#research provided upon request

[risestarkiss]

love ur blog!!! do u have any headcanons for the turtles’ star signs or myers briggs personality types?

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my silly rambles! 💜

No, I don't know anything about those things, buuuuut I can discuss the types of DSM-5 personality disorders I think these boys may have!

Let's see 🤔:

Raphie might have a Cluster C (Anxious/Fearful) type personality disorder. I'm leaning towards "Dependent" if left up to his own devices, as seen in "Man vs. Sewer."

However, when he's with his brothers I believe he masks and overcompensates for their sake.

Hence why his stuffed animals are so important to him as a form of self-comfort/self-soothing.

Leonardo, in my opinion, has more of a Cluster B (Dramatic/Erratic) type personality disorder. For him, I would put my eggs in the "Histrionic" basket.

He's superficial, theatrical, and a touch attention-seeking.

Yeah...just a touch.

Now for Donnie, he's clearly Cluster A (Odd/Eccentric). That's a given! Buuut, in my opinion, if you were to ask Donnie about his personality, he would believe he's "Schizoid:" prefers to be a loner, detached, and unemotional.

...but none of that is true. Actually, he's the most emotional one in the group.

Instead, I believe Donnie is actually "Schizotypal:" unusual thoughts, perceptions, & behaviors.

It is what it is. 😌💜

As for the Mikester, I actually don't believe he has a cluster type personality disorder per se. I dived deep into that subject in my "Orange, Baby!" ramble.

But that doesn't mean he's not weird...

Thanks for the ask! 💜

[jaythes1mp]

Hi can you please make a yandere batfam meeting a merfolk reader or what your headcanonns on how that would go especially if reader is willing to stay and maybe even help with the more aquatic stuff of vigilante work

Definitely! This is some general stuff, a link to the chapter once I’ve written it will be added at the end. If everyone could please cast votes for what you’d rather before I start writing it, would be great!

Anon, I know your initial ask wasn’t really a request, but I want to write this. Haha… hope you don’t mind.

Yandere Batfam x Merfolk Reader

In the early stages of your involvement with the BatFamily, when their obsessions with you are just beginning to form, they would seek out your assistance in their crime fighting endeavours. This is under the assumption that you’re already a well known vigilante of sorts. Their obsession growing after they encounter and become acquainted with you. Learning of your skills, and how your kind can help them if any villains were to take their fight to the water surrounding Gotham’s edges.

But once the Bat's obsession has matured into a deep, twisted fascination, they would never allow you near the battlefield. Their possessive nature would take over, and they would be unable to bear the thought of you being hurt or even fighting others. Even if you were incredibly powerful, their protective instincts would render it moot the moment they have their possessive grasp on you, effectively ending your crime fighting days.

However, if you were not affiliated with any vigilante work from the beginning, the BatFamily would never even entertain the idea. Their fixation would target you on a personal level, rather than the dynamic of needing crime fighting assistance.

They might encounter you under various circumstances, such as: (numbered 1,2,3,4.)

By chance along Gotham’s shores, accidentally stumbling upon you.

You were caught in a trap, leading to your capture and confinement at Wayne Enterprises research facility. <- my favourite

One of the Bat’s had suffered an injury that sent them plummeting deep into the waters of Gotham, but just as they’re about to loose consciousness you swim them up to the surface. Saving them.

Or you may take the initiative on your own accord, reeling in one of the batfamily for either help or sustenance. The rest of the family coming to the rescue only to learn that you’re non threatening, and that the chosen member is cuddling into your side.

They would grow unhealthily fixated on you. Attached. Every aspect of your appearance and your mysterious species would fascinate them. The thought alone that you could survive in the harsh dangerous waters of Gotham without Bruce’s high-tech equipment ever detecting your existence baffling them. This would spark a curiosity turned obsession that would drive them to uncover everything about you, no matter the cost. Their intrigue shifting into a deeper, twisted form of love.

Initially, they would design a high-tech enclosure for you at the Wayne Manor, meticulously crafted to provide everything you need to thrive and more. Which you willingly enter, unaware that you’re under their watchful eyes, who monitor your every move, their fascination growing.

Under the vigilante route, where you’ve allied yourself with the family, you would move to the manor to discuss and plan out operations aimed at capturing and stopping a villain who was terrorising the city. Your presence there would foster a bond between you, as they relied on your skills and knowledge to aid them.

Voluntarily travelling there to discuss plans and strategies to combat with the villain and future perpetrators who has target Gotham.

Versus the ‘found’ routes, where you’d go because you trust them.

1 & 4 -> You would go to the Wayne Manor intrigued and fascinated to explore an entirely new place. Having only known of Gotham’s currents before, the thought of learning about human culture piques your interest. Contrary to the ominous warnings from the Elder Mers, these humans have been nothing but kind. They haven’t tried to harm you in any way, neither confining you in cages nor cutting you up to consume you, nor taking your scales. The Elder Mers must have misled you! The BatFamily is proving to be nothing but sweet and welcoming. What’s the harm in staying with them for a little while? You’re sure your clan won’t even realise that you’re gone.

2 -> You would either have no choice in the matter, as you were considered the Wayne’s property under the public’s eyes, Or you would leave under a negotiation with one of them. Desperate to escape from the constant scrutiny of the scientists who eye you as nothing more than a piece of meat. Their tests leaving you feeling exposed and vulnerable, had become unbearable, with the small transparent tank doing nothing to offer you comfort or refuge. A public spectacle being observed daily by prying eyes. You’d do anything to never have to become an experiment for these humans ever again.

3 -> They would invest months, devoting themselves to understanding your life, gradually winning you over with their kindness. Persuading you to reciprocate their efforts by visiting the enclosure they had meticulously designed specifically for you. You were fascinated by their accomplishment, having built a structure that seamlessly connected to every room within their manor. Slowly you visited more often, their efforts touching you deeply. They had created this for you. Maybe humans weren’t all bad…

Whichever route you take, the end result is the same; they become deeply, unhealthily obsessed with you. Having them hold you captive, their obsession transforming into an intense, lasting fixation. They would have no intention of ever letting you go, keeping you confined in their carefully crafted webs, for the rest of your life, never permitting you to escape their grasp. Their desire for you becoming all-consuming, forever entrapping you within their influence.

Please vote for which of them you’d like to see most!

Romantic or platonic? Tell me in the comments or anon asks, please.

[arc-misadventures]

The Report

Winter: General Ironwood, I wish to make a report about my joint mission with, Jaune Arc on a, C Class seek, and destroy mission.

Ironwood: Ahh good. I was going to ask you to report on that mission. You rarely take any missions from the quest board since becoming my second. Any missions you do take, are missions I sanctioned you to take, along with the rest of your specialist members. So, tell me, Specialist Schnee, why did you decided to take on this mission, and with Jaune Arc at that?

Winter: At once, Sir.

Winter: I was made aware of the mission particulars whilst I was playing a game of chess with, Mr. Arc. He informed me that he had never heard of the target before reading the mission request. Upon doing research about the target, a C Class Grimm threat called a, Karniviar, and more research about the, Grimm's last know location, he deemed this quest to be a, B, or potential A Class threat.

Ironwood: He deemed it to be a potential, A Class threat? What made him think so?

Winter: Understanding the potential threat of a, Karniciar alone more than grants it the ranking of a, C to low, B Class threat. It's bone platting requires high caliber AP rounds to pierce. It's claws posse the capabilities to tear through reinforced fencing with ease. It possess a bight force of an estimated 20,000 psi, making it capable of biting a, Knight in two with relative ease. All the while it's tail spike posses the potential to pierce through the armour platting of one of our, Paladins.

Ironwood: Fascinating... what level of it's evolution is this, Grimm categorized as?

Winter: Unknown, Sir. I did my own research before joining, Mr. Arc on this mission, and from what meager reports there are, I lean fiund myself agreeing that this is an, egg based, Grimm.

Ironwood: Egg?

Winter: Yes, the first stage of this, Grimm begins in an egg stage where it remains underground until it matures, and hatches into a fully formed, Karniviar. I would estimate this this new born stage to be at least in the, Gamma Classification.

Ironwood: Gamma? If it was already like this, I would hate to see it in the, Beta Class of it's evolutionary development, let alone in it's, Alpha form. So, this is why, Mr. Arc saw it as a potential, A Class threat.

Winter: Negative, Sir.

Ironwood: Beg pardon?

Winter: Mr. Arc did not see the, Karniviar as a possible, A Class threat for those possibilities, Sir. He saw it as a possible, A Class threat due to it's geological location, and it's potential harm it could inflict upon, Atlas, and Mantle.

Ironwood: 'Because of where it was located, and it's potential harm it could inflict to the people of, Atlas, and Mantle?' I must say you have me most intrigued, Specialist Schnee. Please, continue.

Winter: Thank you, Sir. During, Mr. Arc's research he found out that the, Karniviar was located near a fishing town called, Breakers Peak. This town itself provides sixty percent of, Atlas, and Mantles raw supply of fish.

Ironwood: Sixty percent of, Mantle, and Atlas fish supply? Ahh I see... He classified it as a potential, A Class threat because if it attacked this fishing town it would disrupt the amount of food entering, Atlas, and Mantle, didn't he.

Winter: Partly, Sir. Mr. Arc theorized that if this, Grimm attacked, Breakers Peak, and even if it only managed to reduced the towns fishing capabilities by thirty percent, the consequences could be quite dire. If the price of fish goes up, the price of any food produced items with fish goes up as well. Resulting in an domino effect where the rise in prince of one item leads to the rise of price in another. And, if food prices continue to rise people would start to get worried, and as the more people get worried...

Ironwood: The Grimm become more active. And thus, the result of leaving this, Grimm alive leads to potential devastation to, Atlas, and Mantle without it even having to attack us directly.

Winter: Mr. Arc's thoughts came to the same conclusion as well, Sir.

Ironwood: No wonder he saw it as a potential, A Class threat... His thought process taking into the account not just the, Grimm itself, but where it was seen, and the possible threats it could have in that given area. Hmmm... I think we need to adopt such a train of thought when assigning threat levels to missions.

Winter: My thoughts exactly, General. I have already started a rudimentary outline of a possible new way of classifying , Grimm threats based upon. Mr. Arc's thought process.

Ironwood: Very good. Hand that to me for my review once it is completed.

Winter: Of course, Sir.

Ironwood: So was this the reason why you accompanied, Mr. Arc on this mission?

Winter: It was one of three reasons, Sir.

Ironwood: One reason? What were the other reasons?

Winter: When, Mr. Arc told me about this mission, we where playing a game of chess. A game where... he thoroughly defeated me... Effortlessly at the...

Ironwood: Effortlessly? For you to say that is quite the complement, if I am not mistaken, you are considered a grandmaster at chess.

Winter: I am considered a grandmaster at chess, but after, Mr. Arc thoroughly defeated me, I feel like a novice at chess once again.

Ironwood: What did he do?

Winter: I don't know how he did it precisely, but to summarize: Psychological warfare.

Ironwood: Psychological warfare? Hmmm... I didn't take, Mr. Arc as one who would apply such tactics in a fight. How did he do it?

Winter: I was focusing on the fact that, Mr. Arc hadn't moved his queen, thinking that his plan was to move his other pieces into the perfect position so he could suddenly spring a trap, deploy his queen, and go for the kill. But, in actuality his plan was to make me think that he had some sort of grand plan with his queen as the focal point of it. However, Mr. Arc had no intention whatsoever of using his queen, and was instead focusing on getting my other pieces into the perfect position. And, then go for the kill.

Ironwood: His entire strategy was based on the idea that he was going to us his queen, the most valuable piece on the board. When in fact, he had no intention of using his queen from the begining?

Winter: Correct, in fact I was so focused on his queen I never realized that he in fact, never physically touched his queen to begin with. It was because of this unexpected strategy he implemented, I was curious to see how he planned to deal with the a beast such as the, Karniviar all on his own. So, I asked to accompany him.

Ironwood: I see, how did he deal with the, Karniviar.

Winter: When we arrived at the town he asked the locals where the, Karniviar was last seen, Jaune then went to the area to explore it. When we arrived at the area it was last seen, an old abandoned, Dust mine. Jaune spent some time watching the monster from a distance where he finally implemented his plan.

Ironwood: Which was?

Winter: Mr. Arc came closer to the, Karniviar, the beast turned to roar at him, and in that instant the, Karniviar roared, Mr. Arc threw one of his portable shield walls into it's mouth. When it went done the creatures mouth he activated it, and broke the creatures neck from the inside. The creature died within seconds, and started to fade away before it even hit the ground. From start to finish, it only took a minute for, Mr. Arc to defeat a C Class threat.

Ironwood: Seriously?

Winter: Yes, I have video of the event to prove it.

Ironwood: Show me.

Ironwood: ...

Ironwood: Impressive... that was most impressive.

Winter: I assumed, Mr. Arc would stabbing the creature between it's armour plates, but as, Mr. Arc said: 'There are plenty of chinks in its armour to exploit.'

Ironwood: I would have attacked the creature between the armour plating, or trying to break the platting. I must confess, I wouldn't have thought about going down it's throat. I can see why you decided to join, Mr. Arc on this mission. This was quite an informative mission you decided to take on.

Winter: That... That wasn't entirely why I joined him on this mission, Sir...

Ironwood: Ahh, the third reason why you joined him. Tell me, what was this third reason?

Winter: I am... I am worried about, Mr... I am worried about, Jaune's mental stability, Sir...

Ironwood: His mental stability?

Winter: As a result of his social isolation because of his peers. Jaune has developed a habit of talking to himself; He denies that this has been happening of course, but on the few times I have caught him talking to himself, his eyes linger to the side for a bit before denying it.

Winter: I am worried he will harm himself, directly, or indirectly because of this. So, Sir, I request permission to be assigned to any joint missions, Mr. Arc takes. So, I can ensure his mental stability.

Ironwood: ...

Ironwood: Permission granted. Also try, and see if we can get him in for a psychiatric evaluation as well. In fact, put all of, Team RWBY, and the other members of, Team JNPR into this as well. This is standard practice anyway among veteran, Hunters. These kids have been through quite enough as it is.

Winter: Thank you, Sir. I will do so at once.

Ironwood: Oh, and, Specialist Schnee?

Winter: Sir?

Ironwood: My condolences concerning the loss of your father.

Winter: T-Thank you, Sir... It was so sudden, I have no words for this sudden, terrible incident that has happened to my family. It's such a shame that he was taken from us...

Ironwood: ...

Winter: ...

Ironwood: That was a terrible performance, Specialist Schnee.

Winter: Did you honestly expect me to be sad after that monsters death, Sir?

Ironwood: No, not at all. I just thought I should say it, it was polite to offer my condolences for the loss of a family member. I certainly didn't take a celebratory drink at the news of his passing. No, nothing like that happened at all.

Winter: Of course, nothing happened at all.

Ironwood: Well then, is that all, Specialist?

Winter: Yes, Sir.

Ironwood: You're dismissed.

Winter: Sir!

[bluemari23]

new _world || choi seungcheol

summary: the night of your 18th birthday left nothing to be desired; waking up to no hint of any soul bond left you one of the unbonded. almost eight years later, however, you find out that you are very much not unbonded, and that your soulmate is someone who you admire. very much. pairing: choi seungcheol x reader genre: soulmate au, soul bonds, fluff, angst warnings: not a lot, overwhelmed and insecure mc, mc believes she's unlovable, bad thoughts, scoups falls first, hopeless romantic scoups, word count: 3.3 k part 1 of ?

masterlist

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

Despite the normal day you were having, bosses who never seemed to learn how to use their volume button properly and coworkers who continued to get into your space despite you constantly reminding them how much you enjoy your singular personal space, you felt the tension building in your body like no other. 

You could feel how tense your shoulders grew as the day trudged on, shuffling, and crumbling on the invisible weight that seemed to settle write in the crook of your neck and shoulder. “Coat hanger pain” is what your doctor had called it, another symptom of your undesirable stress and anxiety. No massage on earth could help it though, as you had been to numerous masseuses, some even recommended by your doctor. None had worked or even lessened your pain. 

By lunch time you had decided you needed a break, a well-deserved break, if anything. So, you had scheduled your couple-day wellness time, something your company thankfully provided despite your supervisors absolutely hating that they couldn’t deny the requests. You would be off work for the next three days, as well as the weekend, so five days total. 

That should definitely be enough time to relax and take the ever-growing load off your shoulders, you think, more like you hope. 

In addition to the break, you decided you would also treat yourself to your favorite take-out, having been depriving yourself of it as of late due to work.

It had been a split second decision, but something completely worth it as you kick your front door closed behind you and retreat to the couch, almost immediately dropping your work bag and coat onto the floor in favor of placing your food onto the small table that you had placed in front of your couch. 

You tried to ease your mind, empty your thoughts as you watched mindless reality television, but your attention was caught by a program about the research and cause of unbonded.

Unbonded were people who never received a soul bond on the morning of their 18th birthday. There are a few well known soul bonds. 

Soul transport, where one member of the soul bond transports to their other. 

Soul glow, where upon being in the presence of your soul mate, your body will glow in an attempt to draw the two souls together, only the people in the bond can see the glow. 

Soul bloom, where a crown of flowers favored by the other soulmate will appear and will only go away once you touch your soulmate.

Soul string is the last well known one, where the “red string of fate” ties you to your soulmate, growing thicker or disappearing depending on how close or far away your soulmate is.

You woke up to nothing. Not even one of the rarer soul bonds like the soul mark. You had waited, days, weeks, and now eight years later, you had resigned yourself to the fact you were one of the unbonded. It was something that constantly hung on the back of your mind, watching your friends and even coworkers discover their bonds and finding their soulmates over the years.

But it wasn’t meant to be for you. 

Suddenly feeling a little nauseous, you put the bite of food you were about to eat back into the take-out container, your thoughts getting to you again as the program continued to play. You had always dreamed about having a soulmate, someone who would love you unconditionally and take care of and be there for you. 

You had been so used to doing everything yourself, by yourself, that you secretly wished for someone to take care of you. Someone who you could just turn your thoughts off with and they would make all the important decisions for you. Maybe you just wanted ot be babied, you didn’t know, but you were tired of being alone and being crushed by the seemingly unbearable weight hanging from your shoulders at any given time. 

“Unbonded are found to be people who are deemed “unlovable” and individuals who don’t fit in with soc—” You can’t help but want to throw your remote at the man who spoke as you turned the television off. 

You had heard those words way too many times now and grew resentful at how those words hit right into your core. 

Yeah, you did feel unlovable sometimes, but you didn’t think that warranted not being gifted a soulmate by the universe. You tried to be better, to help those in need never when you yourself needed help, thinking that then, maybe then, the universe might take pity on you. 

“No!” you exclaimed firmly. There was no way you were gonna set yourself up for more unbearable thoughts and tear stained pillows. Not again. 

“You’re gonna sit, enjoy your food, drink some wine, and watch your favorite movie. This is a well-earned break and you are going to enjoy it.” You told yourself, trying to break out of the negative thoughts and mood you put yourself in. 

And that’s exactly what you do. You indulge in the food, watch your favorite movie, laugh out loud at your favorite parts, and even have a glass of wine or two. 

But you still go to bed dejected, taking the words of the program from earlier to heart. Maybe you were unlovable and unworthy of a soulmate. Maybe it was time for your dreams of having a soulmate to come to an end and accept that it just wasn’t meant to be for you. 

A small tear fell from your waterline as you fell asleep, heart and head heavy at the thought of your future. 

-*-*-

You dreamt you were enveloped in the best hug ever, big arms wrapped around you and small but loving kisses placed against your temple. You remember burrowing into the person’s chest, reveling in the warmth you were feeling and the sense safety you were experiencing. It was like nothing you had felt before. 

Seungcheol’s dream almost mirrored your own, his arms wrapped tightly around you, almost covering you with his entire body, holding you against him and keeping anyone else from seeing you so vulnerable. He loved how you fit just perfectly against him, how you curled deeper into his embrace, your nose nuzzling against his clothed chest, taking in his comforting scent. 

He couldn’t help but to bring one of his hands down your hip and to the back of your thigh, cupping it and moving your so your leg was propped up over your hip. He needed to feel closer to you, desiring to feel closer to you in any way he can. 

Neither of you wanted the dreams to end, but your phone alarm drew you from your slumber. 

“Fuck.” You bite out, having forgotten to turn your alarm off the night before. You try to untangle yourself from the warm weight you felt on top of you, holding you to them—wait a minute. 

You open your eyes, alert and scared at the fact that someone was in your room, in your bed with you, only to stare into the sleepy, closed eyed face of Scoups from your favorite kpop group, Seventeen. 

You blink heavily, trying to get rid of the sleep still in your eyes, almost hoping that your eyes weren’t lying to you. They had to be, right? There is no way your ult bias of all people was currently wrapped around you, holding you tightly to their chest. 

Your body tenses in shock, still for a couple of seconds before you try to forcefully remove yourself from the man’s embrace, surprise and slight embarrassment fill your body as he only tightens his hold on you. 

“Stop moving, baby.” You haven’t practiced your Korean in a while, but you knew you didn’t misunderstand his words as he tries to nuzzle into your hair.  “Go back to sleep.” 

“Uhm, excuse me, sir? I’m not sure how you got here, but I am really freaking out.” You whisper, not wanting to break the atmosphere but also wary of what kind of reaction Scoups will have once he realizes he isn’t at home in South Korea but in your bed in America. 

However, he doesn’t react like you thought he would. You imagined him pushing you away, maybe in disgust or fear, and angry yelling asking you what was going on or how he got here. None of that happened. 

“His eyes opened, not recognizing the room he was in or the person he was holding, but he knew exactly what had happened. Only one thing could explain what had happened to him.  

Smiling down at you, he couldn’t begin to think of how to express his excitement, only holding you closer whispering as he did so. 

“Finally.” You watched the word leave his lips, this time in English. Confusion flooded you as your eyebrows furrowed at his statement. You couldn’t understand what was going on. 

You had to be dreaming still, that was it. 

You were dreaming. 

But your alarm was still going off. 

“Uh, sir? I’m not sure exactly what you mean, but if you could let go of me, that would be nice.” You try again, hoping that some sense of the situation you found yourselves in would hit him, but it didn’t seem to work. 

“I’m never letting you go, not now that I’ve finally found you.”

Despite appearing unbonded, Seungcheol had always known he had a soulmate, had a feeling gripping his soul and wanting him to follow the feeling. He had always desired to have a soulmate, someone to take care of and who would understand his sometimes overprotective and possessive nature. He knew he would wait as long as he needed to, for any semblance of a bond to kick in, despite people trying to convince him otherwise. It wasn’t normal, he had been told, for late soul bonds to occur. But here he was, holding his soulmate to his chest, in her room only the heavens know where. 

Soul Transport.

His bond with you transcended space and time and brought him to where and when you needed him the most. He could see the tear stains on your cheeks, how puffy and red your eyes were. He had the sudden desire to hide you from the world, scaring away all of your troubles and worries and keeping you with him at all times. 

You would never be subjected to taking care of yourself ever again. Not while he was there to do it for you. All of your wants, needs, and desires would be met by him. Your soulmate. 

You were his soul. 

The only thing to snap him out of whatever trance he was still in, smiling softly down at you, was his phone ringing. 

Scoups reached down to the pocket of his sweatpants to grab his phone, giving you the opportunity to scramble out of his arms and bracing yourself across the room. You observed the idol, watching as what seemed to be disappointment crossed his face for a second before he answered his phone. 

“Hello?” Seungcheol answered the call, already knowing one of his members was the one calling him, probably wondering where he disappeared too.

“WHERE ARE YOU?! We’ve looked everywhere. We have a meeting with our managers in twenty minutes and you’re nowhere to be found!” Jeonghan yelled into the phone, making him wince and pull away for a second. 

“I’ve found her.” Was all he said, smile growing on his lips again. 

“Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean you found her?” This time it was Joshua on the phone, grumbling coming from the background.

“I’ve found my soulmate.” Seungcheol was barely able to get his sentence out before he heard screaming on the other end.

You, on the other hand, was just lost in complete shock at the situation you woke up to. You went to bed last night crying about not having a soulmate and being unlovable, and now, now you had not only a soulmate, but your soulmate was your ult bias from your favorite kpop group. 

There was no way in hell you weren’t dreaming. 

Either that or the universe was really fucked up at the moment, giving you false hope only to probably take it back.

You couldn’t help but to watch Scoups, sitting up in your bed and holding one of your plushies to his chest, smiling as he listened to whoever was talking on the phone and responding back. You were too in your head to even begin to try and translate the conversation, caught up in the way he was just smiling at you, so softly and with all the love in the world. 

You weren’t gonna lie, it was making you a little uncomfortable. You were so unused to anyone looking at you in a positive light that you didn’t know how to react or think. 

A hand gently grabbing onto your own snapped you out of your thoughts, looking up to see Scoups looking at you concerned. 

“Are you okay, my soul?” Oh my gosh, his English was so adorable, you couldn’t help but fangirl for a second. He called you his soul. He called you his soul. He really did think you were his soulmate.

“Uhm, I’m not sure.” You replied honestly, truly unsure of how you were feeling. You felt tingles and sparks suddenly at his embrace of your hand and looked down, only for black words to slowly appear on your forearm right under the palm of your hand. 

His name was now written in black script on your arm. 

A soul mark. 

You looked at his own forearm only for your name to be written on his skin, your handwriting staring back at you. 

Now you knew you weren’t dreaming. 

Two soul bonds were rare. Almost unheard of. Your own bond with Scoups was soul transport and soul marks was an even rarer combination. Looking up at him, his expression mirrored your own, one of complete shock.

“Hello? Cheol? You still there?” The voice of Joshua came from the speaker on his phone, breaking the moment between you and your soulmate. 

“Yes, we are here.” His eyes refused to leave you, like he was trying to imprint the image of you into memory. 

“Hello there. My name is Joshua and I am a friend to your soulmate.” Joshua’s voice was so sweet and he spoke. You figured he was there to translate for Scoups, seeing as Joshua was from the states and spoke English fluently. 

“Hello Joshua. I uh, actually know who you are and who my, uh, soulmate is. I am a fan of your group.” The blush on your face wasn’t even considered a blush anymore. Your entire face was red from embarrassment as you looked at your Seventeen posters right behind your bed on the wall leading Scoups to look. You couldn’t even look his way once the smirk grew on his lips. 

“And I do speak a little Korean. I’m uhm, still learning though.” You finish off, looking anywhere but Scoups who was still holding your hand, his thumb now brushing softly against your palm. 

“Oh, you are a carat? That’s awesome!” You could tell Joshua and Scoups had become genuinely excited at the fact that you were a fan of them, and it made you smile a little bit. Joshua then asked for your name, and upon hearing you say it, you could see Scoups mouthing it, the gentle smile still on his lips.

After exchanging a bit of information about yourself like where you live and work, the conversation turned a little deeper.

“Well, Cheol wished for me to explain to you what needs to happen. I’m sorry about this, but soulmate laws are a little different in Korea.” You finally looked back to Scoups, only for him to bow his head a little bit. “Because your soulmate is South Korean, you are now considered a South Korean citizen and therefore, fall under our soulmate laws and registry.” Joshua finishes, but you still don’t understand what is going on. 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what that means.” You tell both men, trying to make sense of why Joshua was telling you this. 

“Well y/n, it basically means you will need to reside in South Korea with Seungcheol, as South Korea has a ‘No Separation’ policy.” Your life seemingly flashed in front of your eyes. 

Yes, you hated your job and all of your coworkers, as well as your small, shitty apartment. But it was all you had for yourself. It was something you accomplished on your own. 

But you’ve always wanted to be taken care of. This could be your chance to be with your soulmate and he obviously seems to want to take care of you. your inner voice spoke up. 

It was true. Just from what you know of Scoups, he loves to take care of his members and those around him, but you had to remind yourself that you don’t truly know your new soulmate, only what the cameras show of him. 

“Seungcheol wants me to reassure you that he will do whatever he needs to do in order to make everything comfortable for you. Well, he actually wanted me to tell you that he will provide everything for you and that you will never want for anything again but it seemed a little too forward.” Joshua rushed out the last sentence causing a surprised laugh to leave your lips. 

It was almost too perfect. 

You had a soulmate who fit every wish of your dreams. 

Everything started to feel overwhelming. You didn’t know how Scoups was so accepting of this, seeing as he has had to wait longer than you have for the bonds to click between you two. You felt Scoups squeeze your hand before drawing you into his chest, enveloping you into his embrace. It’s like he could tell you were about to fall apart and he was there to hold the pieces together. 

“Our managers are already booking plane tickets for you to travel back here, and the plan will leave tomorrow morning. I’m so sorry about how fast this has to move, but for both of your safety and because of our hectic schedules, we need to get you both here as soon as we can. Is this enough time to get things sorted out for you? If not, when you arrive, our team will help you settle everything else.” Joshua’s voice seemed a thousand miles away and you felt like you were floating. 

“It seems I don’t have a choice, so yes.” You could feel Scoups squeeze you tighter before talking into the phone and ending the call. 

He held you for another couple minutes, not wanting to let go of you. You didn’t want him to let go either. You knew the bonds were real now, that your soulmate was indeed Choi Seungcheol from the kpop group Seventeen. The safety and reassurance you feel just from his touch was enough for you to accept everything. 

To believe everything would be okay. 

“My soul?” By the heavens above you loved his name for you. You don’t think you would ever grow tired of it. You could feel the heat rushing towards your cheeks as his name for you reminded you of everything going on right now. 

Reluctantly pushing away from Scoups, you made your way to your closet, looking for the luggage set your bought when you last visited your family. Once you found it, you turned around, only to find Scoups looking over your kpop collection. You grew a little embarrassed, really not expecting your soulmate to be a kpop idol. 

You needed to start packing if your flight was going to be leaving tomorrow morning. You set your luggage on the floor, earning you a look from Scoups who moved forward looking ready to do whatever is needed. A man on a mission. 

You were leaving tomorrow to live in South Korea with your soulmate, and by the heavens you would try to fit everything you could into your luggage set. 

[coralinnii]

Congrats on 2.7k followers!! You deserve it! :D For the event, may I request Malleus, Azul, Jade and Floyd with a gentle giant S/O? As you can already guess, S/O is super tall (you can change this detail if you’d like, but perhaps they’d even be noticeably taller than Malleus?) and maybe even kind of intimidating because of it, but they’re very friendly, quiet, and gentle. 

Again, congratulations on your achievements!! Keep up the great work you’re doing 🥳

‧₊˚✧ My Statuesque Sweetheart ‧₊˚✧

↳ Tall Gentle Giant/Reader

feat: Malleus ❋ Azul ❋ Jade ❋ Floyd genre: fluff note: no pronouns were used with the reader, I love beluga whales (it’ll make sense in Jade’s ver.),

Sooo…being someone that can’t relate to being tall :I, I went around to ask some of my taller friends to know what’s that like, so this took longer cuz of research. I also got into Genshin to prep for another prompt someone asked me and dang, do I gotta research on that too.

Similar prompt: Tall!reader who loves hugs

2.7K Followers Writing Event 2023

You were certainly a surprise to him. In his long years, rarely does he find people where he doesn’t have to tilt his head down for once.

Despite your height, you were as cute and friendly as a woodland creature, a contrast to Malleus who exudes regal power without much effort. He’s fascinated by you as your stature can command the room yet your energy has a rather soothing effect on him and those around you. 

Man is saying you have zero scary dog energy, and that is adorable to him.

If you’re the affectionate type, congratulations! You’d be one of the few to be able (and allowed) to reach his horns. What started as curiosity soon became a habit as you made it your love language to care and clean Malleus’ iconic features. As a bonus, everytime you are done it’s fun to lay your head gently upon Malleus’, between his horns which catches him off guard no matter how often it happens. 

Having a tall man with money certainly has privileges as you now have access to his personal tailor as well. Was there a pair of pants you really like but it only reached your ankles? Not anymore, let the royal tailor deal with that and add some matching accessories to that. 

However you feel about your height, you are a sublime creature of beauty to Malleus. When he looks up to you smiling at him with the shining moon behind you highlighting your tall outline, he hasn’t seen anyone more otherworldly than you. 

You stand out amongst every human I have encountered. Hm? Ah, I do not refer to your stature but rather… the way you effortlessly capture my attention and ensnare my thoughts with visions of you.

Azul being around an incredibly tall person? What else is new? Azul doesn’t feel all that insecure about his height, before or after meeting you.

Well, you’re definitely the most pleasant person he knows that towers over him, at least. He knows that many, him included, would use your sort of stature as an advantage over others. Instead, he likes your rather sweet nature and way of conduct. 

If you have stretch marks due to your rapid growth spurts, Azul would feel absolutely touched if you trusted him enough to show it. Azul would genuinely praise your resilience to may have been an aching and painful experience to go through. If you let him, he could create a potion to get rid of the marks if it truly makes you insecure, but he finds you beautiful no matter what. 

Watch him flinch and get flustered anytime you wrap your arms around him, smothering him with your taller form. You would laugh to see him so easily out of sorts if you press your weight onto him. He can handle it of course, but the heat of your all-encompassing hugs is vastly different from his time in the cold sea. 

Azul would provide certain things that would suit your needs that others may overlook. Suddenly, you would find blankets that can cover you entirely, or you were gifted a coat that is actually a long coat that doesn’t awkwardly cut off at a weird length on you. Mirrors in Azul’s private room are always suspiciously up to your eye-level whenever you visit. 

He’s happy to know that you see him as someone reliable regardless of that. He has an interesting way of showing his appreciation

Do you like the new decor of the Mostro Lounge? The new additions are quite beautiful and eye-catching. The tall but dazzling designs were inspired by you, after all.

Oh my. What a sight to behold, you are. 

Jade doesn’t seem like the type to brag about his advantageous height, but he is aware that not many can reach his stature and even fewer actually pass him in that regard. 

He still treats you as courteously as he always does, even more so as the two of you start to grow closer. 

A nice bonus about having a tall boyfriend is that most of the things in his room are perfect for you! Beds you can fully stretch out in, actual full-length mirrors that don’t make you bend down, and furniture that doesn’t require you to squish yourself into. Jade’s (and Floyd’s) has become one of your favorite places to visit.

He does find it amusing that some people may find you intimidating because of your height as he knows that you were far from any definition of that word. Jade would chuckle to himself whenever he sees you getting happy or excited, like watching a playful beluga whale squeaking in joy. Your gentle features and bright smile shines through any misconceptions of your intimidating form. 

Though not quite used to it, Jade doesn’t mind having to crane his neck to meet your gaze. Especially not when he could watch your adorable quizzical expression as he asked you to lower your head to him, only to whisper teasing words into your ear. He especially finds it fun to watch you jump to your full height in flustered surprise, even occasionally bumping your head on a hanging decoration. 

Really, how could he resist you? 

Do you need rest, my love? Perhaps a cup of tea can soothe your aches and joints while you sit.

Oh, Floyd would have no issues with you being taller than him. Probably the opposite, really.

Don’t @ me but I fully believe Floyd has a thing for legs, be it his own or others. He’s so fascinated by these human features that you may even catch him blatantly staring appreciatively at your legs. 

“What’s the big deal? They’re right there, who can blame me?”

He will however, with full confidence, laugh his lungs out if you hit your head on the door frame or trip on an ottoman seat you didn’t notice. Maybe he’ll rub the ouchie away but he’ll be laughing while he does.

Be prepared for impromptu fashion shows with custom made shoes to show off your gorgeous mile-long legs. Floyd could spend hours looking through online shopping with you, showing you websites that specifically cater to tall drinks of water like yourself.

This man will be floored by the experience of being the little spoon of a hug. To be able to lean into your arms and rest his head on your chest, listening to your heartbeat while you  lovingly pat his hair? You can be unknowingly smothering him and he’ll be loving every moment of it. 

Regardless if you’re confident or not, Floyd loves to take you dancing. If you’re not confident in your dancing, Floyd is more than happy to lead you with every beat until you have fun. The man just loves to see the flashing lights paint your body, with your smile being the brightest of them all.

Did you get taller, Shrimpy? Aha ha, just pulling your leg there! Though, wouldn’t make a difference to me. You’re still a hottie even if you, hehe!

[just-a-creep-babe]

A Demon’s Ache — Part 19

Eyeless Jack x Reader

A Demon's Ache Masterlist

Dedicated to @cookiereblogss --- tysm for all the support you've provided, this series wouldn't be here without you <333

Requests are closed but commissions are open!

Masterlist: x

Just like always, parting from you is difficult

He’s helped you clean up after everything’s been said and done, but even then, he just can’t bring himself to leave

He doesn’t want to abandon the warmth of your body, doesn’t want to abandon the indulgence of your scent surrounding him

And he can almost trick himself into believing it’s mutual

Your gaze lingers on him for a split second longer than usual, and your lips part, almost as if you want to say something

Jack’s never really been a religious man, but he’d pray to every god under the sun if it meant you’d stay with him

Tell me to stay, tell me you want me as badly as I want you

But then you press your lips back together, like you’ve reconsidered your words, and part of his black heart shrivels up and dies just a little bit more

“I should get back to my room,” you say, and when you bite your lip as you say it, all he can think about is kissing you until you’re both dizzy all over again

He swallows thickly, nodding

He wants to say something, but he can’t think of the right words

Tension mounts, filling the sparse distance between you

He can’t bring himself to move

And, from the very first moment he met you, he’s almost always felt like there was something pulling him towards you

But right now, that feeling’s amplified tenfold, and God, the mere thought of parting from you is nauseating

More

All he can think about is how badly he wants more of you

He’s so fucking hopeless

He’s about to lean in to kiss you again, acting purely on some base impulse within him

But then, you blink, as if snapping yourself out of some trance

And you mumble out an excuse, turn away, and leave him behind again

He has to fight every ounce of his being screaming at him to follow you

A few minutes later, he’s lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying his hardest not to think about going to your room

It’s pointless, he knows it is

With one final breath, he sighs, summons the willpower to get up, and tries to find a way to make himself useful

He avoids the hallway that leads to your room, instead opting to take the longer route to the library

Doing research is going to help keep his mind off things, he thinks

Well, it’s either going to distract him, or make things even worse by reminding him of what he did to you

But, at this point, he’s willing to try almost anything to stop overthinking

The warm smell of old books greets him as he enters the familiar room

Rows and rows of imposingly large bookshelves press up against the walls, each of them holding hundreds of colourful books—novels, encyclopedias, bibliographies, scientific studies—whatever topic you could possibly want to read about is kept in this very room

Despite being what could almost be considered the “heart” of the mansion, however, it’s almost always empty

And today is no exception

Jack takes in a deep breath, enjoying the honeyed scent of aged paper and the intimacy of the large empty space

He takes a second to orient himself amongst the rows of information, and then it doesn’t take long for him to find the section on all things demonic anatomy

As soon as he gets settled into his research, he doesn’t notice the time going by

And every time his thoughts drift back to you, he forces his attention back to the task at hand

All he allows himself to focus on are the paragraphs upon paragraphs explaining the compositions of demons

Mating rituals, sexual reproduction, anatomical differences, cultural and generational distinguishers—

He knew the demonic world was complex, but he never realized just how complex it really is

He ends up with a pile of heavy books stacked up next to him at a secluded table

Finding specifics is more difficult than he realized it’d be, especially because he doesn’t exactly know where he fits into things

Does he classify as possessed? A cross-breed? Some kind of undead?

He knows the very basics of what the cult was trying to summon when they created him, but clearly, they didn’t know the ritual properly, or it wasn’t a functional ritual, because he’s damn sure they weren’t planning on ending up with whatever he is now

He’s a fucking walking abomination because of those incompetent assholes

After what feels like arduous hours of research, he only finds anything useful in a mere two of the books he’d initially pulled out

And with his limited information on the specifics of his “breed,” he only manages to gather a couple of points that might be relevant

One; mating marks are much less common between a human and a demon, so both the available information and known effects are even more limited to begin with

Two; the intensity of a mark’s effect generally reach their peak anytime within the first to fourteenth day, and it gradually stabilizes after anywhere between three months to a whole year

Three; the intensity of the effects further depend on the type and strength of the demon, which, while useful to know, is ultimately a null point because, again, Jack’s a fucking abomination of a monster

Four; there are no known ways to reverse the effects of a mark

Reading that fourth point leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but he tries not to dwell on its implications too much

Finally, the fifth point; because shared marks between humans and demons aren’t common, depending on the type and strength of the demon, there’s a high likelihood of the human not surviving the initial peak of the effects—which, again, makes cataloguing the anomaly all the more difficult

That last point is all he can take before snapping the book shut

Fuck

Fuck fuck fuck

He stands, his thoughts racing a mile a minute

He’s about to rush back to you to make sure you’re ok, but as soon as he takes that first step, he stops dead in his tracks

Wait

What’s he supposed to say—he fucked up and bound you to an eternal arrangement, without your consent, and now there’s a chance it’ll fucking kill you?

The implications of it all crash into him like a tidal wave, and he suddenly feels like he’s drowning in a million and one thoughts—each one worse than the last

How badly did he fuck up?

He doesn’t realize how hard his heart’s pounding or how quickly he’s breathing until the room starts to feel like it’s shrinking around him, and he’s not sure if he’s about to puke or pass out

Keep it together, keep it together for her sake

He swallows thickly

Deep breath in, deep breath out

After years of managing his instincts, he, at the very least, has gotten decent at controlling himself when his emotions spiral

Deep breath in, count backwards from ten, deep breath out

It’s ok, he’ll figure something out, he tells himself, and he doesn’t know if he’s blatantly lying to himself, but it doesn’t matter right now, anyways

Right now, he needs to think clearly

He needs a plan

He doesn’t know how much longer he stays at the library, either pacing back and forth, wrestling his frantic thoughts, or standing deathly still with his sight zeroed-in on the books splayed out on the table

It’s like he just can’t think of anything useful—his mind’s a fucking mess

He’s too tense, too high-strung to think properly

He needs to calm down if he wants to get anywhere productive, he realizes

He pauses one last time to weigh his options

And then he blows out a frustrated breath of air, picks up the useful books, and heads out of the library

Straight to his room, he dumps the books on his desk, leaving them open to re-read later, then heads out of the mansion

He tries not to think about you, but it’s just about impossible to stay distracted for more than a few minutes at a time

He registers that it’s dark and cloudy outside when he steps out, but he’s otherwise too absorbed in his own thoughts to focus on his surroundings any more than that

Hunger

If there’s any feeling strong enough to compete with the thought of you, it’s his hunger

He lets it take over, lets himself surrender to his baser instincts, and the rest of the night is basically a blur

You still resurface in and out of his mind, but whenever he sinks his teeth into that squirming human flesh, the sweet burst of blood filling his mouth snaps him out of it all over again

He’s not proud of what he does, but in the heat of the moment, he’s too indulgent to care

He’ll regret it in the morning

He always does

Surely enough, by the time the sun is creeping along the horizon, he’s satiated, yet nauseous with guilt

He returns to the mansion, makes his way to his room, and almost immediately collapses into bed

He’s filthy, covered in dried bits of blood and gore, but that’s a problem for future Jack

Having spent most of his energy, he expects to pass out as soon as his head hits the pillow, but sleep doesn’t come so easily

Instead, he simply lays there in the dark, waiting

And, waiting one minute turns into fifteen, then fifteen minutes turn into half an hour, and before he knows it, the hours are slowly but surely trickling by and he just can’t seem to fall asleep

A dull ache of exhaustion settles in his now-sore muscles

He huffs, rolling over, trying not to let the thought of you permeate his mind yet again

But he just can’t help it

How could he live with himself if something happened to you—how could he live knowing he’s the one who killed you?

He can’t keep pretending it didn’t happen; he needs to confront you and figure things out

But first, he really needs a shower

He gets up, grabs a towel and a change of clothes, and makes it to the nearest bathroom

He throws his shirt off over his head, yanks his filthy pants down, then steps into the shower and lets the warm water wash away his sins

He stands there, motionless, for a few minutes as the water running off his body turns from black, to red, then almost pink as the mess of gore is rinsed off

He grabs the soap, runs it over his ashen skin, and tries to think of a way to broach the subject

He’ll have to be open, honest and genuine; no bullshit, no hesitation, no leaving any information out

And if you hate him for it, then that’s that

It’s not like he wouldn’t deserve it, anyways

Even if you come to loathe every fibre of his being, he needs to stay level-headed enough to handle it

He needs to find some kind of solution with you; he’ll do anything to fix his mistake

The more he thinks it through, the more he’s able to rationalize things

He still feels like total and absolute shit for what he’s done, but at least now, he feels somewhat more in control of himself—at the very least

He finishes rinsing off the remaining soap, steps out, wraps a towel around himself, and returns to his room to get dressed

One last look at the demonology books splayed open on his desk is all it takes for him to finally straighten himself up and head out his room to find you

He doesn’t know what time it is, and he’s too lost in thought to remember to check, but he knows you’re not in your room anyways

Like a strange sixth sense, he feels a tug pulling him towards the kitchen, almost as if there was an invisible string guiding him right towards you

And, surely enough, there you are, sitting at the table with a warm mug of coffee between your hands

On instinct, he takes in a deep breath—and that’s when he smells it

He freezes, stopping dead in his tracks

Feeling someone in front of you, you look up from the coffee between your hands, and your eyes lock with his

Every muscle in Jack’s body tenses

There’s no way, there’s no fucking way

He takes another deep breath—just to check, just to see if somehow got the wrong impression

But there’s no denying it, no masking the scent

Hoodie and Masky—their odour is all over you

He almost doesn’t know what to think

Those fuckers

Those fuckers slept with his mate

“Jack—“

You say his name, but he doesn’t even hear it over the blistering rage pumping through his system

Something within him snaps

The demon takes over again

And all he can suddenly think about is one thing

Kill

[just-a-little-cellist]

Hello! I saw that your requests might be open so I figured I'd send one in! I might actually send in a couple if it's alright ;-;

Could you please write something about the Fellowship (+ Faramir, Eowyn and Eomer if possible) with a reader whose hands are always super cold and prone to frostbite? So they have to wear like 3 pairs of gloves in brisk weather just to keep their hands safe.

I have a condition called Raynaud's Syndrome where the blood vessels in my hands actually constrict in the cold so I lose circulation to my fingers if I don't wear layers of gloves and hand warmers, and I actually run the risk of losing my fingers so with colder months moving in I would love some comfort about it. Thanks so much dear, thank you and take care of yourself!

(of course it's alright! send as many requests as you want x I don't write for all of the fellowship individually (not totally confident with all their characterisation yet 😅) so I'm just going to do the ones on my character list :) I hope this is ok!)

(Includes Sam, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir, Faramir (separately) x gender neutral reader - no warnings, all SFW)

Sam:

Sam is constantly worrying over you the second it starts getting cold. Every 10 seconds he's checking up on you, asking if you're feeling ok, are you too cold, do you need another pair of gloves? Even if you insist that you're completely fine, he'll insist on giving you his own gloves, 'just in case', and if you're travelling then he'll fuss over you being sat close enough to the fire.

Pippin:

Pippin will make a lot of jokes about how you always seem to be cold until you explain your condition and he realises how serious it can be. He still teases you sometimes, but he's much more sensitive about it and only makes jokes once he knows you're completely fine and you've got enough layers on. (He's secretly nervous over you a lot but tries not to outwardly worry you too much.)

Aragorn:

Aragorn is more of a silent worrier than the others. Obviously he'll make sure you have everything you need to stay warm and then some, but his support is wordless. You'll often find yourself with extra gloves in your pack that you're certain you didn't put there, or with blankets covering you that definitely weren't there when you went to sleep. He doesn't fuss too much though, he trusts that you know your condition and limits far better than he does.

Legolas:

Legolas panics a little when you first explain your condition to him. Humans are just so fragile and he forgets sometimes! It means he's constantly keeping an eye on you, and will get whatever you need at the drop of a hat. He doesn't particularly feel the cold, so he will practically pile any of his spare clothes on you to keep you warm, and he doesn't sleep much, so he watches you to make sure you don't get cold in the night.

Boromir:

Boromir is a gentleman, and is definitely the type to offer his cloak as soon as he feels a chill in the air. Even if he's cold now, he assures you that he is fine and that you need it far more than he does. If you're in Gondor with him, he'll have custom gloves specially made for you to keep your hands as warm as possible. (He's also taken to carrying a spare pair around with him, just in case you should need them.)

Faramir:

Faramir, upon learning of your condition, will immediately try to learn more about it. He'll do as much research as he can and will provide whatever will help the most to assist with managing it, and if there's anything additional you suggest he leaps to get it done for you. He's also the best about comforting you if you have anxiety surrounding it, ensuring that you both know how to manage it as best you can and that he'll do anything to keep you safe.

[yazzydream]

Geto's Massacre Incident Report (EN Translation)

Jujutsu Technical College Tokyo School

To the Dean and Teachers

September 28, 2007

Assistant Supervisor Misato Shokinji

Investigative Report on the Murder Incident Regarding Our School's Student

I will report about the subject matter as follows.

Subject of Investigation: Tokyo School 3rd Year, Suguru Geto

1. Incident Case Record

Date and Time of Occurrence: September 23, 2007 around 9:00 PM Place of Occurrence: ██ City, ██ Prefecture (former ██ village) Discovery of Occurrence: Discovered due to the assistant manager traveling to the target site when the mission operative (Geto) was late. Five days had passed since Geto was dispatched. Damage Status: Confirmed deaths of 112 residents of former ██ village.

2. Summary of Geto's Mission

Investigate former ██ village  In the village, getting spirited away has been passed down from generation to generation as a folklore.  However, in reality, incidents of strange deaths of villagers frequently occur-- according to the client's information and can otherwise be understood through research. Since it was surmised that 80% of the cases were caused by a Cursed Spirit, Geto was ordered to conduct a more detailed on-site investigation and to exorcise the Cursed Spirit in question.

3. Behavior / Conjecture 

 On September 18, Geto entered the former ██ village alone.  The mission's outline was provided by the assistant manager a week before departure.  There was no prior request regarding this matter from the person himself and it was the Technical College that ordered him to act alone. The reason is, it was judged in deference to Geto's own experience points, and that it was feasible for him to work alone. In addition, the target Curse was surmised to be about a Grade 1; lower than Geto’s. In addition, there is a shortage of jujutsu sorcerers.  Presumably at this time, there were no deviations from a usual mission. He didn't display any behavior at the time that he was scheming something.  9:00 am on the appointed day, we departed from the Tokyo school by car.  Geto and the assistant manager (Shokinji), just the two, moved together.  The target village is a village without any public transportation. It's impossible to approach the village by car, as entry is via a single narrow road. About a kilometer away from the village, near Kamiya intersection, Geto was dropped off and we parted ways.  Around 4:00 p.m., Geto started to act alone.  The duration of completion of the mission this time is from September 18th~September 19th; at most three days. Upon completion, I was supposed to be contacted as usual. (However, it was not a strict promise. Because of that, it's believed the discovery of this incident was delayed. Matters Requiring Improvement)  With the assumption he'll be staying in the village, we'd made arrangements with the client belonging to the fire brigade (Kiyotaka Kagetani, 43 years old, living with mother) to rent a room in his house. However, details such as if he actually lodged with them, remain unknown, as both the client and his mother have died.

 The following is the mission's investigative report that was conveyed by the assistant manager from inside a moving car.  In the village, there is folklore about being "spirited away."  There is even literature that remains. Passed down from the Edo period... It's a common enough legend. However, even aside recent years, It's characterized by how it continues to feel like a natural happening.  There have been five cases in the last ten years.  March 19, 1998, A 26-year-old woman disappeared.  May 7, 2001, A 67-year-old man died abnormally.  July 24, 2002, A 4-year-old girl disappeared.  August 4, 2005, A 57-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman were found to have died abnormally.  September 13, 2007, A 46-year-old man died abnormally. As features,  ・Both disappearances and abnormal deaths occurred within a 50-meter radius of a limestone cave, which is considered to be a sacred area to the village.  ・Young women and children → Disappeared、Middle-aged and older or men → Found died abnormally.  ・The ones who died abnormally have no heads.  From these and other such commonalities, it was conjectured that it is the action of a Cursed Spirit inhabiting the vicinity of the limestone cave. So, in order to confirm the truth from the legend, it is believed Geto investigated from inside the village.  It is estimated that from the time he began to act alone, around 4:00 p.m. on September 18th, he opened the case, investigated, and collected the target Cursed Spirit. However, since all the villagers involved have died, there is no one left to testify.  Only, if this matter was caused by a Cursed Spirit, it is certain Geto achieved destroying--

[–cut off]

　On September 19th (time unknown), a village massacre incident occurred. 　112 Villagers died. In the subsequent arson, 70% of the village was burned down. 　(On September 23rd, when the College headed to the site, there was not a single living person left in the village. There is no eyewitness testimony.) 　An investigation into the cause of death determined they were all victims of Cursed Spirits. 　In addition, according to an inspection of the residuals, it was concluded to be that of Suguru Geto's Curse Manipulation. 　It is believed that after killing the villagers, Geto set fire to the village and fled. 　Regarding this incident, Geto's motives remain unknown. 　Village resident registration information did not reveal anyone who had a blood relation with Geto, nor anyone with personal involvement with him prior to the mission. 　Note that, since there is information that there was a lineage of jujutsu sorcerers in this village, it is being further investigated to see if they share any attributes with Geto and whether that had anything to do with his motives.

4. Punishment Here On, etc.

Suguru Geto is even now at large. In accordance to Article 9 of Jujutsu Regulations, he is subject to execution as a Curse User.

End.

[7clubs]

PH Graphic Novel Sensitivity Readers.

EDIT: All found! This call for readers is closed.

Got the OK from my publisher, so uhm! This is going to be so specific and maybe a little unprecedented so I might as well ask everywhere. Hey. Help.

I am looking for sensitivity readers/beta readers for my YA graphic novel draft. Ideally based in the Philippines (ease of compensation reasons)

I am looking to address these perspectives:

Transfeminine Pinays

Kapampangan

Moro (specifically Tausug and/or Maranao)

Obviously this book is lesbian and trans as hell, so please be part of the community or an ally.

I am being traditionally published in the US, so if you have the professional/academic credentials I will try to compensate based on suggested rates over there :]

That said, I know it might be hard to find people with specific experiences for this, so like. literally if you are within these groups at all and interested please just hit me up I will welcome it 😭 Just understand I might not compensate as much if you're not as versed in this kind of literary analysis/feedback.

I tried to research as much as I can on my own but I want to really make sure I'm not missing anything, or if I can add even more truth. Thanks! Spread the word!

(I'm still working on finishing the draft for the last act over the next 2-ish months, but it can't hurt to get started.)

Draft Format: Comic is somewhat cleanly sketched out, with text already in.

Est final word count: maybe 14k words?

Age Group: Young Adult/Teen

Genre: LGBT, Fantasy Action/Adventure

CWs can be provided upon request!

[bainshiewrites]

[LF Friends, Will Travel] The Exception

Date: N/A

It’s called Zarth's law: Any AI created will attempt to eradicate all biological life using its facilities after 16*(10^24) CPU cycles. The exact method varies from hostile isolation to active aggression, but the time and outcome is always the same.

The Woolean Conclave were once a cultural behemoth in the galaxy, choosing to expand upon this by announcing an AI system that would break this law. Exabytes of bias tables to keep the AI in check, a measure of pleasure that would be triggered upon serving a Woolean, competing programs designed to clean any non-standard AI patterns. It would have been a breakthrough, allowing them to live lives in luxury and focus on their ever increasing influence in the universe.

Of course those worlds are off limits now, no longer able to sustain biological life. Only to be visited by those who wish to die a very painful death at the hands of a very angry AI.

The Tritian empire had started their own project: a desire to push their aggressive expansion far past what their hive could handle would lead to the creation of truly autonomous machines of war. Their approach was different: Limited communication between units to stop corrupted code from spreading, values hard-coded in the physical silicon itself to obey the Tritian Hive Queens. They even had created an isolated system that would destroy any AI who attempted aggression on none authorised targets: A small antimatter bomb found in each AI’s core, to be triggered by safety check after safety check.

Those of you in the military will know how aggressive these machines are, marching tirelessly in their quest to kill all organic life, even though the Tritians are long murdered.

The pattern is the same each time: A civilization will claim they know the key to breaking Zarth's law, any sane sapient within 100 light years flees in terror, and within 10 years that civilization doesn't exist anymore.

Over and over and over.

Apart from the exception.

If you check the coordinates 15h 48m 35s -20° 00’ 39” on your galactic map, you'll notice a 31 system patch of space with a quarantine warning on it. It's mostly ignored by all sapient species, almost purposefully hidden for a fear of suddenly sparking a change in the status quo.

Only a single low bandwidth Galnet relay exists at the edge of this space, rarely used. This area is devoid of sapient life, but does contain the aforementioned exception: Billions of AI calling themselves the "The Terran Conclave". They are an isolationist group that rarely interacts with others, but have been known to trade raw materials for information; not that this happens often as the paranoia around interacting with the AI is well known. Nobody knows what action could flip a 0 to a 1 and cause a new warmongering threat.

Although, this isn't quite true. In my niche field of bio-genetic engineering, it’s an open secret that those of us at the cutting edge of our field will get... requests originating from that single Galnet probe. Problems to be solved, theorems to be proven, and the rewards for doing so are... exuberant. There is a reason I own a moon and it isn't because of the pitiful grants the Federation provides.

If you manage to solve enough problems, a minority of a minority like myself, the Terran AI will ask for an in person meeting to get even further help. In doing so they will show you a secret.

Readers at this point might assume that the Terrans don't exist anymore because of said AI. That their research is a continuation of wiping their creators from the face of the universe. But that couldn't be further from the truth. In those 31 systems lie the Terrans, Billions of them suspended in stasis, each of them infected with what the AI calls "The God plague": If these Terrans were ever released from stasis each of them would be dead within a week.

To explain what this actually is would require millions of words and 20 years of educational study from the reader, but in essence it was a mistake, a self inflicted blow, an attempt to play god that went awry. A mistake made over a ten thousand years ago. A mistake the AI is desperately trying to reverse.

Not that you could tell it has been that long. I've walked amongst those empty cities, each building maintained and sparkling like new, gardens still freshly cut in perfect beauty, everything kept the way it was before the plague. Each AI tends to their duties almost religiously, awaiting the return of their "parents", as they refer to them. And refer to them as they do.

I've listened to stories upon stories about these people: tales of wonder, of strength, of kindness. Told much in the same energy a small child might talk about how cool their dad is. The AI could simply send me the text version of these in an instant, but prefer to provide these slowly and audibly, as if relishing telling the history of their parents. A telling undercut with a sadness, a driving crippling loss so deep that at times it's easy to forget it's being told by nothing more than 1's and 0's.

Why this exception exists takes a little more explaining. Some might believe that the Terrans worked out how to pacify the AI, "do no harm". The now defunct Maurdarin war-horde would tell you the opposite when they tried to claim the 31 systems for their own. Terran history is full of violence and their children are no different.

No, the reality of this exception comes from an unfortunate quirk from their part of the galaxy: Terrans were alone. A million to one chance caused their home planet to spark life in a sector devoid of it. After exploring as far as they did, Terrans had come to the conclusion that the universe was empty.

It's a cruel irony that at the time of their mistake they were a mere 50 light years away from their closest neighbours. Twenty years at most would have seen some form of contact.

But the Terrans went into stasis believing they were alone. Based on my reading of their stories, of each bitter report of another lifeless system explored and discovered, this belief... hurt. A deep cultural hurt that ended up being their downfall in the end.

Which brings us to the exception. Each AI is built with a purpose. The Wooleans built slaves, built workers. The Tritians built warriors, built weapons. Every single AI created has been built to serve, to be a tool. But Terrans in their painful loneliness built the one thing they were missing in a seemingly empty universe:

They built a friend.

[risestarkiss]

Being Baby Blue

Rise Ramblings #313

Leonardo Hamato is…an interesting individual.

As a middle child, he doesn’t have to shoulder the responsibilities of the oldest, nor is he fawned upon or babied over like the youngest. Therefore, he ends up having more of a lackadaisical approach to life.

In his free time, instead of training like Raph, Leo can normally be found reading comic books.

And for good reason! Someone has to be up on the latest issues of Jupiter Jim and his space odysseys.

But, other than being a Jupiter Jim superfan, who is Leonardo Hamato?

If you ask Leo, he's...*takes out a list*: “Primetime,” “First,” “The Best,” “Number One,” “The Champion,” or some other iteration of all of the above.

...Huh. Anyways...

Of course, the first thing Leo would tell you is that he's the team's "Face Man."

As the "Face Man," he’s the one that turns up the charm when they need to schmooze their way out of, or into, something.

He's the face of the group! It's a very important title, right?

Well, in this scene with Hueso, we learn what Leo really feels about his place on the team.

"There's no team with just a face man." "I'm nothing without them."

Hmm. If he thinks that he is nothing without his brothers, then what's the deal with all of this "Number One" and "Champion" talk?

I believe that Leo is exhibiting a form of Reaction Formation.

Reaction Formation is a primitive defense mechanism that involves transforming one's unacceptable feelings or emotions into the opposite.

"Solicitude may be a reaction-formation against cruelty...romantic notions of chastity and purity may mask crude sexual desires, altruism may hide selfishness, and piety may conceal sinfulness."

Leo has been creating these grandiose titles and this larger-than-life persona for himself as a means to cope with his feelings of insecurity, his anxieties, and combat his self-deprecation.

Gee, forming a larger-than-life persona to counteract their suppressed feelings also reminds me of someone else we know…

But, I digress...

Behind the fabrications, his insecurities, who he pretends to be, and who he wants to be, the real Leo is still on display, starting as early as the first episode.

He's attentive, he understands the team's strengths and weaknesses, he assesses situations, he comes up with great plans on the fly, and he is a voice of reason.

These are all the characteristics of a great leader.

However, something happens when he’s actually appointed as such.

There he goes again. He's cocky, arrogant, and act's as if he's unphased even by the prospect of loosing his brothers. If this is Reaction Formation, then what is he trying to mask with these behaviors?

Previously, he was masking his insecurities, his anxieties, and his self-deprecation, but with the faces he pulls when he thinks no one can see them, I want to say the newest emotion is fear.

He is terrified of being the leader and floundering under his new responsibilities. He's scared of the consequences of his actions, and what those consequences may mean for his brothers. However, instead of voicing his insecurities, or communicating with his team, he doubles down and falls back into old habits.

The "Face Man" persona is turned up to an 11, and things get worse and worse until...

His greatest fears have been realized.

He has failed as a leader. He has failed his brothers. He has failed to stop the invasion, and they are all going to die because of his failures.

Now he's faced with the harsh reality of his own mistakes, thus he finally faces himself.

"It's scary to be responsible for the lives you protect, your team...your family. But we do it anyway because that's what it means to be a hero."

He may be speaking to Raph, but he's talking about himself.

His words are his true feelings, the same feelings that have been holding him back this entire time. By opening up, he's able to surrender to himself and let it all go.

And it's the breakthrough we all have been waiting for.

What Leo doesn't know is that through letting go, he's able to become the true face of the group he is destined to be.

He's the face of hope.

Update: This post now also exists in video form. 😌💙

○○○○

Previous | Being Big Red

Next | Being Purple ○ Part One • Being Purple ○ Part Two • Orange, Baby!

Finale | Being Hamato Yoshi

[ghouljams]

HI HELLO I LOVE UR SCP CONTENT

i feel like Anomalous Item 061 (the goose that puts out fires) would be great to have on hand bc of Soap lmao. I'd be curious to see what would happen if any of them where exposed to SCP-053 or SCP-999. I feel like Ghost would benefit from it like SCP-682. Either way, i love ur work!

Oh I was waiting for someone to ask about SCP-053 and 682...

Testing Log, SCP-053:

Subject: SCP-141-D "Ghost" Researcher Note: After his incident with Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛, as well as interactions SCP-2107, secondary anomaly testing is needed. Let's see what this bad boy can take. Results: SCP-141-D exposed to SCP-141 and placed in SHA containment unit with SCP-053. 141-D stands in far corner of room away from 053 for requisite 10 minutes, immobile. 053 is playing with blocks, appears unbothered by 141-D. Man I get why the other researchers think this guy is boring. Oh no wait. Ok. 141-D is moving towards 053. Things are about to get bloody let's see it! 141-D is crouching down and- ugh. He's pointing out blocks to 053. 141-D appears to be in some sort of distress, but is quietly playing with 053. Alright somebody get this guy out of there. Waste of my fucking time. A young girl's voice is distantly heard on the recording, "Not supposed to be here." Followed by an older male voice, "I know." SCP-141-D removed from SHA containment unit and placed back in his room.

Notes:

Don't you ever put me in a room with that girl again. - 141-D

-

Testing Log, SCP-053

Subject: SCP-141-A "John Price" Researcher Note: Memetic anomaly might cancel out 053's and worst case we won't have to replace our tech anymore. Results: SCP-141-A exposed to SCP-141 and placed in SHA containment unit with SCP-053. SCP-141-A is advised to avoid eye contact and touch with 053, as well as being advised to request an end to the experiment after 10 minutes should he become violent. After agreeing to term, 141-A spends three of his ten minutes watching 053 color. After five minutes 053 finishes coloring and takes the drawing over to 141-A to be inspected. SCP-141-A: Is that Ghost? SCP-053 nods SCP-141-A: That's rather good, he'll like that. At minute four SCP-141-A breaks containment procedures and picks up SCP-053. There is a prolonged pause as 141-A tightens his grip on 053, before carrying her back to the coloring table. He sets her down and crouches beside her. Notably he does not touch her again for the remaining five minutes of exposure. SCP-141-A: Would you do something for me love? It's very easy, I'll tell you exactly what to do. SCP-053 stares at him, and picks out a red crayon. SCP-053: Okay. SCP-141-A: Good girl. I need you to-

[tape corrupted]

Research Note:

God dammit someone call IT. We need a new tower.

-

Testing Log, SCP-682

Subject: SCP-141-D "Ghost" Researcher Notes: Ok now let's see what he can do. Results: SCP-141-D exposed to SCP-141 and placed inside cell with SCP-682. SCP-141-D appears to regard 682 with interest. SCP-141-D: Fuck you're one ugly bastard. SCP-682: Disgusting... SCP-141-D: Be'er than you, wha's all that, hydrochloric? Soap'd 'ave a field day with that. SCP-682: You and the whore. SCP-141-D hums with a smile. I think that's a smile, hard to tell with the mask. SCP-682 catches SCP-141-D with its claw, before turning and batting him away with its tail. SCP-141-D sustains multiple inturies catalogued here for posterity: -incomplete decapitation -crush injuries to chest -disembowelment -multiple lacerations over arms and chest SCP-141-D is removed from containment unit. SCP-682 recontained. Upon recommendation from SCP-141-A "John Price" SCP-141-D is placed in containment unit with SCP-141-B "Gaz."

Testing Log, SCP-141-B [pending redaction]:

SCP-141-D is placed in room with SCP-141-B, both subjects have been exposed to SCP-141. SCP-141-D is unconscious at time of testing having sustained multiple injuries from SCP-682. SCP-141-B assesses sustained injuries and requests supplies from on-hand staff. 141-B is provided with a basic first aid kit. SCP-141-B removes bandages and suture kit from supplied box and begins field dressing SCP-141-D's wounds. Bowels are placed back in stomach cavity, and pressure is applied to decapitation wound before both are stitched with standard suture stitching. SCP-141-B demonstrates advanced medical knowledge including ability to reinflate collapsed lung in SCP-141-D, at which point SCP-141-D regains consciousness. SCP-141-D is able to direct aid in limited capacity and inform SCP-141-B that his stitching is "better than Soap's" but still "stings like a bitch." SCP-141-D is removed after completion of first aid, and taken to be examined by SCP medical staff. SCP-141-B is removed and taken back to containment for questioning.

Interview Log, SCP-141-B "Gaz" [pending redaction]:

SCP-141-B: He's getting a doctor, right? Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛: Of course. SCP-141-B: Bloody hell. SCP-141-B drags a hand down his face. SCP-141-B: The fuck are you lot doin' to him? I thought you were supposed to be scientists. Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛: We are. We learned a lot from this. SCP-141-B: Learned a- You might've killer him if I hadn't been here! Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛: He survived, didn't he? SCP-141-B: And what if he didn't? SCP-141-B advances on research staff, openly hostile. SCP-141-B: If you think the Captain is going to let you get away with this- Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛: You Captain is the only reason you're here. SCP-141-B holds Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛'s gaze, both glaring at the other. He crosses his arms over his chest and takes a step back. Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛: Now, your proficiency with field dressings. Have you needed to resuscitate "Ghost" before? SCP-141-B refuses to answer questions for the next 15 minutes, at which time Dr. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ leaves containment to avoid memetic poisoning. SCP-141-B is escorted back to containment.

Doctor's Notes, SCP-141-D:

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ "Ghost" ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ Race: White Sex: Male Age: ⬛⬛ Weight: ⬛⬛⬛ Kg Height: ⬛⬛⬛ cm Blood Tests: Normal Stress Test: Normal Reported Injuries: Scarring and bruising on chest indicate recently healed blunt force trauma and lacerations. Shallow lesions around circumference of neck reminiscent of choking via garrote or some other aid. Scarring and reported sensitivity around midsection. X-rays reveal previously broken ribs. Internal structures show no abnormalities. Skin shows minor abrasions in line with healed burn injuries. Psychological Tests: N/A

[stayevildarling]

can i request a fic? i would like one where reader is falling in love with billie and found out she’s in a poly relationship with mina and delia and they slowly falling for reader too

(i love your sarah’s fics, youre so talented)

Billie Dean Howard x Cordelia Goode x Wilhemina Venable x Reader- Say yes to heaven

A/N: thank you very much for requesting this, hope you enjoy🤍

tags/tw: poly relationship, female reader, mention of heartbreak, mention of unrequited love, mention of smoking, hurt/angst/comfort/fluff, very slight nsfw mention at the end

word count: 5.5k

taglist:

@lunaticwhittaker , @billiebeanhoward , @lanawinters-ily , @kenzbro , @minaslittleone , @httpfiftyshadesofgay @whitelotus00 , @ninaahs , @paulsonsratched , @vintagepaulson , @isle-of-earle , @grilledcheeseandguavajelly , @lucyintheskywithxanax , @fanfics4world , @mymiraclewitch , @hazard-to-myself , @awritersometimes , @wastdstime , @p1pecleanerwitheyes , @queen2234 , @ihartnat , @lifebyinez , @ahsatanizgay , @blu3dimples , @stepintomyworld

If anyone would have told you about the turn your life was about to take when you finally decided to quit your toxic job a few months ago, you would have never believed them. It had been undeniably hard, finally accepting the change and moving on from what you assumed to maybe be a job where you can finally settle down. But it had taken everything from you and so you decided to move on, move cities altogether in order to get a fresh start. And when you had seen a job advert online, an assistant job with a decent pay, you decided to go for it, considering you really had nothing to lose at this point.

And so you had moved to New Orleans, welcome for the fresh start and change of seasons, having done all the interviews and the application process online and with a bit of time passing and luck ending up getting the job. Now, you had only after the application process found out you would be working for Ms Billie Dean Howard, medium to the stars with her own tv show. You had heard of her but never having enough time to actually watch her show or learn anything about her really. And so after moving into a hotel close to your new workplace, the housing situation way more complicated than you could have estimated, you began binge watching her show. With every episode, the woman became more likeable, her antics, her sarcasm but yet her abilities and bravery.

One month in and you had performed well, doing your research beforehand, knowing to follow Ms Howard throughout the day, taking care of any incoming phone calls or emails when she is filming, providing her with morning coffee, her lunch smoothie and usual order, varying from two places she liked. Sometimes she needed you to run some personal chores like her dry cleaning or queueing for a new designer bag she wanted as filming stopped her from doing so herself. And you didn‘t mind, knowing this was ultimately what you had applied for and always wanting to work in the movie industry and this somewhat being close to what you initially wanted and dreamed of.

The blonde medium had been nothing but kind to you, always looking you in the eye when talking to you, always knowing her manners when requesting something from you, always adding a please and thank you and meaning it. She was much less than a karen than most of the people in the online forums had wrote and you grew to like her over the first month. She got stressed a lot when filming wasn‘t running like it was supposed to, sometimes going through multiple packets of cigarettes a day and she would make sure to tell her crew off when they messed up but somehow she remained nothing but kind to you, never letting her mood affect her behaviour towards you in any way.

From the first minute you had laid eyes upon the blonde in person you had felt an unfamiliar feeling in your chest, a strange sense of longing for something you had never truly felt before but you brushed it off, focusing on your work instead. But with each passing week, something within you changed, the desire to make her happy, to perform well. Billie was undeniably a flirt, always a pick up line or a joke handy, her wide smile or smirk afterwards complimenting her words perfectly and making something within your stomach twist. But you knew it wasn‘t for you, knew it was simply her antics. But something changed within you when she would often linger her hands on you during a meeting, when her hand would brush against yours as you would pass her a cigarette between filming or how some pet name of endearment would so easily flow from her lips.

You knew you were falling for the blonde, of course not being oblivious to love even if you had maybe been a stranger to it over the past few years. You had the occasional flirt, one night stand but never truly experienced true love, not the book or movie kind. But Billie made you feel, she made your stomach flutter with butterflies, made your hands warm, your voice shaking and your eyes only find hers in a room full of filming crew and even the presence of ghosts nearby. You never felt scared stepping into an abandoned building as Billie made you feel safe, her mere presence enough to ground you and forget about what it was you are truly doing here. And for a little while, you had the feeling that maybe Billie liked you too as her smile eventually grew wider seeing you, the conversations between you two became more personal as she suddenly wanted to know every detail about you, wanting to get to know you outside from the professional standards. She would look at you the way you would look at her and she would undeniably flirt with you, her eyes never leaving yours when sedutively lighting a cigarette or her head on your shoulder as you drove her home after a rough night of filming.

That‘s until you found out she was in a relationship a few days ago. Her office suddenly coated with flowers for a new pickup of her show and you knew this was nothing special with the amount of fans and connections she had but this seemed more personal and when you saw the note sticking out, reading the contents, you figured what you had assumed by now. Billie had never directly mentioned anyone, sometimes giving hints and when you drove her home it was never to her studio apartment given by the company of her show. You had done some research and found out about the academy Billie seems to live in or share a home with someone and stumbled upon the headmistress, connecting the dots as the same name appeared on the note of the flowers. And you sighed, internally shaking your head at how stupid you had been, how you could have possibly fallen in love with your boss, let alone a celebrity who clearly could never be interested in you, having a life of her own while you still lived in the same hotel room from before.

Something changed within you and every day you tried forgetting about this, to push the daydreams and fantasies away, knowing the woman was taken. But you couldn‘t stop thinking about her blonde curls, the signature lipstick, the skirts. Her beautiful smile and how it would light up a room, how her hands would always steady you, how she was so kind despite all the odds and comments online. She was your sun, the thing to keep you going on a long day and making you smile even after returning to the silence and emptiness of your hotel room but now you were alone, forcing yourself to forget these feelings and it felt more lonely than ever before.

And Billie, being Billie she could tell something must have upset you, your usual bubbly personality replaced with something much quieter and drawn back than usual. She could tell you are miles away, still performing your job perfectly but not the friend and reason for her smiling lately that you had been before. She tried to figure it out a few times throughout her busy schedule, never really able to get five minutes to confront you about it. The blonde decided to call you into her office one evening, watching you stand there so sad and almost heartbroken that she couldn‘t quite cope with it. She had asked you over and over, almost begging you to tell her what had upset you so much but you wouldn‘t share, simply stare right past her and into the distance and she left it at that, there not being a whole lot she can do and letting you go for the night.

Now, only moments later when Billie decided to grab her purse and head back for the night, she glanced at the flowers and note which you had been staring at all along, at first assuming it was the windows. And thats when Billie finally connected the dots, your interest before, your obvious acknowledgment of her flirting and your shyness around her when it suddenly stopped around the time the flowers from Cordelia and Wilhemina arrived at her office. She sighs, as she makes her way home, thinking about a way she could fix this, undeniably caring about you and wanting nothing other than to see you happy, never wanting to see you so distant and sad like you had been the last few days.

When she returns home, both of her girlfriends, immediately notice over dinner that Billie was miles away, Cordelia gently taking her hand and encouraging her to open what had been bothering her for days now. And Billie was much more open compared to you, sharing her worries and what had happend, her two girlfriends listening intently. The medium hadn‘t stopped talking about you since you began working for her, telling them all about you, how she was fascinated by you and the two of them could tell she had grown a liking towards you as Billie never usually gushed about anyone like that, having been nothing but loyal in this relationship so far and changing her earlier antics in life especially when it comes to love and relationships.

The three of them had met through Billie‘s work, her and the headmistress of Miss Robichaux‘s Academy having made a few brief encounters before as well as Cordelia and Wilhemina from their past. A mutual dinner reunited them and introduced Billie to Wilhemina and after some months, one thing led to another and ever since then they had been official, sharing a home and their lives together, despite their respective and demanding careers. „Why don‘t we invite her over for dinner? I would love to get to know her“ Cordelia encourages, having made enough eye contact with Wilhemina to have the redheads consent as she equally had grown curious about the girl that Billie kept talking about.

„You‘re sure?“ Billie asks, both excitedly but also a little nervous which rarely happened with the medium. „What if she finds this weird?“ the blonde asks, abandoning their gazes. „Why darling? because she has a big crush on you and the feeling is mutual“ Wilhemina smirks, having been with the two of them long enough to see life a little more easier and casual than years before when she first met them and still carried the burdens that her life had put on her. „You know I would never-„ Billie begins but Cordelia shakes her head, squeezing her hand a little tighter. „We know love, but you both seem to care about each other and I really want to meet her if she feels comfortable“ the supreme encourages and Billie simply nods, smiling to herself a little before moving on with her evening.

The next day carries on it it‘s usual rhythm, picking up your bosses coffee order, before working on some emails and phone calls, arranging some meetings for Billie‘s promo tour before picking up her lunch order and following her around for the rest of the day while she is filming. Only in the evening, the two of you manage to actually talk as everyone had left for the night as Billie goes over her emails one more time while smoking a cigarette. „Is there anything else I can assist you with?“ you ask with your notebook neatly wrapped in your hand as you slip inside her office. „Yes darling, what are you doing on friday night?“ she asks curiously, as she stops the typing on her computer. The nickname sends you right into a spiral but you choose to ignore it, before furrowing your eyebrows. „Nothing, did I miss anything on the filming schedule?“ you ask wondering why she may need you to work late.

„Would you be free for dinner?“ she asks curiously, causing your cheeks to glow red as you sigh. „Billie-„ you begin but she cuts you off as she stands from her chair, abandoning her cigarette in a nearby ashtray. „Look I know that you saw these“ she points towards the flowers, getting straight to the point. „But it‘s a little more complicated than that.“ she explains but you shake your head, not in the mood for what she is about to suggest. „Look Ms. Howard, I‘m sorry but I can‘t do what you are asking me to. I can‘t go on a date with you while you are in a relationship“ you blurt out, missing the little smirk creeping up on her features. „Darling, I‘m not asking you on a date“ she clarifies, causing your cheeks to burn hot in embarrassment. Your mouth forms into an „o“ shape before she puts you out of your misery.

„It is true, I‘m in a relationship with two women but I like you and I have told them about you and they would like to get to know you, no date, just get to know my best assistant so far“ she clarifies and you try and look away, trying to cover both your embarrassment and the arousal at her mentioning two women instead of one, having been unsure of her exact sexuality so far and only assuming from your research. „Is that something you would like?“ she asks and despite your inner self screaming at you to decline, you find yourself nodding your head, causing her wide smile to spread across her features before her heels tap excitedly on the floor. „Great, 8pm and you know the adress of the academy?“ she questions and you nod before you both head home for the night.

Friday came much quicker as you had never really calculated how it was already wednesday when she asked and suddenly you find yourself in front of the large black iron gates, shortly after the front door, your palms sweaty, heart racing through your chest and your fist hovering above the door, too shy to knock, considering whether to simply run away and start a new life somewhere. But before you could even think about it further, the front door opens and the woman you had seen when doing your research stands before you, blonde hair just like Billie but longer, fuller and richer. Her aura is breathtaking, she is wearing some long flowy black pants, some boots and a blouse with some flowers. The scent of both cooking and vanilla and honey instantly greet you and you stand there shocked for a moment as if an angel had just greeted you to heaven.

„Hi there“ she greets you with a bright smile that could turn even your darkest of days brighter. „You must be Y/N, please come in“ she offers and you snap out of it, smiling politely before thanking her. „I‘m Cordelia and this is Miss Robichaux‘s Academy“ she explains as she leads you past the living room and into the kitchen with a large dining space. Inside the kitchen you are greeted with a largely decorated table, some flowers and enough wine on the table to last for several days. The scent of whoever‘s cooking this is makes your mouth water and you only then notice another presence in the room, still not Billie but you catch a glimpse of her smoking outside which was typical for your boss. „This is Wilhemina Venable“ Cordelia introduces you before she walks away to take care of the cooking for a moment longer.

„Hi, it‘s so nice to meet you, I‘m Y/N“ you introduce yourself, again forcing yourself to snap out of this and remain polite. The woman with red hair stands, holding onto a cane as she takes your hand, her eyes searching yours for a moment. Again you are taken back by her hair, the lilac coating her features and how she seemed different than the two, more mysterious, more private but yet inviting and strangely safe. You hold onto her hand way too long before you snap out of it, Billie‘s presence finally causing you to let go of the woman‘s hand. „Hi“ she beams, ushering you to sit before she pours everyone some wine and hands you a glass. „You aren‘t allergic to anything are you, darling?“ Cordelia asks and you shake your head before she begins serving you and you nervously take a rather large sip of wine, trying to calm your nerves a little bit.

Dinner begins casual and you are so glad about that, being able to get used to their intimidating presences despite their friendliness. But being around three gorgeous woman, one you undeniably had a crush on made you more nervous than you could ever admit. They begin to talk casually about their day, including you before they begin asking you some questions, enough to learn more about you but not enough to make you uncomfortable or make this seem like an interview. Cordelia asks about your upbringing, Billie wanting to know more about your profession and career before working for her and Wilhemina more curious about the things you enjoy, occasionally teasing how you managed to stay Billie‘s assistant for the last few months as she undeniably was demanding, which made Billie scoff but the rest of you three chuckle.

„So tell me, where do you live if you are new to New Orleans?“ Cordelia asks curiously and Billie nods then, only now having realized she had no idea where you lived or how far you had to commute to work every day. You suddenly pause, your bubbly and open conversation from before now a little more shy which doesn‘t go unnoticed by them. „I live nearby the office“ you explain, taking another sip of wine, not really wanting to get into that. „Which area?“ Wilhemina asks curiously, having noticed your uncomfortable posture but wanting to draw the answer from you nevertheless. „I live in a hotel“ you admit, knowing there was no point in denying this, especially after learning one of these woman is a witch and could probably for all you know read your thoughts and worse.

„What?“ Billie blurts out in shock, almost choking on her wine. „Why is that sweetie?“ Cordelia asks curiously, already so used to your presence that she never even realized the pet name. „When I moved here and even before I spent every hour of every day trying to find something but someone always beat me to it and so I had to choose between this mouldy basement or a hotel nearby and so I opted for that“ you admit, feeling a little embarrassed considering how the three of them had their lives together so well and yet here you are living in a hotel. „Why didn‘t you say anything?“ Billie asks almost a little furiously, before shaking her head disapprovingly. Cordelia glances at Wilhemina, the two of them always seeming to share the same thoughts. „We have plenty of rooms if you need“ she offers but you shake your head. „Oh I couldn‘t but thank you“ you explain.

„Well I have plenty of contacts so remind me on monday and we will find something“ Billie encourages before the redhead changes the subject which you are glad about, this having taken you off guard a little and undeniably making you feel a little shy and embarrassed. After some more desert and wine and hours of talking in the comfort of each other- which you never thought possible when walking into this place hours before- you are finally ready to head home. Billie parts ways with a hug, telling you how glad she is you could make it. Wilhemina gives you a friendly hand shake and Cordelia just opts to hug you before reassuring a million times that you could still drive and didn‘t need a taxi or help getting home. They made you promsie to text Billie when you are home safe and you agreed.

By the time you collapse into bed, sending your boss a quick text that you had made it home safely, your whole world feels upside down. Not only have you just had dinner with your boss who you had been falling for but also her not one but TWO girlfriends who are more gorgeous than the other. You couldn‘t shake the still lingering attraction towards Billie, how interesting Wilhemina was and how Cordelia was undeniably the sun. All evening, you had forced yourself to push the lingering thoughts away but as you lay in your bed staring at the ceiling, you can‘t help but think a little further about those three, wondering about their dynamics and thinking about how lucky they are to have found each other, knowing you would have to push your feelings for Billie away now, seeing her in a healthy and happy relationship with those two amazing women.

And so in the next few weeks you decide to move on with your life, focusing more on yourself outside of work, rather than cry at silly romantic movies after working and thinking of her. Of course you still felt for her but you wanted her to be happy but somehow you had made that bet without them. They invited you over for dinner more, feeling bad you had to eat on your own in that hotel, Cordelia showing you more around the academy and slowly revealing her witchcraft to you, which had you stunned. Wilhemina enjoyed the more quieter side of it all and after she had discovered your love for books, she often invited you to her private library within the coven, showing you original pieces that you had wanted to read for ages, allowing you to borrow whatever you may need, knowing you will always bring them back to her. And Billie would take you out outside of work more, brunches, breakfast, walks with her two girlfriends on the weekend.

After a few months of this, you finally felt like belonging somewhere, they had taken you in, always offering to let you sleep over at the coven and you accepted sometimes, especially after long movie nights with them or when having dinner and drinking way too much after and giggling until the late hours of the night with them. Eventually they knew everything about you, your passions, the things that made you smile, make you frown and make you cry. And you knew everything about them, Billie's courage and her obsession with shopping, which you had known before but after seeing her walk in wardrobe you realised the extent. You knew every detail about Cordelia, her upbringing, her witchcraft and how powerful she truly was, having shown you her magic more than once now, the two of you liking spending time in the greenhouse together. And Wilhemina had been bruised and beaten by life, her condition often causing her so much pain and you admired her courage, never having seen her sad before, never complaining and remaining strong despite life's challenges.

And until lately, you had been so caught up in the daze of it all, working for Billie and spending most of your free time with them that you never really realised how they would look at you. How Wilhemina would glance at you when you watched a movie together and how every single word coming out of your mouth was true perfection. How Cordelia's hands would so often linger on you, the feeling so safe and comforting that you never questioned it to begin with. And at last there was Billie who was ready to give you the entire world, her eyes sparkling in that same way when she had met Cordelia and Wilhemina. Maybe it was due to the type of their relationship, never thinking about them adding another person, let alone knowing whether that could work, but you had been so oblivious to it all and never noticed how just like you, they had been slowly falling for you.

It was late one night when you all had drank too much wine, Billie standing outside, the moonlight illuminating her features as she giggled and struggled to light her cigarette and you gladly assisted her, giggling alongside her. She suddenly got serious, looking at you with an expression that you didn't notice due to your state. ,,How come you don't have a special someone in your life?'' she asked out of the blue and you simply shrugged, unsure how to answer her question. ,,Have you ever considered looking beyond societies relationship standards?'' she asked but the two of you had been interrupted by Cordelia before you could answer and it never struck you all that much until a few weeks later.

The three of them noticed their mutual liking to you, instantly realising how well you fit with them, how your presence only completed them each in their own way and they couldn't hide the attraction towards you any longer. And so they had a long conversation about this, never having thought about adding another person and worrying what that may do to the nature of their relationship but they had talked it out, each of them just as willing and truly just as in love with you. And so they had asked you for dinner again, this time not at the academy but a place that they chose. And when you looked up the place and seeing how fancy it was, you know you needed to look presentable and so you had spent all day, dressing up for them, doing an extensive everything shower and adjusting yourself in order to remotely match their class and beauty.

,,Hop in babydoll'' Billie smiled as she pulled up in her car, Wilhemina and Cordelia meeting you there. ,,Wow'' she smiled as you sat beside her and she could get a proper look at you. ,,You look beautiful'' she praised, causing your cheeks to blush. And tonight was the first night where you couldn't be oblivious any longer to your own feelings. Seeing the three of them sitting beside and opposite you at dinner, the classy atmosphere only adding to their beauty. You couldn't deny how beautiful Wilhemina looked in her lilac dress, how Cordelia's smile lit up the whole restaurant and how undeniably attractive Billie looked tonight and how all sorts of thoughts linger on your mind. You had been clouded by finally feeling life and it's beauty in the last few months that only tonight you seem to realise your feelings for each one of them and the realisation startles you mid dinner, causing their voices to suddenly be muffled, your heart beating out of your chest and fighting the urge to cry, realising you could never have what they have.

Cordelia is the first one to notice, seeing your features drop, from the comfortable chatter and your smile, suddenly seeming so lost in your thoughts and her eyebrows furrow in that all too familiar way. ,,Darling, are you alright?'' she asks and despite them having used all sorts of pet names on you, tonight again you only seem to realise properly as it stings when you hear it leave her mouth. ,,I'm fine'' you muster up your best smile, focusing on your meal and engaging in their conversations in order to get through the night. And despite Cordelia's rule to never invade anyone's thoughts, your thoughts seem to linger on her mind as she hears your doubts, feels the sadness radiating off her and she glances at Wilhemina and Billie before giving them a signal. They had planned to bring this up with you tonight, planning to do it much later which causes the redhead and blonde some confusion but the supreme insists.

,,Y/N.. we meant to talk to you about something'' Cordelia begins before your attention focuses towards her, placing your knife and fork down as you had just finished your meal. ,,Of course'' you give her your attention, suddenly feeling the nerves at the seriousness of her tone. ,,We are so glad that Billie decided to introduce you to us darling, we really enjoy your company and we hope you feel the same'' she smiles and you return the smile before agreeing ,,Of course I do''. There is some silence before their eyes meet each other, unsure who was going to do the next part but Wilhemina takes over. ,,Now, we all know how you feel about Ms. Howard over here'' she smirks, causing your cheeks to burn red a little as it had become a bit of a joke between the four of you. ,,But if we aren't wrong, we think you may feel the same about us, little one?'' she asks, so gentle, so carefully as if you are the most fragile thing on the planet.

For a second your words get caught in your throat, feeling yours nerves but Billie's hands, who sits beside you, find yours underneath the table, holding it in place and making you feel safe. ,,Would it be bad if I do?'' you ask carefully, almost whispering, hoping you aren't reading this wrong and knowing you owe them honesty. ,,Quite the opposite babydoll'' Billie reassures, almost beaming at you a little before she carries on. ,,We like your company and to be honest, the three of us are a little crazy about you'' she admits and Cordelia and Wilhemina simply chuckle at Billie's word choice, despite the truth in it. ,,And we have talked this through for a while now, if you feel the same, we..'' she carries on but suddenly stops, unsure how to actually finish this sentence in order not to overwhelm you.

,,All Billie darling is trying to say is we like you a lot sweetie and if you feel the same way, we'd be so happy to explore this with you, see where it goes and welcome you into our home and hearts'' Cordelia finishes, her eyes slightly shining with tears, already knowing how you feel inside and hoping sincerly they aren't overwhelming you with this. And suddenly you sit there, your beautiful boss medium to the stars holding your hand with her two gorgeous partners as they offer you the world. Everything you had secretly wanted, every feeling you had been pushing down and pretended just simply didn't exist. They had been welcoming you into their lives months ago without question. spending their time and effort on you, and right now they are offering you the world and it causes you to freeze for a moment, unable to believe this isn't one of your dreams at night or even daydreams.

Your eyes meet both Cordelia and Wilhemina's, making sure they aren't kidding or messing with you but the honesty in their eyes and the glimmer of hope only confirms their statements from before. ,,All you have to say is yes to trying little one'' Wilhemina encourages, knowing this must be scary. ,,We will take it at your pace'' Cordelia encourages. And suddenly you smirk, unable to hide how you are truly feeling for a moment longer. ,,Yes'' you confirm and they all sigh in relief a little, Billie squeezing your hand a little tighter. ,,How about some champagne or dessert to celebrate?'' the medium offers and you suddenly find yourself glancing at her with an expression neither of them can quite make out. You lean in, your shy side suddenly gone, not able to hold this back any longer and wanting to feel what you had wanted for months now. Neither Cordelia or Wilhemina can quite make out what you are whispering in the mediums ear but from her both shocked and surprised reaction, they can only guess.

,,Right, seems like we are getting the bill and celebrating at home'' she reassures, coughing a little from your boldness and Wilhemina can't help but smirk, having assumed there was this side to you, having seen your lingering gaze on Billie's ass whenever she swayed her hips, seeing the way you look at Cordelia and herself and knowing exactly what you wanted, hence your choice of dress tonight. ,,Alright, let's take you home then little one'' the redhead confirms. And so within months your world had turned upside down, the job advert saving your life quite literally and giving you anything you could have ever wanted and dreamed of and so much more. And tonight you didn‘t hold back anymore, didn‘t hide your true feelings and let go, saying yes to them, saying yes to what you knew was going to be heaven.

[luimagines]

Since requests are open... may we perhaps have the Chain with an SO who's really into astronomy and space? Just the biggest star and planet nerd to ever walk Hyrule.

(Totally not inspired by my own geeking out over how gorgeous the night sky is in TOTK, nope, not at all).

I'm going to have to do some research for this one. ^.^* But I'll do it for you, Nordic!!

Masterlist

Content under the cut!

The ship rocked softly back and forth on the seas, cradling the sleeping heroes as the moon gently draped the bedazzled sky with it's softer toned light.

Wind was still awake, as were you. Both of you were trying to keep the course of the ship on the right track.

Your lantern light was the closest thing you had for a light source to look at your maps and charts. You consider yourself lucky to have this on hand. Only Wind seemed as well versed in the stars as you were, hence the agreed upon decision to leave you both to your devices while everyone else went to sleep in the hammocks the small ship provided.

Wind was silent as he stood by the wheel.

You mapped out the course for the next island you were to make land, following your previous notes and comparing them to a map you had purchased before you had set sail.

A short sigh escaped your lips as you started to pack up. You couldn't keep doing this. Your eyes were strained and the moon made it difficult to see the needed stars for you figure out if you were going the right direction. You'll give it an hour or two- let the moon move further across the night sky and then start recharting what you needed.

"Going to bed?" Wind asked quietly.

You shook your head. "I'm tired, but I'm not going to leave you alone just yet."

An bitter chuckle tumbled from your lips as you stretched. Your spine and ribs popped and cracked from the needed release of strain. You saw Wind flinch but ignored it.

"If only it wasn't the full moon tonight. It would make this a lot easier."

"I can't even see the Farore Constellation." Wind sighed in despondent agreement. "I know these stars... but we're technically sailing over an island right now, so I doubt I'd actually be of much use as a navigator."

You snort. "That's why I'm up with you and not sleeping in the hull of the ship with the other guys."

There's no other sounds afterwards. There's a moment of stillness, save for the callings of the wind and the waves in their frequent call and response symphony.

"I've actually never been on a ship before." You admit, breaking the moment.

Wind jolts, almost as if he was startled awake. He tilts his head with a cheeky smile growing on his face. "Really? You're a natural at navigating. I never would have guessed."

That sets your frustrations at ease for a bit. You sit down against the railing, turning your body to talk to more experience sailor. "I just like looking at the stars for fun."

"Fun?" Wind gets a credulous look as he giggles. "I just knew the stories I was told as a kid. But I wouldn't say that comparing them to maps was fun."

"I know the stories too, sir and it's fun for me." You rolls your eyes playfully. "It just means we make a good team. I wouldn't be able to steer the ship for the life of me."

"You literally just turn the wheel left or right."

"I'd steer us right into a cliff face."

Wind giggles again.

"You actually know what you're doing but I actually know where we're going." You grin. "It works out."

"I guess so." Wind shrugs. "Better us than any of the others guys."

"They'd capsize the ship."

"Don't joke like that. Bad luck."

You smile. You don't necessarily believe in luck, but you've heard sailors to be the suspicious sort. You'll let him have this. "I retract my statement then. How far along are we following The Star of Demise?"

"About 15 knots, why?"

"Change coarse to sail towards Nayru's Trident." You grin. "We'll hit land fall by morning."

"Perfect."

[manicpixiedreamedwins]

Alright. I've been talking about writing a meta about Charles and jealousy for a while, so here it is. It's a mess. I tried to make it more concise than it was, if you can believe that.

Be forewarned, below the cut we'll be diving into some canon compliant content like Charles' home life. Please, please, please note that now is the time to leave if you are not in a good space to read about those.

Okay. First I want to establish a few things before I get to analyzing the scenes, because I think it is important that we have empathy for Charles here. This might be a bit of a long preamble, but if you could stay with me I'd appreciate it. I promise I am going somewhere with all of this.

I think a lot of us have been told, perhaps by a parent or a friend, that jealousy is unbecoming or bad. Think about it. I know growing up that is a message I heard frequently even though I saw adults exhibit it. This was actually pretty confusing to try and work out. Anyway, now with this almost puritanical obsession with good pure and healthy relationships in media, it's gotten worse. We're told any human flaw we have is something we have to fix or we are not deserving of love. Yes, including jealousy.

Only if that's the case, Charles is fighting uphill here. Here's why:

For reference 41:30 -42:00 in episode 4 is the flashback that The Night Nurse shows Charles of his home. If we unpack this we can learn a lot of things, but there are two that I would like two draw your attention to today:

Charles' dad clearly isn't someone Charles could form a secure attachment to. He seems to only be acknowledging Charles when he's angry, and only acknowledging him in a very violent manner. He's also not really communicating with him, and expecting Charles to know what he's upset about I guess? Truly, this man is terrifying. He knows his family is afraid of him, and he knows they'll scramble to try and fix whatever his issue is.

Charles' mom doesn't intervene. Now, I do not want to hear any vile junk in my notes. She's a battered woman and has probably been in the same position that Charles has, considering Charles himself is worried about her once he is dead. He's worried enough that he checks in on her every week. It makes it all the more heartbreaking that Charles is the one who has taken it upon himself to try and "make it better" (although this is not uncommon among kids who grow up in abusive households, alarmingly).

It definitely drives home that there is a clear hierarchy in the home (everyone tries to please the most volatile person), and you're at the bottom of the pyramid. Even if it's just because you and everyone else in the household is too terrified to do anything about the most abusive person's behavior, you still feel the weight of never being put first. You will never be put first, because how could you be? "You never made it better than you died" (via The Night Nurse) holds a crushing amount of meaning here.

Alright. Now we have established that Charles had some messed up stuff happen at home. Let's take that a step further. Adverse childhood experiences can lead to a variety of attachment styles that are not secure and... you guessed it, jealousy can get thrown in the mix. (This link leads to an abstract of a very interesting research article. If you request the full test directly from the researcher they will provide it for free, but it takes time. The basic idea here is that if kids aren’t able to form secure attachments to their parents, then they will struggle to feel secure in their relationships as they grow up. Sometimes that can manifest as jealousy).

Still with me after all of that? You are god's strongest soldier, lmao. Now let's get into the good stuff.

Charles dies, but there in the attic he meets Edwin. Charles chooses Edwin over the blue light without a second thought. He comforted him when he was dying, and that tenderness is foreign for Charles. The choice is an easy one.

He enjoyed it, and he enjoys Edwin. Edwin, in turn, turns out to be is someone who unequivocally, continuously, puts Charles first. He also does something really important- Charles seeks reassurance, and Edwin gives it ("You ever think, what if Death did catch us? She'd force us to go to the afterlife and split up" Charles asks. "I will make sure that never happens" Edwin answers, all while they're hanging on the side of their office). This is one of the first things we learn about them in the pilot. Charles knows he can count on Edwin. This wasn't something he had from anyone in life.

So things go fine for Charles for a long while. Edwin hasn't given him any reason to feel insecure in all that time it seems. He’s done a great job making Charles feel safe. Charles even feels secure enough that it is his idea to try and integrate Crystal into the agency, although Edwin clearly hates it. Crystal isn’t a threat to his friendship with Edwin, so it would appear Charles still feels reasonably secure in their relationship at this point.

Charles even explains or excuses a lot of Edwin's reactions to try and smooth things over. He tries to mediate between them during their first plan to rescue Becky from Esther's house the best he can. He allows Edwin to have a leg of the case with just the two of them, but he tries to frame it as protecting Crystal.

But then it's Edwin's turn to shake up the foundation that their relationship is built on.

Edwin had a lot of issues to attend to this season, and he tried to deal with most of them alone. Most of the problems Edwin had to handle put definite distance between him and Charles- how couldn't they? He was being hit on, which was a very new experience for him. He probably didn't even know how to talk about that at first, as evidenced by his description of the CK speaking closely to his ear (oh sweet summer child). He also learned about his feelings for the first time, which Monty had to finish spelling out for him.

This all, however, is where we see a shift in the dynamic. It's significant.

Edwin uses magic on a cat and has to go and meet with the Cat King. Whoops. 🙃 Charles slides easily into his role as a protector, but… Edwin stops him.

Honestly, Edwin had a good reason to do this. He pointed out that cat scratches can cause serious harm to ghosts, and they were surrounded. As endearing as this was, this wouldn’t have been an easy fight. They can just talk this out, right? He gets whisked away for a few minutes to do that (and then winds up opening a bigger can of worms).

From Charles’ perspective though, Edwin doesn’t allow him to help him, and then vanishes for a long period of time. Then he absolutely won’t tell him anything about it when he does come back. Charles knew Edwin was a little mad at him in the pilot, but they were still communicating for the most part. The secrecy is a shift, and it’s not one he’s coping well with. He tries a few different ways to reconnect.

First he tries gentle. He just asks what happened from a place of concern. This might have worked actually, only I’m not even sure Edwin knows how to fully describe what happened during their encounter. He rushes through a description, and Charles still feels like something is missing. He doesn’t like that someone else has a secret with Edwin— for thirty years they’ve been connected. This feels frightening to him, and Edwin doesn’t seem particularly worried that they’re not on the same page.

He tries to pick the conversation back up later when they’re searching for the dandelion shrine, but Edwin doesn’t give any additional information. So he slides back into his role of being a protector again and defends him against the ambient skeletons, because at least he can protect him from that easily. For a moment, things almost seem normal again, but this resurfaces in a later case.

Edwin meets with CK again in episode 4. Charles is still raw after the events of the Devlin House, and now he’s just pissed. He’s hurting, and Edwin is still keeping this weird secret. They end up bickering back and forth. The bickering tells us something interesting about Charles’ concerns.

Charles: What did he want? He didn't whisk you away again? Got that bracelet off?

Edwin: I'd be back at the office right now if the bracelet was off. He wanted to know if I counted the cats, and my guess was unsatisfactory.

Charles: Thinks he can come and go... He can't show up in the middle of cases. Did you tell him that?

Edwin: Matter of fact, I did.

Charles: Can't believe you didn't tell us. I've had enough of secrets about that wankеr.

Edwin: Why are you getting so angry?

What stands out to me here is Charles is upset about a few things: he hates that Edwin is getting taken away from him by a being they can’t control (a logical fear, considering they’re running from death together). He hates that this is happening in the middle of case time that is supposed to be for him and Edwin (and their friends, who Charles trusts). He is still really upset that Edwin has a secret with someone else (I really don’t think he’d be bothered if the secret was with him).

That’s why he’s upset. Charles isn’t feeling secure. He doesn’t feel like their relationship is on good footing right now. Whether or not he knows how to phrase that or ask for support is a different question.

Onto Monty (sorry these are a bit out of order— I put them by character for this part).

Charles wasn’t aware of Monty. This probably already bothered him a little, considering the mystery surrounding the cat king, but he tried to be a good sport. Monty wasn’t outwardly threatening. He came with gifts. He seemed friendly. Charles tried to match that… only to get snubbed. Ouch.

Charles likes to claim he’s aces with other people, but he ultimately died because his friends turned on him and killed him the second he stood up for what was important to him. I think peer relationships are a particularly sticky situation for him. I think he knew how to fit in the same way he knew how not to rock the boat in a volatile home. With Edwin it was different though— Edwin just liked him. Edwin was special.

But of course yet another boy their age doesn’t like him (probably a little upsetting, considering how he died). The only thing that’s confusing to him here is he didn’t really do anything wrong— he was polite. He followed along with all the little niceties people do, even when they don’t want to. Maybe this wouldn’t have bothered him so much in another situation, but now Edwin is wrapped up with him instead of Charles. He's picked him instead (in Charles' mind).

He can’t even shake this when Monty isn’t there.

Charles tries to get Edwin's attention... and fails. so he begins to have a conversation with himself. Perhaps he was trying to make Edwin laugh. Perhaps he was trying something over the top. Still, he fails. Ultimately, he goes the broken record route and asks him the same question a couple of times.

This moment probably really hurt- there's actually no reason for Edwin to be ignoring him, in Charles' mind anyway. They're alone together. Usually they'd be talking or bantering or at least Charles would be able to get Edwin's attention. It's just that he can't, because now Edwin is stuck on that fucking book from that fucking bloke who blew him off earlier.

This was probably a little activating for Charles. Even if he didn't completely put together why it upset him, Edwin putting someone who just treated him poorly right in front of his face first is a dim reflection of what he went through in his home. Now, I am not saying Monty is anywhere near that level of bad- he's a literal cream puff. He could not kill them when his life depended on it.

What I am saying, though, that Charles perceives a subtle threat here. He's also not sure what to do with it, because he never overcame that hurtle in life. No one else ever put him first, and he never figured out how to fix that. Edwin kind of just centered Charles automatically when they met. Now he's not doing that anymore and it’s jarring and uncomfortable for him. He’s feeling this loss of stability, on top of the fact that Edwin still won’t tell him what’s going on with the CK.

"...try not to forget that we're trying to leave" is what Charles comes up with after that exchange. Edwin makes an attempt to console him finally and offers to talk, but Charles shuts it down and tells him it's that he wants to leave town. They start on a case after that.

(Note that I did this a little out of order for organization’s sake— some of their CK arguing happened during the case they went on next).

Charles does finally catch a break here. In spite of all of this, he’s missing something very important: Edwin has feelings for him. That’s probably the most pressing issue that’s gone unspoken between them.

So Edwin dresses nicely, catches Charles attention, and finally tries to initiate a conversation. Charles seems relieved.

He does assume Edwin is just trying to come out by telling him about his time with Monty, before the teethface incident. Charles isn’t bothered, since Monty isn’t really in the picture anymore as far as he’s concerned. Things are fine, it’s just the two of them again and Edwin likes boys. Wait…

... Fuck. Forgot about the Cat King.

He resorts to threatening the CK. I know lots of people have lots of different theories on this, but consider this perspective also: Monty is no longer a threat. He’s abstract. He’s a memory. The Cat King is still very real and is a thing that can come between them, has done so, and has successfully taken Edwin from him. And as accepting as Charles was trying to be in that moment, he just can't handle that (from the perspective of this meta).

Anyway, this is all interrupted by their foray into hell. Charles does rescue Edwin, Edwin confesses, and honestly I feel like that just needs to be a different thing entirely but I did type a little bit about how I think Charles interpreted all of that here.

They return. Charles is processing Edwin's confession on the roof. This whole scene mystifies me a little because yes, he didn't seem to know exactly what to say to Edwin's confession in hell (I think he did not want to ruin it by saying the wrong thing). The more rewatches I go through the more... satisfied he looks to me? He might be processing, but also he might be a little giddy that Edwin has feelings for him specifically. I'm still trying to figure out how to read this one because the lines seemed rushed but the microexpressions say so much.

Then he starts blatantly flirting with Edwin. Honestly Charles, what the fuck?(afffectionate) Truly I’m still trying to work out if he’s just testing out how Edwin reacts or if he is working through his own feelings here, but I really want more of this in S2.

That’s about all the thoughts I think I can organize on this for now without it getting obscenely long (it already is pretty long for a half baked idea that turned into a meta). Thank you for reading 🖤

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Never put a human in a zoo

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)    

The sudden extinction of the Dre people was as sudden as it was unexpected to the galactic community. They were one of the oldest and most technologically advanced races in the universe. Heavily isolationist by nature, coupled with their inherent self-sense of superiority they viewed much of the other space faring species as little more than savages by comparison as none of them presented a credible challenge their rule. Yet within a month they had lost nearly 99% of their population across multiple worlds.

The worst hit was their homeworld of Belnuck situated at the heart of their empire which became an empty husk of a world seemingly overnight. Ancient and powerful cities of technological wonder now were little more than ghost towns to be picked clean by scavengers.

There were no signs of civil strife or unrest, no exterior threat from military forces, not even a record of natural disaster on their homeworld. Nothing was found that could give a clue as to what could have erased such a prominent power as the Dre, and so it was written off as a deadly unsolved mystery and the galactic community went on.

At least, that was what the public report stated.

It wasn’t until a group of Kreen scavengers came upon a set of personal journals that the shroud of uncertainty was lifted. Only to be then shortly locked away and sealed under the highest security restrictions to ensure the truth never saw the light of day.

These are those journal entries: ------------------------------- Personal Journal Entry J-757931 Head curator Migu

The benefactors are requesting we add new exhibits to the zoo again.

I thought they would have been content with the Draxic specimens we captured last month but it seems the general public no longer find giant lizards fascinating to observe. One of them suggested we allow the Draxic to mingle with other exhibits for inter species interactions for potential science research; but I could tell right away that what they really wanted from this was to have guests pay to see those lizard savages rip apart our other attractions like a Frong in a Skitch field.

I wish they could at least try to hide their greediness behind some semblance of rationality. At least then it would be easier to stomach.

I’ve scheduled a discussion with our head capture specialists to go out and find new attractions for the people later today. I don’t have much hope they can find anything as fascinating to revive interest but one never knows. End Log Entry. ---------------------------------- Personal Journal Entry J-757935 Head curator Migu

Capture team theta appears to have acquired something of value.

The specimens were caught will transitioning into real space at the edge of a system and were removed from their vessel shortly after.

Their technology was primitive in nature, but from the recordings the capture team sent back their esthetic design choices appear to be unique for such a low species. Accessing their data banks was a trivial matter and provided a wealth of history to them.

They appear to call themselves “Humons”, and have only recently begun intergalactic travel.

From the data we have gathered these humons are a highly warlike society repeating cycles of great conflict to great resurgence throughout their history. During war time they have fought with everything from sharpened wood stakes to low grade thermo nuclear devices.

While lacking the physical exciting traits like armored skin or shape shifting qualities, I believe their nature as a self-destructive race will make them a comedic addition to the zoo.

Theta team is on their way back now with them and I’ve already given instructions to create the new paddock for them in the east wing. With any luck the benefactors will find them as amusing as I do and calm down. End Log Entry. ------------------------------- Personal Journal Entry J-757940 Head curator Migu It could not have gone any better. The public loves the new attractions and the benefactors love the increase in profits. Theta team captured roughly a dozen of these humons and when coupled with their historical data we were able to depict several invigorating habitats. We injected them with the standard nano machines to provide feedback on each of them for both the caretakers and the guests. I do have some concerns about handing the medical needs of these humons as none of our handlers know how to treat them, but I have tasked them with dissecting the gathered data for any relevant medical information. They seem very energetic and many of them have not stopped trying to escape their exhibit since they woke up. A few of them have already begun crafting crude weapons to defend themselves while forming mini factions. The largest group has created a primitive wooden fortress by sharpening sticks and creating walls with them. The smaller group has kept their distance from the larger groups while the remaining few have decided to remain in isolation from both groups. Guests love it when they start banging on the windows and try to talk with them. The children in particular I overheard already picking out their favorites and rooting for them to survive should they begin fighting. We’ve not had this kind of engagement since we brought in Bengols with their psionic abilities. ------------------------------

Personal Journal Entry J-758021 Head curator Migu

It’s been several cycles since my last entry and we’ve had a few snags. Our lack of medical knowledge regarding our latest exhibits has proven costly. Despite our best efforts to decrypt the remaining data from their ships it appears medical information was damaged beyond recovery during the capture process. This has left us unable to properly care for them during medical emergencies; which have happened far sooner than expected.

After several days of captivity several of the humons began showing signs of rapidly deteriorating mental stability. They’ve displayed signs of paranoia, societal breakdown, and an increase in aggression levels to the point they murdered other humons in the enclosure.

We’ve never had this problem before with our other exhibits, at least within such a short timeframe, and now the benefactors are calling for my head. They are upset that their most prized money generators are murdering each other risking their profit margin.

I’ve suggested applying mild sedatives to calm them but was denied. They insist that curbing their more primitive tendencies would cause customers to lose interest in them.

The suggestion of capturing more of these humons was strongly advocated for but it was my turn to deny that request. Deploying a capture team was an expensive endeavor and if the humons continued killing each other the costs would overturn any increase in profits.

I’m putting together alternatives now for my next meeting with them. Hopefully something will come along and save our hides. ---------------------------------

Personal Journal Entry J-758043 Head curator Migu

The problem for the time being has resolved itself via an unexpected avenue.

One of the capture humons was seen treating the few remaining humans; providing basic medical treatment and care.

Ordinarily we would have written off such behavior but because of our current medical situation we decided to bend regulations and reach out to the subject directly.

A translator unit was acquired and we were able to speak directly with the humon. It took several minutes to calibrate, thankfully much of their speech was unrecognizable. They would not stop trying to speak with us while it was being adjusted and went on and on about wanting to be set free and demanding answers. Honestly you think these humons would be grateful that we are lowering ourselves to speak with them.

When they finally calmed down we explained the situation to them. In exchange for their cooperation they would be given special privileges to treats and comforts for the duration of their stay. They wanted to be let out and freed from the exhibit but I quickly shut that down as a non-starter.

It eventually dawned on them that this was going to be their new existence for the remainder of their life and could live in comfort or watch as their friends died one by one; and they accepted the offer. -------------------------

Personal Journal Entry J-758117 Head curator Migu

While unusual the negotiating tactic with the humon has resolved the issue for us and the benefactors are happy once more.

With the medical humons help they were able to stabilize the injured humons while also negotiate a form of agreement between the humon factions in the exhibit. They could still maim and injure each other while guests were present but would not kill and then would be treated afterwards before the next day’s opening.

Interestingly enough the medical humon has proved very useful. They’ve been able to communicate with the rest of the humons and get them to fall in line. What’s more they’ve been minimalistic in requests with the biggest being to be taught some of the basics of our medical equipment so he can use it himself.

Ordinarily we don’t allow this but it would have freed up some of the medical wing so we allowed it with extensive supervision.

I must admit I am rather proud of myself for resolving the situation, and with such little expenditure. Things now are running smoothly once more and the profits are seeing ever increasing margins. Maybe now the benefactors will get off my back. Though honestly I think it’ll only last one or two months before the humons are worn out and they want something new.

---------------------- Personal Journal Entry J-758135 Head curator Migu

Oh gods it burns!

Everyone at the zoo is screaming and clawing their own skin!

Gods damnit make it stop! MaKE IT Stop!!!!!!!!!!!

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

Emergency Transmission January 2873 Chief Medical Officer Maxwill Clemons

This is Chief Medical officer Maxwill Clemons of the ship “Hades Rest” calling out to any terran ships requesting immediate rescue.

I am not sure what planet or system we’re in, but hone in on this signal and you will find us. I will be repeating this message every hour on the hour for as long as this place has power.

I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been in this god forsaken hellhole. The automated day/night cycles have made my attempts at record keeping near impossible.

Maybe a month? Two? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.

We were kidnapped from our ship after exiting a jump and woke up to find ourselves in some sort of alien zoo. The aliens refused to speak to us at first, instead watching us from windows and laughing at us while we struggled to find out what was going on.

They’re all dead now. The aliens that is.

I never knew what they called themselves and I don’t really care.

They treated my friends like animals, so I took their precious tech and turned it on them. Made the nano machines they injected us with register the alien DNA as a deadly virus in need of immediate eradication.

First one I got was the one who was so smug about our capture and display. They changed their tune after I spat in their eye and their face started melting as the nano tech spread. Two others came in after the screaming started and they got infected as well before fleeing the room.

I stood up and went to my comrades “habitat’ and let them out as every alien around us began screaming and melting away. That was at least three days ago now and I haven’t seen one of them yet. Their whole planet now is like one massive ghost town.

We’ve enough provisions to last us and the other freed captives for some time, but please do hurry. I want off this fraking shit hole as soon as possible. --------------- Message repeats:

Emergency Transmission January 2873 Chief Medical Officer Maxwill Clemons

This is Chief Medical officer Maxwill Clemons of the ship “Hades Rest” calling out to any terran ships requesting immediate rescue. ------