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insertdisc5 · 1 year ago

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✨ The In Stars and Time Spoiler Q&A ✨

it's time. MASSIVE IN STARS AND TIME SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. IT'S GONNA BE SO LONG. LET'S GO

I hope you are aware of The Secret Final Boss because I'm also gonna spoil the crab out of that. If you haven't,

1. Did you know the events for interacting with your souvenirs are randomized for some of them, and also change depending on how far you are in the game.

2. Did you know there's a way to show souvenirs to a certain character.

3. Did you know you can go back to Dormont during the Epilogue.

Figure that out, and come back here! Or watch a let's play online. You can also do that.

I will also try to adopt a ~mysterious cool voice with no exclamation points~ for Effect. Come with me on this journey.

Now. Questions time!

✨ Will you ever make a sequel to ISAT, or make a game in the same universe?

Nah. This was always intended to be The Story. This is your turn to imagine things now.

✨ But so what happened to the Country? What was its name? What about the wishes? What about the colors? What did Siffrin say as an openphrase to open the door to the King's room? What about--

I will not answer those. It's your turn.

✨ BUT THE COUNTRY AND THE COLORS AND THE WISHES

Ok fine. Here are some facts that I alluded to in-game, that I am confirming now.

-The Country disappearing and the events that made colors go away are not related.

-The colors disappeared a loooong time ago, which is why knowing they even existed is a relatively new find.

-A wish made everyone forget the Country.

I will ALSO say that ISAT's map operates on Final Fantasy/General Fantasy rules (i.e. in-universe locations are based off of real ones when it comes to culture, but are not one to one parallels, especially for geography), so no, the Country isn't based on the UK oh my god please do not say that to me again or im deleting ISAT out of your computers and putting legos at the foot of your bed. It's based on another place. You can figure it out, I believe in you.

✨ But why won't you give more info on what happened :(

Can you imagine if I did answer. Wouldn't that be a bummer, whatever my answer was. Sometimes things need to stay a mystery. And also, I don't want to answer <3

✨ Does the world Loop came from still exist after they left? Or is this a get mystery'd situation?

There is only One Timeline and it's the timeline that goes from the prologue to ISAT. Every timeline that gets rewound does not exist anymore, and that includes the prologue's timeline.

✨ What's the deal with Siffrin's dream at the start?

It's Siffrin's dream, but that doesn't mean our Siffrin is the main star.

✨ Is [specific missable game moment] canon?

Every moment that you personally experience in the game is canon.

✨ Is there a reason Siffrin remembers their name but the King doesn't?

What makes you think Siffrin does?

✨ At the very very end of the game, if you look out the window behind the Head Housemaiden, Sif mentions seeing an island in the distance. Is that his country?

It is. It's always been there, for the whole game. You can see it in the distance, too.

✨ Who was the King, before?

He was just a guy!

✨ With the King left remembering in the end, does that in any way change the redaction effect for other people in the world going forward?

That's a fun idea. Maybe!

✨ One thing that never really clicked for me is: Is the sweet smell Time Craft or Wish Craft? Or is the sweet smell TIme Craft and specifically the burnt sugar smell is Wish Craft? Other way around? Does this question even matter since without Wish Craft you can't attain Time Craft in the first place? (To me, yes.)

Wish Craft smells sweet. Time Craft doesn't have a smell per se, but it does do something.

✨ Does Mirabelle retain her immunity to being frozen in time after the events of the game or does it go away after the Head Housemaiden is saved? Or does it persist for a while and eventually fade away?

I imagine the immunity slowly faded away. But no one's left to do Time Craft, so it's a moot point anyway.

✨ How was Odile able to stop Siffrin from looping back during the fight against Siffrin?

In the Discord channel I stated that it's because "she's just that cool", but really, she does have access to some skills that heighten the efficacity of Rock/Paper/Scissors attacks, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine she could lower the efficacity of Time Craft as well. In this last loop, while listening to Loop and observing, she could figure out Siffrin was looping way earlier than she could in even the Sus Quest, so she made plans. She is Very Smart <3

✨ Will you ever share everyone's full names?

That's artbook content <3

✨ In the ending, what happened to Siffrin's hat?

Flew away. It's gone now.

✨ Looking back at the original comics, and seeing how comic!sif has both eyes at the start of their loops, but in ending sequences is shown with his eye patch...did you ever consider making that concept of sif losing their eye a part of the main loop in either of your games? and if so, was there any reason why you decided against it?

Early on, I did think about making that whole event an event that happens during the loops, but quickly let that go since 1. it would be a pain to write and code (two different sets of Siffrin portraits!) and 2. if it happened, the player might want to look for a way to NOT make that happen and so 3. it would be a pain to write and code

✨ How was Siffrin's homelife before?

Pretty good!

✨ How old were Nille and Bonnie when they ran away? How old was Sif when their home got zapped?

Both were teens.

✨ How old IS everyone?

Siffrin is mid-late 20s. Mirabelle and Isabeau are early-mid 20s, with Isabeau being slightly older. Bonnie is a preteen. Odile is Too Old For This. Petronille, Bonnie's sister, is late teens-early 20s. You can ignore whatever I said in the prologue's artbook, whoever wrote this was Wrong!!!!!!!!!!

✨ Regarding the book that talks about someone who crafted a copy of themself using wish craft: is that meant to imply someone we know is the author (and/or the copy), or is it not directly related to any of em? or is it a "who knows ;)" situation where we can just speculate and theorize either way?

Please check the book again during Act 5! This applies to most items/map events by the way, like the pendant. You can check those during Act 5 and 6 for some fun new dialogue!

✨ Why are Siffrin's clothes so warm looking?

The Country got cold at night.

✨ What's up with Siffrin's pins?

They're made out of a special material. And also, they make Siffrin look cool <3

✨ I want to know the story behind Loop’s different eye shades!

They're blind in one eye. Also, fun foreshadowing <3

✨ What determines whether someone is paper/rock/scissors craft? Is it assigned naturally at birth or something else (and how do you find out)? Does it make you more inclined to use that specific craft or is anyone generally free to use whatever craft they want?

Astrology rules, It Just Is A Thing. Being Rock Type means it is way easier for you to do Rock Craft, but that doesn't mean you can't learn other types of craft, although it's way harder. Doing Craft of your type is instinct, doing Craft of another type would take some time and resarch.

✨What crimes has Odile committed before. I need to know.

Odile just smiles.

✨ Why did the King specifically target the House of Dormont?

I had a reason in mind, but adding it to the game would've added a layer of Explanation that really didn't need to be there. It's just a nice House.

✨ Who was Odile's hatecrush...

Dunno. It's your turn.

✨ What is loop's body situation. like is the surface of their "skin" solid? they did poke siffrin that one time, and we know they aren't cold, but...

I have some idea. But it's your turn!

✨ Would Sif still have looped if they hadn't made the wish he made in the beginning? As in, would Vaugarde's combined wish have made him loop until managing to beat the King?

No. But without time powers, you can imagine what would've happened next.

✨ During the Loop Hangout, how did the rest of the team make it all the way to The King? What about during Act 5?

During the Loop Hangout: with difficulty. During Act 5: Loop was there to guide them.

✨ Is Loop: 1. Actually comfortable with both he and they, but only gave the one pronoun to emphasize the distance? 2. Only using they/them because a large life event led to a shift in identity/ how they'd like to be perceived? or 3. time lops stole he from they they :(

Mostly that first one. But all three of those reasons have a bit of truth to them.

✨ Who cooked crab in the House of Change???

This is a very funny question! I've never thought about it. It's your turn.

✨ What are the Orbs that open the gate? Did the King create the Gate or was it there before?

(did not think about the orbs or the gate beyond "plot that proves there was a journey before") Stop Asking Questions,,,, It's your turn,,,,,,

✨ Bonnie's dialogue is *extremely* accurate to how overexcited kids talk, which is really rare to see. Was that something that took a lot of effort to achieve, or did it come naturally to you?

Thank you <3 I'm just that good. Really, Bonnie is an adult with no filter, and less general knowledge. I'm very glad I managed to write Bonnie well, especially since. I haven't talked to a kid. Since I was one myself

✨ The Spoilery Concept Art. Blease

oh yeah. here have it all. this is what I gave Mimi to do the animated trailer!

✨ So. What's everyone's favorite shade.

FINALLY the question. Plus I can say shade names now. White = darkless, Black = lightless. Light and Dark is like light grey/ dark grey. Oh my god I'm checking my notes and I wrote a small event I never used about hair dye colors like "midnight dark", "tomato grey", "snow light" past me that's so fucking funny

Anyway, Siffrin loves darkless, Mirabelle is more of a light shade lover, Isabeau loves that lightless (BECAUSE ITS FASHIONABLE OK), Odile likes darker shades, and Bonnie also loves that lightless (BECAUSE ITS AS DARK AS MY SOUL OK)

✨ Are there any bugs you found during developments that you've made into features?

Two! The first one was the ability to ask Loop to just silently hang out during Act 4. I messed up the code and the game softlocked there, with Siffrin and Loop sitting there silently. I thought it was very sweet. They deserve a little quiet time.

The second was in Act 5 - the House map had a lot of issues with the Act 5 map bringing you back to the normal House map. So one of the testers got brought to the normal House map and didn't notice, and interacted with the Mirror on Floor 3, and it gave them the normal interaction with everyone seeing the mirror and taking a picture, and when they went to look at the picture in their inventory, it gave them the actual Act 5 picture. A little bit after they realized the game bugged out, and told me about it, and begged me to keep that in because they were very unsettled by it. So here it is! Beforehand, it was just Siffrin silently taking a picture, so I'm glad I changed it.

✨ Did you ever have emotional difficulty writing the more sensitive parts of the script, like Siffrin’s intrusive/negative thoughts, for one reason or another? Moreover, did you worry the script may be darker than your initial vision for it anticipated?

Not really. The Mirabelle and Odile hangout scenes were the hardest scenes by far because I really wanted to get them right, but everything else was about the same amount of difficulty. And actually, I wanted to go a little bit darker for the script, but I was worried it was going to be too dark... When it comes to the dagger event, I had a whole tangent about Siffrin thinking about the best way to strike, so to speak, but I deleted it because it was getting A Little Too Detailed. T rating come back to me

✨ For the questions you WON'T answer, did you have your own answers while making the game? Or were they left blank?

Some of them I do, some of them I don't!

✨ I loved this game and I want to replay it but I don't want Siffrin to go through everything again!

Here's a little fun fact I decided: if you hit the credits, you helped a Siffrin escape. If you start a new game, you are creating a new Siffrin that you can emotionally tortu-IIIIIIII MEAN, a new Siffrin that you can help. Do not worry about your Siffrins they are fine

✨ A lot of those answers ended up being "It's your turn", huh.

Yea <3 The answers to some of those questions ARE there if you look. Some just aren't. But you can imagine whatever you want. It's your turn! I finished the game! I'm done working! It's your turn!!!

✨ I loved ISAT and it made me feel so many feelings!

Thank you so much. I'm sorry if you sent a message or ask and I didn't answer it. I read every single one and cherish it! Thank you for playing and thank you for writing me a message!!!!! When I get a little down I look at all of those and I feel better. Thank you. I'm sorry I can't answer them all.

✨ What will you work on next?

I have a project I'm currently in the preproduction stages of. I don't want to talk about it until I feel like I have some stuff to show. Plus I still have to make the ISAT artbook and some other stuff, so it won't be for a while. Nonetheless, I hope you will enjoy it!!!

#in stars and time #in stars and time spoilers

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ellastone-olsen · 1 year ago

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hihihihi idk if youre accepting requests or not but if you are:

can you please do stripper!wanda x innocent!reader where reader's friend drags her to a nearby strip club to blow off steam. and reader is really innocent and is just sitting in the chair, slightly confused while watching the dancers do their thing on the pole. and reader is unknowingly eyeing one certain stripper (wanda) and wanda notices and comes over to reader. and reader's friend is teasing reader and telling wanda to give reader a lap dance when she comes over. and then wanda brings reader to like one of the private rooms in the back and like reader is realy inexperienced and awkward and tense. and then wandas there to like talk reader through it and reader's like REALLLY shy. okay woah thats a lot thank youuuuu take your time 💝

The art of eye contact - Wanda Maximoff

★Pairing: stripper!Wanda Maximoff x innocent!f!reader

Summary: your friend drags you to a strip club, what could happen there to such an innocent little thing like you?

★Warnings: little NSFW 18+, lap dance, grinding, pet names, a little fluff (sorry I can’t without fluff)

★Word count: 1.5k

★AN: hi anon! In general, my requests are closed, but I found this very interesting, so here we are. there was nothing about 18+ in the request and I decided to remove this part (well, almost). hope you’ll like it

The loud music and shining lights of the club were blinding as you sat shyly in your seat and looked somewhere at the floor. There was a can of soda on the table nearby. The people around are mostly men, but your eye notices some women who also came to watch the show. And only one question: what the hell are you doing here?

“Come on Y/N let’s go, I’ve been there more than once, maybe you’ll like it.” This is exactly what you heard from your friend half an hour ago, when you were sitting in her apartment and just playing online games. You came to her in a terrible mood because of a failed college exam and sought solace in this meeting. In the last couple of weeks, your nerves were on edge and all you need now was to let off steam after a series of failures. “Fucking shit, can’t you see they’re shooting at you!?” You told her angrily as she turned away from the laptop screen without following the game. You definitely needed another way to relax.

Despite your 21, you had never been to this kind of establishment and of all your friends, you were the most innocent person, not knowing what relationships and sex are. "Come on, let's go, don't be so boring." She insisted, "If you don't like it, then I give you permission to hit me." You took off your headphones and sighed. If you think so, then you were curious to visit the strip club. "okay." After that, within 10 minutes you were riding in a taxi to an address unknown to you.

Returning to the present time, you tried not to stare too much at all these people dancing at the poles, the clothes on them were becoming less and less every minute and your cheeks were flushed red. Your friend hit you with her elbow, signaling for you to look (she paid for the entrance and doesn’t want her money to disappear into the floor in which you are ready to make a hole with your gaze). You look up again and look at each dancer in turn until you reach her. To your right is dancing a woman with long red hair, which is pulled back into a messy bun with a shiny clip. Her top was already off, revealing a red fabric bra that did not hide the softness of her breasts. She was still wearing a long skirt that cut out to her hips, so you could see her legs, which seemed to be moving closer to you. Stop why is she coming to you.

While you watched as if under hypnosis, the stranger was already in front of you and grabbed the soda from your hand and put it on the table to put her hands on either side of you on the armrests. Her back arched and she made a small wave, so that her breasts were a few centimeters from your face, it seemed like you were ready to explode from what was happening. Her head tilted, her lips reached your ear so she could shout to you over the noise of the music, “I’m Wanda, nice to meet you.” In your opinion, people usually don’t get to know each other by sticking their almost bare breasts under the noses of strangers, but remember where you were and toss all the questions. In any case, all you did was nod and again direct your gaze somewhere to the side. It seemed that you had turned into a bundle of nerves and embarrassment.

Wanda took this as a sign that she needed to look for another client for the night, but your friend, who had been watching all this time from the side, took the redhead somewhere to the side and seemed to give her a bill and instructions on what to do.

"Where have you been?" You asked the girl as she approached with a sly grin, noticing how red you were. Why the hell did she bring you here and leave you to your fate? “I have another little gift for you that you’ve been eyeing so eagerly.” Was she teasing you? Defined. “What are you talking about, what kind of gift am I thinking enough for today.” Then your friend stepped aside and showed Wanda standing behind her. The girl leaned over so only you could hear, “I paid, so have fun.” You didn’t immediately understand what exactly she paid for, but Wanda’s sweet smile brought the idea to your brain and your eyes widened.

The redhead gently took your hand in hers and you obeyed (only out of curiosity) and followed her into the private rooms. When the red matte door closed and it became much quieter, you sat on the sofa with your hands on your knees and asked a question. “What exactly she told to do?” One of your knees is bouncing from the fact that you are shaking your leg trying not to be nervous. Your friend has already explained to the redhead what an innocent little thing you are, so the woman decided to first ask permission for some actions.

"She ordered a lap dance, but you're such a sweet girl that I was willing to do it for free just for you." She came up to you again and leaned in, so close that her breath was on your neck and you could smell the scent of her cherry perfume. “Can I sit on your lap honey?” Her soft sexy whisper drove you crazy and you squeaked in agreement. Immediately you felt the weight of her body on you, how her long legs in stockings wrapped around you and your core began to pulsate just from this. "What should I do? I…I never…” Wanda’s hips rocked and her core pressed against your stomach. “Oh I know baby, I can see it right away.” She giggled. “I’m sitting right on top of you, can you tell me your name?” Your head fell back and your hair fell into face, you really didn’t want to seem like what you were, namely the inexperienced mess right under her. “My name is Y/N.” Your hands grabbed the upholstery of the sofa, you didn’t know how to touch her, or whether it was possible at all.

Wanda's hands dropped to yours and placed them on her hips. “That’s it Y/N, you can touch me if you want.” Your head turned towards her and you finally looked into her big green eyes. It was so beautiful that no part of her body interested you as much as this. “Your eyes are so…lovely.” The woman seemed confused at these words. Her clients told her a lot, in particular something about her breasts or ass, but never before had anyone given her a compliment with such trepidation. “Oh, what a cute little thing you are Y/N.” She stood up on your knees, her hands reached for the clasp of her skirt, which she was still wearing, but you stopped her. “No, don't. I mean, you're so beautiful, you don't need to take your clothes off to prove it."

This was the third time you had confused her that night. Of course, your inexperience spoke to you, but you also didn’t want to do something so blatant with her, at least not right now. Although perhaps there was one thing that you wanted to get. “I...can you kiss me? That is, if you don’t want to or it’s forbidden, I don’t insist, but...” Her soft, full lips fell on yours without allowing you to finish, it seems that at these words the woman’s heart sank painfully. Her dark lipstick mixed with your cherry gloss and with every movement of your lips, your hands gripped her soft thighs tighter. “Wanda...” You wanted to ask, but she wasn’t done with you. When there was not enough air, she pulled away and turned her head away. “Sorry, it was not according to regulations.” You didn't understand why she was apologizing.

“No, no, everything is fine, at least... it sounds so stupid but... maybe you would like to get to know each other better and go on a date, for example?” You realized how naive it sounded, asking the girl from the strip club you had just met on a date. Surely everyone who was with her in this room made her such an offer.

Instead of words, the woman got up from you and you thought that the time that your friend had paid for was over, but after a few seconds she handed you a piece of paper with numbers. “Here, this is my number, text me in the morning if you don’t change your mind.” You took the small piece of paper from her hands and carefully placed it under your phone case.

For a minute you were in an awkward ringing silence. “Can I kiss you again?” You asked shyly. Even then, Wanda couldn’t refuse you.

When you left the private room and said goodbye, your friend immediately met you with questions about how everything went. You told her, not knowing that in this evening Wanda did not bring anyone else into the room where you were together.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda fanfic #wandanat #wandanat x reader #elizabeth olsen #wanda x you #wanda maximoff smut #wanda x reader #mommy wanda #wanda marvel

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betty-bourgeoisie · 2 years ago

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The thing I find most concerning about the sudden and rapid declines of platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and to a lesser extent Discord and Facebook, is the loss of digital third places that will result from it.

[Definition: a Third Place is a space outside of work or the home that you spend a significant amount of time in. Usually a social gathering place like a church, library, park, or gym]

It's a known issue that physical third places are disappearing. Cities, malls, and shopping centers have cracked down hard on loitering, resulting in a lack of public space for people to just hang out in. Parks exist, but their use is usually dependent on weather conditions. Church attendance has been in decline for decades for a lot of reasons I won't get into here. Libraries exist but they're not a good place to talk with friends. And pretty much every other third place I can think of (bars, game stores, bookstores, coffee shops, etc) requires you to spend money if you want to be there. None of these are new observations, smarter people than myself have written whole books on the loss of in-person third places.

Social media has been filling in the gap left by these third places for the last couple of decades. As physical space has become less accessible we've migrated online to find community - and especially during COVID, social media was really the only place you could socialize with others. None of this is new information either.

But the current issue, that I've seen very few people talking about, is that companies are starting to price and bully people out of those digital third places the same way they did with physical third places. The difference is that it's happening much faster, and usually at the whim of just one or two people. These are not broader sociological trends slowly shutting down social spaces like what we saw with the decline of shopping malls. There will be no slow adjustment to another social medium. We are seeing individual billionaires making a choice in real time to monetize people out of some of the only public social spaces we have left.

I've seen people bemoaning the loss of information that comes with these sites collapsing, but personally, I am far more concerned with the loss of social space. Don't get me wrong, social media of all kinds is an absolute nightmare, but for many people (and especially for teenagers who have more restrictions on where they can go and what money they can spend) online space is one of the only places they can reliably go to socialize.

In a country like the U.S. where the federal government is calling loneliness an epidemic this is actually a much bigger concern than I think a lot of people realize. How many people have more online friends than in-person ones? What happens to rates of loneliness as social media platforms become inaccessible and people lose those connections?

Obviously, the preferred answer is that people will go make more friends in person, but remember that in-person social spaces have already been severely limited. This is not the easy option that you might hope it is.

My actual call to action on this is to fucking fight to get your in-person third places back. Talk to your local representatives about repealing loitering laws - organize protests or ballot initiatives about it if you have to. Work with rotary clubs and parks departments to fund new public restrooms and park shelters. If there are places in your community that provide free workshop spaces/ game nights/ art walks/ etc go to them and support them financially when and if you're able. Go to your local library and check out a book so they get more funding! I know this shit can be boring, but things are only going to get worse if people don't have places where they can connect with each other. We can't keep letting capitalists take community spaces from us.

#reddit #twitter #social media #third places #long post #196 #rant

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herejusttosufferalong · 4 months ago

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Pancake anon here.

Whew, where to even start! It has been a week.

At this point, I think I'm just as confused as the rest of you. However, I do have some theories. Take all of this with a massive grain of salt.

I do personally believe N's song posts are about L. I can only see a few reasons she would post these so publicly.

She genuinely just likes the songs and wanted to share

They are a message to someone who she can't communicate with readily

They are a message to the fandom

N has admitted she is chronically online. She is also incredibly smart and calculated about her decisions and what she allows the public to see. Finding songs that are so clearly about love and sex and sharing them "just because she likes them" makes no sense for N. Especially right now after all the speculation from the press tour and backlash L got after the pap walk and beyond. She knows what everyone will read into them and there has already been so much chatter around her love life for her to post songs like this willy-nilly.

If she wanted to share them to communicate with someone it would have to be with someone she can't easily call or text. Yes, she is a millennial and using songs to express your feelings is a core part of this generation. However, see my previous point. She wouldn't do this publicly unless she had a very good reason. And I personally think not having an open line of communication is one of the reasons. But I don't think that person is L. I actually think it's a message to A. More on this in a moment.

Which brings me to the last point, that the songs could be meant for the fandom. I believe this is also one of the reasons. They were meant to share with the fandom that she is in love. Who is the fandom going to automatically think/hope they are about? Of course L. And these songs are incredibly L/N coded. So if she wanted to let us know she was in love and it wasn't about L, I truly believe she would be more deliberate in how she shared this information so it wasn't misinterpreted. She's also protective over L, and she wouldn't want to send that attention to him if it wasn't meant about him.

Which brings us to the topic of A and the friend group. It has been eerily quiet from everyone (except T & C) since their return from Italy. T & C seem to be business as usual but everyone else disappeared. It feels a lot like pre Italy when we all thought something was going down. I still think it was. My gut feeling is things were tense with L&A between GQ & Italy but somehow got settled enough for the Italy trip. Upon returning, my guess is things soured again. Not 100% sure I can pinpoint what exactly the issue is, maybe it have to do with DM, but I don't think it really matters. The silence is deafening amidst all the very loud break up rumors and N's social presence this last week.

Okay, so here is my delulu gut feeling for what is going on. Again, HUGE grain of salt here. I 100% recognize I could be reading everything wrong.

The Italy trip and pictures being published was a bit of a breaking point for N. Not in a "sad girl moping over not being with L" kind of way. But in a "Fuck this, I'm not waiting. I'm going after my man" kind of way. I think something snapped and she decided she decided she was going all in to let him know she wanted to be with him and also let A (and L's other friends) know that she isn't holding back. Cue the shade of the CW birthday post, the scrabble board, possibly the shirt photo (though I'm unsure my thoughts on that at the moment), and most importantly the songs.

The first song was such a deliberate choice. A song about a conversation on the telephone from someone you haven't heard from in a while is definitely going to trigger fans to speculate about L. And even if that wasn't her intention, we know she saw it is what everyone's reaction was. But she chose to leave the song up for the full 24 hours. Then 48 hours later, she decided to double down and post another song that has all kinds of messages about knowing someone very well and there not being any pretense. Almost as if she was confirming our suspicions, because what could be more L coded than that?

The silence from A after all of this was shocking and very telling. N was poking the bear, and the bear was not responding. Even if N did not intend all this about L, the fandom was going crazy, and to remain silent for so long during these situations is not her norm.

Which brings us to current events and rumors about Cyprus. Is/was L there with A? I honestly don't know and I go back and forth on it. On one hand, the rumors are based on two tweets from accounts that went private. One account is speculated to be from a Balkin country. But I do think A is either there right now or was there recently so it's very possible he was too. In truth, I honestly don't think it matters if he was because, again in my delulu gut feeling, sometime recently N has decided to make it very clear to L that she is in love with him. She decided to stop waiting for him to be passive in his relationship with A and just go for it. And I believe she's letting us and A know that this is happening. I don't think she would so confidently do that if it wasn't moving in the direction she hoped.

I honestly wonder if, and lean towards the idea, A is in Cyprus without L because things are ending and she's getting some family support and maybe doesn't really have a place to live right now. I know some people also speculate she is there for a job and this could be needed if things are ending, but I haven't seen clear evidence of that yet. However, her post yesterday is showing me that she isn't going to go quietly and she is going to continue playing games and try to rile people up. I think we might be in for a rough few weeks if any of this delulu is correct.

So that's my 2 cents for what it's worth. I will say, I have also had a roller coaster of emotions this week as many of you have. I go back and forth on a lot of things. But I keep bringing myself back to the last few stops on tour and how obviously in love with each other they were. The way things went in Galway with N's family and the "I will wait for you" song following that stop. And I can't get past the certainty that N is very intentional with what she shares and knowing how fans will interpret it.

Cheers WH patrons as we approach rough waters ahead.

💜🥃

#this is all opinion #timelines #theories #merely speculating

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verstarppen · 4 months ago

Text

A THANK YOU LETTER

an apology and update! for all you beautiful people - 2 for the price of 1

hello! over the months i've written and deleted this letter because i was too much of a coward to show my face after i left. i contemplated if it would be adequate enough, if it even matters. At the end, i owe this fandom too much, so here it is:

THE APOLOGY

i am truly sorry. there's no better way of putting it.

the more i create the more i realise how this fandom held my hand and i simply wouldn't be the person i am now if this blog never existed. i've always struggled with sharing art and writing online, as i thought it was too lame and took the coward route of keeping it to myself and my closest friends.

ever since this blog, i've found that less of an issue. the more i think about how much i let you and myself down by disappearing the more i feel the shame weigh me down. i never wanted to leave, but life has this funny way of forcing your hand when you least expect it.

without getting too personal, this year hasn't been great for me or anyone close to me - friendships died, family members were hospitalised, university crushed me, expectations from everyone around me made me question if i'm failing in every aspect of my life, i lost passions like art - something i've always thought of as my dream career, and i fear the stress will only grow rather than die down.

in some of those harder moments i would always turn to a distraction, create something for a fandom i enjoy to get my mind off things. to see your comments and your messages always kept me going even when i physically couldn't take the stress of everything around me anymore. being busy made my flame for F1 dwindle, too. it's one of the main reasons i didn't return earlier. I've missed half the races this year, yes that includes both lando and oscar's wins, and although im looking forward to the summer break ending and the racecs coming back, i don't think the enthusiasm will ever return to the way it was when this blog was at its peak.

i feel like a coward for disappearing and it's a big regret of mine this year. i can't promise to write for F1 again, but what i've made will always be archieved here :)

THE UPDATE

not great. i can't even lie i'm not doing too hot right now. i promised i would return to writing when things finally calmed down and yet the more stress there was the more one off projects i made to combat it. throughout the months i've accumulated a lot of side projects for different fandoms like star wars, star trek, dc, merlin and lesser known fandoms such as heavy rain, mortal kombat, the sims (no seriously have you seen the lore) etc. that i have nowhere to post. in april i decided i can't afford (literally) to distract myself with any hobby projects for the sake of my situation and thus... i was an idiot and i deleted my ao3 account. there weren't that many stories on there anyway, but i regret it even if it was the right decision.

i owe @wtfisakilometer2 so much for telling me that the people who love the blog wouldn't mind what fandom it is as long as it's by me, even if i don't fully believe it. it did open my eyes to finally write this, though, so direct all your love to her.

so that leaves me here, sort of homeless on my own blog and with very conflicting feelings about it's direction. i intend to preserve it as an archive of my F1 writing without messing with it, but still let you know about my new ao3 and everything on it so i can keep both our interests in mind.

thank you for reading if you made it this far, i hope you have an awesome day and a lot of cat memes in your pinterest. thank you for all the lovely messages (i read everything) and thank you for everything this fandom has offered me. i will truly never get over you guys.

- star :)

#star apology vid when #thank you if you read this #verstarppen is dead party #verstarppen has spoken #im still down bad for max dw that's something im NEVER getting over i fear

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ihaznoclue · 4 months ago

Note

May I get a wee bit of Lycaon x Reader angst, where reader ran away due to bad parents, Lycoan (bring a romantic partner or just very close friends) gets that gut feeling but thinks he just got a stomach bug, and later on in the day he realizes you aren't at home and he goes looking for you. Only to find you in the hollow slowly turning into a Eatheral. (Sorry if it was long and worded weird, English isn't my first language)

Pairings -> Von Lycaon x Reader

Warnings -> just full on angst

Note -> You run away from your horrible parents, Lycaon finds you in a hollow slowly turning into a Ethereal

Genre -> Angst

Von Lycaon

You hated it here, you hated everyone, you hated your family

You HATED your parents

No, you DESPISE your parents

You just couldn't deal with them anymore, the only person who understand you and cared for you was Lycaon, your partner. He has been with you for 2 years already

But your parents didn't care for you at all, that's when you decided to run away from them

Your family has always been so terrible towards you, always yelling at you for the smallest mistakes.

Now it was time for you to disappear from them, they wouldn't care anyways

Apparently your family went out this evening WITHOUT you, you were home alone of course and this was the perfect time to leave this hell hole

You put on a hoodie as it was quite cold outside, you didn't feel like packing anything so you just left

You were walking around sixth street now, passing everyone that was out this evening

You felt.. lonely

disappointed in yourself

You didn't go to anyone, even your own partner Lycaon. You didn't want to bother him and ruin his night

So you turned a corner into a alley way, you were looking down not looking at anything

You felt like you were teleported somewhere, the air felt intense as you looked up

Huh? Where were you?

You looked back to see no alley way and no Sixth street, could It be that you

Walked into a Hollow...

The next day, Lycaon wanted to pay you a visit but something felt wrong, his gut felt it

But he shrugged it off as a stomach bug

He was walking up to your house as he knocked on the door, no answer

You usually would answer, something wasn't right

He messaged you but also no answer, he found out you weren't online for 2 days already

That's weird, you would always text him in the mornings

So where were you?

'BING'

A message from Rina

'Sir Lycaon, I fear that your partner is in the hollow near you, Master proxy has messaged me about it, Belle has saw it on the news about a girl that matched the description of Name, Hurry she might of been in there for a while' - Rina

Lycaon wasted no time in running to the hollow, why were you in the hollow in the first place? How long have you been in there? Did you get hurt? Attacked?

God he hopes not

"Damn it!" You yelled, you didn't want this to happen, you didn't mean for this to happen

All you wanted was to go somewhere safe, and now you in a hollow

You were attacked by Ethereals and now you were slowing turning into one, you've been in this hollow for how long?

You didn't even know

Was anyone going to look for you? Has anyone noticed? That you were gone for the past day? Maybe not

"NAME!" You heard your name being called out

"Lycaon?" You softly spoke, Lycaon was here to find you

Of course he was, he's your partner but you didn't want him to see you like this

You have black crystals poking out of your skin on your left leg and some on your arms as well, your eyes were blurred as some black lining was on your face

You tried to not panic but it was too late, Lycaon finally found you

"Lycaon.." You started to cry, you didn't want to die, not in front of him, not like this

Lycaon were beyond shocked, why didn't he noticed sooner

"I'm sorry.." You sobbed

Lycaon kneeled down in front of you as he took your head onto his lap, he could see the injuries as well as the crystals poking out of your skin

"I'm so sorry, I didn't want you to find me like this, I-"

"Shhh, Don't waste your energy talking, its okay. We'll figure something out" Lycaon said as he looked around

"You can't... I've been in this hollow way too long and I got attacked by a Ethereal, I'm sorry it was because I ran away from home, From my parents. I just didn't want to bother you or anyone else, I didn't want to ruin your night" You sobbed

"I don't wanna die, Lycaon.." You cried out

"You won't, I'm not going to let that happen" Lycaon looked serious, he didn't want you to turn into those creatures

Your tears fell down your cheeks like a waterfall on a winter night, your eyes looked dull as you hissed, Pain was shooting around in your body

Your control over your body became weak, you were turning

"Lycaon.. Please I don't want to hurt you.." You grabbed his butler vest

"Get out of this hollow before I.."

"No.. I'm not leaving you here" Lycaon didn't want to leave you, even if it means that he has to hurt you in the end

Your control over your body was completely gone

"Lycaon.. I love you, I'm so glad that I got to be with you.." You weakly smiled

That was it, Lycaon's partner was now gone

He had to, He had to do it

He had to kill you... You lifeless body on the ground in front of him

He just wants to rewind in time to actually save you..

But there will be no rewind...

This is what reality does

Hurt people and their loved ones

Until one of them dies....

-A<3

#zenless zone zero #zzz #zenlesszonezero #zenless zone zero x reader #von lycaon #von lycaon x reader #zzz von lycaon #zzz lycaon

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lukola92 · 4 months ago

Note

So personally, I think that there was issues between Nicola and Luke after the London premiere. I see that because she left the after party before he even got there. Then She went silent on social media. And before people comment, I know she was filming, but she was filming big mood and Bridgerton was still active on social media. We also during those early summer months she would post but she would not post her face and definitely not as much as we are used to. Personally, I think was deliberate. Clearly they somehow have made up. Or they've at least talked Because she's posting him again. And I also think she will slow down with how much she posting cuz things are slipping she showing her hand to much. And now we're getting all these songs. I also do not think that it's for Eamon or Jake. Those songs are definitely Luke coded. I think that they still have a lot to work through. But he needs to fully get out of this situation that he's in. Also, I've seen on TikTok people are mad because he's not posting a lot what do you guys expect him to do? He post you to say it's not enough. He doesn't post you say is not enough. No matter what move he makes right now people say crap to him. a lot of men I know are not big on social media. They might have one the post once in a while. They might call some videos. But they're not spending hours online looking for things the way women do. They could also be one of the reasons he didn't see this girl deviousness. I'm hoping he's seeing it now. They've all been so quiet because they're dealing with it BTS. Because since Italy, we haven't seen no pictures and we've seen pictures all summer long. Then that whole group is moving weird. Then all being quiet and S rearranging her post with her and her boyfriend being the main photos. Like I said I have a gut intinct that somethings happening. One last thing, we have all known that she leaks things to fan pages I'm 95% sure she does that. we also know that things were leaked to DM so it's not far off that things would be leaked to fan pages. so right now unless you see actual proof, don't believe anything anybody is saying. Because if he is trying to get away from her I have a really hard time believing she's going to take that lying down. She's going to try to create problems for him. And it's just so funny that we're starting to see all of these pages say that they're traveled alone (when fan pages have called that out) or talk of them getting married. It's wild rumors let's not fall into her traps. She gotten good with getting under the fandom skin.

I think that, after London N and L were ready to try to stay together, unfortunately third parties have ruined everything and L had to accept to be seen for a while with A, to protect N and not make her appear as the one who had made the "gf" betray, for sure N will have been sick but also L and we saw it clearly from his face, both have been sick these two months, but once L returned from Italy, he realized that he can't go on like this, for me he will have immediately gone to talk to nic (probably the day of the toast story) and N from that day on, has returned to being more social, returning to give us clues clearly referring to L, in italy, L will have been angry because private things came out and because they probably posted stories with the location and he didn't want it .. I think he got angry with everyone .. if you noticed the like that N gave today to chappel roan you will understand that she is tired of both her and L no longer having any privacy .. A is desperate and continues to do strange things but she hasn't understood that she is about to disappear because she is nobody, she will have to learn from her mistakes sooner or later, right? N is the only one we have to trust, I've always said that!

#lukola #luke newton #nicola coughlan #newghlan

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bitingcatshark · 2 months ago

Text

BestFriendSimon Riley x Femreader NSFW content mentioned

< Distance >

Chapter 1

(Bit of context, this is inspired by an interaction I had with my crush, and AHHSHDHSHSJSJDN yes anyway enjoy y'all lovies <3)

The past few weeks were the same. Pointless interactions with peers, the usual bump-ins with acquaintances at the grocery store, a constant flicking of the wrist to check the notification bar on your phone, hoping for that one name to pop up on the screen. To be honest, it's been keeping you on edge as of recent. Ever since the video call, you couldn't help but get nervous whenever your best friend, Simon, sent you a message. You've been friends for quite a while now, meeting through online interactions, ever since then you both just seemed to click. Until that one fateful night, Simon, the big guy who didn't like talkin' too much, went out for a few drinks with his team. You haven't heard much of these friends of his, only hearing them in the background laughing whenever you called Simon, with a few, "shut the fuck up Soap"'s.

And on that night he got a bit too drunk for his own good. Calling you in the middle of the night, beggin' for something more. Switching over to video call, portraying that hunk of a body of his, and the noticeable buldge in his pants, pleas falling from those scarred lips to help his poor soul. "Please, it hurts luv'. I can't- can you please help me," as he slowly undid his pants. So you did. Although all of it felt wrong, something tingled in places you haven't felt in a long time. What could you lose from this? He was just a friend. 'Just a friend'. Just someone you met online. Pulling your bra off for him, displaying your breasts, having the poor guy practically beg for more, putting his length on display, calloused hands rubbing with desperation to release itself from the pain. "Please, please, luv'. I can't take it any longer." The sight left you in awe to say the least, so you gave him a show that he'd never forget. Nonetheless he finished, and passed out..for quite some time.

Weeks passed and Simon didn't talk much about that night. Rather he seemed almost embarrassed, avoiding too much conversation with you, heading straight into work, or to bed.

"Good morning, Im heading to work, talk later."

"Good night, hope you had a good day."

It left a bitter taste in your mouth to say the least. Because you, as the person you are, ended up catching feelings after that night. So the way he avoided your texts or kept it short, kind of broke your heart. So you thought it for the best to do the same.

You couldn't help but grow more upset about the messages, the empty promises of calls, being left on delivered for hours. It started feeling like perhaps he..replaced you. But being hardheaded as you are, you confronted him about it. Calling him right there and then, making sure he'd pick up. Feeling heavy in your heart.

"Hey, how are you?-"

"Shut it, you ought to start explaining yourself."

"There's nothin' to explain."

"Tell me then why you have seemingly just, disappeared? We hardly talk anymore, we hardly call. Why are you acting like this ever since.."

"Because it was a mistake. A big fukin' one. I don't normally act like that and I overstepped a fuckin' line. I shouldn't have asked you for that. You didn't deserve that."

You could hear him sigh across the phone.

"I was, ashamed to face you, thinking you'd hate me."

Changing strats.

"Simon..you know, I just really wanted some advice, and since you're a guy..there's some guy I really like."

Some silence followed. Almost sounded like a grunt came through.

"Now who's this wank stain supposed to be? And don't back out of it, you mentioned it so now I want to know."

You beat around the bush for as long as you could. But Simon was hardheaded. (And no we're not talking about his peni-)

"Well, his first initial starts with, uhm, shit. Starts with..fuck, this is hard."

"Can't be that hard. C'mon. You can do it."

"It starts with an 'S'."

His tongue clicked. Hopefully he was oblivious. You started regretting your life's choices. Hasta la vista-

"I think I maybe know who this guy could be. Let me send a picture."

And oh shit he wasn't as oblivious as you thought. There bright on your screen you opened the picture and it was the one and only, 'Simon Riley.'

F u c k. Pretty sure he could hear how hard you had to swallow.

"That's, uhm, yes, that's him..! Do you, perchance, know this guy?"

"I kind of do actually." He scoffed. "Seems like a pretty sweet guy if you ask me."

"Ah yes but..I surely do wish I could talk to him more, get to know him even more. Do you think he'll..like someone like me?"

Simon was quiet for a moment. Contemplating perhaps. Maybe afraid to answer. But he finally breaks the silence after what seemed like ages, and oh gosh did you become giddy.

"I think he'd be a pretty lucky lad if he had someone like you, but he's a bit stupid for his own good."

"Well, he's a lucky lad then, because I love stupid big boys."

You could almost hear him smile behind the screen. But even you couldn't hold back your own smile, cheeks hurting.

#simon riley x you #simon ghost riley #simon riley x reader

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mshroom1e · 2 years ago

Note

Hi! Could i request Ortho finding out that Idia's online friend and eventually crush is the reader? And eventually he tries to matchmake them?

Hello!! Sorry for disappearing for a whole 2 weeks 💀 I've been busy with life and I ended up writing this fic way longer than I ppanned to. I hope you don't mind! Also, I got really stuck on some parts and wasn't sure which direction to go with the story. Apologies if it feels a little rushed.

Pr0ject Cupid | Idia x GN! Reader

type: fanfic

Summary: A pair of painfilly awkward people get set up by a member of the said pair's little brother.

5.8k words

tags: silly fluff, mutual crushing

Warning(s): very mild swearing

no way u acc saw me

bruh i couldve seen you with my eyes closed

you dumbass u just contradicted yourself

no shit

im gonna shave your eyebrows

...

Idia stifled a laugh and couldn't hide the cheesy grin that grew on his face as his eyes read over the pixelated letters on his monitor. About 3 weeks ago, he met you on a random server, and you instantly clicked. He wasn't one to form bonds with people so quickly, whether it was online or in person, but with you, how could he resist?

You got along like Q and W on a keyboard, plus you always reciprocated his nerdy comments and never got the wrong idea about any of his intentions. The only problem was, however, that you had no idea who each other were irl.

So, one day, Idia got curious about who you really were. He ended up searching for you on Magicam using the username he knew you by. There wasn't really much he was expecting as people usually used different names for their social media compared to the more nerdy online stuff.

Idia nearly fell out of his chair when a search result popped up, and a profile with quite a few posts showed up. It was you. There was no way it wasn't you.

His heart began beating faster than usual just at reading your captions, posts of your random thoughts, and the pictures you posted. You were definitely cute, maybe the prettiest person Idia had ever seen. Even though your facial features were pixelated, you somehow managed to make them look soft and warm, like an angelic version of yourself. There were also many pictures of foods you made in the Ramshackle Dorm, selfies with your friends, and a few pictures with Grim.

Okay, now Idia was panicking. He'd never felt the way he felt right now, but from the way his heart was running a marathon and he could feel warmth slowly creeping up his face, there was only one explanation. The description matched how the characters in dating sims would feel, and this was bad. He couldn't have a cru- no no no, a c-word. No way! He didn't even want to think of the word because it would only solidify his predicament in his head.

From his panic, his finger slipped and accidentally liked one of your posts. Idia's eyes widened as he saw the damage he'd already done as his brain went into full panick mode. There was no way to undo it, even if he un-liked the post. The notification must've already gotten to your phone and you would've noticed most likely and you'd block him, think he was a stalker and never speak to him again then he'd be become even more emo and-

He changed from his usual question mark posture in his chair to sitting in a fetal position in the corner of his room, hoping for the atoms in his body to slowly merge into the wall.

His phone in his pocket vibrated, and when Idia pulled out the device to see what the notification was, his heart nearly collapsed on itself. A flinch of his arm caused his phone to be launched across his room, and for some reason, he jumped to catch it, landing on a large, disorganised pile of manga with a loud crash. He hastily unlocked his phone to see what the alert was.

'Your EP has been restored!'

Damn.

There was a smooth sliding of the door to Idia's dorm room. Ortho stood? floated? levitated? at the entrance with a confused, yet worried expression in the visible part of his face.

"Idia? I heard a loud crash, and I was worried you got injured," Ortho floated closer to his brother.

"I'm f-fine!" Idia yelped.

'Hair tinted pink, increasing heart rate, flushed cheeks,'

Ortho's eyes drifted over to Idia's several monitors until he focused on a certain one.

"Yuu's Magicam profile?"

The little robot pieced two and two together before he said, "Oh, you like [Name], don't you?"

This was a really, really, really bad idea...

Idia's internal panick only escalated as he was dragged walking through campus with Ortho. Leaving his dorm room usually resulted in a one-sided fight for his life as every dialogue scene he had with another person besides his brother was set to hard mode by default.

Speaking with you in person was the best way to get to know each other better, Ortho would say. The problem was, Idia knew that you didn't know who he was, so it would probably be strange to suddenly have him speaking to you.

He was lost in his panicky thoughts when he felt someone bump into him, and he felt his body tipping back. (So unique and never seen before, I know.)

A hand quickly grabbed his wrist, hoisting him back upright. Ortho sent you a beaming smile with his eyes before quickly disappearing and leaving you alone with his brother, leaving the beanstalk to fend for himself.

Idia's heart nearly flipped in his stomach as he met your eyes. You let go of his wrist when he regained his balance, he almost fell over again.

"Careful," you smiled.

In his eyes, you looked like a panel from a manhwa where the love interest was introduced with flowers, sparkles, and glitter radiating around them.

"S-sorry," He managed to spit out, somehow sounding cohesive.

"It's okay, I just hope you didn't get hurt, I tend to grab onto stuff a little too tightly," you said with a sheepish chuckle.

Your laugh. Idia's ears felt blessed with such a delicate angelic sound. Like bells chiming in his ears, more harmonic than the songs from his favourite idol group's no.1 album. His heart was sent into overdrive, and he couldn't take it anymore and decided on the most rational option in his currently mushy brain.

To run.

So he ran.

You watched his retreating form with a fond look before you turned to face Ortho, who hid in a nearby bush and sent him a thumbs up.

This was progress, at least.

- A few days ago -

You had a crush on Idia. A huge one at that. There was no debate. You didn't even bother denying it.

You knew he rarely left his dorm room, so you barely saw him during the day. Seeing a flash of flamey blue hair dart around a corner just before you could fully get a look at the twitter logo-coloured candle always managed to make your heart squeeze and an undefeatable grin etch itself on your face.

Of course, a few days into talking to your new online friend, you already knew of his true identity but chose not to inform him of the fact. From what you'd seen on campus, he was the type of person to prefer engaging with others through the comfort of a screen rather than conversing face to face. And honestly, you couldn't blame him at all. It must've felt so stifling to always be conscious of the way you carried yourself, while choosing words carefully to not offend the person in front of you or make them think badly of you while simultaneously looking like a sane, functioning person.

So, you talked to him like an online friend would. After a few days of getting to know each other through public servers and direct messaging, you soon shared your interests and found common ground in a few of them. For example, you both were addicted to gacha games with diabolocal pity systems. He also started to open up to you, though you thought it was a little fast, but people tend to share a lot when speaking to someone through pixels on a screen as they felt more at home. He talked about his struggles when interacting with people and his constant anxiety about how people perceived him.

Being someone of minimal social intelligence, the most you could do was offer some general words of comfort about how everyone was different in their own way and some people are just more advantaged in certain aspects of life, social interaction being one of them.

As your feelings grew, you couldn't help but feel like your relationship was a little one-sided. You knew who exactly you were talking to, but as far as Idia knew, he was talking to and building a relationship with a person who could've been miles and miles away and he also barely knew who [Name] was.

Man, this really sucked.

- Yesterday -

Ortho was smart. It was only obvious since his mechanical brain had the efficency of a computer with infinite RAM. He knew his brother had met a new friend online, which explained his less gloomy aura and his anxious glances at his phone whenever they were in his room together.

It didn't take long for Ortho to learn that the person Idia was talking to also attended the same school. In his mind, he viewed finding out things about you as a way to further protect his older brother from harm.

Fast forward to later that day, Ortho cornered found you in the courtyard after you'd lost a bet with Grim and had to buy him a drink from a nearby vending machine.

He called out to you enthusiastically as he practically teleported to you, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Long story short, Ortho figured out how you felt about Idia, and he was over the moon. His brother finally had someone who he could happily spend time with, and he couldn't be happier for him. He knew Idia better than anyone, and it was certain that getting close to Idia in face-to-face terms would take a lot for him to get used to and he decided it would be best to slowly ease your way into making conversations with him without being forceful or overwhelming him.

Thus began your joint conspiracy to rizz up get to know Idia better.

- Present -

It took about a day for you to come to the conclusion that you'd most likely never see Idia during school hours whether he was on campus or not. Your schedules were so unmatched that it was ridiculous. When you had a lesson in the alchemy labs, he'd be in a P.E lesson and when you were in the history of magic, he'd be in some classroom that might as well be at the other side of Sage's Island.

Luckily for you, Ortho informed you about Idia's current whereabouts. He was in the Board Game Club's classroom, probably playing- you guessed it- board games. It felt like some sort of secret stealth mission, plotting where to catch Idia with Ortho so sneakily. You just hoped that this silly plot would work.

Now that you were in front of the clubroom's door, you had no idea what to do. Your brain already left your body shortly after your heart that was beating a mile a minute and had long since jumped out of your chest to who knows where. You'd worked so hard to get to this point (not really) and now that you were here, what were you going to do?

Showing up at his clubroom unannounced totally sounded like stalker behaviour from some poorly written fanfic, and you definitely were not about that life. What if you just entered casually? Did you have a friend in the board game club? Probably not since you didn't even know the names of the people in your homeroom class, save for Adeuce and Grim.

Deciding to swallow your nerves and whatever other anxiety that was clogging your airways, you calmly slid open the door. Surprisingly, the club had quite a few members present, but it wasn't too densely populated. Your eyes immediately lit up when familiar floaty blue flames caught your attention. He was alone on a table next to one of the room's walls. His usual board gaming partner, Azul, was nowhere to be seen. It was safe to assume he was somewhere exploiting some poor unfortunate soul of all their mortal possessions with his buy-one-get-one-free pair of henchmen.

You approached Idia, more nervous than a turkey the day before Thanksgiving. He noticed you and almost jumped out of his own skin.

Was he dreaming? If not, why else would you show up at the board game club? Before he knew it, he started to sweat. Every step you took closer to him made his poor heart run laps. The confident (Idia's POV. This does not accurately reflect current events.) stride in your step, and the smile you gave him as you approached made his face heat up, and the tips of his hair grow warmer. His flight- please there is absolutely no fight- instinct almost took over as he considered running out of the room at full speed.

There was no Ortho to help him communicate if he ended up having to talk to you. He was all alone for this pop-up Pokemon battle.

A random board game caught your eye, and you picked it up, deciding to use it as a shield to not let your conversation get stabbed in the chest by the painful spear called awkwardness.

"Hi, Idia." You said casually with your usual grin. 'Great start'

You failed to catch Idia's mortified expression as it disappeared as suddenly as it arrived. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't get any words out. To his surprise, you didn't seem to mind his silence and just sat down in the chair across from his.

"Sorry to bother you," you continued, "If you want me gone, just say the word." The second part was intended to be lighthearted as you let out a low chuckle after you were done talking.

He quickly scrambled into his bag and pulled out a slim, grey tablet, and began to type.

"I don't mind you being here at all, [Name]." A voice from the device's speakers that sounded too much like Idia's said. You weren't all too shocked since you'd seen him use it around school a few times and had even seen the thing floating around campus by itself. You'd just never have a conversation with "it".

"Woah, is that a voice program?Did you make it yourself? I've only seen it being used for vocaloids, and even those mess up a few times. Did you use a sample of your voice? Is everything prerecorded? If you-" You blurted out, quickly smacking a hand over your mouth to shut yourself up before you could ramble any further.

Great job, [Name].

Idia's eyes lit up with surprise at your words as he quickly started typing something on his screen. His features moulded into a proud smirk, "Yeah, it's made with a sample of my voice. I made it using a vocaloid as a reference."

"Really?!" You almost jumped out of your seat, eyes practically shining with stars. Gosh, he really was so cool.

He nodded frantically as the tips of his firey hair faded into a warmer hue. Students in his dorm had the same base interests as he did. However, he was almost always too nervous to initiate a conversation with any of them. But with you, the nervousness he felt didn't try to suffocate him for once and instead felt like a sweet, comfy flutter in his chest.

"I found this when I walked into the room, and it looked fun. Wanna play?" Your short exchange feuled you with a little more confidence as you built the courage to ask him to play a board game with you.

You hadn't even looked at the game's cover before picking it up. Imagine your surprise at finding out you'd picked up "Monopoly Bass Fishing Edition".

Great job.

Now, Idia probably saw you as some weird fish-obsessed kid (no offence to Octavinelle) who probably looked up how to make bass fishing bait in their spare time. The cover was hideous. A massive bass fish was in the middle, surrounded by loops of smaller bass fish all saying things in speech bubbles where the letters were modelled to look like bass fish. To top it all off, there was a massive glittery title in the colour of neon orange that said, "Monopoly: Bass Fishing Edition." Underneath in equally as eye tormenting sentence bordered off by a wiggly pink line that read "Get ready to be schooled!" Get it? Coz groups of fishes are called schools-

This was going to be painful.

You liked to think you knew all the rules of Monopoly by heart. Especially after seeing relationships crumble over the neverending board game.

Idia didn't seem phased, so you assumed he already knew the rules of the game, too.

You played for a bit, taking turns to roll a double to see who could start first. The first to roll a double was eventually Idia, so he took the first turn.

You knew Idia was competitive from the way he would obliterate the opposition during your online meet-ups in matches. What you didn't expect was to end up going bankrupt after only a few loops around the board. It took a while for you to accept defeat, but after seeing the small, triumphant smile that gently made its way onto Idia's face, any loss was worth it.

Now that you looked around the room, most of the board game club members had long since departed, and it was only you and your blue-haired friend left in the room. A blanket of quiet and slight awkwardness fell over the two of you as you both looked at anything but each other.

"We should uh, but the pieces away," you suggested.

He looked at you, a little surprised at your sudden breach of silence, before he quickly nodded. "R-Right."

After stiffly putting the pieces away, occasionally flinching when the tips of your fingers made contact as you passed some game pieces between yourselves, there wasn't much else for you to do despite twiddling your thumbs. From an outsider's point of view, the aftermath was painfully awkward as neither of you had anything to say. Sitting in silence wasn't always a bad thing, but come on.

Your brain frizzled as you tried to think of something, anything to say to start a conversation.

"Nice weather we're having today." So creative.

As if the universe was saying a big "f*ck you", there was a loud rumble of thunder outside the window before massive raindrops began to smack on to the grass and pavement outside, each with a louder 'plap!' than the previous one each time.

Idia giggled before trying to hold back a laugh, which eventually turned into even more giggles. You stared at him for a few seconds, stunned. You hadn't actually heard him laugh before as he always looked so terrified around you. Sure, he was laughing at your stupidity, but this was a start, right?

It didn't take long for you to join in, laughing at yourself too.

Maybe coming to his clubroom on impulse wasn't so bad after all.

"Sam's store is releasing this SSR-tier set of trading cards today, and I have to go get it," Idia muttered to himself as he scurried down a hallway of the Ignihyde dorm. "No one's gonna that early, especially since it's not gonna attract any normies-"

"But what if there's a whole mob of NPCs there? Worst case scenario is a few of them showing up to do some early morning shopping, so grabbing what I need and skidadling outta there is gonna be ez."

Ortho was most likely in his room resting at this hour, so Idia decided not to bother him. Besides, it was only a trip to the school store. He should be fine, right?

Wrong.

It was not ez peasy.

It just happened to be that the same day Idia's treasured ultra rare cards were released on the same day as Sam's new mystery drink that the whole school went crazy for. By the time Idia was about to leave the store after paying for what he came for, the whole area was packed, and it was almost impossible to move. Waves of students rushing to the till after grabbing a bottle of the new beverage washed over the store grounds.

People, people, people, and more people. Sweaty teenagers seemed to fight tooth and nail just to get their hands on a bottle. It was like the kids from the UK when Prime was launched. (iykyk) Everywhere he turned, he seemed to bump into another 3 people and get elbowed by another five. The sheer power of the crowd almost swept him off his feet, and he felt himself being dragged to the opposite direction from where he was headed. He reached his hand out to grab at something, while the other held his cards close to his chest, but there was nothing to hold onto for support. The only option was to become one with the crowd.

As he was about to give up and accept his fate, his outstretched hand was tugged on by a familiar, gentle yet firm grip, which felt like he was being pulled ashore after drifting off into the ocean. Idia's body was pulled upright and into a much less crowded space. A pleasant warmth spread across his chest as he saw the face of his saviour.

A part of him felt mortified while the other felt relieved. He was glad to have been pulled out of the sea of people, but he felt a little lame to have to have been saved by someone else, as if he couldn't handle himself. Another reason, the more obvious one, was because it was you. In his point of view, you always showed up at random times and ended up helping him without realising how much of an impact your actions held.

"I'm getting this feeling of deja vu," you smiled, leading Idia to a bench opposite the store.

"You helped me again-" Idia muttered, his eyes downcast.

You tilted your head, a little confused, "Hm?"

"N-No, it's not that I have a proble-" He cut himself off, "I, um-"

How did he manage to talk himself into a corner like this? Trying to talk to you felt like a puzzle with the myriad of emotions all rushing through his head at once, and he was bound to mess up somewhere.

"Don't sweat it," you responded. Your smile unwavering.

For whatever reason, Idia's anxious jumble of words never phased you. Your willingness to let him take his time when talking to you gave him a sort of confidence, and he could hope to speak with confidence that he didn't even know he was capable of.

A ray of reflected early morning sunlight that bounced off the shiny packaging of what Idia held securely in his hands and it caught your eye.

"Is that (insert game reference here)?!" Your voice cracked as you said the name of the franchise.

The mood was instantly lightened at your change in focus, and Idia felt himself get giddy. He was so happy to share a conversation with someone who wasn't a so-called "normie."

His excitement faded though, a bit, when he looked up to find that you looked slightly disappointed. You looked at Idia in confusion, but shrugged.

You sighed, looking away.

Why were you disappointed? Was it something he did? Oh no, what if you thought he was lame for getting trapped in a crowd like that, and you actually thought he was such a bother the whole time-

"I still haven't managed to get my hands in a copy," you frowned.

"Oh," He sounded stunned, which confused you. "Um, I-" He swallowed, fighting the urge to pull his hood over his head and hide.

"I mean-" Idia's eyes seemed to glance at everything and everywhere other than at you.

His breath caught in his throat, and the feeling multiplied by a gazillion when he saw Ortho watching him from behind a tree. He almost choked on whatever air he'd just managed to inhale into his trachea.

To make matters worse, Ortho held a cute but terrible made neon blue glittery banner that said, "Talk to them, Idia!!!"

Wasn't he resting?

The poor nerd (affectionate) wanted to evaporate on the spot.

"What were you about to say?" You asked, not seeing the silliness behind you.

Idia glanced back and forth between you and Ortho, wishing with every single bone in his body that the 50/50 gacha in front of him right now would go his way and you wouldn't turn around at all.

Imagine his horror when you followed his worryingly mortified gaze, and he saw our eyes widen a fraction, and you slapped a hand over your mouth.

"Ortho?"

He panicked for a good few seconds before he did what he did best and bolted away from you with a stubborn blush creeping up his neck.

"Huh?Wait up!" You called after him, but it was futile.

Ortho soon waved happily at you as he followed Idia back to what you assumed was the Ignihyde dorm.

"Where did you-" Idia began, speedwalking to the Hall of Mirrors with more agility than he knew his G-fuel filled body could possess.

"I did some research, and it showed that people your age have a 60% more chance at talking to someone they like when they're encouraged by someone else!" Ortho chirped with the certainty of the sun rising in the east.

"I'm not- It's not-" Idia couldn't find the words to use to retort at his younger brother. The way his sunny amber eyes shimmered with glee was enough to punch the words of protest that Idia could ever muster right down the drain. "J-Just tone it own a notch next time..." He finished with a small frown.

"Okay!" Ortho sang, floating into Ignihyde's mirror after the older Shroud.

Idia signed and pulled the strings of his hoodie tighter to conceal his face more. Now that you were somewhat aware of how he felt about you, he had no idea how to face you the next day.

It had been over a week, and you'd gotten no contact from Idia or Ortho. It was safe to assume that Idia probably didn't leave his room a single time in that time frame. A metaphorical banner was built between you as he had practically gone AWOL on everything you could use to contact him. So, you couldn't even talk to him with your online persona and try to understand how he felt by hoping he'd confide in his online bestie even a little. Not that you wanted to intrude on his privacy, but the fact that things seemed to be falling apart between you two before you properly even got to know each other hurt a lot more than th fact that you convinced yourself of- the fact that it looked like he didn't want to see you again. You sighed, closing your computer.

This was pointless. No doubt, he doesn't feel the same way towards you, and you really should start accepting it. Maybe he thought you were strange? Or it was creepy that you always seemed to be around when he was in trouble? Maybe he thought you were a stalker? He'd probably figured out your online identity and blocked you, hence the lack of activity on any of his accounts over the last week and a bit.

But you couldn't accept it. Not until you know more, and you don't think it'll help if you keep prying at the subject, especially since it won't do any good in the end. It was useless to keep trying. You grabbed your phone and checked the screen for any messages, but there were none. You put it back on the nightstand and turned on your side, burying your face in your pillow.

You lay there for what felt like forever and eventually fell asleep.

Morning soon arrived, and you woke up to a series of knocks at the main door of Ramshackle Dorm. The quick thuds of knuckles striking wood resounded throughout the whole bottom floor of the building, probably enough to alert your cat roommate out of his venture into Dream Land.

The perpetrator was definitely unexpected. It was a fine weekend, and you hadn't been expecting a visit from anyone at all, especially not the younger Shroud brother.

Rubbing your eyes and letting out a yawn as you opened the door, you had to squint to see something else other than a mop of flickering blue and a white block.

"Ortho?" You blinked. Your statement sounded more like a question to yourself than to the other party.

"Good morning!" Ortho said cheerfully, waving with one arm while balancing an assortment of books and various games under the other. He was carrying four plastic bags full of stuff, including a large bowl with some cereal, milk, eggs, toast, fruit, and orange juice inside it.

"Err..." you replied.

"We came to hang out!" Ortho cheered, which confused you even more.

"What? And who's 'we'??" You questioned all at once, not even knowing where to begin.

"Idia wants to apologise for running away from you for the past week. He said he's really sorry and did it because he was scared," he rambled on with his usual cheery tone and pointed to a nearby tree, "And we brought food!"

Behind said tree stood said Idia, holding onto the tree's bark with a grip for dear life while only the top half of his face peeked out.

What.

- Flashback to earlier -

"Now, what do I do? This is demon mode difficult- I'd rather fight Absolute Virtue from the original release of FF11 all over again for 16 hours straight than face them again... Can I get an F in the chat for this one..." Idia mumbled to himself in a string of incomprehensible gibberish as he sat in a fetal position at the corner of his room while his hood covered his entire head, and he rocked back and forth.

"This is the worst-"

"Cheer up, Idia!" Ortho handed him a charger, "You can always talk to them online if it helps!"

"At this point, they've probably forgotten about me. People's online friends get Men in Black'ed from their brains all the time. I'll just look like some weird guy that goes,'Hey kids!wanna to get free RAM for your computer?' or something-" his rampant thoughts only dug him further into his self-made pit of despair.

"Hmm," Ortho pondered, "Let's go see them!"

"Are you kidding?! No way!" He shook his head rapidly and started rocking himself even faster, "If they don't see me, maybe they'll even forget I exist and I can become one with the void..."

"Don't be ridiculous, Idia. We can go see them right now!" Ortho hovered around, gathering a bunch of gaming equipment and books, "Hanging out like friends will get rid of any tension in the air!"

"No!" Idia protested, but it was too late.

He'd already been picked up by a robotic arm, and off they went.

"That's pretty much what happened," Ortho recalled as you lead the pair the lounge.

"Right... But I still don't get how that means he's sorry..." You muttered.

"Why don't you tell them, Idia?" Ortho looked at his brother, "I'll leave you two to talk here while I make some snacks!"

The older Shroud twiddle his fingers and stared at the floor, his hood still covering his head.

It took a few seconds of silence before Idia began talking.

"Uh," he spoke quietly and cleared his throat twice before proceeding, "I was so stupid."

"Huh?" You said, gaping at Idia.

"I know I've done stupid things, but this was beyond stupid. Like, way too stupid! Noob at Subway Surfers level of stupid!" He babbled on, his voice cracking with uncharacteristic emotion.

He took a deep, shaky breath and closed his eyes, attempting to compose himself. His hair turning pink. "I kept telling myself it was okay for us to keep being friends online even though I found your Magicam page and accidentally liked one of your posts and knew who you were but you didn't know who I was and I felt guilty and then you suddenly showed up then I realised I l-l-like you and then that thing at the shop happened and you probably thought it was so cringe-"

Then it clicked. So he thought you thought he was weird? He didn't hate you.

It felt like a huge weight was lifted off your chest.

Then, you chuckled, snickered, giggled, then let out waves of laughter. Idia stared at you, dumbfounded.

"This whole time, haha, I thought I was the one who did something wrong."

"No! You didn't," He quickly jumped in.

"Wait, you just said that you like me...?" You pointed to yourself, and you felt your face grow warm.

Silence landed like a wall of pure steel between the two of you.

He gaped at you with wide eyes. Dang it! He seriously didn't mean to blurt that part out loud. Curse him and his tendency to blab everything he thought aloud as soon as he started talking!

Idia covered his reddened face with his hands.

"What a coincidence," you smiled, "Since I like you too."

You gently pulled his hands away from his face and gave him your brightest grin. He froze as soon as your skin made contact, and his breathing quickened, his hair turned a full, passionate pink.

"Ahahahaha...!" He stammered.

A sudden noise filled both the room, followed by a long silence, causing the both of you to turn towards the source. Your heads turned in sync to see Ortho standing at the door with a camera after it let out a painfully loud 'click!'

He gave the pair of you a huge smile with his eyes.

"For memories' sake!" He cheered.

Bonus

After you'd made breakfast together with the ingredients that the brothers brought, you, Idia and Ortho, sat in a triangle on the floor, while Grim watched lazily from the sofa. It was more of a joint interrogation performed against the little robot with Grim serving as an audience.

"So, Ortho, you knew Idia already knew who I was?" You raised an eyebrow, "And you knew about how he felt??"

"And you already knew that they liked me? And you knew they knew who I was and didn't tell me??" Idia squeaked, "And you told them to come to the store that day?!"

Ortho picked up a controller and was suddenly immersed in gameplay.

"Haha..." He sweatdropped.

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slveepyscwrs · 2 months ago

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"No one would miss me"

Okay then. Let's suppose, for a moment, that you genuinely had no one IRL who would miss you. I get that– people IRL can be... not the best.

But, what about online?

I think we forget that the people we meet on the internet are also humans behind that screen who yearn for others. Even someone you only texted with once may still be thinking about you.

Another thing about the internet– we genuinely don't know what happens to the people we love if they log off for the last time. Did they grow out of social media? Did something happen to them?

In other words, unless you get online the next day to let those people know you're still alive, there's no way to know for sure.

Now, what would happen online tomorrow if something did happen to you?

People might ignore it at first, but eventually, you'll get DMs from people you didn't even know gave a care about you. And no one will be there to tell them what happened.

People, even if just a few people, heck even if just one person, will be enjoying your posts and wondering about the person who made them, not knowing that they have left this world.

Your friends who you assumed would move on in a day will tell you everyday that they miss you, and yet all those messages will remain forever unread, as they still hang on to hope that you'll come back someday.

And, what about that friend who you promised you'd talk with? That person who looked forward to getting on your favourite video game with you?

And maybe you don't have pets IRL, but we've all had virtual pets at some point. Even if you don't play with them anymore, that pet is still somewhere out there, wishing that person who so kindly played with them and fed them had a good life...

Am I saying that you should spend all your time online? No.

What I'm saying is, if there's just one thing that we can all learn from the internet, it's that there is someone out there in the world who loves us all.

If you disappeared, even after you are long, long gone, those messages from happier days will forever be out there, somewhere...

If you know anyone who you feel needs this message, or even yourself, please like and reblog so that they know you care <3

#mental health #mental illness #mental health support #serious post #suicideprevention #tw sui implied #tw sui ideation #depression #mental health awareness #i love you #important #please read #please spread

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thisismeracing · 1 year ago

Note

omgg finally congrats for 1k millie so happy for you 🥳🤩 srsly guys just follow her for your daily dose of vitamin mick lol 🤗

Uhmm anw just because we haven't seen him for a while can i req Mick + dissapear + angst? 😶‍🌫️ thankyou

Dissapear | MS47

⸺ the one where Mick is ghosted (or where he falls for an online girl and she disappears - because maybe she's closer than he thinks) ✓ mentions of ghosting, reader has a nickname (peach).

⁕ one word, a thousand stories blurb night (closed) ⁕ my masterlist and my taglist

It started with a wrong number. Lewis had passed him the cellphone of what was supposed to be the Merc main mechanic because the German had lost it somehow. However, when Mick texted asking about what time they would meet to do sim work, he discovered it was the wrong number.

That didn't stop them from talking while he waited for the right number and then for Patrick, the mechanic, to show up. He discovered that the number belonged to a girl, and that was about it. She was fun to talk to, and the time flew by him. When he said goodbye and went to work he didn't think they would talk again, but life doesn't always go as planned, and after finishing Sim work that night he was exhausted but couldn't seem to sleep. He asked her a random question, praying for her to be awake or for his text not to disturb her night.

The thing was, Mick was feeling lonely. Yes, he did have friends, yes he did have fans, and he had everyone and everything he wanted, but somehow he felt like something was missing.

And during the six months he spent talking with Peach -the cute nickname he gave her after discovering her favorite fruit was peach, Mick felt seen. He felt free to be who he was and to share the most random thoughts that passed through his mind without being afraid of judgment.

When they beat the six months mark he started to be more open about how he wanted to meet her in person. To which Peach would always find an excuse or change the subject. The truth was, Yn was afraid of meeting him, she was afraid he wouldn't like her the way he liked him, and she was so close, closer than he thought. What would happen once Mick discovered his online friend worked with him? What would happen if he thought she wasn't as pretty as he pictured her to be?

"Peach, please, answer me" "It's ok, we don't have to meet, I'm cool with just talking" "Just please don't leave me on read, I really like you" "I like talking to you" "Peach?" "Don't disappear, I'm worried. Give me a signal."

And just like that she stopped answering him. Trapped in her own fears. Tasting how bittersweet love could be. And forever wondering "What if?" because what if Mick liked her in person too?

― ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: Thank you, nonny!!! <3 I tried something reeeeally new on this piece, and I let my imagination run wild for a second, so I hope it's not that crazy, and I hope you like it *mwah* don't forget to reblog and comment, guys. Love yall

#ms47 #requests #op: blurbs #one word a thousand stories blurb night #mick schumacher #mick schumacher imagines #mick schumacher x reader #mick schumacher imagine #mick schumacher angst #mick schumacher blurb #f1 angst #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 fandom #millie writes

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armpirate · 1 year ago

Text

Soundleasure || San

pairing: Choi San x fem!reader

w.c.: 4.8k

Aprox. time of reading: 21 minutes

Warnings: Smut, online sex, male masturbation, female masturbation, teasing, dirty talk, mention of porn. If you're a minor, refrain from reading it. Also, if you don't like this content, just keep scrolling.

Summary: Ready to give up on blind dates and dating apps, you were drawned back to the safe place that was his porn channel. Attracted by a voice and his storytelling, and completely clouded by the amount of emotions, you found yourself sending him a private message. He wouldn't read it, and even less answer it, anyway. Or so you thought.

MASTERLIST

You dropped your keys over the dark green sideboard, placed at the left of the entrance to your place, instead of hanging them on the golden hooks that you bothered to hang to avoid dropping your keys over the first place you found. After losing them almost three times -or, atleast, having the illusion that you lost them because it took you almost an hour to find them in the last corner you'd expect in your place-, you thought it'd be a good idea to place a keyholder so you'd be able to hang the keys in a place proper for them.

Today just wasn't the day to use it. You just wanted to disappear somewhere in between your beed and your blankets, and totally erase what happened that day.

Maybe you had been looking forward to that date a little bit too much. Having high expectations of someone you met on a dating app was a bad start, and could only mean that you wouldn't be ready to have those same expectations dashing against the ground at the minimum inconvenience.

Was it minimum though? You always tried to think that maybe you were a bit too demanding when it came to hookups and relationships, always blaming your previous thoughts and ideas instead of accepting the fact that men, in general, were meant to disappoint you no matter what. You'd see it every day on the different dating apps you had installed, thinking that it'd be easier to find someone than just getting out there and hoping Love to find you. Although, lately you weren't even about love. You were ready to settle for a simple dude that'd get his work done with you, and wait for things to go further as a hopeful thought.

That was definitely too much to ask for.

You met Jordan when you were close to deleting your profile. It was the ninetieth dating app you were going to give up on, until you found a cute tanned guy with green eyes that seemed acceptable when he reached out to you after you matched. The conversation was so fluid after two days, that you didn't hesitate to arrange something with him for the weekend.

It was all nice and comfortable until he started to talk about his past relationships. "I don't usually do dating apps", "I'm not a player", "My ex's were all crazy", and a long etcetera that only had you nodding, while you tried your best to concentrate on your food. If you had learned something over your twenty five years was that those who deny something they aren't even asked about, are exactly the image they try to distance themselves from.

You kept undressing yourself as you made your way to your bed, dropping the wrinkled fabric on it while you were only in your underwear. Only bothering to check your phone when the sound of a notification reached your ears while you put on some comfortable clothes.

Another dick pic.

You didn't know if it was the way this new guy thought a dick pic would turn you on -when you didn't even ask for it, and the conversation didn't go further than a "Hey"-, or the fact that it wasn't even that big of a thing to have you losing it and forgetting about the awful night you had.

It was a failed way to get in your pants. There was no way any girl would get turned on by those kinds of pics unprovoked. If at least it came from a person you actually liked, or were attracted to... But loverboy6577 didn't even give you time for that. And it wasn't like you were planning on giving him a chance after that.

Crawling on the bed, and pushing the dress off the mattress with your feet, you felt your body relaxing over the sheets while you looked at your phone. Another notification popped up on the upper bar, but that one made your heart twitch in your chest with excitement.

He usually never posted videos on Saturdays, but there he was. The thumbnail was completely dark when you clicked on it, and the video description explained how he thought about giving that little surprise to his followers. He spoke generally, but for some reason you felt like he was speaking directly at you. Maybe that night you just needed to believe that he was.

Reaching for your earpods, soon your brain could only focus on his masculine voice setting the mood, while the screen was completely dark.

"Are you okay? I bet today was a long day" you pressed your lips at how perfectly his video fitted with the mood you were in that night. "Let me make it up to you, okay? I promise I'll make it better".

You couldn't avoid giggling, while you cringed, as soon as those kissing sounds came up. It was the thing you least liked from his videos, but you still went through it all because it comforted you somehow. At least it helped you imagine the way his lips might look, slightly moist after he moved his tongue on them to be able to make those sounds loud and clear against the microphone.

"I got you, babe" he whispered again, following more kissing sounds. "Have I already told you how good your skin tastes?" he hummed after that, pretending to be taking off some clothes right after. "Let me undress you, I want to see how beautiful you look completely naked".

And soon those kissing sounds weren't on your lips anymore -at least not on your upper lips. Your core throbbed at the fast image of a pair of sexy eyes peeking over your mound, holding your body gently as he aimed you to your own orgasm.

"Mmm, I'm so addicted to your pussy" he groaned, still making licking sounds.

You didn't know when you slid your hand in your underwear and when you started rubbing your clit. You were only aware of how wet and ready you were when your back arched in a perfect curve after he made a spitting sound. He soon groaned, combining perfectly with your pants as you traced circles slowly.

"You're so tight, hmm" and as he said that, you slid two of your fingers filling you, making you bite your lip as your imagination ran wild. "'Feel so fucking good around my cock".

Your head was unconsciously nodding at his words, pounding your fingers in and out a bit faster as time went by. It was as if his moans were the only thing that set the pace you wanted to follow. The squelching sound of his hand stroking his cock, mixed with his whimperings and gasps made it too vivid for you, almost making you forget you were finger fucking yourself, and convinced there was someone leading the way to paradise, your paradise.

"Cum with me, baby" he sobbed, his voice cracking at the last word.

And it didn't take you too long until shiverings ran over your body, a silenced moan by your lips pressed together making it known you came to one of his videos again.

You found his channel while you scrolled down the porn site. Utterly done with the over staged videos, and the exaggerated moans and faces that made you want to tear your phone against the wall rather than touching yourself. Soon it became a usual thing, as if you were a fan. And, considering the way you behaved and felt at his every post, maybe you were.

It made no sense to you. He was faceless, there was nothing but his voice and the words he used. But it was enough to let your imagination run free, and it worked most of the nights, actually. His content was also quite dynamic, and it felt funny how it always fitted your mood completely, like tonight. Some other times, he would just pretend to be a bit rougher. Or maybe he settled a whole scene, and created a tiny porn scene in everyone's heads. But he always managed to make you feel that good.

Usually, he just seemed so out of reach. Soundleasure was a thing, you forgot he was even a person after cumming. He was just content you consumed, because you felt lonely and needy, and no real man would make you reach your high the way he did with his voice only. But it didn't seem like you thought like that that night.

After cleaning yourself up, and getting out of your bathroom, you thought deep about him. He was a real person. He made you understand your own body in a way that no one else has been able to. And if he was able to do that in the distance, maybe it'd be twice more intense if he ever directed all those words at you only.

Maybe it was your loneliness speaking, or the constant let down by every man you tried to meet casually. Clouded by your own feelings, you went further than just leaving a comment like the rest of women that consumed his content. Your finger scrolled up his page, opening his private messages to write the most cordial text you could think of.

And you forgot about it after sending it. It was too late to delete it. It was obvious he wouldn't answer back, he probably wouldn't even see it -considering the amount of women that probably tried the same thing.

That's why as time went by, you forgot about it.

You kept on with life, focusing on work and still going on dates randomly, keeping your mind focused on finding the man of your dreams. Although it was ridiculous from you to think that man would be in any of those apps.

Until one of those days, a buzz sneakily got your attention. Usually, you'd just check the text later -there was no hurry on reading what most dudes had to say. But that day, you felt curious about it.

Your eyebrows instantly frowned when you realized the notification didn't come from the dating app, but from the pornsite you'd secretly enjoy whenever there was an update. And it was, but not the one you were used to.

You felt lucky when your fingers felt weak, but not enough to drop your phone to the ground when you read his text.

Soundleasure: Hey! Sorry for the late reply. Hope you still think my voice is sexy.

You tried to avoid re-reading your own text after sending it, until you were forced to that night. Your face grimaced as soon as you were aware of how cheeky and desperate you seemed on the text you sent. Saying his voice was sexy? And nothing else? God, your mind was intoxicated by the bullshit you read on those dating apps.

You: Maybe... Or maybe you'll have to work a bit harder to get my attention again.

Soundleasure: Hmm. You answered tho, it seems like I have your attention.

You: Maybe I'm just being polite by replying back.

You: It'd be rude to just leave you on read.

Soundleasure: Oh, so you're considerate. That's nice to know.

Soundleasure: Better reason to work harder so I keep having your focus on me.

You bit your lip, lying on the couch while still holding your phone up high. It seemed too surrealistic to be real. You were talking with him, the man that put your standards on sex above the sky.

You: How are you planning on doing that?

Soundleasure: I don't know... You tell me.

You: I'm good at concentrating, so you probably won't have to do much.

Soundleasure: Hahah

Soundleasure: Ok

Soundleasure: What's your name?

You: Y/n

You: what about you?

You: i doubt soundleasure is your real name.

Soundleasure: haha San. That's my name.

Soundleasure: I'm kinda forced to ask you your age.

You: 25. I've been legal for quite a few years.

You didn't ask him his age, you didn't need to. You knew he was twenty four. It was displayed on the short description he had on his channel, along with the type of content he'd post in it.

It'd been almost a week. And while you thought the conversation would end after that night, the truth was that both San and you kept reaching out to each other, coming up with whatever that came to your heads to keep the conversation alive. You were even surprised when, after two days, he asked for your user on Telegram so you could find a more comfortable way to text -you were close, but not enough to be giving out your private phone number to a stranger.

If you thought San was only attractive in those videos, he proved you wrong by the way he acted so charming and close the more you talked. You always gave up the idea of sending him a text, convincing yourself that you'd lose interest as soon as he seemed approachable enough -or as soon as he felt comfortable enough to show his true colors. But you were so mistaken. It's like he threw a hook on you, and every time he pulled you in, you got more attached.

It was also the way you could go from cackling at the conversation, to being forced to press your thighs close together after he dropped a flirty message, or a suggestive pic as if it was nothing. You obviously played along, surprised by how easily he made that nature flow in you.

That Saturday, you had just sent one of your nsfw pics of your blurry naked figure reflected on the bathroom mirror full of steam. It was clear as day that you were naked after taking your shower, but it was impossible to clearly see what the mist was hiding.

San: Fucking hell, Y/n.......

You saw "Typing..." under his name several times, but it always ended up disappearing and he ended up disconnecting, before he came back a few more times. You giggled as a consequence, thinking that you got what you wanted with that snapshot: triggering San.

San: Omg

You: You liked it?

Your text reeked of fake innocence. He knew, you knew.

San: I hated it

Your heart skipped a beat, stopping completely when you saw that text before he suddenly left the app again. You both had been exchanging that type of pictures almost since you started talking to each other, along with a big amount of spicy texts -especially the days he uploaded content to his channel. It was the cherry on top of a great day for the two of you.

Wearing the bathrobe as the only clothing that covered your body, you sat in the middle of the bed, waiting for his text. You were doubting whether you should text first or not, but your phone buzzing in your palm gave you the answer you were looking for.

San: It's unfair I can't see that in person

His answer made you smile instantly, biting your lip while you thought of the next thing to say. He lived in Los Angeles, on the other side of the country, while you lived in Boston. You were more than four hours away.

You: Maybe we can do something better...

You: are you home?

San: Yeah

San: What did you think about?

You clearly didn't think it through, and you chose to act before you could even process your own idea. Every time you had the idea to do a video call, you'd turn it down with the fear of him not liking you -and, sometimes, not liking him. After talking for a week, you two had high expectations on each other -at least on your side it was like that. More than once you were scared of him being disappointed in the way you looked, and you were also terrified with the idea of ending up upset with him.

But that day it didn't seem to matter to you. You clicked on the video call option, and just waited for him to answer. You held your phone at the level of your face, checking your reflection out while you bit your lip nervously. All the excitement started disappearing when he didn't pick up the call, and you started thinking that maybe you got ahead of yourself.

Suddenly, everything was silent and you got surprised by his face on the screen.

You couldn't believe you were ever scared of not liking him. Not only did he had an attractive voice, and a charming personality, his face also seemed sculpted by the gods. His foxy eyes had a gentle look on them as he stared back at you through the screen, and his dimples made his sharp features look innocent and soft as he smiled.

"So I see you weren't lying on taking a shower" he commented, making one of his eyebrows disappear behind his bangs.

"You thought I was baiting you?" his deep chuckle sent shiverings all over your body, before you chose to keep talking. "It'd have been perfect timing for you to send a picture, too" you pointed out.

You were able to point out that he also took a shower, by the way that the end of his bangs that fell on his forehead -and slightly over his eyes- looked a bit wet still.

"You got ahead of me" he played with his hair, acknowledging your good eye sight with a wide smile. His smile slowly dropped to a smirk, as his eyes concentrated on you for a brief second "You're beautiful".

Taking the compliment the best way you could, you simply smiled and lowered your face enough the moment you felt your cheeks lighting up.

"Don't cover up. That's cute" he giggled.

But you couldn't help it. All the times through messages, you two kept acting confidently, being the sexiest of your versions. But there you were, blushing over the word "beautiful" and the way his eyes shined as he said it.

You clearly weren't used to that type of treatment.

"You also look good" you assured him.

"Better than expected?"

Far better than expected.

While you still were surprised by his good physique, you didn't see his face in either of the pics he sent. Like you, he always ended up covering it with the shape of his phone on the several mirror selfies he took, or he straight up cut off his face. So now that you were seeing him, and confirming he was the perfect combo, your head was struggling to admit San was real and not a person you created out of desperation.

"Maybe" you answered teasingly.

"I already had high expectations on you, but you made sure to break them all off" his mouth was trying to transmit that with appeal, yet his smile and the way he nervously pressed his lips together betrayed him.

Just like it happened whenever you texted each other, the conversation didn't seem to have an ending. And it was the best thing with him, the way you felt you could talk for hours and never get bored. There was always a topic, a situation, an anecdote... always something that had you two engaged for a few more minutes. But you didn't know it'd be even better when you two went silent, staring at each other for some seconds, before you bit your lip and spoke again.

"You said it was unfair you couldn't see me in person" you started, tilting your head slightly, "What exactly do you want to see?".

One of his eyebrows raised at your question, grinning while he rested his back against the office chair in his room. "Your skin. I bet it looks softer than it does in pictures".

Your robe slipped off your right shoulder, exposing your collarbone and the curve of one of your breasts "Can you appreciate it now?".

"Kinda" he sighed, "It looks better than on the pic, but not good enough" he smiled again. "Maybe I need to see a bit more".

Now moving down the robe over your other shoulder, it was hanging on your arms -enough to cover up your nipples, but still showing off your cleavage. It was nothing he hadn't seen before though. You had sent several underwear pics at some point in the night, but somehow it felt different that day.

"Would you be able to handle this in person?" the middle finger of your free hand traced your collarbone ever so gently you felt tickles from your own touch.

"I'd do more than just handle it" he assured, his voice going lower with every word. "But I'd for sure rip that thing off. It's pissing me off".

"You don't need to break it though, just" and with that pause, you undid the knot on the upper part of your belly, allowing the soft fabric to expose your breasts on the screen "open it".

A whimper suddenly came out of his lips, at the same time he tried to find a more comfortable position on his chair. San also rolled it a bit more to the back, showing more than just his torso covered with that gray sweater.

You had never felt the strong need to sit on someone's lap until you saw his legs on the screen, with his hands falling on them lazily.

"Those tits are begging to be sucked"

"Hmm" your right hand kept wandering all over your torso, feeling your nipples tightening at the filth in his words. "I bet they'd look better if they were in your mouth instead".

Just the thought of it got your body working faster than it has ever worked before, as if you were going to take him at any time.

"Of course" he nodded "Getting them hard and stiff until they hurt".

Following his words, your index and thumb rubbed on your nipple, tightening the grip sporadically, ending it with a pinch and pull that got you pressing your thighs at the sudden throb.

"I want to see you, too"

San thought he'd collapse right there when he saw you pouting as you said that, your hand dropping out of the camera vision while your eyes intensely looked at him. Maybe he was too horny, or maybe his lack of experience with any other girl made him so eager for you. But there he was, willing to do anything you'd ask for.

While he took off his sweater, you placed a pillow at the edge of the bed just so you could rest your phone on it and forget about holding it up in the air. You heard him groan at the sight of your half naked body, while your hands still held together the edges of your robe so your lower part wouldn't be exposed.

"I think this is the hardest I've ever been for someone" he mentioned, stroking his growing bulge over his black sweatpants.

"Let me see how hard I'm making you" you asked, kneeling in the middle of the bed.

It didn't take San a minute before he was lowering his pants and boxers enough to let his cock spring free in the air, and ending up resting on his stomach. Your eyes got lost on the shape of his cock, thinking how bad you'd like to suck on its curve, tracing the veins that went from the base to the tip with your tongue.

You could feel your mouth watering at the image, wishing there weren't 2611 miles between you two right at that moment. That man for sure wasn't real. Every inch of his body was perfect.

"Cat got your tongue?" he teasingly asked, stroking his cock while he looked at you.

"I wish that was the problem" you scoffed, bending over, resting your body on your elbows, so you could see his image up close. "I've never wanted to get choked on a cock so bad in my life".

"I bet you'd look gorgeous with your mouth stuffed with it" he groaned.

You smiled, aiming two of your fingers at your mouth. You rubbed the tip of your fingerprints on your flat muscle, just to enclose your lips around them while staring straight at the camera. It felt like your eyes were connecting through the whole thing, because you could hear San cursing as soon as you did that.

"Show me how wet you are while you still suck on those fingers, hmm?"

Biting on your own fingerprints, you smiled. You for sure were leaking at that point, you could fill your juices dripping from your entrance to your clit when you bent over to the camera. Changing your position again, you opened your robe completely with your legs still closed as you saw in front of the camera. And once you made sure everything was seen for him, you spread your legs, having San moaning out loud at the vision of your glistening lips.

Your wet fingers with your spit traveled all the way from your lips to your pussy, moving through your folds for him. Your heart skipped a beat when they reached your clit, finally being taken care of after ignoring it for so long.

"Wet enough to have my face buried in it" his raspy voice added "I bet you taste so fucking good".

And soon those scenarios you planted in your head, with a mysterious man with no face, finally came back to your head with every detail you could add. Your pussy clenched around the emptiness in your walls as your mind went wild and your fingers drew circles slowly.

"I'd love to know if that tongue is good at licking as much as it is at dirty talking" you joked, finding his eyes somewhere on the screen again.

"You can bet I'd have your legs trembling and your ears beeping after you cum" he smirked. "Slide two fingers in. Open up for me".

And just the same way you allowed your fingers to go down your folds and sink them inside of you, you saw San spitting on his hand and wrapping it around his shaft again.

"That's it, honey. Knuckles deep" he encouraged you, making the biggest effort to keep his eyes open through his own pleasure. "Pump them in and out as if it were my cock".

The praise in his words, the way he controlled your movements even from afar had you completely out of your mind. You were sure the sound of his voice was giving you more pleasure than your own fingers.

Managing to open your eyelids, that felt heavy as ever before, you got a moan stuck in the back of your throat as you saw him pumping his cock at a steady pace. The way you were able to see your opened legs through the corner of your eyes, while your eyes were fixed on the porn scene he was pulling made everything hotter. You were sure the temperature rose a few more degrees the moment you started that video call.

"You'd look even better if it was my cock fucking you" he moaned, moving his hand faster on his shaft. "Your tits bouncing every time I pound into you, holding you tight by your hips so you could take it all".

"I bet you'd stretch me out so good" you nodded.

Your brain was close to having a dead short at any time. The naughtiness in his words, mixed with everything that was going on in real life and in your head was too much to handle. Your back arched every time you sinked your fingers in and your palm rubbed on your clit.

"I'm gonna cum" you cried, unable to hold it back any longer.

"I'm so close, too" he groaned, throwing his head back finally. "Wait for me. I'm almost there".

Still moving your fingers in sync with his movements, you found yourself at the edge of the cliff, only allowing yourself to jump from it when you heard muttering he was ready, too. Both of your moans got mixed in the air as you both reached your highs. And, slowly, those moans turned to loud pants while you tried to get some oxygen back to your lungs.

Daring to look at him, you found San with his head falling back to the chair, eyes still closed while he smiled pleased.

"It was amazing" he whispered.

"Yeah" you agreed, sighing.

He finally opened his eyes, and you were mesmerized by how beautiful and genuinely they looked. You saw him getting some air, and opening his mouth, before he got interrupted by a male voice coming from outside the room "Where the fuck is the controller? I need to beat these assholes' asses".

Managing to cover your body with the robe again, you smile at a pissed of San. "It's alright, you can text me later"

"I won't take long" he assured you, before he hung up the video call.

Back in the silence and loneliness in your room, you made your best at holding in the sudden need to jump on the bed and dance away in excitement.

Your bad streak was finally over.

Most probably this will turn into a long fanfic, just like Kalla did. So take this as a snippet of what's to come soon!

#ff #smut #one shot #reader insert #san #choi san #san smut #ateez #choisanxreader #sanxreader #armpirate

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starwriterulia · 4 months ago

Text

Tomb of the Goshenite Stargazer Dragon - Chapter 6

SUBJECT MATERIAL WARNINGS FOR THIS FANFICTION ARE INCLUDED IN THE MASTERLIST POST OF MY BLOG AND THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS FANFICTION.

(Long A/N before cutoff, sorry!)

Bat divider by @violetbudd

Sun and moon divider by @saradika

Scene cut and creator support banner by @cafekitsune

Latest update: August 18, 2024. Added scene cut and "Support your creators by reblogging" banners. Added ⏭️ emoji below end of chapter banner with text explaining its function as a navigational button.

Chapter summary: Jason joins morning training. Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Damian arrive with Batman, who begins to scold the process before the Batkids remind Batman that they're working with a disabled person. The heroines talk with Faith about the asteroid belts that appeared when Faith came to Earth-33 and disappeared when she fixed the loophole she briefly explains, and how it was fixed, referring to Thalassic Space as a toy. Faith begins to age-regress when thinking about how she was unhappy due to her adoptive mom constantly taking away and breaking her favourite toys. Her favourite, a rabbit plush named Mr. Bunny, was the one tht was never taken away, but Faith herself threw him away when she was confirmed to be moving out; it was the toy she couldn't find online, and she shows the two closest pictures to the heroines and Batfamily.

She cries herself better in Batman's arms, then the group go to Faith's Dragon Tomb, inspired by Saarthal, to obtain her other two Relics and magic Astral Jester Costume. Faith successfully gains her full demigoddess powers and is given her items in a satchelbag, but afterwards, when one of the cat anthros guarding the final room exposes Faith's desires, the Batkids rightfully shout at Faith and leave, Batman leaving after speaking his mind in the way that only a father could. Martian Manhunter speaks to Wonder Woman and Zatanna over comms, offering to take Faith, but the heroines reply that they have another idea. Faith has delusions in the darkness left by Batman's cape as Wonder Woman and Zatanna walk Faith outside and through the portal, back to the Belfry, where the Batkids punish Faith on her way out. Batman gives Faith her belongings at the door, saying that he hopes she improves, then Batman slams the door. The heroines ask Faith if she'd like to be taken to a homeless shelter, or if she wants help. Faith, stuttering out of terror, asks for help. They ask Faith if she's OK with talkin to Oliver Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance, and Faith nods, then screams, as it was only 8 AM. They take to the sky for Star City, Washington.

A/N: (The night of writing this chapter:) Holy shit, I actually fucking went there!

(The day after writing this chapter, lightly revised the day after:) Y'all, I put my whole pussy in this chapter. It's got a lot of angst. PLEASE READ THE TAGS AND CONTENT WARNINGS! THIS CHAPTER GETS SUPER FUCKING REAL! 95% of this chapter is unedited, which I think speaks to its quality, and my skill as a writer, sorry to even imply towards having an ego, aaaaaa. But, yeah. I needed to confront myself about this. I've always been trying to just live, move on, and it was working until I started this fic, and I realised why I've been so passionate about it. It was time for me to talk to myself about that memory, and walk away from it, for good, and forever. In other words, I've literally punched my own face asdfsalkfj. What can I say? Things happen when you have too much brain juice at 1:30 AM!

Next chapter, another fandom will be added to the list!

That being said, I really hope this chapter is a good read! I think it's the best one I've written, so far. Thanks for reading, liking, replying and reblogging, everyone!

Also there's a spider in my bedroom, and I'm just like, please stay there, at the corner up the wall between my bed and the window, eat the flies, and don't come over here, otherwise you will die, thank you.

Fandoms: DC Comics, Batfamily, no Batcest, Thalassic Space (OC; takes inspiration The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and other sci-fi, fantasy and horror titles, as well as original concepts, such as the science and lore of the galaxy.)

[In order of appearance] Characters: Faith Lawson (TBA; self-insert), Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler), Jason Todd (Red Hood), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Tim Drake (Red Robin), Bruce Wayne (Batman), Damian Wayne (Robin), Zatanna Zatara, Diana Prince (Wonder Woman), Dohannar Salmpho (OC), Wysherah Sōnā-Salmpho (OC), Ashanti Salmpho (OC).

Word Count: 10, 607 (post-revision; HOLY SHIT, THAT'S REAL? OH MY GOD, I REALLY DID WRITE THIS WITH MY PUSSY, DAMN!)

Content warning: Depressive, age-regression episode in which Faith talks about how her adoptive mother took away her toys, being more specific this time, and describes her favourite toy, Mr. Bunny, while showing similar pictures; fictional religious sermon in which Dohannar gives Faith all of her demigoddess powers; huge rational reaction from the Batkids following Tim's translation of Dohannar's offer; as Wonder Woman and Zatanna bring Faith out of the Dragon Tomb, Faith has a delusional panic attack in the darkness left by Batman's cape; the Batkids bully and mock Faith as she leaves with Wonder Woman and Zatanna.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7

Monday, February 12, 2024. 7:30 AM.

Faith and Stephanie, in daytime clothes, Faith wearing her olive green shirt with leggings, took turns using the toilet, the other brushing her hair or washing her hands and face. They descended, and Faith gasped, smiling, as she saw that Jason was loitering near the computer area, Dick, Barbara and Tim also present. "Oh my God, hi!" Said Faith.

Jason gave a warm smile. "Hi, Faith. Nice to finally meet you."

"Finally had a moment to spare?"

"Yeah. 'Should be fine until the evening. The others have been telling me that training's going well."

"Yeah, I haven't dislocated my knee yet, and I've still been having knee pops, but it's been going good."

"Good. Are you OK with going against me today?"

"I mean, I could try, sure!"

"All right, then."

"You should get some food in your tummy first, hon." Said Barbara. "There's eggs, bacon and toast for both of you, still on the stove and counter."

Stephanie said, "Oh, did Faith not tell y'all that she prefers sausage?"

"Oh, you do? Well, sorry, hon, we'll get some for you, for tomorrow."

"I mean, I'll eat it," Said Faith. "But yeah, that'd be nice, thanks." She and Stephanie filled a plate for themselves and sat at the table, eating quietly.

"'Thought you said she's a chatterbox." Jason said, sweeping his gaze among Dick, Barbara and Tim.

"Oh, she is," Said Tim. "But she can be quiet. It's not always time to ramble." Jason hummed.

Faith said, "Yeah, sometimes I've just got no loud thoughts, which is weird, 'cause there usually is. My brain is usually screaming. I have good mornings and days, sometimes, and sometimes it feels like they're really rare."

Jason hummed again. "Barbara said you take medication."

"Yeah, 75 miligrams of Quetiapine, and 25 miligrams of Quetiapine XR."

"Ah, OK. Do you do anything else to help with your mental health?"

"That isn't a distraction? Yeah, sometimes I make crafts or go outside. But it's winter, so I can't, right now."

"Eh, that's fair."

"Spring never comes fast enough, in Canada."

"Oh, that's right, you're from up north. How are you liking America?"

"Well, I've been to Texas for Easter of 2008 or '9 to see my adoptive dad's family."

"Oh, OK."

"She also hasn't been outside to actually experience America." Dick said, chuckling.

"Right. Well, you'd be screwed if we just let you loose now, even as a civi."

"Yep." Said Faith. She and Stephanie finished eating, then joined the group.

Dick said, "So, you've got the basics of how to prepare your body for combat, and how to react defensively. We're going to practice that today too, but we're thinking of teaching you how to land a proper blow, with accomodations for your little arms and hyptonia until Bruce has your gear ready, if you're willing to be really sore by the end of the day."

"Sure, that sounds good."

Batman entered the Belfry, accompanied by Robin, Wonder Woman and Zatanna. As they approached the Batkids, they watched Faith moving around Jason at a decent pace, who batted away her arms and legs with his own limbs and hit her ribs and appendages from time to time. Batman thought, 'No, no no no.' "Stop." He said.

"What's she doing wrong?" Jason replied.

"She's struggling to keep her eyes open and on her target because she's in pain, so she isn't hitting you as hard as she could be, and she isn't moving around you in an optimal way."

"Bruce, this is only her second day." Said Dick.

"If she keeps this up, it's going to become a habit, and that's not what we should be looking for."

"We're working with her, not against her. She's also not wearing any armour, so of course she's moving slower because of pain. In two days, she's been caught thirty-nine times, and had twenty-four falls from her knees popping. She's used to two pops with a possible fall every week, just from walking around and doing her job."

"Ow!" Faith cried, her right knee rotating and her leg flailing with it, momentum she used to distance herself from Jason, landing on her right leg, making Faith give a stuttered whimper as she held her left arm out and her other in front of her chest. Jason grabbed her left arm and pulled her close, and Faith put weight on her legs to move with Jason and swing behind him. "Ow, ow, ow!"

'She's letting him pull her muscles just to be able to move a little, that's not good. She shouldn't be doing that.'

Faith couldn't pry her arm from Jason's grasp. "Your enemy would have broken your arm by now." Jason said.

"I know! And they wouldn't let go of it, so I have to either not go behind and possibly fruitlessly work the front or sides, or take the beating, and losing is not what I'm trying to do here!"

Batman said, "What are you trying to do?"

"Get him down! 'Cause if he's on the ground, and he's not going to move, then I've won, and I can move on to the next!"

"Yes, but you should be fighting in a way that preserves your body and energy."

Barbara said, "Bruce, we've gone over this with her. We talk about her options while miming for at least fifteen minutes before we actually get moving. The only issue is that she's fragile. If you want to help, then give her something to wear already! We're doing all we can, and so is she!" The others hummed, nodding. Jason let go of Faith's arm.

"Ow." Faith shook out her limb, and massaged her muscles.

"Sorry, Faith."

"You're good, mmph."

"She's not the problem, Bruce. Her disability is." Said Jason.

Bruce quietly sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. I was thinking about her like she's physically able, even though I've known from the beginning that she's not. You've all been doing the right thing." He opened one of his belt pockets, and pulled one end of a tailor's measuring tape with his left hand, the rest of the tape in his other hand. Faith's cheeks rose in a smile. It spread to Batman, a little. "How about we take your measurements now, and then I'll get out of your way?"

"Oh, you're not in the way." Faith said, approaching Bruce. He began to measure her right arm. "I just don't think you've had a kid with a disability like mine, before."

"No, I haven't."

"Hi, by the way, Wonder Woman and Zatanna!"

"Hi, Faith." Said Wonder Woman, she and Zatanna stepping around a little to get into Faith's field of view and Jason retreating to the desk area. "Would you mind chatting with us about Thalassic Space?"

"Sure, what are you wondering about?"

"You're able to make it exist and not-exist based on your faith on it, aren't you? That's how you manifestated your Animus, and why it vanished, right?"

"Yeah. They're my toys, but it's not always appropriate to play with them, so I pretend to be normal, like when I'm at work, and other times I'm too depressed to play with my toys. Did you find out that Urania's Celestial Globe is a Stage Prop when my faith is low?" Faith said. Bruce moved on to measure Faith's shoulders, chest and torso.

"Well, not just that." Said Zatanna. "The obisidian and goshenite asteroid belts appeared when you entered our world, though the ones near our sun had no magic, and they disappeared around five o'clock, last evening."

"Oh, that's because our sun isn't a magic sun."

"Ah."

"And they disappeared when Dick urged me to make a change so Ra's couldn't abuse the loophole."

"You made a loophole?" Zatanna sounded concerned.

"So, because Ra's is a demon, Platonia, the Nero Spirits and the Umbrella Man left him alone. He was allowed to enter Platonia whenever he wanted. And that could have, no, sorry, would have led to him finding out everything about Red Storm Earth and me, and learning about the Invitation of Nerobzal."

"Yes, Urania informed us, after you burned part of the forest behind Wayne Manor." Said Wonder Woman.

"It's awfully grim." Zatanna said to Faith.

Faith sounded defeated. "Sorry, I thought it made sense as a way to tie demons and monsters in to the lore of Thalassic Space."

"Oh, it does. Don't remove it just because you were made aware that you shouldn't let happen here so easily, OK?"

"I just want to be a good writer, is all."

"I didn't mean to say you're bad at writing." Zatanna said. Bruce started to measure Faith's hips, legs and feet, accounting for her deformed right foot.

"She's had a rough life." Said Stephanie. "Writers do this sorta thing all the time."

"That's true. I'm sorry, Faith, I really didn't mean to offend."

Faith sounded a little more confident. "No, you're fine. Ra's can no longer access Thalassic Space or its knowledge. He'll just see me as a girl with dragon powers and etcetera, relating to my Relics and magic Costume. Dick made me aware of the loophole, and now Apopis is blocking Ra's for good. There's no punishment, it's just a ban order."

"Good."

Faith sounded defeated, again, but her voice sounded child-like. "Are you here because you want me to end the story due to something bad happening elsewhere?"

"Oh no, is she about to age-regress?" Stephanie half-whispered to the other Batkids.

"I think so." Said Dick. Barbara nodded, she, Dick and Tim looking at Faith with pity.

"Oh, no. No, sweetheart." Zatanna said, holding Faith's wrists in her hands. "We need your faith! Otherwise, we can't observe the asteroid belts, and you won't be able to help us and the world, or yourself, in the future. We want you to succeed. And I know that your new friends in the Batfamily want you to be happy."

Faith's cheeks rose, but she looked sad. She said, monotonously, "I've never been happy before." Bruce paused, then resumed measuring Faith's left shin.

"Oh, that can't be true."

"All I remember is being alone," Faith began to cry. Zatanna moved her hands up to Faith's biceps. Her voice went full regression to that of a chlid's. "And my mom taking away my toys, like my dress-up lace fan that I was playing with one night that she broke in front of me, my Littlest Pet Shop collection that I apparently grew out of, like my Barbies, and I had Erica, and she's worth five hundred dollars now, and I'm sorry that I drew on her face, and then i had to throw away Mr. Bunny-hee-hee." Faith sobbed and lowered her head. Bruce stood, and put away the tailor's measuring tape.

"But that was because we'd just confirmed I was moving out, but I never got to take care of him, he hadn't been washed in years, and his neck was torn, but he was my favouri-ite, he was my friend and my roleplay buddy through all of the media I ever liked. When I put him in the garbage at the homestead, I," Faith pulled away from Zatanna and began to mime. "I laid down with him on my mattress on the floor in the cold room, 'cause I wasn't supposed to still be living with my parents, but I was so sad and scared of seeing Todd again and starving, and I knew I couldn't work a job because of my disability, wh-which I can, but it's really hard, and I," A pillow came flying from the bedroom upstairs into Faith's arms. "I kissed him and hugged him, I really hugged him." Faith did this to the pillow.

"And then I went out into the main room, I lifted up the lid, and I put him in the garbage. And my dad looked at me, I don't know what kinda, I-I think it was a face of concern, and then I went into my room to my laptop, and he opened the blanket that was the door for the cold room at the time, and he asked, "Are you OK, sweetie?", and I said, "Yeah, I'm OK. It's time." And he quietly told my mom, and she said, "Wow." And other things I didn't hear, but, but I just wi-hi-hi-hish!" Faith cowered to the floor, sitting on her knees. Zatanna and Bruce came down with her. Wonder Woman crouched as well, the next second.

"I wish I was allowed to take care of him! I wish Mom hadn't said that fourteen is too old for Barbie, and I wish she had told me why for all of the shit I did as a kid, 'cause I've always been better with more words, and now I'm just here! I'm here, with no Mr. Bunny, and no Dad, and even Milo is gone, my mom's Chihuahua is gone, and the trailer house we lived at is in shit condition, and I just wanna go home!" Faith wept loudly. Zatanna tsked and hugged Faith. Barbara wiped tears, Dick and Tim pouted and looked at each other, Stephanie sighed, staring at Faith's sad face, and Jason had a sympathetic expression as he looked at Faith.

"I'm sorry." Said Zatanna.

Tim said, "Mr. Bunny is new."

"Yep." Said Dick.

"I found a "Mr. Bunny" in one of the dumpsters outside." Jason said.

"Ew, Jason, no!" Barbara hissed.

Zatanna asked, "What did Mr. Bunny look like, Faith?"

Faith sounded normal. "Well, I tried finding him online, but I couldn't quite. I saved two pictures on my phone that, if put together, would be him, though." Stephanie picked up Faith's phone from the table and brought it over. Zatanna removed her hands from Faith's arms to let Faith unlock the phone, opened the Photos app, and go to Favourites as Batman and Wonder Woman stood behind Zatanna to look. She opened a picture of a blue and white floppy-eared 14" rabbit plush with black bead eyes, a pink nose, the framing of the toy implying a sewn smile, a pink bow with red stripes and a yellow border around its neck, white front paws, a white face and inner ears, and embroidered blue toe beans on its large hind feet.

"This one's got the toe beans Mr. Bunny had, and the inner ears, face, stomach and feet are all white, like his was." Faith swiped right. The next image was a pink and white floppy-eared 14" rabbit plush with the same black eyes, pink nose, white front paws and belly. The sewn smile was visible in this photo. The toy's hind paws were pink, the upper white area gathered into three toes, its inner ears were pink, and it had a pink ribbon bow around its neck. "But this one is the right colour, and has the right bow. But the bow was made of chifon, not silk."

"May we see too, Faith?" Said Barbara. Faith nodded and offered her phone to the air. Barbara came forward and took the phone, and looked at the photos with Dick. "Aw, I bet he was cute!"

"Yeah, cute." Dick said. Barbara gave the phone to Tim for him, Stephanie and Jason to look at.

"Huh, OK." Said Tim.

"Aw, I want a Mr. Bunny, too!" Stephanie said. Faith giggled.

"He looks cosy." Said Jason. Faith nodded, smiling softly. Tim locked Faith's phone and put it back on the table.

Faith looked at Batman , a tear falling from her left eye, and sobbingly said, "I miss him." Batman crouched with Faith, Zatanna and Wonder Woman joining a moment later. "But I can't find him, so I have to try and fill the space. No fictional person, no other toy is Mr. Bunny. He's why I love soft things. He's why I collect plushies. I have other friends, but I don't have him."

Batman hummed. "You had a very special friend."

Faith nodded, a tear falling from her right eye. "I did." Batman sighed and pulled Faith into his chest. Faith wailed. She cried for a whole minute.

'Zatanna? Wonder Woman?' Batman thought, as Faith cried.

'Yes, Batman?' Replied Wonder Woman.

'I think we've all seen, and from her stories gathered that Faith needs to cry badly.'

'Mhm.' Wonder Woman replied, she and Zatanna nodding.

'The two things she wants to cry about are her dad and Mr. Bunny. Because of the lectures she recieved from her adoptive mother, she feels that crying for herself is inappropriate, and considered a pity-party. She's only ever been able to cry alone.'

'Poor girl.' Zatanna thought.

'She likely knows that a therapist would understand and have the right thing to say, know the right actions to suggest. But she's been living this sad life for so long, with her body, that she can't believe in that advice, or begin on that path. That is, when she was alone, and had no friends.'

'Right.' Thought Wonder Woman. 'So, she's on the right track, now that she's got all of us.'

'Yes. We should go through with our plans for you to help her with her mystical arts,' Zatanna and Wonder Woman nodded. 'While my family helps her physical condition improve. We'll all do our part to help her mind and heart heal. Her visit to the group home only did so much. She came home to a family that loved her, yes, but they didn't talk to her, didn't ask questions that needed to be asked years ago, didn't apologise and amend for things that happened years ago.'

'It's time.' Thought Wonder Woman. Zatanna and Batman nodded. Faith sighed, panted twice, and burped.

"Better?" Batman inquired.

Faith nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Stephanie!"

"Yeah?"

"Chalk!"

"Oh, you wanna do that now?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"You want to get your Relics and Costume." Said Zatanna, as Stephanie picked up the box of chalk from the desk and made her way over. "That's a great idea." Faith nodded, standing to recieve the chalk. Batman, Wonder Woman and Zatanna rose to their feet, as well.

"Oh, wait. I'm too short to draw a door. It doesn't have to be fancy, just tall enough for us to walk through."

"May I?" Said Zatanna. Faith nodded, a smile on her cheeks. They went to the wall opposite of the Belfry's entrance, Wonder Woman and Stephanie close behind, Batman a little father but also following, Dick, Barbara and Tim walking over to watch, Damian and Jason staying where they were. Zatanna drew a door on the wall with the chalk. Faith extended her right hand, palm towards the floor, and a drawer of the kitchen rattled. "Wait!" Faith closed her hand. "You'll hurt yourself, and not in the way you mean to!"

"Yeah, that's a good way to stab yourself, or lose your hand, Faith." Said Dick. Barbara and Tim nodded, humming different tones of agreement.

"Here." Batman closed the distance, and pricked Faith's right index finger with a needle.

"Oh, thank you." Faith wrote in the door: Tot thoe Checkpotinat otut'si'de otph thoe Totmab otph thoe Gotsihoenaite Sitafrgafzer Drafgotna, Laittlae Paftho, Thoafla'si'ic Sipafce.

"To the Checkpoint outside of the Tomb of the Goshenite Stargazer Dragon, Little Path, Thalassic Space." Batman read aloud.

"Yep! We're playing Skyrim, baby!" Faith laugh.

"Skyrim, baby!" Stephanie echoed, she, Barbara, Dick, Zatanna and Wonder Woman laughing with Faith. Faith knocked on the wall eight times. The chalk outline became a portal, oulined in white-blue light, to a snowy hill overlooking a hole in which scoffolding led down to a pair of Nordic iron doors.

"Behold! Saarthal, but it's different inside!" Said Faith. "No need to worry about the portal, this area of Little Path is deserted, except for wildlife. The only thing that'll maybe come through are rabbits, foxes and Pixies. This hill has no hostile enemies." Batman heard the doors opening again, and two pairs of footsteps.

"OK." Said Zatanna. "Let's go, then." Faith nodded, and led Zatanna, Stephanie, Wonder Woman, Batman, Dick, Barbara and Tim inside. They walked the scaffolding, and Faith opened the doors. They crossed the first half of the excavation via the remnants of stone bridges of the pillars and the wooden ramps that had been built to access the second chambers with connected passageways.

"Wow, this is literally Saarthal." Said Tim.

"Yes, it's exactly Saarthal, until the last room." Faith said.

"Garf!" "Grr-arf!" Said the four large, amorphous, earthen masses of brown slime shuffling about below.

"What are those?" Asked Jason.

"Slicks. SCP-999, but they eat waste, and they're made from dirt, sand and clay."

"Ha! Nice." Said Tim.

"Depending on what you feed them, they give things back, or make fireworks, gemstones or copper, silver or gold coins, which are called Gore, Grief and Guilt. Left-wing things."

"Right." Said Wonder Woman.

"They're commonly placed in dumpsters and outhouses, and are used by organic-favouring mages and alchemists as vacuum cleaners. Their natural habitats are sewage lines and landfills."

"So you've got both helpful and harmful creatures, OK." Said Zatanna.

"Yeah! Like, there's also Wicks, which are furnace slimes, often used by blacksmiths and also used to keep houses warm." Faith entered the passageways with scattered alchemy ingredients. "Even poor families are allowed one, so no stories of people freezing to death happen unless the Wick has been eaten by a Wyrm, spelled with a y. Wingless dragons with long tails. They're exactly the ones from The Lord of the Rings Online."

"Ah, OK. So you really have put a bunch of things that you liked from other stories into your own. I like that."

Stephanie said, "Yeah, isn't it cool?" Zatanna nodded, humming.

"Aw, thank you. Um, there's also Shifts, which are literally danger brooms." Faith pressed her hand to the wall where the Amulet of Saarthal would have been, a Double Eight in its place. It hummed and shone at her touched, and the way forward opened.

"Danger brooms?" Wonder Woman chuckled.

"Yeah! Imagine a stickman, but covered in sharp bristles. And they shake like nuts, and they pierce through anything weaker than chainmail." Faith said, reaching the lever and opening the gate into a circular room with ten vertical coffins. "Oh, and don't worry about the draugr. They can smell me, so they're assuming you're with me until I call for help." She led the others inside and around the right side of the room. "Shifts are technically insect demons. You know those really spiky caterpillars?"

"Ohhh."

"Yeah, they're inspired by those, weird colours and all." Faith stopped at the door to Saarthal proper. "Uh, and those are like, the basic four monsters of Thalassic Space. Most of the rest are literally or inspired by mythology, or some kind of animal that's been mutated." Wonder Woman hummed. Faith pulled the chains to open the door, and led the group into the antechamber.

They passed the draugr, and Faith crouched and touched the fire rune trap at the first turn, causing it to break with the sound of falling ashes. They walked on to the iron door, strode past the burial niches, and Faith walked the north wall, touching each stone pillar as she went to display Eagle, Snake and Whale. "Tim, do you have the pillars along the south wall?"

"Yep." Tim replied, turning the other three pillars to show Whale, Eagle and Eagle. The group stepped past the puzzle gate and down the stairs into a large room. Faith waved her right hand in front of the cobwebbed doorway, and the webs disappeared. She crouched to deal with a shock rune trap along the way, and another at the entrance to the next room, which had four pillars and a lever in the middle. The heroes noticed three feline people lounging on a dark blue chaise and a matching long sofa in front of a fireplace in the next room.

Faith said as she walked, "Southeast." She touched the pillar. The felines looked at each other, and began to cry.

"Northeast." Tim touched this pillar. The grey tabby feline rose from the chaise, where a calico feline sat. The other, a white feline, was seated on the couch.

"Southwest."

"And northwest. Who wants to pull the lever?"

"May I?" Said Barbara.

"Sure!" Said Faith. Barbara pulled the switch. The gate forward opened. "Woo hoo!"

"Faith?" An alto voiced grey tabby feline gingerly said, approaching the doorway. She was 5'7" tall.

Faith moved her eyes and head from Barbara to the feline, and sounded like she was going to cry. "Wysherah." She whimpered, stimulating her little forearms with excited shakes, and hurried into the arms of the cat as the other felines rose and came over.

Wysherah hugged Faith kindly, purring into the girl's head. "Yes, hello, Starwriter. Welcome back."

"Phafitho." The tenor voiced calico said, his voice distorted by the strain in his throat. He was 6" tall.

"Dohannar." Faith was smoothly released from Wysherah into Dohannar. His hug was firm, and he desperately nuzzled his neck over Faith's head, and his face over hers.

"Mayl thoird qutafrter, mayl siutna."

"What's he saying?" Stephanie quietly asked.

"'My third quarter, my sun.'" Batman translated.

Wysherah said, "I am his first, his faith in Vishnu is his second, she is his third, and our daughter," She looked to the third cat, who was 5'1" tall. "Ashanti, is his fourth. Ashanti would not have been born again after my murder if Faith, as Faina, had not found my kitten as she laid alone, in the Ninth Circle's Perimeter, when Faina was hiding from Nero Dionysus, as he was chased by the Demon Hunters." Dohannar stopped nuzzling all over Faith, and held her as he purred.

"Mothers and children are precious to all worthy gods, and so when I and Ashanti died, we were to be reborn. But because Nerobzal was in Yahweh's mind, we could not reach our bardo, and our karmas were pulled through space. Eighty-three years passed before Dohannar was freed from enslavement to Nero Ba'al Berith by Canon Michael, and then he summmoned Faina, and that led to Ashanti's and my freedom." Wysherah said. Dohannar ended the hug, gently playing with Faith's hair starting from her scalp, Faith giggling.

"But I was scared to be pregnant with Ashanti again, as Kaleido was still active. Dohannar and I gave our memories of Ashanti, when she was in my womb," Dohannar removed his hand from Faith's head, and the two stood and listened to Wysherah. "And her soul to Faina, who I am sure you know is the third incarnation of the O-type star's spirit, and a Soul Fragment of Faith representing autumn, a season of harvest, cool weather, and festivities regarding thanks for Gaia before Old Man Winter comes to cover the cold lands with his white robe. As I was days away from my due date, so was Faina, when Dohannar laid with her using the Cult of Asherah ritual Faina had found in the Deep Sea City of Yotutrnaeyl, one of the secrets Nero Dionysus had been hiding and using to abuse the merfolk of Yotutrnaeyl. Ashanit's birth led to Nerobzal's defeat, and Faina, and through her, Faith, overcame her fear of pregnancy and childbirth. Ashanti, and the idea of her, is a promised child with great love, kindness and courage, born at last with the power of trust, friendship, and the divine grace of Asherah, a life born to remember who Yahweh is supposed to be to men, women and children."

"Wow." Said Barbara.

"Faith wrote that, too?" Said Stephanie.

"Yes." Said Wysherah.

"Damn, that's fire!" Stephanie said. Wysherah chuckled with Barbara, Dick, Tim, Batman, Wonder Woman and Zatanna.

"I think it's easy to surmise that you're named after Asherah and the word 'wish'." Said Wonder Woman.

"Yes, but wish is spelled with a y." Wysherah made eye contact with Faith. "You're here to retrieve your birthrights and recieve the sermon to officiate yourself as Ulia-Ønske, yes?"

"Yes, and return my tooth, as my powers are awake now, so it can be where it belongs until I die again and am reborn or resurrected." Faith summoned the tooth out of the air into her right hand.

"Very good. Let's go together. Guests: when we arrive at the island, please do not pass the golden tiles in front of the double-coffin and altar, unless you want to fight the Dragon Priests." Wysherah walked through the next room, Dohannar and Faith behind her. Ashanti meowed and lunged into a hug, Dohannar holding Faith steady as Faith laughed and hugged Ashanti.

"Hi, baby girl." Said Faith.

"Hi, Mama!" Said Ashanti, a soprano-range teenager. Faith walked with Ashanti attached to her, Dohannar just behind to Faith's right. The heroes noted several chests with treasure, near the door to the puzzle, three dressers and wardrobes and two beds, a queen and a double, to the upper left, the lounge area to the lower left, a table set with four chairs to the upper right, and an empty space with a beautiful purple, blue and magenta carpet to the lower left.

"This is room much bigger and different than the one in-game." Said Tim.

Faith said, "I had to make a little home for my cats, my," She looked at Dohannar, redness in her cheeks. "My wish family." Dohannar smiled softly, and caressed her right cheek with his left paw-hand. As they approached the door, Wysherah pushed it open.

"Holy mega structures. This room is three times as big, as in Skyrim." Said Tim. Before them was a very long arching bridge surrounded by water, and at its end an island of stone with ten standing sarcophagi and an open coffin made for two, and a stone altar. The stone walls were given depth and colour by the gold painted vines, some parts unpainted as moss and mushrooms had grown with the flowers.

"This bridge is 287 paces." Batman thought aloud.

"Wow!"

"Correct." Said Wysherah.

The first thirty paces was built with smooth grey stone that became clay bricks with unique rocks, held together by wet dirt and coloured by yellow sand. Along its railings were many candles, some melted and the wick folded into the wax, others close to nothing and the wick barely alight, more halfway burned and more yet seemingly new and tall. There were flowers, perennials and annuals, and wooden vines painted gold strewn about the stone floor and draped over the railing. Pages with children's drawings of a golden tree read 'At'fman Lawbzal' and sometimes also 'Farewell and warm wishes for the next life of the Last Son of Bartholomew, Argophael, Animus of the Lost Daughter, Ulia-Ønske, Ego of that Animus and First Life of the Great Little Starwriter, who shall both rest here until Ulia-Ønske is reborn by the grace of the pantheons as Faith Lawson', written by older children or adults. Other pages had letters to Argophael and-or Ulia-Ønske, the golden tree drawn somewhere. Gemstones and polished rocks scattered about the pages, sometimes buried in the wax. Dirt, sand, and clay gave natural texture to the bridge from the thirty-first pace until the 287th.

Batman said, "Slicks and Wicks are made from dirt, sand and clay. They made the bridge longer, as the years went on."

Wysherah said, "Yes. They come here to die, sometimes. They live for two years, if they do not return to planet Grace for a week every other month. Grace is where their mother, Darisela, a canine earth elemental, lives. Their father is Decelep, a sea and sky serpent, and the only son of Mother Mermaid, who needs no man to procreate, and who terraformed planet Grace after the O-type star collided with the M- and G-type stars. The magic of the Slicks and Wicks ensures that this bridge, and all of the notes and flowers, do not weather, and allowed the bridge to expand as the pantheons and their children, and their followers, told the story of Argophael and Ulia-Ønske to Thalassic Space. The planet we occupy now, Little Path, is where Father Dragon lives with the Dragon Kin, away from the blades and cruel magic of Kaleido, before Kitsch was corrupteed to be so, and after it was reclaimed as Kirei."

"Italian vampires to Japanese vampires." Said Dick.

"Yes. Little Path and its moon, the Realm of Tree Peoples, were created by Father Dragon. While you now have context about who sculpted Grace, it might interest you to know that Bafsina was molded by the Tree Peoples, who travelled to the planet when they bulit spaceships, twenty-one years after they had spawned from the departed of Earth in the early 1600's. Bafsina is mostly water with islands, Plains and small continents, of course, and because of this is more of a water planet than Grace is, with two large continents and numerous islands and Plains, but not as many as Bafsina hosts."

"Huh." Said Dick. "So who terraformed planet Sia and Judge?"

"May I suggest you reverse the order, when listing them in the future, as sia means six?"

"Oh, yeah sure, sorry."

"It's not a worrysome thing, just a note. Judge was terraformed by the earliest citizens and lucid dreamers who visited the Dream World on Paper. That's why Krampus took hold of it so easily."

"Oh, Krampus did more than slaughter the Snow Elves and Astral Elves?"

"Yes. Judge is the place he occupied, afterwards. And no one was brave and foolish enough to challenge him until Bafsina was united after the Palette Civil War, and now Krampus lives in Platonia with his father, Nerobzal, and so does Bartholomew, who brought evil to both Grace and Yotutrnaeyl, as the transgender pirate captain Arles led the sea efforts to damage the Naglfar enough that the dead spilled into the ocean and were devoured by the corrupted merfolk that the Cloud Casters had lured from the Deep Sea City of Yotutrnaeyl, where Nero Dionysus had used his powers of debauchery to control Canon Poseidon. This feast upon the dead cancelled out the evil that Nero Dionysus had bloomed in the Five Mortal Qualities of the merfolk, who were immediately called to action by the Mermaid Mage Celia Nacre from planet Grace, and together, with the pirate ships and the natural winds, rain and dangerous tides of the squall, the Naglfar sunk into the ocean of Thalassic Space until it reached the space of Thalassic Space, to be there and be impossible to reach or summon ever again."

"Wow. That's really good stuff, Faith."

"Thank you!"

"As for Sia: it's a planet of dark forests, treacherous mountains and ravines, and rivers and lakes of dark magic coloured waters sculpted by the Passerine Sisters, Nero Spirits so powerful that they were declared as demons by Canon Lucifer and the Flytower Gods. Their Bird Personas, seen by the Oracles in dreams, were fated to be the houses of Cedillo Imagination Magic Academy, and the behaviours of each bird inspired the personality and life of each sister and the kind of student that the school phoenix, Illumine, would assign to each house. The Lightless Realm and Lightful Realm are Sia's moons, but are only visible when traversing Platonia."

"How did the room itself expand?" Asked Tim.

"Dohannar and I did the work. The candles melt, as they do naturally, and are replaced if the worshipper who placed it still lives. This bridge was only fifty paces, when Argophael and Ulia-Ønske, died. 687 years have passed, as you for sure know."

"Wow." Said Barbara, breathily. "This is all so much more than you described to us, Faith."

"Well, I was trying to be brief." Faith replied.

"True."

Wysherah said, "Were you told that the waters are from Pierian Spring?"

"Yeah." Said Barbara.

"Did Faith, or perhaps a visiting Urania, mention to anyone that they have healing properties?"

"Yes," Said Wonder Woman. "Frejya and Freyr brought Ønske to the spring, after she was severely wounded by a beast."

"Yes, that's right." Wysherah said. The group eventually came to the island. Everyone but the cats and Faith stopped in front of the golden tiles. Faith paused and glanced left, at the open coffin. It was made of stone, and the left side was lined with blue satin, the other side with white satin.

"What does he look like, Faith?" Stephanie asked. Dohannar and Wysherah proceeded to the altar, Dohannar standing in front and opening the closed tome bound in white and blue dyed leather, and Wysherah standing at the left side of the altar.

"Nero from Devil May Cry." Faith said.

Stephanie failed to not laugh, stifling it in her throat. "Sorry."

"No no, you're fine. Him, but cuter. With my round face, and my nice, round cheeks, and big, round eyes, but with Nero's jawline, white hair and blue eyes."

"Ah."

"I thought that, if I could be a boy, I would want to look like that."

"Aw, that's nice."

"Thank you. Flashing lights and eye-strain warning, by the way." Faith said. She continued, and stopped at the altar, in front of which stood Dohannar, Wysherah to the left. Ashanti broke away from Faith and stood to the right of the altar. Faith knelt in front of Dohannar with both knees, her head bowed and her hands flat on her stomach, left hand over her right.

"If you would all please kneel, on one knee or both, in respect to the pantheons and the O-type star's spirit that is within Faith, and Argophael, who is resting yet shall also contribute to the ritual in that he is her Animus." Said Wysherah. Stephanie, Barbara knelt with both knees, Dick, Tim, Wonder Woman and Zatanna knelt with one knee, all readily. Batman did with one knee, the next second, and several seconds later, so did Jason, also with one knee. "Thank you. Batman, since you seem to understand Neofom, you are welcome to translate Dohannar's sermon, which has Four Declarations." Batman nodded. Wysherah and Ashanti raised their arms to the ceiling and began to chant At'fman Lawbzal repeatedly with two seconds between each repetition.

Dohannar removed the white ebony dagger and scallop seashell necklace from the altar, where there was also a closed tome. As he spoke, he placed the necklace over Faith's head for her to wear, and cut a shallow cross with the dagger on her upper chest, Faith's closed eyes wincing. Dohannar placed the dagger in front of Faith, on the floor. He said, "Utnaresitinag eylesi otph thoe pafnathoeotna, wae cotma'afnad ylotut tot lot'k aft thoisi waotma'na, afnad remaemaber thoaft sihoe wa'si Ulia-Ønske, dafutghoter otph Víðarr afnad Skuld, photsitered byl Frejya afnad Freyr, maenatotred byl Urania afnad Uriel, afnad thoaft sihoe isi thoe otnoe afnad otnalayl vesi'ela afnad ma'naiphesitaftiotna otph thoe Ot-tylpe sitafr'si sipirit, phorever afnad ever, ina eafcho laiphe, ina eacho yleafr, afnad ina eafch gafla'xyl afnad utnaiversie."

As Dohannar spoke, Batman translated. "Unresting eyes of the pantheon, we command you to look at this woman, and remember that she was Ulia-Ønske, daughter of Víðarr and Skuld, fostered by Frejya and Freyr, mentored by Urania and Uriel, and that she is the one and only vessel and manifestation of the O-type star's spirit, forever and ever, in each life, in each year, and in each galaxy and universe."

Dohannar paused after the First Declaration, and Wysherah and Ashanti pumped their arms in the air, saying. "At'fman Lawbzal!" With a little more volume, not quite a shout.

Dohannar said with a kind tone, "Utnaresitinag hoafnads otph thoe pafnatheotna, wae cotma'nad ylotut tot blaesi thoe Phive Maotrtafla Quaflaitiesi otph thoisi waotma'na, afnad waho'la'yl maerge thoema waitho tho'sie otph Ulia-Ønske siot thoaft sihoe ma'y' phulafphila' hoer Rotlae afsi Pla'ywarighot otph thoe Rotnadot Thoeaftre afnad Greaft Laittlae Sitafrwariter, waitho afla' otph hoer Persiotna'si: thoe Gotsihenoite Sitafrgafzer Drafgotna, Skinne, si'red byl Skjør afnad birthoed afnad besitotwaed byl Frodig; Solas thoe Phafiryl Persiotna' afsi besitotwaed byl Duna; Ønske thoe Maerma'id Persiotna' afsi besitotwaed byl Urania; afnad hoer Nerot Persiotna', Odeya." Faith suddenly shone bright white-blue. "Ma'yl thoesie potwaersi prot'ect hoer afnad phrienads photr thoe got'd otph laiphe afnad af'terlaiphe, phorever afnad ever, ina eafcho laiphe, ina eafch yleafr, afnad ina eafch gafla'xy' afnad utnaiversie."

"Unresting hands of the pantheon, we command you to bless the Five Mortal Qualities of this woman, and wholly merge them with those of Ulia-Ønske so that she may fulfill her Role as Playwright of the Rondo Theatre and Great Little Starwriter, with her Personas: the Goshenite Stargazer Dragon, Skinne, sired by Skjør and birthed and bestowed by Frodig; Solas the Fairy Persona as bestowed by Duna; Ønske the Mermaid Persona as bestowed by Urania; and her Nero Persona, Odeya. May these powers protect her and friends for the good of life and afterlife, forever and ever, in each life, in each year, and in each galaxy and universe."

Dohannar paused again, and Wysherah and Ashanti pumped their arms again, saying, "At'fman Lawbzal!" At a controlled shout.

Dohannar raised his voice, but did not shout. "Utnaresitinag voticesi otph thoe pafnathoeotna, wae cotma'nad ylotut tot si'nag," Feminine and masculine voices began to fill the air with beautiful sounds. "Wae cotma'nad ylotut tot siho'ut," Voices joined that shouted with courage and pain. "Wae cotma'nad ylotut tot cryl," Voices sobbed, calling for Ulia, Ønske, Argophael, and others the heroes didn't recognise, but soon realised were the names of loved ones. "Photr thoisi waotma'na hoafsi retutrnaed tot hoer ho'mae afmaotnagsit ylotut, afnad wae cotma'nad ylotut tot laofve hoer totdafyl afsi sihoe wa'si laofved ina thoe pafsit byl ylotut afnad ylotutr peotplae," A truly massive stargazer lily, pink, yellow and white, suddenly bloomed from the center of the ceiling, releasing delicate golden sparkles that showered the cat anthros and people below. Jaws were dropped and smiles were shown by the Batkids, and Wonder Woman and Zatanna smiled and chuckled. The two heroines looked at Batman and saw a little smile on his face as he looked down from the big flower at Faith. "Afnad byl thoe peofplae thoaft thoe Ot-tylpe sitafr birthoed afnad givesi ho'mae, lfighot afnad ma'gic tot, afnad ylotutr bafrdsi afnad Pla'ywarighotsi, ylotutr choiladrena afnad thoeir photla'otwaersi, enatertafinamaenat afnad cotma'utnaityl, lotversi afnad phrienadsi, maeafnainag ina laiphe afnad ina afphterlaiphe."

"Unresting voices of the pantheon, we command you to sing, we command you to shout, we command you to cry, for this woman has returned to her home amongst you, and we command you to love her today as she was loved in the past by you and your people, and by the people that the O-type star birthed and gives home, light and magic to, and your bards and Playwrights, your children and their followers, entertainment and community, lovers and friends, meaning in life and in afterlife."

Dohannar stopped, and Wysherah and Ashanti repeated their motion and shouted louder, "At'fman Lawbzal!"

Dohannar shouted loudly, "Utnaresitinag Phlayltotwaer! Cotmae! Cotmae afnad siee thoisi choilad, cotmae afnad siee thoisi waotma'na!" The ceiling opened up to space as Dohannar called for the Flytower to come and see, and many eyes of different colours and shapes attached to different faces took the place of each star. "Cotmae afnad grafnat hoer afla' thoaft sihoe hoafsi ma'de," Seven magic circles, familiar to Batman and Tim, appeared over seven particular pairs of eyes, identifying each deity. "Afnad afla' thoaft sihoe cafna ma'ke, afnad laet ylotutr pafsitsi afnad phut'utresi ina pafrt be expresi'ed thorotutgho hoer breaftho afnad afrt," Three pieces of construction paper, blue, purple and pink, appeared and flew around Faith. "Thorotutgho hoer botdyl afnad ma'gic," The white-blue shine around Faith merged with her body.

"Unresting Flytower! Come! Come and see this child, come and see this woman! Come and grant her all that she has made, and all that she can make, and let your pasts and futures in part be expressed through her breath and art, through her body and magic,"

"Afnad laet it be reyoticed afnad resipected byl everyl bafrd afnad Pla'ylwarighot,"

"And let it be rejoiced and respected by every bard and Playwright,"

The sky shouted, "HOORAH!"

"Byl afla' choiladrena afnad photla'otwaersi,"

"By all children and followers,"

"HOORAH!"

"Photr enatertafinamaeant afnad cotma'utnaityl,"

"For entertainment and community,"

"HOORAH!"

"Afnad photr laotversi afnad phrienadsi, tot deiscribe maeafnaiang ina laiphe afnad afphterlaiphe!"

"And for lovers and friends, to describe meaning in life and afterlife!"

"HOORAH!"

"AT'FMAN LAWBZAL!" Wysherah and Ashanti screamed, beams of white light bursting from their hands and phasing into space, and collecting every eye, magic circle and voice above until the ceiling had returned, and, with shouts of great endeavour, released all of the light, space, divine eyes, sounds and colours into Faith, who flashed the colours of the magic circles eight times, Batman counted. Faith sighed and opened her eyes, her hot breath white-blue. Dohannar applauded, an proud smile on his feline features, and Faith stood, meeting Dohannar's gaze with love. Wysherah and Ashanti lowered their arms and applauded with adoring smiles too, and Faith looked at them lovingly as well.

"You may applaud too, if you would like." Said Wysherah.

"You may now also stand." Ashanti quickly said.

"Faith has now fully become a demigoddess!"

"Woo hoo!" Said Stephanie and Barbara, immediately clapping along and getting to their feet, as did Tim, Dick, Wonder Woman and Zatanna, Batman standing and clapping a second later, Jason barely a second afterwards. Damian did not applaud, but he did stand.

"Yay!" Said Tim.

"Yay, Faith!" Dick said.

"Congrats." Jason said.

"My eyes hurt, but that was sort of cool." Said Damian.

"Damian." Said Batman.

"Sorry. It was... it was pretty freaking cool." Damian clapped along, Batman noting that it was with normal energy, which made him thankful. "Very fancy. I imagine this entire scene has increased the word count by seventy-five percent."

"Yeah, that's about right!" Said Faith, bending down to pick up the dagger. Dohannar draped leather satchelbag with a white leather sheath over Faith's right shoulder. "Thank you." Faith said, sheathing the dagger.

"Thank you, Damian." Batman said. The applause ended.

"Thanks for even coming through the portal, Damian." Faith said, looking at the boy. "You didn't have to. Thanks to you too, Jason. I know you don't like magic."

"Well, it's not every day you get to see, well, this." Jason said. He pointed at the ceiling. "That," He spung his finger around. "Was really impressive. I really wanna read how you described it."

"Thank you. It is on Tumblr. My account is @starwriterulia. He he."

Stephanie giggled. "Self-shout out!"

"Shameless plug!" Faith and Stephanie laughed. Barbara, Wonder Woman and Zatanna giggled, and Dick and Tim chuckled.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, Tim?"

"How big is that flower?" Tim pointed with his left hand.

"8.26 m, or 27 ft 11⁄4 in."

Faith said, "I looked up 'world's biggest dump truck' and was given Belaz 75710. That's it's height."

"Mhm." Batman nodded to confirm.

"Holy Gigas Liliaceae, that's a big flower!" Dick exclaimed. Faith laughed, joined by the other Batkids, Jason nodding and chuckling, Damian rolling his eyes but sort of nodding, Batman nodding with a hum in the cursive way a parent would say, 'Yes, what a distinguished specimen!'. Wonder Woman and Zatanna laughed. too.

"I like Stargazer Lilies!" Faith said, during the laughter.

"Well, you may all now return to, uh Earth Prime, is it?" Wysherah looked at Dohannar, who nodded. "Yes, Earth Prime. You are welcome to visit again using the chalk door portal Faith undoubtedly drew in a trusted location, which, I will clarify, may only be used by people who either Faith trusts, or who any of you trust."

"How do we close it?" Asked Barbara.

"You knock eight times on the portal without your hand passing through. You may simply wash away the chalk door with water. Ah, but to enter this place and not only leave the draugr asleep but to walk with the Great Little Starwriter is a blessing."

"We are blessed to have her in the family." Said Batman. Faith blushed and turned her head down, diagonally, as the other Batkids nodded, humming different tones of agreement.

"Thank you." Faith said, meekly. Then, confidently, "Let's go." The group walked back over the bridge. As the group moved to leave the house chambers, Dohannar gently took hold of Faith's right bicep, and gave a mew. Faith instantly looked Dohannar in the eye. "What is it, my quarter?"

"Si'nace ylotut afre naotwa si'blainagsi afnad dafutghoter tot thoe peotplae ylotut waotutlad hoafve warittena ylotutrsielaph tot hoafve siex waitho," Faith's face became bright red, and she hid her face with her left hand connected to her forehead. Tim's jaw dropped as he looked at Batman, who looked at Faith with his head tilted forward and a burning frown, then Tim stared at Faith. "Except phor thoe ylotutnagesit,"

"Mhm." Faith tone was very embarassed.

"Faith, what the hell?!" Said Tim.

"Waotutlad ylotut laike tot sitafyl thoe naighot afnad ma'ke laotve tot mae?"

"What did he say?" Said Dick, a brief pause between his words. The Batkids had paused in the mouth of the previous area, Batman at the doorway, Wonder Woman and Zatanna to the left of Faith. Wysherah and Ashanti sat down on the couch, Ashanti resting her head on her mother's lap, and they watched.

Tim said, "I've got this one, Dad. He said, um," Tim cleared his throat. "'Since you are now siblings and daughter to the people you would have written yourself to have sex with',"

"OH GOD!" Barbara and Dick exclaimed, and turned to face the floor and the wall, Dick pressing himself to the left wall and Barbara to the other.

"Faith!" Barbara scolded.

"Faith, what the heck?!" Dick commented. Jason had furrowed his brow and bowed his head, making a subtle noise of fury. Damian tried to keep walking. Dick grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Oh. Oh, so Ra's messed with that too, huh?" Said Stephanie. She had not moved, when Tim translated.

"'Except for the youngest'," Tim continued.

Damian said, "Oh, well, thanks for not being a pedophile, but still insinuating that you would participate in incest, or force it upon others."

"It technically wouldn't be, if Ra's hadn't brought her into Bruce's house, and etcetera." Barbara said. Batman hummed, nodding twice.

"Yes," Wonder Woman said. "If he had, say, just brought her home, she could have been intercepted by someone else, such as the League as a whole."

"I'm- still- not go-ing to, by- the way." Faith said, clearly afraid.

"GOOD." Said Dick and Barbara.

"Thanks for adding nothing to your excuse." Said Jason.

"Oh yeah, we get it, Faith, totally." Said Stephanie. "You think you're cool, y-you think you're OK for that."

Tim said, "I hope that half of Tumblr who insta-blocks Batcest blocks you, after you post this." Faith frowned, moving her eyes from Tim to the floor.

Batman sighed, looking from his children to Faith he stood at the doorway, where he had been when Tim started translating. "Is this true? Would, would you have agreed to, or tried to convince all of them but Damian to have sex with you, if things had gone differently?"

"If we got along and there was consent, yes." Faith said. Barbara sighed loudly, into a growl, gripping Dick's right arm and pulling him along and away. Dick gave no resistance. Damian turned and left, fast enough to pass Barbara and Dick. Tim shook his head, and also left.

Jason stared Faith down. She looked scared. He looked pissed, as he should have been. "Get your fucking bag and get out of the Belfry. And then, get out of Gotham. If we see you again, you won't just get an earful, you hear?"

"Ye-s, I h- ear y- ou." Faith stuttered, trying not to be quiet and clearly about to cry, quiet overall out of terror. Jason shook his head and turned, leaving.

Batman stood himself directly in front of Faith. "The rest of what Dohannar asked you, that Tim didn't translate: 'Would you like to stay the night and make love to me?'. Would you have done that?"

"Yes. Because I knew that, as soon as Ra's brought me into your house, I had to control myself. And I was going to. Not just out of circumstance. But because it was right."

"Right for who? Right because of why?"

"Right for everyone. For you and the others, because that's what's morally right and respectful, it's what normal families do. For the Internet, because you know I'm still on Earth-33, and that's why I brought up Tumblr, and etcetera, how Damian reacted. I don't want people to hate me. I want to write stories that people like, not to be a people-pleaser, but to make good stories, and to be a better artist, and know what to-do and not to-do. And for me, so I can be a better person."

"You have a niece, right?"

"You have a niece?" Said Wonder Woman and Zatanna.

"Faith, you have a niece!" Said Wonder Woman. "And is that a younger brother or sister, or an older sibling?"

"Younger brother."

"Oh my God." Wonder Woman turned herself away, pinching her nose with the fingers of her right hand as she held the elbow of that arm with her other hand.

"I only told the story to Stephanie, and Barbara heard 'cause she was outside with dessert, and I assumed she told it to Dick and Tim."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Batman asked. "Were you going to assume the others would share this with Jason, Damian and I, and it would just blow over, and be fine?"

"No, I expected to be confronted about it more than Barbara did."

"What did she tell you?"

"She told me it was in the past, and that my brain remembering it the way it does is my reminder of why it's wrong. And yes, I thought they would have shared the story already, but I would have shared it with you three, too. That's the only story I've been hiding out of shame."

"Did you force your brother to have sex with you?"

"No." Faith said, firmly. "We only took off our clothes. Mom heard us, asked what we were doing, shocked, and I got the most spankings. My nightmares remind me of this. But it's twisted, and I hate that nightmare."

"Your nightmare makes it so that your brother starts it."

Tears began to form in Faith's eyes. "So that he wants it. And he's a teenager instead of ten, and I'm an adult instead of twelve."

"And what is that to your morals? What is that to your desires?"

"It's all wrong, kh," Faith choked on her breath, trying not to cry, but the tears fell anyways. "I'm sorry, it's all wrong, and I wish that I had at least asked my mom about it and she had taken my 3Ds away before I went in his room. I wish I had gotten myself in trouble one minute sooner. It would all be fine. I would have learned without having my subconscious beating my ass because I remember my childhood too much. I'm sorry. I'll leave as you all want because I've betrayed your trust, and I'm genuinely sorry."

Batman was silent for a few seconds. He inhaled and said, "I already made my decision when Dohannar said what he did. Your confession just now has made no difference. But it sure explains why you let Stephanie hit on you, outside of queer reasoning." Faith lowered her eyes.

"Look at me." He said, angrily. Faith lowered her shoulders and looked Batman in the eyes. He noted her trembling lower lip, her firm gaze. "Right now, your body is telling me that you're angry at yourself, and scared of what people think of you. You like attention, we all know that. You tried to get help, but even you know that you have to help yourself, first by admitting your wrong, which, yes, you have done, but second by doing better. But you haven't done that, even when you were offered help in the past, and when you were offered help by the kindest, most forgiving and understanding kids in all of Gotham, and me, Faith."

"You've kicked us all in the shins, 'cause you can't reach our asses, and now you're sitting on the floor because you can't aim worth a damn. You're not a bad person, but you're not a good person, either." Batman turned his head and eyes to Wonder Woman and Zatanna. "Take her wherever, I don't care." He meant that, in the anger of his heart. He looked back at Faith, saw that she had lost all the colour from her face, her lips parted, and she wobbled, leaning forward and to the left. Zatanna and Wonder Woman were frozen, knowing not to attend Faith until Batman was gone.

"Attend to you." Batman mumbled, as he moved his eyes from the heroines to Faith. He raised his voice so that Faith could hear. "You want people to attend to you, like the spoiled little princess you've been since your foster parents first hooked you on sugar and junk food, and didn't give a damn about you afterwards." Faith exhaled, her body leaning forwards more, and her feet stumbled, her legs buckled, her hands found the floor, the end of her right shoulder and the crook of her neck, her head coiled into her body as she vocally trembled and whimpered.

"You can go, you can just go now, yes, please go, please, please go." Faith rapidly sputtered. Batman stepped over her, his cape taking the light of every candle and leaving darkness as he moved through the passageways. "Per- fect." Faith murmured, staring into the black.

Martian Manhunter sighed into Wonder Woman and Zatanna's comms. "Bring her here."

Zatanna hummed, thoughtfully. "I have another idea."

"Me too." Wonder Woman said.

"Very well. I shall trust your judgements. My offer still stands."

"Thank you, J'onn." Wonder Woman said. She put her right arm under Faith's left armpit and lifted her to her feet, straightening Faith's neck so she wouldn't be sore. Zatanna removed Faith's seashell necklace and gave it to Dohannar, who shook his head.

Wysherah said, "Place it in her satchel. Those are her birthrights, regardless of her words and actions. Their effectiveness, however, depends on her faith."

"Thank you." Said Wonder Woman. Dohannar went to sit on the chaise as the women walked Faith through the darkness. She whimpered and panicked as they went, shedding tears.

"Jeff, an', an'... an' Freddy, an'... m-me, Odey-Odeya, aaaa!" She spoke gibberish, escalating into yelps of "No!" and "Aaaa!". Wonder Woman and Zatanna said nothing. They didn't look at Faith. Only forwards.

When they left the Dragon Tomb, the portal was still there. They crossed into the Belfry, and Tim was waiting there. He knocked eight times, and the portal closed. Dick threw a bucket of water on the wall to wash away the chalk. Barbara dumped a different bucket of dirty water onto Faith's head, Zatanna gasping. Faith cringed her face.

"Dishwater. From the pan I cooked that bacon you were so picky about eating. With extra soup, for your disgusting mouth." Barbara hissed. As Faith was walked to the exit, they passed Stephanie, who spat on her face.

'That's not going to be all they're going to do to her, is it?' Zatanna said to Wonder Woman, who shook her head while making eye contact with Zatanna.

Jason handed Faith a horribly damaged 12" white rabbit plush with floppy ears, covered in black chewing tobacco, yellow cat piss stains, and brown shit stains that smelled like dog shit. "Here. Found your Mr. Bunny." He said, using his tone in just the right way that he knew would remind Faith of her mom. And it did, and she didn't let go of the rabbit because of her fear of Jason and her mom.

'Oh, tch, really?' Zatanna thought.

'That affected her, a lot.' Wonder Woman commented.

Dick had come up behind, and he whispered in Faith's right ear, "Oh, and you're blocked from the group chat." Faith curled her bottom lip up and looked at the ceiling, and Dick stopped following, marching back to the computer area, where Barbara, Stephanie, Tim and Jason had quickly gathered.

'Yes, that makes sense.' Wonder Woman thought. She and Zatanna gasped as they stopped in front of Damian.

"Eyes here." Damian said. As Faith looked up from the floor at him, she saw Damian had drawn his sword. She had to tear her eyes away from it to meet his eyes.

"Damian, no." Batman said. "Just use your words."

"Well, I was going to carve a frown on your stupid face. I figured you'd have liked that, psycho. You try to be cool, you try to do something, to be someone, but you're a failure. And that's why you're unhappy, along with all the other trash you've got. I hope your trauma heals as ugly as it has been." Damian sheathed his sword, and stomped towards his siblings as the heroines continued with Faith, eyes on the floor again. Damian jumped into Dick's arms and sat on his lap, panting in anger as he watched Faith with the others near the computer as Dick combed his fingers through Damian's hair untli Damian's breathing slowed.

Batman handed Zatanna Faith's dufflebag as they came to the door. It was already opened. Faith saw Batman's boots and tried to look up, but it hurt. Batman noticed and raised a hand. The heroines stopped.

"I hope you improve, Faith." Batman said. Faith nodded, stiffly. The heroines came outside with Faith. The door slammed shut before Wonder Woman and Zatanna had forced Faith to take her first step after they had already taken theirs. They walked to the sidewalk, and then stopped.

"So." Wonder Woman said, in a mother's voice, keeping Faith afraid, but Faith painfully raising her eyes to look into Wonder Woman's. "Do you want us to leave you at a homeless shelter, or do you want help?"

"H..." Faith was stuck on the sound for three more times. "Help." It was said clear enough, afraid but trying to be light-hearted.

'Bear with me a second, Diana.' Zatanna quickly communicated.

'Of course.'

"From who?" Said Zatanna, in a softer mother's voice, but still in a scolding tone. Faith blinked, moving her eyes away from Zatanna to the street and buildings ahead.

"I... I don't know who would... be willing to take... someone who has always, and keeps betraying people that... she sets out to have the trust of, and... wants to have in her life."

Wonder Woman sighed, Zatanna as well, but quieter. "That's why you're always alone, Faith." Wonder Woman said, Zatanna nodding. Faith nodded too, tiredly. "We know where to take you, if you'll trust us."

Faith lifted her head to look at Wonder Woman and mumbled, "Ow." She smiled, a little, with her cheeks. "I trust you."

"Thank you."

Zatanna asked, "Have you ever been in the air, Faith?"

"Only once. Airplane to Vancouver for a foot specialist, who couldn't do anything."

"Well. Now will be your first with superheroes."

"Are we going across the country?"

"Yes, to Washington."

"Oh, I know who you want me to talk to."

"Are you OK with talking to Ollie and Dinah?"

Faith nodded, then suddenly cried, "Oh Go-hod, it's only 8 A-M!" She whimpered, her whole body shaking. She laughed for a moment, then sobbed, full volume. Zatanna sighed, looking from Faith to Wonder Woman.

"Let's go." Said Wonder Woman. Zatanna nodded. Faith did too, with limited movement. The women lifted themselves with Faith into the air, eastward.

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