#still figuring out how my celestials work

[smallerdelusions]

Yin and Yang

[devilishdelights]

I got the lucifer card but I fucking forgot to finish the missions like a dummy and I didn’t get the memory card, I’m still kicking myself for it

Oh shit LOL I didn’t even do the missions. There sm u gotta do in this game it overwhelms me, so I just focus on the one thing I want the most (that mam ur) and fuck off w the rest 😭 in the end I can just screenshot the cards I like and admire them in my camera roll lololol

[addledmongoose]

Best of 2023 Good Omens Fanfiction

This is my list of the 20 best Good Omens fanfiction works I've read in 2023.

A few notes:

These are all complete works; there are no WIPs in the list.

Please feel free to let me know if a link stops working

It's not an ordered list. That would be far too difficult.

You'll probably recognize some of the most popular ones. They're popular for a reason, after all, but I hope you find something you haven't yet read.

The majority are full-length works, but there are definitely some shorter pieces.

These are certainly not the only good works I've read, but they are the ones I'm most likely to read more than once

Click the Keep Reading to see the list

If you're the author of one of these, first off, thank you! But second, if you want me to add your tumblr name to your story, let me know, and I'll edit.

This first section, all the stories are canon-compliant or canon-adjacent. In other words, it's at least somewhat set in the Good Omens universe.

a lighthouse (burning) (108K; Rated M)

This one is canon-adjacent and set in the 19th century. Aziraphale goes to a lighthouse to figure out where all the lighthouse keepers disappeared to, and Crowley follows along. This one is a bit of a spooky mystery along with the romance, and the writing style is simply beautiful. You really get a sense of being trapped in this lighthouse in the middle of nowhere.

***

The Grindr Logo Doesn't Even Have a 'G' In It (79K; Rated E)

It's honestly hard to remember that this one isn't human AU, but they're still just as angelic/demonic as ever. Aziraphale joins Grindr and starts texting (and then sexting) with a charming young man. It's no secret to the reader who this new hookup is. This story is genuinely funny at times. I like the funny ones.

***

The Whole Damned World Seemed Upside Down (103K; Rated M)

This is one of the best reverse omens stories I've read that isn't technically a reverse omens. Crowley wishes things were different after leaving the bookshop, and the universe gives him his wish. He finds himself in a world where Aziraphale hates him, Death has trouble taking lives, and basically everything you knew about the world of Good Omens is upside down. It's very funny. It uses inline footnotes (which is good, because it has a LOT of footnotes), and Death is hilarious.

***

it's a new craze (5K; Rated T)

Another one that seems like it should be human AU but isn't. Crowley and Aziraphale start up a podcast after the Notpocalypse and gain a loyal fanbase who can't figure out if they're a couple or not. They often forget who their audience is and often reference events in their shared history that make no sense to the humans listening.

***

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a demon in possession of a mobile phone, must be in want of attention (6K; Rated G)

And yes, that is the entire title. Another funny short story where a couple of podcast hosts receive a call from a certain angel whose demon trapped himself in his phone and won't leave.

***

In Mixed Company, or the Corporate Retreat of Heaven and Hell (52K; Rated M)

I've read this one at least three times, and it's probably my favorite of all. Every 300 years, Heaven and Hell share a company retreat on Earth during which angels and demons surrender their celestial powers and hold retreats. It has a great new angel friend of Aziraphale's; Hellish Powerpoint presentations; Gabriel being annoyingly chipper; and Aziraphale and Crowley sneaking around like teenagers trying to find some alone time.

***

How To Woo A Demon (24K; Rated T)

Aziraphale researches demonic courtship rituals and starts implementing them in order to convince Crowley he wants to take their relationship to the next level. Crowley is very confused by Aziraphale's actions. Another cute, funny one.

***

Factory Settings (107K; Rated T)

This one is famous for coming out practically as S2 dropped, making people think whoever wrote it (the author is anonymous) had something to do with the production of the show.

This is the only one I'm going to say anything negative about. There are a lot of spelling errors and typos in it. It needs a hard editing pass. Despite that complaint, I devoured this story as fast as I could scroll. It's that good, and even knowing all the errors are there, I'll probably still re-read it. I'm usually pretty picky about errors like that, so for me to overlook it and even recommend it, means I really liked it.

Crowley gets reinstated as the angel, Raphael, with no memory of his time as Crowley, and Aziraphale struggles to return him to his demonic self. It's heart-breaking and wonderful and I absolutely loved it.

***

One Night In Bangor (And the World's Your Oyster) (17K: Rated E)

Much like In Mixed Company, Heaven and Hell come together for a corporate retreat on Earth. In this one, some totally random demon who's name definitely doesn't rhyme with Bowley created a wager in Hell to see which demon could bed an angel first.

Another funny one. This time, a lot of the humor comes from the demons doing their best to pick up the angels with really bad pickup lines.

***

We Only Said Goodbye with Words, I Died A Hundred Times (9K; Rated E)

If I could learn to write even half as good as this, I'd be ecstatic. The emotions the author packs into this story are mind-blowing.

Crowley receives a cursed amulet that creates an ever-increasing need for the person he wants the most and goes to see Aziraphale.

***

To reveal my heart in ink (29K; Rated E)

Aziraphale starts writing letters to Crowley by mail. The letters they exchange slowly get more and more explicit.

***

Pray For Us, Icarus (66K; Rated G/T)

The author wrote this one as a series, so each one varies in chapter count and rating, but they tell a single, contiguous story.

This was the first long-form GO fanfiction I read, and it was way too close to the ending of S2. I really should've waited a while, because holy cow, is this one heartbreaking.

For three hundred years, Crowley has been reincarnated over and over as a human with no memory of his past. Aziraphale has spent those three hundred years trying to restore him to his true self.

The author, Atalan, is probably one of the best writers on the site. This story is stunning in the quality of its writing, in the pacing of the story, and in the emotions evoked. I normally don't like being sad (like I said, I like the funny ones), but I've saved this story off to make sure I always have it.

***

Pretend For Me (53K; Rated E)

In a panic, Aziraphale tells the archangels that he survived hellfire due to his soul mixing with Crowley's because they're in a romantic and sexual relationship, but now they want them to prove it.

I'm a sucker for fake relationship stories, and there aren't a whole lot of them where the characters are still angel/demon, but this one is. It's another fun one, though a bit more angsty than some of those I listed above.

***

The following are all human AU. Good chance you'll recognize all or most of these.

Married At First Sight (147K; Rated T)

One of the most recently completed stories in the list, this is a fake relationship story where Aziraphale and Crowley join a reality show that marries complete strangers off to each other. Their new marriage starts off on a less than idyllic foot and they decide to fake it for the show. The author is a master of making you want to scream "for fuck's sake, just talk to each other, you walnuts!"

Probably one of my favorite fake relationship stories.

***

Postcards From Paris (12K; Rated G)

The author, ghostrat (@mrghostrat), is a fantastic writer of human AU, and it's worth going through his entire backlist (and read his current WIPs, too).

Crowley moves into his Mayfair flat and starts receiving postcards addressed to the previous tenant from one A.Z.F., who is in Europe hunting for bizarre bibles and rating wine. Sweet and fluffy and the perfect antidote if you've just been on an angst binge.

***

Or Be Nice (151K; Rated E)

I stayed up until 6:30 in the morning reading this one, crashed for three hours, then read until I finished it. Then that night, I started it again.

This is, without hesitation, my all-time favorite human AU. It's funny. I love the author's version of the characters, and I will probably end up reading it again in just a few months. I probably already would have if it wasn't for the length of my Mark For Later and Subscription lists.

Crowley and Aziraphale are neighbors who get into a noise war. They both have their reasons for their actions, though to be honest, Crowley is a bit of an ass at first. Once they really start talking, though, they are absolutely wonderful together.

Even if you've never read a human AU, I recommend at least giving this one a try.

***

What We Make Of It (Shotgun Wedding) (213K; Rated E)

This is the third charlottemadison work on this list. 15% of this list is just this one author. That's how good they are.

Aziraphale works as an English teacher. Crowley is the guardian for his nephew, Adam, and works for a school testing company. Crowley can't risk his job dating his nephew's gorgeous and charming teacher. Unless...

Crowley comes up with a crazy plan. Now he just has to convince Aziraphale to go along with it.

Again, another very popular human AU. One thing I love about this story is how there's a lot less angst between the two characters, and how they both really care for Adam.

***

Slow Show (95K; Rated E)

The very first human AU I read. Didn't even think I'd like that specific genre until I read it. Now, as you can see, it's about half of my reading list.

This is an actor AU. Aziraphale (named Avery here) and Crowley are actors working together on a new show. Avery is an award-winning, straight-laced, well-respected actor; Crowley is a mess who immediately falls head-over-heels for him and somehow has to get through the show without letting his (apparently straight) costar realize that.

***

South Downs (76K; Rated E)

Another actor AU. This time, Aziraphale is an openly-gay actor, well-respected for his period drama work. Crowley is a once-blackballed actor who jumps at the chance to star in a gay Regency romance with Aziraphale in the hopes it can restart his career. The trouble is, Crowley is struggling to play the romantic lead opposite a man.

I love the growing friendship between these two as much as the romance. I love how comfortable and confident Aziraphale is here; and how caring he is toward Crowley's growing awareness of his sexuality.

***

This one doesn't really fit either category, so I'm putting it here.

The Rose and the Serpent (56K; Rated M)

By the same author as Pray For Us, Icarus comes a GO retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Aziraphale is sent off by his older brother, Gabriel, into the forest to be held hostage by a giant snake in a cursed castle. Turns out, neither the snake nor the castle are what he was expecting.

Light-hearted and with very memorable characters, the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale is simply stunning. I love how Newt and Anathema are used here. The quality of this one is as good as Icarus, and I loved this one so much I could easily have read 300K more words.

***

And bonus: mine!

The Beginning of the End (Again) (79K; Rated M)

The first fanfiction I've ever written and the first book I've written in a decade. I had the first two chapters in mind after finishing S2, and the story grew from there. I actually have a sequel in mind after I finish another, separate fake relationship story.

Crowley spends months drowning his sorrows after Aziraphale accepts the Supreme Archangel position, until a group of demons shows up one day and tells him the Second Coming is nearly upon them, and they want him to stop it. Turns out being a demon isn't much fun if there are no humans left to tempt.

Aziraphale has spent these last months in Heaven looking for ways to stop the Second Coming while mourning the way he and Crowley left things. After discovering that Hell's minions have been tasked by the Metatron to escort the son of God on a tour of Earth in preparation for his Second Coming, he hurries down to see what's going on, fearing the worst.

Instead he discovers Crowley escorting the Messiah around Earth. Is his demon taking the son of God on dates?

[0cta9on]

Unlikely Duet - 7

length: +7k words

Genre: Fluff

NewJeans Minji x Male Reader (OC)

(Author's Note: Finally, after almost 3 months of writing on and off, rereading and rewriting entire portions, and countless edits, I finally finished chapter 7 of UD :,] I'll get started on chapter 8 asap so it hopefully doesn't take as long. Enjoy!)

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★

Yuno’s POV

I inhale deeply, letting the grassy aroma and fresh evening air fill my lungs. The full moon looks down at us with its gentle gaze, reflecting its light on our intimate moment. Street lights flicker in the town below us, mimicking the stars hanging in the indigo above. Minji shivers next to me as a cool breeze whistles by, and I instinctively wrap my arm around her for warmth. Her cheeks light up with a pretty pink hue that lingers in my vision longer than it should have.

“It’s really pretty tonight,” she comments, glancing up at the moon. I nod, but all my focus is on the girl next to me, more beautiful than any celestial body could hope to be. The wind makes her long, black hair float and ebb like a stream of the finest silk, while the Milky Way traps itself into her irises, containing the beauty of an entire galaxy in just her eyes alone. Being here with her, nothing to interrupt our moment. Everything feels perfect.

“Minji, I…” As if she can read my mind, she turns to me, a knowing smile on her face, and shuts her eyes, awaiting my next move. With a quivering breath, I slowly lean into her, the warmth emitting from her skin growing ever warmer. The last thing I see is her lips before my vision fades to black, and then nothing.

I open my eyes to find Minji gone, replaced by my ceiling fan. My body jolts upwards in confusion as I grasp at the bed sheets beneath me. Instead of the grassy hill overlooking the town, all I see is the familiar layout of my bedroom, taunting me with its stillness. A disappointed sigh leaves my lips - just a dream.

My phone sits on my bed, still open on Minji’s blank messages. How pathetic of me. I spent all night wracking my brain for a response and couldn’t find a single thing to say. I hover tentatively over the keyboard one last time, desperately searching for the right words to say, before eventually giving up and sending a text to the group chat instead.

Yuno: Good Morning.

To my surprise, Yujin and Winter respond rather quickly.

Yujin: GOOD MORNING!!!!

Winter: good morning :)

Yuno: What are you two up to?

Winter: working :/

Yujin: im taking care of my grandma today!!

With the two of them busy, I’m left to figure out how to spend my Sunday alone. I click over to Minji’s blank messages one last time, my heart palpitating with an uncommon anxiety. Whatever this feeling is, love or otherwise, it’s getting old quickly. Everything feels confusing, and unlike most of my problems, I can’t solve it with brute force alone. What am I even hoping for here? A relationship? I don’t know anything about relationships or dating or how to be a boyfriend. Minji’s boyfriend, huh? That sounds kinda nice-

No. We’re too different. I don’t exactly have any good points to me either. I mean, Minji is like… a shining star - beautiful and radiant, but unattainable. And I’m like a sad cockroach looking up at that star, put on this planet because someone up there decided to play a sick joke. We’re just friends and that’s okay. Yet, the dull pain in my chest tells me otherwise. With a heavy sigh and a couple thousand unanswered questions, I shoot her a simple “Good Morning” text, because that’s what friends say to each other.

The sizzling of melting butter on a griddle and the heavenly scent of warm maple syrup grows stronger as I descend the staircase toward the kitchen, my tastebuds salivating at the thought of my favorite food - pancakes. My dad is in the kitchen, hunched over a cookbook with a surgeon-like focus, as a stack of warm pancakes sits next to him with two more cooking on the stovetop.

“Good morning, Yuno,” he greets me with a wide smile. “Cooked up breakfast if you’re hungry. Help yourself.”

I quickly take a seat at the table and stack a couple of them onto my plate, my stomach grumbling with a vicious hunger. As I go in to take the first bite, the scent of pancake wafts through my nose, taking me back to the first morning I woke up in Minji’s house. Despite us being strangers at that point, she let me crash on her couch so I didn’t have to run home in the rain, offered me warm clothes to sleep in, and made waffles for me the morning after so I didn’t go to school hungry. She didn’t have to, but she did, and it made all the difference in my measly little life. Minji is just so… incredible. And beautiful. And intelligent and kind and sweet and-

“Uh, are you alright?” I hear my dad ask. “You’ve been staring at your pancakes for a while now.”

I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. “I-I’m fine.” That's a lie. I’m not fine. A girl, THE girl, is taking over my mind and my dreams, making my heart feel weird and my mouth feel dry. I like a girl that can’t possibly like me back and I’m just supposed to be fine with that. How do I even begin to explain this to anyone?

My dad sits across from me at the table and fills up his plate. The silence between us begins to grow as we eat, an air of unease and uncertainty filling the room. On top of my feelings for Minji, I now have to deal with my feelings regarding the state of my dad. It’s been years since I last saw him like this. He’s fine now, but what if he relapses? How did he even make such an abrupt change anyway when all I saw him doing was sleeping and drinking? I should be happy, but I can’t shake the feeling that he could just revert to his older self without warning. I can’t cling to hope for too long, otherwise I’ll be met with disappointment yet again.

“So, uh, I was thinking,” he says, nervously clearing his throat. “Would you wanna go to the mall later?”

I freeze like a deer in headlights, caught off guard by his sudden question. “The mall? Why?”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t wanna, I just thought…” He sighs heavily, dropping his expression to the floor. “I want to be your dad again, like old times, before your mother… left us. If you don’t want anything to do with me, I understand, but if it’s okay with you… I want a relationship with my son again.”

He looks into my eyes with a sincere expression, tears threatening to pour. A part of me wants to say no, to make up some lame excuse and wander the streets until it’s dark instead of spending any time with him. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am harboring some resentment for him for leaving me, a child, alone all these years, left to watch my one remaining parent shatter into a million pieces every day until he’s nothing but dust. Maybe I got so used to being alone that the thought of relying on someone else again makes me uncomfortable. Maybe I get into these stupid fights and aimlessly walk around the neighborhood because I know that the only person waiting for me at home is constantly drunk and sleeping.

Despite that, I don’t say no. I nod my head and utter, “Okay,” because the other part of me wants to have my dad back regardless of what he did. I want to be able to come home after school, into a home with the lights on, where the air doesn’t constantly smell like alcohol, and have someone, anyone, ask how my day went. I want someone to rely on when life gets too difficult to handle by myself. I want my family again.

So we eat our breakfast in silence. The uncertainty lingers, but next to it is a warming sense of hope, holding its hand in reassurance.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

Knock, knock, knock

“Minji?”

Knock, knock, knock

“Honey, are you awake?”

I finally sit up, rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes. “Now I am,” I yawn, stretching out my limbs. The clock reads 7:12 AM, about an hour after I usually wake up on the weekends. My phone lay face up on my bed, still on Yuno’s empty messages. Like an idiot, I waited all night for a response from him, but all I got was an hour less of sleep. Maybe I shouldn’t have held my breath for him.

My mother swings my bedroom door wide open. “Oh good, you’re awake,” she says, pacing around my room and picking up some of my laundry off the ground. “Go eat breakfast and get washed up. We’re going to the mall in a bit.”

“The mall? Why?” I ask.

“Oh, y’know… Just some clothes shopping,” she says with a peculiar smile. “We need to update that closet of yours, dear.”

Too drowsy to argue, I get out of bed and head downstairs, where my father is taking a call in the kitchen. Wisps of steam float from the mug of black coffee sitting on the counter next to him, untouched as he presses his phone to his ear with an intense focus. He mouths “Good morning” to me, gesturing to a plate holding a fancy-looking omelet. I dig in, unintentionally eavesdropping on my father’s conversation.

“Mhm. Tuesday you said? No, it’s not a problem at all. Yes, she will be there, I’ll make sure of it. Yeah. Mhm. No problem. We’ll see you then.”

Finally, he hangs up the phone and sits next to me at the dining table. Wrinkles of exhaustion decorate his face, likely from working early in the morning.

“Did you sleep okay, Minji?” He asks. “You’re usually up earlier than this.”

“I slept fine. I thought I’d get some more studying done after I got home and forgot about the time,” I lie. I can’t even imagine how furious he would be if I told him that I stayed up all night waiting for a text from a boy.

He grins proudly at me. “I’m happy that you’re working hard on your studies, but good sleeping habits will keep our brain healthy.” His phone buzzes in his pocket. “I’ll be right back, I have to take this.” He leaves the room, leaving me alone in the kitchen with my omelet and my thoughts. Maybe Yuno isn’t going to text me. Maybe I should text him first instead. But shouldn’t the guy text first…?

A sigh leaves my lips. I'm way in over my head with prom preparations already, I definitely don’t have any room for a silly little crush. Perhaps these feelings are just one of circumstance. We’ve been bumping into each other everywhere, so these feelings will fade if I just avoid Yuno for a bit. Sounds easy enough, right?

______________________________________________________________

The mall is always busiest on the weekends, full of families and friends looking for new deals while carrying around soft pretzels or pointing out attractive people who pass by. This mall, however, is a bit different from most, reserving its entire top floor for high-end designer shops. There isn’t any sort of membership or secret password that prohibits people from entering the top floor, but it generally stays barren aside from the few wealthy shoppers who can afford to do more than just window shop, including my family. The blatantly obvious segregation between social classes is disgusting, but I would be lying if I said I don’t like being able to shop without stumbling through the thick crowds on the lower levels.

“What do you think about this one, dear?” My mother pulls a black dress off the hanger, presenting its fine, intricate detailing to me. Shimmering black beads are sewn into the fabric, probably taking countless hours to place by hand.

“It’s very pretty,” I comment plainly. By all means, it’s a beautiful dress, but I much prefer something more comfortable.

“Why don’t you go try it on, dear,” she says, handing me the dress. I glance at the price tag, causing my eyes to go wide in shock at the $120,000 price point. 

“$120,000? Isn’t that a bit much for a dress?” I ask, concern painting my face.

“Nonsense, Minji. Don’t you want to look good for the party?”

My brow furrows. “Party? What party?” My mother’s gaze wanders, avoiding me completely.

“Well, there’s no party in particular, but you never know what will come up. Just try on the dress please.” She pushes me into the dressing room before I can ask another question.

Right as I close the door behind me, I feel my phone buzz in my purse. My heart skips a beat from the words on the screen - 1 new message from Yuno.

“AH!” I exclaim, nearly dropping my phone.

“Are you okay in there, ma’am?” A worker asks from the other side of the door. I can feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

“I-it’s nothing! Just a, uh, a spider! But it’s okay! Ehe…” I silently cringe at myself as I hear the worker’s footsteps walking away. I just know Hanni would be laughing her butt off at me getting this excited over a text from Yuno.

With a trembling hand, I open up his text, which simply reads “Good morning.” It’s a short and simple message, yet I bite my lip, actively stifling a delighted squeal. An overwhelming sense of giddiness washes over me from those two words on the screen, my mind racing as  I try to think of a response.

Should I ask him how he slept? Maybe that’s a bit too intimate… Oh, what if he had a weird dream? That’s an interesting topic of conversation, right? No, that might be too weird… Maybe I should ask the girls for help. But they might just laugh at me. Oh god, what do I do?

Right as my thumb hovers over the keyboard to type up a response, I freeze. This isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing. Yuno and I are just friends, and that’s all we can ever be. I’m just far too busy for any kind of serious relationship, and my parents clearly don’t approve of him either. Even so, a small voice in the back of my head tells me to go for it, that it’ll work out if I try hard enough. Anything can be achieved through hard work, right? That’s what my parents always told me. A heavy sigh escapes my lips as my heart and mind devolve into war with no clear victor. I don’t even know for sure if he feels the same, yet here I am, getting all excited over his words on a screen.

A knock at the door snaps me out of my rambling thoughts. “Honey, are you okay in there? You’ve been in there a long time, I only gave you one dress to try,” I hear my mom ask.

“S-sorry!” I quickly toss my phone back into my purse and grab the dress off the hanger. Maybe I just need some time to think about it.

______________________________________________________________

“Thank you for shopping with us, Ms. Kim! Have a wonderful day!” The worker exclaims as we leave the store with a plethora of shopping bags and a long receipt to match. My mother takes a single bag, leaving me to carry the rest. My family definitely has the means to live a “comfortable” life, but even exorbitant purchases like these are uncharacteristic of them.

“Why... huff... do I... grunt… need all these clothes?” I ask, struggling to carry everything. “Isn't this... huff… a bit much just to update my closet?"

“Think of it as a gift from your mother, dear,” she replies, not looking in my direction. “I barely get to see you because your father and I are always working. Don’t you want to spend time with your mother?”

“I guess so…” But not like this, I think to myself. As we descend the escalator to the lower levels, the frequency of people increases, making it nearly impossible to take two steps without accidentally hitting someone with the bags. My cheeks burn with embarrassment as I offer an apologetic look to everyone who passes by.

Amidst the chaos, I trip over my foot, inadvertently sending shopping bags and expensive dresses flying everywhere. My mother continues on without even so much as a glance backward, leaving me to pick up the remnants of her wealth as passersby give me weird looks or downright ignore me. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a man snatches my purse off the ground and dashes toward the mall exit.

“H-hey! Give that back!” Of course, my words fall on deaf ears as the thief gets farther and farther. No one moves to stop him, too scared or confused to intervene. My phone, my wallet, the little knick knacks my friends have given me over the years, all of it is gone…

Out of nowhere, a person tackles the thief to the ground, wrestling my purse from his hands. The scuffle ends with the heroic stranger standing over the thief’s now unconscious body, a crowd surrounding and applauding his efforts. An overwhelming sense of gratitude fills me, and without thinking, I run over to my savior and capture him in a big hug,

“Oh my god, thank you so much for getting my purse back, I don’t know how I can-” Panic replaces gratitude as I look up at him for the first time. 

“Y-Yuno?!”

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

I glare at the black screen of my phone, taunting me by reflecting my own ridiculous emotions. My body is restless, itching for any sign of life, a vibration, a notification, just anything to quench my frustrations. And then it happens: the screen lights up with life. Frantic, I grab the phone, bringing it up to my eyes to read the notification.

Yujin: Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy guyyyyyysssssss. I made kimbap for my grandma, what do yall think?

A photo of Yujin is attached to the text, depicting a clumsily put-together plate of what I assume to be kimbap. Out of the billion notifications I’ve received in the past hour, all of them have been from Yujin, and zero have been from Minji. My head drops in disappointment. Despite my own warnings, I can’t stop thinking about her. She plagues my mind with her pretty eyes and cute face and gentle voice and-

“You alright, Yuno?” My dad sits across from me at the table, his brow furrowed in concern mid-chew. “You haven’t touched your burger at all.”

I shake my head, gathering my bearings. ’50s rock music blasts from the speakers above, fitting the atmosphere of the 50s-themed diner we are in. With no plan in mind, my dad suggested that we get some lunch first, although his words fell on deaf ears since I was too preoccupied staring at my phone.

“It’s nothing,” I utter, avoiding his eyes. He sighs heavily, his expression darkening.

“Look, I… I understand if you don’t trust me completely, a-and I will work harder to earn your trust, but I don’t want you to suffer in silence,” he explains. “If something is going on, I want you to know that you can come to me for anything, no matter how big or small. I don’t have the answers to everything, but I’m here to listen if you need me.”

My lips part to speak, yet no words come out, hiding away in my throat, too scared to show themselves. I choke them down, guilt arising within me due to my silence. What am I supposed to say? “Hey Dad, you are right, I feel weird seeing you like this after so long and so suddenly, but also my life in general has just become so weird. In less than a week, I slept over at the student council’s president house, got two friends, beat two people in a fight, went to the fair for the first time, and I also really like the student council president. Maybe even love her, I don’t know.” This whole thing is ridiculous. I am ridiculous.

“I’m fine, really,” I assure him, and myself partially.

He looks at me, unconvinced, but doesn’t pry any further. “Alright, just… I want you to know.”

God, this sucks. I can’t even eat a meal with my own dad in peace because of my inability to function like a regular human being. Part of me wishes I could just pretend like everything is alright, but since when have I ever felt alright?

“What about you?” The words eject from my mouth without thought. Call it curiosity or not wanting to eat in awkward silence for the second time today, either way, the question is out there now.

“What about me?” My dad asks, rightfully confused.

“I mean…” Fuck, why is it so hard to talk? “You… You’re up and alive, I guess. What changed?”

He places his burger down and looks up with a thoughtful expression. “I, uh, went out for another drink one night and ran into an old friend from college. We just talked for a while, maybe even all night, just catching up like no time had passed. Y’know, he introduced me and your mom way back when. Seeing him reminded me of my old college days, living like I was on top of the world, and… I just knew something had to change.”

“That’s… great. Really.” And I mean it. A smile grows on his face at my sincerity.

“Yeah, it really is. He basically saved my life. I hope you’re able to find good friends like that, Yuno.”

My phone buzzes with a new message from the group chat.

Winter: that looks really great yujin :D

Yujin: hehe thanks !!!

A small grin grows on my face. Maybe I already have. If only I could get a text from one other friend…

______________________________________________________________

We walk into a clothing store full of people my age dressed much more stylishly than I am. I didn’t particularly need to update my closet, but the potential guilt of declining my dad’s offer to buy me clothes was too overwhelming. Besides, what else are you supposed to do at a mall other than spend exorbitant amounts of money on material things?

“Go look around. Let me buy you something nice for once,” he quips. His mood seems to have significantly brightened after our talk at the diner.

Looking through all the racks made me realize just how out of my element I am. Outside of my school uniform, most of my clothes are just sweats and hoodies - comfortable and don’t draw too much attention. Everything (and practically everyone) in here is basically a giant billboard that says “Hey, look at me!!!”

Then, something catches my eye: a forest green crewneck sweater with a bear wearing overalls screen printed on the front. I try to move on, but the beady lifeless eyes of the bear stare into my soul, demanding that I take it home. It’s ridiculous, It’s childish, it’s…

“I want it,” I blurt out.

“Really? This?” Dad chuckles, examining the sweater. “Didn’t think you would be interested in this kind of thing, but hey, what do I know about fashion?”

I cough awkwardly, my face growing warm. I didn’t know anything about fashion either. Hell, if I didn’t have the reputation I have, I would probably be a prime target for bullies if I wore that around. Out of everything in the store, why did I want that sweater? Who in their right mind would even like this sweater?

Minji. Minji would. Half of her bed is covered in teddy bears. I want that sweater because, for some stupid reason, I think it’ll magically make her like me. Or something. I don’t know. She hasn’t even texted me back yet, what good is a sweater with a bear on it gonna do?

Before I could protest, my dad hands me the sweater in a plastic bag, already paid for. “You wanna stop by a couple more stores?” he asks.

“Sure,” I concede, still feeling embarrassed. A part of me feels oddly glad that I took it, imagining Minji’s reaction to seeing the sweater. “Wow Yuno, your sweater is so cute, we should go out sometime!” Yeah right. Still, I can’t stop the small grin dancing on my lips.

“H-hey! Give that back!”

A familiar voice rings from the center of the mall. I glance upwards to see a man barging through the crowd, clutching onto a purse that definitely isn’t his. Without thinking, I spring into action, dashing towards him as fast as I can.

“Yuno!” My dad calls out from behind me, but his words are left unheard as I continue my pursuit. Right before the man reaches the exit, I jump onto a bench and dive at him, tackling him to the ground.

“What the fuck man, get off of me!” The thief yells. He lands a punch to the side of my head as I try to wrestle the purse from him. While it isn’t the hardest blow I’ve received, it’s enough to piss me off. I grab his throat, digging my fingers into his windpipe, nearly crushing it in my grip. He squirms underneath, the desperation welling in his eyes as he fights for breath. I reel back my fist and let it fly, aiming to crack his skull against the ground.

As my fist gets closer and closer to his head, time crawls to a standstill. Minji’s voice echoes in my head: “You’re a good person, Yuno. I just wish you would stop getting into trouble.” I mean, he deserves it, he’s a thief. He steals some poor girl’s purse, he deserves a good beating. And yet, I pull back at the last moment, knocking him out instead of outright shattering his jaw. While none of his bones are broken, he’ll surely be feeling that once he comes to.

The sound of scattered applause around me pulls me from my adrenaline-fueled haze. It’s only now that I realize people are recording me like a zoo animal, upholding me like I’m some kind of “hero” or something. In reality, I just did what they were too scared to do, but they’re too busy creating their own hyperbolic narratives to see that.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around me in a familiar and oddly comforting anaconda grip.

“Oh my god, thank you so much for getting my purse back, I don’t know how I can- Y-Yuno?”

That voice. Is it?

“M-Minji?”

I turn to look at the source of the voice, inadvertently meeting her eyes, mere inches away. Thick-rimmed glasses adorn her face, like the ones stereotypical nerds wear. Technically, she is a nerd, but a really cute one. She still has me in her grip, but if I’m being honest, I never want to leave it. It’s like the warmth of a weighted blanket, but… cuter. God, I think I’m going insane.

Fortunately (or rather unfortunately), Minji lets go, finally giving me room to breathe. This weird, fluttering feeling in my stomach remains (Is this what people mean by butterflies?).

“S-sorry about that, uh… Th-thanks, Yuno…” She mutters, her gaze never leaving the ground.

“Y-yeah, no problem…”

“Yuno!” My dad calls out to me, running in our direction. “Jesus, you're fast… huff… Are you alright?” He glances over at the thief’s unconscious body as two mall cops drag him away. “You certainly did a number on him, huh? Impressive.” He pats my shoulder, giving me a proud smile.

The clop of expensive high heels draws our attention, growing louder and louder with each step.

“Minji! Are you okay, dear?”

Minji’s mom appears, checking her for injuries.

“I-I’m okay, mother. Um, you remember Yuno, right?” She awkwardly gestures towards me, leading her mom’s gaze. With her cold gaze studying my expression, It’s like I have a sniper dot placed firmly onto my forehead, ready to blow my brains out if I so much as cough in her direction.

“Ah yes, I remember. Thank you for getting Minji’s purse back, although I could’ve easily purchased another one for her.” Her lips curl into a smile, but I can clearly see the disdain evident in her eyes. It’s almost like she knows I can see it and is doing it on purpose.

“And you must be his father, I presume.”

“Yup, that’s me, I’m his dad alright,” he says with a friendly chuckle. “Ian Lin, it’s nice to meet you.” My dad extends a hand towards her, which she accepts with clear reluctance in her movements, although he doesn’t notice this.

“Well, I would love to chat, but we must get going. Minji dear, go and pick up the bags, we’re heading to the tailor to get your new dresses fitted,” she says to Minji before waltzing off without another word, leaving her daughter to pick up a mountain of shopping bags. Looking at her, it’s hard to believe that someone as unconditionally kind as Minji was born from that unassuming she-devil. Maybe Minji is adopted or something.

“I-I should get going,” Minji says, panting with exhaustion. “B-bye, Yuno.”

“Wait.” I reach out and grab some of the bags from her. “Let me help you.”

“Oh, you don’t have t-”

“I want to.” 

The words come out before I have time to think about them. Minji blushes as she hands a few of the bags over to me. Meanwhile, my dad whips over to the other side of her and offers his assistance.

“May I?” He asks, reaching his arm out towards the rest of the bags. Minji concedes with a sigh, shooting him a grateful smile.

“Thank you, I was, uh, really struggling before,” she admits.

The three of us follow loosely behind Minji’s mother. No wonder she didn’t text me, I don’t think I would have the luxury of breathing when I’m around a terrifying woman like that. Still, it does put me at ease a bit knowing Minji wasn’t exactly ignoring my text. Seeing her in person is way better than a couple of words on a screen.

“Minji, right?” My dad asks her, making small talk. “Are you and Yuno friends?”

“Yes, Mr. Lin, we are friends.”

Friends. The title feels bittersweet at best, but hearing her admit that without any hesitation in her voice makes my lips curl into a smile, which I hide with a fake cough.

“That’s great, I don’t get to meet a lot of Yuno’s friends. By the way, just call me Ian, Mr. Lin makes me feel older than I already am,” he quips, earning a chuckle from Minji. “I have to ask, what’s Yuno like at school?”

“Yuno is…” She turns to look at me, but my gaze is glued to the ground, too nervous to meet her eyes. “...a bit of a troublemaker…” Damn. “...but he’s a good guy.” Hell yeah.

“That’s good to hear. Y’know, he gets his personality from his mother.” His grin fades for a second before going back to normal. “And he gets his good looks from me.”

The two of them laugh while I silently cringe to myself, a dull throbbing hitting my temples. Never in a million years did I imagine the two of them ever meeting, let alone holding a conversation like this. It’s kinda nice in an off-putting way. Better than letting Minji meet him as a grieving alcoholic.

“Hurry up dear,” Minji’s mom calls out to her, walking into the tailor shop.

“Welp, this is my stop. Thank you for the help, but I can take it from here,” Minji says. She takes the bags from us, lightly gracing my hand, sending a jolt of electricity through my body. “Bye Yuno and it was nice meeting you, Mr. Li- er, Ian.”

A disappointed sigh leaves my lips as I watch her disappear into the shop. She was right there, close enough for me to catch a whiff of her lavender-scented perfume. I’ve been waiting all day for a text from her, yet my stupid feelings made me too nervous to speak.

“You like her, don’t you?”

My head snaps towards my dad, a sly smirk dancing on his lips. My eyes grow wide in shock, “W-what, n-no… I-I just, uh… W-whatever…”

“I know that look anywhere, Yuno. It’s the same one I gave your mother before we started going out,” he explains. My face sinks into my hands, the overwhelming urge to disappear consuming me.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

My family has frequented this specific tailor shop at the mall for numerous occasions over the years, we even went here to get my school uniform properly fitted before the school year started. The shop has one sole worker, a kind yet quiet old man. He’s skilled at his job, but my only issue with him is that he continuously pokes me with sewing pins while taking my measurements. 

“Mother, why do I- Ow! Why do I need so many new dresses for my wardrobe- Ow! None of these clothes are things I would wear casually.”

She sighs. “I suppose we’ll have to tell you eventually.”

“Tell me what?” I ask, my brow furrowing.

“We’re doing a business collaboration with the Park family and we thought it would be a good idea to hold a banquet this Tuesday to mark the beginning of our partnership. We haven’t seen them in a while, so we figured it would be a good idea to catch up.”

The Park family? “Okay, but if it’s for the business, then why do I have to go?”

“Their son, Sunghoon, will be in attendance, so we expect you to do the same.”

Sunghoon. Just the name alone sends a shiver down my spine. I thought I finally got rid of him after he moved away in middle school, but no. He’s finally come back to haunt me.

“U-uh, I have school that day a-and I have a test coming up that I need to study for and-”

“Your father and I think that the opportunity to network and make connections with influential people in the industry will be more beneficial to you than a high school test that you can make up anyway. Besides, don’t you want to see your old friend Sunghoon again? I remember how hard you cried after he moved away.”

No, Mother, those were tears of JOY. My parents have been close friends with the Parks since they attended the same college together, so naturally (and incorrectly), they assumed that their kids would be close as well. Sunghoon got along well with my brother, but he was an absolute menace towards me. He would call me names, steal my things, and talk bad about me to his annoying group of friends. No matter how much I cried to my parents about him, they always gave me the outdated, misogynistic line of “boys will be boys.” When his family finally moved away during middle school, I couldn’t have been more thrilled, literally crying tears of joy knowing that I would never have to see him ever again. But of course, fate is a cruel mistress, making everything go right for a couple of years before stabbing me in the back with a Sunghoon-shaped knife.

“But mother, I-”

“We’re just asking you to attend the banquet for a couple of hours and mingle. Why do you have to make things difficult?”

A dejected sigh leaves my lips. There’s no getting through to her at this rate. At least I have a day to mentally prepare myself before the banquet. Right now, I plan to say hi to him to keep up appearances and then avoid him like the plague for the rest of the event. Piece of cake, right?

My gaze falls to my purse, sitting on a bench a few feet away. A thought plants itself into my head like a seedling, growing and growing into a full-blown idea. Maybe there’s a way that I can make this banquet a little more bearable.

______________________________________________________________

The second we make it into the house, I kick my shoes off by the front door and dash upstairs towards my room, ignoring the calls from my mother to put them away properly. By the time we finished up at the tailor, my phone had somehow died in my purse, making me antsy the whole drive home.

I burst through my room, practically leaping towards the charger.

“Come on, hurry up,” I plead, praying that it will somehow make the phone turn on faster. Thankfully, it only takes a few seconds to light up with life. I quickly scroll through my messages, typing up a quick text to the person who will be most vital to plan.

Yuno: Good Morning.

Minji: heyyy! can i call u? i have something important to ask

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

I stop dead in my tracks, almost dropping the bag of groceries in my hands as I scan my phone screen over and over again. Does she really want to talk… to me?! On the phone? What could she want to ask me? Is she gonna-

“Hello? Earth to Yuno.” My dad waves his hand in front of my face, pulling me from my trance. “I can’t have you stand in the middle of the kitchen while I cook dinner,” he chuckles.

“A-ah, right. Sorry.” I move to put the groceries away, but he stops me.

“I can put the rest of the groceries away. It’s clear you would rather be doing something else right now.” He gives me a knowing smile as I briskly make my way towards the stairs, grabbing the bag with my new sweater in it. Right before I head up, I turn to my dad one last time.

“Um, thanks for taking me to the mall. It was… nice.” 

He chuckles to himself before waving me off. I go to my room and shut the door behind me, typing a quick reply to Minji.

Minji: hey! can i call u? i have something important to ask

Yuno: Sure.

An overwhelming wave of suspense hits me, filling my mind with an endless mountain of questions. My phone buzzes to life with Minji’s name and I quickly swipe to answer her call.

“Hello!”

Her voice rings clearly through the speakers like the soothing sound of a gentle breeze. I’m somewhat glad she didn’t ask to talk in person, otherwise, she would see the obvious blush on my face.

“H-hi. Um, what did you want to ask me?”

“Oh right! It’s kinda weird, but… Are you doing anything on Tuesday night?”

My heart thumps loudly in my chest. Is she asking me on a…?

“N-no, why?” I can’t stop my voice from quivering with nervous excitement.

“Well…” She sighs. “It’s a bit of a long story, but basically, my parents are holding a banquet for the family business on Tuesday and if you’re not busy, I was wondering if you wanted to go… with me.”

“A-as your date?” The words come out before I can even think to stop myself from saying them. You fucking idiot, why would you say that!? Minji is gonna think you’re weird now! “S-sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“T-technically speaking, you would be my… date.” 

A loooooooooong awkward pause ensues. My heart is beating so loud, I’m worried she’ll be able to hear it through the phone. TV static and white noise run through my mind as I stand in the middle of my room, frozen in disbelief.

“Um, hello? Yuno?”

“Y-yeah, I’m here, s-sorry,” I manage to croak out. “Why do you want me to go? Wouldn’t it be better if you invited your other friends instead?”

“There’s this guy that’s gonna be there and I would really like to avoid him, so I figured I could bring you instead of the girls and maybe he’ll… y’know.”

My heart sinks a little. “You want me to be there to scare him off?”

“...Well, when you say it like that, it sounds mean.” Her tone turns apologetic. “I’m sorry, Yuno, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to-”

“I’ll go.” Maybe I’m just a hopeless love-stricken fool who’s willing to toss away any ounce of self-respect I have left for a girl he likes, but it’s not like I’m doing anything interesting on a Tuesday night anyways. Plus, banquets usually have free food, and if Ms. Kim’s cooking is any sign of things to come, it’ll probably be really good.

“I’m sorry if it seems like I’m using you, I just really need a friend to help get me through the banquet. Y’know, it feels like I have to keep reminding you that we’re friends, Yuno,” she says.

I collapse onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling fan as it spins in place. “Sorry, I’m still getting used to having friends.”

“It’s okay, I’m probably not doing a great job at being a good friend. It feels like you’re always helping me with something and I haven’t paid you back at all.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“First, you saved me from that drunk guy in front of the convenience store, and then the spider in the Ferris wheel, and now today with the purse thief, and now I’m asking you to go to a banquet with me because I don’t want to see some guy. You’re always doing things for me and I haven’t done the same for you.”

“That’s not true,” I refute. “What about the time I walked you home and it started raining, so you let me sleep on your couch so I wouldn’t get sick from the rain?”

“See, I only did that because you offered to walk me home. You’ve done a thousand things for me, and I’ve only done one thing for you. I think I’m a pretty bad friend-”

“That doesn’t make you a bad friend at all!” I yell out without realizing it. Minji goes quiet, the only thing I can hear is my anxious heartbeat and her quiet breathing. “S-sorry, I-I didn’t mean to yell…” Fuck, I made it awkward. “I, uh… You’re not a bad friend, is what I’m trying to say. U-um, you’re very kind and understanding, even to someone like me. I know I don’t have a lot of friends, but I know for sure that you’re a good one. You help me out more than you realize.”

There’s a long pause before Minji speaks again. “...Okay, first of all, I don’t like being yelled at, but I will accept your apology since you had good intentions.” I let out a sigh of relief, but the ache in my chest still lingers. Her tone is much more serious than it was a second ago. “Second of all, what do you mean “people like you?””

“Y’know…” I think carefully before I speak, treading through eggshells while I search for the right words. “You said it yourself when we were at the mall, I’m a troublemaker.”

Minji sighs. “Okay, that’s my bad, but I also said that you’re a good guy. You can convince yourself that you’re a bad person all you want, but that doesn’t mean you deserve to be lonely. I want you to be surrounded by people who love and care about you, Yuno.”

God, she’s so perfect. What did I do in my past life to meet an angel like her? “Th-thanks, Minji.”

“Of course. What are friends for?”

Friends. A word that felt so foreign and unattainable until recently. It still feels weird to digest, but a good kind of weird. The kind of weird that makes me feel excited for what’s to come, even though I have no clue what to expect. It’s like exploring an unexplored part of the world, no map, no research, simply traveling on pure curiosity alone. You might discover something frightening, yet you continue to dig because of the possibility that there’s something beautiful once you get to the other side.

Maybe “friendship” is as far as Minji and I are meant to go. Yet I continue to dig and dig through all these new, exciting, and terrifying experiences, because despite my whole internal monologue this morning about how we’re so different, about how she’s a shooting star and I’m a lowly cockroach, I desperately want to see what happens when I get to the other side. I am irrevocably, completely, and (most importantly) foolishly in love with Minji Kim.

[kobb4ni2]

Did you think I was doing sending more Sea Serpent Reader requests? No I still have more ideas!

How do you think Reader meeting the rest of the 4 yonkos/7 warlords would turn out to be? If we are going with the marine route I can see the Marines trying to hide Reader but how can you hide a 200ft long Sea Serpent that just cruising along the headquarters? If it was pirate/independent route I can see her stumbling upon them as she is traveling

SEA SERPENT! READER IS NOW AT THE HOUSE RAGGGHHHH🗣️🗣️🗣️🔊🔊🔊

It’s been so long since I’ve writting tbh. I’ve been busy with a lot of things like taking care of my sister and school and sorry if this was short too😭 I only decided to do the Warlords for this one and not for the yonkos😔 BUT you can ask again the same ask but for the yonkos!!

Like you said mootie if we choose the Marine route there would be rumours that the WG is hiding an ancient god/dess and the Warlord isn’t exceptional to it.

Jimbie would be whole entirely believe that they captured Sea Serpent! Reader, his ocean friends had told them about Sea Serpent! Reader awakening but they couldn’t confirm where you went after you woke up. And since Sea Serpent! reader is a LITERAL important figure to Fishmen's identity and culture, it pissed Jimbie the hell off when the found out that the WG aka the people that he is working under to keep his people uplifted. Using an important Fishmen figure and using them for their own selfish goals made him furious.

Jimbie wanted to confirm this but never even got a proper answer. But by pure luck Jimbie managed to meet you in person, Jimbie had to compose himself when he did because it’s their (hypothetical) land creator. Jimbie treated you will high regard and respect, he even hinted that if you ever needed help breaking out from the WG clutches he’d be there to support you and ready to turn his back against the government. Jimbie of course told this to Neptune I wholeheartedly agree that Neptune already knew that you awaken from your slumber via Shirahoshi, but he too was extremely furious when he heard that the WG captured Sea Serpent! Reader.

Doflamingo has ears everywhere and his Celestial Dragon blood just makes him more overwhelmingly powerful when it comes to dirty secrets against the World Government. So the second they confirmed your existence and your capture he already knew it, and his eerie grin somehow got wider (if that is possible) and even started laughing maniacally, Sea Serpent! Reader bear existence would shake the entire world and if Sea Serpent! Reader manages to break the chain from the World Government then it would be a world to behold.

Doflamingo would suspiciously start going to almost every Warlord meeting heck he would even suddenly appear at important marine meetings, he would devilishly tease them about knowing their “dark secret”. He would find out where they keep you and visit you deep at night a silhouette towering that is coming towards your window caused you to be awoken by the shadowy figure that covered the moonlight you would immediately see him. His grin goes wider every single second he sees you and at the end of a conversation, you’d see a red flower with a white bow that looks like a bunch of strings at the end of your bed.

Mihawk is a strange deal indeed. He would know about Sea Serpent! Reader existence/ knows that Sea Serpent! The reader is without a doubt real. He would also know that the WG already have their dirty hands with a chain wrapped around your neck. Sea Serpent! Reader met Mihawk when Sea Serpent! The reader was still free and roaming, she would have landed on his island thinking that no one was there but surprised Mihawk was there.

Imagine being Mihawk in this scenario, like you’re just sipping on your wine while reading a newspaper until you hear a loud though near your beach, and when you look outside you see a 200 feet mythical creature that is rumored to have existed hundreds of years ago just at your island resting while petting the monkeys that live there. A sight to behold indeed. Mihawk would usually tell any creature or people to leave his island if they’re lucky enough not to piss him off but this time was somehow an expectation he was interested in your whole being (not romantically yet), you brought out intrigue that is rare to Mihawk.

You decided to spend more time talking to him than expected and at the end of the day when the waves started pulling and pushing itself forcefully and the full moon helping so was the time you left him. Mihawk let you leave but what a mistake was that, day after day when you left all his mind, was plagued by you and your stories it was interesting at first that caused him to be attracted to you, but when he heard the reason why you haven’t visited him in a long time because of the WG, he started doing his investigations and found out where the WG kept you, and it was surrounded by Marines and even near some Admirals, as much as Mihawk wants to slice them immediately so he can meet you again, he had to control himself so no panic arises at the base. When he finally met you, you were shocked but better yet concerned about why he was even here, but he should have nonchalantly said that he was bored and heard some information about where you were and wanted to see you again. This became a routine to Mihawk he would memorize the schedule of who would be at the base surrounding you and visit you and at the end of each meeting he would leave petals of a flower or even a whole rose like Doflamingo but the rose was made in his garden.

Boa would have heard stories about you during her time as a slave from fellow fishman slaves. She only thought of you as a legend until quite some years there were rumours at the Marines that managed to transfer to Amazon Lily, Boa didn’t care at first until she too saw your tail playing with the Sea King protecting the island. It’s made her rather curious but decided that;yes-you do exist. But will she find out more about you? Nope, you possess no danger nor interest in harming her or her people. But when Boa heard that the WG might have captured you she felt very uneasy, she may not have shown it but even if that time she wasn’t close to you, she was concerned about what the WG did to you..especially the Celestial Dragons. She did more research about you and fortunately, after a boring ass Warlord meeting, she overheard Mihawk and Doflamingo (Doflamingo was scowling at Mihawk bc he sees the flowers Mihawk leaves) conversation about a certain “them” and Jimbie was also shocked, but by Boa’s observation knew that Jimbie knew more or even met you already then those two.

Kuma, Kuma, Kuma..boy where do I start? Kuma knew already about you since his childhood, he knew that the WG covered the whole history between you and Joyboy, knowing that your living existence is the key to their dark and dirty secrets. Kuma looked forward to seeing you like Joyboy and when he heard that Bonney had a friend that saved her from drowning, that had the exact description as you, surely it was a coincidence right? Years passed by and surely but slowly he knew that the WG was holding your captive, but he wasn’t fully sure until the day Dr. Vegapunk made him into a cyborg, Vegapunk told everything about you and the facts you shared with him, Kuma filled with Joy cried knowing that the world will hear the drums of liberation once again, and as a send-off gift to Kuma, Vegapunk show him S.Serpent so he can see what you looked like.

Crocodile would have heard about you via Robin, she saw Robin deeply interested in your story, that she would spend days reading books she already read about you, Crocodile didn’t care until he has found out that you are beneficial to his plans when overtaking Alabasta. But then started doing more research about you and was entrenched by you.

After he was freed from impel down, he then saw you siding with the Marines, he knew that the WG captured because of rumors from when he was spending time down there, but when he joined the Cross Guild he just found out that you already met Mihawk, he was jealous yes but he will now pry your eyes towards him than that clown and bird.

BUTT HERE IS THE PIRATE ROUTE:33!!

You meet Jimbie at Fishman Island after Shirahoshi cries and summons Sea Monsters and you are there waiting to strike whoever tries to hurt Shirahoshi. After the whole interaction Jimbie went to talk to you and King Neptune even asked you if you could stay at his palace, but you declared that you were going to travel the whole world. See if things have changed, Jimbie heck even the whole fishmen race tried to persuade you to stay but at the end of the day, they all respected your decision to leave. And not even a month after you left you already have a bounty on your head, because you flip down a Marines and Celestial Dragons ship. Jimbie was scared for you especially when your bounty poster had your face on it (majestic ahh, even if you massacred those in the boat) and you had a head of 1 Billion Berry meaning that the WG knew who you were.

When joining the Sun Pirates with Fisher Tiger, the first to greet him in his journey was you, giving him a peep talk about when it comes to being a pirate. Since you always stuck with the Sun Pirates you were somehow an unofficial crew member, both and Jimbie’s relationship bloomed like a dying flower. Fisher Tiger and heck the whole crew saw the glances and protectiveness that Jimbie shows when it comes to you, the longing, lovesick eyes Jimbie when he talks to you but still respects you as a fellow crew member.

Jimbie knows that you can protect your self but he’d always be at your side using his Fish-Man Karate to block any kind of canons on your way. After becoming a Warlord he knew that he may never even see you since he is closely connected to the WG but heck the Fleet Admiral is talking to Jimbie about maybe recruiting Sea Serpent! Reader as a Warlord 👀

Mihawk’s scenario is still the same but with a twist. Ever since that day you met him you would time to time again visit his island and even have dinner with him, you would tell stories about where you went those days when you weren’t here, he would act like he didn’t care but is ABSORBING every single words that falls from your sweet lips. Once time you turned into your human form but a little bit smaller but still taller than Mihawk, he could stop staring at your legs and whenever you trip he’d be there to catch you it’s now like a 6th sense of his. When you become a pirate you try your best to visit him but since you have a bounty on your head you try to avoid him so you can cause less trouble for him which causes Mihawk to be concerned. He spends more time looking towards the beach to even see a glimpse of you. But day by day he was growing tired of this waiting game, he then grabbed his hat and coat and began to look for the treasure that left his grasp.

Doflamingo would have already started sniffing your whereabouts even if you haven’t even shown yourself to the WG, he just knows that you are real and swimming even if you haven’t even met him yet. You both would have officially met at the sea when his crew was ramshaking an island that you swore to protect. Doflamingo would have never forgotten the day that he fell in love with you (obsessed) even if you beat his crew and subordinates and forced him to leave the island alone and never come back, he knew that he had to get his hands on you.

So he would visit the island he ramshackle and even used his power so no pirates or marines and touch the island, the people were incredibly scared of him at first but he pulled some strings so that they could trust him, giving them resources from Dressrosa, via food, education and many more. Until one day they held a festival meant for your arrival and when he heard of such a thing he forced the mayor or king (whoever is in charge of the island) to let him take care of the festival, everything must be perfect just for you. The food and music were ready every kid was happy and jolly even if the guy who prepared all of this was the same guy who destroyed their island just a few months prior. When you came out of the sea Doflamingo was just grinning ear to ear it was scary even to his crew. There you are, in person his trump card against the world and the same person who will stay by his side till his dying breath. God knows what will happen to you when Doflamingo manages to get you strung up in his twisted sense of love.

[radioroxx]

I wish to know more about the Bonnie and Siffrin double looping au. Please. Destroy me emotionally.

HI SORRY this took a bit to answer lol

thought a bit for how to answer this because on one hand i could spill literally everything i have thought of for this au up to this point (which, while a lot, hasnt actually reached some of the Angstier segments yet. i have vague ideas for those but still workshoppin’ and all). but ahh. i will save some stuff for separate askers maybe lol. for now heres some random points of no particular connection:

- i screwed up a lil in the og post by calling it a bonnie. “joins” the loops au. it is definitely a, bonnie is there from the start, au. i considered for a bit making it more of likee… they start to remember post death to the king, but that wouldve placed em in act 4, and while thats interesting i felt like there wasnt as much to explore there. yknow? (plus. bonnie death to the king is still Very much going to happen in the au. soo)

- bonnie doesnt meet loop until a couple loops in! this was partially loops decision, about being worried to meet the party + how they would react, buuut siffrin is only so good at keeping secrets from people whos memory cant be wiped through time travel, bonne does learn about loop, and insists on meeting them. the timeline is a lil vague in my head, and this interaction i dont have compleeetely planned out? but know that it takes place around the back half of act 2, after first death to the king

- speaking of loop- bon has a pretty interesting dynamic with them too :) this is before bonnie and siffrin are able to have the Talk about his eye, and while looping back and forth together has brought them closer regardless, bon still holds a grudge against them! at least, slightly. that combined with the fact that theyre talking to some… celestial beast? sick as hell star creature?? that GLOWS? bonnie takes the loop pretty easily (this is aided by the fact that siffrin seems to trust them well enough. not completely, he is ofc still skeptical of loop throughout, but its enough that bonnie will trust them too). however, you could probably imagine bonnie is much less tolerable to loops… nonsense. more willing to bite back if they say something out of hand, and more likely to react Badly if they say something upsetting. (still 50/50 of whether or not bonnie would take loops side if they say something mean about siffrin tho lol. depends on the insult. and obviously loop would never,, say stuff like that to bon). iii could keep going about them this dynamic is very fun to me

- the friendquests go relatively the same, the only difference being that it is actually siffrins idea to set bonnie up with that big feast for everyone. !! teamwork! the training session for bonnie becomes a multiple-loops thing, letting them build up their skills over time. i think with the stress of the loops, trying to figure out what to do next now that they know killing the king doesnt work- the talk about the eye and that whole freakout takes a bit to actually get to. i have ideas about how that would go too, because it would be Different and mean something New, but…. that would be so long to put here……… just know that they. still promise to look out for each other. promise to let themselves be helped.

you may be looking me in the eyes at this point with deep frowns and wondering… Pluto….. what are all these happy silly ideas, you are missing out on so much angst potential here ?? and to that i say uuuuuuhhhhhmmm i have thought about it. and look. i dont think having bonnie- or anyone really- joining in on the loops would really solve or lessen siffrins shit mental state. but theres definitely also a layer there, on top of breaking the loops, on top of keeping everyone happy, on top of figuring it out and finding out about their country and the king etc etc- theres a priority in keeping this kid happy too! he will, and has, died dozens of times in these loops, and that sucks, and it sucks that poor bon has to remember it all, so the least they can do is. try to keep things lighthearted around them. Pretend to be hopeful for their sake. encourage them to try out new recipes on different loops to see what sticks with the family! let them run their own experiments in the loops! let bonnie join in fights with sadnesses once their training goes well enough!! do their best to at least have some fun, and some time to relax. sticking to the excuse that its all to make bonnie feel better, without realizing how much thats helping themself as well.

aaand that all sorta falls apart in act four. bonnie is killed- directly, painfully- by the king, and siffrin distances himself as he is so prone to, falls back into trying to get everything done himself because hes the one whos “responsable” for it…. ah you get the idea..

[coxxxmo]

𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝

[0] 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

Masterlist

Dear Future Husband,

To you who has taken away my solitude through the storms in your eyes, to you who has taken over all of my living dreams,your gaze is a tempest that renders my world beautifully chaotic - I hope this letter finds its way to you dearest one.

Tell me, is there a new envoy in your company? Passing my messages to you? Does the moon whisper to you the musings I’ve shared about you? Has it told you of my deepest desires? In the quiet of the night, lately I have been finding solace in the company of the moon. I’ve been telling it all about you - your beautiful smile that makes my heart stop, your laughter that resonates like a melody in my mind, your eyes that stir something unknown deep within me, your voice that echoes within me and the heaven knows, I just can’t seem to get you out of my head.

Like the faceless man in my dreams, you have been haunting me; You have been haunting me with your whirlpool of existence which is sure to stir up my entire world if I get too close. 

But Isn't it romantic that, beneath the vast expanse of the same sky, we share a celestial connection? As we both look upon the stars that decorate the night sky, the same moon that graces your night sky also bathes mine in its gentle glow, creating a luminous thread that connects both of us. 

I’ll be honest; I’m not exactly sure how this love letter thing works, but all I know is that I can’t stop thinking about kissing you. Archons, I crave you, and I crave your touch. The idea of us kissing feels like a storm inside me, and I can't help but want you close to myself.

When I think about holding your hand and drawing little patterns with our fingers, it feels like magic. There's something pulling me towards you, and it's stronger than anything else. These feelings feel new to me and I'm still figuring them out like getting lost in a maze. Even then my heart always seems to point toward you, and each day, that pull becomes even stronger.

With each word, I'm sharing a part of my heart. As I fold this letter and seal it with a kiss, it holds not just my words but the promise of the future yet you come. Until our paths cross, and until the day I can call you mine. I send this letter off to the unknown, leaving it at the hands of the fates weaving our story.

Yours Lovingly.

⤷ Synopsis :

In a world dominated by algorithms and measured affections, where love is dissected as a complex equation, Will the pursuit of love transcend the boundaries of logic? Can the heart, guided by a mere letter, lead to a connection that defies reason?

Are you willing to take the journey where the lines between reason and romance blur? Will you be drawn into a completely different world, or will your story continue along its familiar course?

But above all, the burning question remains: whose doorstep will become the final destination for this seemingly innocuous letter?

Modern!au

⤷ pairing : genshin men x reader

⤷ taglist : @sako-mii @oni-girx @chevcore @moonlybxbe @rachoka @sangoqueenkoko @veekoko

⤷ a/n : AHHHHH IM DONE WRITING THE LETTER AFTER AGES. It was harder than it seemed I'll be honest....BUT now that the story starts It'll be much more fun, trust me. Hoping that the other parts are more regular..

Likes and reblogs are appreciated ♡

Lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist!!

[semisolidmind]

i know it's all about the lion's den AU rn and as usual I am FEASTING on the content (excuse the crumbs) but there's an idea that won't leave me alone-

what if Peaches was not human, but an immortal from the beginning? How much would change? I know the whole appeal of these AUs - I mean, that's why I love them and I absolutely love this lil corner of the fandom. but I've been kinda diving into the whole immortality biz in Chinese myths for my oc, so now I'm curious.

Peaches could be someone cultivating and practicing Xian (i hope I'm using that right) for years, or consumed pills/elixir of immortality somehow, or a demon who is oddly very kind and empathetic - would the bois still love her just as much? How different is the dynamic now even if Peaches retains her core personality traits?

love your work! and hydrate before ya diedrate

ive been thinking about this, and i kinda like the idea of immortal reader being an attendant of the heavenly peach orchard.

not super high up the ladder, but not at the bottom either. her powers are limited to helping plants grow just a little bit, creating temporary barriers, and being able to float the way all celestials can. the higher-ups figure that since no one is bold or stupid enough to steal from heaven, they don’t need any extra security in the immortal peach groves.

you can take a guess as to how reader meets the monkeys.

they show up to the orchards, ready to fight their way to the peaches, but instead of some overpowered celestial soldiers guarding the orchard, it's....one immortal maiden. just the one. but she doesn't seem all that powerful, soooooo...

...maybe she'd agree to let them take a few without too much trouble?

the monkey bros go the "oh don't mind us we're just a couple of cute lil monkeys, here to cause adorable and harmless mischief" route in their approach to getting reader to let her gaurd down.

they approach her while she takes a break from pruning some dead branches. she's understandably surprised and suspicious about these two seemingly normal monkeys who've snuck in, but... they are pretty cute. and tame; they let her pet them and give them scritches. perhaps they're one of the heavenly official's pets. reader supposes that they can stay for a while.

wukong and macaque play their parts, get reader's guard down, and steal a couple dozen peaches each. reader notices, but there's not much she can do beyond shooing the monkeys out with a broom (and her soft heart barely allows her to do that). she knows that if she reports it, those cute lil monkeys will be hunted down and killed.

she supposes she could put in a request for higher walls around the grove, or more barriers (she still wonders how the boys managed to get through the first ones), but with how slowly things get done in the bureaucracy...it'd be a very, very long time until it was even brought up in court.

besides, even then....they're monkeys. animals. she won't place blame on them for being what they are. those little cuties probably had no idea that the immortal peaches were any different from the ones on earth.

she could never stay mad at their adorable lil faces anyways.

---

reader, despite what you might think, has a pretty laid back job. once all her chores for the day have been completed (those magic trees don't really need much beyond the essentials to do their thing), she has a good amount of free time to sit and, you guessed it—read.

macaque (because of course, he has to be the first one to fall in every au) decides, on a bored whim, to go visit that nice attendant they stole from not too long ago. perhaps he'll collect some intel while he's up there.

he finds her after a bit of searching. reader sits in a secluded corner of the grove, leisurely turning pages and enjoying the shade. macaque, still disguised, sidles up to her. reader notices, seeming surprised to see him before her face morphs into... a rather adorable pout. perhaps she thinks she's being intimidating.

'damn, no wonder the bureaucracy didn't think they needed any more security,' macaque thinks sarcastically. such a fearsome maiden they've chosen to guard the immortal peaches.

while reader takes a minute to admonish him about stealing, it isn't long before she sighs and gives up on her lecture in favor of scratching him gently behind his ears. he churrs low in his chest. her whole demeanor is as soft and sweet as the peaches she guards (her hands as well, he notes, pressing into them).

macaque laughs internally. a fearsome maiden, indeed.

macaque manages to wiggle his way into reader's lap, pulling her attention from her book. she knows she should be trying to scare him off, but...just—just look at him! he's so cute, and she's too pulled in by how cute he is to notice the oddly powerful aura he seems to exude (far too powerful to be a normal monkey). he enjoys her touch for a while longer before he hears the far-off call of his annoying brother, wondering where he is. he bumps his head into reader's hand by way of goodbye before running off to shadow away more secretively.

reader watches him go, sighing. she really should shoo him away next time.

---

macaque keeps coming back. and reader continues to be unable to kick him out.

with very few visitors and no one else to talk to, reader begins to tell him everything that she overhears during the day; the officials don't think anyone is listening when they air out their gossip as they walk by the orchard. she doesn’t know it, but she’s saving macaque the energy of using his powers to gather this intel on his own.

the six-eared demon makes a habit of showing up to the grove to laze around with his favorite maiden and listen to her read, using “spying” as the excuse he gives his brother for why he's been running off so often. reader seems to have accepted that he won't be leaving her alone any time soon, and he takes full advantage. macaque comes to think of reader and the secluded corner of the grove as his own little peice of heaven.

of course, sooner or later, wukong joins in. he's a bit angry that macaque didn't just say he was visiting the peach orchard and it's attendant; he wouldn't have minded, he would've come with! macaque doesn't bother trying to explain that he didn't want to share.

but share he does, seeing as wukong greedily takes all the attention from reader he can get. the monkey king finds himself enamored with the maiden who's hands and heart are as soft as the fruits she tends to. he won't admit it (it may hurt his carefully crafted "ruthless demon king" image if he did), but wukong is a cuddle bug when it comes to reader. everything about her is just so soft, and she's so kind, and she always smells like peaches—he could spend hours laying on her chest as she reads.

he just feels so...peaceful, with her.

the boys are entangled in reader's life, visiting whenever they can and butting into whatever she happens to be doing. they see her day to day happiness (brief conversations with the lower maids she's friends with), and her struggles (the two monkeys bore witness to the officials taking their anger out on reader over something trivial, their rage towards heaven growing stronger). the two grow more and more attached to her as time goes on.

and so they begin to work a small abduction into the grander scheme of their plan.

---

sooner or later, the monkey warlords properly raid heaven. they and their demon army storm the jade palace, murdering servants, footsoldiers, and as many officials as they can. the monkey king and the six-eared macaque lead a massacre so bloody it stains the palace walls red. wukong especially holds back none of his rage, getting caught up in his hatred for heaven and zealously continuing to shed as much celestial blood as he can.

during a lull in the chaos, macaque, covered in vicera, makes his way to the immortal peach grove. with the battle coming to a close and the demon forces being driven back, now is as good a time as ever to snatch up a special “peach” for himself and his brother.

he finds said peach preoccupied with a gallant attempt at protecting herself and a few lower maids from a demon soldier, using a series of barriers. the soldier breaks the barriers almost as fast as reader can make them, rapidly pushing her and her companions into a corner. reader puts up a brave fight, but she's a celestial attendant, not a celestial warrior.

macaque calls out to the soldier, halting their attack and telling them to regroup with the others and prepare to move out. the soldier complies, crassly assuring the women that they’re about to be nothing more than bloody pulp on the garden wall. no one has ever gone against the shadow general of the demon army and lived.

macaque waits until the soldier is out of sight before leisurely approaching the still quivering group of maids and their determined, but exhausted looking guard. reader tenses as he steps closer. she feels a horrible sense of dread crawl down her spine when she gets a good look at him.

the dark fur, the shape of the mask marking on his face...reader feels tears start to bead at the corners of her eyes.

this entire time, she'd been petting and coddling the six-eared macaque. the second in command of the dreaded demon army has been sitting right in front of her and she had no idea. reader can barely keep her breathing steady.

and if this is her dark-furred companion, then the lighter-furred one must be…oh stars.

…she let the monkey king in.

she practically threw open the doors for him. she didn’t report them when she should have, she knew there was something strange about them but she was so sure they were just normal animals—oh stars above, if the jade emperor ever discovered this, she’d be executed.

but…but reader steels herself. she can deal with that later. her friends are counting on her.

now, she’s certainly not expecting the blood-covered demon general across from her to be open to bargaining (he could just kill all of them now, but reader gets the feeling he wouldn't be merciful enough to end it quickly). and he knows exactly what leverage he has over her, she can see it in the smug look on his face.

but she tries anyways.

“let them go, please,” she begs breathlessly, arms shaking from the strain of maintaining her magic. the least she can do is buy her friends a moment more. “do whatever you want with me, but they are blameless.”

macaque chuckles, the sound reverberating lowly between the trees. whatever he wants, huh? oh, sweet peach. she should know better than to give him so much leeway.

“that is tempting. if that’s the case, then perhaps you’ll go with me willingly,” he muses, tail swaying slowly. his fangs glint dangerously when he smirks.

“don’t fight, and no harm will come to them. that, and your secret will be safe with me. honest."

reader doesn’t believe him. she can’t, but she and her friends are so low priority that calling for help would be useless. if the demon army has been as effective as the screaming would lead her to believe, the celestial host has much bigger problems than rescuing a gardener and some lowly maidservants. and with the chance that she’ll be seen through and blamed for every gory death that's happened beyond the walls of the peach groves...

she doesn’t have a choice.

reader slowly, cautiously lowers her barriers, despite the worried cries of the maids behind her. they cower closer together as reader takes a slow step closer to macaque.

with a flick of his wrist, reader is struck by a sleeping spell so potent she falls into macaque's waiting arms like a lead weight. the demon gathers his beloved into his hold with a gentleness that doesn't fit his gory visage.

he sinks into a shadow, leaving the maids to clutch each other and cry at the loss of reader and the near loss of their own lives.

---

reader wakes up days later in the royal bedchambers of the stone palace. she startles at seeing the monkey king and the six-eared macaque laying on either side of her, stripped to just a loose pair of pants each. she herself has been changed to a comfortable silk robe, her own clothing nowhere to be seen.

reader feels a cold sludge in her gut. she scrambles out of the pillow pit, kicking a few into the face of one of her captors as she goes. she checks herself over, looking for bite marks, claw marks, anything to indicate the two demons sharing a bed with her had violated her in any way. she looks, and breathes a heavy sigh.

she finds nothing.

"we figured we'd wait until you were awake to start marking territory," the tired, yet still somehow smug voice of the monkey king chimes from behind her. reader turns to see the demon leveling an amorous look her way. his gold and crimson eyes burn like fire in the low light.

reader ignores him in favor of falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands. now that she has a moment to think, her failure has decided to take centerstage; she was the one who let the monkey king into the jade palace, she let him steal the immortal peaches, she's the one who carelessly shared all the gossip that told them when the best time to attack would be, she's to blame for all the lives lost—

"hey. y'know we would've raided heaven even if we hadn't met you, right? it's not your fault," macaque says, propping his head in his hand to look at her. he doesn't have the decency to hide how he's sizing her up, poison purple eyes glowing whilst tracing her curves. reader shrinks into herself a bit more.

"yep. don't feel too bad, peaches. i was never gonna spare any of those bureaucrats in the first place," wukong adds. "and besides, none of those guys cared about you anyway, so why feel bad?"

reader sobs, pressing her hands to her eyes. she knows. she knows how callous the officials could be, but that doesn't mean they deserved to die. it doesn't mean the servants and foot soldiers who were only following orders deserved their fates.

she hears movement, then feels a set of strong, furred arms wrap around her. wukong rests his head on her shoulder. he nuzzles his nose against her neck. she feels his warm breath and the glance of deadly sharp fangs when he speaks.

"they didn't deserve the mercy you seem to think they did."

---

wukong places a seal on reader's powers. what little defense she had against them is gone with the placement of a brand-like marking in between her shoulder blades (and a few more along her shoulders made with his teeth).

reader can't do anything. wukong won't let her leave, and even if she could, the heavenly court will have her executed if she goes back. so, she remains on the monkey king's mountain.

she didn't think she'd share a fate with the precious fruit she'd failed to protect.

[galedekarios]

you seem to be reputable source to ask this and i haven't found a walkthrough anywhere else, do you know how to trigger the boat scene where gale has already decided not to go after the crown? like where he says you'll always be enough for him.

i've tried so many combinations and can't figure it out! sorry if you've already posted this

thank you for your message!

you have to sway gale away from the crown as best you can over the course of act 2 and 3, and then follow a certain chain of events to set the correct flags to trigger the alternate boat scene.

i've reliably managed to trigger it in act 3 with the following steps:

1: get the annals of karsus from sorcerous sundries

2: don't give gale the annals of karsus right away when he asks for the book

3: go to camp, but not as a long rest -> pick the go to camp option instead

4: speak to elminster and initiate his conversation (he should have a ! over his head and you can initiate the next step in progressing gale's act 3 quest, however: this is sometimes bugged if you haven't unlocked the elfsong tavern yet as a camp space, i.e. elminster will turn up, have a ! over his head, but his dialogue doesn't trigger, essentially soft-locking the quest)

5: go to the stormshore tabernacle to progress the quest

6: pick the option that encourages gale to seek mystra's forgiveness -> Player: Seek her forgiveness, Gale. It might be your only hope of curing the orb.

7: do a long rest

8: the alternate boat scene should trigger with gale at this point (he should be at camp with a ! to show he's ready to speak to the player)

i'll also share a screenshot of the conversation from the files (CAMP_Gale_CRD_ROM_BeMyGod) and highlight which flags are important:

alternate boat scene dialogue

Gale: Ah. You're still talking to me then?ORI_Gale_Knows_KarsiteWeave, LOW_StormshoreTabernacle_State_GaleSeeksForgiveness Gale: I wouldn't blame you for giving me a wide berth. I thought the orb's ever-present censure had tamed my wilder ambition, but that wasn't the case. Gale: I needed Mystra's intervention. She offered me a path to redemption at last, and it might yet leave my mind and body intact. Gale: Please - continue to believe in me. I want to show you the wizard I am capable of being, rather than the poor excuse for a man who's kept you company thus far. - Player (Option 1): I believe in you Gale. Always have, always will. ['Gale 10'] Gale: That's all I ever need to hear. - Player (Option 2): You're willing to give up the chance of unlimited power. I'd say your ambition is under control. Gale: If that's true, it's thanks to you, and the trust you show in me at every turn of this strange adventure of ours. - Player (Option 3): I hope so, because honestly you have been a poor man recently. Especially on the romance front... Gale: I'm sorry. It's not easy living for more than just yourself, when for so long just staying alive was accomplishment enough. - Player (Option 4): You're more to me than magic, Gale. ['Gale 10'] Gale: You stole the words from my mouth. - Gale: I know what I must do. The Crown belongs under Mystra's stewardship, not mine, and I will ensure she gets it. Gale: That means there'll be no permanent place in the heavens for us. But we could still visit. - Player (Option 1): Close your eyes. Gale: Astra navigabimus. - Gale: Few mortals ever glimpse what you're about to see. But don't be alarmed - I'm here with you. Now... open your eyes. Gale: Quite the view, isn't it? The Outer Planes are a place of profound, sometimes overwhelming possibility. Gale: I conjured this illusion often during my confinement in Waterdeep. An escape for the mind, where there was none for the body. Gale: It was easier to stare at the celestial abyss than recognise the emptiness within myself. Easier to pretend my destiny lay among such stars, than work to salvage a life on solid ground. You changed all that. Gale: You see me as I am, and do not find me wanting. With these stars as my witness, I swear - you will always be enough for me. ORI_Gale_State_RejectedBeMyGodProposal ['Gale 10']

as you can see, both the ORI_Gale_Knows_KarsiteWeave (mystra reveals this knowledge to gale at the stormshore tabernacle) and the LOW_StormshoreTabernacle_State_GaleSeeksForgiveness (set by picking the seek her forgiveness option during the stormshore tabernacle scene with the protag, gale and mystra) flags are integral here.

if you want to watch the alternate boat scene, i posted a video of it here.

i hope this was helpful to you! 🖤

[ryin-silverfish]

LMK and the Problem of Li Jing

If my browsing in the Nezha tag is any indication, I'm not the only one who has...opinions about the interesting writing choice in S5.

Namely, it's awkward, completely out of left field, and forced.

I am also gonna try and calmly dissect my feelings on the matter, so that it doesn't become a "me sassing Li Jing for ten pages straight" post.

See, my biggest problem isn't "Li Jing is a good/sympathetic dad instead of his more mythos-accurate portrayal".

There are adaptations that make him a good father (Nezha 2019), or at the very least, a flawed but still sympathetic figure (Legends of Nezha cartoon).

And even though FSYY and JTTW's Nezha both have their Attempted Patricide Arc as part of their backstory, when JTTW's Nezha showed up in the novel proper, he was overall more obedient towards Li Jing, so it's not completely without basis (tho crucially, JTTW's Li Jing is also terrified of him picking up the "Patricide" hobby again).

The key, however, is Show Not Tell.

See, the adaptations above are all Nezha-centered works that have plenty of screentime to show where they diverge from the original mythos, and build their takes on the father-son relationship off that new foundation.

LMK, however, doesn't have that. We don't know if either version of the Patricide Arc is true for the show, or even given Nezha's particular backstory for this setting.

We don't know if we should just assume that Nezha's backstory in either JTTW or FSYY went down the same way, or given clues as to where it differs.

All we have are the on-screen interactions, and these consist mostly of Li Jing being his typical Lawful Stupid self.

Sure, there are weak attempts at making him more sympathetic: we are told, through Nezha, that he had been "working sooooo hard" to keep everything running after taking over as basically regent of the Celestial Realm, but again, we aren't shown that properly.

All I see is this guy who...I dunno, went out to get Starbucks or something when JE was kill, then showed up after everything was over to play the loyal minister and prosecute SWK and the gang for bullshit reasons.

(Which is coincidentally very accurate to his overall role in FSYY. Except FSYY's Li Jing was anything but the most sympathetic father figure.)

And because we are given no context for their relationship, their confrontation and reconcillation also feel rushed, falling completely flat when it comes to emotional impact.

Like, if we are to assume their backstory are mythos-accurate, then the whole thing makes no sense——neither "returning your flesh and blood" or attempted patricide can be shrugged off that easily.

If we are to assume it differ from the mythos...HOW and WHERE? Does the birth from a flesh ball happen? Is Nezha destined to be the Vanguard of the Zhou Army, or just a supernaturally powerful kid who can wreck the dragon king's crystal palace three days after his birth?

If he did kill Ao Bing and not just some random dragon, was it an accident, completely justified, or FSYY-accurate? Is his suicide forced or a willing sacrifice, done to save his parents? Did Li Jing destroy his temple? If the Attempted Patricide Arc happened, how was it resolved?

Change one of these, and it will have completely different implications on the Li Jing-Nezha relationship, yet we don't get a single answer to any of these questions.

As a result, the show's version of their relationship and conflict also feels very shallow and generic, your standard "The obedient son must finally stand up and find the courage to voice his opinion to his harsh but loving father——no real anger involved, of course!"

Which is a narrative divergent enough from the mythos as to require proper explanation, instead of being left up to the audiences' imagination, and also, in my opinion, far less interesting than it could have been.

For example: instead of learning to speak his mind (like he'd ever be afraid of doing that), the high point of their conflict is Nezha realizing that he has legitimate reasons to express his anger towards Li Jing for his short-sighted, unsound and overall Lawful Stupid decisions in the here and now, without it being a continuation of their old grievances or exploding into Patricide Arc 2: Electric Boogaloo.

And for someone whose limited characterization has been nothing but an unbroken chain of putting laws and loyalty above reason and common sense, it should take something a lot harsher and undeniable than "They aren't bad guys, dad!" to convince Li Jing.

Lastly, instead of the very cliched "I'm sorry, there's so much left unsaid, I'm proud of you" line, I'd prefer something that was less blatant and, though still awkward, more in line with the rewritten conflict above: sth like "You are right to be angry at me, and I won't mind if you never stop being so."

[stagkingswife]

Take Notes Like Stag Part 3: Spell Lab Notes

Part 1: Spirit Encounters Part 2: Unrecorded Entity Note Taking Exercise I think I’ve said this somewhere before, I don’t know if it was here, or on Discord, I’m a huge believer in applying the scientific method to spell work.  I don’t believe that magic can be explained by science, or that it’s an extension of science.  But I do believe that an approach of  empirical observation, incremental variable adjustment, and repeat experimentation is a great way to develop a solid spell work practice.  This is how I figured out a lot of my own methods and personal magical paradigms - by testing something, making notes, changing a variable, and then  testing again - rinse and repeat.  There’s a lot to keep track of in that process though, particularly if you’re rinse and repeat step keeps repeating, so over the years I’ve developed a template of “lab notes” to keep track of my experiments.  Spell Friendly Name - A brief concise, yet descriptive title. • The idea of a “friendly name” is something I stole from my IT day job.  A lot of hardware devices come with their network name set as their serial number, or model number, or something like that.  Those sorts of names can be fine for a sys or network admin, but it’s not super helpful for a normal person - so it’s an important step up setting up that device to give it a name that is immediately recognizable and descriptive of its role on the network: Like HR Printer, or [Company Name] File Server. When you’re testing and workshopping spells it’s important to be able to distinguish them from one another in your notes. You don’t want a dozen pages in a row all titled “Prosperity Spell” but they’re all different spells.  Make sure your Friendly Names are descriptive, catchy, and above all stay consistent across your notes for subsequent re-casts. 

Date Cast - The day (and time if it matters to you) that you cast the spell • I’m not one for celestial or planetary magic, so I don’t care much about when I cast the spell for magical correspondence reasons.  I care mostly in relation to the next field - 

Time Frame/ ”Due Date” - When you expect the spell manifest result by. • I’m a big believer in setting yourself time frames for your spells - it’s much easier to tell if a spell has succeeded or failed if you have a due date for it.  So I mark my time frame as part of my notes, however I built it into my spell: two weeks, by the next rainfall, before the turn of the season, by an exact date.  Keeping this due date next to the date of casting helps me keep track of how long is left for the spell to work. Parameters for Success - What an ideal successful result looks like to you.  • We all know that sometimes spells manifest in funny ways that can still technically be called “successful”. You phrased the inscription of your prosperity spell as “looking for a windfall” only to get a bunch of free apples at the farm stand because they had a windstorm and have to get rid of all of the apples that fell?  Technically you got a windfall, but it wasn’t what you wanted.  So you recast the spell and this time phrase the inscription as, “you want to come into money.” Well this time a great aunt dies and leaves you an inheritance.  We all know these examples, I’m not saying anything new.  But I find that keeping track of exactly what I quantify as “success” helps me troubleshoot my spells.  Is my parameter of success for this theoretical prosperity spell specifically that I get a raise at work? Then I say it here.  Am I open to alternatives?  List them here.  Materials: Function - Your ingredients list: what role of each ingredient is in the spell • I vastly prefer to create my own spells, I find I can tinker and troubleshoot better with something I have written myself because I understand how everything is meant to work, and how it all works together.  I list out every single ingredient and what its job is in the spell, not just ingredients being used for magical correspondences.  I include lines like, “paper & pen (mundane): for the writing of inscription” or “mortar & pestle: for grinding herb blend.” But then I’ll also have lines like “Nettle: used here for personal association with emotion, a la Aunt Betty and her nettle tea,” referencing a personal magical association I have within my own paradigm.  This may be overkill for some people, but it keeps my spell work neat and organized and I never have to wonder what an ingredient is supposed to be doing when I want to recast a spell. 

Method: Function - Steps of the spell, written in order, with some form of annotation or commentary on what each step is supposed to achieve magically.  • This step of my note taking I get a little messy, to be honest.  It works best when I have different colored pens and have had time to pre-plan.  When these conditions have been met my notes look like code.  There will be a step written out, then on the next line ## and a color change to indicate the beginning of my comments.  If I didn’t pre-plan, I usually still have two different colored pens - even if it’s just black and blue, so I’ll write out my steps in order and rely on marginalia for my comments.  It’s not as organized, and my handwriting gets cramped and hard to read sometimes, but just like the ingredients lists I like to know not just what every step is doing, but why. 

Adjusted Variable(s)* - If you’re recasting a spell what have you changed from the last time and how do you expect that to affect your result. 

• If I cast a spell and am not happy with the results (maybe those parameters for success I noted earlier weren’t met to my satisfaction) I don’t go looking for a new spell, I troubleshoot.  I start making changes to spell and keeping track of the change in this field of my notes.  I note what exactly the change is:  Am I adding something, removing something, trying a different method, etc. Then I write down a hypothesis (remember that word from science class?) for how I think this adjustment will change how the spell manifests. *I leave this field blank or out of my note entirely if I’m taking notes for the first casting of a spell, or re-casting a “known good” spell (one that I know works exactly as is - usually because I’ve cast it before and already gone through the troubleshooting and refining process). Observed Manifestation - The counterpart to Parameters for Success, what actually happened as a result of the spell - to be left blank and filled out on or after the Time Frame/”Due Date” is up. • If these notes were a science class lab notebook, which they were 100% inspired by, this would be the results section.  What actually happened!?! Maybe nothing happened!  Write that here.  Maybe your prosperity a week and a half after you cast your prosperity spell your boss said you were killing it at work and that you were going to get a promotion! Maybe the spell totally backfired!  Be honest with yourself about your results, these notes are for you to build on.  I have pages and pages of notes where either nothing happened, or the results were just off from what I really wanted.  But I kept troubleshooting, and now I have a roster of spells that I am really confident in.  Adjustments for Next Cast:  If you have an idea for what you want to change next time, write it down now.  You won’t remember when you come back to it.   • I usually like to write up my results and then do some brainstorming for next time.  I try to only change one thing at a time, isolate the variable and all that, but I will often have several ideas for things that could improve the results, so I’ll brainstorm in this field and then highlight the one I want to try next somehow, either by underlining or marking with a star.  Then that option goes into the “Adjusted Variable” field for the next time. 

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Okay so I briefly mentioned having a theory about this to @pandapantslovesyou in the notes on one of my posts and then completely forgot about it ✌️

The Witch Theory 🧙

Okay so from Obey Me! we know:

• Witches are somehow different from sorcerers.

• Sorcerers are registered at the Sorcerer's Society and need a licence to practice magic in The Human World

• There's always a distinction made when they (specially Mammon) talks about witches vs MC & Solomon (who are sorcerers)

• It's not a gender thing because MC (they/them pronouns in the game - undetermined gender depending on the players) is a sorcerer

• Sorcerers and Witches can both potentially make pacts with demons

• The demons and angels were at war for a long time. This affected their relationship with The Human World as well. By the end of the war the three worlds were at peace but (for the most part) kept closed off from each other:

a.) Despite The Celestial Realm, The Human World & The Devildom being the three big worlds and so Angels, Humans and Demons being the three main species, we've seen there are other species, capable of higher cognition, that have a smaller presence and so weren't as directly inlvolved in the war & have more freedom moving between the realms. Eg: Reapers who have contacts with humans & demons (& presumably angels as well), ghosts who live and work freely in the Devildom, fairies who lived in both the human world and Devildom but later moved out of the human world, banshees, centaurs, dragons, yetis/the snowmen

• Demons can further be broken down into sub-species (or if you want to be technical/biological about it; Angels, Humans Great Apes, Demons are different biological families. Demons can be broken down into different genera so the "lesser demons" mentioned in-game would be one genus. These can further be broken down into different specific species;) Such as the Sins, Incubi, Succubi, the little Ds and those little ant sized demons (these can't only be considered as different races/ethnicities the way humans have because there are very significant biological changes between them <ant-sized vs Sins> rather than being differentiated due to culture, environment/location & small changes in appearance, though it's quite possible the Devildom has different races/ethnicities as well <The Night Lantern People>. Most possibly the different species of the people of the Devildom acts as another factor in defining their different cultures and so defining their ethnicities)

b.) Until Diavolo's exchange program, which opened those boundaries back up. S1's exchange program can be considered something of a pilot study and, as with Simeon & Luke being the first angels in the Devildom, Solomon & MC are the first humans.

• Though the general citizens become more accepting of the presence of humans (and angels) in the Devildom, as the game & events progress, the exchange program is never expanded at a larger scale (with only two new students - neither a human). And even in S4 there are still those that are against the whole exchange program and everything it stands for.

• HOWEVER, witches are present in The Devildom. They're just casually there, despite originally being from The Human World, supposedly being human and humans outside of Solomon & MC not being allowed in The Devildom. Despite the brothers actually questioning how human Solomon can be considered given how old he is and MC displaying many non-human characteristics starting from S1 itself, neither are allowed to stay long term in the Devildom without supervision/without an affiliation to Diavolo/RAD because at the end of the day they're still more human than anything else. Witches however are just living in the Devildom with no seeming connection to RAD or the exchange program.

• Furthermore; Maddi arrives in The Devildom from The Human World. Given who she is (one of the oldest and most powerful witches) she should be considered one of the leading figures of the magic users in The Human World. Aka one of the most important figures, in this context, from one of the Big Three Worlds that have been maintaining a tenuous peace for thousands of years. Though The Human World isn't one of the main warring factions this should still be given at least a somewhat similar significance to Michael visiting The Devildom. At the very least Diavolo should be there to greet her given how peace & balance is his goal and rightfully she should be a main part of achieving that. BUT, though they treat her with respect and go out of their way to meet her wishes it's not given this significance. Diavolo deliberately doesn't come out to meet her and has apparently already met her during previous visits.

And those are all the canon facts.

The main theory then?

Witches aren't humans.

Or rather they're a subspecies of humans (or maybe more accurately they're, like humans, a species originating from the genus homo that never went extinct like the neanderthals & rest).

Appearance-wise they're more or less physically indistinguishable from humans. The main thing that seperates them is their magic.

They're much lesser in number than humans but unlike humans, where only a select few have magic, all witches have magic.

Their magic could be more natural? Whenever I think of witches I think of little cabins in the woods and large cauldrons and that always makes me think of nature. But more seriously, the sorcerers have their Society and need a licence to practice magic - this gives the impression of strict rules and a very rigid system. The game never makes a connection between the Sorcerer's Society and how witches practice magic. So what if this is because their magic is more natural and doesn't fit into the rigidity of the Sorcerer's Society.

They're different enough a species than humans (& much lesser in number) that they fall into that small group of species that weren't as affected by the post-war regulations. Meaning like the fairies they were able to travel easily to The Devildom despite living in The Human World

Anyway that's my theory 😮‍💨

All those words to essentially say that Obey Me!'s humans & witches have whatever The Owl House's humans & witches got going on

[rashomonss]

A HUMANS WRATH

Part VI

previous part

taglist: @miridiums-writing, @zerchlia, @aeongiies, @xmoogx, @coffeeandtealol, @shizunxie, @food-lover9000, @exactlydeafeningmusic, @l0diluvs, @vichsy, @valeriele3, @entolomaeden, @acaribeau, @sillybeanzo, @jessiegerl, @capricorn-anon, @crescentworld, @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r, @chumbinhoeba, @chaos-n-kindness

a/n: I’m quite glad because I finally have this story almost done! As of now I’m estimating 5 to 7 more chapters left so that’s exciting! anyway let’s get on with the story! (Also for those wondering yes I’m also working on requests from my latest post)

a shift back to the original perspective

“I can’t deal with this any longer Lucifer it’s like torture!” Asmo cried, as he leaned onto his older brother’s shoulder.

“Asmodeus get off of me and pull yourself together” Lucifer sighed.

“But-“

“Enough” the eldest said, raising his voice.

Asmo was taken back a bit at his brother's harsh tone but nonetheless went back to moping. He couldn’t really blame Lucifer because everyone was on edge due to Mc’s harsh behavior. Well everyone except the residents in Purgatory Hall. They were constantly visited by Mc which caused inevitable tension between them and the brothers.

However what no one could figure out was how this drastic change in personality came to be. After all Mc was perfectly fine at the beginning of the week, everything was fine at the beginning of the week.

Well everyone guessed the old saying was true, you don’t know what you have until you lose it. And they sure as hell were upset about losing your personality.

It started off with them believing you had a bad dream of sorts, however when you returned after your stay at Purgatory Hall still upset at them, the brothers racked their brains trying to figure out what they did to make you so upset.

However when they confronted you about the issue you laughed in their faces. Saying something along the lines of “If you seriously don’t know what’s wrong then why waste your breath taking to me, go make yourself useful and bother someone else”

The reaction they got was unexpected to say the least and you hadn’t planned on opening up anytime soon so the brothers went to their last resort. They all had asked Solomon to do a bit of investigating for them as a favor of sorts; of course they would have asked the prince or his butler but as of late you wanted nothing to do with them.

Diavolo felt hurt by this fact because you were his exchange student and at the end of the day it was his job to make sure you were comfortable down here. And if he couldn’t even do that then what was the purpose of this program. So he too went to Solomon asking for a favor, even for a second Simeon had crossed his mind too, but he decided against it.

So with everything set in motion the angels and sorcerer decided to invite you over to try a new batch of tea Simeon received from the Celestial Realm after classes had finished. They were also able to get Luke a private lesson with Barbatos to ensure he didn’t get caught up in drama. The younger angel knew something was up with you however he humored the other two because he wanted you to get back to normal, plus it gave him time to perfect a new recipe.

______

You and Solomon had finished up your last minute studying for the day and were currently on your way to Purgatory Hall to meet Simeon for tea.

As small talk was made you decided to bring up a question that had been plaguing you for a few days.

“Solomon, I have a question to ask,” you said, facing the sorcerer in question.

“What is it?” He replied, curious to know what you would bring up.

“How many demons do I have a pact with?”

The question took Solomon by surprise and he gave you a concerned look. After all he hardly remembered each of his 72 pacts, but for you to ask such a question when you only had seven was a bit well…concerning.

“You have 7 Mc, one with each of the brothers. Why do you ask?”

“Hmm oh no reason” you responded.

It’s as you thought, this was either the future, a dream, or something else entirely different. After all the current you wouldn’t have a bunch of pictures of those demons on your wall. And last time you checked there were two extra pact marks that weren’t previously there, both bearing different symbols you weren’t familiar with. So it had to belong to Lucifer and Belphegor.

It was a bit odd really, because you had known the brothers to be clingy but now they were just going overboard with their affection and concerns. But in all honesty it was hilarious to you that they didn’t understand why you were mad at them, since you remembered to remind them everyday. No matter though it wouldn’t be long before you blew up on them anyway.

“Are you okay Mc?” Solomon asked, nudging you a bit with his arm.

“Huh? Oh yeah sorry I guess I just spaced out a bit”

“Well it’s fine, since we’re already here”

“Oh I guess you’re right,” you laughed.

“Hey you two! The tea just finished so why don’t you have a seat, I’ll grab some cookies too” Simeon said, opening the door to greet you both.

You and Solomon smiled and headed towards the couch in the middle of the living room. Once the two of you got settled Simeon joined you with the tea and refreshments he promised.

So far everything was going well, the two thought. You were always comfortable around them so they never really struggled to get you to talk or open up about any problems. You were currently talking about your day when you had made a snarky comment about one of the brothers then continued on with your story.

Solomon thought now would be a good time to question you since you were the one to bring up the demons. He looked towards Simeon for a reassuring answer and the latter nodded in agreement.

“So Mc what’s the deal with you and the brothers lately? Well actually what did those demons do to upset you this much” Solomon asked, laughing just a bit.

You cocked your eyebrow at his statement and narrowed your eyes the slightest before responding. “I’m still upset for the same reason I’ve always been, nothing has changed except for the fact they refuse to leave me alone now”

“The same reason? What have they done previously” Simeon asked, now curious about your answer.

“I’ve told both of you why I’m upset with them countless times?” You questioned “ Or did you both just forget”

“I’m sorry Mc but I can’t remember you complaining about the brothers in a way like that” Solomon replied.

“Yes he’s right, if anything the brothers are nothing but nice to you? Well there are those few times where they drag you into their schemes, but overall they love and dote on you very much Mc” Simeon added.

“Oh yeah because they all loved and doted on me when Belphegor killed me” you responded rolling your eyes.

Both men went silent and shared a shocked expression wondering if the other heard what had come out of your mouth correctly.

“Belphegor did what to you..?” Solomon asked.

You glanced over him and responded cautiously. “He killed me. I’ve told you both this before why are you making those faces”

“We’ve never heard of anything like this before Mc..” Simeon responded horrified.

“Well if you must know, then I’ll explain it again”

And you did just that. You gave them every single detail of that day to the two sitting right in front of you; and like a good audience they listened.

They listened to how you explained the sensation of dying, as well as the way it felt to be betrayed when you were only trying to help. They listened to every word that left your mouth good and bad, waiting, hoping, even praying that this wasn’t true.

It couldn’t be. There was absolutely no way the brothers would do that to you, they loved you. After all there was no way Diavolo or Lucifer could let you die, it was their job to keep you safe.

Is what they thought until you explained to them the conditions Diavolo and Barbatos gave you when you returned back in time. In a sense Diavolo could even be at fault for your death.

The more they listened the worse their heads felt, there wasn’t any way this could be real, yet the way you describe each detail with such emotion they couldn’t believe anything otherwise.

After you finished they each took turns asking an occasional question waiting for your response. However one thing was for certain, you were to stay away from those demons at all costs and they would have a word with them tomorrow.

______

The doors to the RAD student council room opened to reveal one human and angel considerably angry.

“What’s up with you two?” Mammon asked, confused.

“Did the talk with Mc go well?” Diavolo questioned, a bit concerned by their reaction.

“It went considerably well actually” Solomon responded crossing his arms

“That’s great! What did you three talk about?” Asmo exclaimed.

“Oh you know the usual, Mc’s day, the tea I prepared, classes and such too.” Simeon started. “But one thing each of you failed to mention was the fact that Belphegor here killed Mc”

Each demon in the room tensed at the mention of that day. No one knew what to say, after all it was just agreed collectively to never be brought up again. So why now? Why was this issue arising again? Why was Mc still talking about it? Hadn’t they forgiven Belphie?

“Where did you hear that from?” Lucifer was the first to break the silence.

“From Mc themselves, after all they relayed each detail to us yesterday” Solomon responded.

“But Mc never brings up stuff like that! So why now?” Mammon added.

“I actually might have a theory about that.” Barbatos said, clearing his throat.

“Oh, well please enlighten us,” Simeon replied.

“If my Lord wishes so then I will” Barbatos commented.

“Go ahead” Diavolo responded, eager to hear what his butler was talking about.

“I believe the Mc we are currently interacting with is not our own”

“What do ya mean by that?” Mammon asked, shooting out of his chair.

“I mean that this Mc is from a different timeline, and ours is in another one. In simple terms our Mc switched with the one we are currently interacting with, due to a certain curse”

“A curse?” Satan asked.

“Yes a curse, however I am still unsure of the true nature of this curse so I cannot estimate when our Mc will return”

“If that’s the case then what’s the difference between the two Mc’s?” Levi asked, now confused.

“Well it appears that this Mc still hasn’t forgiven you for killing them?” Solomon added.

“If they have experienced the same things our Mc has then that brings a question to wonder. Just how many timelines are there where Mc has been killed?” Simeon questioned looking toward the youngest demon brother.

Belphie hid in his pillow as his twin came up beside him for comfort. “Stop picking on Belphie, he already feels bad about the whole situation” Beel added.

“Well that’s to be expected, however Mc is mad at all of you not just Belphegor. So has it ever occurred to you to apologize to them for everything they went through? After all, I believe there were numerous accounts in the beginning of the year where each of you tried to separately endanger their life” the angel added, with the slightest bit of venom to his tone.

Each brother stared at the next waiting for one to speak up for them, however none did. Not even Lucifer.

Maybe Simeon was right, had they really never apologized to their Mc about the whole situation.

Well it was too late for that now, because no one knew when they were going to see their beloved Mc again.

Next part

[mammons-lover]

Leviathan's Sin

Leviathan had always been a shut-in, even in the celestial realm. He would lock himself in his room for hours without a care in the world. He knew that if he wanted to go out and hang with his brothers, he could. But once he fell, those feelings were very different. The day they fell, Leviathan seemed fine; he was like his old self, always in his room. Though Leviathan did enjoy being alone, his thoughts weren't too positive about it. They made it seem like Leviathan was different, so he had to hide away. He tried pushing those thoughts down by hanging around his brothers to silence the voices, but this didn't work either; if anything, they got worse.

They were comparing Leviathan to his brothers: "Look at Beel, isn't his figure beautiful?" or "Look at Mammon and Asmo; people say they should be models. They don't say that about you, do they?" After incidents like these kept happening, Leviathan started sinking further into his room. When he went to school, all he could think about was how ugly he was compared to others and how everyone had something special about them, but not him… He was just a shut-in loser who could only get attention through a game.

Lucifer was the first to notice the hatred towards others in Levi's eyes, and though he wanted to ask about it, he was busy with other things on his plate, so he tried to be rational. He thought maybe Leviathan was still adjusting to being around demons; he just needed more time. The next person to come to the conclusion that something was really wrong with Leviathan was Mammon. The incident happened when he barged into Levi's room while he was playing a dating sim, and Levi freaked out on him. He kept yelling, "Don't look at me! I know I look like a total moron playing games like this, but you're lucky." Mammon didn't understand why he would say that, so he left. Later, he started to notice it more, observing Leviathan more closely. He could tell Leviathan was acting differently. Leviathan was envious of everyone and everything around him.

Mammon would try talking to Leviathan about his ways, but Leviathan only twisted his words. Leviathan wanted to be more manly like Beelzebub, so Mammon told him to work out more. Then Leviathan wanted to be beautiful like Asmodeus. Mammon offered to talk to Asmo about a makeover. But all Leviathan could hear was that he wasn't beautiful and that the only way he could be beautiful was if he got a makeover. Or when he wanted to look like Beel, he felt like Mammon was dissing him. To say that conversation went nowhere was an understatement; it went straight to his head and made him feel worse, thinking his own brother believed he didn't even have a chance.

This took a toll on Leviathan, and he did the only thing he could think of: shut himself in his room more. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Now that the whole house knew something was wrong with him, they tried to get him to come out of his room, but there was no way anyone could get him to. This led to Belphegor and Satan picking his lock and entering his room early in the morning when Leviathan was sleeping to sneak food into his room. They were happy to notice that each morning they dropped off food, he actually ate, but this didn't lower their worries too much.

So much so that Mammon started to sneak into his room to clean and leave cases of water and snacks with letters of encouragement. Leviathan appreciated the effort of his brothers, but it only made him feel like a burden, resulting in him no longer eating, drinking water, or even sleeping just so his brothers wouldn't come into his room. Mammon was growing tired of Leviathan's actions: "Why isn't he getting better? Why is he pushing them away? You shouldn't push away family trying to help you, right?" With much debate, Mammon went to Levi's room while he was awake. This led to Levi screaming, "Can't I have any privacy? You guys even sneak into my room when I'm sleeping. Don't you see, no one wants you here?"

Mammon started to tell Leviathan, "We're only trying to help you, to understand what's wrong, and we'll try to fix it." Leviathan wasn't having it, though. He started cursing and pushing Mammon out of his room, telling him to get out and just leave. But Mammon pushed back, pleading to know what was wrong with him, promising to try to make it better. Leviathan dropped to his knees, crying that he couldn't fix it, that something was wrong with his mind, and Mammon wasn't the one who knew how to fix that. Mammon held his crying brother until he passed out in his arms. He ordered Satan and Asmodeus to clean Levi's room while he and the twins cleaned up Leviathan before he woke up.

Once Leviathan's room was clean, Mammon stayed there until Lucifer got home. When Lucifer finally arrived, they saw he had brought Barbatos with him to check on Leviathan. All Barbatos could do was tell them that Leviathan was being consumed by his sin and there was nothing they could do to stop it. He reassured them that he could contact a demon specialist to help Leviathan sort out his emotions, but other than that, the Leviathan they knew before wasn't going to be the same anymore, just like the rest of them who had and eventually would change.

(I'm sick asf right now, so if this sound off please let me know so I can fix it. Also, I'll be posting something happy tomorrow!!)

[luvizna]

୨୧ opulent - s. tsukasa x reader

━ rivals to lvrs socmed au

synopsis: (name) unfortunately is stuck with tsukasa for yet another school project, except this time around both of their lives change..

note: IT'S REALLY LONG OMG IM SO SORRY I DONT KNOW WHEN TO STOP YAPPING

chapter 14 - "full moon"

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(Name) was on their way to the front of the school, when they felt a quiet buzz in the pocket of their jacket. They pulled out their phone to see a message from Tsukasa, who was asking them to come to the gates. They internally rolled their eyes, knowing that they were already headed there in the first place, but nonetheless replied back, letting him know that they saw his message. 

Once they got to the front gates, they saw the knight standing a few feet in front of them, waiting for them to arrive so he could take them home, though more focused on the phone in his hand than anything else. (Name) figured that he must have been playing some sort of mobile game, judging from the fact that he was holding the phone horizontally. He quickly switched off his phone and looked around before putting it in his pocket the moment he heard footsteps coming, however, making them chuckle a little.

“You play mobile games?” (Name) asked as they approached him.

Tsukasa refused to look in the other’s direction, his face slightly reddening. “It released today.. I would have been at the dorms playing it if it weren’t for you.”

(Name)’s expression dulled. “I can’t believe you came in the first place.”

“Narukami-senpai was bothering me about it, she was practically insisting that I should come instead of her, or like, Kagehira-senpai..” The male still refused to make eye contact with them as he said that, causing them to smile slightly at his embarrassment.

“Why’d you bring him up.. Whatever, it’s okay.” (Name) began walking in the direction of their home, clutching their school bag more tightly than normal as a means to escape the unabating awkwardness between them. They looked back to check if Tsukasa was following behind, which he was. They sighed. “I thought we’d go our own separate ways from here.”

He shook his head. “I came to pick you up, meaning I get you home. It would be un-knightly of me to do otherwise.”

Tsukasa had a point, so the only thing (Name) could do was give in. “Fine, I see you're still maintaining your ‘knight’ image outside idol activities, huh..” (Name) commented, turning the corner.

“It’s just who I am— Ever since becoming a member of Knights, it’s become a core part of my identity since then.” Tsukasa turned the corner subsequently, following after the other. He sped up the pace of his walking, so he could be side by side with them now.

“Aren’t you like, the leader or something..” (Name) took a guess. They weren’t affiliated with ES, so they knew little about the everyday details that Tsukasa was used to seeing, such as who led each unit and which agency each unit belonged to.

“I am, it’s a bit of trouble sometimes since all of my unit mates are.. You know, but I still have to keep up my title.”

(Name) hummed in response, not knowing what to say in return. They worked by themselves, so they didn’t know how having to group up with other people felt like.

They continued to walk in silence for a couple of minutes, walking beside each other on the way home. 

The Moon was glimmering among the other beings in the night sky, as usual, except it shined a bit more brightly tonight. The forecasts called for a full moon tonight, allowing for maximum illumination. 

(Name) looked up at the sky to study the features of the celestial body.

They liked how the Moon and the stars together lit up the night, the corners of their lips turning up correspondingly. “The moon is so pretty tonight.”

Tsukasa turned to look at the other, slightly taken aback by their sudden comment, and looked up at the Moon to see what they were talking about. He, too, was drawn in by her exquisite features as she shone in the sky.

“It is, indeed.. It’s a full moon tonight, doesn’t that happen once a month?”

“Mhm,” (Name) gently took his hand in theirs and pointed to a trio of stars in the sky. “See the three, super bright stars near the moon? The one on the bottom is Altair, the one to the left is Deneb, and the topmost one is Vega,” They made a triangular-like motion with their finger. “That’s the Summer Triangle.”

It’s been a while since (Name) went stargazing, so it was nice for them to finally catch a glimpse of the constellations for once.

Tsukasa was taken aback by the sudden physical contact, but didn’t mind nonetheless, wrapping his hand around (Name)’s accordingly and holding it a bit tighter.

“Do you know any more?”

“Yeah, those were just the ones that I could spot easily.”

He didn’t know they took a liking to the night sky, and thought that was pretty interesting of them. 

“..Could I see more?” Tsukasa asked them.

(Name) looked back at him and their cheeks flushed, making them look away and break eye contact instantly. They felt a pang of conscience overtake them, as they were just impulsively rambling about their interests to the other. “Oh– I didn’t realize I was going on and on about this, sorry..”

The male’s eyes widened, unaware that (Name) was feeling in such a way. He still wanted to hear more about it, though. “Wait, don’t worry, I’m okay with it! Unless you don’t want to go on..”

(Name) felt a smile creep up on their lips upon hearing his response, and thus continued to point out more constellations they could find to him, while the two of them walked home, the streetlights glowing just above them, and the Moon shining above everything else.

Neither of them wanted to admit it, but both of them secretly enjoyed the moment they were sharing at the moment, and wanted it to last forever.

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[glitchyko]

I’ve decided to just go wild and start showing off my ocs and stories here that I’ve had in my brain and have made art for, even if they make absolutely no sense, starting with my oc that arguably makes the least amount of sense, but I still love her despite that, Xiǎodàn

To explain what’s up with Xiǎodàn, she kind of started as a sort of silly what if thought I had that went something along the lines of, “What would happen if someone was like, born in the scroll?” I’m not sure how to explain it, but before I knew it I was just running with the idea and Xiǎodàn is the result of that-

I’m still working out some of the details of Xiǎodàns story, but I have a sort of general idea of her backstory and her family’s to an extent

So this story starts with Xiǎodàn’s mother, Xīcai, who was a celestial maiden, though she was only a servant/attendant, nothing too grand or special. But she was forced into assisting in a crime (this is one of the things I’m still thinking on) and was caught and sentenced to be imprisoned in the memory scroll, however her punishment was reduced to be only temporary since it came out that she wasn’t helping of her own free will

But when Xīcai was eventually released from said scroll, two things were different about her now, one being her divinity was taken away from her (this was part of her punishment) and she was pregnant-

To explain that Xīcǎi, falls in love with a man who is a apart of the ink scroll (he’s the memory of someone else, I don’t really know how to explain it, ink scroll stuff is hard to explain, but basically he’s not the actual guy, but a memory of him) and stuff happens from there that leads to Xīcai to be expecting when she’s freed from the scroll

So now that she’s a mortal woman, and soon to be a mother, Xīcai works her ass off building a life, getting a home and job and integrating into the mortal realm and raising her daughter, who she named Xiǎodàn, and her daughter looks and acts completely like any mortal human kid would

That changes after Xiǎodàn’s 13th birthday

One day, Xiǎodàn noticed on the very tip of her middle finger, was a small black mark, that no matter how much she scrubbed and wiped it, wouldn’t go away. And with each day that passed, that black stain quickly got bigger and bigger and more appeared as well, and within a month or two, she was basically an ink person, though unlike the ink demons shown in s4, her body has more physicality, she’s got flesh, bones, etc, and her body doesn’t stain everything it touches

So while Xīcai is trying to figure out what to do about her daughters transformation and who she can go to for help, Xiǎodàn stays home and in her room most of the time, since she can’t go outside with her current appearance, cause of this, she’s grown incredibly lonely since she can’t see or talk to her friends in person now, the only person she can talk to face to face is her mom. One day at some point she’s just curled up in her room, and she mutters how she just wants someone else to talk to, before pressing her face into her knees, unaware of drips of ink on the floor slowly coming together and forming a small puddle, until a figure starts coming out of said puddle

It turns out Xiǎodàn can summon Inky (that’s what she calls the protective curse/ink MK) and de summon him whenever she pleases-

In a way Xiǎodàn is kind of like a walking scroll, she can create/summon ink people, but she can’t imprison people in the scroll (maybe she could if she had a piece of the scroll but I’m still deciding on this)

Xiǎodàn is not super eager to trust this ink monkey person who appeared in her room, and Inky isn’t super keen on trusting her either, though they are very curious about what exactly Xiǎodàn is and what she could be capable of, since she was able to bring them out of the scroll without a having a piece of it, and Xiǎodàn summoning inky and talking to them does make her wonder what exactly can she do (inky helps spark her curiosity) but she doesn’t tell Xīcai about this because she doesn’t want her mother to worry or freak out, and Inky advised her not to. So Xiǎodàn sort has Inky as a secret friend, summoning when she just wants someone to talk to about whatever.

One day inky is summoned by Xiǎodàn, and inky notices some bags are being packed and asks what are those for, and Xiǎodàn explains that her mom says they’re going to go to a city called Megaopolis to meet someone Xīcǎi says might be able help her, and when inky asks who, Xiǎodàn says he’s called the monkie kid and Inky just quietly says with a smile, “Interesting…”

And that’s all I’m gonna share for right now, I know this oc and this story don’t really make sense when you think about it, and there’s things I still need to decide on, but I wanted to share these here cause why not