they'll remember you: maybe you'll have another chance to recruit them, and more success the second time around because your actions challenged their preconceived notions about you. If you kill them, though, you might run into someone else later on -- a sibling, a relative, a friend -- who can't be reached at all because their quest is one of vengeance against the one that murdered someone they loved.

And then: what if that built into Supports. What if recruiting units off the battlefield had long-running effects based on how that unit was used? If someone was initially hesitant to join you, and then you bench them permanently, maybe they desert your force after a while because they felt isolated and lacked any kind of community since no work had been done building a new support network for them. Maybe someone else was a little too eager to join based on their impression of your army, and if you build out their Supports it becomes clear that their character has goals that are entirely at odds with the main characters' -- but because those Supports also gave them an understanding of the disconnect, they end up betraying you at some point to get what they want. Recruitment becomes a mechanic that needs to be considered, rather than just a 'collect them all' thing, because indiscriminate recruiting can backfire on you down the road.

With that many characters, of course, it would be completely insane to have all of them as combat units -- so what if some recruits unlock camp options. Maybe they're hesitant to fight against their own people directly, but they want to help and learn more about your force, so they offer non-combat skills: cooking, hunting, fishing, foraging, various sorts of combat/weaponry training, medical aid, merchant services. Similar to Three Houses monastery activities, you can pick a couple of combat units and send them to do different tasks that help keep your forces in fighting shape, building support bonds and learning things about the non-combat units in the process.

One thing I definitely want to see though is a reversal on the stereotypical Divine Dragon and Evil Dragon dichotomy. I want the main characters to talk about their Divine with absolute reverence, I want them to refer to their Divine as their protector and guardian, I want them to make their Divine out to be so kind and compassionate -- and then at some point deep in the game, I want it revealed that their Divine is the one that's seen as that world's Ultimate Evil. I want their Divine to look incredibly daunting, too, big and dark and toothy and terrifying -- but the main characters have nothing but respect for it, and it's eventually proven (maybe through calling it for aid against the threat of the neighboring nation's Divine) that their faith is not misplaced nor mistaken, and their Divine is everything they claim it is.

I still really like the split narrative concept, too, with the two siblings having different stories and different objectives: the kidnapped brother would likely have missions emphasizing escape or endurance (which takes advantage of his status as a healer), while the questing sister would have more objectives to rout an enemy or defeat a particular foe. Odds are that the narrative would begin with a single straightforward story, then split at the kidnapping, and only join together again at the very end before the closing chapters (so you could bring your favorites from both sides of the story to the final confrontation, but wouldn't get all the out of battle/camp stuff).

And above all: I wouldn't want it to be a story that ends with unification under a single banner. A lot of Fire Emblem games have this as their 'ideal' final state, and that's just never worked for me. I would want every nation to remain independent -- maybe with more connections, an openness to diplomatic discussion and free trade, possibly some leadership changes -- rather than having one country dissolved into another.

[anyathefandom]

To Those Fortunate Enough chapter 32:

@burned-lariat

"...Everything alright?" Dante asked as Alexis hung up the phone.

"I wish. Nikolas is angry that he was locked out of Cassadine Industries."

"Locked out?"

"He can't access any accounts related to it. Professional, financial, he's been completely stonewalled."

Victor the next time he sees Nikolas:

"Right," Laura nodded, "It sounds like a lot has happened while Valentin, Anna, and I were in Switzerland."

"Dante lost his job, Nikolas and I lost our businesses," Alexis began, "and with our luck, you might've lost your power as DA."

Me: It's forever fuck Victor over here but I gotta respect his power

"May I come in?" she asked gently.

Dex remained silent, staring at her.

"Please?"

He gestured to the open stool next to him. Irina smoothed down her white dress, patterned with stitched flowers, as she took her seat.

Me: The way you stayed true to her being the woman in white🤌

"It…I was so devastated as a kid. Losing you was horrible…and you quit on me at that. You're my mother; mothers don't quit on their kids. God, the hurt that I felt…I couldn't stop crying. I was six, seven, and I couldn't fall asleep at night because I wanted my mother next to me, holding me tight and protecting me. And sometimes Dad would come in and try to make things better, but he wasn't you. He didn't have your comfort and warmth, he wasn't attached to me the way you were…the way I was to you. I've been hurt so much by so many people and so many things, but nothing hurt worse than being without you."

"I know," Irina nodded, tears flowing down her face, "and I'm so sorry I put you through that. Truly."

"That being said…" Dex paused, trying to recall the images that flashed in his head when he woke up. The memories were there, but the sights and voices weren't. His encounter with Helena was no more than a bizarre fever dream, and though he couldn't describe it, he knew it happened, "if you didn't do what you did, I probably wouldn't be alive. You…you gave me up because you genuinely cared about me, because you loved me, and I didn't acknowledge that…and I'm sorry. I should've understood how hard everything was for you too, and I'm sorry I was being so difficult and rude about it to you."

Me: I was like 🥺 the whole time up until he mentioned his encounter with Helena which made me laugh and go "So now you understand why Irina decided to leave huh?🙈" That lady is traumatizing people from beyond the grave.😂

"Of course I do. I remember how you looked at me with this pure, unadulterated wonder when I finally got to hold you as a newborn. I remember how you'd sleep long hours because of how relaxed my private quarters were. I remember when you finally met your father: you grabbed the tip of his nose and giggled when he made a disapproving face. I remember all of that: those are my favorite memories."

Me:

Like wow i'm really am a soft bitch for the Heller family.

"Yeah," Dex chuckled, "As a kid, he used to have me read my school books, written in English, and recite the page to him in German."

"Did he," Irina giggled before taking a breath, "You know, German isn't all that your father taught me. I lived such a sheltered, isolated life, and meeting your father allowed me to have a taste of the world."

"...Really."

"Mhm. One of my favorite lessons from him was music. He'd sing these songs and show me how to sing them."

Me: The little peaks into their past life has me in a chokehold. That's family right there.

"Got a favorite?"

"I do," Irina smiled, "Lay back and relax."

Dex did as he was told, his back pressed against the hospital bed and his head resting against the pillow. Almost immediately, his eyes fluttered shut.

"Before you go to sleep, say a little prayer," Irina began, shaking his hand, "Every day, in every way, it's getting better and better…"

Me: WAAAAAIT A DAMN MINUTE I LOVE THAT SONG!!! *Starts to sing along*

She watched her son's body relax, his breathing slow and calm, "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy…"

Her grip on his hand loosened and she got to her feet, "Darling, darling, darling, darling son."

She gently kissed his forehead one last time, "Sleep well, Dexter. You'll be out of here in no time, I promise," she walked to the open door in the ICU room, taking one last look at her son's sleeping form, "...I love you."

Me: let me tell you this chapter has to be my favorite so far. You can never go wrong with these sweet Heller family moments.🥰

Sidenote: Also learning (but not surprised) that Wallace has taste.😌

[miaikon]

I was exposed to a lot of not-age-appropriate media during my childhood in the 80s/ 90s. Anyone else share this experience?

This is not a try to explain or excuse my mental issues, or to complain. It's just a kind of vent since I'm thinking about this a lot, on and off. For context, I was born in the 1980s and reached 18 years of age in the early 2000s. My native language is German. Also, apart from a few nightmares, I don't know how much this affected me.

My earliest memory of catching something I maybe was too young for was when I was six or seven. My stepfather liked playing videotapes of musicals while he did the house chores (he was our stay at home parent). This got me glimpses of "Hair", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and also "Jesus Christ Superstar". I remember asking my stepdad why Frank'n'Further was dressed like he was, and him answering "because he likes it". Also, I was a big fan of the big dance scene at the beginning of "Hair" (set to "Age of Aquarius").

I don't think this chapter, while probably not stuff you'd usually show a seven-year-old, affected me too much. I watched all these musicals later as a teen and was able to re-contextualise what I saw in my head after I learned English and understood what was going on.

The nightmares came later. I must have been nine or ten. My bio father had me every weekend then, but apparently didn't want taking care of me to stunt his social life, so he brought me along to the big sci-fi watch parties he had with friends every Saturday. In retrospect, I think my mother made him take me for the weekends, and he wasn't a fan. Before that, he used to leave me with friends, who also had kids, or his then-girlfriend a lot and just go off do his own thing.

Anyways, I was present for the sci-fi screening. I don't know all the names, but three of the series they watched were some form of "Star Trek" (it definitely had Data and Picard), "Deep Space Nine" and, I think, "SeaQuest". They watched one episode of multiple series a night, and I wasn't allowed to ask any questions and usually fell asleep on the couch. Scenes from some episodes haunted my nightmares for years after (remember, my age was in the single digits!). As a teen, with the help of my now-fiancé, I managed to hunt down and re-watch some of these episodes for context.

Quick interlude - the man is a sci-fi enciclopedia. He managed to figure out not only the series, but the EPISODE, from clues like "Woman with psychic powers enters brain of serial killer, sees all his murder victims", "half-machine woman tells pale guy to rip off his own skin" and "two people scream at each other while a woman is giving birth in the same room. They argue about the symbolic value of the baby".

Paralell to all that, nobody really cared what I read. Starting with "Discworld" at age 13 was probably the most age-appropriate thing I ever did XD. I learned to read at age five, before being enrolled in school at age six. According to my mom, I wanted to learn. According to my memory, she taught me so I could read my own bedtime stories.

Anyway, anything that said "Fantasy" on it was fair game. The same way anything animated was DEFINITELY for kids of all ages ("Watership down" also lived in my nightmares for years). I got given books quite randomly. Some noteworthy ones are: me reading "The never-ending story" at age six (before I could read a clock. I refused to learn how to read a clock for a long time because, in my kid mind, it meant I couldn't be expected to have a bed time/ know when it was time to stop reading). There was also "Sorla Flusskind" ("Sorla Riverchild"), which is a pretty decent kid's adventure book - if it wouldn't start out with our protagonist's conception via assault. Honorable mention goes to "Dracula's daugther's", which I received as an Anne-Rice-Obsessed fifteen year old. It's basically soft porn. There were probably more that weren't age appropriate, but I just can't recall.

Thank you for reading! If you had similar experiences, share please if you feel comfortable to do so. I'd like to know if I'm alone in this.

[sagau-fruit-bowl]

Chapter 22! Wrote this while bored in school. I'm lucky my teachers like me.

School is leaving me so tired with no motivation to write so guess who's back to post and then vanish for months again? Me.

Guide!Au is a SAGAU inspired idea where the Player, instead of being seen as a creator, is seen as the only outworlder god who cares for Teyvat.

Masterlist

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

 The curtains of [Name]'s room were wide open and the moon light seeped into the room.

Aether sat quietly on the edge of the bed, looking down at Bennett's sleeping face. Both teenagers had curled up on the floor and were about as asleep as physically possible.

Diluc himself had also fallen asleep in the armchair in the corner of the room, leaving Aether the only one awake to watch over Their Grace. Speaking of which, his attention snapped back to the bed as the mattress began to shift.

[Name] exhaled and began to turn over in the bed.

They couldn't recall the last time they had slept that hard, no strange dreams bothered them and they could hardly remember falling asleep.

They opened their eyes hoping to be back in their own bed but disappointed when their eyes met the stark white ceiling of Favonius headquarters.

They let out a groan of disapproval at the sight but sat up anyway, jolting backwards upon nearly making contact with Aether's head. He had moved over to check on them as they woke up, his head hovering not far above them as they attempted to sit up, causing him to jerk back as well.

As [Name]'s head bounced back into the bedding below their head, they stared up into his eyes, looking about as annoyed as one would expect when a peaceful morning is interrupted by someone watching you while you slept.

[Name]'s face showed an unamused look and they gave a glare. "Now what do you think you're doing?"

Aether winced and brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "Checking on you? You seem okay though."

With a huff, [Name] sat up again and moved to step off the bed. "Checking up on me seems a lot like stalking."

"Don't pretend you're any better, you watch us all the time." Aether teased.

[Name] took a moment to contemplate that. They supposed that was a fair response. They had thought a couple times about how their watch over each character seemed in their perspective.

They didn't think they would enjoy being puppeteered but it wasn't [Name]'s intention to make anyone uncomfortable… although, did intention really matter considering what the end result is?

A noise from the floor put an end to that train of thought, they looked down to spot Bennett and Razor curled into one another on the uncomfortable marble floor of the bedroom, they weren't close enough to be on the mats set beside the bed to block out the cold floor in the morning, nor on the blue carpet in the center of the room, [Name] winced imagining how much their back would hurt in the morning.

Taking a moment to look around, [Name] also took note of Diluc resting in the armchair, the blue fabric seeming darker near where his hands rested and his neck bent at an uncomfortable looking angle onto his own shoulder.

They became aware of a weight at their feet and glanced over to see Paimon resting on the sheets, her eyes closed.

A rustle of the curtains caught their attention and their gaze moved over towards the open window, gazing out at the moon high in the sky. A whisper of the wind gently reaching their ears.

"It's time to rest" An older woman's voice said, causing [Name] to tilt their head in confusion and Aether to follow their line of sight out the window.

"Papa said I should finish this first" Another voice chimed in, [Name]'s shoulder's bristled and they began looking around carefully, Aether catching their unease and showing signs of concern.

The voices then began to pick up, carrying through the wind.

"Hey! Get back here!"

"Another drink! For further celebration!"

"My oh my everyone seems quite lively this evening."

"I wonder where she went."

"Heheh, they're gonna hate how this will taste."

"Did you hear? About the newest visitor to Mondstadt?"

"Oh this is sooo boring, why couldn't I have been assigned somewhere like Liyue?"

The voices were different, one a woman, one a child, one sounding local to Mondstadt and another sounding vaguely similar to a certain Fatui in a nearby church. 

[Name] was silent, listening to each voice that seemed to float in from the window, not aware of Aether now repeating their name, waving a hand in front of their face, [Name] simply listened closer and closer to the voices on the wind.

Aether watched in concern as [Name] stared out the window until a tap on his shoulder caused him to look at a now awake Paimon.

"Relax. [Name] simply turned on a setting." She told him.

"A setting? What are you talking about?" 

"Nothing, you should probably close the window though."

Aether sighed and stood to follow Paimon's advice, making his way to the source of the wind and pulling the window doors shut.

[Name] finally allowed their focus to change, looking away from the window before speaking. "What the actual fuck was that?" 

Aether chuckled. "I asked myself the same question. Now then, what the hell were you focused on?" 

[Name] paused for a moment, collecting their thoughts. "I… I am not sure."

Paimon made a noise causing both of them to look in her direction. 

Aether sighed "I guess you know?"

Paimon smirked "Perhaps~"

[Name] eyed her carefully. "What on god's green earth was that?"

Paimon hummed. "You turned on the 'comprehend language' setting, did you not?"

[Name]'s face twisted in a mix of confusion and annoyance. "So you're telling me the wind has a language?"

Paimon hummed once again "Is that so hard for you to believe?"

[Name] groaned and looked at the window "Should I just turn it off?"

The fairy looking menace giggled "I wouldn't advise it~ why don't you two simply go back to sleep?"

The Traveler shifted his feet and nodded. "Sounds fair. We can discuss this when we're both well rested."

[Name]'s eyes drifted up to the white ceiling once more and flopped down onto the sheets again, looking up at both of the main characters. "I'll tolerate that, barely."

Aether nodded and moved over to the soft blue carpet, giving the other two a wave on his way over. "Goodnight you two, rest well."

Paimon curled up on the edge of the bed to resume her nap as [Name] stared up at the ceiling, straining their ears for hints of the wind pushing against the glass.

They laid still for as long as they could, focus on the whispers slipping through the cracks of the window, voices that [Name] realized she could recognize.

Venti's laugh echoed through the air, Lisa chuckled and flipped pages of a book, Barbara's voice sang from the church, Diona grumbled about patrons at the Cat's Tail, Huffman lamented the reports he had to write, Klee was telling Kaeya all about her latest adventure.

It made [Name]'s shoulder's relax, it felt so comfortable, so familiar that caused them to drift off to sleep. 

As their vision faded to black, their eyes shut and head resting on the pillows provided to them.

____________________________________

[Name] stood, swaying softly in the wind with their eyes closed. The sound of a chirping bird caused them to open their eyes and they gasped loudly, the view in front of them taking away their breath.

Their sight was full of clouds and blue sky, no matter how harshly the breeze blew, it never seemed to move the clouds.

[Name] looked down at their feet to see lush green grass and they whirled around upon hearing a voice, their eyes locking onto the building in the center and they finally understood where they were. Their Teapot.

They stepped forward slowly, looking around for the source of the words they heard. 

"Yohoo! Over here."

[Name]'s gaze fell upon Tubby's blue form, its blue feathers were ruffled as it struggled to get [Name]'s attention.

As [Name] began to step forward, they couldn't help but glance around, the plants they had growing were remarkable to look at and each decoration captured their eyes, the thought that one of their characters had personally made each item filled [Name] with a sense of pride.

Tubby then spoke again, "My oh my, what are you doing here?"

[Name] shrugged, "Don't know for sure… But I'm happy to be here."

"Well, we're all happy to have you, I'll let anyone who stops by know Your Grace has finally arrived!"

[Name] winced at the thought, "Um, no, that's… not necessary. I plan on telling them personally." Technically not a lie, it all depended on how those individuals would likely treat [Name]. Surely some of them would be more reasonable than the leaders of Mondstadt.

If Tubby had a human face, [Name] was sure they would have raised an eyebrow but it nodded nonetheless, "As you wish."

"Yeah… Can- can I go inside?"

Tubby let out a laugh "It's your place is it not? Go on inside, I'll speak with you before you leave."

[Name] nodded slowly, stepping closer to the building's door, letting out an annoyed huff at the strength needed to push the solid wood door open.

The center room was empty of people but the table set up in the middle was still present and [Name] took a moment to look around, the middle floor seemed lived in but also silent as though no one was present. A bark took that thought away as [Name]'s face broke into a grin at the sight of one of the pets they had placed within the building.

They dropped to their knees and clapped their hands, the action causing the dog to come closer at a quick pace, tail wagging as it moved closer.

[Name] couldn't help but enjoy themselves as they held out their hand for the animal to sniff but instead the dog went straight towards their legs, rubbing its side against them and lifting its fluffy head towards them.

[Name] went silent for a moment, now petting the animal and scratching its sides. They realized they should likely give the pet a name, if the inhabitants of their tea house had yet to do so that was.

"Hello. Who's back?" A voice rang from the top of the stairs and [Name] shrugged. Speak of the devil they supposed.

Might as well face whoever lived in the tea pot.

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HOLY SHIT WRITING THIS TOOK A WHILE. DEPRESSION SPIRAL KICKED MY BUTT AND SO DID SCHOOL.

Tag list! Closed for the foreseeable future. If your name is bold, I cannot tag you, please check to make sure I spelled your name correctly and that you have @'s on. If I have misspelled your name, feel free to DM me and let me know

If y'all have any suggestions on who [Name] should have as characters, I'd love to see them. I'd love to give them every character but that's just not realistic.

Please, give me suggestions for what character they should have as I'm indecisive.

@chihawari  

@samuelftm  

@mizuistrying

@karylles-world

@isaywhatiwant

@multifandomvoyage

@sayomiikaye

@peacesong02 (❤) 

@chie-san  

@magica-ren

@willburzone

@brookeisqweer (you changed your name and I spent like 10 minutes trying to figure out why the @ wasnt working😓)

@sadlonelybagel

@silver-the-pendejo (❤. You bitch. You changed your name again.)

@rizakari  

@eccedentesiast-sapphic

@nasidibakar  

@yue-caelum  

@irisxiel  

@detectivexheizou  

@ello-its-me-ya-boi  

@nin3ss  

@uh-kay-shuh (love the OM pfp]

@campanula-rotundifolia  

@whispereons  

@dontlookatmeprettyplease

@loveyasaraa  

@shysbonesnstuff

@yoitslei

@trinketbeans

@a5ht-0

@B3ckisout

@anxiousazure

@poisened

@awoken-unbroken

@melveres (❤)

@bluemoonumbra

@yay-its-tj

@nassy

@local-mr-frog

@simpaghettits

@xiyou-gege

@yuulia-chan

@sunseton16

@etherisy

@genshin-impacts-me