#once more so many thanks!! i'm really fired up now heh

[silvermeww]

12. An unpopular character you like? (and why more people should like them)

asdfghjk THANKS FOR THE ASK I'M GIVING YOU SO MUCH <33 RN

Ooh, hmm, this'll be fun. there are so many examples in pokeani and honestly some are a little eh, but then I remembered how almost every comment I see about 'worse' characters seem to include Max and I just don't get it?? How can anyone hate him??

(fun fact, when I was first watching him - in dub mind you - I also really didn't like him much. but I was coming off from the end of the OG, which was pretty sad considering who we lost, and tbh especially in 4kids early seasons dub EVERYONE was pretty unlikeable. I think I hated almost everyone back in the early gens at some point lol; I can be real vindicative but I think watching the whole thing taught me to take my time before judging stuff :v)

But yeah!! I really don't get the hate. Oh, so he said that Ash sucked for getting 8th place in the Silver Conference - can we all remember that a) legit kid and b) he's seeing this guy lose to an evolved starter from his own region of the SAME type as Ash's. It's like watching a Venasaur lose to Meganium if you're from Kanto; you'll be feeling pretty patriotic and stuff too ngl, especially if you don't have any battle experience yet.

But he acts so smart - Yes, and?? I don't see anyone talk about how Gary was coming up in the first season spouting random facts only to lose in the prelims and get a lower place than Ash. Again, I wish that people remember that Max is the kid of a Gym Leader, who reads and watches Leagues to make up for not being able to watc the Gym Battles taking place under the same roof, who dreams of becoming as strong if not stronger than his father. He's going to have high expectations. He's going to think that knowledge is everything. He's going to show off as much as he can, to make up for the fact that he's the only one in the group who isn't a Trainer. And I love how he learns that you have to actually interact with Pokemon to learn what it's all about, that you can't replace experience, that you can still experience things now even if you are too young to start. There isn't a limit to going out and interacting with the world. He doesn't have to wait. He's allowed to make mistakes and own up and not know stuff and grow, now and in the future. In a way, he's learning the same things as May, and I think that's wonderful.

And while I wish that he could've gotten a Pokemon while on the journey (one that he could keep à la XY with Bonnie), I'm fine with what he had in Advanced. He got to see Gym Battles. He got to travel two (2) regions. He got to see different aspects of being a Trainer, as a Coordinator and as a Breeder/Doctor. He got the recognition of his father in the end and was able to get into the Gym business. He got to play and learn with so many Pokemon and just act his age for once, instead of having to grow up to make up the percieved difference (wrongly percieved, might I add). Dang it, he brefriended two Mythical Pokemon (Jirachi and that other Deoxys). I dunno, he's doing pretty well for himself. Sure he's snappish and remarks on a bunch of stuff, but AG is full of that (ugh Ash was on another level, especially in Hoenn) (we don't talk about flat Brock) and S1 Kanto was way worse.

Anyways everyone go out and appreciate this goober. He did not bond with this Ralts for nothing and I swear I did not cry in this ep just for everyone to hate him. His character growth was awesome and if we ever get a Chronicles 2.0 I need to see his journey (the kids that go with Ash legit get such powerful Pokemon I fear for the competition lol).

[shyvien]

Here are 100 random quotes from Beelzebub!

Sourced from the OM! Wiki, chats, devilgram, screenshots I found, etc. I made this list to help with studying to write the characters in character. (Not really proofread, sorry if there are mistakes. Also, there may be spoilers. If so, they're minor spoilers)

✧༺⚜️༻✧

“You look tasty.”

“*sniff* *sniff* You smell good.”

“I'm fine. I'm sure it'll go away. It's nothing new. Whenever Belphie gets sad, I get sad, too. That's probably what's happening now.”

“ Sorry, that was a really strange question to ask, wasn't it? Forget I said anything.”

“Cool, this works.”

“Huh? This is an interesting feeling. I'm finding it hard to relax.”

“I'm hungry, but I feel like another part of me is full.”

“It looks like someone's having fun. I'm glad.”

“So. hungry... You look delicious.”

“That tickles.”

“You are what you eat. You know what that means, right?”

“You can touch me. I don't mind.”

“Yeah. Tie it nice and tight, okay?”

“Standing watch at the gates means being ready for anything. So, I'm going to do some combat training like this.”

“Oh, hey. Perfect timing. I was hoping you'd spar with me.”

“I want to poke his cheek, too…”

“..This feels..really close, huh?”

“It's all because of the custard.”

“That's the spirit! Nice form, MC.”

“Great! You did it, MC! Not many people get it on their first try. That was amazing.”

“The light's turning the sea orange. It's like waves of delicious orange juice are rolling onto the beach.”

“Can I hold your hand...?”

“I don't know... Either way, I'm heading to the kitchen.”

“…I take it this means we're heading for something much more intimate than just partners in crime… One thing's for sure, MC... You and I are going to be amazing together.”

“I want you to film me while working out. If my form's not right, I won't be able to work the right muscle groups the way I want to. It shouldn't be tough getting here. Just ask somebody out on the street for directions.”

“I'm not constantly eating all the time. I'm only constantly eating sometimes. There's a big difference.”

“It said that in the human world, lovers who don't kiss at least once a day are destined to break up. Is that true?”

“I'm glad you mentioned something besides how much I eat. Thanks.”

“But there's no way that I'lI ever forget what you did for me then. And if you or MC are ever in trouble, I'll be there for you. Next time, l'll be the one saving you.”

“I'II protect you if something happens. Don't worry.”

“If that will make you smile… Heh, good. You smiled. I want to see your smile more. I would do anything if it means I get to see you smile like that.”

“Were you lonely? Don't be mad.”

“My face feels like it's on fire. I hope I can cool down before we get to class.”

“I’m going to take you as my hostage, MC. I don't want the Fallen Angel's Tear anymore. I've decided to rob you of MC here instead.”

“Take care, MC. We'll meet again...before my stomach growls.”

“Could I nibble on you just a bit? Just a taste.”

“What's that? Some sort of dessert?”

“The more I think about it, the more I start drooling.”

“The cookies I was saving in my pocket for later... All that's left are crumbs.”

“That explosion sent whipped cream flying everywhere. It's all over you too, MC. You're covered in it from head to toe. ...Which actually makes you look even more delicious than you did before. I was trying so hard to resist the urge to nibble. But now that I see you standing in front of me covered in delicious whipped cream, I... I…”

“It's just too much to handle! First things first, we've got to do something about all of the whipped cream you've got on you. Otherwise there's no telling when I might lose control and just...”

“Your lips? MC, it almost sounds like you want me to give in to these urges... Still, your lips look so soft... How can I say no? ..See? I knew it. They are soft. And sweet. It makes it really hard to stop. It's like...I can't get enough of you…”

“…Sorry. I was trying to stop you from falling…but we both ended up falling.”

“Are you comforting me..with a kiss on my cheek? Thank you, MC.”

“…I admit it. I'm jealous of the people who get close to you, MC.”

“This is so embarrassing.”

“You're so weird. But, thanks.”

“My feelings are still a mess... Can I hold you, MC?”

“You know, I was just thinking I was hungry. Come here, l'm going to take a few bites out of you two.”

“‘Do not eat’… It says ‘Do not eat.’ ‘Do not eat’…That's what it says...

“Don't blame me if the contents of these pages keep you up at night.”

“*gulp*... Whoops. I may have just, um...eaten that entire book…”

“You really are... Hm. I don't know how to say it. Mysterious? Strange? Incredible?”

“Do you want to sleep next to me? Not that I mind. But if there's something else you want, don't hesitate to say so.”

“Fun? No, no time for fun. This is about getting candy. This is war.”

“I… can't take it anymore. This is your fault. Your blood smells so good... Too good...”

“You want me to feed you? It's really sweet. Here... *munch* Oh, whoops. I didn't mean to eat that. Let me try again... Don't pout, I'lI be careful this time.”

“Pancakes!”

“Check out those buns!”

“I've put him in a sleeping bag for easy transport, so someone else can drag him along.”

“Yeah. He's just lost faith in humanity more than usual, that's all.”

“…You're so warm--inside and out.”

“He fell asleep hanging from the bar...? That's some grip.”

“Qu-Quit it, MC! Th-That tickles...! Hahaha! Stop…! Okay...okay. I promise to stop tickling you. Just no more tickling me back, please!”

“It's a little embarrassing holding you this close. You can probably hear my heart beating. But, it does make me feel happy.”

“It's really nice to see that my workouts are paying off. And now you can count on me to carry even heavier stuff. It'll be good training.”

“I'm working out in my room right now. Something welled up within me, and I got the sudden energy to lift 10 times as hard. I can't do all the stuff I want to unless I have a spotter, though. That's why I want you to come here and be my workout partner. Oh yeah, I'll be hungry from lifting, so can you bring some food with you as well?”

“...I don't know what happened in there, but whatever it was really messed with Belphie... I'm not letting that thing get away with this.”

“You bet. I'm going to destroy that bogeyman.”

“When push comes to shove, I know they've always got my back. My family is what drives me. Wanting to keep them safe makes me strong. I'm going to have to work harder at protecting them from here on out.”

“Hup...! Hah! ...Heads up!”

“You'll always be the only one on my mind. ...Okay, you and tasty treats.”

“You sure have been paying attention, huh? I'm always looking at you, too. But, now l'll be watching you even more, so that I can draw you from memory.”

“Use my power, MC. My power is yours to command. Everything I do, do for you and for Belphie! Evil spirit, sinister and foul! In the name of Beelzebub, Avatar of Gluttony ...be gone!”

“It's strange. Normally when I'm hungry, I'd be going into a rampage right now.”

“Calm down, Levi. That cake just fell into my mouth by accident, that's—“

“You're the only one who will always have my attention, MC, now and forever.”

“Thank you. This candy tastes like the Destroyed Devil Burger I wanted but was sold out. Is this your way of letting me try it? You don't know how happy this makes me.”

“*munch* *nom* Sorry, I ate it before I could say thanks. It was great. I appreciate it.”

“Don't barge in on my mealtime.”

“I just might eat you from the head down. ...You don't seem that delicious though.”

“You don't want to see me angry. I'll just get even MORE hungry.”

“Was that an earthquake? Ah, nope. Just my stomach.”

“Aahh, this is taking too long... If I die from starvation it's your fault.”

“Geez, you left me so hungry I almost ate YOU.”

“Do that all you want. I'm not giving you my food.”

“Hm, that... felt pretty good.”

“It looks...mouth-watering.”

“And...I like how touching you makes my heart speed up.”

“I can't wait to dig into some freshly grilled meat!”

“Got you! Nope. I'm turning the tables on you. ...Tickle attack!”

“Ah... Ahahaha! Wait, I- Hahahaha! Come on, give it a res--Pfft! Ahahaha!”

“...I did some of my combat training blindfolded, actually. So, this kind of brings me back.”

“I thought so. You look good. I'll buy it for you… A matching look? I've never done that before, but why not?”

“This can't be happening...say it's not happening! I'm scared…..! Please…..don't go anywhere, MC... Please, I'm begging you, don't go...”

“…I think I've calmed down a bit. I feel a lot better with you in my arms. But...this isn't fair. I'd like to also see you getting jealous of people who get close to me. I wouldn't mind. I'd like to see that side of you too.”

“Oh, I know. If I sit next to you, then you won't feel so self-conscious, right? Hang on, try lying down on the bed. Okay, good.”

“You can't even throw a pillow far enough to reach me. You should give up before you hurt yourself.”

“Open your mouth then. Say "aah" Well? Tasty, right?”

“Don't stop, MC. Kiss me more…”

Extras! (It’s hard to pick just 100 y’know?)

1. “Were you waiting for the perfect time to kiss me? That's adorable. It's my turn next.”

2. “Belphie, you've got that dead look in your eyes again.”

3. “My feelings for you won't change, not even after a thousand years...no, a million years.”

4. “It's sort of like...you're more special to me. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? ...Up to now, I always felt like I was hungry for something. I'd eat and eat and eat, but I still wasn't satisfied, so I'd eat more. But when I'm with you, it's like that hunger is suddenly gone. For once I feel strangely satisfied.”

5. “I hope I'll always have you here by my side, just like I have them. From here until…..forever. No matter how I might change in the future.”

6. “When I feel you in my arms like this, it lets me know for sure that I really am alive.”

7. “Even though as a human, your life is a lot shorter than that of us demons. And yet you still tried to save me. ...That meant a lot to me.”

8. “Where do you think you're going? Whoa, I don't think so. I'm not letting you go anywhere.”

9. “It's all right, MC. Just listen to my voice, MC. Forget about everything else...”

✧༺⚜️༻✧

𝑀𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉

𝒮𝒽𝓎 𝒲𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓇 ༝༚༝༚

[aneenasevla]

Red Velvet - Chapter 2 (part 2)

MasterList / Akane’s profile / Last chapter here

Art by @aneenasevla

Chapter 2 - Shake It! (part 2 -NSFW)

NOTE: You can skip this part if you're not comfortable with 18+ scenes.

Akane was still waiting for him, back in her red leopard-printed fur coat, her heels shining on her silhouette in front of the door. She looks up when he arrives; she had a lollipop in her mouth.

"So…," she smiles. "Shall we go?"

He smiles at her too, his eyes traveling over the lines of her coat that now hide the tattoos on her shoulder. He couldn't wait to unwrap them and take a good look once again.

"Yeah, c'mon. I didn't get the chance to tell you, but that coat looks really good on you," He says hoarsely, immediately bringing her back closer, a firm hand on her waist. That man apparently was very physical. And judging by his excitement, he had held back all night not to do it too soon.

"Thank you," she coos, hugging him back. "It's my favorite piece of clothing, and my trademark...," she bats her eyelashes as she walks with him through the street. "Let's go this way. I checked the perimeter before coming and I already know where to buy hangover medicine if I started drinking too much," She laughs.

"Haha, I'm glad that didn't happen! I wouldn't be able to treat you like you deserve if you were drunk, right?," He touches her chin with his index finger, his thumb brushing her lips.

"Heh... indeed," she licks his finger quickly, moving away afterwards, laughing softly and taking the lollipop out of her mouth. "Honestly? I came prepared to deal with some crazy, handsy fuckboy, but even though you've been behaving well... if I give you carte blanche, will you drop this facade for me? I want to know more about the predator that's been tempting me behind those eyes..."

... Lihito had never felt more ecstatic, nor more exposed, than he felt at that moment.

The recommendations from Okubo, Tomori and the others came back to him for a second. He had taken them seriously. Even with his outburst of perverted idiocy at the end, he had been willing to show that he could control himself and behave like a functioning adult man in front of a beautiful woman.

But she didn't want that. She wanted who he really was. His wild, hungry side that he had been trying to suppress all night. She had seen the spark in his eyes, and now she wanted more of them until a fire started.

... He had made up his mind. He liked Agata Akane. He liked her foul-mouthed, cheeky, determined, ferocious personality. He liked to see that she was like him, in many ways. He knew her very little, just for a few hours, but he was willing to extend that acquaintance a little longer, if she wanted. And he shows this by closing the distance between them in a fraction of a second, bringing her even closer to his chest while taking her mouth on his, kissing her greedily while feeling her curves through the short, tight dress. They were very soft and very real, which delighted him even more.

"I’ll show you," He murmurs against your mouth. "I’ll show you all night if you want."

"Huhhmmm... I like that... I really do," She coos and kisses him back, biting his lip just a little, to tease him. "Just two more blocks and you can show me," she indicates the street with her thumb, the lollipop still in hand. "And I'll show you something nice too."

"Let's go, then," He holds her hand, walking without much haste. Why should he? The night was already won. And he didn't even need to use the coin trick! He could show off a bit later, after the deed, if the chance arose. "But hey, tell me... did you think I would act all crazy and shit? Or did they give you a warning?," He asks, now looking a little embarrassed.

"Both," she licks the lollipop a little. "Tomori was all worried about me, being a cute worrywart, but I had already seen in your face that you were really in the mood. Modesty aside, I recognize that look from afar. She gave me some warnings and, even though I barely knew you, I decided to test it."

"Test, huh?," He murmurs, his eyes fixed on her mouth, and on the way she was licking that lollipop. And as expected, the most depraved images appeared in his mind, fantasies about where else she could put that mouth and brush that tongue. He has to use all of his self-control not to get a hard-on right there, as if he were thirteen or something. "Did I pass the test? Was I a good, well-behaved boy? I really tried, you see...," He laughs mischievously.

"Hahahhaha, the test isn’t over yet, you rusher…," she laughs softly. "Take it slow, I’m wearing heels. But for now your score is good, so keep it up. And relax, it's not like I'm giving you an entrance exam at Teito or something. I just want to have a nice night with a guy who wants me, you know? And you really want me, so it's going great."

She holds his arm, smiling more; this time the malice went away for a moment, and her laughter even became cute.

"Sure thing!," He smiles a lot, and beneath the lasciviousness, she managed to detect a hint of a cute smile. Strange man, that one. At one moment, he seemed completely shameless. In the other, he almost looked like an overly happy child. Which one was the real Rihito? Or maybe he was both? "And I really want it, you have no idea. Since I saw your pics..."

Well, nobody could say he wasn't honest. It was something, she supposed.

"Huh, I can't say I didn't feel the same," it was a half truth; the hot tanned guy was too popular and the smaller one wasn't her type. "And now I'm happier. Oh, we're here," she points. It seemed like a little, cheap love hotel. "The next one is like one mile away and I don't feel like taking a cab. We'll probably start fooling around in the car and the poor driver doesn't deserve the torture," she laughs, getting inside without ceremony.

He laughs heartily too, following her without any hesitation. "Yeah, I know from experience how being next to a couple while they make out sucks," He jokes. "And you can let me pay the fee too, alright? I insist."

"Okay," she adjusts her coat on her shoulders. "Suit yourself," She indicates to the receptionist, returning her focus to her lollipop. She observed the place in the meantime. It was one of those corridor motels, with a red carpet that led to a staircase to go up to the other floors where there were rooms. She couldn't hear any noise coming from above, which was good, considering it was a little later in the night and there were definitely couples already around. The walls were probably soundproof… perfect, in her case. The annoying thing was that everything smelled strongly of cheap strawberry and chocolate essence, definitely not her first choice for air freshener. But that sure as hell wouldn't dampen the fire inside her.

He was taking care of financial matters in the meantime, taking his wallet out of his pocket. In addition to the money (which wasn't much, that night was going to take a bit of a toll on his pockets, but it would definitely be worth it), there were the other most indispensable items of the night: two condoms, which he had bought at a pharmacy on the way to the bar. He wasn't ecxactly a rubber fan (seriously, was there any guy in that world who was?), but even he wasn't stupid enough to go on an adventure with an unknown woman while being unprotected. Not to mention it was the kind of consideration that girls used to enjoy. A guy who cared about their health and themselves was someone who deserved to be contacted more often, after all! He pays the bored recepcionist for their stay (it must be the shittiest job in the world, having to know that there are other people on the upper floors fucking while you just sucked your thumb behind a counter), and returns to her side, smiling satisfied.

"Done. Shall we? Those heels must be hurting your feet a little…"

"Hmm? Oh, not much. They're like platform sandals. I knew you were tall so I took precautions," She smiles, walking with him. "But if you want, I'll take them off...," she pouts.

"... There’s no need, if they don’t bother you," He says after two seconds of silence, his expression becoming more lascivious, his green eyes darkening. "They're kinda sexy," And he brings her closer again, leading her towards the stairs. "You’ll have somewhere to rest your feet if you get tired, anyway."

She walks in front of him, taking the key from his hand. "Good to know," And she tosses the lollipop stick into a convenient trash bin close to the stairs. She had made a point of wiggling her hips a little in front of him, teasing was her specialty... and adding fuel to the fire too, but this was for anyone who pissed her off. At the moment, just teasing was enough.

She opened the bedroom door and entered, letting him close it behimd them, quickly putting her coat in a nearby armchair and her small bag on top of it, stretching her armas right after. She heard the door close, already waiting for the impact…

And it didn't take long at all to come. He collided with her with the force of a wall, and the only reason she wasn't knocked over like a rag doll was because he held her firmly to his chest. He kisses her furiously again, his tongue hungrily against hers, one hand on her back while the other takes a firm grip on her buttocks. Yes, that man really wasn't one to waste time. She could already feel it starting to show, inside his pants. Boy, not bad so far...

"Hnm… I knew it…," she coos between kisses. "I knew that there's a predator just waiting to come out…, " She hugs him with her legs, taking the opportunity to feel him through his pants.

And when she felt his bulge against her, the fire of Satan took hold of her; she really wanted to try it right there. She intensified the kiss and her hips moved, and the poor dress felt its job was done, rolling up to escape the tightness her open legs provided, revealing her buttocks.

He makes a hoarse sound in the back of his throat; a sound that indeed resembled the growl of a huge and dangerous animal. He lifts her by her buttocks, helping her rub against the bulge in his pants, shivering at the friction, at the heat he could feel even through the fabric. It even felt wet, since she wasn't wearing underwear. Damn, he had to control himself, or he was going to burst right there!

"Hnnn... you haven't seen anything yet, babe...," He manages to growl, his hands exploring her body, his mouth going down to her neck, kissing, licking and nibbling. She feels the brush of his canines against her skin, and is surprised by how strong he actually was, managing to keep her lifted off the ground and not even seem to sweat from the effort. "Anything... fuck, I want you out of that dress now ...!"

"Put me on the bed so you can unwrap me," she teases, still hugging him by the shoulders. "Then you can play with me as much as you want..."

He obeys with admirable readiness. Good boy, very obedient, like the golden retriever Tomori said he was. She's no sooner placed on the bed than he's already trying to get rid of her dress, starting with the bodice, his expression seeming almost angry because of his excitment. Her breasts are exposed, and Rihito practically salivates when he contemplates the very light tan lines, surrounding the pink nipples. Holy shit, that woman had no right being this hot. She was going to kill him by the end of the night at this rate.

"Hnnn...!," He kisses her again, his huge hands coming up to hold her breasts and massage them. "You smell so fucking good...," He grunts as he kisses down, putting his face between her breasts, practically pressing them against his cheeks. "You're practically asking me to eat you whole..."

"Hnnn… that’s what I’m here for, darling, being half-eaten isn’t in the contract!," she gets rid of the second half of the dress, still trying to maintain a bit of reason while he plays with her breasts, which are sensitive due to her lust. "I also say the same… hnmmm… lick me all you want… then- aaah… save a little so I can lick you too… oooh…"

If that encouragement didn't make him hard as a rock, nothing else in his life would. He immediately goes to worship her boobs, licking greedily, sucking the nipples, one hand already running down her belly, half-stilted, to the middle of her legs, his fingers searching and finding the moist heat between them. He fumbles a little at first; she even wonders if he really knew what he was doing... until a finger enters her, slowly, in a slow and torturous massage, the tip curving to look for the right spot, which he finds quickly, and starts massaging it while thrusting.

He immediately felt the 'rode' in her hips with the impact of pleasure, and she let out a long moan. Wow, he only had good surprises, she thought, as she slowly put her leg between his, to feel him too. She wanted that naked body as much as he wanted hers, but she would let him enjoy it for now, it was part of the process…but dear lord, those fingers…she knew he played the guitar, but she didn't know how well!

On his side, he only felt her getting wetter and wetter, running down his fingers. And when his thumb touches her clit, she gets even wilder, panting and hugging him by his neck, pulling his hair a little. 

“Aahnnn... Oh my God, Rihito... hnmm!," her voice was not delicate or squeaky; it was strong, loud and a little hoarse. The sound of a determined and mature woman, not that of a shy little girl, no sir.

He seemed to go even crazier with her encouragement, grunting in a eager tone, his eyes closed almost as if he was in pain. He finally seems to have played enough with her breasts, because he lets go of them and lowers his mouth further, kissing her torso, belly, running his tongue over her navel, and then kissing the tattoos that covered almost her entire thigh. Each of the spots, biting a little.

"You're so fucking hot...," He growls against her skin, kissing the inside of her thigh, going down... and finally his tongue arrives exactly where she wanted, in that little spot right above where his finger was torturing her. He licks slowly, seeming to want to test it first... okay, he didn't seem to have much experience with his tongue in particular, but damn, he was really trying!

"Ohh, yes, just like that… ooohh!," She was already half ready, and when he started licking her clit, she felt the heat rising, and he felt her insides sucking his fingers.  

"Oh, I'm gonna...OooOhh!," She shook all over, biting her lip, and he felt his finger being ridden as she reached her peak, the first time that night... and counting, if it were up to him and his perverted mind.

The euphoria he felt almost sent him over the edge again, his cock throbbing almost painfully in his pants. Giving head wasn't exactly a habit of his (not that he didn't like it, it's just that he always felt insecure about that part of the female anatomy, fearing doing something stupid that would classify him as a lousy lover), but damn, feeling the rhythmic pulsations on his finger and the taste of it on his tongue (sweet, full-bodied, and he decides he really liked it) were clear proof that he knew what he was doing, damn it! A very masculine pride came over him, and still licking her slowly with his eyes closed, he had to hold himself back from raising a fist in the air in victory.

“Dude, you’re the fucking best!”

"Hnnn…," He finally pulls away, giving her a kiss on her thigh. "You taste really good, holy shit…"

"Oh... thank you," she blushes. She wasn't used to being kissed there, much less praised. Okay, she liked him, he had potential. "I liked those fingers of yours...," she pulls his hand closer and sucks each one of his fingers, looking at him. "but now that I'm looking... aren't they too tight?," She looks at his pants. "Take them off. And the rest too, I want to admire the complete set…"

His excitement when fulfilling the order is hilarious and adorable. That man really was a mix of an incorrigible pervert and a cute idiot. He gets rid of his shoes, and then his shirt, ripping it off over his head and throwing it unceremoniously onto the bedroom floor. And there was the broad chest she had admired in that photo, now live and in color right before her eyes. His muscles were the envy of many bodybuilders. She even noticed a few scars here and there, which only made the complete package even more exciting. He hops on one foot to finally free himself from his pants, his boxers going with them in a matter of moments. And oh... ooh, boy, so that's what the baggy shorts in that photo hadn't let her see...

She immediately devours him with her eyes, with a lust that she had never tried to hide. He was a shower, for sure, but it didn't need more than that, certainly not. She got out of bed, licking her lips a little, and pulled him to her, changing places with him and making him sit down on the mattress.

"Oown... I- I guess that means you really liked what you saw, huh...," He manages to gasp, trying to sound smug, but she could hear the almost crazy desire in his voice; she could also see it in the way he his legs twitched.

"Oh, you...," She kisses him qhen he sits down, holding his hands so they don't grab her. "Of course I liked it, damn it, now stay still while take care of my appetit," she runs her hands over his chest, squeezing it a little, then tickling the side of his arm, outlining the lines of the muscles in his abdomen - my God, it wasn't a six pack, it was fucking eight! - kissing him in the middle of his torso. And she didn't play coy, her hand going straight to his cock, massaging the length. She delighted in his reactions, making a point of looking him in the eye while doing so.

His hips spasm violently at her touch, a guttural sound of pleasure leaving his throat; the growl of a beast being tamed, turning him from a leopard to a kitten right there in her hands.

"Oooh... A-Akane...," He babbles, his voice coming out in a hoarse breath, his eyelids heavy and his mouth open. His hand goes to touch her hair, stroking it, moving it away so he could see all the colors hiden beneath the blonde waves. "Hnnn... damn, that's...!," He closes his eyes tightly when she moves her hand up and down on him, his teeth grinding against each other. "I- I knew ever since I saw those hands... that they must drive any grown man crazy..."

"Today, only you," She bites his neck, scratching his chest with the nails of her free hand. "Enjoy, 'cause you deserve it. You've been a really good boy for me so far...," she whispers in his ear, and lowers her torso, kissing a little below his navel, wanting him to see what she was about to do.

He shudders hard again, shivering from head to toe, anticipation making his limbs tingle and his poor friend, being held like a conductor's drumstick, throb in an almost embarrassing way.

“Calm the fuck down, Rihito! If you burst without her even starting to suck you off, it will be one of the biggest humiliations of your life! And I’m counting the Annihilation Tournament!”

"Hnnn...! Good- good to know that, after all, I... ooh... I was a good boy...," He gasps, trying to smile mischievously "I think I deserve a little compensation for that, y’know…"

"I'm the one who decides that," she bites him on his thigh, not too hard, but enough to make him jump. "Just to make it clear...," she smiles when his eyes widen. "Good... now that we came to an understanding...," she massages his lenght just a little more before using her tongue, from bottom to top, running it over the frenulum and collecting some of what was beginning to accumulate in the tip, sucking and kissing it, with her full lips with that indestructible lipstick... she coos at his reaction. She loved making men twice as big as her shudder and whimper. She felt like the most powerful being in the world…

That's why she practiced so much, after all; lollipops weren't just for sweetening her mouth.

He throws his head back with a hoarse sound of pleasure, even going cross-eyed with the delicious shock that rose like an electric current through his body. Holy shit, that was torture, the best kind of torture...!

"Uuuh... fuck...!," He almost whimpers, his face all twisted with desire, one hand gripping the sheets while the other went to rest on her head, her tongue making him dizzy, trembling. He had always been the dominant type in bed, he liked to make women submit to him and beg for more, but this creature had turned the tables in a way he couldn't have predicted, and in a way he couldn't complain about.

She still plays with him a little, and when she feels like she tested enough on that circumcised cock, she decided to show him her true power. She let him rest on her tongue while she opened her mouth, still looking at him, and closed her mouth with him inside, applying pressure and licking him, slowly taking him whole. Soon he saw his cock disappear; where did it end up? He didn't know, he just knew that she hadn't stopped at any point until she reached the base. Then she held his legs and went all the way back, and when she reached the tip, she stopped to breathe and looked back at him, smiling mischievously.

He grips the sheets even tighter, his eyes glassy, ​​looking almost irrational with pleasure. His open mouth barely let out a sound, his breath catching in his chest as she swallowed him whole down to the base, the wet, velvety heat enveloping him and making it seem like the whole world had concentrated there, where her mouth touched him, the pressure again making his vision blur. He must have been going cross-eyed with pleasure again and she was seeing it first hand, and he just couldn't muster up enough dignity to care.

Holy shit, where... where had she learned to do that? He didn't know, he probably would never know, and he couldn't give a shit about anything else.

"Holy shit... don't- don't stop, keep going...!"

She laughs softly, continuing, sometimes bringing it in all the way to the end. He was sure she didn't have a throat, holy fuck... she was going back and forth without even needing her hands; one of them was even massaging his balls, her claws dangerously tickling him, but still completely under control; she literally had him in the palm of her hand there, and in the back of her throat too…

And that was right where he wanted to stay. He never wanted to leave there again, damn it! He ends up bending one of his legs on the bed in the middle of the pleasure, shuddering and panting hard, barely able to keep his eyes open, but trying desperately, because watching her sucking him was the best sight he'd had in months. Maybe even in years.

"Oooh... damn, woman... th-that's feels so fucking good, your- your mouth's fuckin' perfect...!," He managed to say between grunts, dizzy and incoherent, his toes twitching. "You look so damn beautiful swallowing me like that, so- Ooonh!," And he finally can't hold back a deep, strong moan, when she intensifies her movements, her hand on his balls leaving him paralyzed in a mix of fear and lust. He would have been very embarrassed if he had been coherent enough to care. "Holy shit...!"

And that's what she does, intensifying her movements even more, sometimes inside, sometimes outside. Sometimes she tortured him just by licking the tip, sometimes by looking at him, other times with her eyes closed… she wanted to focus on his taste, but it intensified when she heard his moans and felt his balls tighten a little. She knew what that meant.

"Hnnng...! I-I'm gonna...!," He warns breathlessly, the pressure rising at the base of his cock and on his back, the entire room seeming to spin in his half-hallucinated dizziness. "Oonh, fuck, I- HnnNNN!," He throws his head back, leaving only his chin visible, tensing up and locking his hips. And she finally felt him empty himself into her mouth, thick and hot, in strong jets that were accompanied by his loud gasps.

"Hnnn...! Oooh...!," And he remains completely limp on the mattress, breathing unevenly, his eyes closed, his expression dazed.

And she smiles triumphantly, receiving her meal with greed, and licking the plate with gusto. She gets up, crawling to find him lying on the bed, and she lies on top of him, her breasts resting on his chest, still smiling, her hair falling on the sides of her face.

"Thanks for the meal," she jokes, watching him still pant, catching his breath.

"Hnng... I... I'm here to serve... to serve well and always...,"  He manages to stammer between one strong breath and another, opening his eyes a little. They were so dark that they looked almost black, rather than green. He looks at her with a dazzlement that was, again, funny and adorable. "Damn, girl... how many- how many poor souls have you sucked off like that? I... argh, fuck it, come here...!," And he immediately hugs her, lifting his head to kiss her greedily, trying his taste on her tongue. She laughs at his comment, letting him try it, and pulling him to get on top of her.

"Does that mean I sucked your soul too? And you want to get it back?," she teases when he starts kissing her neck. "Hnmm... you have to pull it from below, with the member from where I took it...," She laughs softly. "But you have to do it well... or your soul will be mine, you big, naughty dog."

He shudders again, ecstatic, thanking his daddy in heaven, his daddy Satan, any daddy who was listening to him for his enviable stamina as a fighter. With encouragement like that, he wouldn't need more than three minutes to get back to being hard as a rock! That diabolical woman raised more masts than any naval engineer. He grabs her ass, massaging her eagerly while kissing her almost furiously. 

"Grunf... just you wait... I'll take it back and you better be sure of that... I'll exorcise the fuck outta you, you dirty demon...!"

"Oooh… will you? Then please, get this demon out of me...," she whimpers, raising her arms, rubbing her tits against his chest and looking at him with a pleading face. "I can't take this heat anymore, so fix it for me...," she throws a leg over the side of his body. "Please, Rihito…," she begs in a sultry tone.

Her nom de guerre sounded even more incredible on that velvet tongue of hers! He kisses her again, rubbing his cock between her legs, getting it all wet and getting excited even faster than he anticipated in the process. "I'll do it... you want it, right? You demon... you want this dick so bad, don't you? Hnnn?," He even grabs his cock and hits it against her flesh, in a burst of inspiration, trying to remember where he left the fucking condons, his head still a little foggy...

"Yeah, I do…," she sits down, kissing him. "Just give me a moment… now my heels are bothering me…," she kisses him more firmly, then moving away from him, still teasing as she turns around and crawls, her ass only centimeters away from him. She got out of bed, quickly taking off her heels and walking around the room. She had everything in the right place, but what caught the most attention was her chest... and the tattoos, which now that he stopped to look, were only on her left shoulder and her right leg. They didn't reach her entire back, but it was in fact leopard spots, all in red. She grabs her purse and opens it, lifting her head and catching his eyes. "Oh... so you're also liking what you're seeing..."

He smiles hungrily, his “fangs” flashing. 

"And you still ask? I want to fuck you in every way, traditionally or just with my eyes... I just need the condom. I have two of them in my wallet, they're in my pants pocket..."

"Oh, we’ll use them later, it’s good to save them for now," She smiles. "I also brought some, see? Forewarned is forearmed...," She kneels before him. "Mine were closer anyway," She wraps her arms around his neck, and she gasps when he pulls her up, making her sit on his lap. "Oh, wow," she blushes when she feels him.

"Then you can understand how much of a rush you left me in," He growls with a laugh, somewhat impressed that the brief pause didn't diminish his excitement at all. He had never really liked the part about putting on a condom, there were times when he was even afraid of going limp... but honestly? He now firmly believed that there was no way a limp dick could existe in the same space as that woman. "I've already let you play with me enough. Now it's my turn," And he lays her on the bed, on her back, fitting between her legs, hands resting on either side of her head. "I'm gonna fuck you so good..."

She smiles. "How many green lights do you need to start? Four, like in a race?," she jokes, lifting her leg over his side again; now without the heel her ankle felt soft against his skin. "I'll give you two more," she lifts the other leg, now resting it on his shoulder, while caressing his neck with her fingers.

He pants a little, his eyes irrational with want. He leans over her, her legs still resting on his shoulders, positions himself, and then thrusts with a little too much haste. He enters all at once, immediately being massaged by her inner muscles, the condom not getting in the way of the delicious sensation from rising through his lower abdomen and making him grunt huskily in the back of his throat, his eyelids getting heavy. "Ooh, fuck, so good...!"

She gasps with his haste, but with the way she was, she didn't complain at all, moaning loudly afterwards. "Ooohh... damn, you too... hhhhmmmm... not bad, ohhh!," she pulls him to move. "Let the exorcism ritual begin… come get your soul now, you big dog."

He would have howled to reinforce her words if his throat hadn't been too busy producing lewd grunts. He lowers himself onto her, supporting himself on his hands as he kisses her passionately, moving his hips apart and then pushing them again, going back and forth, the delicious pressure making his head spin and urging him to accelerate the pace, almost recklessly. Ooh, he was the type to get excited and a little clumsy, but the look on his face as he stared at her showed how hard he was trying, sweat dripping down the strong line of his jaw, making strands of his bleached hair stick to his forehead.

"I will... give back what you took from me...! C'mon...!," He growls, hitting flesh with flesh in loud slaps.

"Aaaah... no, I- I won’t give it back- aaahh!," She responds, her hands going to his shoulders, her claws doing their job on his back. "I won't- oooh!," she whines, grabbing his hair tightly. "Make me! Ahhh," his pelvis was hitting a good spot, her excitement was showing. She liked the view too, those sexy eyes and flexible hips were doing their job well. A hand grabs his hair, pulling him together to press her to the bed.

He didn't need to have said it twice. He lifts her legs off his shoulders, grabbing her hips and lifting them a little, his strong hands probably leaving small bruises as they held her tightly, the top half of her body still lying on the bed as he hides his face in the curve of her neck, breathing heavily. And he thrusts willingly, without any control, the rhythm unruly but still intense, hitting her deep and, from time to time, managing to hit his pelvis against her clit. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it, dazed as he was.

"Gives it back...! Oooh...! Damn, feels so good, you're so fucking hot, I want to fuck you all night...!," He growls in her ear, licking it afterwards. He couldn’t even maintain the “character” anymore.

"Ohhh… hmmmm… yeah… I want it, please, aaahh…," She hugs him, Happy to have her arms open to his width, scratching his back too in return for the "workout" he was giving her , but not complaining in the slightest, even less so because she hugged his hips with her legs. She was almost feeling another orgasm coming, and she loved knowing that he was achieving it. "Yes, Rihito, don't stop, give this demon what she deserves, hmmmm… fuck her hard, she's almost giving it back, ooohhhh…"

"Yes...! You'll give it back to me without complaining...! Ooonh, Akane...!," He starts to moan in her ear, losing his rhythm a little, and she wonders what he was doing until she feels his fingers getting into the point where they were connected, massaging her clit "Fuck, I'm almost there...! C'mon, come with me, moan for me...!

"Ahhhh! Oh my God, those fingers… you son of a… ahn!," Her insides immediately squeezed him after that, while dug her nails into his back when he tightened the hug. "AaaAAAHN!," She moaned as her hips moved uncontrollably on their own, following his rhythm.

"Ooh, holy shit- ooOOOH!," He locks his hips in a sudden movement, his face contorted in almost painful pleasure as he cums again, so hard that it leaves him completely dizzy, his arms shaking with the effort of keeping himself upright while he loses himself on top of her, while she squeezed him so much that she seemed to want to milk him. Damn, he didn't remember when was the last time he came so violently like that. "Oooh... unnnf... fuck...," He stammers, again dazed, his green eyes a little misty.

Holy shit, that damn bastard did it.

She lost her strength, shaking a lot, as she looked at him, panting, feeling herself still wobbly. She pulled him to rest on his elbows so she could reach his mouth, and kissed him once more, more gently this time, one hand in his hair and the other holding the back of his head. She looks into his eyes and smiles. "Yeah... you- you got your soul back... good job," she says, biting his shoulder, laughing softly, still playing at scratching him. She wanted to leave him very sore for later, so he would never forget that he fucked a panther.

He lets out a grunt at the pain of the bite and the scratch, and then laughs breathlessly, sweating profusely; the happiest and most stupid idiot she's ever seen on top of her before. "Ahaha... victory for me... ! Holy shit... this is going to leave a mark...," He uses his arms again to slide out of her, shuddering, and quickly gets rid of the condom, throwing it in the trash basket next to the bed. "You Soul Taker...," And he lies down on her again, snuggling his head between her breasts, his eyes closed in delight. "That felt so fucking good... you're amazing..."

"Oh, stop it, you... you did good too," She caresses his shoulders. "Just... give me ten minutes... okay?," she stretches a little "Don't think I didn't hear what you said... I want it all night...," She hugs him, burying his face deeper into her chest. "With that stamina of yours I'm sure you can do it... what do you say?"

"All night?! Uh... oh yeah, I said that...," He moans, then laughs again, practically purring with her caresses. "I... I've never tried having sex all night... wanna help me find out?," He looks up at her, smiling hungrily, his cheeks red and his eyes shining. "I'll make the effort, because you make me hard enough to try. You're hot like that..."

She remembered not thinking much of his face when she looked at that photo, days before. Now...well, he now looked adorable in his excitement, especially in his willingness to please her.

Oh, shit, the damn facade finally fell, and she couldn't deal with how… cute he was acting. She felt her cheeks flush.

"I also want to find out... I just don't know if I'll be able to walk after this...," She jokes. "You're pretty strong, I've already realized that. And if we can't keep it up... at least there's heat to warm us up on this cold night. Autumn is good for that," She purrs a little, running her fingers through his hair, more out of habit since she worked in the field. And she realized that it would soon need a touch-up, but he didn't say anything, taking advantage of the time to relax.

Because, if it were up to the two of them, or to Daddy Satan, this fire would take a long time to be put out...

Next chapter HERE

[shina913]

Your year, your words

Thank you @btscarnivalnet for encouraging this retrospective of 2022. It was a big writing year for me and I've met so many beautiful people through this site. I'm so happy to be sharing a space with so many humans who can build worlds and create visuals that I never even thought possible. Let's keep that energy into 2023 🎉

✦ How many works(fics, gfx, gifs) have you released this year?

24 fics (including spin-offs/one-offs)! I really set out to build my masterlist this year and I can’t believe how much I’ve written…I am losing my mind over it!

✦  Which ones took the longest to make?

I have a handful of ongoing fics but so far, Scions is taking me the longest to update. My chapters for that fic are long, super angsty, and very dramatic. It’s also an ensemble story so I try to make sure that I give each character their own moment. It’s a lot of balls (heh) to juggle!

✦  Which ones took the least amount of time to make?

I have several one-shot fics that I’ve written in either one sitting or within a day. The quickest fics that I’ve been able to write were:

Ristretto 1, KNJ

Revenant, MYG

Stubble, KNJ

Whirr, MYG

Satiated, JJK

In terms of series, Intersect took me the shortest amount of time to complete. I was just very inspired, I guess?

✦  Pick out some of the works you’re most proud of and tell us something about the creative process. (Be it idea, the actual work, how it started, whether it changed lanes between, etc) 

I love all of my stories but am proud of Scale and Coquet.

For Scale–I have a love-hate relationship with it because the plot had morphed into this really complex story since I first came up with it. It was just supposed to be a chaebol/CEO!Jin trope…and then my mind just went off the rails 🤣 There were so many technical details that I had to look up and work into the writing. It was exhausting and I really wanted to give up several times but I stuck with it and tried to simplify the ending. It was all very satisfying once I finished it!

I also picked Coquet because I took a movie that I’ve loved over the years and tried to rewrite a slightly different ending for the characters (because I had an issue with how it ended). There were definitely some (unavoidable) plot holes but I still love how it turned out in the end.

Another thing, these two particular fics are significant to me because during the planning process, there were plot points that I wanted to introduce into each of these stories but my loves, @internetjunkdrawer and @deepseavibez quickly shot them down and discouraged me from doing so. In hindsight…they were right 🤣 They’re pretty embarrassing now that I think about it and @internetjunkdrawer and I frequently laugh about them…especially my initial idea about what I had planned for Jennie’s backstory on Coquet 😬

If you’re curious, DM me and I’ll tell you!

✦  From January to December, has your work/methodology changed? How?

My methodology hasn’t changed much since I started to write. I get an idea or inspiration somewhere and I just write on my phone or my computer. More recently, I have lengthy conversations with my sis about my plot points especially when I get stuck on something. It’s helpful for me to talk it out!

The tone of my writing has changed, though because…medication😬 But seriously, throughout the year, I have gone through many highs and lows. I found that I don’t write as often in bed as I used to, that’s for sure. There were many chapters of Gradation and Scale that were written at 3AM…

Whenever I get an idea, I try to capture it right away or at least write it down on my phone. At some point, I’ve revisited some WIPs throughout the year and either transformed them into something completely different than I originally intended to (On Tilt) or repurposed portions and included them into my other fics (Flowerworks, Coquet).

✦  Pick a BTS song that was your biggest muse this year.

Butterfly is a constant favorite and Persona always gets me fired up.

✦  If your work could be depicted in three colors, what would you choose?

Black for some of the darker content that I’ve written; blue for inspiration, calm, and joy; and red for passion, love, and spice 😉

✦  Some words for the new creators who will enter this community in 2023.

Just write! I’ve seen non-writing moots (or they write but don’t publish) on my dash saying that they are inspired to write because of certain prompts that they’ve seen or heard recently but also scared that it might ‘suck.’ If you’re feeling inspired, just write it now and edit later. If the words are flowing, capitalize on it!

✦  Some words for yourself for the year 2023.

Let go of the things that you can't control and be kind to yourself! 🥺 

[mrpenguinpants]

I have,, a new Genshin oc 👀 hope u don't mind me sending in so many asks dsdjgjshd but I had to tell someone about her

Her name is Lilith (Lily) and she's a cryo catalyst user from Mondstadt and a senior member of the investigation team. She was childhood friends with Kaeya and Diluc but the Crepus incident pulled them apart. I don't have too many details of her backstory pinned down yet but I've already figured out all her skills and talents and her voicelines lmao so I guess I'll share those instead:

About Kaeya - Friendship: Captain Kaeya… he's an enigma alright. It took me years just to get under that mask of his, and even now I'm still not sure if what I'm seeing is the real him. That said, once you get to know him, he's a loyal and reliable friend. The best anyone can ask for.

About Kaeya - Eyepatch: Kaeya's eyepatch? Why are you asking me?…you think because I'm the closest to him that I would know what's under there? Haha, don't be ridiculous, I hardly know him well enough to pry into his secrets.

About Diluc: I knew him when I was still a knight in training. He was… different back then… happier. Now, after all that's happened… well, best if you go talk to him yourself if you want to know more.

About Albedo: He's brilliant! I admire him a lot—not just for his alchemical genius, but for his dedicated work ethic. Unlike a certain other captain whose name I won't mention, Captain Albedo would never drink on the job.

About Jean: Ah, Acting Grandmaster Jean… though, she's been doing this for so long I feel like she should just take the title of Grandmaster. She seems to be good at everything except taking care of herself. Maybe I should bring her some lunch again today…

About Rosaria: Would it be sacrilege to say I agree with her views on the church? In fact, I have never been a fan of the Church of Favonius. If Mondstadt is the City of Freedom, should not its citizens have the freedom to choose how they worship their Archon?

About Lisa: Is she still calling me her "little helper"? Ugh, when will I be rid of that nickname…

About Venti: Ah, that bard who has recently become Kaeya's drinking buddy? I… admit I may have a distorted judgment of him, as I have yet to see the lad completely sober.

About the Vision: Ah, this is my proudest achievement… though, I'm not sure if I can call it that. I was just in the right place at the right time. Anyone else would've done the same.

Favorite food: Nothing warms the heart and soul like a nice bowl of soup! What, you think just because I wield cryo that I can never get cold?

Least favorite food: I will never understand this city's love for alcohol. Not only is the taste repulsive, it clouds the mind and impairs judgement. …How can Kaeya drink so much of the stuff?

Lilith's Hobbies: Did you know that there's a grand piano in the Knights' headquarters that no one uses? Such a shame that this beautiful instrument goes unappreciated. Say… when you next have time, would you like to come in for a private concert?

Lilith's Troubles: There's just not enough time to do all the things I want to do. If only Captain Albedo's alchemy could add more hours to the day… hmm…

More about Lilith - I: My research? Oh, you misunderstand. I'm merely a member of the investigation team, not an alchemist. However, I have helped Captain Albedo with various experiments, so I've picked up a few things.

Kaeya's About Lilith: Lilith? Heh, I've known her for quite some time now. Yes, we're friends. Are we close? Hmm… let's just say that she understands me in a way that most people in Mondstadt cannot.

Fun facts/backstory?:

Kaeya calls her his little lily (only in private or when he's trying to tease her)

She and Kaeya drifted apart after Crepus' death, but once Diluc returned to Mondstadt Kaeya began approaching her once again. They rekindled their friendship but Lilith knows Kaeya's keeping secrets from her. She just hopes he can one day trust her enough to reveal the truth.

Kaeya hasn't told her about Khaenri'ah or his past, but just the fact that she was one of the few people who were actually friends with him before the Crepus incident puts her in his circle of trust

She's shorter than Kaeya and he will not stop teasing her for it

They're not dating (yet)

Lilith got her Vision when the library of Mondstadt caught fire (this is canon but it happened like way back in the day so I'm bending the timeline a little lol) and she rushed in to save the books. This was before she became a knight and was just working as a helper around the library (hence her voiceline about Lisa). She was able to save several rare manuscripts thanks to her newfound power keeping the flames at bay. Afterward she was awarded a medal by the Grandmaster but she always considered the Vision her true reward. This event is also what pushed her to become a knight in earnest so she can use her powers to protect Mondstadt

I just realized that both of my Genshin OCs' visions match the characters I paired them with lmao

As a playable character she'd likely be a main/sub DPS whose focus is critting the hell out of your enemies. She'd synergize well w cryo resonance. You'd want her on a freeze team bc her charged attack summons an icicle and counts as a heavy attack so it can deal shattered damage

Haha whoops this became really long dskfjdjd but uhh hope you enjoyed reading about Lilith!! I'm still trying to figure out what she looks like so there may be art on the way soon 👀

Blinking at this 20 page essay in front of me haha but please don't worry about sending me too many asks. If you're okay with my shit reply times then spam my inbox with anything.

Is there a cyro catalyst in genshin yet? I don't think so (maybe signora but she's not playable yet) but it's such a good fucking concept and I want it. It would look so pretty or elegant or we could be throwing snowballs goddammit. But can I say how much I love voice lines??? As much of a lore junkie that I am, there's something about voice lines that send me. If you have any more voice lines. please feed me.

Side note: "…How can Kaeya drink so much of the stuff?"

I'm pretty sure it's borderline confirmed since Venti drinks to forget his ptsd...I'm hard eyeballing Kaeya for the same reasons.

Can I say how fucking hot it is when characters don't pry into each other's business? Just having that mutual trust that you can take care of whatever you're dealing with, and if you can't, you can come to me for help without feeling ashamed. I'm not self-reflecting at all, what do you mean? But I'm enjoying this dynamic a lot. Feels very healthy and I support that. But hey, double cryo has a pretty good element synergy bonus haha. Speaking of criting, my Eula has a 15% crit chance....

But if you do create art or more lore, please share with me! Unless you already have and I haven't seen the ask yet haha.

[takerfoxx]

Now I'm wondering how the Walpurgis Nights girls would react to watching the Rebellion Story. ESPECIALLY Charlotte.

You...really need to stop putting ideas in my head that I can’t stop thinking about.

Fine. Okay. Here’s a rough draft of that very scenario, but mostly unedited and only up through the opening. I’ll hit up the rest when I have the time.

Note that this takes place some time after the story’s wrapped up, so the Hitomi arc is canon.

G=Gretchen

H=Homulilly

Op=Ophelia

Ok=Oktavia

Ca=Candeloro/Mami

Ch=Charlotte

...

Ch: Okay, this is basically us if we didn’t turn into witches and die, am I getting that right?

Ca: That does seem to be the case.

Op: So worst possible scenario.

G: Oh, I think it’ll be okay. I’m actually really excited about this!

Ok: I hope we get to see our outfits. I’ve always wondered about those.

…

Ok: Who’s narrating?

Ch: Sounds like a really grumpy Homulilly.

H: I don’t sound like that. Do I sound like that?

Ch: A little…

Op: Oooh, ominous!

Ok: “Disappear…” Do they mean turn into witches?

Ca, reading the description: No, apparently this take place in an alternate world where magical girls just…disappear instead of turning into witches.

Everyone: What?

Op: Who let that happen?

Ca: Um, Gretchen, apparently.

G: I did what? How?

Ch: I’m sure it’ll explain things. Eventually.

…

Ok: That sure is a lot of bubbles.

Op: Sounding a little cynical there, Lilly-Billy. Something you want to tell the rest of the class?

H: It’s not me!

Ok: Familiar smile…Oh, I know who she’s talking about!

Op: No matter the world, Homulilly stays loyal!

G: Why can’t she see me though? Am I dead?

H: Seriously, we don’t know if that’s even me.

…

Ch: Nice city.

Ok: I feel like I’m watching a tourism ad.

G: Is that where we lived?

…

Op: Uh, okay. This is new.

Ch: As far as we know.

G: I thought there weren’t any witches in this version.

…

Ch: City’s leaking.

Ok: That’s what happens if you don’t housetrain your skyscrapers.

Op: Looks like cum.

=Homulilly has to cover her mouth and turn away to keep from laughing=

Ca: Ophelia!

Op: Well, it does.

Ok: And now it turned into a ballerina. Okay.

Op: Cumberlina.

Ca: Stop saying cum!

…

Ch: These animators were on drugs.

Ok: Music’s nice, though.

H: “Welcome to cinema”?

…

Ok: Okay, what the hell is this fever dream? What’s with the demon teddy bear?

H: Maybe it’s a witch?

G: There aren’t supposed to be witches though!

Ch: What are we supposed to fight then?

Op: Maybe each other?

G: Oh, I really hope not.

Op: Gang war! Gang war!

Ok: Who is this thing even performing for?

…

Ca: Are those…teddy bear bombs?

Ok: Looks like.

Ca: And are those…are those marshmallows or pillows?

Op: Okay, following a clumsy dance recital with indiscriminate acts of terrorism. You know what? I get it. I’ve been there.

…

Ok: Holy crap, that’s Gretchen!

H: What? Where?

Ok: There! To the left with the cumberlinas!

Ca: Stop! Saying! Cumberlina!

H: Pause it! Pause it!

G: Is that what I looked like? I’m so…

Op: Pink!

Ch: Honestly, it’s kind of adorable.

G: Why am I with the cumberlinas though?

Ca: =indistinct noises of irritation and defeat=

…

Ch: What, is it judging them now?

Op, to the TV: Oh, like you could do better! Asshole…

Ch: You okay?

Op: I’m fine. It just reminded me of someone I know.

Ca: Oh, that’s Gretchen all right!

Ok: So many frills!

H: You’re so cute!

G: It’s not that…WHOA!

Op: Holy shit, Gretch is packing!

Ok: Death from above!

Ch: Maybe you should have cleared out first.

G: Whoops.

…

Ok: Oh my God, it’s me!

Op: Hell yeah!

Ca: Holy shit, it is you!

G: Look at that outfit! It’s so cool!

Ca: There’s even a cape!

Ok: Forget the cape, I’ve got legs!

G: “Madoka.” Still sounds weird to me.

Op: Heh. “Bingo.”

…

Op: AAAAHHHH! THAT’S ME!

Ok: Okay, I was sort of worried, but c’mon. Our outfits look totally badass.

H: Look at that hair.

Op: I know, right?!

Ok: And we’re working together!

Op: Damn right! Tag team that musty bitch!

=high five=

Ca: Where are we, though? We’re in this, right?

Ch: Movie’s just started. I guess we show up later.

…

Ch: Uh…okay.

G: That was a lot of windows.

H: Was this sort of thing…normal?

Ok: Did anyone else see the bleeding goat?

…

=stunned silence=

Ch: Well, this is happening now.

Op: What the hell is going on?

G: Well, we obviously invited the monster teddy bear over for dinner!

Ok: As one does.

H: Is this a musical?

Ok: Oh, that would be so awesome.

…

Op: See? There you are, Candy!

Ca: Wow.

Ok: Oh, my God. That outfit is so hot.

Ch: Where am I, though? Am I even…What hell is that thing?

G: Um, Charlotte? I think that’s you.

Ch: What?!

Op: And the obligatory tit shot…

Ca: Yeah, they really did zoom right in on them, didn’t they?

H: Dead center.

Ch: I’m not really that creepy doll thing, am I?

H: Maybe you’re the teddy bear.

…

Ok: Building’s on fire.

Op: Not my fault.

Ok: It’s at least one-fourth your fault.

G: Is no one going to bring up the skyscrapers that the teddy bear blew up?

Ok: Guess not.

G: But what if there were people in there?

Ok: Yeah, we’re kind of lousy at the whole “save the city” thing, aren’t we?

H: Why haven’t I shown up yet?

Ok: Maybe you’re the teddy bear!

…

Ok: And she’s awake!

G: Oh, we’re following me! Am I the main character?

Ca: It did kind of lead with you.

Ok: Homulilly was narrating, though.

Op: Maybe she’s the wise old mentor that gets killed off in a flashback.

H: =belabored sigh=

Ch: WHY AM I A CREEPY DOLL THING?!

…

Op: Wait, is that a fucking Incubator?

Ok: Well, this just got dark.

G: Why am I petting…Oh! Is that my mom?

Ok: Close!

G: It’s my dad! That’s my dad!

Ok: Oh, wow.

Op: Gretch, you gonna be okay?

G: Tatsuya…

=Homulilly hugs her=

Ok: That is a lot of chairs.

…

Ch: Looks like it runs in the family.

G: What does.

Ch: Being a sweetheart.

G, blushing: Oh, uh, thank you.

Ok: Hey, Candy. Did you ever meet Gretch’s family?

Ca: No, I didn’t. Actually, the only parents I was introduced to were Ophelia’s, and, well…

Op: Say no more.

Ca: Thank you.

…

Ch: And the classic schoolgirl, off to class with toast in her mouth and an alien abomination on her shoulder.

Ok: As one does.

Op: Why is it always toast? They’re not hard to eat. Just eat it with the rest of breakfast!

H: Does anyone else feel a strange, almost irresistible desire to strangle that little white rodent every time it shows up on screen?

Everyone: Yup!

Op: If someone doesn’t shoot that thing at least once before the end of the film, then I’m going to be very disappointed.

…

Ch: I guess this is the opening.

G: I thought the song where we were all feeding the creepy teddy bear until it blew up was the opening.

Ch: I don’t think that was an anything. That was just…there.

Ca: I really like the animation though.

Ok: Song’s pretty.

G: Oh, look! I am the main character!

Op: Oh, look! Look! There we are!

Ok: Yes! Spin that teacup!

H: Oh!

Ok: Hey, there you are!

Op: Looking all depressed and dramatic in that spotlight, but there you are.

H: Am I like…the rival or something?

Ch: Honestly, the rival is always the best character.

…

Ca: I like this part.

Op: Look at us all go! This is pretty adorable.

Ok: Candy, was it actually like that when we were, well, alive?

Ca: Actually, it’s not too far off.

Op: Neat.

H: Oh, that stupid clock. I’m always stuck in a clock!

…

Ok: Heh. Hip bump.

Op: See? Even Gretchen wants the old you to cheer up.

=Gretchen playfully bumps Homulilly with her hip, who smiles=

Ok: I don’t think you’re the rival. More of Gretchen’s mopey girlfriend. You know, to balance out her ray of sunshine vibes!

Ch: So…basically like it is now.

H: I’m not that mopey.

Ok: Well, this is teenage you.

H: True...

…

H: Again with the clocks, and-WHOA!

Ok: What’s up with the wings?

H: Could I fly? Was that something I could do?

Ca: No, the wings are new.

…

Op: Okay, this part rules.

Ok: Dance break! Come on, Homulilly! Join in!

G: What’s with all the close-ups of our hips?

Op: Well, they’re cute!

Ok: Hey, did we really break out into dance whenever Homulilly needed cheering up?

Ca: No, the dancing is new too. And I wouldn’t say that she was really all that mopey, just very…serious-minded and focused. Very mysterious too.

H: I wonder why.

G: Because it’s sexy.

Op: Can’t really argue with that.

…

Ch: Well, there’s some foreshadowing if I’ve ever seen it.

G: Why did I turn into sand?

Ok: It’s probably symbolic for something.

H: And why was it focusing so much on me? Am I the main character? I haven’t even shown up yet!

Ch: At least you got to be in the opening and mostly looked like yourself. Me? I get to be a creepy doll thing!

Op: At least you’re merchandisable.

Ch: Oh, like a bunch of cute girls in showy outfits can’t be merchandised. There’s probably like hundreds of little figurines and…uh…

G: What are you…oh.

Ch: Probably best not to think about it.

Op: Speak for yourself. I find a swimsuit version of us, I’m getting the whole set.

Ch: I will literally break your arms.

Ok: What if they have one of you? But, the doll version?

Ch: Oh, God! I just pictured it, and oh God! No!

Ok: Personally I’m hoping for body pillows.

Op: Oh, those they definitely have. You have to go to some shady places to get the nudy kind though.

Ok: Charlotte’s are probably sold official.

Ch: Stop! I am begging you to stop!

[theravencawsatmidnight]

It was lunch time at Karasuno High. Everyone was rushing to the lunchroom to grab the special melon bun the school had for the day . Jumping over each other grabbing a bun then rushing to find a place to sit. You were in no rush though , taking your time down the hallway holding your bag tight to your side so you don't bump any rushing kids. Usually you walked with your head down or you looked out the window , today it was the window since you knew you would see him. Always running to the gym with his lunch in his mouth, Sugawara follows , but at a calm walking pace while eating an energy bar.

Every now and then you skipped lunch to watch the boys practice but your eyes always went to Tanaka and stayed there. You never went in the gym, just peeked in through the doors or the side if they were propped open. You were too shy to go in and watch, you didn't know if they would even let you in. They all seemed nice so they probably would.. but it felt like some kind of barrier was in the gym keeping you out. So you watched from the sidelines whenever you could. Always moving away when one of them was going to notice you . Ducking behind a bush or the door , a couple times Kei walked out to look around , he would roll his eyes and go back in the gym.

Tanaka was very interesting to you. He was a very happy guy always acting out when he's around. His smile was your favorite thing about him. It pulled you in like a moth to a flame. You could never go up to him though, you thought he was out of your league even though your friends told you to just go up to him. You shook your head laughing it off.

One day during lunch Kei spotted you peeking into the gym for the hundredth time. He rolled his eyes turning to face the door . Everyone looked over asking what the problem was. He sighed adjusting his glasses. “Hey Stalker. Come here.” Groaned the slightly annoyed man. The hair on your body stood up when he said that, everyone saw you. Hinata took a step towards the door but you ran off , face as red as a tomato.

“Kei was that necessary ? “ Daichi asked, rubbing his eyes to release tension.

“Who cares, let's finish practice,” Tobio said, serving the ball.

The ball hit Hinata in the face and everyone freaked out except for Tanaka who was still looking at the door.

The next day Hinata found you in the hallway looking out the window down at the gym . Tanaka was running inside with Sugawara behind him. You leaned on the glass when Hinata came over looking concerned. “Y/n? You okay? I'm sorry about Kei. Don't take it personally.” You glanced over with wide eyes then back at the gym clenching your bag to your side.

“Oh-its fine. Dont worry about it.”

“Uhm. Kei said he's seen you a couple times outside the gym.” He watched you flinch. “Did you need to talk to us?”

“Tanaka..”

“Huh? You need to talk to Tanaka?”

“I want to..” a red blush appeared on your cheeks. “Watch him practice but im..”

Hinata got a big smile on his face . “Okay!!! Cmon!!” He grabbed your hand and you whined, resisting but he did not let up.

“Wait HINATA!!!!”

••

He dragged you all the way to the gym pulling you inside slamming the doors shut. He explained why you were always outside the gym and Tobio picked him up by the shirt glaring at him. “Do you see how embarrassed she is? “. Hinata struggled in Tobios grip while Daichi walked over to you leaning down to get eye level with you. “You're always welcome to watch us y/n. Not a big deal. But maybe watch over by the wall so you don't get hit with the ball okay?”

You hurried over sinking down against the wall with your bag on your lap. Hinata really just outright said you wanted to watch Tanaka practice . Your face was on fire and your heart was working double time to pump your blood. Tanaka had not stopped staring at you once Hinata pulled you into the gym.

Ukai just rolled his eyes smiling at these antics , “okay c'mon back to practice.”

It was hard to relax with so many eyes glancing over to you . Tobio and Hinatas bickering was amusing though. Yuu was very confident in himself and Tanaka was his usual self once he focused on the game. Watching him play helped calm you down after a while. His antics , yelling, motivational speaking , wanting to be called ‘senpai’ . It was nice and humoris. Kei glared at you a couple times but you shrug it off.

••

After practice you wanted to rush outta the gym before anyone noticed but Tanaka caught you as soon as you got to the door .

“Can we uh.. talk?” He asked .

Your heart fell in your stomach when you nodded.

Tanaka sat down with you on the steps after closing the doors . Your bag was sitting on your lap in a vice grip and your heart was going 100.

“Heh. I never thought anyone would wanna watch me play!!!”

“Uhm! I didn't mean.. to be weird. I just..-“

“No no!! Really. Come by anytime. Makes me feel special! Usually girls come by to watch Tobio or Azamane.”

You smiled at him and he flashed you one back.

“Its really okay Tanaka?”

“Yup!!!”

“O-okay. I will then.”

••

The next couple days were some of the best for you. You got more comfortable going to the practice. Tanaka started to get excited when you showed up and spent time with you in between breaks to learn about you and teach you how to play. At some point you slipped up and said ‘senpai’ to Tanaka when you missed the ball.

The gym was very quiet for a long time. Tanaka was on the floor twitching with a grin on his face, His eye twitching. Kei walked over to you with his arms folded over his chest. “Great. Now he's not gonna shut up about that.”

“I'M SORRY!!!”

Daichi went over to Tanaka, kneeling down pulling something out of his pocket. He walked over to you rubbing the back of his head, handing you a ticket . “He was gonna give you this. Ticket to our next game. He would love for you to come y/n”

You took the ticket holding it close , blush covering your face. “Ill be there.. thank you!!!!”

••

It was the day of the game and you did in fact show up to watch . You were looking forward to seeing Tanaka in a real game. You had no idea Oikawa was looking at you with a devilish look on his face.

[ajoblotofjunk]

Hi! I've been reading you on Ao3 & wanted to tell you I'm SO impressed with HFoG. I have LOTS of things to say: mainly I was floored by how well you handled so many storylines/arcs while still keeping it clean & basic + tropey & never dumbing down complicated characters thru so many words! I think you outline but wondered if you could share more about your process? I'm in the midst of an 8book graphic novel script & the way you stuck the landing gives me hope! I am a huge fan of all of your work

Hi! Thank you for your lovely comment. 😊 I’m happy to talk about my process.

The way all of my stories start is an idea - sometimes a song will inspire me, sometimes a photo, sometimes a prompt, sometimes a “what if?” question. In HFoG’s case it was the video for Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” where I wanted to write a story where Jaime was the rich car owner and Brienne was the mechanic.

This gets long (SURPRISE) so the rest under a cut to save your dash. This is certainly way more than you wanted to know but hopefully there’s something helpful here. Hee.

Once I get an idea, I start expanding on it in general terms before I start writing - is Brienne his personal mechanic? (At one point she was, for his many, many cars.) Does she work at a garage? Why does Jaime have a car like this and why does he bring it to her? Etc. This is where my initial idea will often undergo the most changes and certainly for HFoG that’s what happened. I don’t really remember why I shifted to F1 - I wasn’t even an F1 fan when I thought of the idea. 😂 I’d watched some NASCAR growing up, but I didn’t want him to be a NASCAR driver and the more I looked into F1 as I became attached to the idea of Jaime as a racecar driver (oh I remember now! He was an ex-driver in initial renditions of the idea, and then I thought it would be great for Brienne to get to actually be a part of the racing world which is why I made him a current driver), the more I realized it fit him perfectly.

Once I have a solid enough idea to get me at least a few chapters in, I start writing, usually with only a vague idea where I want to end up (and often that idea is “they’re together and happy,” because I’m writing romances at their core). HFoG was quite different even from the start because I did so much research to get familiar with F1 that it bred all sorts of new ideas and plot changes even pre-writing. In my very very first version, the story was just a single year and Jaime got the championship and Brienne was happy as his Mechanic and they ended up happy together at the end, which would have been a perfectly lovely story! But once I realized I wanted to include Jaime’s hand injury, that changed a lot of the story and I did some brainstorming work and ended up having a pretty significant outline even before I started writing.

HOWEVER. If you look at even that outline now it’s SO DIFFERENT from where HFoG ultimately ended up. The first six months were the same, but everything after that was changed. Which I think is the fundamental key to how I write: start out with a really strong backbone (Jaime and Brienne falling in love while working together in F1), start writing, discover what the story is as I go along, and continually think about and update and add to my outline as I figure out what I’m really doing. So it’s like half-planning, half-discovery. 

In the original version of hand-loss HFoG, Jaime goes to Tarth in August but they don’t have sex, he crashes in September but he’s wounded like Robert Kubica and doesn’t lose his hand. Brienne ends up convincing her dad to start a team so Jaime can race and they don’t actually get together until the middle of year two, and then Jaime ends up winning the championship that second year.

The reason I changed all that was because as I started writing the fic I wanted more for both Brienne. Jaime, too, but he had a rich emotional plot to support the love story and I wanted Brienne to have that, too. I knew the story was going to be long (70-90k I thought; my longest fic before this was 70k and that felt like a damned novel to me!), and to support that length I wanted Brienne to have her own dreams and personal plot. Everything from the first August and after was something I struggled with CONSTANTLY even while I was writing the story. Brynn can attest to this - I sent her SEVERAL emails wailing and gnashing my teeth and changing my mind constantly about what I should do and where it should all go. I honestly don’t think I felt confident about it until I was actually writing the second year. I second guessed myself repeatedly.

But. I started writing with the original outline because I felt confident about the first few chapters and I trust myself enough now that I know the story will reveal itself if I keep working on it. I had this happen just yesterday with my JB Fic Exchange story, which FINALLY re-settled itself in my head after I kept writing even though I knew what I was writing wasn’t going to be it - that happens a LOT for me, actually, which is also why I write ahead for long stories, because I know things are going to change and I’ll want to go back to earlier chapters to add in moments to support later chapters and changed plots, which I can’t do if I’m writing as I go. Do I flail and freak out every time that I have no idea what I’m doing? Absolutely. Heh. But so far my brain has not let me down. Often I just keep relentlessly writing even though it all feels awkward and weird, because once I stop and re-read and determine WHY it’s awkward and weird, that tells me what I should be doing instead. I’ve thrown away SO MANY words, but they’ve all needed it.

My outline for HFoG was by month, with the idea that each month was a chapter. This is pretty typical for me when I do finally expand on my idea into an outline. All of my multi-chapter fics end up with at least a brief outline with vague, high-level ideas of what I want to happen in each chapter (plot, emotions, romance, whatever), and often one or two specific events or lines of dialogue that have come to me. I don’t write ahead, I write all in a row because of the discovery factor, but when I do get struck by a flash of a scene, I write that down for the chapter I think it’s going to be in.

What’s important for my process is that those scenes can be moved to wherever they need to go, and are often changed by the time I get to them. I do have things in in the final version of HFoG that had been in these early outlines, but not in the place or exact way I first wrote them down, and that’s because as much as I do outline, I have to tell the story I’m actually telling, and that will sometimes wind to places I didn’t expect as I’m writing it. So the outline guides me, but I don’t bind myself to it so tightly that I can’t be flexible when the story demands it. I also re-read the story a lot as I write (or at least the chapters nearest the chapter I’m working on, once it gets to a certain length), because that will often help ground me in where I’m going, too, by remembering where I’ve been.

One of the toughest parts about HFoG as I got deeper into it was juggling secondary and tertiary characters and when to use them and how. Jaime’s and Brienne’s arcs formed the backbone of my outline, but as I pulled in characters, I knew I wanted them to intersect with J&B throughout, usually in support of J&B’s storylines but with the weight of having their own lives going on underneath. To help with that, I had a list of characters who had recurring roles in the story and when I started each chapter, I would go through and remind myself of if I wanted/needed them to appear and what their purpose was for doing so (and a little about what else they’d been up to, so I could throw that in for color - like Pod finding a girlfriend; that had no “plot” effect, but it gave Pod, a character i care about, happiness and was something I could refer to in other scenes just for depth and emotional weight).

As for sticking the landing - I had tremendous anxiety about just that for weeks, most intensely the weeks I was writing the last chapters and right afterward when I was going to post them. I worried people would hate the final confrontation with Tywin, that they’d want more or something different, and in that case it was very reassuring to have Brynn, who was the only one who’d read the ending at that point, to talk me through it. I would HIGHLY recommend a beta who is good at the things you are not, by the way. I can’t tell you the number of times Brynn would make a point about the emotional arc of a scene and remind me to take a step back and look at how the characters were feeling in the moment, and that consistently made the story so much better.

SO. In summary my process is: initial idea; expand on that idea enough I can start writing (which sometimes involved lots of research); outline if I need it but not required as I write the first chapter or two; definitely need an outline after that, organized by chapter, with high points of plot and emotions and whatever else I already have in my head; use the outline as a lamp to illuminate the story I’m telling; keep writing even when it all feels wrong, knowing I will get to the right path EVENTUALLY, and update outline accordingly; lots of freaking out to a sympathetic and smart friend; side-notes about non-main characters so I don’t completely forget them/develop new plot points/expand on existing plot points because of them; hope it all works out in the end. Heh.

Hopefully there’s something helpful here. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! And best of luck on your own big project!! It’s a ton of work but the rewards are great in the end. You can do this!

[danurso]

Fate crossover AU

Chalice: it is done.

Salem: so you turned those eight into masters?

Chalice: yes, and now we just have to wait until they destroy themselves to get the chalice.

Salem: and then the world will be engulfed by destruction and despair.

Chalice: exactly.

Salem: it is certainly a brilliant plan. Making ozpin’s favorite students kill themselves for a wish just so the last one can die in the end by their own greed.

Chalice: now, all we have to do is wait.

Salem: *with a malicious smile* i wonder how the war is going, how many of them are already dead? And who killed who?

Chalice: let's take a look shall we? *summons a large glowing orb.*

Salem: let's take a look at the berserker's master first, she seems to be the most violent one.

Chalice: *nods making the sphere show the berserker's master*

Nora: HHHHRAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

Hercules: RRRRRRHAHAAAAA!!!

Nora: HHHHHHRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Hercules: RRRRRRRRRRRHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Nora: HHHHHHHHHHRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Hercules: RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

Nora: *pushes hercules’ arm down against the table* YESSSSS!!!!! I TOLD YOU!!!! NO ONE BEATS ME IN A ARM WRESTLING!!!!

Hercules: RRRRRHAHHHRRAAH!!!

Nora: *crosses her arms with a grin* too much of a sore loser, aren’t you?

Hercules: RRHAHARAHHARR!!!

Nora: fine, fine, let's go for one more round, but if i win i wanna try out your axe, is that good?

Hercules: HRHRHAAAAARHHARR!!

Nora: then let's go!!! *puts her arm on the table and starts another arm wrestle with hercules*

Salem: *sighs* this girl has a lot of potential for destruction, only if she wasn’t so stupid.

Chalice: let's try someone else.

Salem: go for the silver eyed girl and her archer, lets see how ozpin’s pure warrior descended with this war.

Chalice: *nods making the orb focus on the archer’s master*

Gilgamesh: ENUMA ELISH!!!! *sends a wave of red energy destroying a whole mountain with ease*

Ruby: *gasps in awe with stars on her eyes* THATS SOO COOOOL!!! What other weapons do you have!?!?

Gilgamesh: heh, you are quite the curious mongrel aren’t you? But as i stated before, i have all the weapons that ever existed and that will ever exist.

Ruby: all weapons!? So you have crescent rose as well!?

Gilgamesh: *pulling crescent rose from a portal* of course mongrel, your simple weapon along with many others.

Ruby: please show me some of them!!! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!!! *begging with her puppy eyes*

Gilgamesh: *sighs with a slight grin* farewell mongrel, be grateful that this king enjoys your pathetic pleas, i will allow you to have a brief glimpse of my great arsenal *summons thousands of portals with several weapons*

Ruby: *heavy breathing intensifies*

Gilgamesh: what do you think, mongrel?

Ruby: *whispers to herself* im so fucking wet right now.

Salem: *facepalming* i should have imagined, what about ozpin’s chosen maiden and her lancer?

Chalice: *nods making the orb show the lancer’s master.*

Scathách: WHAT ARE YOU!? A COWARD!?

Pyrrha: I'M NOT A COWARD!!

Scathách: THEN PROVE YOURSELF TO ME MASTER!! SHOW ME YOUR TRUE COURAGE!!!

Pyrrha: I WILL!!! *bolts out of the room*

Scathách: *crosses her arms and sighs in deception* 3...2...1...aaand.

Pyrrha: *shyly walking back in* b-but what if he rejects me?

Scathách: for the last time master, you’re a hot, drop dead gorgeous warrior, what man in this world wouldn’t bent at your will?

Pyrrha: *looking down with a small blush* i-it’s just that jaune is really important to me, a-and i don’t wanna risk-

Scathách: *holding both of her shoulders* listen here master, you’re going to do exactly what i tell you to do okay?

Pyrrha: o-okay.

Scathách: there are many ways to get to a man’s heart, but the most effective is through their spear if you know what i mean.

Pyrrha: *blushes deeply*w-wha-

Scathách: shshshs, don’t interrupt me. What i want you to do, is get out of this room, find your men, pin him against the wall and ravish him senseless, Do you understand me?

Pyrrha: *blushing madly* i-i can’t do t-that!

Scathách: really? So you’re saying that you will allow your men to be taken away by some low whore like that white haired girl you told me about?

Pyrrha: *with a cold determination* not in a million years.

Scathách: *grins* that's more like it, now let me teach you some tricks that will make him squirm beneath you.

Pyrrha: *blushes again but listens carefully*

Salem: *deadpans* i honestly can’t believe this. Let's see the assassin, maybe he’s doing his job.

Chalice: *nods making the orb show the assassin’s master*

Kojiro: *sitting in a meditating position* hummm...

Ren: *sits down across him* here. *hands him a cup of his healthy green goo*

Kojiro: thank you master *picks cup and sips the goo* delicious, you have a great talent with herbs.

Ren: thank you, it is good to have someone who knows how to appreciate the taste and benefits of this juice.

Kojiro: i can’t see how someone wouldn’t find this to be as delicious as is healthy.

Ren: you would be surprised. now, shall we continue?

Kojiro: of course master. Hummm *resumes to meditation*

Ren: hummm *starts meditating as well*

Salem: *getting angry* why is the assassin drinking tar from the grimm pits instead of assassinating other masters!?

Chalice: i don’t know, let's take a look at someone else, maybe the saber master already started his battles given that saber is the most powerful class.

Salem: let's see it then.

Chalice: *nods making the orb show the saber’s master*

Weiss: hmm...the answer is fire dust.

Arturia: correct, another question perfectly answered master.

Weiss: thank you saber, you have been very helpful in my studies.

Arturia: there is no reason for you to thank me master, i am only doing my mission as your servant.

Weiss: still, it is really good to have someone who can help me study and that actually have manners around. Do you want some more tea? *picks tea kettle*

Arturia: i will gladly accept it master. *waits until weiss fill her cup before carefully sipping the tea*

Weiss: as much as i love to talk to you, i believe we have to finish some more urgent matters.

Arturia: indeed. Who was the one who discovered dust?

Weiss: hmm...it was-

Salem: *pinching the bridge of her nose* she has access to such a powerful servant, yet she’s using her to study!? Please tell me at least rider is still on his conquering plans?

Chalice: *nods making the orb show the rider’s master*

Iskandar: *watching yang finish chugging a whole jar of wine* HAHAHAHAHA!! YOU REALLY ARE A HEAVY DRINKER FOR SUCH A YOUNG WOMAN MASTER!!! *pats her back heavily*

Yang: *almost chokes on the drink but finishes her jar, taking a deep breath right after* and you’re not half bad for a two thousand year old guy! *pats his back making him fall on the ground* oops, sorry~

Iskandar: HAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU ARE A REALLY FUN MASTER!!! WAITRESS!! BRING MORE WINE TO US!! THIS FEAST IS ONLY BEGINNING!! *throws his jar on the wall*

Yang: YOU HEARD THE MAN!! *also throws her jar on the wall* KEEP’EM COMING JUNIOR!!!!

Salem: even the conqueror!? What is wrong with these servants!?

Chalice: i have no idea.

Salem: show me caster, casters usually are the most evil between the servants.

Chalice: *nods making the orb show the caster’s master*

Blake: *holding a spellbook* these spells...are they real?

Merlin: just as real as i am...what about these books of yours master? *holding ‘ninjas of love vol.1’* i am really curious to see how literature has evolved since i was alive.

Blake: *blushing* w-well, i wouldn’t recommend this one, i-if you want i can show you the libra-

Merlin: *holding the now glowing book* amazing, this book is filled with so much information about sexual intercourse, i’ve never seen one like that before, and the story is really thrilling as well.

Blake: wait...you already finished? And liked?

Merlin: of course, thanks to my magic i can read a whole book without having to actually read it, now, would you have more of these, i am really interested.

Blake: r-really?

Merlin: *nods* of course i am, i’ve never seen such an amazing piece if literature like this one in my time.

Blake: *closes her eyes and whispers* thank you gods, i don’t deserve such a blessing *re-opens her eyes and picks up her huge pile of smu- i mean, her huge pile of mature books* if you liked this one, i think you’ll love these, and then we can discuss about it once you finish.

Merlin: i would certainly love that, now where should i start master? This one seems interesting ‘the pirate quest for the booty’ can i take a look master? It does sounds-

Salem: ISN’T THERE A SINGLE SERVANT WHO CAN CAUSE DESTRUCTION AND CHAOS LIKE THEY SHOULD!?

Chalice: well, there’s still avenger.

Salem: avenger? Ohh yes...the avenger, the servant composed by the dark hatred of the chalice, there is no mistake now, this servant for sure is causing a lot of destruction. Show me him.

Chalice: *nods making the orb show the avenger’s master*

Edmond: *covered in dark flames* GHAHAHAHA!! YES!! I AM EDMOND DANTES!! THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO!! THE VERY INCARNATION OF VENGEANCE!!! THE GRUDGE OF DARKNESS!! THE MAN WHO ESCAPED CHATEAU D’IF!!! THE MAN WHO SURVIVED TO FOURTEEN YEARS OF TORTURE AFTER BEING BETRAYED BY THOSE WHO HE MOST TRUSTED!!! THE WARRIOR OF THE EXTRA CLASS!! I AM THE AVENGER!!!

Jaune: wow...fourteen years of torture?

Edmond: yes, inside that damned castle was only torture every day.

Jaune: and right after the peoples you loved betrayed you?

Edmond: yes, my beloved bride mercedes married to my best friend mondego, the man who betrayed my trust and framed me so i would rot in prison for the rest of my existence.

Jaune: oof, sounds rough buddy...wanna talk about it? My shoulder is free if you want.

Edmond: *crying on jaune’s shoulder* i didn’t knew the content of that letter!! It wasn’t my fault napoleon didn’t knew how to keep his word!!

Jaune: *patting his back* yeah, yeah, just let it all out.

Edmond: that castle was an absolute hell!! I suffered so much in it!! And even after i escaped i ended finding out that my bride married only a month after i was arrested!! ONE. FREAKING. MONTH!!! AND TO THAT MONDEGO ASSHOLE ABOVE ALL!!! DIDN’T SHE HAD ANY CONSIDERATION FOR THE MAN WHO LOVED HER SO MUCH!?!?!?

Jaune: *still patting his back* yeah, just like that, let all your anger out.

Edmond: *angry crying mumbles*

Chalice: well...that was unexpected.

Salem: *repeatedly slamming her head against the wall* WHY!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!?

[a-vamp-and-a-half]

Anon Jim:*trying to not let on about hearing the whispers, keeping on a calm face* hmm, well than how about looking for a cure to this, once you mend those friendships, see if you can look for a cure to this, I have a good gut feeling there is one for this *smiles* I'm sure you're friends are a lot smarter than me, team up with them and see if you can all fix this *holds themselves due to the chill* however, maybe at least a few days away from here would be good, just to clear your mind

Actor notices you shivering and frowns, adding more wood to the fire. “A cure. Heh.” It’s a short, bitter laugh.

“I tried, my dear, I really did. I poured over as many books related to vampires and supernatural cures as I could find. True, I didn’t venture very far to find them, but there can’t be much more out there, now can there?”

So little out there

Fool’s errand

Stay

“I tried every suggestion I came across, all of them claiming to be sure to work.” He throws another piece of wood into the fire, with far more force than necessary. It makes the flame jump, flare out, and you watch his hand get burned, only to heal in mere seconds.

“All failures. I don’t know if it’s because I was never bitten, or if those books were just legends and frauds-”

You have a feeling that that’s exactly what those books were.

“-but not one of them worked in the slightest!” he yells.

Give up

Accept

Stay

He takes a deep, shaky breath, and looks at you. “Apologies. My frustration got the better of me.”

He looks back into the fire. “A few days away... I’ll think about it. Maybe I could... try to find William. See if he’s found any sort cure or way of controlling himself.” 

He doesn’t sound very committed to the idea. 

You feel like something is watching you, and whatever it is, it’s angry. You feel the anger coming from everywhere around you, a sensation of being scowled at without the visual of the actual scowl.

Actor sits back. You two stay there in silence for a while. You continue to shiver. Sometimes he looks over at you, about to speak, and then he stops before he makes a sound.

The whispers seem to have gone away for now.

“Thank you,” he says, finally breaking the silence. “For talking to me. It’s been too long since I had a conversation with anyone.”

//Would this be a good place to end our little trip to Actor? Or do you think there’s more to do here?

[rwbyremnants]

Glad you guys are liking this so far! Special thanks to Tom G. for the beta work!

=Chapter 2

The next day, Weiss braced herself as she walked past locker 134. But this time, nothing happened. The Dragons all looked at her, and Yang’s expression held a strange mixture of emotions. The others looked a little smug. Still, none of them said a word. The looks on their faces haunted her so badly that she barely noticed what she was doing, stumbling through her day.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Glancing up, she flashed a wan smile over at her friend. “Oh… nothing, Pyrrha; it’s fine. I just feel a little weird.”

“Weird in what way?” Studious as always, Pyrrha Nikos had already taken her notes from the board and was now happy to focus on her friend. What a sweet soul. There was a reason the two had been thick as thieves for so much of their lives.

“Well… I’ll tell you at lunch.”

So she did. It was hard to get through the rest of class, but she managed, completing her notes even if it took her twice as much effort to concentrate as usual. Then, once they had gained the relative quiet of the cafeteria, she unloaded all her woes onto her friend.

“She kissed you?!”

Face beet red as she tried to focus on her tray of underwhelming school food, Weiss whispered, “Keep your voice down! And… yes.”

“But that’s…” Glancing very briefly over at the table on the other side of the room, where the Dragons were holding court, the red-haired amazon whispered, “You’re both women!”

“Really, Pyrrha? Am I a woman? What gave that away?”

Frowning, Pyrrha looked back down to her tray. “I’m sorry. But I’m not sure what else to say.” After a pause, she added, “Did you like it?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Really?!” At least she was keeping her voice down now. “Weiss, I thought you were going to tell me that it was disgusting, a-and that you wanted my help reporting her to the authorities!”

“Reporting her for what? Feeding me a cheeseburger and giving me a kiss?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

The prissy platinum blonde deflated, all fire and vinegar leaving her. “It was nice. But it was also disgusting. Sorry I can’t describe it any better than that, because I really don’t have any other frame of reference. I’ve never been kissed by anyone before.”

“I’ve never been kissed by anyone still.” Scratching the back of her neck, she reached for her milk carton with her other hand. “But it really wasn’t bad? Kissing a woman? I mean, you said ‘disgusting’ but you also said ‘nice’, which sounds like… it wasn’t the worst thing you’ve ever experienced.”

“It wasn’t.” The two simple words took a lot more effort to get out than they should have.

“Wow…”

“H-hey, you know that I’m telling you this in confidence, right? Don’t go blabbing it around the whole school.”

Looking quite offended, Pyrrha urgently hissed, “I would never! You’re my best friend! Even if I don’t really know how to feel about… well, about this, that doesn’t mean I could-”

They were both interrupted by someone bumping into Weiss’s back as she walked past. It was one of the Dragons - a dark-skinned girl with vibrant green hair. She didn’t even glance back at them, but merely kept walking toward her comrades.

“Rude,” Weiss grumbled.

“Hey, what’s this?” Pyrrha asked as she bent to the floor. When she straightened back up, she had a folded sheet of notebook paper between her strong-but-dainty fingers.

“I don’t know, what is it?”

“She dropped it. Emerald, I mean.”

“That’s her name? Emerald?” But they were both too curious about the note to focus on the identity of the one who dropped it. There weren’t many words to read:

‘Princess. Same place same time. Or not.’

Weiss was reading it through again when Pyrrha whispered, “What does it mean? Do you think she… dropped it by you on purpose?”

“I don't know.” Sliding it into one of her books, she added, “But I suppose I'm going to find out.”

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

Weiss shivered in the slight breeze as she waited in the school parking lot. The weather wasn't turning to Autumn chill quite yet, but Summer was definitely over. Besides, her cheerleader skirt let more air in than it could have; she should start wearing tights underneath soon.

“There she is. Right on schedule.”

That wasn't Yang’s voice.

After a second of hesitation, she turned to see three of the Dragons bearing down on her. They were all wearing the standard black leather jackets, elegant art of an Asian-style dragon on the backs, but their outfits varied beyond that. Emerald was wearing jeans, a low-cut top that matched her hair and baby doll pumps. The Italian-looking girl had leather pants and a white tank top on, black boots that more suited the jacket. And the third…

Weiss found herself getting lost in the smoldering eyes. They were somehow hypnotic. Her simple red dress flared out around her knees, and the trim tapering legs disappeared into matching strappy heels - the open toes were a tiny bit scandalous in their conservative little town. In some ways, she looked far too delicate to be a Dragon… except for her fiery gaze was more fierce than even that of Yang herself.

“The Dragon sends her regards,” she purred in a silky voice.

“So the Dragon can't come see me herself? That's nice. I can tell she really cares about me when she sends her flunkies.”

The Italian girl scowled before snapping, “Hey, watch it, Pep Rally Princess. Yang can't always be available; she has responsibilities.”

“Then what was the point of this?”

“To test your interest level,” the fiery girl susurrated. Her hand reached out and nipped a strand of hair behind Weiss’s ear, prompting her to shiver before taking a step backward. “Heh… nervous little thing.”

Folding her arms over her chest, Weiss grumbled, “Thought you were supposed to back off if I let her try charming me once. That was the deal.”

“Have we bothered you all day?” Emerald insisted. “No. This is just checking in. And like Cinder said, we want to know if you would be open to more fun with Yang or not. But you showed up, so you must not be too mad about last night.”

“I'm not a homosexual.” When they all giggled, she snapped, “What? Why is that funny?!”

“So many girls have said that,” the one called Cinder laughed easily.

“Said that to Yang?”

Emerald offered with a little smirk, “To all of us.”

“Oh.” She took another little step backward, a hand raising to ward off sudden advances. “You're all lesbians? Like a… a group of delinquent deviants?”

The Dragons laughed. And instantly, it was back to the way things were before; an entire gang of girls laughing, making fun of her. Looking down on her as some kind of simpleton, a pleb who didn't understand the world as intimately as they did. Weiss wanted to disappear.

But then Cinder cackled, “I like the alliteration. And it's close enough to true that it might as well be.”

Maybe this time they weren't laughing at her. It helped relieve some of her fear, her shame. And her curiosity could take center stage again. “Really? You all… kiss women?” A nod from all three. “Why don't you just kiss each other, then?”

“Some of us have,” Emerald admitted - and she saw one of Cinder’s eyelids twitch, and the Italian girl’s hands went into her jacket pockets. “But mostly, we don't date inside the Dragons. We're all like sisters to each other, so it would be weird.”

“Oh. Well… I guess that makes sense. As much as any of this does.”

“And not all of us date only women. Coco is going steady with that boy Fox, even though she keeps Velvet on a short leash, too.”

Weiss looked over at the Italian girl, who shook her head with a slight smile. “No, I'm Blake. And I'm all about pussy.”

“You really are,” Cinder muttered, and the other two laughed.

The word “pussy” was still making Weiss blush, but she found her voice again. “O-okay, so… so you all like girls, and you all like me? Or what? I'm not really… sure why you…”

The three had turned to stare at her, and she was stuck by how intense their gazes could be when they let the full brunt of them fall on a single target.

“Someone thinks she's real cool cat,” Emerald snorted.

“Well, she is,” Cinder said in that low, silky tone of hers as she began to pace around Weiss, the latter turning to keep her in sight. “Those sweet cheeks, long, skinny legs… and it's so cold today. Really committed to showing her school spirit.” Her fingers flipped the very edge of Weiss’s skirt to illustrate.

“H-hey, it's not that cold! And I could say the same about you, with that dress!” When Cinder took a step toward her, she stepped back. “What are you doing?!”

“Testing.”

“Well, I have had enough tests for one lifeti-”

Her heart leapt into her throat in a way it hadn't done yet when she felt not one, but two bodies connecting with her back. A hand apiece from Blake and Emerald fell to her arms, not quite gripping tight but still boxing her in as Cinder stepped forward, completely taking over her field of vision.

“Smells good,” Blake observed, voice low and intimate in a way that sent shivers up Weiss's spine. “Jasmine?”

Terrified, Weiss whispered, “M… me?”

“I agree; it's jasmine.” Cinder sounded completely at ease, which only made Weiss feel less so. Her hand came up to pet along the side of her neck. “Soft skin. Really takes good care of herself.”

“W-wait, I'm… what are you doing to me?” No answer. The three petting hands were joined by two more in the small of her back, and she clamped her eyes shut. “What… are you going to… do?”

Lips next to her ear told her in a whisper, “Whatever you want.” She couldn't even tell who they belonged to.

“Please… I…”

Something she would never have predicted in all her life happened. She realised that beneath her fear, and how little she wanted those three to be pressing in on her from all sides… it was also the most exciting thing that had ever happened in her short, sheltered life. Her hands came up to slap Cinder, or push her away, and only wound up resting on her shoulders.

“Golly gee,” came a husky voice from her left side. Probably Blake, if they hadn't changed positions. “I think… she's into it.”

“Naturally.” Weiss finally opened her eyes, only to see the burning embers staring back as Cinder whispered, “I think this has been a very successful test. Don't you?”

Weiss swallowed. After a moment, she managed to breathe, “I… I d-don't… please stop, I’m-” Instantly, they all backed off. “Huh?”

“Now I'm more worried about Yang being with you than you being with Yang,” Blake laughed. Of the three of them, she was the only one who looked a little flustered.

“You stopped.”

“Mmm, we did,” Cinder said with a smug smirk. “The word ‘stop’ was pretty clear. Besides, our goal wasn't to start a foursome in the middle of the parking lot. Just to see if you were… open to courting one of us, or if our fearless leader would be wasting her time.”

Emerald patted her arm, and it was a lot more platonic. “Looks like you're our kinda girl, Schnee.”

“No,” she breathed. But she sounded less than sure. Yang's kiss returned to the forefront of her mind, and her already-flushed face turned darker.

“It's alright,” Blake offered gently. That was enough to make her feel a little flare of affection for her, simply because it was the kindest thing any of them had said since this sapphic gauntlet began. “None of us are going to judge you, obviously.”

Cinder let out a harsh little laugh. “Pampering the new blood? No. Let her figure it out on her own like we had to. It will make her stronger.”

“I'm not joining your little social club,” Weiss said defiantly. Though her voice shook, at least she did it.

“Listen to this rich girl. What a-”

“That's alright,” Blake cut her off. “Take your time. Girls?”

At Blake's prompt, Cinder and Emerald began to walk away with her toward their bikes. It was only Blake who looked back, though her expression was unreadable. The entire encounter had left the pampered princess shaken and her legs buckled, sending her down to the pavement. There she remained, trembling and completely useless, until Pyrrha arrived.

“You alright?” she asked gently, reaching down a hand to help her up as her green eyes stared down in concern.

“Just… take me home, please?”

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

It took twice as long for her to finish her homework that night. Pyrrha stayed with her, and listened when she needed to vent about what was going on with the Dragons. After a while, the subject became the prime focus.

“So do you think they might be right? That you're… like they are?”

“Of course not!” Weiss burst out, flopping onto her back on her canopy bed. “I like boys! Sun, that football player? O-or… um, I don't know, um…”

The taller girl shrugged, penciling in another answer. “You don't have to prove anything to me, Weiss. But it doesn't sound like you wanted them to stop.”

“Like I…” Blinking, she turned toward her more fully. “What do you mean? I was terrified!”

“No, of course! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you wanted them to keep going, either - or that they should have done that! Still… the way you talk about it doesn't make it seem as if the event itself was bad. Only that you didn't trust the people doing it, so you weren't comfortable with it going further. That's all I'm trying to say.”

Her cheeks were already darkening. “So I would have been alright with it if it was Yang, is that what you're trying to say?”

“I don't know! I've never had to think about girls going with girls before!” Sighing, she reached over to pat Weiss's wrist. “Please know that if you tell me you're not interested, then I believe you. But if you're asking how this sounds to me…”

“Oh…” She sighed, putting her hand over Pyrrha's. They shared a tentative smile. “You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just really on edge. Let's get back to work.”

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

Late that night, a sharp sound startled Weiss awake. When she went to her window to see the source, she was just in time to watch a rock ricochet off the glass. Staring down at the ground a floor below, she was able to make out the dim figure of Yang Xiao Long.

“What are you doing?!” she mouthed after opening the window. All Yang did was motion for her to come outside. “No! It’s almost midnight!”

“Come on!” Yang mouthed, glancing around nervously.

“How?!” Her hands swept wide to the roof. There was no way for her to get outside without going through the entire house. Yang pointed to the corner; there was a trellis lining one side of the porch. “Oh…”

“Hurry!”

Cursing her own stupidity, Weiss put on her heeled slippers with white rabbit fur pom poms and cautiously climbed out the window onto the thin lip of roof that stretched over the porch, knowing she was about to fall and break her neck. The one time she glanced over, she saw Yang was a lot closer now, standing just below where Weiss was crouching. Ready to catch her if need be. A little at a time, she made her way over to the trellis until she could safely climb down.

“There,” Yang whispered now that they could hear each other properly, cradling her in her arms like a lifeguard with a drowning victim.

“Put me down!” Yang did, though she looked regretful. “Thank you.”

“Great. C'mon, let’s take a walk.”

Once they were down the block and away from her home, Weiss demanded, “Alright, what is so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow? My father would blow his stack if he found out I was sneaking out in the middle of the night like this!”

“Blake told me what happened.”

Gulping, she felt her shoulders go stiff. “And?”

“And… I wanted you to know, I had nothing to do with that. Like, I was gonna give you a few days to figure out how you felt. They weren’t supposed to rush you.”

“Oh.” The tension didn’t leave, but her ire began to wane. This wasn't what she had been expecting at all. “I suppose I believe you. They never said you asked them to do it, and I didn’t see you looking at me after they dropped the note.”

“Note?”

As they walked, Weiss recounted her side of the story on the after-school encounter. Yang mostly just listened, hands stuffed in the pockets of her leather jacket and expression impassive. They had reached a cul-de-sac when the tale finished up.

“You could have punched Cinder in the tit. She talks a big game, but she’s really only dangerous if she’s got a knife in her hands. Or fire; she’s a terrible firebug. Otherwise, you could probably take her if you needed to.”

“But could I have taken all three of them? When I’ve never so much as thrown a punch before?”

Yang snorted. “Fair point.”

“They really thought I wanted to… I don’t know, date all of them at once? But that’s crazy!”

“You were into it, though.” Before Weiss could protest, she held up a hand. “It was new. You liked the attention, and it felt real neat and exciting with them being so close, even if you were scared and might not have really wanted it if you had the chance to think.”

The accuracy of her assessment stunned the prissy girl. “Yeah. That’s… that’s it exactly.”

“I get it. And they’re all really hot.”

“That’s less pertinent,” she sighed.

“Really? Which one isn’t hot?”

“None of them! To me! I mean, I like boys!”

“Do you?” she pressed, reaching over to take up Weiss’s hand and swing it idly between them. Weiss didn’t pull it away. “You can like both, you know. Like Coco.”

In a small voice, Weiss whispered, “But I don’t. Before now, I’ve never really thought enough about dating anybody at all. Boy, girl, wooly mammoth… nobody. Even if I do think Elvis is dreamy.” Yang laughed. “Stop making fun of me all the time!”

“Wooly mammoth,” she chortled, and Weiss finally cracked a reluctant smile. “Good one.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“But seriously, I meant it when I said I would back off if you weren’t interested. But I didn’t want you thinking they were shaking you down for answers for my sake. They were being overprotective all on their own.”

“Protecting you against me? That makes no sense. You’re so…”

One of Yang’s eyebrows went up, but Weiss didn’t finish and she didn’t force the issue. “Even Dragons are human. Well, these Dragons are.” Sighing, she looked up at the sky as they paced down the sidewalk. “Lot of crap in my past I’m not proud of. Pain. I broke some hearts. A couple girls broke mine. Whatever. But they know that when I go all-in on a girl, I go all-in. No beating around the bush.”

“And… they don’t want to see you get hurt again?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow,” Weiss breathed. “I didn’t expect you to admit you get hurt.”

“I get hurt all the time. Of course, my response is usually to hurt back.” Her grin was lopsided, and for some reason it made Weiss’s heart skip over a beat. “But hey, sex is just sex. If you did decide to try a little fun with all three of them, I wouldn’t care.”

Now her heart was just stopping dead entirely. It took a few seconds for her to resume normal breathing and hiss, “YANG! That is so inappropriate! I w-wouldn’t- that isn’t how I-”

“Whatever. I’m not here to pass judgment. ‘Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone’ and all. You wanna chase another girl? Have at it. I got no room to talk.”

Weiss’s face was still hot enough to fry an egg on it, but she was too startled by the quote not to respond. “You know the Bible? You?”

Taking offense, Yang straightened a little more. “Yeah, me. My stepmom used to take us to Sunday School all the time. But that was before…”

The particular flavour of silence Yang lapsed into somehow told Weiss she shouldn’t push that topic. So she didn’t. Instead, she squeezed Yang’s hand a little as they walked. In that moment, they both seemed to notice they were still holding hands and let go, walking a little further apart.

“Okay, here’s your stop.”

“Right.” Glancing at her house, she looked back toward Yang. “Um… I feel like I should thank you, but I’m not sure why.”

“Then don’t,” she snorted.

“Oh wait - thank you for telling me you didn’t ask them to flirt with me so much. It really… I mean, you might want to think about whose company you keep, but at least it helps me feel less, um, like prey.”

“You’re still prey. I’m just a sporting hunter.”

Weiss’s stomach dropped away as Yang put her hands on her waist. She thought for sure something was going to happen - but instead, she merely lifted her up to the trellis so she could climb to her bedroom. Every time she felt those hands on her body, she lost her breath and her power of rational thought. It was intimidating and frightening and exhilarating all at once.

She had only gone halfway up when she lost one of her slippers. Yang picked it up and hissed, “You want this now?”

“Wait until I get up there!” she whispered, climbing the rest of the way. Then she turned to catch the slipper…

Only to see Yang pacing away. As loud as she could muster without worrying about waking anyone up, she hissed, “Wait! That’s mine!”

“I’ll keep this as a souvenir, Cinderella,” she hissed back at her, twirling it around in her hand and winking at its owner. “Maybe you can be my queen someday.”

Then Weiss was alone, standing next to her open window with only one slipper and trying to figure out why her life had taken so many incredible turns.

[pug-bitch]

That's not why I'm going (2)

No harm in looking

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez

Rating: Some language, otherwise PG

Word count: 1,586

Notes: I am delighted with the positive reactions I have gotten, thank you!!! Some of you told me that I should keep going with this story, so I decided to share a little more! So far it continues on the same chronology, on the private jet to Cordonia.

******************************************************************************

Once she was settled in her seat, opposite Maxwell and across the aisle from Drake, Amara gladly accepted the ice cold champagne flute that she was offered. It was still early in the morning, but she couldn’t see how she would be able to deal with her crazy decision without a bit of liquid courage in her veins. She was hoping that her broody jetmate would be kind enough to share his whiskey supply, but to no avail. Oh well, she would have to make do with some delicious champagne instead. What a hard life.

‘Woooooo Amara! I can’t believe you came!’

Drake visibly winces at Maxwell’s loudness. ‘Um Beaumont, could you take it down a notch? Some of us are hungover and don’t have this non-stop-party gene of yours, thank you.’

Maxwell ignores him, rolling his eyes before continuing his pep talk. ‘So A-Dawg, can I call you A-Dawg?' Amara opens her mouth to answer but Maxwell continues in his excited frenzy. 'Nevermind, I’ll stick with Amara for now. So Amara, are you excited? Did you have time to pack what you needed and say goodbye to your family and friends?’

‘Oh sure, I mean I don’t—‘ A buzz interrupts her. She looks at her phone, hesitates, then puts it face down. She couldn’t deal with him right now. She would call him later, once in Cordonia, but not yet. She notices Drake eyeing her phone, trying to make out who was calling. Huh, she thinks, he can play it cool as much as he wants, he still peeks at other people’s phones like a human. The buzz comes back a few times and then disappears. It will stop once they’re in the air, anyway.

‘Yeah sorry Maxwell, I did pack everything I could, but I’m not sure what I have is…fit for a royal court?’

‘No worries. I’ll arrange for an appointment at the boutique after you’re fully rested. And between you and me —and Drake, I guess—, judging by the way Liam was looking at you last night, you don’t need a ball gown to pique his interest…’

Amara offers a faint smile, because that’s all she’s got. What the hell was she thinking? Maxwell is counting on her to win the race to the prince’s hand or whatever —it didn’t stop sounding silly the more she thought about it—, and what was she doing? Giving him false hope. Sure, Liam is nice and good looking and probably smart, but she doesn’t envision this for herself. She doesn’t know what she envisions, but it certainly isn’t that life. She’ll have to tell Maxwell sometime, that she’s just an asshole who wanted an out, and took the first opportunity that presented itself and —dammit that phone, she should have put it on silent— and…ran with it, consequences be damned. She would have to tell Maxwell that, if he needs his house to win the round —what was this, Game of Thrones?—, he would have to bet on a different gal. Because all Amara was game for, was to get out of her life and get to know the fun people she had met last night. And Drake. Not that he wasn’t fun, but…maybe she was game for something else with him. Truth be told, last night was the first time in a very long time that she had not thought of the shitty things that surrounded her life. Because of these guys, because of one of them in particular, and the way he seemed to see her, she forgot for a second, and she didn’t want to remember just yet.

******************************************************************************

After a couple of champagne flutes and some more conversation, both Amara and Maxwell enjoyed some beauty sleep while they were soaring across the Atlantic. Drake was bored. Sure, Maxwell annoys him, but he’s annoying like a puppy would be: relentless but entertaining. And now that the puppy is asleep, and that the beautiful stranger is too, he doesn’t know what to do. Well, he does know what to think about. What he hasn’t stopped thinking about since they took off. Who was calling her so many times? She put her phone face down after a while, but didn’t turn it off. It kept buzzing and buzzing, until they were in the air. Who was it? It could be anyone really, after all, what did they know about her? Well…Drake knew some things. Or maybe just sensed some things. But still. He knew she had a great laugh, especially when she’d had a few. He knew her middle name was Elena, and her last name Suarez, because it was written on the customs form she had filled out and left on the table. Right next to her phone. Which was still face down.

He knew she was funny. She made him laugh several times last night, and again today. Made HIM laugh, Drake Walker, who hasn’t really smiled much since his little sister disappeared without a trace. He knew Amara saw some sadness in him. When she tried to make him talk last night, he almost gave in a little, because she did it in such a smooth way, almost unnoticed. Maybe one day he would tell her why he doesn’t really like to partake in frivolous court parties. And not the bullshit version of the story, in which he pretends to be a manly macho man who doesn’t care for champagne because it has bubbles. No, she was too smart for that version, she wouldn’t buy it.

Ok, this is crazy, he met her last night and he is already envisioning himself sharing his deepest secrets with her? Get a grip, Walker. And dammit, the phone is just sitting there, no one would see if someone were to…

In any case, it could very well be her friends and family reacting to the news. The woman is up and leaving to go court a prince in Europe, and if Drake were her friend or her brother, he would definitely try to reason with her.

But there’s no harm in looking. Right?

Drake holds his breath while gently grabbing the phone and flipping it over. He feels silly. What the hell is he doing? Who does he think he is, a private detective?

9 missed calls. All from a Michael.

Enough. No more peeking. She’s entitled to her privacy, lord knows Drake cherishes his. Why did he look? It’s not his style to spy on people. Plus, now all he can think about is this Michael person, no last name.

Enough. He puts the phone down. Amara gasps for air, as if she had been holding her breath too. She looks around, panicked, probably wondering where she is.

‘Hey hey,’ whispers Drake, careful not to wake Maxwell. ‘It’s OK. You’re OK.’

She still looks like she’s seen a ghost. Drake puts a reassuring hand on her forearm, reiterating ‘You’re OK.’ She finally comes to, and whispers back ‘Oh wow, I lost grip for a second. I was having the…a bad dream. Sorry.’

Drake realizes his hand is still on her arm, and quickly removes it. Amara gives him a half smile. Without a word, he grabs his whiskey bottle and pours another shot into his tumbler. And a second one that he hands to Amara.

‘Finally,’ she says. ‘I thought you’d never share.’

******************************************************************************

She couldn’t believe she had had the dream again, not even on her first night away. During a nap! Apparently she couldn’t get away from her subconscious. Everything was so vivid. She could still hear the bang, and see him fall in front of her. It was not until Drake touched her arm that she realized it was all a dream. Well, not a dream. It all happened. It was just all over.

The whiskey pleasantly burning her throat, she closed her eyes again for a second, and so as to not wake up Maxwell, who was sleeping like a log, she slid into the seat opposite Drake.

‘So…why the American accent? You never answered my question last night.’

‘What makes you think I’ll answer it now?’

‘Well…’ she gives him a playful look. ‘You just shared your precious booze with me. I figured that’s an opening.’

‘Fair. My mom’s American. Texan.’

‘Oooh, a cowboy! Fancy.’

‘Heh. My mom’s family had a ranch and I spent a fair amount of time there as a kid.’

He falls quiet. It doesn’t bother Amara. She knows quiet. She holds his gaze and offers him a smile. Surprisingly, he’s the one to break the silence. ‘Your turn.’

‘My turn to what?’

‘To answer a question of mine.’

‘Oh. You have questions now?’

He raises an eyebrow and responds, a little too hastily, ‘Well, you’re going after my best friend, I’m just looking out for him.’

‘I’m not…’ She stops herself and regroups. She can’t show her cards too soon, not when they’ve not even landed yet. ‘Ask away.’

‘How long have you worked at the bar?’

‘Really? I give you a free question and that’s what you ask? Are you that obsessed with whiskey that all you care about is my bartending job?’

He looks at his drink and smirks. ‘Responding with not one, not two, but three questions, ladies and gentlemen.’

‘Alright, alright. You win. Two years.’

‘What did you do before that?’

‘Woah there cowboy. One question at a time. It’s your turn to respond to one of mine now.’

He stays silent, refilling her whiskey. Amara thanks him and carefully weighs her options. If she asks him something too deep, he’ll fire back with something deep too. So…

‘Where did you get your shirt?’

******************************************************************************

Taglist:

@andy-loves-corgis , @drakewalkerwhipped , @drakxwalker , @drakewalkerrosenberg , @drakeswalkers , @drakelover78 , @silviasutton1989 , @jovialyouthmusic , @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria , @mariahschoices , @drakesensworld , @thequeenofcronuts

Thank you for your encouragements, everyone! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

[allaboardthemetro-blog]

Entering the Final Act || Akira || ATTN: All Passengers

His smirk grew slowly as everyone reacted.  He was glad to see Airi put the knife down; getting stabbed would really put a damper in this moment he was savoring.  The anger, the fire everyone was spitting out… He’d even gotten Billy to snap. And here he’d thought the guy was too foolhardy to actually crack.  This was beautiful, honestly. If only there were more people to see it.

Would applauding a little overdo it?  It would probably overdo it. Still, it wasn’t like he was going to be regularly interacting with these people after this.  Just some things for the police, maybe a little for HPA, and then home free. And jegus, the urge to clap was just too strong right now.

So, he did it.  He brought his hands together, his slow claps echoing throughout the trial room.  Congratulations, everyone, you found the mastermind. You found the one who put you on this train and didn’t stop until the station of living hell.  Bask in your glory.

Here he was, and he was about to talk your goddamn ears off.

“So, why’d I do it?”

“I’m sure you’ve all been waiting long enough for some sort of answer.  You’ve watched your classmates die around you, send some of them to their deaths by your own hand, and for what?  Why would anyone want to do this? And especially to us, just innocent little HPA students?”

He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath.  “Well! You’ve heard of the Reserve Course, right?  I’d hope you would have, given that I’ve been here this whole time.  So I’m not going to explain it for you if you don’t. Too bad.

“What you might not know is what sort of treatment the Reserve Course students get.  Long story short, we’re like the red-headed stepchildren of the establishment. Even though we pay the outrageous tuition that funds the whole place, we’re treated like substandard by pretty much everyone on campus.  We’re students, but we don’t get to use any of the fancy equipment our money pays for, we don’t get the benefit of ‘guaranteed success upon graduation,’ and we don’t get any goddamn respect.

“And it’s not even like we all wanted to be here!  Sometimes, it’s just your parents assuming oh he must want to go!  Let’s uproot him from his friends and isolate him with the person he’s known since forever and see how they improve, hm?  Oh, this is gonna be great…”

He paused for a few seconds, then cleared his throat.  “But I digress. Anyway…

“The one thing I despise most about HPA?  It gives kids false hope. They sell this narrative about talent, how if you work hard enough, even you, you pathetic little Reserve Courses, you too can join us in the Talent Course!  The goddamn Land of Milk and Honey. It's all bullshit.  Like, seriously, that's not cynicism, that's just reality.  You come from all over the world, have experiences all over the world.  Talia’s from Australia, at least, and this is just a sample group. There's so many more.  There's no way any average Reserve Course student would be able to replicate that sort of world experience and recognition.  No matter how much they want it, no matter how determined they are, no matter how much money their parents funnel into them. But the academy puts this shitty idea in their head, that maybe if they work hard enough, they’ll be able to compete with these ridiculously lucky people who had all the right opportunities!

“And some people actually believe it.  That if they can run a kickass newspaper on campus, they're sure to become a Talent Student, the SHSL Reporter.  But they can't. There's no way that can compare to someone else who's had better opportunities. It'll get overlooked, in spite of all the effort she pours into it.  They just won't care.”

He paused again, but for less time than before.  After a deep breath, he balled his hands into fists, thrust them down at his sides, and continued.

“So, pretty damn clear I hate this place.  But, I'm not alone. Far from it! In fact,there's more than one organization that'd love to see this academy go down in flames.  One particular organization -- though I'm not going to name them, I'm sure they don't want the authorities on their tail -- had the perfect idea to do it.  Create a scandal so devastating, something that would be such a blemish on the academy, they just couldn't stay open. And it should be pretty obvious to you what this scandal is: the mutual killing game.

“So, they have the plan, and they have the means!  There's just one thing they don't have -- an in. They have no way to get in and legitimately gather some HPA students for this, without the academy getting suspicious.”  At this, he chuckled. “That's where I came in. What better place to find a like-minded individual than on the internet? They find me, a genuine student, and with pretty good standing thanks to the student-run paper I'm part of, the Reserve Hope Shimbun.  I have the connections, they have everything else they need, it's a perfect match.

“So we make a deal.  As satisfying as it is to bring down the shitshow that is Hope’s Peak Academy, it's not something I do for nothing.  And I have this friend, you see -- the other founding member of the Reserve Hope Shimbun. She's a good girl, earnest, hard-working, and wants more than anything to be a reporter.  And for some stupid, bullshit reason…” He took a moment to glare out at the students in the trial room. “...she thinks she needs to go through HPA to do that. But now, that doesn't have to be the case.  Her getting a job as a reporter at a news station somewhere in Japan was one of my conditions. And since I've held up my end of the deal, they're legally bound to hold up theirs. She'll get what she's wanted all her life, and she won't have to stake everything on some shitty school that can't even protect its own students from themselves.

“As for me?  I want a life away from all of this.  From all this chaos, all this snubbing, all this talent.  After I get the fuck out of HPA, I’m angling for an average job.  That was the other part of my contract. I'd love a job as an accountant, but, y’know, I'm not picky.  Any sort of salaryman job’ll do. Then maybe I can pick up life where it left off. Move up on the corporate ladder, build a nice family, make a good life for myself.  I've got simple dreams, I'm not asking for much.

“As for you guys?  Heh. It's been pretty damn fun watching you all fall apart, and it's gonna be fun watching what happens next.  This organization I'm working for has their eggs in a lot of baskets, including the media. Useful for getting my friend that job, and useful for making sure Hope's Peak Academy burns.  Once we get out of here, just about every network is gonna wanna know the details.  What toils you went through, what depravity your captors subjected you to.  You'll never be able to get a moment's peace!  You'll never be allowed to forget what happened here.  And you'll never be able to say who did this to you.

“But, at least you'll be able to live your lives.  HPA won't be so lucky. They send their students off to see the headquarters of a newspaper, and then they do nothing when they're kidnapped along the way.  I really did take the time to schedule a field trip, by the way. I asked the faculty for permission, set up the outing with the newspaper itself, it all checked out on paper.  They had no idea it was just a front. Until we failed to show up, of course. Naturally, the organization in charge of this set up the train and the venue. They even set up the conductor!”

The mention of the conductor seemed to remind Akira why they had all gathered here in the first place.  With a peeved sigh, he looked away, then shrugged.

“Oh yeah.  Speaking of Jenova.  Guh, the fucking wimp.  Yeah, I killed him, you're welcome.  He was right, I was sort of planning to kill him, but not from the outset of all this.  He was doing fine at first, but...honestly, if you're going to start a dirty job, you finish the dirty job.  He was getting soft, wanted to wrap this up because ‘he couldn't take it.’”  He scoffed. “Couldn't take it… You do what you need to do. Beggars can't be choosers, he ought to have know that better than I did!

“So… Are we ready to wrap this up?  Ready to get back to the rest of our lives in the real world, for better or for worse?  Because I'm sure as hell ready to see what arises from all of this…”

[serfuzzypushover]

Phylactery!AU

Chapter 1 "Escape"

A lovely night.

The moon above gazing over the silent town of Hatsville. It hasn't been this quiet since he first appeared.

"How much did you know about him?"

"A dark shadow. A creature with powers that no human could understand. A man of horror and evil..

That man happens to be my boss. Or at least used to be. I knew very little of him though. He always claimed to be the strongest creature alive and dead! But that's about it."

"I see.. What did you see at the 15th of May, four weeks earlier?"

"What I saw was unbelievably traumatising. His flesh burning from the inside out. I could see and hear the pain that he felt through his eyes. It was horrifying at best but it couldn't actually catch up to all the pain he and I were both feeling. Not because of the scars or the fire. But because of the fear that I wouldn't be able to see him again."

"Why did you feel that way?"

"Cause I loved him.

I loved the man that has been abusing me to that day from the first time we met. He would leave deep scars as he scratched me with his animal like nails, and leave bite marks with his sharp, glorious teeth."

"And why is that? Why did you 'love' him?"

"He'd also comfort me and listen to me whenever something was on my mind.

Heh.. I remember one night after we had gone to sleep, I felt a sharp pain in my neck because the night before he had bitten me on my shoulder. And it was way deeper than other times. So I stood up on the bed and took off my gloves to rub the bite. As I ran my fingers over it he asked me 'How's your shoulder?'. I was taken aback at first since he was sleeping beside me a second ago but was now next to me, a few inches of my face. As I looked at his eyes trying to explain that I was fine, he grabbed my hand and saw the scars that I had made, when I had cut myself the previous night after we slept together. 'When did you do these?' He asked and I told him the truth. And then proceeded to rub his hands through the scars and told me to give him my other arm. Once I did he kissed both of them and the scars were gone. Before I could say anything he said roughly. 'If I see you do this to yourself one more time I'm gonna make sure the rest of your body matches it.'. And with that he went back to sleep.

I believe that it was moments like these that made me feel that way for him."

"I see.. Thank you for your time Flug. You may now go to your cell."

I got up from the chair without saying anything. I walked to the door and stopped as two large guards went to each side of me to check if I had stolen anything. They used metal detectors throughout of my entire body. Once they got to my face the detector made a beep noise. 'Shit-' I thought. "Flug.. Give the key to the guards please." Said the therapist from the other side of the room. I didn't react. "Flug, if you hand it nicely I'll consider to not let anyone know about it." "Would it matter? I've done it so many times I've even lost count.." I replied sarcastically. Of course I knew how many times I've done it.".. 21.... 22 with this one.."

"Alright, really funny Flug. Give the key." She said. One of the guards placed their hand in front of my face. It took some moments but I opened my mouth and the key felt in his hand.

I watched as he took the key and gave it to the therapist. She took out a little cloth and wiped the saliva off. "Flug, you need to stop doing this if you want us to help you." She continued. "I don't need your help." I said to her and she sighed. "Goodnight Flug." She finally said and I followed the guards outside the room. On the way to my cell, we passed a few others filled with famous villains and mentally people that were either banging their heads on the walls or running around destroying shit. Lastly there was Demencia, my sister. She was in the corner hugging their knees whispering things to herself.

I stopped for a bit and looked at her, only to be called by one of the guards. "Hey! Keep moving. We have work to do." I didn't pay attention and looked at her cell. The cell key was electronic. I could be able to open it if I had a card. I was put out of my thoughts when I felt a guard push me on my back to move. I followed keeping a close eye to Demencias cage. I made sure she saw me.

The plan was going great thus far..

We reached my cage. My lock was different than everyone elses. It had a handprint scanner, a card slide and a lock in it. You also had to enter a four digit password. It was kinda overdone in my opinion. After I got in they took off my handcuffs and locked me inside. One of them left while the other stayed outside of my door to keep an eye on me. I sat on my bed and started thinking out loud. "Is this really my life now?". The guard didn't answer but was clearly paying attention to me. "Stuck in a cell and having no privacy what so ever!" Again he ignored what I was saying and kept doing his job. "Oh, come on dude!" I said. "I'm trying to have a conversation here!" "And I'm trying to do my job so I don't get fired! So shut it!" He snaped. "Woh there! Looks like we've got a temper here now don't we?" I teased. He gave then gave me a death glare and continued his duty. I got up and sat beside the cells door. We didn't say anything for a few minutes. I started looking at my cells lock and pressed my head on the glass so I had a better view. "You're not getting out of here any time soon. So don't even think about it." The guard said. I looked at him. "I might if I got some help." "What are you implying?" I looked down again and smiled happily.

"I'm implying we make a deal."

"What makes you think I'd be making a deal with you?"

"If you want to live then you will."

"W-what do you mean?" He began shattering. I smiled even more creeping him out. A smile became a snicker. A snicker became a genuine laugh as I lifted my head. A genuine laugh became a mischievous one.

Boom

An explosion was heard down the hallway we had just past. From Demencias cell. Red lights started flushing and a deep beep noise kept buzzing. The guard became scared as hell. I, on the other hand, was continuing laughing my guts out as more explosions made there way towards us. Cells opened. So did Demencia's. She rushed out attacking every single guard that came her way. The other villains got out as well and joined Demencia. Guards were being scratched and eaten alive by same of the more monstrous ones. The humans were opening the cells that hadn't been opened by the explosions.

The guard near me started running off to the left hallway, but he was stopped by an explosion he triggered. He rushed to the right hall but again got stopped. He tripped and fell on his back, on front of my cell door. As I had calmed from the laughter I looked at him and said.

"I wouldn't be this close to this door if I were you."

He looked at me breathing heavily. He didn't move. "Suit yourself." I shrugged and started backing up in my room. It was too late when the guard realised what was happening and he was slamed to the floor, hurting his head. And with that the door was open. I walked out of my cell and stared down at him.

"My offer still stands just so you know." I said calmy to him. He didn't reply. "As you wish... Demencia? Would you?" I looked at her. She started rushing over to us and the guard started worrying again. He jolted up and pressed his back against the wall. "OKAY! OKAY! I-I'LL HELP, I'LL HELP YOU!" He finally gave in, without Demencia even touching him.

What a shame..

I singled Demencia to not attack him. She seamed annoyed by it.

The guard glanced at me. "W-what d-do you wa-nt from me..?" He asked scared. I smiled.

"I need you to take me where my boss is." I simply said. "B-but th-that area is f-forbidden! E-even for me!" "You have the key though, dont you?" I questioned. "W-well y-yes b-but-!" "You appear to not really value your life that much, huh?" I cut him off and Demencia got excited again. "N-no no! I um, I-I can take you there, no problem!"

"Good.."

[jolienjoyswriting]

Mortem In Contumeliam FFVI, Prelude

The prologue chapter of "Mortem In Contumeliam Final Fantasy VI," a Final Fantasy VI fan fiction story (duh). (Formerly "Nova Fabula Final Fantasy VI")

Welcome to something I've been diligently working on for a little over half a month!

I've been in a Final Fantasy kind of mood, lately.  It started when I played-and-beat Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII at the end of June.  I couldn't stop thinking about it and even started a New Game Plus session at the start of July… only to get distracted with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.  Shortly after, I looked into Final Fantasy Record Keeper and found that to be a lot of fun!  Revisiting scenarios from the games in a Final Fantasy VI style was pretty cool!  However, when I got into the Record Dungeon with actual Final Fantasy VI content… I got drawn back into the world of the game I abandoned way back in May. (Don't worry, I've beaten VI at least three times in my life.) Anyway, as the Imperial Mission to Narshe played out, I got a whimsical idea for a story that showed some interactions between the mind-controlled girl and the Imperial soldiers.  After getting that out of my system, I ended up liking the soldiers' personalities so much that I ended up with a new idea: "What if Wedge and Biggs hadn't been erased by Valigarmanda?  And, what if they, somehow, became involved in the journey of The Returners?"

That idea… is this story.  And, what a story it is!  You're gonna see quite a few updates for this one, before it's conclusion!

It's also worth mentioning that the in-production title for this story was simply "The Adventures of Wedge and Biggs." But, that sounded kinda lame. Also, just before September 1st of this year, I found out that Square-Enix already used the second title of this story, "Nova Fabula," in something of theirs – specifically, Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, the compilation of Final Fantasy XIII.  How.  Why.  If I thought, for a moment, that they had, I would've checked.  Now, I know better!! (I ain't mad…  I'm not.  I'm… jes' full'a surprise.)

Word count: 1,562 – Character count: 9,345 Originally written: July 15, 2019

Soldiers of the Gestahlian Empire invade Narshe in search of a frozen Eidolon… and, get more than they bargained for.

Final Fantasy VI, Wedge, Biggs, and related characters, scenarios, and properties created by Square Soft, Inc. and © Square Enix Co, Ltd.

[ ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → ]

    “What the hell happened…?  Why does my head hurt…?  Biggs…?”     “Ugh… I don’t– I don’t know…  The last thing I remember was… was… a bright light?”

    In the deep recesses of a dank, cold cavern, two men were stirring.  They’d had a fairly rough encounter with an Eidolon which was supposed to be frozen and inert.  But, as the two found out… that just wasn’t the case.

    “Hey, Biggs…”     “Yes, Wedge?”     “Can… can you move?”     “Uh…  No, actually.”

    Eidolons – otherwise known as “phantom beasts” – were magical creatures of unfathomable power.  As the stories go, these creatures once co-existed with humanity over a thousand years prior.  But, man’s lust for power brought that to a screeching halt…

    “Biggs?”     “What?”     “I… think we’re tied up.”     “Y… yeah…”

    The Great Magic War, also known as “The War of the Magi,” brought chaos to the planet.  Many creatures, both-man-and-beast, perished during the wars and the planet was almost brought to a point of irreversible destruction.  But, in the end… the beasts were beaten back and hid away in a pocket dimension accessible only through one specific location…  Sealing themselves away, life went on the separate species and, after a few hundred years… the planet recovered.

    “Wh-why are we tied up…?  Do you remember?”     “I told you… the last thing I remember was–”     “Partner…?”     “What, now?”     “Where’s… our armor?”     “Our what– wait.  Where is our Magitek Powered Anti-Personnel Armor?”

    One day, many years later… a human woman had lost her way during an unnaturally-violent storm.  Displaced, confused, and fatigued, she collapsed within a cave to hide from the weather.  When she awoke… she saw herself surrounded by creatures of folklore!  As it happened, she’d managed to stumble her way into the Eidolons’ World!

    “No, Biggs.  No.  I mean, where’s our armor-armor?”     “What…?  H-hey…  Wedge?”     “Yeah, partner?”     “Why are we only wearing our shorts…?”     “That’s what I’m sayin’!!  What the hell?!”

    There, the woman known as Madeline told her story to whoever would listen.  None seemed interested… except for one particular being.  Madin, the creature who had found her, listened with great interest.

    “Hey, move your arm.”     “What?  Uh… alright?”     “Yeah, yeah– no-no-no, not that way!”     “I’m not deaf, Wedge.  You don’t have to yell.”     “L-look, just… kind of shimmy.  Yeah, like that.”     “I don’t understand, but–”     “Aaand… there!”

    Madeline explained that she was disgusted by the greed and selfishness of mankind.  She tried running as far as her legs would take her, desperate to separate herself the worst of humanity.  By the end of her story, Madin had become infatuated with her… and, before long, the feeling was mutual.  Not long after, the two defied the very tales that both man and beast had told over the ages…  They brought unto the world a child of mixed heritage.

    “I’ll… be damned.”     “Pretty cool, huh?  I learned that one from a book!”     “Huh.  I guess you’re not as incompetent as I thought.”     “Yeah, heh heh– heeey…”     “Now, get the rest of these ropes untied.  We need to find someplace warmer…”     “You’re getting all chicken-skinned, too, huh?  Heh.”     “Just… untie us, already.”

    Half-Eidolon, half-human, the child was unlike anything anyone had seen, before…  By simply existing, the mixed child proved the legends wrong – humans and Eidolons could co-exist!  And, as the days passed, even the most skeptical of Eidolon had to admit… maybe, they were wrong about the girl.  But, one day, two years after the child’s birth… tragedy struck.

    “Um… uh… partner?”     “W-what…?”     “Remember how I said I learned that trick from a book?”     “Yeah…?”     “Weeell… I… never actually finished reading that book.     “W… what.”     “Yeeaaah… I’m not really sure what to do next?  So, uh…”     “Gods damn it, Wedge, you’re useless.”

    On a stormy day, not unlike the day when Madeline was found, human invaders had located the entrance to the Eidolons’ World… and, they had a mission: capture all of the magical creatures and bring them back to the human world for experimentation!

    “Okay, okay, I think I… yeah– yeah, there we go!”     “Wedge…”     “I’m free, Biggs!  Uh, Biggs…?  Where’d you–”     “Behind you.”     “Whoa!  Wait.  Where?”     “Behind you, still.”     “What?  Biggs, now’s not the time for games, partner!  Where are you?!”     “Behind.  You.  Somehow, you tied me to your back.”     “I… oh.  I thought I was just weak from hunger, hah!  Welp… let’s get goin’!”

    As a regiment of soldiers led by Emperor Gestahl, himself, took prisoners and killed those who wouldn’t submit, the elder of the village decided that desperate actions became necessary.  Using all of his energy, he cast a powerful incantation, expelling the invaders!

    “Do you even know where we’re going…?”     “Nope!  I just figure… if I head toward the light, we’ll get outta here, eventually!”     “That’s… not entirely unsound.  Are you sure you wouldn’t rather let me down, though?”     “Nah, this is great for my leg muscles!  Girls love a guy with huge calves!”     “You’re an idiot…”     “But, I’m your idiot.  Heh.”     “For-better-or-worse… I wouldn’t have it any other way, Wedge.”

    Every last human had been expelled from the magical realm and impenetrable doors had sealed them away from further intrusion from the outside world!  But, in casting his conjuration… the child of mixed heritage managed to get swept up in the enchanted wind.  Madeline chased after the babe, then Madin after Madeline.  By the time they realized what had happened… they were trapped in the human world.  But, to make matters worse… the person who had invaded was holding their child in his arms.

    “G-g-geez…!  It’s even colder, out here!  H-how do p-p-people live like this…?!”     “B… by staying inside a-and wearing more than a pair of boxer sh-shorts… obviously…”     “Never mind that… I found the trail down to th-the city…  Man, I hope n-no one recognizes us…”     “W-worst-case-scenario… they’ll just think w-we’re a traveling circus a-act.”     “Ya… haa… think so?  Man, you’re heavy…”     “Well, what would y-you think if you saw two nearly-naked, strong-looking men tied together with some rope?”     “Heh heh.  Heh-heh-heh…  Heh heh.”     “Get that thought o-out of your head.”     “Sorry.  Heh.”     “Just… go.  We’ll find help, then be on our way back to Vector.  Hopefully…”

    Madeline begged and pleaded with the Emperor to return the child… but, Emperor Gestahl would not be moved.  In the end, he murdered the crying woman in cold blood and took the child, raising her as a weapon of war.  It was this very “living weapon” which was forced into a mission to find a frozen Eidolon, sixteen years later.

    “Hey, excuse me.  We seem t-to be lost…”     “My word!  What are you two?”     “W-we’re a traveling circus act, of course!  B-but, see…”     “You look half-frozen!  Goodness… come with me!  Quickly!”     “Th-thanks, lady…!  Y-you’re a real life-saver!”

    Narshe.  A city of cold steel and warm steam.  Built into the mountain range far to the north of the Kingdom of Figaro, the city was a technological marvel of the world.  Known for its heavy mining industry and weapon-smithing, the Empire tried, time-and-time-again, to pull it into its claws and use its resources in the bid for global supremacy.  But, each time it came up… the elder refused, preferring to stay neutral and help no one.  Needless to say, he was extremely shocked when a pair of troops showed up, wearing Magitek Powered Anti-Personnel Armor.  Even more surprising was the third member of their party, an innocent-looking girl wearing a crown of brass and controlling the element of fire… with her bare hands.

    “There you go.  This clothing should serve you well until you can get to South Figaro.”     “Thank you, ma’am.  If there is anything we can do for you–”     “Oh, think nothing of it!  After all, we at the House of New Beginnings believe in helping those who help themselves!  In doing so, we also hope to spread the message to others!”     “Indeed.  Your generosity is quite inspiring.  Isn’t that right, partner?”     “Can’t talk.  Eating.”     “Goodness, your friend certainly has an appetite!”     “The… uh, ‘circus…’ doesn’t exactly provide us with five-star food.”     “Hee!  Well, you’re always welcome, here!  Do take care!”     “Thank you.  Come on…”     “N-nooo, come back, soooup…”

    After slaughtering a small detachment of town militia and trained creatures, the soldiers – along with what people were calling a “witch” – made their way into the mines.  It was there that they slew the lightning-eating whelk called “Ymir,” then found the treasure the town had been hiding from the Empire: an Eidolon from ages past, fully-preserved and encased in ice!

    “So, we’re going back to Vector… just like that?”     “What other choice do we have, Wedge?  We failed in our mission.”     “Yeeaaah, about that…  What was our mission, again?  My head’s still fuzzy…”     “We were sent to Narshe, by the Empire, to locate and claim a… a… um…”     “Weapons cache?  Gems and gold?  Uh… five Gil for coffee?”     “Don’t be absurd!  We were sent to Narshe for… I… don’t remember what.”     “Well, whatever the case, it couldn’t have been too important if you can’t remember it!”     “Y… yeah… I guess so.”

    Just when it looked like the Empire was going to have its magical creature… the girl, who was supposed to be completely-and-totally under the mind-locking effects of the Puppeteer’s Wheel she wore… stepped forward.  Not long after, something happened – something that changed the course of everyone involved.     It is after those mysterious happenings… our tale begins.

[vlexuss]

#1 "A snowstorm during a hot night"

PART 1

When I was a kid and watched superheroes on TV, one of them asked "What gives you happiness?" He said he would never retire until he knew what it was.... But after all, no one knows the real answer to that question.

Around five in the morning, in one of the houses standing on the hillside, the side door with a ramp attached at its foot opened. A boy with red hair, that was keep out of his eyes up by the navy blue headband, stood at the door and in one swift movement jumped on his skateboard and skated down the ramp, straight into the street, that was still lit by the lanterns.

Everyone has a different opinion on this matter.

As he glided along Okinawa's many streets, the rubber wheels of the boy's skateboard, combined with the cold asphalt, made a distinctive crunching sound that only stopped when the skateboard broke away from the ground.

To be popular in general.

Be popular with the girls.

Get into a good school.

To be respected.

To be able to help people.

Tapping the board into the air again, he turned it with his foot along the narrower edge three hundred and sixty degrees, missing the high curb in the process.

I'm sure that's what makes others happy, but unfortunately none of these things make me happy.

He landed on it's back again, riding further down the pavement.

For me it's skateboarding that's bringing me happiness—

"Wo-how...!" the boy wobbled, unprepared for the possible blocking of the board's wheel by a crack in the pavement. With frantic movements of his hands, he tried to regain his balance. It took a good while, but eventually he managed to win this unbalanced battle with gravity.

It was close..., he breathed out a sigh of relief, but his momentary inattention could do him no good.

"Gwah!" because unknown to him his skateboard lead him once again on the street's asphalt and in the next second, the red haired boy felt the back of his knees collide unexpectedly with some metal surface. His board ride out from under his feet and stop a few feet away. His body, on the other hand, spread out on the hood of the Polestar 1's bonnet like a starfish "H-hy...?" the sudden collision disoriented him slightly and he took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Reki!" the driver's door opened hurriedly and worried voice of a well-known doctor from the nearby clinic reached the boy's ears "Are you all right?"

"Oh, onee-san, hey..." still slightly disoriented, Reki raised his head as clatter of heels hitting the asphalt sounded from the side of his feet. In his view appeared heart-shaped face of a blonde-haired woman with extremely young features, whose blue eyes could put the daytime sky itself to shame "Yeah, that... It's nothing. Everything is ok..."

"That's the pity" he easily recognized from her facial muscles movements that her worry about his condition had turned into pure irritation in a split of second "How many times can you be told to be careful? Especially at this hour?" the disgruntled flick of her tongue against his palate was followed by a nasal sigh. The blonde began massaging her throbbingly pain-ridden temples, visibly tired of repeating one and the same thing to the teenager. Her long hair, tied up in a thick braid, bounced delicately on the cold breeze.

"Well, probably a lot I guess, heh..." Reki rose his body to a sitting position, wiping his forehead with his hand. Noticing a mistake in his behaviour, he looked everywhere to avoid woman's reprimanding gaze.

"Do you know how many times per day I have to deal with hit-and-run cases at the hospital?" like a mother reprimanding her child, the blue-eyed woman slammed the door of the car aggressively and with disapproval painted on her delicate features, she move in front of the boy "I don't want to see you there one day, Reki"

"...You won't see me there..." Reki said those words as quietly as he could, not sure how his companion would react when they reached her ears. But she apparently heard them anyway, as she deepened her already intense gaze even further.

"You are very lucky that you have met me and not some—" before she could finish her thought, as if on cue, a black sedan car appeared from behind a busy street two streets away with a squeal of tyres. Its owner, together with a few other passengers, with a wild laughter moved up the street, not even thinking for a moment about slowing down, despite being in a built-up area "Exactly. A madman" without looking away from the teenager, the blonde crossed her arms under her breasts and raised one eyebrow, as if to ask him non-verbally if he had looked carefully at the evidence of the seriousness of her statement.

"Heh, well, I admit it. I'm sorry..." he bowed his head with a beaten dog's face, scratching his nape nervously "I will be careful next time"

"You always say that, you liar" standing in front of the bonnet of the car, she leaned toward the boy, that at first seemed surprised but not much later has started feigning indignation with a bewildered face.

"But now it's for real!"

"Yeah, sure. I believe you" straightening her back, the woman rolled her eyes and unclasped her hands. Her feet, trapped in black stiletto heels, brought her closer to the skateboard, which then she grasped in her tiny hands "By the way. How are your little sisters? Did the medicine I prescribed worked?

"Yes! Saying 'it worked' is an understatement! Thanks to your remedy it was already much better by the next day!" the boy smiled widely and joyfully, springing his legs as he jumped from the bonnet of the kombi. He approached the blonde with a leap in his steps "Everyone could finally get a good night's sleep because my sisters weren't crying anymore"

"It's good to hear" a gentle smile appeared on the woman's lips as she handed the object into the owner's own hands. She slipped her already free hand between the boy's unruly red curls and stroked them affectionately "But now I believe you should keep going, shouldn't you? Oka-san is probably getting impatient waiting for you, and 'S' starts in exactly half an hour."

"Holly cow! Really?" the same hand she had used to brush his hair a moment ago, was now positioned in front of his face so that he could freely check the time on the watch fastened on the wrist. Once he had succeeded in doing so, an expression of horror appeared on his face, after which he almost immediately jumped on the board and set off towards the designated spot "Here I go then!"

"Just be more careful out there! Don't end up like last time!" the blond-haired woman approached the car door, not even for a moment taking her blue eyes off the boy.

"Sure!" he replied without turning back, raising only a thumb up above his head. The woman, on the other hand, let out an amused breathy laugh through her red lipstick-painted lips and nodded slightly. She stood like that for a long moment with her hand leaning against the roof of the car, beating a rhythm with her fingers against the metal until her young friend disappeared behind the corner of the building.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed..." she reached for the handle, but before she could pull it, she felt an unpleasant shiver run down her spine. It was as if her body was warning her of someone's unwanted gaze focused on her. With a sudden movement of her head, she looked behind herself and started checking nervously her surroundings, which were still covered in darkness. Although this was not the first time she had felt she was being watched, she always had the same feeling at such a moment - helplessness. Like helpless prey, unable to see the predator lurking in the darkness, ready to attack.

Oh, come on girl... Instead of standing like this, you should get out of here as soon as possible...

Seeing no one, she swallowed her saliva with difficulty and, wanting to get rid of this horrible feeling as soon as possible, she got into the car.

🛹🛹🛹

"And yet we see each other again"

The regular tapping of the black heels of the irritated woman was in itself a reminder to the battered boy standing before her. She didn't even have to ask him about the outcome of the race. His expression alone, his swollen hand and the general state of his clothes told her everything.

"Well, I know, but it's not my fault, okey?" with the most glummy expression she'd ever seen, Reki walked over to the medical coach standing to the side of the desk, dragging his feet behind himself. Without thinking much, he ploped down on it and hunged his sick hand down over the edge "It's just that... Shadow used those lousy tricks of his and you know..."

"It's never your fault, Reki" he woman sighed heavily, rising from the swivel chair. Watching his companion markily out of the corner of his eyes as she just approached a series of glass cabinets lined up against the wall, he paid particular attention to her limping gait. It wasn't the first time he'd caught himself observing her ailing leg, but every time in the past he'd asked her the reason for the injury she'd quickly dismissed his curiosity with a wave of her hand. She always avoided this topic like a fire, so he decided not to start it this time also knowing that he would not get a concrete answer anyway "And yet you always let yourself be carried away by your emotions and you always end up here"

"If you're insinuating that I'm a hothead, then you're wrong, Carly-onee-san" the red-haired boy pouted.

"We definitely see things differently" she sighed shrugging her shoulders and opening the glass door with the key hanging around her neck. Retrieving a bandage, medical forceps and scissors from the cupboard, she reached into the drawer below for a vial of saline and gauze "You may claim that you skateboard for fun, but nevertheless there's always something that drives you to do your best... And you proved it with your performance today, for example"

"What do you mean?" Reki raised himself to a sitting position, looking at his companion questioningly.  Without bothering to close the open piece of furniture, the woman turned back to her patient on the heels of her shoes.

"I mean that if it was indeed as you claim then you would have simply laughed Shadow off and not challenged him to a beef" with a slow step she approached the boy and began to put away the necessary assortment on the metal treatment table. Finishing up, she pulled the office chair over to the bad and sat down on it, with a heavy sigh "Sometimes I really get the feeling that you're covering yourself with this whole 'fun' of yours just because you're not sure of your skills"

"That's not the reason..."

"That is clearly the reason, Reki" Carly said firmly furrowing her eyebrows. A look of regret than graced her features, which only start to deepen with every second of gazing at the sullen face of the red-haired one "but" finally, she forced her lips to curve into a serene smile as she lifted the amber-eyed boy's lowered chin with a index finger "Don't worry about it and remember that you are an amazing skater in my eyes, and I will always be your number one fan"

"It's good to know that at least you think of me that way..." she extended her hand out in front of her in anticipation of his, which he immediately put in her, without the slightest problem receiving the message she was sending with that gesture. The blonde got down to work almost immediately.

"But now you at least know what tactics Shadow uses during the beef" rolling up the sleeve of the teen's sweatshirt, she took the time to glance at him from under her eyebrows. She was glad he wasn't looking straight at her at that moment, because she wasn't even trying to hide her true emotions that had just tugged at her heartstrings. Although there was still a gentle smile on her lips, deep compassion flashed in her eyes.

"Unfortunately I found out it the hard way" her eyes focused back on clining and sanitising the scratches on the boy's forearm.

"And now to avoid another accident you must find a way to escape these 'lousy tricks' of his" she decided to change the subject slightly, while focusing even more on cleaning and disinfecting the bigger wound. Once finished, she reached for a bandage and, placing one end of it on her companion's arm, she began to efficiently wrap it around it.

"Better said than done—Ow!" the boy ended his statement with a groan of pain as, with an expressionless face, Carly mercilessly tightened the bandage on his ailing limb.

"If this is how you would always approach things, you'll never develop your skills" he breathed a sigh of relief when she finally loosened the material, continuing to wrap it around his injured wrist a lot moredelicately "You need to start learning from your losses because—"

"I know, I know" he muttered under his breath, looking away. The woman, who had been interrupted in mid-sentence, merely looked at him expectantly "Losing is part of winning, because it gives us knowledge that we can use later to win"

"Exactly, and by the way, one should not be impatient either, Reki" a smile full of maternal warmth crept onto her lips "Once you master this, victory will come to you on its own"