#staff is probably the most useful but... bows... calling me...

[lani-heart]

|| series masterlist || next // previously ||

genre(s) -> angst, fluff, smut, non-idol, hybrid au, poly au p aring(s) -> ( eventually ) ATEEZ x reader warning(s) -> abuse, mention of sex / pregnancies, etc. words -> 2.3K

abstract -> Never owe people favors it could one day cost you your life...

y/n’s perspective

“Taeyong, you can’t be serious,” I said as I was now in the office of the devil himself. And he's called to get his end in a favor. “You owe me,” he said and I scoffed. 

“You’re literally chasing in a favor from when I was in college,” I said and he only grinned. “You still owe me. Besides, it shouldn't be dangerous” and I scoffed at his reassurance. 

“It's just an interview. You’ll wear a wire, and all I need is evidence” he asked and I sighed. “Fine. But I won't risk my life for this, Taeyong” I said and he nodded. 

“I would never put you in a dangerous situation. This won’t hurt you”

“Do you have to do this? Or at least take one of us with you?” Yeosang asked and I shook my head. “I have to repay him. He helped me a lot in college… besides he's trying to do a good thing” I explained and they sighed. “You’ll be okay right?” Wooyoung asked as he hugged me tightly. 

“Of course, he explained that I'll be going in for an interview and he’ll be listening in case. He will only interfere once he's gotten information though, so I won't be in danger. This won't affect us” I assured them and they nodded. 

“Be careful, circus hybrids are some of the most deprived and abused hybrids” San warned and I nodded. Over the years people stopped performing with animals and advanced to hybrids because of their ability to be trained and have a human way of thinking

Even though many people thought it was better it's not too well known that it's abusive to them just repeating history. “Be careful” they said as I was now on the elevator waving bye to the boys. 

They've really grown. 

I’ve officially had San and Wooyoung for five months. Whilst Yeosang joined us two months ago. It's actually been seven months since I originally adopted Son. I couldn’t be happier to have them by my side. 

Now I had to pay my debt to the devil named Taeyong. He truly does hold grudges… 

I walked into the VIP line where I showed my journalist ticket. I would be able to take pictures, and even conduct an interview. As I walked in I noticed the hybrids on display. 

There were two specifically at the entrance. They had bold big letters ‘MATZ’. They were meant to sit there in a glass box… it didn’t even have enough room to walk one step. In a smaller print were their names. 

Seinghwa was the one smiling and bowing, whilst Hongjoong only stared. He would be too far down, he could probably be dangerous. The ones around me started flashing lights at them… it clearly bothered them. I made sure to ask Taeyong to give me a camera without a flash. I took a photo of the surroundings. Another reason why he had me do this job and not Mark was because I have a hybrid specialist license to see and even handle red-coded hybrids with supervision. 

I knew how to analyze their behaviors. So when I saw Hongjoong, he had the potential to be a black code hybrid. 

“Hello! Welcome, it's an honor to see such esteemed guests !! I hope you may enjoy the show !--” as he spoke I saw his ringmaster look. He had jesters and clown costumed people handle hybrids. A few were assigned to cuff and ensure ‘MATZ’ did not act out.

They were tigers and therefore dangerous. 

“-- Of course, if you need help please ask one of my staff. I look forward to the interviews I’m scheduled for” he said as he left. As the staff looked at our tickets I was led to the back. I was given a pre / post-interview. 

“Hello, I’m going to be conducting an interview?” I said as I now saw the ringleader with the two tigers. They had chains connecting to their collar which looked like ones that were for black code hybrids. 

“Ah yes, may I ask which firm it is under?” he asked and I nodded. “It would be under the N.E.O. Firm” I stated and he nodded. 

“I see. How is Dong Sicheng ?” he asked and I smiled. “He’s actually on vacation at the moment. Last I heard he was in China visiting a few friends. '' I answered and he chuckled. 

“I know, your firm isn’t too keen on me,” he said and I noticed the curious eyes of the tigers. “Well, the firm has hybrid rights associated. It has been for years now” I answered and he nodded with calculating eyes. 

“That it is. Though I can assure you, our hybrids are treated like family” he said and I smiled softly as I wrote down notes of the two hybrids behind him. They were clearly agitated by his words, almost like he was lying.

“Well then. What are your questions?” he asked politely. “How many hybrids currently do you have registered?” I asked and he nodded. “Around fifty dear,” he said and I nodded. “And all are vaccinated with the current hybrid regulations, health up-to-date, VISA’s registered?” I asked and he answered yes. 

So he denied hybrid trafficking, and hybrid health neglect.

“May I ask you to talk about MATZ?'' I asked and he nodded. “These two were born into the circus. Their parents are a mix from our circus and a breeder which I know personally” he explained and I saw how Seonghwa kept on staring at my coat. His ears were twitching and I noticed Hongjoong’s glare at me….

“These two are such close friends we thought that a show would be most beneficial and fun for them,” he said while lifting his hands to pet their heads making them both clearly uncomfortable. Seonghwa stared wearily whilst Hongjoong looked like he could bite any minute.

“May I ask if I own hybrids?” He asked and I contemplated. “Decline anything in your personal life” I heard on the headpiece Taeyong gave me.

“No, I do not,” I said and he nodded. “Are you against the ownership?” He asked and I shook my head. “Not necessarily… it would take a lot of circumstances for me to adopt a hybrid,” I said and the ringmaster only nodded. 

“I can assure you every hybrid here is taken care of, and we’ll look after it, '' he said and I noticed Seonghwa's gaze. It wasn’t like Hongjoong’s glare; it was almost like he was pleading for help. 

“What’s the situation with heats?” I asked and he chuckled… “I don’t believe in heat suppressants. I let them go on with it with the other gender hybrid” he explained. 

Meaning it's how he has so many hybrids… he’s illegally breeding them. “Are you not worried about pregnancies?” I asked.

“No… some of our female hybrids are sterile so they can’t reproduce either way” he explained.

It wasn’t abuse per se to sterilize a hybrid… but it was being argued for hybrid rights.

“How long have you had this duo?” I asked curious. “Hmm, these two rascals? Well, they were born in 1998 and they’ve been with me since then.” He said and I nodded.

Would they speak out against their master? They would’ve seen everything… been through… everything.

“Sir?” I heard a clown asking for the attention of his boss. “Ah give me a moment my dear, why not have an exclusive interview with a MATZ performer. Hongjoong needs some touching up so Seonghwa treats her nicely '' be said and I knew the reason why they took the orange tiger away was because of his behavior.

“Be careful, an abuse hybrid can be triggered at any mention of abuse. Ask simple questions.” Taeyong said and before I could start I looked at him.

He stared at me with soft eyes and a smile... it shocked me how gentle his expression looked.

“I’m not fragile for you not to ask me,” he said and I felt my eyes widen. “The moment you walked in I heard that radio of yours… it kinda hurt at first” he confessed.

“I’m sorry,” I said but I couldn’t turn it off for my safety.

“It’s alright… you're not the first person to come here to infiltrate this place,” he said with his ears flattening on his head. He was losing hope for himself.

“How many hybrids are there?” I asked and he sighed. “I’ve lost count… it is over a hundred by now and more to come” he explained. “Oh, and he doesn’t register hybrids in case they die. It’s a miracle to even survive birth here… let alone survive being a baby here. We aren’t checked for until we’re cubs… after that, we’re never looked after again. The only thing he’ll ask to do is hygiene for his top performers” he explained.

“I’ve heard of your firm from the clowns… they hate you,” he said and I chuckled. “They said something about a girl writing about hybrid rights. Since then they’ve shut down several enterprises” he said and I smiled.

My reputation follows me.

“They might know who you are, be careful,” Taeyong said and Seonghwa only stared at me with twitching ears.

“You must have really good hearing to catch it,” I said and he smiled softly with his tail swishing behind him.

“Thanks… but it comes in handy with the staff,” he said and I sighed. 

“Do you have anything you want to tell me?” I asked and he swallowed down saliva showing how nervous he was.

“I’ll tell you everything if you manage to burn this place down,” he said and I sighed. “How about we make a promise?” I asked and he looked at me confused.

“I’ll shut this place down… but that’ll be the easy part. I’ll still need some more evidence after to concrete it” I asked and he nodded.

“Good luck”

The show was like any other hybrid show. 

You could see the fear in hybrid's eyes when they made a mistake and had to cover it. Clowns and performers have the upper hand. 

MATZ had the opening… they did dangerous stunts. There were a few times they stumbled but otherwise did the best they could. The crowd loved them… I saw the contrast of the two… fear and anger.

Once the show was over I did a closing statement with the ringmaster and some staff who showed me around.

“And our opening act. Did you enjoy it?” they asked and I smiled when I saw Seonghwa and Hongjoong in a tiny cage. It had enough room for the both of them but it must've made them feel trapped.

The staff were talking to other reporters when I noticed the heavy glare Hingjoong was giving me.

Seonghwa got his attention and looked to be scolding him only for him to scoff. He looked over at me and bowed in an apology in which I shook my head. 

“I hope you enjoyed the show” 

seonghwa’s pov

As the reporters left with the staff, Hongjoong glared at me. “Quit acting that way” I scolded and he scoffed

“She’s not the first person to come here asking for questions with a wire,” he said and I sighed.

“You heard what they said about that firm though—“ “She also said how she didn’t own any hybrids but owned three,” he said and I was confused. 

“She has hybrid scents reading out of her. You shouldn’t trust humans so easily… one day it’ll be you they’re disposing of” he said and I looked down.

“I… sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out that way. I’m just sick of this Seonghwa but this is our life and it’ll never change” he said and I chose not to believe that. 

I had hoped that she’d complete her promise.

“Hongjoong…. Sometimes you just have to have faith that people are still good. We don’t know how it is outside… maybe it’s different” I said and he sighed.

“But is it any better?” He asked and before I could respond I heard yelling.

“Woah!? What are you doing?!” I heard as I saw the ringmaster following… policemen? 

“This place is being temporarily shut down for inspection and so are the hybrids in this vicinity. If we find anyone trying to smuggle or hide evidence you’ll be under arrest for tampering with a crime scene” he said and I also noticed people with white lab coats. 

“Start arresting staff members and performers. Contain all the hybrids as well” he ordered and the last thing I saw was Hongjoong defying them whilst I felt a sharp pain in my neck.

Everything could only get better… right?

Waking up in a white and cold room was not what I expected…

“White tiger hybrid seems to be malnourished, untreated second-degree burns, underweight, untreated cuts, and dehydrated. Seems to be approximately 25 years old and unclassified code due to tranquilizer” I heard… Was that a doctor?

I tried sitting up but my wrists were bound. 

“You’re awake? Are you going to comply?” he asked me and I noticed how close he was. He seemed to purposely try to annoy me… “Classified as yellow. He’s one of the tame ones” he said into the radio. Classifications? I knew very little of that… but yellow wasn’t bad?

“The orange tiger is awake, and is showing a lot of aggression” I heard on his radio… Hongjoong? “Tranquilize him,” the doctor said and I struggled against the constraints. “He’s your partner, right? They won’t hurt him, but he will hurt us… he’s in good hands'' he said and I scoffed. Like I’d trust humans now after… 

“What happened to the reporter?” I asked and he looked at me confused. “She promised to help me… what did she do?” I asked and he hummed. “She’ll be conducting interviews this following week. So be on your best behavior or you’ll end up in a higher code” he said as he left the room. 

She actually… helped us?

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[itgetzweird08]

one two three four

katsuki bakugo x Gn!reader

One week later

T-Minus three weeks until the dance

—------------

 “Good Morning!” 

For so early in the morning, the rat principal was very cheerful. The same couldn’t be said for his human climbing tree. Mr. Aizawa stood slouched, eyes dark and face heavy with lack of sleep. Nezu sat snuggly in the binding cloths on the tired man’s shoulder. Mitsuki had only spoken to the principal on a handful of occasions, and she always thought he was very…unique. But he was damn good at his job, and he really cared about his students. That's why Mitsuki had such a good feeling about the request she was about to make, despite it being such a large one. 

“‘Morning. Thanks for meeting with me, I know your schedules are probably packed with everything going on around here.”

Nezu smiled cheerfully at the woman, waving a paw in dismissal. “Nonsense! I’m always happy to meet with a parent, especially you, Mrs. Bakugo. Young Bakugo is an amazing student and has done a lot for the country. We owe him a lot. Now, let’s get into the conference room. From the summary of your reason for meeting that you gave me, I figured it would be best that the rest of the faculty joined us as well.”

The three walked into the conference room, with Mitsuki taking a seat at the head of the table. Around the table sat the UA teachers, Hounddog, and Hawks. While initially shocked by his presence, she realized that it made sense. In her email to Nezu, she mentioned that the subject of the meeting had to do with bending an international rule, and Hawks had a lot of contact with other countries as the new head of the Hero Commission.  She was grateful he was here, as she knew he had a particular soft spot for Katsuki. If she remembered correctly, he called him “A little asshole with a lot of spunk”. She thought it was a fair statement.

After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, and accepting a cup of tea from Present Mic, she began the meeting.

“Thank you all for being here. I recognize that you all are busy so I’m gonna try and make this quick,” Mitsuki sat up straighter, folding her hands together as she looked around the table. “A couple of years ago, Katsuki met another hero student at the I-Expo. They stayed in contact for a while, got really close, and eventually started dating. They care for each other, a lot. They talk every night and are a huge pillar of support for one another. So much so that,” 

Mitsuki found herself getting choked up. She always did when she thought about the possibility that she would have to deliver that letter to you. She cleared her throat, taking a breath. She hated crying, especially in front of people. After a moment, she continued.

“Right before the war, Katsuki gave me a box to send them in case something happened to him. He truly cares about them. On that note, as you all know, the Spring Dance is coming up. Despite what most people think, Katsuki actually enjoys dressing up. I thought he would be excited about the dance, but he wasn’t. In fact, he’s dreading it. All his friends have been talking about are their dates, and Katsuki refuses to take anyone but them. Now, for my request. Katsuki died for this country. This is his last chance for some fun before graduating and becoming a real pro. So please,” she bowed deeply as she spoke. Mitsuki had a lot of pride and was known for rarely ever apologizing or bowing to anyone. But Katsuki deserved to be happy. She just wanted her kid to be okay.

“Please allow them to attend as Katsuki’s date. I can give you records, letters of recommendation, and even character statements. They are a great kid and an even better student. They would cause no trouble. I just want Katsuki to be happy.”

The room was silent as all of the staff looked at Mitsuki. They then looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. Finally, Hawks broke the silence. “To be honest with you, Mrs. Bakugo, this is a complicated situation. Other countries still don’t have a particularly great view of Japan. Trying to convince them that they should allow a pardon, just for a school dance? Realistically, it’s damn near impossible,” Mitsuki felt her heart sink, a disappointed sigh leaving her. Well, at least no one could say she didn’t tr- 

“However, you make a very compelling point. Young Bakugo saved not only Japan but the rest of the world. He is, without a doubt, a hero. I make you no promises on what the rest of the commission or international board might say, but I can promise that I will advocate for Bakugou and get you an answer before the end of the week.” 

Mitsuki broke out into a rare, wide, sincere grin. She bowed once more to the room, bending deeply.

“Thank you all.”

————

It was about 15 minutes before your usual morning talk with Katsuki when you got the call. Before the war, Katsuki gave you his parents' contact info in case of an emergency. You had only spoken to them on a handful of occasions, wishing them a happy birthday or anniversary, shouting ‘Hello!’ when you were on the phone and Katsuki was at home. But you had never really spoken to them one-on-one until Mitsuki called you.

You answered without hesitation, disregarding your normal early morning TikTok scroll. Something had to be wrong for her to call you, you figured. Your voice was frantic when you answered. “Hello? Is everything alright Mrs. Bakugou? Is Katsu-“

“Chillax kid! Jeez!” 

You blinked, confused at her tone. Okay, so clearly there wasn’t an emergency. 

“I’m sorry, I thought something was wrong. You’ve never called before-“ 

“Sorry, I should make more of a habit of calling my future daughter in law” 

You chose to ignore her comment. “So..if there’s no emergency, not to be rude, why are you calling?” You could picture her shit-eating grin in your head, knowing it was where Katsuki had gotten it from. 

“Well…I spoke to Hawks, you know the head of the hero commission here in Japan, he spoke with your government and pulled some strings…how would you like to be Katsuki’s date to the Spring dance?”

————

I’m having trouble tagging some of yall 😔. Anyways sorry this is so late, uni has been beating me into the floor 😭

Taglist: : @sleepyeri @teeesthings @zaiban2989 @kathsuhki @rinbeeyum @oladelmars @luv-for-fictional-characters @attackonnat @ratcity12345 @bffrs-stuff @ch3rryjampi3 @venus1224idkpleaze @fiannee @consentismfhot @abcdefghijklmmopqrstuvwxyz @bl-og134 @amayaaaxx @mikestuffffs @mushroomsoup119 @thatprettybunny @wheezdostuff @devils-adversary @enony-da @matchat3a @kawliflo @urmomsbananabread @anicaaa67 @that-sweet-mars @crimsonrubie @xanneeeyyyy @sweetloveandaffection-blog @ghostreadersthings @itsdragonius @snore-3 @sleepyk0dyz @ririoutspoken @ivuriexo @getosuckers

[femoso-seben]

Mini witch story part one

Part 1, Part 3,

Rua walked over to the table last to arrive, her wolf familiar probably ran off to who knows where. She looked exhausted and behind her walking in shame was her familiar, Soap as she calls him. Apparently, when he was a pup he ate a bar of soap.

“You’re late,” Cordelia chimes in a teacup in her hand. As the oldest, she was the first to receive her demonic animal familiar, a big ol’ brown bear. For an old man, he sure can move fast when he is needed.

“I think you should put him through dog disciplinary training,” Sula said, this earned a growl from the wolf.

“Enough,” Rua sighs collapsing into her seat, “we are here for you,” she turns to me. You held onto my cup of milk.

As the youngest, physically, and mentally even though we all started at the same time. You were frozen in time and space. You look around, they are so much older, and time has taken ahold of them.

“Our Sire will give you a familiar,” Ophelia spoke up setting her cup of vodka down. “Then you can leave this Forrest and explore the world.”

“Why do I have to have a familiar?” You ask.

“In your absence, the mortals began a witch trial,” Rua spoke, “your familiar is there to keep you safe.”

“How?”

“In their humanoid form, they have their animal attributes.”

“Like eating Soap?” Your sisters broke out into waves of laughter and looked at the poor wolf who looked down at his feet.

“Do you have any animals in mind?” Cordelia asks.

“Fluffy. Likes to be around me. Strong. Friendly. Not so demanding… a cat.”

The forest grew cold as the trees warp around you all. Soon your Demonic sire who turned you all to witches walked from the trees. You get up and bow to him.

“Little one,” he begins, “I have your familiar.” You feel yourself blooming into a smile. From his hands, a black mass forms and falls to the ground.

Slime.

“WHAT IS THIS?” You shout poking the weird slimy creature. It lunged at you and gripped your leg. You let out the most horrific scream, and kick her leg throwing it off you. “WHY IS IT UGLY?”

From the back, you hear your sister cackling at you. The little slimy black thing slithers towards you. You look up at your Demon Sire who gives you a blank stare.

“Give me a cat!”

“He is very loyal.” Your sire says.

“HES UGLY AND SMALL!” You shout back picking it up with your staff.

“It’s an octopus,” Sula stated calmly. “A delicacy in Asia.”

“I DON’T WANT IT!” You look at your demonic father only to find him glaring at you. You stare at the little black blob, his Beaty blue eyes staring up at you. You think it’s glaring at you.

It moves closer climbing up your bare legs and to your chest. It sat right above your breast and two long appendages moved to your face. Your skin crawls and you feel the ICK coming. You grab it and punt it to the ground.

“ITS A PERV!” You scream and turn to your sisters for help. Rua turns away laughing to herself.

“You can always throw it away in a far-off land.” Ophelia offer.

“Don’t be foolish, our Familiars have an innate ability to find us,” Sula said.

Fear seeps into your skin. This creepy ugly perverted little thing was attached to you forever. You wanted to cry.

Your Sire and sister left you with these things.

It kept trying to climb up your leg.

You grab it by the head and look it over. An idea hit you.

“I can eat you!” You said a creepy smile crossing your face. Its little eyes and tentacles began to thrash around. You shove it into your bag and rush off to get some sauces and some vegetables.

How would you cook it? On a stove? In water? In bread? You shrug it had eight tentacles you had eight tries.

Your cauldron boiling, cutting board ready you grab the ugly thing and a knife ready to slice it up.

It transforms. In front of you is a huge tall man. You stare at his naked form. It glared at you, through a hood, holding your wrist.

“Let go!”

“NEIN!” He growls out his voice higher pitch than you would have guessed.

“Transform!”

“NEIN!” He said again.

“I am your master!”

“Du worst much night essen.” He snaps. He glared at him. You grab his hood and soon tentacles come out gripping your fingers. You screech and yank your hand away. He chuckles.

You wanted to strangle this man.

You finally agree not to eat him, and in return he lets you go. You also forced him into some clothes. You glared at him, and he watched you closely.

You grab your grimoire and put it into your bag. You are traveling, seeing the world! Staff in hand you walk out of the forest.

The sunset was absolutely stunning, the cliffside falls to crystal clear waters. The smell of freedom was intoxicating.

You feel the skin-crawling sensation of suction cups crawling up your legs you look down to see the disgusting thing crawling up your legs and to your boobs again. You grab it and shove it into your bag trapping it inside.

This bitch was ruining your moment. ------------

@milkywayhou full verson

taglist: @maylovesyousomuch, @trgraves-valx1f0r

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Cryptid's Keeper | Yandere Obanai Iguro

When you were called to bring aid to an isolated village you were prepared to execute a minor cryptid that was probably picking at crops occasionally. It would make sense for a small town to consider that an emergency: it’s there supply. What you weren’t expecting was the threat to have been ravenously feasting on the residents of the town itself. The town was far too afraid to meet you at the border of their land without all of them linked to one another by each other’s hands. Elders and children, women and men, teens, and young adults alike tightly grasping at each other while they bowed in greeting.

They told of a mighty beast wrapped in pearl white scales with eyes red as the blood of it’s victims. Swallowing hordes of men armed with pitchforks and torches in one single night. The tales they told of this cryptid varied in all matter of atrocities–from swallowing the living to strangulating children to crushing those lucky enough to flee. But the stand-alone trait of ever story told to you was of the ghost eyed witch that’d walk the streets of the town. Without fail this witch would wear a thin veil that had the pattern similar to that of a zebra. They suspected their ghost eyes which they must have plucked from the peach trees themselves and an stone of jade from some treasure hidden deep in the forest. It would appear that any who crossed paths with the witch would be dead before morning on account of the beast, sometimes it’d be their whole family as well. 

The townspeople were willing to pay a hefty sum for your services, practically begging you to save them. Naturally you agreed. This was your job to hunt and trap troublesome cryptids in a world that knew nothing better. The aspect of the witch intrigued you the most. In your many travels you found that witch was just a word to label humans more in tune with their mystical side. Heck your sure if you hadn’t made a career of it you’d be labeled one yourself.

It was easy to track the beast, the clear mark of scales and muscle slithering on the ground led into the forest on an unmarked but used path. It made you wonder if they attempted to investigate at all. Trudging onward you prepared for the hassle it’d be to subdue a creature with track marks so much bigger than yourself.

It led to a cave near a river; a peaceful place for the horror that supposedly lived there. You head in, stepping over a wall of bones sticking up like spikes. Eyeing a few human skulls creating a path deeper inside. This place clearly has a human’s touch, while the decoration was dismal and dark there was clearly a sense of pride present. Navigating with the skulls it eventually led to a large opening where you found the cryptid culprits. 

Wrapped around itself was a giant white snake which reflected the minimal light given by one lone torch on the wall; giving it an orange glow. In the middle of it was a man, with long black hair a scar across his mouth and a single loin cloth draped between his legs. Feeling the heat on your cheeks, you knocked your staff on the rocky floor to alert them. You felt as though you were intruding on something private. Sure enough they startled awake both on the defense at your unexpected arrival. 

“Hello there! I’ve heard you two have been giving the town quite a few problems!”

You smile while dodging the giant snake’s strike, somersaulting over the expanse of their tail. It set you up to parry the primitive spear jutting at you from the wild man. He only responded in grunts and shouts that helped the snake coordinate attacks at you. But none of it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle; ultimately analyzing their teamwork.

“You two seem close,” you made an aerial over the snakes striking maw delivering a kick to the wild man who was charging a new weapon, “Makes me wonder why you’d bother the people in the village in the first place.”

An orange and green pair of eyes widened at that, standing a ways away while the snake hissed at you before attempting to strangle you again. This was getting more and more interesting. “So you can understand me? Then tell me why?”

The snake was getting tired and the man was getting irritated. This–by your prediction–would be ending very soon.

Once again taking the man head on you blocked with your staff as you egged him on. Despite not having the technique you did he had strength and a swiftness that rivaled the snake’s.

“All…deserved to be punished.” 

The voice that came was hoarse, like it wasn’t used often. The voice was so sudden it caught you off-guard, leaving you barely enough time to block and kick him back. The look on your face must’ve said enough.

“All of them deserve death!”

“Why? What did they do?”

He paused his attack, his pupils shaking with the answer to that question–looking down to compose himself. Sensing his distress the snake slithered from you curling around the man to comfort him. You also lowered your defenses your heart preparing for the pain he would hopefully share.

“They made me this way,” he sounded like he was fighting tears as he tightened his fists, “by trying to sacrifice me…for this they all must pay…Including You!”

He launched at you on the head of his snake, using the speed of snake and his own jumping to aim at your head. Like before you dodged this time shoving your staff into the ground. Without your staff occupying your hands you weaved underneath the snake and through it’s coils to strike at the reptile’s pressure points. The cave shook as the snake slammed limply on the ground. Rolling off to safety the wild man shouted running to cradle the snake’s snout, “Kabamaru!?” 

Hearing the light sound of sniffles you cursed yourself for going too far. Sitting down on the ground you leaned along the rocky wall opposite to the two. Pulling out a bottle of sake and two cups you brought with you, setting them down. 

“He’s not dead. Just sleeping.” he turned to look at you his eyes softening from a glare. You continued,”I figured without him egging you on you can tell me a bit more about yourself.” 

Offering a cup to him you took a sip of yours, letting out a happy sigh as the liquid tingled down your throat. Showing him that it was safe you let him down his zebra skin and come in closer to you. 

There you were able to piece lesser rumors with his own testimony. Apparently the town used to be ran by a tribe of women who idolized a giant snake in the forest. Organizing gatherings and practices to honor said snake. This tribe of women for generations had daughters to uphold it’s legacy of a matriarch loyal to this snake. Alas when they birthed a boy those in town deemed him a curse making the women decide that his death at the hands of the snake would be their blessing and atonement for his existence. Part of the ceremony included slicing his mouth wider and tying him with the carcass of the exotic creature—the zebra—in the forest to be eaten by their deity: the White Snake. Come to find that the snake was a peaceful creature that was truly infuriated at finding the poor boy in the state he was. Sheltering him, feeding him, protecting him, and one day attacking the people he identified as revenge for him. 

“I see now, why you attack them so viciously. What you went through was awful.”

You took another swig from the bottle looking at the man who was leaning on a sluggish Kaburamaru. He was watching you intently probably gauging your reactions to his story, it made you wonder when was the last time he spoke with any one properly.

It is then you yawned, standing up and stretching. Disregarding both their suspicious looks you walked to your staff, resting it on your shoulders casually as the both got into a defensive stance. You walked up that rocky path, waving over your shoulder with a smile.

“Tomorrow Iguro. I’ll bring you something sweet from the town. Until then.”

Just like that you returned to the townspeople all eager to know if you’ve slain the beast. Only for you to yawn in their faces and say your still investigating, retreating to the inn you were gifted for your stay here.

As expected violent cryptids were never just that in a world that knows no better. 

And as such it was your job to help.

Whether that was teaching the world or the cryptid themself.

In this case the cryptid and his keeper.

_____________________________________________________________

Obanai Iguro didn’t kill for no reason. 

When he walked through the town he was being gracious. An olive branch extended to an unforgiving people. All he was asking was that he be able to walk into town without injury or insult. Without fail though someone in town would either yell obscenities or attempt to attack him. 

He vowed the day he could freely walk in town would be the day no one would suffer his wrath. 

That day had never come. 

But the day someone looked in his eyes with no fear for him had come. A missionary with dyed hair and smile brighter than the sun was the first. She happened to catch him by his lonesome, asking for directions to the town. 

He cursed himself for letting his naivete consume him. 

Doing as she asked he hoped foolishly that the townspeople could learn. Take the missionary’s optimism and kindness as a symbol for peace. That when they saw the absolute vision of beauty hand in hand with a freak him they’d have a change of heart or at least touch the hearts of a few.

He was wrong.

So so wrong.

The collective gasps were a precursor to the violent screaming that followed. Rocks, fruit, eventually knives were thrown at both of them. He remembered taking the brunt of it turning the nun away from the spiteful horde. Looking down at her, even in the face of their berating she was smiling up at him. It warmed his heart. It made him willing to forgive. Until she caught sight of her convent, fellow missionaries standing silently aside, running to them with renewed vigor. She happily proclaimed that she’d found her mission aiming to help bridge the gap between the misunderstood and the collective. She recited different teachings looking pridefully as she waited for their response. Dropping her smile when they finally spoke.

“You’ve transgressed for the last time, Mitsuri. We had such high hopes.”

They pulled at her hair, they stripped her of her robes before encouraging the town to bring all their aggressions to her. Claiming it was a just punishment for the young and unruly nun who continued to fail with every task they gave her. 

He doubted he could’ve waited for Kaburamaru if he tried. Using his bare fists to pummel anyone who’s hand was raised to attack Mitsuri. Fighting them as best as he could but he was only one man. 

Strong but not strong enough.

By the time Kaburamaru arrived and had begun to swallow majority of the fleeing mob, it was already too late. Poor Mitsuri. The sun in Iguro’s night had set, giving him one last smile and an indirect kiss on the scar across his face. 

It broke his heart further. 

Shuffling his already broken heart, he took it’s shards and made a wall. A thorny wall that took his graciousness and shrivelled it to nothing. Now transgressions he would have chosen mercy for invoked his wrath all the same. Calling on Kaburamaru to help quell his fury. 

Once again returning to his precious solitude with Kaburamaru by his side. 

But fate would refuse this again sending a monster catcher to disrupt his peace. Agile, sly, and a powerful fighter the monster catcher was like no one he’d met before. Iguro did have a few encounters with unexplainable creatures and violent entities but none were like them. Never had he and Kaburamaru been brought to their knees (coils?) by  a single person, all who casually invites him to chat over a drink. 

“Come come its a creation of my own. This game is going to get us drunk so fast!”

Mitsuri was casual too but the interaction was surface. It was their first and last time meeting after all. The monster hunter spoke much more often, returning with another alcoholic beverage and cups to share while talking about nothing in paticular. Once again that estranged normalcy was creeping up again and Iguro refused to fall for it again.

“Oh wow that came out of nowhere, Iguro. Now let’s get back to drinking shall we?”

Holding the tip of his spear between two fingers the monster hunter continued to smile at him. Thwarting his attempts to chase them away or at least save himself the pain he was bound to feel. Even Kaburamaru wasn’t attempting to fight anymore, only watching when Iguro attempted to attack. 

He hated how little it offended them. And how much it hurt him. Already he was feeling the same warmth he felt back then. When he wasn’t trying to attack, the smile they shared was like the moon. Reflecting the light given to him so long ago. But he feared he’d lose it again. Like Mitsuri they were far too kind when regarding the people in town.

“At least the kids don’t know any better. Leave them out of it, okay Iguro?”

The night-terrors would start again picturing his hunter bloodied and defeated at the feet of an angry crowd. Hand-in-hand with Mitsuri as they both smiled up at him with incomplete smiles.

“You’ll forgive them, right?”

“For us you’ll be kind, right?”

He was tired of seeing that image again. The one where the only lights in his world were doused by the same people that bred hatred with every generation. It didn’t matter that the hunter was strong, that the hunter planned to leave. Iguro needed to keep them by his side, away from the darkness that had always engulfed his life. 

“I refuse to let them have you.”

To block out the new sun he needed the warmth of. It didn’t matter that the sun may burn or their anger would be his–they’d be safe. That was all that mattered at this point.

“The rest don’t deserve to feel your warmth.”

__________________________________________________________

You didn’t expect such an adverse reaction. Your plan to finally leave the duo with a warning and spend your time changing the town was going to be shot. You wanted to spin whatever narrative you needed to, to fix the town for good. Give them a healthier outlook and some mock defense against other cryptids would do the trick. But iguro didn’t seem to like that. More seriously neither did Kaburamru, hissing at you as he curled into himself.

“Look Iguro if you’d prefer you can come with me! Leave this town behind and find a place worthy of you both!”

“Not before I end it. They’d never let me have you if they can help it!”

He instructed Kaburamaru to slam his tail near you making you dodge further away from the exit. Already sensing where he was going with this, you stood your ground.

“Iguro. Stop this.”

Kaburamaru was curling around itself blocking the entirety of the single exit, with Iguro standing on his head. He was wielding his spear pointing it at you with a twisted smile. 

“I know we’re no match for you on our own. But you’re so eager to protect those rotten meatbags even you’d have trouble fending me off.”

“Iguro!”

He seemed to laugh to himself as he ducked down low, sliding on the snake’s back as the reptile slid through the exit en route to the town.

“By the time you arrive (Y/n) you’ll find we’ll be on the same level or they’ll all be dead. Either way I can’t wait to see how brightly you’ll burn!”

You immediately followed their trail falling behind; you were amazed at the speed they made darting through the forest. He planned to defeat you, by taking advantage of your divided attention. Running with nothing but the forest around you, you had to applaud him. 

“I’ve got to give it to him he’s greedier than any cryptids I’ve met. The world’s definitely going to learn about him if they survive him first.”

[siriusly-parker]

—flor de maracuja [draco m.] —prologue. [intro]

[series masterlist]

tags. [draco malfoy x hufflepuff!reader, students came back to finish their senior year, after the war, fluff, angst, kinda grumpy x sunshine, series]

author’s note. [really really short intro, plz tell me if you’d actually like a series!! ꩜ i siriusly love you <3]

wc. [0.67k]

“Remember! The harder the growing, the higher the grading!” Growled the teacher as the rest of his class started to pack their things and leave.

Mr. Derwen Pembroke was Madam Sprout’s gloomier Welsh replacement after the war. Of the few teachers left, not many came back to Hogwarts. The lack of staff meant that he was the only herbology professor, one who hated teaching introduction classes, as he felt he was overqualified. He constantly reminded his students of it and only kept his rudeness to a minimum with his Advanced crew. As a Herbology 101 student, Draco absolutely despised him.

“Mister Malfoy.” Draco stopped at the door. “You are failing my class.” He turned around and walked deeper inside the class towards his incredibly bored-looking teacher. “Actually, I believe I am not, Professor.” Mr. Pembroke rolled his eyes and put his feet up on his already muddy desk. “You’re right, I’m sorry. You are not failing.” Draco felt he was being condescending. “Yet.” Of course he was. “But, if your thumb doesn’t get as green as that damn tie very soon, you most definitely will be.” He sighs “I would like for you to be tutored for this assignment. Mr. Longbottom should be at the AH2 greenhouse right about now. He’ll explain everything.” Draco nodded, keeping his groaning hushed as he turned to leave the classroom. “One more thing.” Mr. Pembroke stopped him. “Don’t ever try to correct me again, Mr. Malfoy. No one likes a smartass.” The boy didn’t argue, he knew better than to bargain with a snake. “Of course, Professor.” “Don’t be a suck up either.” He was taken aback. What did this man want? But, Derwen laughed before he had the chance to finish his thought. “I’m just kidding, Draco. Don’t be so uptight.” “Well, there’s not much left for me to be now, is there, Sir?” “Smartass.” He snorts.

AH2 meant Advanced Herbology II. Their greenhouse was farther from the castle and closer to the forest, and only AH2 students or personally approved ones, like Draco, were allowed to use it. The small runned down shack didn’t interest many students, anyway. It looked old and disheveled, nothing very appealing.

When he got there, the so-called greenhouse was empty and Neville was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t really in the mood to look for him, so he hovered around all the weird looking plants, many of which he had never even seen before.

As he walked, he noticed a small passage towards what seemed to be like an extension of the place. It ended up being much bigger than what it hinted to from the outside, probably by an Undetectable Extension charm, like the one he used for his bag. It looked more like a national botanical garden than a stupid herbology class greenhouse. Entering the room, a faint melody could be heard from what Draco assumed to be the solarium.

When Draco walked into the sunlit room, he saw her. He saw the bows in her hair first. They were yellow like her skirt and the laces on her shoes.

“Are you lost?” The girl asked without turning around. Draco’s taken aback. He didn’t think she had even noticed his presence. “What?” “I’m asking if you are lost.” She says matter-of-factly. “Oh. Well, I guess I kind of am.” He tries to find the right words by rubbing the back of his neck, “...Sorry.” but she turns to face him with a bright smile he definitely didn’t expect. “No worries! I completely understand. This place is an absolute maze!” Her laugh was warm and it made the boy dizzy. Haven’t heard anyone be so friendly to him in a long time, he tries to change the conversation, so as to not think about it too much. “I’m actually waiting for Longbottom.” “That makes sense.” She smiles. “You can wait here if you want. He shouldn’t take long.” Turning back to caring for her plants, she shifts on her feet. “So… what are you working on?”

‎𐦂 hope you enjoyed it!! comment what you think! ◡̈

‧˚ʚ masterlist + requests

taglist ; @daydreamteardrop @ell0ra-br3kk3r @missstratford [restarting my tagging list/system! plz send an ask, comment, dm to be added!!]

[filmbyjy]

COLLIE DUTY

SYNOPSIS > being the new CEO to the ‘Sim Corp’ was hard and stressful. jake didn’t have much time to spend with layla and so he decides to get a dogsitter, you. though, you were originally already his secretary. how will dog sitting bring you two closer?

FOUR - she’s a cute one [written + pictures]

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

WARNINGS: none :)

ah yes, who knew you’d spend the afternoon of your work day walking down to jake’s expensive ass mansion. no seriously, jake was loaded with money.

oh sorry, I meant Mr.Sim was loaded with money. as you can tell, he is your boss and CEO of the company. you never bothered to ever address him by Mr.Sim though. why? simply because the both of you are the same age. it truly was a funny story on how you landed this job. being his secretary.

-

you remember the day where you bumped into him and spilled your coffee onto his shirt. god, you remember scrambling to help him and wipe off the stain off his like $1000 coat. actually, you were already late to like an interview (at his company but you didn’t know he was the CEO)

“it’s alright. you don’t have to apologise.” the man before you says.

“no no, i’m sorry. I spilt coffee on you and your coat. it looks expensive. though I probably can’t afford to buy you a new one, maybe I could pay for dry-cleaning?”

He laughs. No seriously, he laughs at you. He found you sort of cute to think that you could pay for the dry cleaning of his expensive coat. It was a one of a kind coat and there was only one in the world. Specifically tailored for him but you didn’t know and he wasn’t a rich snobby guy.

“It’s really okay. It’s just a little coffee and you were a little clumsy. This happens the most of us. Just be careful next time, alright?”

“But I need to repay you in some way-” he hands you a business card.

“If you feel really bad then maybe you could eventually repay me by getting coffee together.”

You bowed a couple of times to apologise to him and then went straight to the interview. The same one he would attend since he so happens to be looking for a secretary at the time. This stunned the both of you a little when you noticed each other in the room. Jake was even quicker to also announced you would be his new secretary and that caused jay and another staff to look at him in shock.

“What? Is it wrong to want her to be my secretary?” Jake tilts his head.

“Mr.Sim, we barely started the interview.-”

“And? She definitely looks qualified. Maybe a little clumsy but she definitely can get it after a couple of times.”

“Sir-” jay stops the other staff.

“Alright then Mr.Sim, if you wanna do it. Go ahead.”

The memories…and now here you are. watching Layla running around with a tennis ball in her mouth. she places it on the ground in front of you and nudges you to throw it. you were surprised she warmed up to you instantly because you heard it took a while for jay to even convince her to eat the food he placed on her bowl.

you threw the ball and Layla runs over to grab it. she barks and happily catches it. she then runs over to where you were and flopped in front of you. she rolls over so her belly was exposed. you gave her a good belly rub and she enjoys it. maybe this wasn’t so bad, layla was a good dog so she definitely would be obedient with you. now, all you had to focus on was getting some actual work done.

you were still jake’s secretary after all. hence, you took out jake’s iPad and went to fix up his schedule for tomorrow. you scanned through and added everything important, called to make sure the clients would actually be present in the next week’s meeting. you just continued working. then, a message pops up.

it was jake, asking if he could see a picture of layla. you happily snapped a picture. however, you quickly realised what you had just sent after texting him that picture was just creating more work for yourself and now you were screwed.

a/n: rip you. I am also hoping that the pictures and texts don’t mess up bc the last time I did it, I could not edit the chapter and it wouldn’t save😵‍💫

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[shunin-gumis]

As Master Joe Wishes - Track 04

Seasonal Team Event - L4mps

My parts are coming up! Thank you TLWard for letting me work with you!

Location:  HAMA House - Lesson Room

Ryui: (I don’t give a shit if that damn bear is getting targeted. I don’t, but…) 

(Whatever Toi wants is what I want. I’ll grant any of his wishes, even if I have to go through hell and back for it…!)

Sakujiro: Ryui-san, you’re not bowing low enough! The most respectful bow is at a precise 45 degree angle, you must bend until you can see your feet clearly! 

Ryui: Ugh… 

Sakujiro: Keep going! 56, 57… 

Netaro: I can’t do this anymooore~

Toi: Me neither~

Nagi:  My lower back is already waving a white flag because Ryui won’t recite the commandments…. 

Ryui: Aaaaaahhh!! Fuck!! 

Sakujiro: Oh dear… I suppose I can offer you a short respite from your little “bowing” punishment. 

Nagi: Oof… 

Chief: I see now… So that’s why Sakujiro-san is giving you special training on servitude? 

Toi: I have a feeling this is gonna lead up to a dramatic and heartfelt scenario!

Netaro: Perhaps the Suspension Bridge effect will give birth to many many new couples! 

Netaro and Toi: Ooh~~~~! 

Nagi: Chief, this might get dangerous, so it’s best if you don’t get involved. This kinda work that involves the 3Es is better suited for someone like me… 

Yodaka: I believe they were, “𝓔mbrace without” looking out of place, “𝓔xposure to danger is OK”, and “𝓔asily counted on.”

Chief: Oh… To be honest, I’m extremely worried about you guys, but unfortunately, Kafka called me in earlier… I’ll need to leave for an overseas business trip tomorrow. 

Ryui: (He probably figured this was gonna be a dangerous job… I’d do the same if I could.)

Yodaka: Not only do we have the police, we even have Danny, the brawn of HAMA Tours, on our side. I’m sure it will be fine.

Daniel: You can bet I’m gonna apply for that worker’s insurance and paid leave after this.

Ryui: —There’s something I just don’t get.

Ryui: We were only asked to escort her, I don’t see why we gotta dress up as maids or butlers and blend in as the manor’s staff. 

Sakujiro: I must disagree.

Ryui: … Go on.

Sakujiro: It would be quite unnatural to have multiple unknown faces wandering about the manor out of the blue. 

Nagi: Um, then why can’t we act as security guards instead?

Sakujiro: We must not give away that Joe-sama is the treasure. Introducing security into the picture would only bring unwanted attention.

Netaro: Indeed… Having guards around would only rouse suspicion. 

Ryui: Tch… 

Sakujiro: I’m certain you understand the necessity of your roles. Now then, let us take a short recess. We shall continue your punishment from the 58th bow.

~~~

Sakujiro: I apologize for disturbing you all during your break time, but I have something that requires your attention.

Nagi: ? Sakujiro-san, you look pretty excited?

Sakujiro: Fufufu… Was I perhaps too obvious? Please, take a look at these.

Toi: Wow…! It’s a sketch of butler and maid uniforms! 

Sakujiro: The moment I heard that you would all be working at a manor for your next assignment, inspiration welled up within me. Should you find these designs acceptable, it would be an honor to sew them up for you. 

Yodaka: These iterations honor the classic designs of old. I think they’re splendid.

Toi: But, I’m a maid? Not a butler?

Sakujiro: I believe being a maid would suit you better.

Ryui: You got that right. But… The hell you putting me and Hachinoya in dresses for too…? 

Sakujiro: I believe being a maid would suit you better.

Netaro: Lookie!! Daa’s gonna be a maid too!

Nagi: Woah, I feel like that’s gonna show up in my dreams, somehow.

Daniel: Whatever… I’d rather wear a maid dress than have to bow down one more time… 

Ryui: An old man like you should know how to stand your fucking ground! There’s no way in HELL I’m wearing a dress! I’d rather bite my tongue and let it fucking bleed out!

Toi: Ah, if Ani-sama is biting his tongue off then I will too…!

Netaro: Count me in~

Nagi: That’s a lot of “Tongue-cut Sparrows”… *

Yodaka: With this response… I’m sorry to say, but we should probably shelve that idea… 

Sakujiro: Understood… Boohoo… 

~~~

Sakujiro: Good work, everyone. Please keep in mind what you learned today. I expect you to become the absolute most perfect servants.

Location: HAMA House 2nd floor

Ryui: (Ugh… My back’s stiff as a board…) 

Sakujiro: Ryui-san, a moment, please.

Ryui: What? I ain’t doing any more bows.

Sakujiro: No, I didn’t stop you for such a reason… I have something I need to share about Joe-sama.

Sakujiro: As I recall, Joe-sama was actually a present that the late madam Brunhild had received from her father at a tender age. 

Sakujiro: She must have been treasured greatly as a close companion.

Ryui: …..

Sakujiro: When a person senses that they are not being valued, that is when they experience true anger. The duty of a servant is to find the true meaning hidden within their master’s demands, and act accordingly.

Ryui: And? What’s your point?

Sakujiro: Please keep in mind that if you perform insincerely, the other person will know.

Ryui: Yeah yeah, thanks for the warning, or whatever. 

Sakujiro: ….. 

~~~

Location: Manor - Large Parlor

Hiramei: Good morning everyone! We’re counting on you all for this mission! 

Hiramei: Please try to act natural! Samejima-san and I will be checking in on you guys every once in a while!

Ryui: ( –Is what that guy said, but… )

Location:  Manor - Bedroom

Ryui: What was next again, making the bed? How’s it even getting messed up when there’s only a plushie in here… 

Ryui: –The fuck! The heck you loungin’ around for, old man?

Daniel: My back… it hurts… It’s as stiff as a board… Give me a break already… 

Ryui: That’s what you said last time when you were lazin’ about on the sofa! For fuck’s sake, you’re a lost cause—

*loud tumbling noises*

Ryui: … Who messed up this time… 

Location: Manor - Large Parlor

Joe: My goodness! What in the world happened for the room to get to this state!

Toi: Wha- The laundry room and corridor are totally covered in foam...!

Nagi: I’m sorry… It’s my first time using a washing machine like this, so I put in a random amount of detergent and clicked some random buttons, and this is how it ended up… 

Ryui: Ah… Hachinoya’s technology impairment rears its ugly head… 

Yodaka: Joe-sama, pardon us. We’ll clean this up right away, so please overlook this. Nagi, could you bring in the cleaning supplies?

Nagi: Joe-sama…I apologize for my carelessness… 

*loud tumbling noises*

Joe: W-What in the world is it this time!?

Location: Manor

Netaro: Hmm. I thought I could grow some fresh veggies for dinner, but I seem to have injected a cell-positive agent instead of a growth promotant… 

Tomato Monster: GRRR—!

Toi: Wah! There’s a cluster of man-eating tomatoes with fangs surrounding us!

Joe: The manner in which they gnash their sharp fangs is giving me a fright! I-I fear for my life!

Yodaka: Pardon us, we will promptly harvest them. Netaro, please bring a shovel and a trowel.

Netaro: Roger that! Joe-sama, sorry about this!

Ryui: (Damn, can’t believe Natsume could clean up this mess so fast… Glad we have him around.)

Ryui: By the way, why’s Joe been on Toi’s back this entire time? You’ve even got him using a baby sling… 

Toi: Hehe, I’m Joe’s nanny right now! Joe-sama, are you comfortable on my back?

Joe: As expected of my “nursemaid.” I am feeling quite comfortable indeed!

Toi: Ehehe~ I’m glad to hear that.

Ryui: (Well, it’s all good if Toi’s happy with it.)

Ryui: Joe, you better not work Toi too hard, got it?

Joe: …..

Joe: My, whyever could it be that you are the only one to show me such disrespect… 

Note:

Nagi is referring to an old Japanese fable "Shita-kiri Suzume" or "The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue"

[space-blue]

vampire Q? i think i recognized all your wips but that one

It's an Avatar story in which Q contracts a fucked disease after getting a cut from an arrow. The microbes react differently to the recom DNA and fuck with his mind. The issue is that I started with chapter 2, which is finished, and the first half of chapter 1... Then bailed out on the part where the fever should ratchet up and up, till Miles loses himself and starts feasting on some RDA staff :3

--

It all starts with the graze of an arrow, courtesy of Sully's woman.

The neurotoxin immediately gets to work, burning as it spreads. Miles reaches for the antidote on automatic, punches it into the side of his throat and tosses the empty canister aside. He discards any concern just as easily. They're pinned down, the hostages scattered, and this is the one fucking alien on this moon whose brains he most wants splattered on the greenery. He's not letting his chance slip.

His arm screams in protest as he signs for Lyle to go around dear Mrs. Sully, or when he grabs Walker and yanks her back behind cover. It shakes under the recoil as he fires into the canopy, half blind in the rain. It nearly gives out when he hoists the kid over his shoulder and clips into the lines. 

They fly off and Miles presses himself into his seat, head spinning and an uncomfortable stinging sensation spreading down his chest. 

It doesn't matter. He doesn't care. His son is safe in his arms. Bleeding and zoning out, yes, but safe. Kid could have had it worse. He could have eaten a bullet or an arrow.

'He'll be fine, he's probably concussed by the blast and fall,' Lopez declares after a cursory inspection. 'But sir, you shouldn't hold him that way. You could pop the seal of his exopack.'

Miles grunts and adjusts the kid's position, arm twitching in protest. Lopez catches it. Or maybe it's the blood, still sluggishly oozing from the slice in his deltoid. Lopez presses his fingers along the cut, pulling out his small torch to get a better look.

'You took the anti—'

'What d'you think?'

'I think it was a bit of a shitshow, sir. Wouldn't blame you for missing it.'

Miles can't exactly counter that. You don't lose half your team to three natives with bow and arrows and not call it a shitshow. 

'I got it immediately,' he says, 'and I'll be heading to the medbay anyway.'

To deliver his unconscious son, if nothing else. 

Walker leans into him and whispers an apologetic, 'That was intended for me.'

'And it got neither of us,' Miles mutters. 

An easy half lie, but the arrow head and the yellow, striated fletching got under his skin, just in different ways.

--

That's what I have for chapter 1. Chapter 2 was in Lyle POV and much better imo buuuut, the entire story was hefty and long, with no way to shorten it significantly. I should yeet chapter 2 as standalone on ao3 and be done with it tbh.

Even made some doodles for this AU

One of these things about parasitism, building an organic convent, a sort of weird eldrritch horror competition to Eywa, leading the RDA and local tribes into uneasy cooperation.

It's a story that was discussed too much. It was fun to chat about, but my energy got spent on making the world, meaning I never got to sit to the writing fully.

I also had a really unpleasant interraction with some other fans around this particular story concept, so it really soured things, as often in Avatar sadly.

[askfanandtesttube]

Hey, I can answer a few questions about the whole, uh, gem thing if you want.

Since PV is blind, that's transferred over to Trophy... unfortunately. He's got his staff though, so it's probably fine.

The gems are actually called 'Soul Jams' and are from Cookie Run: Kingdom. Trophy has Pure Vanilla's, Cheesy has Hollyberry's, Dice Anon has White Lily's, I have Dark Cacao's, and Bow has Golden Cheese's.

We're all slowly acclimating to match the respective cookie. It's uh, an ordeal. Trophy's changed the most, I think.

Everyone but Dice Anon has found their respective item, but I don't think I'll be using the sword anytime soon.

Do you need anything else answered?

( @nickel-ii )

Hmm... this is very odd. I'll write this down and see if any researching will bring me closer to figuring out how to bring you all back to normal. Thanks, Nickel!

-Test Tube

[i4bellingham]

I really like your fics. I was wondering if you could do an imagine where Marcus dedicates a goal to Y/N

GOAL (OF THE HEART): marcus rashford x reader

NOTE: real life situations will not align with this fic but for the sake of this fic, please ignore them :)) also, this is one of my most favorite written pieces so far i swear to god night time brings ✨ something ✨ in me when i write (but unfortunately not every night lmao)

It was such a silly promise he had made to you while growing up.

“If I score a goal for you in our game in Monday, we will have to get married when we grow up.” An ten-year old Marcus Rashford proposes, giving you his still unopened ring pop as a form of sealing the deal. You slide the candy ring to your ring finger just like where your Ma has her's. “You better score more than one then.”

“Sure.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

Marcus did. He scored a hefty of goals during his time, growing tremendously on the passion he's got for football as he bagged goals after goals in his games.

There were timesㅡ a patch where he was out of form, made everything about the sport he loves grow a tad bit challenging. It also didn't help that a single mistake he had made came a wave of online hate directed towards him.

Those were the tough times, but still, you stood by his side as his best friend, his confidant, his girlfriend, the love of his life.

And as Marcus scored the final goal, one that was trivial to winning the title for The Carabao’s Cup, the silly promise he had made to you as a kid now turned into something more than just what it was, a silly little promise of a young boy who shared his dreams and passion for football to his friend, a girl next door who used to call him ‘Marc’ growing up because she couldn't be bothered to pronounce his two-syllable name, the girl who watched him practice his dribbling skills behind their muddy backyard even during the rain.

Every single Reds fans erupted into a holler of cheers, uniting as one as they waved the huge red Manchester United banner, popping every red confetti as they cheered for the victory of their team.

Every player, Ten Hag and a few of the team staff were huddled near the box, almost squashing your boyfriend underneath as they celebrated his goal. You can see a few tear-streaked faces from where you're sat, most probably from the win and finally ending the 5-year drought of not winning a single title in different cups as you yourself wipe tears off from your own eyes.

The guys, after a little while of congratulating and dapping each other stood and formed a line in front of their very enthusiastic and supportive fans, some waved, some bowed and some gave away flying kisses before walking off to find their own families.

Due to some schedule conflicts, Marcus’ family wasn't able to watch this game live, leaving you to watch him play and support him on the stead of his family. One single look through your Instagram, they were of course already the first one's to congratulate your boyfriend, posting lengthy messages with photos of their tele as they watch the game from their homes.

On your peripheral vision, you see the man of the game jogging towards your seat, and you immediately jump up, shoving your phone into your back pocket before meeting Marcus from behind the barricade as he reaches both arms out to wrap around your waist.

“Oh my god! I am so proud of you!” You gush against his neck, cupping his face before kissing him on both cheeks.

Marcus takes the liberty of connecting your lips together before you could get any far. You wrap both hands behind his neck, ignoring his sweaty state as he pulls away just to pick you up from behind the barricade that separates you both and placing you on the ground in front of him. Then he kisses you hard again, fervent but not bruising.

“Do you remember my promise when we were ten?” He asks, glancing towards where Sancho was approaching.

You scrunch your nose, patting his chest. “You have made a handful of promises Mr. Rashford, you may have to remind me on this one.”

You cheekily smile at him, teasing because he knew that you knew. But as always, the challenge was welcomed.

Sancho arrives, wrapping an arm over your boyfriend’s shoulder and with a few pats on the back and a ‘good luck mate,’ he leaves the two of you alone but not before shooting you a knowing smile.

“I scored a goal for you...” Marcus takes his hand that was behind him, showing you a small red velvet box, then he kneels and opening the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring over a golden band and you're cupping a palm over your mouth. “In a Monday game... so will you please do give me the honor of being your husband?”

Freely, the tears start to fall on your cheeks, the sound of the fans who were seeing the moment live cheered as you had Marcus kneeling on the ground before you.

“I didn’t score more than one goal today but, I was hoping I’d score your yes with this one because as cheesy as this may sound, that's one of my goals since I was ten...” Marcus laughs when you sob against your palm, failing to wipe away your tears but you move to wipe his when the first one fell on his cheek.

You didn't say yes, not immediately but you did nod your head before a shaky yes, yes Marcus I’ll marry you leaves your lips, tackling your boyfriend to the ground as he loops an arm around your waist whilst you're nuzzling your face against his chest, sobbing.

“You’re so cheesy but I love you.” You hiccup, raising your head just to see the herd of football players rushing to your way most likely to congratulate you.

Marcus flicks a stray hair out of your face, cupping your right cheek before he's slipping the ring in your ring finger, just like where your Ma has her's, and he's leaning down to kiss your lips, never mind the salty taste of tears on his tongue.

“You promise?” Marcus smiles as he parts, using the pad of his thumb to wipe your cheeks.

You nod, connecting your foreheads together as you answer. “I promise.”

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 37

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

People coming back to me? I'll give them a show.

It takes a couple hours to set up, but that's fine, it takes a couple hours for one of the Starjumpers to detach from the Shipyard and come down and dock on the Reach. I wonder how complete it is. If it was still in the Shipyard when they stole it, it's probably missing a lot of components and isn't a comfortable ride.

Earlier today I declared that today and tomorrow are holidays and everyone can take the time off work. Any one who wants to keep working - food or craft sellers for example - can. Honestly, anyone who wants to keep working can, I'm not going to make them come to my little show off thing, but I do appreciate that everyone likes me enough to come out when I ask.

I have them bring out the platform we used when the Venusians came last, but this time me and my Builders are on top. We set it up a little way out from the umbilical so that as they come out, we can see them and they can see the crowds that have gathered. We finish as people start streaming in. It's a real festival atmosphere. I see food sellers walking the crowds, people offering little trinkets and toys for the children, and musicians are playing. People seem to really be having a good time. I'm glad.

As we sit waiting, the Starjumper connects.

The umbilical lights glow purple, showing a positive connection, and I raise my hands for silence.

The crowd stills.

Earlier, Omar explained to everyone as we were setting up that we were welcoming home people who went across the galaxy and delivered a shipyard and starships to us in my name. After more than seventy years of no Builders and then centuries of an Empire in decline, most everyone has been excited at the turn of events lately. Everyone likes being on the winning team, and it really feels like we're at the beginning. People for decades could talk to their friends and family about today. "I was there..." they'd tell children and grandchildren as they rolled their eyes and go off to play.

But they'd hear about it.

Even before the Heinlein and the Starjumpers showed up, Um'reli has been quietly asking around with local leaders. Most of them have said that there should be no shortage of volunteers to crew ships of conquest. - should a call go out.

With a hiss and a pop, the door irises open, and a Venusian walks out. Lightly armed, he looks up in complete surprise to the silent crowd in front of him. When he's visible, the crowd roars. I see how surprised he is by the wall of sound. I stand and wave to try and calm him. He cautiously waves back and rushes back inside.

After a moment, more than fifty people are led out by armed Venusians, blindfolded, and with their hands tied.

They are lined up before me at the front of the platform, 4 rows deep. Their blindfolds the purple of Venus and their hands tied with plastic straps. Behind them come two dozen heavily armed Venusians and yes... it does looks like it's almost everyone from the Lavinia. I recognize faces from the interviews.

A Venusian approaches. He's wearing the purple and grey uniform of Venus, but there are no emblems or patches on it. He approaches the platform and salutes. His voice clear he states loudly "Captain William Pfenning reporting, Empress. As you have commanded, we have returned to you, bearing gifts. Three almost complete Starjumpers and the entirety of the Heinlein Shipyards, including the staff." He bows low.

At the mention of the starships, the crowd gasps. They knew that they were coming with ships, but the fact that it was a shipyard and three of the largest ships from that side of the galaxy was a surprise.

At his bow, the rest of the Venusians bow low as well. I glance back to Raaden and she is grinning from ear to ear. Ginny recognizes people and is trying to surreptitiously wave to them. "Er, thank you for your generous gift Captain Pfenning. Please... remind me how I ordered you?

He looks up, incredulous. "When you declared that we belonged to you, we took the order to heart. When you sent us back to Venus in a stripped ship, we knew it was to send Venus a message, and also to embolden us to find our way back to you."

Ahh. This is what I get for trying to be theatrical. Good work, Melody. I'm committed now, no turning back. I should learn to keep my big mouth shut. Far too late for that I suppose.

I incline my head slightly. Here we go. "Thank you for your effort. These... gifts you have brought us are truly special. You and your crew are invited to dinner with us tonight. I would love to hear more about how you managed to do this amazing thing."

Will bowed again. "We would be honored to come to dinner Empress. But first..." He snaps his fingers.

The assembled Venusians remove the blindfolds of the captured Shipyard workers. They look around wide eyed and scared. Captain Pfenning looks at me expectantly.

Oh gosh, now what? Oh he's going to want me to order them to obey. I wasn't expecting to deal with captives already. I don't really want to compel people to work for me, but we also need help to build Starships. I'm going to have to do something. ugh. I feel so bad about this, it it'll be worse if I leave them. We really do need help too.

I stand up and face the captives.

H̷͉͆ȃ̷̖v̴͖̈e̵̺̽ ̴̬͆n̵̲̓ơ̵̻ ̷̨̓f̸̧͒e̵̖̕a̵̞̍ȑ̴̳.̵͇̏ ̶̻͠W̴̠̿e̶̟̅ ̷̜̊w̶͍̕ĩ̶̗l̴͍̎l̴͈̆ ̵̘͠n̵̝̑ò̸̡t̶̪͠ ̷̮̅h̴͍̓ā̶̻ŕ̸̩m̵̂͜ ̵͇͋ÿ̵̞́ő̵̥ụ̸͊.̴͖̊

They relax immediately. That's good at least.

Y̶̥͑o̸̱͛ū̴͇ ̴̗͊w̴̬̔o̶͖͠r̶͎͝k̴͖͑ ̵̡͌f̴͔̅ǫ̸̈́ṟ̷͋ ̵̱̓m̶̙̎e̴͍̓ ̶̳͗n̸̡͆ò̸̯w̴̑͜.̴̛ͅ

"You shall be paid for your work, and housing provided. Once our important work has finished, you shall freed and given the option to stay or return as you see fit. Tonight though, you shall dine with us as our honored guests."

B̴̻̭̫̮͇̿͛͠o̸̻͈̼͓̦͚̽́̒̋w̶̧̼͓̿́̈́̈́̌̚͘͝, and rise as subjects of the Holy Imperial Systems!"

It was awkward when their hands bowed, but everyone managed to bow.

While they were down, one man stood early. He raised his hands, and the restraints fell from his wrists. "Tyrant!" he snarled. "You will never be able to stop all of us!" His right hand folded out of the way and in it's place was...

a gun.

He was taking aim at me.

I felt my perception of time change. As the Nanites boosted my perception, I watched in slow motion as he raised his gun-arm, the black muzzle of the barrel in his arms a dark circle pointed at me. My first assassin, and he didn't seem to be affected by my Voice. Oh! I bet he's an AI. Well, here goes nothing...

Ṣ̵̜͐́̏̕̕͠͝ţ̴̣͌̄̑̃o̵͍̳̥̻͈̥̓͝p̶̛͓͇̗̀̓̓͘!̸̱̻̬̹͙̖̪̈́̐̚̚͝͠

He faltered. His face started to contort into a snarl of rage. Oh no, it works, but not enough. He can fight it. I try again. I really put a lot of myself into it.

C̸̢͌̉ȇ̷̟̣ä̷̩͝s̵͉͚͘e̶̝̾̈ ̶̡̮̽͝t̷̰̚h̵̤̆i̴̮̐̄s̴̲̩̉ ̷̫̀͐a̷̝͝t̷̙̖̚ ̷̲̽̂ǫ̴̹̓n̴̘̔̽c̶̳̈́e̴̟͆͝ͅ!̵̢͕̈

He shakes his head, confused. It works, but not enough. I'm going to need help on this one. My hand swings up to point at him, so slowly. I flip my perception back to normal and shout

Ī̴̟t̷͖̃'̷͙̕s̶͓̐ ̴̭̐a̶̤̚n̶̯̑ ̶̘͠a̸͑ͅs̷̼̄š̷̖å̴̖s̵̫̈́ṣ̵͌i̶͚͌n̵͕̽!̴̫̈ ̵͖͛S̶̖̆t̷̤͑ò̵̭p̶̲͌ ̷̜͗h̴̪̃i̸̟̒m̵̫̓!̷̟̀

In my panic, I don't direct the command at anyone, so it goes to everyone.

It's a bloodbath. Everyone within the sound of my voice, so... the Venusians, the prisoners, my Builders and much of the audience hears the command and descends on the would be assassin.

Fortunately, the sounds of shouting and yelling drown out the... other sounds.

After only a moment, the AI assassin is... gone. A stain of pale blue milky fluid is all that remains of him. Huh. I had no idea their circulation fluid wasn't red like blood. Well. That solves one problem, my immediate demise, but causes a whole new pile of problems because I didn't get a chance to question him. Also, it's worrying that my new Voice worked, but not well enough. I'll have to study AI brains more I think.

I raise my hands and call for calm, and resume the welcome. I take a breath to steady my voice.

"Now that has been taken care of, Please come and join us at the Palace for a meal, and we shall celebrate." I gesture to the crowd. "Residents of the Reach! Please welcome your heroes!

Quickly, I get down from the platform and gesture to Ava and Raaden and the others. Raaden is still grinning. "Good work disposing of that assassin Melody, you not only eliminated a threat, but you showed the people from the shipyards what you can do. I swear, it was more of them than the Venusians tearing him apart."

"You couldn't stop him though?" Ava looks worried. "We could have used him to get more intel on what the AIs know about us."

"That's just it, I tried." I look at my hands and then back at Ava. "It didn't work. He faltered at my new command, but it didn't stop him. I don't know if I need to learn more about AI brains, or if it will always be limited when trying to command them."

"Well it's not like he'll be reporting back." Um'reli shook her head. She had a better view of what happened than I did. Her expression is clear. She did not like what she saw. "We can only hope he was there to spy on the shipyard and took the imitative when he realized what was happening."

Raaden nods. "That was probably it. Even if FarReach reported to... whoever is in charge of the AIs - if they even have something like that - it would be years before they act. They like to take things slow and wait out trouble. They're so long lived that they would rather just leave a system and wait out someone they don't like rather than try and eliminate them."

Starlight's feathers ripple worriedly. "That was an AI? They look just like people. I thought you said they pilot your starships?"

Omar shakes his head and gestures as he talks. "They do both. Some AIs are ships, some have bodies like people, and others swap between the two. Since AIs bodies are so divorced from their 'selves' they are effectively immortal. If their body or their ship gets old and run down they change it. There are rumors that there are AIs that are still around from when the first AIs were crated."

Raaden frowns. "I don't buy it. I think it's just propaganda they use to try and bolster their numbers. If there are one hundred thousand AIs total I'd be surprised. I think they're much more rare than they let on. They love to let people think they're everywhere."

I don't know. I've met plenty of AIs. In bodies and in ships. I think there are more of them than Raaden thinks. Oh well. There aren't any here, that's a problem for Future Melody.

We get to the Palace and enter. It's different than the last time the Venusians were here. This time, it's more more of a party atmosphere. I had set up another banquet table for the Shipyard workers, and after I told them not to worry and that they'd be working for me they mostly rolled with it. Good food, no danger and the promise of pay took a lot of the sting out of "now you're stuck over here" and "by the way you're the subjects of an Empress"

We offered Captain Pfenning the opportunity to sit up at the head table with us, mostly because Raaden is dying to grill him on what happened.

"Okay. Don't leave anything out. What happened after Melody tossed the Lavinia into the Gate?"

Will swallows his tea. "We were able to Gate back to K'lax, but without a wormhole generator, we couldn't go any further. Luckily, the K'laxi linked a beacon back to Venus and the Frigate Liddy linked to K'lax with a spare wormhole generator. We spent a couple days installing it as best as we can and were able to link back to Venus."

Raaden grins. "I bet the Emperor was... displeased."

"Oh boy was he. Incandescent would be to kind. When we told him that you and Emery were captured, he declared you both killed in action and memorialized."

Raaden stopped, her fork midway to her mouth. "He declared us killed in action? He wouldn't even try and negotiate?"

"No. Said you weren't worth the effort. He had 'too much to do' back home. He was getting on one of his kicks to attack Heinlein again."

"I... see." Helen put her fork down and looked ahead at the crowd for a moment. I think she was sad to find out that she was cast aside so readily. She gently shook her head. "What of Emery?"

"Same thing. Declared killed, official three days of mourning, painting put up in the Hall of Heroes, the works. Officially the successor will be decided 'at a later date.'"

"Cast aside so easily... It just reinforces that I made the right decision throwing my lot in with Melody. You'll do well here Will. We have a need of strong captains soon."

I look over at Will. "He ordered you to attack Heinlein? That's how you got there?"

Will grinned. "He said it would 'help you and your crew redeem yourselves in my eyes and the eyes of Venus.' I think he was trying to give us a suicide mission to get us out of the way."

Omar looked up at the conversation. "Hasn't Venus been trying to attack Heinlein Shipyards for years?"

"Yup. Always failed before. Usually because they go in guns blazing and try and take it by force. We went in with the remains of the Lavinia and asked about repairs."

"They were going to refit Lavinia?" Um'reli was incredulous.

"If they knew what ship it was, no. We scrubbed the beacons and all identifying information. I said we found a scrap frame and were looking to refit it. As a crew came over to verify the frame's identity and work out the details of the refit, we overpowered them, abandoned the Lavinia and took the shuttle back to the Heinlein. They weren't expecting a guerilla mission at all and were completely taken by surprise." Will took another bite of food. "Then, once we had the station under control we loaded everyone into the most complete Starjumper, linked the wormhole generators together, overloaded the reactors - it was handy that Heinlein has such a large reactor, crossed our fingers and pulled the lever!"

At this point everyone at our table was listening intently to Will's story. "How did you get our address for the wormhole generator?" Ava with the smart questions.

Will shrugged with only one shoulder. "We got it from the navigation records of the Lavinia. We always take addressing measurements when we go somewhere new to update the records and make sure we are were we expect to be."

Raaden looks so proud of Will. I wonder if he is her protegé. "Excellent work Captain Pfenning. I'm so glad you made it back here. If everyone from the Lavinia who is here is willing to sign on wholeheartedly with Empress Melody, we could use the help. We're in the beginning states of planning to conqueror things back home and we'll need all the help we can get."

Will blinks. "You're going to conqueror? The whole place?"

I shrug. What else can I do? "Eventually yes. We'll start with Venus and the Sol system and work our way out from there. Since I have the ability to command anyone who is in the same room as me, my Builders point out that the governments back home probably won't tolerate my existence. The only solution is to take over or kill myself. I very much like being alive, so-" I show my hands "-I'm going to take over."

Raaden is animated as she explains it. "Don't worry Will, Melody is good people and a good Empress. She'll do well in charge. We'll get a chance to see some real change, help lots and lots of people and finally see a unified Sol and more!"

Will takes a sip of tea. "You already got our loyalty, so don't worry about that. If Raaden is this excited to work with you, then I'm excited to be a part of things. I trust her implicitly, and if she says you're good, then I know you are. The rest of the crew feels the same way."

Raaden laughs. "This is wonderful Melody. We're growing by leaps and bounds. Let's finish the three Starjumpers and convert them to Builder operation and start on the first Calamity Class super Dreadnought. Omar can bring the wilds over and turn that into a shipyard too. With two of them, we can build a fleet that much faster."

Will raises an eyebrow. "Calamity Class?"

"You should see it Will! It's amazing. We took the designs from the Lavinia's database plus the designs the Builders had here and made a super dreadnought. It can even go in atmosphere! Those colony worlds won't know what hit them. We'll be able to go in hot and fast and the battles will be short with a minimum of deaths. I bet we can conquer Sol in a month and the entirety of Human space in 2 years or less."

Dinner continued on into the evening with Helen excitedly telling Will and the others from the Lavinia our plans, with a little more emphasis on attacking than I liked. Still, I had never seen her this happy or animated unless she was talking about trains, so I let her go. If she gets people to sign on with us without me having to keep on ordering people, all the better. By the end of the meal, I noticed that a few of the employees from the Shipyard were listening intently as well. Interesting.

That night, I drew a hot bath and climbed in. I needed some time to decompress.

As I lay floating, Ava came in. "Want company?"

"It's really hot, but if you can stand it, sure."

She smiled and stripped down. Only wincing a little, she climbed in.

She snuggled up to my side and put her head next to mine. We floated in the silence and dark for a little while, just being Ava and Melody.

"Oh Ava, what am I going to do?"

"About what, hon?"

"First Janais, now the Venusians and the shipyard. I feel like I'm being pushed into taking over and ruling a Galaxy."

"Well you are Empress."

"What if I don't want to be? What if I just want to be Melody, with her partner Ava?"

Ava sighed. "I'd like that too Melody. But, that's not our direction now. What's the old saying? 'Buy the ticket, take the ride.' You bought the ticket when you touched the directory stone and became Empress. Now, we're on this ride to the end. Unless you want to to get off early-" I stiffened. No, I emphatically don't want that. "-then we've got to see it through."

I thought about the AI assassin from earlier today. Just a stain on the floor, just like that Aviens back when we first arrived. "So many people are going to die Ava."

I could feel her nod. "Yes, they probably will. We will have to do our utmost to be as overwhelming as possible. If we can intimidate, we don't have to kill. If we can cow people, we won't have to destroy them."

"I suppose you're right Ava. I don't want to be killed. I don't want to kill people either. I wish this hadn't happened."

Ava sits up and looks at me. I can see her wet face and hair reflected in the lights from the windows. "But it did happen Melody. Wishing won't change it. The only thing we can do is our best. We're given an opportunity here. Instead of lamenting the deaths that haven't happened yet, try and think about the good we can do here and elsewhere. Try and think how we can win with the least deaths and then you can be a just, fair, and most importantly, long lived ruler." She leaned back down against me. "Look at it this way. The only other Emperor is currently in charge of Venus, and he's loved by nobody. You'll be better than him without even trying. If you try, you could be beloved by everyone."

"Everyone? What about the AIs, Ava? I'm not about to do a genocide, I'll be no better than Venus then."

"Well... your voice works a bit. Maybe with practice and research it'll work more. More importantly, if we can convince them that you aren't a threat and aren't trying to eliminate them, maybe they'll leave you be."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. We have to convince them that we're not going to try and eliminate them." The water sloshed as I rolled and faced her. "But how?"

She put her finger against my lips. "Shh, we have time. We can figure that out later." Her hand slid down my body. "For now, we have other things to concern ourselves with."

The night was long and full of enjoyment.

Part 38

[crystalsnow95z]

Request: On the way to dance practice, Jimin gets violently stopped by a hater. The members notice that he is gone but doesn't think much of it since he's always late (lol). Soon, they go drive around and look for him since they get worried and find him beat up. They help him heal physically and mentally <3

I knew requests like this would come after I posted my car accident story, but don't worry! I will gladly fulfill requests like this as well!

I actually had my real life friend help come up with the hater scene because I found it difficult to talk badly about our angel.

My psychological stories always end up with super long beginnings. Sorry^^,

Let's get to the story ~

Trigger warning: mental and physical abuse(obviously) please avoid in between the green lines if you aren't okay with violence

I couldn't fall asleep at all last night, I can't believe I'm this nervous when the award show isn't even until tomorrow.. I probably only got an hour of sleep..

Jimin sighs, yawning behind the face mask he adored to cover up most of his fsce. He told staff that he would walk to work today, thinking the fresh air would help wake him up, and he could stop by the nearby cafe to buy for drinks for him and his members.

Along with his face mask, he wore a black snap back that kept his face in the shadows, talking to the barista in a lower tone than his usual one. "I'd like 6 large iced Americanos and one hot chocolate, please, large for that one as well."

Despite all his efforts to keep his identity a secret, he felt like he was being watched. He looks around, trying to see who it is, jumping when he hears the barista speak again.

"That'll be 40.45, please."

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry." He bows, quickly swiping his card. I'm just being paranoid.. I gotta calm down. Jimin takes a deep breath, going to the side to wait, going on his phone to try to ignore the feeling.

Jimin successfully gets his order, carefully holding the bag to try not to spill his precious cargo. They've been practicing for several hours a day for the past two weeks in preparation for an upcoming concert, and he knew his gift would cheer everyone up.

He checks the time surprised to see that even with his stop, he'd get there with a little time to spare. I'm actually going to make it. Namjoonie-hyung can't tease me today.

His smile quickly dropped when he felt someone walking uncomfortably close behind him. He stepped to the side in case they were just in a hurry and wanted to pass him, but when he stepped, so did they.

Did they follow me from the cafe?

Jimin felt his heart accelerate at the thought, picking up the pace. When he started walking faster, so did the man. There's no doubt they're following me..

Jimin looked around to see if there was anyone to ask for help, but with it being this early on a weekday, there was no one. He takes out his phone to try to call for help, but as soon as he unlocks it, he only presses one number before the man grabs his wrist pressing hard on his veins.

Jimin drops his belongings, the coffee he was trying so hard not to spill covering the pavement. "Th..that hurts, please let me go.." Jimin's eyes widen with fear, his voice coming an octave higher as he tries to use his other hand to pry the man from his other wrist. "What do you want from me...?"

"What I want? What I want is for you to quit BTS. Jin and Taehyung would get more parts if you weren't in the picture. Jin's voice is much better than yours, but he's too kind to ask for more lines, and Taehyung's dancing is overlooked just because you had prior experience. He's just as good as you, but you still make him live in your shadow, and he does it with a smile because you're his so-called friend." The man speaks in a soft tone, so no one but Jimin hears him, dragging him into an even more secluded area, Jimin unable to break free from the larger man's grip.

"What's going on?" A passerby asks.

"Oh, nothing. We train under the same company and he decided to try to skip out of practice! I was told to get get him. We're running late so I'm sorry we must go." The man lied naturally, pulling Jimin faster.

"Wait, no! I don't - " Jimin tries to speak, but the man digs his nails into Jimins's wrist, his pleas for rescue turning into a yelp.

"Now.. where were we?" The man continued when he gets them out of the prying eyes. "Oh yes, your lines hogging and you stealing the center far too often, you greedy little sh*t."

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

"Th..that isn't true! We make sure everyone gets what suits the song best, I don't decide what parts I get.. we agree as a team!" Jimin's words are meant with a punch directly to his eye.

"You're a fu*kin' liar! You could easily turn down a part, but you don't because you're a greedy bastard! You might have everyone else fooled with that goody goody act, but I see right through it!"

Jimin stumbles to the ground, covering his already swelling eye with his hand slowly rising to his feet."I'm not acting.. I'm just being mys-"

Jimin's voice gets cut off when his attacker kicks him in the chest, keeping his foot firmly on top of him, the vocalist letting out a breathy moan as he struggles to breathe with the weight on his chest.

"I said to stop lying, you little piece of filth." The man glares down at him. "You're holding everyone back. You're just a leech piggy backing off the others' career."

Tears streamed down Jimin's cheeks, trying to relieve the foot from his body, but think man was much larger than him, his efforts in vein. "Hyung.. please.. help me.." he tried to scream but fear made his vocal cords too tight, his voice coming our as a whimper.

The man bends down, grabbing Jimin by the jaw, pulling him to his feet. "You can't do anything on your own. Come on. Hit me." The man taunts him, turning his head to the side for Jimin to punch, but Jimin opts to try to escape instead.

"Don't you try to run. I'm not done with you!" The man grabs him by the hair. "You didn't agree to quit!"

"I..I won't.. we're sev..aghm..." Jimin's whimpers as the man pulls harder.

"Plenty of groups do fine with 4 members. You aren't needed. Quit fooling yourself. They don't actually need you." The man throws him back to the ground, stepping on Jimin's wrist to pin him down. "If you won't quit, I'll just ruin that pretty face of yours. Then those fans you gush about so much won't want you."

Please.. someone.. save me...

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

"Where's Jiminie? It's already been fifteen minutes. He's never this late without calling first." Taehyung asks, finishing up his warm-up stretches quickly getting his phone to look for any messages.

"I don't know.. I'll call him. He probably stopped somewhere on the way. He told staff he would find his own way here." J-hope takes out his phone, waiting for an answer. "Huh? He didn't pick up.."

"What? That's not like him." Taehyung tried calling himself, frowning when he gets the same result. "I'm going to go see if he's nearby. Maybe his hands are too full to get his phone from his pocket."

"I'll go with you." Yoongi quickly offers, digging in his bag for a beanie and face mask. "Cover up Taehyungie, we don't want to draw too much attention."

"Okay Hyung." Taehyung gets his red baseball cap and his face mask, pulling his hood over it.

"Let me go too." Jungkook goes to get ready to go, but Namjoon stopped him.

"We don't know if he's missing or not. If they don't find him, then we'll all look okay? Let them handle it. They'll call if they need help."

Jungkook bites his tongue, wanting to argue, having too much respect for his leader to disobey him.

"Let's practice without them for now. Jungkookie, you wanted me to help you with the hook part in the new song anyway, right? I'll have the time to teach you one on one." J-hope distracts Jungkook while the two deagu boys leave the practice room.

"You don't really think he's just not answering because his hands are full do you?" Yoongi asks, trying to keep up with Taehyung's quick strides as he rushes out of the building.

"I just have a bad feeling, that's all.. let's walk towards his place.." Taehyung follows the path he knew Jimin would take, keeping his eyes open for the pink haired Busan boy.

Yoongi agrees, following beside him as they walk, freezing when he notices the toppled over paper bag from the coffee shop Jimin frequents after practice. "No.."

Taehyung follows the olders' gaze, but instead of the purple phone case. The one he just picked out with Jimin last week. Taehyung runs over, confirming his suspicions when he sees the lock screen. "Jimin-ah was here.."

"I'll call the others." Yoongi pulls Taehyung as he walks, dialing Jin's number.

"Did you find him?" Jin skips greetings.

"We found his phone.. someone had to have grabbed him.." Yoongi tries his best to speak clearly, but his heart thumps painfully in his chest with anxiety.

"I'll call the police. You get back to the studio." Jin motions for the others to come here.

"No, we're fine. We'll stay together. I need to look for him. I'm sorry, hyung." Yoongi hangs up before Jin can forbid it. He couldn't wait for the police. Since he's an adult, they could easily chalk it up as just him losing his phone and us being paranoid idols..

Yoongi went into the nearest shop, bowing to the woman at the counter. "Excuse me miss, but did you hear any commotion outside your shop?"

"I'm sorry, no. Is something wrong?" The shop keep answers, but Yoongi didn't have time to explain.

"I'm sorry I'm looking for someone I don't have time to explain." Yoongi pulls Taehyung along with him, asking anyone who gives him the time of day if they saw anything out of the ordinary.

"Please, sir.. did you see him..please just look this picture." Taehyung shows them a photo he took of him and Jimin yesterday, their face covered by the masks.

"The pink haired boy? Yeah, I saw him with another guy, probably his manager or security guard. You missed them about twenty minutes ago." The man tells them. "He should be back by now, don't worry."

"Which way did they go? What did that man look like?" Yoongi demands, coming out more harsh than he intended.

The man points towards the river. "They went that way. He was mostly covered and looked pretty average. A broad shouldered man with black hair and brown eyes."

"Thank you so much, sir." Taehyung bows before Yoongi pulls him. We need to find him.. I know Yoongi-hyung. I'm going as fast as I can.

Yoongi dragged Taehyung through the city, both of them stumbling over cracks in the sidewalk, quickly texting the others on the latest update. They had no idea where they were going. Their only thought was to find their missing member.

He was spotted with a man going towards the river. Heading there now. it's the only lead we got..

Yoongi texts quickly.

We'll meet you there. Let's meet at the bridge. I'll update the police.

Jin texts back.

Jimin was discarded underneath the bridge, unable to lift his head without pain. "Hyungie.." Jimin calls hoarsely to the open air, but his voice is drowned out by the sound of the wind and the river.

They probably won't bother looking for you

The man's voice rang in his ears, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. The cold breeze of the river chilled him to the bone, Jimin hardly making it out of the water, laying soaking wet on the shore.

"Jimin-ah!" Taehyung's voice comes out hoarsely as he screams. They've been looking nonstop for the past hour. The police were no help, saying they lost them on camera, so the only lead they had was the river.

"Jiminie-hyung!" Jungkook yells after him.

The boys split up into two separate groups, going in different directions. Namjoon, Taehyung, and Jungkook were in a group together. One body guard went with both groups.

Namjoon was walking ahead of them at a brisk pace, freeezing in place when he sees the bright pink hair of Jimin in his current favorite oversized white sweater. "Taetae, Jungkookie.. I see him!"

Jimin could hear the voices of the others running towards him, feeling Namjoon pull him into his lap. "Hyungie..I'm..I'm cold.." Jimin could hardly see him, his eyes mostly swollen shut, but he could recognize the voices of his members anywhere.

"It's okay, it's okay. I got you. Let's try to get you warmed up some.. okay? " Namjoon takes off his jacket. "Jungkook, help me get his shirt off."

"They really hurt him." Jungkook felt his stomach drop when he saw all the bruises covering Jimin's face, his nose crusted over with dry blood, his lip swollen with a split down the left side. "We need to call an ambulance to be sure nothing is broken.."

Namjoon and Jungkook help Jimin get his shirt off, eyes widening when he sees the bruising continuing across Jimin's body. Anger flashed in Namjoon's eyes.

How could anyone do this to him? He's nothing but kind to everyone he meets..

Namjoon helps lead Jimin's arms into the jacket, Jimin inhaling sharply when his fingers bend.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just want to try to get you into something dry.." Namjoon gently takes Jimin's wrists, only now noticing his swollen fingers. Shit.. i gotta keep focused... I can't let my emotions cloud my judgment."He has at least a few broken fingers.."

"Help is on the way." The security guard, Jeong, called an ambulance while the members were busy with Jimin, taking off his jacket and throwing over Namjoon's shoulders.

"Jiminie..." Taehyung dries his tears with the back of his thumbs, voice coming out as a sob. He had never seen Jimin in such a rough state, the most he's ever seen was a wrapped up leg from dancing too hard

"D..don't cry

"Deep breaths, Taehyung.. we found him, and he's alive.. that's all that matters. You too Jungkook.." Namjoon tries to calm the younger boys, despite his emotions running high.

"You came.." Jimin croaked, his eyes watering again, shivering violently as he clings to his leader.

"What? Of course we came. We came looking the moment you didn't answer your phone. Why would you think that?" Namjoon rubs his hands across Jimin's arms. "Oh.. the others! Jungkook call seokjinnie-hyung."

"I meant. You found me.." Jimin quickly changes his words when he hears the pain in his leader's voice clearly hurt by his words. "Sorry..."

"Huh? Oh.. yeah.. right." Jungkook was still in shock on Jimin's condition. Following hyung's request, Jungkook looked away from Jimin, feeling sick to his stomach.

Could this have been any of the others? Namjoonie hyung rides his bike to work a lot of the time..

"Hy..Hyungie, we found..but but.. they really hurt him. We called for..for.." Jungkook spoke quickly, stammering out the words, his mind reeling with dark thoughts.

"Jungkook-ah breathe. I can't understand you. Did you find him?" Jin gently orders him.

Jungkook passes the phone to Taehyung, unable to calm his nerves, who takes it, wrapping his body around the Mankae.

"We find him, but it..it looks like he got jumped.." Taehyung did better to keep his voice under control, but Jungkook could feel his heart beating wildly against his back, clearly having the same thoughts.

"What? How bad is he?" Jin asks, voice filled with worry.

"He..he..ah..b..broke so..some fi..fingers.." Taehyung struggled to explain it to Jin, a hard lump forming his throat, when he tries to speak, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

"Hey..hey, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it okay? I'll just see for myself. Don't cry Vuu.." Jin speaks in a soothing tone, hearing Taehyung holding back a sob. "It's okay to be scared.."

Jungkook places his hands on top of Taehyung’s squeezing him. "You're gonna make me cry Hyung.."

"I'm sorry, Koo.." Taehyung takes a deep breath, burying his face in the youngers shoulder. The boys hear the ambulance in the distance.

There's no doubt they love me, but is it really okay for me to be one of the leads in both the dance line and the vocal line when Jin and Taehyung are more talented than I am..

Jimin felt guilt eat away at him, the words of his attacker ringing in his head.

"It's okay Jiminie, help is coming.." Namjoon wipes Jimin's tears, unaware of the mental trauma that was plaguing the pink haired vocalist.

"The police are here.." Jeong says entering the room. "They want to talk to Jimin-sii about what happened..'"

Jin looks at the sleeping vocalist, clenching his jaw. He didn't want to wake him, and the police offered little help, not even lending them a search party to find the missing boy. "Give us a minute."

Jeong nods, relaying the message.

"He needs to talk to them so they can help track him down.." Namjoon gently wakes Jimin. "Jimin-ah, you need to talk to the police for us okay?"

Jimin blinks sleepily, the pain medicine leaving him groggy. "Hm..?"

"Do you think you could tell the police what happened, Minnie?" J-hope asks gently.

Jimin felt his skin crawl with anxiety at the thought of explaining it in front of the other members. They're already upset enough..

"I'll tell them on my own..please?" Jimin asks softly.

"Whatever you want, Jiminie. We'll go outside for a bit, here..take my phone and call me when you finished.." Yoongi gives him his phone, cracked from hitting the pavement. "It still works, just be careful.."

"Alright.. Thanks Hyungie.." Jimin puts it on the side of the bed watching the others leave the room and two officers come in.

"Hello, I'm officer Kim and this is my partner officer Lee." He bows slightly, the other officer doing the same."

"Hello.." Jimin greets them, doing his best to bow respectfully, wincing at his sore rib cage.

"How are you feeling, Park?" Officer Kim asks, looking at Jimin sympathetically.

"Are you able to explain what happened?" Officer Lee joined in the conversation.

"I hurt all over, but I'll be okay.." jimin replies, wishing they would just her to the point and skip formalities.

"Could you explain to me what happened then?" Officer Kim asks, getting out a notepad to write with.

"I went to the Cafe to get drinks on my way to the hybd building where I work, but while I was in there, I felt like I was being watched. I thought nothing of it at first, just a fan too shy to approach me, but I was wrong..." Jimin's eyes grow wide in fear as the memory of the larger man looming over him as he leaves the Cafe, grabbing him roughly. His breath picked up his throat, coughing as his throat tightened as tears threatening to form.

"Park-sii, Park-sii it's okay.." Officer Lee touched his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Take your time.."

"Ah...I'm..I'm sorry.. I just need a minute..th..thank you.." Jimin stammers out the words, Officer Lee giving him a tissue trying to clean up his tearstained face.

"It's okay. You had a traumatic experience. Take your time." Officer Kim gave Jimin a kind smile.

Jimin takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself to continue the story, telling the officers about how he lied saying they knew each other, how he took him away from the others and threatened him to leave his group and beat him for refusing. Jimin was in tears as he spoke, using the tissue to dab under his nose that dripped with snot.

"He..he..just..hated me..that I was..was rui..ruining the band.." jimin finishes his story, wincing when he rubs his sore nose. He couldn't go into detail about what the man said, leaving that part vague, but the officers didn't press him to delve further.

"We'll find him." Officer Lee promises, but Jimin doubts his words. His face was covered and disappeared from sight on the cameras after dumping him.

"Thank you for talking with us. I hope you recover quickly." Officer Kim leaves with his partner.

Jimin sat in silence in the hospital bed staring up at the ceiling, trying to calm his nerves before calling Yoongi. "Hyung.. come back please?"

"Of course. I'll be right up." Yoongi could tell Jimin was crying by his congested tone. "Stay on the phone, okay? I want to tell you about my visit home." Yoongi wanted to get his mind off the situation.

"Oh right.. you visited home to visit for a birthday.." Jimin couldn't remember if it was his mother's or his brother's birthday he went to celebrate, those little details slipping his mind. He was usually better at these sorts of things.

"Yeah, I did.. and My mom taught Holly a new trick. You know how I tried to teach him how to roll over but he wouldn't completely roll?" Yoongi pauses for Jimin to respond.

"Oh right, he'd go on his back or flop to his side but he wouldn't fully roll." Jimin felt a soft smile creep up across his lips to hear Namjoon gush about his precious pet.

Yoongi enters the room with Taehyung and Jungkook following behind.

"Where's Hobi-hyung and Namjoonie hyung?" Jimin asks when he notices the two missing.

"They're in a company meeting deciding on what we're gonna do about our schedule. I stayed behind to watch these two." Yoongi motions towards Taehyung and Jungkook.

"I'm a grown man now Hyung, I don't need a babysitter." Jungkook argues. "He just wanted to stay with you too because he's worried."

Yoongi hides his face to hide his blushing cheeks, feeling embarrassed. "Everyone's worried.." I'm more worried on your mental state after this.. you've been crying again..

"How are you feeling, Jiminie?" Taehyung asks, saving Yoongi from his embarrassment.

"I'll be okay.. I'm actually set to go home later today. There's not much the hospital can do for me here.." Jimin tells him. I'm glad I don't have to stay overnight. I don't want to sleep in an unfamiliar place.. i don't even want to sleep alone tonight..

"Are you sure it's not too early?" Jungkook asks with concern in his big doe eyes.

"Yeah, all they can do is give me medicine for the pain, and I can take that at home. Someone else needs this bed more than I do." Jimin fakes a smile. "Don't worry. I'll be fine with some rest."

All three boys could tell Jimin's smile wasn't genuine, but nobody said a word about it to Jimin, just silently agreed to keep a close eye on him.

"Steady, steady.." Jungkook slowly moves with Taehyung to put Jimin in his bed.

"I'm being steady." Taehyung huffs, getting Jimin laying down on the bed. "We need pillows to prop his ankle now!"

"I don't have any extra pillows. You and Jinnie-hyung have the most.." Jungkook points out.

"It's only a little sprained, I'll be okay." Jimin tries to get them to stop fretting over him.

"Nonsense. You can use some of mine." Taehyung rushes to his room, bringing all his pillows.

"Taehyungie what will you sleep with if you bring all your pillows in here?" Jimin gives a small chuckle seeing Taehyung dropping the pillows, wincing from his sore ribcage. "Ah.. that hurts.."

"Sorry Jiminah.." Taehyung uses two pillows to get Jimin's ankle elevated, then another one underneath Jimin's head. "Does that help? You can hold this pillow to your chest." He puts it in Jimins

"It's okay.. don't worry about it. That actually feels better. Thank you, Tae.." Jimin yawns with squeak at the end. "Mn.."

"You should try to get some rest, Jiminie-hyung. It'll help you heal faster." Jungkook frowns when he sees Jimin's eyes close tightly in pain.

"Jungkookie, remember Jin is making dinner. He can't sleep just yet.. he hasn't eaten.." Taehyung reminds him.

Jimin's stomach churned at the idea of food, wrapping his arm around it.. He could only manage to eat a few bites of food at the hospital before he felt sick to his stomach, telling the others he just didn't like it. I can't use that excuse again..

"What's wrong, Jiminie?" Taehyung asks, eyes round with concern. "Are you that hungry? I could ask seokjinnie-hyung to get you a snack."

"No,I'm okay.. just some pain from the brusing.." Jimin felt the twinge of guilt worsen his pain. He hated hiding things from his members, but he didn't want them worrying more than they already were.

"My poor Minnie.. I'll get you a heat compress." Taehyung leaves the room, coming back with a few ice packs and the heat compress. "Here, one for your ankle so the swelling can go down, one for your eyes to help with the puffy and heat to help with your tummy."

Jungkook takes one of the ice packs from Taehyung, placing it on Jimin's swollen ankle. "I'll help too."

"Thanks, Koo." Taehyung smiles, putting the heat on Jimin's abdomen, watching him visibly relax.

Jungkook's stomach, growls making him blush in embarrassment.

"I think someone else needs a before dinner snack.." Taehyung giggles. "Go on, I'll stay with him. I bet you can get a snack out of hyung. You hardly had anything to eat either, just that bag of vending machine cookies, and you gave half of them away."

"You should go. I'm fine. Eat." Jimin tried to keep his voice steady. Everyone must've been too worried to eat because of me. I am just making things harder on everyone..

Jungkook leaves the room, Taehyung taking a seat on the bed next to Jimin, wearing a serious look on his face.

"Jimin, you aren't a burden, so stop thinking you are." Taehyung says, grabbing Jimin's good hand.

"Taetae.. I didn't say anything like that.." Jimin couldn't look Taehyung in the eyes, afraid that those large puppy dog eyes would see right through his mask.

"You don't have to.. that's the same look that Hyungie gives when he feels like he's not learning the routine quick enough or when he can't sing because he's sick. You don't need to pretend in front of me, Jiminie, and I don't want you to." Taehyung speaks slowly, gathering his thoughts together. "Scream, cry... do something. Just please stop giving everyone that fake smile.. it's hurting my heart.."

Jimin felt the tears swelling up again, burying his face in Taehyung's shoulder. "I wa..wa..waas so sc..sc..scared, Tae.. I cou..couldn't do any..anything..bu..but h..hi..his words hurt ev..even more.."

Taehyung strokes Jimin's hair. "It's all over now, Jiminie.. We won't let him touch you. We got extra security.." his mind burned with curiosity to know what this man said that upset his soulmate so much, but he didn't dare ask. Not when Jimin was already suffering enough. He didn't want to bring up those bad memories.

"T..T..Taehyun...m..ma..maybe you guy..guys sh..should pe..perfo..form withou..without me.." Jimin whispers.

"We might have to for a short while, until you recover more, but you'll be able to sit and perform once your bruises on your ribs and..."

"N..no..not..not ju..just f..for a..a lit..little wh..while..I mea..mean..y..you can b..be a..a..lead..w..with j..Jungk..kookie ins..stead of..me.." Jimin mumbles into Taehyung’s shoulder, the man's words ringing in his head again.

"What? No. No. No, Jiminie. It's seven or nothing. Don't let him mess with your head. You're so important.. we wouldn't be BTS without you.." Taehyung forces Jimin to look up at him, tears already streaming. "Don't say that..okay...?"

"Taehyungie.." Jimin wipes the tears from Taehyung's cheek. "I..I'm sorry.. Don't cry.."

Jimin felt awful, his heart tightening. How could he tell Taehyung that? Taehyung was the one who stuck up for him as rookies, saying he wanted me to debut with him..

"Everyone will say the same.. You're a part of our team. You'll always be wanted, okay?" Taehyung hugs Jimin lightly.

"Dinner is fini- What happened?" Jin rushes to the bed when he saw the two puffy eyed 95liners.

"I was just..telling Taehyungie about what happened to get it off my chest.." Jimin wipes his eyes, hoping he wouldn't see through his lie.

"Jiminie is also worried about all the time he has to take off to recover.. he's feeling guilty." Taehyung hides the part about Jimin thinking about quitting.

"Jiminie, don't you worry about that. We'll work around it. You need to just focus on healing." Jin places a tray with Kimchi Jjigae in front of him. "Even if we need to carry you around everywhere we go."

"Okay.." Jimin tries to pick up the chopsticks, but his three tapped fingers made it impossible to pick anything up.

"Here, let Hyung do it." Jin takes the chopsticks from him, holding a bite out to Jimin.

You'd have more parts if it weren't for me though.. your high notes are much better than mine..

Jimin felt sick with guilt as he forced himself to take the bite, knowing if he didn't eat, he'd only worry everyone.

"Are you okay, Jiminie? You look pale.." Jin reaches to touch Jimin's forehead, feeling him burning with fever. "Oh my baby, you're getting sick.."

"Sick...? No.. no, I can't be getting sick.." Jimin speaks softly. "I'm just dehydrated from crying so much." Jimin opens his mouth for another bite.

"If you think you can...alright.." Jin feeds the injured vocalist as Taehyung rushes to get water. Jimin eats about half of it before he feels uncomfortably full, Jin cutting him off. "Don't force yourself baby, I don't want you getting sick."

"Here, wash it down with some water." Taehyung opens the bottle, tipping it by Jimin's lips, him taking eager swallows. "Not too fast, Jiminie.."

"Did you eat?" J-hopes voice came from the doorway with Jungkook and Namjoon right behind him, clearly wondering the same thing.

"Yeah, I ate a little.. I'm just really tired, so I'm not that hungry.." Jimin knew that wasn't the only reason, but it wasn't a full lie.

"Then let's go so you can sleep." Jin kisses Jimin on the forehead. "Rest up kiddo." He rounds up the worried members.

"But I want to stay with him.." Taehyung argues. "Please Hyung? I'll leave when I'm tired.. I promise."

Jin looks at Jimin, whose eyes set on Taehyung with relief across his face. He probably wants someone to stay with him until he falls asleep..

"Alright, alright. You'll leave as soon as you're tired, but you need to sleep at a reasonable time for practice tomorrow."

Taehyung pouts. "What? We're going back to work already?"

"I know it sucks Tete, but we can't push back the award show like if it was one of our concerts. Staff will stay here with Jimin tomorrow. Two people have already volunteered." Namjoon gives him a sympathic look, wishing he could just call off work for a bit to stay with Jimin, but his request was denied.

"Okay.." Taehyung sighs. "I'll leave by midnight." He gets comfortable next to Jimin, pressing his side against Jimin. "I'll at least keep you company for now, Minnie. You try to rest, okay?"

Jimin nods, feeling comfort by Taehyung’s warmth exhaustion, hitting him hard.

"Goodnight, Jimin. I love you.." Taehyung whispers, stroking his hair until his breathing becomes slow.

"Lo..ve...you.." Jimin murmurs out slowly, already in a deep sleep.

(Oo, this is getting really long. If you want a part two, I'll continue it)

[northwest-cryptid]

Okay can I just for a moment here please tell you about the most gender fucking game I've ever played and I've been playing since like middle school? Yes it's an MMO, but just... hang in there for a second because I firmly believe this is like, the Anti-MMORPG, the MMORPG for people who DO NOT enjoy MMORPGs, and you might like what you see. I'm very autistic about this thing in particular for reasons that will become apparent VERY quickly.

Like please, this game doesn't assign the player character a canon gender and ALSO has a Deity who is CANONICALLY genderfluid and uses "We" and "Deity" in the place of the word "god" or "goddess" or other pronouns; being referred to by others as both "he" and "she" respectively.

QUICK EDIT: I GOT SUPER AUTISTIC (positive) ABOUT THIS UNDER THE CUT SO IF YOU CLICK THAT READ MORE JUST KNOW YOU'RE IN FOR A RIDE

Oh shit you actually clicked the read more? You want to hear about this? Oh man oh shit okay here we fucking go then!

I'm gonna get into some of the mechanics and more specifics of the game here for a bit to explain why I think it's so absolutely fucking good for people who DON'T like MMOS real quick, but if you're just here because you saw me say this game is gender, skip down to where I start dropping pictures and you'll get what you came here for.

Okay so my silly autistic brain has trouble even knowing where to start with this game. So I'll start at well the start; so in most MMORPGs one of the first things you do is pick a class right?

Classes are a standard thing, everyone knows what they are; typically they are the overarching label for what you can and cannot do. If you're a paladin you're probably tanky and have a sword and shield with limited magic and all that. If you're a mage you probably use a staff and are a lot squishier right?

Okay so SOME MMOs might even let you multi-class like "oh you're a mage and a paladin so you can be a spellsword" right?

But what if there was a GOOD classless system. Not just a system without limitations but a system that actually let you form your own playstyle around what you enjoy; and what if it WASN'T LIMITED TO COMBAT SHIT.

You heard me, what if gathering/production was actually GOOD and wasn't limited to it's own class.

Well in Mabinogi (yes this is about Mabinogi shush I love this stupid game and I'm forever annoyed with how it's represented in NA but we'll get to that later) you don't have a class, you have a TALENT.

"Isn't that the same thing just called something different?" No, actually not at all and let me explain why.

A class typically limits what you can do right? Well talents are exclusively a boost to a specific set of skills.

If you're currently (again we'll get to why I say currently, bare with me here) a Mage Talent, then all your mage skills will rank up at 2x the speed they normally would, but the game absolutely will not restrict you or punish your ability to wreck shop with a giant fuck all axe or even a bow for that matter... or a shuriken, or guns, or fists, or- you know what I'm getting ahead of myself let's bring it back a second.

So Talents are exclusively BOOSTS, meaning they only serve to reinforce the way you want to play the game; but you still have to pick one and decisions are hard because you may not know what you want to do right off the bat; especially with so many different sets of skills (I mean for crying out loud you can fight using puppets in this game) well you're in luck because every day (under level 1,000 I believe? May have been raised to 10,000) you can use a function called "Rebirthing" where you reset to level 1 and can pick a new talent; and the best part is after level 1,000/10,000 you can still do this for free, just every real life week as opposed to every day.

"Hey Cryptid, why the HELL would I want to go back to being level 1?!"

Well that's a fair question, see Mabinogi works off a skill system, not a level system. Everything you do in this game, from fishing to fighting to harvesting wheat to playing an instrument; are all skills. Skills can be ranked by practicing the skill in question, so if you play an instrument you'll get better at playing instruments and this will grant you an array of bonuses from playing the song more accurately to boosting your bard buff skills; but it ALSO gives you permanent stat bonuses, both for the skill itself and for the governing Talent.

That probably doesn't make sense so let me break it down like this:

Let's say at level 1 (absolutely baby new character) I have 10 in all my stats, so my stats look like this: Str: 10 Int: 10 Dex: 10 Will: 10 Luck: 10 Now let's say I buy an instrument from the general store and equip it; learning the skill "Play instrument" in the process (yea you learn a lot from just doing things in this game it's great but more on that later) I use the skill fulfilling the requirement "use the skill" and this gives me enough EXP training in the skill to rank it from Novice to Rank F (Ranks go from Novice -> F - A -> 9 - 1, and in specific cases there's some bonus ranks after rank 1 mastery that amplify the skill further but that's not too important for now.)

After ranking the skill to Rank F I gain +1 Dex, this means my Dex permanently (no matter what level I am) will go from a base of 10, to a base of 11. Now the Playing instrument skill falls under the Bard talent, and the Bard talent gives a Talent Bonus of additional Strength, Max HP, and Music Buff Duration. For the sake of example at Master Bard you get +15 to Strength and Max HP

Now it's actually not really possible to reach Master Bard with only Rank F Playing Instrument but if it were our stats at level 1 would suddenly look like Str: 10 -> 25 Dex 10 -> 11 And if our HP was maxed at 100, it would now be a max of 115

At this point no amount of Rebirths can take those bonuses away from us. So even at level 1 the stats of an experienced player with plenty of high rank skills will look like the stats of an unskilled level 100 player.

So WHY would I want to go back to level 1 anyways? Well to put it simply, now that you understand how skills work you might wonder how you actually go about ranking a skill once the EXP is full. Well you do that with AP (Ability Points) which you earn upon leveling up.

As you can imagine, like any MMORPG the EXP needed to level from level 1 -> 2 is significantly less than from level 50 -> 51. What this means is that typically once you reach higher levels in an MMO you need to grind a lot. However Mabinogi handles things differently. You get a solid amount of EXP from anything you do because you not only get EXP for killing monsters, but also from just about any skill. So if I want to spend my day doing crafting at the engineering mines I can literally hit level 50-80 from level 1 just making my friends some guns and such. Then I can rebirth back to level 1 and do it all over again.

In Mabinogi you have 2 different types of levels those being Current and Cumulative (or Total) [ A Quick side note: this is not to be confused with Exploration levels those are technically the second type of level that you get from doing exploration related stuff but they give you stats and AP all the same so I don't know why it's like that.]

Believe it or not, level 25k as a Total level is still considered a newbie player lol. This is because leveling in this game is made extremely easy no matter what you do. My friends and I have a lot of focus on production skills like Carpentry (for making instruments, and bows) or Tailoring (for making clothing) or Blacksmithing (for making armor and weapons) just as a few examples. Those skills all give enough EXP that we normally hit level 70 - 100 fairly quickly (within about an hour of playing with no need to grind) because crafting gives a ton of EXP. You could also do Alchemy or magic craft or engineering or cooking or handicraft or potion making but again I'm getting ahead of myself.

What I'm saying with all of this is that there's practically NO GRIND (unless you really want to grind, then you absolutely could grind) the core gameplay loop here is essentially:

Rebirth to level 1 -> Engage with your chosen talent for this rebirth whatever that might be -> Earn levels through your gameplay no matter what that might be -> Rebirth to level 1 with the new stats, skills, and AP you earned.

This means if you play the game for a bit as say a Warrior talent, learning all your close combat skills, ranking them up earning HP, getting armor that's actually going to block damage, getting your defense up; becoming an absolute beefy tank of a player and NOW you go "hey I want to be a mage..." that just works! Not only do you still have access to all your close combat skills while under the Mage Talent but they still get EXP and you can still rank them, and all the stats you got from them carry over so now you're effectively a spellsword who can sling magic around, heal people, use mana-shield to become EVEN TANKIER, and you never need to worry about being that "squishy mage" and from there if you wanted to you could rebirth again and go into a talent for herbology and potion making, creating a sort of Cleric who uses close range combat to stay up front with the party but also can craft potions from herbs found in dungeons and can use healing magic to keep everyone topped off while fighting; and the best part is that none of this detracts from your ability to do whatever YOU want to.

One of my friends plays almost exclusively as a tailor, the only other thing they do is fish; they try to fill out their fishing journal and they try to become a grandmaster tailor; that's almost entirely their play style and you know what's great? We can just invite them to run high level shit with us because Fishing gives Strength, Dex, Will, and Stamina while Tailoring, Weaving, and Sheep Sheering gives Dex. Meaning they actually have very consistent damage output since your weapons "balance" (likelihood your weapon deals closer to max damage) is determined by Dex, they use melee which is effected by Strength, and which has skills that consume Stamina, and if they DO take a hit they have a fairly high chance to survive thanks to Will being not only a buff to crit chance but also a chance to not take fatal damage since it's literally a measure of your determination. What I'm saying with this whole blurb here is that my friend who's essentially a Slice of Life type who focuses on tailoring, fishing, and hanging out with their pets on the side; can fight side by side with my ass who has a focus on close range combat and magic. They're allowed to play the game in the way they want to, without being penalized when I want to bring them along for content that is more suited to my playstyle; and the BEST best part is that for being in a party together my bonuses for crafting apply to them as a party bonus, so just for teaming up they ALSO get a bonus to playing their way with increased success chances on their crafting and tailoring.

Now I hear you saying "That's cool and all Cryptid but YOU SAID THIS GAME WAS GENDER EXPLAIN YOURSELF" Yea you right, you right; let me get to that already...

So now that you understand that Rebirthing resets you to level 1, I should probably mention that during rebirthing you can also edit some things about your character; mainly your gender.

Yes. You heard me correctly; you can just swap your gender every day/week in this game for free.

This isn't even taking into account the sheer amount of customization the game gives you, allow me to explain.

First I will show off my blorbos and then I will show you some REALLY creative people I've seen around town as well;

So, here's my character as a man. I personally love the fact that if you look closely you'll notice that not only does their hair change nearly constantly, but I can also change their eye color (and skin color, and just about anything else about them) on a whim.

I'm not going to lie to you, being fashionable in this game and having like 80 different aesthetics for your character DOES take a little bit of time; but it's ultimately achievable without whaling. I really don't drop a lot of money (if any; I'm poor and I have to pay rent) on this game. Yet events are literally constant, giving out free pets, outfits, dyes, whatever you name it there's probably an event that gives it to you for free.

"Okay that's cool and all but what if I'm not a skinny twink? What if I want to play a game where I don't have to be some absolute twig?"

Well then you're in luck my friend, because this game has plenty of body options. See the thing is with Mabinogi what you eat does more than just give you bonus stats. You eat to replenish hunger but you can also change your body shape with food. Some foods will slim down certain parts of your body, other foods will make you bulk up.

I mentioned a little earlier in this post I have a friend who mostly focuses on tailoring and fishing, they look like this:

That's because they wanted to bulk up so they ate a lot of bread and the like, they DID look like this:

With the knowledge of what food changes what parts of the body you can basically achieve any body type you personally desire. If you want to play as a twig you absolutely can (I know as someone who's underweight I personally vibe better seeing representation of myself who is also underweight because it makes me feel less bad about my body) and if you want to put some meat on your bones and be chubby you can absolutely achieve that as well; it won't effect your stats or ability to play the game what so ever.

You can even pick from a wide array of skin colors which range from pale to dark skin they've got a ton of shades of red, orange, brown, black, it's actually super inclusive and I love it a lot because you get to see people of all skin tones playing this game as a character who they can actually relate to

You might also notice some skin tones like blue, red, purple, pink; you can absolutely just say "I would rather not be a natural skin tone" and create a character that fits more to your aesthetic; for example here's someone who runs a dye shop that I saw and absolutely loved the design of:

They even have a cool tail and wings and bunny slippers. Like what a cool idea for a character!

Mind you that in this game your character ages every week, this character was likely around 13 - 15 given their size. Your size depends on your age (from I believe about 10 -> 20? Could be 18 I'm not sure exactly) and you can rebirth to keep yourself as young as you'd like if you prefer to have a small character.

So what can you achieve with all these options? Well a lot actually; here's some cool people I've seen around who I have hidden the names of for privacy reasons but I absolutely love their styles.

You got EDGY LADS

You got Modern Cozy Lads

You got High Fantasy Witch Lads!

You got lads who you just know can kick some ass just by lookin at em!

No idea why this one doesn't want to work as a gif but boi I love their styles.

YOU EVEN HAVE COSPLAY LADS! (I left their names because their names/titles add a lot here)

By now you're probably seeing a lot of this fashion and wondering how it all works; and to that I have to explain something amazing about this game. See in a lot of games you have dyes; you can dye a piece of gear a color that better suits your aesthetic right?

So what if you could dye like... multiple parts of that thing?

And as you can get by now that's literally exactly how this works. There's a ton of different kinds of dyes in this game, most dyes come in either "dye ampules" or "metal dye ampules" and can dye that kind of surface respectively, so metal dye for anything made of metal (no shit) and dye amps for just about anything else. There are VERY few things in this game that can't be dyed and most things that CAN have not just Parts A and B, but most have A, B, C, D, and E... like it goes from "oh my god I can look however I want" to "OH GOD I NEED LIKE 5 DYES TO MAKE THIS LOOK GOOD" real quick lol. However I really love the system, it operates off RBG but also off the hex code so if you know you're really looking for a specific shade of blue, you can get that.

If a dye ampule is "Fixed" it means it will always result in that exact color, while anything that's not Fixed actually has a 1 in 5 chance based on where you drop your pins.

Also cool thing here, as far as gear goes you get a slot for your main body (torso and pants), your shoes, gloves, helmet, robe/wings, and two accessories (now accounting for your tools/weapons) and none of these things need to match as a set if you don't want them to. If you think those shoes look good with this shirt and that hat with these gloves GO FOR IT, give yourself horns, give yourself wings, give yourself a cool tail or a halo or a little bird who is totally not an abnormality who breached containment I promise he's just a little guy leave my bird alone!

Yes I dyed the bird, yes you can dye accessories too; yes I made him into punishing bird. (Yes I still need to dye this outfit more it doesn't match entirely and it DOES bother me lol)

So now we've gone over the fact that you can have clothing that's gender nonconforming (like skirts or maid outfits for men and butler outfits and suits for women and the like this also includes wigs made for specific genders and such), we've gone over inclusive skin tones and even non-natural skin tones that let you make characters that might not even look human (aside from the Elf and Giant races but you know what I mean), and we've gone over the fact you can have basically any body type you'd like with eating food (most of which is easily obtainable so it's not like it's hard to even get the body type you want), AND we went over the fact your character isn't locked into a gender, being able to swap between gender as you want; SURELY this game can't get any more inclusive can it?

EVERYONE PLEASE GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO THE DEITY OF FREEDOM AND SECOND CHANCES, HYMERARK WHO'S CANONICALLY GENDERFLUID! (AND COULD KICK MY ASS)

THIS BITCH RIGHT HERE IS REFERRED TO IN GAME AS BOTH HE/HIM AND SHE/HER AND CANONICALLY DOES NOT HAVE A GENDER. THEIR GENDER IS ??? AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If you're curious this game is based on Celtic folklore and it actually has such a cool aesthetic of mixing Celtic aesthetics with the fact it's a Korean game that has anime crossovers.

Alright alright let me talk more about the mechanics a bit because if you're interested you might be thinking:

"Well geez Cryptid this game seems rad but if I DO play and I want to have a bunch of different skills and stuff isn't my inventory going to get so full it's going to be annoying to keep organizing it"

HA! OH LORD OH GOD OH NO BOI YOU'RE NOT READY FOR THIS GAME'S INVENTORY SYSTEM!

Okay so the way Mabinogi does Inventory is terrifying as someone with ADHD.

You have your main inventory right? It looks like this:

The 1 and 2 columns are expandable so by default you'll only have the 6 x 10 space which is more than enough, because you see; in Mabinogi Inventory size is determined by how many BAGS you can fit into your base inventory.

Yea so basically, you get Bags which are all essentially bags of holding; there's a bag that is an additional 10 x 17 (yes that's literally an additional 170 spaces of inventory which is bigger than your starting inventory mind you) AND THE BAG ITSELF IS ONLY 1 x 2 in your base inventory. Meaning it takes up literally 3.333% of your available inventory to give you just over DOUBLE the inventory room. So allow me to do a quick google search for Mabinogi Inventory and uh... YUP there it is:

Image credit to bladeskletch on Reddit

In the bottom right you can see their base inventory full of little bags and then ACROSS THEIR WHOLE SCREEN YOU CAN SEE EVERY FUCKING BAG THEY HAVE.

So no you won't run out of space very quickly, but YES it is going to be a pain to find things if you don't stay organized lol. (There is a search function because they know it's hard to find a tiny item among the clutter)

Now at this point you've probably noticed something, the UI in this game is this sort of clear black and grey right?

Wrong.

Mabinogi actually does this super cool thing that new games don't do but older software did a lot and gives you the ability to change the color theme of your games UI.

and the list of available options they give you is longer than it actually needs to be if I'm being honest:

So not only can you customize your blorbo to be whatever gender, skin tone, body type, and general aesthetic that you want, you can also change up your UI to vibe with your personal aesthetics as well!

AND IF THIS ISN'T ENOUGH FOR YOU YET DON'T WORRY THERE IS MORE!

This game comes alive in the details, all the little things you might not even think a game needs but it has them for some reason.

You want Commerce? Sure why not! This game has a whole commerce system where you can buy and trade goods between towns as you fend off bandits trying to steal your goods. If you do it on the bigger continent you can buy an airship and fight off giant dragons that try to break your ship out of the sky.

Speaking of exploration on the bigger continent; there's literally a whole exploration system complete with hot air balloons, rafting; and dowsing for hidden relics (some of which are literally dungeons).

The music you play as a bard can be written by players so you're not playing "Default Song #4" you're charging into battle to the tune of Megalovania or literally whatever song you want.

Giants can carry humans because giant big and human small and it's super cute:

You can also fly in this game, and you can pick up other players in your party to fly with you.

Some mounts in this game are able to be ridden by multiple people and some function as more than just a pet/mount like the food truck you can use as a cooking oven.

I cannot stress enough that BOTH these characters are male, this game gives 0 fucks:

You learn new skills by talking to NPCs using a memo book your character will take notes in as you play the game and you can actually have proper dialogue with NPCs to find out they're not just these flat characters but actually have lives and religions and thoughts about the world and some of them will send you on quests to help them do things around town if you bother to actually talk to them. Those quests teach you how to interact with the world and it's mechanics.

Furthermore you earn Titles as you play and if you're wearing specific titles some NPCs will react differently, like if you wear a title with religious significance some people who worship the religious god/goddess in question might actually give you items and such.

Every real life day of the week has different bonuses to different things, so crafting on a specific day of the week can yield better results, gathering on some days might be easier.

Crafted gear not only has a signature of who made the gear but can gain bonus stats based on how well it was made; so you actually have an incentive to buy player made gear over just getting something from the NPC Blacksmith. Personally I'm working with my friends to have gear entirely created by my friends because I love the idea of running around with my friend's signatures all over my gear. I do Engineering/Magic Craft and Carpentry my friends do Tailoring and Blacksmithing respectively.

You can have a family, adopt other players as kids, and even set a family rule that if broken will strike someone with lightning; if you're evil make the rule "you can't drop items" or "you can't eat berries" or "you can't kill animals" and watch people get struck by lightning mid dungeon run (it won't hurt them but it will drop them to the ground for a moment).

You even get a Homestead which allows you to basically play the Sims and have a small plot of land you get to decorate, it starts off as a farm and then expands to where you can have a house on it and such. Your pets can also go there to rest and go on pet quests.

The pet system in this game is fantastic with pets having their own inventories as well as their own skills and stats; you can even log in and play as your pets. I personally have a small army of corgis who are my designated battle pets considering Pet Trainer is a talent and I'm dedicated to making these corgis into absolute gods of destruction by feeding them smaller weaker pets until they become powerful:

Yes one of my corgis is named Taii. (Hello fellow Wonder Lab enjoyers)

Learning advanced magic requires you to actually have and use beginner magic and then go find pages to put together the books that you can ACTUALLY READ (yes every book in this game is actually full of lore and explains in game reasoning behind everything and yes players can publish their own books in game) in order to learn more advanced forms of magic, you actually get to go like; study magic and not just talk to some guy and then learn a higher level skill.

You can form a bond with your weapons turning them into spirit weapons that have special abilities and you can name them; I have a baseball bat named Majima

Weapons in this game fall under a few specific trees of skills but many can use skills from other trees. The list of weapons you can use in this game includes but is not limited to:

Lances

Swords

Bows

Axes

Scythes

Rapiers

Pom-poms

Chainsaw

Baseball Bat

Hammers

Puppets and Control Bars

Dual Guns

Shurikens

Just a Stick

Knuckles / Fists

Musical Instruments

Staffs / Wands

Atlatls

Surf Board

Chain Slash (basically chain whips)

Alchemy (everything from pocket sand to summons)

At one point the game basically becomes a dating sim where you get to manage a group of knights and accompany them on missions. I don't have a lot of experience with it but if you're into that sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy that whole mechanic.

Humans can transform into Paladins or Dark Knights. Elves can transform into a humanoid bird called Falcons Giants can transform into giant yetis called Beasts

Every race can transform into a demi god

Every race can then later transform into some kind of cool customizable deity thing that I've not got around to unlocking but I know it's neat.

Aside from those transformations there's also a skill for Transformation that not only lets you turn into NPCs but also a ton of enemies and animals all of which can use basic combat skills lol.

Players regularly host concerts where they play music on a big stage as a whole ass band and it's really cool there's a whole venue you can go to in one of the towns where the concerts are held and you get a buff for it.

There are banquets every week that just give you free EXP and there's raffle drawings for prizes.

THE OST IN THIS GAME FUCKING SLAPS AND UNDER THE OPTIONS YOU CAN CHANGE IT FROM THE DEFAULT OST TO THE ORCHESTRA VERSION AND IT'S SO GOOD!

You can have a Red Panda and feed it special bean tofu to make it absolutely massive, like ungodly huge. Because why not I guess.

LASTLY!

The game is small, it takes literally maybe 30 minutes to download with bad internet and it has so much heart and soul that I can't even get into here.

DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON THE FACT IN NA WE GET THE MOST GENERIC KINDA CRINGE ADS BUT IN KOREA THEY GET HIGH BUDGET FUNKY MUSIC VIDEO ADS AND I AM NEVER GOING TO FORGIVE NA FOR THIS.

Anyways yea thanks for coming to my TED talk :P

If you have questions, I have answers.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Hello! I just read "i go uncrownd" and lost it when Alfred called his gun Rita. That was such a good touch. Do you have weapons headcanons for other characters like that?

Oooooh. Yes, I do. So it's going to range drastically based on the era and the situation, so I’m going to go with the ones that are kind of the most iconic. Rhys and Arthur are longbows. They were, like King Arthur and about half of what is considered proto-typical Englishness, originally Welsh. Their mother taught them both to shoot. The traditional narrative is that during the Norman invasions of Wales, one of the Edwards incorporated the Welsh system of archery into the English army and proceeded to fuck the French right up with it at Crécy and Agincourt later.

Rhys is stocky and better with a sword, so he balanced a bow and a sword for distance and hand-to-hand combat. He likely used a shield and spear before inheriting his mother’s sword, but he never let go of it once it was his. They were long-bladed weapons, with the curves serving to focus the force of the user’s strength into a smaller area for more damage. They were primarily slashing weapons, with some, like the ones shown below, having a point with a strong two-groove blood-tapestry in the center. There was also a trench knife with a background that was supposed to be taken from a medieval Welsh sword but has more or less been disproven, but there are certainly familiar design elements here too!

Pre-Norman Arthur was younger and smaller but more accurate and was more likely to perch himself somewhere defensible and fire as he ran to give himself time to disapear. His bow was his primary weapon and he probably only had a seax to defend himself for anything too close for the bow until he was older. The Seax is where the Saxon’s got their name and was a very important symbol for freemen to carry, with women often depicted wearing them as well. They were part tool, part sword and could be used as something like a one edged machete. The one here was found in the Thames in the 19th century and was probably from 900 something. The ‘broken back’ shape of the sword is part of where I got my headcanon for Arthur still having back pain from the Viking invasions even 1000 years later. This one was probably way to big for Arthur to have been using and there are much smaller ones but I had to use this one lmao. Lives in my head rent-free.

Alasdair always preferred to be at the forge or easel, but where Brighid was usually the head of government, at the foot of their mother's throne, as the firstborn son, he was the acting defender. He was large and did well with a shield and sword, later the broadsword and shield, often wielding the shield with the dirk (Dearg in Scots Gaelic) in the same hand to use if he lost his broad sword. He’s a very tall, broad man, so Claymore isn’t off the table either. He was also very good with an axe. The Scottish version of a poleaxe, the tuagh-chatha, was a semi-moon axe blade on staff and fucking lethal. He could clear a space with that thing, let me tell you. The sword and shield combo is also how he was killed the day their mother died, engaging the Saxons and Jutes who had made it over the bridge before he destroyed it, buying Brighid just enough time to escape across the Irish sea.

[edge-lorde]

She ra expanded worldbuilding notes

currently in the process of trying to get my sister to do expanded brightmoon concept art for me! To be used for future comic reference! .3.

here are my gathered notes and observations because im excited about what she will give me.

first: Brightmoon

The show doesn't do a good job of showing how any of the kingdoms actually work. We’re told that Brightmoon is the biggest kingdom on Etheria, The kingdom of snows being the 2nd biggest and described as “Huge.” Yet, the most we see of Brightmoon is a few shots of buildings next to the palace. 

As you can see from the 2nd image, Glimmer is talking from her bedroom window, and it appears to be located within one of the towers next to the palace. This means that at least one, probably more, of the towers are additionally part of a greater palace complex and also not where normal people would live. 

I already have a post floating around somewhere where i described a few of my other headcanons about Etheria world building that i don't feel like digging up, but the gist of it is that many of the named settlements we do see in the show like Sea worthy, Erelandia, Elberon, even Dryl, are cities and towns that are in the larger jurisdiction of one of the 7 runestone kingdoms even if they act as self sufficient city states. Think like ancient greece. In this case i place all of those places and probably a few more as being in the country of Brightmoon, and the buildings around Brightmoon palace that we can see are part of a low-tech urban fantasy city also called Brightmoon, kind of like how Rome is/was a city and also was (for a while at least) the capital of the Roman empire. To make it more clear I’m going to call the city around the palace “Brightmoon Proper.” 

I forget which episodes these backgrounds are from but I think this has to be the long bridge that we can see leading out from the back of the palace. 

I imagine this bridge to be the main walkway into the palace compound; all of the buildings on the side of this rock next to the palace are involved in the running of said palace. All of the Queens guards and staff and anyone else she might need nearby such as positions like the royal historian (I imagine the position still exists even if it isn’t Bow in the main timeline) and their families and everything needed to support them live here. The towers that we see would contain many businesses and apartments and terrace gardens made walkable by delicate bridges connecting neighboring towers and enchanted floating rocks acting as public transportation. In this way urban residents of Brightmoon could live indefinitely without touching the ground. 

This field would be farmland used to supply the palace. Sidenote-- it seems awfully close to sea level. I wonder if it floods? Is that water saltwater or fresh? What crop could need to flood with seawater to grow? Seaweed? Hmmm a lot of worldbuilding potential here....

 Since I’m adding things, I also imagine Brightmoon Proper to extend out beyond the palace, on the other side of the mountain. 

The bridge would be the main thoroughfare into palace part of the city but I imagine for the skyscrapers to be on both sides. We do also see some smaller buildings on the ground as well, so I also imagine that the farther away one lives from the palace the more normal the settlements are, being either on the ground or in the mountains. I imagine the hinterlands of Brightmoon Proper to spill out along the coast and countryside, and extend into the whispering woods a little. Sea worthy seems to be close enough to the palace for a day trip. The Library where George and Lance live would be on the farthest limits of Brightmoon Proper settlements, placed just remotely enough to not have to pay taxes to the crown and close enough to Erelandia to have groceries delivered. 

I don’t know how to draw all of this so I hope my sister can give me something good to reference. TT0TT it has to look pretty!

i also found this map

among the prop designs on crew member Soyun Park's website. Idk if I'll use it but its there.

[finallydelight]

Vivi Magazine | Ming

Seventeen will be the cover star for the February 2023 issue of Vivi Magazine.

MING TMI INTERVIEW

Q. What kind of entertainment/hobbies do you enjoy these days?

MING: Taylor Swift-nim released a new album not too long ago, called Midnights. I’ve been listening to the songs almost everyday. Other than that, I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos and movies that I’ve been wanting to watch for a long time.

Q. What's your favorite scent?

Q. What's your favorite scent?

MING: I don’t really have a favourite scent, you just kind of know when someone or something smells nice. I, personally, like to use flowery scents than very strong or woody scents.

Q. Amongst the interior design of your living space, the clothes you wear and the food you eat, which do you pay the most attention to?

MING: Probably the food that I eat. I share a living space with the other members, so it’s not just me who has to think about the interior design. I do care a lot about my clothing, but it’s members like The8 who pay more attention to my clothing than myself.

Q. What food would you want to eat on your last day on earth?

MING: Anything my grandmother makes, she makes the best food in the world. That may be biased, but it’s the truth. She’s the best cook.

Q. If you were to choose a punishment, what would it be?

A. Super spicy food

B. Bungee jumping

C. Haunted house

MING: Well, I don’t want to do any of those, so I simply wouldn’t lose. That way I wouldn’t have to do a punishment. They’re all bad.

Q. What do you drink on stage?

MING: Water, only water. The members sweat a lot while performing and sometimes it flies in my face, but I don’t think that counts as a drink. It’s not nice, especially if it’s Mingyu’s.

THANK YOU FOR… (MINGBOO CUT)

🐰 -> 🍊

MING: I’m very thankful that we have Seungkwan-oppa in our team. He brings a very positive energy everywhere we go and because of him I can always get through schedules, even if they’re tough. I’m very lucky to be able to call him my member and older brother.

SEUNGKWAN: (laughs in embarrassment) thank you, Ming-ah. I’m very happy.

MING: He does a lot for our team and I truly see him as my role model. I want to be like him one day.

SEUNGKWAN: Since when did you become so nice?

🍊 -> 🐰

SEUNGKWAN: She’s one of the main vocalists and also part of the performance team, so she brings a lot to our stages. Among our members, I think she’s the coolest.

MING: Wow (impressed by his answer), out of all the members?

SEUNGKWAN: Yes (laughs). Also, whenever I’m not in a good mood, she’ll come to me or text me and give me a lot of strength. She’s always stayed by my side, that what I’m very thankful for.

MING: I’m embarrassed, but thank you (bows). That was very sweet.

TALKING ABOUT OUR TEAM (MING CUT)

Q. What role do you play when the other members are making decisions within the group?

MING: I’m more of a listener. If there’s a topic that concerns me or I have a clear opinion on something, I’ll give my thoughts to the members and staff. If it’s a topic I don’t have much thoughts about, I’ll trust the other members to make the right choice.

Q. Seventeen’s charms stand out in live performances, what do you care about the most during live [stages]?

MING: I think I care most about the concept of the songs. I want to convey the right emotions and expressions. You know, I don’t want to look overjoyed during an emotional song or look sad during a very up-beat stage.

Q. When do you feel like having 13 members is great?

MING: Whenever I want to do something or when I’m having a hard time. There’s always someone to go to for anything. Those are the moments when I’m very grateful for my members. Oh (thought excitedly of another answer), also when I make a mistake on stage, because there are so many of us on stage, you don’t really notice it.

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