#though i do have a few plans before that stage so we'll see if they help

[gin-juice-tonic]

i took a shower and now that my hair has been de-greased i have hatched several plans for how to feel less terrible at my job

go team shower, we love shower

[dreamescapeswriting]

Royality ~ SCB

CONTINUATION OF THIS PIECE

WORD COUNT: 3.2K

GENRE: Mafia AU, SMUT MINORS DNI, mafia changbin being a huge simp for yn, pulling off a job together, first time, cute, fluffy, blow job, unprotetced sex,

PAIRING: Changbin x Fem!Reader

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - February 2024

⤜MASTERLIST

TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of blood, killing, stealing, heists

"I'll come and get you every night from now on. I don't want anything to happen to you," When Changbin had first said it to you, you thought he meant that he was going to keep sending a driver out to you but you couldn't have been more wrong. For the last 12 months, whenever you were working, Changbin was waiting outside of your apartment with a warm drink ready to take you to work.

The arrangement had been simple and kind of him and you got to know him over the nights you'd spend together. You loved getting to spend this time with him and you'd grown so close he was beginning to include you on his plans and jobs.

Over the last few months, you'd sung in different clubs he was frequenting while his men and other ladies robbed and stole from people in the crowds. Tonight was a little different though which you could tell was making Changbin a little more nervous than usual. It was his last big heist for a long time, after tonight he was strictly going to be on his own business deals instead of getting involved with the dirty work but it was still strange to see him so anxious about something.

It wasn't like him to be nervous about any of his jobs but since bringing you into them he'd grown protective over you and worried that you'd get hurt because of him. If something ever happened to you he was sure he wouldn't be able to survive it and that scared him more than anything else in the world.

No one should have that much power over someone and yet when it came to you, Changbin would lay his life on the line or throw himself in front of a bus if you ever asked him to. 

"Binnie, you okay?" Your voice came out soft making him remember what he was doing and who he was in the car with. He slowly turned to glance at you, nodding before his eyes went straight back to the road. But you knew something was bothering him since his knuckles were starting to turn white with how hard he was gripping the steering wheel.

"Are you sure you're up for this tonight, princess?" He asked, using the affectionate nickname he'd given to you long ago and it made your whole body tingle. A flicker of concern crossed Changbin's voice and you smiled a little.

"Of course, Binnie." It was your reply every single time he asked you to join him on a job and it would continue to be your answer.

"I'm always ready to light up the stage," You smirked at him. It was your job to sing for the crowds and distract them enough so they wouldn't realise that they were being robbed. Changbin's job was to be overly friendly with the owners, and keep himself busy with them so they'd have no idea he was in connection with them and when the news would break out about the robbery. Changbin would be there to offer his protection - with significant pay that was.

"That's my girl," Changbin beamed in admiration of you. Tonight was going to be the last job and the biggest one either of you was going to pull off. Inside the club there were going to be billionaires, it was a special night for them with the club owner working closely with Changbin to pull something huge off.

You hadn't known all of the details, just that you'd be singing for the rich and famous who would be wowed by you and many of the female dancers that would be with them on the floor. 

"Tonight is the last one, after this, we'll be royalty," Changbin smirked and you rolled your eyes at him. Changbin was already Royalty, everyone knew who he was and he was rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

"You mean you'll be king," You teased him softly, Changbin reached his hand across and gently squeezed your thigh.

"You'll be on the throne right beside me if you wanted, princess, you know that." He winked as he rounded the corner to the club.

The neon sign flickered outside and he sighed a little, it was now or never for him and he slowly got out of the car, walking to your side and helping you out.

"Remember, Princess, stick close to me. We don't know who might be lurking in the shadows." You resisted the urge to tell him that he'd found you in the shadows as a man began making his way toward you. As he got closer you recognised him from a charity gala not long back, he was one of Changbin's closest friends.

"I've got your back, Binnie. Just like you've got mine." You promised, quickly kissing his cheek making his cheeks flame a little, he stared at you before someone gripped his shoulder.

"Changbin! Yn! So wonderful you could join us tonight." Lorenzo greeted, taking your hand in his and kissing the top of it gently causing Changbin's blood to boil.

He hated that people would touch you whenever they wanted to, if it was down to him it would only be his hands allowed to grace your body.

"I didn't think you'd be able to make it tonight," Lorenzo said, turning his attention to Changbin who gave him a simple and smug smile.

"And miss my girl sing? Never." You smiled, your body heating up as he called you his girl.

Your relationship with Changbin had been strictly professional when everything had started but as you grew closer the lines began to blur and you'd flirt back and forth with one another.

You didn't know what was a joke and when he was being serious with you and to be honest, you didn't care. The attention you got from him was something unlike you'd ever felt before and you never wanted that high to end.

"The stage is ready for her, but she won't be able to go on wearing that." Lorenzo dragged his eyes slowly up and down your body as you frowned. You were wearing a red floor-length gown, backless and sexy something you'd wear for almost every single one of your performances.

"It's not sexy enough." Lorzeno shrugged as you all walked through the back door of the club toward a dressing room door.

"And what do you suggest she wear?" Changbin grumbled folding his arms over his chest, the door to the dressing room opened and Lorenzo smirked,

"Something to match the dancers." He gestured to the girls that were all wearing black mini skirts or shorts, some even in underwear that you could have sworn were riding up their asses. But Changbin was seething, there was no way he was going to let you display your body for some sick fucks who were going to oogle all night long at you.

"Over my dead body."

"People will find it suspicious," Lorenzo grumbled at him,

"Like hell, she won't be wearing-" You knew the two men were only going to continue bickering so you sighed and shook your head.

"Just hand me something in my size, and I'll make it work." Lorenzo headed into the changing room to find you something and Changbin shook his head.

"You shouldn't have to." He pouted a little, he hated the thought of you having to flaunt your body like this,

"It's the last night, right? It'll be the last time and then it's back to dresses and only singing at your club." You reassured him but Changbin was shaking his head at you. 

After tonight he wanted you to be by his side, the queen next to him on the throne it was all he'd been wanting for months but he had no idea how to tell you,

"You don't have to sing at my place." He said simply making you giggle a little. If you didn't sing at his place you'd be down on money and you needed that to live,

"I'd be out of a job, Binnie. I need my job."

"Not if you came to stay with me." The air turned thick as you stared at him, wondering if you'd heard him correctly or if your mind was playing games on you.

"What?" You waited for him to tell you he was joking, or that he was just thinking out loud but he stared at you with a serious and unreadable expression.

"If you stay with me, be by my side in all of this..." You stayed silent, neither of you speaking as you tried to figure out what he meant. You needed him to come out and say it to you instead of playing games,

"Binnie...Are you asking what I think you're asking?" He gently ran his hand over your cheek and smirked at you

"We'll be royalty, King and Queen. No one would ever fuck with us again," He spoke so surely of himself you weren't going to argue back with him.

"I'd-" You were cut off by Lorenzo holding up a hanger with clothes on for you.

"People are arriving. Out in the bar Changbin, we need to make this good." Changbin didn't have time to protest as he was shoved out of the side door and you were left alone to smirk to yourself.

You'd rule by his side, that was what he was asking you and you couldn't stop the smile that was beginning to grow on your face.

If Changbin was pissed at Lorenzo before for taking him away from you he was more pissed at what he'd seen the man dress you up in right now. 

You were donned in a black leather mini skirt with a black bralette covering your breasts - barely anyway. They were a sheer material with roses covering your nipples, the sight of which had made Changbin hard the second you'd stepped onto the stage and he was sure his pants were going to explode any second now. 

"One final song for the night," You spoke into the mic, smirking in Changbin's direction as the band began to play an upbeat song for you. The girls out on the floor started to dance for the men who had their eyes on the women and you all night long. 

It had been a long night of Changbin trying not to kill anyone for complimenting your outfit. Every single person it seemed had something to say whenever you'd move on the stage and it grated on him more than he thought it would have and Lorenzo was loving every minute of it. Seeing his friend so riled up it was worth every single grumble he heard back from him.

"She's very good, I wonder if she charges by the hour." Someone chuckled from in front of Changbin making him squeeze his glass so hard it shattered all over his hand. But he hadn't noticed you coming over to him, gently sitting on his lap. A smirk grew on your lips when you felt how hard he was beneath you, your confidence growing more as you sang directly to him.

"I'd take over the country, everyone would bow to me." Your voice was angelic as you sang along to the band, running your hands gently over Changbin's tie and twisting it around your fist.

"Sit up in my palace and baby you'd be my King. We'd run this ship together, just you wait and see...We'll be royalty." You sang the final line before biting his ear softly, giving Changbint confirmation to his earlier question he'd been dying to know all night now.

"Girl it's ride or die." He smirked, running his hands down your hips as he dragged you closer to him, groaning as you ground your hips against him forgetting for a minute that you were in a crowded bar until someone cleared their throat behind you.

"When you're done with her can I use her, I don't mind sloppy seconds." You barely had time to react before the man was on the floor, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. You didn't even flinch or scream, it was something you'd grown used to after spending so much time with Changbin.

"He was disrespecting you." He said plainly making you giggle as he stood up, taking your hand in his. People stared over at you in horror but your hands were caressing Changbins chest softly

"Does anyone else here have anything that they need to say about my girl?" He turned his attention to the group who all turned to look at their laps and Changbin smirked.

"I'll come and help you get dressed." He suggested as you slowly made your way through the crowd and back toward the stage door.

"Do you think I need help?" You asked in a teasing tone only for Changbin to grab your ass softly and squeeze.

"Maybe." He winks dragging you toward the backstage door.

"Out." He growled at the people who were back there who quickly scampered out of the room leaving you both alone.

"So you'll be King and I'm queen?" You questioned, running your hands over your bralette and smirking as Changbin's eyes never left you.

"Whatever you want princess, it's yours." He promised as he slowly stalked toward you, but you shoved him down onto the sofa that was inside the changing rooms and smirked at him.

"I want you, I always wanted you." You breathed out, slowly sinking to your knees in front of him. You palmed his coc through his pants, feeling him strain against the material as he let out a disgruntled groan from how slow you were going.

"Princess. I need you, you don't have to do this," He whined as you slowly began to pull him free from his pants until he was naked in front of you, your mouth watering at the sight of him. You'd wondered how big he was before and nothing you'd been imagining had been like this. You wrapped your palm around his cock and began to pump him slowly, rolling your wrist as you circled the tip at a slow and steady pace,

"F-Fuck, princess." He groaned out, rolling his hips up to get you to move a little face as he greedily searched for more from you.

"Patience, Binnie." You giggled before running your tongue along the tip of his cock before you moved to wrap your mouth around him. Your tongue swirled along the underside of his length, tracing the veins as you slowly lowered your head. Your eyes shut as you bobbed your head, trying to take as much of him as you could at a steady pace.

"Shit princess, you're so good at that," He moans out loudly, your hand moved to cup his balls squeezing them teasingly between your fingers up he grunts loudly.

"Shitting hell," His hands gripped the sofa cushions as he tried to list baseball players in his head preventing him from finishing too soon.

"S-Stop, I'm too close," He moans out, you slowly pull away from him and giggle a little.

"You don't want to cum?"

"Not in your mouth." He growled before dragging you onto his lap, kissing you hungrily while wrapping his arms around your waist and dragging you closer to him.

"You're going to be the death of me." He moans out against your lips, your hips grinding against him as he practically rips the leather skirt off you.

"I'm on the shot, please Binnie." You didn't care how desperate you sounded as you watched Changbin line himself up with you before pushing inside of you, filling you to the hilt.

"F-Fuck, Binnie you're so big." You cry out, your eyes screwed shut as you clutched onto him trying to adjust to him. It was only a few seconds before he gripped your hips and slammed into you again and again, his cock driving into you and hitting that one spot that made your toes curl.

"Just like that!" You cried out, your hands dragging down his bag as you searched for anything to cling onto. You held onto him as your head rolled back in ecstasy, the pressure inside of you building as it hit near breaking point.

"C-Changbin!" You cried out, grinding your clit against him on every stroke of his cock,

"Good girl," Changbin groans, biting down on your nipple as your skin is covered in goosebumps.

"Look at the mess you're making, princess," He grunts as he looks down between you, his thrusting getting rougher each time.

"Maybe I should make you lick it clean while I fuck you," He moans out, your hips circling as you cried out his name. Your orgasm slams into you making your back arch from the sofa. 

Within a couple of seconds, you were on the floor though, on your knees in front of the sofa with Changbin behind you, pushing into you as you cry out his name again clutching onto the sofa in front of you.

"Good girl," He groaned, running hands down your back as he gripped your hips tightly and began to pound into you. Your mind felt as though it was blank as he continued to fuck into you, completely knocking the air out of your lungs.

"Do you want everyone to hear how much you love being fucked?" He moans out reaching in front of you and pinching your clit sending you over the deep end again as you screamed his name out, cumming around him as you heard him grunt a little until his hips came to a slow stop.

"Fuck, you're so perfect," He moans out, kissing your shoulders softly as you both lay there sweaty and panting together enjoying being close.

"That sounds awful, I'm so glad you're okay." You said to Jisung's girlfriend, Who had been telling you all about how she'd been caught up in a bank job a few months back with a gun pressed against her head.

"We will date dangerous men," Hyunjin’s girl said said making you giggle, and turn your attention to the quietest one with you. It was Seungmin’s date and she’d been left with you while the guys had left to go and talk business leaving you all to gossip about them behind their backs. Seungmin’s girl had only been out with him once, meaning this was their first date and you worried it was scaring her but it seemed to fuel her more as she beamed with excitment.

"My ears are burning," Changbin chuckled as he snaked his arm around your waist and pulled you close to him, you quickly kissed his lips softly.

"All good things," You promised as he smirked down at you,

"I hope so, I hate to think of my baby girl bad-mouthing me," Chan said as he grabbed his wife from behind and kissed up and down her neck making everyone chuckle in the small circle that was forming.

"I hate you," Someone grumbled as Felix stood behind her, you'd not been introduced yet but she'd been fairly quiet since getting there.

"I hate you more, my little firecracker" Felix smirked down at her before she swatted his hands away from her.

"Muse, little muse is making a fuss, we have to go," Hyunjin said before he and his wife made an exit and you dragged Changbin onto the dance floor.

"I'm sorry about them all," He mumbled before you loved it, spending time at events with them was fun.

"I like it, it's like a mini family." You giggled, swaying with your fiancé on the dance floor.

@chiisaiblog @sw33tnight @kaitieskidmore97 @laylasbunbunny @stayconnecteed @saymyspringrain @toplinehyunjin @katnisspeetaprim @acciocriativity @just-aelia @choisoorin @straykids5star @midnightfrog625 @beccaskz @scarletemeterio @halesandy @junhannies @gothic4under4lord @lixie-phoria @soulphoenix1618 @aerastus @jin-from-the-block @lensfilm @elizaschuyler18 @piratequeen-impact @kpopsstuffs @chaeyoungs @delulu18 @xyahrinx @katsukis1wife @anthropologymajorkpopmultistan @blairscott @4-chan-inpadella @niktwazny303 @moonlight-the-writer @armystay89 @hadassahchan @yxngbxkkie @myyouthdonut @extrhotjne @ca11me3mily @elissasimp

[jazeswhbhaven]

Wrath Fueled By Victory | Satan Victory Card React | Spoilers

ITS BEEN A LONG TIME COMIN' I'm very sorry for the wait ya'll I was suppose to post this literally like before January was over and it's now nearly mid-February 💀

Ya'll know the drill, since this is a NP card, heavily summarized, a few screenshots, the usual.

Though I will tell you...this card was a MAJOR turn around from his Torture card in terms of pacing, writing, his personality shining through and through. And that date story???

Satan wants me to marry him I guess.

Butttt let's get this show on the road~

Summary

So it seems Satan is upset today because the Explosive Sphere event (wth lmaooo) has had so many victories by Gehenna that they are removing it. Like, no one else gets a chance to win because it's biased toward long-range snipers. (okay yah I guess I get that)

And surprise, surprise we get a cameo from the big granddaddy himself, Solomon! It appears that this card starts with a blast from the past, and Solomon's influence is seen in real time. Like he literally just whispers to Satan and he calms down just like that. Levi is even like >:( sit next to me and being semi-clingy and I'm just here like??? Damn that personality didn't transfer over to MC at all sorry 😭

The narration even pointed out that it wasn't that Solomon used overt logic or strength, he was simply just present, had a nice voice, and was just himself. Literally he's just that guy.

It's official, the Calvary Battles replaced the Exploding Sphere event, we're now in the future and things are underway and Satan is hyping up his men to win. Violence is allowed, so it sounds like the devils from each country are just gonna beat each other's asses until someone passes out essentially.

And the story reflects back to Luci's victory card, which honestly that shit was wild as it is. But it's nice to know that these themed cards are connected and therefore...canon lol (at least for whatever's happening, I imagine this is MC's everyday life and how it would be realistically during their time in Hell aside from the things happening in the main story)

It begins, each country planning out their battle strategies! As we see what Gehenna is up to, basically using 6 devils together in an "iron maiden" like formation with bombs attached to themselves (wild...) we have Hades (who sent Foras to spy on the Gehenna devils...) and they are using the 9 Apostles that will come out from 9 coffins, Levi will be wearing rings (sounds similar to the infinity gauntlet lmao who is he thanos?) to show his bond with them so they can work with Hades.

And not only that ya'll, a fly was spying on Hades...and we go over to Abyssos and they plan on hiring Abaddon devils from the Red Light District as mercenaries! (Nabe's idea btw, Stolas apparently just wanted to shoot everyone too the little angry birb) And then, while folks in Abyssos were placing their votes for a bet...there's this one devil that's confident that Abyssos will lose? Turns out....he's a spy for Tartaros 😭 (this is so wild ya'll)

I want to add that Tartaros had a transforming fortrace and they didn't even have plans for a stage 3 and Mammon was like "Ah pay the devil who suggested stage 3 and we'll get right to it" MAMMON PL SSSSSSSS what do you mean you didn't have more than two stages helpppppp.

And now, we're also looking into Paradise Lost, Gamigin wants to participate so badly to show that healer's aren't weak, even offering to turn into a complete dragon or to lend Lucifer his powers? (I bet he can do that tbh) and this entire display of the other nobles treating Gamigin softly about it, has Luci convinced to join in the battles (seems like he was going to not participate just out of choice, since I mean he won the horse races and got his prize already)

Then we get a visitor??? ZAGAN THE BABES <3 He shows up to Paradise Lost to ask the nobles to not participate this time around, only because he's worried that some devil's may actually die this time because MC is the prize. He doesn't want Satan most of all to get hurt, and it really shows us more of Zagan's personality. He went there of his own accord, is worried about his King and others, and is asking for standby help to prevent a possibly tragedy. Love him.

I'll be very brief about the battle, Satan won lmao. And it wasn't like the other's didn't try it's just...even with all the spying and cheating, Satan still came out on top and he did it so flawlessly too.

And the way he grabbed MC as his prize and whisked them away? I love it when it does that. So cocky, so....him. Phewww

So I'mma just say rn, I needed one of Beleth's cigarette's after reading the smut with Satan. Like ya'll we got backshots, for whatever reason MC was describing being fucked like a bitch in heat, but whatever I might as well be cause I'm a sucker for backshots and that's something Satan should like too because it gives him good range to smack that ass.

Also, so commanding, being mad about MC being so cute, saying that he's in charge so there's no reason MC should be ordering him around. MC gave him head, he was throatfucking, and because he had consumed devil's blood beforehand it seems that made him harder, bigger (more swollen), and just more unhinged and hornier than usual.

Bonus: they came at the same time, after ya know he made them cum like 9 times before that

And one thing Satan is always gonna do? Put MC to sleep. Which happened, he was being cute at the end, and MC just passes out. All of this in an alleyway mind you...Satan freaky asf fucking outside with the possibility of getting caught.

Screenshots!!

Okay Levi didn't let me down, he always got something to say...but this time??? All he's doing is affirming my ship delusions again

And damn Grandpa Solo....okay

He really said "make sure you get that ready for me" meaning....your hole MC...he's got a lot of time to make up since the horse racing event

AYO??????

Masked men are my kink so, Amy and I bout to fuck na s t y yyyyyyyy (though this seems dangerous and he can't see out of the damn thing lmao)

lemme suck them titties

Mammon out here got a damn transformer and bringing it to the fight I'm done lmaooooooo

Oh??? But they say he can't turn back into his devil self if he transforms....but me being me....

i'm down for full dragon Gamigin let's go

this sums up how I felt about this particular thing

Someone get this man some oranges to help him calm down lmaooo

Aight PB stop fueling me with arsenal...good arsenal at that because word on the street is....i might have written a little something something during my away time....

He is so boyfriend, I'm crying like??? This face???

"It's starting to hurt..." and he was referring to his dick....my gawd let me grind on it and make it hurt morrrrreeeeeeeeeeee

IDK IM FEELING SO MUCH EMOTION RN

*also to note this position he's sitting in for this card was my favorite and he kept his shoes on idk I was feeling things*

Date Story and Chat Summary!

I think it's funny that Satan pretty much just says outloud that he had good sex with MC and everyone is like :O and MC is like 🙃🙃🙃💀😭 and I'm over here like??? Okay, now I do understand not wanting your business out there, but???? Lol

Paimon thing: He likes shy ppl and certified hoes who open their legs too, so basically ya'll you're his type no matter what I guess💀

So the date ends up being that he takes MC to his private motorcyle repair shop! He's being so domestic and soft here you almost forget he gets angry and prefers to fuck roughly lmao

But also, a big thing we learn is Satan's love language of physical touch. He doesn't say things with words, it's all actions, so you could even say that Acts of Service, is also another love language for him! He really is very affectionate, and I love that so much about him.

But the main point being that he treated this date like how any regular degular human boyfriend would, and I think...that's really what sets him apart from the other devils! He has that sense of "normal humanity" to him when he feels like it and it brings you back to a sense of comfort. Now, I have yet to observe this behavior from the other devils, as I feel it's touch and go from what we get per story, BUT yes...

Btw it seems that Satan really likes bringing up how good the sex is, because he was doing that in the chats and even had a point in time where he was like "yeah it's big again, I'm going to you now." Like my guy literally was like

my dick hard so, i'mma bout to come fuck you <3

While also texting on his bike at that...like? lmao

Fun fact: During the hell events, the seraphim and the angels used to come down to try and take advantage of that but they pretty much got beaten up and when Luci started participating they pretty much stopped showing up altogether

Also, it seems Levi really was upset about losing twice 💀 but strangely enough, Satan doesn't think he's the petty type (I beg to differ, maybe not petty towards you Satan). And he thinks he's a real man even though others call him feminine. This is interesting to bring up though because I'm like...huh yeah Levi's a pretty boy, that's his thing, though I don't think it's a hinderance to anything. that attitude sure fucking is though.

And there we have it folks!!! That's pretty much everything in the card I can sum up for. It's quite obvious my score on this card is....

10/10 let's go

I really did enjoy this card way more than Satan's Torture one. Again, it's mostly because it had the same writing format at Levi's Torture card. A bunch of build up, some lore thrown in, some comedy, and then it leads up to the smut and it's pretty much it from there. Not solely focused on the smut only, it was pretty long, and we get to see the nobles and kings interact once again. Now, sadly since this was a true NP card, that means if you didn't get him this time around, you'll have to wait for them to bring it back in the future. Which I would recommend getting this card if you're a Satan fan! The date story was super cute too.

Now...it's on to Mammon's Victory card which from a quick glance, it was much shorter? Man they never do that devil justice when it comes to creating card content from him majority of the time, BUT I'll see ya there <3

[flurry-of-stars]

𝐹𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹

𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔: Idol! Nikolai x Idol! Reader

𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒

Idol AU, pre-established relationship, secret relationship

⚠️ 18+, mature content ⚠️ Jealousy, smut with plot, public groping, cunnilingus, fingering, grinding, unprotected sex, praise, pet names, dom/sub undertones.

𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎: A chuckle rumbles in his throat as his fingertips trail further up your arm, towards your delicate shoulder, His hand massages it tentatively as he teasingly whispers, “So feisty~ But you know I’ve always loved that about you.” “I knew you’d get jealous~” 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉: 7.4k (𝒜/𝒩: I forgot I had this draft from April so I decided to finish it up. I had more planned for this AU but we'll see (//▽//) Fish in a Birdcage gave me a reason to write something spicy--)

𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖌𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖎𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉 ♡

“Okay girls! Take a five minute break and then we’ll be moving on to the next routine!” The choreographer claps his hands twice before turning away, walking away from the stage.

Your eyes trail him as he disappears past the crew preparing everything for tomorrow night and towards your manager. You sit down, wiping rolling sweat off your forehead as your fellow Everglow Angelics idols also sit down. You hear one whine, “My feet are killing me. We’ve been going at this since five in the morning!” You identify the voice as Makayla’s without even looking over at her. She was the youngest of the group. “I didn’t even eat anything before I left my apartment,” another whines as she lays on the stage. “Do you think we can get away with getting delivery?” “Unless you want to piss off Simon again, I suggest you don’t Cecilia.” A fellow idol warns as she walks around, passing everyone water bottles. You crack the cap on yours, the cool drink refreshing you as the conversation goes on, “We only have a few more routines left, then we can head out for the day.” “You forgot Nadia, they also want to do a full dress rehearsal,” Makayla says without looking over. “And we have to sit through the boy's routine too.” Cecilia scoffs as she fights with the cap on her bottle, “Like seriously? We won’t even be here after they usher us off stage.” “I thought it was just to decide who’s being partnered with who?” You inquire. Cecilia sighs and shrugs. “Apparently not,” she grumbles. She turns her attention to Nadia again, whining again, “What if we get delivery from that seafood place? The one that just opened up on the other side of town?”

“Lydia’s allergic to shellfish,” Nadia replies calmly, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. Lydia silently nods as she rubs her shoulder. She always was the quietest of the group. She flashes Cecilia a teasing look, “And besides, we all know you’d never order seafood.” “What! Yes I would--!” As the conversation goes on, your gaze drifts towards Simon, your manager, dressed in an expensive grey suit, and the choreographer. You see another man walking up to them.

You recognise him instantly as one of the idols from the male group. Eli. You narrow your eyes, trying to read his lips. But alas, that was a talent you’d yet to perfect. Simon nods a few times, though you notice the way his brow furrows in irritation.

Whatever Eli asked about, Simon wasn’t happy about it, raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. But he seems to get his way as he leaves with a grin. You’re about to follow him with your gaze but you see Simon getting closer to the stage, a large smile that doesn’t reach his eyes plastered all over his face. You whisper to the girls, grabbing their attention. “Ladies, may I have your attention for a moment.” He calls in a loud voice. Though you and your fellow idols wince, you put those acting classes to good use.

Sweet smiles adorn each of your faces as you share glances of ‘Oh god, here we go’ with each other. His feigned smile tugs slightly, as if adjusting itself back into place. He continues, “Due to some complications with your fellow idol group, we’re going to decide the pairings for tomorrow night now.”

As Simon says this, footsteps echo on the stagefloor, causing you to look back. Joining you onstage as expected is the male idol group Simon also manages. “So let’s deal with this quickly so you lovely ladies can get back to work, alright?” He grins wide for a moment, but it swiftly drops as he steps back, his hand cupping and running over his chin.

You stand up, your heart fluttering a little as you roll the water bottle between your hands.

You hear him pairing off the others first; Makayla with Eli is the first pairing you hear. You wait quietly as the other girls are paired off, your heart fluttering as you realize who you’re going to be paired with. “And that just leaves—” You squeak in surprise as your wrist is grabbed, hand lifted as you’re spun, your water bottle slipping out of your hand. Then you’re dipped. Heat rushes to your cheeks as a strong hand holds the small of your back, your heart leaping as you see an all too familiar smirk and a pair of gleaming, mismatched eyes, “—Us~” Nikolai Gogol.

The most beloved of the male idol group and the non-official leader, as dubbed by the fans. Quite frankly, you couldn’t blame them. Especially not when you had your own private box of merch hidden away at home. Even dressed in simple clothes, as he was now, you could feel yourself swooning. Or maybe that was just because his black shirt was so tight, you could see his muscles through it-- He tugs you back up into a standing position, his hand practically gluing itself to your waist as the other girls giggle. You swallow slowly, trying to calm down.

After all, there wasn’t anything wrong with how you were being held. Your heart pounds like a drum in your chest as you hear Simon continuing to talk as he walks the length of the stage, “—So for this concert, Eli,I want you to pick Makayla up—” You lose focus on the discussion, a hushed sound escaping you as you feel Nikolai’s hand slyly grope your ass for a split second. You huff under your breath, “Kolya, behave.”

“What~? I didn’t do anything,” he replies in a quiet tone. God, that accent of his made your knees shiver instantly. His hand finds its way back to your waist, tugging you closer. You whine, feeling the heat of his body against yours. Simon is still discussing plans for the concert with Eli and Makayla when you feel his hand sliding under your skirt this time for a fraction of a second. The tease. “Nikolai,” you sternly whisper, earning a cheeky giggle in return. His hand moves with the speed of a snake, latching itself back onto your waist. It feels like there’s a fire forming in your cheeks as your grumble, “Are you trying to get us caught? If Simon sees us—” “He won’t, songbird,” he whispers to you, his warm breath caressing the lobe of your ear. His hand caresses your waist a little too intimately as he places a swift kiss on your ear. It's fast, soft...teasing. “I don’t want to risk it even slightly,” you grumble, your body trembling under Nikolai’s touch. You chew on your bottom lip, watching as Simon begins talking to Nadia and her partner for the concert.

“You saw how he reacted when that delivery guy so much as flirted with Cecilia. Could you imagine if he found out about us?” Nikolai snickers, teasing you with each caress to your waist, “He isn’t going to catch us, songbird. I know what I’m doing.” His hand dips to your hip, giving it a squeeze, You whimper as your heart leaps. You can practically feel it throbbing against your ribcage.

“Don’t fly too close to the sun, Icarus,” you tease, voice slightly stern as it trembles slightly. You feel his fingers fiddling with the hem of your skirt, almost as if he’s contemplating teasing you further, another deep, throaty chuckle escaping him. “Then tell me you don’t want me to touch you like this,” he purrs teasingly. You can feel his eyes gleaming as he watches you like a predator, waiting to pounce on its cornered prey.

He’s waiting to see if you give him the green light. He wants to hear you give me consent. But unfortunately, you don’t plan on granting his wish today. Sternly, you mumble, “Do not touch me intimately where our manager or the public eye can see.” You huff, feeling his large hand pause on your waist. You hear him clicking his tongue a few times.

Then, as another chuckle escapes him, his hand returns to your waist, loosening its grip slightly. “Your wish is my command, songbird~” You frown. Why does he sound so smug all of a sudden? You knew Nikolai well enough to know when he was up to something.

The only question was what. ★★★

A cascade of glittery stars and confetti explodes from over the top of the stage, the crowd erupting into a cacophonous roar of glee and applause. Beams of bright gold and white slowly change direction, from pointing at the crowd to focusing their attention to the girl group of pop idols on the stage as the last of the fog evaporates. A fresh layer of sweat runs down your forehead as the backing track ends, raising a hand to swiftly swipe it away before the cameras can catch it.

The puffy, short princess dress you wore shimmered gold under the hot stage lights, despite being made of a pure white material, the small sparkles embedded into the skirt sparkling elegantly. But even in a short dress like this, you were melting under the intense heat of the stage lights, on top of the past three hours of non-stop performing some of the most intense dance routines your group had learnt while still being expected to sing in an unwavering voice.

You look at the other four girls with you, all wearing similar styles of Princess dresses, just in different colors. They all looked just as exhausted as you. There was just one more part of the show to go. It was the part of the show a majority of the fans were waiting for. It was one of the biggest reasons why so many of your fans were always so desperate to get their hands on tickets, even if it meant paying resellers thousands.

Someone from backstage begins handing you the glittery microphones to pass down the line, which you do so with practiced ease. The idol on the far end, Nadia, is dressed in a longer, lilac colored dress. She speaks up, her voice warm and sweet. “Is everyone having a great night?” She asks sweetly, holding her microphone up to the crowd. A wave of noise erupts back at her, a sea of glow sticks of each of their member's corresponding colors going up. She smiles, teasingly speaking into the microphone, “I can’t hear you~!” You grimace, keeping a forced smile on your face as the crowd's screams grow louder. You can hear chants for your name and the other idol’s names in there as well. Even a few ‘I love you’s’. The squeals were the ones that split through your skull the worst.

You can already feel your head thumping as the idol in the middle, Makayla, in her sleeveless dress in pink, steps forward. “We’re so happy you all enjoyed our show! We genuinely cannot thank you enough for coming out just to see us tonight!”

“But it’s getting late,” Lydia, the idol to her left speaks up, sounding more downcast. Her light blue dress has the longest sleeves and skirt. With every move she makes, she shimmers faintly. “So it’s time for us to bid you adieu!” The idol beside you, Cecilia, chimes in, sounding much more upbeat and cheerful in her pale yellow dress. Her hands and neck are adorned with jewels that shimmer and sparkle, almost blinding you as you look at her. You can feel your heart pounding as you smile out at the wild crowd. You notice every glow stick that’s shining white in the crowd as though they would be your own personal beacons, calling out just for you, screaming their support with each waggle and wave.

You take a deep breath. Your words would be the cue for the tech guys. Smiling widely, you speak happily into the microphone as you and the other girls prepare to wave to your beloved fans, “We love you all and can’t wait to see you again--!” Just like that, the stage lights go out. Your idol group begin acting panicked, each one speaking over the other as you hear the excitement growing in the crowd, notice how much more frantic the glow stick waves have become.

You hear heavier footsteps rushing onto the stage as your group's frantic words grow. “Wha--!” “Watch the dress--!!” “Where are you putting those hands--!!” It was all part of the performance. The fans were exhilarated. You could hear their loud, excited screams and cheers already, and even saw a few fans bouncing up and down in place out of sheer excitement of what was about to happen. As you feel a gloved hand snake around your waist as planned, your heart flutters as you continue putting up a fake fight, faking your annoyance until the lights come back on at the call of one of the other girls. When your eyes meet the male idol that has your wrist, you quickly realise he isn’t the man you were expecting. You blink, looking up at the debonair idol before you hear an all too familiar chuckle behind you. You turn to see Nikolai, the one you were expecting to be holding you. Except he’s holding Makayla. Almost cradling her in his arms. Your throat grows tight instantly as your heart squeezes, as though a boa constrictor would be coiling around it. His outfit was flashy and loud, despite the outfit only consisting of shades of black and white. Anytime the stage lights touched him, numerous parts of his outfit would twinkle and sparkle, from the rhinestones above his eyes and along his little top hat to the stars decorating the inner fabric of his elegant, checkered patterned overcoat. It billows behind him as he holds up your fellow idol, a charming smirk on his face. The crowd explodes in loud cheers and cries. Glowsticks turn from the colors of your idol group to the color of theirs.

The vast crowd screams the names of the male idols, many jumping as they scream. Others shaking their glowsticks so aggressively you’re almost expecting them to go airborne and knock someone out.

For many fans in the crowd, this was the whole reason they came to this show to begin with. You watch as he continues holding your fellow idol, taking her microphone from her as he speaks into it. When he speaks, his Ukrainian accent is smooth like melted butter, making a shiver run down your spine, “Quiz time~! Is it time for the party to end, dear audience?” He holds the microphone towards the crowd, earning varying degrees of response. Screams of no in varying degrees, along with many, many fans screaming their love as if this would be their last chance to do it. You wonder for a brief moment how they’re still able to scream after doing it for three hours straight when the voice of the idol with braided white locks breaks you from your thoughts. “Correct answers~! In fact, I think we’re just getting started!~ Riiiight~?” His mismatched eyes gaze at the other male idols, never once grazing your form. You feel your heart squeeze more as the other male idols cheer in agreement, much to his delight.

His smirk grows and you swear, you see his hand caressing the waist of the idol girl in pink. “Then I say we send these gorgeous ladies on their way and we continue the show~! Come along now, shoo, all of you~!” You gasp as the idol holding your wrist begins gently tugging you towards the curtain. You can hear the others creating a scene, as was expected, telling you and the other girls to head home for the night as your fellow idols whined and resisted. But you couldn’t find it in your heart to perform right now. Not when you’d just witnessed Nikolai holding another woman, regardless if it was an act or not. Once your group has been shooed backstage, pushed away with a few playful teases tossed in for good measure, you hug yourself gently as you walk to the dressing room, frowning deeply as the scene plays over and over in your mind.

The way he picked her up. How he held her. The position of his hand on her waist. The next track starts, the music booming off the walls, thumping loudly in your mind. But your mind was only focused on one thing right now.

You look up, noticing the other idols talking between each other, complaining of their exhaustion.

It isn’t a big deal, you try and tell yourself. It’s all part of the allure of the act. It’s what made rumours spread and caused the names of both idol groups to constantly be front page news every week. You were just taking things too personally.

And yet the more you dwell on it, the heavier your heart grows. Taking a few quick steps, you catch up to the others. “Makayla, can I ask you something?” The woman in the pink Princess dress looks up, smiling warmly as she stops in her tracks. You notice the exhaustion in her smile however, so you decide to cut to the chase, “Eli was suppose to pick you up on stage, wasn’t he?” Makayla looks at you curiously, her hands delicately working on taking her hair down from the intricate way it had been styled, “Yeah, he was. I’m not sure what happened but it’s not a big deal. Nikolai picked me up with no trouble at all.” She sounds genuinely astonished. “I had no idea he was that strong until tonight.” You swallow, feeling a lump forming in your throat. Nadia steps forward, a small grin on her face, “Oooh did you get to touch his muscles, Myka?” Makayla giggles, “He was holding me like a Princess, Nadia. It was hard not to!” The ladies giggle amongst themselves before she gives a sigh. No one has noticed that you haven’t spoken in these past few minutes, “It’s a shame our manager gave us that strict no dating rule. I would ask him out in a flash.” “It sounds to me more like you’d ask him straight into your bed,” Nadia replies teasingly, causing both women to start laughing again. That constricting feeling around your heart grows. You feel each painful thump your heart makes as you try to keep calm, your throat feeling so painfully dry. Excusing yourself with a sweet smile, you run to your dressing room before it gets too much. It didn’t mean anything. It was all part of the performance. It was just an act.

So then why did you feel like crying? ★★★

You slump onto the sofa in your townhouse, huffing as you lick a freezing blob of your favourite ice cream off the spoon. Some old rerun for a show is playing on the television but you’re not paying attention to it. It’s been a few days since your last onstage performance. You and the other idols were on break for the next few days before you would be heading to France for a special photo shoot in Paris.

A well known fashion designer wanted you and your fellow idols to wear her latest designs for her in her upcoming fashion show, so she was bringing you to Paris for the next week on an all-expenses paid trip. You were looking forward to it, as much as you could at least. Your heart twists in your chest everytime you look at your phone screen and notice Nikolai still hasn’t messaged you.

Your heart twists painfully as you toss your phone aside, grabbing the tub of ice cream, and devouring a few more scoops with a heavy sigh. Whatever. You didn’t need him. You should’ve known he was just treating you like an easy fling. It was really your fault for-- The phone chimes happily. You practically toss the tub of half eaten ice cream aside, diving for it. Your heart flutters with excitement...before that excitement is stomped on like a roach. It was one of the other idols messaging you. Cecilia [6:05pm]: Heyyy, do u think u can help me with smth? Cecilia [6:06pm]: Can u resend me that email our manager sent us all last week? Cecilia [6:07pm]: U know, the 1 with our schedules 4 our Paris trip? Cecilia [6:08pm]: I mstve accidently deleted it. I wuld be soooo g8ful if u sent it 2 me! ♡ You sigh, flopping your face into the plump couch cushion. Of course it wasn’t Nikolai. Stupid you for getting your hopes up like that. You groan loudly into the cushion before lifting your head, typing back. Me [6:10pm]: Sure C. I’ll send it ASAP. Cecilia [6:11pm]: Ur the literal best! I’ll buy u something while we’re in Paris to ty! Cecilia [6:12pm]: Wine? Macaroons? Watever u want, just name it n I’ll get it!!! There's a brief flicker of warmth in your heart as you smile at your phone. You drop it, leaving it on the sofa as you begin making your way upstairs to your study. It was modest, mostly because most of the shelves were empty aside from a few random books you read as a teenager and a few candles and other random ornaments you received as gifts from family members who didn’t know what to get you. You still had the same desktop computer you used as a teenager too. It was slow but until it loaded its last webpage, you’d keep using it. The door creaks as you open it.

Hopefully, you’d saved the file she was talking about into your important folder. Your hand reaches out, gliding across the light switch when a hand suddenly grasps your own, tugging you close. You cry out in surprise, your heart lunging into your throat as Nikolai pulls you in, his hand squeezes yours while the other finds its way around your waist.

He pulls you close. Very close, so that your bodies are touching, “Finally,” he chuckles, his hand moving to caress your wrist. “I wondered when you’d head upstairs.”

You’re frozen for a moment. When did he…? He must’ve used his key to sneak in while you were in the shower earlier! As you calm down, your brain finally catches up.

Then you try and pull away from him, huffing, “You’re lucky I didn’t punch you for startling me!” You can feel that constricting pain rising in your chest as you try to pull away from him. But he doesn’t let you go. A chuckle rumbles in his throat as his fingertips trail further up your arm, towards your delicate shoulder. His hand massages it tentatively as he teasingly whispers, “So feisty~ But you know I’ve always loved that about you.” He leans in, his warm breath caressing the side of your delicate neck.

A shiver that you try to deny runs down your spine as he whispers against your rapidly beating pulse. He smirks at you as he leans up, whispering directly into your ear. His words make that imaginary dagger in your chest twist in deeper, “I knew you’d get jealous~ But you can’t be mad at me; I was just doing as you told me~” Your face becomes hotter instantly. You grunt as you try and push him away, but Nikolai still doesn’t let you create any distance between you two, “What nonsense are you rattling on about?” You reply, scoffing at him.

You hated the fact that he could read you like a book sometimes. You hear him chuckle again as he places a fleeting kiss on your earlobe. “Oh, I know you know what I’m talking about.” His voice rumbles in his throat like a deep purr. His hand moves from your shoulder to the back of your neck, your chest pressing flush with his.

You can feel his heart beating against your own as he continues teasing, “I saw the way you grimaced on stage when the lights came back on and I wasn’t the one holding you. You know...” “...When you saw me holding that girl up~ ” Your heart squeezes again. You scoff, sounding more furious as he finally lets you push him away, “No I didn’t. You’re just making things up.” You walk away from him, heading over to your computer. You don’t sit down yet as you boot up the system, waiting for the old device to switch on. Your mind reels back to that moment in the night when for just a second his arm had wrapped around the waist of Makayla. The way his hand tightened around her before the performance continued and you were all ushered off that stage.

But that’s all it was. Part of the act. None of it was serious. It wasn't part of the routine but there was always a possibility that plans were changed. And yet you knew that touch had never happened before with any other fan or fellow idol. Nikolai was touchy but there were boundaries in place. Boundaries that he rarely pushed, unless intending to tease you. He was always respectful of any boundaries you put in place.

Which meant– You jump as the computer suddenly blares to life, the welcome page popping up. As you’re typing in your password, you gasp as you feel a pair of strong hands caressing your sides, sliding under your blouse to touch your delicate, sensitive skin.

You bite your lip as you feel the warmth of his body as he presses up against you, your fingers gliding across the keyboard as you focus on what you’re doing.

“You don’t have to hide it,” he cooed against your back, his hands trailing to your hips. “I think you’re quite adorable when you get jealous like this~” His hands slide further under your blouse, his firm fingers caressing your soft stomach as you whine, hands trembling on your keyboard. “K-Kolya, I’m trying to do something here,” you grumble, trying to focus. His fingertips slide under the bottom of your bra, finally earning a soft moan from you. With a devilish smirk, he begins gently teasing your nipples, shushing you softly. “You’ve been working so hard all week.” He leans in, his warm breath caressing your ear as you writhe faintly in his touch. “Why don’t you let me help you relax and take your mind off that Matilda girl, hm~?” Nikolai calling Makayla the wrong name made you feel a bit better. You groan as he gropes your breasts with more intent now, his large hand caressing and squeezing eagerly, his thumbs fondly brushing against your hardening nipples.

Your back arches into him as you pull away from the computer. But within a second, one of his hands moves to your upper back, pushing down. “Stay.” His hand caresses your back and breast, both trailing down to your hips. His hands begin to move further down your body, causing your legs to part the slightest. A deep chuckle rumbles in his throat as he sees your body reacting on its own as a smooth purr escapes him, “Good girl…” His hands slide your skintight shorts down. A satisfied noise escapes him as he notices the panties you’re wearing, “Aww baby…you’re mad at me but still wearing the panties I got you for our anniversary~? How precious~” “I didn’t wear them for–” Before you can finish giving him sass, you gasp as he gently smacks you on the ass. You cry out, more in surprise than pain as he clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “Now, now. There’s no need to lie, baby.” He coos softly, one of his hands snaking around to your stomach. His hand slips into your pretty white lace panties, brushing against your slit.

You lift your head, moaning again as it dips further in, his fingers stroking and rubbing against the delicate flesh as you squirm softly. His voice is an amused, yet near predatorial purr. “So be honest with me, yeah? You were jealous of that girl–” His fingers caress your growing wetness even more intensively now as one digit moves to rub your clit. You give a small, high-pitched cry as you lean over your desk more, your hands finding purchase wherever they can.

Your hips wiggle softly as he grasps your hip with his free hand, holding you steady. “--Jealous that I touched her waist like that. What did your pretty mind think, hm? What sort of wild things ran through your imagination?” “K-Kolya…” You breathlessly whisper as you try to think straight. Heat begins pooling in your stomach as you can feel your body getting hot and needy. "Come on, my pretty little songbird." He purrs against your throat, his tongue darting out, running along your madly beating pulse. Your breathing grows heavier as his slow caresses grow just a touch rougher, prompting more whines from you, "If you want me to keep going, you have to tell me the truth." You whimper, hands clutching at your desk, eyes closing in a desperate attempt to keep the truth in. But all it takes is one caress, faster than the rest to make you gasp, "Y-yes! Yes, yes, y-you're right!" "Say the words, songbird~" He teases, his finger rubbing at your clit to give you the incentive you need. "I-I was jealous! J-jealous of Makayla!" You blurt out, your legs squirming slightly as you whine needily. “Good girl, oh so good girl, fuck baby, you’re already so wet for me,” he purrs, leaning over you to nip at your earlobe. His fingers move faster for a moment before he pulls back, suddenly dropping to his knees and encouraging you to spread your legs.

You can feel the near desperation in his touch as he suddenly pulls your panties down enough to expose your soaked cunt. Like a starved man, Nikolai wastes no time getting in close. His tongue rasps and licks hungrily at your wet pussy, making you cry out softly, your grip tightening on the desk. You can feel vibrations rolling off his tongue as he groans into your pussy, your taste and scent intoxicating him like a drug. His hands squeeze your hips, holding you still as his tongue slips into your pussy. Your back arches as you throw your head back, a moan of pleasure slipping from your lips. “Kolya!! Oh fuck!!” You cry, shaking against your desk softly. You lay your upper half back down on your desk, hips jerking back faintly to meet each thrust of his tongue as you moan and whimper against your desk as he fucks you with his tongue.

After a few thrusts, it snakes back out, his tongue flicking at your clit as one of his fingers takes its place. Your squirming grows more desperate as you near the edge of release. One of your feet lifts, shaking faintly as you try to hold on. Heat and pleasure surge through your sensitive body as you writhe, left at the mercy of the idol.

You can feel his digit thrusting, probing and spreading you open as his tongue laps at your clit. Then, suddenly, he begins sucking on it. Just like that, you feel that tight coil in your stomach releasing. You tremble as you climax, your moans echoing in your study as you give Nikolai what he is seeking. He laps every drop of your release up, savouring your sweetness like it would be a blessing from a higher power.

Pleased groans escape him as he squeezes your hip, pulling back to growl against your inner thigh, peppering it with little kisses and nips, “That’s it, that’s my good girl, god you have no idea how good you taste…”

As you pant and try to catch your breath, you push your body up slightly, opening your mouth to speak only to feel two of his wet digits slipping into your mouth. You groan, tasting yourself on his fingers as a dirty shiver runs down your spine. You obediently suck and lick his fingers clean as you hear one of his hands fumbling with his belt buckle behind you as he chuckles right into your ear, “Well…now you do~” Suddenly, a familiar jingle fills the air between heavy breathing and soft moans. Nikolai clicks his tongue, grabbing his phone. He answers it, pressing his cheek against his phone to hold it in place as he talks.

You hear the instant his belt buckle hits the floor with a satisfying thump,  “Make it quick, I’m busy with something.” His fingers slide out of your mouth, covering your mouth with his hand instead as you hear him speaking on the phone still, “Mhm…well what’s the time now…” He pauses, then replies, “It’s barely gone 6:30. I have plenty of time to finish my business here.” You groan into his palm as you feel his hard, throbbing erection rubbing against your wet slit. You close your eyes, shuddering as he teases you with his cock while speaking into the phone in an irritated tone, “The dinner isn’t till 9pm, why is it–” He gives you one hard thrust. “--such–” And another. “--a big–” This time, the tip of his cock nudges against your clit, making you whine against his palm. “--deal?” He grunts softly. You can practically hear him rolling his eyes as he pulls back, continuing to grind on you roughly. He clicks his tongue, groaning, “Fine. I’ll be there at 8.”

Before you can even think of asking, you hear his phone thumping softly against your desk before he grabs you by the hips, yanking you back. You shudder as his hand slips from your mouth, grasping your hip tightly, his nails digging into tender flesh as he sits back on your office chair, the plush cushion making a soft sound as he sits back, making you straddle his lap, his hard cock poking between your thighs. He pulls you in, back pressed flush against his chest as he breaths against your fluttering pulse, “You heard that, baby. I can’t stay and play with you for as long as I wanted to.” His hands run up and down your hips, squeezing your waist, his nails caressing your soft tummy as you whimper. He presses a heated kiss against your neck as he purrs into your ear, “So let’s enjoy each other, yeah~?”

He bites into your neck as he lines himself up with your entrance, slipping in with one fast thrust. The moan that escapes you is louder than you intended it to be. You feel his hands squeezing your waist tighter, a low growl of pleasure escaping him as he quickly nips at your tender neck, a shivering groan escaping him as he hisses against your neck, “Fuck…yesss. Just like that, my little songbird. God, you take me so fucking well..” He places swift nips and kisses along your neck as you whine, your hips finally starting to move as you realise Nikolai isn’t going to take action.

You lift your head, moaning softly as you feel his hands moving back up your body as if worshipping every inch of your skin with his touch and mouth. They slide under your blouse, back under your bra. He squeezes your breasts roughly, pulling you tight against him. You lean your head back, resting it gently against him as you ride him. The leather squeaks softly, the chair rattling a little as Nikolai’s grunts and groans fill your ear. His warm tongue slides against her neck, moving up to your ear, where he nibbles on your earlobe, his hands squeezing your breasts like they’re his personal stress relievers.

Pleasure floods every single one of your senses as you feel sweat starting to bead on your brows as carnal desire fills your veins. You can hear Nikolai huffing, groaning as he keeps ghosting nibbling bites and sensual licks along your ear and neck, his teeth tugging your earlobe as his fingers twist and pinch your nipples.

A strangled moan escapes you, his sudden actions making you rock a little harder on his cock, desperate and hungry for more of him. You whine as you feel his lips kissing the corner of your mouth as he whispers in a low voice. “Oh my~ Is someone feeling a little needy, are they~?” You gasp at how swiftly his hands move across your body, one snatching a handful of hair with its tight grasp, the other grabbing your hip, stopping your movements.

He chuckles darkly, lust dripping off his voice as he whispers, “Let me help you, my little love~” In one swift movement, you're pressed back against your desk, chest flush with the hard timber as you feel your boyfriend taking control. You cry out at the sudden, ravenous tempo he sets, his hips slapping against yours with reckless abandon. If you were hungry for more, then Nikolai was starving. The sound of skin slapping against skin fills your office as he keeps a firm grip on your hair, tugging your head back just enough to press his lips to yours in a searing, dominating kiss.

His tongue slips inside your mouth as you moan, his tongue swirling against yours as he slams into you animalistically, causing you to almost sob into his mouth. His cock thrusts deep into you, each thrust sending jolts of intense pleasure through every part of your body. You’re panting heavily as he breaks the kiss, your heavy, hot breaths intermingling as he lets go of your hair at last.

He pulls back, hands splaying across your lower back before they grab on tight to your hips. He grunts loudly, holding you firmly as your desk begins to shake and rattle, sending items toppling to the floor as you cling on for dear life. “K-Kolya!! Kolya!!” You cry out, panting heavily. Drunk on pleasure and reaching your tipping point, you frantically gasp, “G-gonna cum!! G-gonna–!” A deep chuckle rumbles in Nikolai’s throat as his hand snakes between your legs, taking the chance to quickly massage your clit roughly, yet quite sloppily, making you scream at how suddenly it happens. Intense waves of pleasure crash over you, your knees quaking as Nikolai’s hips jerk and stutter for just a moment as your cunt clenches around him, squeezing him tightly, tipping him over the edge at the same moment as you. He spills into you as breathless gasps escape both of you, your heavy inhales and exhales filling the room now as your lustful dance reaches its climax.

You lay against the desk for a few moments, trying to compose yourself as your knees threaten to give out. Before they can, you feel Nikolai helping you up, making you sit on your office chair. You would have to clean the mess, but for now, you focus on catching your breath. You can feel Nikolai nuzzling your hair as he murmurs, “Fuck baby…it’s been too long…” “You did that…on purpose…” You finally pant. Nikolai raises an amused brow as he listens to you, “You took Eli’s place...just so you could make me jealous...” A low purr of amusement escapes Nikolai as he keeps nuzzling your hair, breathing in your sweet perfume as he whispers in a teasing voice, “What do you mean, songbird? I was just following your request to not touch you in front of people~” His hand runs through your soft locks, running down so his fingertips can caress your back. You shiver as he pulls back, cackling softly. He leans towards your desk, opening the drawer with a soft sigh. He grabs a few tissues to clean himself up, passing a few to you as he speaks in a slightly annoyed tone, “I’d hoped we could enjoy ourselves for the entire night but–” “--There’s a dinner Simon wants you to attend,” you nod as you stand, cleaning away the mess on your chair. “It doesn’t start till 9 pm but he wants you there at 8.”

You pause as you finish cleaning. You toss the used tissue into the bin under your desk as Nikolai begins fixing his appearance. “Is it important?” A low hum escapes Nikolai as he fixes his ruffled shirt once he buckles his belt back up. His tone is more carefree now, despite how annoyed he is at having his evening interrupted, “It’s likely a publicity stunt. You know that one up-and-coming actress? The one that everyone's talking about?"

You grimace; you already knew where this was going. You nod, causing Nikolai to run a hair through his messy fringe, his hands elegantly freeing his hair from its braid, his snow white locks cascading over his shoulder loosely...Fuck. Even that was hot. He continues speaking as he grabs your comb from your desk drawer, “Well…the boss wants us to be friendly with her. Or, rather…he wants me to be friendly with her.” He combs through his fringe, tidying it up before moving on to his braid. “You know how it is–” “So he says none of us are allowed to date publicly, but he’ll throw you at any female idol or actress when it benefits him,” you bitterly reply as you get dressed. You hear your comb hit your desk as Nikolai approaches you, his hand reaching out to cup your cheek, his loose braid falling apart momentarily. “Songbird, you know this is all part of the job.” His mismatched eyes gleam with an apology unspoken. He tugs you closer, embracing you tightly.

Your arms snake around him as he hugs you close to his body, his hands caressing your back as he murmurs, “It’s all just business. If we’re seen with someone like her, our names and faces will be everywhere. We’ll be the talk of the city. Brand deals, more modelling opportunities.” You grumble into his chest, “I think your group has already made it far enough without needing to cosy up to some big shot actress…” You feel Nikolai’s body shudder against yours, a groan escaping him as he squeezes you tighter. His breath is hot on your earlobe as he whispers in a raspy voice. “Fuck baby...you know what to say to get me all riled up again…” He breathes heavily in your ear and you know it’s taking his all to not bend you over your desk again and fuck you until you’re nothing but a sobbing mess beneath his hands. Taking a deep inhale, Nikolai pulls away from you. Then he presses his fingertip to your nose, catching you by surprise. He flashes you a grin. A warm, affectionate grin, “But I assure you, this is just business, so don’t go getting your panties in a twist~” You huff, trying to swat his hand away but he pulls back quickly, cackling softly. You tug your shorts back up, fitting them back into place, nose held slightly high, “You owe me for this.” As he opens his mouth to speak, you interrupt him as your arms cross over your chest, “And I don’t mean sex or gifts or a vacation overseas.” His gaze turns more curious, more serious as he studies your features. His grin becomes a curious smile as he tilts his head at you, humming curiously, “Then what does my little songbird desire?” You’re quiet for a long while, hesitating to ask for what you truly want. You squirm in place, fiddling with your fingers. A faint heat rises in your cheeks as you reply, “I want to go on a proper date.” His mismatched eyes widen, then slowly soften as he sighs a little, “Songbird, you know we can’t be seen—” “Please.” Your sudden plea makes him pause in his tracks. His eyes stare into your own, watching as yours tremble. You’re begging with him, pleading for him not to say no, “I know we can’t be seen in public. I know we’d be risking our careers but—”

You gasp as he suddenly places a finger over your lips, gently silencing you. He leans down, bringing his voice to a soft whisper, his beautiful emerald and sapphire eyes gazing into the depths of yours, “I’ll figure something out, okay?” He stands back up straight, his hands moving back to swiftly braid his hair back up, “But I really do need to go, songbird.” You pout a little, watching as he prepares to head out for the night. Before he can, you reach out, grabbing his arm. He blinks, looking back at you as you lean up, giving him a parting kiss on the lips. It’s quick. It’s sweet. Pure. “I love you.” You whisper. He chuckles as he reaches out, ruffling your already messy hair. “I know you do, now come on. You know what’ll happen if I keep boss man waiting.” He pats your head a few more times before he slips out of your study, disappearing into the night. You frown a little as you watch him leave, lifting a hand to bite your nails anxiously.

You weren’t okay with what your manager had planned for your boyfriend tonight, but at the end of the day, you knew there was nothing you could do about it.

18 + divider by @/zeenmrala

Musical note divider by @/strangergraphics-archive

[deni-means-flor]

Random fandom theory

You guys know how on Project Sekai/Colorful Stage, the dream from Vivid Bad Squad is to put up an event that surpasses Rad Weekend?

My strongest theory is that the only way that VBS will be able to do it, is by having every other band from the game participate in it.

Like, imagine a Rad Weekend created with the amazing stage design and direction from Rui and Nene from Wonderlands x Showtime, super energetic performances by actual industry "pros" like Leo/Need and MORE!MORE!JUMP, with original songs for all groups created by N25's Mafuyu/Kanade with the flyers and promo designed by Ena, and costuming by Mizuki... That would literally surpass Rad Weekend by miles.

And honestly, I know this is pure fanfiction and meta-analysis on my part and not based on any canon indications, because something I've noticed in most of the story events, and forgive me if this is already ✨a thing✨ in the fandom, is that most of the event stories have an element of subtly showing how all bands are interconnected.

Like Haruka being An's best friend/helping Kohane and Toya with the chocolate brand sponsorship event for Valentine's Day, or the pairs of siblings (Saki/Tsukasa, Shizuku/Shiho), or Kohane being school friends with Minori, Emu from Wonderland x Showtime being in the same class as Shiho from Leo/Need, etc.

Note: Other than Honami being the housekeeper for Kanade (and Mafuyu by extension), I honestly can't see N25 factoring in much within my theory but I'm open to suggestions plz

But idk, in my mind I think that eventually we'll get a random stage event where all bands are involved in the creation/formation of this massive VBS event where, idk, for example, An talks about her dream with Haruka, Haruka tells the MMJ girlies during a live stream (or Kohane talks about VBS' dream with Minori) and Minori, being the ever-helpful sweetheart she always is, says that she'd love to help! And convinces MMJ to participate and bring their fans to the event.

Then Shizuku tells Shiho that it might be fun for Leo/Need to participate and of course she needs to consult with leader Honami first, so she says yes because of course, that would be a great opportunity to show the record label that Leo/Need can handle large concerts or festival crowds, so it would be great practice!

And of course little firecracker Saki cannot wait to tell her big brother firecracker Tsukasa about this awesome event that some people are planning and how Leo/Need will participate, so he starts imagining how the set design and staging of such an event would need to be, and of course he tells his Chaos twin Rui and they both decide to check it out, which makes Emu super excited, and they all end up roping poor Nene into this, who honestly wonders how being the MC for such an event would be so nerve-wracking, and of course Tsukasa LOVES that idea so they volunteer to be the masters of ceremonies and he brings this up to Toya, who OF COURSE would never say no to anything that his "savior" asks for!

So although Akito fucking hates Rui and Tsukasa for being weird, he can spot talent from miles away and he agrees to coordinate the staging of the event with them and Shiraishi (though he keeps making fun of them for being weird).

And so, in the weeks before the event the VBS crew is still worried about the costumes and promos but in the meantime, while housekeeping, Leo/Need's leader Honami listens to a song by N25 while Kanade is composing or something and she brings up the idea of creating songs for the bands that will be on the event, as a way for Kanade to leave the creative block that she's been having for quite a few N25 story events, and maybe getting some help from Mafuyu in those compositions would cheer her up and show that music can be healing and that they can both get out of their comfort zone and compose for different types of musicians, and of course when Ena and Mizuki hear about this they start thinking that N25 participating in the event would be an amazing way to cheer Mafuyu up, and idk, I think this would be such a sweet thing for Project Sekai.

Of course I'm yet to see how the upcoming movie release will fit into all this but idk, what do you guys think?

[laurarolla]

Before the cooperative sportsball mode in Arknights begins, let's look back on a few thoughts from the finale of Act II of the main story, "Absolved Will Be The Seekers." Also, thanks to Wis'adel, I was easily able to clear all four of the hell stages, and I can probably finally go back and clear the previous chapter hell stages and finally get those upgrade tokens I'm missing for the chapter ops.

First, I enjoyed the little moment in the middle where the Followers trio get to clown on those Confessari pricks. Love seeing those fascist bloodsuckers lose. XP

Moving on, the overarching story of why Theresa returned and her goals with the Originium Assimilation were rather interesting, especially in what we seem to have learned about Arknights possible overarching villain, Priestess. It's nice that the citizens of Victoria will no longer be abused and murdered by the Sarkaz now that Theresis and his loyal forces are off to do something else, but getting his hands on the Originium stone that sort of represents the "original sin" of the Teekaz is not a good sign for the future. Beyond that, it's somewhat unclear how much of what Theresa did in the Assimilated Universe was actually her choice. I think it was a great act of mercy and love to finally free the Myriad Souls from the Originium, granting them the freedom to truly die instead of being trapped in the stagnant tomb of Originium. Unfortunately, I think the Originium she handed to Theresis very much falls under Priestess's plans to "continue the experiment." In the end, everything seems to be progressing as she has planned.

A few nice bits about Priestess that we got to see (if we are to believe anything she said to us) include that she's not a member of the same people as the Doctor, and previously spent her time recording sounds of dying worlds. Originium is not only a way for her to show that she deserved to stand alongside Oracle as an equal, but also became a way for her to record the dying breath of each and every world if her experiment succeeds. She seems genuinely motivated out of a love for what she's seen and heard across the universe, but she can't accept the transient nature of life. Whether there's some actual intentional malevolent force she's trying to use Originium to avoid, or just straight up entropy, she's so desperate to cheat death that she sees life as a threat to her efforts. It has left her cold in her interactions with the Doctor, who has fully regained their ability to love life and accept its limited nature while seeking to improve the lives of those they meet on their journey. I theorized that the Doctor may be been manipulated or controlled by Priestess during Babel, and at this point, I'm now sure not only that they were manipulated, but that they can't be manipulated in the same way anymore. Kal'tsit also rejected Priestess, and Amiya figured out how to use the Civilight Eterna to manipulate some aspects of the Assimilated Universe. I'm interested to see how these rejections affect things later in regards to Priestess's intentions.

Looking forward to future encounters with Eblana now that she's kinda the main threat to the current Victorian hierarchy, especially since she got one of the dukes on her side. Overall, though, I think we'll get most of the important immediate follow-up for Victoria when the Siege Alter event comes in about 4 or 5 months.

Wis'adel got her name finally and I'm super happy about that. Her journey from the beginning to now has been great, although I think most of her big character development is basically complete now. It's nice to have a character get their Alter form from an event or something that has significant personal story growth, with Wis'adel and Silence probably being my favorite alter/story intersections so far. Eyja's was also quite nice.

I'm also gonna say that Civilight Eterna (Theresa's Phantom) is herself a product of the Civilight Eterna arts ability I previously theorized/observed. She was largely created through Amiya pulling memories from the past and binding them into a phantom clone that Theresa left as a kind of keepsake. Basically, she's there because both she and Amiya want her to be there, and each used the power of the King of the Sarkaz to manifest her. That's why she has actual memories and arts powers from Theresa, albeit not as strong. I also love that how Amiya created the staff was to reshape Yin Xiao into an arts staff, reforging a sword seeking vengence into a tool of healing. Very simple but very effective.

Oh, and after 300 pulls I got Nearl the Radiant Knight from the shop, and my last free pull today was Mizuki, so now I have all the Ambushers... except Kirara.

[kirstielol]

I had my mom over for coffee this morning to talk about wedding stuff & germany stuff. Got so many things ironed out now, I'm definitely feeling a lot less stressed out about everything.

I've been emailing back and forth with my top choice venue for a few weeks now and I think I'm gonna go ahead and officially book it this week! It's a recording studio that rents out a big room for concerts and parties. The room has a bar in it, full sound equipment and a stage for a DJ, a dance floor, tons of couches and tables, and they'll be able to set it up for us to have a formal sit down dinner. The price I've been quoted seems very reasonable.. especially taking into account that this quote includes having an open bar for 6 hours!!

I'm probably going to use one of the caterers they partner with.. their prices seem good, the food looks good, and they have a service where I can pay them to come back after dinner with a food truck for a few hours. So we're going to do a nice sit down dinner, cake + desserts, then later into the night (like 9 or 10pm?) have a food truck come by that serves pizza and burgers for a late night snack. Super stoked about this lol.

So overall I just feel like I'm on the right track with planning a wedding, once I get the venue officially booked I can start to worry about the smaller things. Everything should fall into place.

Planning a wedding is fucking overwhelming though, holy shit.

Now Germany stuff! 🇩🇪

We went over more of what we'll be doing on our trip. This is the town I'll be staying near, Hann. Münden. I'm staying with my grandpa's cousin and his wife. I'll get to see so many family members I've never met in person before. We'll be taking a day trip to go visit the small town my grandpa grew up in. One day we'll be driving over to visit my great grandma's niece and her husband. Everyone there keeps telling my mom how excited they are for us to come in July. I'm just so happy and grateful I get to go on this trip 😭 Super nervous but SO excited.

[archives-of-july]

HYPOTHETICALS — evan peters.

warnings: none? can you call this self-indulgent? first time posting here and did so with no proofread. b is an endearment. english is not my first language. MIGHT BE BAD I'M SORRY GRR word count: 983

in your next scene, you get to sing what seems to be your personal favorite song. but everyone in the set wonders as to whether it's just some passionate singing or a not-so-subtle attempt into letting some unresolved feelings show.

"okay, great. i want that energy, b!" the director yells as she heads back behind the camera.

your assistant tries to tighten your ponytail, each and every curled strand of your hair tucked nicely. another tries to smooth some creases in your red halter dress while someone else tries to adjust the top and present some cleavage perfectly.

"i've been playing out a lot of hypotheticals in my mind," you start singing, "i've been writing your name down next to mine. been imagining all the things you and i could do." you start swaying in place, finding a rhythm, acting as if you're holding a mic.

"i've seen all the possibilities in my dreams. you're alone when you should really be next to me. baby, let's not wait and see." you sing the last few words a bit high, trying to playfully annoy your assistants that are trying to finalize your look.

even though you're more than ready to belt your favorite song now, the set is yet to be finished. lights are still adjusted, the extras chitchatting while getting into place, and a team trying to fix the technicalities by the platform in the middle of the bar you're supposed to perform on in a moment. but despite the business of the crowd, your eyes find and set on him, only him.

he's sat by the table adjacent to the stage, going over the lines with another cast member. you've always preferred him to show his natural hair color, but as you're in love you didn't mind if he'd color it gray or green so long as he has those soft curls you've always adored and dreamt of having your hand run through. even a few meters away you'd hear his voice and see how he occassionally adjusts his suit as he goes in fits of laughter.

a crew member hands you the mic, meant for some test, but you've got another idea in mind.

"obviously, you and i are the beginning of something." you start singing, while looking at him despite having his back against you. "i don't expect you to know how it's gonna go. but i believe we might be onto something, and i just thought maybe you should know." the crew politely tries to take the mic from you, assuming that mic test does the job, but you shy away and try walking around the set.

you start the singing the chorus, hearing your assistants laugh and call you to return the microphone to the poor crew member. from your peripheral, you see a technical team member up the volume of the sound system, and you took that as a sign.

"immediate action is unnecessary, it's a fatal attraction, it's a little scary. but i got a plan of attack and i'll get us there someday soon, i know it. i got a plan A, and i got a plan B. and if it's absolutely necessary, we'll go to plan C. whatever i gotta do to be with you."

you're now by the stage, taking in position, seeing everyone from where you at. seeing the way he looks at you. seeing how his attention is on you. seeing how a side of his lips is up in a smile and seeing how in his eyes that he's got interest. a beat before the chorus you gave him a glance, trying to make it a little bit obvious by making it a split second longer, but then shifting your focus to the crowd as you begin to sing the chorus.

"i've been playing out a lot of hypotheticals in my mind, i've been writing your name down next to mine." this time passion and love is undeniably present in your voice. you start swaying and dancing in place, giving a bit of a smile to encourage the people, and you see taissa beside the director laughing at your antics because she knows a bit much.

"been imagining all the things you and i could do." this time, your attention is back on evan, the way his is on yours too. he hides the lower half of his face behind his fist as his elbow is on the table, but his smile is too big as he slowly sways left and right as well, now immersed in your song.

"i've seen all the possibilities in my dreams. you're alone when you should really be next to me. baby, let's not wait and see." your singing now comes into an end, the people clapping for your impromptu yet wonderful performance, but in those seconds you're singing those lines you were looking at him. at first it's like a jamming session. he nods from time to time, maybe in awe of your satisfying voice. but when you stopped singing and your eyes had set on him a bit meaningfully, you noticed how he stills for a second. how the look in evan's eyes changed suspiciously.

bitch stop staring, you thought to yourself as you try to pry your eyes away from him. that despite feeling courage out of nowhere, the anxiety that he would realize comes soon after. trying to brush it off, you playfully did a bow as the people cheer and whistle. you find your assistants rolling their eyes on what you did as like taissa, they know a bit too much.

"girl, you're fucking obvious, but i need that energy once we roll. okay?" the director speaking into a mic brought you back to reality. a warm feeling gushes to your cheeks, hoping the spotlight focused on you wouldn't make it obvious. what your director said made you go back to reality, to work mode.

but shit, the director knows a bit too much as well.

[dandelion-wings]

Okay sending a few prompts, feel free to pick and choose which ones you want to do. First! From the first list, 02 Trust Issues for any combination of characters from the house of hearth c:

Thank you for the prompt! <3 I'm so sorry that it took so, so long (and I threw so many different concepts and requests about it at you in the interim, so thank you for your patience with me, as well XD;;). This is, as discussed, not actually whump, but I hope it satisfies nonetheless!

---

ETA: Now on AO3.

---

"So you're the Knave's heir," Marceau says, sitting down at the table where Lynette and Lyney have seated themselves for tea.

Lynette pauses, just for a moment, in pouring water over the leaves. Lyney has frozen; it's an unthinking habit to pause, in synchronicity, just as if they were on stage. For they are on stage, became so the moment that Marceau spoke.

"Haha, she did say she's considering it," Lyney says. "But who knows what the future holds? We'll see what happens after Project Stuzha."

Only Lynette would be able to hear the nervous edge to his laughter, know that the dismissive gesture of his hand is a magician's movement, a magic-trick, pretending to cast a card away while he slips it up his sleeve for later. Lynette resumes her pour.

"Project Stuzha. That's right," Marceau says. "I know it's important, but I haven't heard much about what it entails. Except that a lot of us have been killed conducting our part."

Marceau. A relatively new member of the House of the Hearth, adopted after the drowning of Fontaine. Some of the Hearth's scouts had had an eye on him already, though; his parents hadn't perished in the waters, but died long ago, and he was the sort of feral child who sometimes found the Hearth a suitable home. Cutthroat and ambitious, willing to do what he needed to survive, but secretly desperate for any small token of acknowledgement and care. That desperation had driven him to do things that many would be horrified by. Not the House, though.

*Entering Sentry Mode....*

"i haven't heard much more than anyone else. Father can only tell us what we need for our missions. If it grows too dangerous, she'll fill us in when she feels it's necessary," Lyney says, a smooth performer's smile, a smooth performer's lie. His gaze doesn't flicker for a second.

Neither does Lynette's, focused on the tea, pouring it with perfect precision so that each cup is filled to the exact same depth. She's often thought she has the easier performance, putting no expression on her face at all. Lyney, though, insists that it's more difficult to maintain a blank face than to pay attention to his expressions. As if a blank face requires effort and attention.

"Are you sure we'll hear everything, though? I've heard rumors of that other Harbinger we'll be working with, Dottore, and about how the Knave used to treat members of the Hearth...."

"The last Knave."

"Still, she raised this Knave, didn't she? I know you've known her for a long time, but I'm new here. I'm worried." Marceau looks astonishingly earnest. "What if we're just fodder for this plan? What if she's not really protecting us at all?"

"If I find out anything that suggests that, I'll make sure everyone knows." Lyney says that firmly. Earnest as well, though his earnestness is sincere. "Just like I did with the family who wanted to leave. I wouldn't let Father put us in danger... more danger than we're willing to accept for our family."

"I know that. I trust you. That's why I came to you." Marceau now looks relieved, but an edge of that anxious worry remains. "It's just... if you don't find out before we're all called to Snezhnaya, won't it be too late? We'll be amid the Harbingers, and a lot of us will be so far from home. I... I'd feel more comfortable if you were in charge of our part of the Project."

"No one but a Harbinger would be allowed to control our role in Project Stuzha," Lynette observes, her voice as completely neutral as her face. She passes Lyney his tea, and Marceau another cup.

He takes a quick sip, then sets it down. It clinks a little too hard. Nervousness. "But since you are her heir... if something did happen, you'd be able to take charge. If you had to."

"It won't come to that," Lyney says, smiling at him, a reassurance that Lynette knows is a lie. Now that the seed has been planted, it has to be.

This time, she can tell by the minute way Marceau's shoulders relax that he can tell it is, too.

***

"Father doesn't want us to be used as foot soldiers," Lyney says, pacing back and forth across the length of their bedroom. "That's why she's insisting on running the House's part of Project Stuzha herself. She can't refuse all the orders she's been given, but she can tailor the missions to try to keep anyone who goes as safe as possible. I know she's doing that. She's asked me to look those mission plans over, and you... to go along."

Lynette sits on her bed and watches him pace. Her tail is curled behind her, the very tip twitching in reaction to his constant movement. Sentry Mode is difficult to turn off when Lyney is this wound up.

"Father said my determination to protect my family at all costs is why she wants me to be the next 'king'," Lyney goes on. "She wouldn't send you on a mission where she knows you would be killed. She knows that if you did, I would... I would...."

"It wouldn't suit her plans."

If they are still her plans. Lynette watches Lyney come to a halt, his emotions flashing in a wild rush across his face. *That* isn't a performance. It is unnerving when it happens. Especially when there's so much fear.

Fear for her. Lynette's fear for Lyney is only in visible in the twitching of her tail and the faintest slant of her ears. He sees it anyway, and visibly reins his own emotions in to give her a chagrined smile. A deliberate expression, though his performances for her are even more sincere-looking than those meant for anyone else.

"You're right. After what happened with Filliol and Nanteuil, I shouldn't doubt her. She showed her conviction to care for us all then. She's doing everything she can, and she wouldn't endanger you alone when she knows what the consequences would be."

"She wouldn't endanger me alone," Lynette agrees. "Tell me if she asks *you* to take on any of those missions."

Father has trained Lynette for years now. She knows better than anyone, better even than Lyney, that Lynette is no longer the frightened young girl she rescued from that nobleman. She knows that there will be consequences if anything happens to Lyney, too.

She's wise enough a leader to know that, if she wishes to destroy one, she must destroy the other. If she doesn't end them both before one can reach her....

Lynette won't be leaving Sentry Mode tonight.

***

"I've been hearing an interesting rumor from some of the children," Father says, picking up her teacup and taking a long, slow sip. It's still hot enough that it would burn Lynette's mouth if she drank it yet, but of course that doesn't matter to Father. "They say the two of you are keeping records on who gets sent on missions for Project Struzha. And who comes back."

"Yes," is all Lynette says.

"Good." Father sets her teacup down again and looks Lynette directly in the eyes. Her gaze, as always, burns. Lynette lowers her gaze to her tea; it would be more notable if she didn't. "I keep my own records, but if mine are lost, or questioned, it will be useful to have corroboration."

Lynette nods and contemplates her tea in silence. Father watches her for a moment longer, then turns, elbow resting on the table, to look towards the window.

A bird pecks at some seed someone has left outside. Lynette has been trying not to let it distract her. Her atavistic instincts are strongest in Sentry Mode; when she's paying such close attention to her surroundings, movement always catches her eye.

Reaching out, Father makes a gesture with her hand. Red power flashes towards it. The bird squawks in terror and surprise as flame surrounds it, then huddles in the warmth of the magical cage Arlecchino has formed. She beckons it inside, and it comes to hover over her open palm.

"This one isn't yours," she observes. "Your cats might enjoy playing with it. Do you want to take it for them?"

"No," Lynette says.

Father clenches her open hand into a fist. Flame flares, briefly, and the cage vanishes, with only a wisp of smoke and a faint odor of burnt feathers left behind.

Lynette looks back down at her tea. Father picks up her teacup and takes another sip.

"The House of the Hearth has been asked to carry out two more critical missions for Project Stuzha," Father says. "One of them will require Freminet's diving skills. It's extremely dangerous."

"I can go with him."

"The other is just as risky, and no one with the skills for it has a Vision. If I send those children unaccompanied, I don't expect more than one of them to survive." Father's gaze is on her again, with its unrelenting burn. Lynette meets it this time regardless. "Neither requires Lyney's specialized skills, but Freminet's mission will be in freezing water, under the ice in Snezhnaya. He'll go on that one. I want you to accompany Marceau, Foltz, and Chapleau to steal a certain item from the Tianshu in Liyue."

A freezing dive with the sibling they both know is more vulnerable, whom Lyney loves almost as much as he loves her and would risk just as much to protect. A high-security theft with two of Father's most loyal spies and Marceau, who has been embarrassingly open in his sedition. A perfect opportunity to divide and destroy. If that's what Father wants to do.

"I understand," Lynette says. Her eyes are starting to water from the heat of Father's gaze. She drops them back to her tea. "I'll tell Lyney."

Father nods and tosses back her teacup, draining the last of it in one long gulp. She sets it down as she stands. "The tea was very good," she tells Lynette, starting away from the table. As she reaches the door, she looks back over her shoulder. "Watch your back."

***

Even with Lynette's Vision, they still lose Chapleau.

"You see," Marceau whispers to her on the way back, when they stop in a broken-down barn for a rest. "He was one of the Knave's most faithful. She knew as well as we do that he wasn't as stealthy as we are, or as cutthroat. She knew she was sending him to die."

Father had sent Lynette to protect them, and yet Chapleau had sacrificed himself to cover their retreat with the Tianshu's artifact. His death is as much at Lynette's door as it was at Father's.

Yet if someone stealthier but less able had been sent, it wouldn't have changed that the estate was alerted well before they found the artifact, that it was swarming with guards, that the terrifying shadowy figure who had wrapped Chapleau in cutting strings and nearly caught Lynette in the same had seemed to know they were coming from the start. In that case, Lynette would have been beholden to make that sacrifice instead.

She almost had. She had already been turning to confront that figure when Chapleau unexpectedly shoved her through that door and slammed it shut. She would have died for her family. As Father knew she would.

As Lyney will feel beholden to die for Freminet, if circumstances come out that way. As Father knows he will.

Foltz is lying on the floor of the hayloft, asleep amid the mold and dust. Or at least, he seems to be sleeping.

"She knew any of us might die," she says. "That's part of our duty to the House of the Hearth. Chapleau's sacrifice meant the rest of us lived."

It's what you do for family, she doesn't say. Marceau doesn't feel quite like family yet.

***

Freminet barely makes it. Hypothermia, mostly; he'd pushed himself too far, past his limits, to serve his family and the Hearth. That's not unexpected for Freminet. What was unexpected was the ambush Lyney faced on top of the ice, the one that delayed his rescue until it was almost too late.

"I don't know who they were," he says, alone in their room that night, after Heloir kicks them out of the infirmary. "I couldn't find any identification on the bodies. But they did use elemental powers, and they didn't have the strength of Visions."

Delusions. What other elemental power is available to the Visionless in Snezhnaya, with all its Ley Lines frozen?

"They could have been stolen," Lynette points out. It's important to consider all options.

"I almost lost Freminet." He's pacing again; the tip of Lynette's tail twitches. "I can't lose him- too- again. Father knows that he's- that if he dies- That's why she sent me, isn't it? I can't let Marceau get into my head." He tugs at his hair, gives a self-deprecating laugh, anxiety and remembered terror lurking underneath. Like a monster of a whale under cracking ice. "No one else could have gotten him warm and dry in time to save him. It made sense for me to go."

It did. It made sense, also, that Lyney would have been distracted during that fight, all too aware of Freminet beneath the ice, and of the seconds ticking away as he reached the limit for how long he was supposed to dive and past it. Had his opponents overpowered him, would they have flung him into the dive hole as well, and sealed it up after him? If they had the elemental power to do so, the waters of Snezhnaya aren't the waters of Fontaine. Without time to don his divesuit, he would have drowned. If he hadn't frozen first.

Lynette would have lost them both.

"He survived because of you," Lynette reminds him. "I survived because of Chapleau. We're still a family. We'll figure out what to do together."

"We will." Lyney stops in front of her and gives her a wan smile, no performance at all. Then his fists tighten. "We'll take care of each other, no matter who we have to face to do so."

"We've done it many times before."

"And we'll do it again."

***

The files are grim. Lines of names march down the page. Those sent out; those who survive. Over and over, the most capable, the most trusted, are dispatched. Over and over, the most capable, the most trusted, are killed.

The most capable. The most trusted. The most powerful within the House of the Hearth.

"You understand why I'm worried, don't you?" Marceau asks. He's the one who looks anxious now, fidgeting nervously with the teacup Lynette has handed him.

Lyney is calm, composed, thoughtful and taking this seriously but not at all uncertain or afraid. "It is concerning. Though Father is doing her best to keep us all alive, of course. Sending the most capable members of the House means that they're more likely to survive."

"With no breaks between missions?" Marceau looks doubtful. "They're wearing out. Look at Freminet. Wasn't this his third in a row?"

Both of them do look at Freminet, only just moved from an infirmary bed back into their room. Amid the thick blankets Lyney has piled upon him, he looks small and pale and fragile. He's watching them talk, round-eyed and silent, as he takes tiny trembling sips of his own tea. Listening as intently and intelligently as she is, though, Lynette knows.

"At that rate, most of us will eventually stumble and fail," Lynette agrees.

Lyney frowns. "This isn't sustainable. All of the House's best people will eventually be wiped out. All that family...."

He meets Lynette's eyes. She nods at him.

"I don't see why Father doesn't see that," Lyney goes on.

"But you do," Marceau says. He's fidgeting even harder now, twitching in his seat, restless and eager. Overselling his hand, like a magician on the stage projecting across the theater to his audience, with no sense of how to fine-tune for a more intimate audience. "If you were running Project Struzha...."

"But could I really step into Father's place as 'king'? I'm not ready."

"Can't you get support from the other Harbingers? When he was here, Tartaglia said that Pulcinella likes children, and is kind to his younger siblings. If you come to him with your concerns... when he sees how much you love your 'family,' won't he give you his support?"

This time, Lyney doesn't look at Lynette. She keeps her own eyes on Freminet, who twitches only very slightly under the covers, acknowledging that he'd heard it too. Now they know who Marceau works for. Who had bought him, and taught him, before the House ever took him in.

He's playing on Lyney's fears for a reason, of course. That doesn't mean it isn't working. Lyney is wound up far too tight, a walking disaster, nearly ready to blow, even if Lynette and Freminet are the only people who can tell. Much longer and his own terror will betray him. At the wrong moment, that could be deadly.

He's playing on Lynette's fears, too. That doesn't mean he's wrong.

"I would need a way to contact him," Lyney says, thoughtfully, just before the infirmary door opens.

"Here you all are," Father says, stepping through the door. "I thought the House was too quiet."

Everyone looks up. Lynette meets her hot gaze for only a moment, then turns around to the tea set on the table beside Freminet's bed and pours a fifth cup.

Father takes it with a nod of thanks and stands there beside Lynette, inches away, looking down at Freminet. "Are you recovering well?"

"I am." Freminet's voice is small and thin.

"Does he have another mission coming up?" Lyney says. Guarded, cautious. No dazzling magician's smile for Father. No smoothing his worries away.

She turns to meet his gaze, square-on. Lyney holds it far longer than Lynette could, his eyes showing no sign of watering. He can take the heat better than anyone else.

"If you have concerns, I do hope you'll bring them directly to me," she tells him. "Children should be able to trust their Father with such things."

"After last time, I wouldn't hesitate." Now Lyney smiles, that chagrined expression, far more suitable to this conversation than something bright and dazzling. "Actually, I *am* concerned. The rate of these missions... if we keep only sending our best out on them, they'll eventually push themselves too far and wear out, just like Freminet. It was only luck that he came back alive."

"It wasn't luck, it was you. Don't underestimate yourself." Father's eyes narrow. "You tend to do that. It's something that calls for improvement."

Lyney is startled into silence, and that's not a performance at all.

"That's true," Lynette says, because it is. "But it's also true that not everyone in the House has our capabilities, and even those of us with Visions or Delusions can push ourselves too far. Once we do, less experienced members of the House will have to be sent out in our place, and will be more likely to fail from the outset."

"I know," Father says. Her shoulders tighten. "That is my responsibility to deal with, and I will. Someday those who desire their victories at our expense will find out what they have to pay in turn."

She sets her teacup down slightly too hard, untouched, then turns away and starts for the door. Lynette doesn't relax. Not yet.

"Now," Marceau says behind her, beside Lyney, unexpectedly loud.

Father spins about, her hand coming out at her side, her scythe appearing in her grip. It sweeps out as she continues the spin, the wicked blade flashing towards Lyney and Marceau. Her eyes are wide and hot, pupils flared, the room suddenly an oven.

Lynette's teacup shatters on the floor as she lunges forward, her sword coming to her own hand before Father is more than halfway through the spin. She drives it into Father's stomach. Father's grip spasms on her scythe, and Lynette sees its haft slide through her hand, feels the tip of it lodge into her back, catching on a rib, right beside her spine.

In the corner of her eye Lyney is scrambling to his feet. Then he cries out and sinks to his knees. Marceau stands behind him, a bloody knife in his hand.

"All three of you," he whispers, his eyes wide, an almost transcendent look on his face. "He only wanted one. The 'king,' or her heir, or his only weakness.... I was trying for the Knave. He'd reward me most richly for the Knave. But *all three* of-"

The greatsword comes down upon him from behind, straight down from his shoulder and through all the way to his hips. Freminet leaves it in as Marceau falls, doubling over himself and panting hard, determination still blazing in his eyes.

Father lets go of her scythe and glances briefly at the blood on the tip as it clatters to the ground. She reaches out and slides her fingers under Lynette's, taking the hilt of the sword and pulling it from her own stomach to be discarded alongside the swiftly-dissolving scythe. One hand over her wound, she steps over, crouches beside Lyney, and puts her other hand over his.

"I'll get Heloir," Freminet gasps, slowly straightening. "Lynette, you should... sit down, I'll be right back."

Lynette reaches back and can just barely get the tips of her fingers over her own injury. It's deeper than she'd thought. Taking two steps back, she sits down on the edge of Freminet's bed and feels the blood trickle down her back.

Despite the calm with which she'd pulled out the sword, Father's pupils are still blown wide, the room nearly boiling from her unfocused gaze, her panting as harsh and uncontrolled as Lyney's, though stronger than his. She looks up at Lynette with a familiar, calculating expression. No, not quite familiar. There's a doubt that Lynette has never seen in it before.

She hadn't been surprised when Lynette had stabbed her.

She had sent Chapleau and Foltz with Lynette and Marceau, instead of asking Lynette to draw him out herself.

She hadn't trusted Lynette any more than Lynette had trusted her.

Marceau had needed to only take out one target of three. That he hadn't simply tried to knife Lynette during that journey home, when she was worn and weary and Foltz seemed asleep, suggested that it wasn't his only mission here. Of course. He was meant to sow discord.

However she may conceal it, Father, too, must be capable of fear.

"The Rooster sent him," Lynette says. Her own voice sounds hollow and odd, as if she's underwater. "He told us that we could ask him for support."

Father's jaw tightens, and the look of doubt fades away. "Then he'll pay the debt he owes even sooner than he might have expected."

"Good."

"Good," Lyney echoes, hissing through clenched teeth.

The room is cooling rapidly. Lynette reaches out with her free hand and picks up Father's teacup from the table beside the bed. When she drinks, it holds just enough of Father's heat to make her feel warm.

[landofzero-archive]

Wataru Hibiki - Two Shows

Writer: Suika

Season: Summer

Nagisa: …… It looks like I’ve arrived on site earlier than expected. 

…… It seems the job Hiyori-kun and Jun were at before this got prolonged, and Ibara is probably still in the middle of a meeting.

…… It might be okay to go to the filming location early…… Hm?

…… To think that there would be a crowd in front of a train station like this. I wonder if there’s some sort of event happening.

Wataru: Now now, please pay attention to my hand……☆

Nagisa: (...... This voice is-)

Wataru: One, Two, Amazing! A bouquet of flowers appeared from out of nowhere!

Nagisa: (…… It really is Wataru-kun. A splendid sight as usual.)

(...... Still, I wonder why he’s doing magic tricks in a place like this.)

Wataru: Now then, following this…….

Oh my? Oh my oh my oh my……? I never thought I would meet you in a place like this!

Nagisa: ……?

Wataru: That’s right! You who just looked behind yourself! I’m talking about you!

Nagisa: …… Could it be. You’re talking about me?

Wataru: Yes. It couldn’t be anyone but you. My close friend Nagisa Ran-kun ☆

Now, please give me your hand! Let me invite you to my stage.

Nagisa: (…… The audience’s gazes are focused on me.)

(...... Their faces say that they would not have even dreamed of me accidentally being in this place.)

(...... They must think this too is a pre-planned performance being carried out.)

(...... So the moment he called out to me, I was added to the lineup of performers on this stage…… In that case.)

…… I will gladly take that hand of yours, my friend.

Wataru: Fufufu, that’s how it should be……! Everyone, please give him a magnificent round of applause!

Nagisa: (Whisper) …… Wataru-kun, why are you doing magic tricks in a place like this?

Wataru: (Whisper) Fufufu. It’s just like you to ask for the meaning of my actions instead of asking for what you should do in this situation.

(Whisper) However, you can’t do that.

(Whisper) This is already atop the stage. For the sake of the audience of are impatiently waiting, now we must act as the finest jesters ♪

Nagisa: (Whisper) …… Maybe you’re right.

(Whisper) …… What they want to see is entertainment that would excite their own hearts.

(Whisper) …… What we should do right now is to answer to the expectations of the audience, not to comprehend the doubts I hold.

Wataru: That’s right. It saves me from trouble since you’re quick to reach a conclusion, Nagisa-kun.

Now then, even though this is an improvised stage, let’s make it a fun and delightful performance……☆

Nagisa: ….. Mm. So that just as the other day, we'll show them that the audience won’t be able to avert their gaze from the two of us.

(Scene cut)

Wataru: Fufufu ♪ The stage was a great success.

Once again, thank you for taking part on the fly, Nagisa-kun. It was a really fun time☆

Nagisa; …… That’s my line.

…… Thanks to your invitation, I could have the valuable experience of being assistant to a magician.

Wataru: If it’s to your liking, what about standing on an even bigger stage next time?

As I had expected, Nagisa-kun has an aptitude for this. No, it might be more accurate to say that you’re prudent?

Even though we didn’t have any prior discussions, you quickly guessed the magic tricks I was about to perform and provided support.

It might have been a while since I was able to carry out an easy stage such as this one.

Nagisa: …… As for myself, I was just fumbling along, so I’m happy that you said that.

…… I was doing things based on what I thought you would do in those situations, Wataru-kun.

…… This isn’t the first stage I’ve been on with you, after all.

Wataru: Are you remembering “JNLC”? If I remember correctly, I did demonstrate a few magic tricks during practice.

Nagisa: …… You proceeded with today's stage based on the magic tricks you showed me at that time, didn’t you?

Wataru: Oh my, so you did notice after all.

Even so, just because you memorised the magic tricks, being able to set up the support is a different story.

Sure enough, it worked out well all thanks to Nagisa-kun’s capabilities.

Well, even that Nagisa-kun would be a little bewildered at a magic trick you’re seeing for the first time!

Nagisa: …… Mm. Naturally, I wasn’t able to perfect the magic seed that allows things to float.

Wataru: It would be a disgrace as a magician if I let it be found out so easily ☆

Even though you were on the stage as a performer, from my perspective, you’re also one of the audience members.

Nagisa: …… I see. As expected, you have your own motives, Wataru-kun.

…… This show certainly has meaning.

Wataru: Oh my, what are you talking about?

…… Just kidding, it’s pointless to play the fool when with you.

In that case, I will accept the role of the culprit. Would it be okay for you to let me hear your deductions?

Nagisa: …… As you are none other than Wataru-kun, there might be times where you will start a sudden street show.

…… However, I felt an intent from you that you were trying to prolong today’s stage somehow.

Wataru: Is that so? I was just putting on the best show so the audience that gathered would be satisfied.

Nagisa: …… From what I can see, you looked like you were waiting for something, Wataru-kun.

…… The answer lies within the seats of the audience. Because several times, your attention was directed towards a single seat.

…… It could be that child was the reason you started that stage.

…… Yes. Without a doubt it was that lost little one that was just reunited with their parents.

Wataru: Hmm. To sum it up, is that how it is?

…… I, Hibiki Wataru, found a little child who had been separated from their parents in front of the train station, and to make it so they would stop crying, I prepared this stage.

Nagisa: …… Then, by continuing to do magic tricks, a crowd would gather, and the child could be reunited with their parents.

…… As proof of that, when you had confirmed that the child had been reunited with their parents, you brought the curtain down on that stage.

Wataru: Amazing! As expected of Nagisa-kun ☆

I’m surprised that you’re able to correctly deduce the situation even though I haven’t talked to you about it all!

Surprisingly, Nagisa-kun has the makings of a detective.

Nagisa: …… I wonder. Even now, I’m inexperienced with reading the subtleties of people’s words.

…… If I had to say, I understood because it was Wataru-kun.

Wataru: Oh my oh my, you’ve said something that made me happy ♪

Now then, shall I do something to thank this Nagisa-kun who helped out with my show, and even put on a deduction show?

Nagisa: ……. I didn’t take your hand because I was expecting a reward in return.

Wataru: Now now, don’t say that. This is what is called give-and-take isn’t it?

For example…… like this.

How about spending some time with me until the time your next job starts?

Nagisa: …… So you understand. That I have too much time on my hands.

Wataru: Fufufu. That’s because I think I too understand because it’s Nagisa-kun☆

Now, I wonder where you will take me!

Or should I escort you?

…… Choose whichever, I promise you I will make it a wonderful time☆

[pumpkin-spike18]

✨Weekly Progress #31✨

Oh, hey~ I actually managed to post this 1 week in and on a Monday! :D

Weekly Progress #31

Posted devlogs

Finished 2 SYVNH TY art

Finished fan project BG sketches, got them approved

Answered comments/asks

Finished + sent proposals

Drafted SYVNH survey

Yaoi Day posts

Worked on Comms

Bug BL VN concepting

Reviewed next steps (as dev, and for specific projects)

Doodled chara ref sheet

Doujinshi planning

Stuck in a Yandere Visual Novel...HELP!!

I think my last post summarizes my work on SYVNH this week pretty well! But in case you missed it, we're working on bringing some merch to life for SYVNH! And to start that, we'll need your help in filling out our Interest Check survey!

You'll be able to get some wallpapers at the end of the survey so be sure to check it out! 😉

Future Projects

I spent a portion of this week re-evaluating my next steps as a VN/game developer and planning for future projects. I know I want to finish my current projects (BWBOK and SFB), but I was quite disorganized for the timing of when that will happen. So I did the only thing I knew how to do: schedule, schedule, and more scheduling! 😤

Goals:

BWBOK: finish for SuNoFes (9/3); admittedly the schedule for this one is a little out of my hands currently. But I will aim to finish my portions by 8/15 (hopefully).

SFB: Demo 2.0 for YuriJam (12/1); I haven't fully planned out how much of the story I'll release for 2.0 yet, but I am to finish all the sprite art this month. Afterwards, I intend to focus on finishing the last part of the story.

A long term BL project. This was what has been bouncing around my head for the past week. There are a few contenders and they're all currently untitled. The plan is to make a commercial BL game for steam in the 50k+ wordcount size. I have 3 projects within various stages the concepting to outlining phase and hopefully, I finish the outlines for at least 2 of them before the end of the month.

Fan Stuff

I've joined a few vtuber fan projects! ...Which I'm not allowed to talk about, so that's about all I can say. It's been fun so far, though!

I originally challenged myself this year to make a 20 page comic. Recently I've been reading and looking at a lot of doujinshis so... here's the outcome of my challenge: plan a small doujin. idk how much of it I'll discuss here, though...

🎃 and that's all I've got for this week! See everyone next week!

[btas-swap-au]

Zero and Loop, Together (Part 1)

[[This replaces the cutscene with Loop after beating The King in Act 2. In this case, after beating The Emperor. Subject to change cause I wrote this at midnight yesterday.]]

(Both of them don't look me in the eyes.) (…guess if anybody is going to break the silence, better be you.) 💎("So.")

(…Loop is the first to respond.) Loop: "…so?"

(…do they not get it?) 💎("So, what's our next plan of action?")

Loop: "WHAT?!" (I nearly fall off my seat in surprise.) Loop: "Gemstone, you-! You don't even want to talk about what just happened?!" Loop: "You beat THE EMPEROR! The whole thing you came here to do?! And you still looped back! Aren't you even a little-" Loop: "…urgh."

(They look away from me again. Zero, now, is the one staring.) Zero: "Subject." Zero: "Are you feeling nauseous in anyway?"

(…what?) 💎("…no?")

Zero: "Are you suffering from any headaches?" 💎("No.") Zero: "Any other forms of pain in any area at all?" 💎("No!") Zero: "Hallucinations? Bright lights? Have your ears been ringing? Nose bleeding-" 💎("I SAID I'M FINE!") Zero: "Interesting. An enraged outburst could signify-" Loop: "Oh for the Universe's sake, lay it off, you stone cold moron." Zero: "I was under the impression you were also in distress slightly about the Subject's state of psyche." Loop: "Never heard of being subtle?! Guess not! When are you ever-" 💎("Enough.")

(The two stop bickering, glaring at each other for a few moments before turning to you.) Loop: "…fine. We'll put a pin in it." 💎("So, why are you here, Zero? I thought you liked the Giving Tree Stump.") Zero: "Well, I reached a stage of understanding. I believed it was purely detrimental for me and Loop to be apart when we share such vital information together." Zero: "As much as majority of their information is wrong." Zero: "We share a similar mission and goal. It would be unwise not to collaborate despite our… differences."

Loop: "Hey, loser, you slipped up. Got tired of calling me an Anomaly?"

Zero: "Indeed. Working my way up to referring to you as: Glowing Monkey."

Loop: "Ugh. Trust me, Gemstone, there's nowhere I'd rather wish to be than away from them."

Loop: "But...we're here to help you with your loops. So that's what we have to do. Together."

Loop: "That's all there is to it." 

💎("Alright. Discussion number 2.")

💎("I'm still looping, even after beating The Emperor.")

💎("Though, it's not something I didn't expect.")

Loop: "...you...expected this?"

💎 ("Its not all that surprising, really.")

💎 ("Nothing suggested that beating The Emperor would end my loops. Just...")

💎 ("Didn't expect it to suddenly happen when I talked to the Head Housemaiden.")

Zero: "Hm. Rational, logical, and yet ever so pessimistic."

Loop: "Reminds me of someone I know. You're a bad influence."

Zero: "We're not raising a child, we're trying to help a grown adult. And to state objectively, YOU'RE a bad influence."

Loop: "...because I'm worried?" 

Zero: "Hardly. Emotions are a trait of you I respect. How you act on them irrationally...is another."

Loop: "Yeah, what about you? All about the results, all about the next step. What's wrong, too scared to stop?"

Zero: "To be quick witted is suddenly negative?"

💎 ("Can we focus, please?")

💎 ("...The Head Housemaiden said something was failing and rotting.")

Loop: "Hm. That's right."

Loop: "More than that. She said that as though she knew you were about to loop."

Loop: "I doubt she remembers like you, but she must know something else."

Loop: "Maybe you should take to her again?"

(That's something I can do.)

(Talk to the Head Housemaiden again, see what she knows. Got it.)

💎 ("There's also the matter of The Emperor.")

Loop: "Huh? What about them?"

Zero: "...you're referring to your abilities seemingly being similar to their own?"

💎 ("I can loop forwards and backwards through time...")

💎 ("...while they can suspend people a objects in time.")

Zero: "Indeed. Perhaps...I've theorised it may have something related to Crafts. A special kind. One we may not know about."

Zero: "Although, I wouldn't eliminate the possibility there's a book somewhere that holds that information."

(Search for books....the house is filled with them.)

(Anything related to controlling time.)

Zero: "And it's a risky suggestion...but..."

Zero: "I wonder. The Emperor is the only other individual we know has the power to control time. What knowledge do they posses?"

Loop: "Talking to The Emperor. I'm curious...and yet...I'm a little nervous about that."

Loop: "But I suppose it's worth trying, Gemstone!"

💎 ("I suppose that's all. I'll get to work.")

Zero: "Just a moment, Subject."

(...?)

Zero: "We have one last topic to address."

Zero: "Your companions."

Loop: "...wait, you're serious? YOU wanna talk about...them?"

Zero: "Is that so shocking?"

Loop: "Did you...go soft? Your heart finally grow three times this day?"

Zero: "Very amusing comments. I'm quite serious."

Zero: "The Rebel. She was worried about you, wasn't she? You have alerted her to something you didn't want to."

Loop: "That's right. You don't wanna open up about the loops, right Gemstone?"

💎 ("No reason to make them worry.")

Zero: "Not only that. It seemed she had something she wished to speak with you about. Perhaps you could find out what it is."

Zero: "A long list of tasks for you. Not too overwhelmed, I hope."

💎 ("...no problem.")

(Talk to the Head Housemaiden. Talk to The Emperor. Talk to Mirabelle. And find out more about what could be causing your loops.)

(Objectives, and a path set out before me. Winding, twisting. But I see it.) (…and yet…) (Something still bothers me.) (…why are they helping me?) (The two of them first appeared when my loops began.) (And their names. "Loop", "Zero" is a circle…) (They're related to your loops as well, right?) (…)

[thewritingofspencerrose]

A Grid Thanksgiving

Logan Sargeant x OC

"And that closes up this wrap up for Vegas, we'll see you all next week in Abu Dhabi," an official closes, glancing around the room for someone to take the microphone from him, Logan Sargeant of all people being the one to do so, stepping on to the stage in an unusual move.

"Uh, if the grid could stick around for just a couple minutes that'd be great," the Williams driver requests, drivers left and right sharing looks.

And they wait, the crews and principles exiting the room before Logan, now without the microphone, has everyone crowd around.

"What's up kid?" Daniel is the one to ask, one brow raised at the American driver.

"I actually was sent on a mission from the missus-"

"You have a missus?" Max asks, the idea setting in over the last few races that he may not be all that young anymore.

Logan chuckles, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck with a nod. "Yeah, I'm going to try to not take that as an insult."

"That's not what he meant," Charles corrects, waving his hand. "You just do not seem as the type to settle down young and we haven't seen any woman with you around the paddock or online."

Logan knows they're right, but that doesn't change the fact that he's tired of always experiencing these assumptions.

"Welp, for eight months now we've been married, her names Brooke, and she sent me to work today with one request."

"Which was?" Oscar questions, expecting something outside the box from the woman who somehow manages his close friend.

"If you all out be available and on location next Tuesday, we've rented a rental apartment rather than a hotel room, and she was hoping you all and your significant others may be willing to join us for Thanksgiving."

"Isn't that typically on Thursdays?" Lando asks, already knowing the answer but hoping for something more.

"It is, but with the race and everything we won't be able to make it home to be with our families, so she got her heart set on cooking a traditional thanksgiving meal for all of you," Logan explains, knowing the request may be a stretch in a lot of places. As much as they respect one another, they are also all still competitors, even if Max and Red Bull had already won. "Its just an open invite, she just really loves the concept of taking a day to appreciate what you're grateful for and keeps saying she's grateful for all of you, even though she only knows you two," He finishes explaining, gesturing to Alex and Oscar. "And none of you have to come, absolutely don't feel like you've got to."

"When will you need numbers by?" Max speaks up, giving the boy a rare grin for a competitor. "I'll have to see if Kelly and P will be traveling with me."

And Logan beams, because at the very least, at least a few drivers are considering the offer.

"Sunday or Monday, Brie isn't planning to shop for anything until Monday."

Max nods, a simple gesture to wrap up the impromptu meeting.

——————————————————————————————————

"Baby, you said to invite the grid, why are you so surprised?" Lo questions with a chuckle, making me want to throw my whisk at him/

"Because I wasn't expecting a good chunk of them to text saying yes! How does Lewis Hamilton even have my number?!"

"He asked me for it so I sent it in the driver's chat," He explains simply, taking a finished dish from my hands to the kitchen island that we set up as a buffet. "Who ended up being available?"

"Carlos, Charles and Alex, Lando, Oscar and Lily, Lewis, Max with Kelly and P, Pierre and Kika, Yuki, George and Carmen, and Alex and Lily," I list smiling brightly at how bustling this home will be in no more than half an hour. "Valterri and the Haas men texted saying they would love to come but they were going home for a beat instead of straight here," I explain, scooping the whipped topping into the bag and twisting it shut.

"Wow, half the grid, good job Baby," Lo compliments, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my temple.

"You're just lucky I didn't invite your boss just to get more baby snuggles," I can't help but jest, but he doesn't look remotely upset at the idea, smiling with a look in his eyes that I just can't place. "What's that look for?"

"You act like I wouldn't love to see you wondering around with a baby, although I'd prefer it to be ours," He admits, making my heart soar. It's before I can answer however that the doorbell rings, calling him away from a conversation we've had many times.

"Brie!" Lily exclaims as Oscar quietly follows her in, Lando following his teammate.

"Lils, it's been too long," I greet her with a hug, pulling both of the Mclaren drivers into hugs as well. "You need to come to more races, I'm always lonely."

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Kelly asks, announcing her little family's arrival, Max clapping Lo on the back as her little girl runs into my legs.

"B!"

"P! I've missed you sweetie," I coo, pulling her onto my hip and kissing her cheek, hugging Kelly and Max.

"P, what do we say to Brie and Logan?" Max prompts, smiling softly at his little girl and I.

"Thank you for inviting us to your American holiday!" She thanks, kissing my cheek before fist bumping Lo.

"I am so happy you all could come," I assure, looking around the progressively filling kitchen. "I love that we're all able to be together for one of my favorite holidays."

She smiles brightly, Max coming up to take her from me with the reasoning that I should be greeting guests as Alex and his Lily walk in, the Lily's being introduced.

And I can't help but smile around me, my heart warm as Lo joins me, wrapping me in his arms.

"Is this everything you wanted?" He asks, words whispering in my ear as he leans on my shoulder.

"Everything and more Lo, everything and more."

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Conflicting Accounts

We're back, 1136 gave us a great one to really dig into. Let's start here because I try not to have anything super spoilery before the cut and well...I feel like the subtle revelation in this panel is really going to help us set the stage here. Remember we're still doing something a little strange here on Elbaf. Starting off with a big party like we'd normally see at the end of an arc.

Here, we have a brief moment between Luffy and Zoro as they move towards their plan at the end of the chapter. Or at least the main gang's part. We'll get back to that. But do you see the subtle wrinkle here that's important if you're reading between the lines a bit? Oda's confirming something that's really just common sense but it does make sense to highlight and we've even had an SBS question about it. It's a cousin to Robin and Saul. We've never seen Luffy really talking about Shanks a lot with the crew. But Zoro's brushing it off as something Luffy's brought up a lot. That could be helpful to remember, especially as we go into the rest of this chapter:

The most important thing to me is how we treat Nika. I've talked about Wano from the perspective of comparing it to Utena before, and this is one of the more general ways because it's a pretty common trope for anything theatrical in anime. A lot of slice of life stories use it too. A play that forecasts major themes as we go into the ending.

As Wano saw Oden, so does the world see Nika. It's not just some holy savior. Opinions about the nature of the deity are split. This is big, and so much more in line with our boy Luffy fitting his legacy. Because he has been a savior and a destroyer. Sometimes even both for the same place like we saw in Dressrosa. Pairs excellently with:

Loki reminding me a lot of the types of lore we got for Oden's early years. Honestly he seems like a much darker take on what Oden was to Wano. This time with no one really keeping him in check. Imagine if Sukiyaki just imprisoned him instead of exiling him from the capital. Though recall Sukiyaki did let Oden go to a prison camp for a while and he ended up thriving there.

We've really done a lot of work to show this clash with Loki's reputation and Luffy wanting to see him differently. With Oden it was easy, you didn't show up when he was anything but a lauded memory of better days. Loki's still putting that question of Luffy's motives to the test. If the bad guy got to him first and treated him like a friend what would he do to the country?

A question it looks like we're heading to an answer for. Luffy's going back to Loki, this time with Zoro and Nami in tow. Who'll hopefully keep him in check. I love this stuff with Road too. Zeus establishing the pecking order, Nami burning him for trying to buddy up. Great stuff. Always happy to see Nami being a sassy queen.

The stuff with Shivs and Gunko is cool too. Worth mentioning Road seems to be responsible for the agents going missing. An interesting parallel to York and Egghead. I feel like we've done a lot of great work to set up something cool here for this point in the story, so I'm definitely intrigued what the next few chapters look like. Especially when the stakes could well be Luffy unnecessarily dragging a friendly country with no real problems into some very big ones if he isn't careful.

[jodilin65]

And we're back to the breathing issues and broken-up sleep. ☹ Knew I would be sooner or later. Yesterday, I noticed my nose was getting stuffy again, and I woke up struggling to breathe through my nose a few hours after I crashed. Naturally, this left me tired when I got up later on. That wasn't the only time I woke up. Seems like I woke up half a dozen or more times along the way. I was either snoring, or I had to pee, and then I had to dream of my shit sister and her fucked-up brood.

We were living in what looked like our Maricopa house. I guess we all just moved in or something. A couple of her brats were there giving me the silent treatment, but I ignored them in return and didn't pay it much mind. As the morning wore on, it was getting hot in the house, and I suggested we shut the windows and kick the AC on. Then some kind of service guy was at the house that the termite seemed a bit suspicious of. She said something about measurements being taken.

Anyway, I did more research, and my symptoms definitely suggest polyps, and then there's the fact that that was the first thing Rhonda mentioned. So I would guess that first, a valve issue second, and septum last. I'm really screwed if they're all an issue! They can shrink and swell at random, and they don't know what causes them, but there are some known triggers. One is ibuprofen, and I happened to take some before bed. I didn't take clonazepam, though, because I was caught up on sleep. But now that I'm tired, I'm going to take it when I crash, so hopefully, it helps me sleep better. Again, I don't want to overdo it, but I'm glad it's there when I need it. So no more ibuprofen. I'll be switching to Tylenol when I have any kind of pain. Besides humidifiers, eucalyptus or peppermint oil, vitamin D, and apples were on the list of recommendations I dug up.

I found the vitamin D thing rather interesting because I had increased my vitamin D before labs, and my nose had gotten better a few days or so before seeing Rhonda. I thought it was simply because I was less stressed out knowing I would soon be seeing her, but maybe there was more to it.

With tomorrow's groceries, apples will be coming. I'll also put some eucalyptus oil in my diffuser before bed and put the humidifier on as I've been doing ever since I got it. I don't know if it will do me any good, though, or the clonazepam, but we'll find out.

Since it had been better, I've been wearing the kids' nose strips because they fit my tiny nose better and are more comfortable, but they aren't as thick and strong, so I will make sure I sleep with an adult one next time.

I just hope this spell doesn't last for weeks like it did the last time and that my lungs don’t join the party! The lungs I still think were on account of the Levo building up.

Despite being tired, I managed to dust the bedroom because I know allergens don't help, particularly dust, while the bot vacuumed.

We also grabbed breakfast at Burger King, but I haven't done much else. I napped a couple of times, although one of the times I didn't actually fall asleep.

I also recharged my herbs and gems by smudging them. If I'm getting to be as good of a witch as I am psychic, then maybe they too, will be another positive influencing factor in letting me get better sleep next time around.

Speaking of being psychic, someone asked if I ever thought of making money with it. Nope. It's not anything I can control. I can't control what information or abilities come to me and therefore wouldn’t necessarily be able to give people what they wanted. A singer can go on stage and sing a group of planned-out songs. Someone can go to someone's home to repair something. But if I'm asked to predict this or predict that, there are no guarantees I can deliver.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi Nalyra, love your blog and all your great insights on the show and the books! Years ago I read all the books up to The Vampire Armand, and I know I'll need to do a reread before any of the later books will make sense. I was wondering which books you consider "essential" for connecting to the show (and for making sense of later books)- I've already reread IWTV, and have TVL and QOTD waiting on my shelf. I vaguely recall not caring for TOTBT or MTD, so I might skip them and go straight to TVA which I remember liking too. Which others would do you think are must reads? I'm sure you've addressed this already, so a link to a previous post would be great, thanks :)

Hey!

Glad you like!

Okay, so this is my recommendation, since we are not THAT far away from the next season anymore^^ (and I don't think I've listed it like that yet^^):

Read "The Devil's Minion" chapter in QotD. The rest of the book will likely be on at a slightly later stage. But that chapter is important, and can more or less stand alone, because there are only a few things which relate to the story of the book.

Read "The Vampire Armand" next. There was an IG story back then, which had "Andrei" on it, Armand's real name. So we will likely get flashbacks (even if they're short). And also the things that... pertain to Louis and Claudia are rather important, as the BTS photos have indicated. (Also Armand's story is truly quite interesting). And of course, there is a high chance we'll get to see Marius in s2, too, soooo...

THEN read Merrick. Claudia's diary and a HUGE character reveal as well as the likely cliffhanger of s2 is in there. (Unfortunately) It is narrated by David, and Anne really managed to make him... well. David. 😬 But there is a rather important Loustat moment as well, and from Anne's notes we know she originally planned that scene with Armand(!) so that might be changed "back" in the show!

The later trilogy (Prince Lestat on) you can read later. MTD isn't really important other than something like that might have happened (already), we'll see. I mean, Rolin has stated he takes from PL, buttttttt I think the hooks for that (there are some, imho) will be revealed at a later stage. (Also, Antoine(tte) is revealed to be alive in that, but that is also a standalone chapter, if you want to read it.)

So in preparation for s2 I would go for the above.

The rest of the books are not "necessary" at this point, though of course QotD will be important at some point. And then, maybe in combination with the threat of PL and PLatRoA, but you will have enough time to catch up in-between^^.

And I think the threat of Blood Communion might be threaded through, however the Loustat arc concludes there, so I think that is where they will end up, eventually, if we get our seasons. Since their dance is from the end scene of that book, I think they foreshadowed that with it.

Have fun reading!!

(And: Don't shoot me for making you read Merrick, I know a lot hate that book^^ But I think you will know why I said it's important when you get there^^)