#please ask me more normal questions then desperately trying to figure this out. i can tell.

[triangley-two]

You big into men?

...Is this because of my dads you guys are asking this. I don't. even know. okay?

[mariespen]

➸ Preteen Struggle

Sheriff!Rafe x Teacher!Reader

➸ Masterlist!

Requests open!

Oliver's struggle with emotions turns serious when he consoles with Rafe about his internal conflict with another girl.

(Re-blogging helps smaller writers like me! Please enjoy!)

Years ago, you would have said that the toddler phase was the worst. The mess, constant need for attention, and constant tantrums. Now, at this stage of parenting, you can surely say that the pre-teen stage is your least favorite. Your eldest son, Oliver, had just turned twelve. Still so innocent, but suddenly drowning in the lack of clarity.

You understood him in a way he didn’t, having experienced pre-teen years with a painful accuracy to your son’s. Rafe, on the other hand, had worked with his dad all throughout his younger life, too busy with helping on the farm to take a second thought when a gut wrenching emotion passed through his stomach. So when Oliver came home crying and didn’t leave his room until the morning, Rafe’s lack of understanding hit you hard.

“Honey, he’s twelve.” You softly coaxed as Rafe sat in bed, fuming again when his own son ignored him.

“I don’t care! He needs to figure this shit out..” 

The days dragged on, just more conflict arising as you tried desperately to help Rafe understand. Oliver needed space and reassurance, not yard work and rides in his cruiser. The one time that Oliver approached Rafe with a question, the conversation was short and broke something inside of you.

“Dad? Can I talk to you?” Oliver had asked one night, fidgeting with his hands and stumbling into the room. His sudden growth spurt had given him yet another thing to adjust to, so for the next year you had a clumsier Bambi slipping around the house.

“Mhm, sure buddy.” Rafe said with a hopeful nod as you left the room, giving them space.

“Dad, there’s this girl.” Oliver started, his voice shaky, “A-and I tried to talk to her but she just.. ignores me.” Rafe nodded, trying to extend same the grace that you reminded him to. He had repeated what you said to him during the late nights that he doubted himself over and over again in his head. But when it was time to apply the words, his mouth was dry and body tense with nerves.

“You and mom.. you did it right, you know? I want the same thing. I think she’s the one.”

You sighed, listening through the doors, realizing just how lost your eldest was. Rafe stuttered over words, trying to figure out the best way to approach the conversation.

“Well, son. You’re twelve.” He said hesitantly, watching as Oliver’s reaction turned sour, “It’s hard for you to understand your emotions.. and-“

Oliver bolted up from his place on the bed, feeling Rafe’s lack of understanding hit him like a truck, “Really?”

“Oliver, listen!” Rafe got up too, reaching an arm out to try and recenter the conversation, “It’s just your feelings, they’re getting all mixed-“

Your son didn’t give him a moment before turning to yelling, uncomfortable with sharing sadness with Rafe. 

“I hate you!” He yelled, shoving the doors open and running to his room, slamming it just the same.

Tears welled in your eyes as you watched from the opposite side of the hallway, just clear enough to watch Oliver’s run, knowing it all too well. You softly walked back to the bedroom, finding Rafe standing in shock, his head in his hands. “I tried..” He whispered, fighting off tears.

You walked up to him, gently pulling his towering frame into you,  “I know, honey. I know.” 

“I said what you told me! I- I thought that was what he needed.” Rafe’s voice was hoarse, trying to keep up his strong facade.

“He doesn’t need solutions, just to be listened to.” You whispered, guiding him back to the bed and hugging your husband tighter.

The night dragged on, but Rafe couldn't shake it. He got ready for bed like normal—until, at the last second, he stepped into the hallway. You let him without a word, waiting patiently. Part of you expected an apology, but when there was no other movement besides the floor, you got more curious. After about 15 minutes, you gave up and retreated out to the hall. 

Your eyes fell on Rafe’s body, supported against the wall outside Oliver’s room. He sat on the cold hard wood floors, head in his knees. Tears stung at his eyes, trying to forget Oliver’s words. You observed silently, trying to decide if you should comfort your distraught husband or let him learnt the lesson on his own.

Oliver’s door opened slowly and he crept out, his eyes wide and red. He noticed Rafe, instantly succumbing to sobs at his side. Rafe turned to face his crying son, bringing him into his arms without a moment’s hesitation.

“I didn’t mean it.. I’m sorry Dad.” Oliver cried into his father’s arms.

“I know, buddy.”

The two remained the ground for another hour until Rafe stood up, carrying Oliver’s sleeping form to his bed, tucking him and promising to understand him better in the morning. You were already asleep in the shared master bedroom, but Rafe’s soft footsteps stirred you awake. 

Without a word, Rafe got into bed and held you close to his chest, kissing your forehead.

“God, I love that kid.”

[n3ptoonz]

'Shape of You'

THANKS FOR 600+!!🩷🩷

Pairing: Laios Touden/F!Monster!Reader

Fandom: Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon

Warnings/tags: Smut, Explciit! Riding, reader is a shapeshifter, reader is implied to be thicker, reader is tall, reader has larger breasts, mating press, creampie, msub to mdom, fdom to fsub, half proofread, plus size friendly, might've missed a few tags

Word count: 2.1k+

aye this might not even get much traction but i did promise to write this a long time ago, so whoever is interested, i hope you enjoy and thanks in advance for reading!

the reference that launched me into overdrive to write this (like i took a shot of crack and heroine at the same time)

Laios' party made a quick stop by a shop on a lower floor of the dungeon--they were in desperate need of food and supplies. Thankfully it wasn't as packed as the ones on the upper floors, but the prices were a tad more expensive. And most of the vendors were...monsters. Or some variation of one.

"You're ten coins short," you said, quite flatly too. It was all too often that people would come through with not enough currency in their pockets to get by via these shops. Funnily enough, you couldn't help but take notice to the armored Tallman that was a bit unfazed by your statue. Most that come to and fro from whatever land shake in their boots, sometimes walking away without buying the things they need to continue. You even had to get a shorter stool at your kiosk so customers wouldn't faint or run off.

You were a tall female Beastman--well, taking the form of one--and your bangs covered your eyes. Clad in slightly revealing attire, but to most this was considered normal.

You could overhear the shorter blonde elf asking the rest what they can do since they really needed those supplies. The Tallman walked back over to you, some pep in his step and a genuine smile on his face. He really looked like a sweetheart. He looked like one of those kinds that took interest in monsters, and you've seen it all before. He might try to distract you, ask you questions about your species or life while the others attempt to steal the items and-

"Is there perhaps another way to pay?" he said, "We really need these supplies and I've gotta know my options...Please?"

In his mind, he was taking a shot in the dark. Being unable to read your facial expressions, especially unable to read your eyes was killing him. But he at least had to try.

You were pleasantly surprised. Not many customers pressed on this far. Not one was successful. Standing up, now being a generous four inches taller than him, you watched his jaw drop slightly. But not in a "I fucked up" way. No...He was practically drooling.

How can a monster be so...beautiful?! From your rigid horns to the patterns on your skin, and your rich voice that rattled around his brain, let's just say it's a good thing Laios would never eat a beastman. He could die happy just at the sight.

"This way," you said while gesturing to the hall that led to a spot closer to your habitat. Laios nearly broke into a sweat as his cheeks turned a deep red, clearing his throat and turning to reassure his party.

"I will be right back guys. Don't worry about me, I'll handle it."

Did he believe that? Maybe? I mean, surely if he had to fight for his life he'd have a better chance of winning if he wasn't walking behind you and taking in your figure. The confident sway of your hips. The silhouette of your thick thighs through your skirt...Woah! What is he thinking? Is it hot in here? Or rather, out here?

At the end of the hall, it was foresty and damp place that honestly looked enchanted. Like an untouched land filled with nothing but dreams. Though, that was the entire point. What use would this place be if you couldn't eventually carry out an...alternative transaction here? It's only been three months since the walls shifted and allowed your escape to this part of the dungeon. Make the most of it.

And make the most of it you will.

Once further in, the environment became more misty. The vines surrounding most of the area released some opaque vapor into the air, causing Laios to feel funny. His vision became wonky and he couldn't stop giggling to himself.

"Something funny?" you said stopping in front of him with your back turned. Your...really nice back. He couldn't help himself. He kept imagining what you looked like naked, but in his defense it's what happens when he's nervous! You know, like what you looked like without that piece of cloth just barely holding up your breasts. Just what you looked like hovering over him with not an article of anything on except for those pretty shiny beads around your waist...

Damn it.

He blushed hard and leaned on a nearby tree to compose himself before attempting an answer. If he spoke now, he didn't know what sound would come out his mouth.

The second he looked up in your direction you turned around and looked him dead in the eyes with your bangs out of the way. His pupils grew and the shine in his eyes was gone.

"Traveler?" you said in a feigned innocent tone. Laios blinked a few times and groaned, holding his head. His ears were ringing and he was sweating just standing there dazed as ever. His pants were getting tighter. He could barely look at you or register anything going on as your voice echoed in his head.

-

The weight of his limbs felt like bricks. But his legs only felt like that because you were sitting in his lap, and right atop his crotch.

"I have a challenge for you," you whispered in his ear, shifting your weight forward to wake him up more. He inhaled sharply as his eyes widened. He so badly wanted to touch you. Grab your hips. You shoulders. Anything! He could only just look at up you with hazy eyes and nod slowly.

"I accept," he muttered. His words may have been a bit slurred but he was well aware of the situation. He had to get supplies for his party, and if this was the only way, then shit, so be it! He was the last man to complain.

You smiled at him and sat up to push his pants further down his legs, softly gripping his shaft and hovering over it.

"All you have to do is ejaculate," you said. "I'm going to ride you until you do so. Clear?"

You could feel him twitch in your hand in response. So, with that, you sat right in his lap with zero preparation or warning. You had the ability to shape shift, so this kind of thing was never a bother. Although he was beneath you and locked up as soon as he registered your warmth around him. It was like a wet heating pad.

What you chose to omit was once inside of you, his system would slow down. The point was for it to be difficult, just take longer for him to cum. Also for him to not be able to speed up the process with whatever strength he may have. Not a soul has been able to do this without tapping out because even though it's taking longer, the sensitivity is still there. Stronger than ever before.

The hands that were lying helplessly at his side were generously placed on the fabric that covered your ass while you rode him. It was a normal pace but to him it was excruciatingly slow, but that didn't stop that goofy lazy smile from forming on his lips.

Every thought of his walking down that hall came true--which wasn't too many. You holding his head up let him just sit there with your tits bouncing in his face. This was not helping in the slightest. Oh the things he could say. The things he could do! Which was really...not a damn thing.

"Three minutes. Impressive." you said. Three minutes passed already?!

"I'm so sad..." he mumbled, more like whined.

"Why's that?"

You could feel his fingers wiggling, trying to gain some kind of control again. "Your breasts...so nice..." he huffed and a single tear fell down his face. You could almost laugh.

Wiping his tear with your thumb, you leaned forward to stuff his face in your cleavage, and you just couldn't help but chuckle at his groan of relief; your arms wrapped around his neck for balance. His tight muscles easing just a bit even as you rode faster, this time for your own pleasure. You could feel his hands gripping and kneading at the skin between his fingers. The pace his hands moved was oddly faster than before, but you were too caught up in your own world to care.

He was one of few that was decently sized when erect, which was the most exciting part. Each up and down slide better than the last, if that made any sense. To you it does, be as it may, you don't get this opportunity often.

He groaned again as he finally got the growing feeling in the pit of his stomach, his muscles a little less tense than before. Laios had to keep reminding himself why he was here. Why he agreed to this besides getting a nut off with a scheming, gorgeously thick monster that was taller than him. Whatever hit him, whatever newfound purpose reached up and slapped some sense into him moved his arms up to hug your waist, but not enough to trap you against him. Not yet anyway.

You were still coming undone. Your eyes to the sky and moaning to your heart’s content. It was now you who forgot what the purpose of all this was. Ten measly coins? What an excuse…or a lie.

But there was no time to think about it as your hips suddenly slammed into his lap and were unable to move. You panted in irritation as you looked down at him, feeling him trap you against his chest as he mustered every bit of strength to roll over so you were on your back. He hovered over you and caught his own breath, his arms shaking as he held himself up for a moment. You looked at him in pure shock. Of the few individuals that went through this “trial” of yours, it was just the typical process of you using them. However, now, as you watch him sit up straight and press your thighs to your chest, flushed cheeks and all, you couldn't tell if you should be upset, or thrilled.

If you were annoyed before, then it completely vanished the second his hips connected with the back of your thighs. A guttural, yet pleasurable shriek leaving your lips and echoing throughout the damp, dreamy forest. Your bright colored eyes wide and your fangs bore in its wake. Laios was determined to make this worth it and just move the hell on. It must've been the angle—it was—because now the heavy, dead feeling in his limbs was free, and he thrusted like he had nothing to lose yet all to gain, which was true.

You, on the other hand, were having the time of your life. It's like the rush one gets when having a worthy opponent. The intensity running through your veins caused your form to change mid thrust, and you were focused on nothing else but the both of you reaching climax. You were already close to it, and especially Laois now that he just watched you shift like that because of him. He cursed under his breath and thrusted harder.

“You're…you are gorgeous,” he said breathlessly, his eyes taking in a totally different version of you. He groaned loudly once your tail wrapped around his neck. “In every form,” he added in a strained whisper.

He finally snapped. That sticky, warm substance filling the caverns of your core was almost never ending. You bucked and shook under him, shifting a few more times as your orgasm hit you like a weighted blanket in the cold. His hips finally stilled and he panted like a dog, shakily removing himself and watching his cum leak onto your now bigger tail from the new shift. You let out a sigh as your body relaxed, letting your legs thump against the ground.

“Traveler,” you said with a breathy laugh and looked at him while sitting up. “Take whatever you need.”

He helped you stand, silently marveling at the feeling of your hand in his since this shift gave you claws. Oh, how he wishes he could stay guess what you turned into post-Beastman form, but he had duties and a party to lead. He watched as his own cum evaporated from the ground, so he could only imagine at this point what it looked like after coating those walls of yours, like something he'd never felt before. You gave him a kiss on the cheek and stood upright, seeing the blush form quickly on his cheeks.

“It’s on the house.”

-

A/N: hello my tooniez <3, LOL, i hope this is not garbanzo beans. i been gone QUITE a bit, im not fully back yet cause college drained the hell out of my writing desires. i have my ideas but taking classes that involve writing really slapped me around 🗿 anyway, thank you for 600 hello?? i'm trying to release the old requests sitting in my drafts for y'all and i won't open requests until i get that done, so it may be a while. thanks for being patient if you've been waiting/haven't forgot about me :3

i've been reading a lot too so hopefully it improves my writing style? who knows!

[crayonstik]

In the world of divinity, am I just a pawn?

Ruan Mei x gn!reader

Angst with comfort, a little fluff

T/W: Relationship anxiety, big nervousness, mentions of exploitation and abuse(from aeons to people, not inter-personal relationships)

You ask Ruan Mei a daring question, is she just using you as a stepping stone to get to divinity?

You had been with Ruan Mei for years at this point. You knew each other better than you knew yourselves. So why did this one thought nag at your mind so much? Why wouldn’t it leave?

“Ruan Mei, could I ask you something?”

“I’m not busy right now, go ahead.”

“Am…” you inhale deeply, pressing your anxiety down as far as possible. “Am I just a pawn in your plan to reach aeonhood? Am I just a piece of entertainment that you’ll toss away one day?”

“When the day comes where you can finally ascend, will you choose divinity, or me?”

The cold air of the lab had quickly become frostier. Even the critters had scattered back to their pillows, despite their favorite people being in the room.

The genius stared down at her papers silently, too afraid to reveal the anxiety in her eyes.

“What makes you think that?”

When questioned, the fastest response is to ask back. She needed time to formulate an answer. Normally she would have a read on you, by this point she should know what to do but…

Ruan Mei was lost.

“I’ve read your reports from the simulated universe. I’ve seen the way you talk about the aeons. You glorify them, tell me that this is the divinity you dream of reaching, but…they’re all so cruel. Even Nous is heartless to THEY’re own emanators. None of THEM care. Humans, life forms, are just toys for THEM to torture for THEIR pleasure. If you are trying to ascend to this, then are you even the woman I fell in love with?”

All this time, years of research to ensure she would never lose you yet…

Is this how it was going to end? One question that she couldn’t formulate the words to answer?

Oh right, the years of research.

Tentatively, she motions you towards her desk and opens up a drawer. There’s piles and piles of papers, bottle with samples from the Abundance, Propagation, even Qlipoth. Every single detail of how she is desperately trying to keep you close is laid out in this drawer. You flip through the papers, file after file after file of attempts to cure your health issues, even mental ones.

“Dear, how long have you been doing this for? Why didn’t you tell me?”

The answer, in her opinion, was rather stupid.

“I…I was scared of telling you. I thought you would leave me for all the effort I threw into you. I’ve always been worried you’d go away. I was going to find the answers and give them to you then, so that you wouldn’t feel guilty about the toiling it took…and it’s been about 2 years…”

Through the tears and the flem in your throat, you suddenly burst out giggling. THIS was your girlfriend you knew and loved! Ever shy and overthinking for everything. You wrapped your arms around her lightly trembling figure, placing your chin on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry for asking such a harsh question without the full context. I know it was scary. But I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry. See? I’m here, right now, and I won’t abandon you here. Just next time, could you please be more open if you’re going to study me like this?” You chuckled at the last part, ending with a sigh of relief.

“I…I forgive you and I apologize for hiding this from you for so long. Thank you…thank you for staying with me.” You felt her lean into you, keeping both of your bodies stable.

Conversation and emotional expression turned out to be very draining. She would have to note how hungry this made her later.

“Could we perhaps, get some cake?”

[the0p]

enemies...?

mlm, non idol au, smoking, drinking, spice with lots of plot(yet again) this was in the making for a very long time

I stood at my apartment door, my peaceful and quiet night interrupted by a very drunk mingi knocking at my door bearly being able to hold himself up as he leaned on the side of the wall, which wasn't anything new.

me and him never really saw eye to eye, but recently, we both developed this...enemies with benefits thing where at first we just fucked when needed but with time we also started going to each other for things like advice or just general shity company.

usually, when he'd show up in a state like this, I would let him in without much question, but we had an argument a few days ago, so I was reluctant.

he seemed to have picked up on it as he straightened himself up the best he could, his half open eyes looking at me.

"Can I please come in?" The words were slurred but soft even a bit desperate.

I stared at him, trying to figure out what to do. was I really going to cave that easily? the answer is...yes, yes I would.

I opened the door of my apartment fully and went to his side, placing one of his arms over my shoulder and holding him up a hand on his waist for support.

"Why do you always have to get so unbelievably drunk." I grumbled to myself as I helped him inside the small apartment, laying him down on the sofa.

"Why not? it's not like it's a big deal anyway." he said, sitting up slightly, his cheeks red and eyes unfocused.

I didn't respond but kept the words in mind as I went past him into the kitchen to get the poor guy a glass of water with the hopes to sober him up a bit.

I was used to him showing up drunk and everything, but this seemed a bit more extreme than usual, which worried me.

I came back placing the glass on the side table with a few snacks as well, knowing he'd eat them eventually if not now.

"Move over." I said, pushing his legs off the sofa, making him sit up normally with an unpleasant groan as he sipped his water.

I stared at him, my arms crossed, looking at him from head to toe, trying to see what I could pick up on just from the outside. I figured out very early on that he was an easy person to read. the things he did, said and done when he was upset, were extremely different compared to when he was in a good mood.

"You do know staring is rude, right?" his words a bit snappy.

"What happened?" is all that followed.

mingi quite obviously stiffened up a bit, staying quiet. I didn't presure him or anything knowing he'd end up telling me when he's ready.

I reached over to the side table, taking my beat-up pack of cigarettes and my lighter, putting one between my lips and throwing the pack mingis way. he caught it and did the same, waiting for the lighter from me, which I passed shortly after lighting mine.

I watched from the side pretending to not care, but shit he looked so good. as much as I hated him, he always looked so unbelievably attractive no matter what he did.

"I like a guy." mingis words snapped me back to reality in more than one way.

a hum is all that followed from me. A small peng of disappointment grew in me, which was unexpected, especially on my end.

mingi took a drag from the cigarette smoke mixing between us before continuing. "I'm not sure of his feelings towards me tho. we fuck and spent time together but...I don't know man"

"Have you tried maybe telling him?" I asked, looking at him, knowing he obviously hasn't if he's talking about it.

"Of course I haven't. I wouldn't be telling you if I had." he said, running a hand through his obnoxiously amazing black hair.

"You should try. you won't know unless you don't ask. Plus, the worst he can do is say no, and you both move on with your life."

he stayed quiet, obviously thinking as he slowly brought the cigarette to his lips, the sight beautiful as ever captivating even. it was hard to take my eyes off of him. his skin was smooth, lips soft as a pillow, hair that fell perfectly every time he ran his hands through the strands.

long story short, I was down bad.

and it hurt a bit knowing that he did indeed like someone else that in my mind could never in a million years be me.

we both sat in silence for a while, mingi lost in thought as i just zoned out. No words spoken, no looks or glances, just pure silence and the smell of cigarettes between us.

"I like you y/n. like, a lot."

I blinked a few times trying to register the worlds he just said. he...he LIKED ME!? I looked at him, opening my mouth to say something only to close it, being lost for words. this was the last thing I expected to happen tonight.

he sat there looking back at me, waiting for an answer, his eyes searching mine for any hits of what was going on inside my head.

"How sober are you?" I asked carefully

"I'd say relatively sober...why?" The confusion visible on his face as he answered.

as he said those words, I kissed him without a second thought. it was nothing like the previous kisses we've shared. This kiss held actual emotions and feelings to it that I hadn't had the courage to say or act on.

mingi was surprised by the sudden kiss but quickly melted, the initial surprise long gone as he returned the kiss, keeping it slow and sweet.

both boys savoured the moment as the supposed 'hate' they had for each other vanished into thin air.

the kiss progressed slowly, turning into a make-out session that neither of us expected to happen, especially tonight.

my hands moved as if they had a mind of their own tangling in his hair, pulling him closer, his own hands making their way under my shirt, resting on my waist, his thumb drawing circles lightly.

both our lips moved together at a comfortable pace, groans and wines slipping from one or the other occasionally.

I moved to sit on his lap, both our buldges rubbing against each other the fabric of our pants being the only thing between us.

mingi moaned, breaking the kiss as his grip on my waist tightened slightly. I moved my hands from his hair to the back of his neck, looking at him, his lips red and swollen his hair messy.

it was an amazing sight.

his hands moved up and down, exploring the warm skin under my shirt, his touch light, and gental a drastic change from our previous times.

no words were exchanged as we both looked into each others eyes for the first time without a hint of hate or annoyance.

"I'm glad you came tonight mingi."

"I'm glad you let me in."

tags: @unitinyverse

(if you wanna be tagged tell me🙏)

[m1ckeyb3rry]

── THE GLASS PRINCESS // TEN

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You and Lee spend some time in Ba Sing Se, where you meet a familiar girl. Afterwards, you tell Lee the story of Quynh and how she came to be.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 7.2k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: PLEASE DO NOT SLANDER ME FOR THE FATHER GLOWWORM REPRESENTATION I HAVE NOT READ THE KYOSHI NOVELS ‼️ idek what he’s up to in canon but his powers fit the situation so he got to feature in the fic…pretty sure he’s way more heinous in the atla-verse but oh well!!! glass princess father glowworm is just chill like that ig 😰

“Lee,” you said from where you sat on the kitchen counter, watching him scrub dishes. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he wore his signature scowl on his face, though every time you spoke, it abated in favor of something resembling a smile.

“Y/N,” he said. “Are we introducing one another or something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you said. “Now that we are friends, I want to ask you a question.”

“We’re not friends,” he said, as was customary, taking a rag and using it to dry the mug he had just washed. “But go ahead.”

In the days since you had happened upon the refugee gate, you had not seen the Blue Spirit at all. Every night, you waited for him, and every night you returned to the palace disappointed. Eventually, you understood what he was saying by not arriving, and so you turned to the only other source of companionship you had been offered: Lee and Mushi from the tea shop.

Mushi had been delighted, but Lee had been more than a little annoyed at the prospect of having to spend everyday with you. This time, though, you did not relent. You followed him around the tea shop as he worked, chattering to him incessantly, and finally he grew resigned enough to your presence that he stopped complaining about it and began speaking with you somewhat normally.

For the most part, the two of you talked about books and tea and other, safer subjects. You were still trying to understand what you had seen the other day, and you had no idea what Lee’s opinions were on the matter, so until now, you had not even considered broaching any of the more sensitive topics.

“How did you end up in Ba Sing Se? I don’t mean why you came. I mean, how did you get in here?” you said.

The question was still unclear, but Lee did not ask for further explanation. He finished drying the mug and put it with the rest before taking a plate and running it under the water.

“We took a ferry,” he said. “We had to buy tickets and show our passports, of course, but it went relatively seamlessly otherwise. By the way, if you’re just going to sit there, you might as well be useful and sweep or something.”

“What about the entrance fee?” you said, sliding off the counter and taking the broom he handed you, leaning on the handle and batting your eyelashes at him without even trying to sweep. This earned you a scoff as he once again shifted from washing to drying, though his trademark red flush crept up his neck at the same time, which meant he wasn’t really upset.

“It wasn’t a thing when we came,” he said. “Or, at least, it wasn’t that high. I’m pretty sure that it was included in the price of our tickets. They were so expensive that it would only make sense. Possibly not, though. Last I checked, they just raise the prices because they can nowadays.”

“I can’t understand it,” you said. “Why is there such a desperate need for people to come here? Surely you must know. Can you tell me?”

Belatedly, you realized this might give away your identity in some way, because who else would have such little sense for what was happening in the world but the princess who had been locked away for so long? But if Lee was suspicious, he did not show it, only exhaling heavily and shaking his head.

“There’s quite a lot, and none of it is safe to discuss here,” he said. “Sorry, but I don’t want something happening to my uncle or I.”

“It’s okay,” you said. “I don’t blame you. If I had known it was like that, I wouldn’t have asked.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It’s a strange place we live in.”

“That’s for certain!” you said, pointing the broom at him for emphasis. “Do you know the situation at that one gate?”

“The second southeast gate? Yeah, it’s in a bad shape, but almost all of them are like that,” he said. “It’s common knowledge, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s about to do anything about it.”

All of them were like that. That meant that every day, the entire perimeter of Ba Sing Se was flooded by people trying to get in, people like the ones the you and Blue Spirit had seen. It was human suffering on a scale you could not comprehend, and the broom clattered to the ground as you attempted to envision it. How many hundreds of them were there? What were they seeking refuge from? What reality was worse than the one they were running towards?

“Every gate,” you said. “But Ba Sing Se has so many…”

“Some of them are wealthier entrances,” Lee said, using a towel to wipe his hands off and unrolling his sleeves. Picking up the broom, he began to sweep. “It’s not that bad at those ones. Apparently, things at the second southeast gate are improving now, too.”

“Are they?” you said. It was only a modicum of reassurance, but even the knowledge that one less person might be hurt was enough to cheer you. “Why is that?”

“Apparently, some rich woman came with someone dressed as the Blue Spirit and donated half of her life savings so that no one had to pay the entrance fee there,” he said. “Things haven’t devolved into sheer chaos only because what she did is still a relatively unknown thing, so it’s mostly only had positive consequences so far.”

“Half of her life savings?” you said, thinking back to the amount you had given, which had really been nothing but pocket change. “Um, wow. That was — very generous of her to do. She must be a charitable person.”

“Must be,” Lee said flatly. “And I guess there really is a Blue Spirit in Ba Sing Se. Sorry for doubting it. Even though he’s obviously not the same person as the one from the play, namely because that Blue Spirit would’ve done something instead of just standing around when there’s people in need.”

“He was doing what he could!” you said. Lee raised his eyebrows at you, and this time, it was your turn to cough to disguise your emotions. “That is to say, I’m sure there was more going on than either of us are aware of.”

“Right,” he said. You glared at him.

“Really! The Blue Spirit is a good person!” you said, feeling honor-bound to defend him. Even if you hadn’t seen him in so long, he was still the man who had saved you. You still harbored some feelings you could not quite name for him. “Maybe it only looked like he wasn’t doing anything, but he was. I know he was.”

“Whatever you say. Super-fan,” he said, muttering the last under his breath.

“You’re the one who likes the play so much,” you reminded him. “If anyone’s a super-fan, it’s you.”

Lee was saved from responding by Mushi’s entrance. His uncle was the kind of person that was impossible to be angry around, and he had an uncanny knack for knowing exactly when you and his nephew were arguing. His presence quelled you both, and it was probably the only reason the two of you had not, in the earlier days, read one another to filth.

“Good, you got all of those cups washed!” Mushi said. “I was worried you’d be too distracted, but I’m glad to see that that didn’t happen.”

“What would I be distracted by?” Lee said, putting the broom away. You had picked up very quickly on the fact that Lee had no interest in helping out around the Pao Family Tea House, and that tea was not really something that excited him, but it was the only way that he and his uncle could make money, so he did what he could, albeit without a smile on his face or any passion to his motions.

“If I had a lovely lady to talk with all day, I’d hardly get anything done!” Mushi said.

“Uncle!” Lee hissed.

“It’s okay, Mushi. You can think of me as more of a taskmaster than anything; I make sure Lee gets everything done in a timely fashion,” you said when it became evident that Lee was far too embarrassed to say anything more.

“And she doesn’t even offer to help while she’s at it,” Lee added. “So, ha.”

“It feels like you were trying to get the last word in there, but I don’t think you were successful in that endeavor,” you said. “Just so you know.”

“Shut up,” he said.

“Lee, please be kind to your friend,” Mushi said.

“Yeah, Lee,” you crowed. “Be nice to your friend!”

“Y/N,” Lee said, pointing a threatening finger at you, though it was hard to genuinely be afraid of him when he was so relatively harmless in everything he did. “You’re not even my friend, so you don’t get to pull that card!”

“I’m the only person you talk to, besides your uncle, so doesn’t that make us friends automatically?” you said.

“No, it just means I don’t have any friends at all!” he said haughtily, leaning the broom against the wall and dusting his hands off against his apron.

“Once again, I don’t think that that’s quite the closing statement you were aiming for,” you said. “It has more of an embarrassing effect to it than a victorious one.”

“Now, now, both of you should stop quarreling,” Mushi said. “Lee, your shift is almost over. How about you and Y/N take some time to explore the city together? It’ll only improve your spirits!”

“Believe it or not, I’d actually rather work,” Lee said, though he did untie his apron and hang it up.

“Just be back in time for your evening shift!” Mushi said.

“I’ll make sure he is,” you promised, following after Lee as he all but raced out of the tea shop, waving at Mushi, who waved cheerfully back. “Hey, Lee, wait up!”

Luckily, Lee did slow down a bit, allowing you to catch up with him, the two of you walking side by side down the street in the afternoon sun. It was a different context than you were usually in; he had been forced to take the evening shift more often than not nowadays, so he was normally still working by the time you left for the fountain. Today was the first time you had come early enough to be there for his break, and without the tea shop in the background to smooth your interactions over, there was an awkwardness that filled the air.

Who were you and he outside of the Pao Family Tea House? Who was Lee when he was not working as a server? Who were you when you were not protected by the secrecy of being just another patron of the shop?

“It’s you!” a soft, feminine voice said. Suddenly, you were being accosted by a pair of arms thrown around your shoulders, holding you in the sincerest embrace you had felt in many years.

“Me?” you said, wriggling free from the hug to peer at the girl. She beamed up at you, holding onto your hands, and though you couldn’t quite place it, you knew that you did recognize her from somewhere.

“Yes, you,” she said. “Everyone’s been saying you’re a spirit, since you don’t match the description of anyone living in the Upper Ring, but I’vealways believed in you. I’ve always known that you were a real person.”

Your eyes widened as you realized where you knew her from: she was the girl who had been helping the man with the burnt leg at the second southeast gate. She must’ve seen you when you had given the captain the money, and somehow, despite the days that had elapsed since then, she had recognized you.

You glanced at Lee, but he did not seem surprised nor intrigued by the conversation. He was diligently reading a street sign, which really could not have been all too fascinating, but he was an odd boy with odd habits, and it afforded you some semblance of privacy to converse with the girl, so you did not say anything to him about it.

“You’re the reason my father is still alive, lady,” the girl said, squeezing your hands tightly. “We thought we might have to cut his — cut his leg off or something, but because of you, we were able to get to a doctor in time.”

“That kind of doctor must be expensive,” you said. She nodded.

“Oh, yes, he was one of the Upper Ring ones,” she said. “But he saved my father’s leg, so what does it matter? I’ll figure it out.”

“You will?” you said. “What about your mother? Or your elder siblings, if you have any?”

The girl glanced around nervously before beckoning you closer. You offered her your ear, wondering what kind of terrible secrecy she was sworn to that she had to be so careful.

“I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, so please don’t repeat this to anyone, but the truth is that my mother and my little brother were killed by Firebenders. They set our house on fire while they were taking over our village. It’s how my father got his leg burnt,” she said, her small voice choked. “He went back in to save them, but he couldn’t. The only reason I’m alright is that our cat had run away and I had gone to find her.”

She was barely more than a child, and yet she had had the responsibilities of a woman thrust upon her. How could a little girl be expected to take upon the sole burden of providing for herself, for paying back the doctor that her father had needed? It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair, but if not her, then who else could even do it? By that definition, she was alone now.

You thought that maybe you and she were not entirely dissimilar. In the end, you, too, were alone. Even if you could not relate to anything else, you had that much in common with her.

“Here,” you said, taking her hand, pressing a handful of coins into it. “I’m not sure if this will be enough, but it will be better than nothing. At least, it should tide you over until your father is feeling better and he, too, can find work.”

Her eyes shone, and she dipped into a bow. Cursing under your breath, you caught her by the shoulders, looking around to make sure that nobody had seen. The last thing you needed was to be caught and dragged back to the palace by the Dai Li or some other such authority.

“Lady, I only came to thank you, but you’ve done me such a favor that I don’t know how I can ever repay you for it,” she said. You smiled at her.

“You needn’t repay me. In truth, I should’ve been doing these things long ago; it’s only thanks to, ah, extenuating circumstances that I haven’t been. I hope you stay well, dear girl, and that your father may recover swiftly. I’m sorry that you have had to suffer so greatly already,” you said, ruffling her hair.

“I hope I get to see you again, lady,” she said before gasping. “Not because you’ve given me money every time! It’s because you’re really kind. I want to thank you properly one day.”

“If it is our destiny, then I’m sure we will meet once more,” you said. “And you needn’t thank me. It is only my duty.”

“Destiny?” she said. “But how can I ensure that that destiny comes about?”

“Hm,” you said, tapping your chin in thought. “When you are older, please work very hard. Work so hard that even the royal family cannot ignore your efforts, and then go to the palace and ask for Quynh. Even if I am not allowed to meet you, I will find a way. If you can do that, then I will do my part so that our fates can collide another time.”

“Quynh!” she said, sucking in a breath. “Oh, I didn’t know…! I’ve treated you so flippantly!”

“It’s not a problem,” you said. “Now run along. And — and I know it won’t do anything, but I’m very sorry about what happened to your family. I wish there was something I could’ve done to stop it.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “It was — you know. Them. You’re the one who’s helped me. I’m really grateful to you, so don’t apologize.”

“Maybe that’s how it is,” you said. “Anyways, welcome to Ba Sing Se. The city is improved by your presence.”

“Thank you!” she said, bowing again before you could stop her and then scampering away. You watched her go until she disappeared into the crowd, and then you turned to Lee, who was still steadfastly reading the same sign.

“There must be something fascinating written on that sign, for you to be so intently reading it,” you said, jabbing his arm with your pointer finger as you read over the sign yourself. “Mm, very interesting indeed. Left to the Firelight Fountain. Right to the Pao Family Tea House. Straight to the First Southeast Gate. That’s the kind of content you just can’t pull yourself away from.”

“I was trying to be respectful and not listen in on your conversation!” Lee said.

“Oh, thanks,” you said. “That was surprisingly good of you to do.”

“What was it about, anyways?” he said. “Why’d she recognize you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” you said. He pursed his lips before turning away, continuing to walk down the street, towards the Firelight Fountain where you spent your evenings waiting for the Blue Spirit.

“Who is Quynh?” he said after a second. You frowned at him.

“How do you not know who Quynh is? She’s the patron spirit of the Earth Kingdom!” you said. “Or at least of Ba Sing Se.”

“Sorry I never had much time to study theology of all things while I was out…there!” he said, vaguely gesturing around.

“Out there,” you said. “Where, like the Fire Nation or something? I thought knowledge of her must be common throughout the Earth Kingdom.”

“No!” he said quickly. “Just — we traveled a lot, you know, and mostly in rural areas, so we, um, never heard the stories.”

You supposed it made sense. What guarantee was there that the legend of Quynh had reached every single corner of the Earth Kingdom? It made sense that someone like Lee, who must’ve spent his formative years in some place closer to the border than Ba Sing Se, wasn’t quite educated on the tale of the great mother bear.

“What business did you have traveling, anyways?” you said.

“It was for, er, work,” he said. “We were in, uh, a circus! Yeah, a circus.”

“A circus,” you said. “I’m sure you attracted all sorts of patrons with your charming and outgoing personality.”

“I wasn’t a performer! My uncle was. I just maintained his equipment,” he said.

“That’s a little more believable,” you said. “What did he do in the circus?”

“He was,” Lee began, his eyebrows low over his eyes in thought, “an acrobat! Mhm. He was an acrobat.”

“It’s not as believable anymore,” you informed him. You couldn’t imagine Mushi doing flips and cartwheels anymore than you could imagine Lee juggling. When he had said that his uncle had been a performer, you had been expecting him to be the ringmaster, perhaps, or even an animal trainer, but not an acrobat.

“Why? Uncle Mushi is plenty flexible!” he said. You made a face.

“I shall take your word for it,” you said. “But I’m sure he’s pleased to be retired by now.”

“Very pleased,” Lee said. “In fact, he’s so pleased to have put that part of his life behind him that he becomes really upset when people bring it up again. So I’d recommend you don’t.”

Upsetting Mushi was the last thing you wanted to do, given how well he always treated you when you visited the Pao Family Tea House, so you nodded at Lee and mimed sealing your lips together.

“I won’t mention it,” you said.

“Thank you,” he said. “But back to the original topic. Who is Quynh?”

“Ah, right,” you said. “Although she’s known as the guardian spirit of Ba Sing Se, and of the Earth Kingdom in general, it’s a little more complex than that. You see, she’s not meant to guard the entire kingdom; her loyalty is to the royal family and them alone.”

“Then how’d it get confused?” he said.

“Once upon a time, when she was the most active, the interests of the royal family and the interests of the kingdom were not so separate,” you said. “Maybe it’s not the case in the recent era, but no one’s even seen Quynh in so long that by now, her name has been solidified in history as the great mother of the Earth Kingdom.”

“Is that all there is to the story?” he said as you reached the Firelight Fountain. Of course, in the daytime, there were no lanterns lit, but in lieu of the eponymous firelight, there was a family of turtleducks floating in the placid waters.

Digging in his pockets, Lee produced a bunch of grapes. Breaking off a few, he dropped them in your palm before taking a couple of his own and tossing them into the fountain for the turtleducks to peck at. You followed his example, secretly pleased that he had known that bread was bad for the turtleducks’ stomachs and had been appropriately prepared with a better alternative.

“No, naturally it’s a long tale,” you said. “Do you really want to hear it?”

“Sure,” he said. “It beats working the afternoon shift.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” you said. “Alright, then. It’s an old story, for Quynh is an old beast, but it’s widely considered to be timeless, so I hope that you do not find it to be at all dated, despite its age.”

Contrary to popular belief, Quynh was not born a spirit. In fact, she was a mortal animal, a bear — a true one, of the same form as King Kuei’s Bosco. Even she was a child once, a mere cub, small enough that a person could heft her in their arms.

In that time, bears were considered to be a great threat to the world. They were thought of as vicious, cruel creatures, with swords for teeth and knives for claws. Larger than any man could ever hope to be, they were frequently hunted, both for sport and for safety, and so it came to be that by the time Quynh was all of two moons old, her and her mother were the only known bears left in the world.

Her mother, who was scarred and gray at the muzzle, knew that it was only a matter of time before she and Quynh, too, followed in the paths of their brethren. She was a canny bear, and so she took Quynh to a river and sank her teeth into the scruff of her daughter’s neck, dipping her into mud to disguise her scent and then dragging the whining cub into a cave that promised to have what she needed.

It was some time before she reached it, but eventually, she made it to the center of the cave, where its inhabitant resided. It was one of the massive, blind badgermoles, though something set this one apart from the others: she was in mourning, hunched over the frail body of her young, which had drawn only a few breaths before passing. 

Quynh’s mother nudged the badgermole before dropping Quynh at her feet. The badgermole, deprived of her sense of smell because of the mud slathered over Quynh’s body, accepted her as her own — or perhaps she did not want to question the stroke of good fortune, that she had just lost her child and then so soon had been given another to care for, even one as tiny as Quynh.

Her mother nuzzled her one last time before leaving the cave. It is unclear what happened to her after that; until recently, it was agreed that she must have been killed like the others, but since the discovery of Bosco, her fate was no longer quite as certain. Perhaps she and a few others managed to survive for all of that time, leading to the birth of the king’s companion…or perhaps Bosco was unrelated to Quynh and the descendant of another strain entirely.

The badgermoles raised Quynh as if she were one of them. She learnt to Earthbend from them, though it was not in the same way; she was not blind, and so did not have the same reliance on the element, and because of her comparatively smaller stature, she never gained the strength needed to command the earth in the way of her family. Still, she did what she could, and though she remembered her mother fondly, she thought of her only on the coldest of nights. The badgermoles were the ones who reared her, and though she could never forget that she was not one of them, that she was a bear, she was never ostracized for it. They loved her, the badgermoles, and as she had spent much of her life with them, she loved them back.

It was when she was four years of age that someone else came to the cave of the badgermoles, though this visitor was neither bear nor badgermole. He was a boy, one with a kind smile and soft hands. His name was Shan, and according to him, he had come to learn from the badgermoles. Earthbending was their art, and if he ever wanted to master it in a meaningful way, then he would have to become their disciple.

Quynh did not trust Shan for many moons after his arrival. She remembered what his kind had done to her own, and though the badgermoles harbored no such misgivings, she would always snarl at him when he visited, gnashing her teeth until he backed away with his hands in the air.

Stubbornness, though, was a family trait. Just like the rest of his line, Shan was not willing to give up. He knew not why Quynh despised him, only that she did, and it was something he could not live with. Every day he tried, and every day, in small increments, she forgave him. The sins of his forefathers were not his own, after all, yet he still endeavored to make up for them. He would bring food for Quynh, tell her stories about the sun and promise to take her there one day — after all, she was a bear, not a badgermole, and bears were not meant to live in the darkness.

That was why, when Shan could no longer learn anything from the badgermoles, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he hesitantly reached out and placed his hand in between Quynh’s eyes, splaying his fingers over her broad forehead and asking her a question: will you come with me?

She hesitated for only a moment, but when she glanced back, the badgermoles had already left, for they, too, knew the truth of her being. They had raised her, and they had loved her, and it was because of those years of affection that they were doing her this last favor and letting her go, letting her rejoin the world that she was born to live in.

It was only once they both stood in the sun that Shan revealed something new to her: the continent which they lived on was in a state of perpetual war. It was composed of many small provinces which were constantly battling one another for as many reasons as there were creatures under the sun. For food. For land. For resources. For perceived insults. For women. For riches. It went on and on, and it was to one such war that Shan had lost his parents. 

This was why he needed Quynh’s help. He wanted to unite the provinces, to turn them into one kingdom, so that the wars might cease for some time, but he could not do it alone. He needed her strength, alongside the strength he had received from the badgermoles. She thought that she might feel angry, but in truth, there was a kind of joy she felt at being needed. So she, in her own way, agreed to his request. She agreed to help him turn the disjointed provinces into one united Earth Kingdom — just as long as she could stay by his side when doing so.

Quynh had come to love Shan. It was like that. Sometimes it was as if she had been born to meet him, to be his companion; if she were a human, then she might’ve called him her greatest friend, but since she was not, since she was but an animal, the only word she had for it was brother. Shan was her brother, though much more delicate than she and without nearly as much fur, so she guarded him with all the ferocity of an elder sibling.

Their combined mastery of Earthbending was too much for the warlords and their paltry armies. It was not long before their dream was realized and they had a proper kingdom. The warlords hailed Shan as their ruler and crowned him the Earth King, but then they ran into a new problem: what was a king without a palace?

Thus began their most ambitious undertaking, even more ambitious than the unification of the Earth Kingdom. They were to build a city, one that an ordinary man could not even conceptualize, one that even the greatest army could not take. It would be named Ba Sing Se: the impenetrable capital of the greatest kingdom the world had ever seen.

Scores upon scores of men were enrolled in academies to learn Earthbending, so that the city could be built in a timely fashion. Things went excellently for a time, and Quynh thought that she might finally be happy. She had her beloved Shan at her side, and now that the wars were over, she could spend most of her days sleeping, allowing the sun to warm her dark fur as she dozed in the gardens behind Shan’s childhood home. 

But things were not meant to be like that. A kingdom in its infancy would always strain against its new rulers; that was the way of things, a way which Quynh had not yet learnt. It was because of this that, during one of his tours of the site where the palace would soon be constructed, an assassin tried to kill Shan.

Quynh was the first to sense his arrival, but he was too fast for her to do anything. She could only roar out a warning to her brother as she ran towards him, her ears flat against her head, her swords for teeth and knives for claws extended, even though it was futile. She would not reach him in time. The man rushing at her Shan would stab the dagger into his back, and she could do nothing about it but push herself faster, faster, in the hopes that she could make it, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, she could at least take the dagger in his stead.

It was not the dagger which killed her. It was her own brother’s student who cried out in alarm and sent a stalagmite shooting up from the ground and into her heart. It was that old fear which all men possessed, the insidious one which said that bears were vicious, cruel creatures, which spelled out her end, as it had spelled out the end of every other bear before her.

Shan had heeded Quynh’s warning and made quick work of the assassin, who was nothing in the face of a master Earthbender such as himself, so he had not understood at first why his faithful companion had stopped roaring. It was only when he turned and saw her bleeding and heard his pupil rambling on about how she had almost killed him that he understood what had happened.

He cast the boy aside, banished him from the Earth Kingdom and told him to never return, and then he fell to his knees in front of Quynh’s lifeless body. For, as she had loved him, he had loved her, too. The skittish bear who had detested him thoroughly…in the process of winning her over, an indescribable fondness had blossomed in him. Quynh was the only reason he had a kingdom. Quynh was the only reason he had anything. Why, then, was Quynh gone? How was he supposed to rule without her at his side? His Quynh. His bear. His greatest friend.

For three days and three nights, he prayed. He prayed to every spirit he could think of: Tui, La, Agni, the Mother of Faces, and even the more unsavory ones, such as Koh the Face-Stealer. He prayed only for one thing: Quynh’s return. He would give up everything, he repeated, as long as she came back to him. That was his promise. That was his vow.

Only one spirit heard him. He was a being who claimed to be a father, though he held such a disdain for everything that it was uncertain whose father he was meant to be, exactly. Shan would never have dared to converse with such a spirit unless he was truly desperate, but he was truly desperate, and it was for this reason that he opened himself to conversation with one of the most malevolent beings in both the spiritual and physical planes: Father Glowworm.

Father Glowworm was the conniving sort, but he was, in his own way, fair. It was not pity that drove his actions, of course, but a hunger, a lust. He told Shan that he could not bring Quynh back, that it was against the laws of the universe to breathe life unto death, but that there was something else he could do — for a price.

Shan agreed. It didn’t matter the price. He had lost his entire family already; he could not lose Quynh, too. Father Glowworm warned him that he would not like it, but Shan swore that there was nothing more important to him than Quynh.

But the price itself was Quynh, Father Glowworm said. He would subsume her body. Shan would have to watch him tear her apart and eat her, and if he could manage that, if he could manage to watch as Father Glowworm ate the body of his greatest friend, then Father Glowworm would give her spirit some of his powers, the ones which allowed him to tunnel between the physical and spiritual worlds. 

There was still another catch. According to Father Glowworm, what he was about to do was the highest form of offense. By offering Quynh’s body to Father Glowworm, Shan was desecrating it thoroughly, and by agreeing to watch, he was essentially forsaking her, declaring that she meant nothing, was nothing to him but rot and garbage. Her spirit would not know the meaning of the ritual, only that it was being done, and so, even if he went through with it, there was a high likelihood that she would not manifest ever again. She would never dare show herself to the man who had allowed her to be devoured by such an evil being, who had stood by and taken in the gory scene without so much as flinching.

She would have to love him so much that she returned in spite of that, Father Glowworm said. Those were the conditions. That was the only way it could be.

Even though it was wrong, even though she would most likely hate him for the rest of time, even though he knew he was ruining everything for the mere chance that he might see her again, Shan agreed to it. Because there was that chance. Because if Quynh loved him as much as he loved her, then she would come back. Because if it had been the opposite way, he would’ve come back. For Quynh, no matter what she did to him, he would’ve come back.

Father Glowworm did nothing to spare Shan’s feelings. His eye remained focused on the man as he did exactly as he had promised, gorging himself on Quynh’s body piece by bloody piece, until there was nothing left of her but a pile of gleaming bones. Those bones, too, were not safe, as he absorbed them, humming as the power and life which had once been Quynh’s filled him instead.

The entire time, Shan stared straight ahead, his gaze never wavering from Father Glowworm’s singular eye. And finally, when the spirit was finished, he began to laugh.

Foolish man, he told him. Everything you have done has been for naught. Do you think that any creature is loyal enough to return after you allowed its body to be destroyed like that? I thank you for the meal, but this is where we must part.

Shan clenched his fists and kept staring into that eye, asking him only one thing. Did you give Quynh the powers you promised? Is she a spirit now?

Of course, Father Glowworm said. Consider it a gratuity for how delicious she was.

Though it seemed hopeless, Shan did not fret the way Father Glowworm was urging him to. As soon as he had the confirmation that Quynh really was a spirit, he allowed himself to relax, nodding at the pulsating mass that was Father Glowworm’s body.

Father Glowworm was naturally confused. In this kind of situation, Shan should’ve been screaming, should’ve been cursing him for the unfair deal — the deal which was by design uneven. He had made it so many times, and it had never mattered. The end result was always the same. The dead ones never came back. They wandered the spirit world in a haze of confusion and anger, hating a person whose only crime had been loving them too much — not that they knew that, of course. Watching their grief and ingesting their mourning was how he amused himself in his eternal existence, but Shan provided no such amusement. It was only a moment later, as the ground began to shake and an enormous form made of shadows emerged from a doorway in the air, that Father Glowworm understood why.

Quynh loved Shan. And so, Quynh came back.

“That’s the tale of her origin, anyways,” you said.

“I didn’t know that Father Glowworm made deals with people,” Lee said. “In all my studies — limited studies, of course, given that I was doing, uh, circus-y things most of the time — he was just a bloodthirsty killer.”

“Even spirits get bored,” you said. “He was also that, but from time to time, he would do this type of thing for no other reason than because he could. Because he wanted to. Are you following?”

“I think so,” Lee said. “Is this a true story?”

“If you believe in Quynh, it is,” you said. You had heard the tale from Quynh herself, so of course you knew that it was real, but it remained that not everyone was aware that Quynh was more than a legendary concept. And surely you could not give away that you had met Quynh personally — many times in fact — so the non-answer was the best way you could hint to Lee just how verifiable the so-called myth was.

“I see,” he said. “It’s really fantastical.”

“Perhaps,” you said.

“But maybe not entirely so,” he said. “Is it known what powers Father Glowworm gave her?”

“It is,” you said. “Though if you didn’t believe that story, you’ll scoff at what they are. They’re very power-of-love based.”

“Sappy,” he said.

“Most assuredly,” you said.

“Just tell me. You’ve gotten me interested now,” he said.

“The palace is built around Quynh’s Den,” you said. “It’s where Quynh resides, so that she may look after the royal family — the descendants of Shan, who she considers to be like her own children — and it’s a place outside of time or space, in a way. It’s said that her den is made in the same place that her body died and her spirit was reborn. In fact, all of Ba Sing Se was built around that central location, with her Den serving as a support to the entire city.

“Because of this, and because of Father Glowworm’s tunneling powers which he gifted to her, she’s also known as the Keeper of Doors. It’s said that every door in Ba Sing Se is a place sacred to Quynh, and that’s why you’ll sometimes see people praying while standing in doorways. From Quynh’s Den, she can open doors to anywhere in the city, though she has trouble with extreme precision or accuracy. Some say that her doors lead you to where you need to go, not where you want to.”

“I don’t see what’s romantic about that,” Lee said. “It’s typical spirit world stuff.”

“Let me finish!” you said, accidentally throwing a grape too hard into the water. It hit the surface with a splash, dousing the nearby turtleduck, who honked at you in irritation. You mouthed an apology at it.

“Look what you’ve done,” Lee observed. “You’ve gone and made the turtleducks upset. Great going, Y/N.”

“Hush!” you said. “Anyways, the romantic part is the best part of the story, I’d say, but it’s the least accepted. You see, Quynh obviously loved Shan.”

“Obviously,” Lee said.

“She loved him so much that it manifested in her powers, too. There’s only one door that she never closes and which always has the same destination, no matter where it’s opened from: Quynh’s Door, which leads to the inside of the palace itself,” you said.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Lee said.

“It would be,” you said. “Think of how many invasions would be successful if the aggressors could find Quynh’s Door! But it’s not one of her normal doors, which can be seen by anybody. Sometimes, it can’t be seen by anyone at all. It’s a door that only appears to those who Quynh deems worthy.”

“And how is one deemed worthy?” Lee said, clearly enthralled as he leaned in towards you slightly, all pretenses of feeding the turtleducks abandoned. You grinned at him.

“It’s the same way Quynh came back as a spirit,” you said. “You have to be loved by Shan, or, in modernity, someone of his line.”

“You don’t say…” Lee trailed off.

“Do you see what I mean? It’s almost out of the realm of probability that it’s the case, that she really loved Shan that much, but it’s the truth,” you said. “The only way that a person can find Quynh’s Door and enter the palace without restriction is if they are loved by someone in the royal family.”

taglist (comment/send an ask/dm to be added): @rinisfruity14 @c4ttheart @blacky-rose @shizko @marsbars09 @happyplaidpersonfestival @catborglar @camilleverreault @nerdybouquetofkittens-blog @lovialy @heart4hees @stefnarda

[lovelywritinglady]

Muzan and Leanan sidhe! reader? Reader is a art eating fairy (what leanan sidhe means) and likes masterful art the best. However, they sense the infinity castle from where they are roaming and smell the 'food' (the paint) there. So, to get there, i imagine there would be magic involved. just phase through the ground and enter there that way. I'd think Reader would be astonished from how lovely the place looks, no? The infinity castle is pretty! After they find the art they'd marvel before beginning to savor each bite; unaware they were being watched... this enough detail?

This is Great! I’ll do my best to execute your vision!!

Art Eater

Muzan x fairy!reader

Reader specifically is a fairy that eats art and is attracted to art/paint. Readers gender is not specified.

Fluff, mentions of eating paint(please don’t do that!), Muzan is wayy out of character.

Nighttime was the highlight of your long days looking for your fix: delicious paintings. You have been starving looking for food. You can eat other things but everything you tried to eat tasted like hot ash in your mouth, so you didn't bother with it. Tonight you were fluttering around when the smell you've been longing for filled your nose with sweet delight. So, naturally, you followed it desperately.

Soon enough you found the source of the scent, however, you were met with severe confusion. "Where the hell is it." You questioned to yourself and you began flying around frantically looking for the paintings. With no luck, you decided to sit down on the grass below you. However, instead of sitting you sank and you sank. With a yelp, you fell far into the earth and landed on your ass. Your eyes were met with a wonderous sight and you thanked your magical abilities for allowing you to be able to tread in spaces that normal beings can't.

You sat up, opened your wings, and began fluttering around the large space. The scent you had been searching for filling the entire space you were now in. In fact there was no searching needed as you found a filled with the most beautiful painting imaginable. You almost felt bad for salivating as much as you did. You decided that you would just nibble at the edged as to not ruin the paintings. And so, you began eating the once closest to you. The first bite was so good that you moaned slightly at the very taste. The second bite was no different as you chewed much faster than before, almost ravenous for it. Whoever painted these used high quality paint and you were so thankful for it. In fact, you could swear that these paintings were the best you've ever had and you made a mental not to make sure that you stuck around in this magical place. You lost track of time with the amount you were eating as your previous thoughts about only eating the corners were ignored. As you had already eaten an entire painting, yet still hungry for more. As you moved onto another one and took your first bite, you felt chills run down your back. You looked to your left to see beautiful ruby red eyes staring back at you. It was a man with a curious look on his face, despite the curious look he seemed dangerous and you mentally cursed yourself for being so hungry.

"Who are you and why are you devouring my art." the man demanded as his eyes never left yours. You took your mouth off of the painting looking at it and seeing deep teeth marks. You then gulped nervously smiling at him trying to look innocent.

"Well...um..." You chuckled

"Spit it out!" he ordered

"Jeeze, my name is y/n and...uh...your art is tasty...?" you said with a toothy grin while squinting your eyes.

"You're a fairy, aren't you?" He questioned

"Yep!" You beamed. "So what's your name?" You asked him trying to relieve the awkwardness.

"Muzan Kibutsuji" he replied as he scanned over the paintings. "Which one is your favorite?" He asked suddenly after some time.

"Oh um... I think that one. The one with the weeping woman. Something about her makes me feel something strange and I can't really figure out what it is." You told him staring at the painting with a soft smile.

"Yes, that one is my favorite as well." Muzan stated giving a similar look at the painting. You then realized something that you probably should have thought about before.

"So how long have you know I was here?" You questioned Muzan kinda regretting that you asked him that. "Welp, I'm dead." you thought to yourself closing your eyes awaiting the impact of whatever he might do. And yet, nothing came. It was silent for a minute until you heard the cutest soft laughter you've ever heard from any being ever. You opened your eyes to find the laughter come from him. And honestly you were shook that a man as scary as him could ever laugh like that.

"You're so amusing little fairy." He spoke as his smile went away and his previous behavior returned.

"Uh, thanks." You spoke awkwardly looking anywhere but him with the faintest blush on your face. "So can I get back to what I was doing before?" You asked being bold.

"Sure, just do not eat all of them as I do spend a decent amount of time on each one." He spoke casually like it was no bug deal that he makes such magnificent art. This left you surprised and you smiled wildly at him.

"Thank you so much!" You beamed. And might I say you're a brilliant artist!" you complimented trying to gain his favor

"See you around my little art eater." Muzan told you walking away without looking at you. "And thank you." he spoke one last time before disappearing somewhere in the vast castle.

And so you did the most logical thing to in that moment and returned to the painting you were previously munching on. You were glad that you fell through that hole and into the home of Muzan Kibutsuji and who knows what else is in here. You smiled to yourself and took a massive bite out of the beautiful and tasty painting.

Thank you so much for reading!💜 Thank you @cursetopia for requesting! I hope you like it!

Please feel free to like, comment, request, and reblog!

Click here to see what I’ll write for and HERE for my master list.

•I do NOT own any characters except y/n and any original characters•

L.W.L

[enviedear]

this is an anakin request because i’m hyper fixating over him coming back in ashoka (spoiler alert)!

i was wondering if you would be down to write a fic based around friends to lovers. but like there is a whole admission thing brought on by jealousy.

backstory: reader & anakin trained together under obi-wan in the jedi temple, growing close as friends. but then he sees padme again and falls in love, when the reader is already in love with him. and when he says he’s gonna marry padme, reader looses it and admits their feelings.

i’m sorry this is so long & so specific but it’s been rotting in my brain

ily x

this ask really spoke to me as a certified jealous girl

okay so i'm not sure if this is perfect but i had a vision and went with it, so i hope you like it <3 this is angsty, so warnings for that. and also warning that reader is a jealous jealous jealous girl.

wc— 0.8k |tw— anger, jealousy, running away from your problems, unresolved ending, delulu reader <3

aggravation flares throughout the entirety of your being at the sight before you. anakin, your anakin, with his arms around Senator amidala.

he had mentioned her, far more than any normal amount, in the days leading up to seeing her again. and it wasn't such a bother at first.

you'd laugh off his worried nature at the idea of her presence. you'd ignore how loud his thoughts were whenever she was brought up. you had thought it nothing more than a crush, an interest, an idea.

he didn't even know her. not like you knew him.

and yet, here they were in a passionate embrace, completely immersed in each other and oblivious to your presence.

you clear your throat and watch them stumble away from eachother. anakin's eyes slowly meet yours for a split second and before he has the chance to explain himself, you're darting away.

fury. that's what you feel. seeing him cling onto her in the way you've ached desperately for him to want you, is torturous. you can't decide who deserves more of your wrath— yourself, for being foolishly devoted to a fellow jedi, or anakin, for not comprehending your obvious feelings.

as you run, you can feel him trailing you, can hear him calling out for you— but you continue to run. trying to find anywhere to hide in the damned naboo retreat.

you take a sharp left turn, only to be confronted with his towering figure.

"go away." your voice is dripping with vitrol.

anakin disregards your plea, instead grasping hold of your arm and yanking you into an isolated hallway, "please, y/n, don't be mad at me. i can't help it, i love her."

you fight against him and wrench your arm away from him, "you're insolent, skywalker. you don't love her. you just like to break rules."

he takes a step away from you in shock, "why are you being this way?" when you don't reply, he continues, "i know it's wrong but i do love her. i plan to marry her, here. i wanted you there— i want you to be there."

his words pierce through your soul like shards of glass, shattering your sanity until nothing remains but fragments of pain and anguish.

"marry her?" you can barely get the words out, suddenly feeling breathless.

your anger has evolved into something much worse – something injured and broken apart irrevocably.

anakin nods, his eyes softening as he looks at you. "yes, i love her that much," he says, almost pleading with you to understand.

you feel a pang in your chest as his words sink in. of course anakin was going to fall for someone; how could you ever expect him not to? but you so desperately wanted it to be you.

"i won't be there," you say, barely above a whisper. "i'm sorry."

anakin's face falls and it takes all of your willpower not to reach out and touch him, the way you're so used to. it would only make things worse.

"why?" he questions, eyes searching your own.

"because i—" you trail off for a moment before continuing more forcefully, "because i can't watch the person i love marry someone else."

it feels too real, admitting those feelings out loud to him. hearing yourself verbalize something that has been buried away for years. from the mind of the young girl who used to go easy on him when sparring, to the women in front of him today.

anakin's face falls and a heavy silence stretches between them, until he finally speaks again, voice laced with tenderness. "i didn't know, y/n."

you can feel the tears welling in your eyes but you bite them back and force out a bitter laugh, "of course you didn't," it's all you can say.

you turn away, unable to bear looking upon him anymore. you struggle against your emotions, trying to keep them at bay. how hard it is being so close to something that you can never have.

"i'm sorry," he says softly, his hand hovering over your shoulder before dropping back down. "i didn't mean for it to come out this way."

you close your eyes and let out a deep breath. "it's fine," you say, though there's no conviction in your voice.

anakin steps closer once more and takes hold of your hands gently in his own. you can feel the warmth radiating off him as he speaks.

"but i want you to know that you'll always be important to me y/n." he pauses for a moment before continuing with renewed determination. "and if things were different…if i got to choose who i loved…" his gaze meets yours intensely, locking onto them like iron bars holding fastened shut on an unbreakable door.

you let him give your hands a squeeze before pulling away, "but you can't, believe me, i understand."

and with that you turn from him, leaving him alone.

[bae04xx]

Cam you write a yandere dream sans x reader please

im a little rusty with the undertale aus so sorry if this is out of character 😭 i tried my hardest xx

this is so shit man i’m sorryyyy

kinda yandere dream sans x reader

fluff ☁️

dream lay in between my legs, his head resting up against me as he read. some new book he had been raving about, i’d been struggling to focus, or even listen to anything for the last couple of days- it’s been getting on my nerves. after being cooped up in this.. space? i’m not really sure what it was called, you get a bit stuck in your own head. too conscious of your own thoughts, i get like that. it gets worse when dream is off doing god knows what for hours at a time- he doesn’t tell me much, never has, you just get used to be in the dark, doesn’t make it any more bearable but it makes you expect it.

“y/n? y/n?” dream calls out to me, breaking me from my mental rant.

“huh? yeah sorry,” i reply sheepishly as i hear a sigh from him, he places his book down.

“what are you thinking about?” he beams, i can feel him smiling despite not being able to see.

“nothing much, just wondering what you’re reading,” i lie, i know he can tell but he goes along with it anyway.

“you feel quite tense for just that,” he chuckles, “i’m going to have to meet blue and ink soon, we’ve got some things to figure out,” he massages my thigh as i lean back, exhaling softly before i decide what to say.

“..why don’t i come?” i speak, just above a whisper, my question makes him go slightly rigid.

“well, y/n, um. i’ll have to think about it,” he stammers, unsure of what to say. dream is one of the most positive people i know, i never usually see him looking for his words.

“it’s alright, i just thought it’d be nice to meet your friends, considering you spend so much time with them,”

“trust me i spent a lot more time with them before i met you, and they’re starting to have a few questions about that. maybe it’d be good if you met them,” he announced, jumping up and dusting himself off.

i quickly followed, letting him guide me to where we we’re going.

after a strange way of transportation, we arrived. there were 2 other skeletons like him, one with a paint brush and another with a blue bandana- they suited their names. who i presumed was blue jumped up when he saw me, cocking his head at dream, while ink stayed seated, his eyes narrowed at me.

“WHO’S THIS!?” blue demanded, attempting to rush over to me, only to be pulled back by ink. dream had spoken very little of them both beyond their names but i could guess ink was in charge by his demeanour.

“this is y/n, she’s been living with me for the past couple of months. i thought she should meet you two,” he smiled, his arm firmly around my waist.

“and you bought her to a meeting?” ink questioned, a slight bite in his voice.

“HELLO HUMAN Y/N, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” blue almost screamed, i didn’t really know what to say.

“it’s nice to meet you y/n,” ink said, a forced politeness to me, i could tell he didn’t mean to be rude but there was something beneath the surface. “can we speak to you alone dream?” he asked, tapping his bony fingers rhythmically against the table.

“of course you can, y/n would you mind going into the other room?” he asked, pointing to a wooden door to my left, i walked off, ignoring the goodbyes from the 3 skeletons.

there i tried to drown out their argument, i heard my name being thrown around like a game of piggy in the middle. dream drastically trying to defend not only me but myself, ink interrogating him about where i came from, who i was, if i was dangerous and how much of a risk i made them. and blue was just joining in, asking so many questions about me. i desperately tried to ignore it, wishing for some headphones, or at least to be put in a room far, far away from them.

after an hour of being on my own, dream burst into the room, a tired, forced smile on his face.

“y/n! come on, we’re going,” we sighed, trying his best to keep his normal bubbly energy up.

“what even happened?” i asked as he dragged my arm lightly.

“we’ll discuss this next time,” ink spoke calmly, clearly with ruffled feathers.

“there’s nothing more to discuss.” dream said sternly, ending the conversation- you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.

when we got home i was still very confused, as always.

“what was that all about?” i asked, while dream held me, he had told me before that my presence alone can calm him down, so i think that’s what he needed right now.

no response.

“dream?” i questioned again, waiting for an answer.

5 minutes of silence went by before he stated,

“they want to take you away from me.”

“what?” i didn’t know how to feel, or what to say, dream was trying his hardest to stay calm and remain in a happy place, yet the way he was acting was eerie.

“but i’m not going to let them do that, you’re never leaving me. i promise.”

[helplessautomaton]

can i request 12 and 27 with sigma for the valentines event? i am loving your work 😭😭

12 (“please..just let me hold you.”) + 27 (“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you’ll understand eventually why I had to do this.. Stop it with those eyes and tears please..”)

sorry for delaying this one for so long, life has indeed been catching up with me and i reap the consequences. anyways WC 654 // valentines event closing on the 17th! TWS: kidnapping, implied drug usage, forced proximity

Originally plans to go to the sky casino were off the table for you, ignoring each offer that came by. Simply put, you weren't interested in going at all, however you got pulled along with some heavy convincing. You really should’ve stood your ground more, yet you plead ignorance for fun. There were moments where you could proudly say you were having fun, little drinks between watching then playing. It was nice even despite the times you felt as though you had look over your shoulder just in case. Bumping into the manager of the casino a few times did set you off in anxiety but as tiny bits of alcohol kicked in, it soothed you only a little to where you stopped paying attention to him. Faces blurred together at points and that was the downfall of your freedom, next blink you were in a different room with the lights off.

Your panic started off right away, overruling your headache due to the lack of hydration. The room was comforting in the way everything was laid out, everything neatly placed that made the room not too crowded. You couldn't even comprehend if you were breathing, escaping then figuring out what was going on and what happened. Moving your legs off the bed felt like it was chained down, sore and in pain. What on earth happened?, you finally caught sight of your ability to breathe and started to get up more.

“Oh. Did I hurt you too badly? If so, I really didn't mean to.”

You look up rushed, pain wracking at your head again causing you to grimace. A figure was close to you, it was the manager of the casino, the one you kept bumping into. 

“Don't worry, there's water, you should really drink some, you drank a lot earlier.”

You began to question him on what was going on and why you were in a dark room suddenly with only him inside. His posture straightened up while his nails dug into his palms at the questions you were asking of him. He shook his head, trying to convince you of a normality that did not exist in this situation. Every question made his cheeks just a little brighter along with his eye contact starting to fail. You tried to get up to leave before Sigma jumped up and blocked your only way out. You stagger back, hurting your jaw as it tightens out of confusion and other mixed up emotions. Sigma got a little closer to you, gently grabbing your arm while his eyes swirled with infatuation. “You’re so pretty..”

Again you tried to back up but Sigma just got closer, taking up the space that you abandoned to get away from him. Trying to pull your arm away from him was fruitless and he only got your other arm in his embrace. Sigma tried to pull you closer to him but you kept up your fight still trying to get him off while non-politely telling him to back off. “Please.. Just let me hold you. Just once is all I ask..”

It was only a whisper but it still sent chills down your spine at his desperate attempts. Tears started forming aggressively. He starts blabbering on how he really couldn't help himself and how he knew you were such an honest person when he first looked at you. The grip he had on you started to hurt as he buried himself on top of you. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you’ll understand eventually why I had to do this.. Stop it with those eyes and tears please..”

You could only start screaming in the hopes someone would at least come to your rescue, but deep down the answer was clear. This is your new life and only if you’d been a little stronger this wouldn't have even happened.

Plans to go to the sky casino should’ve stayed off the table.

[mxrtixnzwrld]

🩵 “when i’m coming down” 🩵

pairing: osomatsu matsuno x reader

summary: osomatsu may be greedy, lazy and altogether kind of a scum bag but there’s always one person who doesn’t mind. he wants you so bad he ended up in front of your house in a drunken stupor.

tropes: one-sided attraction, pining, first kiss, drunken confessions, confessions

warnings: alcohol usage, may be a lil ooc

Knock Knock Knock

“Y/n! Y/n~!! Open the door!” Osomatsu yells from outside your door.

Knock knock-

You open the door to see a plastered Osomatsu leaning against your door. His face burned a bright red as he held a grin on his face.

“Are you okay?” You asked helping Osomatsu to your couch lightly kicking the door shut. This wasn’t the first time he came to your house when he was drunk. To be honest he never gave you a reason when you asked either. He always derailed the question with another absurd topic to match.

“You care so much about me.. why?” Osomatsu asked staring off in front of him. The tension in the room rose making you stand up to find him a blanket and pillow.

“Because you’re my friend Osomatsu, friends care about each other.” You sigh into the still air. Crickets chirped outside as silence once again filled the room. Just friends.. yeah.. that’s what you guys were. You knew deep down you wanted more but Osomatsu usually verbalized what he does and doesn’t like; not saying that he said you’re not his type but.. from what you seen you aren’t his type either.

“Yea but why? What do you like about me specifically?” Osomatsu said getting up from the couch and grabbing the blankets from out of your hands gently. As he took the blankets he looked to you with an unrecognizable expression.

“Well Osomatsu, I think you’re the funniest of your brothers, I like how you’re usually blunt and straightforward and deep down I can tell you’re really caring.” As you answered he slipped into silence before walking back to the living room with the blanket he had took from your hands. Although the more silence seemed to seep through every crack of your house you stopped and thought.

‘Osomatsu is usually more upbeat and cheerful.. even when he is drunk’

You continue looking through your cabinet for a spare pillow for another 5 minutes before heading back in the living room to see Osomatsu already comfy on the couch spread out. His right leg hangs off the couch as the other is planted on the couch, the blanket draped over him and the couch.

“Hey Osomatsu are.. are you okay? You usually don’t ask stuff like that when you’re drunk?” You asked for Osomatsu to look you in your eyes with his drunken, indescribable stare.

“You’re so out of my league,” Osomatsu bluntly sighs before continuing to flip through channels. Your face flushed at his comments. You continue to stand behind the couch as he finally picks a show trying to figure out how to respond to him.

“You’re so fuckin fine! I’m surprised you aren’t dating so rich fuck or someone as hot as you,” he continues seeming to carry off on his own. The more he spoke the more he revealed.

“I’ve wanted you for so long now,” he sighed focusing on watching the show. You stand there and watch it for a little bit before Osomatsu begins shuffling around.

“Are you gonna stand behind me like a creep or are you gonna sit?” He laughed catching you off guard. His words process before you finally move to sit where he made room. It started out somewhat normal before you yawned.

“Are you tired, I’m about to crash if you wanna just sleep with me.” He said with his usual grin plastered on his face. Your face begins to heat up growing in redness and warmth. You hear the couch shift before hesitating.

“Please y/n, I can’t get you out of my head.” Osomatsu muttered low, almost desperate enough to sound like a whimper. You fold laying with him on the couch so your back was pressing against his chest.

“..what do you mean osomatsu?” You said trying to process what he had said to you. You stare off thinking about it until his arms gently slip around your waist. Way different than the way he would touch you when he’s sober. Osomatsu was a pervert at heart and when he was sober he certainly showed it. He never groped you or anything but sometimes you noticed his hands would slide just above your ass and put his head on your shoulder.

“.. talk about it in the morning,” he mumbled moving closer to cuddle with you. Tension had you strung high at first until you sat and realized how much you loved Osomatsu’s touch, his confidence, the way he kept your attention, and his warmth he always seemed to have. As you drifted off to sleep you hear Osomatsu’s soft mumbles in your ear.

Birds chirp as daylight shines through the living room curtains. You squint your eyes at the sudden bright light realizing you were still in Osomatsu’s arms. The red flush on your face returns as you look up that the clock.

8:54 am

You yawn and attempt to stretch before escaping Osomatsu’s grasp. From the times before he automatically assumes you’ll make food for him, which you would, but you also have to make more of it because of his gluttony. He loved your food, especially after drinking the night away and sleeping it off on your comfortable couch instead of sharing with his annoying brothers.

You crack your back before sleepily stumbling your way to your bathroom so you can shower and brush your teeth. In your shower you thought more about what he said. He wants you, he can’t get you out of his head, he walks all the way to your house knowing it’s farther than his just to go to sleep.

You get out of the shower, steam filling the room and slip into your room to get dressed for the day. After you had finished your morning routine you began cooking omelettes for you and Osomatsu.

“Aww look at you make me food like a house wife,” Osomatsu snickered in as he walked to your side to watch you cook. It’s another thing he always did that seemed like it served no purpose. You know he’s not watching to learn. None the less you flush at his comment and push away from him playfully.

As you season the egg osomatsu breaks away to look through the cabinet for anything to snack on. The two of you sit in silence with nothing but the sound of you cooking and Osomatsu rummaging in cabinets being heard until you broke the silence.

“Oso was.. everything you said to me.. true? When you came home yesterday?” You ask, worry painting over your face as you hear him stop moving for a moment. It was something so small, so minuscule but it made his chest flutter. You said it like this was his house too.

“Yeah… are you mad?” Osomatsu asked before closing the cabinets. He watched the expression on your face.

“N-no.. I was actually hoping you were telling the truth.” You sigh a shaky breath feeling all of your nerves tighten all at once at his response. You hear nothing until Osomatsu moves to push you against the counter. He wasn’t rough but you could tell there was desire motivating his action. As the small of your back pressed against the counter he towered over you with a wide smile.

“You’ll be my girlfriend? Finally~” he said moving his face closer to yours.

“You know how to kiss?” Osomatsu asked for you to nod. He rushed to finally close the gap between the two of you, his hands exploring your waist and find their way to your ass before squeezing.

You taught him how to kiss with tongue. Originally you were the dominant one but the tables turn when Osomatsu finally catches on to the momentum. The two of you separate after a while and catch your breath as the two of you looking into eachother eyes, Osomatsu’s traveling down your body.

“Do you think the kiss was good enough to get me food~?” Osomatsu asked for you to sigh and chuckle.

You laugh and nod sliding past him to continue cooking. He follows but instead of there being distance his arms wrap around your waist as he looked over your shoulder at what you were doing.

Bonus Scene

“Guess who just tongued his girl down!!” Osomatsu yells as he slams the doors to his parents house open.

A collection of sounds come from his younger brothers, from groans to sighs, all being unhappy with his volume.

“Osomatsu you don’t even have a girlfriend-“ Choromatsu rolls his eyes and goes back to reading his manga before it’s snatched from his hands and replaces with Osomatsu’s phone.

“Read and weep virgin loser.” Osomatsu says proudly. He watched Choromatsu’s eyes widen as he reads the texts.

“You’re dating y/n??? How’d you even bag that??” Choromatsu yells as the other brothers gather around the phone to read you and Osomatsu’s text messages.

•.•.•.•

oso: You wanna come to my house today right?

y/n: yea are your brothers home?

oso: no

y/n: ur lyin, karamatsu just sent me a picture of his clothes in the closet.

oso: .. they don’t need to be here

y/n: relax I’ll be with you anyway 😭😭

oso: .. as long as I get to see you lookin all sexy

y/n: goodbye oso😭 I love you

oso: I love you and your sexy ass too ❤️

•.•.•.•

“… lucky bastard.” Ichimatsu sucks his teeth and mutters before going back to what they were doing. They would’ve thought of a plan to break them up but.. y/n knows them too well.

Author Notes: Hey guys!! Nexus here, please don’t mind my writing.. haven’t written in a while but I’m picking it back up. Lmk what you want to see next. Reblogging and sharing is very appreciated, I love you all and I’ll continue to write for my other characters.

©mxrtixnzwrld. do not copy, modify, translate, repost any of my work! reblogging is greatly appreciated!!

[peach-and-bugs]

“I didn’t miss you. But now you're here and… god, fuck me,” with teen nat preferably angst/smut please. thank you!

❤️I'm Out of Time - Natalie Scatorccio (2000) x fem!Reader❤️ (18+, age in bio/pinned or you will be blocked)

Fanfiction master list

disclaimer: don't repost my work. I only post on Tumblr and on Ao3. anything else is stolen and should be removed immediately

Summary: You hadn't seen Natalie for years. Not since she'd come back after the crash, and you where alright with that. You'd taken time for yourself and you'd moved on. You were working on your degree and finding yourself. You weren't anticipating any interruptions…

Warnings: Post-crash, 2000 (Natalie and reader are both 22), angst, swearing, Travis, toxic dynamics & smut (18+, age in bio/pinned or you will be blocked) - fingering, praise kink, oral fixation + some spit, top!Natalie, dumbification, minor primal but only if you really squint

Word Count: 3,618

A/N: Hello loves! I'm knocking out two requests with this one, as the quotes felt like they worked together well, so I hope yall don't mind! To make up for it I've made it a much longer than some other one-shots. I also felt like this could be read as sort of a sequel to my other Natalie fic, Blame Game, as both of these have pretty similar theming going on. As always, feel free to leave questions or comments in my comments or ask box, and happy reading!

Natalie Scatorccio Tag List:

Yellowjackets Tag List: @frasersgf @minimickzy @damagnificentcookie

General Tag List: @summergeezburr

-❤️-

You’re day had gone on relatively average compared to most days. You’d gone grocery shopping after class and work for the week as you desperately needed to restock your fridge. Normally, it was your roommate’s week to do the shopping, but she was out for the weekend visiting family back in Jersey, so today, you bit the bullet and got it done. You were currently fumbling with your bags as you talked to your mom on your cellphone, all while trying to get out of your taxi. Your mother always tended to call at the worst times. 

“No, Mom, I’m fine! I’m just trying to get inside, is all,” you huffed when she asked why you were breathing so hard. “Yes, money’s fine. I’ve just gotta balance work and school, is all” She cut you off again, and you had to stifle your sigh of irritation. You fumbled to pull your keys out of your bag as you approached your doorstep. 

Only when you looked up, did you notice the figure sitting in front of your apartment’s door. Your apartment mainly was single girls or girls who didn’t live with their boyfriends, so you assumed it was some strange suiter till the figure noticed you and stood. They brushed the hair from their face, and your blood ran cold, freezing you where you stood. 

“Ok, Mom? Can I call you back?” Your mother was already pestering you for a reason why before you could finish asking her. “I’m just trying to get inside all with full hands. I’ll call you back. I love you,” You had to talk over her to hang up, followed by a struggle to get your phone out from under your ear and shoulder and into your bag. 

Only after that did you acknowledge Natalie, who had simply stood watching you the whole time. You gave her a pointed look before letting out a stuffed breath and approaching her. When she opened her mouth to speak, you shook your head without stopping or skipping a beat as you went to unlock your door. 

“No,” was all you said, fumbling with your keys once more. 

“I didn’t even say anything,” she started with an exasperated scoff in her tone, following after you. 

“No, but I knew you would,” 

“Oh, you knew I would say what?” she hadn’t even seen you for five minutes and was already getting defensive—typical Scatorccio behavior. You groaned and just unlocked the door to your apartment complex and walked in with Natalie in tow because there was no getting rid of her now. 

“If you’re going to insist on following me, at least take something,” you aggressively shoved a paper bag in her arms, freeing up one of your hands to get a firm grip on your keys. She took the bag with a grimace but didn't further complain as she climbed the stairs with you. Of course, the elevator was still broken after a week, but you might as well get a little cardio in. You dramatically let Natalie into your apartment behind you, taking the bag from her after dropping your keys into the bowl by the door. You gave her no time to try the conversation again as you disappeared into your kitchen. You weren't going to let her derail your task. You wouldn't let her be a disruption. 

Eventually, she found you after wandering into the apartment. You only gave her a glance of acknowledgment as you unpacked your groceries. She’d cut her hair, but she hadn't bothered bleaching it again like she always said she would. It now rested just above her shoulders. Her shabby bans could use a trim. The ends were falling in front of her eyes and had to be obstructing her vision. She’d also gotten her lip pierced since the last time she’d darkened your doorstep. 

She kept her hands firmly shoved in the pockets of her leather jacket as she watched you. She was acting as though she hadn’t anticipated getting this far. You took a bundle of groceries to the fridge, and upon passing her, you scrunched your nose as you inhaled a familiar sour staleness. 

“I thought you stopped smoking,” you commented offhandedly, neglecting to hide any condescending tone. Natalie, not expecting the sudden comment or conversation for that matter, gave you a confused look, her eyes following as you maneuvered around the pocket-sized kitchen. 

“I'm sorry?” was all she could ask. You declined, looking back up at her as you turned your back to stick cans in you’re cupboards. 

“You smell like cigarettes again,” she scratched at the back of her neck, looking away. 

“Yeah, I picked it up again,” she acted as though she was about to be scolded by her mother. You turned around and gave her a hard look, trying to figure out what might be going on in her head. But Natalie was always tricky. She didn't let on what she was thinking. You could never figure her out. When you looked your way again, all you could do was groan and cover your eyes, practically boiling with frustration. And to think, just ten minutes ago, you thought to yourself that you’d been having a good, average day. 

“Natalie, what do you want?” you forced yourself to ask, hands gripping the countertop of your kitchen island as you watched her. “Why are you here?”

“Do I need to want something to come and see you?” You were shaking your head before she could finish her thought.

“Yes! Yes, you do, Natalie, because you don’t just drop in,” You maneuvered out of the kitchen and into your living room with Natalie on your heels. “You always want something, even when you refuse to admit it,” You opened a window and stuck your head out, taking in a long breath of somewhat fresh city air. The sun was already starting to set as streetlights turned on one by one. Squeezing your eyes shut, you forced yourself to stick your head back into your apartment and face your “company.” 

“I’m assuming it's money again,” you gave her a cold stare, crossing your arms and leaning against the windowsill. Natalie gawked at you, her jaw slightly hung wordlessly open till she scoffed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. “What, am I wrong? Or maybe you thought you could crash on my couch,” you egged her on. This, of course, pissed her off, which you thought ‘good. If I have to be pissed, then so should she,’. 

“Wow, so college did make you a stuck-up bitch,” she said under her breath, immediately regretting her bitter tongue based on the deer-in-headlights look she gave you after, but even with the apology pressed to her lips, you didn't have it. 

“Fuck you, Scatorccio. You can leave right now for all I care,” you got up as you spoke, hands clenched into fists as you pointed at her chest. You raised a hand to shove her and get her out of your house, but she acted faster, grabbing you by the wrist. Her grip was tight, but not painful, but still enraging. That is till you looked into her eyes for just a little too long, and you gave up, your anger melting into pity and frustration instead as your brow knit and you frowned with a trembling lip. 

“What more do you want from me, Natalie,” you asked weakly, holding from screaming despite the urge you had. But Natalie couldn’t immediately give you an answer. That or she didn’t want to answer. Instead, she just held your wrist, her eyes searching your face for something you couldn’t pinpoint as she frowned. That is till she couldn’t take it, her eyes waving from you, and she shook her head, lips parting as she found her wording.

“I guess I missed you,” you couldn’t help growing angry again. You tugged your wrist from her, which didn’t take much effort, and gave her a point, hurt, look again. 

“You ‘guess?’ What, Travis not doing it for you anymore, so you thought you’d just come back to me as backup, once again?” It was now Natalie’s turn to get angry. 

“This has nothing to do with him-”

“Oh, it always does, Natalie,” you argued back, throwing your hands in the air in exasperation as you began to pace the room. “It’s always gonna be about Travis because you only want me when you can’t have him,” 

“That’s not true!” she yelled back with gritting teeth.

“When was the last time you came to see me when you weren't on a break?” you pressed, feeling the sting of tears begins to sting your eyes. 

“When was the last time you thought about me when you were with him, huh? I’ll tell you because you don’t think of me when you’re with him. You only think about me when you’re all alone, and I’m your last resort because you push everyone else away,” You finally let yourself yell, choking on tears. You knew you didn’t mean what you were saying, not wholeheartedly anyway. You just wanted her to go. You wanted to hurt her so she’d leave and never come back because you couldn’t keep doing this. 

You couldn’t keep feeling like second best or being around for a quick fuck when she was feeling lonely. You’d moved on! You were living your life for you and finding your way in the world. But then Natalie has the nerve to walk back in when she feels like it and when it is convenient for her. What about when it was convenient for you? 

What about way back when, when you’d waited for her, your best friend, to see you standing there, wanting her that whole time, only to pick a douchebag boy over you. Natalie said nothing as you began to cry. You felt like you were caving in on yourself, morphing back into that sad, lonely teenager who longed to be noticed as someone more than a friend. 

“I didn’t miss you,” you finally managed to talk again through choked sniffles. You sounded pitiful; you knew it. But what else was there to do now but to keep being honest? “I was finally feeling good! But now you're here and- god, fuck me,” you ran your hands through your hair, shaking your head as you pulled your eyes away from her, biting your lip. You took your fist, wrapping it around the thumb on your other hand, allowing your hands to shake as you started to pace once more. 

God, you wanted her to leave, but still, the thought of being alone after all this felt unbearable. And despite the anger you were feeling, you still wanted her. You wanted her to hold you, caress you, make you forget all the bad things you'd been feeling. You just wanted it all to go away. You hadn't even noticed that you shut your eyes again till you felt Natalie’s hands caress your face, thumbing at the tears that fell as she wrapped her hand around your clenched fingers. You couldn’t help looking up at her, your cheek eagerly seeking to lean into the warmth of her palm. She looked down at you with sad, wet brown eyes that you couldn’t help being captivated by.

“I’m sorry, y/n,” she murmured rather stiffly, swallowing thickly as she nodded. “You’re right about all of it. And I’m sorry,” you took in a long sniff and shook your head. 

“No, no, you're not. You're just saying that” You began to argue, but she urged you to listen. 

“I am sorry, and I’ve missed you. Fuck, I’ve missed you so much,” she urged, squeezing your hand. “I just don’t wanna drag you into all my bullshit, you know? Because you don’t deserve that,” she explained weakly. 

“I could have taken it,” You urged her, but she shook her head. 

“I wouldn’t let you,” You sniffled again, relenting in a silent nod. You let that silence hang in the air till you couldn't bare it.

“Make it up to me?” Natalie knew the implication behind your request. You used that phrase with one another some times before, but now she wasn’t so sure. 

“I don't know if that’s the best idea,” She murmured, taking her rare turn to be the rationally thinking one. But you shook your head as a final tear rolled down your cheek. 

“Please,” you begged, squeezing her hand. “Just this time. If I regret it, it’s for me to deal with in the morning,” you knew you sounded miserably helpless, and you'd be embarrassed by your neediness when your mind cleared again, but for now, you leaned into it, excepting the mess you where when it came to Natalie. It was a bitter cycle; you knew it, but you could deal with the ramifications in the morning. After looking into your eyes for too long, she relented, taking your lips in with hers as your hands found refuge dug deep in her hair. 

-❤-

She pressed you hard into the bed, aggressively tugging at your shirt to come off over your head as she straddled your hips, letting out hot and heavy breaths against your ear as she struggled to swallow the moan that threatened to push past her lips. You started to tug at her ripped shirt as well, only for Natalie to stop you and take it off in one swift motion. You are about to reach out for her till she gets off your lap, scooping under you to move you up the bed. 

She kneeled on the bed above you and between your legs, messing with the buckle of her belt, smiling down at you with a wicked grin as her eyes lingered on your exposed, rising chest, then down to the band of your pants. Wordlessly you understand to take your pants off and sit up to do so as Natalie does the same. With the last major layer removed, your both left clad in your underwear. That is till you took your bra off, leaving your chest bare in front of her.

Natalie lunged forward, straddling your hips once more as she caught your lips in a heavy, messy kiss. Teeth scrape at your lip, and you meet the cold metal of her lip ring. Her breath was hot as it fanned over the skin of your face till she moved on to your neck. She sat above you, holding herself up with a knee and embows as she started marking up your neck. Her knee shifted into place between your legs, forcing into your core, and you let out a heavy moan from your throat. You could feel her smiling against the spot she now soothed on your neck, knowing what she’d done. 

“That's a c-cheep shot,” you managed to stutter out as she moved on to scrap her teeth over your collarbone. She’d done that long ago on accident but recalled the reaction you'd had then too. Your hips began to gently rock against her knee, already craving any friction available for the growing ache down below. Of course, Natalie only found this to be further amusing. But she eventually relented, her hands pressing your hips down and still, as she moved down your body, kissing your stomach as she pulled her knee away and practically pealed away your underwear. 

She dared to look up at you through her lashes with that blown, lusting look in her eye that had you turning your head away, fust clenching the pillow under your head as you bit your lip to stifle the moan in your throat. Of course, this wasn’t acceptable as she always liked seeing your eyes, so her hand snaked into your underwear, the pads of her pointer and middle finger finding your clit with ease; she moved up your body again, taking your chin between your fingers. You knew your face was flushed and hot, your chest heaving up and down with labored breath, your brows creasing as you strained to suppress the sounds pulling at your throat. But all the same, Natalie smiled down at you, her eyes full of unfamiliar warmth and affection that you craved. 

“Don’t be quiet for me,” she purred, tilting her head as she held your chin. She squeezed your cheeks just enough to part your lips, which released a breathy moan, and she grinned, nodding along as her fingers began to circle your clit in rhythm with the roll of your hips. You were already feeling the oncoming brain fog as she continued her circlings, and without giving it any thought, your hands reached out, caressing her cheeks as she smiled down at you proudly. 

Looking into her eyes, your mouth hung open as you let out every moan that surfaced as she circled your clit, going round and round till you felt like you were dizzy, but it wasn’t going to be enough. You were greedy. You needed more from her, more of her. 

“Natalie, please,” you managed, your expression straining with every swipe. She shooshed you, cooing so gently as she nodded.

“I know, baby, I know. I’m getting there. You’re being so patient,” she finally moved on from your clit to test the waters of your entrance, which you knew was embarrassingly soaked by now. But Natalie didn't mind. She seemed to enjoy the way her fingers glided in with ease and how you let out another shuddering moan against her ear. After some adjustment, she began to pump and curl her fingers in a timely rhythm with the rocking of your hips. 

She fawned at the way your eyes rolled back as her palm met your already sensitive clit, cooing muffled praise amongst the sound of your moans. 

“That’s right. Keep up those pretty faces for me,” she purred just before she began messily kissing your jaw. After all these years, it still amazed you how she had you memorized. Fucking you was like riding a bike. Natalie never seemed to forget what she was doing. You tightened around her fingers, thighs squeezing around her hand to make sure you weren't going anywhere as you climbed your high. 

Natalie groaned against your throat as the feeling but kept going. She’d moved so she was laying beside you, her head buried into your neck, biting at your shoulder as she grew increasingly aroused just by listening to the sounds from your throat and your cunt. Realizing how close she was to you among your building haze, you managed to think it wasn’t enough. So in a moment of desperation, thanks to your impending orgasm, you rolled over just enough to force your mouth against hers as a hand grappled at her still-clothed breast, slipping your fingers under the red lace to find hard, sensitive nipples waiting for you. 

You strummed over her nipple with your thumb, and Natalie let out an unfamiliar, strangulated sound that ended in an animalistic whimper. The feeling caused her to pump harder into you and ultimately was the final push to send you over the edge with a similar howling cry as you curled in on yourself, your forehead falling to Natalie’s shoulder as you grappled at her bare arms. You could hear her hiss at the sting of your nails clawing at her skin as you started to come down. 

Her hand slowed gradually as she continued to pump in and out, steadying you off of your high. She pulled away from you ever so slightly, nudging your thighs apart with her free hand to take her fingers back from you. She made a big show of licking her fingers clean till you gained enough self back to reach out, taking her wrist in hand and cleaning her fingers yourself. You watched her, doe-eyed and still hazy, as you let her fingers pass your lips, tongue running around her digits as you moaned at your taste. She appeared jealous watching the action but seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. 

“Well, look at you,” she murmured under her breath with a turned smile. She sat up on her side, propping herself up with her elbow. You let her fingers go with a pop as they passed your lips, and she grinned as she wiped your spit off on her underwear. You smiled contently without saying a word as you reached up, brushing Natalie’s bangs from her forehead where they stuck with sweat. Your hand ran down her jaw, guiding her back to your lips for another long kiss. As the kiss went on, your hands began to wander, but she stopped you before you could make your way into her pants. She held your wrist and shook her head, kissing your palm. 

“Not now. Just get some sleep,” she murmured, unclasping her bra from behind to throw it over the edge of the bed as she got up. She ducked away into your bathroom. You lie naked in the dark, listening to the sound of the tap turning on and running for some time before it turned off as she retired with wet cloth in hand. She helped you under the covers as she got in with you and slipped the warm rag between your legs, casually helping your clean up. The rag was also tossed to the floor with the rest of your clothes as Natalie crawled into bed with you. She didn’t often stay the night, but in your growing groggy state, you smiled, feeling her wrap around you, holding you tight. Maybe she wouldn’t stay, but for now, she was here and you were going to be content with that.

[heybiji]

hi!!! i just wanted to say i really love all of your MASKS stuff. i'm something of a newbie when it comes to the TTRPG community, but MASKS seems to be not very well-known and i think that's a real shame. i'm a huge fan of old-school superhero-adjacent stuff, especially the silver- and bronze-age ones!

by the way, i was wondering if you'd be willing to share some tips for a first-time GM? you don't have to if you'd rather not! i just figured i'd try asking since i was planning on GMing a MASKS campaign for some of my friends later, but despite my decade's worth of roleplaying experience i've never been in a TTRPG campaign nor a GM (or similar) role before

Thank you so much!! I was just lamenting about how I felt bad for the MASKS tag because it is now flooded with all my npc nonsense hahah so this is really nice to hear.

It's awesome you're planning on running a MASKS game for your friends!! There is an indispensable post on twitter I saw that has a LOT of great tips for running MASKS that I recommend checking out. But for my own personal tips that are just me things, here's what I got. Sorry it's gonna be extremely long-winded, it may take a few months to read through it.

(Note: I am also hugely into RP and probably put more into it than what is necessary, especially with MASKS which is meant to be able to be played out of the box. It was definitely not played out of the box in our case because I require a lot out of myself and everyone else to feel good about running something. if anyone else wants to continue seeing me as a normal human being please don't click the Keep Reading)

Since you're running it, make the world interesting to you. If the world runs around themes you're personally interested in then you'll have a much easier time coming up with answers on the fly. For me, themes I'm interested in that lend themselves well to a superhero world: money, power, family, celebrity, media, the 24 hour news cycle and the desensitization of violence. Because I'm interested in this stuff anyway, wrapping a world around them makes it much simpler for me to figure out how the world ticks and thus how the characters fit into it and how the world reacts to them, and I am DESPERATE to find out how the characters react to all the questions and expectations the world is imposing upon them.

Make sure your players have a good grasp of the tone of story so they can make characters that gel well within it. For me the tone is a lil more adult because I'm not personally into younger morality tale stories in tone, it's pretty grounded, and I think comedy and tragedy work hand in hand so I lean into them.

Talk. A lot. Talk about the characters, talk about the world. MASKS is fun because it's a LOT of talking and figuring out the narrative together. It's not a lot of crunchy mechanics, it's all around seeing how the characters react to the world narratively, all hurt and comfort and emotions which (for me) requires people to have a good grasp on their characters and the world. I like to give my players "homework" where I ask them a question involving their characters in some way like "what hero did your character look up to as a child?" so they get to come up with past heroes, or "How does your character feel about _____?" etc etc. The only fans are gonna be your table and fans love to talk so be the biggest fans of the PCs!!

Figure out your framing. I know in MASKS they suggest framing it like a comic book, and basically talking about the frames on screen. For me, because I'm more into movies and tv than comics, I frame it like that. So I have an active "camera" in play during sessions and will ask things like "would anyone like to grab the camera?" to encourage the players to put the character into a scene or "what does the audience see as the camera focuses in on your character in this emotional moment?" There is a LOT of playing up to the camera and framing the sessions as episodes of a show, so it's like, okay, you have several options but what is going to be interesting for the audience to see? I find this encourages the players to have their characters take bigger swings and feel comfortable letting us into how their character is feeling because it all looks GREAT on camera. The camera loves it. The PCs are the story after all.

Because I frame it a show, I also like to play individual ending songs over the "credits" at the end of each episode. So I asked my players to make playlists for their characters so if I feel an episode had a lot of emotional focus on one character in particular, I can play one of their songs at the end of the episode! I also made a general MASKS playlist with a bunch of songs from the era we set it in (2004) to pull from. It's a fun little addition that I really enjoy and that I hope makes it all feel more special.

The Dino Donut Effect: create landmarks in your world. (OK THIS IS GONNA BE LONG BUT WORK WITH ME HERE) They don't have to be locations, more solid landmarks of the story that the characters can refer back to and lean on to make the world feel more "real." I call it the Dino Donut Effect because in our world the thing that made everything click into place was talking out the backstory of one of the PC's figuring out they had the power negation ability. We were talking one night trying to figure it out; we wanted the character to fall out of a building and be caught by a flying superhero and accidentally turn off their powers, so they toss the kid to another flying supe whose powers also get turned off. But we were like... holy shit what is the height of a building needed that can handle this much action in the air without them hitting the ground in 3 seconds. So after a long night of talking about terminal velocity and looking at Splat Calculators we figured out the height of the building, and we needed them to crash into something that wouldn't fuckin kill them. The first suggestion was a truck full of bananas. Nah. We landed on a giant balloon that could take the impact. And the balloon became a giant T-Rex holding a donut that was the mascot of the city's beloved decades old donut shop Dino Donut. And so we decided that one of the two flying supes grabbed onto the kid and the other and flew into the giant balloon to try and keep them all alive, which destroyed the balloon, which was a city institution, and there was a crowd of children there that day that saw their friend Dino Donut die. Killed by a superhero. The balloon deflated loudly so it sounded like Dino Donut was screaming in agony. All the kids were traumatized (screaming crying throwing up), the city was furious because everyone loved Dino Donut, it was constantly in the news cycle, and it ruined the career of the supe that "killed Dino Donut." AND THEN THEY REPLACED THE DINO DONUT BALLOON WITH A LAME "UPDATED DESIGN" DINO DONUT STATUE which everyone hates and people consider to be a memorial to the old Dino Donut. ANYWAY, the Dino Donut effect is that now all the PCs have one single incident to refer back to that they all have feelings about. A couple of them were there that day and heard Dino Donut scream, one is now the protege of the disgraced superhero that killed Dino Donut so she feels uncomfortable talking about it, there's the kid that was saved that day but was sworn to secrecy by the supe so no one would find out about his power negation ability, and then there's the kid that wasn't there because she's an alien that just arrived to earth and now the kids have to explain the incident to her with all their varying opinions. Now the PCs' meeting spot is at a Dino Donut. Having this one solid incident that is both funny and kind of goes into the themes of the world has been an absolute treat. Creating "landmarks" like that in the world has done so much and now I'm like okay I'm gonna try to do this moving forward with any other thing I run.

anyway these are my extremely specific to me tips. my RP standards are kind of high which makes me a bit of a terror but also when the flowers bloom from it it feels GREAT. i'm not sure if this will help but hopefully there is something there that can be useful!

MASKS is fun and simple once you get the hang of it, though, so I'm sure whatever you do you and your players will have a lot of fun! especially if you're someone who is into RP which is the background I'm coming from too; MASKS is extremely narrative! i'll be looking in the tag for your game hehe

(The Day Dino Donut Died art by JD)

[tia-amorosa]

Episode 25: Bella's Return (Part 2)

The atmosphere in the lab was tense. Cassandra watched her mother's ghost on the other side of the glass pane. It took a while for it to move back into the vertical position. The others could hear what was going on in the room via a loudspeaker. “Where am I? Why am I here?” Pascal pressed one of the buttons and spoke to her via the intercom system that connected the two rooms. “We'll explain the circumstances to you soon, do you know your full name?"/,,B-Bella Goth…. My name is… Bella Goth.”.

A little later, Cassandra went to the glass door and the ghost did the same. The two looked at each other, but Bella's gaze somehow went blank. “Mom, it's me… Cassandra…"/ ‘Cassandra?’ Bella asked, clearly very puzzled. “I… I'm your daughter"/ ,,my�� That… That can't be, I… I don't have any children or…”. This moment gave Cassandra a shock. “Oh no, that can't be true, you… She can't remember me?"/ ‘It can only be a side effect, don't get upset now, okay?’ Pascal tried to calm her down.

Cassandra hoped that Pascal was right. That it was just a “side effect” of transportation. “Do… Do I have any more children?” Bella asked quietly. “Yes, you… You have another son, Alexander…h-hh… “/ ,,how… How can I forget something like that…"/,,Don't worry so much for now…. As for your memories, I'll definitely consult Chloe and Polli,” said Pascal, as he also watched her through the window. She seems really desperated.

While Bella was frantically trying to find some memory in her head in the chamber, Cassandra and Pascal were talking on the other side, “Is this normal? That a ghost loses its memory during transportation?"/,,I haven't experienced that yet, maybe it's just the distance and the duration… We'll probably wait and see, but I'll inform the others anyway“/”yes please”.

Pascal immediately called Pollination: “Yes, hi, it's me. It worked, I was able to get Bella here. She seems to be fine physically. At least as far as her spirit form is concerned. But there seems to be something missing in her head… Yes, exactly, I haven't had that yet. Okay, not today then. I think we'll take her with us for now, I don't want to leave her here alone. All right, yes, maybe something will come of its own accord. See you tomorrow.“

“How are you feeling now that she's back?“/”Well, I have pretty mixed feelings. It's definitely my mother, we have the same eyes. It's nice to see her again, but she… Has changed so much visually“/”not just visually, it seems to me. Her memory has suffered for some reason.“/”Yes, and I hope she gets it back soon… It… It would be terrible to take her home like that. She wouldn't recognize my father… Her husband…”.

“Yes, that would'nt be a nice thing…“/”No, that's true. And I hope they can help her“/”maybe tell her a bit about yourself and the family, something like that might help… Mention any preferences, Favourite Music or something…"/ ”Yes, let's see. But I don't want to overwhelm her either…hh, I thought it would be easier and then there's another hurdle"/ ‘you'll get over that too…’. He stroked her arm fleetingly but lovingly.

Bella watched all the action on the other side. She was still pondering. Until a few minutes ago, she was still in a place that she saw as her safe home. She knows that she is dead, but now that she knows that she probably has children, she tries to figure out why this has slipped her mind. …,,What happened? I'm… Bella Goth… And I can't… remember? Cassandra? Alexander… Was I married?”… Hopefully all these questions can be answered soon to her.

After the phone call between Pascal and Pollination had ended, Bella suddenly floated through the window. For a brief moment everyone was silent, but that's a normal action of a ghost, it doesn't need doors. “Sorry… I, I didn't mean to scare you, but… What happens now… With me?"/ ”If it's okay with you, we'll take you to our place first. And then…we'll talk“/”hh..o.k….”. What else could Bella do at that moment? She didn't know where to go herself.

@greenplumbboblover , @solorisims , @plumbobgothica 🙂

[the-felttip-files]

*consumes your art in a desperate need for puppet content* All silliness aside this seems like such a cool idea, and the characters look extremely silly :3 I wanna ask, cause either Im really blind while reading or I literally just don't understand a thing I read uuuhhh- is there a way for a downer to mask themselves?? in a figurative or literal way, I mean- so that they don't really look like a downer??? ((another thing, because Im tryna get back into drawing and running on zero motivation- could I please just try to draw you a silly little concept character and like- have you go wild with it?? basically just do whatever you want with it??? if thats ok with you ofc))

Oh. MY goodness- /VPOS

Friend, you have no idea how much these sort of asks mean to me- /pos

It always makes me so happy, seeing how happy this project makes you people!!!

I know I keep disappearing [mostly to work on my other personal projects-], but I SWEAR, The Felttip Files is still goin strong!!~

Anywho- Moving onto your main question-

Downers have many ways they can "mask" themselves! Of course, there is the traditional, mentally draining route, where they can act far more cheerful than they actually are, akin to how many Autistic people [such as myself] have to do quite frequently, acting more... "normal", for lack of a better term-

Then, of course, there's the more... modern, scientific route, through the use of medication! However, this medication is very experimental, and has... very unfortunate side-effects-

There are a plethora of other ways Downers can hide themselves, which I may touch up on in some scripts... you guys will just have to wait and see~ 👀

NOW!!! ONTO THAT LAST PART!!!!

I would absolutely LOVE that!

I'm always accepting character ideas, and plan on even incorporating any OCs people may make, in some way, shape or form, in the eventual series I wanna make out of this!!

In simpler terms - go right ahead! ^^

Thank you so much again for this ask.. it's really made my week! <3

[coleskingdom]

Your Revenge

Adam Cole x F Reader

18+ Minors DNI

@midwestmade29

It’d been a few weeks since that night with Cole. I’d gone home, showered, Adam contrary to his words didn’t leave a mark on my neck and swore to myself I wouldn’t tell Jay.. Not for fear of him leaving me but for what he’d do to Adam. There was an apprehensive when an unknown number would appear on my phone, I didn’t know if it’d be Adam. Things between Jay and I were not great but he had sometime off coming, the things that made him cranky like his creative was fixed soon he’d be back to normal.

Jay left out a day earlier than normal, it wasn’t a big deal, plans change and I didn’t ask him any questions about the schedule shift. I ordered take out and settled in on the couch to watch Dynamite, Jays music hit and he comes out and does his normal entrance when he takes off his jacket, there are scratches on his back that weren’t there when he left. Trying to be rational I pause the screen and try to take a closer look maybe my guilty conscience is showing me things that aren’t there.

My phone went off

Unknown Number

Maybe your not so sweet as honey after all, you have Claws

Me:

Who is this?

Unknown

😈 I’m hurt

Me

Adam?

Adam

There’s my girl, I haven’t seen him marked like that since Japan .

Me:

Those aren’t from me.

Adam:

Fuck, Honey are you okay?

Me:

Don’t honey me please. Did you tell him?

Adam

No, call it a crisis of conscience

Me:

Conscience you? I guess thank you . No chance he brawled with mox in the back

Adam : Want me to lie?

Me: No….

Adam: He’s been or rumored to be fucking some girl in make up , I don’t have proof and you deserved better than to worry about a rumor.

Me: Are you in town?

Adam: yeah still not cleared. Honey do you want me to come see you? I can come pick you up, we can go grab food, a drink or just talk.

Me: Yeah, I need out of this house.

I gave him the address, I met him outside when he pulled up. “Have you said anything to him ?” As he pulled away from the house . “No, not about a couple weeks ago, not about tonight. I don’t know what to say I feel like a hypocrite.” staring out the window “Also why are you being so nice to me? I figured you’d be happy about this.” Casting a glance his direction. “Honey, I like you, I want you, I haven’t stopped thinking about you. So it served no purpose to hurt you, honestly I texted tonight because I was jealous, that those were your nail marks down his back. I never would’ve rubbed it in your face had I known. You have to believe me.”

Strangely enough I did believe him. “Were you ever going to call me about the third option?” my cheeks blushed turning more towards him in the seat. “You really want me to tell you? “ I nodded “I’ve picked up my phone so many times but again, I didn’t want to fuck up your life. I wanted you to want me, if you had called I’d have done anything you wanted. You didn’t though and I thought you and he had fixed shit.” his voice soft and sincere. “Adam, I haven’t stopped thinking about that night. It felt right, I just had to try and fix it with him, but it’s over now. If he has the audacity to walk out with his back looking like that knowing I’m watching there’s no going back. If I’m honest I had hoped the text was about the third option. “ placing my hand on his thigh a groan fell from his lips as he gripped the steering wheel tighter.

He pulled up in front of his house. “Honey, I want you to be sure, if your not please tell me, and I’ll take you to dinner or a drink.” his voice low and warm and just like the first time I kissed him, it was needy and desperate. “Adam, take me inside, show me, pick me” my voice cracking on the last word. “Honey I’d pick you everyday and every night.”

He opened the car door, his hand on the small of my back leading me inside the house. He shut the door his lips finding mine, taking his time as he kissed me. “ Honey look at me” I glanced at him, his fingers lifting my chin, “Let me take care of you.” His hands moving to the hem of my sundress.”Let me show you everything you deserve” his mouth on my neck his hands moving up my sides. I felt my body relax under his touch. He took my hand and led to me to the bedroom, his touches were soft, as he lifted the sun dress over my head, his mouth followed his hands as he undressed me,before laying me down on the edge of his bed. I heard my phone ring, we both knew who it was and I ignored the call, as Adam had taken off his shirt and kneeled on the floor , parting my legs kissing the inside of my thigh when the phone rang again. “Adam, you don’t “ he cut my words off when he kissed my core through my panties, “Honey, unless you don’t want me to, or you don’t like it, I’ve been thinking about this since the night in the truck.” His fingers moved to the waistband of the soft cotton panties pulling them down. He licked from my entrance up, humming in appreciation as his mouth moved on my core. The phone rang again , “Answer it” he threw the phone up on the bed , “Adam he’s FaceTiming me” I whimpered, looking down at him

between my legs, “Good, take your revenge , take your control.” his eyes flashed wickedly as his tongue speared inside .

“Hello” I answered my face pink angling the camera just at my face. “ sweet girl, what are you doing? It’s not like you to not answer my phone calls.” Jays voice composed, I moaned as Adam’s finger glided over my clit. “Oh so that’s what you’re doing, dirty girl, let me see.” I shook my head no, words no longer able to fall from my mouth. “Sweet girl, I miss you and your pussy so much.” I groaned as Adam inserted to fingers moving at a faster rougher pace as I clenched around him, “ Oh fuck Ad” the words falling before I could stop them, “ who’s there with you? Who the fuck is there with you right now?” With his free hand Adam grabbed the phone, angling it showing Jay what exactly he was doing. I couldn’t stop the orgasm as I came while Jay was on the phone. “Cole is that you, you motherfucker I’m going to kill you.” Cole worked me through my orgasm, kissing the inside of my thigh, his beard covered in my cum, as he put the camera directly at his face. “Actually, I’m a girlfriend fucker but after the way your back looked tonight I’m gonna say your ex girlfriend fucker.”his voice cocky and assured. Jays face was pure rage as he screen shot it , “Seems, she needs to be tended to so I’m gonna let you go” as he hung up and turned off the phone.