#who would be the one who goes missing first after Floyd?

[rfsmith]

After the 3rd movie, all the Brozone Bros share their locations with each other and try to make weekly calls or monthly visits.

[dearsnow]

YOUR BAR BOYFRIEND

- after being harassed by a drunken stranger, your bar boyfriend swoops in to save the day (bob floyd x fem!reader, fluff, reader is intended to be on the quieter/more introverted side, but if you’re not like that you can ignore that one line ⚠️ verbal sexual harassment, drinking).

PART 2

word count: 1,206

a/n - tell a friend to tell a friend… SHE’S BAAACKKKK!!!! i’m so glad to be back to writing, y’all have no idea how much i missed it. i’ll probably be a bit rusty until i find my rhythm, so please ignore the not-top-quality writing until then. also, feel free to send in requests or chat!!

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, I have a boyfriend.” You utter apologetically, side-stepping the arm of the man in front of you. He reeks of beer and a hard day’s work, his scruffy face all too unkept in the lighting of the bar. You can’t even fathom exactly why you’re in the bar in the first place- you’ve never been one to explore, but this man is making you feel like you never want to leave your house again.

Your eyes scan the room, but no one seems to notice your predicament. The bar is full of Navy men, surely one of them would be fine with pretending to help you. “C’mon, sugar, one drink. Thas’ all ya have to do. If it goes well, hey, I wouldn’t mind one fuck either.” He grins, winking. The hope that you held in your heart is quickly dissipating. “He don’t have to know.” You feel your stomach drop as he moves to grab your hand, but an firm grip shoves his fingers away instead.

“Honey, is this guy bothering you?” A voice behind you speaks. You quickly turn around.

“I… yeah.” You stutter. You’re staring right into the face of a guy in a uniform, his jaw set as he glares at the drunk through his glasses.

He moves in front of you, creating a physical barrier between you and the significantly shorter man. Relief floods you. “Then I think he’d better leave before someone kicks him out, huh?”

The intoxicated man rolls his eyes, but frantically shuffles out the door of the bar. His gait was evidently terrified.

The tension is pulled from your shoulders, and you unintentionally sigh. The guy with glasses turns around to face you. His expression is softer now that the threat is gone, and his concern is almost cute.

“Are you alright?” He asks. “I’m sorry for the pet name thing, but I overheard you and I couldn’t really just stand there and watch. I’m Bob, by the way, Bob Floyd.” He reaches his hand out for you to shake, and as you do, his hesitates through his rambling.

You smile at him. “Thank you, Bob, I’m fine. And I don’t mind.” His grip is firm but not crushing, just like his presence. You introduce yourself, and he nods like he’s desperate to commit the sound of your name to memory. The respectful tone is honestly a breath of fresh air with the raucous energy of the Hard Deck, causing your cheeks to be a few degrees warmer when you pull your hand away. Our of the corner of your eye, you can see him wipe his somewhat clammy hands on the sides of his pants.

“Also, I’m sorry for taking the place of your actual boyfriend. I assumed you just didn’t know where he was, so I stepped in.” His eyes search for your own, holding steady eye contact. They’re the prettiest shade of blue you’ve ever seen.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. I don’t actually have a boyfriend, but I thought a lie was the better choice. You saved me, and that’s all that matters.” Your voice has a certain breathy quality to it. You’ve completely transitioned from terror to being deeply attracted to the person who spared you an even more intense confrontation. Bob’s eyes widen just slightly.

He takes his hands away from his sides and motions to one of the tables in the corner, his face just the slightest bit pinker. “Would you want to sit down?”

You nod, and he leads the way. As he’s pulling out your chair for you, you can’t help but wonder how your night turned out this way. You went from having the worst night of your life to dizzily encountering the person you could only describe as being your bar boyfriend.

You just recently moved to this part of San Diego for a newfound job opportunity, completely unaware of your proximity to the Hard Deck and a Naval base. You didn’t know anyone or anything, and as someone who isn’t necessarily very outgoing, it was hard for you to adjust. Not even your coworkers were easy to make friends with, so you slowly became more and more isolated.

The bar was kind of your last resort. You didn’t expect to find anything great, and you still don’t know what compelled you to go, but some hidden part of you figured that at least you could get some form of entertainment. Finding Bob, though, you never expected.

Conversation feels easy with him. He seems like a quiet guy, but he knows exactly what to say to keep you talking, and he offers insights of his own that just further the subject you’re talking about. Words fly from your mouths, and you can say that you’ve never enjoyed talking more. You bounce from common topics like work and hobbies to deeper breakdowns of memories and experiences, your smile growing wider every second. You’re completely in a world that was built brick by brick for you and him.

You’re so lost in the moment that you don’t even notice the woman who rests her hand on the back of your chair until she speaks. “Bob, you of all people? Never would’ve expected you to abandon us for a pretty girl.”

Bob reddens as you turn to face her. “Sorry, Nat.”

She holds a hand out to you, which you shake. “Call me Phoenix. He’s my backseater, and apparently a lady killer tonight.”

Bob stands as Phoenix gives him a pointed look. “Sorry to steal him away from you, but he’s taken way too long of a break from our pool game. I’ll give him back to you later.”

“You say that like I’m a robot.” He grumbles, showing just a hint of disappointment at having to leave your conversation.

You wave him away. “Have fun, Bob. I’d better go anyways.”

“Wait-“ he starts as you stand up, “-could I give you my number first?”

You secretly cheer inside of your head. You nod, and he takes a pen out of his shirt pocket. “Here.” He mumbles, writing it on a spare napkin and handing it to you. His fingers brush over yours, sending electrifying sparks throughout your entire body. You could get used to this feeling, you think. His hand hovers for a split second before regretfully moving away. “It’s, uh, it’s up to you, but I’d really like it if you called or texted. I had a nice time with you.”

You tuck the napkin into your bag, eyes soft. Bob thinks he’s never seen a sight so beautiful- the sun is setting behind you, and it casts you in a golden light as your mouth quirks up. “Of course I will. I had a nice time with you too.”

Your voice is quiet, but a sound that he relishes all the same. He could’ve gotten lost in you if Phoenix wasn’t impatiently tapping her foot next to him.

She pulls him away, and though he knows he’s up for a lot of teasing, Bob can’t find it in himself to care. He just knows that he needs to see you again, and you know that no matter what, you’ll make it happen.

[girlactionfigure]

Antisemitism, an old saying goes, is the canary in the coal mine. The implication is that, when antisemitism is rising in a society, this is a telltale sign that said society is in decline. In many cases throughout history, this has very much been true. For example, the Nazis rose to power -- and later led their country into a suicidal war -- by mobilizing German society with inflammatory antisemitic rhetoric.

Nevertheless, I’ve always really hated the expression, not because it’s necessarily untrue, but because of the implication that what really makes antisemitism matter is that Jew-hatred eventually poisons everything and everyone else. I think antisemitism matters because Jews are human beings, and that should be enough for us to act decisively against it, not because antisemitism might, in the future, affect other groups of people.

Regardless, I do think that it’s important for people to understand why and how antisemitism eventually might affect them too.

ANTISEMITISM AS A SIGN OF SOCIETAL DECLINE

Which came first: the chicken or the egg? In other words, do societies decline because of antisemitism, or does antisemitism rise because societies are in decline? In my opinion, it’s a little bit of both.

First, it’s important to understand how antisemitism functions. Antisemitism is not only a bigotry, but a worldview that relies on conspiracies, scapegoating, and projection. When things are bad -- for instance, when a society is in disarray -- people need someone to blame. When a child went missing in the Middle Ages, who was at fault? Why, the Jews, of course. When as much as 30 to 60% of the European population died from the Black Death in the 14th century, who was to blame? The Jews. When Weimar Germany suffered from economic hardships, who else could be at fault but the Jews?

I personally noticed this phenomenon in real-time in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests. Instead of holding American police to account for their police brutality, very quickly, antisemites swept in with the “Deadly Exchange” conspiracy theory, which absurdly posits that it’s the Jewish state that is at fault for police brutality in the United States (as though American police brutality didn’t exist before 1948!). In this sense, it’s obvious that antisemitism rises when societies are in strife.

On the other hand, pre-existing antisemitism will poison everything in a society. White supremacists and Islamic fundamentalist terrorist groups, for example, often recruit followers with antisemitic rhetoric, but their violence targets more than just Jews. It doesn’t take long for hostile antisemitic environments to become hostile to many other groups of people.

"FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE..."

Surely you’ve heard the famous Martin Niemöller poem: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”

It is, perhaps, the quotation most often associated with the Holocaust and the Nazi persecution of Jews and political dissidents. And while Pastor Niemöller certainly had a point, the question bears repeating: why must others be targeted alongside Jews for antisemitism to matter? Shouldn’t antisemitism matter simply because Jews are human beings deserving of fundamental human rights and dignity?

As it turns out, Niemöller never quite got the memo. In the early 1930s, he not only openly agreed with Nazi ideology, but he voted the Nazis into power. His change of heart came not because he atoned for his antisemitism, but because he disliked how the Nazi Party was meddling with the Lutheran Church, which led to his eventual arrest. Even worse: after the Allied victory, he opposed the de-Nazification of Germany because he thought that it would “do more harm than good.”

In the end, it seems, for Niemöller, antisemitism only mattered when it affected him personally.

"FIRST THE SATURDAY PEOPLE, THEN THE SUNDAY PEOPLE"

The proverb “min sallaf es-sabt lāqā el-ḥadd qiddāmūh” — “after Saturday comes Sunday”— is used in many Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, to describe the treatment of Middle Eastern Jews and Christians. A popular variation is “first the Saturday people [Jews, who observe Shabbat on Saturday], then the Sunday people [Christians, who attend church on Sundays.” The idea is that what has been done to the Jews of the Middle East is now what is being done to Middle Eastern Christians.

The origins of the phrase, with this particular meaning, are contested, but some historians trace it back to the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine and claim that it was coined by the followers of the Nazi collaborator Palestinian leader Haj Amin Al-Husseini. The phrase has also been attributed to the pro-Zionist Maronite Christians in Lebanon in the 1930s and 1940s. After the British authorities passed the 1939 White Paper, which virtually banned all Jewish immigration to and land purchases in Palestine, some Palestinian Arab Christians reportedly worried that they would be marginalized next.

In the 1940s and 1950s, virtually 100% of the Jewish population of the Middle East — which once numbered at around a million — was expelled from their homes in a series of systematic expulsions and massacres.  

Unfortunately, much as the proverb predicts, Middle Eastern Christians have suffered a similar fate. In 1900, Christians made up about 13% of the population of the Middle East. Today, Christians form only 4% of the Middle Eastern population.

Assyrian, Maronite, Coptic, and other Native Middle Eastern Christians have been driven out of their homes by Islamic fundamentalist violence, a recent example being the massacres and executions perpetrated by ISIS.

JIHADIST GROUPS

Like white supremacist groups, Islamist jihadist groups such as ISIS have historically used antisemitic rhetoric as a “gateway drug” for recruitment. For example, Damon Joseph, also known as Abdullah Ali Yusuf, was indicted by a federal court in late 2018 for providing material support to ISIS. After an investigation, it seems that Joseph had been radicalized within a matter of months, following his conversion to Islam. Joseph, however, had espoused antisemitic beliefs for years, and it seems that his pre-existing antisemitic worldview influenced his fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.

According to former CIA agent John Kiriakou, after the CIA captured Abu Zubaydah, who at the time was believed to be the number three in Al Qaeda, Abu Zubaydah said that he never hated America and only wanted to kill Jews and attack Israel.  

Similarly, in his 2002 “Letter to the American People,” in which he “explained” the 9/11 attacks, Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden justified his terrorist acts on the basis that the United States is allied with Israel and Jews allegedly “control” the American government.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War, Jihadist groups have recruited lone wolf attackers in third countries by inciting against Israel.  

Hezbollah, which was formed to fight Israel’s existence, has now taken the lives of Syrians, Lebanese, Iranians, and much more.  

Antisemitism is closely linked to Islamist terrorism, even terrorism that doesn’t specifically target Jews, and it should be considered an international security threat.

WHITE SUPREMACY

Antisemitism is foundational to white supremacy, but it is not exclusive to white supremacy. White supremacy does not exist without antisemitism, but white supremacists don’t exclusively target Jews, and non-white supremacist ideologies can be antisemitic, too. In other words, all white supremacists are antisemitic, but not all antisemites are white supremacists, and white supremacists are bigoted toward many other groups of people, too.

Antisemitism plays a very specific function within white supremacy. White supremacists rely on antisemitism to (1) scapegoat, and (2) divide and conquer. For example, white supremacists believe that Jews are behind a supposed “white genocide,” aiming to replace white folks with Brown and Black folks. In other words, what starts with Jews doesn’t just end with Jews.

White supremacist groups often recruit online with antisemitic rhetoric, and many violent white supremacists were radicalized by consuming antisemitic content.

In the 1920s, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan is tied directly to the 1913 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish American. The KKK then went on to terrorize Black Americans.

DOMESTIC TERRORISM, MASS SHOOTINGS

Many domestic terrorists and mass shooters have been radicalized through antisemitic rhetoric, even if their violence eventually targeted other people. Some examples include Nikolas Cruz, who murdered 17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and employees in 2018, and the perpetrators of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people.

rootsmetals

you shouldn’t wait until antisemitism affects you personally to care, but antisemitism *will* affect you personally eventually, whether you’re Jewish or not.

For a full bibliography of my sources, please head over to my Instagram and  Patreon. 

[sorbetisfruity]

Guys Guys GUYSSS I have oh, Oh so many Thoughts right now.

Imagine:

Kiss the Girl scene with MC and TWST’s version of Ariel.

Rielle (his fan-given name) goes to Azul, saying he wants to become a human forever to stay with a human he’s fallen in love with!!

And who’s Azul to deny him?

He quickly finds out that the human he’s fallen for is NRA’s one and only magicless hero.

You!!

And, of course, Azuls not one to make a contract without getting something in return.

Especially when Rielle’s into the human he’s got a teeny tiny HUGEEEE crush on.

Soo, he makes him a deal.

If he can kiss MC within 3 days by sundown, he becomes human forever, and gets to keep his voice.

And if he can’t?

Azul keeps his voice, and him, forever.

Rielle makes the deal without thinking, throwing a scale he ripped off into the pot, allowing Azul to take his voice.

Azul sends him away after the transaction is complete, handing a shell-shaped locket to Jade and Floyd, who were giggling, knowing how this would go.

After hearing the very stupid deal Rielle made, his friends quickly came up with a plan.

You two would have a romantic boat ride, and kiss there!!

It was full proof-it HAD to be!

After all, nearly two days have already passed. They have no choice now.

What none of them accounted for was you-unintentionally-knowing everything.

———————————————————————

“Rielle? Where are ya takin me?” You laughed as he pulled you along, not saying a word to you.

It seems as if he was giving you the silent treatment these past few days, not saying a single word.

It struck you as weird, if you were honest. Rielle was always a chatterbox, constantly talking about things he’d find on the ocean floor and his adventures under water.

However, after talking to his friends, Flounder and Neige, you found out he had a big performance soon and was on vocal rest.

You didn’t believe them at first, as they stuttered nervously throughout their entire explanation. But you knew at least Neige would never lie to you.

Right?

The whole situation reminded you of the original Little Mermaid, with his lost voice and all. He hadn’t even went into the ocean lately, which he tends to do after school.

It all brought a feeling of unease upon you.

Though, you knew Rielle wasn’t in love with anybody, let alone you.

There was no way he made a deal with Azul…right?

Rielle looked back at you, a playful smile on his lips as he brought a finger up, silently shushing you.

You rolled your eyes as you giggled, continuing to let yourself be dragged around by him.

Once you two reached your destination, he pulled back a curtain of long, glowing vines, revealing a small wooden boat.

Your mouth dropped, immediately feeling your stomach start to swarm with butterflies.

Either you were going crazy, or this is playing out exactly as it did in the movie.

The missing voice, the way he’s been weirdly close to you these past two days, not going into the ocean…and now this!?!

You’re going to kick Azuls ass.

Rielle snapped you out of your trance, giving you a worried look.

“Ah, sorry! Don’t worry, I’m fine.” You nervously laughed it off, chewing on your bottom lip.

Rielle got into the boat first, testing the durability of it. Once he felt that it was fine, he reached his hand out to you softly, looking at you with eyes filled with something you couldn’t pinpoint.

You blushed as you took his hand, allowing him to yank you into his hard chest.

He held you there for a moment. His other arm around your waist as he held your hand close to his heart.

You didn’t dare look up. You wouldn’t allow yourself to.

You gently pushed yourself away from his chest, clearing your throat.

“So..you took me out here in the middle of the night to take a boat ride, huh?” You smiled, giggling a bit.

He grabbed your hands once again, making you look up at him.

You regretted it almost immediately.

He looked undeniably gorgeous under the soft yellow lights of the fire flies around you. A dark red covered his cheeks, and even his ears! The color rivaled his hair. His mouth was slightly agape as he stared down at you, seemingly speechless.

He nodded quickly, letting go of you and pushing the boat off before you had time to sit, making you fall back.

“Damn, a warning would’ve been nice..” you said lightheartedly, rubbing your sore back as you looked down at the water.

Your eyes widened as you looked down, swearing you saw a green tail quickly swim past…

You felt Rielle grab your hands with his own, clearly looking apologetic.

“I’m fine, don’t worry!! I was joshin, don’t sweat it Rielle..” you reassured, feeling something bump the boat.

‘Shit…that’s gotta be Jade and Floyd!!’ you thought, biting your bottom lip again.

You looked at Rielle, seeing how his gaze was fixated on your lips. Your face flushed, suddenly feeling hot as you shuffled in your spot.

“Rielle, listen…” you trailed off, watching him snap up and meet your eyes.

“I know what’s happening to you. I know you’re cursed, and I know you have to…kiss me..to break it. I know everything, Rielle.”

You felt another bump under the boat, this one more aggressive than the last.

Rielle looked upset, distraught, concerned..he gripped your hands tighter as his mouth moved, but no sounds came out.

“It’s okay!!! It’s okay. I’m gonna get your voice back, don’t worry Rielle. But first…”

You practically ripped your hands away from his, standing on the boat as you struggled to find your balance.

“I’ve gotta grab something.”

You eyed one of the green, slippery tails that has been bumping into the boat, before grabbing onto it with a tight, firm grip, yanking up one of the tweels onto the boat.

“Shrimpy?” “Floyd! What the fuck?!”

“If you don’t go and get my friends voice back right now, so help me god I will-“

“Calmmmm dooooown Shrimpy! If you want this little mermaids-well, used to be little mermaids-voice back, you’re gonna have to kiss him!! Ooorrrrr, go hunt down Azul.”

“And we are not going to let that first option happen.” Jade chimed in, leaning against the boat now.

“Okay, first of all, I’m gonna hunt down Azul either way. I thought he was better than this but apparently he’s not-and YOU TWO aren’t either.”

“And you!” You turned to Rielle, “you sacrificed your mermaid powers for me?? WHY?! You can turn into a human anyways! There was no need to sacrifice that for me! I’m not worth sacrificing shit like THAT for! Let alone anything!!” You stressed, tears starting to form at the corners of your eyes.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, turning back to Jade and Floyd.

“Take me to Azul. Now. I’m gonna have a little..talk with his octopus ass.”

“Rielle, go back to RSA. I’ll come for you in the morning and let you know what happened, okay? Stay safe. Don’t make anymore stupid deals.” You leaned down to his height, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek before getting yanked away by Floyd.

“Awwww come onnnn Shrimpy!~ Do we get kisses nowwww?” Floyd whined, squeezing you tightly.

“No, you guys aren’t getting anything from me until Rielle gets his voice back. Now let’s go.” You spoke sternly, wiggling yourself out of his slimy embrace.

“Of course, come on, let’s head back to NRA.” Jade chimed in, turning back into his human form as Floyd did the same, knowing you couldn’t breathe under water like they can.

You gave one last look at Rielle, a look full of determination, before walking off with the twins, sighing as Floyd began to talk your ear off.

———————————————————————

Part two Mayhaps?

This scenario has been playing in my mind since the live action Little Mermaid came out btw, I just hadn’t decided to write it out until nowwwww!!

I doooo have a pretty sick idea for a part two where MC (aka YOUUUU) gets Rielles voice back, but I’d love to know if you guys would like a part two just in case!

Byeeeeee guyssss >:0)

[saikira999]

~ Headcanons for twst characters playing Minecraft.

Another parts about:

Idia and Malleus!

Riddle and Leona!

Jade and Floyd!

[Azul]

Headcanon, what if Idia and Yuu somehow convinced Him to play minecraft, Azul...:

1) "Why are there cubes everywhere??? I don’t understand anything...."

2) When he learns that monsters are appearing in the dark, he places two stacks of torches around himself in horror.

3) Crying from the physics of trees.

4) Will try to make a copy of Mostro in Minecraft.

5) He does not like to dig in mines and fight, but prefers to engage in agriculture, construction and trade.

6) He built his own village, with a complex hierarchy, its own economy and an underground mafia, where he keeps all the villagers under iron grip.

7) Every five minutes:

<Octo_businessman> fell from a high place.

<Octo_businessman> tried to swim in lava.

<Octo_businessman> was blown up by creeper.

<Octo_businessman> was drowned.

<Octo_businessman> starved to dead.

8) If one of the players hits or kills an squid in front of Him, He will take it as a personal insult.

9) The only one on the server who goes to bed on time and swears at everyone in the chat, because he cannot miss the night while others are awake.

10) Chief of food, armor and potions (Not for free, of course)...

11) Tries to negotiate with the pillagers.

12) Most likely, his house is either a clumsy box decorated with vines and blue flowers, or a huge penthouse with twenty rooms. There is no middle ground. Also, it seems to me that his house would be somewhere on the beach, or in the middle of the lake.

13) Drowned people are his worst enemies.

14) Makes secret chests with all sorts of treasures that he clearly does not intend to share.

15) Already dug up all the gold and ransacked all the treasuries, while the others fought with the ghasts and withers.

16) He comes into the game the least often, because “I actually have my fill of things to do.”

17) He is afraid of dolphins, because he personally knew real ones and knows that they are not the friendliest guys (No, seriously. Dolphins are assholes. Just Google it).

18) Terrible in PVP and always dies first.

19) He says that He doesn’t care about griefers and considers their tricks to be child’s play, but in reality, he is very offended and complains to Yuu in PM on discord.

20) Likes to play in small groups of 2-3 people and does not like to play alone or with too many players.

(A SMALL UPDATE! Previously, this post was dedicated only to Azul, but I decided to make two characters for each post, for beauty, so I'll add another Lilia from the request here.)

[Lilia]

Lilia has been familiar with Minecraft since the game's inception:

1) "Ha-ha, I love adventures!"

2) Competes with Idia, who spends more time in the game and brazenly takes advantage of the fact that fairies do not need sleep as much as people (even the cursed).

3) Daddy's house is either a cave full of vegetation and bats, or there is none at all, since Lilia prefers to roam the entire server. Usually wanders the world on a fast black horse in leather armor painted green, but often runs on His own two feet.

4) He named His horse Samson.

5) He is constantly accompanied by bats.

6) During His adventures, Lily has found many interesting resources and items, and in order not to carry everything with Him, He makes ingenious warehouses with traps, which the entire server covets.

7) Sometimes takes other players on His campaigns. For example, Malleus, Sebek, Silver, Idia and Yuu.

8) Thunderstorm of PVP. Want to fight Him? Good luck.

9) Seriously... You will need luck VERY much.

10) His favorite biomes are forest ones. He hangs out especially often in Taiga and Tundra.

11) The second admin and dad of the server, who suggested Idia the idea of ​​creating a world for the rest of the Twst guys.

12) The most secretive player on the server after Idia. In most cases, He disappears somewhere far, far away, but occasionally, He can be found bargaining with other players, sitting in a tree, or on a campaign. He also likes to play pranks and make fun of other players.

13) For some reason, all the monsters in the area ignore Him, or quickly run away.

14) Collects records (He especially likes "Ward" and "Pigstep").

15) His favorite soundtracks from the game are "One More Day" and "Firebugs".

16) Lilia has already cleared out all the treasures, sunken ships and pyramids, and in order to further annoy other players, He usually leaves signs next to the empty chests saying “Lilia Vanrouge was here :3”

17) Didn’t go to the End because caught flashbacks because of the dragon.

18) Was the one who informed Malleus that a dragon egg cannot be hatched and raise a baby dragon, and without knowing it, he regrets it.

19) Helped Idia find suitable mods for hatching and taming the dragon :D

20) "Silver, bring Your old man a glass bottle of water..."

...And then He goes off to brew an invisibility potion so he can shoo away and banter other players around with an evil giggle.

If you like My post, please reblog Me! :3

Also, if You want a doodle and headcannons for some other twst character, I will be happy to answer Your requests. They are open :D

[misscinnamonroll16]

More of the brozone headcanons

John Dory is almost constantly complaining about either his neck or his back (lick my-) hurting

Bruce and Clay pull a Sokka and tell either Poppy or Viva that they don't really remember what their dad looked like but they often picture him looking similar to JD

Clay constantly leaves his clothes lying about and it pisses John off. And for once, Clay is NOT doing it on purpose.

I don't remember if I've said this already but John Dory takes it upon himself to do all of his brother's laundry. Like fold and everything. Problem is he doesn't tell them he's doing this. He just takes their laundry, washes it, dries it, folds it and puts it back. They only notice that their laundry has gone missing after it's been returned. The lil bros get together and are like "is it you? If it's not you then who?" Process of elimination at that point.

When Floyd drops something, he flicks it off before picking it up.

John Dory experimented with makeup when he was on his own. Not enough to be great at it or wear it all the time but enough. He definitely winged his liner with a knife.

Clay snorts when he laughs really hard

The younger brothers definitely still snitch on each other to John Dory. Clay being a little shit to Floyd and Floyd goes "John! Clay's being mean to me!" "Clay stop being mean to Floyd or so help me God, I'll come down there!" They all know it's incredibly childish and they're way too grown up to be tattling but that's not going to stop them

When they were in school, the younger brothers didn't do the thing of accidentally calling the teacher mom, they accidentally called their teacher John/John Dory/JD. John doesn't know about it and they'd like to keep it that way.

John likes cooking to music. He'll most often play some of their old albums and some of the other music their grandma had. It's all fine and dandy until one of the others walk into the kitchen and either scared the crap out of him or make fun of his dancing

The boys favorite candies: JD likes spicy candy and sour candy. Bruce likes the fruit candies, mike and ikes, things like that. Clay likes salted caramels and sour candy. Floyd is definitely a lover of chocolate but especially dark chocolate. Branch doesn't really have a favorite candy but if he had to pick he'd say gummies or gumdrops.

Floyd's room is decorated with posters and pictures all over the walls, you can barely see the actual wall.

Floyd convinces John to get his ears pierced after seeing John Dory just stare longingly at his ears (it sounds way weirder than it is 😆)

Floyd has the highest pain tolerance, then John, Branch, Clay and Bruce

Floyd definitely would walk around in an adult onesie (like a stitch one)

Floyd's favorite holiday is Halloween (or whatever it's called in their universe)

For Halloween, usually Clay dressed up as a superhero, Floyd was a princess, branch got roped into whatever Floyd was doing. The other two were "too old" to trick or treat but when they did dress up, John often went for either a hero or first responder. Bruce always tried the gory costumes

John feels like he can't do the things that his brothers do (mainly Floyd) with decorating their bodies. He's still got that "I need to be perfect" mentality, making him think he can't get body mods. Floyd convinces him to do the thing.

Floyd knows how to pole dance. He says he learned it for the exercise.

Clay still believes in Santa in secret

[azulsluver]

I just want to ramble a little bit but- My personal scenario/headcanon for Bully au (which by the way, I love your writing) is that maybe one day reader decides to disappear, even if for a little while, maybe they just hide in some place for a long period of time (or hilariously and sneakily find a way to avoid their bullies throughout an entire day, or even crazier a whole week!!). They're so emotionally destroyed that they start to actually believe their insults and awful treatment they endured, and so they decide to just isolate themselves further somewhere no one can "be burdened by me"- Which in turn causes everyone else to at first get pissed off and then more and more (slightly, very slightly) worried that their punching bag is missing.... Perhaps, even have escaped them? 👀 I would love to see who loses their composure first, even if they don't admit their obsession at all lmao

Anon you don’t know what you’re doing to me //0//

tw. Bully!characters, no one takes you seriously kinda, yandere, stalking, baby tantrums.

This was more crack than anything serious…idk what happened but rants bellow!

They genuinely start tweakin:

Riddle, Deuce, Kalim, Malleus, Jack, Silver, Ruggie, Idia, Vil

They’re the ones that usually have their eyes on you, to find out that you’re missing and not at a place they SPECIFICALLY told you to be/stay flares their attention. Sure they can last a couple of days without you but a week? Nuh uh, they think they’re responsible for whatever you do, once they find you you’re getting a whole lecture. Telling you they’d get in trouble if they hadn’t found you sooner but let’s be real here.

But if you hid in a place far far away from them (which is impressive and impossible tbh) they’re already having a meltdown. Biting fingernails, aggressively running their fingers through their hair. All of that, and the ones who usually stay composed in situations like these (Ruggie/Riddle/Malleus) start to overthink so bad that they look beyond stress. It’s the thought that maybe you ran away from them or worse got kidnapped or lost. Which makes them have more of a reason to keep a tighter leash on you.

Ok but Kalim, Idia and Deuce cry like babies and throw tantrums.

Let the imagination work so think of Vil sitting on the kitchen table with his hair tied up and a face mask on while wearing a robe, a cup of coffee in his hands as he stares off into the distance that looks like he’s about to stab someone. He deadass thinks he’s growing grey hairs and has eyebags because his favorite punching bag is missing after two weeks. Who is he gonna step on now..

Gets pissed off:

Leona, Ace, Azul, Sebek, Epel, Jamil

“But why?” Is what they said when they perfectly understand the problem. Do they feel bad? No. In fact people like Leona and Azul can go through days without you because they’re always busy with something rather than terrorizing you. BUT you have to understand that as much as they pretend to not care they aren’t willing to clean up the mess after your pity party.

Jamil and Sebek are only mad about you disappearing is because of Malleus and Kalim’s whining. Please save them.

Ace and Epel are the ones who are mega mad as in a corny way. “How dare my punching bag run away from me and disappear for days!!” Typa stuff. Unbeknownst to them they double the insults and it makes you even more depressed lmaoo.

Ehhh Jamil may actually panic as well, because when Kalim isn’t happy no one is. And he does misses you personally, worries when he finds you (which is really scary to [Name’s] pov bc why is he so caring??) he’s all over you to make sure you aren’t injured or anything. Still pissed so he might slap the back of your head a couple of times and lecture you + same thing goes when Sebek finds you except he doesn’t comfort you.

Thinks it’s amusing:

Rook, Jade, Floyd, Trey, Cater, Lilia,

“Ohoho did I go overboard?” Yea you did. Anyways little shits don’t feel bad in fact they think it’s funny and cute that you disappeared because you couldn’t handle the insults and took it for granted. Lilia and Jade giving you false comfort just to do it all over again when you make a mistake. They probably already know your hiding spots and camp there to experiment how long it’ll take for you to come crawling back.

Maybe, just a little bit that Trey feels bad. He coddles you for a while then goes right back to gaslighting because he’s always right and when he says these things to you it’s because you’re wrong!! The type to restrict his affections if you decide to go into another episode of running away and crying. Cater knows where ya at bc you have location on.

At first Floyd was pissed because his resting place is missing, like bae where you go? But eventually he understands where you went because for some reason he’s bullying everyone around him and stalking your location to see where ya at. Mocks you once he finds you, really mean but it wasn’t “entirely” intentional. Like he knows he’s at fault and is trying to cheer you up by mocking your “problems”. Ok but don’t do that again or he’s going on the genuinely tweakin box.

We all saw Rook being in this section no surprise. Knows every little place you could be right now, has his eyes on you 24/7. “My love I didn’t mean to say your lips are chapped and you can use some Vaseline but the whole thing would be gone isa joke :(“ it’s not. Purposely picks out your insecurities so you can do another runaway.

[robin-evry]

I'M LOVING THE IF YUU WAS HEADCANONS

Now hear me out.

What if Yuu was an Inugami?

Oooooohhhh you gave me an idea since it's October I'll post headcanon about spooky yuu or do some request everyday if I can, ask and you shall receive. I present to you inugami!yuu

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐈 🐕‍🦺👻

Inugami (犬神, "dog god/spirit"), like kitsunetsuki, is a spiritual possession by the spirit of a dog, widely known about in western Japan. Inugami (犬神) is a possession spirit similar to foxes (kitsune) but is located in places where foxes are absent, primarily in western Japan and the island of Shikoku.

( English is not my first language )

Day one : inugami!yuu

During the entrance ceremony, the headmaster Crowley realizes one student is missing and goes to find them to be selected for their respective dorms

Unfortunately after going around the school and even using the school ghosts to insist him on his quest for the student. But it seems that they disappeared Maybe they were scared or overwhelmed by the school so they ran away, but on the bright side Crowley found a dog following him who is wearing the ceremonial robe maybe the student takes off the robe and wears it to keep it warm.

Soon Crowley decided to adopt this adorable dog, giving them cheap food, a warm place to sleep in his office and new toys the cheap one. Although the dog tends to enter a class and sit somewhere as if it was a student. They even do the same task as the students doing their homework and when they walk past the staff it barks signaling as a good morning or good afternoon as if they were a student. Many students adored the dog especially the first years, ace and deuce treated the dog as if they were their best friend and companion

That reminds me the missing student still has not been found yet. Anyway soon something weird is happening at school for a few days, some students started to sleep walk or black out and then woke up in a different location. One student reports saying that they black out and found themselves in a restaurant with 5 bowls of soba and all of them are empty as if he was asleep eating. It seems like a ghost has been terrorizing the students of NRC by possessing them and buying multiple bowls of soba , all possessed students have had the same feeling of something entering their ears before blacking out.

After a few days the ghost managed to track down and was chased by the dorm leaders to the headmasters office. Soon the identity of the ghost was revealed, a mist appeared and the supposedly missing student, wasn't missing at all they were just in a different form and it was revealed the missing student was the dog of the headmaster and is an inugami.

Inugami!yuu finally met the first years for the first time in their human form. At first ace was surprised and while deuce was more shocked than ever. But after the shock was over. They will resume back to normal but ace will still tease and make fun of inugami!yuu by calling them a good boy.

They will apologize to the students they possessed and have to compensate the bowls of soba they bought using the students money. When the first year asked why would inugami possess the students they get "headmaster Crowley barely gives me good food always the cheapest ones so they possessed students to go out and eat their favorite food soba".

Even tho they manage to hide their identity for weeks, many students have already gotten suspicion over the dog cause how can the dog know how to write and understand things, this is an unusual dog behavior, especially to Leona. There's no way a dog can act like that.

Crowley moves inumagi!yuu to the ramshackle dorm because he was creeped out,( he told them all of his dark secrets ). Regardless Crowley will care for them even if their identity was revealed.

Floyd would casually try to squeeze inugami!yuu and hug them when he sees them. Just like when they're in disguise as a dog. And inugami!yuu would hug him back because he's behavior doesn't change after their identity was revealed

Inugami!yuu is extremely loyal to people they consider family. To the point inugami!yuu would never snitch in the first years and will protect them from any danger, for example inugami!yuu made a force field to protect the first year's from riddle overblot.

Similar to kitsune!yuu, inugami!yuu is a master at magic and possesses many magical abilities, but the difference between kitsune!yuu and them, inugami!yuu specialized in possession differently from kitsune!yuu who specializes in illusion magic. they are able to possess multiple people without any troubles at all and as well to enter people's minds and see their memories.

Inugami!yuu sympathize with the overblot squad but still it doesn't give them the right to hurt people. This leads to them being protective over the first years and a dislike towards the overblot squad but after time inugami!yuu will learn to forgive them but not now...

Regardless inagumi!yuu would fit right in NRC, and will always be their friend and classmate in NRC.

I kinda got carried away because of how much I love this idea, but I hope you guys enjoy this headcanon.

[twstowo]

I didn't see any mention of how many boys are acceptable for a single ask so feel free to do as many or as few as you want, though my favorites are the three fish boys and the two fire boys.

So, the way I show affection is I'll frequently give them small trinkets or snacks from my hoard that I won't miss and I think they'll like. If we're close enough and it's been established that they don't mind drinking after me and they like soda I'll even pass over the rest of a soda that I know I won't finish before it goes flat. Or if I made food like pasta or cheese sticks and I don't end up eating it all but they're nearby and like that kind of food I'd hand it to them. Often I'll let my sister 'steal' clothing I won't miss or borrow clothing I will, though I'd do the same for a close enough friend if they were interested.

(some of these examples are from how I treat friends and some are for people who are close family)

Anyways I'd like to see some of the boys react to a s/o or close friend who shows affection like this

♡︎That's a cool way of showing affection, I'm more into being annoying

♡︎Includes: Octavinelle and Ignihyde

⋆⋅☆Azul

He finds it odd that you're offering him the rest of your soda. After all, as the owner of Monstro Lounge, he could easily access an endless supply of that soda if he desired. The same applies to any snacks or food you offer him, he just can't grasp why you're doing it. However, over time, he comes to understand that this is your way of showing affection. Thus, he learns to appreciate it, albeit he may continue to politely decline. In return, he takes note of your favourite snacks and drinks, occasionally surprising you with them free of charge. Perhaps a couple of kisses in return?

⋆⋅☆Floyd

I feel like he would be similar, but he wouldn’t do it affectionately, he would simply get bored of eating or drinking and nonchalantly, he hands over the remainder to you. He always accepts what you offer unless it's something he dislikes, he might even toss in some Monstro Lounge coupons as a token of gratitude.

⋆⋅☆Jade

Politely declining each time, similar to Azul, he is unable to grasp the appeal of sharing partially consumed food or drinks. If Floyd is in proximity, he's quick to snatch the food from your hand and enjoy it himself. On the flip side, whenever you visit Monstro Lounge, he goes out of his way to bring you your favourite dishes. The gesture is offered generously, with no expectation of payment, as an act of kindness. At least for now.

⋆⋅☆Idia

The first time you did this, he felt a twinge of embarrassment, contemplating the idea of an indirect kiss, as your mouth had just been in contact with the soda bottle. However, as time passed, he found himself engaging in the same gesture. He began to relish sharing snacks and drinks with you whenever you came over to play or watch something together. The two of you enthusiastically explored and ordered new and weird snacks online, savouring the experience of trying them out together.

⋆⋅☆Ortho

He can’t eat or drink, but he does notice that you have this way of being affectionate. In a thoughtful move, he brings you snacks, cleverly sourced from Idia's stash. He memorizes your favourites and the ones you dislike, sharing this information with his brother. The next time you spend time with him and Idia, you find a generous pile of your favourite drinks and snacks, just for you.

[shakespeareanwannabe]

As You Wish, Chapter 5

Summary: When arriving at Camp Silver Star, Abby Floyd was anticipating a summer of adventure with an ocean separating her from the three people she loved most: her mom, her Uncle Bob and her Aunt Natasha. But after a run in with Charlie Seresin, an extremely familiar looking and irritating camper in a different cabin, her summer plans take a turn that neither girl ever could have expected.

Trigger Warnings: reader's children are described as being blond with green eyes because genetics are wild and Jake's genes are strong, reader is canonically Bob's sister (though biological relation is never discussed), reader goes by Buttercup and is tattooed, angst, reference to divorce, kids doing sneaky things, references to babies, Uncle Javy and Uncle Rooster (because they deserve their own warnings)

PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR USE ANY PARTS OF MY WORK

Breaker’s Beach, almost 12 years ago

In…out…in…out…

Jake timed his careful breathing to match the waves as they slowly danced towards the sand, the sky painted a beautiful cacophony of pinks, reds, purples, and yellows as the sun hovered just above the shoreline.

It was done. The papers had been signed and delivered to the courthouse, the judge had signed off on their custody arrangement, and her bags were packed and sitting by the front door of the house they shared – had shared. Now, it was time to say goodbye.

A bittersweet smile tugged at his lips as Abby’s peels of laughter rang across the near deserted beach, her toes being gently kissed by the cool water as Jake held her up over the cresting waves. He never thought it would end like this, not for them. Not for him and his sweet, beautiful wife and their two incredible daughters. They were supposed to be it, endgame, together forever. Whatever you want to call that couple who is just so blissfully happy together that no evil could possibly touch them. But points had been made and things had been said and enough tears had been shed to let him know that it was ending, whether either of them wanted it to or not.

His daughters were his only regret. Not having them, God no, he could never regret that. The very thought made him sick to his stomach. But knowing that this would be the last time he saw Abby for a long time made him…weak. His arms trembled at the notion that he wouldn’t be able to cuddle her against his chest before bedtime and his heart ached knowing that he would miss out on so many of her firsts.

Backing up a few steps, Jake sank down to sit on the damp sand and cuddled his daughter close.

“It ain’t gonna be forever, darlin’,” he murmured, thankful that she was too young to remember his voice cracking. “I’m gonna see you real soon, okay?” He pressed a kiss to her soft baby curls and felt a tear sneak down his cheek. “I’m sorry, darlin’…” His eyes clenched shut as more tears made a break for it and he tightened his hold on her, as though the last rays of sunlight stretching toward them would try to take her away from him, stealing the last few moments he would have with her.

Maybe he could go back to the house and give it one last try. Maybe he could convince her to stay, that they could work it out, that she didn’t have to leave the country, that it would be so much easier to do if they stayed in the same state. But that had been part of the problem, hadn’t it? And the judge had already agreed, with the provision that every effort was made to foster the relationship between the children and their parents. The papers had been signed and stamped, all black and white and professional. Buttercup got Abby, Jake got Charlie, and they would make provisions for visitation once the girls were a bit older and capable of traveling on their own. There was nothing to do now. There was nothing he could do now, no fancy maneuver to bail out at the last second, no nameless, faceless enemy he could strike down to save the day.

Sniffling slightly, Jake adjusted Abby, so she was facing him, and he traced his eyes over her features, committing them to memory. He knew that her features were the same as her sister’s, but she was her own person. The way she smiled and giggled, the way her nose scrunched up when she didn’t like something, it was all her. His Abby.

He trailed a single finger over her chubby cheek and she grabbed it, tugging it towards her gummy smile to gnaw on. Jake pulled her as close as he could to his chest without taking away her favourite teething toy and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then her cheek.

“I love you, Abby,” he whispered in her ear. “Daddy loves you. He always has and he always will. Please never forget that.”

Waco Airport, Now

Abby clutched her passport and boarding pass tightly in her hands as the plane taxied to the gate, her breath quickening as the plane door opened and passengers started to rush out. Just beyond that door, waiting for her, was her father, the man she’d waited her whole life to meet. She felt like she was a kid again, waiting anxiously in line at Disneyland Paris to meet Mickey Mouse for the first time.

Not that her father was a celebrity to her. No, he was way more than that. She loved her small, strange family in London, but she’d always felt like something was missing, and the lack of answers from her mother had left a small, dark hole in her chest. Her uncle had done his best to fill that hole, be the father she always wished she’d had, but it wasn’t enough. She loved him dearly, but it wasn’t the same as having a father to hold you tight or laugh with you or love you without a second thought. The mere thought of finally finding that missing piece had Abby nearly vibrating in her seat.

Finally, the passengers in the aisle cleared out enough that Abby was able to fetch her duffle and start the long walk to the door. She smiled at the flight attendants and the pilot, who was standing just outside the cockpit, chatting with the crew. The sight of the familiar looking uniform sent a pang of homesickness to her stomach. She had missed her family so much over the past six weeks, and now she was passing up the opportunity to go home and see them in order to meet the father she hadn’t seen since she was a baby. She wanted to be the one to meet Uncle Bob at the airport and have him spin her around like he had when she was a little girl and her mother would take her to pick him up at the airport after he had finished work for the day. She wanted to sit on the couch and watch old reality shows with her aunt and eat junk food and giggle about how silly the people were. She wanted to curl up with her mother on the window seat that looked out over their quiet London street and drink their tea while they read a book or watched the rain drops race down the pane of glass. She ached to see her family, and yet…

The thought of her father waiting for her behind those doors was enough to propel her down the plane’s aisle and down the tunnel towards the arrival gate.

As she breached the crowd of passengers, her eyes scanned across the crowd of waiting families until green met green, and she paused.

There he was. Her father. Standing amidst the crowd with military posture and a bunch of purple and green balloons, he was actually there. She was actually seeing him in person for the first time, and he was smiling at her, the crow’s-feet near his eyes deepening and a dimple popping out of his cheek as he waved.

“Charlie!”

“Dad!” She bolted towards him, dodging and weaving between the travellers who didn’t see her, and launched herself into his arms.

He caught her and lifted her into his arms as though she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes. “Hey, Charlie-girl,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her hair as he slowly lowered to his knees, allowing her feet to gently touch down. “God, kiddo, I missed you like crazy.”

“I missed you too, dad.”

His eyes studied her face for a moment, and she gulped. She and Charlie had made sure that they were as identical as they possibly could be, even going so far as to pierce Charlie’s ears with a hot needle and an extra pair of Abby’s earrings. They had done everything they could; the plan couldn’t fall apart now.

“You pierced your ears,” her dad finally whispered, gently brushing her hair away from her ears and she felt her cheeks warm.

“Oh…yeah,” she looked down at her toes. “A girl in my cabin did them for me. Do you like it?”

Jake shook his head. “Charlie, you know how dangerous that can be? What if you got an infection? They look great but I don’t want you getting sick.”

“I won’t!” Abby hugged him. “Amelia helped me take care of them. We cleaned them three times a day with rubbing alcohol and I made sure to keep twisting them so they didn’t get stuck.”

She wasn’t lying, per say. While she had been the one to pierce Charlie’s ears so she could pass for her, Amelia had taken over at once, making sure the new holes stayed clean and uninfected. Once, she had gotten over the shock of it, that is.

Jake sighed. “Alright, baby. I guess I can’t say no when you’ve already done it. But, next time, permission first, please?”

“Okay, dad.”

Jake smiled at her before kissing her on her hair once more and pushing himself up to stand. “Alright, kiddo. Let’s get out of here. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us, and your uncle might just kill me if we’re late for dinner.”

Abby grabbed her duffle off the floor and Jake snagged it from her, tossing it over his shoulder casually as she grabbed his hand, and they began the trek through the airport towards the parking lot.

As they passed a large bay window overlooking the runway, Jake’s eyes drifted over and he slowed to a stop as a plane raced by them, slowly picking up speed before lifting off the ground. She felt his shoulders lift and fall with a heavy sigh before they started moving again.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Do you miss it?”

“Miss what?”

Abby huffed. “Flying, dad. Do you miss flying?”

Jake hummed as he pushed open the door to the parking lot. “I don’t know. Sometimes, I guess.”

Abby fought back the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that Auntie Nat still practically climbed the walls whenever the urge to fly hit her, and she was always a bit snappish at Uncle Bob when he left for a long haul flight, even though flying a 747 was way different than flying a Super Hornet.

“You can tell me the truth, dad,” she said as they approached Jake’s truck.

“Who says I’m not?” he tossed her duffle in the bed of the truck and opened the passenger side door for her to climb in.

“I am,” she replied simply. “I know I’d miss something if I used to do it every day. So, it would make sense for you to miss flying.”

Jake smiled as he started the truck. “When did you get so wise?”

Abby shrugged. “I don’t know, dad. I guess camp had a good influence on me.”

“That’s another thing,” he said, taking advantage of the pause in traffic to look at her. “What’s with all the ‘dad’ stuff? You never call me dad. And you haven’t roasted me once since you got here, not even for the balloons. Usually, it’s ‘old man’ this and ‘old timer’ that.”

Abby felt even more blood rush to her cheeks. Charlie had told her about the playful relationship between her and their dad, one that led them to being both father and daughter and best friends. She had filled her in on how she razzed their dad about his age and his inability to get a date (though they both theorized now that it was because of their mom and not because their dad had no game), how she called him old man and he called her punk, how they pranked each other and her uncles when things got boring on the ranch.

“I…I mean…”

“You okay over there, punk?”

To her utter embarrassment, she felt hot tears start to slide down her face. She was supposed to be Charlie, and Charlie didn’t cry. Charlie was tough, a ranch kid who had been ready to get into a fist fight with her in the first week they met because they hadn’t clicked.

“Charlie?” She felt the truck pull over onto the side of the road before her dad reached over and unclipped her seatbelt and tugged her into his side. “What’s wrong, Charlie girl? C’mon, talk to your old man.”

Her mind racing, fighting through the embarrassment and the panic that was now coursing through her, she gathered her thoughts and began to speak in a quiet voice, tears still dripping down her face and onto her father’s flannel shirt.

“Th-there was a girl at camp…and she didn’t have a dad. She didn’t know who he was or where he was or even if he was still alive. But even though she didn’t know him, she still missed him like crazy. She said it felt like missing part of her heart.” Abby sniffled. She wasn’t lying. As much as she loved Auntie Nat and Uncle Bob and her mum, it had felt like she was missing part of her heart, not knowing anything about her father. But now? Now it felt like that part was sliding into place, her father the missing puzzle piece in her life. She continued, “And it just made me really grateful to have you, you know? And it made me miss you so much that I wanted to call you dad. Because not everybody has a dad, but I do, and I have the best one ever.”

Jake’s hand rubbed up and down her back as she sniffled into his shirt. “I missed you too, Charlie. More than you’ll ever know.”

Abby pulled back, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “It just seemed really unfair to me that some people don’t get to know their fathers, you know?”

She watched as Jake’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he turned his attention back to the road, pulling on smoothly and continuing the drive home. “Yeah…yeah, honey. I know.”

Almost an hour later, they pulled off the road and onto the long, manicured driveway that led up to Seresin Ranch. Charlie had told her all about the ranch, how her dad and uncles had taken over when Grandpa Wyatt passed away and turned it into a successful working ranch, with cabins for camping and trail riding offered to the public, but nothing could have prepared her for the first sight of the ranch through the trees.

It was huge. And gorgeous. Cabins, barns and stables dotted the landscape; Abby could see horses grazing in the paddock and, when she rolled down the window, she could hear the gentle mooing of cows in the distance. Coming around the bend in the driveway, the main ranch house stood like a shining beacon at the end of the driveway, grand and homey and beautiful. Abby felt a shiver run up her spine. It was better than anything she ever could have imagined.

Abby blinked back the tears pooling in her eyes as two men exited the ranch house and stood on the wrap-around front porch, waving at them. Jake chuckled.

“They just couldn’t wait,” he muttered, parking the truck off to the side of the driveway, next to a baby blue Bronco and a gleaming red motorcycle.

Abby scrambled out the door as her dad grabbed her duffle out of the truck bed and her uncles jogged down the stairs to meet them.

“Charlie girl!” One of them cried, scooping her up into a hug and spinning her around. Abby caught sight of a tattoo decorating his bicep and knew exactly who she was being almost smothered by.

“Uncle Javy!”

His smile grew as she hugged him back, his impossibly white teeth gleaming against his dark skin. “We missed you, kiddo!”

“Speak for yourself,” the moustachioed man quipped, but the smile on his face as he pulled her in for his own hug dulled the sarcasm of the comment.

“Hi Uncle Roo,” she said into his chest, the scent of something delicious wafting off his floral Hawaiian shirt.

“Hey, kid. Made your favourite for dinner.”

Right. Chili was Charlie’s favourite, and she especially loved it when her Uncle Rooster made it for her. Rooster worked as the cook on the ranch, making sure all the ranch hands and ranch visitors were fed three square meals a day. Javy managed the ranch staff and also coached the high school football team in town, something her dad helped out with on occasion.

“Sounds awesome. Thanks, Uncle Roo!”

“Why don’t you go get changed and washed up for dinner while I throw your laundry in the machine?” Jake offered as he slung the duffle over his shoulder and trekked up the stairs.

“Okay, dad!”

Jake grinned, a softness in his green eyes that had her smiling ear to ear. “Dinner in 20, okay?”

“Got it!” Abby turned and, taking a deep breath, walked through the entryway into the ranch house that Charlie had called home for 11 years.

Everything was laid out exactly as Charlie had drawn it. Her dad’s office was through the door on the right, the living room to the left, and the kitchen straight ahead, with a staircase up to the bedrooms through the living room. She knew that Javy had converted one of the cabins into a house for himself but that he spent almost all of his time in the main ranch house, and that Rooster had turned the attic into a bachelor pad.

Charlie’s bedroom was the furthest from the top of the staircase, and everything was exactly as Charlie had described. Purple walls, grey sheets on the bed, photos of Charlie and their dad, Charlie and their uncles, Charlie and the horses decorating the walls and tops of dressers. Ribbons and trophies from horseback riding competitions hung from a corkboard that left Abby’s mouth agape. The thing was practically overflowing with blue ribbons. Abby thought she was a great rider, but Charlie clearly had the hardware to backup her claim.

She pulled out her phone and opened the WhatsApp app, taking a photo of the medals and attaching it to a message that read, “You win. Hope you’re having fun with mum :)”

After a quick shower in Charlie’s ensuite bathroom and changing into jeans and one of her sister’s many t-shirts, Abby skidded down the stairs and raced into the kitchen, where Rooster was just serving up the homemade chili he’d been working on all day.

“Whoa, easy, kid!” he exclaimed as they narrowly avoided a collision that would have left the pot of chili on the floor.

“Sorry! I’m just starving!”

“Then grab a piece of garlic bread instead of trying to tackle me.” Rooster nodded over to the plate of cheesy garlic bread on the kitchen island next to Javy, who was staring intently at his tablet. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen, folks. I just need the hot sauce to really marry into the other flavours.”

Javy rolled his eyes as Abby hopped up on the stool next to him and snagged one of the gooey golden appetizers off the plate. “Yes, chef,” he mockingly saluted, covering Abby’s eyes playfully when Rooster flipped him off.

“I can always grab an MRE from the basement if you’re gonna poke fun, Coyote.”

Javy’s whole body shook with the force of his shudder. “Nope. Never again. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“Good plan.” Rooster winked at Abby as he turned back to the bubbling pot.

“What’re you working on, Uncle Javy?” Abby leaned against him, peering at the x’s and o’s that decorated his screen.

“Just trying to figure out a new play for the season, girlie,” he tilted the screen towards her so she could see the dotted lines between the x’s and o’s. “What do you think? Should I have our running back go here?” He pointed at a spot on the screen. “Or here?”

Abby gulped. Charlie hadn’t mentioned anything about football in their preparations. Abby didn’t know anything about American football, only European football. She knew that Uncle Bob wasn’t a big fan, and that Auntie Nat used to enjoy playing football with Dagger Squad before she was medically retired.

“Oh, I don’t know…” she murmured, refusing to meet Javy’s eyes.

“You…you don’t know? You, Charlotte Seresin, don’t know what I should do with my running back? Rooster, you hearing this?”

“I’m hearing it but not believing it.”

“What did they do to you at that camp, girlie?” Javy rubbed his knuckles over her hair. “Steal your brain?”

She grinned weakly. “Sorry, Uncle Javy. I guess I’m just tired. It was an excruciatingly long flight from New York to Texas.”

“Excruciatingly?” Javy stared at her. “Yeah, that’s it. I’m calling Penny and demanding your brain back. Since when do you use the word excruciatingly?”

Abby felt her cheeks flush as she opened her mouth to try to salvage the situation, but someone beat her to it.

“Upset that she knows how to use big words, Coyote?” Jake strolled into the kitchen, snagging a piece of garlic bread and kissing her on the head in one fell swoop as his other hand finished tugging on his white t-shirt. “Just because my girl has a better vocabulary than you…”

“Oh, okay. Remind me who did better in Mrs. Stewart’s grade 12 English class? Hmm? What was that? Oh right, I did.”

Rooster snorted as he stirred the chili. “Oh, here we go.”

“Yeah, and who was it that helped you write that final essay? Was it me? Because I distinctly remember it being me.”

“Only after I came up with the idea.”

“Right, just like you came up with the idea for the play against St. Mary’s, but I’m the one who executed it perfectly. Who got the credit for that win again? Hmm?”

“We both did, you dummy.”

“Okay, and what about the evasive maneuvers we came up with at Top Gun? What’re they called again? Oh yeah, The Hangman Maneuver!”

“They should’ve been called the Coyote Maneuver!”

“Oh screw that, it should’ve been called the Rooster Maneuver!”

As Rooster clicked the stove off and turned to join the argument, Abby felt a warmth as familiar as her home in London wash over her like a cool breeze on a warm day. This was home, just as much as her home in London with her mum and aunt and uncle. She belonged here, just as much as she belonged in London. This felt right.

Tags List: @mamachasesmayhem @jessicab1991 @waltermis @buckysteveloki-me @allepaula @yuckosworld @seresinsbrat @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @kim-stark @cierra715 @high-speed-r @helpmepleasethanks @starsrfun @tomanyfandomstrash @averyhotchner @the-blueatlas @princessliz86 @dashes-dizzydisaster @a-girl-who-loves-disney @boiolay @djs8891 @torimcc @tgmreader @kmc1989 @landpiranha-blog @sydthekid1518 @lynnevanss @hello7442 @mackenzieblair @minejungwoo @starset21 @ssa-sadboi @tgmavericklover @dempy @rockbottomphilosophies-blog @lovemarvelousfics @starkleila @magical-spit @whatislovevavy @simplyreading96 @vivalas-vega @itsdesiree86 @inky-sun @books-are-escapes @abaker74

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

What would Miss Raven's dream be like in chapter 7, what would be the catalyst that would make her cower, if he were in Jade's dream, what would her version be like (I imagine Jade would see Drem!Raven as a silly and passionate girl who believes everything what he says) and how would she react to all this?

I’ve written about what Miss Raven would be dreaming about in book 7 ^^ (It can be read here!) I also wrote about how she might be woken up (here!).

To summarize (and add a little more to what I wrote before), Miss Raven would be curse-free and living in a real life fairy tale/Disney musical 😂 She’d be a common village girl that gets the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to the ball ✨

I think she’d be rattled a little when she’s reminded that she still has unfinished business… Miss Raven hates to leave a task undone, or a story unwritten. There’s still too many possibilities unexplored! You could tell her about how this world, despite looking perfect, is actually rigid and doesn’t allow for any liberties to be taken. There’s a bunch of predetermined plot points and no sense of real progression, and she’s a puppet being strung along on strings. There’s no freedom to be found in that, it’s just another cage.

But she’s not fully awake yet…! The darkness is trying to lure her away. She needs one last big push! So what should we do? GIVE HER A DOSE OF REALITY :)) The thing is, a lot of the constructs of her dream pull from her fantasies and daydreams, but it also pulls from her naive expectations of living among the humans would be like (aaaaaall the way back from when she was still an ordinary bird). Then she took on the form of a girl and came to NRC… and, uh… those dreams of hers got shattered real quick. She learned about all the imperfect aspects of humans—and though it’s not what she envisioned, she’s fascinated by it all the same. So… The dream team has to remind Miss Raven about how terrible everyone and everything can be!! It’s the only way to wake her! (Maybe have Jade go in masquerading as a “prince” and then he intentionally acts like an asshole to mess with her fantasy www)

Speaking of J word!! I joked to some irls that she would just be a doe-eyed raven’s head on a human girl’s body. And, well…

… Yeah, that checks out 😂 (Credit for the doodle goes to @anbaisai!)

“Ah, yes, Miss Raven… Poor, small, helpless, pathetic, eager-to-please Miss Raven, so wide-eyes and trusting, fufufu.” — Jade To quote a friend, “He’d put her in a small birdcage and shake her around until she cries.”

It would be funny if dream!Raven spoke entirely in screeches and caws and only Jade can understand her. Then he keeps mistranslating what she’s saying to everyone else and they just… believe him. Like dream!Azul and dream!Floyd, dream!Raven would be very cowardly, prone to tears, and reliant on Jade. She’d follow him around like a baby chick that imprinted on the first thing it saw after hatching.

[kunikame]

# PURPLE LILACS !

[06] - dude... | prev. | m. list | next

ace trappola x fem!reader smau

! warning(s) : cussing, st@bbing mention, sewerslide & kys jokes, is ace developing a crush? is he not? well never know, author real story incorporated (yes the scissor story is real.) ! w/c : 865

even through your doubts, you chose to accept aces invitation in the end. perhaps this meeting will help clear up said doubts, who knows? plus, you suppose it wouldn’t hurt too much to pay the octatrio a little surprise visit.

upon entering the mirror chamber you immediately notice the ginger waiting for you by the octavinelle mirror, fiddling with his phone angrily. probably texting deuce, you assume. once he takes notice of your nearing footsteps he looks up and immediately brightens when his eyes land on you. “[name]! i didn’t think you would actually come!”

“.. that would be really rude. sounds more like something you would do.”

he winces momentarily, then after a moment, he nods in understanding, “can’t say i blame you for thinking that. shall we go?” 

ace holds his arm out for you to take, which you glance at warily, only to walk past him and through the mirror.

it’s not that you don’t trust ace, you’ve been through a bunch of shit during your time in nrc together, but you don’t really want to be seen arm-locked with him, either. people might get the wrong idea, or something (you fail to realize you’re literally going on something that looks like a “date” to outsiders). 

after a short mirror trip you find yourself outside the magical octavinelle dorm building. due to the dizziness the mirrors effects still have on you, you stumble a bit upon landing and immediately feel aces hand on your arm to help you steady yourself. after the first couple months you spent here, your friends have all learned the mirror makes you dizzy, and there’s always someone reaching a helping hand out whenever you use it. ace himself has done it a million times before.

so why is your heart racing just a tad faster this one time?

and why are aces hands shaking slightly?

“jadey my dearest!”

“seven save me,” was all the eel got to utter before getting body slammed.

“oh, how i missed you so! i’m so happy to see you’re finally back from war!” you say, wiping some fake tears from your cheeks.

“he is not ‘at war’. he is simply ‘working’. as all humans should, because some clearly have way too much time on their hands.”

“zuzu! … go back to war, i did not miss you.”

azuls expression was a hilarious mix of flabbergasted and backstabbed and you wish you had a free hand to take a picture, but it seems floyd had you covered when you notice his flash go off.

“what’re ya here for today, shrimpy? .. oh, crabby is here too! here for a squeeze?”

“no. nope. absolutely not,” out of the corner of your eye you could see ace slowly backing away from floyd, who wore his signature menacing grin–

“c’mon floyd, back to work you go.”

–before azul (who was still pouting) hauled him away. to this day you still don’t understand how he can do that.

“thank you, zuzu! love you!”

“i hope you explode.” (he’s not pouting anymore)

“so, what are you here for today?”

“ace asked me to hang out. i decided i’d see how it goes.”

“i see,” the eel hums in thought, “alright. give me a call if anything. or floyd. any of us, really.”

“thanks, jade. i hope i won’t need to."

“he threw you down a well?!”

“he sure as hell did! and our dad just stood by and watched, no words, nothing! like a damn statue!”

you’re pretty sure you’re doing an ab workout with how bad your stomach hurts from laughing so much.

“they couldn’t even pull me out! had to call the fire department, they were all like, “oh yeah, my child tripped and fell in the well in our backyard” tripped and fell my fucking ass, hello?! i was screaming ‘n crying when they got me out.”

“i’m so… so sorry… i can’t-can’t breathe–” you continued your hysterical fit for a short while longer before you finally managed to calm down.

“ohhh my god i can’t believe this, man,” you finally took a drink of the smoothie jade placed on your table about 30 minutes ago, “your childhood days were fucking wild.”

“yeah,” he copied you by also drinking from his drink, “how about yours? if you want to share that is, i understand that’s a.. sensitive topic right now.”

“no, no, it's fine. umm.. let me think..” swirling the contents of the glass before you, you thought deep and far back into your memories, until you found something appropriate, “oh, i stabbed myself with scissors once,” ace nearly chokes on his drink, “intentionally, i think? we were making some christmas cutouts with my mom when i was 7 and she left me unsupervised for 5 minutes. i started playing with the scissors pretending they were planes and the plane was supposed to crash into a mountain, which was my knee, and yeah. boom. scissors i my knee, blood everywhere, mom screaming bloody murder, and im just staring with my stupid little blank face.”

you look up from your smoothie and ace is staring at you like you just told him you ate your foot raw.

“dude…”

## ❝ after the events of the phantom bride wedding, ace started wondering whether he still had the ability to charm girls. he hasn’t thought about anyone romantically in years, hasn’t really flirted with anyone either, what if he’s gone out of it? perhaps it’s time to put his talents to the test; with the person who hates him most, no less. if he can charm her, he can charm anyone. ❞

#TAGLIST ! : @solxima @gabirii @lunavixia @y2unagiz @the-ghost-0f-t0m0 @borlining @verity-moon @myunghology @doughnuts-eater @lifeless-bug @babygurlenthusiast @shirishere @xopeach @stormyovent0aster @bontensbabygirl @ars-tral @wrathy-mcwrathface @sinofthesloth @skeet-2 @everettelz @sakuram1nt @shatiyuh @ambigrueity @junebunny06 @norylight @dyedracoonhair // ask/comment to be added/removed! (if you're in bold i can't tag you)

[yunarim]

╰┈➤ summary : you and your reliable partner grim are the most famous interdimensional travelers under the Official Isekai Association. you're used to traveling into psychological thrillers and horrors. however, this time something goes wrong, and you suddenly turn into the protagonist of… an otome game?!

— characters : jade leech, leona kingscholar | kalim al-asim, azul ashengrotto | lilia vanrouge, idia shroud

⌞tags⌝ : gn reader, fluff at times, angst (i'm offering EXTRA angst and drama for lilia & idia for you today), mentions of death, idia's part being quite dark actually, BUT there's a happy ending (or i think so but feel free to allegorize as you please! :))

— w.c. : 14.8k+

⌞notes⌝ : thank you for reading everyone!! it was really fun to write, and now i'm off to the uni activities (let's hope i'll have more spare time than i think i will so i can be more active on tumblr). i even thought to make this fic a bit longer (up to 200+ pages or so?) but due to lack of time i just had to make it shorter :(( but i hope you had fun reading!! thank you for all the support you've shown ^^

“Oi henchman,” Grim poked at your cheek, a strong smell of tuna coming from him. “How much percent does that bat-guy have?”

“Bat-guy?..” You asked, a dim and dull voice coming from the pillow you buried your face into. “Do you mean Lilia Vanrouge?”

“Yeah, him,” Grim’s tail tickled your ear. “I’ve met him so many times during your previous walkthroughs it’s insane.”

“Huh? You’ve met him more than me?.. I believe I’ve encountered him thrice or so.”

“It’s like he was always there.”

The dismal mood which glued to you firmly happened to tremble slightly at Grim’s statement. If he has met Lilia continuously, then how in the world did you miss him? He was there occasionally, twice you’ve met him in Leona’s route, but other than that? Lilia Vanrouge resembled a mystery under a dark lacy veil. 

“Tell me about him,” you requested. “His profile is pretty confusing.”

“How come?”

“First, the difficulty of his walkthrough is 100%.”

“Fugnya?!”

“Second, his traits are fairly… uncommon. Not to mention his age is unknown.” 

“Shit,” Grim cursed. “Can’t believe how tough that Idia guy will be.”

“Don’t mention him. I’m not sure if I can survive Lilia’s route.”

“Survive,” Grim repeated, crawling under the blanket. “You haven’t used this word since we first landed in our first thriller. What, do you think that Lilia dude will kill you just because he’s a bat or something?”

You chuckled, making a strange noise, and thought to yourself that no, he won’t kill you for sure—you couldn’t die twice—but he will deprive you of your mental stability for certain. And with heart beating in blind anguish you tapped on Grim’s paw to feel less stressed out, turning to him.

“Okay so,” Grim sighed and started. “Be careful, henchman. I don’t think I’m ready to see your face after you complete his route. Dude’s dangerous.”

“Ha!”

As if you didn’t know that yourself.

You never knew where Lilia would appear. In Leona’s route you’ve met him just on a fortunate occasion, and not to mention your savings ran out to the point you had only basic transmigrator features left: to save the game and to load it, to see the indicator above people’s heads, to get auto-save once you finish another route, to be able to see person’s profile and such. 

So you came up with another idea. Since Grim was the one who witnessed Lilia during every route you’ve passed, you requested help from him directly. That’s why he went to the school yard, and you decided to go to auditoriums. 

Classes ended, and you started searching from the classroom where 3-E class lessons were, stumbling upon Trey Clover, who apparently was Lilia’s classmate. He was gathering his things, and now that you thought about it, ‘side’ characters also experienced strange emotions towards you. For instance, Floyd had to appear curious about you, once mentioning to Grim—which your partner told you not directly, but in his sleep—that he would love to make an acquaintance with you, because you somehow ‘fit Jade’s vibe’ or so.

You wondered how Clover would react and approached him. 

“Good afternoon,” you said, stretching out your hand for a handshake. “I’m Yuu.”

“Hello.”

Trey smiled at you politely, but the look in his eyes appeared to possess an uncertain curiosity. 

“I’m Trey Clover,” he said, accepting your handshake. “You are the directing student, right? You’re quite popular around here, but it’s always impossible to meet you, ha-ha.”

“Y-yes?.. Why is that?”

“Why are you popular, you mean?” You nodded. “We’ll… Lilia always talks about you. Which is interesting, he always wonders where you could be. It’s quite unusual for him.”

“Ha-ha, how peculiar… I also wonder where he is right now. Possibly you have an idea?”

“Oh? With how often he mentions you I thought you two are good friends. Or something more~”

You jolted, forcing a smile. Clover, of course, had no ill intentions, but his words were poisonous to you.

“How could we…”

“Somehow you two have the same energy…” Trey shook his head. “No, forgive me, I’m just talking to myself. Anyway, I don’t know where Lilia would be, but the club meetings should start soon. Maybe you should go and look—”

“Light Music Club class, right?”

“You sure you don’t know where he is?” Trey chuckled. “Sorry. Well then, I’ll get going. See you!”

“Yes… see you. Thank you.” 

Strange. No matter how you looked at it, it was strange to the bone. Clover just confirmed what Grim saw — Lilia obviously entailed an unconcealed interest in you, provided he not just was there in other routes, but also talked about you. But what was the reason for him to do it? He didn’t know you, unless there was an error occurring in the system and ruining the whole story, but it certainly wasn’t anything. So why would he…

You opened the Light Music Club room’s door and glanced over it quickly, noticing Lilia wasn’t there. Alright, you had some time to sort out your thoughts alone before encountering Vanrouge in person, so you came in, closing the door, and observed the room. Music sheets were scattered everywhere quite chaotically, and dust particles were flowing under sunbeams breaking through the opened window. 

“Hm, that one song…” You grabbed a music sheet, recognizing the song’s lyrics. “I think I saw it before.”

It certainly was a remix, something reminiscent of an old folk song you’ve heard once, transmigrating into a horror fantasy novel. It sounded quite romantic and nice, very light and joyful, something unostentatious that helped you during hard times. Horrors were always energy and emotion draining, but this song could bring you some sort of a rewind.

You smiled, seeing that not much changed in this version, but without any notes you couldn’t figure out for sure how it sounded, so the original tune just slipped out of your tongue. 

Enjoying the sound and the light feeling in your chest, you finally managed to feel genuinely free and happy, just like Kalim wished for you to be, and you positioned yourself on the windowsill, seeing people down there on the school yard passing by. 

“I remember like it’s yesterday,” you’ve sung, opening the system’s tools and checking Lilia’s profile. “When I was having hard time being lonely.”

Indeed, there was no age mentioned. How very strange, you thought, but also tried to remember how old you yourself were when you started wandering around the worlds, like a ghost haunting the mansion, finding no peace and always trying to reach for something significant. 

“The unfamiliar atmosphere,” you’ve continued singing. “The fearful thrills, now I know…”

In fact, you didn’t know anything. An unpleasant pricking sensation in your heart caused you to stare at Lilia’s image for an uncertain amount of time.

“Including my immature heart…”

You knew the next line in the song, but thought it would be best to refrain from singing it, when you realized it didn’t suit you at the moment. No matter how hard you wanted to escape this place and let everyone be happy, you still couldn’t and—

“You made me to think of those as good memories~”

You blinked, hearing obviously not your own voice, and now that you noticed, didn’t Lilia’s profile image turned not so transparent as usual?..

“Hm? Why would you stop singing?”

A popped up system window abruptly closed at once, and you saw Lilia hanging upside down and floating midair just before you. 

“What the.. Isn’t it the second floor?!”

“Now now,” Lilia sneaked into the room, plunging on the sofa, and looked at you with a sly smile, yet a kind and feignedly naive look in his eyes. “Sorry for scaring you! Although I’m not sure if I did, you don’t look like passing out.”

“And why would I?”

“Well, magicless humans don’t usually see people hanging upside down. I was ready to catch you if you fell out of the window.”

“Huh, thanks for your kindness I guess?.. And I believe I’m just not the person to be easily impressed.”

“Hmmm~” Lilia grinned at you. “Still, how wonderful that you know the original sound of the song. When I asked Cater and Kalim, they mentioned they never knew it was a remix in the first place.”

“Kalim…” You mumbled to yourself, not knowing that Lilia heard you, then shook your head. “Uhm, it’s a… popular song in my original world.”

You didn’t even remember the world you were born in. Was there any magic and you were the one to not be blessed—or cursed?—with this ability, or was it a completely magicless world in the first place? 

Now matter how hard you’ve tried, you never managed to remember at least a glimpse. 

“Oh really?” Lilia smirked. “How old are you, Yuu? It’s quite an old song.”

“I’m…”

Your physical age was the one at which you died, and after that you could refer as you pleased. At first there was a strict system which highly depended on an employee’s age, and there were tasks and stories requiring certainty, but as your bosses explained, there were not so many people ready for the horror stories, so they allowed people who were physically and externally old enough to buy appearance changing abilities. 

As for you, a similar case happened once when you needed to appear a bit older than you looked. But other than that, how old were you actually, if you were to consider the years spent while traveling to other dimensions?

“I’m 18,” you replied. “And you?”

“I might appear younger than I actually am, so let the surprise remain till the end, what do you think?”

“O-okay?..” 

Lilia giggled at how unsure yet accepting your answer was.

“What a beautiful song, really.”

“I believe so too,” you nodded. “But uhm, Lilia, could I ask you about something?”

“Go ahead!”

“Clover said that you… talk about me quite often. Is that true? Why would you do that?”

For a mere second the gleam in Lilia’s eyes disappeared, but you couldn’t say for sure what kind of emotion shadowed his face.

“Ha-ha, there’s something majestic about you. Makes me wonder if you’re really that cold and serious as you appear.”

“Excuse me?..”

“Ah, don’t get me wrong~” Vanrouge jumped off the sofa, then appeared before you in a flash, examining your face and making you flustered all of sudden. “Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. You seem so mournful and wintry at times, but we just exchanged fairly mixed emotions, didn’t we?”

“What do you mean by ‘mixed’?” You asked, averting your gaze.

“You show just a bit of emotion around certain people, so I wondered what it takes to make you smile.”

You knitted your brows together, glancing askance at him, and met Lilia’s widened in surprise eyes. You shrugged away the confusion grown in you and approached him, non-verbally asking if he was okay due to the sudden disturbance, but he quickly regained his composure. 

“Sorry~” He smiled. “It’s just that you… No, nevermind.”

“You’re strange, Lilia Vanrouge.”

And again he looked as if the world was about to cease within a second, and with similar impetuosity disappeared. 

“So are you,” he grinned. “In any case, I’m glad I finally found you. Make sure to be more careful when you go somewhere alone, okay? And don’t sit on windowsills.”

“What are you, my dad?” You chuckled, but the depth and a hint of despair stored in his eyes made you swallow your joke. “Okay, I will. Sorry for making you… worry?”

Just how strange Lilia was, really. Not only did he talk vaguely and in riddles, but also appeared to be worried about you, however what was the reason behind? 

“Just stay ali… safe. That is enough for my ha—”

“Lilia, we came!! How about we— Huh?”

And the day couldn’t be worse than it already started. Kalim and another person, who you remembered to be Cater Diamond, also a member of Light Music Club, entered the room with Kalim abruptly stopping talking when he saw you.

“Oh, Yuu?” He approached you, taking your hands in his and causing you to bite your lip to not say anything. “Hello! I’m Kalim Al-Asim, but you can call me—”

“Kalim, yes?” You answered before him, making Kalim part his lips slightly before continuing.

“Yep!! But uhm, Yuu, why do you look so dreadful? You should smile, I know you look so bright when you do!”

Cater and Lilia blinked at him, when you couldn’t help yourself but actually reciprocate Kalim’s generously huge smile.

“See! You’re so cute, Yuu! Just as I’ve told you!”

“Yuu-chan is surely cute,” Cater said. “But uhm. How did you know that? I don’t think you two met before?”

“Right,” Lilia nodded. “I do wonder, too.”

“Oh,” Kalim gasped. “Actually, I don’t know… It just happened.”

You clenched your shirt in your hand, but didn’t stop smiling, not noticing Lilia staring at you.

And also his heart filling up just slightly.

You’ve started questioning if Lilia’s route was really that hard as the system calculated. He was openly showing his unconcealed interest for you, and also he was the one approaching and finding you everywhere before you could even think about searching for him yourself.

He was ready to help you with anything, and he also was quite willing to listen to what you could tell, when you came up with ideas of what you two might talk about. Creating the ways of starting conversations was the hardest part, as you really didn’t know what was safe to say and what wasn’t. 

But what confused you the most was Lilia’s heart icon. 

Normally it would fill up thrice, or just twice in Kalim’s case, but Lilia’s one was inconsistent, wavering and uncertain, as if he himself couldn’t decide what he should think of you. After that one talk you had in the Light Music Club’s room you saw that there was a liquid in his heart, and the day after it just… 

Disappeared. 

You never knew it could happen and at first you were scared you'd fail, then you felt a relief that maybe there was a mistake in the system and you’ll be sent to the office shortly, but you never were. The system indicators were absolutely fine and showed no errors occurred, so the problem was in Lilia himself.

You could just say something, and the liquid in his heart would fill up to its third, then say something not so very different or surprising, and it would dissolve again. You asked Grim whether he knew something, but he also didn’t, so now your main task was to figure out what the hell was happening.

Maybe that was that 100% of the difficulty level of his route, but it still seemed simple with how devoted Vanrouge was, always meeting you and spending time with you.

Not to mention Lilia was strange to the point you couldn’t comprehend how you should feel about him. In the previous walkthroughs you learnt lessons, you tried to change and came to the realization you’ll never be the same, you’ve become vulnerable to no good if you were about to enter another horror or thriller. 

“Yuu?”

You raised your head when you heard Lilia’s voice above you. The heart was filled to its third, and Lilia bent over to look at the book you were reading. 

“Oh,” he said, taking a seat beside you under the tree in the school yard. “Right, there’s a magic history exam coming up that you first years will take, correct?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I’ve been reading about Briar Valley’s war period.”

Lilia’s gaze turned more serious, which you’ve noticed, knowing he came from this country according to his profile, and didn’t want to pursue, so as to not recall unpleasant memories, but Lilia suddenly smiled and took the book you were holding in his hands.

“Okay let’s have a revision then!!”

“Huh?” You blinked. “But I haven’t read much and…”

“I’ll help, I’m good at history.”

“Alright…” 

“So!” Lilia exclaimed. “Let’s see… What can you tell me about the pre-war period? The state of the people during the time.”

Despite how cheerful and friendly he tried to look, his eyes full of despair made you frown, but you tried to stay focused, and answered.

“Before the intervention happened,” you started. “The leadership of the Briar Valley took a number of political steps that attribute to the causes of the war, which are the nationalization of the means of production, banks and large-scale industry and the solution of the agrarian question in accordance with the program of the Briar Valley’s leadership, contrary to the interests of the landowners, which provoked the resistance of the previously ruling classes, who lost their property and…”

“Yuu,” Lilia interrupted you. “I see you’re quite knowledgeable and will definitely pass. But hm… Would you be so kind as to tell me what would you do if you were in common people’s shoes?”

“Me?” Your eyes widened. “Why?”

“Among people who lost everything and had nothing to do to escape this state were not so many people as calm as you are. So I’m quite…. Interested in your point of view.”

“I don’t think I can answer that?..”

“Alright, then… Let me rephrase that. If you were in the situation where you could save someone dear to you or save yourself, who would you choose?”

Lilia closed the book he was holding, and lowered his gaze, his pupils almost fading in a scary sorrow that slided down his eyes. 

His route wasn’t just a simple one where he could just fall in love with you, or where you needed to fall in love with him — you still couldn’t. The feelings you’ve carried towards others weren’t love in its romantical way, as you thought, but your emotions that arose when communicating with Lilia resembled a huge ball of tangled multi-colored threads of different textures. Some were rough and even scabrous, like sandpaper, while others resembled flowing silk enveloping the mind and warming the heart.

And maybe that is precisely why his walkthrough happened to be so tough.

“Of course,” you looked straight up at him. “The dearest one. I’m not scared of dying.”

You looked at him in surprise when the liquid in his heart rose with a spring to the max, causing you to gasp and almost scream, but then something absolutely inadmissible happened. 

His heart broke with a rattling sound, the liquid dissolved and disappeared, leaving just a glassy empty cracked vessel floating above his head.

“Lilia!!” You cried out, receiving a bitter smile from him.

What just happened?!

“Just as I thought, Yuu.”

“What do you mean?.. Are you alright?”

“Hm? Why would you ask that?”

“That was so sudden… Are you not satisfied with my answer?”

“This is not something I can enjoy for sure, don’t you think?” He chuckled. “But don’t worry, I just… I think I hoped you would choose yourself.”

“But… why?” You asked, your trembling hands being covered with Lilia’s steady ones. “I don’t understand. I won’t change my answer, but isn’t it only natural?”

“I think for kind people, such as you, it is. I would do that myself, there’s no denying. I already did once and… In any case,” he fixed a strand of your hair. “It just made me realize you probably don’t value your own life yourself.”

You looked at him confusedly. 

“Why would you think so?”

“Who knows,” he shrugged. “But it’s quite… upsetting. You resemble them so much…”

Them? You wondered who he meant by referring like that, but it was a valuable clue in how to finish his route, which by now resembled not just a walkthrough of a silly otome game character, but an extremely confusing, yet holistic individual. 

Them, huh. Then maybe… Was your purpose not to make Lilia fall in love with you, but something else? And what would that even be?

“I need to go,” Vanrouge suddenly dropped, standing up and looking at you, who grabbed his sleeve subconsciously without thinking. “Good luck on your exams, Yuu.”

“Lilia, wait!”

He paused for a moment, trying to find something particular in your eyes, and patted your head, demonstrating a deplorable smile.

“I hope you’ll manage to find something that will make you cherish yourself.”

You stared at his distant silhouette and did not notice how a single tear rolled down your left cheek, leaving behind a crooked wet path.

Lilia’s route was surely an uncommon one. You wanted to howl with how hard the difficulty level hit you, starting from Lilia following you and helping with anything to him ignoring and avoiding you. And you knew he did that because he also suspected something about you, not just because of the words you’ve said. 

And it was confusing. 

You couldn’t find him anywhere, no matter what. You even tried overcoming yourself and willingly approached Kalim to ask if he knew where Lilia was, but he surprisingly didn’t, leaving you with nothing but a cracking feeling in your chest after that little interaction. 

In previous routes, even if there were pauses, like Leona was just busy dealing with something, they never avoided you for about three weeks in a row. You were going insane with how you actually wanted to understand what was wrong, to figure out feelings Lilia carried within his heart, why would the heart icon break, and who were they he mentioned. 

Which is why you decided to bring him a bouquet of flowers you were going to pick yourself. It was nothing much, you would probably not be able to find him at all, but at least you wanted to give him something. If your idea fails, then alright, you’ll just pass him the bouquet through his classmates or clubmates. 

You remembered the forest you went to in your first walkthrough, wanting to find a mushroom for Jade. The same landscape, the same dull and cold weather, you having no equipment—it felt almost nostalgic. You didn’t plan to go deep further, just to pick some flowers without reaching the cliff you fell off in Jade’s route.

Ah of course, it was storming and thundering right when you reached the forest. 

You were shivering out of the cold wind and freezing raindrops, but there was no other choice. Not to mention there were also flowers that blossomed only in cold weather and should be picked only when it’s raining. Which is why you stubbornly went further, ignoring weather conditions, and found a small meadow surrounded by majestic firs. 

There was no moon in the sky, given it was covered with dark clouds, and you lowered your head, discovering plenty of beautiful flowers and starting picking them. Both your clothes and hands were covered in dirt while you picked flowers, but you didn’t seem to care, opening the system tabs and checking the meaning of certain plants. You wanted to express your feelings in a correct way without misinterpreting anything and—

“Ouch,” you clicked your tongue. “You’re quite spiky, huh…”

You pulled out a tiny flower with thin petals, noticing an unexpectedly thick trunk with sharp thorns, and felt your finger slightly paralyzed.

“Shit…” You’ve whispered, checking out the system tab. “It’s…”

“Yuu!!”

You thought you’ve misheard, because the heavy rain was getting stronger, the wind mercilessly burned the skin with its sharp breaths and howls. But when you turned, trying to recognize the silhouette which you think appeared somewhere in front of you, you were thrown to the ground, being squeezed in a strong hug.

“H-huh…”

You were surprised, you really were, and yet you felt so weak and unsteady. 

“You fool,” you recognized Lilia’s worried voice. “You idiot!!”

“You’re the one to talk,” you chuckled. “Avoiding me and then cursing me. What’s gotten into you?!”

“Just don’t go,” he demanded, tightening his grip on you, lying on top of you, who was still holding the flower. “Don’t go in the same way they did. Don’t die, Yuu. I’m begging…”

“Lilia… I’m not dying, see?”

“This flower…” You felt his lips somewhere in the crook of your neck. “Is poisonous.” 

Which you already discovered when pricking and checking out the file the system provided you with. It really was, but you had saved the walkthrough before entering the forest and—

“I’m not letting you die here.”

“But that’s alright, given you’ve come. I was worried and—” 

“Can you please worry about yourself for once?!”

 You paused for a moment. Right, he didn’t know you couldn’t die in the first place. 

But did it really matter? He reprimanded you, demanded you to cherish your life, yourself…

“Lilia, tell me… Did something happen to them, so now you correlate that case with mine?”

Vanrouge took your hand in his, frowning and placing a soft kiss on the place where you were pricked, and now it was you who started panicking.

“Idiot, if it’s poisonous, then you will!..”

“I won’t.” Lilia answered. “Faes are stronger than you, humans. This little flower won’t kill me.”

“There’s no need to worry about me, too.”

“You stupid!” He cried, cupping your face in his face. “Stupid Yuu. Your pupils are almost gone, you can’t even move your hands properly already. How come you’re so calm when you’re literally dying!?”

“Why would you care!!” 

You clenched your hands into fists, curling your fingers into your palms as if shivering in pain, and exhaled painfully slowly, closing your eyes. 

In fact, you knew. You’ve realized just as they’re not only characters of a game you’ve crushed into, they were more humanic then you yourself were. They’ve taught you different feelings.

But from the obsessive thoughts that you really melted the crust of thick ice that covered your true essence, capable of loving; you wanted to escape from these thoughts, the stubborn belief that putting on a mask of alienation and indifference was the most correct decision was about to disappear, had you only look in Lilia’s worried eyes.

While you wanted them to be not just game characters and experience different feelings, you also desired for yourself to be a doll without any bright emotions. 

“Why would I, you ask? Really?” He whispered, laughing nervously. “Fine. You do resemble my first lover who died long long ago. Just like you’re about to do, they also pricked their finger and died from poison.”

You frowned, avoiding meeting his stare.

“And they also didn’t care about themselves. They wished for me to be happy, for me to be alive. And I was there, a fae who couldn’t die that easily, witnessing their death.”

“I’m sorry for your loss…”

“Shut it,” he leaned closer to you, but there was no warmth in his actions, and squeezed your hand, which you couldn’t feel anymore. “You’re not them. You’re… You don’t care about yourself to the very last second of your life. I wanted to prevent you from getting into trouble, because I was simply scared.”

“But who am I to you? Just another mere human, what did I do for you to worry so hard?”

“Something absolutely irrational,” he chuckled. 

“What? Did I just remind you of your previous lover?”

“Quite the opposite. Remember when we talked about sacrifices?”

“Yes, what about that?”

He settled into a sitting position, taking off his jacket and pulling it over you, knowing that it was useless in this situation.

“You’ve said you’re not scared of dying. My first love also wasn’t. But they chose themselves.”

“And I chose the dearest one to me…”

“They pricked their finger when collecting flowers, because there was a legend that the flower could heal. They were already on the verge of death due to illness, but… They weren’t afraid to die, yet desperately searched for a way to live.”

“Lilia, I… I’m sorry.”

He sighed, pressing his forehead to yours.

“Don’t be. I couldn’t find the reason for you to treasure your life.”

You wanted to smile at him to avoid further discussion, but at the same time… You thought that you did.

It seemed to you that there was no point in denying it, and you closed your eyes sharply, hoping to blink away this strange feeling that you really wanted to live. To live and remember everything that happened, all the emotions and tingles in the chest.

“Every time… it feels like I'm learning a lesson…” You said vaguely. “To treasure small moments, to believe in myself and others, to smile genuinely, to let myself feel loved… And now, to treasure my life.”

“Ha,” Vanrouge chuckled. “Yuu, what kind of life did you live before that no one told you the things that make you human?”

Your smile was just as nebulous as your answer.

“I’m not sure if I was human before.”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind… Lilia, I… Even if I may sound stupid, please let me thank you for letting me know that I should treasure myself.”

One his smile, one his tight hold of your hand, and the bright light filling up his heart bursted out of it, enveloping you in it. 

“So that was the purpose of your route, huh,” you laughed.

“Route?” He asked, drawing you closer to his chest.

“You know, I wasn’t scared of death because I can’t die twice. I would just… reload the game and start again. And now, since I’ve finished your route, I’ll get into another one. But you won’t remember that.”

“Ha!” Lilia smirked. “I’ll never forget you, Yuu. And a fae can’t lie.”

You just smiled to him, enjoying his determination and managing to reciprocate his gentle touch, not feeling anything in your hand.

┆₊ ⊹ the song in lilia's part — nct u - from home

“Something’s not right, Yuu.”

“What?..”

Everything seemed quite alright to you. Your usual post-walkthrough experience, Grim nagging about something, another route to finish, another emotion to develop, you levitating in a strange void… Wait. 

Void?

“Where are we?”

Usually you could witness such a sight when transferring into another world. Familiar empty arrays, slightly interrupted by multi-colored digital fibers, waves of supersonic flew around.

“Wait, Grim!! Look!”

You pointed at the loading bar, indicating another world loading progression, and grabbed Grim’s paw, drawing him closer, being flown away somewhere further. 

“The fuck?”

“Oi, language,” you said. “But… What is going on? I haven’t finished Idia’s route! I haven’t even started it!”

“This is strange.”

But the profiles popped up, switching from one to another, and you noticed Idia’s one literally smashing into your face, causing you to gasp.

“Ugh!”

Before observing what the system tab introduced to you, you managed to look at Lilia’s ‘COMPLETED’ line which became common at this point, and, sighing, switched to Idia, gasping the second after.

No portrait, no information, everything being blurred or written in ??????

Nothing.

“I don’t understand what is going on,” you said. “At all!”

“I thought we’re transmigrating to another story.”

“The boss couldn’t just let us transfer to another dimension without introducing the details.”

“That little punk.”

“Hey, he’s our boss after all.”

“Little shit who let you suffer without any warning.”

“Grim…” You smiled at him. “Alright, is there any information available?”

“Nah. Nothing at all. But I guess we’re about to figure it out.”

A bright flash ripping out the space let you know that you were about to enter another (?) world, and held Grim closer to you, ready to witness what was about to happen.

And more importantly, what happened to Idia’s route?

Digital waves floated around Idia, breaking space and distorting it. Idia squinted in discomfort and because of the crackle of sparks in the processor of his computer, when a deafening explosion was heard, and space waves came out with distorted algorithms, system errors popped up every now and then, and Idia just growled in indignation.

“Uh, the hell?”

He rubbed his eyes with the dry fingers, discovering to his delight that the soda in the can hadn't spilled from the sudden rupture of the universe, and exhaled heavily with a creak, opening the profile that flashed in the system window.

Yuu.

No surname, no age, just an occupation — interdimensional traveler (genres: thriller & horror).

“Aaah…shit.”

Idia yawned, taking a cheese chip and biting it. While looking to improve his equipment and extract materials that could be used in Ortho's various gears, one day Idia stumbled upon a very strange glitch in the system.

At first he thought it was another error he could fix, but when system windows started popping up everywhere not just on his computer’s monitor, but in freaking reality, Idia realized he maybe perhaps possibly potentially very likely needed more sleep juuuuust a bit. 

Idia chuckled, unimpressed, and quickly glanced over system tabs, seeing profiles of people of this college. Wha, how wonderful, he REALLY did want to see them, uh-huh— The hell? 

“Not even dorm leaders,” Idia noticed, leafing through the files. “Riddle-shi would be so pissed off he wasn’t mentioned lmao.”

What a strange order. First Jade Leech, the second year of Octavinelle, then suddenly Leona Kingscholar, Kalim Al-Asim being next… 

“Yoooo, Azul-shi?” Idia chuckled, stumbling upon his clubmate profile. “What kind of game is that lol.”

The more he checked, the more he was getting confused. Alright, it wasn’t the info that couldn’t be obtained at all, after all everyone knows that Al-Asim is an extremely wealthy family, and Kingscholar is even royalty, but what was the ‘DIFFICULTY LEVEL’ parameter? 

“Damn Lilia-shi is impressive for sure,” Idia nodded to himself, pulling another chip out of the package. “100% difficulty, must be hard…. Not for me tho ofc~”

If there was a difficulty level in each profile, that was probably some sort of a game, right? So Idia thought before stumbling upon his own profile being blurred completely.

“Ayo the fuck?” He chuckled in disbelief. “That’s my name!!”

Unknown difficulty level? Well that’s obvious, given he’s the boss, the main character!!..

The main character? Wait a moment.

“Yuu,” Idia mumbled and repeated. “Yuu, huh. What the hell interdimensional traveler even means?” 

Some time passed with Idia investigating who the hell you were in the first place, and couldn’t find anything.

He leaned to his PC, checking out the monitors, and noticed you on one of the cameras in the school. Uh-huh, so that's where you were… 

Sipping the coffee Jade Leech brewed, you enjoyed the conversation you’ve had. Idia cringed at witnessing such an awkward situation, averting his gaze and not noticing the dismal look in your eyes.

“If Yuu-shi’s main genres are thriller and horror, does it mean we here live in one, too?” Idia muttered to himself. “No wait, isn’t it like, incredible discovery, scientific breakthrough? Shouldn’t I let the world know there are more universes we imagined, and here’s living proof?”

The ‘living proof’, you that would be, was currently heading out to Ramshackle, where Idia had no cameras, thus he just decided to create your profile himself, filling out the details according to the data he was obtaining. 

“Ugh,” he cringed. “Feels awkward.”

It did. You were interesting enough to know you better, but huh—he wasn’t a fool to interact with you firsthand, right?! He promised to himself he wouldn’t obtain anything that would violate your privacy, and come to think of it, your every interaction with anyone wasn’t concealed from strangers’ eyes. You were on the school grounds, it was only natural he could overhear… Shit.

“I’m garbage,” he concluded, dropping his face in his hands and sighing with a heaviness in his chest. “But Yuu’s too strange.”

Idia couldn’t let himself get some sleep. Not when your activity suddenly went up almost at night and you headed to the freaking forest! What were you thinking, really?! 

But wait.

“What is that thing…”

Idia leaned closer to the screen and gasped, noticing familiar flying system tabs around you. The camera he installed was too far away to see exactly what the tabs were portraying, but there was no denying that you brought those strange flying windows when landed here in Twisted Wonderland.

And again, there were no cameras in the forest, but Idia was waiting for you to come out. It’s not prohibited to enter the forest on your own, but given it was the school for magicians, they surely could protect themselves from anything happening, however you? You possessed no magic, and Idia already checked that—you were magicless to the bone—but didn’t you think it was at least reckless to go to the forest when it was dark and cold? 

He thought you were stupid, really. You didn’t come out for some time, and when he was ready to drop his face on the keyboard and faint due to fatigue, sound sensors suddenly arose, and your scream was heard. 

“What’s happening there?!”

He tried checking other cameras and found the one close to the further part of the forest, which demonstrated a view near the cliff, and noticed your figure, which appeared a bit distorted on the camera, always glitching and emitting flashy sparks.

“Yuu-shi is surely something,” Idia mumbled. “And… uh? Isn’t it Jade-shi?”

No way just WHAT WAS THAT thing above his head??

A heart-shaped icon filled to its half with a pink strange liquid. 

“Isn’t it like,” Idia bit his lip, eyes widening in disbelief. “An otome game thing?”

No way. Literally no way.

If you were an interdimensional traveler, that meant Twisted Wonderland was just another world you’ve entered, a book-like story with the effect of full immersion from the first person perspective, your perspective, to be precise—yeah, he got that already. But weren’t your genres thriller and horror? So what’s with that cringey heart icon and the way Jade-shi looked at you?!

There must be an error in the system you’ve brought. And wait…

If Jade was listed the first in profiles, Idia being the last… didn’t it mean that he was about to be wooed by you?! 

“Ha, you wish,” he laughed nervously, his heartbeat accelerating rapidly. 

The nature of that icon was yet to be investigated. Did it appear instantly after your arrival? Idia stood up, stretching and hearing an unpleasant sound of his vertebrae cracking after sitting for so long, then made his way to the mirror and frowned. There was no icon or whatsoever.

Okay, then it did mean that the icon appeared only when you enter your love interests routes, right?

He himself was safe for a time being. Interested in what the hell was going on, yes indeed, but also scared.

Didn’t it mean he needed to fall in love with you to complete the mission? And hey, why was Jade-shi so calm about it? It was obvious something wasn’t right with you, so how could he believe you so easily? Moreover, why compete with others when there literally were figures like Leona-shi or Lilia-shi?

After you were rescued and headed over to Ramshackle, he closed his eyes and plunged on the bed, ready to howl in indignation. 

Days passed, and a festival with the firework show you’ve prepared came. Idia didn’t care much, being able to watch right in his room, not to mention he possessed no interest at all, watching you getting on the rooftop instead.

Jade came not so long after, and when Idia thought it was still stupid to overhear you, but he needed that to figure out how to behave and what to do, the heart-shaped icon above Jade-shi’s head suddenly started glowing slightly, filling up with pink liquid to the max. 

The icon started radiating bright light, and that was when he noticed how shocked you were, how your face became overshadowed with fear and agony, and frowned himself. You looked like an anime character at the denouement of the story, but that was right when he realized himself.

If the route was coming to an end, what was about to happen with him? Will he forget everything? Shit, that would complicate his research, no no no!!

The last thing he saw before the light filled his own room was your sad yet bright smile on the screen, and then the world went out.

“Ugh…”

When Idia woke up, he noticed a strange pricking feeling in his chest, then rushed to the PC. 

“You gotta be kidding…”

Your image and a progress indicator under the photo suddenly popped up in front of him.

20% of completion. 

He checked Jade Leech’s profile which already turned gray and unavailable to interact with anymore, but then Leona’s profile popped up, showing 0% of completion. 

“So I… remember everything?”

A strange joy blossomed in his chest for a brief moment before a realization hit, notifying that he needed to continue investigating. And that he also still was one of the targets.

“Mkay,” he muttered, getting out of bed and crawling on the chair, feeling sleep deprived and hungry. Who cared about food anyway? “Let’s continue, Yuu-shi.”

What was his role in this game though? Well, he obviously meant to be the main character with extra imbalance abilities! But after waking up and remembering everything that happened, especially your unnaturally distorted gaze, he started questioning his own purpose in this charade.

“Haiz,” he chuckled, noticing how you already found Leona-shi. Was he sniffing you?! “Damn he’s surely feline…”

“The smell, not of magic, but similar. Also like that fish guy?”

Idia knitted brows together, wondering what could Leona know. It appeared Kingscholar didn’t remember anything about you at all, but still carried a feeling that you and Jade-shi already interacted. 

“So he doesn’t know that’s a game,” Idia concluded, nodding to himself and adding the obtained info to his databases, his fingers flying above the keyboard. “Which makes Yuu-shi and me the only ones who know.”

Despite how proud he was for feeling himself being so special and extraordinary, he rolled up his sleeves and scratched his head in confusion, trying to form a logically adequate chain of events and arguments in order to come to an unambiguous decision as a result, but, alas, his attempts were unsuccessful.

What scared him the most was the possibility of being the last love interest. He remembered protagonists of otome games, mainly they were kind individuals with bright personalities, or with no personalities at all. He preferred the last ones, they were close to his own blank gloomy self, to feel himself being the main hero of the story, to insert his own thoughts into the walkthrough, but you?

You weren’t so overkindly and bubbly as he first you would. Your decisions were rational at first, and you perhaps were provided with no knowledge about how romance worked, judging by your slow progression, the majority of which happened because of the natural charm and characters being enchantingly attracted to you… or so he thought. 

Idia howled when a stupid thought ran across his mind at the speed of light, piercing him through and screaming ‘Yuu-shi is really charming tho…’, and quickly brushed it off, shaking his head. Argh, that was all useless!! You were aiming for his heart, not the icon, but real heart, his real feelings and the ability to love. And to hell with you, he didn’t want to love you!!

He didn’t want to imagine what happens with him when you leave. 

Locks of his hair scattered all over the table when Leona-shi suddenly kissed you in front of others. Oi, wasn’t it too much?!

Idia wondered if the smile with which you replied to Leona was really genuine, or was it a perfect act for you to escape his route freely?

Days passing from route to route felt like ages. After Leona the time consumed for completing was extending, and when Kalim’s walkthrough dropped, Idia wanted to ignore you at all cost.

He could understand your previous self with an extremely concealed demeanor, rational and logical thinking, a goal to finish everything and get back home—where was it, by the way?—but as for now, you’ve started experiencing transformations of your soul. 

Your emotions became more open and vivid, your normally efficient and sensible ways of thinking were affected by a variety of feelings, which Idia himself was unable to distinguish. Was it the softness of your heart or an honest desire to open up? Ugh, normies things…

“Oi, isn’t his heart already full?!”

Idia checked the icon above Kalim’s head and gasped. Damn, the system that you’ve carried around here was surely impressive, demonstrating how feelings could work. Kalim-shi was most definitely full of love towards you, why hasn't his route finished already?

Apparently a strange thing called ‘feelings’ was the problem. Being in love with you but not allowing himself to express it because he refrained himself and wished for other people’s happiness in the first place? What a strange guy. If that would be Idia…

Wait, what would he do? 

“Let your own heart decide.”

Idia tensed up. 

You weren’t saying it for him, but the sharp cutting sensation that pierced his chest made Idia wince at the vagueness of his emotions, and he clenched the jacket in his fist.

Will there be any feelings left for him when you get on his route? 

“Shit, what an absurd way of thinking,” he laughed at himself. What a fool.

He should have avoided you at all cost!! 

But actually seeing you coming to his clubmate, the one he could consider a friend, and asking for boldly falling in love with him?! Yuu-shi, you’re extremely insane, huh?

Okay, that was your purpose all along—to make Azul fall in love with you—but argh!! Hugging in a narrow staff room?! 

Idia averted his gaze, questioning your emotions. Were you just collecting people like toys, limited cards in your collection, to just leave casually when it’s over? He didn’t want to become one of them, to develop at least a tiny something towards you to be left all alone. Again.

At one point Idia thought it would be interesting to watch you interacting with Vil-shi, given how perfectly you played the role of being the protagonist, the one who attracted everyone. 

Yes, it was for the best. It was the simplest way to think of you like that, a villain destroying everyone’s hearts. 

So that he wouldn’t feel so lonely himself.

When Lilia’s route started, Idia has woken up with an insanely strong migraine making him slightly worried. The more walkthroughs you passed, the more he was feeling strange. 

“I wonder if Azul-shi will remember what Yuu-shi told him…”

Maybe he actually should have gone and checked on him, but Idia quickly shrugged the thought off.

“Oh?”

Your image suddenly appeared to be too close to the camera he installed, and Idia wondered where you were, given you were sitting on a windowsill. Okay, Light Music Club’s room. And you were…

You were singing softly. Your voice was pleasant to hear, nothing out of the ordinary, but still fairly nice to enjoy. Not to mention your dreamy face yet shadowed with a glimpse of sadness… Why were you so gloomy at times anyway? Just play your role, ugh.

And Lilia-shi was also strange. According to him, you appeared to be resembling someone… What kind of Surrealistic Messenger experience was that, huh? What were you, a Nika? 

You really had no logic left, going to the forest from your first walkthrough again, huh? And it rained heavily, too, but Idia couldn’t see what was happening there. But when the bright light started beaming through the trees, Idia exhaled freely.

It was also the moment he realized. 

He was the next and the last route. 

You stared at the black space, hearing almost nothing, and the familiarity got you thinking that all of the things happening you had already witnessed once. Just right when you landed here in Twisted Wonderland.

You tried outstretching your hand, meeting with a thud, and you chuckled to yourself, prying off the coffin lid and removing it from the hinges, taking one step out.

“Grim?”

“Henchman…”

Grim found you, who was wearing the ceremonial robe, and you two ended up bursting with hysterical laughter, when Crowley came and noticed you… 

No way. No way it was just as on your first day of transmigrating here!! 

Same people, same places, same events, same dialogues… 

Same mirror proclaiming you’re magicless.

Everything was just the same!!

“Grim,” you whispered to him while Crowley was searching for the books to try figuring out where you came from. You always mentioned other worlds’ places in those kinds of situations, because your boss demanded you not say anything personal. “Check out if the status of the game has changed.”

“Got it.”

You saw Grim summoning the system interface, but a sudden abrupt flash made you close your eyes for a moment, and when you opened them, you saw tabs glitching and lagging around you, distorting the space.

“What the…”

“Hm?” Crowley turned to you, apparently scanning your face, but you couldn’t say for sure because of his mask. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Crowley-sensei,” you smiled at him. 

“Yuu!” Grim in your hands looked at you with widened eyes and whispered. “What’s happening with the system?!”

“I don’t know,” you answered with your lips only. “How’s the status?”

“Check it yourself…”

But before you could check, Crowley turned to you, proclaiming he can’t find the place you’ve come from. The very same scenario, you going to the Ramshackle, meeting with ghosts… 

With only one small exception in the form of constantly sparkling elements of the system, alternately popping up here and there.

“Yuu, we haven’t got enough time for that. Check the genre!!!”

You instantly sank to your knees, unable to believe your eyes. Your heart thumped wildly in your chest, forcing you to turn to Grim, stunned.

“F-fantasy?..” You double-checked yourself, but then saw a window with all the profiles, their statuses still the same, Lilia being the last completed one. “But Idia’s route?..”

“And you asked me to watch my tongue,” Grim frowned. “That little shit you call our boss didn’t even leave us the way to contact him during walkthroughs!!! And what if something like that happens?!”

“It’s not about him, Grim,” you tried to recover, standing up and noticing little glitches flashing everywhere in the room. “Let’s try figuring out what we should do now.”

“Find that Idia guy and finish his route, what else, fugnya.”

You lowered your gaze.

Wasn’t it an opportunity given to you as a gift? If the genre switched from otome to fantasy, then there was no obligation to complete Idia’s route. No need to let him—and you—suffer, wasn’t it the only right thing to do? 

You took a deep breath. You knew it wasn’t. Idia’s route was still marked as ‘IN PROGRESS’, meaning you still had to fulfill your duties, but also… 

Wasn’t it a loophole? 

“I know what you’re thinking,” Grim touched your hand with his paw. “I know you’re freaking tired of this shit, me too, but Yuu—”

“No, Grim,” you laughed at yourself, tears appearing in the corners of your eyes. “I can’t. I will not. Finish his route. Just… Let’s just enjoy the fantasy story which is supposed to be completed even without us interfering.”

Grim wasn’t sure. You yourself thought it was stupid, irresponsible, your boss will probably just drag you out of here so to reprimand—you didn’t care at all. 

You wanted to avoid Idia Shroud at all costs.

Giving you credit, you actually succeeded in your desire to avoid Idia. But trouble does not come alone, and instead of Idia, who, surprisingly, couldn’t be found anywhere at all, you managed to repeatedly stumble upon people from previous routes.

But what you feared the most was the system distortion, glitches and lags. 

The endless flickering of digital fibers, appearing in a chaotic pattern, pierced people. The color correction of the world broke down, jumping from exaggerated, poisonously bright colors to black-and-white scraps of space. The voices sometimes went into ultrasonics, causing you and Grim to wince in dislike. System windows danced around in a digital frenzy.

It all resembled the digital apocalypse. But even with those little ‘errors’ you could still interact with others.

But not with those who were the dearest to you.

“Y̸̘̒ũ̸ͅȗ̴͜-̷̹̎s̴͍͂ä̵̖́n̸̻̄.̵̨̚”

You turned to meet Jade’s usual polite smile, a hand on his chest. 

“Jade?..” You were hesitant to speak with him at first, but a sudden mechanical corrupted voice managed to scare you. “Hello?..”

He tried saying something, but he did not move at all, not the slightest sigh, not a quivering gleam in his beautiful eyes—absolutely nothing. He was frozen.

You wanted to hurry and get someone’s help, but just when you ran away and turned for a moment to make sure he was still standing still—he wasn’t… He moved, returning to his usual routine, and turned to the suddenly approaching Riddle.

Something wasn’t right.

You were convinced of this when you stepped on Leona's tail in the botanical garden, completely forgetting about this event. His reaction was exactly the same—he was like a stone frozen in time, and, unlike Jade, not telling you anything, but the system windows were frantically jumping around his silhouette.

Kalim froze with a smile you grew to love on his face, and Azul, when he met you, apparently was going to kiss your wrist, but they all froze like broken dolls at the behest of the puppeteer.

And Lilia was nowhere to be seen at all.

“I don’t understand…”

You lamented, looking at the huge glitch, reminding you of black hole which was absorbing system tabs into itself, and you were sitting near it, outstretching your hand and feeling nothing at all.

You were immune to the system’s influence, how very ironical and—

“U-ugh…”

You turned to the voice’s source and gasped when a sudden flash of bright blue flickered before your eyes for a moment, then disappeared.

“Huh, I think I saw someone just now…”

You stood up from the grass field you were sitting on, and came closer to the tree in the school yard, hearing a ‘Eek!!!’ full of fear, and blinked twice.

“E-excuse me!!”

“Oh?..”

You saw a very tall figure hiding from you behind the tree and trying to cover his face with the hood of his hoodie. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you mumbled. “I’m Yuu. Sorry for scaring you.”

“I-if you’re sorry, then just go!!..”

Blue flames billowed from under his hood in waves, and you were surprised at how sweet the man's voice was.

“W-what are you looking at?!”

“Your hair,” you said, spellbound. “It’s very beautiful.”

“U-ugh…”

The person took his hood off, and you parted your lips in surprise. 

You stared amazed at the gold of his eyes, not understanding what you were so hooked on in him, but the non-standard of his beauty completely left you speechless, and a slight glimmer of blush was born on your cheeks.

“Ah!” You exclaimed, turning away. “I’m being so rude… It’s just you’re really good-looking.. Ugh, sorry.”

“S-stop it, I’m begging. I’m not, o-okay? Now go.”

“Okay, but… What is your name?”

“You don’t need to know it…”

You looked at him, pouting and lowering your gaze, when a pink hue on the tips of his hair went unnoticed by you. 

“Alright… I’ll get going then. See you later?”

“Maybe never.”

The rudeness he demonstrated somehow didn’t sound so bitter, and you smiled at him, then walked away.

“Please never interact with me…” He muttered to himself, approaching the huge glitch. “I don’t want to be the next.”

After two weeks of such randomly non-random meetings, Idia realized that, apparently, according to the law of the protagonists of otome games, there was nowhere to escape from you.

Of course, he could not really understand why the hell everything around was suddenly covered with digital holes and errors, but obviously it was related to you.

He wanted to study them himself, but the cameras he set up around the college sometimes didn't capture the biggest system bugs, not to mention they constantly popped up wherever you were for a while. Apparently others couldn’t see the world glitching, and you yourself possessed no knowledge about those errors, so he just had to go out of his room.

Even though he managed not to reveal his name for a long time—he was extremely apprehensive that you would recognize him as your last remaining love interest and start going through his route—yet you were in no particular hurry to look for him.

Didn’t you… need to finish his route and come back home? Why were you blankly staring at all those errors and glitches and doing nothing?

Not to mention that you sincerely tried to get to know him personally, never once again asking his name.

You confronted him every time he needed to investigate another huge system error that had arisen, and you simply nodded silently, smiling. The first week really passed peacefully and calmly, until something unimaginable for his consciousness happened at the beginning of the second.

“Meow-meow~” 

M-meow?..

Idia was walking to the place where another hole with errors appeared, and heard your voice—it was unmistakable yours. W-what in the world were you doing?..

What he saw shocked him.

You were stroking the ear of a kitten that laid in front of you and purred, playing with it and smiling radiantly.

“Y-Yuu-shi…”

“Oh? Ah, fiery-senpai.”

“T-that stupid name again… What are you d-doing?”

You smiled at him, taking the kitten in your hands and drawing him closer to his face, placing one little smooth on his nose.

“Isn’t it cute?”

Headshot!! Huge damage taken!! Apply a HP restoring potion!!

“C-cute…” He mumbled, his hair glowing bright red. “Y-yuu-shi is… UGHM.”

“Come here.”

You took his hand in yours and made him sit beside you. Just what the audacity you had!..

The cat started purring with more intensity when Idia touched it, and you giggled at how cute the scene looming before you was. 

You didn’t want to escape this reality, even with an insane amount of bugs and errors corrupting the dimension. 

For a month Idia was meeting you, approaching you more and more against (in fact, not really resisting) his will. You seemed like an absolutely normal person, and it was frightening. Shouldn't the universe travelers be... different? Non-standard, possess some kind of superpowers, or easily repair these interdimensional holes? You seemed to be the most ordinary person with completely natural human emotions. Your actions were dictated by curiosity, kindness and care. You brought Idia food more than once, showed photos of kittens, respected his personal boundaries and always left without asking what he was going to do alone.

It was unbearably hard. Feelings flourished in his chest, and every day, returning to his room, Idia flopped on the bed, clutching his jacket in his fist, and repeated how crazy he was.

Feelings ate him from the inside. How the hell was that shameless and stupid!! Wasn't love in otome built on the fact that the characters went through a string of dramatic events, experienced incredible adventures, scandals, breakups and emotional declines, and then tragically confessed their love to each other?

How the hell could he screw up his one and only task — not to fall in love with you at all costs, and eventually fail miserably, and even under such idiotic circumstances?!

How could he let you take his feelings and... understand them?

“I’m pathetic,” he laughed to himself, studying the data he obtained. “But Yuu won’t know…”

He will not allow that. Maybe.

You held Grim closer to you, exhaling fresh air while sitting on the bench—which was unusual for you, who could be easily spotted on the grass or windowsill—and took a sip of a cup of hot chocolate. It was already February declaring its rights, and deepened in your thoughts.

The world was half destroyed. Multi-colored digital errors were no longer just popping up alternately anywhere, but were actively integrated into the structure, into the very subcortex of the world. The forest near the school was replaced by a digitized version, black holes in space that no one saw except you replaced entire rooms and even buildings.

To be honest, it just looked disgusting.

Previous emotional draining routes were completed, and now, when you yourself wanted to avoid Idia Shroud’s one at all cost, because you were simply scared, Idia decided to become quieter than water and lower than grass. 

The information you’ve acquired was rather dull and sullen — Idia was known for being a complete shut-in, an introverted person who usually never comes out of his room. Impudently pouncing into his personal space, Ignihyde dormitory, seemed somewhat violent to you, especially taking into account that you needed to receive his love.

You wanted to respect his privacy, but also wanted to know what kind of person he is. 

And just when you wanted to think about avoiding asking anyone from your previous walkthroughs, Lilia appeared before you, floating midair and smiling rather cheekily, causing you to almost spit your drink.

But more importantly, he seemed extremely alive, unlike others.

“Ugh, uh…” You coughed. “Li… Vanrouge.”

“Hm? What’s with the sudden coldness?”

“Sudden?..” You echoed, furrowing your brows. “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just we haven’t talked much before…”

Lilia took your hand, the one that was holding Grim, who expressed an annoyed sound and stared at Vanrouge, and placed a smooch on the finger you’ve pricked in his route.

“Is that how you greet me after having all that life and death type of conversation?”

You jolted, abruptly standing up and almost dropping Grim from your lap, to which Lilia only laughed.

“You remember?!” You screamed, noticing you drew too much attention, and lowered your voice. “But how?”

“Remember I told you I’ll never forget? This is why.”

“N-no, wait… I mean, others have only tiny glimpses of memories about me, but they don’t have entire routes stored in their minds!! Not to mention they’re… Ugh.” 

“Calm down, Yuu. To be honest, I’m not sure how it works, either. Tell me more about your case, we’ll figure something out. Maybe you haven’t finished my, hmmm, route, you said?”

You summoned the system tab that got almost sunk into the black hole, which Lilia couldn’t see, and checked twice and even thrice — ‘COMPLETED’ were written in caps.

“I have,” you said. 

“That Idia guy’s profile also opened,” Grim mentioned.

“Idia?” Lilia repeated. “He’s your next target?”

“Target… Yes, you can say so… Do you know anything about him?”

“Quite a lot of information I normally wouldn’t share, but in your case…” Lilia frowned. “But Yuu, will you go home after finishing?”

“I… Don’t have home,” you explained. “I’ll return back to the office where I’ll be appointed to another story. But before that I’ll ask why in the world did I land here, Twisted Wonderland is not our main genre.”

“Where were you before?”

“Better not ask,” Grim advised, to which you nodded. “Nothing good.”

“Makes me want to ask more!” Lilia giggled. “But alright. Even though I don���t really want to let you go, considering I’m extremely worried about your safety… I believe you should go and ask what caused the error. As for Idia Shroud…”

You and Grim saw system tabs randomly popping up and glitching, to which Lilia tilted his head, but you shook yours, gesturing to him to continue speaking. 

“He’s a nice kid, actually. A twisted one, as we all here are, but I sense no ill feelings radiating from him. He has a rather complicated personality, so I suggest you be patient.”

“Twisted, hm,” you nodded, trying to ignore glitch intensification. 

“His family works under an organization dealing with phantoms and blot research. So make sure to—”

“Good morning, Lilia Vanrouge-san, Yuu-san, Grim-san!”

A robotic cheerful voice greeted you, and you stared at the appeared humanoid with… was that fire on his head?.. Wait a second.

“Oho~” Lilia smirked. “Morning, little Shroud.”

Little Shroud?.. Did Idia have a brother?

“Good morning,” you greeted him. “And you’re?”

“Ortho Shroud!” A child humanoid introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, Yuu-san!”

“How can we be of help?” Lilia asked.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, but I need to talk to Yuu-san and Grim-san directly.”

“Oh, then you should know that I’m not leaving Yuu’s side. So if you want to talk, please don’t mind me, but I won’t leave~”

“I’m afraid I can allow that,” Ortho replied cheerfully.

You tried standing up, but staggered and changed glances with Grim, who also felt dizzy and out of place for a moment, before Ortho pulled up a tablet, which suddenly started floating on itself.

“U-uhm…” A voice was heard, coming from the tablet. “E-excuse me, Lilia-shi… B-but I need to t-talk to them… alone.”

And with that you and Grim suddenly fainted, surrounded by light sparkles and glitches flooding the space, not noticing Ortho catching you and Lilia’s furious stare.

You tried opening your eyes, and managed to do that after a minute of trying, glitches still sparkling everywhere, but not as bright as it was before.

You found yourself on a bed in an unknown place dominated by bright blue hues, you could hear the tapping of fingers on the keyboard, the faint noise of processors, and you were no longer sure if the space distortion was due to the system, or it was local computers.

“Uh…” You mumbled, trying to sit on your bed, and observed the place, noticing a figure of someone tapping on the keyboard.

You looked closely, recognizing familiar fire-like bright blue hair and gray clothes the person was wearing.

“Excuse me,” you said, drawing the person's attention and making the figure startle in shock, turning to you at once. “Huh?”

“Y-Y-Yuu-shi!!”

“F-fiery-senpai.”

He pulled up the collar of the turtleneck that was sticking out from under the gray robes and covered his mouth, looking away from you.

“Um… I’m Idia Shroud.”

You smiled weakly to yourself, actually suspecting it before, but knowing that the person you grew to love like happened to be Idia was excruciatingly painful.

It was continuous, endless torment.

Grim told you every day that you, dear little Yuu, are just a fool with a glitch in your head, since you fell in love with that ‘fiery-senpai’ so irrevocably for being just a person. The world was falling apart, and you refused to end the game, running away from solving the problem like a small child, and you understood this very well, continuing to run in circles.

“Ah!!” You exclaimed, standing up and approaching him, making Idia squeak and almost run away from you. “Oh, I’m sorry for startling you. It’s just… Actually, wait, where am I? Where’s Grim?”

“Grim-shi is sleeping in the room next door, m-my little brother Ortho assisting him. D-don’t worry…”

“That’s good…” You smiled to yourself, feeling a little relieved your partner was okay. “But still, where are we?”

“Did they just need to leave that to me RIGHT WHEN I’m in the middle of my research, ugh…” He muttered to himself, then cleared his throat. “You’re at STYX. You p-probably don’t know what it is, since you’re… Nevermind. D-dont worry, we need to run a few tests and will return you back to the NRC.”

“Sounds not like something I shouldn’t be worried about, to be honest,” you chuckled. “What kind of tests? And why me? Lilia said you study, ergh… blot here. I don’t know what that is.”

“Tch, why me…” He mumbled to himself again. “Y-yeah, Lilia-shi surely mentioned something he shouldn’t have, b-but you have no relation to blot. At least physically..”

“Look,”

You came closer to him, quickly glancing over his features and suddenly getting flustered. Despite his gloomy look and huge eye bags, he appeared to be quite cute and good-looking. You never thought your last ‘love interest’ would look like that, not to mention him having such a shy personality.

And now, knowing that the fiery-senpai you grew to like was Idia all that time, didn’t make it easier.

Everything will end once you win his heart.

And it was breaking yours.

You dramatically imitated fainting, causing Idia to jolt, and exclaimed.

“You suddenly faint,” you said, then came over to the bed you were laying on, and sat on it. “Then you wake up in an unfamiliar place…”

You came closer to him, not daring to touch him, and ended up just staring right in his golden eyes.

“... And found yourself alone in a room with a complete stranger.” You said, averting your gaze. “Quite handsome, though.”

Idia in front of you bit his lip, trying his best to ignore your compliment.

“What would my reaction be?”

“C-confusion?..”

“Right, that,” you confirmed. “So please be so kind as to explain what is happening and how I can be of help.”

“Alright…” He sighed heavily. “Follow me.”

You nodded, following his tall figure and enjoying how the fire of which his hair consisted was shimmering, however noticing one little but important detail.

There was no heart icon.

To be completely honest, you really were charming. 

Idia was amazed at how easy it was to have a conversation with you and how charmingly your lips curved into a soft smile. He hated every second of the new day, realizing that the research is being delayed, and he has to run an infinite number of tests.

He could not clearly distinguish between your natural coquetry and acting (of the justice of which he was no longer so sure). You yourself were a very gentle and understanding person, calmly accepting the peculiarities of his personality, but still, despite all the promises that you made to others in their routes (at least those that he managed to hear), you seemed to still hold back myself.

Wouldn't you like to return to where you came from as soon as possible? Why did your face tremble in unbearable sadness every time he happily announced that there were not many tests left and that you would be released soon? Of course, you had to charm him, grab him right by the heart and make him yours, but why did your voice become so desperately dreary every time he closed the door to your room, and you wished him peaceful dreams and asked him not to work late?

The tests, in fact, at first were simple questionnaires, from which it was impossible to extract anything intelligible. Therefore, subsequently, Idia had to move on to more difficult tests for you, which turned out to be simulations of reality.

The distorted images of all those whose routes you have already completed, have told you terrible things, betrayed you and hoped to break you. Usually it was possible to check the accumulation of blot and magical energy this way, but since you did not possess it, it was checked how negative emotions affected you.

And you... seemed to remain unshakable and believed them to the end, forcing the images of people dear to you to be erased automatically.

Idia wasn't really interested in your involvement in the blot in the first place—it was just a cover. He was personally interested in knowing your essence in more detail, who, or maybe what you really were.

And why did you cling so desperately to those whose routes were already completed. 

“Yuu!!”

“Don’t come any closer!”

You heard Grim burst into your room, ignoring his attempts to stop you, but the erratic system bugs were doing their own dance, preventing Grim from getting close to you.

“The fuck you’re doing?!”

You chuckled, tapping on the keyboard, and turned to him for a mere second.

“Trying to let our dear beloved system know that I won’t finish Idia’s route.”

“Yuu, get yourself together!! Ain’t no way you can just casually crack the system we’ve been workin’ with for who knows how many years so far!!”

“AND DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?!”

“Yuu!”

You tried to make changes to the system code of this world, sweat streamed down your neck, electricity flashed bright flashes here and there, almost setting Grim's tail on fire, and as soon as you got to the very core, swallowing tears and ignoring Grim's screams, in the system something exploded, pushing you away from the interface and spawning digital corruption.

“Yuu!..”

You. Failed. 

Today Idia planned to show you the Underworld to see what would happen. Apparently you had a save option, so he was about to make a hint for you, so you would save the game progress and reload in case something happens.

“I-It’s me, Idia…”

He knocked on the door, but no answer was heard. Normally you would reply with a cheerful ‘Come in!', but today you remained silent, making him slightly worried.

He opened the door nevertheless and found you, wrapped in blankets and sniffing. 

“Yuu-shi?” He asked, coming closer to you but not too close, and saw you slowly turning to him. “O-oi, are you okay?”

“Ugh… who…”

You looked at him from under your brows, your eyelids were as if poured with lead, and your cheeks burned like a red-hot swing. Idia carefully bent over you, not daring to stretch out his hand for a long time, but your hoarse breathing forced him to press his hand to your forehead and gasp.

“You’re burning, Yuu-shi!”

“Idia?..”

“Y-yes, are you okay— Huh?!”

You weakly tugged at his sleeve, but from the unstable position and the effect of surprise, he fell on you.

This is the most classic otome scene ever, damn it!!

But, unlike the typical plot of an otome game, the scene wasn't particularly romantic. The promised butterflies didn’t hover in his stomach, and you looked really sick. You covered your mouth with a blanket and opened your eyes, trying to peer into the gold of the eyes in front of you with a cloudy gaze, forcing Idia to fluster.

“Your hair…” You muttered. “Warm.”

“O-of course it’s warm… Yuu-shi?!”

You smoothed a strand of his fiery hair and smiled weakly, clinging to the desired warmth and not noticing how the tips of his hair turned pink.

Shit, it was, like, REALLY bad. Did you just have to be so cute and vulnerable right when he wanted to ignore the feelings blossoming in his chest?! Argh, you really!!

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, taking his hand he offered to hold onto, not even realizing it himself, and tried standing up. “We’ve got important work to do today… Let’s go.”

“But you don’t look well, Yuu-shi…”

“It’s nothing,” you smiled, standing up and releasing his hand, already missing the warmth. “I know it's partly your idea, but you're still following someone's orders, right?”

“Uh,” he averted his gaze. “W-well, yes…”

“He-he,” you smiled, embracing yourself and feeling a little cold. “I know the feeling when no one asks you what you want to do. So let’s finish early, and I won’t disturb you anymore.”

You left the room, turning around for a second and meeting his stunned gaze.

You really DID care about him.

He chuckled at the last thing you’ve said, knowing that you needed him to escape this place, both STYX and Twisted Wonderland, but found it funny how you tried to cover it. Even if you didn’t look like you were lying in the first place.

The path to the underworld was unbearably long, and your body apparently refused to listen to you, the limbs seemed to take on a life of their own, and Idia saw a sharp flicker of the system windows around you, intensifying as you descended lower and lower.

“What do I need to do when we get there?” You asked, grabbing his hand, because you couldn’t even walk properly.

“Yuu-shi… E-excuse me.”

He put your hand on his shoulder, helping you move around, although you didn't walk long enough because you weren't very comfortable.

“I appreciate your concern,” you giggled and just took his hand in yours, interweaving fingers. “But that would be enough. Thank you, Idia.”

He felt stupid, feeling the unbearable heat of your body, and at the same time knowing that he contributed to your sudden illness, and he could not do anything about it.

He was an egoist to whom you showed nothing but kindness and understanding.

“Yuu-shi, uhm… Excuse me for a moment.”

System windows flickered and flew around you in a chaotic order, among which Idia somehow managed to grab the right one, and stood behind you, trying to hit the flickering button in time. He leaned closer to you, curls of his hair falling on your chest, and you blushed, turning your face to him.

“Idia?..”

“Argh, I’m s-sorry!! Please bear with me a little more…”

“Why bearing?” You leaned closer to him, feeling his heart stopping for a moment. “I enjoy spending time with you, really.”

“D-don’t say nonsense, Yuu-shi. Why would you love spending time with the one w-who, uhm, kidnapped you?”

“I might have questioned that, but… Maybe because your research can help me too. I think. And also…”

You looked at him, his hand frozen midair and his lips slightly parted. 

Were you about to kiss him?

His heart skipped a beat when he realized that… No, it was SO irrational!! He was avoiding you (not really, actually) like a plague, he tried his best to not catch feelings for you! It would be a total game over if you would kiss him now, the system will admit he has fallen in love, and you will just leave, but!..

But you shook your head, smiling at him bitterly, and continued walking.

And what was the sudden sadness and void in his heart?

He managed to save the game for you and wondered if it was okay, given he was the one who did it, not you.

You finally reached the destination, and Idia felt a headache piercing his head, other people’s profiles popping up here and there randomly, and you frowned.

“Idia, wait,” you said, reaching out for one of the tabs and typing something there. “Shit, I have no currency left…”

“I can help.”

He still held your hand to prevent you from falling, seeing how hard you were shivering, and couldn’t dare to meet your shocked gaze.

“How in the world…”

“I don’t know either,” he mumbled. “It just… I know n-not only you’re not from this world, I know your purpose…”

“Did you avoid me on purpose because you knew?..”

“Y-yes,” he admitted and turned away. “But it’s not like you’ll love me for real.”

“You… Listen to me, Idia.”

You turned to him, ignoring the persistently jumping system windows and the gradually dissolving universe. The howl of phantoms from under your feet was terrifying and disturbing, but you clung to Idia, looking at him with tears in your eyes.

“This is undoubtedly the most freakingly insane route I’m trying to finish,” you confirmed. “But… Do I look like I want this to end? Like I want you to suffer when I’m gone?”

“Y-Yuu-shi…”

“I don’t want to go,” you admitted. “I don’t want to leave you! Not when I’m… developing feelings for you.”

“You…”

“The route is over once not only the person, but I also recognize and accept something for myself. And just so you know, you have no heart above you…”

“Yuu-shi, sorry for saying stupid things, but…” He inhaled sharply. “My heart is not above my head, but in my chest. Yours too.”

You giggled.

“Ha-ha… It is quite endearing, I must s… say.”

“Yuu-shi?”

“I’m okay,” you said. “It’s just… What are those howls?”

“... It’s phantoms. The ones my family and I study,” he answered. “They’re… not people anymore.”

“Not… anymore. Idia!!”

“W-what?!”

You sank to your knees, touching the cold surface of the gates to the underworld, and gasped, paralyzed.

It was just the same when you yourself first died.

“Yuu-shi, don’t come any closer!!”

“Idia,” you turned to him. “Do you… work here often? Do you interact with those phantoms often?”

“I do,” he answered. “Why?..”

“Ha-ha… I think… I just realized the real reason why you can see the system too.”

“WHAT?!”

“You know… I once was a normal person, just like you are. A part of a story, though I don’t even remember the genre it had. More likely a slice of life? I died young, rescuing a kitten. You can already assume that it was Grim… And you’re right. And somehow we both ended up being recruited for the Isekai Association program.” 

“So not… everyone could enter?”

“As he explained, only those who possess certain qualities and personality traits can be hired. And as for you, I think because you’re close to death, you manage to see everything happening..”

“He?..”

You frowned.

“Is there a way to open the gates?”

“Don’t even think about it. I’m being serious, Yuu-shi.”

“So there is, and apparently you know it,” you smiled at him with a craziness he despised.

How could you even think about something so dangerous as… 

“Well then, open it. Right. Now. I’m being serious just as you are.”

“I won’t.”

“I will put it to an end. You also don’t want your world to suffer because of me, right?! You see those glitches, the system almost absorbed everything!! How could you—”

“How could you just think only of yourself!”

You bit your lip, looking straight at him, his hair iridescent from blue to enraged orange, almost crimson.

“Listen, I’m being only logical!! Here, I hear death itself. Are you worried about me? I really appreciate it, but oh please, I won’t die that easily. In fact, all that I need to do is to jump right there as many times as I can, maybe that he will finally bring me to the office and at least interrogate…”

“He again.. No, Yuu, I WON’T let you.”

“Ha,” you laughed bitterly, drawing him to yourself and pressing your forehead to his, closing your eyes and summoning the system tabs.

Your forehead burned with heat, your breath hitched so hard that Idia himself heard it trembling, and watched in a daze as his memory was converted into system windows. He wanted to break out of your strong grip, but you already found the right scoreboard and smiled sadly, biting your lip.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, closing your eyes. “I didn’t want to manipulate you like that… Now, say it, Idia Shroud.”

His body moved against his will, his lips trembled, and as if not in his voice, a desperate ‘Gate to The Underworld’ broke from them.

The heavy massive gates opened, and Idia, having regained control over his movements, numbly turned away from you, but did not calculate that one inaccurate movement, and he felt the cold of the grave with his back.

“IDIA!!”

Dark hands, greedily clinging to his limbs, mercilessly pulled him into the abyss. Without hesitation, you rushed after him, your heart was pounding wildly in your chest, trying to escape, and the tears instantly dried up on your cheeks from the cold, leaving icy paths on them.

“Yuu!!”

Grim voice was heard, and the second after you felt him grabbing on your sleeve. 

“Grim, no, get out of here, I’ll end this alone!!”

“You stupid little shit,” Grim cursed. “We’re partners!!”

“But Grim! Let me go! I must rescue him!!!”

“Ain’t no way you’re excluding me, you idiot! What are you going to do anyway?! He’s dying!”

You refused to let go of Idia’s hand you managed to grab, and saw him opening his eye for a mere moment before closing it, losing consciousness. 

“Do you believe me, Grim?”

“Of course I do, you foolish henchman!”

“Then let me go, okay? Believe me, I’m not letting die nor you or Idia.”

Grim hesitated for a moment before nodding to you.

“‘Kay… And Yuu.”

“Yes?”

“Be careful just in case, ok? I mean, you’ll always be my most loyal henchman in every dimension existing, but now you look more ergh, soft or something? I mean, humans before you usually couldn’t stand a second in horrors and… Shit.”

“You don’t want to lose me,” you concluded, drawing Grim closer to you and enveloping him in a hug.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he sighed. “Might get used to that soft side of yours.” 

“Is it bad?”

“Nah,” he hugged your arm in response. “But it could have been better if you gave me more tuna cans daily.”

“Shut up.”

He let go of you, and you summoned the system tab, not really seeing anything in this mess, but bit your lip and typed the code, clicking ‘ENTER’ and shouting out.

“Judge Flamm!!”

Suddenly, the whole space seemed to flow into an absolutely intangible shell, the digital pieces of the universe peeled off, and you found yourself in a familiar office, which was a small room with a cozy fireplace against the wall.

“Yuu.”

An insanely beautiful person with dim green eyes looked at you with a strictness you never knew he could possess before, and offered you a cup of tea, which you declined.

“I thought I made it clear you’re not allowed to use that code.”

“It was an emergency, Judge Flamm.”

“I don’t see anything urgent.”

“Ha!” You stood up, spilling the tea and ignoring Flamm’s intense gaze fixed on you. “First transferring me and Grim to an otome game, then letting my last love interest die! Nothing urgent, really?”

You grabbed him by the collar, pulling him towards you, meeting the inexplicable emotion in his eyes, and grinned.

“You… Judge Flamm, before I actually blew the hell out of here, bring him back to life!!”

“Yuu, you’re saying nonsensical things.”

“Hell with you then…” 

“You know there’s always a price to pay for all of your desires.”

“Want to see a hellfire so much?” You smirked. “I’ll show you that. You… Did I ever ask for life like that?! Wandering around like a ghost!”

“But you didn’t die. You did it only once, and now…”

“WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!”

“BECAUSE I—” He closed his eyes. “Forget it. I can’t let you work in this state. This world is broken anyway.”

“Ha, so you first bring me there against my will, not introducing me to the details, then I start developing emotions and feelings I never knew I needed, and now? Now you’re telling me I can’t keep working like that? Don’t try to fool me, Judge Flamm! Just name your price.”

“That merman surely taught you— Ha-ha. Great then. Hear the price.”

He grabbed your chin, drawing your face closer to his, and smirked.

“Your own life. And not just one, but all the lives you have. All the countless lives for all of the stories you needed to fix, and you;ll be stuck in that Twisted Wonderland world forever!!”

You narrowed your eyes and burst into laughter.

“Great! Take it all. I don’t care.”

“Yuu…”

“Take it,” you repeated. “Take it, Judge… No. Take it, Rollo.”

He hissed, escaping from your grasp and approaching the fireplace, pulling out a blue flower burning in the fire.

“You’ll regret your decision.”

“Oh believe me I won’t,” you said. “I will enjoy my one and only life I will have from now on. Finally.”

Rollo, casting a heavy and ambiguous look at you, breathed life into a flower burning with a blue flame, and put it in your hand, looking away and biting his lip. A spectacle that you never expected to see even in your wildest dreams unfolded in front of you, and Flamm, forcing out a weak awkward smile, pushed you into the digital abyss, whispering something in parting, but you could not make out what exactly.

“See you later, Yuu.”

He said, clutching a burning scarlet flower in his hand and falling after you.

“Yuu!!”

“Y-Yuu-shi!!”

You slowly opened your eyes, coughing up gunpowder from your throat, and looked at the two silhouettes looming over you with a hazy look. But you didn’t have time to orient yourself and come to your senses, when suddenly they swooped down on you with hugs and squeezed them tightly.

“You insane punk!!” Grim cried. “I’ll never ask for extra tuna cans if you’re going to throw yourself into the abyss once more! You stupid little—”

“G-grim-shi, let Yuu-shi rest a little and—”

“Idia… You’re alive…”

“T-thanks to you and—”

Tears welled up in your eyes, but you leaned towards Idia and clung to him in a soft kiss, ignoring Grim's dissatisfied sighs from the side and the uncertain sounds that Idia made. Laughing through kiss, you clung to Idia even stronger, and he, not sharing your fun, grew bolder, picking up your lips.

“Y-Yuu-shi,” he whispered when parted. “What did you do?..”

“Uhm,” you giggled nervously. “Exchanged my countless lives on your but only one?”

“YOU WHAT?!”

“Ah, Grim!!” You lamented. “I forgot to ask for your opinion… But I kinda think… Judge Flamm let us live only this one remaining life…”

“Do I look like I care?!” He punched you slightly. “I’m more impressed that you’ve managed to convince HIM out of all bosses! He’s an insane one!”

“Why do I think there's so much to be told?” Idia mumbled.

“Don’t worry,” you smiled. “Let’s get back to NRC and I’ll explain everything to you and then to others. They certainly deserve an explanation…”

“But explain everything to me first in all details,” he said, standing up and helping you out. “I’m your t-true route, after all.”

You smiled at him, taking his hand in yours and letting Grim rest on your shoulders.

“You are!”

A sudden piercing feeling pricked your chest, as if crimson fire spreading within, but it soon disappeared, erasing all your worries. 

Maybe you were an otome expert all this time, after all?

— tag-list : @coffee-or-hot-cocoa @red-viewe @68thsposts @cerisescherries

© yunarim 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

[screamintoad]

yuusona/self insert Rory Queens

“Back home I was deemed a witch but, being here? Why, it’s incredible.”

Voice claim: Lyney-Genshin Impact

Character info

  He’s typically pessimistic and sarcastic but he doesn’t mean to be. At least, not to everyone. It’s a defense mechanism for him in a way. When he was first transported to Twisted Wonderland he was pretty mean to a lot of the other students but over time his shell got cracked and he began to actually relax in the strange environment. Staying at Ramshackle before it got cleaned and fixed up caused his health issues to flare up so he more often than not would bunk at Heartslabyul. 

  He grew up in a strict household with many heavy expectations placed on him as the eldest sibling. Often times he would argue with his parents about what he wants for himself and his future but they only paid attention to the parts they wanted to hear. They were definitely not fans of his “witchy” hobbies. For a long time before coming to Twisted Wonderland he felt an immense feeling of loneliness. Sure he was around people and he thinks he had friends but he always had to be careful. Careful with what he said and did, constantly gauging others reactions. Whenever he was free from school and chores he would head to the stables he went riding at and spend as much time as possible there. Any time away from home was a gift to him.

Fun facts: The tarot card deck he brought with him was able to be enchanted so he can use them to cast spells. He joined the Pop Music club when Lilia saw him strumming a guitar that was left in the club room, Lilia insisted to hear him play more and soon enough he was a member. He misses his horse so if he’s not busy then he’ll stop by and help at the Equestrian club. He feels immense guilt for preferring Twisted Wonderland over his home world. 

Basic info

Age: 17

Height: 166cm, 5’5 (out of platforms)

B-day: June 29th (Cancer)

Dominant hand: Right

Family: Unnamed mother and father, 2 younger sisters, and a younger brother

Nickname: Zebra shark (Floyd)

1st year

Class A

Club: Mainly the Pop Music club but if he’s not too busy he likes stopping by the Equestrian club

Best subject: History

Hobbies: Drawing, creative writing, and studying different types of magic

Pet peeve: Struggling to ignore people who get under his skin

Favorite food: Sweets. He’s a fiend to Trey

Least favorite food: Anything sour

Talent: Observing his surroundings and others reactions

Character dynamics

Grim: Lil stinky guy. Seriously though Grim did get on his nerves at first but now they’re that one Rosa Diaz meme with the puppy.

Riddle: Princess and the Pauper frfr, besides Ace and Deuce, him and Rory became friends quickly after his overblot. It was Riddle who was able to help him get used to school life at NRC.

Cater: An unlikely friendship where they realized how similar they are. Cater helps him become more outgoing and Rory helps him with not hiding his real feelings.

Lilia: That duo that need to be separated. They can’t be left unattended or something bad is bound to happen. They share a lot of common interests and Rory loves hearing about his time as a general. 

Vil: Mother hen with an ugly gosling. They first met after Rory had a Mental Breakdown and decided to chop his hair, Vil was not a fan. He fixed his hair himself and they formed an unlikely friendship.

Azul: They did not get along at first, like at all. With the events of Book 3 Rory assumed that he was an egotistical and selfish person but, following Book 4 he started seeing through the charade he puts up. Rory begs to see his merform one day.

No the formatting will never stay the same, it’s impossible for me to make things cohesive and he’s bound to change as time goes on

[mynameismckenziemae]

Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone-Chapter VII

Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd x Female Reader (no use of y/n)

It’s only darkness when she’s away

(previous chapter here, next chapter here)

Warnings: mutual masturbation, military inaccuracies, pining, mentions of alcohol, etc.

The tears continue until you get to work. You’re worried about all of them, not just Bob.

You’re touching up your makeup in your review mirror when you get a text.

Bob: Miss you already

Before you can reply, your phone dings again.

Bradley: I miss you more.

Attached is a selfie of Bradley grinning next to Bob, who’s trying to look annoyed but you see the start of a smile

You giggle. You reply to Bob first, telling him you miss him too and fingers crossed that time goes quickly.

You shoot a text to Bradley next.

Sunny: Miss you too. Now stop looking at Bob’s phone before you see something not meant for you.

Bradley: You better not be sending titty pics 🤢

Sunny: Don’t tell me what to do.

A few seconds later, another text from Bob.

Bob: You’re gonna send me pictures of your boobs?

Sunny: I was thinking about it, but Bradley ruined it for me.

Bob: No wonder his callsign is Rooster. All he does is cockblock me.

You laugh as Bradley adds Bob for a group message.

Bradley: I’m not a cockblocker, I just don’t want to see Sunny’s boobs

Sunny: Then don’t look at his phone!

Bob: Stop looking at my phone and you won’t

You shake your head, Bradley can always lighten the mood.

Sunny: I’ve gotta go in now, I don’t want to be late before I even accept the job. Be safe guys, I hope to talk to you both soon 🤞🏻

You shut your phone off and head inside.

________________________________________

You first meet with HR to accept the position, and after filling out the endless pre-employment paperwork, you finish out the rest of your shift in the ER.

After work, you turn your phone back on to no new messages. Although that was expected, it’s still disappointing.

________________________________________

A week or so into deploying, Bob finds the envelope while pulling out a pair of socks. Your sweet scent hits him as he pulls it out—he swore he could smell your perfume every time he opened his bag, but assumed he was just missing you.

His heart pounds as he reads ‘For Lt. Bob Floyd’s eyes only’ and skips a beat as he flips it to see your red lips print. He shudders as he imagines how your lipstick would stain his cock as you suck him off. He feels lightheaded from how quickly the blood rushes to his groin as he pulls out the photos. Whimpering as he flips through them, palming himself for some relief.

A knock startles him. “You coming? Meeting starts in 5,” Nat says through the closed door.

He sets the one appropriate selfie you took aside and quickly stuffs the rest of them back in the envelope, hiding it under his mattress. He adjusts himself and takes a deep breath before opening the door.

“You okay?” She asks, cocking a brow at his flustered expression.

“Yeah,” he clears his throat, not meeting her eyes, “Yeah. I just found Sunny’s care package she snuck in my duffle.”

She laughs as she pushes off his door frame. “Gotcha”.

________________________________________

It’s radio silence for the next 17 days. 17 excruciatingly long days. You pick up extra shifts in the ER as much as you can, but you still feel like you could crawl out of your skin. Penny is able to get some information “from her sources” that everyone’s okay, they haven’t flown out yet.

Annie texts you a few times, giving you reassurance and sending you pictures of Steve.

An old college friend, Rowan reaches out and asks if you’d want to catch up as she’s in the area for a second in-person job interview. You’re delighted to find out she hasn’t changed a bit—her personality is as fun and fiery as her red hair.

Your shared Uber stops in front of Penny’s, as you both had one too many margaritas to drive. She leaves you with a big hug and a promise to meet up again, especially if she gets the job and moves to the area.

As you walk up the stairs, your phone rings. Bob is FaceTiming.

“Oh my God! Hey!” You smile as you answer. He looks tired, but so, so good.

“Hey, Sunny. You…look incredible. Wow.” He breathes, taking in your flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

“Thanks”, you smile. “It’s so good to hear your voice. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. So much. I can’t wait to see you. Hopefully another week max.” He replies.

“God, I hope so. How are you? Are you okay? Is everyone else okay?” You ask, sitting on your bed.

“I’m good. Bored, antsy. Same as everyone else. How’s the training?” He replies, laying back on his pillows, bicep bulging as he puts his arm behind his head.

“Good! It’s all stuff I know already for the most part. Just more trauma-based care. I’m a little nervous to start an IV on someone when we’re in flight, but I’ll get it. I start shadowing in the air next week” you answer.

“That’s exciting. I can’t wait to hear about it when I get home,” he sighs before continuing, “Sunny, those pictures you took…they’re amazing. I’m getting hard just thinking about them. I’ve jerked off nearly every night, looking over them, thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah? Show me”. You reply huskily, falling back.

“Show…you? Like masturbate…now?” He asks, intrigued but a little nervous.

“Yeah, but only if you want to. I’ll do the same” you answer, fingers trailing over your exposed collarbone.

“Yeah, yes. I want to.” He nods eagerly.

You smile and prop your phone on your nightstand and pull off your clothes while he does the same before laying back down on your side, head propped on your hand. He angled his phone lower. You can’t see his cock, but you don’t comment, as you’re not sure if it’s intentional on his part or not.

“So, uh how do we start this?” He chuckles nervously, a blush staining his cheeks.

“Tell me what picture’s your favorite.” You ask, fingertips trailing down your chest.

“The one of you just smiling. I love it ‘cause it’s innocent enough to display all the time on my dresser. But I know you’d taken it right after you came. You have that post-orgasm glow; cheeks are a little flushed, eyes are bright, that easy, relaxed smile. You look beautiful”, he smiles, “It’ll go in my helmet when I fly out too”.

“Well that’s not the one I expected you to say, but that was incredibly sweet.”

“Besides that one, I think it’s a tie between the one where you’re on your back with your fingers between your legs, and the one where you’re bending forward on your bed in those panties that hug your ass just perfectly and you’re wearing those heels, fuck, I…” he’s jerking off now, you can hear it. You lightly trace over your nipples, gently pinching and teasing before trailing lower.

“…or the one where you’re looking over your shoulder, biting your lip, and your thumbs are hooked into those goddamn panties like you’re just about to pull them down. Acting so innocent, but we both know you’re a dirty girl” he continues, and you whine as your fingers reach their destination, gathering your arousal before circling up to your clit.

“Oh, you like that, huh? Sneaking naughty pictures into my bag, knowing I’ll find it when I’m getting ready, riling me all up when I won’t have time to get off?” He pants out.

“Yeah, that was my plan all along. I love it when you get flustered.” You say, taking your hand from between your legs to grab your rabbit vibrator from your bedside table. You click it on.

“Fuck Sun. Put it in, please?” He asks, out of breath.

You rub it against your entrance and work it in with a moan. “Oh, that’s good. So, so good. I can’t wait until it’s you inside me.”

He groans, “I can’t either. Grind it against your clit too. Yeah, yeah like that.”

“I’m getting close already, are you? Will you cum with me?” You whine.

“Yeah, I’m close. Goddamnit. I wish I was there. I wanna cum on your pretty tits, in your mouth, in…inside you” he stutters.

You cry out as your orgasm washes over you, struggling to keep your eyes open as you watch Bob, his face relaxing as ropes of cum land on the ridges of his stomach.

You gasp as you pull the toy out, the continued vibrations quickly pushing you into overstimulation.

“Wow,” he pants, using his discarded boxers to wipe off his stomach.

“Agreed” you sigh, sitting up to pull on one of the shorts you stole from him.

“We fly out tomorrow at 0500. If all goes as planned, we’ll be back on the carrier within 3 hours. Then headed home.” His face comes back on the screen, chest now covered by a shirt, much to your disappointment.

“Okay, I hope it all goes to plan” you reply.

“I hope so too Sunny. Look, if I don’t make it—“

“No. Please don’t say anymore. You’ll make it back. You all will, okay? You all will”. You interrupt him, voice thick with unshed tears.

He nods. “We will.”

You talk for a few more minutes before Bob lets you go, wanting to call at least Annie before his times up.

You hang up with a sigh. The nerves already coming back.

You’ve missed several texts from Bradley.

Bradley: Hey, how are ya?

Bradley: ???

Bradley: You’re having phone sex with Bob, aren’t you? Gross 🤢

Bradley: Stop

Bradley: Stopppppppp

Bradley: OMFG I AM A COCKBLOCK!

Sunny: Lolol. We’re done now. 😉 I’ve been good, you?

Bradley: Traumatized.

Sunny: Sorrynotsorry.

Sunny: Good luck tomorrow. Be safe okay?

Bradley: I will. See you soon.

You get ready for bed, and fall into a restless sleep.

________________________________________

You roll out of bed at 8, feeling like you hadn’t slept at all. Annie texts you while you’re getting dressed to let you know she’s running late, but is on her way with Steve.

A half hour later she’s come and gone and it’s too quiet. Steve isn’t his usual self, likely picking up on your restlessness.

You take him for a long walk on the beach to get your mind off of things. Your stomach drops though when you see Penny waiting for you on the stairs, an unreadable look on her face.

“What is it? Is anyone hurt?” You’re almost afraid to ask.

“Pete called. He couldn’t give me all the details but I guess everything went as planned until they were departing and took on enemy fire. Bradley was hit, but is fine, there was only minor damage to his jet. Bob and Natasha were behind him though and got it the worst. They lost an engine and had a rough landing. They’re being evaluated by medical now.”

_______________________________________________

A/N: I didnt like this chapter. It didn’t flow the way I wanted it too. Sorry if it sucks.

Tagging:

@blindedbythelightt

[mirrow-hamato]

Promised Crystal Clay AU headcanons + mostly spoilers to fanfic that I'll probably wouldn't be capable to finish

First thing first that i think is important to this au is "how would Viva will find Clay's brothers?".

I mean, of course we can just say "He told her about them". Right. Yea. But that unlikely would be enough.

So my things to everything is headcanon that Clay having a diary. With photos, some of his thoughts, some sad or angry moments he had, but also a good ones.

(honestly, i built my entire fanfic on this goddamn diary.)

Diary important because:

1. My personal reason is because in the beginning of my fanfic (hello spoilers for something that i haven't finished) is that after founding this diary once again in Clays small library, he'll get very emotional about how he a bit regrets that they split out and that he wasn't capable to do anything about them being eaten (that's what he thinks). So as soon as he sees Velvet and Veneer (that looking for new troll cuz old one escaped) he gets very determined to "finally do something important in his life" and save the other Putt-Putt trolls. And well..

2. He fails because his diary fell of his bag, which he instantly trying to get back. And of course he get himself caught.

3. Viva could use photos of Brozone so she can at least be sure of how they used to look like.

4. Clay would surely write about his brother's hobbies and about the day they split. So even if Viva could think that all his brothers could be eaten, she would give a try to looking at them.

5. Diary have photos! That would prove other brothers that Viva isn't just a stranger but actually someone who somewhat related to Clay.

6. After most of brothers still would much believe her (a bit wrong of saying. They just have some "reasons". Like: JD saying that it's useless for him because he knews that Clay or other brothers wouldn't want to see him. (If they're alive ofc). Bruce would just instantly call the police. Floyd would be terrible worried, but he also have a concert right now and he can't just cancel it (he will don't worry.). And Branch just probably wouldn't trust this and would think that Viva just steal it or find it somewhere in "trash.")

7. P-H-O-T-O-S. Photos are important.

Because every time when Viva will leave another brother after they somewhat rejected her, randomly there will be a photo that will still remind them of how good they were together one way or another and how they miss and worry about each other. (So yea each of brothers gonna have a photo. +Clay have one while he's in the bottle. Yes i love angst)

John Dory would instantly return to the troll tree (where he would find Branch and Poppy).

Bruce would warn Brandy about his leaving. Then he would took something like a bike (let me just imagine Bruce on bike, please.) and goes for the spot of Velvet and Veneer concert.

Floyd cancelled his concert right when he was about to start singing (while looking at photo, he apologised Infront of thousands trolls and leaves the stage. He leaves on limousine tho. Try change my mind.)

Then all of them meets up together in the same spot to save Clay all together.(and also Viva would be there.)

Honestly it's all what I've got. I hope it was somewhat interesting. Have a nice day and don't forget about self care!