#just endings based on the tone of your mc

[rexcaliburechoes]

playing through bad endings in visual novels for the achievements kinda suck bc like. i know the characters are not real people. it doesn't matter if they dislike me in the slightest because they Aren't Real.

but also. i don't wanna upset the character because :( ow my feelings they don't like me

[goldenstring6123]

Sylus: Seething Red

Warning: 3.9K words. Angst. Little comfort. Cursing! Lots of it. Suggestive ending, for 16+ only, Plot heavy. Emotional & Dramatic. If you can't stomach arguments and fighting, I don't suggest reading this. Reader is not the MC but works as a hunter.

Author's note: This was a bit delayed because I had to re-write this three times :> warning, I proofread this once but I was lacking sleep soooo...

You burned with rage.

Seething, searing the skin of your entire being.

You revved your motorcycle faster, traversing through the pitch-black rainy night in the N109 zone. The fog was severe compared to the city, enough to obstruct the view of the street. Nonetheless, you continued driving, gritting your teeth at the thought of your lover, Sylus.

The towering building of Sylus' base remained void of any form of life, shrouded in a hazy mist of smoke and fog. Not even crows lingered about the premises.

You slammed the door open and met the twins, Luke and Kieran, one reading a book and the other looking at his phone. There was no time to spare them each a hello; you trudged through the godforsaken hallway and threw open Sylus' door.

There, the aforementioned man sat on his couch, staring at the flickering flame of his fireplace, his phone in your hand. "I recall telling you not to leave." The distaste was on his tongue, especially at the photograph of you in the airport with your teammates.

Your nails dug into the ball of your palm, almost threatening it to bleed. Any ounce of reasonable patience in you was slowly evaporating. The urge to talk in a calm manner had long been gone. You gritted your teeth while you took another step closer. "And who are you to make that decision?!"

Jenna gave you an opportunity to showcase your leadership because she knows you wanted a promotion. She offered you three projects to lead alongside her, and you chose a clean-up operation on Almus Island, an island infested with mutant Wanderers.

There was a lot of effort put into this, and you couldn't afford any mishap. You trained hard for this, coordinating with the data team and your own to create plans and backups in case anything went haywire.

It was one of the most dangerous tasks you had to do in your entire career—One that deserved the promotion you most certainly craved. Everything was leading up to that moment you boarded the jet.

That was three hours ago. The security guards stopped you and prevented you from leaving, stating that there was something wrong with your pass. You had no clue what they were talking about, but whatever it was, it prevented you from boarding the jet.

The team was under pressure. Jenna didn't know what to do as well. No matter what you did, no matter what papers you showed, they just didn't let you through. Time-bound, Jenna had no choice but to order you to go back to the headquarters and supervise from there.

That was a complete blow to your ego. After all that preparation, training, and debriefing, you wound up stuck inside the office instead of out there doing your job, which accompanied your title.

The recent promotion you got was an opportunity to ascend the corporate ladder, but with Sylus' actions, you looked nothing more like a fool. You had no idea why Jenna advised you to just head back to the office after security denied your access to the jet, but the sight of Mephisto perched on the flight display helped you put two and two together.

The shame, embarrassment, and look of pity from your peers choked you out of your logical thinking. They whispered against one another, asking why you were holding up the mission.

For once, you thought so little of yourself. Their stares were like fire ants on your skin, stinging you to your very being.

"I talked to you about this before, sweetie. I explicitly warned you about leaving the project for your own safety," Sylus said. The tone in his voice was that of when he was calm and collected, unbothered by the fiery rage that was drowning your mind. "Almus Island is dangerous because it was previously my turf, and I'm not joking when I say that place is a hellhole—it was abandoned for a reason."

"That's not an excuse for you to meddle in my affairs! I was already at the airport, I was with my team ready to leave, and then I found out I can't leave the country because of some shit you pulled?!"

"I warned you to heed my words," he said matter-of-factly. Every word that comes out of his mouth is like a landmine to trigger your emotions. You had the urge to cry, but you fought the pinpricks in your eyes. "I told you to drop off that project and do something else." His words came out smooth, almost matter-of-factly, and you hated it.

Sylus was the type of man to not give in on his actions, and tonight was the time when you had to painfully realize that.

"Listen to me, you piece of fuck—" You hissed through your teeth and strode angrily to him. "—What I do for work doesn't concern you unless Onychinus is involved. I deliberately chose to lead this project instead of the other offered to me because I don't want to be after your neck—God forbid I don't stand a chance against your organization."

Sylus threw his phone onto the couch, visibly irked at your words. "And I did what I did because I don't want you to end up dead," Sylus retorted.

"Are you too much of an idiot to not comprehend that?!" His red eyes glowed, fury flickering behind them. "I requested for you to not leave because I know for a fact you're going to end up injured when you come back, worse, you'd end up as a corpse."

Stupid. His reasoning is pure and utter stupid. Sylus? Scared of losing you? Bullshit. That flawed and shallow reason did nothing to soothe the fire in your heart. You didn't know what was powering your anger.

Was it the shame that you were so eager to leave but couldn't?

Was it the fact that Sylus thinks you're weak?

That he has an overwhelming amount of power against you?

Was it the fact that Jenna had high expectations, but you had made a fool of yourself in front of your peers?

It was all of it.

"That's a part of the job! What I did before you and I met is the same, I fight, and I get injured—Why are you speaking like I'm some sort of newbie in the field? You've seen me in action multiple times, I even saved your ass once!"

"I did what I did because I need to, and I'll do it all over again no matter how many times you berate me. You are staying in this city—you can take whatever project you want, you can go after the organization for all I care, and I'd be more than willing to let you shoot me, but you are not going to that island."

"Fuck! Why are you so insistent?! Did you think that just because you're powerful and shit, you get to toss me around like your fucking lackey?

Do you think so little of me? When I chose you, I did not fucking sign up to be dragged around by your whims—I don't give two fucks why and how you did it, but you don't get to meddle in my affairs," you yelled at him. You didn't care who heard you. You didn't even care about anything anymore.

"You don't get to have a choice."

A loud, ear-piercing crash reverberated in his room.

Before he could say anything else, you picked up the nearest object beside you, a small statuette, and lunged it at him. The once solid form is now nothing more than debris of glass. It crashed against the wall behind his head, the shards flying to cut his cheek.

"Well fuck me, since when did I ever have one with you? The last choice I made was choosing you, and it went to shit from there. I follow every one of your fucking whims, but when I requested for you to not do shit, you turn a deaf ear." You didn't know what you were saying. The words were flowing out of your mouth uncontrollably, previous thoughts and buried resentment now at the forefront of your thoughts.

Silence befalls the room, and you can only hear the harsh thumps of your heartbeat. Beneath the silver-haired man's facade was a clear look of disbelief. Sylus laughed dryly at your words. He looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, no longer able to hide his displeasure. "So you're turning this about me?"

"Sweetie," he flicked his hand, and the black and crimson mist wrapped around you, thwarting you closer to him.

"I prevented you from leaving the country because I don't want your death on my hands. I don't wish for you to get injured, but I tolerated seeing you hospital-bound every other month. You are my partner, and I want what's best for you. I don't want you dying on some godforsaken island just because it's your job."

His EVOL released you, but his long and hard fingers grabbed ahold of your face too roughly. "I did it because I adore you. Because you're my lover," he hissed. Sylus pressed your face closer together, "I did it to protect you."

His nails dug into your cheek, and you winced, clawing it off. "I don't want your protection. I never needed it in the first place," you said through clenched teeth.

"Get this through your fucking head. No matter how powerful you are and no matter what you are to me, whether I do dangerous jobs is not up to you," you dug a finger into his chest. "My life is not in your hands. It never will be."

You pulled away from him and stepped back. "I'm following after them. You better not pull that shit again."

Sylus let out a gruff sigh, drowning in debilitation. His long and slender legs made their way to where you were, and to your dismay, he wrapped a hand around your dainty wrist before dragging you faster out of his room.

A flash of thunder momentarily illuminated the hall, and as you landed on the ground, Sylus said one thing:

"You're not going anywhere."

The door slammed shut right in front of your face.

---

You couldn't do anything. You were helpless against Sylus' orders, and he kept his word: You weren't allowed to leave the country.

As much as you wanted to wallow in self-pity and anger, you had a job to do.

The office was quiet, especially in your division, with you and another co-worker coordinating the mission through the telecommunication room. The soles of your feet were chafed from all the walking, and your throat was dry from distributing orders to all of your team members.

You could only observe the condition of the island through the lenses in their suit. It was pure chaos, and more than half of the team were injured. Thankfully, there were no deaths.

Two weeks had gone by in a blur, and you were navigating through the exhaustion and disappointment. The team, comprising the best of the best, had not made nearly half of the progress expected—they were tasked to retreat for the time being.

Nights were spent in the company's living quarters, and you thrived off canteen food to the point where it tasted bland. You even caught a fever, but you brushed it off with cold medicine.

What was ironic was despite the hectic schedule, every little time in between your duties, you glanced at your phone.

Ever since that night, there has not been a single text message from Sylus. You didn't have the strength to barge into his room, and there was no point either; there was no one left in the base.

The team got back, and there was chaos once more, distracting you for the next week. Most were in and out of the hospital, asking for leaves and days off to recuperate. The damages to your teammates were bigger than what you anticipated, so much so that the daily workforce dwindled by a lot.

Adding to the office workload was the patrol duty and killing off wanderers.

Needless to say, by the time you arrived home, there was almost no time to think. Your head hit the pillow, temples aching to the rhythm of your sore back; yet even then, you could only think of Sylus. The harshness of your words was slowly eating you alive, and what was worse was that you couldn't even remember what he had said.

Your phone lit up to notify you of your schedule tomorrow. Instead, you opened the messaging app and clicked on Sylus' profile.

He had seen the message but did not respond.

Again, he had seen the message.

You bit your lip, typing the letters carefully and weighing your own words. You closed your eyes and pressed send before closing your phone. You were too tired to think about what you said, and with a heavy heart, you drifted off to sleep.

----

The presence of the man behind you was too overwhelming. It was overwhelming to the point where it was enough to stir you in your sleep—the only temporary escape you could have.

It didn't sink in at first. The fact that you weren't in your room. It was too dark and somber for it to be your apartment bedroom; the comfort of the tiny plushies on your desk was gone. Instead, it was the sight of an unused fireplace and the velvet and gold couch.

The satins were rough to your liking and had a scent of sandalwood and citrus. Definitely different from the rose scent you were accustomed to.

Sylus's bedroom. That's where you were. Anxiety pitted at the bottom of your stomach upon this realization; he was nowhere near your line of sight, but the chill on your back was enough of a guide. You turned behind you, eyes adjusting to the blaring city lights displayed outside of his massive windows.

His figure was recognizable, but as bright as the city lights were, you couldn't see any of his facial features.

You opened your lips to speak, yet no words came out of your mouth, and not a coherent thread of thought manifested in your head. There was no point in asking why he brought you back to his base. And as much as you wanted to speak to him, you didn't. The urge subsided quickly, and a second later, the urge to leave took its place.

You took off from the bed, adjusting the sleeve of your nightwear. Your legs were light and quiet as they attempted to make their way to the other half of the room where the exit was. You had no clue how you were going to go home in your state, but it was a lesser feeling than the urge to leave Sylus again.

"The message you sent," he spoke, his hands nudging in your way. "I'm assuming you're going to take it back?" It was as if the floor had become soil: stems of his black and crimson smoke emerged like vines, entangling your feet into their current position.

You kept your mouth shut.

His figure turned into smoke, which accumulated in front of you. "Sweetie," like a month ago, he grabbed a hold of your jaw. "I asked you a question."

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you."

"Whether you're forgiven or not doesn't matter. The last message you sent—do you mean it?"

You didn't, no. That was sent out of impulse, yet with Sylus ghosting you for almost a month, it was almost like he was just waiting for you to say it. What were you supposed to think? He could've thrown you away and found someone else by then.

"I don't know," you whispered.

"You don't know?" he repeated, raising his eyebrow.

"I don't know. You didn't talk to me for a month, and you left the headquarters—I had no way to contact you. What else would I think?" You couldn't look him in the eye, but if you could've seen it, his eyes flickered to softness.

Sylus sighed and set your foot free. The harsh grasp on your face softened until he eventually had to let go.

"I was on Almus Island, and so were the twins."

"Did you—"

"Hurt your teammates? No." He walked over to his couch and ignited a matchstick. He threw it onto the fireplace, and the image of the room became brighter. Only then did you realize your lover's state.

You scurried over to him, fixated on the bandage that wrapped around his ribs and the dried patches of blood on his biceps.

"What did you do?"

"I personally helped with the clean-up." He leaned back on the couch, a scowl on his face when an ache came from his wounds. His back carefully pressed against the velvet cushion, and relief overcame him. "I destroyed the protofield which was left open."

A protofield? You thought. What protofield? There was never a portal indicated in the debriefing. Sure, there was an underground abandoned base, which most likely belonged to Onychinus. Still, they were all bunkers and storage rooms filled with lousy protocores.

"There are a lot of questions in your head right now, but what's important is I've lessened your workload. Order your team to head back to the island next month and do another clean-up. It won't take more than a week and a half to kill the remaining monsters; as compensation, I'll give you access to the armory—I'm sure the higher-ups would marvel at what's left in there."

You processed his words carefully. It doesn't answer your question about the portal, but if there is one, then when the team heads back, you should add several flux stabilizers with you to avoid risking opening another protofield.

"Now, is that sufficient enough?" Sylus asked.

His words snapped you out of your brief work mode, and you stared at his face, wondering what he meant. "Enough for what?"

"As an apology."

You were speechless. Confusion filled your mind with his words. This man was unpredictable, but you were certainly sure he'd rather say sorry and move on than go through all that trouble and get injured in the process. You weren't sure if you were supposed to act all caring about his wounds or act bravely and accept his apology and go back to bed.

"Am I allowed to leave the country?" Sylus' eyes met yours at this question, but you didn't blink.

He raised his eyebrow again. "Yes, you are. I won't do that again."

"Good, you're forgiven." You eased your shoulders and turned on your heel to his closet. You entered the door and took off some jacket and some loose sweatpants of his. "Get yourself patched up by a doctor; I'm going home."

The thudding of his footsteps reverberated behind you, and before you could open the door, his big hand blocked the way. You turned back and spotted him clutching his side with a frown on his face. "Where are you going?"

"Back home," you replied matter-of-factly.

"And you're not going to address your text?"

Ah, for a moment, you forgot about that. Your break-up text. He apologized for the flight incident but never for abandoning you for a month; maybe you can take advantage of this for a little while longer.

Your fingers tapped on his hand and pushed the door closed. Your gesture was enough for him to let go and step back in the hope that you'd do something. You twisted the doorknob and pulled it open, one last peek at him.

"Get some rest."

You shut the door and ran down the hallway—instead of your home, like you said, you took one of Sylus' motorcycles and drove to the headquarters.

---

Three days had passed since then, and you really weren't that concerned with Sylus. Luke and Kieran say he's doing fine despite constantly being on edge almost every day. You, on the other hand, were busy planning for the next clean-up—hopefully, a more successful one thanks to Sylus' help.

You hopped out of the shower, but a sense of dread greeted your neck. You stopped before taking another step. Your eyes searched for the source; it wasn't from the locked door or the laptop on the kitchen desk. Your bedroom door, on the other hand…

From behind the vase near the entrance, you pulled out a small gun, but before you could even unlock it, the tall, familiar figure popped out of the bedroom, in his grasp a bouquet of roses. You froze, and so did he.

You stared at each other before he looked at your hand in disappointment.

"You really have to fix that habit of yours." The habit pertains to you constantly pointing a gun at him.

"First, you tamper with my passport, and you kidnap me while I'm asleep, and now you're breaking and entering?" You released the lock on the gun and placed it where it was, finally placing a hand on your hip. Beads of water dripped from your hair onto your bare shoulders, rolling down to your chest and finally to the towel.

"I wouldn't need to do this if you answered my question from the very beginning."

You don't want to deal with him right now. Not when I'm half-naked.

"Wait for me in the living room."

My movements weaved around him, and he just quietly followed my figure. His footsteps were quiet, but he was following me into the room—you had to stop him before he became an audience to you in the nude, but you didn't even get the chance to turn around.

Sylus picked you up, and you yelped from the sudden movement. You held on to the tuck of your towel as he threw you onto your own bed like he would before.

"You—I told you to wait!"

"I am not a patient man, sweetie."

The ends of the towel parted from each other, exposing a bit of your lower abdomen. His eyes landed on that specific place as well. You lifted your foot slightly and stretched it so that it could reach his chest, preventing him from taking a step further.

"Sylus. Wait."

Sylus backed off at your words like a dog. You fixed yourself back up and crossed your legs.

"No. I didn't mean that text. Not anymore, at least." To that, it was a sign for him to come closer. You watched him approach your body, looking down at you with a finger stroking the side of your face. "Just… don't ghost me like that. You made me think that you replaced me."

"Replaced you?" he questioned. "Is that how you think of me?" He almost looked offended.

"I wouldn't put it past you, considering the things I said."

He hummed and tilted your head upward so he could get a good look at your face. "I may be a shady person, but I'm certainly not a womanizer, sweetie. I thought you had more faith in me."

"Sorry," you replied.

Sylus got down on his knees and kissed your own, his calloused fingers savoring the soft touch of your calves. The sweet musk of vanilla wafted under his nose, almost reeling him in. You gazed at him intently, knowing where this was about to go.

Author footnotes: Yay I finally get to post this. I had a hard time writing this because I wanted it to be dynamic but at the same time I didn't want to write a full blown fic with an over complex back story. I had to re-write the entire thing until i felt somewhat satisfied.

Layout by me, using canva premium | Do not repost | Dividers by me!

[hellsslibrary]

For an obey me request can I have some pillow princess belphie? Ik he wouldn’t do any work when having sex lol. Dom top male reader pls!

"Shh, baby, you don't have to... Or I'm joking, mmm?"

#a.n. : The internship at the university is over, so... :)

!!Warnings : top!dom!male!reader, sub!bottom!Belphie, A HUGE amount of teasing (the whole sex is based on their idea), praise kink, complaints from Belphie, but they are playful, raw penetration, open ending, mostly focused on foreplay (because I love foreplay too much, yeah), Belphie in demonic form and... Weird use of his tail (nothing nasty or scary though, it's funny), handjob, fingering, the reader is the MC, it is implied that the reader is larger than Belphie.

"Belphie... Don't be so grumpy. It'll be fine anyway. You don't have to try, I'll do all the work... Please?" You ask for probably the hundredth time and Belphegor just sighs, but otherwise doesn't move, lying too comfortably right now.

You've been trying to convince him to have sex for the last fifteen minutes, but he told you that he was more lazy than usual today. And he just didn't want to even move, but your words kept creeping further and further under the cortex of his brain, wanting to agree, despite his laziness. After all, how could he refuse his favorite and only human?

"Well, if you say you'll do all the work, MC, then fine..." He mumbles, lazily rolling over onto his back, getting comfortable, fidgeting for about half a minute, and then just freezing.

"Thank you, thank you! You really don't have to do anything!... Or maybe I'm kidding," You let out a chuckle, which is quickly silenced when Belphegor's tail wraps around your head, covering your mouth, but then drops back down.

"You do all the work," He mumbles, letting his legs fall to the sides and looking at you silently, waiting.

And of course, you don't keep him waiting. Your hands move down to his black sweatpants, slipping your hand under the waistband and pushing them down far too slowly for Belphegor's liking.

"You said you'd be quick... I'm sleepy," He complains, lightly slapping your knee with the tip of his tail, but otherwise doesn't complain, remaining slightly embarrassed by how the tent in his underwear has become much more visible.

"Who's keeping you awake? You can fall asleep just fine. You've fallen asleep just fine the last few times."

The demon just sighs, closing his eyes, letting out a ragged breath as you squeeze his cock through his underwear. His slender hips twitch, wanting more contact, wanting relief. And he whines as your fingers hook into the elastic again, this time on his underwear, pulling it down.

Your hand wraps around his cock, taking up the part from the base to the part below the head. A whimper escapes the brunette's lips as your thumb runs along his slit, lubricating the precum from there onto some part of his cock, making your movements a little easier.

His cock stands tall and proud, twitching at your direct gaze directed at it. The head is already dripping with precum, which is a little premature considering you've done literally nothing. But hey, who's complaining?

"Well? Are you going to make me cum or something?" He asks slightly annoyed, trying to spank your knee with his tail again, but you hold it in your free hand, watching as his cock hardens even more.

"Maybe I tricked you and you'll have to push into my hand. What do you say then?" You answer with obvious mockery, not paying attention to how his tail continues to spank your wrist more than once, and Belphegor's eyes literally began to glow.

"MC..." He drawls in an unreadable tone, although from his face it is clear that it is more of a plea.

His eyebrows are arched in such a manner as if he is about to cry; crystal tears will flow from his eyes, pouring down his cheeks red from excitement and embarrassment, falling down onto his still untouched neck. His pupils are dilated, his irises glow a pleasant purple hue, crystal drops glitter on his long eyelashes. His lips, which are slightly bitten and plump from this, twitch and shine with moisture; they are slightly open from the heavy breathing of their owner from the sensations that he is going through.

And oh God, he looks simply inimitable and so beautiful that you can’t continue teasing him (he is a small manipulator, he-he). Your palm slightly squeezes on his shaft and you begin to move your hand in a slightly faster, rhythmic tempo, which makes his back arch incredibly.

You can’t help but bury your face in the crook of his neck, breathe in his scent, feel his clearly accelerated pulse under your lips. A groan escapes his lips as he feels you bite that spot, and then your lips suck on it, leaving a mark that will turn into a bright purple hickey later.

"M-MC... I can't cum like this, please..." He practically chirps, grabbing your shoulder, pulling his head back to give you better access to his neck.

"Shh, you're doing great, dear. You can cum for me like this, right? Come on, try... I'll make it a hundred times better for you later," You whisper, moving your lips higher, kissing the patch of skin behind his ear, making him shudder.

Your hoarse whisper, your hand on his hot cock, your scent so close, your gaze only on him... And as soon as he feels his precum start to flow down, over his balls, and even lower, he cums. Not even trying to hide a single sound, too focused on one single task. He is feeling good. And it's your fault.

"Well done, I'm so proud of you... You came so fast and so much, it's amazing for you," You coos soothingly, kissing his cheeks and brushing the hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, revealing his face in full.

"Fingering?" You ask, looking down at your hand, pulling it away from his cock, wiping his cum onto the sheets that would be ruined even more later.

He nods silently, probably unable to even attempt to say anything coherent right now, so you simply spread his legs further, reaching for the packet of lube in your pants pocket.

"Are you sure you're ready? I can wait a bit," You ask again, earning the inevitable kick to the knee from his tail, and he just shakes his head.

"I'm a demon, I'm not even overstimulated... yet," Belphegor mumbles, barely managing to form anything normal, and only spreading his legs wider.

You rip the packet apart with your teeth, pouring the contents onto your fingers and then sliding both fingers in at once, which he accepts with absolutely no problem.

"I didn't bring a condom, by the way..." He just waves your words away, already holding his eyes closed, while fat tears form in the corners of his eyes, which you kiss to keep them from rolling down.

He wraps his legs around your waist lazily, causing you to even hold one of his thighs... This brat, ugh. Your fingers slide in and out of his velvet walls, which wrap around your fingers, not wanting to let you go. Obviously desperate whines escape his lips as you purposely hit his prostate every time.

"Just fuck me already... Or I'll ban you from sex for a month."

You just blink like an owl at this threat. Obviously not real, though. But you still comply, pulling your own pants down with your clean hand and sighing in relief when your cock is finally out.

Your dirty hand coats your cock in the remnants of lube and you grab his hips, inhaling and lining up your tip with his entrance. You both moan at the same time as you slowly begin to push in until you bottom out inside him.

"I wasn't kidding about banning it."

You hold still, giving him time to adjust, and yourself too, to be honest. You feel like you're about to cum just from the look on his face, you exhale and he opens his eyes.

He tightens around you, making you hiss and start thrusting into him, causing him to fall back against the pillows in relief, grabbing the sheets underneath them. And you just realize that no matter how much he insists on 'faster', you're not leaving here until at least half of his stamina is gone... Oh well, here we fo again.

[syluslnd]

Hello! Thank you for your service omg ur single handedly carrying Sylus nation‼️🙏🏼

Can I request a scenario where reader (who isn’t MC) has been a long term situationship of Sylus, like they’re very much in love but refuse to commit because of the dangerous nature of their work in the N109 zone, but reader really hopes they’ll end up together, only for all her hopes to come crashing down when suddenly MC shows up and Sylus becomes really neglectful towards reader, only prioritising MC until one day he doesn’t accompany reader to one onichynus’s deals and it goes horribly wrong with the reader getting hurt/abducted. Angst to fluff pls a happy ending with Sylus coming to his senses 😮‍💨

when you become his second priority

tags-angst with eventual fluff,mentions of violence

The night sky over Onychinus’s sprawling cityscape was studded with stars, casting a subtle glow through the towering high-rises.

Sylus had suggested the two of you head out for a mission, a deal with some Onychinus contacts. As usual, you couldn’t resist tagging along, always thrilled to be close to him in his world.

Sylus, tall and intimidating as ever, glanced down at you with a glimmer of amusement in his red eyes. You could tell he was ready to take control of the situation like he always did, exuding confidence and calm in a way that made you feel safe, even in the darkest parts of his world. He looked over at you, his eyes softening slightly as he murmured, “You ready, kitten?”

“Of course, I’m with you” you replied with a grin, bouncing a little as you slid into the passenger seat of one of his luxurious cars. Your bubbly energy was contagious; he always acted as if he wasn’t affected by it but you’d caught him smirking more than once.

Tonight, he rolled his eyes in mock exasperation but his hand settled on yours, holding it a little too long to be casual.

As he drove through the city, you admired the skyline, sharing random stories about your day and small, happy details about your favorite things.

Sylus listened, nodding occasionally, a slight smirk on his face, though his eyes stayed mostly on the road. At a red light, he finally turned, letting his gaze linger on you. “You know, sweetie, you’d be a lot safer if you didn’t join me on these things” he said, but there was a softness in his voice, a hint of protectiveness beneath his usual hard edge.

You gave a playful pout. “Then who’d keep you company and make you laugh?” you teased, reaching over to ruffle his hair lightly. Sylus gave an exaggerated sigh, though you could see his lips twitch, fighting off a smile.

When you arrived at the Onychinus base, the atmosphere shifted. The bustling headquarters buzzed with energy and you could feel the tension as the meeting began.

Sylus’s demeanor turned serious, his attention sharp and unwavering as he led the deal. You watched him, entranced by his confidence and poise. His eyes, intense and calculating, scanned the room, noting every movement and gesture of those around him. It was moments like these that reminded you why he was so respected—and feared.

The deal itself moved forward without any issues but you stayed close, offering your support however you could. Sylus kept one arm loosely draped around you, like a silent reminder that you were his, his “kitten” in this dangerous world. Every now and then, he’d murmur a soft “Stay close, sweetie” his voice laced with the quiet authority you’d come to adore.

At one point, the meeting wrapped up and you were alone again with Sylus in the hallway leading back to the car. As you walked side-by-side, you took his hand, squeezing it gently and looked up at him with a playful grin. “See? We make a great team.”

Sylus chuckled lowly, his fingers tightening around yours. “Careful, kitten” he murmured, his voice dropping to a tone that sent a shiver down your spine. “I might just start believing that.”

He leaned closer, brushing his lips against your forehead with a rare tenderness that he’d only ever shown to you. Moments like these made you wonder if there was something deeper between you both. But for now, you were happy in this undefined space, enjoying his closeness, his rare softness and the way he let his guard down just enough to show you how much you meant to him.

For tonight, you were his and he was yours in the only way he knew how to be and as you laughed and chatted on the drive back, you couldn’t have known how precious that laughter would soon become.

the next morning the café was small and tucked into a quiet corner of the city, with floor-to-ceiling windows that let in soft morning light and gave the place a warm, cozy glow.

You felt an excited shiver as Sylus guided you in, his hand on your lower back, a gentle but firm presence that never failed to make you feel special. The café wasn’t his usual scene but he seemed relaxed, perhaps indulging your love for quieter, more intimate places.

He glanced around, then met your eyes, his mouth quirking into a smirk. “This place…suits you” he murmured, pulling out a chair for you. “Sweet, but a little chaotic.”

You laughed, sticking your tongue out at him. “I’d say the same about you” you teased, settling into the chair. He rolled his eyes but took the seat opposite you, resting his elbows on the table, leaning in close. His gaze, as usual, felt intense, even as his expression softened.

“You’re in a bratty mood today, aren’t you?” he remarked, voice low and slightly teasing.

“Only because you make it so easy” you replied with a smile, reaching across the table to gently tap his hand. “So, what’s the plan? You’re the one who dragged me out here.”

His smirk grew, and without saying a word, he raised a finger to get the barista’s attention. When she arrived, he placed the most absurd order, one that left you wide-eyed: every single flavor of coffee they had on the menu. You tried to protest, laughing as you looked from him to the poor barista, but he only shrugged, looking unbothered.

“You said you always wanted to try them all” he said, leaning back in his seat, arms folded. “So go ahead. Indulge.”

“Oh my god, Sylus!” You felt a mix of embarrassment and excitement. “You know I was joking about that, right?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t joke about things you want, kitten. Not with me.”

The coffees started arriving, filling up your small table with an assortment of steaming mugs, each one a different shade and aroma. Sylus watched as you eagerly tried each, laughing when you made a face at the overly bitter or strangely flavored ones and taking note of the ones that made you hum with satisfaction. Occasionally, he’d reach out, taking a sip of one of the cups himself, then giving you his quiet, amused approval if he liked it.

After a while, you found yourself leaning across the table, sharing sips from the same cup, your laughter mingling in the cozy warmth of the café. You watched him, noticing the rare moments where his features softened, and his usual guarded expression gave way to something gentler.

“Did you always know you’d be leading Onychinus?” you asked, a little more curious now that you’d settled into the warmth of the moment.

He leaned back, tracing the edge of his cup with one finger, his gaze drifting. “I didn’t know. But it wasn’t like I had a choice.” His eyes found yours again, something dark but honest in them. “The things you don’t choose often become the things you’re best at.”

You tilted your head, studying him. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t have a choice” you replied softly. “Otherwise, who’d be here buying me twenty coffees?”

He chuckled, a genuine laugh that you rarely heard. “You’d find some other poor fool, I’m sure” he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. But his hand moved to cover yours, his thumb brushing over your knuckles.

Just as you were about to respond, his phone buzzed, and his gaze darkened. He glanced at the screen, and for a split second, his expression changed—hardened into something unreadable. He sat up, pulling his hand away from yours and the warmth that had been between you seemed to evaporate in an instant.

You tried to catch his eye, feeling a flicker of unease. “Everything okay?”

“It’s just an…old friend” he muttered, voice suddenly cool and distant. He stood up, turning his back to you as he answered the call, his voice low and strained in a way you’d never heard before.

You couldn’t make out much of what he was saying, but you heard the shift in his tone—calculated, restrained, almost careful. It was a stark contrast to the teasing, soft-spoken Sylus you’d been with just moments before. He kept glancing out the window, one hand shoved deep in his pocket, the other clutching his phone tightly. His words became hushed, tense, as if he was guarding some important secret.

Your mind raced with questions but you pushed them down, trying to respect his privacy. Still, a pang of worry settled in your chest as he finally ended the call, his posture stiff as he turned back to you. The usual warmth in his eyes was absent, replaced by a distant, almost guarded look.

“Sorry about that” he said, his tone flat, almost dismissive, as he pocketed his phone.

You forced a smile, hoping to ease the sudden tension. “No problem. Everything okay?”

“Nothing to worry about.” He gave a faint smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. He seemed distracted and as much as you wanted to believe him, there was a nagging feeling that something had shifted.

It had been days since you’d last seen Sylus. The texts you’d sent were sparse on replies—short, curt answers that only seemed to grow colder each time. You told yourself he was busy, wrapped up in some new mission for Onychinus but an uneasy feeling had settled deep in your chest. You remembered the way he’d brushed you off in the café after that mysterious phone call, the way he’d shut down, closing himself off as if you were suddenly a stranger.

With the next Onychinus deal approaching, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Usually, Sylus would be the one preparing you, going over every little detail so that you’d be safe. But this time, there had been nothing—no message, no warning, no instructions. The silence weighed on you, suffocating, until finally, you couldn’t bear it anymore.

You found yourself standing outside his office door, hesitating. The hall was eerily quiet, an atmosphere that felt darker than it had ever been. You pushed the door open slowly, your heart pounding with a mixture of hope and dread.

Inside, Sylus stood near his desk, leaning in close to a woman you’d never seen before. She had an aura of quiet confidence, her gaze sharp, as if she were sizing him up even as they talked. Their heads were close together, too close. She said something, her tone low and laced with a teasing edge and Sylus chuckled—a sound that sent a chill down your spine. It was the kind of laugh he used to share with you.

You swallowed, forcing yourself to step forward. “Sylus?” your voice cracked, the warmth you usually brought into his space muted by the weight of everything unsaid.

Sylus straightened, his expression darkening the moment he saw you. The easy humor that had filled his face just seconds before vanished, replaced by a cold, impassive mask. The woman beside him glanced at you, her eyes glinting with a kind of curiosity, as though she were sizing you up, wondering what your place in Sylus’s life could possibly be.

“You’re busy” you managed to say, fighting to keep your tone light. “I just thought—I thought we could talk about the next mission.”

He looked at you for a long, silent moment, his gaze empty of the warmth you’d come to expect, replaced by an iciness that felt almost cruel. “I didn’t ask you to come here” he said, his voice low and cutting.

You took a step back, stunned. “Sylus, I…I just wanted to help. You always said I could be useful—”

“You should learn to know your place” he interrupted, his words sharp enough to cut through your heart. He didn’t look away, didn’t flinch. His gaze was steely, indifferent, as though you were nothing more than an inconvenience, a shadow he hadn’t meant to let linger.

It felt like the floor had fallen out from under you. “My place?” you echoed, trying to keep your voice steady even as it threatened to break. “Sylus, what’s going on? You’ve been distant… I thought we—” You stopped yourself, swallowing back the words, but the damage was done.

Sylus’s gaze flicked to the woman beside him, who watched the exchange with an amused smirk, her arms crossed as if she were enjoying every moment of this. He turned back to you, his eyes devoid of any kindness, any of the softness he’d shown you only days ago. “You thought wrong.”

Your throat tightened and the warmth that had once filled your shared moments now felt like a distant memory, slipping through your fingers. You forced yourself to nod, to keep your head up even as your heart shattered with each second of his cold stare. Without another word, you turned and left, not wanting him to see the tears that threatened to spill over, the silent pain you’d carry alone as you walked away from the one person who’d ever made you feel whole.

The drive home felt like a blur, headlights and streetlights passing in a haze as you wiped away tears that wouldn’t stop. Your hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles turning white, as your mind raced with everything that had just happened. It was like you couldn’t make sense of it; every memory of Sylus’s familiar warmth and teasing words felt out of reach, replaced by his cold, indifferent face and that harsh tone. His words, “Know your place” echoed in your head, hitting you harder each time you thought of them. You couldn’t understand. Had you pushed him too far? Had he been pretending all along?

The question lingered, gnawing at you as the car rolled down the empty roads leading home. By the time you reached your place, you were exhausted, the adrenaline replaced by a deep, hollow ache.

The next morning, after another sleepless night, you found yourself staring at his contact on your phone, debating whether to call him. The memory of his sharp tone still stung but the confusion was unbearable. You couldn’t just let things stay like this.

Finally, you pressed call, holding your breath as the phone rang. When he picked up, his voice was casual, almost dismissive, as if the tension from yesterday had never happened.

“Yeah?” he answered, sounding distracted. There was no warmth, but there was none of that anger, either.

“Hey” you managed, your voice wavering slightly. “I… I wanted to talk about yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” he repeated, his tone barely interested. “Is something wrong?”

Your heart sank. He was acting like it hadn’t happened at all, like you were the one imagining things. “I just thought—after what you said, I thought maybe we could… clear things up.”

He let out a long sigh, almost like he was bored. “Look, I have things to take care of. If that’s all, I have to go.”

Your grip tightened around the phone, and you felt a chill run through you as he continued talking, casual, unaffected, as if he hadn’t torn into you less than 24 hours ago. He ended the call with a brief “Take care” leaving you standing there with the silence of the empty line.

It was like a stranger had replaced him overnight and the warmth you’d felt was now a painful memory, drifting further out of reach.

The night of the Onychinus deal was bitterly cold and a dense mist clung to the riverbank, muting every sound but the rush of water. You had been hoping—secretly, quietly—that maybe Sylus would show up, that his absence would somehow break and you’d see him standing there with that familiar smirk, ready to tackle the mission together. But the minutes ticked by and the waiting grew heavier, settling like a weight in your chest until the deal began without him.

but in an instant things went horribly wrong, spiraling out of control faster than you could react. You held on as long as you could, fighting with everything you had, but there were too many of them and you were alone. A sharp, searing pain was the last thing you remembered before everything went black, the sound of rushing water filling your senses as you were tossed into the cold, merciless depths of the river.

When the news reached Sylus, it felt like a blow to the chest, robbing him of breath. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing—the thought of you alone, vulnerable, facing the dangers he’d promised to shield you from. His mind raced, replaying every interaction, every cold word he’d thrown at you and the realization clawed at him with an intensity he hadn’t expected. Guilt twisted in his stomach, a relentless ache, as he thought of the way he’d pushed you aside, how he’d let you walk away, hurt and confused and for what?

He moved quickly, barely registering the world around him as he reached the river, scanning the dark waters until he found you, still and pale, lying half-submerged on the riverbank. His heart pounded, a surge of panic piercing through his usual composure as he dropped to his knees, pulling you into his arms with a desperation he hadn’t felt in years.

“Kitten…” His voice cracked, the endearments he’d so easily tossed at you before now carrying a weight they’d never held before. He brushed damp hair from your face, his hands shaking as he checked for a pulse. Relief flooded him when he felt the faint, steady beat beneath his fingertips, but it did nothing to quell the terror that gnawed at him.

“Why the hell did you go alone?” he whispered, his voice trembling with guilt and grief. “You should have known better than to… God, this is all my fault.” He held you closer, pressing his forehead to yours as if his touch alone could bring you back from the brink. Regret crashed over him like a tidal wave, every moment he’d ignored you, every cold word he’d thrown at you haunting him as he realized just how deeply he’d driven you away.

“I’m so sorry, kitten” he murmured, the words spilling out, raw and unfiltered. “I was stupid. I was a fool. You didn’t deserve any of it.” His fingers brushed over your face, tracing the lines of your features as if committing them to memory and he swore to himself that he’d never let you go again.

[jiosoull]

Just A Prank Bro

"What are those squishy noises I hear in the background, Doctor Zayne?" You furrowed your eyebrows, focusing on the wet sounds echoing faintly into your ear. It sounded like someone was prodding into some thick plastic— or maybe it was flesh.

A gentle and cringing squeak caught your attention. Must've been wheels rolling on the tiles. And if you focused a little harder, you could make out a soft and rhythimic beeping from the call. That sound must've come from a monitor.

Was he attending to a patient?

"I'm holding a kidney right now." Zayne answered coolly, emphasizing it as he brought the squishy thing closer to the phone. And squeezed it.

Your eyes blew wide open as you flinched back from the screen with shock, and a bit of concern. And a bit unnerving.

"Th-That sounds..." You hesitated, but shook your head firmly and cleared your throat awkwardly, "You know what nevermind. You sound pretty busy and I don't wanna disturb your work. I'll call you later, Zayne!" You quickly hung up on him.

Zayne on the other hand, stared at the end call screen where a picture of your lovely face was displayed on his phone wallpaper.

He stifled a dry chuckle and smiled. A ruined small slice of orange in his gloved hand.

The little girl on the bed stared up at the doctor throughout the whole conversation. A blood bag hanging beside her with a small tube connected to her arm.

"Why'd you crushed it?" She pointed at the squished remains of the small piece of orange in his hand.

"Just proving a point." He added smoothly in a sly tone.

🙈

I don't think he'd risk taking a phone call while he was doing surgery buuuuuttt he can be a very convincing actor. Based on this! 👇 @pumpkin-patch-cat tq op for tickling my 🧠 lol

[obeymeshallwedateaddict]

Hey.

First.

I love all your writing, they r fun to read and they make my day brighter ✨✨

Really Appreciate it.

Here is the request:

I wanted to request Solomon

We all know that his an old man ( whom we love so much ) and his based off the character from the Bible king Solomon.

If Solomon having 700 wives were true what would it be like

If MC and Solomon end up arguing over something stupid, MC just goes," Then am one of your collections to ? That's all I am to you! Right" something like that 😭

That line was horrible but something along those lines

It can be angst and fluffy.

Thanks a bunch! Wishing you an amazing day ahead!

Heyyy I absolutely love your request cuz duh. They make Solomon and the others seems like there was nothing before MC which is unlikely. Like I mean I'm pretty sure all of them had a few relationships before MC at some point or another. Anyway. Enjoy!

Author's note: I'll be posting short stories for the next few days since I'm working on a bigger story this time which will take a while. Hope it's not a problem.

Contains: Angst/Fluff

GN!MC x Solomon

You can find more of my work here: Masterlist

---

MC and Solomon had agreed to spend the evening together—just a quiet, uninterrupted night. But Solomon ended up running late, engrossed in some old spell or magical artifact he was researching, losing track of time. By the time he shows up, MC’s already feeling hurt and dismissed, thinking he prioritizes ancient things over their relationship.

MC: arms crossed, eyes narrowed as Solomon finally enters the room “Oh, look who finally decided to show up.”

Solomon: sighs, looking tired but trying to be calm “MC, I told you, I lost track of time. It happens. You know how important my research is.”

MC: “And I thought we were important too, Solomon. I’m not asking for much, just…a single night where I don’t feel like I have to compete with some dusty book or enchanted artifact.”

Solomon: growing defensive, a slight edge to his tone “It’s not a competition, MC. You’re acting like I’m choosing my work over you on purpose.”

MC: voice raising slightly, hurt “Well, that’s how it feels! You make these promises, but when it comes down to it, I’m always the one waiting. Why is it so hard for you to just…be here?”

Solomon: frowning “I’m here now, aren’t I? I don’t see why this has to be such a big deal.”

MC: glares, feeling even more hurt by his dismissive tone “A big deal? Maybe it wouldn’t be if this didn’t keep happening. You say you’re here, but half the time, I feel like I’m just a…just a side note in your never-ending list of priorities.”

Solomon: sighs, crossing his arms defensively “MC, I care about you, but I also have responsibilities—things that existed long before we ever met.”

MC: hurt, finally snapping “Oh, here we go—‘long before we met.’ That’s just it, isn’t it? This isn’t even about tonight; it’s about me realizing that I’ll never be more than one part of your centuries-long collection!”

Solomon: taken aback, not expecting that turn “What? Collection? MC, where is this even coming from?”

MC: “You probably don’t even see it, do you? How easy it is for you to just…move on, like I’m just another person you’re adding to the archive of your life. You’ve had 700 wives, haven’t you? Well, I guess I’m just another one for the record books, huh?”

Solomon: eyes widening in hurt, tone softening as he steps closer “MC, that’s not even fair. Those stories…they’re just stories, memories from lifetimes ago. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you feel like you’re ‘just another one,’ but believe me, you’re not.”

MC: arms crossed, looking away, voice trembling “It just…feels like I’ll never really matter to you. Not when you’ve had hundreds of people pass through your life like it’s nothing.”

Solomon: reaches out, resting a hand on MC’s shoulder, his tone soft and sincere “MC, I know my past seems…well, complicated, but I need you to believe that this is different. You’re not just part of my history. You’re the person I want in my present, and my future.”

MC: sighing, though still a little guarded “Then…show me, Solomon. Prove that I’m more than just a ‘number’ to you.”

Solomon: nodding with a small smile, determined “Every day, if that’s what it takes. I promise.”

[sanjisboyfie]

DOMESTICITY : sanji's special dessert

jus some fluffy <3

(keep safe) sanji + male reader

-> i do have to say though: this doesn't really give OUTRIGHT romantic relationship/vibes but underlying tones are THERE trust. it's literally supposed to just be domesticity with sanji and the male reader. so SORRRY for not directly feeding into it ;( but i wanted to share this anyway because i do love the concept of this one in particular >:)

read the original fanfic where this sanji and the mc are based from !!

surprisingly, sanji and [name] got along more often times than not. it was only when they were really in the heat of the moment among their crewmates did they end up arguing. but also whenever [name] said anything about nami or vivi that sanji could have deemed invasive (it wasn’t, sanji was just really over protective of the women on their ship).

regardless of that fact, though, [name] really enjoyed sanji’s company.

“coffee cake! coffee cake!” [name] cheered from behind the counter, making sanji glare at him over his shoulder.

“hold on a minute, goddamit!” sanji shouted, putting the baking pan on the stove, fresh out of the oven. [name] ran around the counter and almost grabbed at the burning hot pan with his own hands, if it had not been sanji that stopped him right before he could touch it.

sanji restrained [name]’s greedy hands, cursing under his breath at [name]’s troublesome appetite.

“you’re gonna burn your hands, idiot!” sanji scolded, holding on [name]’s hands and pushing him back behind the counter, “wait for it to cool off a little, you can’t eat it right after it comes out of the oven,”

“but — you said it was ready!” [name] yelled in annoyance, a pout on his lips, “i want the coffee cake now! you just put it on there to taunt me, huh?”

“stop yelling for a second,” sanji said, sitting [name] down and lighting his cigarette. “let’s just wait a couple of minutes and then you can eat all of it,”

“really?! all of it?!” [name] had stars in his eyes.

the blonde chuckled, resting a hand on [name]’s shoulder to make sure he didn’t launch himself off at the hot pan on the stove. “well, you could eat all of it if you just kept your mouth shut,” sanji said, bringing a finger up to his lips, “you know luffy and his ear for food, he’s gonna come running down if you keep screaming about it,”

“roger,” [name] said obediently, his lips turning into a tight line as he sat very, very still. sanji chuckled, ruffling [name]’s hair and counting down the minutes.

after complete silence, [name] literally shaking in his seat from withdrawing himself from shouting out for the pastry, sanji was finally able to serve it to the starving man. he plated it carefully, placing it down in front of [name] with a mug of coffee to go with it.

“thank you sanji, you’re really the best!” [name] shouted before shoving the piece of cake into his mouth. he chewed it quickly, gulping down some coffee, before repeating the process over and over.

sanji wished he had the heart to scold [name] for eating so carelessly, but the longer he watched the scene, he simply let [name] be. sanji would be there to wipe his face clean anyway.

“this is so yummy, sanji, it’s not sweet at all,” [name] praised, bringing the empty plate up for another slice. sanji nodded his head, following the needs of the man easily and putting another thick slice of the cake onto [name]’s plate.

out of nowhere, luffy barged into the room and had stars in his eyes at the sight of the pastry. just as he was about to launch himself at the plate, sanji had easily kicked him away.

“don’t touch [name]’s food, bastard,” sanji said gruffly, putting his foot down onto luffy’s head and rolling his foot over his cheeks several times, “i already prepared you and the rest of the crew a cake, it’s out on the deck,”

“but, sanji, i already finished it!”

“well, then i’ll make you another one,” sanji simply said, walking away from luffy’s body that was in the corner of the kitchen, “[name] gets to have his own dessert since he can’t stomach the ones i usually make, so don’t ruin his own cakes!”

“but, sanji-!”

“out, out of the kitchen! don’t bother me again, unless you don’t want your cake anymore!” sanji threatened, waving a whisk at luffy, which effectively made the captain run out of the kitchen. it sounded as he was complaining how cruel sanji was, but it was honestly hard to tell.

“thanks, sanji,” [name] smiled sweetly, taking a languid sip of his coffee, “i almost gave him some of mine…”

“tsk, learn how to be a bit more selfish,” sanji scolded [name], chopping him lightly on the head. “or that baffoon is gonna eat all your food,”

“but-”

sanji shoved the spoon of coffee cake into [name]’s mouth to shut him up, shaking his head, “no buts, just don’t do it again,”

[name] quickly chewed, going to argue further, but sanji only repeated the same action and shoved another spoonful into [name]’s agape mouth. after savoring the dessert, [name] finally decided to give up and simply enjoy the food sanji had made him.

“thanks, sanji, i appreciate you making this for me,” [name] said, an undenaibly happy look on his face, “i know it’s probably more work for you, you have to make a separate dish from the rest of the crew-”

“just shut up,” sanji groaned, running a hand through his hair, “if you just shut up and eat, i’ll accept your thanks.”

[name] paused, looking at sanji with a soft look in his eyes. he tilted his head to the side, “c’mon, let’s finish it together,” sanji hummed in thought before leaning against the counter on his elbows. he took the spoon from [name]’s hand and tasted some of his own baking.

with a content hum, he relished in the bitter taste. sanji really had no preference for sweet or bitter, but since everyone on board merry preferred sweet, he had been used to eating only sugary desserts.

[name] joining allowed for him to get a taste of less sugary delights. and he enjoyed that, genuinely.

he stayed leaning against the counter, mindlessly sharing the spoon with [name] and exchanging small talk as they slowly finished the last crumbs of the dessert. [name] grinned, happily licking his lips, “the best chef and baker, sanji!!”

the chef’s back was turned to [name] since he was taking care of the dishes, so [name] couldn’t see his small smile.

“quiet down! i don’t want yelling in my kitchen!” sanji scolded the screaming man.

but [name] kept on cheering. and as his shouts of praise got louder, sanji’s grin got wider.

[satangcrush]

show and tell

✦ PAIRING: satan x reader ✦ SUMMARY: g!n reader, you voice in an otome game and Satan comes to terms with it, albeit with some bumps on the road. (fluff) and slight violent thoughts from satan ✦ WC: 0.9k

| MASTERLIST

══════════════════

“It’s out today?”

Satan could hear the caller on the line give an affirmative answer in response to MC.

“Ah okay. But I thought the release date got pushed back?” MC’s tone sounded confused but somewhat happy.

“Oh, that’s for the livestream? Okay, got it. I will mark it down on my calendar. Thank you, wizard boy. See you soon.”

The call seemed to end abruptly and Satan bristled a little.

You were on the call with Solomon..? He knew humans were pack animals but he didn’t seem to remember that you were so close to him. Foolishly, he briefly entertained the idea of butchering Solomon and throwing him in a river so that he would be unable to talk to you.

As if you could feel the murderous thoughts brewing in his head, you knocked gently on his forehead.

“Satan? You’ve been on the same page for a while. Are you daydreaming?” Your tone took a teasing lilt as you peered to look at his facial expression closer.

He sucked in a breath and schooled his expression. You always had a penchant for sniffing out his… insidious thoughts.

“Ah, I was just thinking of what to make for dinner later. Do you have any recommendations?” He quickly diverted the topic and put his book down to lock eyes with you.

But it seemed that you had been waiting for a chance to talk to Satan as you visibly brightened, face lighting up in excitement.

“Before that, I have something to announce,” The expression on your face could only be described as vaguely mischievous, as you tried your best to not let the sides of your mouth go up.

“…Have you been hanging out too much with Mammon?”

“I’m not telling you anymore.”

“Oh no, my fair liege. What shall I do? The brightest star in the galaxy has suddenly ceased to exist and the love of my life is refusing to talk to me.”

“Stop it with the dramatics. I’ll tell you but you have to promise to give me a good reaction.”

He found your exhilaration cute and the way you tried to so obviously not bristle with excitement, so very adorable.

After hyping him up so much, he was certainly expecting something of a huge caliber. Like maybe you had been secretly raising a cat for months? No, scratch that. He would be appalled to find out that you didn’t involve him in the game plan.

“I’m voicing in an otome game.”

“…Sorry, my love. Could you repeat that again?”

“I’m starring in an otome game! Remember I said I was doing some part-time work?” Your hands started to become more animated as you rambled on.

“Oh yes, I was actually wondering why you had to work part-time. Doesn’t the exchange program provide you with a monthly allowance?”

“Ah they do, but Mammon always ends up finding my stash.”

“…I’ll tell Lucifer later.”

“Thank you.”

“Go on about the part-time work? And elaborate more on the ‘otome’ part.”

He sounded the word out, feeling the foreign syllabus form weirdly in his mouth. He could vaguely remember Levi talking about the term before, but he didn’t care much about it back then. Now, he regretted not paying more attention to it then.

“I’m doing this as part of the exchange program too actually. I’m participating in this with Solomon. It’s like a dating sim, where you get to choose your love interest. Remember the poll the Newspaper Club held? The one about demons’ preferences regarding humans? It was actually for this game release.”

You were speaking a hundred words a mile, voice rising in pitch and eyes twinkling with passion.

…He had a bad feeling about this, the more you went on.

“Oh, and they did base off some characteristics on me and Solomon. The developers mentioned that it was hard for them to do in-depth research as they are unable to go to the human world often. So, I ended up helping to craft the female human love interest, as did Solomon for his character.”

He already had a hard time sharing your attention with six other people in the house. And now, he’s learning that the whole Devildom is going to start competing with him too? Oh, he had absolutely no doubt in his head that you would have the whole of the Devildom wrapped around your finger, as you do with him and his brothers.

He was starting to get a headache. He could practically visualise the amount of attention, the fan letters, and everything. It makes him want to slam his head against the wall and hiss at everyone who dares to come near you. But, unfortunately, and fortunately for you, he could never rain on your parade.

“Oh my, that really is an achievement. Could you tell me more about it?” Satan barely manages to cough out a reply, too caught up in his own fantasy in his head.

Luckily, it seemed like you didn’t catch on as you smiled happily at him. In the full exposure of your smile, Satan could feel his heart pound hard in his chest and he felt the urge to just drop his head and scream in his hands until his vocal pipes burst.

You resumed talking so Satan resigned himself to his fate as he laid down on your lap, watching as your movement become more animated while he indulge in his delusions, of course, in the comfort of his mind.

��═════════════════

a/n▸my mind overlapped satan with kabru (from delicious in dungeon) when he is having his murderous thoughts while speaking to laios, and i could not go to bed without churning this piece out <3 (it’s almost 5am.) no proofreading so lmk if u see mistakes LOL, i wrote this piece thinking of og!satan but nb!satan works as well too tbh. satan just has a severe case of cuteness aggression*full disclaimer that I got this idea of mc voicing in an otome game from someone on tumblr (I was doomscrolling and I lost the post)*

[foxglovegames]

Trouble Comes Twice - the Postmortem

We celebrated Trouble Comes Twice's anniversary around a month ago! We'd hoped to post this postmortem back then as well, but it's taken us a moment to find the right words haha.

Anyway, we hope that this postmortem can give our players and other visual novel devs some insight into what the development process looked like for us. It's also a great way for us to look back at what went well and what went less well.

We'll be taking about the ideation phase, our (lack of) marketing for the Kickstarter, and also sharing (what we can) on our earnings from the game!

Coming up with Trouble Comes Twice

The original tone of Trouble Comes Twice was a lot more comedic and packed to the brim with anime tropes we enjoy. Most didn't make it into the final game, but some stayed and evolved e.g. all of the love interests are based on popular visual novel archetypes - the childhood friend, the tomboy, the shy girl, and the bad boy. 

Some, like Cameron and Zoe, changed a lot from their concept while Adrian and Stephanie stayed quite loyal to our original ideas of them. Cameron's character actually underwent the most changes after the initial reception to the demo, where a lot of people felt like he was too much of an ass haha. (Fortunately, he became a fan favorite when we dropped the new demo!)

The premise with the bet was something we invented to create some drama and establish a common plot thread throughout each route. Honestly, looking back, we would probably have approached the bet differently if we wrote it today and a lot of our pre-planning was... clumsy, at best. Still, it was a labor of love and I'll never forget the fun and excitement we had everyday balling ideas for the characters and coming up with their designs.

As Melli and I are just writers with limited coding experience, we worked with a past game jam friend to code the GUI and set up the base for the game (though the actual scripting was done by us and Melli put everything together in the end). Our biggest expenses pre- and post-demo was the character art and CGs, meanwhile we relied on free music and BG packs to save money.

Why a bisexual romcom?

So, this was sort of a no-brainer to us. We had decided right from the start that both twins could date both the male and female love interests, and (at the time) we feel that a lot of similar games had playersexual MCs rather than established bisexual/pansexual MCs. While playersexual charas are also awesome, we wanted to write a romcom where the main cast are always queer regardless of who you end up romancing. 

At the same time, bi/pan people don't all approach romantic relationships the same way e.g. Cameron is confident and has experience dating people of all genders, while Adrian's demi and Jace still struggles a bit with his attraction towards men. We know that some of our players felt like that made certain routes less romantic than others and we hear you on that feedback and have 100% taken it into consideration for our future romance games. But anyway, that was our thought process behind Trouble Comes Twice's romance dynamics!

Preparing for Kickstarter & the actual Campaign

Our Kickstarter launched at the start of August and let me tell you, we were nowhere near as prepared as we should have been. 😭 We hadn't set up a Steam page yet, we were trailer-less, and we only had a couple of hundred followers across our socials at best. I feel that there's a lot more successful Kickstarter projects to refer to and even a lot of marketing guides and advice now, but mostly it's on us for not researching more. 

The Kickstarter campaign did surprisingly well despite the lack of promotion and only having a rough alpha demo - we were even able to double our goal! - but we  wouldn't recommend what we did for other devs.

You should invest time into making a good demo, spend time building an interested audience before launching your campaign, and research so you've got some kind of marketing plan. We were lucky with word-of-mouth and that other visual novel devs with larger followings helped share our game, but we should have made more effort reaching out to bloggers, streamers, and game sites. Some crowdfunding successes may seem like they came out of nowhere and were just pure luck, but there's usually a lot of grinding behind-the-scenes that you don't notice.

The post-Kickstarter era, at least for us, was the harder bit. We now had 353 loyal backers who had expectations based on promises we had made and we had to make sure we met those expectations while also staying true to our wants as the devs. It was a learning process for sure, but we're fairly proud that we always did our best to keep our backers in the loop. It's frustrating to write an update explaining that the game has been delayed again, but backers are more open to being understanding than you think as long as you communicate!

A tip we'd give to new devs considering Kickstarter: Don't overestimate what you can do, but overestimate what you need. There's always hidden costs, unexpected taxes/fees, and other unknown obstacles that might eat up your budget. In our case, we made enough to make the game as planned, but had to change CG artists around halfway through development which meant our original budget didn't cut it anymore. Fortunately, we had earned a decent amount from our Patreon and pre-orders that we were able to use to complete the CGs, but that isn't always going to be an option for everyone and that also meant we were unable to use that money ourselves. (We didn't take any money from the original Kickstarter campaign, so whatever was earned through patreon and pre-sales was our only "salary" at the time.) 

Writing the game

Writing is, for obvious reasons, one of the most important parts of a visual novel. Melli wrote Jace's routes and I wrote Hazel's routes, which removed some pressure off our shoulders compared to trying to write over 300,000 words all on our own. 

It's fun working with another writer, but there are also some unique issues and considerations that come up when you're writing a game with two protagonists split between two writers. Especially because at the time, there weren't many visual novels with a similar set up to refer to.

The main things we learned, were:

Consistency. We wanted each couple to have their own dynamic, but the characterization needs to remain consistent between routes. You don't want Adrian in Jace's route to feel like a totally different character in Hazel's route. Additionally, we had to be careful that the tone and writing style of the protagonists' POVs still felt like you were playing the same game. Some routes can be more comedic than others, but we've got a problem if Hazel's routes are all (unintentionally) more serious/angsty in tone than Jace's or vice versa.

Watch out for your word count! Longer does not always equal better and writing eight routes, we had to put some restrictions in place. Even when writing on your own, it can be tough to guess how long your story should be, and it was important to us that the routes were roughly the same length so that none felt more "canon" than the other. However, with two writers who have different writing styles and ways of planning, it was tricky to compare our outlines and we struggled at times when it came to matching each other's word counts. Moving forward, we're probably going to be more lenient when it comes to word counts - some routes have to be longer than others, it doesn't mean that route is automatically more "important". We're also doing more regular meetings and frequent check-ins to make sure we're on the same page. In the future, we hope that should save us a lot of trouble when it comes to pacing! 🙈

Balancing your own wants with the wants of your players. In theory, these overlap most of the time. But making a commercial game (that people had already "bought" through the Kickstarter), there is some pressure when it comes to meeting certain expectations. We can't always just write what we want and assume everyone else is going to love it, but we also don't want to neglect what we personally like. We had a survey for the beta where we were able to get regular feedback and a lot of helpful advice. We definitely want to continue with surveys in the future - they are a great way to gather opinions from different players and figure out what works versus what doesn't! 

We took on too many tasks outside writing that distracted us. This bit is sort of inevitable for indie devs like us. 😅 Working with a limited budget and limited resources, you just end up having to wear a lot of hats! We think we did quite well sharing these duties though, and moving forward (thanks to you guys) we can afford more hands on deck to help us out. 

Marketing

The bane of every indie game dev's existence... although secretly, I kind of enjoy marketing but don't tell anyone that!

Having learned a thing or two from promoting the Kickstarter, we spent more time researching games marketing but in the end, trial and error was the best teacher.

As we got closer to the release date, we were posting almost daily on social media and grew our Twitter to over eight thousand followers. We didn't have any viral posts, but we saw a consistent growing interest in our game and it was such a motivation boost to see comments from potential players being excited for the game. We know a lot of devs have said that Twitter didn't help their game much but according to our stats, a decent number of our players found us through the platform. 

We saw less success here on Tumblr. Perhaps we haven't cracked the code here yet or maybe we're just comparing our numbers from Twitter unfairly! We're not hung up about it though, we love it here because it feels easier to connect with our followers and other devs there, and it's nice because we're able to write longer posts like this one! 💓

Aside from posting on social media, we reached out to several streamers and some bloggers prior to release to send them free game keys. 

We also commissioned some art from other artists to share, as we obviously couldn't reveal ALL our CGs before the release lol and visual posts tend to do a lot better in our experience. It was so much fun to see the characters in other art styles and we hope we can afford to commission guest art pieces a lot more frequently in the future!

In hindsight, we definitely regret not releasing a trailer sooner! We underestimated how much interest a good trailer could garner and delayed setting up our Steam page because of it. Steam was the platform where we sold the most copies and most of our buyers found the game through Steam itself.

Also, posting your trailer on youtube adds another site where you're promoting your game so there's really no reason not to get that trailer done as soon as you can. 

Final Notes

After the initial stress, we were pretty happy with our release! Although there were some things we would go back and change if we could,  that's just the nature of these kind of things. For the most part, we're proud of what we achieved and happy that we have learnt so much from Trouble Comes Twice that we can take into consideration for future projects.

We can't share exact numbers, but we wanted to open up a bit about our earnings for the game to help other aspiring devs: As of writing this, Trouble Comes Twice has earned close to 85,000 euros. This counts our profits from 2020 to now (the Kickstarter, Patreon, pre-sales, and actual sales). Removing fees, taxes, the salaries of our talented artists and other freelancers, as well as the money invested into our next game, our personal pockets did not see anything close to those numbers. But we're super proud of how much our little game has made and so grateful that it's allowed us more creative freedom with our next title! 

So, what's next?

You might have heard but for the past year, we've slowly been working on the demo and upcoming announcement for our next visual novel:

A 17+ supernatural neon-noir romance game about monsters, love, and other horrors. 

Play as vampire detective Circe (female protagonist) or hellhound cop Dante (male protagonist) and delve into the mysteries of North Haven, where demons, vampires, and supernaturals hide in plain sight among humans.

The game features six routes, with three romance options available to each protagonist. Dante only has male romances and Circe has both male and female romances. 

The game tackles a darker, more angsty tone compared to Trouble Comes Twice. Still, we hope that those who decide to check it out will enjoy it! We plan to announce the game this coming Autumn. Follow our Twitter (we're still not calling it X sorry) or Tumblr to stay up to date.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/751445319499317248/httpsolderthannetfictumblrcompost75113540651

She did not "basically write fanfic about Unit 731", and that's exactly the weird sort of game of telephone that led to her being relentlessly harassed by people who had not even read the book (there were claims that it was set in WWII, because the 'Unit 731 fanfic' lie was spread so far that people only heard that and decided to jump on the bandwagon) and decided she deserved to be publicly eviscerated for it.

From what the author has actually said about her inspirations for the book, she started writing it years before she found out that the ghost stories she was told as a child by her grandfather (who lived through the occupation) were about a real, specific atrocity, rather than just broadly about colonization--which makes sense considering the only part that seems directly inspired by Unit 731 is revealed near the end of the book and is the major twist that ultimately carves the scales from the MCs eyes with respect to the enemy prince in question.

Also, she didn't 'whitewash' the Japanese, and that kind of claim is really galling because would it actually have been better if she'd based the Evil Empire on Japan instead? Would that really have gotten people off her back? (And in fact I can very easily understand why someone whose family lived through such a brutal occupation would want to get some distance in a story that is partially processing those feelings and experiences by not modeling the Evil Empire directly after the country that brutalized her own; especially since a significant portion of the story involves the main character having very complicated feelings for the prince of the Evil Empire.)

If you want to talk about the writing not being great or your belief that the author didn't achieve what she set out to, that's fine, although I gather from this ask that you haven't actually read the book, which is at minimum a prerequisite to talk with authority about how any given topic or plot point is or isn't handled. I, personally, think it's incredibly tone-deaf to police how someone else writes about their own cultural heritage and family history with oppression and colonization, and that is very much how so much of this criticism comes across, especially considering how much of it is from people who fully admit to not at the least reading the book to form their own opinions about it. And for some reason, this form of criticism seems to be aimed disproportionately at authors of color, who are given much less grace and freedom to be just kinda mid or handle things poorly than white authors.

(Just as an example, I've never seen anyone call Avatar: the Last Airbender 'basically CCP fanfic' even though the fantasy prison where political dissidents/troublemakers are tossed to be tortured/brainwashed into compliance in Ba Sing Se is literally named Lake Laogai, after the Chinese political prisons/labor camps.)

--

Yeah, that last part is the crux of it, isn't it? People need a little room to work on their craft. More marginalized creators, indie creators, and people working on media with smaller audiences are afforded less. White dudes making TV shows are afforded a whole lot. Seems like it would be fairer the other way around!

[akutasoda]

Hello! Can I request hcs with the demon brothers with a female teen mc who used to be in a human farm kinda like the ones in tpn

from demons to demons

synopsis - how are they with a teen!mc who used to be on 'human farms'

includes - lucifer, mammon, leviathan, satan, asmodeus, beelzebub, belphegor

warnings - fem!teen!mc (no pronouns mentioned), angst w/ comfort, wc - 1.1k

ever since the new human student exchange student arrived in the devildom, it was noted that something was off. it was expected that an exchange student, specifically the new human, was to have some fears and concerns about living in the devildom but your fears seemed much more extreme than expected. of course, to make the program work, somethings needed to be sorted to ensure that you're stay was comfortable and somewhat enjoyable - however to do so they needed to know the issue behind your fears. unfortunately, they never expected it to stem from such a dark past.

---✩

lucifer ★↷

↪he had helped to deal with a few issues alongside diavolo regarding human and demon interactions but he'd never expect such somewhat 'large-scale' issue to go so unnoticed or unaddressed.

↪lucifer somewhat regretted picking the next human exchange student at random because now a teenager was down in the devildom with an extremely valid fear upon first impression. therefore he felt extremely responsible for everything.

↪he spent alot of time reminding his brothers to tone it down as to help you ease some stress and for a rather long time, he insisted that he should accompany you anywhere just incase.

↪he thought these 'farms' were vile and he was glad that atleast it seemed possible to escape - you had afterall, but he doubted most people were so fortunate.

mammon ★↷

↪originally he just thought that you were just worried about the whole exchange program and he didn't exactly blame you nor did he really care all that much - surely you'd get over it eventually, it was only a year afterall.

↪however, when he was finally told he didn't exactly believe it at first, not that he thought it was a lie but more so he didn't exactly want to believe it was true. mammon could not imagine that humans could be that wicked to other people.

↪he was sort of clueless about what he could really do to help you adjust for the year. and as a result, he sort of stayed away from you as the last thing he wanted was to make your situation worse.

leviathan ★↷

↪while he didn't know at first where your hesistance and panic came from, levi could understand your fear much moee than the rest of his brothers. he knew what it was like to be in that position in a completely new environment - especially one that made you uncomfortable.

↪when he actually came to know of why you were the way you were, he wad practically insanely shocked. never would hd imagine that the human world actually had something that messed up.

↪levi would push aside his own qualms and always offer you the opportunity the hide out in his room. he often wouldn't go to school himself and so if you dreaded that yourself then he wouldn't mind you joining him.

↪probably would be one of the easiest demons to help ease your concerns about all the demons in the devildom being like the ones on the 'farm'.

satan ★↷

↪he vaguely remembered reading a book based on the human world that contained rumours of such places that 'farmed' humans, specifically younger children. he believed that they were rumours, a part of him doubted that humans could be that cruel to others.

↪however, upon meeting you he came to learn taht they weren't rumours and humans could be that cruel to others. your fears of the devildom were completely valid and he felt like you had the worst luck to end up in the devildom in the first place.

↪satan also doubted that he would be the greatest impression out of his brothers, especially with his rather short temper, but he also thought that he probably would be one of few of his brothers to help you adjust.

asmodeus ★↷

↪similarly to mammon, he just thought that you were worried about the exchange program and that you're fear would be soothed over the year you stayed down here. but when he found out the real reason, he was practically devastated.

↪he couldn't fathom the idea that humans would truly do something that disgusting to others, sure demons weren't always the nicest to each other but this seemed on another level. the whole premise was unsightly and he would prefer not thinking about it.

↪asmo may not be the best at actually helping you realise that the devildom wasn't exactly like the 'farms' but he could help distract you. hanging around with you and ensuring that you focus on anything other than ehat might dredge up horrible memories.

beelzebub ★↷

↪definitely one of the brothers that felt the most sympathy for your situation. not only did you have to survive the 'farm' but now you had to survive a year in the devildom, certainly mot the best situation.

↪he naturally would be happy with helping you adjust, whether it be simply accompanying you anywhere or anything you require. beel wanted to help you become as comfortable as you could be and help you realise that you would be safe.

↪despite his kind of intimidating look, he probably would be one of the best people to help and be around.

↪he didn't like to really think about what possibly would be or happen on these 'farms' because he couldn't imagine what kind of things you'd been through to end up there then.

belphegor ★↷

↪in honesty, belphie originally thought that you were simply unfit for the exchange program, he didn't quite understand how you were chosen and he thought it was a mistake. however, he'd retract these statements when he learnt more.

↪he already hated most humans but he'd hate them even more after learning that some ran these 'farms' that prayed on others. he'd be very proud of you for the fact that you managed to escape.

↪again, wouldn't exactly be the greatest at helping you distinguish the devildom demons fro those on these 'farms' and would be rather clueless. he'd kind if let his brothers deal with helping you with this and life in the devildom as a whole.

[vynegar]

vyn 5th birthday ssr, part two

let’s check in on vyn now, shall we?

same disclaimers from part one

youtube link to ShiroNaya’s video of the card story

links to previous parts: one

more tot stuff here

do not repost

[PART TWO]

[15:01] Themis Law Firm

Kiki: But… how could that be?!

Kiki looked at me as the comments onscreen rapidly multiplied. I realized that I had to do something, but I was still frozen in shock.

Kiki: W-with so many viewers, this has to be grounds for defamation.

However, Kiki had overlooked something – if what Zheng Yan said was true, then as a public figure, Vyn was also subject to public scrutiny.

MC: …

With the situation becoming more complex, I picked up my phone and hurriedly called Vyn.

[over the phone]

Vyn: Hello…?

The phone rang several times before he responded. Based on the raspiness of his voice, Vyn had likely just woken up.

MC: Sorry Vyn, did I wake you up from your nap?

Vyn: It is fine. I just woke up…

MC: Listen, there’s…

It seemed like he still didn’t know what had transpired. I hastily tried to explain, but was immediately interrupted by a disturbance from his side of the call. Amidst the shouting, I could hear the crisp sound of glass being broken.

MC: What’s happening?!

Vyn: Hold on. There are some matters here that I must attend to. I will call you back later.

His voice faded away, probably due to him holding the phone away from himself.

MC: Vyn—

In a rare instance, Vyn hung up the call before allowing me to respond. Although I didn’t know what had happened, it was obvious that the chaos on his end was related to Zheng Yan’s livestream. I had to do something, and as for what exactly that “something” was, I could figure it out on the way there. My top priority was seeing Vyn.

Kiki: Hey, MC, where are you going?

MC: Kiki, could you tell Celestine that I’m taking the day off?

[16:25] Giannovyn Mental Health Research Center

Reporter A: Mr. Richter, do you have anything to say about Mr. Zheng’s allegations in his livestream?

Reporter B: Mr. Richter, have you induced or coerced confessions before?

Reporter C: Mr. Richter, the police are already on the scene, but Zheng Yan’s mental state is highly unstable. What remedial measures will you take? Zheng Yan has stated that he is willing to confront you face-to-face. Will you meet him?

The first thing I saw after getting out of the car was a crowd of cameras impenetrably surrounding the research center. Evidently, this was the source of the commotion I had heard in the phone call.

In the center of the crowd, Vyn stared silently at his phone, probably watching Zheng Yan’s earlier declarations. The reporters’ questions were each sharper than the next without allowing him any room to defend himself, as if they had already decided what crimes he was guilty of. Those questions alone gave a clear indication of what the current online public opinion was like.

Vyn: It is easy to find fault in someone when that is one’s intention.

His tone was worlds apart from the drowsiness I heard during our phone call. Amidst the clamoring reporters, Vyn’s voice was calm like a stone tossed in water, the origin of the ripples and disturbances.

Vyn: You are judging someone based on only one side of the story. Are these your journalistic standards?

Vyn set his phone down. His gaze swept around the crowd, pausing only when he saw me. It was too crowded for me to do anything but nod subtly at him as reassurance that I wouldn’t be reckless.

Reporter A: Multiple people claiming to be former patients of yours have stepped forward, accusing you of inappropriate conduct during the course of the treatment. How do you respond to these allegations?

Vyn: …*scoff*

Vyn lowered his gaze as if deep in thought, but I knew that he was only concealing his indifference.

Vyn: These are groundless accusations with no basis in facts. I see no need to respond.

His attitude was firm, but even the most powerful of statements would seem like flimsy excuses to the public. Well aware that public opinion could turn right into wrong and black into white, Vyn didn’t try to explain himself further.

Vyn: Everyone can view the livestream – you do not need me to tell you how urgent the situation is. What happened between me and Zheng Yan is a private matter, and I cannot agree with his decision to make it public. Despite our difference in opinion, however, I will not stand idly by. The police have contacted me to go and negotiate in-person with Zheng Yan as soon as possible. If you all insist on interrogating me, it will only delay my arrival… Who will take responsibility for that, and with what remedial measures?

The reminder that a life was hanging in the balance finally quelled the reporters; even the click of camera shutters disappeared. Vyn nodded, and without another word, he walked away from the crowd. Meanwhile, my phone vibrated in my hand. It was a message from Vyn: “Meet you in the parking lot.”

[18:44] Inside the Car

As written in his message, Vyn’s car slowly pulled up in front of me right as I arrived at the parking lot. No words were needed, and I immediately got in. *Click* – once I fastened my seatbelt, Vyn stepped on the gas pedal and we sped away.

Vyn: Have you already seen the livestream?

Now that the stoplight had turned red, Vyn finally glanced away from the windshield to look at me.

MC: Yes.

He smiled ruefully. Compared to his earlier composure, he now betrayed some uncertainty.

Vyn: It is true that I helped the police solve Zheng Yan’s case in Svart. However, the events did not happen as he described…

It was dangerous for a lawyer to believe someone without seeing the evidence. But now that it was something I was deeply involved in, that denial was enough to somewhat reassure me.

Vyn: And there is one thing that bothered me. Back then, he went by the name “James”, not Zheng Yan.

MC: Maybe he changed his name to “James” after going to Svart.

Vyn: No. He never went by Zheng Yan, not even when he was previously in Stellis.

MC: Okay, but what does this mean…?

At the moment, I was unable to understand Vyn’s fixation on names. Vyn didn’t rush to convince me either, instead falling silent.

MC: Vyn… what happened back then?

If I wanted to ascertain the truth behind the incident, then after hearing Zheng Yan’s side of the story, I had to hear Vyn’s explanation as well.

Vyn: Right now the situation is still urgent, and this is not something I can explain in brief… More importantly, even if I were to say it, would anyone believe me?

As the line of cars waiting at the intersection grew, Vyn turned to face me head-on.

Vyn: Many people do not believe me right now, MC. They condemn me as the devil that Zheng Yan said I was. I imagine that was what you were calling to tell me. To be honest, right now I am unable to show you any evidence that could make you trust me.

He knew that I was accustomed to basing my judgments on evidence, and he didn’t want to pressure me. Even so, he couldn’t help but hope to be an exception to my rationality.  I understood how conflicted he was, just as he understood how conflicted I was as well.

MC: True, but Zheng Yan hasn’t shown any concrete evidence either.

Vyn: Is there anything you find suspicious?

Zheng Yan’s livestream was playing on the phone silently, with the comments coming in at an even faster pace. Words fall easily, so easily that people often underestimate their actual power.

MC: Yes. Zheng Yan’s livestreamed suicide appears to be a spontaneous mental breakdown. After that was a Sisyphean struggle where it seems like he’s trying to overcome the impossible… (1) That kind of realism and tragedy is precisely why he was able to garner so much attention in such a short amount of time. But in actuality, it’s a double-edged sword because that kind of trust is easy come, easy go. Any coincidences stemming from ulterior motives would instantly turn all of this into a trap.

Vyn: Do you think that he planned all of this?

MC: Everything happened far too seamlessly, and I don’t believe in coincidences. If there were really that many victims, they couldn’t have been silent all this time, only to emerge now in perfect sync. He’s trying to build support, but his methods only make him seem less innocent than he’s claiming to be…

Zheng Yan yearned to push the boulder of public criticism to the peak in order to crush Vyn underneath, but he was overly hasty. When he had reached the summit, he pushed too hard and sent the stone sliding back down instead.

MC: Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?

After my lengthy, uninterrupted analysis, Vyn’s gaze on me intensified, his eyes holding countless unspoken words.

Vyn: Not at all. Your comments were very astute, and you even thought of many things that I had not yet understood clearly. You see things so clearly, that… I realized I do not need your decision or answer right now. I just need you to stay by my side, so that you can see what the truth really is. Until then, I will quietly await your judgment.

In front of us, the stoplight turned green as if responding to him. We fell into silence, focusing on the drive.

[22:09] Rooftop

When we arrived at the scene, the sun had mostly set, dying the horizon a brilliant hue. Unfortunately, no one was able to appreciate the fine weather and sunset glow. The police had the area tightly sealed off, so we were able to enter without causing any commotion.

Policeman: Will she be going in with you, Dr. Richter?

Vyn: Yes.

Before I could explain myself, Vyn glanced at me and nodded solemnly.

Vyn: This is MC, a lawyer from Themis Law Firm. If Zheng Yan has really been wrongfully accused, she can offer him legal assistance.

The police didn’t object to Vyn’s request, and we were allowed entrance.

Once we crossed the caution tape, we were forced to squint against the dazzling light reflecting off glass curtain walls of nearby buildings. Zheng Yan noticed us immediately.

Zheng Yan: Y-you two…

Although the sun was too strong for me to discern his expression, I could still detect his shock and unfamiliarity. It was not the immediate reaction of a man seeing someone he had despised for years. Those emotions were fleeting, however, and were quickly replaced by indignation.

Zheng Yan: So it really is you, Vyn Richter!

Vyn: Long time no see.

Vyn’s tone was as mild as if seeing an old acquaintance, which clearly incensed Zheng Yan.

Zheng Yan: Then how should I refer to you? Dr. Richter? Or is it Professor Richter?

Vyn: Whichever you prefer. Either is fine with me.

Zheng Yan: How shameless can you be?! I heard you used my case to make yourself the center of attention in Svart, and got everyone heaping praise on you and psychology. But who would’ve thought, behind all your fancy titles of “doctor” and “professor”, you’re nothing but filth!

Utterly enraged at Vyn’s indifference, Zheng Yan walked over to us from the railing, his frenzied expression twisted into something demonic against the violent wind.

[END PART TWO]

[PART THREE]

(1)  “Sisyphus” Big Data Lab entry (under Culture>Lore & Beliefs): Sisyphus is a figure from Greek mythology who was punished by being forced to push a large boulder up a steep mountain. Each time he would exhaust himself trying to push the boulder up, but right when it was about to reach the peak, the boulder would slip from his hands and he would have to begin anew. Later on, “Sisyphean” was used to describe someone making a futile effort or attempting to accomplish the impossible.

[late-to-the-party-81]

Love, Lies & Electricity

AN: Hi all - here is my entry for week 5 of @buckybarnesevents Hot Bucky Summer. This time it’s a Bucky x Reader fic. Thanks to all who voted in my poll a few weeks ago to decide who this reader should be.

Additional thanks and kisses to @drabbles-mc for beta-ing this.

If you would like to be added to my tag list, click here.

Moodboard by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Likes are loved, Reblogs are golden.

Master List | HBS Master List

Challenges and Bingos: HBS week 5 - We’re Exes

Summary: After Bucky Barnes broke your heart several months ago you never wanted to see him again. However, when he turns up and asks you to help him, Sam and Torres bring down a HYDRA base you can’t refuse as it will mean a chance to get payback on those who hurt you worse than he did.

Relationship: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

CW: Angst, Revenge, Sexual Content

There was a reason why you’d taken solace on the rooftop of an abandoned building in DUMBO - you wanted to be alone. You’d hoped that the omnipresent drizzle would have deterred most of those who might wish to contact you, even if they did manage to work out where you were. Despite this, you weren’t surprised in the least when Bucky appeared. 

Even with your back to him and your gaze unwaveringly fixated on the view before you, you knew he was there. He had an energy about him - probably something to do with the circuitry to his arm - that you’d found easy to pick up on when you’d first met him, let alone after you’d become attuned to it. 

“I told you not to bother me ever again, Barnes,” you stated in a flat tone, still avoiding looking at him.

There was a moment of silence, probably so he could consider his response, although you’d be surprised if he wasn’t expecting this type of reception.

“I know,” he acknowledged, “but I - we - need you.”

Your lips twitched wryly. You should have known he wouldn’t be here of his own accord. You hadn’t had any contact from him since that day three months ago when you’d screamed and shouted and… he’d just stood there. Accepting your vitriol before turning and walking out of your life. The wound still felt raw. 

When you’d first met him, you’d fallen hard and fast. Bucky just seemed to get you - understand you like no-one else, and you thought that you’d known him too. The nights you’d spent together, just holding each other and talking about what you’d gone through in your lives - finding comfort and companionship that transcended the physical connection that you had. However, like every other good thing in your life, it had come crashing down around your ears, but unlike other times, you hadn’t seen it - the hurt and the betrayal - coming.

Bucky hadn’t gotten involved with you because of who you were - he’d approached you because of what you could do - what you could bring to a new team of Avengers. Someone else who saw your value in connection to your freakish abilities. He breached your walls, then shattered them from the inside. You were still rebuilding them.

“What’s the job?” you queried, knowing that if you dismissed him out of hand he’d probably just push harder and you’d end up screaming at him.

“There’s a pocket of Hydra holdouts in a bunker in Massachusetts,” he rumbled and you closed your eyes, trying to control your physical reaction to his presence. “We can’t find a way in, and need the element of surprise. You’ve got the skills we need.”

You snorted. Of course it was all about your powers.

“Who’s asking? The White Wolf or Bucky Barnes?” You couldn’t keep the sneer from your voice.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t rise to it, instead asking, “Would it make a difference?”

A loud sigh left your throat. “I suppose you’re right. You knew I was in from the word ‘HYDRA’.”

You pushed yourself up from the roof ledge and finally turned to face him. The rain had plastered his dark brown hair to his face, making it look black. Droplets of water ran down the divot in his chin, before dripping off the end. Why did he have to be so beautiful? If you were that sodden you’d just look like a drowned rat, so you gave a quick thanks to the small electrical field you’d generated around you that stopped the rain from making contact.

“Let’s get this over with then.” Your voice - and heart - was already weary. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get back to never seeing you again.”

Bucky didn’t answer, instead just giving you a look you couldn’t interpret before turning and walking towards the stairwell. You followed in his wake.

The journey upstate to the compound hadn’t been too arduous. Both you and Bucky had ridden your bikes, which had the dual advantage of making it easy to slip through the traffic and also negated the need for small talk. You hadn’t actually said a word to him since leaving the rooftop and you were totally fine with that.

You’d greeted Sam with a clipped ‘Hello’ and just stared through Torres when he’d shyly raised a hand in your direction. It wasn’t that you didn’t like them, you just didn’t know them.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Bucky had let out a small cough and suggested that you all go through to the briefing room and you’d nodded your assent. Now the four of you were gathered around the holographic blueprints.

“Our main issues,” said Sam, “are these gun turrets.” He pointed out the towers at each corner of the building. “Our intel says they are energy-based, which means if they can get disabled from inside the three of us should be able to get in easier.”

“That’s what we’re hoping you can do,” added Torres, his eyes still refusing to meet yours. It almost made you smile. Almost.

Sam continued. “Once we’re in, we aren’t expecting you to hang around. We know you aren’t a big fan of working with us.”

That was an understatement if ever you’d heard one, but there were bigger motivational factors involved. “You really think I’m gonna turn tail and not take the opportunity to get some payback?” you asked with a raised brow. “You don’t know me at all, Sam.”

A look of sympathy immediately took over his face. “I understand why you feel this way, but this isn’t what this mission is about. We need to shut them down and extract all the data.”

You frowned. You don’t know why you expected a different response from the new Captain America. “But you know that if we don’t stop them - neutralise every single one of them - then they’ll just regroup. Reform. We’ll - You’ll - be no better off than you were before and you’ll just have to hunt them down again another day.” The words came out sharply as your frustration grew.

“We’re not going there with the express intent of murdering people.” Sam bit back. “I’m a realist - I understand that there will be deaths - but I’m not going out of my way to create the highest body count possible.”

There was a moment of silence before you said, “You’re a bleeding heart, Wilson. No mercy should be shown to HYDRA because they sure as hell won’t show you any.”

You turned on your heel and stalked from the room, walking along the corridor until you reached one of the glass walls that allowed you to look out over the forest surrounding the semi-secret base. You weren’t even there a minute before you felt a prickle up your spine. Your hands, that had been resting on your ribs where your arms were crossed, curled into fists.

“Fuck off, Barnes,” you ground out between gritted teeth. He moved to stand beside you, leaning on the railing, and you could see him out of your peripheral vision.

“He’s a good man, you know. It’s why Steve gave him the shield and not me. He knew that for the mantle of Captain America you have to have some level of optimism.”

You huffed and rolled your eyes. “But it just seems so pointless.”

“You know I get it. We have a different outlook, you and I. As much as Sam can empathise with what we went through, try his best to understand, he will never get it. Much the same way that I can’t ever fully understand what it was like for him, being who he is, to grow up in this America. We just have to stick to our truths, and bend once in a while when it’s prudent to do so.” He turned towards you then, flashing a wry grin and you couldn’t help but turn your head as well. “And besides, what Wilson doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

Bucky pushed away from the railing and started to walk back towards the conference room. Part way along he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “You coming? We’ve got some HYDRA ass to kick. And by kick, I mean shoot in the head.”

Large hands spanned your waist, gripping firmly but not cruelly. Your legs were hooked over the arms connected to them, holding you wide open. Your eyes, only open a crack, could see the way his dark hair flopped down in front of his face, could see the way his body glistened with sweat as he pumped in and out of you. His muscles strained and his jaw was set.

“Fuck, honey,” Bucky exclaimed. “Feels so fucking good.” Your only reply was a whine as you dropped a hand down between you to strum at your clit.

“That’s it, baby. Make yourself feel good. Wanna feel you come.” If you’d been capable of giggling at his statement you would have, because you’d come twice already - once on his face and once on his fingers. The man was insatiable for your pleasure. You weren’t gonna complain about it.

“Bucky!” you breathed out, not sure what you were actually trying to say, but hoping he could pick up on the tone. The air crackled, its molecules excited by your semi-conscious manipulation of the electric field around you. You could feel yourself rushing towards that peak, your core clenching - pulsing - around where Bucky was filling you with each delicious thrust.

He dropped his head, taking one of your pebbled nipples in his mouth and sucked on it. The sensation pulled tightly on the invisible thread that ran through your body to where the pair of you were joined. Tighter. Firmer. Higher…

You woke with a start, sitting bolt upright as you gulped in lungful after lungful of air. Your hands shook and your skin was sweaty and you silently cursed Bucky Barnes as you flopped back down and pressed one of the pillows over your face. You hadn’t had a sex dream about him in weeks, but it stood to reason that as he was back disrupting your waking hours he’d do the same to your sleep as well.

Frustration welled up inside of you, and with a grunt you threw the pillow across the room, hearing it thud against the generic dresser. You were in one of the ‘guest’ rooms at the compound. White walls. White furniture. Grey bedding, curtains and carpet. It was fucking depressing. You were just glad that you weren’t going to be here for long. Just a few more days of going through the reconnaissance intel and running some training drills in the state of the art suite downstairs and then you’d be on the mission for real. Then, when it was over, you were going to leave - leave New York. Leave the state. Heck, you might even leave the country. 

You flipped over in bed, trying to find a comfortable position to go back to sleep in, but every time you closed your eyes your mind conjured the image of Bucky looking at you as if you were the only thing in his world that had meaning. Sleep was a long time coming.

Three mornings later and you were up early, just finishing getting dressed where there was a knock on your bedroom door. You didn’t need to be a mind reader to know who it was. Lightly slapping your hands against your legs, you strode over and opened the door. Bucky stood there, his fingers all twisted around each other until he seemed to jump at the realisation of what he was doing and put them both behind his back. A smile played at the corners of your mouth. The highlight of the last few days had been the discovery that Bucky was as discombobulated by your presence as you were by his. The only difference was that you seemed to be able to hide it better. That knowledge had allowed you to sleep better the last few nights - the schadenfreude was delicious. And if you’d then played up to it - accidentally rubbed past him in small spaces, or laugh and flirt with a sweetly awkward Joaquin? Well it was exactly what Bucky deserved in your opinion.

You looked up at him with a raised brow and leant against the door, arms folded across your breasts, and you noted the minute flicker of his gaze down and then back up. “Can I help you, Buck?” 

He scowled as you over-pronounced the start and end of his nickname. “I came to see if you were ready. We need to leave in twenty.”

“It’s not my first rodeo, Sargent, a fact you well know. As you can see,” you gestured down the length of your body with your hand, “I managed to get dressed all on my own. I can manage to achieve a surprising amount of things without your help.”

You pushed away from the door and snagged your go back from the floor. It didn’t have a lot in it because unlike the others you only relied on your abilities for both offence and defence. No guns, knives, vibranium arms, shields or wings.

Bucky didn’t move away as you exited your room, causing you to brush against him to get by. As you did so, pointedly not looking at him, his right hand shot out and snagged your upper arm. “Honey, please can we t-”

You shook your arm free angrily. “You don’t get to call me that,” you hissed. “You lost that right months ago. And no, we’re not gonna talk. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. After this mission we never see each other again.” With that, you turned your back on him and stalked in the direction of the hanger. He didn’t try to stop you and you wondered why you felt a lump in the pit of your stomach about it.

Chapter 2

Tag list: @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989, @kombatfather1796

@christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @wolfsmom1, @doasyoudesireandlive, @goldylions, @galactusdevourerofworlds, @apenny4thots, @crayongirl-linz, @nicoline1998enilocin, @king814318

[midnightexpressproductions]

Demo (TBA)

Content warnings (This IF has situations and themes that might be distressing to others): mentions of death, depictions of bodily harm, body horror, gore, anxiety/panic attacks, stressful scenes, claustrophobia, violence, car crashes, amaxophobia, astraphobia, use of weapons (guns, knives, etc.), explicit language, and sexual content though this is optional.

Dark smoke curls all around you, the black ash clogging up your nose and choking your throat. The sound of sirens is muffled in your ears. The base of your skull feels like it's split in two, a sharp pain blooming on the back of your head. Your eyesight is blurry but you can just make out the body writhing around on the ground.

You're hurt and blood seeps out of your wounds. You should be dead. You shouldn't be able to move, but here you are struggling to breathe. The acrid air in your lungs burns. Your vision tinges red. You can't help but watch as the body across the street from you sits up, rotten eyes fixed on your own.

It's jaw unhinges as it lets out an unearthly scream. It's hungry– no not hungry, ravenous– filthy drool dripping down it's chin. In a flash it descends upon you.

Starving.

Yearning for something to eat.

Desperate.

Yearning for food.

Famished.

Yearning to tear your flesh apart.

------------------------------------------------------------------

In your senior year of high school, you remain the sole survivor of a brutal car crash that kills your father. Grief stricken, your mother decides that it's time for a fresh start. You soon find yourself shipped away to the other side of the country in bustling New York City; a completely different world from your previous rural Louisiana town.

A fish out of water, you're content with staying in the comfort of your own bedroom, living out your life in complete solitude. However, fate has other plans and after four years of isolation, you are forced to leave your room and venture into the outside world.

You just had to pick the day when everything goes to shit, didn't you?

The dead have begun to rise, violent and angry and desperately ravenous for human flesh. Finding yourself separated from your mom, you team up with an unlikely group of survivors as you begin your journey across a ruined New York in hopes of safe haven.

Who knows what might happen when the dead wake?

Play as male, female or non binary; you have the chance to set your own pronouns.

Play as straight, gay, lesbian, bi/pansexual, demi/asexual or aromantic.

Customize your MC's personality and appearance.

Choose from five RO's (plus a sixth RO who you'll meet at the end of the game) to romance or befriend. Or betray.

Build up your stats.

Make alliances or enemies with rival gangs.

Steal a cop car.

Adopt some dogs.

Your choices matter. You and other characters from the main cast can die.

Javier Delgado | he/him | 23 | ISTJ-T | Puerto Rican American

Javier has short, dark brown hair that curls just slightly around the edges. His down turned eyes are light brown and speckled with green. His golden tawny skin is lightly smattered with freckles across his cheeks. Javier is 5'10" and he has a thin, lanky build which makes him seem much taller than he really is. A pair of plastic-rimmed, light green glasses sit on his hooked nose. He says that they're just for reading but in truth, his eyesight just really sucks. His thick eyebrows are almost constantly furrowed, causing people to think that he’s always upset. Javier favors more muted, earthy toned colors in what he wears. He's not particularly fashionable however, wearing whatever is clean and comfortable.

Carmen Bautista | she/her | 23 | ESFJ-A | Filipina/Brazilian American

Carmen has long, wavy hair that stops just below her shoulder blades. Her hair is dark brown turning into a blonde ombre the further down it goes. She normally keeps it pulled back into a low bun or a French braid. Her wide eyes are almond shaped and dark brown. Carmen’s olive skin is completely flawless. Her full lips seem to be set in a perpetual smile, showing off the deep set dimples on her cheeks. She is 5'9" and has a plump, hourglass figure. She can normally be found wearing jewelry. However, Carmen doesn't wear rings, saying that she prefers to keep her hands free of any obstructions. She does have her nails painted a bubblegum pink though. Carmen favors pastel colors and soft clothing that she can easily move around in.

Max Friedman | she/they | 22 | ISTP-A | Jewish American

Max has wildly curly, dark copper hair that reaches just below their ears which is choppy since they cut it themself. Their eyes are a pale stormy gray and droopy, giving them a sleepy appearance. However, paired with her thin lips that seem to be constantly set into a scowl, it only highlights Max's less than friendly demeanor. Max has pale skin with warm undertones. She's covered from head to toe in freckles. They have a small cut on the right side of their upper lip. Their nose is slightly crooked, having broken it from a skateboarding accident. She's the shortest out of the group (not including Gwen), standing at 5'2" and she has a lithe build though the baggy clothes she wears make it seem that Max is skinnier than she really is. They carry around a skateboard wherever they go. 

Eun-Woo Park | he/him | 20 | ESTP-T | South Korean

Eun-Woo has short, pencil-straight black hair that's been styled into an undercut, his bangs left longer than the rest. Thick eyelashes rim his monolid eyes. The irises are a brown so dark that they're almost black. Eun-Woo's milk white skin is spotted with moles, the most notable being the two that sit underneath his left eye. His hands are covered with old calluses and jagged scars mar his knuckles. Eun-Woo stands at 5'7" and has a sinewy, toned build. His ears are double pierced and he has a helix piercing on his right ear. Eun-Woo's nails are painted black. He likes wearing black clothing however, he always wears a red SSG Landers cap along with a NY Yankees letterman jacket.

Derek Campbell | he/they | 24 | ISFP-A | African American/Caucasian

Derek has dark brown, shoulder length dreads. The ends are dyed a light honey brown though he's constantly changing the color. He normally keeps his dreads tied back in a loose ponytail or bun. Their full lips seem to always be set in a sweet smile. Their dark brown eyes are round and wide set, emphasizing their friendly demeanor. Light stubble softens their sharp jaw. Derek has light brown skin, having two scars on his face: one that runs down the corner of his left eyebrow and the other running across the bridge of his nose. He's the tallest of the whole group, standing at 6'5" and his chubby, thick-set build seems imposing at first. They're really just a big marshmallow though. Derek seems to favor more athletic wear, though they'll wear whatever feels comfortable to them. They like bright colors, especially pink and yellow.

Elijah/Elizabeth Watts | he/him or she/her | 26 | ENTJ-A | African American

Eli has dark umber skin with cool undertones. Jagged, old scars crisscross all over their body. They have a full sleeve tattoo of a snake surrounded by lotus flowers on their left arm. F!Eli has long, tightly coiled black hair which she normally keeps tied back into a low ponytail or a braided bun. M!Eli has short, tightly coiled black hair that's cut into a fade, his coils either left free or tied back into cornrows. Even if they're not upset, Eli's eyes seem to be constantly narrowed, the warm honey brown irises standing out against their dark skin. Their full lips hide a gap-toothed smile. Both M!Eli and F!Eli stand at 6'0". They have a toned, muscular build. They wear no makeup or jewelry, other than the dog tags that they keep hidden underneath their clothes.

Gwen Nguyen | she/her | 10 | Vietnamese American

Gwen has warm toned, honey skin and wide, black eyes. Her chubby cheeks are dusted red, only further highlighting her innocent appearance. However, the sneaky rude gestures and hidden eye rolls show that she's much more cheeky than she looks. Gwen likes to wear anything soft and pastel colored. She always has her favorite pink bear plushie with her. Gwen is also deaf, so she wears a pair of sparkly hearing aids. Other than using sign language, she also communicates with a small whiteboard that she keeps tucked away in a pastel yellow backpack.

Pa and Ma Hazel:

Pa is a 10 year old German shepherd and Ma Hazel is an 11 year old cocker spaniel. Pa is short coated and his fur is a dark sable color with his underside being a honey brown. His muzzle is also lightly streaked through with gray. Ma Hazel is medium coated and her fur is a brown roan. Her muzzle is also slightly graying and her nose is spotted. In lieu of collars, Pa wears a forest green bandana around his neck. Ma Hazel doesn't wear a collar at all.

[latoyalestrange]

heirloom

s. sallow x reader

summary: drabble based loosely on this request. to be honest i think if i wrote this with any angst at all it would be too painful lmao so here is a fluffy version where sebastian gives you his mother's necklace and its just a really sweet moment.

words: 630

warnings: fluff, establish relationship, sebastian being hot and dominant, aged up seb and mc, not edited!

you'd gotten an owl from sebastian during free period while you were studying in your dorm.

Meet me near the lover's lookout. Urgent.

S

you instantly smiled at his scribbles. you'd missed him all day, having a completely different class schedule than his. deciding not to waste any more time, you quickly fixed yourself in the mirror and left to meet him at your designated spot. it was a short walk across the hogwarts lush grounds before you could spot him pacing on a nearby hill with a small, cobblestone courtyard on top. the autum leaves danced in the breeze around him and the sunset made it look like his skin was glowing. you didn't notice the smile that instinctively appeared on your face as you quickened your pace. his expression mirrored yours as you caught his eye when you approached.

"ah, love. there you are." he sounded relieved as he opened his arms for you to curl into, kissing the top of your head when you closed the gap.

"i missed you all day," you mumbled into his chest, taking in his comforting scent. "what was so urgent?" you craned your neck to meet his dark eyes that looked like tiger's eye stones in the sunlight. you could see his face shift as he swallowed, his tie seeming tighter than before around his neck.

"i...have something for you." he patted his pockets frantically after stepping back, looking in his pockets nervously. a blush formed on your cheeks, he was always giving you little gifts to remind you of his love for you. he wasn't the best at writing poems but he was an incredible shopper.

"ah, here..." he dug in the pocket of his trousers and held the small contents out to you in his hands. you saw a delicate, sparkling chain with a brilliant stone pendant that changed colors when you shifted it in the light.

"oh, sebastian..." you were breathless as you stared at the gem in his hands. "it's stunning!" your hands covered your heart as if to protect it from the overwhelming sweetness.

"it was my mums." he looked down at the necklace in his hands adoringly, a sad, but content smile on his lips.

"oh, you don't have to--" you began to refuse, but he interrupted you.

"i want you to have it." his eyes finally met yours again, smile still unfazed. you couldn't find any words as he walked around you, brushing your hair to the side. his fingers ghosted over your neck, sending bumps across the skin around them as he wrapped the cool metal around your neck and clasping it together. he fixed your hair once he was finished and pressed a loving kiss to your temple, comforting you slightly. you looked down at the jewelry that now decorated your bosom with amazement, taking it in your gentle palm. he came back into your view, relishing in the sight of his family heirloom around your neck.

"i don't deserve this, sebastian." you shook your head, feeling entirely unworthy of such a beautiful and meaningful gift. he stepped towards you, palming the side of your face with his toned hand, forcing your gaze to lock with his.

"hey, none of that." his eyes trailed down to your lips, then to your chest. "you are to never take it off. understood?" you didn't have the courage to protest as you saw him looming over you with such a firm grip on your face. you nodded instead.

"understood." it was your turn to trace your eyes over his plush lips, silently begging for contact. it was visible in the way you bit down on your lower lip with anticipation. he granted your wish, your lips connecting tenderly. you huffed as he pulled away.

"good."

reblog if you made it to the end!

[satansaidnottoday]

A surprise meeting.

Info: Human AU, Lucifer's Mc, GN!Mc.

Summary: Satan and Lucifer want to make you an offer. Happens after this.

Warnings: none.

The sun wasn't fully out yet, barely rearing its head on the horizon. The streets were painted in soft orange light, and the morning frost was slowly melting. You already had quite a few customers sitting down. The café wasn't very popular, but it had a dedicated and slowly growing fan base. If you kept it up, you might not go bankrupt by the end of the year. 

You went outside to place the chalkboard sign that listed your breakfast deals, taking a moment to look at the sunrise. From the corner of your eye, you saw a familiar pair turn at the corner.

You leaned over the sign as they approached. "Ah, my favorite customers!"

"Good morning, Mc," the brothers said at the same time. 

It made you smile. Of all the siblings, they were the most similar. If it wasn't for the blonde hair and green eyes, Satan would be identical to Lucifer. They had to be related.

"What can I get started on for you?" You asked, opening the door for them.

"A ragdoll, please," the blond answered first this time. He walked over to the table nearest to the window. You found that weird; he'd usually sit near the play area. 

"A black coffee for me, please," Lucifer said. He waited by your side for a few seconds and then leaned closer to whisper. "Make his decaffeinated, please." 

"You got it." You lean closer still and whisper back.

He chuckles, which is the most you've managed to get from him. You count it as a victory and go back behind the counter to make their drinks. Black coffee is pretty straightforward, but sculpting the little foam cat on top of the ragdoll (which is just a dry cappuccino) takes quite some time. Still, you try to get it as perfect as possible.

When you made your way back to their table, Lucifer had it half covered in important-looking papers. You were especially careful when placing their orders down.

"Working from home today?" You ask him.

He groans and takes a sip of coffee before answering. 

"I simply never leave work." 

"Well, that can't be healthy," you scolded him. Pretending you were not running on four hours of sleep and half a stale catcake.

"You're one to talk," Satan teases, finally putting down his book to look at your foam art. 

You shush him with a fake stern look. He doesn't pay much attention, too preoccupied with getting the right angle on a shot of his book next to the coffee. The teenager had made his lair at your café ever since you let him in that first night. Some days he would arrive in the morning with a book and stay until you closed, holed up with a blanket in the play area. Your regulars all knew him, probably better than they knew you. Now that he had started to go to school again, you wouldn't see him as much in the morning. Still, he came in every afternoon to do homework.

Sometimes he would arrive in the middle of the night, and you would let him in without a word. He found his way to the cats and stayed there until he calmed down. Of course you would shoot Lucifer a text, so he didn't worry. He was a weird kid, but he was good. You'd much rather he crash at your place than run off somewhere else, and Lucifer agreed on that.

"So you guys are having a little date?" You asked them with a mocking tone.

"We're having a meeting, actually." Lucifer piled all the papers together, lining them up in front of him. 

"Interesting, with who?" You leaned on the table as you spoke. 

"You." Satan smiled up at you.

You pointed at your face with a lifted eyebrow. They both nodded in response.

"Well, I wasn't informed." You straighten up, patting down your apron. "I didn't even iron my clothes today."

"Take a seat, please. We have much to discuss." Satan signaled to one of the empty chairs by his side. He was obviously trying to sound more adult, but his voice was still in that awkward phase. Right in between a squeaky toy and a truck engine.

You looked around to make sure no one needed your help before sitting down. Moving the chair to the end of the table so you could face both of them. 

"Satan has presented a pretty convincing case to me, so I come as his representative." Lucifer took out his glasses and looked at you.

You stayed silent, waiting for whatever they had in store for you.

"Running a coffee shop is plenty of work as is; I've seen how early you wake up just to do the baking," Satan started. "And on top of that, you have to take care of an entire animal refuge."

"It's five cats."

"That's a lot to take care of when you're also running around taking orders and making coffee," he reported, quick on his feet. "You surely wouldn't say no to a helping hand, right?" 

"I'm not hiring help right now, sorry." You pulled the idea out from the roots before it could grow anymore. "I don't have the money for it, and even if I did, I wouldn't hire a fourteen-year-old." 

"You're right, he can't work here," Lucifer said, handing you a paper sheet. "But he can volunteer." 

"What is this?" You asked while scanning the paper. 

"A non-profit volunteer work declaration." He stated. "You're registered as a nonprofit, right?"

"Technically, but only the cat part. The rest is registered as a retail front." You tried to make sense of all the legal juggling you had to do in order to get the place opened. 

"If you fill in your organization's information, I can file that for you and get Satan registered as a volunteer for your cat refuge." He said, handing over another paper. "And if you could sing and date this, I can bring it to school in order to excuse him from PE." 

"Why would cleaning litter boxes get him out of PE?" You asked, baffled.

"Any volunteer work counts!" Satan jumped in, sounding pretty excited about the idea. "And I already spend the whole day here; I might as well help out."

"So? What do you say?" Lucifer asked, and they both looked at you expectantly.

"Sure," you said without thinking. You made quick work of filling out and signing all the paperwork.

They both looked at you, surprised.

"I thought it would be harder to convince you," Lucifer said with a stunned expression. 

"Don't be silly," you teased, standing up to go back to work. "I could never say no to free child labor." 

Thank you for reading ❤️