#part of me is hoping that if Tumblr actually shuts down it will cause a surge of interest in Tumblr clones and

[sunnie-writes]

cupid's chokehold.

pairing: jax x cupid!gn!reader

tags & tropes: fluff, shameless flirting, fell first/fell harder

summary: you were absolutely confused because of two things: one, you got transported to a random dimension and became a totally different person, gaining the title of a cupid, and two, you had fallen in love at first sight with the most sarcastic purple rabbit man ever. well, at least you didn't felt like complaining on the second part.

tell me, sunnie!!: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA... anyways, hiiiii:3 i got a new fandom added to my brain, injected it into my veins and now i am addicted. so, this funky little guy didn't actually catch my attention at first but then i watched some edits and was like "HMMMMMM i mean yeah sure" and then i decided to check tumblr, stumbled on a fic of him and went "OH. OH." yk?? anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this bc i wrote it instead of sleeping and i have to wake up early tomorrow el oh el!!1!1!1!1

warnings?: kissing, suggestive(?) i mean it's just neck biting but idk........

first of all, you don't know how the hell you are... here, nor why you've been stuck in this place for two weeks already.

it's a colorful world, saturated to the maximum amount possible. you know, the type to burn your eyes if you stare at a specific spot for too long. it also looked like some kind of fever dream, with all the toys scattered and the way different people? characters? looked like.

not like you can say much, you have heart shaped pupils and you're wearing something that looks like an ancient greece tunic. also, sandals. you have these big feathered white wings that are a pinkish hue at the tip of every single feather. you tried pulling one out to see if it was actually real, resulting in a yelp from your mouth. it kinda hurts.

and that reaction caused a chuckle to come from someone who has your eyes dedicated to just admiring them.

frankly speaking, if you went back and told your past self that by putting those weird vr headset glasses on you would be signing up to falling for a tall and lanky purple rabbit with a yellow smile, you would probably just chuckle and still do it, but with even more determination than before. eh, what can you say? you've always been attracted to the weirdest characters anyways.

but this... this was real, he was real and he was talking to other real weird animated people. ragatha rambled next to you about... honestly, you didn't even know, too busy watching from afar a certain rabbit. this was the start to possibly one of your most frustrating crushes ever.

"[name]? are you okay? you seem more distracted today?" she worriedly asked, putting her hand on your shoulder, "you shouldn't think too much about trying to find an exit if that's what you're thinking about, you might get abs-"

"huh? no, i wasn't thinking about that!" you quickly hurried to give an explanation, trying to dismiss that idea from her, but your eyes darted again to the overall wearing guy and she followed your gaze.

she slowly moved her head back at you after seeing what you were so... distracted about. a smirk broke in her face.

"oooh, little [nickname] has a cruuush?" ragatha teased you.

"wha- no- that's not-" before you could continue, your flushed cheeks got even more red as you saw him approaching. you immediately shut your mouth and just looked at the floor, trying to quickly hide your face

"sup', what are you two gossiping about today?" jax spoke in a mocking, sultry tone that had melting down a drain... not literally though.

"oh, nothing. you know, just the usual!" ragatha quickly tried to hide that topic from him, trying to distract or something. play it cool!

"uh-huh, and why is little cupid over here heating up like a preheated oven?" you almost choked on spit before looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and slightly flushed cheeks.

"none of your business, jax, don't bring your teasing and mocking over to [name]!"

"aww, why not?" jax dropped his hand on your shoulder, "say, little cupid, i heard doll face over here mentioning a crush, who do ya' have the hots for?"

your mind instantly went to answer "you" internally z meanwhile, your lips just answered in an almost quiet sound.

"i'm not telling you."

"huh, and why is that?" he leaned in close, and suddenly you felt absurdly claustrophobic.

he looks so... absurdly attractive with that smirk. you wish you could wipe it off of his face.

"because..." it doesn't take too long to come up with an excuse, you're an overthinker who is always prepared for this kind of situation, "you would mock me for it, and i don't feel like getting bullied by a purple beanpole."

"gasp, you wound me with your hateful words!" he dramatically posed, meanwhile ragatha chuckled in the background. "how can a cupid, made of pure love, be this mean?"

you just lightly punched him in the arm at that.

---

night time seemed like a blur to you in this world. sleep? never heard of that.

it's been a month already and your crush hasn't faltered. instead, it got bigger each day, but to be fair, it was impossible for it to not grow. jax decided that, for some reason, he liked teasing you a bit too much since he found out you might have a crush on someone.

playful flirting seemed to be his favorite to use on you, since you just tried your best to not show how it actually affected you. honestly, you felt like some kind of cliche teenager movie where you're about to write his name on a notebook with hearts all around it.

and that felt too cheesy, even for a cupid.

---

oh my stars, he wishes it's him.

you know, at first when you arrived at the digital circus, jax paid no mind to you. i mean, yeah, you were probably the cutest person in this digital purgatory, but he didn't think that he could fall for anyone in here, this isn't some weird sitcom episode. but it was starting to get difficult to not let him lose himself in a romantic trance when you were around.

he wonders if you used anything on him that could've possibly made him slowly fall for you, hard.

in the second week, he began noticing things about you. for example, you laughed at his jokes and sarcastic personality, got irritated for his pranks but never screamed at him, just shrugging it off like normally, you didn't even care when he stole something from your room.

it was mind breaking to just try and see what could get a reaction out of you towards him. until it was revealed that you had a crush on someone in that place.

jax isn't dumb, he already caught you looking at him from afar just to fastly change your gaze and get flustered, how your hands trembled when you were near him, heart eyes expanding when he talked to you. so, just to test if his theory was real, he decided to leave a subtle flirt for you. and that was checkmate.

he thought at first that it was weird, that maybe he could just play with you a little bit and entertain your little crush on him. but then, the spell turned against him. you flirted back once, and that made him feel awfully fuzzy minded. now, he was the one staring at you from afar sometimes.

that wasn't in his plans, falling for you even harder than you fell for him wasn't supposed to happen. yet, it did anyway.

and now the realization dawned on him that, at some point, he's going to have to either confess or simply hide that for forever, since that's the time they're gonna be stuck in the same dimension together. how fun, isn't it?

---

your feet took you outside of the tent, as everybody was now sleeping comfortably in their own rooms. well, at least you thought they were. stepping onto the grass and breathing in some fresh air, you looked up, waved at the sun and the moon, who smiled back at you contently. then you finally sat down and layed on the saturated green ground, looking up at the fake stars.

you sighed heavily, trying to distract your worried mind that screamed about wanting to get out and at the same time never wanting to leave. it was downright confusing, and left you with pent up energy that made your brain go 100/mph.

you heard footsteps behind you, looking up just to meet with a yellow smile and cartoonish eyes. you immediately gulped as his smirk grew.

"heyyy little cupid, what are you doing here so late?" he questioned you with a lower tone of voice before sitting down by your side. you immediately sat up too.

"just... thinking about some stuff." not losing any chance, you tried to start a conversation. "what about you?"

"meh, just bored and couldn't sleep." jax then looked at you in the eyes. "what could you possibly be thinking about?"

"ah, you know... just the usual!" you tried to quickly change topics, you didn't feel like traumadumping on anyone today nor did you feel like telling him that he's the reason you didn't abstract yet.

"and, does the usual involve your secret little crush?"

your breathe hitches, "why are you so curious about who i like?"

"i just am, it's interesting to see your reactions when i mention them." he leaned down, holding his head with his hand as he still stared at you. "why don't you tell me who it is? i'm starting to get the wrong idea that it's me since you refuse to speak about the mystery person to me."

you think you just felt your heart stop. your eyes go wide and you can feel the heat coursing through your body, blood rushing and flushing your cheeks. you know what? okay then, since there is no escape from this situation, might as well finish the night with a bang before you leave to sleep.

"that's... not the wrong idea at all." you confessed, watching as his eyes went wide in a millisecond.

"what." he spoke before sitting up and grabbing your shoulders. "you're not fucking with me, are ya?"

you shook your head while embarrassingly looking to the floor, feeling frustration pooling in your head.

"no, i'm not. i like you jax, i like your stupid pranks, your stupid jokes, your mischievous smile, your ey-" you were cut off by lips meeting with yours.

as your current situation settled in your mind, you got yourself comfortable and closes your eyes, lacing your arms around his neck and pulling him even closer before you two fell back again, you under him. your stomach was doing backflips, breaking down at the feeling of being reciprocated.

when you finally broke apart, your heart eyes were absurdly big, staring at him while you panted for air. he chuckled at your face, giving a big smile while himself was actually melting at finally having you in his arms. jax laid his head on between your neck and your shoulder. you petted his head, until you felt something.

he was biting your neck, leaving love bites and hickeys behind.

first of all, you didn't even knew if he could open his mouth, but apparently he could (?). you couldn't think much of it, too busy holding back an embarrassing whimper. you held his head and tried not to close your legs around his waist as he continued to bite.

he pulled back, looking at you with a smirk and raised eyebrows.

"well, look what a mess i've done, darlin'. how do ya' feel?"

you couldn't even answer, feeling absolutely overwhelmed by his hand on your waist, the knee resting between your legs and your mind slowly losing it's control. instead of an answer, you just pulled him down for another kiss.

yeah, you probably were enjoying that, but jax? ha! in his mind, he was melting down a drain, patting himself in the back for the idea of deciding to take a night walk and accidentally seeing you. he grinned into the french kiss, feeling absurdly high at the moment.

he wasn't sure how everyone would react to you finally being his, not that he cared about their opinion, but he thinks if would be funny to see their faces. he can't wait for it to happen, but now it's not time to think about that.

it's time for him to think on how to calm his rapidly beating heart that might give you the hint that he loves you way more than you love him.

tell me, sunnie!!: AAAAA i finished writing this only the next day, sorry if it's too short btw!! i know it missed a lot and should have more things but it was rlly rushed bc i want to write more of him <\33 but yeah, thank you for reading sunshine!!

[mikalara-dracula]

Shu kiss headcons?

What it's like to kiss Shu—

Warning: 18+ content below; don't read if you're a minor and aren't comfortable with slight NSFW, sexual arousal, and orgasm-related concepts. This is a fictional work and should not be taken seriously.

Caution: Unfortunately, Tumblr has a history of admins quarreling over completing carbon copy asks due to users sending the same request(s) to multiple admins, thus, resulting in unintentional plagiarism. With this, please DO NOT send the same request to multiple blogs as it can cause unintended plagiarism discord to other blogs across Tumblr. The word “plagiarism” stems from the early 17th-century Latin word, “plagiarius,” meaning “kidnapper.” So please, do not send in the same request to multiple blogs and make admins appear to be “kidnapping” other people’s work when it isn’t their intention. If this is to occur with any of my posts, please contact me so we can work something out.

Hi there, Anon!

Thank you so much for requesting! I'm very sorry about the wait! I hope you enjoy reading it. Feel free to request again anytime! :)

😘 Hm, kissing Shu is quite the privilege.

😘 I mean, isn’t it everyone’s dream lmao xDD

😘 For starters, Shu isn’t the type to kiss his lover often since he’s just so lazy to even start.

😘 So, most of the time, you’ll be the one initiating kisses.

😘 But he isn’t at all opposed to this since it’s actually canon that he gets off on girls kissing him first.

😘 Yui kissed him first in one of the mangas and he was beyond amused, so you can best bet he’s going to do the same if you do this.

😘 However, if Shu’s feeling up to kissing/making out with you, make no mistake that this lazy ass has more moves than you think when it comes to this.

😘 His kisses range between slow and sensual versus ravenous and fast. This really depends on his mood though.

😘 Make note that most of the time, he’s a tease and will tease you to no end.

😘 Such as getting very close to you, leaning in and making you think he’s going to kiss you, only to back away and leave you with a stupid look on your face to which he would not stop teasing you for.

😘 Asshole.

😘 And bear in mind that this is only the beginning of his teasing.

😘 If you blush/turn red due to his kisses, he's so going to tease you for it, it's actually canon that he does this.

😘 Definitely into lip biting, and if you do it to him, it gets him really riled up.

😘 He even likes to get cocky when kissing you.

😘 "Admit it, you like kissing the heir." He’d smirk.

😘 “Shut up!”

😘 Might even say you have sexual fantasies about him. This is canon because he's teased Yui about this subject.

😘 This mf.

😘 Also likes kissing your jawline and leaving a love bite or two near your ear in hopes that his brothers will notice.

😘 In a heated makeout, he has a thing for kissing your chest and then trailing his kisses down to your abdomen.

😘 Kissing your inner/outer thighs is a die-hard thing for him since thighs are one of his favorite parts because he can grip and adjust them to his liking when he’s getting intimate with you.

😘 Your neck—For one, he likes to kiss it and trail his kisses down its surface, along with leaving love bites here and there.

😘 Your collarbone—He finds this a great place to trail down to after he’s passed your neck, and leaving love bites here is a must for him as well.

😘 Likes to grip your hips, thighs, or ass when making out in hopes that you moan.

😘 And if he gets this reaction out of you, he's not going to let you live it down.

😘 Likes to touch and feel you a lot when he’s making out with you, and sometimes, he does leave bruises behind due to his vampire strength and how lewd “passionate” he was being.

😘 If you’re wearing a flowy skirt, he’s going to take full advantage of this and definitely stick his hand up it in an attempt to either grab your crotch or finger to get a reaction out of you when making out.

😘 Fuck.

😘 If you’re wearing a loose top and your chest ends up spilling out due to him being a bit rough, he won’t resist to suck them, leave hickies there or draw blood if he’s thirsty.

😘 Doesn’t care whether you’re on top or under him when making out. It just doesn’t matter to him as he’s quite open to you dominating, but bear in mind, he wants to win when it comes to this.

😘 After all, he's implied that prefers to be in charge/on top in this situation because he feels more like himself when he does (this was in one of the game routes), and here’s proof of him being in either position with Yui according to official art:

😘 If he’s in a soft mood, however, and wants to be sentimental, he likes to place soft kisses in your hair if he's either sitting or standing next to you.

😘 As for location of where he likes to kiss you, it’s anywhere honestly.

😘 Or on whatever surface he's sleeping on. xDD

😘 One of his favorite places is the living room coach since he's famous for sleeping there.

😘 And if his brothers walk in on you two making out, especially Reiji, he's beyond amused and proceeds to give more of a show, and will try and succeed to make you moan in front of whoever his audience is. It’s actually canon that he likes giving these lewd “shows.”

😘 His bed—if it’s not the living room couch, he’s retired to his bed, and this is definitely a place he likes to kiss you because he has much more privacy than out in the open.

😘 Here, he might even take advantage of the situation by being a bit more touchy and engage in foreplay if he wants a passionate session with you.

😘 Also likes to kiss you in the stairwells at school, and if a teacher or other school staff member catches you both, he’s beyond amused since he literally lives for the risk of getting caught. And yes, that’s canon too.

😘 Tbh, him acting flirty in front of teachers is actually canon since he did this to Yui once in class (in one of the game routes) and the teacher scolded him for it. xDD

😘 And of course, you have to scold him for it since, lets just say, he likes to give certain staff members a “show” to which you and him end up getting in trouble for.

😘 “Shu! Why did you do that? I didn’t need another detention slip.”

😘 “Who cares. Why don’t you just do what I do with detention?”

😘 “And that is?”

😘 “Don’t go.”

😘 “Shu!”

😘 It’s canon that Shu likes to hang out in the terrace/rooftop area at school, so if you come up to see him during school breaks, he’s definitely going to take the opportunity to share a few kisses with you if he’s in the mood for it, but bear in mind he will make you late to go back to class or will make you forget about it completely.

😘 Isn’t opposed to kissing you in the garden area (the scenery where he ruthlessly bites Yui) since it’s kinda private, unless we have Subaru hanging somewhere around in the background, but Shu isn’t bothered too much by that since his youngest sibling tends to mind his own business.

😘 Music room—This is his haven at school, hence, it’s canon that he’s known as “king of the music room” at school.

😘 So he definitely likes kissing his lover in this room, especially in the dark with just enough moon lighting seeping in through the window.

😘 Isn’t opposed to having sex in their either. Afterall, he did have sex in there with Yui in one of the game routes.

😘 Apart from rough, Shu has his soft moments when it comes to kissing as well.

😘 For example, he likes to kiss you underneath the covers.

😘 Also has a thing for cupping your face and pulling you in for a kiss, and may give you a smile if to show you he’s happy, but this is quite rare since he conceals his emotions most of the time.

😘 This may not be explicitly lewd, but he does like kissing the back of your hand for reassurance, or he’ll just grab it and kiss it if you two are having a conversation or there’s a moment of silence in between.

😘 Also likes coming up behind you and kissing the back of your neck and trailing down to the crook of your neck to leave kisses there as well.

😘 Is into pulling you on top of him when lying down and placing a soft kiss on your forehead. He does this either because he's in a sentimental mood, or he's reassuring you about something in your relationship.

😘 Likes to leave a soft kiss in your hair or forehead when you're asleep.

😘 Is canonically into "thank you" kisses. So, if he does a favor for you, let’s just say you have to “pay up.” ;))

😘 Is into pulling something out of your hair, like a leaf or something if it’s there, in order to set a mood if he's in the mood to kiss you and this is canon. (He did this with Yui in one of the game routes.)

😘 May give you a kiss on your forehead or in your hair in the limo just to tick his brothers off and to make them jealous, especially Reiji.

😘 Will sometimes pester you just to give him a kiss if he wants one.

😘 Like, he'll mess with your hair, poke your side, and so on.

😘 "Shu, quit it!"

😘 "Give me a kiss and I'll stop."

😘 "Fine, but only one."

😘 "No promises." He’d smirk.

😘 And with that, you bet it was more than just one kiss. ;))

😘 Dis boi.

Examples: (photos found on Pinterest; credit goes to original owners)

[spooo00oky]

Siren’s Spell

Chapter one.

Pairing: siren!Wooyoung x reader

Genre: fantasy, eventual smut, romance, fluff

Word Count: 11k+

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex and sexual innuendos (MDNI), mentions of past near drowning, Thalassophobia, cliff hanger for chapter 1 and more to come!

Author’s Note: Hello! This is my first story posted on here and I’m still getting used to tumblr and it’s been years since I’ve written anything and I’m rusty, so please be nice! The world was inspired by Crescent City so there will be some similarities, and I lightly edited this so there’s going to be grammatical and spelling errors. I already have chapter 2 in the works. I hope you enjoy!

༄

“y/n where’s the order I asked for yesterday?” a voice suddenly asked, jolting me from my thoughts as I worked on the finishing touches of a design in my sketch pad. The line now scratched right across the folds of the dress would have to be fixed, but for now that was ignored in favor of glaring at my boss.

“Belle, I told you to knock. The order is sitting on your desk as per the text I sent you yesterday,” I sighed.

Mirabelle leaned away from the glass door of my office, looking to her own which was two doors down, her blue hair swaying with the movement. Her lips formed a perfect circle as the realization dawned on her that she had completely missed the neatly wrapped box on top of her desk that contained a new shipment from a catalog. “Thank you! Sorry for startling you!” she said before quickly disappearing.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I went to correct the mistake on my design and continue on with my dress design. Belle was an eccentric fae, always fluttering around and mumbling to herself about whatever upcoming project. She was a great boss but needed help with remembering things, like things such as humans don’t have sensitive hearing and can’t hear most of the staff in the building long before they actually appear. That last part wasn’t entirely her fault though, I was only one in a handful of humans in the office building. It was hard to get accepted into places like this, even more so for humans in a supernatural creature dominated business.

Most humans in the city of Fairhaven stuck to their own sections of the city, where they were safest and not at the bottom of the food chain. Any further away from the human neighborhoods and it became more dangerous for us; not to say that they weren’t protected in the city by law enforcement but there were shady characters everywhere. It didn’t help that other supernatural creatures loved to view us as either toys to be played with or food. It had been a struggle to convince my parents that I would be fine away from home and in the heart of it all, the transition from a sleepy countryside town to a big city was draining enough for them.

I sigh and shut my sketch book. I note the time by the sun beginning to set. I packed my bag and grabbed my purse, heading out of my office. The sound of my door shutting didn’t disrupt the chattering of my other coworkers who were whispering around the coffee machine. “That’s the third one this week alone, do you think it’s a rogue vampire like it was the last time?” one of them whispered, to which the other replied that those were murders and the bodies were found; these were kidnappings.

“Ah there you are! Are you leaving already?” Belle suddenly appeared in front of me, nearly scaring me out of my skin and causing me to drop my things. I placed a hand on my chest in an attempt to calm my racing heart.

“Belle! We’ve talked about that!” I said in exasperation, not having the heart to even scowl at the already apologetic looking fae. She began to rock on her feet, her hands hidden behind her back in embarrassment. It was hard to stay upset with that warm, heart shaped face.

“She can’t hear you coming, remember?” a new voice said from behind me. I turned to see a blonde male come to stand next to me. He began teasingly patting my head at the drastic height difference between us. I narrowed my eyes at him and lightly knocked away his hand from my head, fixing my hair.

“The warning extends to you as well Mingi. There have been plenty of times you’ve scared me as well by sneaking up on me. Belle doesn’t do it intentionally at least,” I shot back at the lion shifter. “Plus she’s sweet so I can’t stay mad at her.”

Mingi rolled his eyes. “This is the thanks I get for getting you coffee every day? I don’t ask for payment or anything, and the coffee shop you like is really out of the way coming into work as well.”

“Mingi, you bought me coffee once like a month ago.”

“The coffee shop is right next to where you live as well. It takes you five extra steps to do it,” Belle pointed out, causing a burst of giggles to erupt from me at the look Mingi gave her. “And if my memory serves me correctly, she’s bought you lunch more times than you’ve bought her coffee.”

Mingi was quick to leave the conversation then, grumbling something about how Belle only has a good memory when it comes to pointing embarrassing things out. I wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter much to me if I treated more than he did, but he was gone before I could even get the words out. I didn’t dwell on it for long though. I’d talk to him when his wounded pride was healed up a bit. Turning back to Belle I wished her a goodnight and safe travel home before heading out myself, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder as I made it down to the streets.

The streets were busy this time of day in Fairhaven. Workers returning home to their families and the nightlife only just began as people milled around, the air alive with music and voices. I headed closer to the small sidewalk near the river that cut straight through the city, they were usually less crowded now as everyone flocked to the riverside store fronts and restaurants for food and company. My eyes gazed out at the deep blue river only a few feet beneath me and my stomach dropped towards my feet. I gave the bank of it a healthy distance to ease some of my nerves, but the idea of falling into it was enough for unease to creep down my spine. My mind flashed back to frigid waters and gasping for air before I shook my head, shooing the memories away. Fairhaven wasn’t the small town I grew up in.

‘You’re right it’s much worse.’ I let out a small huff of air at that small voice in my head, but I couldn’t dispute its accuracy. Here in Fairhaven, the land met the river and eventually the sea along its northern border. The Brighbalt was deep and large and wound its way through the center of the city, and stretched far deeper than originally met the eye. It housed some of the most monstrous creatures in its depths, all citizens of the underwater kingdom, Socix, that merely migrated into the city borders from the sea. It was an unspoken rule to all that no one entered the waters unless on a boat; no one knew for sure what lurked down there. There have been some occasions in which I have looked out at the river and nearly jumped in fright to see eyes staring back at me.

The very thought of those black, dead eyes staring back at me was enough to make my body shudder.

Something flashing in the corner of my eye brought me out of my thoughts, and my eyes glanced over towards the river again. I would’ve missed him if I didn’t do a double take on a secluded dock hidden between some fishermans’ boats, the dark scales camouflaging him in the shadows but the pearlescent sheen caught the sun at the right moment. He was sprawled out on the small dock, nearly taking up most of it as he rested his head on his arms. I would’ve been concerned that he was dead if it wasn’t for the massive dark colored tail sitting half in the water and the patches of scales that littered the upper half of his body.

A siren, I thought to myself in shock. While they most certainly weren’t unheard of, seeing one this far in the city was almost rare. They preferred to stick closer to the ocean, where they were able to sing their songs with no repercussions and prey on humans and supernatural creatures alike. In the city there were laws to follow and repercussions if said laws were broken, and from what I understood most sirens didn’t like that as it controlled a core part of who they were; their voice.

This siren looked like it was only sunbathing, but it was my first time seeing one that it was hard to look away. It became a problem when I suddenly bumped into a gorgon, his snakes hissing at me in irritation as I struggled to regain my footing after the sudden stop. I apologized profusely, seeing the way he had to adjust his sunglasses before walking away. That wouldn’t have gone well for anyone had those slipped any lower on his face. I sighed and glanced towards the siren and nearly froze when I saw his dark eyes were open and on me now, a smirk curling his lips as he leaned his head on his hand to watch me. I flushed in embarrassment and hurried towards one of the numerous bridges that connected the two halves of the city, embarrassed that I had a witness to my blunder.

The rest of the trip to my apartment was, thankfully, uneventful, and I made sure to lock the door behind me before I headed further inside.

With a belly full of reheated leftovers and my skin clean from a shower I fell into bed with a sigh, hoping sleep came quickly tonight. My mind wandered back to the siren I saw earlier, that smirk he had on his face still running through my mind. Of course he had to be attractive too, but that was as common as humans breathing air. It was all part of the trap, as if their voice wasn’t lethal enough their good looks could draw in unsuspecting beings as well.

Sleep did come quickly, but it was filled with nothing but black scales and white, sharp teeth.

༄

The rest of the week went as it usually did, working every day and arriving back home at my usual time. With work being as hectic and chaotic as it usually was for a big designer label, partially thanks to my friends Mingi and San, it was enough to keep me busy and come home exhausted each day. The only thing that stood out as a new occurrence each day was the presence of the siren, much to my own shock. I had thought seeing him that night was going to be it and he would return back to his home in the sea, but he was near that dock at the start of my day and at the end of it. He wasn’t always sunbathing, other times he was floating on his back in the water or he was eating a fish on a nearby rock, but his reaction to seeing me was always the same. He would seemingly perk up and that same smirk from our first encounter with each other would appear, and his eyes didn’t leave me until I couldn’t see him anymore. If it wasn’t for buildings separating his line of sight from me I have a feeling he would only continue to stare.

It was hard to tell if he had genuine good intent with the looks he gave me or if he was planning on making a meal out of me in his head. I was hoping that he was only awkward and didn’t know how to approach a land dweller, so he was hoping a smile would come across as nice. But I’ve heard the stories. Anything was free game if one went deep enough into the water, and sirens had a taste for things other than fish. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen that headline flash across the screen on the news channel; a person went missing only to be found a few days later with a chunk missing from them. There was a reason there were strict laws in place when it came to the ocean dwellers and their powers.

A knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see San standing there with a bright grin on his face. “A special delivery for a Miss l/n,” he said and produced a large bouquet of flowers from behind his back. His barbed tail swished excitedly behind him as he handed me the bouquet.

My brows scrunched in confusion as I took it from him, looking to him for answers. The demon looked at me with anticipation and I gathered that he wasn’t the sender of these flowers, and he was waiting for me to look at the card attached and spill the tea. San was such a gossip and so nosey, but it was hard to say no to him. No he didn’t use his demonic powers to sway people to tell him their secrets, he just had really cute puppy eyes. It was a weakness to everyone in the office.

I took the card and opened it, quickly reading through the romantic poem written inside to see who sent them. “They’re from Logan,” I said simply, looking back up at San when he sucked in air. His eyes were practically sparkling with enthusiasm and his tail was wagging like a dog’s.

“Logan as in that forest nymph? The one with the red hair?” he asked excitedly, now sitting on the edge of my desk to lean closer. “He seemed nice when he stopped by last week to give you lunch,” he began before he noticed the less than enthused look on my face. “Unless you guys are fighting and these are apology flowers?”

“What? No no!” I said quickly, laughing as I shook my head. “We’re not even together so it’s not like we can fight like that. This is just another attempt to win me over is all. He’s being very persistent.” I still had the gaudy necklace he gifted me two weeks ago, the wrapping paper and the box it came in worth more than some things in my apartment. The piece he gave me was yellow gold and the emerald that sat in the center of the metal was nearly the size of my palm, weighing a lot more than I was expecting as well. It was fit for someone with expensive tastes, and I was not that kind of person. We’ve only been tentatively talking for two months at best, and a gift as grand as this was too much at such an early stage. Now it had a better use of being a paper weight on my desk at home.

San frowned and his tail drooped. His head lowered slightly as he pouted down at me, the fluorescent lights glinted off of his black horns. “That’s disappointing. I was hoping something would have become of this too, you guys seemed like such a good match!”

I rolled my eyes. “San you’ve seen us together like two times and each of those times lasted ten minutes cumulatively. He’s just being too forward and pushy with it all and it gives me a bad feeling, you know? Like who gives someone a gold and emerald necklace after knowing them for two months?” I was also almost always busy with work. With how busy the design label was even on a slow day the last thing on my mind was a relationship. Logan seemed to want to monopolize my attention and he was about to be disappointed that it wasn’t going to happen. “I think I’m going to try and gently tell him no when I see him next. He should find someone that’s actually willing to give him the attention he wants.”

San pouted more but nodded. “I hope that goes well for you, and you know where to find me if he takes it poorly,” he said before standing to his feet again. He began to head towards the door before he turned to face me again, a serious look on his face. “Don’t let work keep you from being happy romantically, y/n. If you need a couple of nights off to go flirt with people and try to take someone home, just tell Belle. I’m sure she’d give you all the time off you want because she knows how much you do here.” A devilish smirk suddenly appeared on his face. “If you need help in the sex department as well, you know you can come to me for help. I don’t shame people if it’s their first time.”

My face burned bright red and I sputtered. “San! I’m not a virgin! I don’t need sex advice!” I cried just as Mingi stepped in with a folder in his hand. He gave me a wide eyed look as I looked at him in mild horror, having obviously heard everything I just said, before he nodded and walked out of the room without delivering what he had obviously come to do. I groaned and let my head drop to my desk, San’s laugh bouncing off of the walls. I was praying the floor would just swallow me up right about now. “What have I done in a past life to deserve this?” I whined.

“Lots of good things to deserve this blessing,” San said with a smirk as he motioned to himself before he showed himself out of the room, the smugness radiating off of him as he disappeared.

I lifted my head from the desk and began to pack up my things, done being teased for the day. Mingi nor San wouldn’t be letting it go anytime soon, so it’d be best if I disappeared for the rest of the night and recover before the storm tomorrow. Knowing those two they’d get Belle in on it as well, and she’d be buzzing by my office every five minutes to tease me about it.

“Y/n!”

Speaking of Belle. I turned to face her with a tentative smile, nervous that the two idiots that are my friends already got to her. “Yes?”

“I was hoping to catch you before you left, I just wanted to say to be careful getting home,” she said, a concerned expression on her face. “There’s a report of another kidnapping happening in the area, and I worry about you.”

Ah, that’s right. Fairhaven was experiencing a random influx of missing persons, all random citizens with no connection to the other, and all were residents from different parts of the city. Unfortunately there have been no witnesses to these events, and authorities are at a loss on what could’ve happened to them. Some citizens are already pointing the finger at the sea dwellers, while others are more skeptical and say it’s a rogue creature. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened, serial killers are a thing after all. Unfortunately the unknown depths of the river took most of the blame for anything mysterious that happened in the city, even though creatures such as vampires or shifters were capable of such things.

I gave Belle a small smile and nodded. “I’ll be careful I promise, thank you for your concern Belle,” I said with a wave before heading towards the doors and into the night.

The air made my clothes stick uncomfortably to my skin tonight, and I was dreading the walk home already. I sighed to myself as I headed down to the sidewalk, moving past the crowds of people towards the bank of the river. I found myself almost looking forward to seeing the siren tonight, his presence quickly becoming a part of my routine. Was it a little ridiculous that I was eager to see someone I hadn’t even spoken to? Maybe. I didn’t see the harm in it though, it wasn’t like I was doing anything drastic like suddenly marrying a stranger. I was just excited to see someone who was slowly becoming a constant sight is all.

I scanned the waters for any sight of that familiar head of dark hair, not spotting him at first. Has he already moved on and gone back home? I frowned a bit at the thought, but I didn’t get to dwell on it for long before the familiar mop of hair was breaking through the surface of the water. He ran a hand through his long hair as he waded in the blue waters, and I was so caught up in staring that I stumbled over a loose cobblestone. His head shot up at the noise and his eyes landed on me as I struggled to act like I hadn’t been staring at him, and that familiar smirk curled his lips. I smiled back at him as I continued to walk towards my apartment, and my heart nearly skipped a beat as I watched him swim closer to me. I paused in my walk as he opened his mouth, and there was a flash of his sharp teeth as he got closer.

“Little lady like you shouldn’t be walking alone at night,” a voice said and it was a moment later when I realized it wasn’t the siren speaking at all but the voice had come from behind me. Something flashed in the siren’s eyes before he ducked back under the water, quickly disappearing. To say I was a little disappointed was an understatement, but that thought fled my mind when I turned to see who had spoken to me.

“I can handle myself,” I grinned at the tall male behind me.

Logan smirked down at me, his green eyes shining in the setting sun as he reached to grab my hand. “I don’t know about that, it’d be better to have someone walk you home. Just to be safe.”

I made a show of fixing my hair due to a nonexistent breeze, trying to be subtle about not wanting him to hold my hand. If he saw through me he didn’t comment on it, instead he lowered his hand back down to his side. “Are you just coming from work? Did you get the flowers I sent you?”

I nodded. “I did, thank you for sending them. How did you know that roses were my favorite?” They really weren’t. Marigolds were my favorite, but I was trying to be nice at this point. Anything to soften the blow of telling him that I wasn’t interested anymore. Just the thought of doing this was making my hands clammy.

Logan grinned at the praise, his chest puffing out slightly. “Call it a special nymph power if you will. It’s kind of my job to know flowers and what people like, you know? Magic and everything.”

I felt slightly less bad for being mean.

“Well thank you again it really meant a lot. They’re sitting in a vase in my office actually.” They weren’t, I had accidentally knocked them off of my desk and into the garbage can while I was hiding in shame while San was teasing me. I wasn’t inclined to dig them out of there either, so in the trash they remained. I began to walk away from him, mumbling some excuse about needing to get home with a wave of my hand but was stopped as he grabbed it, keeping me in place. I swore I heard a deep rumbling sound but assumed it was a motorbike passing nearby.

“I want to take you out tomorrow night. It’s Saturday night, we’re young and deserve to have some fun, and I feel like I don’t see you enough anymore. You’re so cooped up in that office anymore, it’s driving me crazy,” he said and there was a strange edge to his voice that I didn’t quite understand but my gut was telling me to run. That could also be due to the fact that he could break my hand if he applied enough force right now. “I’ll pick you up from work and I’ll take you out on the best date of your life. Wear something pretty,” he said with a wink before he let go and walked away, disappearing into the crowd before I could even so much as begin to say no.

I groaned, running a hand through my hair in annoyance because now I was going to have to figure out a way to sneak out of work and away from him so I didn’t have to go on what would no doubt be the worst date of my life. Maybe I could call in a favor with San and Mingi?

I felt eyes boring into me and I glanced around to spot the source before they settled back on the water, nearly jumping seeing those dark eyes staring at me. The siren had popped his head out of the water and there was a dangerous glint in his eye, no sight of the friendly smile he had earlier. Already beyond flustered and annoyed with how this day was ending I was quick to leave the bridge, feeling the siren’s eyes on me until I disappeared around the corner of a building. The look in his eyes would follow me into dreamland tonight, and they had the same malevolent look to them as he watched me drown in my nightmares.

༄

I was dreading the morning today. It meant that it was Saturday, which meant Logan would be prowling around my office building when my day ended. I had already notified Belle of the situation and she was quick to respond by telling me to stay home today. I frowned at that option as well, because if he couldn’t find me at work there was no stopping him from trying to find me at my own apartment. I wanted to keep my apartment as a sanctuary for myself and myself only, I didn’t need Logan’s presence to interrupt the peace I had there. Plus he’d probably critique my interior design skills, claiming it needed his so-called “nymph magic” to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Quickly coming up with a plan, I responded to Belle with what I had come up with before putting my phone away and getting ready for work. In my mind it was a win-win situation, I would still be able to go into work and get some things done and I would also be able to avoid Logan as well. All I had to do was miss him today and the next time I saw him I’d be able to tell him that it’d be best if we saw other people.

There was a pleasantly cool breeze today as I left my apartment building, and after the humidity of last night it left a small smile on my face. It was comical in the way that I kept glancing over my shoulder for any sign of the head of red hair, even though there was no threat of him until later on today. His presence was unsettling and irritating enough to put me on edge for the morning.

Crossing over the usual bridge I took, habitually I glanced out over the water to where the siren usually resided only to be further disappointed. There was no sign of him today, and I kept my eyes in the waves in case he made a sudden appearance like yesterday. There was no sight of him and a frown pulled at my lips when I entered the office building. Maybe it was the look he had on his face yesterday when I walked away from the river that left a sour taste in my mouth at not seeing him this morning, or maybe it was the fact that subconsciously he had become part of my daily routine. Whatever the case may be, the lack of him had definitely affected my mood and it showed.

“Belle filled San in on what's going to happen today, but San won’t tell me about it because I apparently give things away too easily. Would you be so kind as to explain what the plan is so I’m not walking in blind?” Mingi asked, walking beside me to my office. I half heartedly chuckled at his wounded expression, it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t have a good poker face. Mingi was just too honest of a person to hide things well.

“Logan said he was going to pick me up from work today and that he was going to take me out on a date. He didn’t even give me an opportunity to say no and to break things off with him before he left, and I really don’t want to go on this date. So, I have things to get done still but I’m going to be leaving early so there’s no chance of our paths crossing. San is going to distract him and tell him I left early because I wasn’t feeling well, while I sneak out the back and head to somewhere that isn’t my apartment. Your job today is to be a concerned friend because your best friend is sick,” I explained to him, setting my back down on my desk.

Mingi raised a brow as he watched me get settled. “That’s barely a job though, I can do more than that! At least let me be a look out in case he comes in earlier, my office is near the entrance,” he pouted. He was attempting to replicate San’s puppy dog eyes but unfortunately it didn’t quite meet the standard. His presence brightened my mood a bit already though, so I decided to humor him.

“Fine you can be a look out. I doubt he’d come any earlier than when I get off though, he knows Belle wouldn’t let me get off any earlier than what I was scheduled unless it was an emergency.” A total lie. Belle would let me take a month off right now just because I wanted to, but she took on the role of a harsh boss if it meant I could have even a bit of peace in knowing Logan wouldn’t come around during working hours and disturb me. She took great care in that role as well, her usual bright demeanor clouded over by an angry expression and her tone turning harsh and snappish towards those she was close to. It never ceased to amuse San and he struggled to keep his composure when Belle would snap at him about him leaving a coffee cup out and it had spilled all over a magazine she had been reading or whatever else she could come up with.

Mingi’s expression brightened at his now upgraded role in the plan today, and he hurried out of my office and towards his own, leaving me to my own thoughts. I suddenly missed his presence as I began to get to work creating a rough draft for a new dress design, pulling out my fabric and pins to begin the process. He was a great distraction that I didn’t realize I was wanting as I began to work, my mind focused on anything else but the task at hand. I was sluggish from the lack of sleep last night due to recurring nightmares, and my thoughts were centered around iridescent black scales and dark eyes that had bored holes into me even in my dreams. Why had he looked almost furious after I had spoken with Logan? Maybe forest nymphs and sirens had a long history that I wasn’t aware of and his presence had irritated him being so close to his home turf?

I shook my head in an attempt to clear the thoughts away. It was dumb to be this concerned over a person I had never even spoken to. He was a stranger that I saw everyday, nothing more. There had been no contact between us other than glances thrown at each other, so why was it that one morning I didn't see him and it’s enough to dampen my mood? Maybe I should find a different route home from now on so I could distance myself from his usual spot.

The morning dragged on, time crawling ever so slowly as I struggled to stay focused on work. It wasn’t until the rough outline of a dress was pinned to the mannequin that my phone began to buzz excessively, and I dropped everything to grab it. Ten different text messages flashed on my screen, all from Mingi, and my stomach dropped when I read them. Logan had come early with yet another bouquet of roses, asking to speak to Belle about letting me off early today so that he and I could go out for a lunch date. Mingi texted me that he had already sent San out to deliver the news that I had been sent home sick, and that he’d cover for me to sneak out the back door.

I quickly thanked him before I packed up my things, not even bothering to put away the skeleton of a dress before I was walking down the hall to the stairwell. I wouldn’t take a chance on the elevator today because the door to it was right next to the front entrance, and about halfway down the steps I was cursing myself for wearing heels today. If things kept going like this I’d have to make it a point to keep a spare set of sneakers in my office to make a speedy and comfy escape.

Thankfully the building was busy this morning so remaining hidden from Logan’s eyes was easy. Most everyone was taller than me so ducking behind groups of people milling about made my escape quicker, and soon enough I was making my way down the road and away from the office. I wasn’t planning on going home in case he decided to try and show up there, so I headed in a different direction than what I usually took. Instead today I headed towards the busier sections of the city, getting lost in the crowds of people that were out and about. Nymphs have better senses than humans, but my scent would easily get lost in a crowd this large for a nymph. If Logan had been a shifter of any predator variant then it would be a different story and I would’ve had to have been more illusive with my escape.

I trailed along one of the busier streets of Fairhaven, vendors and small riverside restaurants dotted alongside the road. The air was filled with the voices of people wandering around and bartering or ordering their meals, and it was easy to get swept up in it all and just aimlessly wander around as well. I window shopped as I walked, admiring the latest fashion trends and some apothecary shops selling crystals and potions, passing groups of children gazing at a toy shop that had mechanical dragons flying around inside. If I had grown up in the city I would’ve been right there with them, the shop was magical even by adult standards. What I wouldn’t give to see it through the eyes of a child as well.

My head whipped up when I saw red hair out of the corner of my eye and I didn’t even think twice before I was ducking into the nearest building which happened to be a cafe. I got a few looks from the patrons at my rushed entrance into the building but they all went back to their coffee cups with no comment as I made my way to a table hidden behind some plants. I took a seat and kept glancing towards the door, tense as I waited to see that familiar face pass by the glass. It very well could’ve been someone else, but I wasn’t willing to take any chances when it had been going so smoothly thus far. It was possible he had decided to take the same route I had by random chance.

I vaguely realized I looked like I was being chased with the way I kept glancing towards the door, and I was only drawing attention to myself. I pulled out my phone and began to aimlessly scroll through my social media, anything to try and blend seamlessly into the background of the cafe. I’d have to make a point of buying something soon so I wouldn’t get kicked out for loitering, that would be counterproductive to what I was trying to do right now.

The bell above the door chimed and I shrunk further into the shadows of the plant, not even bothering to look up in an attempt to hide my face from whoever had just walked in. Anyone with sensitive hearing would’ve been able to pick up on the way my heart seemed to thump loudly in my chest as my body tensed, seeing the newcomer walking past my table slowly out of the corner of my eye. The conversation seemed to die down momentarily as they passed before resuming at normal volume, and it only made my heart race. Was Logan’s presence enough to cause such a reaction? He was good looking, yes, but nothing worthy of quieting a room full of people. Who exactly had walked in then?

I had been so absorbed in trying to figure out if a celebrity had walked in from the conversations around me and trying to disappear entirely that I missed the deep voice that ordered at the counter and the steps that were rounding back to me until it was almost too late. I shrunk inwards on myself as the steps neared and I didn’t dare to look up until a cup of coffee and a plate of scones was placed in front of me. Confusion swept through me and I ignored every instinct telling me to keep looking at my phone in favor of looking up who had stopped at my table, and when I say I looked “up” I mean it.

He stood at about seven feet tall and I had the startling realization that with how tall he was with legs he had ultimately shrunk from the even bigger size he was with his tail. He seemed pleased by the shocked expression on my face, because there was humor dancing in the deep brown coloring of his eyes as he smirked down at me. Those teeth looked even sharper up close, and my heart skipped a beat in my chest at the sight. He obviously heard it because his smirk grew into a downright devious grin. It wasn’t entirely my fault though, I’d never thought I’d see a siren walking around on land is all. “You look like you could use something to brighten your day, so here,” he said, his voice deep and smooth and I felt myself being subconsciously drawn to it. I quickly regained control of my actions though, scolding myself for being swayed by his powers.

My mind had quickly become scrambled from the sudden appearance of the siren, let alone on legs, and I blinked before finally being able to form a coherent thought. “Oh, thank you…”

“You can call me Wooyoung. It’s about time you got to know what you’ll be moaning later,” he said with a wink and it was a knee jerk reaction to roll my eyes. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that line I’d have enough money to never work a day in my life again. My reaction only seemed to amuse him more as his laugh bounced off the walls of the cafe, the sound infectious. By now the other patrons had turned to watch our interaction, and a quick glance around confirmed that all eyes were on us. In my attempt to disappear I had become the center of attention.

Wooyoung seemed to notice as well, but it didn’t seem to bother him as he winked at me again. “I’ll be seeing you around…” it was his turn to trail off, his gaze expectant as he watched me.

“Y/n,” I introduced myself, reaching a hand forward for the cup of coffee. I didn’t make a move to drink from it yet, though, wanting to see what his next action would be. Also I didn’t want to make a fool of myself if I choked.

“Y/n,” he said the name softly, his smile growing as he tasted the word on his tongue. He nodded to himself before beginning to walk away from the table, sending one more look my way over his shoulder before he disappeared in the crowd of people, sipping his own coffee as he left.

I only turned to the coffee and food on my table when I was sure he was gone for good, taking a tentative sip of the beverage and humming happily. For just guessing he had gotten pretty close to what I would prefer, the sweet taste coating my tongue. The scones were also delicious, but that I already knew from previous times of stopping here for a pick me up. He had been right after all, I did need something to brighten my mood.

༄

Thankfully the rest of the week went by Logan free, and he seemed to buy the excuse of me being sick and didn’t question it much. I did have to put my foot down when he offered to come and feed me his homemade soup though, claiming that his nymph magic would heal me right up. I may be human but I wasn’t stupid, I knew nymphs of any kind didn’t possess healing magic. I was starting to grow concerned that “nymph magic” was a euphemism for something else, and it was all the more reason to keep him away from me.

Belle suggested I take a day off of work to play up the pretenses that I really was sick, and I took her up on the offer. If he had the nerve to try and take me away from my job in the middle of the day I wouldn’t put it past him to try and see me in the middle of it again. I think she was also using it as an excuse to give me a day off, she’s been pestering me about it for weeks now. She tries so hard to be more accommodating to her human employees, knowing that we can’t work as much as the others because our bodies need rest. My pride wouldn’t let me take a random day off in the middle of the week, so we often butted heads on my work schedule. She won this time though, but I’m using Logan as a legitimate excuse to miss one day.

Once that day was over though it was work as usual, the office was busier than usual with the upcoming fashion show in only a few weeks. My excuse of work being super busy to keep me from seeing Logan was a partial truth now, my schedule was packed with meetings and finishing touches on designs. I preferred this though, it kept me busy and kept things interesting. Mingi’s usually well kept long blonde hair looked a little messy each day he came in, like he had just rolled out of bed and barely made it on time, and San had the faintest of shadows beneath his eyes from the long hours. It was during times like this that morale was low and Belle usually stepped in with buying us all lunch to encourage us to keep working hard, despite the bags under her own eyes as well.

Another daily ritual that has begun this week were the gifts from Wooyoung. At first I didn’t think much of it, I had spotted a shiny rock on the sidewalk on my way to work and I had picked it up and brought it home. The second day was different because in the exact same spot were a handful of more rocks, all of varying size and color and all were shiny. It looked like someone had taken the time to hand pick these and set them here, and I had looked around in case a child had set them here for a reason. As I was looking I nearly jumped out of my skin when my eyes met those of Wooyoung who was right at the edge of the river, much closer than I was expecting and making absolutely no sound as he appeared. Had it been a less kinder creature I wouldn’t have even realized that death was looking me in the face until it was too late.

Wooyoung only stared at me, half of his head poking out of the water as he watched me with curiosity. I made no move to grab the stones, holding my hand awkwardly above them as I waited for any word if they were his or not. He was looking at me like they were, and I think dying from touching a siren’s special rock was a really embarrassing way to go, so I had frozen up in the act of reaching for them. We had stayed like that for a few minutes before his eyes flicked to the stones and back up to me, a small nod accompanying the movement.

I got the message and I picked up the stones, smiling at him as I held them up for closer inspection. “Thank you, they’re really pretty,” I told him, putting the rocks in my pocket. His eyes crinkled at the corners and even though I couldn’t see it I knew he was smiling, and the tips of his ears turned red as well. Was he the bashful type? He certainly didn’t seem like it when we had spoken on Saturday, he seemed to be very confident in himself then. “You seem to like to wear this color,” he said, raising out of the water slightly and pointing to a blue stone in my hand before motioning to my ears. I realized he was talking about my earrings. Before I could ask anymore questions he dipped beneath the water and didn’t resurface, and I was left staring at my rippling reflection.

After that the gifts were still left in the same spot accompanied by Wooyoung’s lingering gazes. It remained as pretty rocks and crystals before they slowly transitioned to pearls and even some small gemstones, and I would be concerned he was robbing banks if I didn’t already know there were hundreds of shipwrecks in the waters of Fairhaven. With each grander gift he seemed to grow more confident in himself, winks and compliments often accompanied the stones and gems. “This gem reminds me of your eyes,” was a common one he liked to say, and the usual grin he had grew each time I blushed. Most of the time the gifts were colors that he seemingly picked up on that I gravitate more towards, and others were colors he thought would compliment me. I wasn’t sure if this was just a Wooyoung thing or customary for those who lived below the surface, but it felt wrong to receive so many gifts and not return the favor.

The morning I surprised Wooyoung with a cup of coffee was the day I was sure there were stars in his eyes. I had finally braved getting closer to the water than ever before, walking to the edge of the water and kneeling there. He had arrived a few minutes later, looking like he was in a rush before he deposited a handful of pearls and gems before me. He gave me a sheepish look as I picked them up, seeing that some of the pearls this time were slightly distorted and bumpy; different from the near perfect pearls he would usually bring.

“These were the only ones I could find in time, I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I can take them back if you don’t want them, I’ll find you better ones.”

I closed my hand around them and put them in my pocket, already planning on adding them to the box I set aside just for these gifts. “I love them,” I told him honestly, smiling to try and reassure him. That worried look on his face melted away before being replaced by a warm smile.

I suddenly remembered that I had a gift as well before I held out the cup of coffee, giving him my own sheepish smile. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just guessed,” I explained as I waited for his reaction. I knew he drank coffee at least, if he had a sweet or bitter preference was beyond me though so I settled for the bitter. I had mentally cursed myself for not paying attention to his order when I was in line that morning.

Wooyoung’s entire expression lit up like a child on the Winter Solstice, and he quickly propelled himself out of the water and settled himself down on the ledge before taking it from me. He took a sip and hummed happily, his tail swaying in the water as he looked at me like I had hung the stars and moon in the sky, and I took his reaction as if he liked it. “Thank you so much,” he said, a genuine smile spreading across his lips as he gazed at me with a mixture of awe and something else I couldn’t quite place.

I nodded and kneeled beside him, not even making a move to dangle my feet in the water. “Thank you for the gifts you’ve given me. It’s not much but I hope you like it,” I told him, feeling guilty for how mundane and simple my gift seemed to be in comparison to the actual gems he’s given me. I didn’t want to come off as rude if it was customary to give back a gift if you receive one in his culture, so it was better than nothing. I’d find a way to make it up to him somehow at a different time, but for now the coffee will suffice.

“It means a lot to me,” he said before going back to sipping it, watching me closely.

I suddenly felt exposed under his gaze and I had to look away, anywhere but at his eyes that looked like they were waiting for something else from me. My eyes settled on his tail then, the black scales shining in the morning light as I focused on that instead. My guess is that while in this form he reached around thirteen feet from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, and I nearly blanched at this revelation. Was everything in the water big?

“Your tail is pretty,” I said simply, and had to resist cringing at how lame that sounded. Was it socially acceptable to even say something like that to a siren? I wasn’t sure, in fact, I don’t think anyone really was. Socix was very secretive and withdrawn from everything up top, and gave away very little about their own laws and customs that would be very helpful for situations like this. To be fair, these interactions were rare.

Wooyoung laughed, the sound loud and infectious as he smiled at me. He scooted himself closer to me, swinging his lower half closer in the same movement before he wiggled his brows in my direction. “You can touch it if you want,” he said, truthfully looking like he was talking about something else and not his tail. I decided to believe that he had good intentions and not it was an innuendo and tentatively reached out, my fingertips grazing the smooth scales. It was softer than it looked, and I was quickly mesmerized by just how many colors were hidden in the shine of them. There were even small dots speckled around them, lighter in comparison to the rest of his body.

“You’d be able to see it better if you came into the water with me,” he said suggestively and I was quick to shake my head. He raised a brow at that, reaching out and taking my hand in his. He was noticeably cooler to the touch than I was, but I didn’t pull away. “There’s more tricks that you won’t see up here.”

“I’ll stay up here, actually. I’m afraid of water,” I explained, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.

Wooyoung’s eyes widened comically and then he was cackling, dropping my hand in the process as he nearly toppled over from the force of his laughter. His tail moved and I grimaced as my pant leg was now soaked, thankful that Belle wasn’t a stickler for dress code.

“Well isn’t that ironic,” he said once his laughter had subsided, looking at me with mirth shining in his eyes.

I chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Yeah I guess so.” A girl who’s least favorite thing to do is be around water moves to a city where one of the main focuses is the water? I could see the irony in it, but I had little choice in the matter. It was either this or stay in the small town I grew up in where nothing happened. I was fine with being this close to it before I had met Wooyoung.

“That’ll have to change if this is to continue,” he said before finishing the last of his coffee, neatly tossing the garbage into a nearby trash bin. I was only mildly impressed by his aim and precision. He hopped off the ledge and sank beneath the surface only slightly, his tail propelling him upwards so his head remained above the surface so that he could still speak to me. “I’ll let you be on your way to work though. I’ll see you tonight, be safe please,” he said with a smile before he was gone.

That had been two days ago, and like clockwork I saw Wooyoung each morning before work and on my way home. Each morning he would give me a gift of gems and pearls and I would try to give back when I could, some mornings being just coffee and other mornings being coffee and a pastry from the cafe. He was delighted by each one, propelling himself out of the water to sit on the ledge next to me and talk before I would have to head into work. Most of the time they were really basic questions, such as what was my favorite food or what my favorite color was. Other questions were along the lines of “if you’re afraid of water then how do you bathe?” to which I lightly slapped his shoulder in response to.

Today was no different, I sat by Wooyoung on the side of the river and chatted away with him before he was lowering himself back into the water. He reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me before I could get to my feet again. He smirked up at me but I was immune to it by now. I figured out a while ago that Wooyoung was a flirt by nature. “I want to show you something tonight, so now you have an excuse to see me when you leave work,” he told me.

I rolled my eyes. “Like I wouldn’t be stopping by anyway.” I gently pulled my hand away from him and stood up from my spot, smiling down at him. “I’ll stop by here I promise,” I said with a final wave before I began to head towards the building, a small smile pulling at my lips as I entered.

The sound of rustling paper reached my ears before a familiar presence reached my side, and I greeted Mingi cheerily.

“Oh someone’s in a good mood today,” he said with a smirk and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes as I walked to my office. “What happened to put you in such a good mood today? Someone buy your coffee at the shop?”

“Can’t I just be in a good mood? Maybe I caught up on sleep finally and I woke up feeling well rested.”

“Mmm nope, that smile says that you met someone. I’ve seen it many times before. So who’s the lucky guy? Or did Logan finally manage to pull his head out of his ass and you’re finally coming around to him?”

I nearly jumped into Mingi at San’s sudden entrance. He at least had the decency to look guilty for startling me so suddenly, but I huffed in annoyance before entering my office. I was one jump scare away from putting bells on everyone.

The boys made themselves comfortable in the chairs around the room, making it apparent that they weren’t going to drop the subject. That was fine, I was great at ignoring outside distractions and focusing solely on my work. I silently answered in the way of settling in and dragging the mannequin towards me, obviously about to start working on it. San narrowed his eyes before sighing and crossing his arms over his chest, his tail flicking in irritation. “You know we can smell him on you, right? There’s no sense in hiding that you met someone else in front of two creatures that can pick up on the distinct smell that isn’t yours.”

I sighed, sinking low into my seat. Of course I had to be friends with beings who could smell a male on me, and probably knew that he wasn’t of the human variety. The males before me were stubborn as well and I knew they wouldn’t let it go until I spilled the beans, especially San. He was the worst when it came to subjects like this, and it was worse with those he cared about. He wanted to know every detail of my love life and I swear he was more invested in it than I was. “It’s not like that I’ve only known him for like two weeks.”

“Details details, who is it? He smells like seaweed, so did you jump from a forest nymph to a river nymph? Or maybe a shifter? I can’t think of any shifter that I know that can live in water,” Mingi stated, already beginning to ramble a bit. He didn’t show it but he was just as invested as San was in my love life.

“He’s a siren,” I whispered and I swear you could hear a pin drop with how quiet it got in the room. Mingi visibly paled and San’s eyes got so wide it looked like they’d fall out. They didn’t say anything and neither did I, beginning to play with a piece of skin on my thumb as I waited for them to collect themselves. I knew they wouldn’t react the best to the news of Wooyoung’s presence in my life, but no one really did when it came to matters concerning what happened below the river. If Wooyoung was aiming to kill me he had plenty of opportunities to do so, so I don’t think he was a threat to me. If he was a threat to others was a different matter.

“How in the seven rings of Hell did you meet a siren in the city?” San asked, looking like he still hasn’t fully processed what I had just told them.

“He was laying on a dock and it just kind of happened from there,” I said with a shrug.

“Do you make a habit of talking to random half naked men on docks then?” Mingi asked which earned him a smack on the back of the head from San. “What? I know they’re not big on clothes down there!”

I groaned and flopped backwards in my chair. “No I don’t talk to half naked men on docks! Look there’s a lot more that happened and it’s not like that. Wooyoung is only a friend I just happened to make, nothing more, alright?“

San gave me a concerned look before he eventually sighed, giving up on the matter. He stood from his seat and pet my head, concern for my well-being in his eyes, no judgment at all. “We just worry about you, y/n. A siren suddenly appearing in the middle of the city when these kidnappings are suddenly sprouting up is concerning. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

I huffed. “There’s more than just sirens in those waters, you all know that, and there’s no proof that those missing people are due to things in the water. If Wooyoung truly meant me harm he had plenty of opportunities already but the only male that’s been a burden to me was Logan. I’ll be fine, I promise,” I told him, holding his gaze.

The mention of the fact that Wooyoung has done nothing to harm me yet seemed to lessen the tension in both of their shoulders, and San nodded before patting my head one more time before leaving the room. “Time to actually do work Mingi, no more gossiping!”

Mingi groaned before following him out, giving me one last smile over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner. I relaxed in my chair once they were gone, letting out a long breath. Their worries were valid, there wasn’t much knowledge about the citizens of Socix and their customs and culture, only the laws that kept everyone safe in both parties. Wooyoung’s arrival to the city was just poorly timed with these disappearances, that was all. He was just a resident like anyone else here.

Finishing up the dress didn’t do much to take my mind off of things, but it did make the time go by faster. Happy with the final touches, I sent the dress off to be approved by Belle and be fitted for a model before packing up my things and heading out of the building. I waved to Mingi on my way out, and he waved back enthusiastically. It seems like our conversation earlier didn’t bother him much, and it was a relief to see that as I left the building.

My first stop was Wooyoung’s spot, but upon arriving I didn’t see him. I frowned and knelt where I had this morning, checking my phone to see the time. I wasn’t early or late by any means and he was usually already waiting here for me, so to not see that cheeky smile waiting for me was disheartening. I decided to wait here for a little longer in case he was running late.

Now that I think about it, did Wooyoung have a job? Were jobs even a requirement to live in Socix or was everyone able to live without needing a nine to five there? It was just now dawning on me that I didn’t know much about Wooyoung and what he does when I was at work. I only know that he shows up in the morning and at night as I’m heading home. I know some of the time is used in searching for the he’s been giving me, that much is obvious, but what about the rest?

I checked the time again and sighed, rising to my feet and starting to head to the bridge. I realized that a part of me had been excited to see what he wanted to show me, even if I ran the risk of having to go into the water. I had been curious and subconsciously looking forward to it, or more likely it was just him. I had been looking forward to seeing him again tonight as I did most nights now, his presence warm and inviting and it was hard not to fall for his charm.

I didn’t even realize I was halfway across the bridge as a voice shouted for me. I turned to look and my stomach dropped to my feet when I saw a face I had been avoiding like the plague for a week now running towards me. I had half a thought to bolt in the opposite direction, but nymphs were faster than humans and I didn’t even have that cover of a crowd to hide in; the bridge was empty right now. Plus it was time I put a stop to this finally, no more playing this game of hide and seek and no more looking over my shoulder as I was walking around. It also wasn’t fair to him that I didn’t have the courage to voice my feelings, he didn’t do anything wrong besides having a not so pleasant personality. He deserved to go find someone that could tolerate him.

“Hey Logan,” I greeted, moving off to the side in case of anyone wanting to pass by us. I glanced down at the water and felt my stomach lurch, and I turned back to the nymph before I could start to panic.

“How are you feeling now? Better I hope, you were looking pretty haggard the last time I saw you before our date. We still have to reschedule that by the way,” he said, flashing me a smile.

I felt my brow twitch in annoyance considering the last time I saw him in person I wasn’t even sick. Was he really that self absorbed to even notice that my appearance had never changed? Or was he that concerned with getting in my pants? I was choosing the latter with the way his eyes flicked over my body, a movement I would’ve missed if I had blinked.

I plastered a fake smile on my face, hoping it was convincing enough for him. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that date.”

Suddenly there was a loud splash that rang out, making both of us turn towards the sound just in time to see Wooyoung arching perfectly over the side of the bridge and straight towards me. His eyes glowed with fury and his teeth bared in a snarl as he reached out for me and panic surged through me at the sudden realization that this was it for me. I only had time to gasp before his arms wrapped around me, securing me to his chest and we were diving into the water on the other side of the bridge.

The water was colder that I was anticipating, and I sucked in water on impact. My lungs burned as water filled them and my heart thundered in my chest as I struggled in Wooyoung’s grip. He held on tightly though, his grip strong as he dragged me deeper and deeper until I couldn’t see the sun anymore. Dark spots were beginning to cloud my vision, my lungs feeling like they were about to burst and my struggles began to weaken before stopping all together. I went limp in his arms, too weak to struggle as he drowned me. At least he was giving me that courtesy before he ate me.

His laughter was one of the last things I heard before I slipped into unconsciousness, the sound bringing me back enough to hear his last words to me.

“You’re not supposed to breathe in water, dummy.”

༄

Previous Chapter - Masterlist - Next Chapter

[sid471]

I have a defense of Jake

I dunno how liked Jake is here as an individual. But people didn’t like the poor guy on YouTube so… I’m here, hello hi 😊 my credentials are: I love Jake and I binged seasons 1 and 2 last week 😊

Jake is characterized as… well… gullible. Too trusting and too sensitive. But is that fair? … Yes 😓 I like Jake. But yes 😊 BUT! Okay, but >_> Jake… went through A LOT on Disventure Camp and before it. Before the show he said he recently ended a toxic relationship. And DURING the show, he lost his grandmother, who he really loved and cared, while he was on a reality show. He couldn’t see her, he couldn’t say goodbye >_<

THEN, a couple episodes, if not the next episode I don’t remember, later, he finds out his best friend, and crush, was lying to him the whole game. He’s already messed up emotionally from his grandmother passing, now this? Of course the guys gonna lash out >_>

Now, the part I think people were ACTUALLY upset at him about, The Ellie Thing, which extends into The Tom Thing. Now, listen. We saw Jake and Ellie bonding from the day Ellie transferred to the Teal Team. They became good friends. You can say what you want about him, but you can’t say he’s not loyal. he was loyal to the guys alliance with Dan and Tom, he was loyal to Miriam, and he WAS loyal to Ellie. I think it’s… fairly reasonable to expect the same loyalty in return.

Now, yes, it’s a game. But Jake never treated it as such. He forged GENUINE connections. With Miriam, with Tom of course, and, he thought, with Ellie. So, when his Good Friend Ellie tells him he overheard Tom saying horrible things, he doesn’t want to believe it. But he also doesn’t want to believe his Good Friend Ellie would blatantly lie to his face. And, let’s not forget, he did TRY to talk to Tom, but Ellie would NOT let him. Immediately after Ellie said her lie he said ‘I should go talk to Tom and get his side.’ but she shuts it down and feeds more to him. Now, again, was he being gullible? Yes 😊 that’s not the argument here, that he’s not gullible >_> the ARGUMENT is… the guy was FUCKED up from episode 5 all the way up until his elimination

Now time for ✨The Tom Thing✨ I would like to start this by saying… I legitimately love Jake and Tom as a couple. And I hope they get back together in All Stars. Call me delusional if you want, I don’t care 😊. With that saaaaid… Yeah Jake and Tom were uh… a little messy. To put it lightly. They started off as friends, and as the show went on they started flirting and they started to develop feelings for each other. Very cute :3 But the problems start when Jake finds out Tom was lying to him about being a spy and why he was even there. Now, you’re on tumblr. Chances are you have mental illness 😊 /j. Tell me you wouldn’t ALSO go down Jake’s train of thought? … Exactly, I would too >_>

We find out that due to Jake and Tom’s argument being uploaded to the internet, Tom was fired from his job. Jake immediately apologizes, or tries to, but is pushed away. Literally. Later that same episode they get to talk properly and Jake DOES apologize and promise to be better. Tom apologizes too and they promise to be better with communicating with each other. In the spirit of that, Tom tells Jake the real reason he was on the show, and his job, takes off his mask, he confesses he’s ashamed of his scars. Jake says he thinks Tom looks good and then they kiss, starting their relationship properly. Yay happy ending :3

… I wish >_> THEN, the aforementioned Ellie Thing happens. And, again, Jake, to his credit, DOES try to talk to Tom right up to the end but is always cockblocked by Ellie. Fiore and Alec, mostly Fiore, enact their own plan of exposing Ellie and making Tom use his Immunity Totem incorrectly on Jake which causes him to go home, with Tom blaming Jake for it because he believed Ellie and ‘didn’t try to hear his side’, when Jake did try >_>, but Tom was angry, I get it. On his way out, he yells at Jake to never talk to him again. If it seems like the official launch of their relationship didn’t last long it’s because it didn’t 😓 but not in a queer baity way, I don’t think.

Anyway, in conclusion: I love Jake. His character was genuinely interesting and sympathetic to me. Especially his storyline with Miriam, those were my favorite parts to see ☺️ Was Jake perfect? No. Did he make mistakes? Yes. Will he fix these mistakes in All Stars? He better >_> depending on how much time has passed between these seasons he really could have worked on himself, maybe even started therapy ☺️ I want the best for Jake and I want the best for Tom and I want the best for the both of them together because I love them together >_>

[the-moon-shine-drink]

WOOOOOOO IM BACK BABYYYY (i keep forgetting tumblr exists tbh)

ASMODEUS HEADCANON TIME. I HAVE A WHOLE 3 PAGES IRL SO IF YOU WANT MORE LMK

-He is the strongest sin. However, he is the least likely to use his powers since he doesn’t need to use them as much as other sins like Bee. Another reason is Fizz. He knows the small bean boy gets antsy and nervous around fire, so that limits the usage more. His emotions control the heat/intensity of the fire, so he could most definitely kill a lot of people if he is angry enough.

~Bonus Part: Ozzie has a room in his mansion that is used as a sorta cool down room. It’s completely fire proof so he can let loose if he had a bad day. This was put in place so that he doesn’t have to bottle up his emotions, and he didn’t cause Fizz any anxiety if he saw what Ozzie could do.

-When Asmodues first opened Ozzie’s, he allowed single people so they could have the chance to not be single anymore. (shut up I know that’s bad grammar) But that changed about a year into it being opened when he saw too many drunk people hit on people that didn’t want to be hit on. Lucifer heard and got pissed at Ozzie, telling him to fix this or he’s shutting down the bar. So, now Ozzie only allows couples.

-Him and Mammon are exes. I can see them being super toxic to each other or it being a mutual agreement to break up. If it was a toxic relationship, Mammon only saw Ozzie as a toy for him to play with, and overall treated him like shit. He didn’t see Ozzie for being Ozzie, he saw Ozzie as being the embodiment of Lust. If it was a mutual agreement, they would’ve actually been really good to each other. It’s just work got in the way, and they broke off for them to succeed in work. It’s a little awkward, since Mammon still does Ozzie, but Ozzie moved on. But Ozzie doesn’t know that. (someone please remind me i want to make a fix on this /hj)

-When the two sins did date, Mammon would call Ozzie “Asmo”. He liked the nickname, but now it just reminds him of a time he doesn’t really wanted to be reminded of. It’s not like he hates it, he just hates the memories tied to it. He doesn’t really get called Asmo anymore, but Mammon will slip up if at a sins meeting. Ozzie refuses to let anyone else call him Asmo, especially not Fizz. Him and Fizz almost had a fight about it, but they talked it out because COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT.

-Him and Bee are best friends. They talk all the time. It’s a straight girl with her gay best friend. He’s the one who introduced Tex to her, and she told him to try a “business” relationship with Fizz. They’re each others wingmen, and would kill for each other. Ozzie and Bee are always on the phone when he’s not busy, and it makes their partners a little jealous sometimes. More Fizz than Tex, but every now and again he gets clingy.

-He is an insomniac. he works close to 100 hours a week, if not more. He had several companies he has to do product tests, paperwork, not to mention a the bar. He gets around an hour of sleep a night, maybe 2 if he’s lucky. The other part of the little sleep is a certain someone being “happy” to see him. He learned to run off a cup of coffee and an energetic imp to keep him awake.

Hope you enjoyed! As usual, requests are allowed! I’ll do headcanons for any helluva boss ir hazbin charecter. See ya later!

[voidsentprinces]

See a few people on the tweets and tumblr wondering if previous expansions got this much flack at their launches.

So, let me reiterate from my own experiences. Even before I was actually IN the fandom. There was a ripple of complaints and memeing about Raubahn (Savage) and Raubahn (Extreme) because the launch was so hard on their servers. That you could literally get stuck on the Raubahn instance battle at the beginning of the expansion. Entire lines of people rose up and was taken pictures of. In addition, there was a small but vocal debate on people being down on Zenos thirstiers. While there were a couple posts here and there disappointed about how neither Doma nor Ala Mhigo were fully fleshed out being too little after cut on different sides of the expansion. Some people questioned Hien's actions in the Azim Steppe as forcing the secluded Steppe Tribes to save his fallen empire and bursting in on a sacred tradition for his own personal gain. But, I wasn't really in the fandom back then. Thats just the stuff that rippled out and brushed across me like a wave on the shoe coating your toes as you walk on the beach.

When I finally DID join the fandom proper in the waning days of Stormblood. Shadowbringers hype was about to be in full swing. The fandom had gotten a few things here and there. The Call had just happened, I think. People were speculating about Solus and getting excited about a possible full fledged war with Garlemald. But then the Shadowbringers cinematic teaser drop. And there were a lot of questions, why was Y'shtola now called Master Matoya? What is Minfilia doing alive again? Holy shit, Gunbreaker hype! Hopes for Healer Dancer arrived. Why the fuck is Urianger so sexy? Etc. Blue Mage in coming.

At launch, Shadowbringers, if I recall correctly, was actually widely acclaimed. Soon after the same people who rained on the Zenos lover brigade also came down on Emet lovers. Some people felt G'raha was kind of a creep. For a small portion of the community, the Hydaelyn is evil circles became somewhat vindicated by the reveal of Hydaelyn and Zodiark being the eldest of primals. Thinking she might be tempering us and the story of light also being as bad as dark in excess leading some to believe she would be the final boss of the series with Zodiark. In addition, there were a few people here and there where Shadowbringers just ruined the entire story for them and they just did not like the direction the MSQ went. As the expansion progressed people lambasted Gaius for going through what they described as "man pain" instead of actual redemption. The NieR raid ending left people a little miffed. But the end of Eden left people happy. And bringing up the 'flat and emotionless' performance people are throwing at Wuk Lamat. There was even a period of time where people complained about Aymeric and Cid and a few others sounding weak cause they were most likely recording from their own bedroom closet due to COVID having shut every motherfucking thing down.

At Endwalker launch, it was kind of excited and mixed. Queues ruled the world as people desperately tried to claw their way in. Some people were mad we didn't raze Garlemald to the ground ourselves. In From the Cold was divisive. I, myself, was on a one Void crusade about being indifferent and even bewildered by the Fandaniel = Amon reveal and lukewarm on Krile being around but being Hydaelyn's sock puppet for cutscenes. The first part of the expansion feeling like a 5.6 rather than an actual expansion and then after Zodiark is when Endwalker actually did feel like it hit its stride. The people who felt vindicated in their Hydaelyn is Evil conclusion bent over backwards and tried their hardest to say she WAS evil the entire time. Some posts about being kind of iffy on Emet returning after Seat of Sacrifice gave him a decent send off. Hythlodaeus and Venat otherwise sweeping people off their feet. And it was mixed on the treatment of Ahewann in particular. And afterwards posts about Relics not being this long tedious grind, the Post-Endwalker Void stuff kind of taking the mystery out of the Void and kind of lackluster. Myths and Pandaemonium meanwhile were praised widely, far as I can tell. And in one single patch poster, an entire section went from called Lahabrea a Bread Loaf to a D A D D Y.

So with Dawntrail launching and getting mixed reaction. I can safely say this has always happened. Expect years of posts from different retrospectives either defending or lambasting Dawntrail as we see with Stormblood and certain sections of both Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Not everyone will like everything in the story. People have their own perspective on things. And they will voice their opinion on things cause people want to be heard. My thoughts on Dawntrail? At time of posting, I still haven't played the MSQ. But I did see a spoiler. So my opinion is that death is an illusion and so are pants.

[butterfly-writer]

So I know u already did part 2 which was phenomenal Iike Amazing so just have to to do another final part 3 will be last one I promise I just having so fun making these ideas request cuz jinx is my fav

Takes place where left off bakugou doesn’t die maybe he blocks the attack from hitting him reader bakugou and reader both have battle have monologue about the past bakugou trying to mends his ways of hurting the reader but reader slowly have meltdown attacking agressive letting her rage get her she slowly getting vulnerable state bakugou like maybe hugs her saying heartfelt speech sorry about everything but maybe he notices one the villains tried to stab or shot BAKUGOU without notices but jinx pushes him out the way users her numbs ti defeat villian to save his life but she got extremely hurt and change of heart but is slowly dying bakugou is in shock and cries while holding her

I can imagine reader saying like “I’m always a jinx I guess I deserve this fate

bakugou is just in shocked tries to help the reader saying she could be hero but reader is like it’s too late for me maybe that can could end I know it’s angst but originally I was gonna let reader have redemption but i felt like wouldn’t fit her arc unless u want to change to be somewhat good ending it up to u but this final part I had in mind for idea it doesn’t have to exact this but u can add changes to ur liking u see fit aslo dm me for any questions cuz I love ur blog aslo i Hope this ok Request and that won’t be trouble just jinx is just fav charcter sm

Always a jinx

Bakugou x Fem!Reader

Summary: Bakugou managed to avoid the attack made by Jinx, but will he be able to change her heart?

★☽A/N: WE DOING IT AGAIN!! I honestly love making this, I haven't had this much fun writing something in a long time!! I'm actually considering making a series (With my own BNHA oc) and will be posting it on Wattpad and maybe Tumblr! Enough of this, let's get into it! ENJOY!!!!

Contents: Angst - a few breakdowns - death(?)

Y/N’s quirk: Arcanna (Allows the user to create crystal-like balls that can be used to boost the user’s stats, power up weapons (Like guns), and can be used as explosives when crushed.)

· • —– ٠ ✡ ٠ —– • ·

BANG!!!!!

Wait.. How? Bakugou was still alive..

Bakugou managed to dodge the shot but caused himself to fall down on his side, still tied onto the chair. “Y/N, YOU REALLY NEED HELP!” Bakugou angrily said. “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST– DIE?!” Y/N cried, her face was twisted with anger and sadness. She has been tormented by the memories, almost becoming deaf, almost dying from drowning and from his Quirk, and she hated it. Her breakdown was worse this time. She was yelling, trashing her surroundings while Bakugou tried his best to get out of his restraints. “Why can’t you leave me alone? I hate you! Stop! Shut up!!” She said to herself, her hands gripping her hair hard.

Bakugou managed to get out of the restraints and quickly walked towards Y/N. “Y/N, calm down.” He said in a stern voice, almost demanding. Y/N just looked at him with her E/C eyes that glowed a pink glow. “Leave me ALONE!” She screamed, pushing him away.

“Y/N, listen to me. I know I haven’t been the nicest to you in the past but what I know, I can change. Someone showed me that I could change to be a better person, a better hero. I hate that I couldn’t mend things with you but this is my chance to mend things with you if you let me help you. You can become the hero you always dreamed of with Deku.” Bakugou softly said, extending both his hands out as he walked slowly towards Jinx who was looking at him with widened eyes, her hands fidgeting.

“I don’t need your pity.” She spat with venom. “I’m not pitying you, I’m trying to help you.” Bakugou replied, getting close to her by the second. “I don’t need anyone’s help. I’m hopeless! I’m a freak case! What makes you think you could fix me?!” Jinx asked, her body was in an unstable, angered, and vulnerable state. She was shaking as she heard the voices messing with her head.

By now, Bakugou was standing close to her, looking straight at her but she was standing on her left side, not noticing Bakugou as she held her head in a tight grip. Bakugou felt guilty, how is that possible? He feels no quilty over bullying Deku but he felt the guilt twist his guts when it came to remembering his torment on Jinx. If he wanted to be a hero, he needed to make some changes. His hands reach towards Jinx’s trying to get her attention. But as his hands reached closer, she turned her head to look at him with frightened eyes as she looked at his hands that were reaching for hers.

She couldn’t help but sob more as she pounced on him, crying hysterically. Bakugou was stunned but soon hugged her back, combing her hair to soothe her. “I don’t think I can fix you.. But I can help you.” Was all Katsuki said.

She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. “Do..Do you think I can be a.. Hero too..?” She asked in soft hiccups. Katsuki had a small smile on and nodded, “Yes.” He answered.

Jinx couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief? Of what? Oh… Relieved that she could change paths, that she could follow her dreams instead of following her nightmares. Relieved that she could make new friends, friends with the same goal.

That all faded away when she saw someone behind Katsuki. Toga, and she looked furious. Furious that one of her close friends in the League was hugging a hero course student, the League’s target no less! She grabbed her knife and swung it towards Bakugou’s back. Jinx’s eyes widened and quickly hugged Katsuki tight which shocked him. What shocked him more was when she quickly turned around, swapping their places when she was stabbed by the thrown knife, its very tip grazing her heart.

“Y/N!” He called out. He was furious, blasting Toga away from them. Katsuki didn’t pull the knife out since it was impaled in her and would only cause her to bleed out if he were to take it out. “Why the fuck would you do that?!” He angrily asked. Y/N just smiled. “A hero would do that… Right?” She asked with a smile. Katsuki couldn’t stop the water from pouring out of his eyes. “...Right.” He grinned.

“Shit- I’m always a jinx so I guess I deserve this fate.” She chuckled. Katsuki couldn’t help but tear up a bit. He quickly grabbed her to try to pick her up to bring her to the hospital– But she stopped him. “You won’t be fast enough.” She protested. “I will be fast enough!” Bakugou protested back, picking her up and ran as fast as he could to bring her to the hospital.

Just as they were a mile away from the hospital, someone yelled from a distance. “IT’S NOT OVER YET!” Bakugou didn’t look but he knew it was a member from the LOV. Shigaraki was furious that he lost his little play toy. Using two of his fingers, he grabbed a crystal that was long ago made by Y/N. He smashed it to the ground, inches away from Y/N and Katsuki.

Bakugou managed to blast away before it exploded, creating a hole in the city’s ground but only caused the knife to slip even deeper by the impact. “You’ll make it.” He promised to the girl who had fallen unconscious, running as fast as he could.

⭒☆━━━━☆⭒

The hospital’s walls were white and clean, the air was fresh, and patients and medical staff crowded the halls and rooms.

In one of the rooms, Katsuki Bakugou held the hands of Y/N L/N who lay unconscious on a hospital bed. He hoped for the best for her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to the bright light of the hospital room, taking quick glances around the room before her eyes landed on Katsuki’s figure. He felt eyes on him and looked up to see her looking at him. He couldn’t help but show a small smile before hugging her softly.

Jinx was no more… It was just.. Y/N. A soon to be hero.

· • —– ٠ ✡ ٠ —– • ·

★☽A/N: And that’s the finale!! I hope it wasn’t that short. I just want to thank you all for the support that you have given me. I hope to learn how to write better, fix my grammar and update my vocabulary!

[withonly-sweetheart]

Laughing cause anons literally coulda blocked your page and wouldn't have to see your stuff if they really think your works are so bad. Saying they spoke to 'multiple people in the RE fandom yet they're all apparently on anon and shit talking you is coward behaviour (its probably one person getting so mad its sad) Also, to the person who said that you 'care about nobody but yourself', that is SUCH bullshit. You followed me first, you have supported the writing I've had doubts about, you're my literal top supporter (which I am so grateful for btw thank you JJ!) despite my writing being sub-par considering I hadn't wrote for years til now, and if that does not show how good of a person you are and how you do actually care about other people, then this anon is blind as hell. And to the anon who put 'Meanwhile authors who are actually worth reading barely get recognised', why don't you support them yourself and spread the word if you're complaining so much? Is your whining supporting these creators? No, it's not. The fact they're fighting over FICTIONAL characters is just sad. They're one of those people where if you shipped Leon with Ada they'd be screaming and bitching about how you didn't ship him with them instead like man... this is part of why I hate fandoms, there's always people that get so wound up about people WHO AINT REAL. It's people like you, Dolly and Pupscunt that make me enjoy coming back to Tumblr regularly and who give me the confidence to write! And like omg people die in your fiction ooooo so baaad, omg its the end of the world ooooh you didn't write Leon right! It's almost like this is fanfiction! You know, not real? Because if this WERE real life and anon was this hateful in the RE world lemme tell you, Leon would not dick down them. Man would fuck everyone on the planet before he fucked anon and even then he'd be more likely to go asexual. I'm sorry JJ, they can call us brainless all they want, but if they wanted to be smart they coulda ignored or blocked you and been done but they decided to whine like a toddler that isn't getting their way. You don't deserve that.

if anon is still stalking me (hope not) THIS. literally lily shut you up real quick.

FUCKKCKKCSJLCHSL ILYSM LILY TYSM FOR THIS ILY AHDJSKJDKS THIS IS SO THOUGHTFUL!!! tearing up rn....

[loosesodamarble]

Hey my dear Loo

Ok for you ask game 1,2,23

Have a nice day☺️

Hey there dear Marune! I've got your questions and the answers to them! And thank you for the well wishes for my day! I hope the day/night/etc that you have is wonderful too!

..........

1) that makes me smile

This is ooooooold writing of mine. But BOY it makes me soft! I was more in the Demon Slayer fandom in the early days of my blog (as it was that series and talking ocs with a friend that got me onto Tumblr in the first place). And I wrote this birthday fic for Inosuke, because he is my fictional son./lh+j AND AAAAAHHHHH!

In the end, Shizuka ended up bringing Inosuke to her borrowed room at the mansion to read through some children’s books, courtesy of Shinobu. They sat side-by-side on her bed, the book of focus held between them. They went back and forth reading sentences and if Inosuke ever stumbled, Shizuka would get him back on track. Occasionally, Shizuka would glance at her pillow, under which her gift was hidden. The reading session lasted until evening due to Inosuke’s insistence on reading every book. “The end,” Shizuka said while closing the final book. She looked out the window and at the early night sky. The dinner is going to be late I guess. Her eyes were drawn to the pillow. Shizuka reached a hand under it and slowly slid the wrapped haori out from under. “Hey, Shizuka.” Immediately, Shizuka’s head turned at the sound of her name, her actual name. Inosuke smiled at her, differently than how he usually did. This time, his grin was soft. He slung an arm around Shizuka’s shoulders and buried his face in her hair. Shizuka felt feverish from head to toe. Her heart skipped. Her breath hitched. All because of Inosuke’s closeness. “I know I drag you around a lot but it’s 'cause I like spending time with you,” Inosuke whispered. “Especially today. It’s the first birthday I really got to have. And having you be a part of it was nice. Thanks.” Turning, Shizuka let go of the wrapped gift then embraced Inosuke. “Anything for you,” she whispered back. “Happy birthday, Inosuke.”

It like the ending of the fic (so uh spoiler alert for a fic I wrote a few years ago?). It's an unexpectedly tender moment from Inosuke and Shizuka is also reassured that she didn't need to do anything particularly special for the boy she likes to make him happy. Looking back... I'm made so soft...

2) that makes me laugh

This snippet was from a delightful piece that... if I remember correctly, you inspired me to write! Morgen takes some interesting retribution on Yami after Yami gave Nacht a bit of a harsh kick to the back (and let him fall off a roof but Yami didn't plan that).

“Give me a sec!” With that said, Yami bolted for the connected bathroom. Yami emerged a few minutes later. He saw Morgen sipping his tea in peace, utterly undisturbed. “It sounded like you were being murdered in there,” was all Morgen remarked with a blithe grin once Yami was seated. “Shut the fuck up.” The conversation resumed but Yami found that he could hardly concentrate with the churning sensation in his gut that persisted. He tried to chat through the pain, to wait for it to pass, but it didn’t. In fact, it got worse as time went on. In fact, over and over, Yami kept going to the bathroom to relieve himself. Morgen had to be a saint to put up with Yami’s situation. Sitting patiently and overhearing whatever unfortunate sounds escaped the confines of the bathroom. All with that same pleasant smile. After Yami’s seventh round with the porcelain throne, Yami collapsed on his couch. His ass was in pain, he didn’t embarrass easily but he felt the weight of shame on his shoulders, and worse yet, he ran out of toilet paper. Yami glared at Morgen. “God dammit, Morgen, what the fuck did you put in that tea?” Morgen smiled and set down his teacup before leaning back in the armchair he sat in. “Well I steeped the tea leaves for a little longer than usual to strengthen the flavor. I heard that bay leaves richen the flavor as well, in a subtle and earthy way since you’re not a fan of sweetness. There’s a dash of cinnamon for spicy sweetness. And…” Morgen touched a finger to his chin in thought. After a—clearly staged, who was Morgen kidding—moment of thought, he perked up and exclaimed, “Extra strength laxatives!” Yami didn’t need to think twice. He swept aside the set up on the coffee table then lunged at Morgen while swinging. Morgen leapt out of the way in the nick of time. “Don’t run, you little shit stain! The fuck are you drugging my tea for?!”

This characterization is a little different than what I've ultimately settled on after writing for him longer. He's more conniving and lacks the airheadedness that I attributed to him later on. But still, I still like how cool Morgen plays it and just drops the whole laxatives thing on Yami.

23) that was inspired by a work from another medium (music, visual art, dance, etc.)

My fic Firefly's Dance was inspired by Kenshi Yonezu's song "Night Bugs on a Rainy Street" specifically. Some of the imagery in the fic even draw from lines the song. The upbeat yet deeply romantic tone of the song really spoke to me and how I view Morgen and Josele's relationship.

The two of them stood there, simply taking in the view of the outside. Leaves and flower petals quivered as raindrops hit them from above. The light from indoors seeped out through the clear glass, giving a corner of the garden a gentle glow, and once in a while reflected on the falling raindrops which created a flickering, twinkling effect. A faint haze filled the air, dampening the colors of the world. It was not, however, a dull or sad muting of the world. The faded colors felt more relaxed, as if taking a respite from being so vibrant. Morgen understood how it felt. After a long day of giving his all, he would let go of whatever was left of his energy and surrender himself to exhaustion. As he gazed at the garden, he felt his hand shaking, ever so slightly. He glanced down. With their hands intertwined, he wasn’t sure if it was actually his or Josele’s that was trembling. “Josie…” “Hm…?” “Are you perhaps cold?” Josele didn’t feel any colder than usual but Morgen wanted to be sure. “I’m fine…” Smiling, Morgen gave Josele’s hand a squeeze. He supposed it didn’t matter. In fact, the ambiguity of it brought him a strange comfort. Perhaps it was even the both of them. “The rain is lovely, isn’t it?” Morgen said, taking the half-step needed to close the distance between himself and Josele.

And later in the fic when they start dancing in the rain! AKJSHFKJAHETHAILEUTHILAEUHTIUH! FERAL FOR THE IMAGERY! I'M SO IN LOVE WITH TWO BEING SO ROMANTIC!

[graceschasity]

i wanna get sentimental for a sec because ive been thinking lately about the upcoming 4th anniversary to this account, idk 4 years kinda punched me in the face last week cause 4 years ago i was deep in my tgwdlm fixation (had been for several months before specifically joining the tumblr fandom). take a short trip through the past 4 years with me. black friday hadnt even premiered on stage yet, i wanted to go, but knew i couldnt. it wasnt logical, surely there was no way i could ever go to LA to see a hatchetfield show, right?

i remember black friday premiering on the digital ticket, i remember finding other people to connect with hatchetfield over and making this account, i remember knowing about nerdy prudes must die, knowing it was likely to hit in 2020. i remember the pandemic hitting right around the time they probably would have announced the kickstarter for it. and i especially remember making a dumb little group chat cause i was bored one night, and not even to get into everything else that spawned into, i specifically remember talking about nerdy prudes. everything was shut down, we hadnt heard from starkid in months, nerdy prudes was a pipe dream at that time, it was a fantasy we talked about together, about making trips and meeting up and going to the show, it was all just a dream... until it wasnt.

nerdy prudes means more to me than i can even state. a show that was simply a fantasy, a coping mechanism to get me through the loneliness of the pandemic, is a reality. not only does the show exist, i saw it, in person, with the same people i dreamed i would, and theres even the chance that ill be a part of it in the audience for everyone to see. and now a few months later im going to be hit with the reality of this once again, the upcoming release is a reminder that this all really did happen. it all feels so unreal to me, i cant believe im actually here, this show, and everything leading up to it, are memories i will treasure forever. i am so grateful for everything that has happened to get me to this point. i love this show, i love this community, i love my friends. it would have been so easy for none of this to ever happen to me, im so happy it did. nerdy prudes must die is real and exists and will be public on october 13th. i truly hope this shows means as much to you as it does to me

[omi-nor]

Rules and brief about!

Welcome! This is a rp blog for ygo characters. Probably going to just stick with mostly Yami Bakura right now. But I might add others later.

Here are some general things you should know:

- I am very new to rp still. And still not super familiar with Tumblr. Still a lot of things I don't know or have never done before, so please keep this in mind

- It almost feels like my first time ever encountering ygo.

I've just picked up the manga for the 1st time about three days ago too.

- I am an adult and would prefer characters and muns to be 18+. No nsfw stuff with minors

- I really do try to read and remember everyone's rules, but sometimes I forget my own rules, so please forgive me if I forget something

- On that note, I am pretty forgetful, in general. I try to jot down notes to help with this, but there is a chance I may forget an ic interaction

- Try to give me about a week before giving me a reminder, though.

- I am VEEERY slow a lot of the time. Like, many days, maybe a week, slow. Sometimes more than a week. Not always, but just giving you a heads up.

- I try not to spam notifs or dash, but, it might happen, occasionally. I will always reblog from the source, unless the mun has made it explicitly clear that they actually prefer it be from them or don't care either way or, for some reason, I can't get to the source.

- I am kind of the exact opposite of most people, it seems. I actually would LOVE it if you went on a like spree. And I actually prefer it if you reblogged memes from me (as long as we have spoken at least once). And dash spam almost never bothers me. You can also come into my ims, that doesn't really bother me either.

- I'm not the best at # tagging stuff. I haven't really got a system going yet

- I follow #omi-nor and #ominor, but I don't look at tags very often

- Please don't be afraid to @ me for dash games, lmao. I usually love those. May not always do them, but yeah.

- I am a very heavy cell phone user, but, so far, I don't think I've run into trouble because of this. Trimming is the only big thing I have doubts about still right now.

- Rules could change. I tried my best to give some solid info here, but it could change. I'll probably make a post if there is a change?

(I really hope I'm not forgetting something because I am writing this from memory.)

- I am pretty anxious about stuff. I'm trying not to be, but it's hard.

Like, sometimes I look at a meme and there's a part of me that wants to do it, but there's also a little pang of anxiety a lot of the time. Lol, I dunno, man..

- I may not answer every ask or do everything thing. And I'm trying to get better at sometimes saying no to things. But I don't want people to get discouraged about interacting, either, lol.

I also try not to pressure other people and a lot of stuff coming from me doesn't have a whole lot of expectation attached to it. (Like, if I @ you in a dash game, for example)

- One important thing about communication: I always feel like I'm in a tug of war of trying not to talk too much to people because I'm worried I'm bothering them just a bit and then realizing I may not be talking enough, so I'm basically a stranger to them.

- "Plot something out" kinda scares me a bit, cause all the rp I've ever done - I think - was just off the cuff. Maybe it's not as scary as it sounds and maybe I've technically already plotted without knowing it. But yeah.

- I might need to take 2 or 3 weeks off from time to time. Just giving you a heads up. I'll try to say something.

- Going by Rainy for mun name. It just kinda stuck, lol.

- It's very easy for me to feel a bit overwhelmed. A part of me hates to do this, but I may need to temporarily shut down my ask box and not accept @s or #s for a bit if I feel like I have too much to do. I may need to make a very short ooc post just to let people know?

- I'm going to say, yes, all my memes have no expiration date, though.

- On a similar note, I think it's very possible I will go through your posts and send in stuff from a very long while back, in some cases. I usually assume there is no expiration date for other people's memes, but I usually try to ask first. But if there is, please feel free to ignore.

- I may or may not use icons

- If I see a reply to a thread and I am super tired, I won't read it until I've slept long enough for me to feel better (which could be a long time). I feel like being tired while reading really distorts things, so I like to only read it after I've gotten some sleep.

Honestly, the same is usually true for even ooc conversation. I just don't do well when I'm sleep deprived and sometimes I will just pass out for, like, 12 hours. (I LOVE it when this happens, though. I feel great afterwards.)

***ABOUT YAMI BAKURA***

My Yami Bakura is, right now, based off of anime English dub canon, for the most part. But now that I have the manga, it might slowly start to change a bit. Not sure.

I kinda wanted to try Ryo, but I haven't found Ryo in the English dub to be very inspiring, so far. A lot of his screen time was him just kinda flatly explaining the duels. Poor Ryo. You see glimpses of an actual character, at times, but it's rough, man.

I was debating keeping Ryo or not, but just to avoid confusion, I'm gonna wait to see what the manga has to offer.

Can I lastly just say? I really like the ygo rpc so far.

[admirableadmiranda]

I am clueless in reading between lines or seeing from an outside perspective when reading. So I really appreciate people who writes metas, and let me tell you, learning about Jiang Cheng changed my life. Actually, when I read SVSSS, I didn't know that SY was actually in denial the whole time before chapter 82 hit me in the face. He had to say it directly for me to realised that he actually loves LBH. I thought he just treasure him very much. I didn't know very much about SVSSS before reading it so I didn't know the pairing, but in MDZS, after finishing both SVSSS and TGCF, I kinda knew that WWX and LWJ is the main pairing. So I didn't notice the signs of internalizes homophobia. I've been reading fics of MDZS even before finishing the whole thing. But when I encountered a fic that has a tag in the lines of JC being homophobic, I was surprised. So I searched it up on Tumblr (best site for reading metas gosh there's so much people here who write good shit). I feel like I've been slapped to my face. Now I can't read fics with him the same way again. I have no particular feeling against JC, in fact, I had hoped for him and WWX to reconcile after finishing it. I had nothing against XiCheng, I did enjoy a couple of fics before but after reading character analysis about him, and reading JC being such a soft character and encouraging WWX and LWJ relationship while being with LXC... I just quietly press the back button, shut my phone, put it down, lay on my side and contemplate life.

Although I can read fics about them if there's like an outside force causing for JC's top level inferiority complex and overall antics to acceptable level. I can't enjoy fics with him being so OOC and not atleast one thing about him staying true.

I can understand that sort of difficulty with looking at metas and then coming back to fics that you were enjoying and just no longer being able to stomach them. There were fics that I really liked that after I shook myself from the JC stan haze that tried to convince me that he didn't do the things he did and wasn't the character he was, that I could no longer go back to. Certainly the reconciliation fics became impossible to read, especially as so many of them now throw the blame on their relationship falling apart solely at Wei Wuxian's feet and make him beg and plead for Jiang Cheng to forgive him, ignoring or flat out lying about the things that Jiang Cheng did as well.

I can still enjoy myself a softer Jiang Cheng in fics too, though! But for me, it has to be modern au where he's not in the same position of power. Part of what makes it really difficult to enjoy that in canon outside of all the Terrible Actions is that for him, there are little to no repercussions for what he chooses to do. Who's going to hold him accountable in a way that actually stops him? He's the leader of one of the Four Great Clans. In the world of MDZS, there is no one above him to stop him. In a modern au where he's just a grump though, none of those dynamics are there and I can enjoy him just fine as long as he's not aggressively homophobic and having it cooed over in the process.

I hope you continue to have a good time and find your own comfort metrics for the fics you want to read, anon. This is such a wide fandom, I'm sure that there will be plenty of chances for you to find stuff you adore.

[hertzdo]

OYE OYE this is my first fanfic EVER (I mean the first I publish for real) It’s about Dirk Gently AND Loki, this is very short for now ‘cause i’m still hospitalized (psy ward, what a fun experience (spoiler: no)) English isn’t my first language, I don’t really know where I’m going with it but I hope you will enjoy? Check out my others tumblr btw :  https://art-saved-my-faith-in-humanity.tumblr.com/ https://lenaylei.tumblr.com/ https://icarusnlokiagainstthesoulkiller.tumblr.com/ https://twitter.com/Lenaylei and my twitter if you want to see me rage against Macron and the nazis

# One

Because the Universe was never kind. And because Dirk Gently knew what it was to feel directionless. But he never felt as directionless as he felt at this moment. He never felt as drowned into the void, as thrown into the abyss of the nothingness, as alone facing the beginning of the end, as he felt at this moment. Because right now, the Universe was silent. And it never was a good omen.

The constant buzzing inside his head was gone. Muted. Far away. Unreachable. Gone.

The thing is, it wouldn't be so concerning if it had happened during a case or a stressful situation like, let's say, *Blackwing*, but no.

Dirk Gently woke up like he did every morning, in his bed, in his appartement, at the Ridgley's, and the Universe was just gone.

Well, he knew it wasn't just *gone*, the Universe didn’t just stop existing, it doesn't work like that (what does work like that anyway) it just stopped its static, its constant buzzing and its pull and its *voices* and-

His phone started buzzing. Because of course it did.

“Yes Todd, I'm awake” he yawned through his phone.

“Dude, where are you, it's like, wait, it's past 3, I’m waiting for you?”

Already this late? He didn't realized he was this late, he didn't realized he didn't even tried to get out of his bed actually. He sighed.

“Dirk? You there?” Todd seemed slightly concerned. But it was an assumption and Dirk didn't like doing assumptions when he was late, without the Universe nudging his back and-

“Dirk, just get your ass up here” Todd seemed now less concerned and more annoyed.

“Yes Todd, right away Todd!

- And bring coffee!

- Coffee?!

- Yes we got a case, now come on dude!”

Dirk started getting up.

“A case? Are you sure about that?

- What do you mean I'm sure about that?

- Nevermind, getting coffee, wait woops- stupid table, bye Todd”

By new case Dirk didn’t excepted this: a man, falling from a strange magical door, working for the TVA, landing directly in the office of the agency.

“Where is Mobius ? Where am I? Who are you ? What the Hel happened again? What- - Hey there slow down would you mate ? My name is Todd, and this is my friend Dirk, he’s a detective- - Yeah about that- - Shut it! As I said he’s a detective. And you who are you? Who is Mobius ? - What year are we, what is this place, is this Midgard ? Dirk took a big inspiration,  - Midgard ? Waitwaiwaiwait are you like from Asgard ? Thor etc ? - Thor’s my brother, yes.

Big silence in the room

- So you are telling me you are Loki, correct ? Asked Dirk - I didn’t say anything. - Oh yes you did! - No I did not! Nevermind I’m leaving forget about me, got business to do. Todd scaugh, - No I mean, what the Hell was that door, who are you working with, are you planning total annihilation again ? - What the fuck Todd ? - I’m serious, this man tried to enslave humanity once! - IT WASN’T- it wasn’t, I wasn’t really myself at this period of the timeline, please I need to find my partner let me go at once! - Your partner, is he Asgardian too ? - ENOUGH! - Todd stop please. Look, Sir, we are a detective agency, maybe we can help you found your partner ? - I really doubt that. - I mean, you quite landed in my office - I’m sorry about that ? Wasn’t part of the plan. - And what was the *plan* then ? - I’m not telling you, for the last time, let me go, there is no need for violence but you won’t stop me for long. - Alright alright chill man, you can go - Sir, if you ever need a detective don’t hesitate

Loki rolled his eyes - “sir” .

He started walking away when one question remained unresponded: - Actually, could you tell me at least what the year is ? Dirk and Todd exchanged gazes. - 2023, Sir - Crap” He walked away.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

idk how to word this well but i feel like a lot of media critique is read as too personal to the author? obviously the intentions of the creator is important and the circumstances they made the thing in is important to discuss but i feel like that should be like. context. an explanation of why the story is like that but not a way to shut down further discussion.

like for example a lot of critique of tv shows is rebutted with "well the network cancelled it/forced it to keep going beyond its natural end/threw in a bunch of stuff to fuck up the creator's vision so it's not the writer's fault." and like. who was blaming the writers? yes maybe the network fucking with the creative team made the show turn out bad but that doesn't mean the show isn't still bad! it's just that now there's a conversation about network interference and how that affects the final product.

and i think outside factors that affect the story should be discussed!! i think networks are often unfair to its creatives hence why they're striking now. i think censorship is often limiting and prevents writers from telling the stories they want and (tumblr focuses more on this) having good representation. i think the identities of the creators and their beliefs and abilities have massive implications on a story and i think all of it should be discussed as the context the story was made in. i just don't think we should stop the discussion there. we still need to talk about what did and didn't work in the story itself.

when i say "the plot/rep/format of the story had X problem because it affected the story/audience interpretation of the story in X way" and someone says "well the writer's boss forced them to make the plot/rep/format like that," i think it's important to know as a part of media critique. but if they refuse to discuss my initial statement and just ends the discussion there because the problem wasn't caused by the writer, i don't find that interesting or useful to think about.

the only purpose of saying this and only this is to tell me that no, the creative team isn't at fault for this specific thing. i shouldn't get mad at these people that i will likely never meet whose only relationship i have with them is consuming their work. and like. you shouldn't harass people for writing bad stories regardless but if you need to be told that specific creators aren't to blame for a thing you disliked to stop you from doxxing them then that's one purpose of that.

but for that to be the only discussion point is ignoring the actual story. forgive me for assuming but i feel like most people would want to talk about the actual media when they do critique, not the personal/political drama involved in making the media. this is an online discussion about something published by strangers, not a writing workshop with your friends.

and i think talking about the problems that arise in a story because of outside influences can bring more awareness to those influences! if you say "the publisher told them to not make those two gay" and refuse to elaborate people just think "oh :( well i bet a hypothetical book where those two were gay would have been cool :)" if you say "these two have character arcs that would make more sense in X ways if they were gay but because the publisher told them not to make them gay it falls flat in X ways" people would think "holy shit! the publisher's prioritizing their homophobia over telling a good story! i hope next time they have a book like that they'll just let them be gay!"

pointing out exactly how outside influences hurt a story will show audiences not only how these factors fucked over the creatives career-wise, but also their own enjoyment of the story. most people won't affect the way creative teams of media they like are managed, but in the rare instance that they do, "it makes the story worse and therefore less profitable" is a better talking point than just "don't interfere with the writers because it'll make the writers sad."

basically if i point out a problem with a story and you reply "this problem was caused by X external factor," the next sentence should be "and here's how and why X external factor affected the story in these ways." it's shouldn't be "and you shouldn't blame the writers for it because it was someone else's fault." pointing out that capitalism and bigotry exists should not be the end of the conversation. you need to say something its effects on the story in tangible ways. otherwise the conversation has no value.

and i want to reiterate that i know a lot of limitations studios and publishers place on creators are frustrating to the creators themselves. it must feel horrible to see people be dissatisfied with your work, especially if some of the things they critique wasn't your fault. i cannot stress enough how much i dont think less of a creative team's skill unless i know for a fact that they chose to make something bad without any outside influences, which is incredibly rare. if i criticize something, i am not placing blame on anyone unless i outright say "i blame the writer/studio/publisher for this."

when i talk about my thoughts on a story, it's entirely for me. i'm not holding out hope that hollywood executives will see my opinions and tailor-make something for me so i'll stop complaining. i talk about and criticize media i like because it's fun. it's how i engage with media. i don't know the creators of 99% of the things i enjoy, and they will almost definitely never know me. while it's interesting to learn about the production process of a piece of media, even if i don't know who's "responsible" for a part of a story i don't like, i won't get angry at the creators for that. i don't connect the value of the writer to the value of the story in that way.

[iishmael]

hiya, im sort of new here (ive finally started using tumblr properly after having an account for months) and i wanna start by saying what you do is amazing!! well done!!

i know its a bit of a stretch, but could you do something with stoffel vandoorne and mitch evans?? i feel like formula e is really undermined in fics cause the amount of angst you could write about a grid where a part of the grid are ex-f1 drivers...

even like 3 sentences would make me happy, so thanks <33

Welcome!! <3 I am surprised you found my blog since i'm more like the f1 senior ex-driver rehabilitation centre at this point but I hope you'll enjoy your stay (and I do have some brocedes content coming up! fittingly, for the senior rehab rip) I have not written stoffel in so long, the last time i wrote about him i headcanoned him as nando's and jenson's kid. the nostalgiaaaaa... this is very short, but i hope it'll make you smile! <3

Stoffel/Mitch Warnings: none

The raspy, choking sound was preceded by a bang.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"I told you. I told you that a McLaren would-"

"Oh, what the actual fuck! It's smoking too!"

"The McLaren and your driving style combined-"

"Stoffel, please, can you just-" Mitch grappeled with the latch of the door handle, the door of the GT smoothly sliding upwards even under his impatient jolting. "Please get out of the damned car!"

Even though Stoffel was still muttering under his breath - and all of that were Dutch curse words, Mitch was sure - he got out of the car and joined Mitch next to the hood.

"I told you we should've asked the car rental for something different. Maybe something more suitable to you. Like a Polo." Stoffel's smirk was wiped off his face when he inhaled some of the white smoke that kep wafting up from the engine.

Mitch snorted, suppressing a laugh against his will. "We have a serious problem here, can we maybe focus on that?"

He leaned forwards waving and fanning the smoke out of his face with quick movements of his hand, and squinted down to the engine. They had rented a car to get to their holiday destination - and now they stood on the side of the road somewhere in the middle of California, with an engine failure on their hands and the hot sun burning down on them. An inconspicous car would truly have been a better choice, Mitch thought to himself - obviously he was not about to annouce that to Stoffel.

Mitch sighed heavily, stepping back from the mess. Maybe that last donut and the little bit of speeding he'd put the car through had been too much? "I can't see anything with all the smoke," he announced, "and I don't want to stick my hand in there while it's still hot... Do you think we should-"

"Call roadside assisstance?" Stoffel snapped his phone shut with no concern for the bendy touchscreen, and pulled Mitch away from the gaping hood of the car. "Already done."

Mitch groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. "I'm sorry. This is really not how I imagined our holidays to start..."

Stoffel had had another quip on the tip of his tongue, but when he saw that Mitch was starting to mope, he pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. "Now, stop looking like that. We'll be rescued in no time!"

"Easy for you to say!" Mitch buried his face against Stoffel's neck and hugged him close. "I hate cars," he complained, voice muffled.

Stoffel laughed and started to pet his hair. "Hey, if anyone's allowed to shittalk McLaren, that's still me, baby."~

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

I was tagged by @onmywaytonarnia so here's some stuff about me

Nickname: Florida Man or just Florida (god help me, I hate it down here...)

Sign: PEDESTRIAN X-ING, REST AREA - 3 MILES, or perhaps SPEEDING FINES DOUBLED WHEN WORKERS PRESENT (I do not believe in astrology)

Height: 6'1" or 6'2"

Last thing I googled: Perseverance rover

Song stuck in my head: for some reason I have a mashup of Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson stuck in my head. I don't know if I actually heard a mashup somewhere, or if they were both part of that 4-chords song by Axis of Awesome, but I can't stop thinking of the two choruses layered on top of each other (🎶and I don't want the world to see me cause I don't think that they'd understand/🎶I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly🎶)

Follower count: officially 3222, but I noticed when I was just starting out that tumblr inflated the actual count by like 20, 30, 40%. When it said I had 100 followers, I counted, and I actually had 85. When it said I had 1000, I only had like 700. I stopped counting after that, so I have no clue how many I actually have right now. Probably more than 1000, but probably not more than 2000. I have maybe 100 followers who regularly interact with my stuff, about 30 of whom are mutuals (maybe 10 or 15 close friends).

Amount of aleep: AHAHAHAHAHAHA (5, maybe 6 hours on a good night? Sometimes none, just endless tossing and turning because my brain won't shut off)

Lucky number: 13, and I'm not being ironic about that. I'm serious. 13 is my favorite number of a variety if personal reasons

Dream job: I want to be part of a creative team, I want to work with a bunch of people to make something for people to see! I want to make art, and I want to collaborate so I'm not alone. Writing scripts or making props or dressing sets, some manner of production design. I want to craft!

Wearing: Goodfellow t-shirt and cargo shorts

Movie/book that summarizes me: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir feels like it was written for me personally. That is how my thought process works, that is how I deal with problems, that is who I want to be. I have a higher than average understanding of math and science but I always try to explain it in as simple terms as possible for people who find it all too daunting. This is the kind of book I want to write, sci-fi that explains the sci.

Favorite songs: Ramblin Man, the Gambler, Country Roads, the Devil Went Down to Georgia (I'm noticing a country pattern...), anything by Weird Al Yankovic (Hardware Store and Albuquerque are probably my top 2 of his),the Little Shop of Horrors movie soundtrack, White Squall and Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers (I went through a sea shanty phase when Wellerman was big), anything by Jonathan Coulton (Skullcrusher Mountain, Code Monkey, Blue Sunny Day, Big Wide World One, Shop Vac, Mandelbrot Set, to name a few), Climb Out Your Window, Addicted, and Here We Go by Walk off the Earth, and the Celtic Woman cover of Danny Boy (this is my go-to cry song; if I need a nice long cry, I put this on and it all comes flowing out of me)

Favorite instrument: I love brass, trumpet specifically, I could listen to Louis Armstrong all day

Aesthetic: analog technology, typewriters, instant photography, clockwork watches without quartz, sacrificing convenience for the sake of privacy, nostalgia for the early 2000s (but through the eyes of a child, so no George W. Bullshit)

Favorite author: per capita, Andy Weir. He's only written 3 books, but I love them all and want to emulate him. Max Brooks for World War Z. Cormac McCarthy for The Road (very depressing, but hopeful near the end; one of the only books to really tug at my heartstrings). John Steinbeck for Of Mice and Men (another heartstring tugger). Audrey Niffenegger for The Time Traveler's Wife.

Currently reading: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Favorite colors: cyan, lime green, heliotrope purple

Favorite animal sounds: the scuttling of crabs on pavement, the sneef-snorfing of a curious dog, the bleat of a baby goat, the EHHH of a baby sloth, the MEHH of a baby deer, the chirping of bats, ethereal whale songs

Last song: either I'm Going to go Back There Someday from the Muppet Movie, or Hey I Don't Work Here by Tom Cardy

Last Series: Owl House (Lulu + Hootcifer 4ever!!! Oh yeah and lumity's pretty good too I guess)

Random: I once learned all the lyrics to Bobby Darin's Mack the Knife without ever actually listening to the lyrics of Mack the Knife. Like, I listened to the song all the time, but I never paid attention to what was being said. It was just gibberish to me, but I learned the gibberish, and I sang along to it in the car one day and my mom asked why I was so enthusiastic about murder. Turns out Mack the Knife is about an old londontown ripper named Macheath. Still a banger though.

@goldenmoldies @olivia-online @nsomniacsdream @schifty-al @richardjager @n-brio @orange-birdie