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onegianthotmess · 8 months ago

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It’s Teatime!

Summary: Faust’s reject experimental elixir somehow made its way into Amelia’s sleepytime tea one night and she woke up as a little girl! And, being the only resident with any free time to watch the maid-turned-child, Isaac got roped into shenanigans by an Amelia that is ten times more chaotic than normal!

You guys can thank @natimiles for this! This is mostly for them and for my little wormy brain, but I hope you enjoy regardless!!!

“Why do I have to look after her?” Isaac asked Comte, uncomfortable with the small pair of eyes on him. Amelia, who was now about the age of five or six, hadn’t stopped staring at Isaac since he walked into the room and it really made the scientist rather uncomfortable and tense. “Couldn’t Napoleon just take her when he goes to teach the children in town? Or maybe Sebastian could watch over her?”

“Well, Napoleon already left, Sebastian has some pretty big chores and shopping for dinner to handle, and everyone else is too busy. And even if some of the others were free, I don’t trust some of them with looking after a child, especially a small girl who’s practically an evil genius as an adult,” Comte sighed apologetically. “And I have a few things to sort out today, so you’re really the only one who can look after her, Isaac. And, if this predicament doesn’t disappear tomorrow, I’ll have Leonardo look after her so you won’t have to. So, could you please do this just for today?”

Even though a small part of him wanted to, Isaac knew he couldn’t really argue with Comte. The only real plans he’d had for his day were to catch up on some reading and possibly start reading the new encyclopedia Comte had bought last month since Leonardo finished it last week. So, with a small nod of understanding and agreement, Isaac led Amelia out of the nobleman’s room and into the hallway.

Once out in the hall, Isaac couldn’t help but stare back at Amelia, who hadn’t looked away from him for even a second, out of nervousness. Had Amelia blinked even once since she’d begun to stare? The scientist couldn’t be sure.

“Uh-Uhm…Wh-Wha-What would you like t-to do?” Isaac stuttered out awkwardly, hoping that the question would divert Amelia’s complete attention from him, if just a little.

To Isaac’s relief and surprise, Amelia looked of to the side in thought. The thought of giving Amelia too many options and too much power in this situation briefly crossed Isaac’s mind, but it was far too late now. And it was especially too late when Amelia perked up and grabbed Isaac’s hand and began to pull him down the hall towards her room.

And, despite being five years old now, Amelia pulled Isaac along quite easily. He may not have been a very big man, being the shortest in the mansion and not the most physically powerful out of the residents, but he still naturally had quite a lot of strength as a vampire. And yet, here he was, being pulled down the hall by a five year old Amelia as if she still had the same amount of strength she did as an adult.

Before Isaac could internally question Amelia’s peculiar strength any further, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Cherry blossom colored eyes looked down to see Amelia gripping onto his sleeve and pointing at the door. Isaac then looked to the door to see the problem; Amelia was just a bit too short to reach the knob. The doors in the mansion were definitely custom designed and the knobs were a bit higher than a standard door design, so it made sense that Amelia couldn’t quite reach well enough to get a good enough grip to actually turn the knob and open the door to her room.

Isaac waited for the child to nod her head before he opened the door to her room only for her to pull him inside and pull him to one of the plush chairs. Taking the hint, Isaac sat down and looked down at the brunette girl who looked at him a moment to make sure he’d stay put before she smiled…and ran off.

Isaac’s first instinct was to go after her, but he wouldn’t even know where to look. It was hard enough to understand Amelia as an adult, but he couldn’t even begin to understand the woman as a child! So, the physicist stayed put so he wouldn’t be wandering around aimlessly and possibly worry the brunette girl if she came back and he wasn’t there.

Isaac didn’t have to wait long, however, as Amelia quickly returned with a basket in tow. And it was definitely quite heavy for her, seeing as her body was almost pulled down by it when she set it down. But, after a few moments catching her breath, Amelia perked up once more and pushed the basket over by Isaac’s feet before she opened it.

And the physicist watched with shock, and the question of where the brunette girl got her supplies so quickly in his mind, as Amelia quickly spread what looked to be a small spare tablecloth on the coffee table in front of Isaac and began to set things on the now covered table, including a tea set with three cups, three plates and three forks, serving utensils, and an entire apple pie. Where and how Amelia got those things and put them in that basket without breaking anything or making a mess, Isaac would never know the answer to that particular question no matter how much he’d ask or how long he’d stay up at night pondering it.

When Amelia finished setting up the table, she quickly moved to tug on Isaac’s hand, signaling for him to stand. The physicist did as he was silently told and let Amelia pull him to her closet before she stopped and turned to look up at the cherry blossom eyed man with a smile.

Seeing the confusion on the man’s face, Amelia explained her intentions. “You have to be dressed right to have tea,” she said, making the physicist tense up.

“D-Dressed right?” Isaac asked, now getting nervous.

He knew that he was small enough to fit Amelia’s adult clothes, with them being a bit long and loose on him due to Amelia being taller than him and quite a curvy woman as an adult. But, the idea of wearing those clothes, made Isaac shy and internally panic.

What if someone came home and walked in, seeing him in women’s clothes? What if he messed up one of Amelia’s favorite pieces that Comte had bought her? What if it was something expensive?

The physicist was pulled out of his panicked thoughts when he felt a tug on his pant leg. Isaac looked down to see the small brunette girl giving him puppy eyes.

“Please, Isaac?” Amelia asked. “I’ll make sure you’re very pretty and you can have a big piece of pie, too.”

Amelia always had a knack for convincing Isaac to do something. She never asked for anything big, but it was still impressive how easy it was for her to convince Isaac to do something for her. Maybe it was how patient she’s always been, or how she babied Isaac in a sort of motherly way.

Either way, Amelia’s convincing skills were ten times more affective when she was a child with some of the biggest and cutest eyes Isaac had ever seen.

Isaac sighed, “O-Okay. You can d-dress me up.”

Amelia beamed up at him and immediately began to look for something to put Isaac in, pulling aside dresses by their bottoms to get as good of a look as she could get of them. When she found one, the brunette’s peach colored eyes lit up and she looked to Isaac with a silent request, which the physicist understood and immediately took out a cream colored sundress, clearly from the 21st century from the style of it, with a print of peach-pink lily of the valley flowers printed at the bottom. It was simple and it would most definitely fit Isaac, even if it would be a bit loose and long on him, especially in the chest.

Amelia clapped her hands in pure joy as she fully saw the dress. It was perfect, especially with the peach-pink colored flowers at the bottom, and all she had to do was get things to put in Isaac’s hair and he’d be ready to have tea. The brunette girl quickly pulled Isaac to the changing screen in the room and left him there to rush to the vanity to try and find any hair accessories that would match the dress Isaac would wear.

Meanwhile, Isaac’s cheeks went as pink as his hair and eyes as he stripped out of his usual clothes, save for his underwear, and placing them on the stool that was also behind the screen. Once his regular clothes were off, Isaac looked to the dress that he’d hung up on a hook on the screen and his cheeks went a slightly darker shade of pink as what he was about to do was really hitting him. It wasn’t that he loathed the idea, as he’d rather see Amelia happy than feel guilty for making her cry, it was just the embarrassing idea of being caught dressed in women’s clothing that made him apprehensive about putting on the dress.

After a moment, Isaac was able to not think about those embarrassing thoughts for a little bit and he began to focus on how to put the dress on. Stepping into it and pulling it up would probably pop a few stitches and ruin it a bit, so the only other option was to pull it over his head. It took the physicist a moment, but when he figured out which way was the front, he managed to slip it onto his body.

The dress was loose on Isaac, as he expected, but it gave him anxiety as he felt it would slip off at any given moment. Then he noticed the pink ribbon that looked like it could tie around the front of the dress. Isaac quickly put two and two together and tied the ribbon comfortably around his front into a secure bow, making sure it looked nice so Amelia would be pleased and so that he wouldn’t have a crying girl on his hands.

Once he was sure he was done, Isaac quietly stepped out from behind the screen and walked over to Amelia, who was digging through a drawer full of what looked to be hair accessories. After a moment, the brunette perked up when she found something that pleased her and took it out of the drawer before turning to be met with Isaac in the dress she’d picked out for him. Amelia’s mouth stretched as wide as it could as she beamed in awe at Isaac, clearly very happy with the dress she’d chosen.

Amelia took another short moment to admire Isaac in the dress before making a motion signaling the physicist to crouch down to eye level with her. Once Isaac had followed the silent instruction, the brunette girl gently placed a white headband on his head. It was soft and didn’t hurt the sides of his head, thankfully, most likely being something that Amelia had with her when she’d first arrived through the door from the twenty first century.

Her peach colored eyes sparkled up at the man before she pulled him behind her so he could look at himself in the mirror. And Isaac didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t really be mad at what he saw reflected back at him.

The dress fit nicely with the bow secured around the front, the pink accents brought out his eyes and hair, it suited his complexion as well, and the headband was sort of like the cherry on top of it all. Isaac really didn’t mind how he looked in the mirror, not that he’d wear these clothes outside or around the mansion for everyone to see, even if it would be very embarrassing to be caught dressed like this.

“You’re so pretty!” Amelia beamed. “And now we can have tea and pie!”

The brunette hopped down from the bench she was standing on and led Isaac back over to the coffee table by the hand. She pulled him to where she wanted him to sit before she rushed away to the closet as Isaac sat down on the floor to pull out what looked to be a stuffed animal. But, it could really be called an animal, due to the fact that it had the word “MILK” embroidered on the front and had strawberries on the front as well, thus implying it was most likely strawberry milk. But why did it have two black eyes and a smile then? Why did the eyes stare into his soul as well?

“Amelia,” Isaac asked, “what is that, exactly?”

“Hm?” Amelia hummed with a smile as she gently set the plush across the table from where the physicist sat cross legged on the carpeted floor. The brunette then looked to the tag attached to the plush and smiled. “It’s a Squishmallow, silly! Her name is Amelie and she’s a carton of strawberry milk! Isn’t she cute?”

“Where did you even get it?” Isaac asked, still a bit uneasy from the big eyes of the plush sitting in front of him. “And ‘squishmallow’ isn’t even a real word.”

“Well, if I remember right, I’m pretty sure the nice Comte man went through the big door at the end of the hall to get some of my things for me a month or two after I started living here,” Amelia replied, squinting as the thought hard. “At least I’m pretty sure that’s what he told me. He went over everything when he went back to get me and told me where everything was, too. But he did say this is my room, so I should know where things are to make it a bit easier to live here.”

“I see,” Isaac murmured, figuring it best to just be satisfied with the answer he was given rather than press for more. Amelia was forgetful of important things enough as an adult, even worse as a child.

Amelia moved to the tea pot on the table and picked it up, holding the lid down as she tipped it and a white liquid poured out from the spout and into the cup in front of the “Squishmallow” that sat across from Isaac. It took the physicist a moment to put two and two together, but he eventually realized that it was just milk in the tea pot. It made sense after all, considering Amelia wasn’t a big fan of tea and found the tea at the mansion was particularly too bitter for her tastes, even with plenty of sugar in it.

Amelia poured milk into two of the three cups on the table, switching out the full cup of milk on front of her plush for the empty one, before she set the tea pot down and sat down, looking to Isaac.

“Would you cut the pie, please?” Amelia asked, thankfully knowing she was too small to handle cutting a pie by herself. She’d probably end up cutting off a finger or something if Isaac didn’t do it.

Isaac simply nodded and cut two pieces of pie, handing one to Amelia. The rest of the little “tea party” was spent in comfortable silence as the physicist and the maid-turned-child ate their pieces of pie and enjoyed each other’s company. The two even managed to finish off the pie, which wasn’t too bad as it was only a couple inches and more of a small desert that even one person could easily finish by themselves. The two continued to enjoy each other’s company as they played simple card games and Isaac continued to play dress-up with a very happy Amelia.

Eventually, both of them fell asleep on Amelia’s bed, the brunette girl curled in the arms of the physicist as they both slept peacefully through the night.

However, the next morning, Isaac was met with panic as Amelia was gone. He looked in every corner of the bedroom, only to find that he was alone and the brunette was missing. But, before Isaac could panic, the door to the room opened and the physicist was met with the sight of Amelia leading Leonardo into her room, the Renaissance man still looking quite drowsy. That drowsiness quickly melted away, however, when Leonardo locked eyes with Isaac dressed in one of Amelia’s sundresses and a headband.

“Cara mia, did you dress him up?” Leonardo asked, looking down at a very proud looking Amelia.

The brunette nodded with a smile, “I made him even prettier!”

“I see,” Leonardo replied before looking to the mortified physicist. “She didn’t force you into it or threaten you to do it, did she?”

“I didn’t want to make her cry and that possibility was the only threat I needed,” Isaac replied quickly.

Leonardo nodded, “I can see that. Well, I can take things from here, Isaac. You can change and I’ll watch the bambina for now.”

Isaac nodded and quickly went behind the changing screen where he left his clothes. He shortly came back into view of the Italian man and the brunette girl with the dress he was wearing folded neatly and the headband placed on top. He placed them down on the coffee table away from the dirty dishes that still needed to be taken care of before he went to the door to leave, only to stop and look back.

“I- uhm…Have fun?” Isaac offered with a shy wave before he left the room and disappeared down the hall.

“Wasn’t he so pretty?” Amelia asked with a smile.

Leonardo chuckled, ruffling the brunette’s hair before smiling, “Si, cara mia, he was so very pretty.”

Well, there you have it! I’m very sorry it took so long, but at least it’s done! Now I can work on Jane and Theo! PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR HEARTS BROKEN AND MENDED!!! MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

#someone draw isaac in this dress and headband please-#you can even add little shoes and lace tights if you want #i just wanna see isaac in this dress #or draw the scene of him sitting down to ‘tea’ and pie with me and a squishmallow #because why the fuck not #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikemen vampire isaac #ikevamp isaac

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formerlycookierunauprompts · 10 months ago

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Hi I'm still alive. School has just been beating me up recently. Anyways this ask is going to be long again, but don't worry, it's not about Golden Butter Cookie this time. (I still like drawing her and Arcane Egg a lot though)

This actually concerns about the dolls GBC makes, mainly the 3 you've mentioned. (I added a 4th, but I will explain that in a bit). This entire thing actually made me research a lot about dolls in a weird way. Honestly I didn't think I would get very invested in it very much but I did, so I think I should thank you for that.

So to get things started, and reviewing back to the last few long asks I've sent the past weeks, the Toybox Realm has 2 level sections (The main layout/landscape, and the Dollhouse). When Rosemary saves the gang, when you fight through the levels, you are mostly required to have her on your team, thus you can only pick 4 cookies from your roster to fight. Enemies that you fight are composed of dolls and toys that make up most of the population of the Toybox: - Poppets (Mostly does healing) - Toy Cars (Charges at the cookies at the front of your line up and stun them, flips over and explodes, damaging only cookies at the back of your team) - Teddy Bears (Toybox version of Bear Jellys. Act like big walls of defense) - Rag dolls (Acts as ambushes, aiming for cookies in the middle) - Apple Doll (Giant creature that acts as a midboss before reaching Salvation's Stitch) When you're in Salvation Stitch, there are dormant and passive versions of the dolls you fight that reside there. In the Dollhouse, they're more damaged and destroyed looking if anything. When you fight GBC as the final boss of the Dollhouse, you're still required to have Rosemary with you, however, she is removed from your team once the boss battle starts, leaving you with only 4 members to endure GBC's constant attacks until Goldie times out.

Alright, let's discuss the main 3: Rosemary, Basil, and Thyme. I wanted to find a way to distinguish them from the rest of the dolls and toys, not just from the name of their spices alone. Originally I wanted to just give them a specific type of doll body and be done with it but I thought that wasn't enough. So I ended up basing them off the 3 wise monkeys. Hear me out. The 3 Wise Monkeys is traced back mainly from a saying in Confucianism. Confucius lived in a chaotic time in China and yet he wished to see peace and harmony, thus he emphasized the importance of moral conduct and virtuous behavior. Comparing this to what was happening in the Toybox at the time, I like to think that these 3 embodied what each conduct was since they were practically the only ones keeping everything from falling apart. Let's start with Rosemary. (Rosemary Lemon Cake). One of Goldie's first living creations, a classic plush doll. She follows the concept, "See no Evil." Though she's lost one of her button eyes, she is still quite perceptive and observant. Despite such harsh conditions, she is still able to see the good in people and believes in second chances. Let's go to Basil. (Basil Mousse). He is based off a Corn husk doll and follows the concept, "Hear no Evil." While Rosemary is the one that goes off in order to scout out the hyperfocused toys, Basil stays behind in Salvation's Stitch, ensuring order and safety is well kept and observed. Though the other dolls may doubt Basil and question him, he doesn't let it bother him. Moving on to Thyme. (Blueberry Thyme Scone). Her body resembles one of a knight, being an action figure, following the concept, "Speak no Evil." Once the leading figure of the Defense Doll Squadron, was forced to leave the other members behind as they succumbed to becoming hyperfocused. They could not listen to her words of reason, to snap out of it... Now they stand silently... thinking to themselves in front of the door of the dollhouse. Making sure no one gets in... and NO ONE GETS OUT.

That seems to be it, but wait, I added a 4th one. Apparently, there is another saying, the concept of "Do no Evil." Lavender. (Honey Lavender Posset). The very first marionette puppet to be created. Unfortunately, they were created during the time Shadow Milk had 'abandoned' Goldie, so she was made in the heat of the moment as a venting process of sorts. A little bit of Goldie placed into Lavender... literally. Being one of the last things Goldie had created before falling into slumber, Lavender craved attention from their creator, dedicated to stay by GBC's side and attend to their needs when necessary. However, sometimes when she isn't busy with Goldie, Lavender spends time with Rosemary who taught her how to do certain things. Think Big Sister dynamic. However, not everything good lasts. Lavender broke, seeing Goldie, her creator inside of that glass coffin. Sleeping their life away, not responding to their calls to wake up, or to eat... or anything at all. Having little to no sense of free will, especially after being created so recently, Goldie was literally her whole life up to this point, and yet in that short amount of time, she never got the chance to thank her for giving her life... All of this spiraled into one single question. "What was she going to do with herself now?" Fear started to rise among a... certain population of dolls... and it wasn't stopping from there. No, it can't be, Mistress isn't in an eternal slumber, she will wake up soon. We just need to wait... Don't you see? For now, all we have to do is focus on the simple task she left with... Defend the Toybox. Years, and I mean many years later... As Gingerbrave and Co. with Rosemary return to find and wake up Golden Butter Cookie, they explore deeper and deeper into the dollhouse. Strung up dolls across the ceiling in a sticky and chaotic manner as strawberry jam stained and dripped down the walls... Being ambushed left and right by disfigured dolls that have gone haywired... Stuffing all over the floor... It was a sight to behold that the weak could not handle. But that overhanging feeling of dread didn't last long as Rosemary stepped out into that hallway first, the scent of burnt butter overshadowed by the overwhelming scent of lavender wafting through the corridor. The pure terror reflected upon her one button eye as she stared back into at the figure across the hall, illuminated by the faint light that shone through the window, petals scattered about all over the floor. ______________________________________________________________

Yee, okay that's it. I wanted to make designs for everyone but I had no idea how you imagined Rosemary, Basil, and Thyme to look like so I only have old concept sketches I made of Lavender.

ooooo... I really like the concepts for the dolls you're proposing here! And I also love Lavender! Her design in the second image reminds me of Mimi's true form from Super Paper Mario and I think that's very cool!/pos

As for concepts I planed for the doll-trio (Rosemary, Thyme and Basil) I imagine them looking almost like cookies but there are slight differences (button eyes, stitchlines, the fabric texture of their bodies) that let's you know that they're dolls.

For starters, I imagine them all in sort of like... cottage-core medieval outfits if that makes sense? Maybe like these but maybe a bit more simplified? And more yellow of course in some of their cases

now onto more specifics, Starting with Rosemary!

I imagine that Rosemary has blond hair with her bangs barely concealing her missing eye. And speaking of her eyes they're made with green buttons(or well, now just one button). She looks quite similar to Goldie herself as Golden Butter imagined her as her successor of sorts.

Now onto Basil, despite their usually composed demeanor their anger is certainly a force to be reckoned with (for example, them telling Shadow Milk to grovel at Goldie's feet). I think their Plum hair would be neat at the beginning but more frayed at the ends to represent this.

Now onto Thyme, the solitary Knight. I imagine them looking a bit like mercurial knight and Silverbell in terms of clothing style with a few yellows thrown in. Their hair would be tied up, probably into a bun. Their eyes would be a shining yellow and their hair would probably be more of an off-white. They're definitely the more roughed up of the dolls so they have a few scars(as in repair stitches) than the others.

But overall, I love your concepts for them and I hope to see more from you soon! And don't worry i completely understand School has been kicking my but as well. I hope you have a lovely day!

#not a prompt #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run au #crk #cr kingdom #Golden Butter Cookie Tag #it relates to her so i'm putting it here anyways.

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opal-zamora · 2 months ago

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basics.

full name — Opal Zamora faceclaim — Priscilla Quintana gender & pronouns — cisfemale, she/her age — 29 birthday — 4/1/1995 occupation — clerk at crystal clear/ "tarot reader for hire" (she's faking it) neighborhood — Cardinal Hill length of time in blue harbor — a few weeks marital status: single on this earthly plane. engaged to satan in the nine hells. moral alignment: chaotic neutral

tldr. tw: parental death, cancer (full bio can be found at the bottom of the intro)

opal was born sofia estelle zamora to a very young mother and an absent father. without family to fall back on, the duo suffered financially. this led to many odd jobs that barely made ends meet.

but crime pays, baby!

a little petty theft here, a pickpocket there, some light manipulation and at least they went to sleep with full bellies

and like mother, like daughter, little 6 year old Opal began to dip her toes in the shallow end of the crime pool. because honestly, she’d just blink those big, innocent green eyes and they’d just assume she didn’t know any better

eventually, opal’s mom got an actual job– though they refused to give her full time which meant she got zero benefits– but opal didn’t feel it necessary to stop. she was good at it. and they still needed the money.

together, they managed to buy a house. it was the first real, solid thing they owned and it finally felt like they were getting somewhere

then opal’s mom got sick

without health insurance, treatments went unsought and bills went unpaid and when opal’s mom eventually passed, the state came for those unpaid bills in the form of her estate.

left with absolutely nothing, opal moved (ran) away from miami, got a job as a cocktail waitress at a strip club in orlando, and called herself ruby.

and because gross old rich men are idiots, it was almost too easy when a patron took a liking to her, thinking himself clever as he gifted her a ruby. when she left town and pawned the gem, she’d hatched a new plan

the next place she lived, she was pearl and she found another sucker to fall into the same trap. and on it went: saffron, jade, diamond. it was too easy. and opal loved it.

the only real wrench in her plan was trying to run her little game on the wrong person in the beginning. he was not as stupid as he looked and instead of turning her in, he offered her a deal instead: work with him and he would provide all the fake documents and inside information she needed to make more money with less risk. it wasn't an offer she felt she could turn down, though it soured her work a little bit. instead of feeling like partners, she just felt owned.

it was at some point in atlanta where fate finally dealt her a hand she could play with. pure coincidence had the son of her mom’s old boss (that asshole that wouldn’t give her fulltime and health benefits? yeah, him) and so opal ran the con of her life. she made him fall in love, relished in every second of it, and then took him for everything she could as she slipped away into the night. her only regret? not being there to see his face when he realized what she’d done.

she made her way to nowhere, illinois, because her "partner" hadn't appreciated the fact that she'd gone rogue and now she's not only hiding from her last job, but from him, too. in this town, she's decided she's connected with the metaphysical and offers tarot readings, fortune telling, and the like to make a little bit of money. but old habits die hard.

she’s kinda evil and she kinda likes it

but she’s fun

come play with her

headcanons.

tba

wanted connections.

roommate

partner who is not happy with her atm

the last con she ran who is also not happy with her atm

anyone who she might do her fake little readings on

people who don't buy her bullshit

people who DO buy her bullshit

maybe a hook up or two. something that wasn't supposed to be complicated but is for whatever reason

more tba!

full bio.

tw: cancer, parent death

Sofia Zamora has worn many faces. Opal is simply the newest one, crafted and honed by years of learning to fight back against a system that was put in place to knock down people like her– and make sure they stayed there.

Born Sofia Estelle Zamora to a mother who was barely eighteen and a father so far out of the picture he’d never been there to start with, Opal was not provided with the tools to succeed. She and her mother had no support system, no family to fall back on. Daycare was too expensive and no one wanted to take a chance on a high school dropout with unreliable child care– at least, none of the places that offered a living wage. Her mother tried to make it work for a while, having several jobs that were questionable at best with irregular hours. It felt as though no matter how hard she tried, it was always one step forward and two steps back.

So she took matters into her own hands. Opal grew up watching her mother lie, cheat, and steal her way to a life that just managed to scrape by. That was, until Opal turned six and she was deemed old enough to take care of herself. Her mother found a job, one that paid enough– though they refused her full time– and Opal fed herself Spaghetti-O’s straight from the can while she waited for her to return. But young and impressionable as she was, she’d begun honing her own craft of manipulation. A tiny hand finding its way into a purse on the bus? Well, who could be mad at the dirt smudged, wide and teary eyed little girl when she was caught with a few jewels or a small handful of cash?

As Opal grew, so did her hauls, and she became the provider while her mother’s check was the supplement. It was a lot of responsibility that she wore on her shoulders, bearing down on her when money got a little tight. And then her mother got sick.

Mary Zamora had always been the strongest woman Opal had ever known, but watching her wither away with cancer while she begged for full time work for the chance at healthcare that might help was excruciating. Opal couldn’t steal or con her way into enough money. While the bills piled up, she watched as her mother was worn down, etched into another creature entirely by the end. She’d worked so hard to provide a home for her daughter, had tried so hard to do right by her. She repeated the sentiment in a raspy whisper the night she closed her eyes for the last time.

Opal felt lost and untethered without her mother and partner in crime. They’d been such a unit her entire life that she’d never imagined what it might be like without her other half. The home they’d created together felt both entirely too empty and far too small. But life seemed poised to take care of that problem for her. Those unpaid medical bills? They were to be paid for by her mother’s estate. The house that her mother had left her, the only thing she’d ever been able to provide– gone. Just like that.

So, left with nothing, Opal turned to what she was good at, the only thing she’d ever known: using her affinity for reading people to get what she wanted. She did a small stint working as a cocktail waitress at a strip club under the alias Ruby. An older gentleman and a regular patron of the club became a regular of hers, spoiling her with gifts if she gave him a little extra attention. When he gifted her with a real ruby (worth $8k– she checked), an idea began to form. Men were idiots– that she’d always known– and they always thought themselves clever. With nothing keeping her in Miami, she quit the club, pawned the ruby, and set off on a new adventure.

She took on personas like Diamond, Pearl, and Saffron, and her targets always fell into that clever little trap. They lavished her with gifts, always thinking themselves the most charming and the most clever when they chose a jewel based on her name. And once she’d grown bored or gotten what she needed, she moved onto the next place. It was sustainable, and honestly? It was fun.

And then life threw her another curveball. But this time she was poised to catch it. The company her mother worked for, who had denied her full time work and health insurance, had been based out of Atlanta. It hadn’t been a spot she’d sought for that reason, but fate had a funny way of working itself out. She’d been enjoying the spoils of her latest con, drinking a martini alone at the bar, when she was approached by her mother’s old boss’s son. It was as though he’d been offered up on a silver platter and it was not an opportunity she was keen to waste. She’d been Jade here, and introduced herself as such. He was young and handsome and incredibly naive because he fell for her hook, line, and sinker. And when she made off with as much as she possibly could, her only regret was that she hadn’t been there to see his face when he’d realized what she’d done.

The job hadn't come without its own set of risks, however. All it had taken was choosing the wrong person to con, someone who was far more insightful than he looked. When he caught her red handed, she'd thought for sure her jig was up. But instead, he proposed a partnership of sorts. He was a skilled hacker with a laundry list of vendettas. He would point her in a direction, give her all the information she could possibly need, and together, they'd ruin lives. It was a match made in heaven. Until she found an opportunity to take revenge for herself. She'd been in town for a different job entirely and he became irate when she went rogue. So with her latest job satisfying a blood lust she'd lived with for years and angering someone with far more resources than she'd ever imagined a person could have at their disposal, Opal adopted a new identity and decided to lay low in a middle-of-nowhere town in Illinois. Here, she'd be the fresh faced newcomer who was sensitive to the spirit realm. She'd believe in the power of crystals and the powers of the universe. She bought a tarot deck and schooled herself on YouTube. Maybe she'd even do some fortune telling for funsies. Her first reading is free: Beware the green eyed drifter with the saccharine smile.

#intro.bh #about.#muse.

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biscuityskies · 9 months ago

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Today, I looked through my food collection on TikTok for dinner ideas and I came across a video from late March of 2020 of a guy in a pretty typical at-home kitchen, and I had to stop and smile because March of 2020 was when I started getting into food TikTok because that was the only thing keeping me sane. I would wake up, pull my computer into my lap, do my classes, and go to sleep, leaving my bed only to use the restroom and maybe to eat.

(This will be a titch long so I’m putting in a break)

March of 2020, my uni was about to put on a play that I had a significant role in, and it was the first time I had felt good about a role. I certainly felt more suited to the wild, chaotic tendencies of Caliban than I did the motherly instincts of Golde or the Fairy Godmother. It was also the first time we were ever going to actually enhance one of my features, rather than hide me away behind a large, snug dress that served only to suffocate me and make it night on impossible to sing; needless to say, I was beyond excited.

Fast forward two weeks. I was back in my childhood bedroom, my brain as cluttered as the floor, my thoughts as loud as the fan on my computer. We were still running weekly rehearsals for a play that I think we all knew we would never put on, but we were holding on so tightly to this dream. Yet, week to week, none of us improved. I don’t think we actually spent time with the script outside of those rehearsals, where we were supposed to be off book but it’s ever so easy to cheat when you’re on a computer.

I scrolled endlessly through TikTok. I ended up on anime TikTok, hairstyling TikTok, and chemistry TikTok, just to name a few, all while mountains of homework grew and I became more and more apathetic towards pretty much everything.

But the reigning champion was food TikTok. Because some of these were people like me - young adults who had gone back to their parents’ homes, too young to be able to do it on their own but too old not to understand what was going on. And still they created, they did what they loved. They had ingredients in their kitchen, and they made something out of it. That truly felt to me like making the most of a less than ideal situation, and I felt as though I could learn something from it. This honestly played a not insignificant role in pulling me through the summer and into the beginning of the next semester.

I just stumbled across this same video in anno domini 2024, March, almost four years to the date after it was created. He ends his videos with the phrase “this cooking shit is easy,” which I found that I had adopted into my vernacular (case in point: I said it literally just last week) and can now place a source - from four years ago, when I binged all of his videos in a desperate bid to feel something.

Out of curiosity, I clicked on his profile. He has an apartment with a skyline view, in a city that I can only imagine. And the both of us have come so far in four years, letting go of the things to which we could not feasibly hold while stepping into new experiences and new situations.

What, you may be thinking, is the meaning of all this? Was there a point? In short, not particularly. There are a couple of different conclusions to draw here: first, superficially, it could reasonably be concluded that social media is not the great evil that republicans and democrats alike seem to think it is; second, it is my belief that it’s possible to watch yourself grow without actually seeing yourself grow - in much the same way that you can’t see the forest for the trees; finally, how will you know if you never try?

#dani ramblings #long post #did this even make sense.#idk I’m four days into an unmedicatable migraine #how real can I be before I’m simply putting my entire heart on main

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monstersdownthepath · 2 years ago

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Spiritual Spotlight: Orcus, the Prince of Undeath

Chaotic Evil Demon Lord of Death, Necromancy, and Wrath

Domains: Chaos, Death, Evil, Magic Subdomains: Demon, Divine, Murder, Undead

The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 84~85 The art, however, is from Magic the Gathering, since Orcus’ illustration in the BotD is... laughable.

Obedience: Grind a half-pound of bones from the skeleton of a sentient creature, mix with water to create a gray paste, and then eat it at the end of a long recitation of prayers to Orcus. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on all saving throws against death and negative energy effects.

Bet a few of you are surprised to see this lad make it to Pathfinder, eh? Orcus is one of the very few Demon Lords that survived the transition into Paizo’s creations roughly intact without any significant changes, though to Paizo’s credit they’ve stepped further and further away from using OGL content as time has gone on. Orcus suffers a bit from this, as his presence on Golarion is noted to be “remarkably low” due to the prevalence of more popular gods of undeath like Urgathoa, Kabriri, and Zura. Not helping his case is the fact that Orcus holds liches in the highest regard, zombies and skeletons and Constructs made of undead parts in second place, most other forms of undead in one big lump in the middle, ghosts below that lump, ghouls below ALL of those... and vampries in dead last, the “parasitic” undead seen as vermin, creatures to be mocked and shunned as though they were lepers, by Orcus and his flock.

But we’re not here to discuss the unique philosophies of the Prince of Undeath, are we? We’re here to examine the statistical benefits of worshiping a god who wishes to extinguish all free thought and lord over a nation of silent dead! And we start off with quite a benefit here for not much effort! Just a little smack of cannibalism, because it wouldn’t be a god of undeath without it. The average human skeleton weighs roughly 20 pounds (I bear the burden of this question in my search history so you don’t have to), which means one complete pile of bones will last you over a month if you need it to. Half a pound of bones is quite lean for an Evil god, letting you get away with carrying around sacks of bones without anything really identifying them as humanoid. Just a bag of vertebra, or long bones from the arms or legs, or a fractured ribcage and skull fragments, and even inquisitive town guards will have little to go on when they’re waved off as bones taken from animals for soup stock or crafting material. Hell, take up scrimshaw to really sell the illusion AND make your character cooler in one go!

The best part? They don’t even HAVE to be human bones! They can come from ANY sapient creature! Dragons, Magical Beasts, Aberrations, anything with an Int of 3 or more is your Hearty Breakfast! And there’s even LESS of a chance of you being outed as an evil monstrous freak because of that! And, to top it all off, the recitations to Orcus can be easily disguised as prayers to a more mainstream faith if someone crawls up to you and listens too closely.

The benefit is decent. Death AND negative energy effects crop up only occasionally, but having protection from them isn’t something you should ever turn down, given the fact death effects tend to... well, be deadly. However, this benefit loses almost all of its bite in an Evil vs Good campaign, as Good-aligned creatures aren’t likely to be throwing around Inflict Critical Wounds and Finger of Death... but if you’re regularly going up against other Evil creatures--and ESPECIALLY Evil Undead--this bonus will give you an incredible advantage against them.

Boons are acquired slowly: the first once you reach 12 hit dice, the second at 16, and the third at 20. However, the Evangelist, Exalted, and Sentinel Prestige Classes can be entered as early as level 7; doing so grants you the Boons at levels 10, 13, and 16 instead. Servants of demons may also take the Demoniac Prestige Class; you don’t get the Boons any faster than E/E/S, but you may select which set you want, and you get cool demon-related powers!

------- EVANGELIST -------

Boon 1: Power of Death. Gain Inflict Light Wounds 3/day, Death Knell 2/day, or Animate Dead 1/day.

We’ve been over the likes of Inflict Light Wounds and Death Knell before, with the latter having a function that’s too overly narrow for my liking. If you want to use a standard action to execute an enemy, just walk up and stab them! Though, like every time I’ve mentioned before, Death Knell does shine against creatures with Regeneration or abilities like Ferocity and Diehard that you otherwise have no means to easily kill.

Inflict Light Wounds is basically worthless as damage by the time you get it, useful only as a quick patch-up job for any ally of yours healed by negative energy... Like the veritable army of zombies you’re going to create thanks to Orcus being kind enough to give you Animate Dead as a spell-like ability. Without the restriction of the expensive material components cost, you can freely raise an endless number of zombies in your thrall and completely, utterly shatter action economy for the rest of the campaign, something you may want to consider NOT doing for the sake of your DMs sanity.

Animate Dead allows you to command 4 HD of zombies or skeletons per caster level you have, typically allowing you 36 HD of additional allies by the time you achieve this spell, more than enough to raise the bodies of all the hapless commoners you just slaughtered and unleash them upon the survivors. The standard action casting time is especially heinous when it requires nothing more than a thought to activate the spell, letting you immediately turn the site of an enemy’s slaughter on its head

If you want to be a bit more economical (and more game-breaking), you may be able to convince your DM to use the expanded rules and double the HD of a specific corpse or two to make them rise as Bloody Skeletons, unkillable Undead that rise from their mangled remains an hour after being destroyed. They make excellent recurring siege engines, rising from their destruction again and again to work at a single task until it’s complete. The same expanded Animate Dead rule allows you to create Burning Skeletons, which set all they touch alight, Plague Zombies, which carry a lethal infection that creates more free zombies for you, and Fast Zombies, which move with supernatural swiftness and can attack more often.

It boggles my mind thinking of all the uses for Animate Dead as a spell-like, especially for a character in service to Orcus, who wouldn’t have much of a moral stance against killing small villages they cross to add to a hideous undead army. The only limit is the HD leash, but even that just means the zombies and skeletons wander off to do their own thing, they aren’t destroyed!

Boon 2: Destined for Undeath. You are damaged by positive energy and healed by negative energy, as if you were Undead; the bonus on saving throws granted by your Obedience applies against positive energy effects instead of negative energy effects (you retain the bonus on saving throws against death effects). In addition, you gain immunity to exhaustion, fatigue, and nonlethal damage, and you gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against death effects, diseases, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poisons, stunning, and effects that cause damage, drain, or penalties to your physical ability scores.

hm.

y’know, maybe working with a demon isn’t bad, actually.

The negative healing is a pretty hefty downside if you’re trying to pretend to be a good person, though. If you’re not AND you have access to an Evil Cleric or similar, you’re perfectly fine. Antipaladins can give you a big chunk of health via their Touch of Corruption, and you no longer have to worry about being caught in the blast of your friend’s Channel Energy. You can even heal yourself with the Inflict Light Wounds from the first Boon, if you need!

It is, honestly, just a small roadbump when compared to getting... well, what is basically a +4 flat bonus to your saving throws. The sheer number of status effects this ability protects you from covers almost every indirect avenue of attack an enemy could possibly level at you, and since it’s an UNTYPED bonus it will stack with everything else you grant yourself (which means you have a +8 to saves versus death effects!), making it VERY hard to get any ailment to truly stick if you use even minor additional enchantments. Constructs and Undead are typically balanced by the fact they die at 0 HP instead of going unconscious, but you have the benefits of undeath without the downside!

The most important note here is that it guards against any status ailment that would affect your physical ability scores, anything that affects mental ability scores can slip under this ability’s protection! ... provided it’s not mind-affecting, of course, since you ARE warded against those as well.

This is an incredibly strong defensive bonus kept in check by its lack of scaling, preventing you from relying on it alone. As you level up you should be scaling it up through other sources, because again, an untyped bonus will stack with everything! The biggest downside is that if you ever DO become an Undead, as your god encourages, this becomes a blank Boon. But by then you’re an intelligent Undead with an army at your disposal, so it balances out.

Side note: immunity to nonlethal damage technically means you no longer have to eat or drink (or at least can fast without consequence), so take that as you will.

Boon 3: Word of Finality: 1/day, you can cast Power Word Kill as a spell-like ability. However, it becomes a Necromancy [death] effect, not an Enchantment (mind-affecting) [compulsion] effect.

Power Word Kill is an interesting spell. especially if you get it two levels earlier than other casters. With no saving throw, you instantly snuff out the life of a living creature with 100 or less HP, letting you bypass any normal death-prevention the creature may have (Diehard/Ferocity, Regeneration, etc). As most NPC people won’t have HP approaching that amount, using it as an intimidation tactic is especially viable if you don’t mind blowing a powerful 1/day for style points.

Side note: while normally spell-likes have no components, Word of Finality’s description states it requires you to speak “a single word of unfathomable dark power,” so people WILL know you’ve used it.

The downsides of Power Word Kill, and all the other Power Word spells, are painfully known and talked to death. The biggest one is that, aside from extremely specific and narrow-use spells or magic items, tracking an enemy’s HP is more or less impossible. The best you can do is ask the DM how rough the monster’s looking or keep a running tally of numbers you’ve dealt in combat so far and take a guess (HINT: Most creatures hovering around CR 15~16 range have between 150~250 HP, with it rising by an average of 40 per CR), but as many will note: 100 HP is not a lot to cut through by the time you’ve reached level 12 or so and have a decent few DPS players. At level 15, 100 HP represents approximately 1 round of work once the team sets up, but sometimes you NEED to shut down an enemy at 100 HP immediately and with no saving throw, such as if its turn is coming up next and it’s about to kill everyone else in the room. Don’t think of it as saving just one round, think of it as saving the turns of your 3~5 allies so they can deal with any OTHER hazard in the room.

There was also the fact that, as a mind-affecting effect, almost every creature worth using it on likely had some level of defense against it, especially since Mind Blank starts showing up around this time. Changing it from a mind-affecting effect to a Necromancy effect is a double-edged sword, as it allows the spell to affect far more creatures than it could before... But, as a death effect, it’s actually easier to defend against (with Death Ward) and has a harder and harder time striking down boss-level enemies as your power grows. It’s best used for mopping up lesser enemies during big battles and, again, intimidating civilians.

------- EXALTED -------

Boon 1: Necromancer’s Secrets. Gain Detect Undead 3/day, Command Undead 2/day, or Vampiric Touch 1/day.

As is the usual for Evil deities based around death and destruction, these first few gifts are only really useful if you yourself are frequently fighting other Evil creatures. If you’re in an Evil vs Good campaign, you’ll likely never actually get to use Detect/Command Undead, seeing as how creating zombies is typically something Good people don’t do. They also require a bit of foresight; you’re unlikely to know exactly what you’re going to face in a given day unless you have advanced information (or are, like, heading into a tomb), meaning there’s a chance you may simply take the wrong spell.

Command Undead’s name isn’t exactly indicative of its function; it’s more like Charm Monster in that intelligent Undead suddenly become your bestest friends forever for the spell’s duration... which is one DAY per level, meaning getting an extremely lucky shot on a Lich or a Nightshade may simply bring a climactic encounter to a crashing halt as the party gains a new weapon. Just... just don’t let them cast Dispel Magic on themselves.

UNintelligent Undead receive no saving throw and are entirely dominated by the spell’s effect, but can’t receive orders more complicated than “go here” or “attack that thing.” I do appreciate that commanded zombies can be ordered to destroy themselves before the spell’s duration runs out, but with its massive duration and the option to just recast it over and over, that likely won’t be much of an issue.

You can’t really go wrong with Vampiric Touch, in the end! A simple melee touch attack siphons 4d6 (+1d6 per 2 levels you have) damage and grants you half of what you deal as temporary HP. It works against everything and tends to give you enough HP to afford tanking the AoO to leave the enemy’s threat radius (unless you want to be there in the first place).

Boon 2: Invoke Death. 1/day, you can cast Slay Living as a spell-like ability. A creature slain by this spell immediately rises from death as a Juju Zombie. The Zombie is not under your control, but it will not attack you.

I mean... Slay Living is alright. It’s 12d6+13 typeless damage which grows by 1 per level. It works against any living target and the fact it’s typeless lets it bypass elemental resistance... but it’s a touch attack AND a successful Fortitude save (which is often the highest save a given creature has) cuts its impressive damage track down to 3d6+level instead, damage that’s okay but hardly worth writing home about. It’s also a death effect, making it utterly useless against many higher-tier foes you’ll begin facing at this point (consolation ribbon: it only works on living creatures, so you never have to run into the frustration of wasting it on Constructs or Undead).

And it’s even a once per day for the extra kick in the teeth! The second half of this ability isn’t even particularly juicy; Juju Zombies retain all of their abilities, memories, and even their personality, and get a suite of new powers, resistances, and ability score increases on top of it all. Since the resurrection happens immediately on death, it can actually be a huge disadvantage to use in combat, because all you may end up doing is giving your enemy a phase 2 as they pull themselves back to their feet with a new healthbar and new powers. The stipulation that they can’t attack you has no expiration date, presumably meaning they cannot harm you directly at all, but they have no reason to serve you and in fact may still hate you viciously. They can’t attack you, but they can attack your allies, and they can certainly escape to set up a plot that allows them to kill you without ever directly attacking.

Good thing you have Command Undead, right? That’ll go a long way to swaying your enemies to your side... or you can skip out on all that nonsense entirely and realize that you now have the power to raise your allies as Juju Zombies that are incapable of betraying you. Remember what I said about your enemies getting a Phase 2? Well what about giving one to your Fighter, who’s on his last few drops of HP? Your service is not yet over. Blast the last few bits of HP off them and give them a second health bar, a new coat of paint, and a tireless body. Then, if they for whatEVER reason don’t like the body you’ve so graciously given them, they can be slain again and raised as normal later when the team is safe. Really, using it on an enemy feels like a waste.

... Y’know, as written, there’s nothing stopping you from using this ability on yourself.

Boon 3: Call the Dead. 1/day, you can summon a Nightwing, 1d3 Devourers, or 1d4+1 Advanced Mohrgs as if you had cast Summon Monster IX.

A Nightwing is a terrifying, bat-like phantasm and member of the Nightshade family of monsters, horrors born in the deepest reaches of the Negative Energy Plane. They are pure death incarnate, and it says something when the weakest Nightshade, the Nightprowler, is CR 10. Nightwings are CR 14, monstrous flying creatures with a swath of powerful supportive spell-likes and an incredibly damaging bite attack (4d10+18 +4d6 Cold and a dispel attempt on any creature or item they bite) that vastly amplify how effective even a small army of zombies can be.

All Nightshades produce an aura of desecrating magic that empowers Undead in the area and vastly amplifies the number of Undead that can be raised with a single spell, AND they’re able to channel negative energy as a Cleric; Nightwings specifically can channel 7d6 points of negative energy eight times a day, letting them patch up your whole army at once. Even if you don’t have a party or army of Undead, the Nightwing can still offer bonuses like Haste, Greater Dispel Magic, Deeper Darkness, Invisibility, and 1/days like Cone of Cold and Finger of Death. The problem is that you’ll have to make your army the old-fashioned way, as Nightwings cannot create Undead and you don’t get Animate Dead for free by being Exalted. You gotta spend actual money!

Of the options presented, the Devourers hardly factor in. They only stick around for a few rounds, certainly not enough to take advantage of their spell-likes like Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, and Suggestion, and especially since they need to eat first. Given they come into play with an empty tank, they’re basically melee-only creatures who, at their best, deal 12d6+18 damage to a living target... and at worst, deal only 3d6+18, which again is restricted only to living targets. Typically, by the time they snap up a worthwhile soul that lets them use their powers effectively, their duration is almost up. The fact you could end up only summoning one is also a major factor, because when that danger is possible, why not summon the Nightwing? It’s more powerful and it doesn’t need fuel to run.

Which leaves the Mohrg... 1d4+1 of them. That’s upwards to five bodies to get in the way of your foes, each of which can force a DC 23 Fortitude save to paralyze a target for minutes at a time? Even boss-level foes can fail those when they’re having to make five of them a round. Mohrg aren’t especially resilient creatures, but they’re basically two to five castings of Hold Monster every round for nearly two minutes, and really, that’s significantly better than anything the Devourer can offer you. Plus, their ability to create Fast Zombies out of anything they kill means you can loose them on a hapless population to stir absolute, unholy chaos... all without revealing it was you, because remember: Spell-likes have no components!

------- SENTINEL -------

Boon 1: Abyssal Rage. Gain Doom 3/day, Sound Burst 2/day, or Rage 1/day.

Nnnnot an especially strong showing to start. The first two are negated by saves, and spell-likes all scale off Charisma; unless you’re dumping points into your Cha as a martial character for some reason, that means Doom and Sound Burst are unlikely to make the impact. While I’m not normally harsh on spells like this being given to the Sentinel, the fact of the matter is the impact they’d have even if the enemy somehow did fail its save is too low to matter anyway. If you had to pick between the two, the potential mass-stun from Sound Burst surpasses anything Doom could ever do.

I’m not the biggest fan of Rage, either. The combat bonus it gives will stop mattering in another level or so, though in the fairness to the spell it is a morale bonus, thus stacking with enhancement bonuses, alchemical bonuses, etc. It’s hard to be mad at +1 to attack and damage rolls and +1 HP/level across all your front- and midliners, though it’s not likely to turn the tide of whatever battle you’re in. It’s more of a tiny, useful bonus than the game-changers I like to see as 1/days.

Boon 2: Aspect of the Prince. You can cast Divine Vessel 1/day as a spell-like ability, but only to assume a Fiendish Aspect. Instead of gaining two claw attacks from this fiendish aspect, you gain a gore attack that deals 2d6 points of damage.

Now this is a game-changing 1/day! Divine Vessel is a spell that ONLY Oracles get to use naturally, and for a damn good reason: because giving it to a martial character like yourself would be downright bonkers. I mean, +8 to Str, +6 to Con, +3 AC, Spell Resistance 12 + your caster level, AND you and all of your equipment increased by 1 size category. Your space and reach go up, and the Fiendish Aspect specifically grants you a fly speed, See In Darkness, DR 10/Good, and 10 Resistance to Acid, Cold, and Electricity.

You go from a warrior to a titan, unburdened by the Oracle’s lack of heavy armor, 3/4ths BAB, and lack of weapon proficiencies. For those who don’t want to do quick math, the spell gives +4 to attack and damage rolls, +3 HP per level and +3 to Fort saves, SR 23 (+1 per level), 10ft of space AND reach, plus the added damage from your weapon size going up (melee only; ranged weapons aren’t affected), AND FLIGHT... You’re a problem that’s impossible to ignore, and perhaps impossible for some foes to surmount, considering DV is an 8th level spell that you’re getting five levels early, at a point where 20+ SR gives you around a 25% to 50% chance to ignore a spell outright, including any attempt to dispel your buff.

With a duration of “one entire boss battle,” I can think of few weapons more terrifying in the hands of a full-martial character like the Sentinel, and it’s a hell of a step up from most 2nd Boons that Sentinels get from the majority of deities we’ve seen! How generous! What’s the catch, Orcus?

Boon 3: Wand of Orcus. 1/day as a swift action upon successfully hitting a creature with a melee attack with a heavy mace, you can cast Slay Living on that creature. You must be wielding a heavy mace when you utilize this ability—while the heavy mace can itself be magical, it can’t be one that bears any form of lawful or good magic (such as a Holy Weapon) or one that has particular power over undead (such as an Undead Bane or Disrupting weapon).

Wow! That’s quite the catch! So once a day you can tack a burst of 12d6+16 damage to one attack against a living creature? And a successful save reduces it to just 3d6+16? How... generous of our Lord of Death!

It’s ironic to me that the Sentinel’s third Boon is essentially the same as the Evangelist’s second (with the small but still notable bonus of taking your swift action rather than standard), and coming off the heels of such an impressively powerful buff, too. It feels... well, it feels bad that your ultimate reward for being a warrior of undeath is a 5th level spell once per day. It’s an alright spell, sure; the dice average adds up to about 44, plus a flat amount equal to your level for a total average of 60 damage. But... once a day. AND the victim can make a save to make it go from 44 average to 12 average. Power Word Kill is, technically, a flat 100 damage with no saving throw allowed. and the summoned Nightwing or the swarm of Mohrg are a huge force multiplier.

Oh, and it only works on living targets. Compared to those two, this Boon is a severe letdown. You don’t even reanimate the idiot you kill! Terrible way to treat your most devoted warriors, Orcus!

You can read more about him here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Sinister Spotlight #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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some-pers0n · 1 year ago

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Oh boy do I have my *hot* take(s) :)

Sunny should've gotten (better) princess treatment

Nightwings should've allied with the Icewings and then betrayed them in the climax of the war(when one or two of the sisters keel)

Glory should've been more fiery like Tsunami and not played into the 'lazy rainwing' troupe, and shouldn't have had her heritage discovered the way it was/if at all

Morrowseer was (mostly) right to act the way he did

Darkstalker shouldn't have been so *teehee nobody knows I'm evil except for one convenient dragon*

Sending the *Icewing* Talons of Peace member for a skywing egg was actually the worst decision(from the prologue in book 1 iirc)

Scavengers should've pulled off another big stunt in the first/second arc, maybe not killing a queen, but somebody important and framing it on a dragon to ignite the post-/war

Starflight should've been a hybrid (preferably 1/4 or 1/2 icewing for *drama*)

Blister is the coolest but worst sister and deserved to suffer more losses(maybe having someone close to her die)(if she could've had actual friends to begin with)

More sandwings should've become outraged at Thorn (particularly Burn followers)(bc they're already kinda kookoo)

Kestrel should've lived longer even though her end was a badass plot twist

Ruby's story was so foolish, no one could possibly be that ditzy except maybe Blaze

Dream visitors (dreams) should've been more chaotic and been harder to reach the dragons conscious

Dream visitors should've failed at least once in a daze of forgetting dreams or "nah that's not real" but sparking paranoia in those trying to forget, so much that it leads them to foil someone's plans, (like scarlet and the assassin stuff)(it fails anyway "but I didn't believe it to begin with" ...)

Corals sons should've absolutely despised her and helped the DoD

A dragon should've escaped Scarlets towering prisons and rebelled with a few skywing traitors and failed; to raise tensions and lower the others hopes, to make the DoDs escape more fulfilling (cause the nightwings robbing starflight for the night was too anticlimactic)(also some skywing guard[or crazed prisoner like gills but not him] should've tried to fight the nightwings)

Webs should've died over Dunes

Masterminds whole jig was kinda based (expiramenting bad and all yeah but it was done really well)(like the telling of it all not like he did the expiraments well)

Battle winners daughter is super lame, there should've been an attempted assassination on her as revenge for something either Battlewinner did or bc some nightwing just didn't like her)

Grandeur should've been really into cooking or just big fancy ass feasts

Moorhen should've had a big tragic background or beef with Glacier( or both, having Moorhens best closest family/friend murked by the icewings and she doesn't know why)

Coral should've been more clingy to Tsunami

The false DoD shouldn't have been so lively as if they weren't treated like the second option their whole lives

Tear me to pieces. I actually wanna see how bad they are, I'm sure I've also got more lying around, though I should probably reread the books I have so I can both find more wack takes, adjust my headcanons & smthn else I forgot as I was about to write just now

[I've basically only read the first 10ish and only own like 12 books, I was waiting to get the last 3 before reading the next arc]

Hoping I got these right as *takes* and not like theorizing or smthn

Also so sorry omg this is so long

Oh boy time to Read Alla Dat.

Oh I love NightWing/IceWing drama. That's a cool idea

Morrowseer is a cool villain and he doesn't get the attention he deserves. I love him so much. He's one of, if not the best villain in the series.

Absolutely genius move. Now Hvitur's dead. Thanks Nautilus.

The thing with scavengers to me is that they aren't inherently a bad idea. I actually think it's pretty cool to have humans be seen as a pest of sorts by these intelligent dragons. I would've loved if scavengers were more involved, albeit not in a "We are living creatures too and deserve to not be eaten-" shut up you walking strip of beef jerky and let me chew on your bones.

OhohOHOHOHOhh!! I like that idea! Hybrid Starflight's cool..

Blister was literally the Worst queen by far. I literally cannot imagine anybody making a good argument for her at all.

Imagine a gang leader becoming the queen after a 20 year war lmao. I'd be pissed to all hell.

I'm Diseased over the word "foolish" here. I'm in love. I can't think of any other way to describe her now. Ruby is just a foolish creature.

GOD I WISH DREAM VISITORS WERE COOL LIKE THAT!! GRAHHHHH I WANNA WRITE ABOUT THEM NOW!! I love the idea of dreams and playing around with them. I love the idea of a character seeing somebody who's trying to tell them: "Hey I'm the real person and you're in a dream" and going: "Uh-huh yeah right buddy". My dreams are kinda wacky and I think it would be fun to take inspiration from the particularly labyrinth-like places I sometimes get thrown into, with corridors that lead into other places past and Dream Logic comes into play. Dreams are so cool man...

Regional Webs hater here. Hard agree. I love Dune. Dune is the Guy of all time and I love him with all my heart. Webs deserves to never have his name be uttered ever.

Mastermind IS silly in my mind. I need to have at least one chaotic sciencey type who is perfectly willing to experiment on people. Mastermind is just that. What a guy. I wish he wasn't trapped in the Pit for all of time though.

Greatness is such wasted potential it hurts oh my god.

Grandeur grows pot.

Ohhhhhhh OOOHhHHhhHH I love that idea,,,

Literally if I was in Fatespeaker's position I too would be hopeless and miserable. I think she's just coping with it in a certain way that I can't really comprehend.

#ask #wof

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sinterblackwell · 2 years ago

Text

kay’s favorite reads of 2022

and now we're finally here for my personal best reads of 2022!! there’s still so many other books i’d have loved to mention previous to this post or as a bonus, but that would have ruined the fun of the challenge that was compiling only a select few titles. i could always write another post in the future but for now, here were the top top top books that absolutely stole my heart, or just affected me so hugely i couldn’t imagine not having them on this list.

here’s to a hopefully good year and i hope i could find even more stellar reads in 2023 that could potentially change my life as these ones did :’)

warning: again….very long lol

but first…….

honorable mentions:

- the bright lands by john fram

“I texted you Sunday night because I thought I could learn to be like you.”

this book not making it to the top 10 breaks my heart just a little because it was one of my first reads of this year and i was absolutely convinced by the end it would be on my top reads list. and it still is, it…..just so happens i read a lot more books after this one that climbed up the ranks :’) but i still wanted to showcase this story here.

joel & dylan’s sibling relationship was one of the highlights of this book for me, among other things, as you would see here and here.

but yeah, i found the last quarter of it to be absolutely epic. to have found out that some other readers had mixed feelings about how chaotic it got, it makes me love it even more because it was an Experience™️; one that had me all in due to the slow & haunting nature the story had for the first half and then it all builds up to quite a cataclysmic & emotional finale.

if you want to hear more of my thoughts about this story, here’s my review for it (x). it’s one of my favorites that i’ve written :’)

- summer sons by lee mandelo

After midnight on a pitch-dark stretch of road, tasting the finer edge of human fragility in the glare of wrong-way headlights, though—there death was a pressure on the sides of the neck, gripping where the pulse beat hardest.

a southern gothic horror that also happened to be another one of my first reads of the year!! the writing pulled me in completely but most importantly of all, it was andrew’s pov that really swept me away, just as well as the relationships he shared with characters such as eddie & sam.

this was a read that i picked up sometime late last year but was hit with a case of right book, wrong time. i was really excited to pick it up in the beginning of this year for its second try and the timing worked out perfectly, thank the gods. again, the writing was absolutely incredible and i loved how the author explored the grief of losing someone who was everything to you in all ways that are undefined, and the missing fractures that come with what was left unspoken.

andrew was so lost in that grief and in his haunting that the moments where other characters pushed him to anger or just to feel something were very intense and so so well-done. i always knew if this story didn't make it to my top 10 that it would have its place as an honorable mention and so here we are :')

- headcase (necessary evils, #4) by onley james

“You like this, like being my sole focus. It’s okay. I like that you like it. If you don’t want to admit it, if your pride is too great, then I can take the choice away from you, if that’s what you want. Slide that cuff back on your wrist and I’ll give you what you want.”

fun fact: this book is my most surprising read of 2022. i didn’t list it in this post because i wanted to have it stand on its own here where it belongs. i also genuinely think if it wasn't for my #10 pick, it even could've made it to my top 10, i am that obsessed with this title.

i did not expect to love this as much as i did, coming in with low expectations since some other reviewers expressed their apathy/dislike for the story. this just goes to show that you can always turn to reviews if you want, but always take them with a grain of salt or otherwise you’ll have missed out on a potential gem, just as this title is to me.

this book is worthy of an entire post on its own, i simply couldn’t get enough of it. asa & zane had me obsessed when i first read their story back in august and to this day, i still am absolutely invested in their dynamic. i loved asa’s character and i loved zane’s own connection to the mystery that’s at the center of the story, which was pretty traumatic, and it made all the events of the plot hit really hard.

i also discovered a whole different side to myself that i didn’t know existed until reading this book so that was definitely something to be reckoned with.

- henry hamlet’s heart by rhiannon wilde

For an immeasurable stretch of time, we’re not Lennon and Hamlet, or two people who want each other, or two people at all.

There’s never been a proper membrane separating us the way it does other people; we’re connected, and it runs so deep. I know, from how much this hurts.

i remember this book just being one of the best ya books i’ve ever read. it’s a story i’d love for a lot of teenagers to read, whether it’s in australia or all across the world, this story is for the youth.

the author’s writing style made it so that i was genuinely enthralled with henry’s pov and the friends & family he holds close, most notably lennon. there were so many scenes i loved and quotes i highlighted, it was just such a soft & hard-hitting book that i remember when placing it on my bookshelf after finishing it, my heart literally felt heavy because i experienced so much with these characters and i didn’t want to let this story go. i never will.

- the child thief by brom

“DEVILS, DEVILS, DEVILS FOREVER!”

note: the writing in this at times was weird, i have to admit. the way the author would include strange descriptions of women’s bodies left me feeling uncertain of what i was supposed to do with it; very reminiscent of some of stephen king’s books lol, but…..

outside of that, this book was just a complete mindfuck as a dark peter pan retelling that was all about these lost kids and their leader who was equally as lost but carried a magic inside him that could sweep you away. despite having read so few, i love love stories that are like a mix of horror & fantasy because the way the scales go from left to right so often, it makes the book that much more captivating and i enjoyed how much adventure there was to find in here.

there was a lot of grit & darkness to be seen in the violence these characters engage in and the traumas they’ve all endured. i think what makes that quote i inserted so special is that **SPOILER** it was the final words of one of these devils, aka peter’s lost children, who absolutely worshipped him despite all his faults, simply because he gave them this escape from their own damaged home life. this devil gives his life for peter and that was the problem, that was something that nick, one of our main characters, absolutely loathed peter for because they deserved better than this, they deserved better than to have to lose their life in some fucked up blaze of glory.

nick as a main character was such a brilliant pov to read from, and very ironically, too, because he strongly reminded me of paul adams from alex north’s the shadows—aka a character i absolutely despise. the good thing with nick is that even in his attitude that he knows better than all of peter’s other kids, he still has his own kind of naivety and is clearly struggling when it came to the relationship he had with his mom and all the anger he’s festered up because of the harsh life he was dealt with and is being thrust into further. he felt very relatable and brings peter down to earth at times, even as he butts heads with other characters. his commentary on the book added to the humor that was very present throughout, which was partly what made this book so fun to read at times.

this story was such a wild mix of different things: horror vs. fantasy, humor vs. somber; dark vs. light; adventure vs. violence. there’s so much magic but it’s all taking place in a crumbling Neverland and we watch as these characters navigate their toes between both worlds and battle their own demons, even if it means fighting with each other. the last quarter of this book was what solidified my big feelings for the story and so yeah :’)

now!! here we go for the winners (hehe 🤭) who made it to my top 10!! 🎉

10. the awakening (lore & lust, #3) by karla nikole

“There isn’t anyone else, sunshine. Only you.”

it is with sinking silence that i express that my feelings for this series have been dampened a little over time and so i can’t quite honestly say that i’m still as obsessed with it as i was all those months ago (exhibit a). the reason why i made the choice to include it in here and not in my honorable mentions (as was briefly toyed around with) was because despite how much or how little my feelings have changed over the course of time, i’ll always remember my excitement about this book, jae & jun’s story, specifically.

i was absolutely enthralled with this author’s version of vampires of different ranks and the way they navigated society as they found love and created families and shared business ideas as some oversaw their realms. i was obsessed with the writing, and how lyrical and sophisticated it sounded—almost too sophisticated when i think back to it, but it was still all together really charming. something i loved about jae & jun’s story was that that fancy charm was still there but both characters shared this dry humor and they had such an easy chemistry that had me smile so much. i loved how even in a story that was going to be focusing strictly on these two relatively new characters, i personally had no qualms with it because i loved the way these two interacted so much, and getting to learn all i could about them was fantastic.

the dominican representation with jun will always mean the world to me because it feels rare enough as it is in the publishing industry to see dominican characters as the leads but in a fantasy?? it was everything. it was everything to learn about how closely jun held onto his heritage because it reminded him of all the good moments with his mom, helping to alleviate the bad that came with being raised by his abusive & patronizing father. i appreciate how the author went about carefully exploring the trauma that came with being raised in such a strict household, and how that affected jun's perception of the bonds that are held so highly in vampiric society. jae's pov was such a breath of fresh of air in his own well of sarcasm and genuine wonder, so enlightening as someone who works in the medical field and who has his own revelations to be absolutely mystified with.

i stated in my goodreads review for this book how the more of the story i read, the more it felt like it was being written for a very specific audience and that audience was me, and that was just really cool. there were secrets that were unfolded and tensions to pave over, but also such sweet & heavy moments that made my heart ache a lot throughout the course of the story. just like with game changer by rachel reid, i constantly found myself coming back to this story in the midst of reading other books because i was just so charmed by jae & jun, they were so memorable. feelings may have dimmed on the entire series as a whole but these two were a heartstopper, and a power couple in their own right, i'll never forget them.

9. with a vengeance by freydís moon

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.

this was my first read from this author, and it completely changed everything for me. i think, having read headcase by onley james previous to this story, i knew very well what i was getting into regarding how dark the romance would be and that i may actually be into it, so to have had this book actually end up in my top favorites of the year feels astronomical.

it wasn't just being obsessed with kye and eli's dynamic, and how much chemistry they had with each other (which is pretty vital in all romances, so i'm being repetitive here but still); i really fell in love with the author's writing here. i love how you can describe it as a southern gothic horror of its own, because of how vivid & dark the atmosphere was in the muggy swamps of louisiana.

i love how being that this is a villain origin story, the villian was someone who absolutely stole the stage and who had so much heart and fiery anger inside them. i mentioned in this post that moon has such a brilliant way of writing these stories where it's all about reclamation, it's all about gaining back agency in your own body and of your future. the symbolization with death in this story is a heady one (absolutely obsessed with the quote i inserted above), and kye wanting so much to just be gone, only to revive with such a powerful force left me floored.

i'm really thrilled that i found this story when i did, and i wish so much that more people can get into it and see how brilliant the book is, because it really is; it's life changing.

8. the hacienda by isabel cañas

"There is only One who decides who burns and who does not . . . Let His will be done."

my words can never be enough to fully express how much i love how this story made me feel. the closest that i can give is this quote by alexis henderson from a goodreads interview when she was questioned about what kind of horror she’s into, and she listed the hacienda as one of her recommendations:

"To me, a book that is truly frightening is one that evokes the senses and explores the complexity of fear. If a book can make me feel not just afraid—but disgusted, dread-filled, shocked, psychologically, or even existentially disturbed—that makes it all the more frightening. That’s a book that will get under my skin and haunt me long after I’ve finished reading."

the atmosphere of this house that beatriz moves into was so creepy that it genuinely did evoke a sense of fear in me. i loved her & andrés’ pov, for their fear felt so vivid that i couldn’t help but be afraid for what they were going through. i wouldn’t say the story is very slow but it really gets to you with how hauntingly beautiful & creepy the writing is, and it all builds up to quite an explosive ending.

the forbidden romance, too, added a nice touch that i was absolutely obsessed with, adding to the tension that was already stacking up quite a bit in this novel. i loved what @/perpetualpages from booktube said in one of their monthly wrap-ups about this story so if you’d like to see it to get the full scope of how amazing this story is, here’s a link of their own review.

overall, the fact that this story was so fucking close to winning “best horror” in the 2022 goodreads choice awards and still lost (and to a book i have never even heard of until then 😵‍💫) is one of the worst heartbreaks i faced this year, but well….it was best horror to me :’)

7. bellamy (sons of the fallen, #5) by jaclyn osborn

“We were enemies, yet each time we met over this past year, I just wanted to pull you close. You became the one thing in this world I didn’t want to hurt. But villains never get their happy endings. Or so I thought.”

it was knowing phoenix as the enemy since the first book and then finding out he & bellamy were meant to be together, and it was a complete storm after that. i’ve talked about these two so much on here, i just…bellamy & phoenix were a true force to be reckoned with. i wish i hadn’t spoiled it for anyone of their connection because now if any of you were interested enough to pick up the series from the start, the surprise element of this reveal wouldn’t hit as hard.

this is one of those times where i genuinely wish i could wipe my memory of it and get to relive their love story again because it truly was epic. the buildup to their story was books in the making and the author crafted it so well with raising the emotional stakes of it all, starting in castor and then electrifying their connection in daman & gray's stories, it was....everything. also just plain iconic because out of all the brothers, for bellamy to be the one to fall in love with a demon……very in-character for him, honestly :’)

but really, yeah i just think it was absolutely brilliant what the author did with these two, and i loved how in the knowledge of this fated mate bond that is the center of each romance in this series, it felt much more serious in the context of bellamy & phoenix because while yes, they're soulmates, they still had that choice when they fell in love with each other. this bond was what made it difficult for them to be kept apart but they had to navigate the trouble with being on opposite sides in this war against humanity. once they spent that time together and they just fit immediately......it was like a wall of emotions flooded out between them, like there was that spark and it suddenly turned into a fiery showstopper. i don't know how best to word it but it was something bellamy and phoenix said here:

bellamy: Our fated mate bond went deep, but I felt a shift inside me… like I was beginning to choose him rather than merely follow a destined path.

phoenix: “Fate brought us together, but I stand here because I want to be. I choose you, Bellamy. I always will.”

yeah, they're one of my most favorite pairings ever.

+ alastair (sons of the fallen, #7) by jaclyn osborn

i am not, in fact, cheating by doing this because both bellamy & alastair are part of the same series and so they both count as one. while i loved the romance in bellamy & phoenix's story, though, i wanted to also mention how much the brotherly relationship between the Nephilim brothers means to me and alastair's story, the finale of this entire fantasy series, is the best example of showcasing it.

it was the ultimate tearjerker when seeing how much these brothers aren't just risking it all for romantic love, but they're also fighting to be by each other's side. they've been through so much together and they've lived so many centuries back to back. while they have their fun and tease each other a lot, they face moments where they witness each other fall in this book here and through alastair's pov, it was heartbreaking.

i talk about it more at length in my goodreads review here but this entire series will always have a special place in my heart for a multitude of reasons and the song i inserted above--"brother"--is the best symbol of them, and partly what made me further grow attached to all these characters,so i'm really sad to be seeing them go. the reveal that there will be a companion novel released in february with each couple getting their own short story makes me feel so lucky and i'm just so happy for the author because i can tell how clearly the sons of the fallen universe means to her.

her author's note at the end made me emotional because there's so much that a reader doesn't know behind the scenes and for her to open up about what writing these characters have done for her and her relationship to writing, it made my connection to the series that much stronger because i could see all that she had put into it and what more she will be adding to it in the future, all with fresher eyes.

(p.s. this book gets special bonus points because simon actually has a role in the story!! who would've thought?? this is a grudge i held privately to myself for a while with only one rant about it (x), but something actually came out of it!! would've still loved to see more of simon in the other books tho)

6. moth (monstrous, #5) by lily mayne

I’d been convinced I’d be alone forever, never getting to experience any kind of intimacy like this.

And then he’d appeared, bluntly but gently telling me that he wanted me just as I was. Even after seeing the monstrous parts of me. He’d still wanted me.

…..“I love you.”

for a good couple of days or so, i was really wrestling with whether or not i should actually put moth & charlie's story above the league of gentlewomen witches. the force of their love and their entire book just became a whole comfort its own, one that was filled with a lot of sad reveals and long treks across the Wastes where the pair connected in a way that i could've never expected.

moth had spent so much of his life as a half-monster being shunned by both humans & monsters alike and to actually get to hear from him more often than wyn, edin, aury, and gloam in their own books was one of the best writing decisions ever. meeting him in the rycke, there was some mystery to him due to a grudge another character had against him and his unknown origins. to officially meet him in his own story and see charlie coax moth out of his shell with his gentle & compassionate nature was such an emotional journey, and i just loved how we got to learn a lot about charlie as well after briefly meeting him as hunter's best friend in edin. the pair of them in this book and in all those bonus short stories on the author's website made me grow an attachment that is hard to rub off and i don't think it ever can, with a monstrous christmas in the camp the ultimate cherry on top.

the romance was absolutely gripping, and so was the plot as we actually get to visit the cities that the military have taken control of in light of the monsters tearing through the fold that led into the human world. it was because of this book that i really got a sense of where the overarching plot might be for this entire series and it had me more excited for what's to come next for all these characters. at the end, another thing i was left most excited with was getting to potentially see moth visit the monster world for the first time, a place he was never able to before due to how shunned he was but now with charlie and monsters like wyn & gloam by his side, he'll hopefully get to learn even more about where he came from and where he could go from now. charlie is such a huge comfort character so i'm also looking forward to getting to hear more of his wit and charm that had other characters already taken by him and even the ice queen moth himself. i'll be rereading this story quite a bit in the meantime and i'll continue to for a long while, which is something i'll always appreciate.

5. the league of gentlewomen witches (dangerous damsels, #2) by india holton

Witch and pirate danced through like shadows in the lamplight, portending night, leaving everyone blinking and enchanted.

in the simplest words, this book made me really happy. that's why it naturally made its way to the #5 spot.

some of the books on this list did the same thing, yes, but what made this one stand out was just that it was such pure fun. the adventures these characters get into are ridiculous as hell and the humor was absolutely unbelievable, and i had such a memorable time with every second of it.

i absolutely loved charlotte's character; i loved seeing her get to tap into her magic in a way that she never got to before, but in this story she lets it go free and she experiences such wonderful joy. her relationship with alex was so good, i loved loved loved their banter and how much they just fit, just like cecilia & ned in the wisteria society of lady scoundrels; except with alex & charlotte, it was like were like on a whole other level, i was absolutely enamored with the way they were so taken in by each other.

this is one of those comfort books that is genuinely a comfort in all the ways it made me smile & laugh as i enjoyed these characters' deadpan humor and their expertise in criminal activity & making their afternoon tea. it was incredibly romantic in all the best ways and had a main character like charlotte who stole the spotlight in more ways than she believes herself, the literary heroines she speaks so often paling by comparison, as is just my personal opinion. she deserves the world and she gets it.

this entire ensemble cast gets their fun and holds the spotlight and i'm absolutely geeked over the next book that's to come in this series so i can see them all again. they're just....everything.

4. ocean’s echo by everina maxwell

Tennal’s mind was the mirrored universe itself.

it's hard to really put into words why this book is so high up on this list. i really liked winter's orbit last year and was so genuinely excited for this companion novel that is set in the same universe but follows very different characters. sci-fi isn't a genre i read that often but when i do, the titles under that belt always tend to stick to me somehow and in this one, i just loved the world that the author was building here in the cosmos.

i loved how plot-heavy this book is and yet the characters are what majorly push the narrative as tennal & surit's voices really take the story to new heights. their bond is one that has a bunch of twists & turns and seeing the way they grow closer & closer over time, in a way that you wouldn't expect, i was obsessed with how well they came to understand each other. tennal's character, specifically, i resonated with a lot in a way that felt reminscent of mickey in icebreaker by a.l. graziadei, as i also talk about in this post. their personalities are very different but the feelings i have for these two characters is so strong that seeing the journeys they go through in their own books was similar in its brilliance.

in tennal's case, his self-destructive nature and the way it was so hard to predict what he'd do next made me think about how other readers might hold him at fault in the beginning, which is kinda understandable. for me, though, i just found him to be a really well-crafted character who had a lot of charm to him and was intelligent in a way that could easily get looked over because of superficial impressions. surit's character was also someone who really added to this story in a way where his analytical mind helped me in taking a step back and understanding what was going on.

both voices were pivotal to my enjoyment of the story and as much trouble as i have talking about the why, my conversations with a friend who loved this book just as much as me were one of the best things about my whole reading experience and for that, that's why i listed it so high. between winter's orbit & ocean's echo, the fact that the latter evokes stronger feelings for me for unexplained reasons also plays an important factor.

i've been babbling so much on here, so let's crack on now that we're at the top 3 :')

3. the winners (beartown, #3) by fredrik backman

Look up at the roof. Only you and me on the planet. We’re alone. No one’s going to hurt us.

i always knew this series would end up in my 'best of' list because the way that fredik backman writes is so completely heartwrenching but comforting as well. reading this final book here, though, i was left feeling quite a bit empty.

with such a large cast of characters, you would think quite a few might fall under my radar but i can never forget any one of them. yeah, there were some standouts over others but each & every voice in this series--in this small town called Beartown and even another town called Hed--they all added so much to what made such an emotional reading journey for me and i wouldn't trade it for the world. seeing all the good & bad of what ice hockey means to these characters and what they mean to each other was amazing, and the big kicker with this finale here was some of the new characters we meet--matteo, ruth, and mumble--who....are connected to the first book in a way that reshaped everything i thought already knew up to this point in the series.

there's so many decisions made in these books here that force you to trash any black & white thinking because backman captures the faults & hopes of humanity so carefully in his hands and he creates characters with so much dimension to them that makes it sometimes easy to hate them but in other cases, hard to as well--it's all about perspective, you see, and every reader's thoughts are subjective depending on our own personal experiences. the experiences of these characters are all laid out on the table here and it's up to us as the readers to decide how we'll take them. with whatever choice we make, these characters have lived while others have lost and the best thing that i could do at this moment right here is carry the memories of them for the rest of my life, to be honest.

they mean that much to me and i want the best for them, even in the knowledge that there's still probably more sad moments to come--we just won't be there to see it any longer. such a heartwrenching story, as said earlier, but it was really funny, too, because that's just like all humans. you can cry one minute and then laugh the next, you can feel bitter about some things while wrestling with the joy that some of these characters have.

this book was a lot :')

2. echo by thomas olde heuvelt

“When I smile, you don’t have to be scared of me, okay?”

i just loved sam & nick so much. this was what i would describe as a cosmic horror, with the mountains being an entity that really made my skin crawl in all the intense scenes of terror that these characters face. i loved the way that the author began the story and jumped between two different timelines that added to the impact of the horror, and i loved loved the ending. i don't have much of a review up for this book on goodreads and it's haunting me greatly, especially because i still have a hard time talking about it now. it was just incredible, i had a memorable time with it.

as compensation for my short thoughts, here’s a post that shares how amazing some of the writing was 🙇🏽‍♀️

the fact that it was my #1 read for so long (i read this back in march) only to then got beaten by a hairsbreadth of a second by the title that's up next will always get to me because it was so close. but second place really isn't terrible in the grand scheme of things so here we are.

1. stars (executive power, #2) by tal bauer

This is the land where all things die. Where everything ends.

just like bellamy & phoenix were books in the making in sons of the fallen, this #1 spot here was a whole series in the making, starting from all the way back when i first picked up bauer's enemies of the state. this story was worthy of tal bauer getting the "best new author" title and "best director" in the book oscars, but i had to play fair and as a reward, i got tal bauer to beat thomas olde heuvelt for best read of 2022 so that has to be something.

this high honor is all because of sasha & sergey, and it's because of how chaotic things got in this finale here. i can pinpoint the exact moment that i knew this book would be top favorite read of the year, but i can't and won't sell it out because it was so epic, i wish other readers could be curious enough to dive into this series to see what i was talking about.

it's all about the secrets that these characters hold, that their governments keep close to their chests, and it puts others at risk in a way that was a complete mindfuck but was handled so brilliantly by the legend tal bauer himself. i just love how genre-breaking this story was--it's a romance but it can also be called a horror at some point; it's a sci-fi but it's a mystery as well with thrilling elements. it's hard to pinpoint where exactly this story straggles the line and i enjoyed every moment of it.

i enjoyed how much sasha & sergey waxed poetic of each other and how this duology was for them. i loved how we got to see some of our favorite characters from the entire executive saga return back in their own povs to provide context in moments where sasha & sergey couldn't. i loved the way the author explored sasha's love for space, and how that love was connected to sergey in a way that made me, an aro, fall further in love with the soulmate trope. i just....love how all out this author went with this story here; the writing was beyond the beyond, and it got so sad at times, and i appreciated all of it. the ending made me emotional because this was it as far as i was aware, and it had been such a long run in this saga.

first with the executive office series and then here with executive power, it was epic as hell, i will never get enough of it. i'll never get enough of the author, who next to freydís moon, was my best new author as he contributed to what made this reading year so impactful for me. i had read most of his entire backlist all in the span of two weeks in october and then further more in early december, which is just mind-boggling to me because i have never experienced this with an author before. before tal bauer, i had read the most books from rick riordan himself because of the entire percy jackson universe but here, it was more than just one universe, there were so many books!!

stars wasn't even my last tal bauer read but it is my most favorite and the enormity of it will never be lost on me. i don't ever want it to.

and that's a wrap!! happy new year, everyone :')

#❣️#I DID IT #happy new year everyone 🙇🏽‍♀️#i copy & pasted all of this on google docs and it came up to like 11-12 pages so it’s practically a whole book collection of its own :’)#still had a lot of fun #booklr #Spotify

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abronzeagegod · 2 years ago

Text

You don't really know how it happened. Honestly. You swear.

You were dutifully putting back some of the stuff that got knocked over after your last... encounter with your nemesis in the museum.

They were extremely firm in their decision after the whole 'you invited them to a wedding' thing, that you can keep having your fun, sexy flirty thing but they refused to put labels on it. They liked the lighthearted fun that came with having "an ongoing fight and sexual affair with my arch-nemesis". You liked it to, but that phrasing made you weirdly uncomfortable.

You were picking up some of the fancy things that got knocked off one of the museum displays during your most recent encounter. You zoned out a little bit (no judgement, there had been a lot of things demanding your attention this week, you're tired, it's fine). You stared into the diamond and were thinking about tonight, the nights before, the frankly insane decision you made to invite your nemesis and supervillain to your friend Ally's wedding.

"You ok down there?"

That smooth (just admit that it's sultry and you're into it) voice belong to your definitely not a romantic partner but definitely a nemesis.

That snapped you out of it and you look up at them and just say, "Yeah. Just thinking about stuff."

You have to admit that they look good, they always look good. It must be a villain thing. Or maybe they had some supplemental powers that you never knew about that just made them very attractive all the time. Particularly in the shadows of the closed museum.

"Thinking about anything good?"

"You. Wedding." You could have sworn you said, 'the'. An article before 'Wedding' to define it as a specific event and not as nebulous concept.

"Oh darling," they say in a way that always gives you a little tingle. There's something about that phrase that just does something to you, but only coming from them. "It's a little fast, but yes I will marry you."

"What."

"You sure you want to propose with a stolen diamond though?"

"What."

"I will definitely marry you but I have a few conditions. When we live together we have to find somewhere besides your very charming but extremely suburban house. I want my own space so I won't be giving up my penthouse, so you can keep your whole house thing but if we're living together we need our own space."

Would it be redundant to say what again? "What."

"I wanna walk down the isle so I get to pick what I'm wearing and it will be outrageous."

Now you're just hot under the collar, you can feel your face burning.

"But not too outrageous."

That, in a weird way, does make you feel better.

"And we have to promise not to sacrifice ourselves for each other. I'm going to keep doing my evil-but-not-super-evil chaotic thing. You keep doing your hero thing. I love you and I don't want to force you to change."

Your mouth is dry and you try a few times to swallow but it doesn't work. You try to wet your lips but that also fails. "Seems fair."

"Those are my conditions. If you can accept them," they say but then falter, in one of the extremely few moments of vulnerability you've ever seen from them (not even with the Iowa Incident did they display this level of openness), they add, "if you can accept me. I'll marry you."

"Of course I accept you," you say, feeling mildly confused.

The smile that lights up their face when you say that is something that you want to bottle up and keep.

"This is all delightfully fast, I didn't think that you were this deeply in love with me. It's cute."

"Of course I am!" you retort back, how dare they call into question your affection!

Wait a second...

This was a mistake! You weren't actually going to propose! You just zoned out holding a diamond that was stolen and put in a museum and really should be returned to its country of origin and now... you're getting married?

Well... there are worse people to get married to.

"I will say I was very surprised but I was hoping that you would have proposed with another sword fight..."

"We just had one, I'm cleaning up after it," you mutter.

---

Somehow, three weeks later you're standing at an altar, dressed in a suit so expensive and so well tailored it feels like a criminal crime. And your arch-nemesis just kicked open the doors at the end of the hall.

"Holy shit," you say as you see your nemesis and what they are wearing.

It's a sentiment shared by a lot of the audience as you hear more than a little swearing, gasps, and averted eyes. Even for a group of friends, family, superheroes, and supervillains, your nemesis (soon to be spouse) is wearing something absolutely amazing and erotic and borderline inappropriate. But that's just what they do.

When they get to the altar and smile at you like the cat that ate the canary, they whip out their phone and take a self with their ridiculous outfit and your embarassed (and let's be real a little horny) red face.

They quickly snap the picture and send a text.

"Ha, suck it Gregory," they say. You groan. They grab your hand and look at the officiant. "You can start now."

You accidentally proposed to your arch nemesis but are surprised to find they actually like you and happily accept your proposal. You wonder how you never realised this as you walk the aisle with them.

#my fiction #first one of 2023 and it's a sequel!#i'd i like these two weirdos that have no names

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dameronology · 2 years ago

Note

I’ve been dying for a pov where fem!reader is the one that dives in the lake and gets attacked but the demo bats and Eddie being the protective boyfriend he would be would immediately jump in and save you then panic when he sees what they did to you 🫶

oh my goshhh yes the angst (also apologies for how long this took me to write work has been kicking my butt)

once again i went off on an absolute tangent w this lmao i kinda delved into the stuff a little before batgate too hope u don't mind i just LIVE for protective eddie ngl

warnings: language, mentions of injury

eddie munson, as he has proclaimed several times, tends to run from things. he ran from most of his homework in 1984 hence why he's now a super senior; he ran from jason carver in the eighth grade when he stole his animal crackers and he ran, rather ironically, from the gym teacher last week when she chased him from underneath the bleachers with a half-smoked blunt in his hand

he even tried to run from his feelings for you at first. it was mostly fear because you're golden as fuck and the best thing that ever happened to him and honestly he was just scared of hurting you

but this is eddie munson we're talking about, who regularly trips over his own fuckin shoe laces. even in a metaphorical sense, because whilst sprinting from said feelings he skidded and fell on his ass for you and realised that actually, letting himself fall in love with you wasn't the worst thing in the world

that was two years ago & now you're eddie's entire fucking heart. he might feel a bit lost about the future sometimes but he knows it's gonna be ok when you're by his side

getting tangled up in all the upside down shit was beyond what either of you could have ever imagined; honestly his reaction at first was to run, but he knew as you & the others came after him, he didn't have to anymore

you stayed with him at reefer rick's from the second you found him; half because he was a wreck and needed you there, but also because people are dying left, right and center, and he is hellbent on keeping an eye on you

eddie is glued to your hip the entire time. he's clingy at the best of times but now, he won't sleep without both his arms wrapped tightly around you and he wakes up periodically in the night to check on you

and despite the fact he's arguably more traumatised by this entire thing, eddie is constantly asking if you're ok; asking about how you're doing with recent revelations and putting on a brave face to hide his own worries

everything becomes a lot more real when you have to go out with steve, robin & nancy to find the gate. you're both kind of involved now, right? and you're deadset on proving ed's innocence so you're gonna find this fucking monster

eddie doesn't like the idea of you coming with them and getting hurt. he likes the idea of leaving you on shore even less. sometimes you gotta pick the lesser of two evils

it's like you were gonna listen to him anyways. eddie has never been able to tell you what to do

so you get in the boat with them; eddie takes the seat beside you, large hand protectively spread out on your thigh and dark eyes scouring the water ahead of you for any danger

when the compass starts going wonky with a capital "aah!" you're kinda over the whole thing and before anyone can stop you, you've lost your shoes and jacket and you're jumping in the lake

you're too quick for anyone to stop you

eddie is less then pleased when you resurface a few minutes later, announcing that you've found the gate

"why would you do that?! are you fucking insane?! why?!"

before you can argue, you're being dragged back under

even though eddie had said before that he was only brave when it came to d&d, he's diving in right after you. shoes on, jacket on, he doesn't give a shit

an unambiguous sign of true love indeed

he goes down and down after you, not really caring if the other three follow you (they do btw once they all have a moment of "what a chaotic couple")

eddie is basically kicking his way through the gate, blindly beating the shit out of every demobat he's seeing

because like HELL are they gonna get away with hurting you

he's blinded by pure, white rage really. also a little bit of fear, but that just manifests itself in said rage

eventually, when you're finally free of the bats' grip on you, eddie is on his knees by your side, one large hand holding your head and the other checking your pulse

"please tell me you're alive. jesus christ, please say you're alive because if you're not i'm going to-"

"- i'm alive!" you manage to cough out, "just about"

he's taking you in his arms in seconds, pulling you gently into his chest and holding you there, calling you a dumbass and a fucking idiot but one that he loves so fucking much it hurts me right now

robin & steve take a step back for a moment, but nancy - being nancy - is proactive, tearing up her jumper and wrapping it around the wound on your side

eddie sheds his leather jacket, wrapping it tightly around your shoulders

the entire time that you're walking through the upside down, he's got an arm around your waist and one hand holding where your cut is in order to keep pressure on it

and he lets you ride the back of his bike !! no way in hell is he making you cycle in your condition

whilst the other three are communicating with dustin & erica, eddie is ransacking the upside edition™️ of his trailer for any medical supplies

of course there are none but it's sweet that he tries

he insists on going through the gate first so that you don't have to just land straight on the mattress

even though he falls flat on his ass, he manages to catch you

eddie munson will always be there to catch you

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kpopjust4u · 2 years ago

Text

It’s like a daydream.

Post Date: 21st July 2022 Content: Fluff - NCT Jaehyun x Reader WC: 4.1K TW?: A touch of angst/ Mention of a few members/ Mention of creepy men/ Request?: No Masterlist Prompt list

Prompts: 9 - “I love you” 74 - “Tell me what you want right now”

It felt like forever since you last saw your best friends, Jaehyun, Mark, Yuta and Johnny. Though it was barely over a month ago since you waved them off to America, it felt like they have been away months, even a year but you knew one thing for sure, they’d be coming back soon. Knowing this kept you going every day, of course, you still had other friends. Haechan is always around when you need a chat, and Doyoung and Taeyong were always on the other end of the phone if you felt lonely. But nothing filled the void of your best friends leaving you for a month. Being around them was completely different, the dynamic in the group made it chaotic but you knew they’d always be there for you if you needed them and that was what you needed at the moment, just them cheering you up when the clouds pour rain.

It wasn’t for another week that you were expecting them back, but the phone call from your phone suddenly startles you as you exit the shower. “Hey Haechan, what’s up?” you answer, putting the phone in the crook between your neck and your shoulder as you rush to get dressed. Panic slowly starts to set in with Haechan’s worried tone down the phone, begging you to hurry to their apartment as soon as possibly.

Without disclosing any information to you, you rush around to grab your stuff and make your way over there as quickly as you could. What you didn’t realise is that down the other end of the phone, Haechan was trying his absolute hardest to hold back his laughter, almost choking in his words to suppress his laughter as he looked down at the members who came back home a lot earlier than expected. He knew this was the perfect opportunity to get you over to surprise you, however, was it the best way? That was debatable but he couldn’t resist it, the other members crying from laughter behind him as you hang up the phone. “She’s on her way!” He screams, so loud that the whole neighbourhood could probably hear him.

There’s a loud bang on the door as your fists pound against it, “Haechan, open up!” shouting from the other side as Haechan freezes, realising he’s got to keep up the act, pushing the members into another room before forcing fake tears as he heads towards the door. “Haechan-” you bang on the door, even more, the sound coming to a stop as he opens it, “What’s wrong?” you rush towards him to hug him as he stutters on his words, shaking his head before putting it in his hands. “It’s okay, let’s go sit down and talk, yeah?” you offer as he nods, wiping away his crocodile tears.

Within seconds of you both sitting down, he starts laughing. With a confused look on your face, you stare at him, wondering what’s going on. Haechan’s laughter turns into a full laughing fit as he points at you in ridicule, “You should’ve seen your face!”, you sigh as you try to hold back irritation, giving him a slight evil eye as you throw your head back, “You... little...” you go to curse at him but a familiar voice scolds you gently from behind. “No swearing at the baby of the group, Y/N,” Johnny laughs as you snap your head to face him, Mark, Jaehyun and Yuta standing there, laughing with arms crossed their chest.

Your eyes immediately fall onto Jaehyun, running up off the couch and into his arms as you wrap yourself around him. “Wait... When did you get back? I thought you weren’t back until next week?” you question as you break off the hug from JAehyun, his smirk giving you butterflies as Johnny and Mark start to laugh at your reaction even more. “This morning,” Yuta answers, but you were so happy you couldn’t even be mad at them for not telling you about their early arrival home, unable to resist giving them all a hug before your attention is brought back to Jaehyun, who has seemed to gone quiet. “Hey, are you okay?” you ask as you walk towards him, holding his shoulder. He nods in reply, with a small smile on his face before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box, opening it to reveal the prettiest friendship bracelet that you’ve ever seen. It wasn’t a cliche, cringy one, but something silver, initials of all your best friend’s names on a charm each. Jaehyun carefully takes it out of the box, taking hold of your hand before putting the bracelet around it, “Now you have us with you whenever we’re miles apart,” he softly says, followed by a small round of giggles from the other three. “Do you like it?” Mark asks, getting close to you to part an arm around you, “I love it, thank you guys, you are all really the best!”.

- Time Skip -

After days of catching up with the boys, you finally felt like yourself again, it was back to normal, you were doing things that you did before they left and everything seemed to be going great again. “Y/N, can you make us your spaghetti please?” Mark pouts with puppy eyes, hands clasped together in front of his face, ready to beg if you denied him. “Really, it’s 8 p.m. already, Mark. Can you wait till tomorrow?” you whine, receiving a pout from the four boys at this point, drowning you in the ocean of puppy eyes, but the minute you see Jaehyun’s, that was your deal breaker. You didn’t know what it was, but being gone from Jaehyun for so long and seeing him again makes your heart flutter, and your mind race with thoughts you’d never think you’d have for your best friend. Maybe it was because you two were probably the closest out of your relationship with the four of them, though you knew you shouldn’t pick favourites. However, it was definitely something in the way that he gave you the bracelet, how you impulsively hugged him first when you saw him, that made you feel something but you fought those thoughts away as best as you could. You must’ve just missed him that badly, missed being around him.

“I’ll help,” Jaehyun offers, getting up to his feet as you now have no choice but to say yes, “Fine, but next time, one of you is paying to take me out for dinner,” you tease, the boys playfully rolling their eyes at you as you make your way into the kitchen. The minute you disappear into the kitchen, Johnny, Mark and Yuta all whisper amongst themselves, getting really close to be able to keep themselves as quiet as possible, “I wonder when will Jaehyun actually admit his feelings for her,” Yuta speaks up first, constantly keeping watch of the kitchen door. “He’s been pining for her the minute he met her, it’s been four years and he’s so whipped for her man,” Johnny laughs, as the other two nods in agreement, a lightbulb going off in Mark’s head. “Oh no, what’s that look for?” Yuta asks Mark who just smirks, scheming a plan in his head as he looks at them with glee, “How about we set them up together? It’s obvious Y/N likes him back, just doesn’t realise it yet. The bracelet was a start, now what next?” he whispers, expressing fully with his hand gestures as the other two catch on, there was a plan. Just a time and a place.

“Oh god, I can hear laughter from the other room. I wonder what they’re up to?” you exclaim, giggling to yourself, prepping the sauce as Jaehyun chops up the vegetables next to you, shaking his head at your question. “Should be used to it by now, they’re always like this~” Jaehyun reminds you, as you nod in agreement, realising that it’s a stupid question. You couldn’t have been best friends with a more chaotic bunch, but you loved it, it kept you on your toes, and you loved the fact that Jaehyun was the peace-maker, the calm one. He’d have his moments, but he’s such a good medium in the group, especially when Johnny and Mark are two you can’t trust alone together, pushing your luck a bit for peace, even when Yuta is around.

“So how was your month away?” you ask, looking up at him as a small smile creeps its way onto his face, “Well~ We did a lot of sight seeing, but mainly work, it was strange for it to be just the four of us but it’s for something coming up soon... A show... And you didn’t hear that from me,” he whispers, winking at you as you metaphorically zip your lips shut, throwing away the key. “How’ve you been since we’ve been gone?” he asks, carefully pouring the vegetables into the sauce that slowly starts to bubble. “Don’t go there Jae, I’ve been bored out of my mind. Most ammusement I’ve had is creeps trying to ask me out on dates on the many dating apps I have,” you sigh, creeping in a laugh as you stir the sauce, mixing in the vegetables.

You’re too focused on that to realise that Jaehyun’s expression drops, turning sour at the mention of your dating apps, trying to push past the jealousy that you’d probably eventually start speaking to someone else and he’d never have the chance. With a harsh cough, he tries to ignore his thoughts, “So, no luck with guys then?”. His attempt was poor, he needed some form of clarification that you didn’t have your eye caught on someone. “Not yet, they’re either creeps or they just want me to send photos... Wait, that also makes them creeps,” you scoff, realising that these dating apps are just a waste of time really.

“Tell me what you want right now,” Jaehyun states, startling you slightly from the sudden question, getting a little confused as to what he could mean in saying that, “What do you mean?” you cough, with a tingle in the back of your throat, “What do you want from your future boyfriend?” he giggles, trying to hide behind this mask that he’s put on, in reality getting ideas of how to confess to you perfectly. “Uhm, someone who’s incredibly sweet. Someone who’ll really care for the relationship, I don’t mind not having loads of PDA, nor do I expect much really, just someone who matches my energy, and could be my best friend with an extra title,” you state, smiling as you carefully place the spaghetti into the pan. Jaehyun takes no time in making mental notes, really admiring your smile after you described what you did, realising that he has truly fallen for you.

During the time in making the spaghetti, you get to really indulge in spending time with Jaehyun, really getting to see his softer sides that you’re not so familiar with, he never gets this gentle with you and it started to pull at your heart string. Every time you looked at him, his facial expressions are soft, and his smile made your heart skip a beat. Were you actually starting to fall for your best friend? Or is it just because you never realised how close you really were? You couldn’t understand what you were feeling, but you knew, for one thing, you knew you couldn’t express how you felt towards him in case it ruined the friendship that you had. Though it got continuously more difficult to hide those feelings for him that constantly built up and more, his gentle gestures towards you whilst you worked around the kitchen made him irresistible in your eyes.

“Boys, spaghetti’s ready!” you call from the kitchen, hearing the thumping of feet hitting the ground as they rush into the kitchen, arguing over what seat at the table they were going to take. As you watched them mess around, Jaehyun sets the table, tapping Johnny on the shoulder when he gives him a weird look, trying to hold back a smirk as you gather some glasses and drinks to put on the table. “Woah! This looks amazing!” Yuta exclaims, being the first to dig in as soon as you sit in your seat. The sounds of pleased ‘wows’ fill the kitchen, as they fill their cheeks up with your food, as they usually do, “Y/N, you’re so good at cooking,” Jaehyun softly speaks, smiling at you as Yuta nudges him under the table, receiving a side eye from Jaehyun as you can’t help but blush, your cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.

“Maybe I should try to make you spaghetti~” Mark mumbles with a mouth full, “No!!” all of you shout, laughing at his reaction and dropping into a pout. “Why not?!” He cries, swallowing the last of the food in his mouth as he watches all of your faces turn, trying to hold back laughter. “Remember the time you tried to make eggs?” Johnny scoffs, Mark rolling his eyes in return, “That was one time! Haechan was over exaggerating, I’m not that bad!”, “Mark, I was there... It WAS that bad,” Yuta affirms, trying to stay serious when he does so. “Haechan did tell you to put oil in the pan first,” Yuta adds, struggling to refrain from laughing as Mark almost face plants his plate in front of him from getting called out.

A loud ping of your phone brings the boy's attention to you, as you slowly pick it up, wondering who could be messaging you this time. With a smile that crawls on your face from looking at the notification, immediately making the boys react, “Oh~ Is that a boy?” Johnny teases like a dad to his daughter as Yuta and Mark give each other wide-eyed looks, Jaehyun biting his tongue at Johnny’s attempt to also tease him as he tries to focus on his food. “Maybe, what’s it to ya?” you ask, smirking as you place your phone down again, “Tell me, who’s it this time?” Johnny continues to pry, teasing you by trying to grab your phone but you pull it away quicker, “No one, just someone who wants to meet me for dinner tomorrow night, he seems genuinely nice”. As you talk the boy's wink at each other, whilst Jaehyun is oblivious to it, Johnny’s scheme seems to be working. “You should meet him, I mean, you’ve been single for way too long~” Mark speaks up, as you point your fork at him, “Don’t out me like that... Maybe I will meet him~” you giggle, the boys laughing with you but Jaehyun doesn’t seem to happy as he slams his cutlery down, aggressively getting out of his seat and walking out of the room.

Startled from the sudden outburst, you worry that there may be something really wrong, running out of the kitchen after him, and it seems like he completely disappeared into thin air, though a loud bang of the front door makes you jump out of your skin. “What’s wrong with him?” you panic, running back into the kitchen to grab your phone. “Don’t worry about him, probably just tired,” Yuta tries to cover up but your frantic shaking of the head shows you weren’t going to believe anything they said until you hear it from Jaehyun himself. “No, it’s not like him!” you cry, attempting to phone him but it just keeps going through to answer the phone. “He’ll come around,” Mark says softly, now worrying if they made the wrong decision going down the dating app messaging route.

“I’m going home, I’ll speak to you guys later. I’ll let you know when I get there,” you rush, as they all try to stop you but you push them off you, grabbing your stuff before trying to head out the door, “At least let us walk you back, it’s late,” Yuta offers, but you shake your head, apologising to them before slamming the door behind you.

On the way back to your place, you decided it was going to be a good idea to take some of the back streets, it was quicker than the main roads. It was stupid of you to do so, you knew that especially at night but you just wanted to get in. Throughout your walk, you continuously try to contact Jaehyun but to no avail, you just get left on his answer phone, “This is Jaehyun, I’ll get back to you as soon I can”. Slowly starting to get frustrated at your failed attempts to get hold of him, your walking pace picks up slightly, until you’re falling back onto the ground. You look up at the two, unidentifiable men standing above you, turning around as they chuckled to themselves, “Now, what do we have here?” one of them croak, as the other tilts his head to the side, kneeling down, caressing the hair on your head. As much as you wanted to move, run and scream, your body becomes like stone, unable to even make a sound. The real panic sets in as the guys exchange more looks, getting ready to pick you up as a loud shout could be heard from down the alleyway, “Get away from her!”.

The voice was so familiar, but you couldn’t even turn your head to look at who it was, as tears flooded your eyes. “I said, get away from her!” the voice shouts again, clearly getting closer, the two mysterious men scrambling off the minute your saviour gets closer. With a sigh of relief, your body returns back to normal, though you struggle to get to your feet off the ground, Jaehyun wrapping his arms around you to help you up. “Jae...” you cough as you manage to look at him, “What are you doing walking down the alleyways? And why are you walking alone?” he asks, giving you no chance in asking about where he disappeared to. “I... uhm... Trying to get home quicker. I’ve been ringing you, why haven’t you asnwered your phone?!” you let the anger out, from being worried sick about him but he refuses to answer you, “I asked why are you walking alone?”, you couldn’t believe him right now, wanting to push past him but couldn’t. “I told them not to walk me, I’m capable of walking alone!” you bite, as he rolls his eyes, “Clearly not,” he mutters under his breath.

“Jae... What happened earlier?” you asked, analysing his face for a change in expression but he just shrugs, heading you out onto the main road, and heading you in the direction of your house. “Jae. Answer me,” you demand but he keeps silent, “So you’re gonna go on a date tomorrow?” he asks, trying to find some amusement in what triggered his anger in the first place. “Are you seriously asking me about that right now?” you ask, coming to a halt, turning to him, wondering where his audacity has gone., but he just smiles and nods. Granted it was a fake forced smile, well, it was more of a sarcastic smirk, but you just couldn’t believe him right now, “No, I wasn’t going to go to that date tomorrow. You should know me by now, Jae. I don’t do dates,” you couldn’t help but scoff, almost laughing at yourself as you just wanted to let the others know what they wanted to hear as the typical boy best friends, just teasing their girl best friend about a boy.

“Sure you weren’t, seemed pretty excited when that message popped up,” he sighs, hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels. You scoff at his remark, “I wasn’t! I don’t like anyone at the moment,” you can’t help but not realise you’re digging a deeper hole for yourself in his mind. If you don’t like anyone at the moment, that also includes him, whose heart is literally ready to pour itself out to you. “Hmm, you can’t fool me, Y/N,” Jaehyun rejects.

“I’m done, I’m going home,” you whisper, completely turning your back to him as you pace up the road, “What’s the matter Y/N, did I hit a nerve?” he challenges, barely following behind you as you attempt to drown his talking and existence out. Of course, he hit a nerve, of course, you liked someone. That, someone, was him but you felt as though it would be best to keep your emotions at bay before you make matters worse for him. “Jae, just go home,” you bite, and he laughs are your attempt to be firm with him, “No,” he replies bluntly, “Why not?!”. The patience you once had has gone, biting at him with everything he says, and you don’t mean to but how could he act like this when he knew you had tried to contact him, worrying about him after his stunt back at the flat.

“Because I don’t want to leave you alone, especially not what just happnened in that alleyway,” his tone of voice goes soft, like the Jaehyun you actually knew was slowly coming back. “Fine, you can walk me home. ONLY if you tell me what happened,” you bribe, but he was just glad to spend some more alone time with you, despite the fact that he was battling with emotions in his head, especially about whether or not he confesses his love to you. “If you really must know, I just didn’t like the fact that Johnny was egging you on to get you to go on that date tomorrow,” he confesses, as you slow your pace down, wondering why he’d even get so annoyed with it, why would he react to you going out on a date?.

“Why?” you ask, heartbeat picking up slowly, slowly beating out of your chest with anticipation for his next answer, not wanting to jump to conclusions about what it could mean but could there be any other reasonable ideas as to why? This made you start to worry, your hands got sweaty, and the time it takes him to answer felt like he took an hour to think but in reality, it was just minutes afterwards. “I guess I got jealous,” he slowly starts to whisper, trying to make you sure you don’t actually hear him, fearing that he’s going to ruin everything by letting you know how he really feels.

Within seconds of hearing his confession, it all starts to make sense to you why he was the one who gave you the bracelet out of the four of them, why he offered to help you cook, and why he was so gentle towards you when doing so. And most importantly, why did he storm out after Johnny asked about you and the boys, “You- You- Got jealous?” you ask, freezing on the spot as those words come flying out of your mouth. “It’s stupid, I shouldn’t get jealous. It’s not like you’d feel the same way for me as I do for you,” he sighs, finally starting to properly open up as you look at him with confusion, on how he could assume that about you.

“Y/N...” He starts again, but you couldn’t even speak again in response, mind racing with thoughts and feelings playing with your heart as you realise so much, and realise yourself how much you actually like him. It was all slowly coming together in your mind and you should’ve realised your feeling months ago, but didn’t acknowledge them until recently because you were so scared of how he’d feel. “Y/N,” he calls your name again as you snap out of your daydream, that you started smiling at, of how happy you’d be if something could really work in your favour.

“Y/N, I love you,” Jaehyun confesses, as you look straight into his eyes, which glistened so brightly under the streetlights and from the lights around you in the various shops. His smile was shy but so gentle, slowly turning into a frown as your lack of response slowly eats him up inside. “I’m so sorry... I’ve probably ruined what we had...” he apologises but a smile creeps onto your face, slowly processing those three words, coming out of his mouth. “You love me?” you ask in reply, needing confirmation that you actually heard him right. He nods in reply, on edge as he waits for the next thing you do or say to him. “Looks like there’s definitely no need for me to go on a date tomorrow,” but you receive a confused look from him when you giggle at the statement you’ve made, “Because we could go on one, if you’d like?” you rock yourself back and forth, a grin appearing on his face as relief lets him breathe. “I was supposed to be the one asking you out on a date, not the other way around,” he chuckles, putting an arm around you, ready to walk you the last stretch home.

64 notes · View notes

baepsaesbae · 4 years ago

Text

Babysitters Club

Pairing— Kim Taehyung x reader

Genre— SMUT, fluff, babysitting au, strangers to lovers au

Warnings— Dom!Taehyung, roleplaying, face fucking, oral sex (m and f), bondage, explicit rough unprotected sex please stay safe irl, squirting, choking, hickies, a surprise cameo from Spring Will Come Again!Jungkook because I have no self control

Word Count— ~7.6k

Summary— A generic summer job hunt leads you to babysit rowdy (but still cute) kids alongside the most handsome man you’ve ever seen. What shenanigans will you get into with Taehyung by your side?

A/N— HUGE shoutout to the lovely @kimtaehyunq for making this beautiful banner for me! This was literally the Taehyung I had in mind while writing this uwu. This fic is the epitome of self indulgence but I truly hope you guys like it too! Please let me know what you think! My askbox/inbox is always open, don’t be afraid to come chat with me. Love you all, hope you guys are safe <3

Crumpled up newspapers littered the floor as another ball was apathetically tossed aside. A sigh of defeat escaped your lips as you looked up at the ceiling in desperation.

“Still at it with the job hunt, huh?” your roommate, Hyuna, said when she saw your mess, “I told you to search online. Or try to get a job at a cafe or a boba shop or something.”

“Easy jobs online seem sketchy, and I told you I don’t want to work in the food industry ever again,” you groaned.

“But you’d rather...be a babysitter?” she questioned as she held up an ad, “Wait you could get paid up to $15 an hour? That’s pretty good.”

“I didn’t see that one. Is it an agency or something?”

“Not sure, take a look,” she handed you the paper.

“Oh, it seems like it’s a daycare run out of someone’s house. They’re looking for multiple applicants. You wanna do it with me?! I think it could be fun!” you ask excitedly.

“And spend most of my summer vacation with a bunch of snot nosed brats? I don’t think so. You have fun though!” she blew you a kiss as she walked away.

You whipped your phone out and immediately called the number in the ad. This job was the only one that seemed bearable, and you thought kids were cute for the most part. You’ve had a few babysitting gigs in the past so this shouldn’t be too bad.

“Hello?” a deep voice answered the call.

“Hi, I saw your ad in the paper! I was wondering if there was still a babysitting position open?” you inquired.

“Oh yes! Yeah there’s still a spot open. Um, can you give me a sec?” the man said quickly as you heard wailing kids in the background. After two minutes or so he returned to the phone.

“I’m terribly sorry about that. You don’t have a criminal background or anything right? Gosh, I’m sure this sounds unprofessional but--”

“Nope, I don’t have any charges or anything like that. Should I call back later?” you offered since it seemed like the man was a little preoccupied.

“It’s like this all the time. Why don’t we do a practice run tomorrow? Oh! I mean, whenever you’re available to start. Or technically have an interview? I guess? Hey, don’t put that in your mouth!” the man chastised at someone in the distance.

“I can come in tomorrow!” you said.

“Great! Just use the address in the same ad you got this number from! Oh, and please get here by 9am! See you soon!” the man hung up abruptly.

“That was chaotic…” you said to yourself.

A moment later your phone began to ring. It was from the babysitting guy.

“Hello?” you answered.

“I realized I never got your name! I promise I’m not always this frazzled,” he laughed as rambunctious laughter erupted behind him.

“Oh, I’m ______,” you gave him your first and last name.

“Cool. See you tomorrow Miss ____!” he said before hanging up again.

You were actually excited to babysit. It had been a while since you had done it, and playing with kids was usually fun. Then again, you’ve never had a bad experience with babysitting before. You prayed that this gig would continue the positive trend.

Donning shorts and a simple Mickey Mouse t-shirt, (you figured some kid was bound to like the mousey character) it was time to head off to your potential workplace. The babysitting place was actually fairly close to you, only about a 10 minute drive. It was 8:55am by the time you arrived. A couple of parents walked past your car to drop off their kids. All of the kids seemed to be pretty excited to enter the house, which was definitely a good sign.

You gently knocked on the door at exactly 9am. There was no response as you awkwardly waited for about a minute or so. All you could hear was shrill laughter and thumps that you presumed was the kids running about. You realized there was a doorbell, and sighed at your foolishness.

The door opened seconds after you rang the doorbell. A tall man with dark hair greeted you with a warm smile. You were taken aback by the handsome guy, suddenly questioning whether you were at the right place or not until a child popped up from behind his shoulder and yelled out a loud “Boo!” that caused you to jump.

“Ah, sorry about that! This one is always trying to play pranks,” the man laughed as he playfully jostled the child that was latched onto his back, “You must be ______?”

“That’s me!” you say with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Cool. C’mon in, I’ll introduce you to the kids,” the man led you inside.

The living room was littered with toys, from cars to building blocks to barbies. This place was definitely a kid’s happy place. Four little kids were playing with various things when you walked in. All of the kids there seemed to be between the ages of 4 to 6. At a glance, it seemed like they were all playing house. It took you a few seconds to realize that one of the kids was actually playing by herself; she was just physically close to the other kids.

“Everyone! This is our newest helper! Her name is Miss ____. Let’s all play nicely with her okay?” the man announced.

The kids playing house immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed to you. Two boys began asking you questions in a rapid fire succession, while the little girl merely clung to your leg.

“Those two are Kota and Bel,” the man pointed to the two boys, “The little girl stuck to you like glue is Ava, and the one playing over there is Lucy,” he continued to name each child.

“AND I’M SAM!!” the last boy exclaimed over the man’s shoulder.

“Yes, this troublemaker here is Sam. That’s basically the whole gang! We could get a few more additions as the summer goes on, but these guys are the OG crew. They’re all really sweet kids, once you get to know them. Any questions so far?” your employer asked.

“I don’t think I ever caught your name, sir,” you say politely.

“Oh! No need to call me sir. I think we’re probably around the same age? Not that I’m assuming your age or anything but--”

“He’s my horsey!” Sam interrupted.

“No, he’s the chef!” Kota yelled.

“No, he’s our dad who’s not our dad,” Lucy chimed in.

“My mom told me he was a babysitter?” Bel added, now visibly confused.

“I am all of those things,” the man reassured the children, “But my name is Taehyung. The kids call me Tae or Mr. insert whatever title I have in the game we are playing on that day. Pleasure to meet ya,” Tae extends a hand out to you, “Let’s see how your first day goes.”

The first few hours consisted of a rather intricate game of pretend set up in a fantasy world. You played a princess who was captured by an evil dragon, who was played by Taehyung (you couldn’t help but think about how you wouldn’t mind being his hostage).

The boys were valiant knights on their quest to rescue you. The girls played different creatures that aided the knights as fairies or unicorns or any other things they wanted to be. Most of the game consisted of you and Taehyung sitting together in a corner of the living room. Even though you didn’t have to do anything, it was fun watching the kids play. Their imagination amused you.

“Enjoying yourself, princess?” Taehyung asked as he also watched the children run around.

His deep voice sent chills down your spine. Something about the way the word “princess” rolled off his tongue was so enchanting. You cleared your throat before answering.

“This job has been pretty fun so far, Mr. Evil Dragon,” you smile.

“Hey! I’m not evil, just misunderstood,” he protested.

“Oh no! The dragon is about to eat the princess!” one of the boys cried out.

“What? No, I’m not going to eat her,” Taehyung said defensively.

“You need to pretend to eat the princess so that the knights save her,” Lucy, the quiet one, scuttled over to whisper to the both of you before hurrying back to her spot.

Taehyung turned towards you to appease the kids as they held their breath in anticipation.

“Rawr! I’m going to eat you!” he said in a deep voice.

“Oh no! Somebody save me!” you cried out, playing along.

A few moments passed but none of the kids moved. You both turned your heads towards them in confusion. They stared back at you blankly.

“You need to bite her!” Sam demanded.

“What?” you and Tae said in unison.

“Bite her! Bite her! Bite her!” the boys started to chant.

“But not too hard!” Ava expressed her worry for you, making you smile.

“I…uh…” Taehyung was at a loss for words.

“They’re not gonna stop, are they?” you whispered to him.

He nodded with a sigh as their chanting got louder. You offered him your arm. Kids can be crazy stubborn over silly things. Besides, you’ve done worse for less (college is crazy).

Taehyung shot you an “are you sure about this?” look, to which you just nodded. Once he got the okay, Taehyung grabbed your arm and pulled you harshly, causing your face to be a mere inches away from his.

“Fools! You think you can save the princess? I will devour her before your very eyes!” Taehyung declared with an even deeper voice. He opened his mouth menacingly, as if to show off his fangs. Then, he proceeded to bite your bicep. To be honest, he was being so forceful that you thought he was going to bite you for real, causing you to involuntarily close your eyes.

Instead, he gingerly placed his teeth on your skin so lightly that you could barely feel anything. You opened your eyes to see Taehyung grinning at you with your arm in his mouth.

“Aaaaggghhh GET HIM!!” Sam yelled, leading the other boys straight into Taehyung.

Taehyung quickly let go of you before he rolled out onto the floor. The boys began to pummel Taehyung with their foam swords and pretend bows and arrows. The girls came to your aid to help you escape during the battle.

The little boys triumphantly stood over their defeated babysitter who pretended to be passed out on the floor. You applauded their victory as the girls sat by your side.

“Okay! Good game, it’s almost lunchtime,” Taehyung announced as he quickly popped back up.

“Chef Tae makes the best mac and cheese!” Ava informed you excitedly.

“I wanted dino nuggies!” Sam puffed out his cheeks in disappointment.

“Sam, you know it’s Ava’s day to pick out lunch. It’ll be your turn tomorrow okay? I promise! You guys can stay here and play with Miss ____ till food is ready,” Tae called out as he walked to the kitchen. Lucy silently followed Tae.

“Lucy likes to help out in the kitchen a lot. She sets the table,” Ava explained when she saw you watching Lucy.

“You’re good at being a princess!” Kota butted in as he ran to hug your leg.

“I like your shirt! I like Mickey Mouse too. I saw him in DisneyWorld last year,” Bel said as he clung to your other leg.

The kids took turns holding onto your legs as you tried to walk around. Apparently the thought of making you tumble over was an exciting one, and that kept the kids busy until Taehyung called for everyone.

Five little bowls of mac and cheese were set up on the dining table. The kids took their seats as Taehyung handed out juice boxes. He positioned himself by your side as the little ones began to chow down.

“I normally just eat the rest out of the pot, but since you’re here I can get you a bowl. Sorry about biting you earlier, the kids really like it when I get serious about my roles,” Taehyung chuckled as he scooped out your portion.

“It’s no problem, you’re a great actor. Thank you,” you say politely as he handed you a bowl.

Lunch was spent making small talk with Taehyung. He was a newly graduated college student trying to make extra money before starting a real job hunt.Taehyung had been running this makeshift daycare since he was a senior in highschool.

“Summers are always fun with them,” Taehyung said while smiling fondly at the kids, “How has it been so far?” he asked.

“I’ve been having a good time. The kids are all really sweet! They have so much energy,” you answer.

“They do indeed, which is why playtime is so important in the morning! It makes what comes next easier,” he winked at you before collecting the empty bowls, “Okay kiddos! Who’s ready for nap time?”

Lucy quietly raised her hand while the boys groaned. You figured it would be hard to get those active boys to settle down, let alone to take a nap. You helped Taehyung set up blankets and pillows in the game room. The kids made a beeline to their designated blankets without a fuss.

“Do you sing, Miss _____?” Taehyung asked out of the blue.

“Um, not really?” you say hesitantly.

“Ah, I see. No worries. Everybody ready?” he said.

“Yes!” all the kids replied.

“Alrighty. Do you have any song requests, Miss ____?”

You thought about which songs would make for a decent lullaby, “Do you know Adore You by Harry Styles?”

“I’ll have to look up the lyrics but yeah I like that song! I like his whole album actually,” Taehyung nodded as he pulled out his phone and took a deep breath, “Walk in your rainbow paradise~”

You were shocked by his vocal talent. His voice control was superb and the quality of his voice was downright euphoric. Even though Taehyung’s voice is deeper than Harry Styles’, his range was incredible. He was still able to go as high as Harry without any trouble. All the kids had fallen sound asleep by the time he finished the song.

“This is when I typically have about an hour of free time,” he said after quietly leading you back into the kitchen.

“You have such a beautiful voice! Do you sing to them every day?” you praised him.

“Thanks! Yeah, I sing to them every day. They used to get duets actually,” Taehyung sighed.

“Did you have another coworker before?” you asked.

“Yep. My best friend actually. He’s my roommate too, but he landed an internship this summer so he couldn’t be here. I’m very proud of him! But usually this is a job for two people so I decided to put that ad out. I’m happy you came out! The kids seem to like you,” Taehyung gave you a thumbs up.

“I hope so! Lucy might be scared of me though,” you recalled the way she mostly avoided you all morning.

“Nah, she’s just really shy. She told me that she thought you were really pretty though, so that’s a good sign!” he tried to reassure you.

“I guess it must be true then. Kids are brutally honest,” you smiled.

“She definitely wasn’t lying,” Taehyung smiled back at you.

You had to look away awkwardly to hide your blushed cheeks. There’s no way you could handle a direct smile from this guy. How was it possible for someone to be that handsome without even trying?!

“So what happens after naptime?” you quickly asked to change the subject.

“Basically more playing until their parents come. It honestly just depends on what the kids wanna do. We can play inside, in the backyard, and sometimes we go to the park,” Taehyung answered with an amused smile, “Let’s use this free time to conduct a more formal interview, shall we?”

Taehyung then asked you a series of questions about your summer schedule, if you’re willing to work every day of the week, how you feel about the kids, along with other things. You answered truthfully and kept up a professional demeanor. Taehyung seemed to be satisfied with your answers and leaned back in his chair.

“That all works for me! The people who really need to approve of you are the parents. I’ll introduce you to them later this afternoon. I’m sure they’ll all be fine once I vouch for you,” he nodded.

Soft giggles caught your attention. Taehyung signaled that break time was now over and led the way back to the living room. Kota and Bel were wrestling each other while the others threw pillows at them.

“Did everyone have a good nap?” Taehyung sing songed.

“Yes!” they replied.

“Can we play house now?” Ava asked.

“Yeah! Miss ____ can be the mommy now!” Sam bounced up in excitement, “Our last mommy used to be a boy.”

“Jimin was a great mommy and I’m sure he misses you all dearly. Jimin is my roommate/best friend/ex-cobabysitter,” Taehyung explained.

The game of house was more hands on from your end. The kids demanded you to carry them and read them stories like a real mommy would. It was mainly the girls who wanted to play with you, while the boys took turns wrestling with Tae or riding on his back. You were braiding Lucy’s hair when the doorbell rang.

“Kota! Your mom is here!” Taehyung called from the front.

All the kids trickled out one by one as their parents arrived. Taehyung introduced you to each parent; their reactions were all positive, especially when their kids raved about you being the new Jimin.

“If she’s anything like Jimin, then I have nothing to worry about. I trust your judgement, Taehyung,” one of the sterner looking parents said (Sam’s father to be exact).

“Congrats! You got the job,” Taehyung congratulated you once all of the children were picked up, “We get paid on Fridays. I’ll basically just split what we earn 50/50, cool?”

“That’s fine by me! I’m looking forward to working with you,” you bow graciously.

“Ah! No need to be so formal. We’re partners now! I’m not your boss or anything,” Taehyung gave you a friendly pat on the shoulder, “See you tomorrow!”

Summer was about to get rather eventful. All of the children warmed up to you surprisngly quickly, even timid Lucy (who had arguably grown the most fond of you). As the days went on, you couldn’t help but admire Taehyung’s kindness and patience when it came to the kids. From firm to understanding, he was everything a caregiver should be. He handled spats between kids with ease, often by making them forgive each other then laugh at some silly joke of his.

One afternoon, the kids voted to watch a Disney movie. All seven of you curled up on the couch together with you and Taehyung in the middle. Lucy sat in your lap while Bel sat in Taehyung’s. Halfway through the movie, Taehyung fell asleep. The kids didn’t notice since they were so engrossed in the movie. You however, DID notice. Mostly because he rolled his sleepy head onto your shoulder.

Your heartbeat quickened as you slowly turned to take a peek at the handsome man sleeping beside you. He looked angelic, and you realized that he smelled pleasant too. He had a sweet scent that was uncharacteristic for a young man. You took a deep breath and pretended not to notice him. He didn’t wake up until the doorbell rang near the end of the movie.

He seemed to be confused and perhaps even slightly flustered when he lifted his head from your shoulder, but quickly shrugged it off to go answer the door. The incident (and the drool on your shoulder) was never mentioned.

It had been a month since you started babysitting with Taehyung, and it honestly had been a lot more fun than you expected. The kids are wonderful silly little beings and Taehyung is...well...Taehyung.

You were cleaning up the living room on a late Friday afternoon after all the kids had been picked up. Taehyung was somewhere splitting up the week’s paycheck. Once all the toys were back in their respective bins, it was time to gather your stuff and go.

“Great work this week,” Taehyung commended as he handed you your cut.

“Thanks! Same to you as always. I’ll see you on Monday,” you wave as you open the front door.

“Actually um--” Taehyung cleared his throat.

“Yes?” you whipped around with almost too much eagerness.

“My friend is part of an art gallery showing tomorrow night and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me? I heard there will be drinks and finger foods…” Taehyung trailed off, presumably due to imagining what kind of snacks will be served.

“I’d love to! I’m not an expert on art or anything, but it sounds cool,” you smile.

“No worries, I’m no expert either. I’m just a guy who appreciates neat expressions of creativity,” he nodded humbly, “I can pick you up at your place, if you’d like.”

“Sure, I’ll text you my address. Oh uh, what’s the dress code like? I don’t really attend these things,” you ask shyly.

“I’d say a step down from formal? Like no t-shirts or jeans. Pretend like you’re going on a date to some restaurant that isn’t a michelin star but is still classier than Olive Garden,” Taehyung tried to explain.

“I’ll do my best,” you smile at his peculiar way of describing the appropriate attire.

A smile never left your face as you drove home. A chance to hangout with Taehyung one on one without any kids around? All of his attention will be on you? Yes please. You love the kids and all, but you finally have a real chance to get closer to Taehyung. To be honest, you might have the teensiest little crush on him, but who could blame you?

The next day was spent preparing for your night out with Taehyung. It probably wasn’t a date (90% sure it’s not), but you wanted to look irresistible anyway. You put on a purple dress with flowy sleeves that made you feel like a princess. It was on the dressier side, but being slightly overdressed never hurt anyone.

You usually only had time to slap on mascara and a lip tint in the mornings before babysitting, but now you had abundant time to play around with your makeup. You settled for a soft yet glamorous look with shimmery eyeshadow and eyeliner. Sparkly lip gloss tied the whole look together and made your lips look tempting (or so you hoped). You decided to leave your hair alone since you were having a miraculously good hair day.

“Wow are you sure this isn’t a date?” Hyuna whistled when she walked into your room.

“It’s not! This is just the first time Taehyung will see me actually trying to look good,” you say defensively.

“You’re cute even in ratty t-shirts, but I get what you mean. Have fun tonight!” your roommate gave you a tight hug.

A strong knock on your front door indicated Taehyung’s arrival. Hyuna tagged along as you went to answer the door; she wanted to see the guy you’ve been gushing over for the past month for herself.

Your mouth hung open in shock for a split second when you opened the door. Taehyung also dressed up. He was wearing a bright sunflower shirt paired with a black blazer that perfectly combined fun with sophistication. He wore a red silky bandana looking belt for an added pop of color with his black pants.

“Hey Taehyung!” you greet him happily.

“Good evening, Miss ____. You look spectacular!” he complimented you immediately.

“So do you! It’s funny seeing you not in a t-shirt, though I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing,” you say.

“You’re charming even in your graphic tees, but this is a nice change of pace too,” Taehyung agreed.

“Hi! I’m Hyuna, ____’s roommate,” Hyuna butted in to shake his hand.

“Hi, I’m Taehyung, ____’s babysitting partner,” he introduced himself.

“We should get going,” you say politely before Hyuna could start to get chatty.

Hyuna mouthed an exaggerated “oh my god” coupled with a double thumbs up as you waved goodbye after Taehyung was already out the door. You playfully rolled your eyes but blew her a kiss anyway.

“I didn’t realize you lived so close to me,” Taehyung said as he pulled away from the curb.

“Yeah, it made the job even more appealing,” you nodded.

“I really am glad that you applied,” Taehyung said softly, as if to himself.

“Sorry, what was that?” you couldn’t hear him properly.

“Nothing! I said I’m glad you agreed to accompany me tonight!” Taehyung quickly stated.

“Thanks for inviting me out! I’m actually pretty excited,” you admitted.

The gallery was somewhere in the swanky part of downtown. You gazed out of the window at all of the high end stores Taehyung drove by. Everyone walking around the stores looked like supermodels, which was actually pretty intimidating. What if the people at the gallery looked like that too?

“We’re here!” Taehyung announced, interrupting your thoughts.

There was a decent amount of people wandering around the venue when you both entered. It was basically one big dimly lit room with spotlights on pieces scattered around on the walls plus some sculptures in the middle. Thankfully, the patrons already inside looked like normal people, most of them probably students like you.

“Taehyung!” someone called from the side of the room.

You both made your way towards the voice, only to find a man who was just as handsome as Taehyung greeting you with a bunny like smile. He had long hair that almost covered up his assorted dangly earrings. He definitely had art student vibes mixed with a dash of bad boy. The boys greeted each other with a ferocious hug, indicating that they’re probably good friends.

“Oh! What’s up, I’m Jungkook,” the boy shook your hand once he noticed you.

“She’s my babysitting partner this summer,” Taehyung said proudly.

“She’s replacing Jimin huh?” Jungkook laughed, “Taehyung and Jimin are like my brothers. We were all pretty close in college and are batchmates, even though I’m younger than them,” he stuck his tongue out at Taehyung.

“Yeah yeah okay whatever. Skipping grades in elementary school and bringing in a ton of transfer credits will help you do that I guess,” Taehyung shook his head even though he was still smiling.

“Are these your pictures?” you asked Jungkook, motioning to the mounted pictures behind him.

“Yeah! I took most of these in Madrid, I’ve been working abroad for my dream company,” Jungkook answered you proudly.

“Who’s this?” Taehyung pointed to a picture of a girl laughing by a giant tree.

“Yeah, she’s gorgeous!” you added.

“She’s um...a good friend. She was the perfect model,” Jungook said with a faraway look in his eyes that told you there was more to the story.

“Tell me more about her on our next phone call. Tonight is for celebrating you!” Taehyung picked up on Jungkook’s sudden change of tone.

You enjoyed listening to their old college stories as the boys reminisced about their past together. Jungkook relished telling you all of Taehyung’s embarrassing moments at various parties. Taehyung returned the favor by recalling Jungkook’s past run-ins with women. Despite his natural charm and god like looks, apparently Jungkook gets really nervous around girls.

You and Taehyung were on your own once Jungkook was flagged down by an older patron interested in purchasing some of his work. Taehyung stayed close to your side as you explored the rest of the gallery. Each artist was so incredibly talented as their pictures told stories with just a single frame.

“____ look! They have those fancy charcuterie boards!” Taehyung grabbed your hand and excitedly dragged you over to the snack table. You couldn’t help but smile at his childlike elation.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve been getting tired of being force fed fruit snacks every day,” you laughed as you ate the assorted appetizers.

“I completely understand. Unfortunately, the kids are too sweet when they want to share. I don’t have it in me to turn them down,” Taehyung agreed.

Once the food was eaten, you resumed walking through the gallery. It was fun making up stories to go with each picture. Taehyung seemed to gravitate towards adding a romantic twist to each story, while you opted for a bit of mystery. At the end of the event, Taehyung met up with Jungkook once more to say his goodbyes.

“Thanks again for coming with me, I had fun! I hope you enjoyed yourself,” Taehyung said as he drove you back.

“It was really neat! I liked hanging out with you outside of work,” you nodded.

“Would you say it was a successful date then?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow with curiosity. Your heart skipped a beat as your eyes widened with surprise.

“Was...was this a date?” you asked quietly.

“Did you want it to be?” Taehyung teased.

“I wouldn’t have gotten so dressed up otherwise,” you said defensively, taken aback by his sudden cheekiness.

“I realized I should’ve clarified that after you had already left. My bad,” Taehyung shot you a boxy grin, “But then I figured maybe you would be more relaxed if I didn’t mention it.”

“That’s odd logic, but I guess it worked,” you admitted begrudgingly.

Taehyung walked you back up to your house. He sweetly kissed your cheek and bid you goodnight, leaving you frozen in place.

“S-see you on Monday!” was all you were able to stammer out, to which Taehyung just smiled and waved back.

Hyuna happily freaked out with you once you were back inside. She was watching you from the moment Taehyung pulled back up. She shrieked with excitement once you told her that Taehyung confirmed that it was a date. Hyuna didn’t let up with grilling questions about how your night went. She even asked if the Jungkook guy you met was single, to which you truthfully answered that you didn’t know.

“Besides, he told me himself that he’s scared of girls. You’re scary enough as is,” you teased her.

“Oh shut up. So is Taehyung like, your boyfriend now?” Hyuna asked the million dollar question.

“I don’t think so. I think it was just a date, but that’s a good start!” you declared optimistically.

Babysitting on Monday went on like normal. Taehyung didn’t act any differently, which was both concerning and relieving. You were in the backyard pretending to eat whatever dirt concoction the little kids were serving you.

“This one is for you,” Lucy quietly offered Taehyung a clump of dirt sprinkled with blades of grass, topped with a dandelion.

“Oh, how pretty! What is it?” Taehyung played along.

“It’s a love potion. The next person you hug will fall in love with you,” Lucy smiled.

A smirk crept on Taehyung’s face as he pretended to eat Lucy’s love potion. He made a satisfied “Ahh” sound that made Lucy giggle.

“Tae has to hug me now! He loves me the most!” Sam yelled as he ran over to latch onto Taehyung.

“No, Tae loves me!” Bel argued as he pulled on Taehyung’s shirt.

“That’s not how it works!” Lucy huffed as she yelled at the boys.

You watched with delight as the little kids chased Taehyung around the backyard, demanding that he has to hug them. It was easy for him to juke them out as they constantly ran back and forth. You were content with just watching them until Taehyung began to make a beeline for you.

“Oh no no no,” you cried as you got up to run.

Taehyung (and the kids) chased you around for a little bit. The backyard was on the smaller side, so there wasn’t much space to evade all of them coming for you at once. To make matters worse, Taehyung actually started to try and catch you. His speed was no joke; he was much more agile than you gave him credit for.

With one pounce, Taehyung tackled you to the ground. Somehow he managed to whip himself around while you were falling, so you ended up falling on him. Now wrapped up in his arms, Taehyung smiled up at you with a shit eating grin.

“I guess you have to fall in love with me now,” he smirked.

“You wish,” you laughed as you pulled yourself up.

“Aw now he loves Miss _____,” Sam pouted.

“No, now Miss ____ has to fall in love with Tae,” Ava corrected him.

“That’s dumb,” Kota shook his head.

“Tae! Kota said a bad word!” Bel immediately tattled.

“Kota, remember what I said about bad words. No one wants to play with someone who says mean things,” Taehyung chided him.

“Sorry,” Kota mumbled.

“Let’s play go play inside. Who wants juice?” Taehyung patted Kota’s head.

The kids followed Taehyung inside like little ducklings. You loved that sight, you always thought it was the cutest thing. The rest of the day went by without a hitch.

The topic of favorite movies came up during lunchtime the next day.

“I like Frozen 2,” Ava stated, and Lucy nodded furiously in agreement.

“Detective Pikachu was better. Pikachu is funny,” Sam interjected. The other little boys then began to argue about which pokemon was better/stronger.

“I’m not really a big movie watcher,” Taehyung confessed as he took a bite of a dino chicken nugget.

“Have you at least seen the classics? Harry Potter? Lord of the Rings? Star Wars?” you listed with concern.

“I’ve seen Harry Potter and Star Wars. I think I saw the Lord of the Rings? I can’t really remember. I know I wanted to watch the newer Lord of the Rings movies,” he chuckled at your growing disbelief.

“Newer Lord of the Rings? You mean the Hobbit series?” you were disgruntled.

“Yeah those. I didn’t realize you were a nerd,” he nudged you.

“What of it? All of those are great movies. I have copies of the Hobbit series if you ever wanted to watch them,” you offered.

“Do you wanna watch them with me?” he perked up.

“Sure, I love them! You wanna do a marathon? It’ll take up a full day though,” you warned.

“I’m down. Are you free this Sunday?”

“I believe so.”

“Great! I’m excited to see you geek out over hobbits. Okay kids, naptime!”

You drove up to Taehyung’s place Sunday morning, you weren’t kidding when you said it would take all day. Taehyung said to dress comfortably so you showed up in your sweatpants and oversized college tee. He answered the door wearing gray sweatpants and his favorite CELINE shirt. His dark fluffy hair fell over his forehead and was almost long enough to cover his eyes.

“Good morning! I hope you’re hungry. I made some waffles to eat while we watch the first movie,” he greeted you.

His humble abode smelled heavenly as the scent of dough tinged with a hint of cinnamon wafted through the air. The soft belgian waffles were delicious as they practically melted in your mouth. Taehyung asked a ton of questions with nearly every scene, but you didn’t mind. You were happy to flex your knowledge of Tolkien lore.

Hours later, you found yourself cuddled up with Taehyung as the final credits of the Battle of Five Armies began to roll. Taehyung was still trying to process everything that happened as he asked you clarifying questions about each character.

“Well crap, now I’m sad,” he pouted.

“Yeah, the ending is kind of a downer, but that’s what makes it so good! The Lord of the Rings has a happy ending if that makes you feel better,” you look up at him from his chest.

“You look cute like that,” he observed.

“Like what? Tiny from your angle?” you tilted your head.

“I guess so? Tiny, maybe submissive,” Taehyung’s voice lowered with his suggestion.

“Submissive? Is that how you see me?” you sit back up completely with defiance.

“Not at all. You’re pretty feisty, which is why making you be submissive is even more alluring,” he raised his eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

“Do you want me to be a damsel in distress for you? Not happening,” you smirked.

“Pretty princesses are good for one thing,” Taehyung hopped off the couch.

Before you could say anything, he promptly grabbed you and swung you over his shoulder. You were too shocked by his boldness and physical abilities to retaliate.

“They’re perfect for kidnapping!” he let out a dramatic evil laugh as he carried you off to his bedroom.

Once there, he roughly threw you on the bed. You couldn’t help but look around curiously since this was the first time you’ve ever seen his room. It was surprisingly neat; his bed was made and there were no messy clothing piles in sight.

“Are you an evil dragon then? Capturing princesses and such?” you teased.

“Evil dragon, dashing captor, I can be anything you want me to be. Just please not an orc,” he let out a chuckle before getting back into character, “Just know that you’re trapped here with me. No one is going to rescue you.”

“Oh no! What a terrible situation to be in! What on Earth is this extremely handsome dragon going to do with a poor defenseless princess like me?” you taunted.

“Ok this is all very hot but before we go any further, are you okay with this?” Taehyung asked sincerely.

“I can’t think of anything that I’ve wanted more,” you nodded.

“Perfect. Safe word is red,” he winked at you, “Now strip for me, princess.”

“And if I don’t?” you challenged.

Taehyung grabbed a fistful of hair on the back of your head and forcefully brought you up to his face, “I suggest not making me angry,” he sneered.

You didn’t think you were one for being manhandled, but god damn that was hot. There was already a tingle between your legs and he hadn’t even really touched you yet. You complied with his request, and quickly tore off your shirt and pants. Though you weren’t wearing any fancy lingerie, you were wearing a gray bra and gray panties that could pass off as matching.

“Mmm what a pretty treasure. It would be a shame to let it gounappreciated,” Taehyung stretched out that last word as he gently ran his fingers from your torso up to your neck before firmly grasping it.

Taehyung straddled you as his long fingers were wrapped around your neck. Slowly, he leaned down to kiss you. Though apprehensive at first, he gradually got more bold with it. His tongue dipped into your mouth the instant your lips parted. His other hand crept under your bra to fondle your breast.

“You take your clothes off too,” you said as soon as the kiss broke.

“You don’t get to make any demands, silly princess,” Taehyung shook his head.

You pouted and reached out to tug at his pants anyway. Big mistake. Taehyung slapped your hand away and slammed you back onto the bed.

“You don’t listen, huh? I’ll have to do something about that. Stay still or else you’ll make things worse for yourself,” he ordered.

You reluctantly obeyed, partly because you were curious about what he was going to do, and partly because you were actually intimidated by him. He returned back to the bed a few seconds later, but with a familiar silky red belt in hand.

“Give me your hands. Good girl,” he smiled deviously as he bound them together, “Remember the safe word is red, okay?” he gently reminded you.

He looked down at you with a satisfied grin as he began to take off his sweatpants. He had an obvious bulge in his underwear that outlined his massive dick. You were further entranced by his physique when he took off his shirt. He wasn’t ripped, but he was still fit, as you could plainly see when his chest was finally revealed.

“Open wide, princess,” he demanded.

You opened your mouth, and even flattened your tongue out a little bit for him. He pulled his cock out of his underwear, finally exposing his full length. You doubted you could fit even half of him in your mouth, but at this point it wasn’t up to you.

Taehyung lowered himself down to you, and teasingly tapped the tip of his cock on your tongue. He slowly eased himself into your mouth, forcing you to open your mouth even wider to account for his girth. He made his way back out once you gagged. He grabbed your head to hold you steady as he fucked your mouth once more. He got closer and closer to the back of your throat until he finally hit it. All you could focus on was breathing as tears welled up in your eyes. Taehyung thrusted a couple more times before he pulled out completely.

“Good girl indeed. Well done, princess,” he softly stroked your chin before wiping your tears away. All you could do was smile meekly back at him.

“Don’t worry, it’s time for your reward,” Taehyung smiled down at you as his hand slipped under your panties, “Oh you’re so wet. I can’t wait to taste you.”

He positioned himself between your thighs after he tore off your panties. His thumb fiddled with your clit, causing you to squirm. He placed a strong grip on your thigh to hold you down as he circled your clit faster. Your helpless whimpers were music to Taehyung’s ears.

Without warning, he easily stuck two fingers into you. He didn’t even let you adjust as he rapidly fingered you, his fingers curving to graze your g-spot with every stroke. His tongue swirled around your clit, adding even more toe curling sensations.

Him adding a third finger was the catalyst for the strongest orgasm you’ve ever had in your life. There wasn’t even a build up, everything just hit you at once. Suddenly you were crying out even louder as you violently came. Did it occur to you that you were squirting all over Taehyung and his bed? No. Were you doing exactly that? Absolutely.

“Delicious,” Taehyung said as he licked his lips, “Look at the fucking mess you made.”

“I-i’m sorry,” you managed to stutter, you were still recovering from your orgasm.

“It’s only fair that it’s my turn to make a mess now. Do I need to get a condom, princess?” he cooed.

You weakly shook your head. You needed to feel all of him, right now. Taehyung chuckled at your neediness as he aligned himself with your pussy. He slowly inserted his entire length into you until the base of his cock touched your soaked pussy. You moaned together as he stayed still for a second. You looked up to see Taehyung’s face lit up with pure bliss.

“You’re still so fucking wet,” he growled as he began to mercilessly buck his hips into you.

You moaned with every thrust as Taehyung shook the entire bed. Taehyung placed both of your legs on his shoulders, allowing him to hit you even deeper from this new angle. He leaned over to plant his lips on your neck as he fucked you. What started as a gentle peck took a violent turn as he harshly sucked on your neck. He left dark spots wherever his lips touched, and soon you were covered in dark blooms.

“Do you want me to soil your back or your chest?” he asked in a guttural tone.

“Back?” you answer dubiously.

You were immediately flipped over. You were laying flat on your chest waiting for him to prop up your ass, but he never did. Instead, he simply spread your legs wider and fucked you flat against the bed. Taehyung grabbed your ass and spread your cheeks to get a better view of your sopping pussy. You could feel another orgasm brewing as he fucked even deeper into you, and his cock was continuously dragging against your g-spot.

“Taehyung, I--”

“I know, princess. Let it all out. I want to feel you come on my dick,” he demanded.

A few more strong strokes was all it took for you to go limp under him as your orgasm took over. Seconds after you hit your high, Taehyung pulled out and came all over your back.

Once you were all cleaned up, Taehyung untied you and kissed your forehead.

“How was it, princess?” he asked as he stroked your hair.

“I’ve never been fucked by a beast before, but now I don’t want anything else,” you admitted before kissing his neck.

“Good. I was worried about going overboard. As I told you before, I really like getting into character,” he laughed.

“I’ve never been into roleplay but I’m willing to change for you. Oh shit, it’s late already,” you noticed the time on his alarm clock.

“Just stay the night. I don’t think the kids will care if you’re wearing sweatpants or not. I can lend you a turtleneck to cover up those hickies though,” Taehyung yawned.

“Are you sure?” you questioned.

“Yeah, I don’t mind. Be warned, I’m a cuddler,” he pulled you closer to him.

“I guess I can sleep in a little later then,” you reasoned.

“Perfect. Goodnight, princess,” he quickly kissed your lips.

“You’re sleeping like that?”

“Like what?”

“Butt naked?”

“I can put clothes on if it makes you uncomfortable. I just figured it would make things easier for tomorrow morning,” he said sleepily.

“Tomorrow morning?” that got your attention.

“You’ll see! Be patient, princess. Night night.”

Never in a million years would you have guessed that applying for a babysitting job would result in this, but you weren’t complaining.

#bts smut #kim taehyung smut #bangtanarmynet #btswritingcafe #ksmutclub #btscreatorscorner #bts fanfic #kim taehyung fanfic #v smut #v fanfic #bts fluff #kim taehyung fluff #kim taeyhung #v #taehyung x reader #kim taehyung x reader #purplearmynet

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heliads · 4 years ago

Text

Disappearance of a Dreamer

There’s a young girl who visits Neverland in her dreams, who comes all the time until she mysteriously vanishes one dark night. Pan doesn’t know what to think of it, until a familiar girl shows up to Neverland years later in the company of pirates.

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Trees rustle gently overhead, small slips of emerald waving in the wind. The night is just beginning to cast aside the day, the moon taking its place on the horizon. Neverland is a glorious place during the day, but come nightfall, it seems to double in magic, double in splendor. It is home, home for so many, and you can feel it especially so right now.

Pan stands, watching the crackling bonfire. The Lost Boys are beginning their usual revelry, cloaks flying around them as they run and jump in a chaotic mess of racing hearts and beating heels. It’s a disorderly, confused mess, and it’s everything you could ever want. Yet there’s something pulling Pan away, something that causes him to slip away into the forest and out of view of the other Lost Boys.

He wanders for a moment before the feeling sharpens. He senses the new presence before he hears the sharp crack of a twig underfoot, and he turns around with deliberate ease. He’s lived long enough to outgrow startled reactions, and anyways, fright is something utterly unbecoming of the King of Neverland. Besides, when he turns around, he is not faced with a pirate or an Evil Queen. Instead, standing before him is a young girl, maybe twelve. She doesn’t seem truly present, though- there’s a faint mist hovering around her, like she’s being seen through a dusty window. Not quite here, but not quite there either. She’s seeing him through the in-between of sleep, dreaming up the shores of Neverland like many others before her.

Pan smiles at the girl. “My name is Pan, Peter Pan.” The girl watches him through wide eyes. “I’m Y/N.” Pan nods slowly. “Do you know where you are, Y/N?” The girl turns in a slow circle, eyes raking over the tall stands of trees and the shadows of night. “I’m in a forest, I think.” Pan follows her gaze over the drifting horizon of green. “You’re in Neverland. It’s an island in the middle of the sea where you never have to grow old.” The girl looks back at him. “Never?” Pan shakes his head. “Not if you don’t want to. Do you think you’ve been here before?” The girl frowns. “I don’t think so. I think I’d remember.”

The roar of laughter and talk from the Lost Boys’ campfire draws the girl’s attention, and she turns to Pan as if waiting for approval. He motions towards the fire. “Go ahead. They won’t hurt you.” The girl beams at him, then races away on footsteps too light to be real. This Y/N isn’t the first dreamer to find themselves in the wooded glens of Neverland, nor will she be the last. She’s the first one in a while, though- as time passes, fewer and fewer children hear about Neverland, and their minds never attempt the journey.

Pan’s not surprised that this girl made the trip, though. She has this look in her eyes, a wisdom too aged for a girl of her youth. She looks like she’s lived a thousand lives, sat through a thousand sunsets. She’s not magical, certainly, but she does remind Pan of himself, of the child he’d been long ago. Pan’s technically still a child, could never be anything but, though he does tend to stay at around sixteen or seventeen. Makes things a lot easier when your legs are long enough to run for great distances without stopping.

The girl disappears later, when the dawn is just beginning to encroach upon the island. All dreamers have to wake up eventually, although the girl shows up a few nights later. She ends up becoming a regular fixture on the island, in fact. There’s something about her, some innate sense of curiosity and vindictive challenge that makes you want to start a race or embark on an adventure towards the darkest of caves and sunniest of shores. She could be a Lost Boy herself if she wanted to, if she ever discovered how to find her way to Neverland outside of her dreams.

Pan’s come to accept her as just another facet of the island until one night, when the stars are hung over with clouds and the island is shuttered up in darkness. The girl is later than usual, so he had assumed that she wouldn’t be coming that night until he heard a shout from behind him. When Pan had found her, the girl was standing before him as usual, although his eyes still widened imperceptibly at the sight of her. She looked far more vivid than ever before- if it weren’t for the slight traces of fog clinging to the edges of her clothes, Pan would have thought that she were actually standing before him instead of still in a dream.

What’s more, her eyes are alight with panic. Pan reaches out a hand as if to steady her, and he’s surprised when his fingers find traction with her shoulder. Dreamers shouldn’t feel so solid, but he can feel muscle and bone right under his fingers. “What’s wrong?” The girl just shakes her head. “Something is about to happen. I need your help. I need you to-” And then she’s cut off, and a slight cry escapes from her lips before she disappears entirely. She’s gone in the blink of an eye, as if she’d simply woken up unexpectedly, yet Pan still stares at the place where she’d been for a long time.

He has no way to find her in reality, no idea where she could possibly be, and so Pan can do nothing except wait for her to return. She does not show up again, not that night or even that week. It’s as if she had forgotten the way back to Neverland. By the end of the first year, Pan’s thoughts drift to her once every week or so, concerned that she might have been hurt. By the second year, he only thinks of her once or twice. By the third and fourth years, her face only appears in his head when he hears a name that sounds somewhat like hers. By the fifth year, he did not think of her at all, except once every now and then he would be filled with this feeling that something had gone wrong, that somewhere in the world there was someone in trouble.

It is day once more, those last few golden hours of afternoon before dusk crept in on the island with its sweltering fingers. Pan’s pacing back and forth listlessly. There’s a ship of pirates just arriving in the bay, and although they’ve been flying the white flag of surrender ever since they came in sight of Neverland, he’s still hesitant to trust them. There’s a strange discomfort of having enemies on his island- they almost feel like ants crawling back and forth on his skin. For every minute that the pirates remain on Neverland, Pan wants nothing more than to swat them all away. However, he can’t deny that he’s curious as to why any pirate would want something to do with the Lost Boys, and so they’re allowed to stay. For now, at least. Their chances of hospitality decrease by the hour.

After about fifteen minutes, Pan signals to Felix, and the rest of the Lost Boys disappear into the forest. Pan’s scarred second-in-command stays by his side, and they watch as the pirates begin to lope into the clearing. The captain is the first of the men to see Pan, and he comes to a halt. The rest of the pirates clump up behind him, pulling cutlasses and pistols out of their belts to show that they’re not to be messed with. Pan raises an eyebrow. “I hope that’s not meant to intimidate me, because you’re doing a poor job of it. What are pirates doing on my island?”

The captain shuffles forward, spits onto the dusty ground. “We’ve been sent to investigate. We’ve heard rumors of a power source on the island, and we’re meant to see if it’s worth our time.” Pan eyes the captain coolly. “And why should I let you take another step?” The captain grins toothily and pulls out a metal seal from his pocket. Even from this distance, Pan can see that it’s emblazoned with the sign of the Evil Queen. He laughs. “You’ve been sent by Regina? Fascinating. How long do you think you have until she kills you all for knowing too much?”

The pirates stir restlessly amongst themselves. Evidently they’ve been sharing Pan’s doubts for a while. In this sudden flurry of movement, the ranks of pirates shift and Pan catches sight of a new figure, one that was previously hidden by the captain. They seem younger than the others, maybe about Pan’s age. Then the young pirate turns to face Pan once more, and he stares.

He knows this girl. No, he had known this girl. Surely it couldn’t be her, surely that one girl who kept dreaming her way to his island wouldn’t have grown up into a pirate of all things, and a pirate who stares at him as if he’s a stranger. Yet she’s got that same look in her eye that Pan remembers from all those years ago, and she looks the same, albeit years older. The worst thing about her is that she glances at the island and even at Pan himself as if she’s never seen any of it before.

The captain is speaking to Pan again, and he forces himself to snap out of it. Idly, Pan gestures for the captain to go on his way. Let him try to find Regina’s ‘power source’- there’s no chance he could make it to Skull Rock, and even if he did, he would have no idea what to do with it. The pirates will just end up chasing their tails for hours, and give up after a while. Pan has yet to meet a pirate with enough discipline to stay at something once it fails them, although if he were to bet on an exception, it would probably be the girl now walking away from him alongside the other pirates.

Once the pirates are gone, Pan turns to Felix with an expression bordering on paranoia. “Did you see that girl? You know, the one with the other pirates. Behind the captain.” Felix nods slowly. “She didn’t say much. Kept looking around.” Pan stares at the place in the dusty ground where she’d just stood, where the prints of her boots still mar the soil. “Do you remember that girl who used to visit the island? Y/N or something, came around all the time until she stopped out of the blue?”

Felix’s eyes widen. “You think that’s the same girl.” Pan nods. “It doesn’t make any sense, but they look too similar for it to be a coincidence.” Felix contemplates this. “But she looked at you, us, even the island like she’d never seen it before. Any dreamer, even one that hadn’t been here in a while, would still have some sense of recognition.” Pan tilts his head in acknowledgment. “That’s the problem. It has to be her, but something must have happened to make her forget everything.”

You methodically sharpen the twin knife blades that hang at your belt, shine them until they’re practically mirrors. The guffaws and hearty talk of the pirates swells around you, but you pay it no mind. Even if you wanted to, you find you can’t focus on them. There’s something about this place that unsettles you. If you didn’t know better, you’d almost say it felt familiar, but that couldn’t be possible. You grew up in the Enchanted Forest, and the only times you’d left the many villages behind were to exchange it for the rocking of your father’s ship. He was the captain, after all, and so you were dragged along on any and all voyages. It’s not like it was so bad, though, you’d been able to see many new places. However, none of them ever called to you the way that Neverland does.

Once the sky fades away to the blackness of night, you find yourself slipping away from the pirates’ camp. You couldn't sleep if you tried, so you might as well explore the island. Maybe you’ll find something that explains this strange familiarity burning away in your heart. As you walk, you find your feet intuitively guiding you between the trees and across the island, as if walking down an invisible path. Before long, you find yourself at a cliff looking out over the water’s edge. You’re not sure how you managed to get here, but somehow it must have been your best destination.

You lean against a nearby tree, watching the light of the stars reflect against the waves. It’s peaceful, quiet, feels like home even though it shouldn’t. You hope your father and his men can find the power source soon, because with every second you spend on this island your mind practically tears itself apart trying to find the lost connection between yourself and this eerily familiar ground.

There’s a quiet sound behind you and you whirl around, knife already in hand, to face a boy emerging from the trees. He has light brown hair and striking green eyes, which flicker between you and your weapon. “Put down the blade, I don’t mean you any harm.” Pan says, for of course it is him that has found you. After a moment’s hesitation, you lower your arm, although you refuse to slide the knife back into its sheath. You’ve heard the stories of Peter Pan, and even if he has enough magic to wipe out this entire island you’d rather have a chance to fight before you die.

“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” Pan gestures to the ocean rolling deep from the shores. You turn back to the waves, to the cliff falling away before you. “It is, although I have a feeling you didn’t just come here to discuss the merits of a pretty landscape.” Pan chuckles. “You’d be right about that. I’m here to ask a question instead, one that I was hoping you wouldn’t tell the others. Although I have a feeling that you won’t want to speak a word of this to them.” You raise an eyebrow. “And what question could possibly be so important that I would keep it from my crew?”

Pan’s eyes flash in the light of the moon. “You’ve been here before. Am I wrong? You’ve been here before, and you know it, but you can’t figure out why everything seems so familiar if you can’t remember anything about it.” The knife darts up again. “How did you know that?” Pan idly pushes your blade away from his throat with a single finger. “You seem familiar. I just can’t figure out why you can’t remember being here.” You turn away from him, back towards the cliffs. “Strange things happen around here. I’d be surprised if you think everything that happens on Neverland deserves an explanation.”

Pan walks to stand beside you. “What things happen on Neverland that would be so confusing?” You jerk your chin towards the smaller island off the coast of Neverland’s bay, the one shaped like a skull with some sort of golden light emanating from the empty stone eye sockets. “You’re willing to let my father prance about the island in search of the power source when it’s right there to be seen. You’re hiding something, or else you’d have told him about it directly, but you also feel confident that it won’t be discovered, or you would never have allowed our ship to approach the island. What’s on that rock?”

Pan’s eyebrows raise. “You’re perceptive for a pirate. I’m afraid I can’t tell you what’s there, not yet. Not until I figure out what you’re hiding first.” Your eyes drift over the golden light spilling out from the skull. “An hourglass.” You didn’t realize you’d spoken until Pan turns to stare at you. That’s the first signal that something is wrong- every moment before this, Pan has been sure to hide his true emotions. Now, his face is warring between satisfaction and shock, like he’s stunned that you would know about the hourglass, but he’s not entirely upset that you do.

“How do you know about that?” Pan asks, and you shrug. “I have no idea. The thought just came to me. I think I knew it before, but I don’t know how.” Pan’s eyeing you with an intrigued expression, as if trying to unpiece your memory, layer by layer. “Have you ever met Regina in person? During the deal that sent you here, or before that?” You shake your head. “What, you think she cast a spell on me or something? No, that was all my father, and even if it wasn’t, I’m not important enough to warrant a mind wipe.” You chuckle to yourself. “We’re just the middlemen she can send out for information. Maybe Regina’s the Evil Queen, but her real power is delegating.”

You look up and realize that Pan’s eyes are still on you. You feel a slight heat rise in your cheeks, and do your best to push it away, but it lingers despite your best efforts. Your voice turns quiet. “Have I been here before? I’ve never felt so tied to a place before. It feels like-” Pan cuts you off. “It feels like home.” You nod. “Exactly.” A cold wind blows across you, and you pull your arms close to your chest, trying to stay warm. Your movement must have shifted the neckline of your shirt slightly, because Pan suddenly steps away from you to frown at your back. “What’s this?”

You realize what he’s looking at and duck away hurriedly, but it’s no use. He’s already seen it, and he’s already reached out a hand to hold your shoulder in place. He steps behind you, and you feel his finger lightly tracing the beginning of a scar on your back. It’s long, far longer than he thinks, and curls around your throat before disappearing down the back of your shirt. Pan’s fingers are cold against your skin, and you shiver slightly. His hands pause. “Where did you get this scar?” You try to turn away from him, but he wraps his arms around your waist, holding you still. Your eyes meet his, and you glance to the side. “It’s nothing. Just some cut that wouldn’t heal.”

Pan shakes his head. “That would have been a deep cut. It could have killed you.” You raise an eyebrow. “But I’m still here, aren’t I? Anyways, I wasn’t sure that the wellbeing of a pirate mattered so much to a Lost Boy.” Pan’s jaw clenches slightly. “You’re still on my island, that means that I should know whether or not you could be hurt again.” Your calm facade flickers slightly, and you can tell that Pan notices, so you feel immensely grateful at a sudden noise echoing from the trees.

You instinctively turn towards the sound of loud snores coming from the pirate camp. “I’d better go.” You take advantage of the broken moment to slip out of Pan’s arms still encircling you, and start to walk away, but then turn back to Pan and speak one last time as a goodbye. “And Pan? I heard your flute earlier. It was good.” You’ve disappeared into the forest before Pan has time to react, although you hear him trying to catch up to you as you vanish into the night.

Peter doesn’t know what to do. It’s Y/N, no doubt of that. And he’s certain now that she belongs to the island, that she keeps remembering parts of her life here. Why else would she know about Skull Rock? Why else would she be able to hear the flute? He had tried to find her again after she had mentioned the flute, but she had already managed to lose him among the trees before he could make her stay. He supposes that’s another piece of evidence that she’s still a Lost Girl at heart- even after years of being away, she traverses the island like she never left.

There’s another thing that’s different about her, other than the lost memory or even the fact that she’s suddenly just as old as he is. There’s the scar, carefully hidden away. She’d tried to hide it when he first caught sight of it, tried to explain it away as nothing, but he’d seen it. From his brief glimpse, Peter had seen a jagged cut, like a blade, that seemed to run deep through the skin. There’s a sudden rush of anger that burns through him at the thought of someone hurting her, of someone quite literally stabbing her in the back. He’s not sure why this makes him so angry- the damage is already done, there’s nothing he can do to fix it, but he still doesn’t want to see Y/N hurt.

The pirates stay for another couple of days. Y/N still walks away from the pirate camp at night, sometimes to that same cliff or sometimes to wander amongst the trees. Peter’s not sure if she’s doing it intentionally, because sometimes she looks up, startled, as if she hadn’t expected to find herself moving so surely through the island. Peter visits her from time to time, and they talk quietly. He makes sure to avoid the topic of the scar, and Y/N does not bring it up.

On the fourth or fifth day, the pirate captain and his men storm into the same clearing where they’d first met. Peter looks up, unconcerned, though the pirate captain seems enraged. Y/N lingers in the crowd, a wary expression on her face. The captain strides up to Peter. “Where is the power source?” Peter spreads his hands. “If you can’t find it, that means it must not exist.” The captain glares. “I know what you’re hiding, Pan. There’s nothing you can do.”

Peter sighs. “If it makes any difference to you, there was no way that you would ever find it in the first place. I mean, what do we always say? Peter Pan never fails. You never had a chance.” The captain scowls, and seems about to draw his sword to run the Lost Boy through when Y/N steps from the group of pirates, a troubled look on her face. Peter’s eyes dart to her, but she seems distracted. “What did you say?” The captain turns now, sees his daughter standing alone. “Go back with the others, Y/N. This doesn’t concern you.”

Y/N brushes away his comment. “I’m not talking to you. What did you say earlier?” Peter straightens. “Peter Pan never fails?” Y/N nods. “I’ve heard that before. I’ve heard you say it.” For some reason, the pirate captain seems uneasy, almost nervous. “No, you haven’t. You’ve never been to Neverland before.” Y/N shakes her head. “That’s not true. I’ve seen this island before, and I’ve said that very phrase myself.” The captain turns away from Peter, walks up to Y/N. He begins to pull her back to the others. “Stay quiet. You know the rules.” But Y/N shakes off his hand.

“You know I’ve been here, and you’re trying to make me forget.” She stares at him suddenly. “You were the one to wipe my memory. You’re the reason I can’t remember Neverland.” The captain’s gaze turns stormy. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Y/N laughs suddenly, the sound clear and bright. “But I do. I kept visiting Neverland, and you had a problem with it, even though it was only in my dreams. You tried to stop me from coming, and when all else failed, you-”

Peter realizes what she’s saying now, and his pulse starts to thunder in his veins. Y/N continues speaking. “You stabbed me. You almost killed me that night, but it didn’t matter. I was injured beyond repair so you went to Regina, who healed me and took my memories. You wanted her employment, and you wanted me to be a quiet little seaman who would stop fighting you all the time. You were willing to injure me to the point where I almost died, and it never troubled you once.”

She rips her arm away from her father and walks to stand next to Peter. Suddenly, he feels more powerful than he’s ever felt before. Something about the way she’s chosen him over everything makes Peter feel incredible. The captain looks at her with scorn. “If that’s what you want, be my guest. Stay on this island, give up your future. We’ll have everything soon enough, and you’ll be dead.” Y/N stiffens beside him, and Peter cuts a glare to the captain. “No, I think you’ll be the dead one.”

Peter signals slightly with his hands and the Lost Boys come pouring out of the woods to surround the pirates, forcing them back to the ship. In the midst of the commotion, Y/N turns to Peter, a slight smile on her face. “Thank you. For getting rid of him. For helping me remember.” Peter lets a quiet wave of happiness roll over him. “If it means you get to stay with me, I’d rid the seas of a thousand of them.” Y/N reaches over, wrapping her hand around his. Peter watches as the pirate ship hurriedly departs the bay, then looks back to Y/N once more. She has finally returned to him, and at last they don’t have to worry about being separated.

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