#now that I have this out of the way there are several more rambles I can do now

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted 🌟👩🏾🎶 (Wish Reimagined)

Chapter 13: Poor Unfortunate Souls 👸🍪🐂

Chapter 12

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Rosas is bustling more than ever as the citizens prepared for the ceremony. On one hand, everyone being distracted allowed Asha to hide in plain sight. On the other, it was risky that someone could recognize her out of the crowd. Asha realized having the teens around as a group wasn't such a bad thing after all, as they kept eyes off her and Star.

Both Dario and Hal were rambling on about all the wonderful things Rosas had to offer, while Gabo and Simon sort of acted as her personal bodyguards. Though Gabo didn't look all that intimidating holding a young goat. 😅

"And this is where the band comes through during the welcoming song!" Dario explained as he pointed in front of the statues of the royals.

"This is where some of our best artists create portraits of our rulers!" Hal gestured to a small corner where a group of painters were already at work on making several artworks in honor of tonight.

"Oh and can't forget Bazeema's family flower shop over there!" Dario excitedly pointed to a small shop filled to the brim with vast colors of roses. "They have the best flowers, as long as its only roses. King's orders."

"The amount of narcissism in this place is disturbing..." Asha commented, walking past the statues.

"Come on, its not all bad! At least if you ignore the royals stealing our wishes part." Hal said, trying to find the upside to this.

"Allegedly." Dahlia corrected her. She clearly was still standing her ground on the royals. "I'm still going to need proof about all this."

Mouse!Star poked his head out. "Well, the king kind of stabbed me. Is that enough?"

"Look, what I'm saying is that unless I see them doing something so horrible that's its impossible to deny it, I'm not buying it." Dahlia continued as she kept a close eye on both Asha and Star.

"They threw Flazino in a dungeon for pete's sake! Doesn't it bother you that he's missing suddenly?" Asha argued. "There's seriously proof all around you with the people themselves. Do they look happy to you?"

Dahlia looked at the few painters still working, and noticed that a few of them were looking a bit drowsy. One of them had nearly fallen asleep as she was painting and had to wake herself backup. She oddly reminded her a lot of Simon...

But then, lots people get tired during the day from working or other logical reasons, it couldn't possibly be a conspiracy!

"Okay, they do look a little tired, but that's not a reason to think there's something evil going on!" Dahlia stood her ground. "Besides, I'm sure Flazino is fine. Maybe he just went on a secret errand for the royals."

Asha groaned. "This is getting us nowhere. Just forget it." She walked away from the baker and continued onwards.

"And here I thought you cared about your boyfriend." Gabo said in pretend disappointment as he shook his head at Dahlia.

"Of course I care about-" she slightly faltered when she realized what the annoying pipsqueak had said. "He's not my boyfriend! Who even said I even like him that way?" she couldn't even look them in the eye.

"Well, you do talk about him a lot." Hal pointed out as she pulled a set of chalk out from a box and showed it to Asha. "Whenever I'm just passing by, you're usually all 'Flazino' this and 'Flazino' that. Ha, you talk about him even more than the king!"

"All right, it was wasn't that much... " Dahlia grumbled, as she didn't really like being called out.

"And you also swoon over him a lot when he's not looking!" Dario added as he carefully walked on the rim of the water fountain.

"Yes, there's definitely lots of swooning." Bazeema confirmed.

Simon had accidentally fallen asleep after he took a break to sit down, but even he was conscious enough to respond with a yawn, "Yeah, it's true."

That was enough embarrassing Dahlia for today. "Look, none of that is important-or true-right now. What can I do to convince any of you that this is all crazy?"

As the rest of the group was talking Valentino was walking behind Gabo when his ear perked up. He heard a growling sound and assumed it was his own stomach. The goat looked around the sea of people.

Everything looked normal, expect for the African lynx stretched out on a nearby windowsill. He was covered by the large shadow of the awning above him, with only his green eyes and sinister grin shining through.

This made Valentino panic and start bleating like crazy, "MAAAH! MAAAH! MaaaAAAaaaAAAA!" he jumped up and down trying to get their attention.

Asha was too far away to hear, but Bazeema took notice immediately. "What's wrong, little guy?"

Valentino stomped his hooves and pointed over to the windowsill, only now it had a small vase of roses on it. His jaw dropped at how quickly the feline had moved.

"Did you want to see the flowers that badly, or is something else?" Bazeema pondered. Something told her it wasn't just random.

"Or maybe he's just hungry for some roses!" Dario suddenly popped in. "I don't recommend eating the thorns though..."

Valentino gave him the same "are you an idiot?" look he gave Star back in chapter 3.

Dahlia glanced over her shoulder and for a brief moment she thought she saw a slinky cat's tail turn a corner towards her bakery. While Rosas had no shortage of animals or pets roaming around, there was only one pet that was allowed to do as a he pleased.

"I...I just remembered something, I left my spinach puffs in the oven, I better go get them," she said quickly and slowly backed away from the group.

"Oh, I can help with that!" Safi volunteered as wiped his nose with his sleeve.

Dahlia flinched. "Nononono, that's okay!" she exclaimed. "I'm not totally helpless..." she slightly gestured to her crutch. "You guys keep going and I'll just catch up. Besides, the last time you handled the food you sneezed on the Magnifico cookies I baked."

With that, she turned and walked away.

"That was one time, Dahlia! One! Time!" Safi said defensively, then let out a loud sneeze.

Gabo patted Safi on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad. She still mad that I stepped on her cookies a while back. In my defense, it was an act of rebellion." He smiled as if it was a good memory.

Hal waved them all off. "Don't worry about Dahlia. She'll come around, I think she just needs some time to think."

"I wish she had the same optimism like you or Star. We could really use that right now." Asha responded.

Both Hal and Star said in unison. "Thank you!"

"Now come on, while we wait for her, let's continue the real tour!" Hal cheerfully replied as she dragged Asha to another both to look at other art supplies.

She noticed that Asha had an interest in all the artistic items and wanted to show her all the variations of paints, pencils and chalk on the table.

Soon the screen fades to a montage of the teens having fun in the city showing Asha the things they found to enjoy in Rosas.

Dario showed how fun the puppet show could be when its not part if the "Welcome to Rosas" song.

Hal showed her musical skills with a nearby guitar. Thankfully she could actually play. 😅

Simon briefly told the others how his father inspired him to become a knight himself and admired the various kinds of shields the blacksmith made for the soldiers.

Gabo playfully stabbed one of the empty suits of armor to show how well he could handle his father in battle. Everyone took a step back at the sight, but Hal appreciated his enthusiasm.

Both Safi and Bazeema showed their love of animals (Safi leaned more towards chickens, but he was trying) by visiting the petting zoo. Valentino really loved that one as he ended up playing with some of the sheep in the pens.

Asha laughed as her little furry friend was having fun, and she realized that she was doing something that she thought would never happen: She was having fun in Rosas.

Lastly, Hal convinces Asha to show her art skills by buying the chalk from earlier. Asha soon created a mural of Magnifico that looked exactly like him, only more friendly instead of evil. The people nearby looked at it in awe.

Star could see the pure joy on Asha's face as she laughed. Seeing her having fun always made him smile, but it was a different smile than usual. He was slowly feeling something different lately when it came to Asha.

He always had a love for Earth and the people on it, and it brought him joy to see them happy.

But lately he was feeling a different kind of love. Something stronger that he felt for Asha more than he did for Earth. Something that made him want to stay forever.

After the montage ends, the sun is seen slightly going down, showing they had been out all morning. The group seemed more comfortable with each other than they did in previous chapters. They all were incredibly different from each other, but they ended up having fun as if they'd always been friends.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you guys aren't half bad!" Gabo admitted he bit into an apple he "borrowed" from a fruit stand.

"And I can't believe my allergies haven't acted up all this time!" Safi realized and was relieved to finally be out in public without concerning himself with his sneezing problem.

"Yeah, even Bazeema's more outgoing than I thought!" Hal laughed. She looked for Bazeema but didn't see her in the group suddenly. "Wait, where'd she go?"

The others looked around but didn't see her anywhere.

"How does she do that?" said Dario, who was both impressed and scared. "Bazeema! If you're nearby, say 🎶Heigh Ho🎶!" He shouted in case she couldn't hear him. He got a few strange looks.

Simon staggered up and shake off his drowsiness. "I'll find her, just give me a minute. She couldn't have gotten far."

"I hope she's okay..." Safi whimpered as he wrung his hat in his hands with worry. "AAAAACHOOO!" He sneezed into his hat. "Oh no, not again..."

Asha couldn't help but laugh (which she's been doing a lot of lately) the teens were certainly a lot to handle, but they had their own way of having fun.

Mouse!Star poked out from under the hood with cheeky smile. "Looks like your finally making friends! I knew you had it in you. You just needed to bring out your fun side!"

Asha raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not exactly unpredictable as you are." She noted as she folded her arms.

Star chuckled. "I can tell you wanna have fun yourself, but you keep holding back. Who's the one that came with up the idea of bringing those knights to life when we were escaping? Or got excited over those Earth magic things that I had no idea about? And you finally made some friends to talk about all that stuff with! That wasn't me, Asha. That was you."

Asha thought about it. She never really made friends in the Hamlet because she had trouble trusting anyone long term outside her family or Flazino. The seven teens could be loud and slightly annoying, but it was clear their hearts were in the right place, even if they didn't fully believe her.

Could she actually be making friends? Even with the stubbornness of Dahlia or Gabo's desire for anarchy or Dario being.... Dario? It seemed strange, but she was having fun with a group again.

"I'm sure you had lots of friends back home too, right?" Asha laughed. She imagined Star being the center of attention and chatting all the time with the other star nomads. "Had to be lots of fun getting into trouble with them."

She quickly noticed that Mouse!Star's tiny expression changed. He wasn't laughing at all. In fact he looked rather uncomfortable at the mention of his life before coming to Earth.

"I...rather not talk about that." His voice sounded slightly depressed and he looked away from the girl.

Asha had seen the star act like this before. When she mentioned about Star having freedom in the sky, he mentioned that he was actually alone and preferred Rosas over it. It seemed impossible for him to be such since there are countless stars in the sky, yet he never seemed to like talking about his own home.

"Star, you know...you can talk to me about anything, right? We're friends too, aren't we?" Asha gently brushed her finger underneath his furry chin to comfort him. She couldn't exactly hold his hand (or paw) in that form.

The star looked up at her, and said, "Well....you ain't never had a friend like me." he gave her a small smile.

But she could tell he was having a hard time deciding if he wanted to tell her what's upsetting him. As if she could feel something uneasy in him.

However, that would have to wait for a later chapter...

"There she is! We've got the traitor!" A voice boomed from far away. Asha turned and saw a group of guards came charging for them.

How did they know? How did they know?!

Simon stepped in front of the guards. "Guys, wait, wait. I can explain-"

"Quiet, Simon! You're not going anywhere either." One if the guards gruffed at him and pointed his spear at the boy. Simon was surprised he was even being treated like this, but he didn't argue. He simply stepped back with the other teens shielding Asha.

Valentino scrambled back and hid behind Asha, now scared to move from her side.

Asha could slowly feel the fear in her building up again. She couldn't figure out why or how Magnifico knew they were back. Had they lost so much track of time that he was able to find them while distracted?

Star wanted to help Asha, but with too many people around, he could put everyone in more danger by exposing himself to the citizens. He saw Amaya emerge from the guards and his fear started to turn to anger.

"At last, you've finally decided to return to us." she spoke in a firm tone and gestured to the teens surrounding her. "And I see you're not alone this time. You've managed to trick even more people under your spell. Trying to grow yourself an army to attack us?"

"Your highness, I think we can just talk about-" Hal started only for the queen to swiftly raise her hand to silence her.

"No need for excuses." She said coldly. "It would seem that we've had several traitors under our noses the entire time. This simply cannot continue."

The rest of teens looked surprised. The queen wasn't even going to listen? It was looking like Asha waa right after all...

Gabo pulled out his dagger, making a couple the guards aim their spears at him now. "We ain't scared of you! Well, maybe Safi is, but aside from him, we ain't scared of you! I knew you guys were evil this whole time!"

Amaya laughed at his pathetic excuse for bravery. "Oh please, spare your theatrics. We all know who the real villain is here. But luckily for me, someone was brave enough to come forward and bring you to justice."

Asha noticed that two of the teens were still missing. "Oh no..." she whispered in horror.

Safi seemed like he caught on. "You don't mean that...there's no way that Bazeema would do this!" for the first time he finally spoke up without sneezing.

"I'm actually right here." Bazeema whispered as she popped up from behind Safi as if by magic. She actually managed to spook the guards.

"Would you stop doing that?" Gabo grunted, grabbing his chest. "You're gonna give some of us a heart attack! Shy girls... Oy..."

From behind Amaya, someone else stepped forward. Someone with a familiar crutch: Dahlia.

"I'm sorry, Asha. I just want to protect the people I love too." the baker said, with a hint regret in her voice. She hoped that Asha would understand and it wouldn't result the kingdom's destruction. "We can help you too."

Asha didn't answer back, but her eyes were filled anger towards her former friend. This was why she didn't trust others.

"I thought it was always the quiet ones you had to look out for." Dario glanced at Bazeema hiding behind Safi. "No offense, Zee." he sheepishly replied.

"None taken." the shy girl whispered.

Amaya stepped forward. "So what will it be, my dears? Hand over the traitor, or join her as accomplices?" Her tone shifted to make clear the of the consequences.

Upon on the queen's shoulder, the lynx could see Mouse!Star poking out from the inside of Asha's hood. He was ready to pounce as soon as his master gave the signal.

The air grew tense as everyone waited for an answer.

Asha looked around, all eyes on her now. The people looked scared. They had no idea what was coming, nor the influence they were under. To them, she was the threat.

She heard a noise from Gabo. "Psst. When I make the signal, you run with the rest of the guys."

Neither Asha or Star knew what he was planning to do, but went along.

"All right, you asked for it!" Gabo stomped over to one of the guards and put up his fists, looking ready for a fight. "COME ON, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!" His voice was so high and raspy that he sounded like an angry duck.

At first Asha wanted to hold Gabo back, but then quickly realized that this was the distraction. She let a small smile show before she quickly ran off, with Valentino right behind her.

"I like your confidence and all, buddy," Hal commented. "But, uh, I'm pretty sure that even you can't beat all these guys." She looked on at the guards, beginning to inch closer.

"Your highness, please show...." Safi started, but then felt a twitch in his nose. "show....AAAAACHOOO!!" he sneezed so hard that he nearly fell over.

"For goodness sake, cover your mouth." Amaya scoffed. "We don't need a plague to break out."

Sabor noticed Asha suddenly was gone. He looked over the teens and saw her getting further away.

"RRRAWRRR!!" Sabor roared as his fur bristled.

Amaya was concerned something was bothering her sweet pet when she realized he was warning her. The queen quickly noticed Asha had vanished.

"The girl is getting away!" She clenched her fist. Obviously these other bothersome teens were covering for her and the star. How many more traitors were running around this place?!

Sari scrambled to his feet and ran after Asha in fear and Bazeema quietly followed. Simon jerked himself awake and grabbed Gabo, carrying him under his large arm. "Thanks, for a second there, I thought I was going to the dungeon!" the grumpy teen said, relived.

"You four, go after Asha. The rest of you take these remaining traitors away. They'll answer to the king for their crimes." Amaya ordered without hesitation.

The guards split into two groups and did as instructed. The remaining ones closed in on the remaining teens.

"They're not going to get hurt, right?" Dahlia asked, earnestly. "You promised you wouldn't treat them like criminals."

Amaya smiled at the poor trusting girl. "Of course, dear. I just need to use a little force to remind them who's in charge here. Everything will be taken care of before the ceremony."

The queen would prefer that the star is captured in secret, but things were getting rather complicated and more people were getting involved. Perhaps more drastic measures must be made...

While the queen was talking with Dahlia, Hal and Dario attempted to slip away, but the dopey teen had an idea to stop the other guards from getting Asha.

Dario jumped in front of the guards path. "Hey there, gentlemen! You want to see a trick? I've been working on it all week!" He took five colored balls out his pocket and started to juggle them like a circus performer.

The guards ran passed him as if he wasn't even there, kicking up a cloud of dust. "Come on, I barely got started!" Dario shouted to them, disappointed.

"You can sulk later, we gotta go!" Hal told him as she raced behind the guards. Dario soon followed after.

As the guards started to get closer to the rest of the group, an idea sparked into Asha's head. "Star, I know its risky, but can you-"

As if reading her mind, Mouse!Star grinned. "Go for it!"

Asha turned to face the guards, let Star crawl into her hand and swiftly tossed him forward. Before he landed on the ground, a blinding flash appeared and in place of the yellow mouse, the star had become a large grinning bull. And he was CHARGING TOWARDS THEM.

(Fun fact, Disney made a Ferdinand short in 1938, they own two versions of the character now! 😆)

The guards screamed and scrambled over each other trying to get away from him, only for a couple of them to get bucked clear back where they came from. Dario and Hal jumped out of their way just in time, and could see the poor guards soaring over their heads.

When the rest of the guards were far away enough, Bull!Star skid to a halt. "Ha! That's right, you mess with the bull, you get the-gasp-" His attention turned towards a pot of flowers sitting on a nearby windowsill. "Are those daisies?" He trotted over and took a big sniff of them.

He hadn't been able to take much more of the beauty of Earth for a little while and got distracted.

"STAR, STAY FOCUSED, WE GOTTA GO!" Asha's voice echoed to him as the others started to get farther away.

Star was shocked back to reality. "Right, right. Sorry!" He ran back towards Asha and the others, with Hal and Dario finally catching up.

That bought them some time, but Simon looked over his shoulder and saw a new batch of guards-now even bigger looking-coming for them. One of them was his own father.

"We can't keep running forever!" Simon told them, now he was beginning to get tired himself. He normally didn't run this long outside of knight training. "We have to find a place to hide and fast. This whole place like a maze!"

"You all are not going to fit inside my hideout. Especially not Simon." Gabo warned them. Asha and Star seemed to be his exceptions to staying there.

"I'm pretty sure they've raided your place now thanks to Dahlia." said Asha, still bitterly reminded of her betrayal.

Gabo's eyes widened in horror. "THEY'RE GONNA TELL MY MOM ABOUT IT, AREN'T THEY?! She's gonna kill me!" One of the rare times he remembered he's only fifteen years old.

Dario attempted to reassure him. "Nah, I think the king will kill you first before she can even be mad!"

"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT!" Gabo shouted back, hitting him in the arm.

Bazeema looked nervous, but she had an idea. "Um, I have a place we could-"

"Wanna try just skipping town?" Hal suggested as they came across a two way path. "If star can move fast enough like he did before-"

"He nearly destroyed half the city yesterday." Asha cut her off as she signaled them towards the left route.

"I said I was sorry!" Star defended himself. He was a bit slower since he in a rather large form and the path was getting narrow.

"Don't be, that was glorious!" Gabo laughed, reminiscing about that day of terror.

Eventually, they turned a corner down the alley and were met with a stone wall.

"Oh great! The biggest cliché that could ever happen, A dead end!" Gabo exclaimed as he kicked a rock that hit the wall.

"I'm too young to go to jail, man!" Dario panicked, pulling on the ends of his hat in fear.

"I knew this was going to end bad- AAACHOO! AAACHOO! AACHOO!" Safi sneezed uncontrollably.

The impact budged the wall slightly. Gabo didn't notice, but Valentino did and walked over to it. While the others were arguing, Bazeema noticed him getting curious and followed him.

Valentino followed the scent on the ground all the way to the wall. There were several planks of mahogany wood in front of it. The scent was coming from behind the wood, so the goat tried to move the wood himself, but it was too heavy.

(Yes, I had to change the literal ass scene, who even approved of that-)

Bazeema realized he found her secret entrance. Now they could escape easily! "Good boy, Valentino! You just saved us!" She praised him as he patted his head.

"Maaaa!" He replied, his tail wagging happily.

The shy girl turned to her arguing friends to tell them the good news, "Asha, your friend found my-"

"I'm telling you, I can just take my dagger and-" Gabo began to pull out his weapon.

"Gabo, for the last time. You're not stabbing anyone!" Asha's scolded him.

Bazeema tried again. "Um....its okay, really. Valentino found-"

"I could throw my balls at them! They didn't even stick around to watch my juggling trick." Dario chimed in.

"Oooh, you're doing your magic trick again?" Bull!Star perked up.

"Now's not the time, fellas..." Hal attempted to get them to focus again.

Clearly they weren't getting anywhere and for the first time in her life, Bazeema was getting frustrated. Everyone could be caught at any moment, and they were all busy arguing (or sneezing in Safi's case). So she did something she thought she would never do...

"PLEASE BE QUIET AND LISTEN!" she shouted. Yes, actually shouting!

That finally caught everyone's attention and silenced them.

Bazeema immediately coveted her mouth and returned to her softer voice. "Valentino found another way out. Its behind this." she gestured to the blockage. "But I can't move it."

Asha could hear the sound of horses approaching, followed by a man shouting orders. "We need to hurry. Simon, can you break that down?"

Simon wondered why the literal bull couldn't do it, but there was no time.

Bazeema took Valentino away as Simon stomped over to the wood. He cracked his knuckles and raised his fists over his head. "Better stand back, I'm gonna wreck it!" He warned them.

With a loud grunt, he smashed the area with ease. Simon gestured for everyone to get inside, quick.

Star transformed back to his human form and used his glow to light the way in.

As the teens made their way inside one by one, Bazeema gingerly apologized to Asha. "I'm sorry I yelled."

Asha smiled. "Don't be. You found your voice after all."

Bazeema returned the smile and was the last to enter the hole.

Gabo's voice echoed from inside. "By the way, how are we going to cover our tracks?"

"Oh, I got it!" Star replied.

A small wave of golden dust swirled around the fallen debris and everything put itself back into place, right before the guards passed by.

Back in the heart of the city, some of the people were murmuring amongst each other. They were in shock of not just one, but several traitors were right under their noses. The Queen calmed everyone down with a soothing spell. Soon, they were back under control and carried on about their business as if nothing happened.

Dahlia did feel a bit bad about scaring everyone, but at least it was only temporary. Everyone would be at ease again. Sure, she ousted the traitor, but made it clear to the queen that she didn't want Asha's hurt. If she could see Magnifico really was a generous man, Dahlia knew she could help both sides.

Amaya gave Dahlia an assuring smile. "Don't worry, my dear. You've done a great service to Rosas and the people." She said in an almost motherly tone. "Thanks to you, the traitors will be brought to justice. Magnifico will be delighted to meet the hero of Ross and give you what you deserve." The last sentence sounded rather odd to phrase, but maybe Dahlia was slightly put off by the way Sabor grinned at her.

Dahlia had mixed feelings about this, even though she shouldn't. The baker was absolutely certain that bringing Asha to the royals would not only keep Rosas safe but also clear up a misunderstanding and Magnifico could help her family. If she really was helping her friend, why did it feel...bad?

Perhaps the king would ease her mind...

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FINAL THOUGHTS

IT'S FINALLY DONE, HOORAY!! 🙌 I know it took me forever to make this, I'm glad it was finished! One part was because I was really busy with work and this chapter wouldn't leave me the hell alone to finish, and the other is that its been pretty difficult to write all the teens lines. As someone who grew to like the idea of a Seven Drawves styled group, I thought they were pretty bland in the movie. And from the art book and deleted scenes showed, they were meant to be much more but got cut down. So I really wanted to show them all having distinctive personalities, could banter with one another, and actually grow in their friendship with Asha and each other. Which brings me to my next thing...

YES, THE TRAITOR IS FINALLY REVEALED IN HERE, AND I CAN TALK ABOUT IT, I'M FREEEEE!!!!!

So yeah, instead of Simon, its Dahlia! I've been keeping this plot twist a secret for almost a year because I really wanted to do something different with the traitor idea. I chose this because during one of the deleted scenes, Dahlia was sent to work in the dungeon, while everyone else sneaked in. Simon was with the group, so that means in the original film, he wasn't a traitor. He was helping Asha. Dahlia mentioned she saw Magnifico's true nature and that she was being punished "for what they did". Which got me thinking, what if Dahlia was the traitor in the original movie? She's the one that believes in Magnifico the most and refuses to see the truth, so what if she ratted them out, thinking she was doing the right thing? What if Asha was betrayed by her best friend? From there, I rolled with it.

As for the story itself, strap yourselves in, because the next few chapters are gonna be WILD! And I'll finally get to the juicy stuff I've been wanting to write for months!

And yes, the poster is nearly done, ITS JUST TAKING FOREVER-

Thanks for reading!

@oh-shtars @tumblingdownthefoxden @chillwildwave @your-ne1ghbor

@annymation @lazytitans-world @thesafireartist @natsuki208

@snackara @kenihewa @mythartist21 @uva124

@spectator-zee @cocoapowderpictures @emptyblog7

@pinkninja0708 @gracebeth3604 @ishadow246 @jojo-ker06

[caesariawritesstuff]

Hello!! You totally don't have to do thus if you don't want, I'd completely understand! But I saw your 50 follower celebration thing and was wondering if you'd interested in doing one of the jealousy prompts with the Detective and Mad Hatter? (he's my favorite villain! 🎩)

person a is constantly checking the relationship status of person b, and their heart always aches when they continue to see person c's username in person b's bio.

The Detective can still be with Edward or something that's 100% cool for this prompt or whatever! Sorry I'm rambling 😅

Heartache

Summary: Jervis is determined to make you his new Alice, but there's one problem: there's already someone in the way.

Word Count: 479

Content Warning: Spoilers for the end of Arc I of Cat & Mouse.

A/N: My dear anon, I am so sorry this took so long to get to. I'm literally the worst. Please forgive me!!!

You were to be his new Alice.

The moment Jervis set his eyes on you on the TV that fateful day, he knew it was going to happen, that you were to be his new Alice. Except, there was a teensy-weensy tiny problem: there was already someone in the way. Someone with the name Edward Nigma. Dormouse.

Jervis frowned as his attention turned to the computer screen before him. A faint, blue glow cast along his features, speckled with dirt. He’d spent the last hours glued to his seat, his gaze focused on the pages and pages of photos of you he’d found: all taken from your own social media page or from the numerous news articles about your relationship with Dormouse. Pictures of the two of you that had been snapped by the media, of the two of you out and about or in the Iceberg Lounge. It had been several weeks since he learned about you on the news, but he couldn’t fight the stirring in his stomach, the longing, the magnetic pull he felt ever since he first laid his eyes on you. It awakened something within him that he hadn’t felt in such a long time.

But, of course, Dormouse was going to be a problem.

It wasn’t like Dormouse hadn’t fascinated him before. Jervis had never particualry been bothered by Edward. In fact, Jervis found himself fascinated with Nigma’s intellect, his intelligence, how easily he controlled his mind. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t considered how much effort it would take to control and break Dormouse’s mind. The thought had crossed him several times – but now, the thought was taking more root, growing inside of him like the limbs of trees, spreading their leaves as ideas filled with own mind.

Jervis frowned. His heart ached in his chest, a deep pounding thrumming through his veins as his cheeks burned. He drummed his fingertips across the old, rickety table in front of him and narrowed his eyes. His gaze flickered back to the screen, his frown deepening. He’d gone for so long without his Alice. So long trapped in that wretched prison that called itself an asylum, away from his Wonderland, away from what he needed most. But his heart began to ache the longer he clicked through the photos on your social media page, but his eyes caught on something on the left.

Relationship Status: In a relationship with Edward Nigma.

Jealousy twisted in his stomach, and he gritted his teeth. The world exploded in colors around him: blues and purples and greens and reds. His Wonderland beckoned him home. But the only way to make it complete was to find you – his Alice.

“Alice, Alice,” he said. “Don’t cry, sweet Alice. We’ll be together before long.”

And as his fingertips reached onto the screen to touch your face, Jervis smiled.

[luckykittysshowerthoughts]

Michael's Powers: What We Know So Far

So, a while back, somebody mentioned that they're curious to know more about Michael's powers. So, I figured I'd go over everything canon has implied about his powers so far.

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR BOTH OG & NB DOWN BELOW!

1. Shapeshifting

This is the obvious one that everyone knows about, thanks to his little stunt at the end of Nightbringer Season 1. Michael's little jaunt to the Devildom in disguise as Raphael shows that he's capable of near-seamlessly changing his form, at the very least to disguise as others.

2. Time Travel/Awareness

Much like Barbatos, Michael seems to be able to travel freely through time/has awareness of the happenings of other time periods and timelines. We see this during his lecture with MC in Nightbringer S1.

3. Dream Manipulation

This one's more of an obscure one, but back in Season 3 of the OG, he speaks to MC at the end of their Celestial Realm dream. This one is distinguished from the time travel point due to the specific mention of it having been a dream rather than actual time travel.

This indicates that Michael is able to inject himself into others' dreams, and even forcefully wake them up from them.

It's also worth noting that throughout Nightbringer, the writers seem to take care to align Michael with sloth. He is described as "lazy" on numerous occasions, and has a clear affinity for the stars. These are traits he shares with Belphegor, who is also confirmed to have powerful dream-manipulation abilities. As such, dream-related abilities may be explored with him further in the future.

4. Healing/Curse Removal

In Nightbringer Season 1, Michael reverses MC's curse-induced paralysis/coma.

5. Clairvoyance

In OG Season 2, Michael is implied to have seen MC and Lucifer's struggle with the Night Dagger. He tells MC specifically what just unfolded, whether they chose to stab Lucifer, themself, or resist using the dagger entirely. However, there was no way for him to have been physically present at this time, implying he was watching through more metaphysical means.

In Raphael's Introductory Video, Raphael also states that Michael has told him a lot about MC- a strange thing to say, considering that not only has Michael never formally met MC, but his insight on them was seemingly favored over that of the two other angels who actually have.

[goldkirk]

I DON'T HAVE TO LIE ANYMORE!

[enigma-absolute]

…

[continuousmeowing]

i liked the ending! I thought it was sweet. I have a few gripes, but i think it was overall pretty good.

[ghostiboos]

Anti-Capitalism and ChatGPT

(wordcount: 1,177)

Here’s the thing. I’ll be the first to admit that ChatGPT is cool, yeah? And I’m far from ignorant of the wonderful things it’s made possible. But there’s a pretty big problem with its professional usage,

and before you stop reading,

I promise that the point of this post is not "you have to stop using ChatGPT." Just. Stick with me for a minute, cuz contrary to what you might expect, this is not a problem contained to just the normies that don’t use ChatGPT: this is about how ChatGPT will affect you.

I’m about to use some scary words like “scalping” and “exploitation,” but remember I’m not accusing you of anything. In fact, let’s start with the good stuff.

Among other things, it could be argued that ChatGPT actually enhances workplace accessibility by “leveling the playing field,” in a way. Any job candidate can quickly make up for lack of time/skill/ability in one area by using ChatGPT to fill in the gaps, right? An individual’s personal quality of life can improve by “outsourcing” aspects of their work to ChatGPT — they have more free time, and maybe their work quality and pay grade improve too.

But I’d like to point out that this isn’t ChatGPT making life better for employees. This is actually ChatGPT eliminating the entire role of “employee.”

Okay, crazy statement time:

A person using ChatGPT in a professional setting is no longer an employee, but, in practice, actually a corporation.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Well, in concise terms, ChatGPT catalyzes the exploitation of labor by collecting it all in one place, meaning that the labor of hundreds of people can be scalped and represented as the work of a single entity: the individual using ChatGPT.

This essentially transforms the individual employee into a CEO of their own small corporation, which is being outsourced to larger corporations for work. Our new “CEO” doesn’t even have to pay any “employees,” keeping all of the profit they earned with the labor scalped by ChatGPT. This is why the individual is able to reap so much more profit from using ChatGPT than they ever could from working as a single employee.

You may think I’m trying to frame our new little “CEO” as the villain of this story, but it’s exactly the opposite. They’re just playing by the rules of the system, and within the system, it’s way nicer being a corporation than it is living as an employee. It’s just proof of concept that life on top is exactly as easy as we’ve all been guessing it is, and the only requirement for leveling up is a willingness to exploit labor. ChatGPT is a shiny new miracle tool that makes exploitation easy and accessible to everyone, and it doesn’t even look or feel like exploitation because there are no faces attached.

But that’s where this short-term improvement goes downhill: it’s accessible to everyone, including the actual corporations, who have already amassed the means to exploit labor en masse. If ChatGPT gives individuals a level-up by eliminating the role of employee and allowing them to act as corporations, how does that same level-up work when a corporation uses it? Well, I guess it’s a good thing the role of “employee” has been eliminated, because they aren’t needed anymore lol: not if your goal is to turn a profit, and we all know that’s just how things go.

But hey— galaxy brain here, but couldn’t that be kind of a good thing actually? The current system doesn’t function without people on the bottom who are available for exploitation, so if ChatGPT can automate the exploited parties for us by scalping labor from the past, then doesn’t that mean that the endless work necessitating human employment in the first place is finally… unnecessary? For the first time ever, we could be looking at a society where pretty much all of the labor is already accounted for, meaning all humans are free to pursue any passion they want regardless of their background, regardless of their class, regardless of how much money they- oh, right… Money.

The world I described above either sounds like a utopia to you or a dogshit stupid pipe dream, and unfortunately, both are true.

The problem is,

while technology has advanced to the point where it’s finally ready for automated labor, society has not.

We still live in a system where if you don’t work, you don’t eat, regardless of whether any work actually needs to be done. So… what actually happens in the current system if labor is automated?

Well, I won’t bore you with the typical “THE ROBOTS ARE TAKING ALL OUR JOBS” routine, but like. It’s only half wrong? I mean, we don’t even have the tech to automate all labor anyway, so it’s not like that’s literally what’s happening. But there are still… a lot of jobs that can be automated now, and that puts a lot of people in positions where they have to compete with ChatGPT in order to keep food on the table. It’s already a losing battle for a lot of people.

Using ChatGPT gives you a taste of corporate power, of the ability to exploit if it makes things financially easier for you. And that’s understandable, right? We’re all struggling in a system like this. Just don’t forget that line of reasoning when it comes full circle, where instead of getting to do the exploiting, you’re the one being exploited (again). Don’t forget what it was like to be on top: how normal it felt, reasonable, unremarkable. It didn’t feel like exploitation when you only experienced the profits. That is who owns you now. Let that radicalize you.

So long story short,

the existence and usage of ChatGPT is not the problem. In a better world, you’re right that ChatGPT could be a great ally, but the current structure of the job market has transformed it into a competitor. The human working class and ChatGPT are forced to compete against each other, not because it is rational for us to be enemies, but because the system pits all laborers against each other for the “privilege” of work. People are realizing that they really can’t beat the competition this time, so don’t scold them when they don’t share your enthusiasm. We’re all dogs in this fight, and ChatGPT has fucking lazer eyes.

It’s not the end of the world – the job market has always been prone to fluctuation – but this is different from your average fluctuation. It re-frames so much that used to seem impossible, but if we don’t change the system itself to match this advancement in technology, I guarantee it’s not gonna be the people at the top who pay the price.

The choice is not whether or not to use ChatGPT.

The choice is whether to discontinue ChatGPT so that society can continue with the relative stability it had before, or to embrace ChatGPT as the ally it could be by changing the structures that weaponize it against us.

(Okay I’m getting off my soapbox now, I sure hope nobody else is in this abandoned soapbox factory, can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if anyone actually heard me say all that lol)

[boyapologist]

called in sick for work for the first time today and I feel so fucking guilty

[arolesbianism]

Shakes the bars of my cage I need to draw soooo bad I need to draw I need to draw let me draw I have to draw I need to draw I must draw (<- has been too sick to be on electronics much and doesn't like doing traditional art)

[gifti3]

Tired cause of obey me

Cringe

[rex3o]

Doting wife p2

Royal au! Sukuna x Reader

Sukuna sat on his throne, his face intense as his son plays around him. His advisors standing quietly in front him their heads bowed. His mind lingered on the event that was a couple weeks ago. Since then, he has not stopped.

Every dinner, he makes sure that whatever is served is to your liking, just to see your happy silent reaction when eating. He has ordered the servants to tend to the royal gardens, to plant specific flowers according to your preferences. Just to watch you walk around the garden with your son and enjoy the flowers. He made you go horse riding with him, just to talk about things you liked.

During his meetings with his advisors he would call for you and ask your opinion on certain matters in his meetings with his advisors.

Yet he knows you still hold yourself back around him, he knows you silently enjoy the effort he is putting despite getting onto him during the event. Though your silent enjoyment and appreciation is enough for him. He longs for more.

He longs for you to willing spend time with him again. He longs for your attention and care he had stupidly taken granted for.

His mind settles back into reality as one of his advisors had briefly mentioned about getting his son's portrait painted for his fourth birthday. There it struck sukuna.

-

You huffed as you stood by your mirror, as your lady in waiting examined the maids handling your gown ensuring it was perfect for the portrait. As they tended your hair, and make up, you looked at yourself in the mirror. Several hours alone with Sukuna. You pondered 'why' ever since you got the news that Sukuna had requested a new royal portrait of you two. You had one which was done a couple days after your wedding and not one since. So why one now?

Lost in thought, the maids finished and you made your way mindlessly towards the main hall, with your lady in waiting behind you. As you looked up, the painter smiled at you motioning you to sit next to Sukuna, as he is ready to paint. Your lady in waiting helped you up to your seat, whilst doing some finishing touches and ensured your dress was quite fine as she walked back to the painter as he started sketching.

The first few minutes, was met with silence. You remained still, only toying with the ring on your finger, as the only thing heard in the room was the harsh streaks of the pencil against the canvas.

"You look beautiful" he utters out quietly for you both to hear. You simply nod in response.

Sukuna tries to carry the conversation by asking how your day had been, if you had eaten, or how your son was and what he did. Till he softly sighs and glances at you.

"I miss you." he says.

"I am right here husband.. no need to miss me" You say without much emotion not wanting to be vulnerable.

"you know what I mean..." as he looks back up.

"I see how your face lights up at dinner, I watch how you enjoy your time in the gardens with our son. How you only like reading a certain genre of books.. how you only like to drink tea in the evening after dinner...how you despise insects after our horse riding trip."

He hesistatess before continuing.

"I wish you would share such moments with me again.. instead of me observing it from a distance. I want to hear how much you like the food that has been served. I want to walk along with you in the gardens with our son, as you ramble on whatever it is you like.. I want to drink tea with you- I just want to be with you again..."

You sat next to him somewhat speechless. Your hand gripping on the ring on your finger tightens as you take a sharp inhale and exhale holding composure.

"Why.. why has it taken you this long." Quickly and quietly you ask not wanting your voice to break. As your eyes remain on the painter and your lady in waiting. Afraid if you lay your eyes upon your husband tears will rush out.

"I have no excuse my wife.. the best way I can put it into words for you, is watching a candle burn down to its final flicker. Once it's gone and the darkness closes in, you finally understand how much that small, steady glow meant. You were that light in my life.. and i took it for granted."

He sighs as he continues "I am sorry it has taken me to loose you to understand the importance you hold in my life"

As he rests his large hand over yours.

"I may not have given you the love you well deserved over the past four years, but let me make the most of the years we have left to make it up to you. I will take however long it takes."

His hand wraps round yours as he takes it up and gently places a kiss on your knuckles. A tear slips down your face, which you quickly wipe away.

"it won't be easy-" you try to say yet Sukuna interrupts you.

"I know my sweet wife.. I know." As you finally look at him, his deep crimson eyes resting on yours. A quiet pull to one another, urging to be met.

Yet the moment broken by the painter looking up and exclaiming.

"Yes, yes, yes, the look of love keep that look your majesties, I need exactly that! and just you wait your portrait will overshadow any other." He says happily as he starts to paint.

Sukuna face having a subtle annoyance stretched over it, you chuckle quietly.

After the tedious hours of sitting for this portrait ends. The only thing keeping you going was your small conversations with Sukuna, as he his hand remained on yours not wanting to let go. You both walk over to see the work of art. As it depicted you sat facing forward with a soft smile on your face, with Sukuna next to you his hand over yours with his eyes on you.

An arm wrap around your waist, as Sukuna praises the painter.

"You definitely did outdo yourself, look at my wife" he exclaims as he looks at you. Not used to his attention you awkwardly chuckle and avoid his look. His hand grabbing your chin pulling your face up as he places a kiss on your forehead.

"My beautiful wife... you know what let's hold a celebration." Your eyes widen at the sudden plan.

"Over a portrait- no- that's too much." you interject.

"Hush, once people set their eyes upon this portrait they will understand why I had to hold such a celebration" Sukuna smirks at you.

You try to continue, but Sukuna doesn't let you as he looks at your lady in waiting.

"Next Wednesday I want the celebration, ensure my wife glows I want it to be about her-" As you try to speak Sukuna keeps cutting in on what to do for the event.

"Next Wednesday is my birthday!'" A small angry voice is heard, you laugh as your son did what you couldn't. He runs over as Sukuna picks up him.

"Apologises brat, then let it be his birthday AND a celebration-" Sukuna orders as your son continues to whine that it is his birthday.

In that moment, everything goes silent on your mind, as your gaze fixed on your husband and son, as you anxiously anticipated the oncoming years on your relationship with your husband.

The new painting embarking a new chapter in your rekindled love.

part 1

-

Authors note: OMLLLL thank you all so much for enjoying the first part guys oml- and im so sorry this took long to come out I was kinda busy w work and shii loool also like I was kinda stumped on how to continue this from the first chapter as I really didn't think further to continue it till ppl started asking for it. So, i am sorry if it seems a bit rushed. But I do hope this chapter does some sort of justice but unfortutnately I will only be leaving it at 2 parts and nothing more.

- R

[staryuee]

WHAT THEY DO WHEN THEY’RE IN LOVE!

꒰warnings꒱ not proofread, dainsleif/pantalone may be ooc (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

⠀꒲ ` synopsis . . . just cute habits, actions etc that they do, whether intentionally or not, after being struck with cupid’s arrow.

⠀꒲ ` characters . . . jean, diluc, zhongli, xiao, nilou, xianyun, dehya, wanderer, arlecchino, pantalone, dainsleif

⠀꒲ ` notes . . . scrolling through the genshin tag makes me wanna die sometimes…i’m trying to do investigative work and i have to quickly scroll past the same smutty language like it’s booktok torture + also i’ve been playing baldurs gate 3 for the past several days and i think i’ve developed a problem…

G. JEAN — 琴

ʚ jean is very subtle in the way she loves someone, she doesn’t want to keep it secret per se, but her love is always almost adjacent to a puppy crush; something that seems fleeting but in the long run returns harder and hits oh so much worse.

ʚ she can’t necessarily abuse her powers, and she wouldn’t dare dream of messing up the order she so carefully has managed to maintain, so the way she tries to convey her feelings across isn’t too brash or loud.

ʚ simple things like letting her hands brush against yours when she passes you documents, allowing you to visit her office whenever you please even if it’s to just sprawl down at a nearby couch and read a book you found in the library while meandering, and even letting you join her on her daily walks across the courtyard.

ʚ during windblume festivals she won’t hesitate to strike up a seemingly harmless and friendly conversation, all the while sneaking a flower into your hair that resembles the feelings you stir up inside her fuzzy heart.

ʚ jean is overall quite an awkward person when it comes to anything related to romantic or plantoic ties, she’s a bit of a people pleaser in that way where she prefers to assume everyone’s a friend before an enemy… or in this case, “interested”.

ʚ with backup and sought guidance from her good friends lisa and kaeya, she’ll try a myriad of tactics to get you to notice her; a little shoulder massage there, a heartfelt sticky note placed on your workstation there, inviting you to classic candlelit dinners etc.

ʚ yes, believe me, she even tried the cartoonish “rose bit between teeth and uncomfortably arched side lean on a wall” approach before deciding it’s much better to listen to herself than the flamboyant duo.

R. DILUC — 迪卢克

ʚ diluc is the actual epitome of a gentleman. his love is so pure and genuine you can’t help but flower press every petal from the various bouquet he personally delivers to you on special occasions (anything from you completing a particularly hard or draining mission to doing something you thought you’d suck at).

ʚ his coat is also yours now. it’s like a six sense at this point to notice when you’re shivering out in the cold winds, and it’s become even more of a routine for him to simply shed that fluffy coat of his and drape it appropriately over your shoulders, trying to maintain a comfortable distance between you two as he adjusts it both to ease your tension and assure the pounding of his heart goes unheard.

ʚ diluc doesn’t enjoy using his riches to woo someone, it’s uncouth and just shows a desperation unbecoming of someone who dates to marry. if he wants to know you’re in it for the long haul, he’ll be much more sensitive and thoughtful when picking out gifts for you, each them have to hold some level of significance in your life.

ʚ the whole fiasco with his poor maids and some sneaky, perverse stalkers and diluc’s flaming great sword certainly applies to you as well; he’ll quietly ensure your safety in the night, helping you walk home with his arm hooked under yours, and in broad daylight he won’t hesitate to swing that polished wolf’s gravestone of his against any onlookers.

ʚ diluc is extremely closed off but deeply sentimental, he can so easily find himself rambling about his childhood stories to you; anything from how he used to collect seashells with kaeya to bring back to their dad, or how him and jean used to let baby barbara braid their hair together while babysitting…to things that are slightly more troublesome and heart wrenching to even mutter.

ʚ he may be less vocal than most in terms of feelings, but that doesn’t mean he won’t commit to it if he’s in love with someone. diluc isn’t the slightest bit dumb, he understand in order to get his feelings across he needs to do more than take random days off to spend time with you, he needs to at least hint it in a way that clearly gets his intentions across.

ʚ believe me, whenever you come by to dawn winery per notice, everyone raises a brow at you with curious smirks and gazes as diluc nearly stumbles on his words to get the phrase: “you look lovely tonight” out.

ZHONGLI — 钟离

ʚ he has up to thousands years of romantic customs under his belt, he understands the vague signs and ways to further communicate how much he adores you.

ʚ … that would be the case in its full if not for the fact for the first thousand couple years of his life he wasn’t busy maiming other gods and shedding blood. safe to say, his memories of mortal “courting” is slightly, if not absolutely, a massive, weaving and overlapping trail of various centuries and cultures he’s been accustomed to; anything ranging from the days when khaenri’ah was still in its prime to nowadays with newfound slang.

ʚ he’ll recite the most beautifully heartfelt and awfully sincere poem all the while you’re fighting your life in a haunted house (he’s heard this activity is helpful to get couples closer to one another, and given the fact you’re clinging on for dear life at the edge of his coat, he assumes he’s on the right track!)

ʚ he wants to impress you while also maintaining an air of genuineness to his actions, and while that does sometimes end in awkward situations where he ends up wearing regal attire to what’s supposed to be a casual dinner at wangmin, his heart remains completely pure in its endeavours.

ʚ oh, let’s not forget this man is quite literally a dragon too!

ʚ sometimes he can forget you don’t have the same complexion as him and will proudly present you some sort of glimmering relic from his hoard, forgetting that certain materials that existed back in the day were deadly and or toxic for mortals to touch let alone possess.

ʚ with a little nudge in the right direction, he’ll quickly learn everything there is to know for how to properly handle your precious heart. whatever you’d like, you may have — if it’s within his reach, that is. but it doesn’t mean he’ll stop at what’s available, no, just how much he’s willing to risk for you.

XIAO — 魈

ʚ he’s already embarrassed and awkward enough with accepting the fact he likes you, so accepting the fact that he loves you had left him with a lengthy exorcism spree down in some forgotten areas in liyue (it didn’t help).

ʚ in all honestly, not much changes; both because he’s rather emotionally constipated but also because he’s more than sure he’s loved you for longer than he seems to currently acknowledge.

ʚ letters that came only on special occasions like your birthday or his became much more frequent and a lot less poetic, it felt more like he was writing about his thoughts at the time, a little akin to how you’ve made him feel less constricted and much more free; he can finally have the courage to step out of his comfort zone.

ʚ all those small acts of love he used to subtly express (i.e gifting you two crystaflies, personally inviting you to come hang out, etc) he manages to double, he can’t have you thinking his intentions are the same as before. no, they’re much stronger now.

ʚ his guard softens around you regardless, but when you randomly fall asleep on his shoulder on your weekly visits at wangshu inn, instead of taking you to one of the rooms, he’ll sit there and allow you to rest, and if he’s assured you’re not awake to ridicule him, maybe, just maybe…he’ll sneakily loop his arm around your waist.

ʚ even just the thought of you makes him spiral into daydreaming, sitting atop a tree and swinging his leg back and forth carelessly as he stares up at the night to await for a new light, knowing full well the only sun he wants to see is you…just imagining his hands holding your waist like they did so long ago makes him shiver (hopefully this time he’ll get to do it when you’re not falling, and instead are falling for him)

NILOU — 妮露

ʚ nilou is basically a disney princess, if you see her singing to random birds that come watch her performances, everyone in the grand bazaar already knows it’s because you’ll be in the crowd that night.

ʚ each step within her routines are done with the little more passion, if that even is possible given her character, all because she imagines that pride and hopeful heart eyes in your eyes as all the attention is on her.

ʚ sometimes this fixation can lead to dumb mistakes on stage which bring her to sulking away with a hand on her forehead dabbing away at the sweat, but even the mention of your name as you pass by several sumeru streets is enough for her to brighten, do a quick wardrobe switch and run off to tackle you within her embrace.

ʚ nilou is not loud, but definitely not subtle. the exact representation of how she feels when you come to encourage her at her lowest (though those days are few). you’re there for her in ways you don’t imagine, and that alone is enough for her to daze away into the night as she cuddles her pillow, legs wrapped around it and all, and begins thinking about the what ifs of your relationship.

ʚ sometimes it’s a little comedic the way she speaks about you, it almost sounds like she’s reminiscing about a fictional book character with how much she takes pride in whatever little thing you do. no one tires of seeing her footsteps lightly tap against the ground in circles as she gushes about how when you complimented her the other day, you touched her cheek seemingly subconsciously ∩^ω^∩

XIANYUN — 闲云

ʚ she’s a little embarrassed at just how obvious she can be sometimes, it doesn’t help the fact her own children keep using this love of hers to their advantage.

ʚ she keeps nagging them about not taking care of themselves (she’s all too keen about their health and whereabouts now that she dwells alongside liyuean people) and yet just the mention of your name has her slightly stuttering in a ditzy trance as she hooks her glasses back up her nose bridge.

ʚ without hesitance, she’ll show you a photo album she has of all those close to her; would you like to see the drawing little ganyu made when she just barely had her horns? or perhaps the polearm young shenhe broke when she miscalculated her own strength in training?

ʚ her family is her pride and joy, it’s only natural for her to want you to be part of it even if it’s something as silly as raking through photos of a chubby ganyu eating the stem of a flower or teeny shenhe napping on a tree.

ʚ a peaceful life mingling with mortals has left her with ample time to enjoy the trivialities of life, and yet she finds her mind all too quickly wandering to you; had you been taking care of yourself? were you feeling lonely? did you need her to make something for you?

ʚ a secretive worry wart that quickly becomes that ancient adetpus she used to pride herself as soon as your delicate hands accidentally brush against hers; suddenly she’s perked up, chest heaven up high with a confident hand on her shoulder: you wouldn’t even think that flurry of pink hues gushing across her cheeks was real if not for the light providing evidence.

DEHYA — 迪希雅

ʚ oh she’s absolutely ecstatic!!

ʚ there’s genuinely nothing better than love in her eyes, especially just having the ability to love and trust someone fully when you haven’t been able to do so for a plethora of years.

ʚ doesn’t try to hide it, like at all, if anything she makes it rather obvious with the way she constantly pulls you closer as if you were already an item, arms constantly clinging onto you and your sides or her hands messing up your hair as you greet her.

ʚ she’ll take you anywhere you ask, free of charge of course (just promise to smile…and maybe if you’re up for it give her a kiss on the cheek, that’s sure to be enough reimbursement).

ʚ she’s already quite a confident and outwardly friendly person (if the price is right that is) but when in your presence? what’s wrong with just a little bit of showing off…

ʚ dehya needs you to see the best side of her!! maybe then you’ll finally give in and realise that her constantly asking for you to come join her on her travels and commissions isn’t brought out of mere timed coincidence

WANDERER — 流浪者

ʚ i saw that a few people were upset and confused by wanderer’s sudden switch up into being more kind/friendly, but i think we all forget what kind of person he was before his betrayals.

ʚ he loves wholeheartedly, if he adores something it consumes him in a warm pit of mushy domesticity — he doesn’t hate love or being kind, he hates the way it makes him vulnerable and the way it reminds him of the way he used to be.

ʚ that also means he’ll completely ignore you, or, try his best to rather.

ʚ wanderer knows within his heart that he completely years for you, just the accidental slip of his gaze meeting yours makes his brain go haywire, sending volts of electricity down his spine — you make him feel so alive.

ʚ it’s terrifying to return to a person you once were especially now with the knowledge of how being the way you were lead to some sort of tragedy, he’s managed to build up these walls so high and here you were, sneaking in through cracks he didn’t even know he had.

ʚ and he both loves it and hates it; loves the fact he can still feel, but hates how he’s so easily susceptible.

ʚ loving you turns into self-loathing and brooding, his feet pacing up and down every street at night to clear his muddled head. small distractions like taking strolls in meadows or sleeping up in the vines of trees lead to just thoughts of you and you alone.

ʚ wanderer refuses to be overly friendly and buddy-buddy with you even if he’s aware that if you decided to just one day hold him sincerely he’d burst into tears, but he can compromise with being less cutthroat.

ʚ “shut the fuck up” turns into him just rolling his eyes at you as you ramble (he soaks up any piece of information he can and locks it away), items you gift him now are more apparent in their value as he yells at those who dare question the dumb aranara pin you bought him and placed sneakily on his hat…oh and he gives you hat privileges.

ʚ it’s raining? …get close to him so you don’t begin complaining about the way the rain feels on your skin.

ARLECCHINO — 阿蕾奇诺

ʚ she starts treating you less like an asset in her “contact if in need of assistance” roster and more like a friend — of course, she maintains that distance between you two, but she lets you wriggle around in her heart to see if you manage to fit.

ʚ chances are, you will — unknowingly she’d grown to love you in ways that may have even gone unnoticed by her given how natural they were; inviting you to random gatherings when the whim arises, pulling your chair out for you when out for brunch, or even tucking away strands of hair and twirling it around playfully.

ʚ arlecchino’s love isn’t something immediate or expected, she’s a woman who keeps every card close to her chest and her children even closer, you have to prove to her that you’re worth it, in a way that doesn’t necessarily mean spilling blood but more so answers the question: do you care, and are you willing to accept her blinding love?

ʚ it’s like a shepherd dog with a lost lamb, but that little sheep is just you, and she’s a wolf in need of a muse.

ʚ cute tea parties aren’t uncommon with the two of you, she’ll happily let you indulge yourself in treats as she leans back with scorching tea in her hands while memorising every curve of your lips as you chew and swallow, she loves watching the way your eyes crinkle when you smile and the little sway from side to side you occasionally do as an expression of joy.

ʚ once arlecchino notices that she’s began treating you as another authority figure in the house of hearth, she’ll reach and collar you gently, intertwining her dark, cursed hand into your flowery one.

PANTALONE — 潘塔罗涅

ʚ one of the most attractive qualities a man can have is knowing when to shut the fuck up and to slide his card over during a dinner — both such things pantalone can do effortlessly, especially when it comes to you.

ʚ arlecchino claims that: “he allows his actions to be governed by the vengeance and hatred locked in the depths of his heart.” something that definitely translates into his love affairs in more than obsessive manners.

ʚ don’t be afraid of the massive hauls of clothing and sparkling jewellery galore that are being trudged in by multiple men, darling, it’s just a menial souvenir from his latest travels and newfound connections that he thought you might enjoy ^^

ʚ while his grandeur usually stems from his deep hearted desire to overthrow the imbalance between immortals and mortals, rest assured the luxury he provides you purely stems from his desire to make you his.

ʚ whether that entails you being his pet for him to seek comfort from on the occasion or a genuine connection where he can comfortably hold you at night purely depends on you.

ʚ oh, you’ll let him chew your ear off about his recent expedition and extravagant plan? consider your rent payed for the next few months and a few kisses on your cheek that certainly aren’t actually part of the snezhnayan custom (let him indulge in those little cravings or else he’ll undoubtedly be petty).

DAINSLEIF — 戴因斯雷布

ʚ has a breakdown.

ʚ a little dramatic, but honestly if his entire life wasn’t a disgusting mess already, you’ve come to make it worse. fate is deliberately mean to brooding blondes it seems, given the fact he’s now stuck pacing around back and forth on a trail of dead abyss mages as he rereads a letter you’ve sent him weeks ago.

ʚ everything you give to him, everything you say, do, write, whatever, he remembers implicitly. each word you say is engraved into him as if they were important artefacts regardless of how pointless and mundane.

ʚ it can honestly get a little…scary at times? you’ll mention liking something once and all of a sudden you find it within your possession at least a few weeks later.

ʚ dainsleif doesn’t have enough time to wallow in the glory of mushy, all consuming love despite desperately wanting to imagine how your hand would feel caressing down past each of his scars, but what he can do is protect you, and to him that’s a greater blessing than intimacy he knows will end eventually.

ʚ a big tough man who would honestly fold the moment you call him any variation of a pet name, specifically with the word “mine/my” at the beginning — hey, it’s nice knowing you mean something to someone the point they view you as inseparable.

ʚ the timings at which he comes to aid you are all too convenient and believe me he’ll try his best to downplay it as coincidence, all the while he’s breathing heavily both from the face your eyes are scanning his so closely and the fact he used up so much energy to merely make a portal to sneak into your space.

©STARYUEE do not copy, steal or repost ♡ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ɪʜᴇᴀʀᴛɢᴀɴʏᴜ

[apocalypticdemon]

for all i bang on about consumerism being bad i sure do like to purchase books, huh.

[estaticheart]

ᥫ᭡. MAYBE ROMANCE IS A PLACE

Summary: Rafe is still angry at Sarah and you are his loving girlfriend.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff.

A/n: This is my first fic in a long time lol, so It will probably be a bit rusty. Please feel free to leave comments and feedback!

Winter had arrived. As the air got crispier and the winter hibernation loomed upon the Outer Banks, the chaos and trivialness of the Outer Banks began to simmer away.

As Rafe's girlfriend, you were rather thankful that Rafe would be distracted from his ongoing conflict with his sister's friends and now-husband. You did not undervalue the few months you would have Rafe to yourself, him already planning a city break to New York over Christmas. Yet the bliss you had become accustomed to by November soon disappeared.

As a student at Elizabeth City State University, winter took a toll on every aspect of your life. Studying in the final year of your college degree meant your work was piling up more and more by the day.

Sitting in Rafe's estate home you had spent the last 4 hours hunched over the desk in his office while he was off on 'business'- as he described. You were far too occupied to even consider for a moment what he was up to, even this morning you had begun studying before he had even woken up. So when he stormed into the office, his face raw red as he clutched his phone in his hand before he flung it on the sofa to your left along with his jacket, you were startled, to say the least.

After a few moments of stunned silence, you placed your pen on the desk before looking up at your boyfriend. Despite being together for several months now and finding ways to navigate his often erratic moods, sometimes you still felt as if you were on eggshells on how to approach him in moments like this. Rafe appreciated your often brutal honesty but also your sensitivity to his moods- without words spoken on it you both knew his unstable behaviours and outbursts weren't purely learned behaviours.

"What happened, Rafe?" He was still pacing the room, the way he was when he entered the room when you asked him the question. Yet without stopping, he huffed out a reply. "Fucking Sarah and her fucking games. I swear to fuck-" He began his more than common rant about his sister and presumably her friends if you hadn't interrupted. Sarah had grown a soft spot in your heart, you saw a lot of you in her. A young girl who had gone against what everyone in her life wanted for her in the name of love, as you did with Rafe. So when he began to ramble on about her you already knew she was unlikely to be in the wrong, especially when it came to her brother.

"Okay, let's calm down. Sit down for a second and breathe, you're practically burning up." You stood up, walking over to him unfortunately realising that your work would have to be put off for at least half an hour when he was in such a mood. "I don't want to fucking sit down, I can't believe she has done this shit again." Walking away from you back over towards the door before pacing back towards you.

"And what exactly has she done?" You questioned your boyfriend, glancing towards your phone that was bound to soon be bombarded with texts from Sarah regarding this exact problem. Sighing you look back over to him to see him staring at you, rage burning in his eyes. You obviously knew this anger was for Sarah but you weren't in the mood to get into an argument with a temperamental Rafe.

"I was minding my business trying to get some shit done with the estate over in Charleston when I saw- her with her stupid pogue friends. It's like she's rubbing it in my face y/n, does she even fucking care that her friends got our dad killed? I mean they probably fucking did it." Your face scrunched up in confusion, Rafe was upset that Sarah was hanging around her friends? Not to point out the obvious but that was a pretty commonplace that Sarah would be in, maybe not years ago when she had first hung out with the pogues- but now definitely. "Not to be Sherlock here Rafe, but just to check. You are angry that Sarah is hanging around with the same people she has been hanging around for 2 years now?"

His face dropped as if you had asked if the sky was blue. "Yes." An uncomfortable silence settled over the office. You were apprehensive about how to approach him now, sometimes you could sympathise with the oldest Cameron child who had a lot of unresolved trauma thanks to his late father Ward but this wasn't one of those times. You and Rafe had had this conversation years ago when you were only friends, and since you started dating- numerous times after. "Rafe, seriously? You need to stop worrying about this honestly. It has been years now."

He huffed in response, his features hardening and stare glazing over. Were you actually serious? His father had died only a few months ago now and he had been given the burden of not only figuring out everything that would happen with the family estates scattered across the East Coast but also working through Ward's will, a large portion of it which had been left to Sarah who couldn't care less clearly. He couldn't fathom why his loving girlfriend couldn't see what he could- a scheming sister who abandoned her family in favour of pogues. Huffing out a breath, he avoided your gaze knowing if he looked at you you would see the anger rising once more in his face. "That's the problem, you don't get it at all. Why would you get how much of a slap in the face this fucking is? All you do all day is sit here doing fuck all, whilst I'm out there making a future for us and deal with all the shit that comes with it."

Mouth wide open, you stare at your boyfriend as if he'd slapped you in the face- even though it damn well felt like he had. "Are you serious? Doing fuck all Rafe I sit here every day working my ass off for a degree so I don't spend the rest of my life living off your money. Something you complained Rose did to your fath-"

"Don't bring him into this, y/n." He interrupted, completely overruling your thoughts on his words- like he often did when overwhelmed by his emotions. "Rafe, I'm not bringing him into anything. All I'm saying is that I'm sitting here fucking studying to get a job- so god forbid I don't drop at your call to talk shit about Sarah." The room lingered in silence. Both of you refusing to concede to the other- why would you? You were well in your right to call him out on his bullshit.

"Look I don't expect you to get it. It's more than you'd ever understand- too complex" He muttered, walking off towards the door, undoubtedly planning to call up Barry for drugs until his anger faded. "Too complex? Please, Rafe, you don't understand how much work I do. I think the petty fights you and your sister have, that could be figured out if you just fucking sat down and spoke about it, are too complex for me."

Stunned at your words, he paused in his stride towards the door. Petty fights? What was petty about his sister being a raging bitch? "Whatever, I don't have time for this y/n. You're being completely ignorant of my issues."

"No, I'm not. I'm telling you that talking down to me will get you nowhere. I've stood by your side for years, even when we were just friends. Defended you to everyone who called you crazy because I knew, and I still know, that deep down you are just conflicted. I love you, and I will defend you to anyone outside this house. But when it's you and I, I will tell you when you're overreacting and need to think twice about what you are going to do. And that's exactly what you need to do now Rafe. I know you're grieving still and yes, seeing Sarah with the Pogues after all that happened may hurt you. But she is grieving in her own way too. And if that is with John B and his friends then so be it. Don't burn the bridge you have any more than you already have, in the face of something that has been in your knowledge for years."

He knew you were right. You were the one person he trusted. Not Topper. Not Kelce. Especially not Rose. You had been with him through everything, and when he looked back you often gave him advice that didn't always swing in your favour- but always his. He knew he wasn't the easiest person to be in love with, so the fact you stood by his side for all those years was a testament to your honesty and faithfulness. "I'm sorry."

And although his words were short and concise, you knew below the surface level they meant a whole lot more. He struggled with showing any emotion that wasn't frustration. But his harmful words aimed at you doing 'fuck all', wasn't going to fly by under your radar.

"And what in particular are you sorry for?" You asked, leaning your back against his desk. If he wasn't in such a rage when he walked in he would have realised how tired you looked. Your hair was still undone from when you had woken up this morning, drowned in his sweatpants and hoodie he had given you years ago when you were drunk out of your mind at a High School party. Tired- but beautiful. Walking over to you, suddenly sheepish at his uncalled-for anger towards you, he slipped his hands around your waist, slightly pressing his fingers into the delicate dip in your back. "I know you do so much work for us baby, I'm sorry for undermining everything you have done for me. You're working so hard every day, and I'm so proud of you." He admitted, looking lovingly into your eyes. His eyes full of pure love for a girl he had chased all his life.

And although there was so much more to come for you both as you faced the future of your relationship but also the future of the island. You knew that right now, this was enough for you. Standing with the man you love as he moved his hand up and down your back, content.

"Down talk my degree again and you're on the couch for a week."

[noxtivagus]

hdalkfjsldf i miss my friends :c

[unacknowledgeable]

Uhm, hey!

I love your serial killer reader so so much, and I just want to say that it just scratches that itch in my brain.

Though, I feel like commissioners Gordon could be a yandere of a sort. He’s obsessed with the killer and finding this person, willing to break any law to find evidence, to risk his own morals to get a clue. And if he finds out its reader???

Well, I’ll be kinda like a Hannibal and will situation, but platonic. Like, reader now has their sight on this man, curious on how he’ll play the game, and Gordon is too obsessed not to play.

Anyway, could I be 🔎? Thanks for reading!!

Oh anon, anon anon anon, big kith for you (to transfer the worms, obviously) I told myself i would take a BREAK, but you, you, I'm bouncing off the walls bc of you

Y’know I actually have a spreadsheet with all of the batfams ages? when certain events happen, motivations, etc, now I gotta add gordon too, goodness me.

I honestly haven't watched Hannibal QwQ haha, would you believe me if I said most of the media I consume is actually feel good kids cartoons….? 

BUT I have been wanting to watch it so I watched the first few episodes before replying to this, because I gotta be informed y’know? admittedly i find there's a lot of disconnect between the correlating characters, but this is a wonderful jumping off point!

ANYWAY, I have actually been trying to think of a way to give the MC more of a life outside of angst with the batfam and, well, you know, murdering people. and this? This is so fun. I think the MC would probably know Gordon through Barbara (obviously), but that's not how they met. He was there, the night your mother died, arriving on the scene to find something he had hoped he wouldn't have found again, not after the first time. A small, 8 year old child, orphaned in a single night.

 Admittedly, that's where the similarities ended.  Where Bruce lost his parents in a back alley of Gotham, you lost yours within your own home. Where two gunshots marked the Wayne couple, your mother was bludgeoned . Where Bruce had wept, blood on his shoes as he gripped his parents bodies, pleading and fighting to hold on, you sat outside, waiting for police to arrive, not a drop of blood on you. 

Getting you to answer questions was like pulling teeth, all they could gather was that your mother had sent you to bed and you later woke up to find her body in the kitchen, having already been dead for several hours. They figured it was a robbery gone wrong, which would explain the killer not knowing another person was in the house, having fled the scene as soon as possible. But that didn't explain why on earth you didn't wake up to what was obviously a loud struggle, there was simply no way. 

The blood results very quickly answered that question and sparked hundreds more. Your mother had been microdosing your food with sleeping pills, all found within the apartment under her name. Either she didn't want to deal with putting you to bed or wanted to make sure you stayed there throughout the night. The fact that you were even still conscious was kinda a miracle. Gordon seriously wished that had been the biggest surprise from those damned tests. Because it turned out his earlier comparisons with Bruce Wayne were far more accurate then he ever would have guessed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's not exactly a stretch to assume Gordan kept some kind a of contact with you after everything is settled, he’s done it before, dudes literally one of Bruce's best friends 

He sees you at charity galas a lot, and after catching you trying to sneak alcohol from one of the tables? He appoints himself as your chaperone for any galas you both happen to attend from there on out, which is quite a few of them over the years

You'd have been a lot more annoyed with him if he hadn't allowed you to ramble and talk non-stop throughout the whole event (he was a distraction, like the alcohol, at least this distraction is legal)

This continues on even when your older, when he no longer has any legal need to herd you away from the drink tables, it's just habit now, and you hate breaking habits

While your connection with Bruce can get you many places, it's your connection with the Commissioner that basically guarantees you a position in the coroner's office

yeah, they work in the coroner's office as a mortuary assistant heheheeh  

It's not really suspicious either, Gordon had been well aware of your goal for the job for many years (long before you started making the bodies yourself)

So now, not only do you have near unlimited access to all the case files the bats have on you, you also had access to what the police knew (it's mostly the same stuff, but you had to cover all your bases, god you're just like your father)

There was some sort of irony, performing autopsies on the people you killed, but you don't care to look for it, more focused on destroying any bits of evidence you can

Gordon is no stranger to giving out confidential police info, hell he has a glorified flashlight built specifically to call the bat and just hand him case files, ON TOP OF THE POLICE STATION!!

You often work similar hours, so you let him talk and talk and talk at length about how fucking weird this serial killer in particular is

Unlike with the batfam, reader literally gets a front row seat to Gordon's descent into obsession

You'd seen him with almost every other criminal case that popped up during your time spent around the police department, so you caught on pretty quickly that this was was no normal case to him anymore

He was obsessive, rattling on about the motives and habits of this killer, talking like he knew them personally (oh the ironyyyy) and at first? It weirded you the fuck out.

Not the behavior in general, but that it was essentially focused solely on you, you kept him up at night, kept him guessing, wondering when you’ll strike next, how brutal will it be, more or less than usual?

At first you're like “oh okay, ummmm…. you good buddy? I'm not sure you're all there yourself actually”

You'd just never felt so seen, at least, not by someone still living

Now, Gordon's obsession isn't based on nothing, when I said he found the way SK!reader operated weird asf, I meant it, this man is utterly baffled by it

Normally, when crime scenes are as brutal as yours, its personal, they know the person they've murdered and they hold so much rage in their heart that they can't help but try to cause as much damage to the victim as possible

These crimes also only ever happen once. Not dozens and dozens of times, committed by the same person, it is always so insanely messy that it's easy to pinpoint the who, how and why. Open and shut cases really, just another Tuesday

But when he looks closer? It feels…. Sterile, Methodical, Planned out, scripted, like hitting replay on a particularly interesting scene in a show

This? This has all the showy, over-exaggerated nature of Gotham's greatest rogues, down to the last detail, to the last drop of blood. but it's missing the rogue

It has all of the signs of an attention seeking psychopath, but none of the drive to follow through. To take your rightful credit

Normally such a passionate crime would have someone of equal magnitude behind it. The Joker and his killing Jokes, Ivy and her Eco-terrorism, Bane and his hulking demeanor, Two-face and his double standards-

The point is, there's always a show before the Finale, but with you? He only gets a glimpse at the film before the end credits roll. 

It’s like you're diverting where your real motivations lie, like this is you holding back.

 It’s driving him up a wall

 Your really not making this easy for him, ever your fathers child

Besides that, I'm gonna end this with a few interesting points I thought of that are more difficult to go into more detail rn

Reader is pretty okay with hanging out with Gordon mostly to be petty to Barbara

Of the mindset of “oh, you want my dad? Fine, your dad's mine now. Y oink-”

Later, this'll be a pretty big blow to Bruce's ego, bc like, that's his best friend, so how can he really be upset that Gordon stepped up where he failed? Won’t stop him from being mopey about it though.

It's also a hit to Alfred's as well, because how hadn't he noticed you growing so close to the commissioner? He thought your pulling away from him for emotional support was just you growing up, not you looking for it elsewhere 

Gordon has also gotten the closest to finding the reader out, completely by accident

It was one of those days and he was worried about your sour mood, so he figured he’d drop by your workplace, pick you up after your shift ended, and go get take out

Safe to say, he was not expecting to find you mid brawl with some random drunk in an alley only 4 blocks away from where you worked

He stepped in immediately, to your surprise and horror, but he… he checked you for damage instead of slapping you in cuffs, made sure you were okay before calling an EMT to the location, and the only questions he had asked were “Are you okay sprout?”

You thanked your lucky stars that it was the drunk who had thrown the first swing, had instigated the fight, that the camera from the corner store across the street helped solidify that it was self defense, that Gordon had shown up just before it switched to a grizzly murder, and not during.

Another side story could also be the reader getting weirdly invested in the case about them at some point, because they realized they had a copycat killer and it really pissed them off lol