#ive just Finally got the hang of drawing him lol

[lvnesart]

something awoke in me

[cosmichorrorsarestillnicerthanme]

Lol Ive got an Artoria Pendragon prompt for both saber Artoria and lancer Artoria. Where a previous male master of hers is summoned as a heroic spirit that she has a romantic relationship with that turned into a marriage after she stayed with him as a familiar after the grail war ended. She's constantly spending time with him and having alone time with him leaving the knights of the round confused on who reader are until they finally ask Artoria and she announces that That The newly summoned servant is her spouse and therefore her queen.

I went in a bit of a more... Chaotic direction for this then I intended...

Still, I had a blast writing it!

NOW! YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND!!!

Mordred’s 1000 yard stare bored into the cafeteria wall, coming dangerously close to burning a hole through it.

At the most definitely not round table next to her’s, the knights of the round sans their king were drawing straws to ask Mordred what was wrong.

Now let us all pray for Gawain and thank him for his sacrifice.

Oh, now he was sitting next to Mordred with the same traumatized stare…

Then Lancelot.

Then Bedivere.

Then Tristan.

Then Merlin, who began to laugh his ass off as if he was in on an inside joke.

That left only Gareth, who, upon asking what cursed knowledge caused this, followed them promptly.

That cursed knowledge in question being this.

Mordred heard moans from the king's room, and the king telling the newest Caster of Chaldea “Don’t Stop”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Knights stealthily watched Artoria and you from across the room, a sense of impending doom hanging over them.

And that sense of impending doom was growing with every second as Artoria began to slowly and very conspicuously scoot closer and closer to you on the couch.

Eventually Artoria was sitting as close to you as she possibly could, a content smile on her face as she began to whisper something to you.

The Knights were quite concerned about this, but there was nothing they could do about it.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Artoria eyed her knights conspicuously watching her as she stealthily slid closer and closer to you with each passing second.

She should probably tell them who you were.

Alternatively, she wanted to keep you to herself as long as she could.

Needless to say, she knew what option she was going with.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This torture of the knights continued for a month.

Mordred saw Artoria share food with you, nearly killing her from the shock of it on the spot.

Gawain saw the king give you a secret kiss on the lips, causing him to faint dead away.

Lancelot has been into the infirmary for head trauma a concerning amount this month from slamming his own head into walls.

Tristan was mostly normal about all of this. Mostly.

Merlin was laughing his ass off.

Gareth had gone into overdrive with making food and sweets to keep her mind off things.

And Bedivere was really just still traumatized by the implications of what happened.

Eventually this all came to a head when Artoria had her fill of fun and called the knights to assemble.

After that things got… chaotic.

Especially when she explained that, through a surprisingly well thought out powerpoint, you were the Queen and then you popped in to say “So that means I’m your mom now Mordred! Technically at least.”

Mordred kinda… checked out after that…

Slowly things began to fall into place, but a certain flower mage wanted to keep his entertainment going for just a while longer.

So, Merlin being Merlin, asked “So then Artoria, how was it to have your bed warmed by your lover again?”

“What do you mean? We haven’t… wait… wait! Oh! HA! HA AHA AH!” you said before beginning to laugh, leaving the knights confused and Artoria blushing as you laughed while falling to the floor, unable to control yourself.

“T-that wasn’t… intercourse…” Artoria said before muttering something under her breath as you howled with laughter on the floor.

“What was that my king~?” Merlin cooed, a mischievous grin on his face.

This when put together with your laughter and her knight’s confused stares led to the inevitable.

Artoria cracked, and, much to her shame, told them exactly what happened.

“IT WAS THE QUEEN GIVING ME A SHOULDER MASSAGE!!!”

Artoria Lancer, unlike many of her other counterparts, can be rather… mischievous at times.

Not to the same effect as Merlin, but she does take some amusement at others' expense on occasion.

And so when you showed up one day and after all of the hugs, kisses, and crying, Artoria knew just what to do.

She was going to introduce her knights to their queen.

Eventually.

Until then however, well, Artoria was going to ensure her knights were kept on their toes.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

First up was Mordred, and Artoria’s plan for her was simple.

A hickey on the neck, or what looked like one at least.

The reaction, to be expected, was Mordred completely breaking.

Second was Bedivere who showcased similar results after seeing her exiting your room. 

Next up was Gawain where all she had to do was make a few implications to have him clutching at his proverbial pearls.

Lancelot was next, and he was a slightly tougher nut to crack, at least until she gave you a quick kiss on the cheek.

Gareth simply received an off-handed comment from Artoria about you being “Someone rather important from her point of view.” This left Gareth confused for a few moments until the dots connected in the way Artoria had predicted.

Tristan was… already in the know… somehow…

 And so, with all her little pieces of chaos sowed, Artoria sat back with you at her side and had some popcorn and a massive buffet of other foods.

However, she eventually ran out of food after… several months.

You were surprised she had that much self control.

You were also surprised when the knights of the round kidnapped you in a very dramatic fashion.

Bag over the head, handcuffs, the whole nine yards.

“WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MY FATHER YOU HOMEWRECKING RIDER!!!” a very distressed Mordred shouted as she tore the bag off your head, revealing a room covered wall to wall in bulletin boards filled with pictures, red strings, documents and the other, equally distressed Knights of the round..

It seems Artoria’s little mischief has gone a *Tad* too far…

And now Mordred was shaking clarent in your face…

It is probably time to start talking, fast.

Then the door was blown off its proverbial hinges as Chaldea had sliding doors.

And there stood your one and only, Artoria Lancer, looking very, very irate.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

One quick ass whooping later, the Knights of the round were sitting on the floor, lumps on their heads and looking very ashamed of themselves.

After all, they had just kidnapped the queen…

And that was a whole other can of worms for Mordred…

Nonetheless, the entire charade came to an end, and you were only slightly disappointed the amusing antics Artoria had caused were over.

Simply put, there is no pomp or flashiness when Artoria Alter is involved.

When you are summoned she is going to find you, kiss you, and tell everyone in no uncertain terms, that if they were to even think about touching “Her Berserker” she will use their head as a doorstop and feed their bodies to pigs…

After that, she refuses to elaborate and leaves, you following her closely behind.

This left a very scared Chaldea and a very confused Knights of the round.

This is because of the following.

They had just been threatened by a very, very scary lady.

Artoria Saber Alter had just walked up to someone and claimed ownership of them like a lost puppy.

ARTORIA SABER ALTER JUST KISSED SOMEONE IN A VERY PASSIONATE AND LOVING MANNER!!!

ARTORIA SABER JUST DID SOMETHING IN A LOVING MANNER!!!

So, the Knights immediately set to trying to track you and her down.

This took a lot longer than any of them thought possible seeing as the two of you had simply disappeared into thin air.

Then everyone heard a massive crash from the material storage room…

On that day Guda was to be found in the fetal position upon finding their entire storage of materials having an absolutely massive chunk bitten out of them when Artoria forced you to eat them in order to have you in your “Final Ascension” as Guda dubbed it. She did this because she wanted you in “The right clothes for my queen.”

This left the Knights in shock, however, Artoria simply went off gallivanting with you again instead of clarifying anything.

[losersroom]

could u directors cut the conversation of gay90s where it's like "I’ve been thinking about April. You know, before I left." to "“Absolutely,” says Brock, who has never understood anything less in his life"....whatever pieces of that that u want to!! i just love that conversation and would love to hear ur behind the scenes!!!!

GOD so like. alright that whole fic grew out of a conversation me and g were having Forever ago about this post, particularly the second point. and i was like, oh hey, that reminds me of this story i wanted to write about brock going to the gay 90's. and then i sat on it for like two more months.

so the important thing to take away from this is that it was only ever supposed to be that first part, where brock and jonas run into each other and then jonas sucks him off and they kind of subtly agree to not talk about it, the end. but like, i am at heart a gigantic sap and i wrote up to there and realized i couldn't leave it on the final line of. it can never happen again. because i too have been gay and closeted and sad about it, and i didnt want to give all that to brock.

(the other thing, which you didn't ask about but here it is, is like. a lot of these thoughts and attitudes i gave brock in that fic were just... how i felt, about myself and queerness and everything, at age 21/22, born and raised in the midwest. and like obviously i grew up and got over it and i'm extremely queer and trans and married now, and i want to think, hey, in this universe i'm constructing, it can get better for brock, too. we just have to get him there.)

anyway i had to then construct like. a narrative throughline from blowjobs to some sort of mutual understanding. ive said this before but i always think it's fun in these things to like, present brock's opinions and perspective and expectations and just pepper in around the edges hints of what jonas is actually thinking and feeling and doing, which. doesn't always line up. and then make people guess what's going on in his head, same way as brock is guessing. what i HOPE people took from that scene is that, you know, that whole summer brock spent thinking about jonas, jonas was thinking about him, too. trying to work out in his head if brock being there was a one-time thing or if there's an opportunity to have something more. and i DONT want to get into whether or not i think jonas actually has a history in this continuity with any of the people that brock imagines he might, because i think it's more fun to leave people room to draw their own conclusions, but he definitely has more experience with Being Queer In The NHL than brock does, and navigating that world, and being just. careful about it. exercising caution. he might want to mess around with brock again, but he has to approach it with discretion, you know, in case brock... Isn't into that. (but in my heart, because i'm me, i also like to think that jonas is interested because it's brock, not just because he's there and potentially the only one of their teammates available. u know. in my heart everybody's in love, im a romantic, i can't help it.)

so that scene was just intended as like. connective tissue. but it wound up being my favorite part of the entire fic lol. just the... palpable awkwardness of trying to figure out if a guy is interested in you. being on the same page without really being on the same page. and then jonas choosing to just hang out awkwardly and watch a terrible movie at 2 am with brock not just because he cant think of another way to extract himself from the situation now that its clear theyre not going to fuck, but because he sincerely likes spending time with this idiot, lmao. that's Real. that's a move i would have done, when i was dating.

[lifmera]

Heya, I was wondering if I could have a matchup for Hazbin Hotel? Male please x

My pronouns are she her, I'm fairly average height for a girl and my favourite animals at the moment are either cats or goats!!

I have black hair, dark eyes and pale skin, my hair goes just above my breasts and is layered. I wear a lot of black and hardly own any clothes that aren't!! (It’s just so flattering) I have a few large tattoos as well and am definitely getting more. I also have a lot of ear piercings, a nose stud and 🍒 piercings. I’m also English (northern, not southern) so I do have an accent

In terms of personality, l'd say l'm rather outgoing, witty and a bit nerdy. I wear a lot of studs and chains but I think they look badass, however I wear them causally so I guess you could also say I’m pretty bold? I've often been told l intimidate people, however I like to think they don't know me well enough to judge. Ive been told I can be quite loud, and I have some blunt, dry sense of humour which my friends seem to like. I'm an ENTP through and through and am currently in law school, stereotypical as fuck ik. I can sometimes struggle to trust people due to past experiences, however I think I’ve got the hang of reading people now to know when they’re my kind of cunt or not.

I can have a short temper and struggle with my emotions sometimes, (diagnosed bpd/adhd, looooove to see it) but am in the process of learning to manage them quite well.

Hobby wise, I enjoy drawing, painting and going out with my friends to concerts and festivals. I Love music, specifically Goth, Metal (Death, Goth metal, Nü metal, all sorts) and a little bit of rock obviously. I'm tempted to start learning how to play the drums or guitar but am not sure where to start, plus school takes up so much of my time.

There's of course no rush to reply, I adore your work I think your matches are always spot-on and I'm really curious !!

-🕷️🕸️

HEY 🕷️🕸️!!!

Honestly I was so TORN between these two. So i decided lol… why not both?

Its okay hun!! I major Pre-Law right now 🩷

I’ve decided to pair you with… VOX & HUSK

Vox first though. Cus i read this and i was like.. VOX but then when i showered i was like .. wait husk… and then i was like FUCK… anyways

He’d definitely talk to you more because you reminded him of Velvette. And what probably went thru his head was “ooh new model :)”

But he LOVES ur personality. If you intimidated VOX? He would literally purr at ur feet and BEG you to join the Vee’s.

Even if you are dry, its okay, cus everything else makes up for it to him.

He definitely isn’t surprised if you don’t trust him at first, but he’s think that “nothing a little hypnotizing cant fix ! ;)” (take that as you wish.)

Vox is kinda pretty shitty himself- and probably doesnt really care much about you unless you blow a fuse on him. But honestly he’d like that.

Though he’d also be glad that you are managing your emotions! He HATES tantrums . (Cough cough Val)

He would probably make you draw you guys together lets me honest. He’d think it’d be funny. Till he actually enjoys it.

He would make fun of ur music taste. Then he would love it. Cus hes such a LOSER like that……

Honestly he’d love it sm he’d have them as theme songs D:

If you learned any instruments it’d probably cause him to want to as-well….

Ok Husker time…

Not gonna lie. You guys give off the same vibe, and he’d probably like you the most out of everyone at the hotel.

Especially at first glance?? Like finally… someone normal

Says him anyways.

Husk HATES cats, and obviously… i think he would also let you pet him or brush his fur… after becoming in a relationship. Otherwise he’d literally bite you.

I think he would talk to you first at the bar, and man is he good at finding shit out???

I think you guys would become close friends within a finger snap-

And honestly become inseparable. Totally have backhanded shit to say and it would be so funny. (Great duo)

He definitely would be super proud of you for seeking help! He would say that not much people have enough balls to do that.

Honestly i also think Husk would enjoy painting too. He seems like a gambler but i think in his free time, something like painting would relax him?? Or atleast looking at paintings and analyzing them.

Your music taste? Probably same as his. He’d love to listen with you, and Everytime you are at the bar he’d ask if you wanted to play a song you both enjoyed.

If you learned the guitar he’d be SO IMPRESSED. Like “okay dayum… ❤️”

~~

I HOPE THIS WAS OKAY HUN!! And AWUGHS THANK YOU SO MUCH?? i always try to make the characters accurate because i feel like if they are ooc .. its just.. weird ?

[kozakuwas]

bro kagepro illness also hitting me so hard rn. i mean, ALWAYS. im always very ill but rn... I FEEL SICK!! anyways. lets join our forces. harutaka and kidomomo. tell me abt them <3 anything u want <3 do u think theyd go on double dates <3 i think kido&takane make a good duo cuz Music buddies and kido is honestly pleasantly surprised to see who they know as ene act very normal for once. they're like i thought ene was batshit insane. and takane's like No i am. but i can also be normal<3 and haruka&momo have little art clubs :3 momo is haruka's first job methinks. as like art lessons. very early str haruka's picking himself up and etc etc and momo's like HI. DRAW WITH ME and keeps insisting to pay him and he's like IM NOT A PROFESIONAL U DONT GOTTA PAY ME ALSO UR A FRIEND but momo's like ratio+i have money+u need money+IM PAYING YOU. erm. sorry that was weird im normal. i swear i was just gonna ask a question not go insane on ur askbox. TELL ME ABT HARUTAKA AND KIDOMOMO:3

AUGH 💥💥 i can absolutely see kido and takane hanging out, and the haruka and momo hangout thing reminds me of my fav kdmm fic where haruka was momo's wingman who got her to finally confess to kido. ough... god haruka teaching momo how to draw is smthn ive had in mind for SO LONG. like them drawing and haruka giving momo both art and dating advice. they're buddies post str. i just know it bugs the hell out of shintaro that his sister has gotten so close with his homie too, but he still prefers that than her hanging with takane (he thinks she's a bit of a bad influence. he does not need his sister turning into takane 2). ALSO IMAGINE MOMO DOING HARUKA'S MAKEUP. girls night <3

anyways back to kido and takane. yes they would get along great i feel, like them sharing their music recs!! kido recommending some radiohead while takane recommends the most skull shattering heavy metal songs ever. and also takane gives kido relationship advice too. like whenever ayano gives kido advice takane comes in after she leaves like "hey, all of that she just told you? Forget It. anyways..." (sorry ayano but we dont need kidomomo becoming like. you and shintaro </3)

and i just think kido and takane would just. sit in kido's room and just talk and Vibe, y'know? like takane is the best to have a convo with and yes its refreshing for kido to finally see takane's more normal side

and HRTK KDMM DOUBLE DATE SO REAL AND TRUE. momo and takane are already like this 🤞so it gives haruka and kido an opportunity to know each other better (their partners are also enjoying seeing them get along too) and ooh imagine them going to an arcade for a double date. kido and takane headphone actor rematch no powers involved. takane fucking SMOKES kido. didnt give them a chance to breathe lmao. meanwhile momo and haruka are trying to win every plushie in the crane machine. hrtk and kdmm end up going home each with like 7 plushies. the end ❤️

bonus-

kido: why does takane call you babygirl

haruka why does momo call you babygirl

kido:

haruka:

sorry if this post isnt organized but none of my posts are lol. also UR KAGEPRO MADNESS IS ALWAYS WELCOME IN MY INBOX WE ARE ALL INSANE HERE ON KAGETUMBLR 💥💥

[gobstoppr]

hey gamers so i was listening to this song (midnight moonlight, remix of triple deluxe final boss themes) and had some ideas for a comic / fic? about kirby and dedede going to visit taranza .

heres my disorganized rambles from the notes app .

== taranza visit ==

-id like to think that like. every few months kirby and ddd go to visit taranza . -its that time of the month again . look kirbys got his mess of a calender right here . its got a silly flower doodle on the date -wake up wake up wake up we gotta go cmon wake up -ddd is barely awake . hes annoyed . huh . what . what is it why are u bothering me at 7 in the morning -kirby enthusiasitically pointing at the dreamstalk out the window . sigh . oh boy time to fucking climb huh -no matter how sleep deprived and grumpy you are , u cant let down a promise to kirby . hell drag u along regardless . -bandee's also coming . yeah -ok so now were starting the climb up the dreamstalk . kirbys flying a bit ahead. hes using beetle because better flight . ddd's behind em carrying a bunch of stuff for a picnic later . hes like climbing climbing . strong . bandee is helping -hey are you sure ur alright carrying all that . well yeah ofcourse im fine lol. im the strongest guy ever ive got this . <-- is exhausted -kirby enthusiastically greeting everyone they pass . oh hey its one of floralias funny flower fairy guys . hi ! hi there !! how are u !! hes like an energetic puppy . he sees literally anyone and is overjoyed . -maybe the people of the sky still hold ddd extremely highly right . like yeah were well aware it was initially a misunderstanding that u were the hero of dreamland but ur still our hero . they personally helped/watched ddd when he was doing that section with the cannon,, and probably witnessed him helping to free kirby so he could finish the final blow on sectonia . -but yea i think it would be entertaining if hes like . a super big deal to them . tries to act all cool like yea i know im the best haha . he is a selfconscious mess and this is how he disguises being flattered -ok so eventually we meet up with taranza all the way up near the castle in royal road . -taranzas happy to see them . hes constantly trying to tidy up in little ways like fixing his hair and straightening out his scarf and such . even tho hes sorta close with them hes a bit of a perfectionist and wants to be seen as well put together . -we do silly fun things . have a picnic in the garden . taranza teaching the others about plants . bandee is fascinated by his rambles . in the past taranzas been shown to think of himself as very cool and clever sometimes so maybe . he plays chess with ddd some . you know snickering to himself when he thinks hes about to make a really smart move. ddd playfully teases him over it -maybe at one point taranza gets a bit gloomy . maybe hes staring longingly at a dreamstalk blossom and feelin sad over sectonia again . ddd could try to reassure him a lil . give em a pat on the back -kirby suddenly remembers somethin . runs over to his bag and pulls out some flowers local in dreamland that he had brought for taranza bc he knows he likes that sorta thing . taranza cheers up a lil bit . somethin somethin thematic about learning to cope and move on some . accepting the love of the people around you now while still retaining part of their memory . -they hang out until sunset . idk maybe they spend the night or somethin its a long way back

thats all ive got for now yea

i might try to draw a few of these ideas later . just . thinkin about the guys ykno im replaying triple deluxe again and MAN. that game. is so fucking good .

[blu3st4rzsysbl0g]

5/10/24 (5/11 at the time of writing this) Friday

school went as it usually does, which is basically not anything noteworthy, Marcie started this account after getting Ashton to approve of it so that's fun and cool I (AL) was fronting for most of the idea, Marcie kinda popped in last night after we had a bit of a meltdown so i've been getting to know her a little...she's fun, gives me cool older sister vibes (might just be because she's older than me)

most notable bit was it was Friday so we got pizza for lunch, ate alone per usual while watching a kurtis conner video on yt lol, did some drawing for Marcie's intro as well as my own that i'll probably get to tomorrow...idk we'll see ig, we also had a huge assemble today so we had to deal with that, got really blurry in the crowd while listening to the teachers scold the middle schoolers (i dont see why we had to be there since we're in highschool) lucky its the last assembly of the year, since our school has all school (k-12) meetings every month

Sock's sibling is home from college for the summer! they came to pick us up from school, so it was a fun drive catching up with them, let Sock front for that mostly, it's been around three weeks since I've seen him pop up, life's been too miserable for him ig, still front stuck (around 140 days atp) so that's great...maybe Marcie figured i was going insane being here for so long, who knows!

got home to our mother's house and got to talk to her for a while, ride there was fun too getting to talk to both our siblings, Sock fronted for most of that but walked off once dinner started (i barely even noticed him leave tbh..)

after dinner i drew some more art, Normal came into front because he heard about the blog..said he wanted to make an intro so I drew him a faceclaim, usually we could use fanart since he has a source (Normal Oak from Dndads) but since we're doing the intros I think it's more fun to actually draw him, especially since i like drawing his source anyway

Ashton was in the front room hanging around for a while eating mental-mcdonalds, idk why, but Normal started talking to him, said he reminds him of his uncle i guess? Normal is a pretty nice but kinda sad kid...it was something to witness. Norm's also got some daddy issues and Ash is a pretty prominent father figure...kinda like Joel from the Last of Us tbh...Sock and him have had a kinda father-son relationship since he formed back in 2021 (Sock wants me to add that they think its funny that there's a weird phenomenon in the system where all the teen alters tend to annoy the hell out of him lol...notably i dyed our hair three times w/o consulting him or anyone so i wouldnt say im exempt from this observation)

anyway, Sock called some of our friends for a bit (after practically ghosting them for like a month lol) played on my Stardew Valley file, thirsted over Harvey (Sock's aroace...idk what's wrong with him /aff) he had told our friends abt my little front stucky situation, (they're convinced i lost my mind because of how many times i changed our appearance drastically in the time ive been here...i dont deny this accusation) Sock also got Ash to try a Baja Blast for the first time, "It tastes like a heart attack, jesus christ..." is what he had to say...it was the zero sugar kind? idk im kinda addicted to them so

we've got a doctor's appointment fairly early tmrw...we've been having a lot of joint pain lately, our Mom thinks it's arthritis? we're not sure, she's not a doctor so...getting checked out finally! we'll see how that goes, also checking up on some meds stuff...

- AL 🍁 (She/They/He)

[happyendingsong]

im tabling at dcc in like three and a half weeks -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- which will be a ton of fun once im there but dear god im out of practice

i need to figure out what to prioritise making in the next while, and be very positive affirmations voice I AM CAPABLE OF FINISHING A PIECE OF ART AND IT WILL BE FUN REEMBRACING THE FULL ARTISTIC PROCESS about it

some ideas i have areeee:

twewy print, neku shiki beat and josh all piggybacking on each other

twewy badges/keychains which would be fun but ive no idea if they'd sell </3 maybe i should just test the waters with the print this time round and see what happens. maybe it'd be smarter using the neo twewy gang but like i have zero interest LOL.

kh sora print i started ages ago when he got announced for smash that i never finished

monster high print, im not sure what though, kind of thinking about dressing them up like 80s horror final girls or smth but im not sure how to translate that properly

bratz print, general y2k fashion shite

ff7 print, the gang in 90s fits hanging out with cats, styled like an old school adoption/psa poster?

ff7 badges/keychains?

kh sorikai print, the three of them getting healed at a save point

advtime bubbline print, IVE NEEDED TO MAKE A BUBBLINE PRINT FOR GENUINELY YEARS BUT I NEVER HAVE ANY IDEAS. I STILL DONT HAVE ANY IDEAS WHATS WRONG WITH ME.

ygo print, mai and her harpie ladies. ive had this one on my vision board for yearsssss i just need to sit down and do it 💆‍♀️

mp100 print, the cast all wearing themed raincoats w umbrellas

mp100 badges? keychains?

kh sora print, him in the 100 acre wood

jennifer's body as a goosebumps cover

fnaf print, gachapon with all the animatronics in lil capsules (i made fnaf badges before but they never really sold that well, but i feel like the new game brought a lot of people back/made people really nostalgic for the series as a whole/now the kids who grew up with fnaf have disposable income to buy shit at cons?? idk um. lol)

eah print, lil cutesy cartoon versions of the gorls all hanging out on a big fairytale book. but i think eah is pushing it, i should see if the mh print has any takers before committing to eah.

advtime finn print or finn and jake, i SHOULD have another thing since all my advtime stuff is from like 2013 or smth. would LOVE to have more advtime on the table, i just need to think of smth 😔

could be a complete sellout and just do owl house because i know it'd sell..... i won't but i could.

same w she ra

same w ace attorney? though it'd be less sellouty because i do actually like aa, and i think aa stuff does REALLY well here

MAYBE sdr2? would have to rack my brain pretty hard but it could be a good shout

aw maybe i could finish my wwe 4hw print from years ago? i think it WOULDVE sold when i first started it in like 2019 but im not sure about now :/ although i think ott are actually putting on a little show at dcc this year so maybe doing a wrestling print makes a fair bit of sense. but i feel like if any nerds at a comic con are buying wrestling prints, they're gonna be aew fans. and idk if aew has any women id care enough about to make up a whole print for.....

kh girls print

the sims bella goth print

atla print, the gaang hanging out with turtle ducks or azula's girl squad

i also want to make a lil art zine of my life drawing bits from last year, i think that'd be cute :)

fart cunt faggy dyke cock pussy porn, hopefully this doesn't show up in tags

[jackrrabbit]

Adversary /// Overhaul x f!Reader (18+)

Summary: You make a deal with the devil to save your life, but it turns out Overhaul’s not interested in your soul.

A/N: Remember when I said I was going to do a fantasy collab and then dipped for like 9 months? Hahaha…anyway…

@pleasantanathema @ present-mel @shadowworks—if it’s not too late, here’s my part for the Pleasant & Strider Fantasy AU Writing Collab from a million years ago. Go check out the masterlist and gorge yourself on these amazing pieces!!

Tags/Warnings: dubcon, demon fuckery & occult things, big heresy/sacrilege/perversion of religion, sex in a church ft. Catholic sex guilt, other than that it’s not that bad lol, inexperienced reader, mild degradation, shameless camp and demon-fucking clichés, Overhaul calls you “little girl” 👉👈

He doesn’t look like a demon.

Not that you really know what demons are supposed to look like. But…red skin, right? Fangs and claws and swirling masses of bad energy. Maybe cloven hooves for feet. Yes, that’s the Disney version—but even if you didn’t expect a cartoon personification of evil, you didn’t expect this.

He looks like a doctor, you think. Lab coat hanging open, surgery mask pushed down under his jaw, stethoscope draped over his shoulders. No, he’s a little young to really look like a doctor…an intern, you amend, shifting back in your hospital bed. He looks like he fits right in here, not a hair out of place. Except for, you know, the polished black horns curling out of the sides of his skull.

Overhaul. It was written in the book. That’s the only thing you have to call him in your head.

He’s standing in the center of the sigil you drew at the foot of your bed before midnight, surveying the room critically without meeting your gaze. He looks annoyed—that’s not a good sign, is it?—but then again, of course he’s annoyed. You’d be annoyed too if you got summoned out of your cozy hell dimension in the middle of the night. According to the book, you’re lucky he even showed up…although ‘lucky’ isn’t really how you’d describe yourself most days.

“So,” Overhaul says after a long moment of silence in which you question every choice you’ve made in your relatively short life. “You’re dying.”

You nod.

“And you don’t want to be.”

You nod again, wondering if you’re supposed to be contributing more to this conversation. It’s a bit difficult when your mouth is so dry it feels like you’ve been eating dirt, but you suppose being in the presence of an unholy servant of Satan will do that to a person.

“Fine.” He sighs, frowns, and then finally lowers his gaze onto yours—and you shiver.

Those eyes. No human has eyes like that.

“Make me an offer,” Overhaul tells you, and through his open mouth you catch a flash of sharp white teeth.

Okay. Okay. The chirping of the heart monitor speeds up (as if it weren’t obvious enough that you’re terrified) and you fold your knees up to your chest and fidget with your ring and think. He’s giving you a chance to establish parameters. You’re supposed to start with his end of the deal, the thing you want from him. That’s what it said to do in the grimoire, aka the 19th century demonology volume your creepy cousin brought back from her pagan anthropology research trip in rural France. The one you keep hidden under your bed because your mother would burn it if she knew you were reading about summoning demons.

Offer nothing to a hell creature without first telling him your price. You know the words by heart, both the winding calligraphy of the original French from the grimoire and the rushed scrawl of the English translation your cousin left for you in sheets of lined paper layered between the pages of the book for you to read. Really, this is her fault. She was the one who slipped you the book, who told you that it worked, who snuck you the ingredients for the summoning. She was the one who left a bookmark at the chapter on this particular demon, one that specializes in ‘Contrat pour Remédier au Déséquilibre des Quatre Humeurs’, which she said meant a contract to cure any illness. Even his ‘name’ is translated in her hand, practically an afterthought in the margins of the page.

‘Le Malin qui Ravage et Rebâtit’— Overhaul?

You looked up the literal meaning of this phrase on your own. It did not reassure you.

“Girl.” His voice is cold, irate. Your eyes snap back up to his and it feels like that burning gaze is laser-beaming into your skull. “Do not test me. My time is limited…as is yours.”

You swallow. “How long do I have left?”

“Less than a single human year,” he tells you without a trace of sympathy. “Seven months, twelve days, three hours. Or so. You’ll be too exhausted to leave this bed in four months, and the pain will become intolerable in six… By the end, you’ll wish—“

“Stop,” you breathe out. The heart monitor is beeping wildly and you squeeze your knees into your chest, trying to calm down your breathing. “Stop, I—I want to live.”

“Of course you do.” Overhaul’s lip curls. “How very predictable.”

Be specific, you remind yourself, doing your best to ignore the stifling disapproval from the man—the demon—in front of you. Something about him (maybe how clean-cut he looks, maybe the indisputable authority in his demeanor) makes you want to impress him. But you didn’t turn your back on your religion—you didn’t draw pagan symbols on the floor in chalk, fill silver cups with various questionable substances (including your own virgin blood), and turn the crucifix your mother hung over your bed upside-down so you could let a demon make you feel guilty for wanting to survive. “I want to be cured. I’m okay with whatever natural death I have instead when I’m older, I just don’t want to die of this illness. I want you to make me healthy.”

“Simple enough. What else?”

‘Simple’? Your heart surges with something you’ve felt very little of since your initial diagnosis—hope. “T-That’s it. Just the cure.”

Overhaul glares at you. “Humans… Every vice in the world available to you, and you limit yourselves to the basest priority of survival.”

“But you can do it? You can cure me?” you persist.

Overhaul steps forward (quiet, so quiet you wonder if he really moved) and holds a hand out to you past the foot of your bed—you hesitate, and a second later you can see the muscles in his hand flex, stretching the latex of his plastic gloves tight over his knuckles.

Just do it. You give him your hand. Carefully. Like you’re scared the contact will burn you. It doesn’t (although his skin feels warmer than yours), but after a moment his grip tightens, sliding down past your hand to circle the fragile bones of your wrist and squeeze.

“Ow?” You wince.

The demon’s eyes flicker closed for a second, lips moving silently like he’s talking to himself—and then he drops your hand unceremoniously back onto your lap. “You could be cured before the sun rises this morning. I doubt your stay in the hospital will extend past the end of the week.”

He sounds bored, voice as flat and passionless as it was earlier, but your heart is soaring. Cured. You’ve lived with this illness for so many years, you can’t remember the last time someone told you you could be cured. And getting out of the hospital that soon? You can just imagine taking down all the decorations from the walls of your room here and setting them up in your old bedroom at home. You could see friends on the weekend and not take an oxygen bag, you could get a job or—or apply to college, you could have a life—

“That is…assuming you have something to offer me in exchange for the cure.”

Your stomach drops. You’d almost forgotten about the other half of the deal.

“Don’t tell me I came all this way for nothing.” Overhaul steps back, and the orange light of the candles you set sends strange shadows over his arrogant face. The fires look brighter now, and you find yourself tracing the lines of those shining black horns. In an odd way, they look natural—so organically framing his temples that you can’t imagine him without them.

“N-No, of course not. I have some money—I mean, my mom has some, and I can get it for you…” Which is half the truth. If you know anything, it’s that your mother’s spent most of her savings on your treatment and care. You probably have more debt than you have money in the bank right now—you’d try to get rid of that, too, if you hadn’t read in the book how important it is to keep your request as simple and straightforward as possible.

…Although it’s apparently not enough. Overhaul’s eyes narrow, molten gold irises carved into slits. “Even if I had a use for human money, do you really believe your life is worth so little?”

“No—no,” you say quickly. “I just thought—in case you were interested—”

The air crackles with energy, the candle flames spark bright blood-red, and the hair on your arms stands straight up. “I am not.”

“Okay! I get it.” You wave your hands back and forth, pulling your IV line from side to side with the motion. The book was very clear about staying calm and rational while you work out the terms of the deal, but that’s easier said than done when you have a real live (live?) hell creature in front of you. You always knew this was going to be the hard part—all the stories say there’s only one thing that a demon would be interested in, and no matter how inviting the prospect of living past this illness is, you know you’d rather die than sell your immortal soul to the devil. “I’ll give you anything except my soul! And—and don’t hurt anyone I care about, or— just don’t hurt anyone, okay? Other than that, if there’s anything I can give you, I will.”

Overhaul’s lip curls, baring a thin strip of those unnaturally sharp canines. “And is your soul really so valuable?”

This throws you for a loop. Isn’t that the standard deal? A soul for a wish? That’s how it’s supposed to work—at least in this twisted version of reality where you can summon a demon to perform unholy miracles for you. But if you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense, does it? Why would your soul be valuable to him? You can’t form an argument, especially since you’re not willing to barter it away in the first place.

Your mouth is pursed open as you search for a response, but Overhaul doesn’t seem willing to wait. A gloved hand wraps its way around the railing at the side of your bed, and he leans in closer. “Little girl…what makes you think you possess anything I desire?”

Little girl. You’re not a little girl, you’re a grown woman—and yet there’s no untruth in the statement. In front of him you feel insignificant, immature, weak. You have nothing real to offer, and something tells you that you’re not going to get rid of the demon you summoned without a sacrifice you’re not willing to make.

You twist your ring around your finger—the nervous habit you haven’t bothered to break because you’ve always had more important things to worry about—and the glint of silver in the candlelight must catch Overhaul’s eye because before you even notice him moving, your delicate hand is trapped in his larger one to give him a better view of the tiny piece of jewelry. “What is this?”

“It’s—um, a ring. A purity ring.” Has he never seen one before? Well…actually, that makes sense.

Overhaul turns your hand over in his without touching the band of silver. He’s looking at it closely, inspecting the lovingly engraved cross in the design and the inscription on the other side. “Matthew 5:8,” he reads out.

“…Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” you recite cautiously. It feels wrong to speak the words in front of him, but somehow you can’t help yourself.

Overhaul’s hand doesn’t leave yours. “This ring is important to you.”

“It’s a symbol of a—a promise I made to God. To save myself for my future husband.”

“To ‘save yourself’? To save what?”

You can’t believe you’re explaining this to a literal demon. You close your eyes and inhale slowly and taste smoke. “My…virginity. It’s a promise that I won’t have sex until I enter into a biblical marriage.”

At this, Overhaul is quiet. You give him a moment to answer, half expecting him to question why you think God cares about your sexual status (honestly, you’d be lying if you said you haven’t wondered this yourself), but he stays quiet until you peek up at him to try and gauge the look on his coldly handsome face.

He’s still staring at the ring. He hasn’t touched it—maybe he can’t, because of the cross?—and through the latex, his skin feels hotter than a human’s is supposed to be.

“Is there…” you start, but you trail off when you realize you have nothing to ask. You give a little tug to try and take your hand away and you’re surprised when your wrist actually slides out of his grip to fall back on the nest of sheets in your lap. You didn’t think he’d let you go so easily.

Overhaul turns his head to the side, eyes drilling into you so you feel like you should lower your gaze. The candlelight flickers in strange shadows over his horns. “This will do,” he says quietly.

“What?”

“In exchange for your cure.” The demon taps his own left ring finger, the place where the purity ring sits on your hand, and your heart soars. He actually wants that? It’s just a simple silver band, not worth much, but you’re not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe it has some special significance because of the religious connotation. Your mother will be angry you’ve lost it, but you’re happy to cope with that if it means living to actually get married!

“Yes!” you blurt out before he has a chance to rethink his offer. Sure, you’ll miss the purity ring—you’ve had it since you were a kid, after all—but there’s no question you’re getting the better end of this deal. At least in your opinion.

Something flashes through his yellow eyes, something you don’t even want to try and identify. “The contract, then.”

You barely have time to notice that his voice has gentled, that it’s practically silken in comparison to before, when the candlelight flickers again and suddenly the contract is everywhere. Everywhere. Writing appears on every surface in the room, covering the walls, stretching over the ceiling, coiling around the sides of the hospital equipment and decorating your bedsheets until you and Overhaul are the only untouched surfaces in sight. The characters are inscribed in red, dark red like—don’t think about that, you tell yourself squeamishly. You can make out some of the letters, even a word here or there—French, you recognize, mixed with what looks like Latin and interspersed with what you can only guess are runes.

“I can’t read this,” you tell him, fidgeting with your ring for what you now realize will be the last time.

“I only need your name,” he purrs, and then you feel a fragile weight in your hand: a feather, pearl-black and glossy and too large to belong to any bird you can think of, its angled tip glistening with wet ink. There’s an empty space in the writing before you, and Overhaul’s gloved hand comes to yours again to guide you into place.

This feels wrong…then again, of course it does. Even if you’re getting off relatively easy and just losing your ring rather than your soul, you’re still making a deal with a demon. You sign your name, forcing yourself to think about the future you have ahead of you rather than a disapproving white-bearded caricature of The Man Upstairs wagging his finger at you for haggling with a literal servant of Satan. People have done worse things to survive, haven’t they? It’s just a ring.

You set the feather down and Overhaul sighs, thick black eyelashes obscuring his intense gaze for a moment—and then the contract is gone, leaving your hospital room as blank and sterile as it’s supposed to be (well, aside from the candles and all the other ritual stuff you threw together to summon a demon in the first place).

“Are you going to cure—heal me now?” you ask.

“…Patience, little girl.” He’s pulling his glove off, peeling it down his fingers to bare the pale skin of his hand. You catch your breath and wonder what this is going to feel like, and then the tips of his fingers meet your cheek and—

you stop breathing.

It doesn’t hurt.

Or if it does, you don’t remember the pain a second later when breath floods back into your lungs. What you do feel is energy. Strength in your muscles, blood pumping through your veins, every inhale and exhale as light as a bird and freer. You feel healthy. You’re surprised you even remember what health feels like but you do: it’s like you’ve only been half alive, and now life is surging into you and through you and around you, bubbling up in your core like a spring overflowing. You blink rapidly, thinking you might cry from the sheer pleasure of it, but when you open your mouth it’s laughter that comes out. You’re healthy. You’re alive. You barely notice the IV line literally falling off of your skin because the hole where it entered your vein is sealed shut and healed perfectly.

No more needles. No more hospitals. Even without all the monitors beeping out your heart rate and measuring your vitals, there’s not a shred of doubt in your mind that you’re cured.

“Thank you!” you laugh, looking up at Overhaul and for the first time, not caring that he’s evil incarnate. “I feel—I’m okay! It worked!”

“Of course it did.” His expression is inscrutable, but he lets you have a few moments to enjoy your newfound health.

You roll your shoulders back, flex each muscle you can isolate one by one to test, make fists with your fingers and then run them over your hair, which is already thicker and shinier than it was a moment ago. Your body thrums with energy—you want to run, to feel the ground against your bare feet and the cold night air on your face, and you think you could do it! Your legs are already swinging over the side of your cot, ready to run barefoot out of the hospital if that’s what it takes, but before you can stand up Overhaul’s pushing you back down onto the bed.

“Have you forgotten your end of the bargain already?”

Honestly you did forget, but only for a second, only because you were so excited to just be outside again. “Oh, yeah. Of course.” Your hand goes to your left ring finger, ready to slip the ring off and hand it over, but Overhaul shakes his head.

“Not here.”

“What—?”

You’re falling. Your hospital room is disappearing, the image of your walls and your window and your bed disintegrating into yawning black, and you’re falling through it into nothing, into emptiness, and Overhaul’s still-bare hand in yours is the only anchor you have so you clutch onto it and squeeze your eyes shut. You want to scream—that’s the sane thing to do when you’re falling through miles and miles of empty space, right?—but when you open your throat the sound is swallowed up just like the light was…

Overhaul’s hand burns into yours, an improbable lifeline that you pull closer more out of terror than conscious thought. The slick, empty air rushes around you and you think I am going to die like this and then, incredibly, as soon as you’ve accepted your imminent demise, you feel your back mold onto a chilled, flat surface, vertebra by vertebra up to the back of your head, as if you’ve been lain down onto it.

Your heart thuds in your ears and you brace for an impact because your body hasn’t quite accepted yet that it’s not falling anymore—but at the same time, you know you’re lying down on something. You pry your fingers away from their vice-grip on Overhaul’s arm and feel around blindly for what’s underneath you, and when it seems reasonably tangible you let yourself open your eyes.

Way above, vaulted dozens of feet over your head, is a ceiling studded with gilt-edged frescoes and stained glass. It’s raining (even though it wasn’t in the hospital, you think) but through the massive panes of colored glass there’s enough oily blue light to make out that you’re in a church.

You’re in a church, with a demon. Isn’t that against the rules?

You sit up stiffly and look over at Overhaul, who’s standing at your side and looking down at you…which is how you realize the soft, cold surface you’ve been deposited onto is the blanket on top of the altar in the sanctuary. “Where...did you take me?”

“You should know this place.”

And you do, when you look around. It’s empty now and you’ve never been here at night, but this is a church your mother would bring you to when you were little, back before the disease got so bad you couldn’t risk traveling to it anymore. This is where you took your purity vow…the ring feels heavy on your hand. “Why—why—“

“I can’t stand human hospitals. Filthy places… How that reek of illness and death doesn’t bother your kind, I’ll never understand.” Overhaul pulls his latex glove back on. He’s dressed differently now, no longer impersonating a doctor—black shirt, black pants, and a…bird mask in red leather and gold. So are you, as a matter of fact. Instead of your hospital gown, you’re in a gauzy white dress that’s already been pushed up to pool around the tops of your thighs.

The slip is too thin for the cold, and you can feel your nipples standing up under the cloth so you fold your arms over your chest and hug yourself. “Why did you take me here?” The sound of your voice echoes off the walls eerily and you wish you hadn’t spoken so loudly. The reflection of your words sounds girlish, nervous.

“I told you. Your side of our contract.” Even in this dark, the angular features of his face are clearly concentrating—on you. “Are you already having second thoughts? Such a fickle little thing…”

“You mean the ring?” You reach for it again, ready to tear it off and throw it at him if that’s what it takes to see your deal through, but Overhaul snatches your hand away, pinning it above you.

“Not the ring,” he says. “The promise.”

The…promise?

A chill makes its way down your spine despite the heat radiating off the demon’s body and onto yours. “I don’t understand.”

“The promise,” Overhaul repeats—and you hear a sound almost like wings flapping and then he’s on the altar with you, knees straddling your hips as a single hand holds both your wrists above your head. “To remain a virgin until marriage. Your promise to God.”

A streak of lightning cracks down on the other side of the stained glass window behind the altar, illuminating the room briefly in spectacular pits of red and orange and yellow…and then it’s dark again, and the only color you can make out is the gold in Overhaul’s eyes.

“I’m going to break it,” he murmurs, lowering his head toward your ear right as the answering thunder rolls through the sanctuary, up through the altar, up into you.

///

Méfiez-vous de son piège, the grimoire said. Beware of the catch.

Of course it wasn’t just a ring.

Overhaul’s fingers are in—inside you, his middle and ring finger pumping through the length of your cunt like they belong there, like you were made to be touched this way. A mixture of your juices and your own spit cling to the latex because he made you suck his fingers before he put them in you and he hasn’t bothered to take his gloves off—not that you asked. You’ve been too busy biting your lip to try and muffle the moans that he keeps forcing out of you. He’s bracing himself on top of you with one hand and fingering you with the other, so your own hands are free to push into your eyes and hide your face…until he yanks your arm back and stops.

“Look at me.”

Your eyes are screwed shut and you shake your head back and forth, the movement shuddering your whole body right down to your pussy wrapped around Overhaul’s fingers. He slows the movement and kneels back, pushing one of your thighs up into your chest as he does it.

“Look at me.”

And you’re not sure whether it’s some unearthly power he has over you or the plain old deterioration of your willpower, but you can’t refuse him. You crack your eyes open and he’s glaring down at you, skin pale as ice in the blue light. Once he’s satisfied that you’re watching, the demon leans back in to fuck your cunt with his fingers, slowly at first and then quicker when he hits something inside of you—a spot, a place on the inner wall of your pussy that makes you feel like you’ve been shocked— heat blooms through you like blood in water and you gasp and he curls his fingers up to pet over that spot again.

“Wait—wait, that’s—it feels—weird!” You’ve never felt like this before. You’re not supposed to feel like this, it’s wrong.

“I understand you’ve never touched yourself, but don’t pretend you don’t like it.” Overhaul says, voice as indifferent and calm as ever even though your cunt is dripping clear sticky liquid over the plastic of his glove.

He pushes back in and grinds his palm over the little button on the top of your pussy—your clit?—and you want to scream. “No, I—I don’t—nnhh...”

Do you like it? The demon’s body is so hot next to yours, like he’s running a fever except you’re the one going out of your mind… You’ve heard metaphors for sexual pleasure before (that it’s like having something to drink when you’re dying of thirst; or that it’s the ultimate act of intimacy, love in physical form) but all of that’s a fucking lie. There’s nothing to compare it to, no reference that makes sense, because it doesn’t make sense—you don’t even want him to keep going, do you? You’re only doing this because you signed your name on a devil’s contract, because you don’t want to die and there’s no alternative…but that doesn’t explain why you feel so warm from the inside out, why you’re squirming and your hips are rocking involuntarily no matter how much you try to keep still. This isn’t right. You feel like you’ve been lied to.

A good girl wouldn’t like this.

Overhaul isn’t going to let you close your eyes, so you don’t—but the sounds coming out of your mouth are so…indecent (and how can you think these things about yourself? the word feels like someone else is saying it when you hear it in your head) that your hand is drifting up to your mouth before you can stop yourself, trying to stifle all of it…

“Let your voice out. I want you to hear yourself moan.”

Long fingers slide their way out of your pussy and then move up to rub quick little circles around your clit and you moan, like a whore, like a girl getting her cunt rubbed by a demon— “Oh, uhhhn—something, it’s—coming—“ There’s something building up in your core—a peak, a climax, something that makes you fist your hands in the nightgown he put you in (so tight you’re surprised the thin fabric hasn’t torn) and tilt your hips up into him, begging without words because you don’t have any to express what your body is asking for…

But he doesn’t give it to you. Overhaul takes his hand away from your pussy and the shock of the cool air after his too-hot touch is almost enough to send you over that edge—almost. Not quite. And without it, you’re left shivering and quaking, thighs twitching as your baser instincts beg you to just put your hand between your legs for once and hump your fingers to completion if the demon won’t do it.

You’re not going to risk that, though. Not when Overhaul’s dragging your body closer, bunching up the blanket on the altar under your spine, so your pelvis is angled to his… He’s already shirtless and you hear him unzipping his pants but you can’t bring yourself to actually look at him, even when you feel something hard and hot nudging up against your inner thigh and then aligning to your sticky wet slit.

“This will hurt a bit, but I want you to look,” he says, and you don’t even understand at first until you make yourself feel it—his cock, pushing up against your tight cunt to finish this, this perversion of what your first time was supposed to be…

And what was it supposed to be? Roses and candles and soft kisses? A nameless, faceless husband unzipping your wedding dress and making love to you with the lights off? The way the demon touches you should be cruel in comparison but it isn’t, it’s lighting fires under your skin and turning your brains to mush, so how is your body supposed to tell the difference?

It’ll hurt, you know that, you’ve heard enough about sex to know that it always hurts the first time for girls…women. It was already a stretch to fit his fingers in your virgin pussy, so of course his cock is going to hurt. You turn your head toward the window at your side and try on look out at the rain drawing rivulets like veins over the glass, something to focus on instead of him.

“I said look,” the demon hisses, and his hips push forward a bit and you bite off a whimper of pain. “Watch me take your virginity…look at your tight little cunt swallowing me up just like it was made to.”

“N-No—“ you whine, even though it’s not like you can ignore it. “Don’t make me, don’t make me look, I can’t—“

“Then look at me.”

It’s what he wants, some kind of wicked satisfaction he gets off on, but you’re lucky enough to even get an option so you choose that one, shifting your gaze up into his face instead of the place where his cock is pressing deeper and deeper inside you. Overhaul’s eyes are half-lidded and it’s hard to tell from behind the mask but the look on his face is…pleasure? No, that would be too human. Restraint, at least. He could just thrust up into your body in one stroke, but he wants you to feel it for some reason.

Maybe because it’s a worse betrayal of your chastity if you want to get fucked.

Lucky for you, though, you can barely feel anything aside from the pain. The heat you felt building earlier is draining out of you even as Overhaul tilts deeper, layering his chest over yours. You’re almost grateful for the modest barrier the dress provides between your torso and the solid muscle of his abdomen. His cock in your pussy feels like it’s too big too deep too much and it’s the first time you’ve felt like your body wasn’t created specifically for this purpose so you hold it tight.

“Does it hurt?”

A second of clarity makes you want to snarl (of course it fucking hurts, I’m losing my virginity to a demon I summoned from hell) and you dig your fingernails into your palms to stop yourself from saying it out loud. Overhaul pulls out a fraction of an inch and then pushes back in and you feel like the breath’s being pushed out of your lungs. “Yes! Yes, it—it hurts—“

“I can make you enjoy it…for a price,” he sighs, settling into a slow rocking motion of his hips pushing into yours.

And you want to, every sore muscle in your cunt is telling you to give in and give up, give him what he wants so you can enjoy it like he says—but you’d rather hate every second of this than make another deal. You shake your head quickly and because you’re still too afraid to look away from him, you don’t miss the look of surprise that flits across his face before he tamps it down. “I don’t—I don’t want to—like it,” you gasp out between thrusts. “It’s better if—if it h-hurts…”

This time it’s obvious—his eyes really do widen, and you feel some petty triumph at having caught him off guard like this. Who’s predictable now? you think—and then he’s lifting one hand off the altar at the side of your head and tugging his glove off with his teeth, and you don’t even have time to be afraid of what he’s going to do to you because it’s too late, his bare fingers are already stroking over your mound and onto your core, massaging into the flesh of your stomach so he can feel his own cock sliding in and out of you—

and it doesn’t hurt anymore?

You only have a second to try and understand—he cured you, he healed the pain from your first time just like he healed your illness?—before he hooks his grip under your thigh and folds your legs into your chest so he can fuck into you harder than before. His cock slaps into your pussy and you can hear it, hear how wet your filthy little cunt is, smeared through with your juices. It’s sick—the sound of skin against skin, and the moaning you can’t hold back, you sound like a woman in a porno and you wish the pain would come back just so you could keep hating what he’s doing to you. “What—what did you do—“

The demon ignores you. “It feels good, doesn’t it.”

“Nn—“ It’s deeper like this…deeper and rougher and you can feel it. Now that the pain’s been reduced to the dull ache of a stretched muscle, you can feel everything—his cock sliding against that same spot in your cunt that makes you want to squeal, the friction of his body moving against your clit, all of it, everything you wanted to block out— he pumps into you and you hear your breath sobbing out a moan a second out of rhythm, the sounds of you bouncing on demon cock echoing over the walls. “Please—ah, ahhh…”

“‘Please?’ Are you begging—me, little girl?” Overhaul pushes your thigh up and drags his cock through you, excruciatingly slow, forcing you to feel the thick head slide over every gummy wall in your slick pussy.

You shake your head, mewl, try to force your hips to stop rocking back into his and grinding your clit against him. But you can’t. You’re a—you were a virgin, for fuck’s sake! Overhaul’s immortal. Probably thousands of years of experience on how to make you feel like you want this, like you’re only alive in the places he touches you… You’re at his mercy, if he has any. You never stood a chance.

“Then are you begging your god?” His body lowers directly onto yours and like you’re being controlled by puppet strings your arms fold around him and rake your fingernails uselessly into the smooth skin of his back. You can feel the vibration of his mirthless laughter through his chest. “It must hurt terribly…to know he isn’t listening.”

“Don’t—stop, please,” you sob. “Don’t say—don’t stop—please!”

“Listen to yourself, girl—“ Overhaul’s breath is faster now, but you don’t have time to question it because you feel your peak coming again, the tension rising up through your cunt and your abdomen, harsher and crueler than when his fingers were in you but you want it just as much. More. “Has he ever answered your prayers? Has he...ahh, fuck—who’s the one giving you what you need?”

“No— please, please just let me let me, please—“ You’re talking nonsense now, begging for the release—at least then it’ll be over, and you need it, you need it so badly you feel your muscles locking up, cramping, your ankles crossing each other behind Overhaul’s back.

“Good girl,” the demon breathes, and then he lifts off you so he’s kneeling upright with the two of you still connected, his thick, heavy cock still speared in your pussy, and his fingers come down again to rub at your clit. Everything’s so wet you can hear the motion of his fingers slicking themselves through your juices, sliding up and down the little button over and over and it feels so good that a tiny part of you almost wants to drag it out, to savor it, but the rest of your body is going to die, is going to go crazy if the demon doesn’t let you cum right now, right now, right now!

And he does. Praise the Lord. The pads of Overhaul’s fingers pass over your clit one last time and your head rolls back, your throat moves but you can’t even make a sound, your legs shake and you cum.

You didn’t know it was like this.

Your cunt squeezes down on his cock, throbbing and pulsing and your toes literally curl (you didn’t think that was a real thing!) and your vision goes black for a moment and—oh fuck oh fuck i want this i want more how is it possible that i’ve never felt like this—you understand, more intimately than ever, why sex is wrong:

because nothing that makes you feel this good could possibly come without a cost, could it?

///

It must take longer than you thought for you to come back to your senses, because when you regain awareness of your body you’re in your hospital bed. You’re clean, too, and you wonder for a second if Overhaul bothered to clean you up? Or no…he probably just snapped his fingers and transported you back to your room. You’re not really sure how it works.

What you are sure of, however, is that you just got fucked by a demon. You’re sore in places that you didn’t know it was possible to be sore, and there are already bruises forming on the flesh of your thighs from how tight he was holding you. You don’t really have time to inspect these, though, because apparently your…ordeal (if you can call it that) isn’t over.

Overhaul’s still here.

He’s facing the hints of sunrise through the east window, dressed again in the immaculate lab coat and surgeon’s mask. “You’re awake,” he says without looking at you.

You nod hesitantly. You’re not really sure what the protocol is in this situation, but at least you’ve finally held up your side of the contract, right? And so has he. Despite having been up all night doing sinful things, you’re still itching to get out of this bed and test the limits of your healthy body. “You’re…going to leave, right?”

“Yes—”

At that, you sigh in relief and settle back into your starched bedsheets.

“But there’s one more thing you owe me.”

“Goddamnit,” you swear for the very first time in your life. After what you just did, taking the Lord’s name in vain seems like a relatively minor sin.

Overhaul’s mildly irritated expression doesn’t change, but he holds his hand out to you, palm up, the way you imagine someone would if they were helping you out of a car or requesting a dance at an old-fashioned ball. And really, you want all of this to be over—you want to get out of this hospital, you want to taste what the air outside is like, you want to distract yourself from what you just gave up in exchange for a future. At this point you’re just going to have to hope God isn’t as picky about the whole premarital sex thing as you grew up believing.

So you put your hand in Overhaul’s.

Slowly, carefully, like he’s afraid it’ll burn him, he slides your purity ring down your finger and balances it in the palm of his bare hand. It sizzles when he touches it, glowing orange until it eventually burns down into a ash-black circle in the center of his palm. Once he’s satisfied that your pretty little ring has been reduced to nothing more than a scorch mark, he closes his hand around yours and you feel something sharp, painfully hot, etching onto your finger.

It’s over in a second, but you still yelp and yank your hand away from him as soon as he lets you. “Ah—ow, what was that?”

He burned you, he literally burned you! He’s already healed it, but there’s still a thin, pale scar, an intentional one left wrapping around the skin at the base of your left ring finger. Like a wedding ring.

When you look close, you can make out a symbol on the back of your finger where the cross used to sit—and even though your conscious mind doesn’t recognize it, the sight of it rings out something inside your ribcage, deeper and truer than flesh and blood. It’s the devil’s mark, you think. It’s his.

“…A promise,” Overhaul says softly, and even though it’s a chilly morning, you can feel the heat of his hands on yours a long time after he vanishes back into the dark.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 304: The Council of OFA

Previously on BnHA: Hawks and Best Jeanist were all, “what up Todofam, we are here to apply for the positions of ‘son #4’ and ‘weird uncle’, respectively,” and then proceeded to insert themselves into the family drama without waiting for an answer. Hawks briefed Endeavor on the nation’s current status of “totally fucked”, promised to help him sort that out, and then asked him about OFA. Endeavor was all, “oh do you mean One For All, the mysterious thing that my intern Deku was apparently being targeted for?” and then we cut away, presumably before Endeavor could clarify that it never occurred to him to follow up on that, and Hawks was all “no of course not, why would it occur to anyone other than me to follow up on any of this super weird and ominously important shit.” Anyway so meanwhile Bakugou was all “LET ME SCREAM AT DEKU UNTIL HE WAKES UP” and the other kids were all “NO”, and then the chapter ended with All Might being all “I wonder what the vestige!me is currently chatting with Deku about.”

Today on BnHA: Deku drops in on the Vestiges, who are all “sup Deku, how do you like our fancy chairs.” OFA II and III are all “if you need us we’ll just be standing here silently in the corner pretending to be invisible and sparking endless discourse with our mere existence.” OFA IV is all “and now I will explain to you in a very convoluted way that you being quirkless was actually a good thing, since it means that you are probably not going to suddenly drop dead at the age of twenty. But also you’re probably going to be the last user of OFA for that very same reason.” Deku is all “that is wild. I’m just gonna stand here and stare at my hand.” Nana is all “so now that that’s settled could you please do me a small favor and kill my grandson for me”, because having just one topic to discourse about this week WASN’T ENOUGH, apparently. Thanks so much Horikoshi.

(ETA: okay so just a note before I start, this week’s RHA translation was a huge mess, so I followed up this chapter by reading a couple of other translations. the main one I’m using for reference is the one by @hanashimas​, whose weekly posts I highly recommend. anyway so you’ll see a couple of ETAs in this post in places where the initial translation was off.)

how many layers of bandages did they wrap this poor kid’s fucking hand in omg

jesus Deku. are you holding onto a bouquet of flowers under that thing?? or a tennis racket??

omg yes, finally

is he reading these names off a teleprompter lol. and if so, what has Jeanist ever done to slight you, Deku? “god bless Kacchan and Aizawa-sensei and Todoroki-kun and everyone else in the whole wide world... except for Best Jeanist. fuck that guy.” actually this joke would be funnier if half of tumblr didn’t legit feel that way lol but anyway

OH MY GOD

I NEED TO HAVE A TALK TOO. ABOUT, OH, EVERYTHING

I got immediate KHR vibes from ALL OF THIS. this is seriously such a Vongola aesthetic. “let’s use the luxuriously cushioned chairs with the seat backs that are ten feet high, and arrange all of the handsome ghost people in a big circle” like come on

that said there are also some slight LoTR vibes as well. “bring forth the ring, Deku”

I like how Six is sitting there with his feet drawn up all casual, but with his arms inexplicably sticking STRAIGHT OUT IN FRONT OF HIM and dangling over his knees like he’s doing some sort of zombie walk

apparently the Fourth wasn’t a big fan of shoes huh

interesting that All Might is the only one who’s still faint/indistinct, and and that Two and Three are fully visible

(ETA: the rest of my speculation about Two and Three has been moved into a separate post, the better to focus on the shit that’s actually happening in this chapter lol.)

and lastly, interesting that all of them are talking now, except for All Might (and I guess the Second and Third as well). to the best of my knowledge Deku hasn’t unlocked the Sixth’s quirk yet, so I guess the quirks don’t really have anything to do with it

oh and it looks like Deku’s mouth is still covered. I guess that’s convenient for the vestiges since we all know it’s hard to stop Deku once he gets going. but on the other hand it’s very inconvenient for people like me who wanted to see some interaction. alas

so First says that OFA’s power has grown a lot in the last four months (i.e. since Deku unlocked Blackwhip), and now the vestiges can communicate with each other as well as Deku

so even when Deku’s not around they can all just chill with each other. this is such a weird thing to me lol. like it’s cool, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also strange as hell to know that you’ve got eight other people hanging out in your head spying on everything you do and having conversations with each other about it. it would be like if Dark Shadow had someone to hang out with other than Tokoyami. good thing you weren’t triplets, Tokoyami

First says that it’s become easier for the vestiges to interact with Deku ever since TomurAFO barged into the OFA Domain back at Jakku. huh

(ETA: apparently this is because AFO forcibly pulled out OFA’s power when he was trying to steal the quirk, so I guess that makes sense.)

okay thank you Banjou for addressing this concern which I initially brought up as a joke, but which was apparently real enough for you to reassure Deku about

“don’t worry, even though we’re awake and hanging out inside of you at all times, we’re definitely not secretly watching and making fun of every single thing you do” hmmmmm

(ETA: “not that you could do anything about it even if we were, since you’re probably going to be the last OFA holder ever!” I don’t trust anything this asshole says lmao.)

OH SHIT??

YESSS DEKU now you can hold them accountable for all of their bullshit! because I do not doubt that there will be bullshit lol but let’s see how that goes

oh damn

well okay then. you didn’t have to stand up and walk over to him and loom all threateningly like that but okay sir

this guy has kind of a Kimimaro vibe to him. remember? that bone-growing guy from Naruto? except I’m pretty sure he had eyebrows. and wasn’t twenty feet tall. speaking of which, that explains the chairs

why are you wearing only 3/5ths of a shirt

lol what

someone’s gonna have to explain this to me. is he just redundant or something lol, or is he strangely poetical or what

(ETA: apparently HE’S MAKING A PUN omg. I immediately gained +10 love for him lol. also it flows a lot better in Japanese. this is one of the things Caleb is usually good at, so we’ll see what he does with the wordplay.)

omg the hermit theory is true!!

“I’M NOT WEIRD, IT’S SOCIETY WHICH IS WEIRD.” lol whatever you say buddy. also love how Banjou tried to give him a big hearty slap on the back but Hermit Boy was not having it lmao

IS HE TRYING TO CAPTURE HIM WITH BLACKWHIP

AND ACTUALLY, NO, SIR, AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE ARE NOT AWARE. SO SPILL!!

?!!?

okay my first response was LOL ARE YOU SERIOUS, THAT’S THE BIG SECRET!? -- and then it hit me what the significance of “died from old age... AT AGE FORTY” meant. at which point it was like “!!!!!” and then “OH, SHIT”

(ETA: there’s also an Iida joke here somewhere but I’m just too tired to make it.)

oh my god oh my god

did he somehow get a copy of the coroner’s report or something? like how does he even know that he died from “old age” as opposed to any number of other natural causes? ??

but anyway. so this is the quirk singularity coming into play then I guess. but then how come All Might is still alive and ticking?

(ETA: so this is one example of where this week’s translation is a mess lol. apparently the Fourth explains here that he didn’t know what the fuck he died from until All Might researched it. and it turns out there actually was an autopsy lol so there you go.)

so Fourth says he held OFA for eighteen years, and since he knew he would never be strong enough to defeat AFO on his own he basically just spent all his time punching rocks in the woods and training to power the quirk up

oh shit

is he implying that his body literally fell apart?? like that’s how he got the scars on his face? -- IS THAT WHAT KEEPS HAPPENING TO TOMURA, THEN. oh shit

DUDE

so you’re telling me that this quirk actively shortens the lifespan of anyone who uses it?? and my little boy here has had it now for a year already?? fuck me, I have immediately have a TON of thoughts about all this but let me save it until he’s done with his explanation

THANK YOU, DEKU

right?? how come All Might didn’t die then. even after he got injured. please don’t tell me he actually is dying still and is just being slow about it because I SWEAR TO GOD

what does this mean??

so what you’re trying to say is you all have NO FUCKING IDEA how long Deku’s gonna be able to hold this quirk before he SUDDENLY DROPS DEAD?! five generations ago this dude was able to hold it for eighteen years, and then four generations later All Might was able to hold it for thirty-odd years or so, and now Deku has it and you all have no clue which way it’s gonna go? actually this makes it sound like it really wasn’t OFA that killed the Fourth at all and you guys are just really bad at forming hypotheses. but since you’re making a big plot point out of it I guess it must be true

and don’t think I didn’t notice the part where you said you didn’t have OFA very long and then “died while fighting”, Firsto. I want to hear more about that. specifically who you passed the quirk onto before your death

and yes, if we are agreeing that OFA was the cause of the Fourth’s death, then the conclusion on this next page is the natural one to draw

so that’s a bit of a relief then, because Deku is quirkless too. so it means he won’t be able to hold OFA forever (and will probably have to find another quirkless person to pass it on to), but at least he won’t be randomly dying out of the blue next Tuesday or something

oh my god now he’s talking about OFA and AFO and user consciousnesses and all sorts of good theory stuff but it’s so much exposition. you’re really gonna make me read all this lol

wait what. why would All Might being quirkless have anything to do with the presence of his vestige in OFA Outer Space Party Land

but Deku is also quirkless and he’s clearly visible and chatting with you guys. so what gives. like how much of this is verified fact and how much of it is you guys just shrugging and making stuff up lol

SERIOUSLY, GUYS

BUT DEKU IS ALSO -- you know what, never mind sob. none of this shit makes any sense but whatever

(ETA: seriously, this all seems like an awful lot of speculation on their part. for Deku’s sake I sure hope they’re right.)

FSSKDJFLSKLKJLKJL ALL MIGHT IS FIFTY-FIVE?!

lol that’s a full ten years past my closest estimate, wow. but this pretty much confirms his age now at last! or at least confirms it within a couple of years, because we know All Might and Nana met when he was in middle school, and he presumably had the quirk by the time he took the U.A. entrance exam. so yeah. gonna go with fifty-five

so they think that because All Might was quirkless, OFA was better able to adapt to his body and became his true quirk, as opposed to being an extra quirk that stacked on top of the one he already had and overwhelmed him. ties in back to the whole “AFO used to bend people to his will by forcing quirks on them” thing, as well as the “Noumus are all mindless because of the strain of having multiple quirks”

Two and Three are really ruining the serious vibe of this scene here lol

they look like they’re doing the counting for hide and seek

and is this Deku talking now? I was about to get mad at First for implying that quirkless people are somehow freaks, as opposed to “normal” people jdslk

so in other words, don’t go giving it to your best friend all casually for shits and giggles, Deku. even if it would make a really cool climax for a movie. well shit. maybe that’s why they were so quick to nope back into Deku’s body afterward

so First says that because quirkless people are becoming rarer and rarer, the fact that All Might just happened to stumble upon Deku is “nothing short of a miracle.” which, yeah, that was definitely a stroke of luck there. being quirkless saved his life. but being quirkless is also part of why he was chosen in the first place, and we’ve always known that much

“in other words, kiddo...”

looks like there was some hurried clone stamp usage going on here lol. but props to RHA as always for putting this scan out so fast, especially given how exposition-heavy this week’s chapter has been

“anyways, that was the main topic” ARE YOU SERIOUS. there are like ten other topics imma need you all to get to here, people

(ETA: seems like this is a mistranslation; the line should actually read something more along the lines of “and now for the main topic.”)

FFFFFFFFF

“ENJOY YOUR CLIFFHANGER THIS WEEK.” dskfalkjlkjwlgkjl you really went and dumped this discourse on us yet again. fucking...

(ETA: forgot to mention, but as several people mentioned, this seems to be another mistranslation -- rather than asking Deku to kill Tomura as though it’s doing her a personal favor, Nana is asking “will you be able to do it.” in other words more of an “are you capable of doing it” type of thing. which is a very reasonable question to ask given that Deku is, well, Deku.)

anyways, and the answer is obviously going to be “no” of course. this isn’t going to end any differently than when the previous Avatars all told Aang to kill Ozai. but I guess it means we’re in for a fun conversation next week

so Nana looks pretty grim here though (nothing at all like the person who once taught All Might the importance of saving people with a smile), and I’m wondering if this means she believes that her grandson is already beyond saving. as in killing him would be a mercy, as opposed to him continuing to live with AFO bending his mind and body to his will. except if that is the case, I think she’s underestimating Tomura’s own will. and definitely underestimating Deku’s will to save

and also, just... I’m so fucking sick of AFO screwing the Shimura family over, honestly. this is exactly what he wanted. well fuck you, guy. you don’t get to have what you want. go out there and save Tomura, Deku. for his sake and for Nana’s. give them some hope. do your thing, boy. can’t wait for your big speech all about it next chapter lol

[kookieswan]

Amaranth Part IV – Freesia

Apprentice!Jungkook x Royal!Reader (f)

Word Count: 2.1k

Genre/Warnings: Mostly fluff and some humor, Yoongi’s a bit of an odd one, JK is adorable.

Summary: The man with opals for eyes seems odd, yes, but he’s got the answers to all of your questions and more…  

Note: Part IV is out finally lol. I’m so sorry for the long wait again everyone. Either way, I’m very satisfied with this chapter and there’ll probably be an interlude coming up soon as well heh.

Find the Masterlist for Amaranth here!!!

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“So, he lives out here in the middle of no where? Hidden behind a magical barrier?” Walking in stride with Jungkook and Namjoon, you glance around the heavily forested area. The suns already starting to set, but that’s preferable in the long run. Finding the location of Yoongi’s hidden abode would be easier if the ripples are visible. You felt the barrier as soon as you got deeper into the woods, knowing it would be s matter of time before you find it. Namjoon’s also glancing around, trying to find the entrance to Yoongi’s domain as quickly as possible. 

You had got to the hotel relatively late last night after stopping to grab a bite to eat. There wasn’t a lot of time to explore the small town, not with your guardians watching like hawks every time Jungkook tried to think of an escape plan with you. Maybe tonight if there’s time… 

“Yes. Based off of whispers I’ve heard, Yoongi isn’t known for liking the company of others. Which is why he keeps to himself.” Namjoon rubs the back of his neck, hand disappearing into the collar of his long cardigan, and you can feel his elemental energy flare every so often. There’s been a sort of nervous energy about him all day, but hopefully meeting with Yoongi will calm him down. 

“Yeah, that’s not creepy of anything. This whole situation isn’t fucking weird. Nope.” Jungkook continues to ramble on about how odd this is from your other side, a coping mechanism you’ve grown to know well. The chains on his pants jingle with every step, chunky boots thumping against the forest floor. You attempt to listen but pause when you spot a ripple in the air. Poking at Jungkook’s side a few times, you draw your attention back to the crack. Your guardians whiz past you, light giggles leaving Jimin’s lips. 

“Ahhh, I feel so at home out here, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to connect with the elements…” Jimin looks extra ethereal today, thin blue dress flowing behind him as he practically skips through the forest. Taehyung is by his side, not quite as enthused but clutching his hand tightly as he stumbles after him. You can also feel their energy rising, Jimin’s likely because of his reconnection with nature. Fae flourish out in the woods after all, which is why you suppose he isn’t wearing shoes.

Disconnecting from the group for a bit, you walk closer to a small crack hanging in the air, drawing forth as much magical energy as possible. It crackles through your body and out through your hands, streams of electricity booming out against the invisible wall. It cracks slowly as your entourage steps forward slowly to come to your side. Then, it shatters, crystal fragments fading into the night. 

“That’s my Princess! Good job _____!” Jungkook claps and cheers behind you, his voice filling the air like a ring of bells. With warm cheeks, you smile shyly to yourself before cleaning your throat and calling back to them. 

“Well then boys… let’s get a move on.” There’s still a lot of trees surrounding you, but there’s a clear path now and a small house in the distance. The mirage of a deep forest has finally been broken after wandering for a full hour. You know that the man is already expecting you, so you move forward immediately to get to the house. 

As you get closer to the entrance, you see that there’s a garden, much smaller than the one at home, but somehow just as beautiful. There’s fireflies drifting through the air, twinkling in the darkening night. As you wander closer, you see herbs and flowers, vegetables and fruits, all growing across the garden in a stunning shock or color. Just from this, you can tell The Dark Mage likely has quite he handle on his elemental energy. Everything, although very beautiful, looks a bit too perfect to be natural. Jungkook whistles over your shoulder, chin coming down to rest on it. 

“So uh, how’re we getting in? Knocking? Breaking the door down? Shall I serenade him?” His breath blows against your ear, making you shiver a bit. He wraps his arms around your shoulders, taking the action as you being cold, but you’re not so sure… Booping his nose quickly, you giggle quietly as you reply. 

“I think that’ll drive him away. Let’s just knock like normal people.” You say it a bit too late, turning in Jungkook’s arms to see Jimin whipping the door open with a flick of his hand. Always for the dramatics, you let out a sigh and start to drag your tall best friend behind you. 

“Come on loves, let’s speak to the hermit man so we can get back home.” Jimin waltzes into the house, wings fluttering as Taehyung follows behind him, eyes shifting around. Namjoon just looks at you and shrugs as you approach before you all step past the entrance and into the unknown depths of The Dark Mages home. 

It’s homey, in a familiar witchy way. There’s candles scattered around the small cottage, flames of all different colors dancing against each other. To top it all off, there’s herbs and flowers scattered all over the place, potion and brew bottles sitting on every shelf. There’s a few other things, like a bed, some cooking things, and another doorway un the back. You blink and he’s suddenly there, as if he materialized out of thin air because of your arrival. 

“And to what do I owe the pleasure? It’s not often I get company… rambunctious company at that.” Standing there is who you guess must be Yoongi. He’s extremely pale with eyes to match, pools of opals as the flames  dance within them. His hair and robes are dark in comparison, shrouding him partially in the shadows of his home. Jimin and Tae scatter to different sides of the large room, examining their surroundings closely and Yoongi doesn’t move to stop them. Joonie and Kook do the same, but more out of curiosity you’re guessing than precaution. 

“Min Yoongi. Something tells me you already know who we are and why we’re here.” Namjoon steps further forward to take the lead, and you’re glad for it. You’ve never been great with social interaction, even though it’s supposed to be apart of your forced job. Namjoon extends a hand, wanting to greet the other man properly. Yoongi blinks slowly, head cocking to the side ever so slightly, before taking Namjoons hand and shaking it quickly before dropping it. 

“Ah, you’ve caught me. Let me rephrase, how can I help the princess and her entourage?” Humming a little, you follow Yoongi as he suddenly turns and wanders over to one of the many tables of ingredients, flower petals scattered over the top of it. He doesn’t even glance down when grabbing for the items he needs, eyes trained forward instead.

“There’s something scourging the land. We were wondering if you have any information…?” You leave the question open ended, wanting to get as much as you can out of the man. There’s no reason for him to hold back of course, but he also doesn’t have reason to tell you anything if he doesn’t want to. You notice vaguely that Jungkook grabs a flower, stepping closer to your side as he tucks it behind your ear like it’s the most natural thing in the world. 

Yoongi turns toward the whole group then, giving everyone a good look at his face. There’s a few scars scattered over his complexion, one on his lip, another on his eyebrow, some on his eyelids… if you didn’t think it before, you were sure now that he was at least partially blind. He had to be with how white his eyes are… Jungkook leans it, peering down at the older man with a curious expression. 

“You’re a bit spooky lookin man.” The Dark Mage stares blankly at Kook, eyebrow raising as he appraises him. Raising a hand, he presses it to Jungkook’s neck softly before letting out a sigh. Deciding he’s had enough, he turns back to his table, picking up the mortar and pestle to continue grinding up the delicate petals. 

“He’s strong… but I don’t like this one.” Jungkook scoffs loudly, your lips twitching as a snort leaves you at Yoongi’s blasé nature. His eyes cut sharply to you then, unfocused milky white orbs meeting yours. 

“You… I like you.”  It’s like he’s peering directly into your soul, examining every corner of your mind with a single look. Like earlier, he raises a hand to your neck, cold fingers gliding against the skin of your jugular. It pauses there, his eyes fluttering a bit as the quiet looms over the room. 

Glancing to your right, your guardians both look extremely on edge, eyes sharply glinting against the light of the flickering candles as they edge toward you. You’re not uneasy though, Yoongi doesn’t seem to hold any malicious feelings toward you for showing up out of nowhere. To be fair, you’re certain he’s the specter you’ve spotted one or twice in your travels. 

“Well, Princess______, I might have some information for you. But I’ll need something in return.” His hand falls from your neck, brushing against your clavicle in the process. There’s an audible sound of Tae grunting, and you roll your eyes at the overprotective nature. 

“Sure, whatever you want. I have an arsenal of resources at my beck and call so…” You say this praying that he doesn’t ask for something weird as hell. Maybe he’d went some more herbs… help with something more elemental? If he needed some help in the garden that could actually be fun.

“I would be thankful if you’d bring me back to the capital with you, to Florette. I have some… business there, and I’m sure I could enter the castle without much issue if you’re leading the way.” A little sketchy sounding, but not a deal breaker. He seems like a good enough man, so you shrug and say why the hell not. A slight smile flickers to his face, the candles around you intensifying ever so slightly. 

“Good. I’ll travel back with you all then. I’m sure it will be an… enlightening experience.” The dark mage nods his head, grabbing a small flower off the table before extending it toward you. Taking it gently, you run your fingers over the velvety petals, recognizing it as freesia. Trust…

Yoongi disappears again in the blink of an eye, leaving you along in his home. Turning toward the rest of your group, you give a little thumbs-up, proud that you were able to get Yoongi to come with you so easily. Sure, you don’t have the information yet, but perhaps having him in person would be even better. Turning to leave, the others follow behind you slowly, unsure of how to comprehend the situation. Namjoon clears his throat, stumbling up beside you to place a hand on your shoulder. 

“I’m not so sure about this Princess… Something could go awry very easily… plus we don’t have any more room in the car…” letting out a small him, you pat at Joons hand a few times, trying to comfort him as you leave the area of the cottage. A pity you had to go so soon, it was truly a beautiful sight. Perhaps you would be able to come back some time…

“It’s fine Joonie, I’ll just sit in someone’s lap or something.” There’s an instant chorus of ‘me!me!me!’ behind you from Jungkook, and you turn to see his large smile light up, eyes crinkling at the corners. What you don’t notice is Jimin smirking to himself as Taehyung raises an eyebrow quietly. 

“Well I was thinking we could strap Jungkook to the roof, but I suppose that’ll work too.” Jungkook surges forward to slap Namjoon on the back of the shoulder, their bickering quickly washing up the silence. Namjoon smacks him upside the head before grabbing one of his hands, the other coming to find yours. You’re not sure where Yoongi went, but you’re sure he’ll follow along. 

“Alright, hush now everyone. We’re all going to need to focus to get back to the hotel in one piece. "Jimin and Taehyung finish connecting the circle, and you hold hands tightly as a rush of magical energy flows through all of your forms. Namjoon calls forth everything he has, eyes casting upwards to the sky. There’s a ripple of blue in the air, and as quickly as it came, you disappear from the clearing. 

[yolkyeomie]

Humanity of the Inhuman | Kim Sunwoo

summary — legends are meant for the wild fantasies of the dream world, but when one myth suddenly comes true, you find yourself tangled within its webs of reality.

word count — 7.2k words

pairing — sunwoo x female!reader (ft. x juyeon in a sense?)

genre — college au, gumiho au

disclaimer — !! light mentions of death, blood, and injury !! this is an wip of fic that I did not have the energy to complete, so it leaves off at a pretty big cliff hanger :( but if enough people enjoy it it I’ll make a part 2 or sumn lol (update: it does in fact have a part 2 now, go enjoy it!)

part I | part II | part III | part IV?

I.

“Nine tailed foxes,” the instructor stated, pointing their finger towards the pictures that were projected upon the board. There were three different depictions of the creature from other cultures posted up together, expressing how each of the cultures viewed the mythical being. Mindlessly you began to draw on the notebook set in front of you, taking in each picture and messing different aspects that you liked together.

“Known as the Kitsune in Japan, the Huli Jing in China, and the Gumiho here,” they continued, switching to the next slide that only displayed more old pictures of the fox, “they are a well known part of our folklore today that even western countries have begun to adopt their own version of this creature into their literature.”

“If it’s so popular, why are we learning about it now,” you mumbled, the lead of your pencil snapping as soon as the words had been spoken into existence. You let out a deep sigh at the inconvenience, letting an angry curse come out of your mouth as you leaned over to grab something new to write with.

Though you stopped mid turn as a black pen was placed into your vision. Curiously you glanced up to catch the smiling sight of Juyeon above you, waving around his pen and urging you to take it from his hand. “We’re learning about the Gumiho because it’s an important part of our folklore, just because it’s well known doesn’t mean you shouldn’t teach it.”

He was an acquaintance, nothing more than that, a “school friend” if that made more sense. You had met him the first day you attended the mythology class after picking up the course for fun, seeing as the only available seat in the room was by him. Having no friends who attended the class at the same time as you, he had offered to become one and you gladly took up his request in order to feel a little less only in the room full of strangers.

It was a little odd to see a class so minor like this be jam packed with students, but you did notice the recent influx of people who were interested in the mythologies of their and others cultures.

Plus, you didn’t do very well on your own and were a little more socially dependent than you’d like to admit, so Juyeon’s willingness to befriend you was greatly appreciated.

“Well, I guess you’re right,” you shrug, gratefully taking the pen out of his hands. “But still, what person doesn’t know the wild tales of the nine tailed foxes? They’re like… everywhere now. If I meet someone who didn’t even have a clue what I was talking about, I’d be surprised.”

“You never know,” Juyeon continued, urging you to take a look at the board. Being presented was the Korean version of the nine tailed fox, a few notes typed beside the art describing the details and depictions of what was generally believed about the fox demon. “Maybe one day you’ll need that information to save yourself from a Gumiho one day?”

You snorted at his words, pointing out one of the bullet points to him and quietly reading them to him. “First of all, this is a mythology class. That means everything we learn here is a myth, not real? Secondly, it clearly says that they seduce men and last time I checked, I’m not a man.”

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point there,” he nodded, laying his head in his hands as he half heartedly listened to the teacher speak. “I guess I’m the one who should be paying more attention to the lecture since I’m the man, but I don’t think a Gumiho would ever find interest in me.”

“Why?” You questioned, a teasing smile appearing on your face and you poked the pin cap into his side. “It’s said that gumihos eat human livers, do you have bad livers or something? Do you have some sort of liver disease that would make you undesirable to a fox?”

“If I say yes will you stop poking me?” He innocently asked.

“I’d know you’re lying if you said yes, you’re rather healthy despite some… odd habits you have,” you clarify, giving the boy a skeptical look before turning back towards the board. You were only acquaintances with Juyeon, but there were times you’d catch him in the hallways of the building or dorms when you were looking for Kevin doing skeptical activities. Most of the time he was just smuggling snacks that his roommate would steal out of the room but man did he look crazy while he did so.

“Hey, those aren’t odd habits, it’s me protecting what I paid for,” Juyeon argued, a pout developing on his face as he tried to explain himself, “if you don’t pay for it, you don’t get a bite of it! That’s the rules and you have to respect the rules.”

You only spared Juyeon a quick glance, your eyes full of skepticism for him. He was a nice guy, a decent person to hang around, but awkwardly catching him in the hallways like a criminal running from a crime scene was all you had to see from him to determine whether or not you wanted to hang around him often. “Y/N, seriously! I'm not some freak I promise, my roommates and I just do this often and—“

“Sure, Juyeon,” you nodded, softly patting his back in only slight comfort. “I completely understand what you mean.”

“Y/N!” He complained a little louder this time, earning some sneaking looks from the rest of your peers. The two of you weren’t the biggest troublemakers but you did have a volume problem more often than you’d like to admit. Though, that was mainly because Juyeon doesn’t understand when to keep his mouth shut. “Come on, Y/N, I know you don’t believe what I’m saying but you gotta! I can even show you what we—“

“I really don’t want to walk into that room,” you decline almost immediately, “something tells me I’ll regret it if I do.”

A small chuckle left Juyeon’s mouth at your harsh words, finally taking the response as an end to the conversation. It seemed as though the two of you had stopped just in time though, as a deep sigh left your instructor’s lips. The entire class turned their head towards him in confusion, unsure on what sort of gloom had possessed their mythology teacher.

“I think… I’ll end class early today,” he declared, turning off the board that had projected the day’s lesson. In a flash, your reference for your very own nine tailed fox disappeared in front of your eyes as the instructor continued to speak. “The rain just… throws me off the mood for today.”

Instinctively you turned your head toward the window and lo and behold, the rain was pouring down outdoors. Many students groaned at the sudden change in forecast, not having brought umbrellas to shield them from such weather since the day had called from sunny skies. “Ah… that’s gonna suck going home,” you tell yourself, noting how even you hadn’t brought an umbrella.

“Excuse me!” A student called out, drawing attention to the front of the class where they had seated themselves. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you superstitious? Usually rain is considered a good thing especially on wedding days. It’s supposed to be a good omen for the future of their marriage.”

“Superstitious?” He hummed in response, thinking to himself for a few moments before answering. “Well, in a sense? Not for the reasons you think I am though.”

“Does it have something to do with gumihos?” You couldn’t help but ask, curiosity getting the best of you as you blurted out in front of everyone. The class turned back to look at you expectantly, exchanging confused and bewildered glances with each other. Even Juyeon looked at you as though you were beginning to lose your mind. You don’t really blame them, rain didn’t really have anything to do with gumihos after all.

However, your teacher smiled at you. His eyes crinkled at their sides and his wrinkles from age becoming more prominent as his smile continuously grew larger as he thought about his answer again. “Something my grandparents used to tell me when I was younger,” he began, each student getting left on the edge of their seats as he turned back towards the rainfall, “that when it rained, it meant a gumiho had entered the premise.”

II.

“You don’t actually believe him, do you?” Juyeon asked, holding the borrowed umbrella over your heads. The boy had offered to walk you home in the disastrous, knowing you lived off campus instead of in the dorms. The dorms were a lot closer to the apartment you had rented out, so the two of you had scrambled over to his room first in order to grab an umbrella and begin the trek to your home.

He was only walking you towards the closest bus stop to the campus, not wanting to intrude on your privacy any further than he already was. Juyeon was just your acquaintance from mythology after all, he was just a little too nice to let you go out into the rain and get soaking wet.

“What, about the whole rain and gumiho thing?” You responded, remembering your teacher's statement he had ended the class with. You shrugged after a moment to yourself, “honestly, not really. I mean, come on, gumihos being related to the rain? It doesn’t even make that much sense the more you think about it.”

“I guess you’re right,” he agreed, “but don’t you think it’s a little weird how he seemed to believe it? Whole heartedly too, he ended the whole class over some superstition his grandparents told him!”

“It’s probably an old saying in his family or something,” you ultimately decide, nodding your head to yourself as you come to a conclusion. “Lots of people have things like heirlooms and stories that get passed down from generation to generation, maybe that’s what that was. Maybe his family is really big on nine tailed foxes and rain.”

He shook his head in disagreement, stopping in place and nearly causing you to get soaked by the downpour. “I don’t think so, why would they pass down a saying like that when gumihos aren’t real?”

“How do you know that they aren’t real?” You challenged him.

“Because if they were real, then we wouldn’t be learning about it in a mythology class and calling it folklore,” Juyeon stretched his arm out so that the umbrella was covering the both of you as he kept talking, “Humans are like… cockroaches. We force ourselves into the lives of other beings, I think we would have done something about gumihos by now don’t you think?”

You grinned at him as you rocked back and forth on your feet absentmindedly, nugging his shoulder soft as you teased, “wow, I know the lesson wasn’t long today but did you already forget that we were taught? Once a fox has lived for a thousand years, it becomes a gumiho and can shapeshift! How will you know your face to face with a fearsome nine tailed fox when they look exactly like any normal stranger on the street?”

You didn’t even give the boy a chance to speak as you stood in front of him, your back getting pelted with the rain droplets as you continued to jeer, “anyone could be a gumiho. I could be a gumiho, your roommate could be a gumiho, our teacher could be a gumiho, even you could be a gumiho and we’d never know a thing!”

“I think you're forgetting something,” Juyeon countered, pulling out his phone from his pocket and waving it in your face. “Humans have technology, we’ll just develop more technology to find them if we need to.”

“Gosh, you’re no fun,” you pout.

“And your bus stop is right there,” he pointed behind you, taking note of the metal structure built on the side of the road.

You struggle to decide whether or not you want to steal his umbrella as payback for being the way he was but ultimately ditched the idea. “Fine, I’ll see next week then? That is, if you don’t get eaten by a gumiho that is.” You teased.

You watched as annoyance contorted on his face, wanting to find a reason to be mad at you but unable to keep the grin off his face. “I’m not going to be eaten by a gumiho, Y/N. Did we not just have the conversation that they aren’t real?”

“Gumihos seduce men to absorb their energy!” You argued once more. “You’re a physically fit guy whose kept his livers healthy and you’ve got the looks to draw attention to you, you’re the perfect meal for a nine tailed fox to catch!”

“Go home, Y/N,” he urged, pushing you out from under his umbrella. You whined at his audacity and quickly covered your head with your hands in an attempt to shield yourself from the rain. The boy only laughed at your reaction before waving you off, giving you a small farewell as you rushed over towards the bus stop.

When you glanced back to find him again, Juyeon was gone, turned around the corner with his umbrella in tow and forcing you to sit and wait for the bus stop to come if you didn’t want to be soaked by the time you got home.

“Sheesh he could have waited until the bus actually came,” you complained, sitting back on the bench with a somewhat annoyed frown donning your face once again. Juyeon always seemed like he was in a hurry at times, whether he was sneaking around the dorms on your campus or rushing through the hallways to get to his next destination, he always had somewhere to be. There were times where he’d completely ignore your existence in and outside of your mythology class because of his need for action, too busy with his daily life to even spare you a glance.

You wondered where he so urgently needed to go at times, but ultimately knew that was none of your business. The two of you were nothing but classmates, school friends who helped each other out every so often whenever you got the chance. You had no right to dig into Juyeon’s business, so you never tried to cross the line the two of you set up for each other. You don’t really know if you wanted to cross it in the first place.

Besides, he never even said hello to whenever he was in a rush! Why bother trying to discover something where he has to completely ignore your existence to do it? That wasn’t exactly your type of information and gossip you wanted to gather and indulge in.

You sat at the bus stop for around three or four minutes, unwillingly listening to the pitter patter of the rain on the bus stop glass. Like your superstitious instructor, you weren’t very fond of the rain but not for the same reasons. The weather would always ruin plans you had been looking forward to for weeks and the days that came after it always felt humid and musty, you didn’t enjoy the aftermath of rain like other people did.

Don’t even get you started on the days where a thunderstorm would roll over the city, those were the worst days of your life.

You snap out of your daze for a moment, however, completely forgetting your hatred for the raining weather at the sound of barking floating through the air. You tried to ignore it at first, comfortably leaning against the side of the structure and scrolling across your phone to distract yourself, but you couldn’t help it. The more you tried to pretend like the sound didn’t exist the louder it seemed to become, which was a lot seeing as the downpour was a little louder than normal.

Begrudgingly, you stood up out of your seat and shoved your phone deep into your pockets. “Is the universe trying to tell me something today?” You mumbled, covering your head with your hands and stepping out into the rain. You peered across the street where the barking was coming, checking the side of the road for any oncoming cars before rushing to the other side.

The closer you got to the other sidewalk, the louder and more distinct the barking became, resembling more of a young dog than a fully grown one. The barks were more closely related to squeaky toes than anything if you had to be honest; light, annoying, and young. But there was no one else on the street beside you, and your morals were telling you to involve yourself instead of run away.

“Puppy...or puppies?” You called, not exactly having a name to call out for the animals. You don’t even know if they could hear you over the rainfall, but it was worth a shot. If they didn’t come running to you soon you were going to run right back to the bus stop for shelter and go home. You didn’t want to fall ill from standing out in the rain for too long and you didn’t want to miss your bus stop either. “Come here, boy! Or girl…? Whatever you are, come here! I’ll get you some place warm and out of the rain.”

There was no response, which was to be expected. They were animals, not humans, so they couldn’t exactly reply back even if they really wanted to. The barking was still echoing across the area but there was no sign of the animal making all the commotion, not to mention the fact that the rain was beginning to fall harder with each passing second. You might have to give up early if you didn’t want to get caught in a potential thunderstorm, it hurt your heart but you had to take care of yourself as well.

“Ah, I better hurry up before I miss the bus home… walking is going to be a pain if I do,” you mumble to yourself, turning to sprint across the street.

Though you stopped yourself from moving when you heard the sound of bells echoing against your ears, ringing loud and clear within your head as if it was right in front of you. You cautiously look around you for the source of the bells, the jingling rippling out to the rest of the world like a droplet of water falling into a lake. The bells chimed again in your head, yet this time pulling in a certain direction and urging you to continue on that way.

Glancing between the bus stop and the direction you were being pulled toward, you followed the jingling of the bells. Everything in your body was telling you that chasing after the ringing was a bad idea but nevertheless you pushed forward. The dog barking had completely gone silent and the loudest thing in the area was no longer the rain, but the bells in your ears.

You scurried across the sidewalk like a cat, trying your best to stay dry in the unfortunate weather but ultimately failing as you began to feel your clothes stick to your skin. “Ah, there’s no way I’m not going to be sick after this.” You mumbled, turning the corner to peer down an alleyway where the bell chiming was the strongest.

“I’m wet and cold and I’ve been out here for way too— oh my god!” A scream fell out your mouth as you tumbled to the ground petrified by the sight before you. Slumped up against the wall was a boy, barely clinging onto his life as he took slow ragged breaths to keep himself stable. On his arms was the familiar crimson red creeping down his forehead and splattering to the ground, creating a mixture of water and blood pooling underneath him.

Did you just find the end results of a bloody fight? In the middle of the city and close to your college’s campus no less?

“Excuse me, are you alright?” You called out to him, mentally smacking yourself for asking such a question. Clearly the boy wasn’t okay, he was bleeding out in the middle of the rain!

Despite the stupidity of the question, he slowly turned his head toward you. A majority of his face was covered by his hair being plastered against his head thanks to the rain so you couldn’t exactly see if he was looking directly at you, but the mere fact that he was responsive was enough for you.

You hurry over to him as fast as you could, though careful not to slip and fall on the slippery ground, before crouching down next to him. “Can you move at all? It’s not good to sit out here in the rain and waste away, you need to go to a hospital or something—“

“No,” he declined, forcing himself to sit up against the wall and make an attempt to stand up. The boy struggled to himself up right, leaning against the wall for support and the severity of his wounds being put on display. It didn’t look like he got into a fight, per se, more like he had been attacked by an animal. He had large gashes that covered his body and his clothes were tattered and stained with the red hue they leaked down his arm. He needed any sort of medical attention, right away or he might actually bleed out in the middle of the alleyway.

“Can you not see that you’re hurt?” You hissed, grabbing a hold of his wrist and tugging him down to your height. The boy grimaced at your toughness as you rolled up his sleeve, catching sight of an ugly yet fresh scar that needed to be addressed immediately. “You need to go to a hospital, or you’ll die out here in the rain.”

“No,” he challenged you, his face somewhat akin to an animal’s snarl as he tried to snatch his arm away from you. In that instance you heard the soft of the bells that had led you down the alleyway, much louder than they had been before and nearly drowning at the words that the boy had spoken. It sounded like… the ringing was coming directly from him. “I can’t go there, I won’t go there. They won’t be able to help anyway.”

“Are you an idiot?” You couldn’t help but ask, almost scoffing at his persistence to stay away from medically trained professionals. His lips formed into a pout, appalled by the fact that you had the audacity to call him an idiot. “I’m trying to help you man. It’s raining, you’re bleeding out, and I’ve probably missed my ride to go home. Please don't take my kindness for granted and let me help you.”

III.

You laid down in the middle of your bed, staring at your ceiling as you struggled to recall the events from the day before. It’s not like you to forget things easily or anything, in fact you had a rather decent memory when it came to remembering events that had taken place beforehand. You didn’t have a photographic memory, you just had a habit of remembering little details that have happened throughout your day.

But right now? You couldn’t remember a single thing that had happened yesterday.

Most of what you could remember was leaving your mythology early because your teacher had ended the class early. He didn’t like the rain and it had shifted his mood and everyone was grateful for the extra time off. Juyeon had generously offered to walk you to your bus stop with his umbrella so that you could get home without getting rained on and…. that’s where it ends. You can’t recall anything that happened after that. You don’t even remember ever walking into your house the more that you think about it.

“Alright, this is weird,” you declare, forcing yourself to sit up off of the bed. At least you had no classes to attend, you don’t know how you could pay attention to anything you were being taught if you had to deal with your sudden memory loss. “Why can’t I remember anything? Why does it feel like what u forgot was something really important too…?”

Just when you felt as though you were on the verge of pulling your hair out, your phone began to ring. It was a lot louder than you originally set the volume on and was practically screaming at you to pick it up instead of ignoring it like normal. Frustrated, you snatched the device from underneath the sheets and answered the call with a much more aggressive “hello?” than you had meant to start with.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Juyeon’s voice registered through the speaker.

Juyeon. Why was Juyeon calling you right now? The two of you don’t usually call each other unless it was something class related because you weren’t close enough to each other to hold conversations like that. So the mere fact that he had called you out of the blue like this was…. weird to say the least. “Of course,” you replied, giving your voice a lighter tone than when you had answered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You called me a couple of times yesterday but I didn’t answer because I was busy,” he clarified, giving you a little peek as to what had happened the day before.

You called Juyeon first, why would you do that? You didn’t even call him once, but multiple times given the way he had worded his sentence. You’re not even close to Juyeon, why would you even dare to call him several times yesterday? If you were in trouble you should have just called Kevin like normal! “Are you saying you don’t remember?”

“Yes, actually, I don’t remember anything that happened yesterday.” Maybe you had gone to go get a drink or something before coming home and that’s why your thoughts from yesterday were blurry. But you’re not the type of person to drink that much, at least not alone you wouldn’t. “Listen, Juyeon, I’m sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean to call you, I was just… out of it or something. I don’t know I just can’t remember right now.”

“It’s fine, Y/N, don’t worry I’m just glad you’re alright. I got worried something might have happened to you but hearing you now makes me relieved.” You smiled at his words, letting his caring words for you twirl around in your head like ribbons. Juyeon was just too nice to you, honestly, but he was probably like this with everyone he knew. It made sense if he was, he was kind to almost everyone he met.

Before you could answer, the jingling of bells echoing through your ears, distracting you from any other words that might have come out of the boy’s mouth. You glanced around the room for shunting that could have made the noise, but you don't exactly have anything that could chime like the whimsical clicking of a wind chime. “Do you hear that?” You asked him, cutting off the boy mid sentence as you stood up.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” he answered, “what am I supposed to be hearing? All I hear is you.”

In a flash all of the memories from the day before flooding back to you. The barking, the bell ringing, and the injured boy who refused to go to the hospital to treat his wounds. It all came back to you now, but why had it gone away in the first place. “I’ll… I’ll call you back, Juyeon.”

“Y/N? Y/N, what's wrong? Is something—“ you hung up before he could finish his sentence, cautiously following the ever growing sounds of the bells you had heard earlier. The closer you got to your door, the louder the chiming became, probably signifying the fact that you were going in the right direction.The last time you had followed the bells, they led you straight to the wounded boy. So if your hunch was right, it was most likely leading you straight back to him.

You carefully opened the door to your room, peering through the crack in the door frame to see what was going on. It was eerily silent and for the most the entirety of your apartment showed no signs of inhabiting a second person. “That’s odd…,” you noted, fully stepping out of your room to look around the room for the boy from yesterday. It seemed as though he hadn’t even lived in your house for an hour. “I don’t think he ever left… and I still can hear those bells so he can’t be far.”

Goosebumps ran down your spine as a cold wind blew through your living room. Something was off, you’ve never felt uneasy in your own home before. You had picked this apartment to live in because it felt comfortable and warm like home, but the only thing you were getting from it now was the feeling of being watched. As if a pair of eyes were carefully taking in your every move to determine how you’d react next.

“I know, you’re here,” you stated, rolling your eyes as you began to turn around. “You couldn’t have left in the middle of the night, you were bleeding out and collapsed as soon as you—“

You stopped mid sentence when you stopped the boy in the hallway to your bathroom, frazzled and confused by his surroundings yet still keeping a close eye on you. Now that he wasn’t soaking wet and bleeding (thanks to your amateur bandaging skills) you couldn’t help but notice how much more innocent without the dramatic effect of everything that had happened yesterday. “You really are still here, nice to see you didn’t die while I was asleep.”

“Where am I?” He demanded, not as aggressive as he was the day before but still in a rather rude tone you weren’t expecting from him. “How did I get here and… who are you?”

You slumped onto the small couch of your living room, glancing around the room for a moment before turning back to him with a cheeky smile on your face. “Heaven. You died in your sleep and now you’re in heaven. In the goddess that's going to accompany you through the afterlife.”

“Lies, you just said I didn’t die while I was sleeping,” he quickly pointed out, catching your lie as soon as it came out your mouth.

“Woah, despite all those injuries and passing out in the way here you still have a working brain, that’s good to know,” you tease him, watching as the boy rolled his eyes at your tiny jabs. “I’m Y/N but i guess you can just call me your savior really. Oh, and this is my house. You slept on the couch last night and I appreciate the fact that there is no blood on my cushions. Thanks.”

He nodded his head in understanding, though it seemed like the movements weren't actually correlating to what his mind was thinking. “Wait, you’re my… savior? No that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why not?” You questioned, “I saw you bleeding out in an alleyway yesterday and I tried to take you to hospital but you kept refusing to go, so I just… took you home. I address your wounds and everything and just hoped that when I woke up there wouldn’t be a corpse in my living room. Luckily, as we see now, there isn’t. I saved your life.”

“No!” He yelled, rolling up his tattered clothes to find messily wrapped bandages all over his body. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you were dying?” You blurted, confused to the boy’s sudden panic. “What would you rather have bled out in public for all to see?”

“Yes, actually, that would have been the better option of the two.” How ungrateful was this boy? You saved his life and all he has to say is that he wished you didn’t? Maybe you should have strayed away from your morals for a second because all that had gotten you so far was a boy with no manners. “I don’t think you realize what you’ve done.”

“I have realized what I’ve done,” you responded, “I’ve saved your life because I’m a good person. Why are we arguing about this, there are no downsides to getting your lives saved. Wait, are you embarrassed because you got attacked by some feral cat and nearly died? Not gonna lie, I’d be embarrassed about something like that too.”

“I wasn’t… attacked by a cat,” he explained, a scoff threatening to spill out of his mouth at your bizarre accusation. “I don’t think a cat could make those types of scars.”

“If it wasn’t a cat…” you began, thinking aloud as you tried to member the wounds that covered the boy’s body. The more you pictured them in your head. The more you realize those weren’t… cat scars. They still seemed as though they were animal scars but a cat didn’t make that big a gash on a person’s body. You should have known, you’ve gone to cat cafes enough to have learned the hard way. “Then what…?”

“Gumihos,” the boy replied, tearing off the bandages you had wrapped around him the night before. You winced as you watched your handwork tumble to the ground, but were more concerned over the fact that the gashes on his arm were healed almost completely overnight. “I was attacked by gumihos.”

“Nine tailed foxes?” You blurted, more for yourself than the boy. Seeing you bewilderment made a smile begin to etch across his lips, childish yet mischievous as you tried to break down what you had learned in your head. “But… those are just folklore, they aren’t real. If they were, one would have been caught by humans at this point.

“Why? Don’t you know that a gumiho can shapeshift? They live among humans as if they were any other mortal in order to get what they want in life,” the boy explained, reminding you of the words you had thrown at Juyeon for making the same excuse. “You really think that they’d let a human catch sight of their existence and get away with it?”

“Okay then answer me this,” you ask, sitting up attentive to the stranger you had brought into your home. “If gumihos are real… then why did one attack you and leave you out to die? Don’t they usually kill humans for their livers and hearts? You should have been devoured by now.”

A hearty laugh left the boy’s mouth, much stronger and louder than the small giggle from earlier. His smile couldn’t stop growing on his face as he blinked his eyes at you, the dark browns of his iris swapping out to a bold amber yellow color. His pupils slowly began to dilate into the familiar small slits of a cat’s as your own eyes widened in pure fright. The boy you had saved had now become your greatest mistake. “What makes you think I’m human?”

IV.

“Juyeon!” You hissed at the boy, urging him to come to you once you had finally caught sight of him. He was walking with a group of his friends, people who hadn’t mingled with and didn’t know whether or not you wanted to in the first place. When the boy had turned his head to you, the entirety of his friend group did as well, displaying their bright and eager smiles as they waved their hands in greeting. Awkwardly you greeted them back, unsure of what to do next as they also whispered and muttered to themselves as they let Juyeon break from their group.

Hopefully it was something nice and not anything that could hurt your feelings. They were still grinning and jeering with each other despite whatever comments they were making, so maybe it was a conversation of their approval. Or at least… you hoped it was, you couldn’t really tell the difference. You acted like you had a tough shell but in reality you were way too soft when it came to a stranger’s perspective of you.

“What’s up Y/N?” He greeted, a fond smile plastered across his face as he stood in front of you with his hands shoved in his pockets. “It’s a rare sight to see you interact with me when we don’t have a class together. It must be serious.”

“Well…” you trailed off, unsure of how to explain to him. “I guess it’s serious? But nothing too serious… I need some advice really, that’s all.”

“Advise?” Juyeon questioned, intrigued by the topic you had brought him. “Wow… of all the people could have chosen, you need my advice! I can’t help but say I’m honored. But what happened to your other friend… Kevin was his name, right? He would come to walk you home after class sometimes, why aren’t you asking him?”

You grimace at the thought of the boy before quickly waving the thought away. “Kevin will just think I’m crazy and make fun of me. Plus, I think you’re probably most equipped to help me out here since we take mythology together and all.”

“Ah… still keeping this as a school oriented friendship right?” He teased, getting a small laugh to leave your mouth. “Alright, what is it? What mythological help do you need this time? I’m all ears.”

You hesitated for a moment, unsure on how to word your sentences without sounding insane. The whole reason you had gone to Juyeon instead of Chanhee was because he would understand you a little better than your friend could. “Gumihos… you know how we’re learning about them currently, right? Is there something that people should know about them in order to protect themselves from one?”

Juyeon raised a brow at your question, staying silent as he thought to himself. “Gumihos? I thought you didn’t want to learn about gumihos because it was pop culture and everyone knows about them?”

“Well, what can I say!” You exclaimed, hoping to cover up your nervousness as much as possible. “I decided to take up a personal essay of sorts on those nine tailed foxes. I got intrigued a few days ago about them and I wanted to get as much information as I could about them, but we don’t go back to our mythology class until I… really can’t wait to get started.”

In reality, you actually had that gumiho boy holed up in your apartment still. In fear of the boy actually attempting to devour your liver you had locked him up in your bathroom and placed a talisman on the door so that he couldn’t escape. You had absolutely no clue on how to deal with a gumiho and you had only recently started your lesson on the fox spirits a few days ago. So needless to say, you wanted to be prepared for whatever might come next while housing him.

“That’s fair,” Juyeon agreed, taking your lie like candy and smiling brightly back at you. “I mean, the concept of nine tailed foxes are pretty cool, so I can’t blame you for looking into them a little further than everyone else.”

“So?” You asked, eagerly awaiting his answer, “Do you have any information I should know?”

“Well… there's this one thing I’ve been told before by my grandparents,” he explained, trying his best to recall past memories that had no use up until now. “Yeah, they would use old myths as stories to tell me before bed when I was a kid. They told me that no matter what fork a gumiho comes in, never let them kiss you.”

“Kiss?” You blurted out, shocked that that was the one thing he decided to share. “What’s kissing got to do with fox spirits?”

“It’s how they take your energy,” Juyeon told you, putting his pointer fingers together as if mimicking a kiss between two people. “When a gumiho kisses you, they absorb your energy. The more energy they absorb the weaker you become until you eventually die! Kinda scary, right? Not only do they feed off of human livers, but our mere life essence.”

“What type of bedtime story is that,” you mumbled, skeptically glancing over Juyeon. If that was the type of stories he was being told as a child, how was he not a little messed up in the head? If you were him, you would be absolutely terrified of everything even approaching you. Who knew when someone would randomly come up and kiss you? Your first and last kiss would be from a fox trying to steal your life away!

“I was very easy to tease as a child,” he shrugged, his smile turning sheepish as he softly scratched the back of his neck. “My grandparents loved telling me stories like that because I was an emotional little kid, ease to scare and quick to try and stuff like that.”

“That makes a little more sense,” you nodded, “no sane person would tell that as a bedtime story, it’s always got to be told to a child that’s easily scared.”

“Yeah, yeah, say what you want. If they hadn’t told them those stories of gumihos, I probably wouldn’t be taking mythology now,” Juyeon explained, glancing back toward the direction your shared class was. “And if I didn’t take mythology, you wouldn’t have any friends in that class.”

You shrug in response, he was right. If Juyeon had decided that he didn’t want to take the mythology course you probably wouldn’t have ever met him in the first place. So that was one good thing that had come out of his grandparents scaring him into the folklore of nine tailed foxes. “If you don’t mind me asking by the way,” the boy continued, switching topics while he still had your attention. “Whatever happened that day? You said you’d call me back but you never did. I can’t lie, I was a little worried for you again.”

“Ah, that,” you stall, struggling to make up a lie off the time of your head. You felt bad for lying to Juyeon more than you already were, you heard what he said! He’s worried about you and you didn’t want to put any more of load onto his back with your supernatural problems. “Well, I think I’ve got spirits in my house. I’ve been hearing weird noises sometimes and I thought you could hear it too, that’s why I asked.”

“Funny how things like this happen to a mythology student, huh? I wonder what kind of spirit has skipped their way into your house then.” Juyeon laughed, shaking his head at the ironic situation you had got yourself in, “well if you ever find yourself needing a home away from home, my dorm room is always open? We’d have to clean up a little bit before you arrive and sneak you in but anything to get away from spirits, right?”

[takahero]

in honour of finishing inkspell, here are some basta observations I picked up along the way. also, inkspell spoilers warning! i also have MANY MANY thoughts so i’d love to hear what you guys think to some of the questions raised

“He hadn’t changed: the same thin face, the same way of narrowing his eyes, and there was an amulet dangling around his neck to ward off the bad luck that Basta thought lurked under every ladder, behind every bush.” — pg.138

“Basta’s left hand was bandaged, Elinor noticed when he took his fingers away from her mouth.” — pg.139

“‘I’d have been here much sooner, believe you me, but they put me in jail for a while on account of something that happened years ago. No sooner was Capricorn gone than all the people who’d been too scared to open their mouths suddenly felt very brave.’” — pg.140 (see they never tell us WHY he was in prison, do they? the possibilities are endless. we know he committed atrocious things, like arson, but imagine if he got put in jail for something completely different…LOL)

“‘You wouldn’t believe how often I’ve told him there’s nothing to be ashamed of in going to jail, particularly when your prisons here are so much more comfortable than our dungeons at home.’” — pg.140 (OHHHTMGOD MEME IDEA)

“Basta flung his arm so roughly round Orpheus’ neck that his glasses slipped down his nose.” — pg.141

“‘Hold your tongue, Basta!’ Mortola interrupted him abruptly. ‘You’ve always liked the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.141

“‘Well, Silvertongue, I’m sorry it’s taken some time,’ he said in his soft, cat-like voice.” — pg.180

“‘My son always said revenge was a dish best eaten cold,’ observed Mortola.” — pg.181 (question. did basta find out about mortola’s true identity between inkheart & inkspell? do u think he realised it when mortola cried when capricorn died?)

“Basta passed a finger over his throat and winked at him.” — pg.186 (wink 2 LMAO)

“Basta bent down and picked up a rusty helmet lying at his feet. ‘What do you expect me to say?’ he growled, throwing the helmet back into the grass with a gloomy expression, and giving it a kick that sent it clattering against the wall. ‘Of course it’s our castle. Didn’t you see the figure of the goat on the wall there? Even the carved devils are still standing, though they wear ivy crowns now — and look, there’s one of the eyes that Slasher liked to paint on the stones.’” — pg.190

“‘So Basta was right after all. He’s dead, here and in the other world too.’” — pg.191 (interesting….so Basta knew Mortola’s plan wouldn’t work? he just wanted a ride home?)

“‘I’d really like to know what happened!’ he muttered. ‘I always said Capricorn wasn’t here, but what about the others?…What are we going to do if they’re all gone?’ Basta sounded like a boy afraid of the dark. ‘Do you want us to live in a cave like brownies until the wolves find us? Have you forgotten the wolves? And the Night-Mares, the fire-elves, all the other creatures crawling around the place…I for one haven’t forgotten them, but you would come back to this accursed spot where there are ghosts lurking behind every tree!’ He reached for the amulet dangling around his neck, but Mortola did not deign to look at him.

“‘Oh, be quiet!’ she said, so sharply that Basta flinched.” — pg.192

“‘You’re going to leave them here?’ That was Basta’s voice.” — pg.193 (at first I was like oh so he has a heart….but then he was mean to resa straight after this 🙄)

“‘Sorry, but he must have overlooked me, shut up in that cage as I was,’ purred Basta in his catlike voice.” — pg.377

“‘Wasn’t it Mortola who had you put in the cage to be fed to the Shadow?’ Basta just shrugged his shoulders and flung back his silver-grey cloak. Of course, he had his knife. A brand new one, it seemed, finer than any he’d ever had in the other world, and undoubtedly just as sharp.

“‘Yes, not very nice of her,’ he said as his fingers caressed the handle of the knife. ‘But she’s really sorry.’” — pg.377 (okay so it SOUNDS like he threatened/made some kind of bargain with his knife, but I strongly doubt that considering how afraid he seems of her?? i know he’s technically working for the adderhead but even by the end of the book, it seems he is far closer to mortola than adderhead. what is their relationship? or does he sincerely think she’s sorry/has deluded himself into believing such? UGH SO MANY QUESTIONS)

“Basta had always liked describing his own and other people’s abominable deeds in detail.” — pg.378

“‘But we’re not going to shoot you.’ Basta came a little closer to Fenoglio, his face as intent as that of a stalking cat.” — pg.378 …. living for all the cat references tbh

“‘He wants you to crawl on your belly to him, that’s what our noble lord and master likes. But never mind, he pays well!’” — pg.378 (yes basta all abt getting that bread LMAOOOO)

“He slowly drew the knife from his belt. Its blade was long and slightly curved.” — pg.379

“‘Hey Basta, I know you like the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.379 (AHAHAHAHA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE CALLED OUT BASTA ON THIS NOW? IVE LOST TRACK)

“With a regretful sigh, Basta put the knife back in his belt. ‘Yes, very well, you’re right,’ he said in surly tones. ‘I need to take my time with this sort of thing. Questioning people is an art, a real art.’” — pg.380 (LMAOOOOOOO HE IS SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN)

“Basta. The same thin face, the same twisted smile. Only the clothes were different. Basta was no longer wearing his white shirt and black suit with the flower in his buttonhole. No, Basta now wore the Adderhead’s silvery grey, and he had a sword at his side. With a knife in his belt too, of course. But he was holding a dead chicken in his left hand.” — pg. 455

“‘Yes, they are!’ purred Basta. ‘The little witch, and the fire-eater into the bargain. It was well worth the wait. Even though I’ll probably never get that damned flour out of my lungs again.’” — pg.455 (ok….so who’s gonna draw basta sitting amongst the flour AAHHAHA)

“‘Servant? Who’s a servant here? Just listen to him. As bold as if he’d never felt my knife! Have you forgotten how you screamed when it cut your face?’” — pg.457 … don’t call basta a servant…..noted

“‘Oh, don’t look so disbelieving, little witch, I still can’t read and I don’t intend to learn, but there are enough fools around the place who can, even in this world.’” —pg. 457 (i wonder how much capricorn influenced basta’s views on reading. because capricorn said that he learnt how to read from a maid, right? so basta certainly wouldn’t have trash-talked reading in front of him. and even after living in OUR world for nine years, I’m still surprised that he never attempted to learn, given how dependent we are on it. anyway my headcanon is that he secretly wants to, but doesn’t want to give others the satisfaction of knowing they have something he doesn’t. also nobody he knows would be willing to teach him (unless he threatened them) bc of his obviously violent and short-tempered nature…and learning requires so much patience. still, though, would love a fic of basta being taught how to read in secret and having some kind of positive interaction)

“‘You’re even more talkative than you used to be, Basta.’ Dustfinger’s voice sounded as if he found this tedious.” — pg.458 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH IM DYING. honestly the animosity between them was just. A+++

“Basta was in an even worse state. He was sitting close to Mortola, his face so red and swollen that Meggie almost failed to recognise him. But he had escaped death once again. Perhaps the good-luck charms he always wore worked after all.” — pg.526

“The sunlight falling into the room made Basta’s face look like a boiled lobster.” — pg.575 

“Basta put his hand to the amulet hanging around his neck. It was not a rabbit’s paw, as he had worn in Capricorn’s service, but something that looked suspiciously like a human finger-bone.” — pg.581 (THIS STILL IRKS ME SO MUCH)

“The Piper straightened his back, as ready to attack as the viper on his master’s coat of arms…He was a good head taller than Basta.” — pg.582 WHY DO I KEEP FORGETTING HES NOT TALL LMFAO

“The two men were standing so close that the blade of Basta’s knife wouldn’t have fitted between them.” — pg.582 HAHAHAJAHAAJAHAHHAAHAHAHAH PKESJENE I LOVE THIS SO MUCH … IMAGINE BASTA SQUARING UP W HIS NOSE JUST SMACK BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF PIPER’S CHEST OR SOMETHING

“The Piper struck Basta in the face so hard that his head hit the door frame. Blood ran down his burned cheek in a trail of red. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. ‘Take care to avoid dark corridors, Piper!’ he whispered. ‘You don’t have a nose any more, but one can always find something else to cut off.’” — pg.582-583 THIS SCENE WAS SIMPLY……CHEF’S KISS

are you serious is he dead??? WHAT. okay I knew dustfinger’s love for farid would be the end of him and basta being the instrument to rip that away from him was totally heartrending. i WISH it had been more climactic? like dustfinger unleashing his fury and fighting basta, blind with anger and grief. THE DIALOGUE POTENTIAL BETWEEN THEM AS THEY FINALLY TALK ONE-ON-ONE, and then some revisiting of the scene where dustfinger has the opportunity to kill basta but AGAIN withholds because killing is not in his nature….THEN MO IN SHINING ARMOUR SWOOPS IN TO DO THE JOB

now, off to inkdeath!

[randomposterofstuff]

Soldiers by Choice - Chapter IV

Author's Note: Hi, all! I'm back with a new chapter. Real-life priorities still continue to demand my attention. Lol. In any case, here's Chapter 4.

Chapters: I | II | III

Also available on Ao3. Check my tumblr page to click on the 'Archive of Our Own' tab!

CHAPTER 4: Draws and Positions

Summary: Levi and Mikasa perform an exhibition exercise for the new recruits of the Survey Corps. Erwin deliberates on Mikasa's current role.

Year 847

---

“I would like to officially welcome you all to the Survey Corps.”

Rows of faces, most of them young, some of them slightly older than the others, look up at their Commander from his place on the raised platform. Behind him, his officers are standing in attention.

The sun has just begun to rise over the flag of the Survey Corps, which sways from its place on top of the main fortress of the regiment's headquarters. The Wings of Freedom fly in the sky overlooking the cemented courtyard where the soldiers have assembled.

“You have all accepted the responsibility of being humanity’s vanguard against the Titans. And for this, I commend you all for dedicating your hearts.” Erwin raises his right fist to his chest, saluting the new recruits. “It takes great courage and resolve to endure your fears for the sake of forging a better path for humanity. We are glad to have you fight alongside us.”

The Commander then brings his fist down to assume a more neutral stance. “At the end of the month, we will be venturing into Titan territory to establish more bases and reclaim more lands.” Erwin’s voice resounds in the open area, with its standard tenor of solemnity. “That being said, today is not only your first day as official members of the Corps. It is also your first official day of training as such. You will undergo routine drills in preparation for the expedition. My officers will oversee and assess your performances.”

“And to better prepare you for what to expect in the Titan Forest, Captain Levi and Lieutenant Mikasa Ackerman will perform an exhibition exercise once you finish your drills.”

At this announcement, awe and astonishment color the features of the new recruits. Several pairs of eyes widen, and excitable murmurs can be heard amongst them.

“You guys are in luck!” Hange cheerfully announces from their place in the officer’s line. “You all get to see Humanity’s Strongest and the Woman Worth a Hundred Soldiers in action!”

Awestruck gazes then find the captain and lieutenant at the far right of the line of officers.

“It’s really them!”

“The Ackerman duo in the flesh!”

“They say they’re the strongest in the entire military!”

Levi resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Tch. Starry-eyed brats.” He mutters, looking at the rows of recruits.

Beside him, Mikasa stands with her arms crossed behind her back, likewise observing the newest members of the Survey Corps. “I thought that after a few years, you’d eventually get used to these reactions.” Although her expression is neutral, there’s a humorous lilt to her voice.

“Annoying brats are always going to be annoying.” He grouses. “I don’t have your level of tolerance.”

She hums in amusement. “In any case, I look forward to settling the score later.” She shifts her gaze to him, a glint in her dark orbs.

His eyes reflect the same gleam. “We’ll see about that.”

Their rivalry began when they had their first sparring match together.

---

- 3 years ago -

Levi flew through the air as he watched Mikasa swerve herself around a thick tree branch using her steel cables. She used the impetus of her movements to propel herself towards him to attack. But before she could reach him, the captain re-shot his hooks to maneuver himself upwards and create more distance between them.

The lieutenant gave chase. And the moment she reached the same aerial height level, Levi aimed his cables at a branch behind her to launch himself forward with great speed, taped blades ready to strike.

But they only sliced the air where her head had just been a second ago. Mikasa quickly bent her torso back to dodge. She then flipped her body downwards mid-air and allowed herself to fall backwards for a few seconds before shooting her cables below her. The hooks latched onto a branch beneath her, and she used her momentum to swing over and under it before launching herself at Levi with her own taped swords. He blocked her attack with a swift parry before pivoting away to calculate his next move.

Wanting to see how his then-newly appointed lieutenant would fair against him, Levi had challenged her to a spar. Mikasa had accepted, similarly wanting to test her strength against his. He had suggested that they train “Ackerman” style. Intrigued, she had agreed.

And so, they trained in the way of their clan – by dueling in the air with 3DM gear. The Ackerman clan prides itself in training its members to be prepared for any threat – whether it be Titan or human, under any circumstances. In the course of their duel, they had traversed all over the forested areas of the headquarters’ training grounds.

The spar had lasted over an hour and eventually ended in a stalemate when they were forced to stop due to their gas supplies almost running out.

“It looks like we’re going to have to call this a draw.” He had remarked as they regrouped onto a large branch. Once they landed, they both took a moment to catch their breaths – the match had left them fairly winded.

“You’re a good fighter.” Levi said as he sat down across her on the branch. “But your technique could still be better.”

Mikasa raised her brows, curious about his assessment. “How can I improve?”

“The explosive power of your attacks is impressive.” He commented, remembering the nearly overwhelming force of her strikes against his taped swords. “But you need to move more quickly when avoiding a hit. It’s easier to evade and parry on the ground because you can control your center of gravity. But when using 3DM gear, you have to exert more effort in controlling the execution and speed of your movements.” He continued, recalling how she would barely evade his attacks at the last moment before they could land on her.

“Your reaction time is good, and so are your reflexes. They let you dodge in the air effectively enough. But you can still do better.”

She nodded at his comments, filing them away in her mind for future reference. “I see. Thank you for the feedback.”

“Sure.” He replied. “You got any comments on my technique?”

Mikasa’s eyes widened subtly at the question – mildly surprised that her captain would ask her to critique his technique. She took a moment to think.

“Your attacks are swift, and you use your momentum well to your advantage.” She replied after a few seconds. “Your speed also gives your strikes the natural force needed to land hits on an opponent. But I’ve noticed that you mainly rely on this natural force to attack. Conversely, you consciously apply more strength into your parries.” She explained, remembering that she received more feedback from his blades when he blocked her attacks than when he struck against her swords.

“Your natural offensive power is already strong on its own, but if you were to consciously apply more force to your strikes like with your blocks, they would be more powerful and more difficult to repel.”

"Hmm." When she had finished, Levi lifted one of his taped blades and gave it a small swing, contemplating her comments. "Duly noted."

Levi re-sheathed his swords before speaking again. “The next time we spar, there will be a winner.”

Mikasa hummed. “Definitely.”

There was an underlying challenge in her otherwise neutral voice, and the corner of his mouth curved upward almost imperceptibly as he quietly accepted it.

---

The early morning sun steadily rose up in the sky as the new recruits performed their drills. On his horse, Mike oversees those who were running the obstacle tracks. Halfway to the end, some recruits were beginning to fall behind under the weight of the packs on their backs. “You need more stamina than that if you want to survive beyond the Walls!” The section commander gruffly yells, steering his horse alongside the struggling soldiers. “Keep moving!”

Hange and Moblit stand on a large branch in the forested areas as they observe the recruits racing against each other in 3DM gear. “Come on, you guys!” The Titan-scientist calls out to them. “Titans can run at speeds faster than this! You need to go quicker if you don’t want them to catch you!”

They see one soldier finally reach the checkpoint serving as the finish line. “Moblit, how many minutes did it take for him to finish?”

The executive officer checks his hand watch. “9 minutes and 17 seconds, Section Commander.”

Placing their hands on their hips, Hange throws their head back as they sigh loudly. “Not fast enough!”

---

Hours later in the afternoon found the recruits crowding at the edge of the forest.

“The exhibition shall begin momentarily.” Erwin announces. “During expeditions, Titans can and will approach from any and all directions. So, to have a more effective simulation, a handful of soldiers have been assigned to launch flying targets from different areas in the forest. Captain Levi and Lieutenant Mikasa will dispense of both flying andstationary targets. They will traverse through the forest, so we will keep track of their progress by following them at a distance with 3DM gear.”

More excitable murmurs once again erupt from the crowd.

“Flying targets? No way!”

“We never dealt with those during cadet training!”

Levi tsks as he adjusts the straps of his 3DM gear. “Shadis and the others should make flying targets a standard part of their training.”

“To be fair, Hange only came up with the idea 2 months ago.” Mikasa comments while securing the tie of her short ponytail; she had let her hair grow just past her shoulders over the years. “It’s likely that none of the Commandants have even heard of it yet.”

Levi only gives a non-committal hum as they proceed to their respective starting lanes.

Mikasa stops at the right-side lane while he walks further to the left lane.

“Looks like they’re ready!” Hange says, observing that the two Ackermans have already drawn their swords and grapples.

“Very well. On my count.” The Commander announces. “3, 2, 1. Advance!”

Both dark-haired soldiers shoot their hooks at the exact same moment and propel into the forest. In his lane, Levi sees a few targets positioned some distance in front of him. Angling his blades sidewards, he increases his speed and twists from left to right, effectively beheading the stationary targets in the blink of an eye.

In the other lane, Mikasa slices through the neck of one mannequin and sees a shadow flash in her periphery. She promptly maneuvers herself upwards to the sky and she shoots her hooks into the wooden body of the airborne target before swerving towards its nape. As she dives back to the forest, she sees its severed head free-falling and Levi decapitating another flying target some distance away from her.

They continue flying through the forest, leaving scattered trails of severed wooden heads and destroyed targets in their wake. A lone target then sails towards the sky, nearly halfway in between their lanes.

They propel towards it, with Levi’s grappling hooks latching onto its left side and Mikasa’s onto its right. Realizing that they’ve both claimed the target, they share a quick look mid-flight.

Synchronizing their timing, they angle their blades and simultaneously swerve. Twin streaks of silver fly across the sky from both directions as they strike the nape and send the head hurtling off the body.

A yellow flare is then shot upwards in the wake of their attack – indicating that it was the last target, thus signaling the end of the exhibition.

As they descend back towards the ground, Levi turns to Mikasa, a knowing look in his eyes. She smiles slightly.

It’s another draw, then.

---

“Woah. Did you see that?!”

“They’re amazing!”

“The Ackermans really are the best!”

Murmurs of praise flow from the recruits scattered amongst tree branches at the end of the exhibition. Amidst the awestruck commentary, Erwin quietly observes as his best soldiers make their descent.

From behind him, Hange and Mike have their own exchange. “I’ve seen them in combat countless times already, but I can never get over just how good they are together!" Hange says, a broad grin on their face. "Before, I thought that no one could ever keep up with Levi. But then Mikasa came along!"

“I’ll say.” Mike comments. “Ackermans are really something else.”

Their Commander hums, catching their attention.

“Something on your mind, Erwin?” The Titan-scientist prompts.

“There is.” Erwin confirms. “I think it’s about time we have another meeting with the other section commanders.”

---

THE NEXT DAY

“Captain Levi. Lieutenant Mikasa. May I come in?”

Levi briefly wonders why Moblit is alone at their door before responding. “Come in.”

The door opens, and the Executive Officer enters and salutes them. Both Levi and Mikasa return the gesture from their respective desks.

“What does Hange want?” The captain asks, noting that the section commander would send Moblit to them if they were too busy with research or anything Titan-related.

“Section Commander Hange is with Commander Erwin and the other section commanders, Sir.” Moblit explains, his hands clasped behind his back. “I’ve been ordered to come get you and the Lieutenant.”

Mikasa raises her brows in mild surprise. “What is this meeting about?”

“I wasn’t told, Ma’am. Section Commander Hange merely told me to escort you to the strategy room.”

“Tch.” Levi grumbles. “Typical of Hange to keep us in suspense.” He then moves to stand. “Well, we better go and see what they want.”

---

Once they enter the room, they are greeted with the sight of Erwin seated in the middle of the long strategy table. Hange, Mike, and the other section commanders occupy the seats by his sides.

As per protocol, both Ackermans salute the Commander, who raises his own fist to his chest.

Erwin then gestures to the vacant chairs in front of them. “Have a seat.”

“So, what’s going on?” Levi asks once seated, crossing his arms over his chest. “Looks pretty serious since you called all of your section commanders, Erwin.”

“It is.” Erwin confirms. “We’ve been discussing Mikasa’s current position.”

The captain’s eyes widen slightly, not having expected that. His lieutenant wears a similar expression. “What about my current position?” She asks, a tinge of uncertain surprise in her tone.

Erwin’s expression remains level until the curve of his mouth slightly tilts upward. “It’s been decided that you are now ready to be a captain.”

Mikasa’s eyes widen even further at the news, a layer of astonishment on her features.

“So, you’re taking my lieutenant away from me.” Levi says dryly. In the back of his mind, he recalls that Mikasa was partnered with him to prepare her for the role because she was too young for it 3 years ago.

He looks at the soon-to-be captain. While Levi agrees that she’s now ready, he feels a twinge of disappointment. “I suppose good things have to end at some point.”

“Actually…” Erwin’s slight smile remains. “…I’m not.”

The Commander’s response simply served to perplex the two Ackermans. Mikasa’s brows furrow in confusion. “I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand.”

“Me neither.” Levi narrows his eyes, bemused. “Tch. Always the cryptic.”

Erwin lets the small smile linger for a moment before resuming his level expression. “It’s been agreed that Mikasa is ready for more responsibility.”

The Commander then turns his attention to the woman in question. “Mikasa, your performance, both as an individual soldier and as Levi’s lieutenant, has been exemplary. You can keep a calm mind during the direst of situations, you also possess good strategic acumen, and you are undoubtedly one of our best soldiers. We all agree that you are ready to be a captain.”

“The usual protocol would be to give you command of your own squad. But it’s been agreed that keeping you and Levi together in the same unit will be more strategic and beneficial in the long run.”

Erwin goes silent for a moment, gauging their reactions. Levi’s expression is mostly neutral, save for the annoyed tilt of his brows – no doubt a response to his earlier ambiguous answer. To his right, Mikasa sits quietly, waiting for him to continue.

“We’ve reviewed past expedition reports and evaluated both of your performances. You match Levi more closely than any other soldier in the legion. In the past, no one has been able to coordinate with him in attack sequences because of the gap in skill levels. But your respective abilities complement each other in battle, and your teamwork is remarkable. The success rates of missions you’ve had together are also the highest in the entire Survey Corps.”

“You guys are obviously the dream team!” Hange chimes in. “We’d never dream of breaking you up!”

Though Mikasa maintains her calm demeanor, she allows a small smile at the assessment. “Thank you. But I still don’t understand how me being made captain relates to all of this.”

“You performed very well as a lieutenant. And your talents will be better utilized if you were given more responsibility.” Their superior explains. “So, it’s been decided that you and Levi will be made co-captains.”

Mikasa’s lips part slightly in surprise. Their Commander continues to deliver more unexpected news.

“Co-captains?” There’s skepticism in Levi’s tone, but it’s not unkind. “How will that work?”

“You will both have the same level of authority, but your areas of responsibility will be delineated to avoid conflict.” Erwin replies smoothly, having planned the details carefully. “Your respective authorities are autonomous from one another when dealing with your corresponding obligations. But if either one of you is unavailable, the one present will also assume the former’s responsibilities.”

Levi remains quiet for a moment, contemplating the news. “Hmm. That makes sense.”

The Commander makes another slight smile at the remark before turning back to Mikasa. “Do you have any concerns or questions about this arrangement, Mikasa?

She glances at Levi. He’s watching her as he waits for her response.

“None at all.”

---

Levi sits on the common sofa back in their office as he pours tea into two cups before handing one to Mikasa.

“To your promotion.” Gripping his own teacup by the rim, Levi raises it to her, a small smile on his face.

She takes a moment to silently marvel at the rare display of social geniality from her now co-captain before smiling. She clinks her cup against his, careful not to hit his fingers.

When she takes a sip of her tea, she raises a brow at the taste. “Did we run out of chamomile?”

Levi takes a drink before replying. “No. There’s still plenty.”

Her brows further rise upward in response. The tea of the day depended on who was preparing it, so Mikasa was mildly surprised that Levi brewed something else other than his preferred blend.

Seeing her confusion, he elaborates. “Black tea isyour favorite, right?”

Surprised, Mikasa blinks at the comment before nodding. “It is.” She smiles at the thoughtful gesture. “Thank you.”

“It’s your promotion, after all.” He says before taking another drink.

She chuckles lightly. “We’re finally equals now.”

The remark was meant in jest, but Levi stills briefly at it.

“We’ve always been equals …” he states evenly, lowering his cup from his mouth, “… barring the formalities in rank.”

He meets her gaze. “Have I ever treated you as anything less?” He asks, voice serious.

The question causes Mikasa to pause. Even though Levi had a higher rank, he always asked for her ideas and considered her input. And despite having more experience, he never once underestimated her skills.

She shakes her head after a moment of contemplation. “No.”

“Well, there you have it.” He says, holding her stare for a moment longer before he resumes drinking his tea.

Mikasa likewise returns to her cup, sipping the warm liquid. “I’m glad we’re still in the same squad.” She admits, tone soft. They had built a unique rapport over the years, and she realized that she would miss it if she was re-assigned.

Another small smile flits across his face. “Same here.”

---

End Note: I've come up with a lot of ideas for this fic. And it's gonna take time for me to fully flesh them out. Haha. That being said, I really can't guarantee regular updates because of real-life stuff. *cries* But I will try my best regardless. Let me know what you think so far! Comments and reviews would be very much appreciated!

[apsidee]

i listened to the first episode of season 2 this morning with my friend i’ll put my thoughts below the cut, because, well, spoilers ;)

ok so first of all. pretty much all of my more realistic guesses for how season 2 would start were correct! i called it! gee its almost like i listened to season 1 a dozen times and also spent a ton of time thinking about it i figured they would start with a minor fakeout of sorts by looking at a character that is not utterly doomed. so i was thinking moc weepe or imelda, although spahr would be in a similar position so he was included in my guess.

i was so thrilled to hear about imelda, this whole setup has pretty much turned everything out entirely in her favor and i love it. shes such a #girlboss. i go insane every time she’s mentioned, almost died in the first minute of the episode. ive actually been working on a drawing of her over the last week so i might be able to finish that tonight lol

and as for phineas i was just talking with my friend last night about where he would end up in all of this. my take was that it would be funny but extremely unlikely if he ended up escaping with lark (which i found unlikely because it was mentioned that lark had a ship so i assumed she would be leaving through that), but if he did end up with lark and tzila then there would be a dynamic of complete and utter non-communication between them all. phineas would still be in a dissociative fugue state, and if lark didnt just kill him outright then he’d be tied up and held at gunpoint lol. and neither of them would tell tzila what he did to sherman, though lark would be incredibly angry in his general direction.

so my more reasonable guess was that phineas would end up hanging out with saskia. as me and my friend were talking we decided that saskia would initially almost just kill him straight away, would see how completely out of it phineas is right now, and would hold off on the murder but still make him prove himself. although i did think that saskia would have had a ship stashed away or something, but i think its better that she instead tried to get everyone to shelter.

and i gotta say, i love how good saskia is. she’s such a good person, probably the most good person in the cast. i want to give her a hug. she just wants to save everyone so bad. well, except for phineas, but thats understandable. i like that she almost just condemned him straight away, but then gave him a task to do instead, impossible as it is (see, he’s gotta prove himself to her!).

i love phineas’s feat of athletic prowess to get onto the cable car. its so extremely funny that all this man does is feel anxious and compulsively exercise. also as we were listening, as soon as he missed the cable car i was like ‘big zipline’ and then mere moments later i was right :) though to be fair i think a lot about the fact that the company members just zipline across the endless abyss all the time (do you think they fall off sometimes? maybe the company has a high turnover rate simply because guys just keep falling right off the ziplines).

and then lark! she holds him at gunpoint. it really isnt phineas’s day, at all. lark being in the mailcar makes a lot of sense, though i also wasn’t anticipating it at all. i wonder if tzila’s in there with her

overall fantastic episode, pretty much everything i was hoping for!! the only things i was kind of hoping for that weren’t in the episode would be a glance at how jonas spahr is doing, and also i was kind of hoping that phineas would get caught up the tearror a little bit so that he could get a fun little tearror effect like the other two protagonists have. but there is still time for both of those things to happen, especially since phin is in the fold now :)

and then one final thing i really enjoyed about this episode: you could tell that all the narrators were really having fun with it. midst really sounds like its a shared passion project and thats one of the things that makes it an absolute joy to listen to! i’m excited to go and make more fanart for midst. i’ve got a lot of ideas already!

[shhh-no-ones-home]

december 22 - chris motionless

title: holiday hangouts

++++

sorry again this is late, this is the first day this week ive been able to sit down, write, edit, and even post so i hope you all will forgive my uncertain circumstances lol. i hope you all have had a good holiday season so far though and i wish you all a merry christmas eve!

prompt: "If i wanted a date to the christmas party i wouldve asked." "so it that a yes?" "...yes"

request from: n/a

tag list: @musicsexandpizza69 @svintsandghosts @alilpunkrock @theoneandonlykymberlee @cynic-spirit @lifeisabitchandsoareyou @xyours-eternallyx @thisplace-ishaunted @joeynihil

++++

i walked quickly around my room in my towel, trying to figure out what to wear. i had done my makeup and hair already, fairly natural so it could match anything, but i still didnt know what i wanted. the company Christmas party was tonight and i wasnt exactly sure if i should go more casual or not. i pulled a few dresses out and tossed them on my bed before flipping through my shirts. when i heard a knock at the door i drew my brows, jogging into the Living Room and looking through the peep hole. to my dismay chris was standing there and i immediately smacked myself mentally. i opened the door slowly.

"hey chris."

i said bashfully and his eyes went wide.

"well thats an interesting surprise."

he said through a laugh and i stepped to the side to let him in.

"if im being honest i forgot you were coming over today."

i said nervously, trying to keep my towel tucked under my arm.

"oh, well uh, do you want me to go? we can hang out another time."

he said pointing to the door and i shook my head.

"no, no, its fine. i could actually really use your help."

i said, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hall to my room.

"okay?"

he said a little skeptical. when we got into my room he stopped and drew his brows.

"the company Christmas party is tonight and i am at a loss. you always like my looks but i have no idea what to wear."

i said in defeat. i looked to him and watched him stroke his chin, staring down at the bed. he picked up the one knee-length royal purple dress and held it against his chest.

"ya know, if you wore this one, we would match."

he said and i raised a brow.

"Chris, If i wanted a date to the Christmas party i would've asked."

i said and he gave me a suggestive look.

"hey, you asked for my help, we were supposed to hang out today. im just saying, i could go with."

he said, holding out the dress for me with a knowing smile on his face. i sent him a look before sighing and snatching the dress from him.

"so it that a yes?"

he asked as i walked into the bathroom. i stood there and thought for a second.

"...yes"

i said in defeat, watching him fist pump the air as i closed the door.

"i cant believe you even wore a black button down for us to sit on the couch and watch movies."

i said through the door as i pulled the dress on. i heard him laugh a little.

"well i guess i just know you. you always pull something out and i thought i should be prepared. you still have that tie laying around?"

he asked and i opened the door.

"yeah, its hanging in the back of my closet but could you zip this first?"

i asked, turning my back to him.

"who wouldve thought your ex leaving one thing behind would actually help us."

he said and i laughed, watching him disappear into the closet.

"does this count as a friend date?"

i asked, pushing earrings into my ears as he came back out into the room, fixing the tie into place.

"yes, yes it does."

---

"y/n! glad to see you could make it, a few of us have been waiting for your expertise on something."

my boss said, rushing to the door of the large house as one of my coworkers greeted me.

"oh, uh, okay."

i said lightly, surrendering my coat to the hostess and following carol into the living area. there, a few members of the accounting team were sat around the coffee table, a board game in front of them.

"and whos this?"

Des asked, nodding to chris as he came into view behind me.

"chris."

he said, stepping forward and offering his hand to shake.

"So, is this a boyfriend?"

my boss asked as she sat back on the couch, picking her glass of wine up off the side table. i laughed lightly, looking to him in confusion as he slipped his hand into mine.

"only just."

he said with a smile and i sent him a look.

"oh, well you two watch out for the mistletoe then, wouldnt wanna get too caught up."

jerry said, raising his glass to us. i laughed nervously.

"right."

i agreed, taking my hand back from chris.

"hey, you wanna go find us something to drink?"

i said suggestively at him and he nodded.

"ill be right back i guess."

he said to all of them before taking off down the short hall to the kitchen. i turned and looked back at all of them.

"so, what was it that you needed me for?"

---

as i walked with chris back out to the car he held my hand tightly. i could feel him shivering as snow started to fall around us. if anything the temperature dropped significantly since wed arrived and you could definitely tell.

"m'lady."

he said, letting go of my hand and opening the door for me.

"thanks."

i said as he shut it, me watching him jog around the car to the driver side.

"it is way too cold out there."

he mentioned, starting the car and rubbing his hands together. i turned the heat up and did the same, trying to warm up.

"agreed."

i said as he pulled slowly out of the driveway.

"hey,"

he said after a while and i turned to look at him.

"thanks again for letting me tag along."

he said and i smiled.

"no, im glad you did. im sure things wouldve been much more awkward. i am sorry for all the questions though."

i mentioned and he shrugged.

"its no big deal, i shouldve figured it would happen when i told them we were dating."

he said with a smile and i laughed.

"yeah, now im gonna get questioned around the office about my non-existent boyfriend."

i said and he shook his head.

"eh, it seemed like the most logical reason for me to be there."

he said and i nodded slowly.

"yeah i guess youre right."

i said with a side nod.

"besides,"

he said, drawing my attention.

"ive been wanting to ask you to be my girlfriend for a while but it just never seemed like the right time."

my eyes went wide as i stared at him, him looking to me quickly before turning his gaze back to the road.

"you want me to be your girlfriend?"

i asked and he let out a nervous laugh.

"i mean, if you want to."

i nodded quickly, taking his free hand into mine and interlocking our fingers.

"id love that chris."

he sent me a quick smile.

"great cause this wouldve been one awkward drive home if not."

i laughed, nudging his arm with my elbow.

"good thing you dont have to worry about it anymore then."

i said and he nodded.

"you are absolutely right. and now you dont have to worry about lying to your coworkers."

he said and i shook my head.

"no i dont."

i said leaning over the console and kissing his cheek quickly.

"what was that for?"

he asked and i shrugged.

"just a thanks."

he looked to me with a brow raised.

"thanks?"

he asked and i nodded.

"for making this Christmas a special one."

i said as he pulled up to the stop light slowly, finally looking at me fully.

"its the least i could do."

he said and i laughed.

"merry christmas chris."

i said, leaning in and giving him a quick but proper kiss. he smiled at me before turning back to the road and taking off as the light turned green.

"a merry christmas indeed."