#yes i designed the minis myself

[open-sketchbook]

today i’m playing my first Kill Team tournament, and my first tabletop wargame tournament in 15 years!

please send me all your energy spirit bomb style so my dice roll good. my heroic guardsmen need all the help they can get.

[araneitela]

Seeing Kafka in overtly revealing ("sexy") dresses in fan arts: I just... don't see why? Me over here: The most 'revealing' thing that I can imagine her in, if I envision her without a coat draped over her shoulders, is something like this. Am I just weird; where am I supposed to see this 'overtly revealing' nature of hers that oozes 'sexy'? That woman has class, and in that, I think she's sexy (f I have to use the word). And where do I get that impression from? Her entire default attire screams it at me from the rooftops.

[pucksandpower]

So Good to Me

Charles Leclerc x Reader

Summary: Charles Leclerc is the perfect man for you … getting stopped on the street for a random TikTok challenge just serves to prove that even further

The warm Monaco sun beats down on you as you stroll leisurely along the bustling sidewalk, a canvas tote bag filled with fresh produce and flowers from the local farmer’s market hanging from your shoulder. The salty sea breeze wafts across your face, carrying with it the excited chatter and laughter of tourists admiring the luxurious yachts bobbing in Port Hercules.

You smile to yourself, relishing this perfect Mediterranean afternoon. Just a quick stop at home to drop off your purchases, and then maybe you’ll take a dip in the infinity pool on the terrace to cool off before Charles is done with-

“Excusez-moi, mademoiselle!” A young man’s voice breaks through your daydreaming. You glance over to see a twenty-something guy with a neatly trimmed beard, expensive-looking sunglasses, and a black t-shirt emblazoned with HUSTLE in white block letters. He’s holding a mini microphone and has his iPhone pointed at you, clearly filming.

A TikToker.

You sigh internally but force a polite smile.

“Oui, puis-je vous aider?” You reply in French.

“Ah sorry, I don’t speak much French! Do you speak English?” The TikToker asks eagerly in a British accent.

“Yes, I do. Can I help you with something?” You say, switching to English yourself. You just want to get home but you know these influencer types can be annoyingly persistent.

The TikToker grins. “Brilliant! I’m doing a social experiment for my followers. I was wondering — do you have a significant other? A boyfriend or husband perhaps?”

You raise an eyebrow questioningly but decide to humor him. “Um, yes, I have a boyfriend,” you answer simply.

His eyes light up. “Fantastic! And would you say your boyfriend loves you very much?”

You can’t help but chuckle at the boldness of this stranger’s line of questioning. “Yes, I would definitely say that. He loves me a lot,” you confirm, a soft smile playing on your lips as you think of Charles.

“Perfect! Okay, here’s the challenge,” the TikToker announces dramatically, staring intensely into his camera. “I want you to call up your boyfriend right now and ask him to send you some money. Doesn’t matter how much. But for every €100 he sends, I’ll give you €20 to keep for yourself. Let’s see how much he really loves you, shall we?”

You stare at this guy incredulously for a moment before bursting out laughing. Is he serious? He clearly has no idea who your boyfriend is. An amused smirk spreads across your face as you fish your iPhone out of your designer purse.

“Alright, you’re on,” you say confidently, already unlocking your phone and tapping on Charles’ contact. The TikToker looks surprised but excited that you actually agreed to his silly challenge.

“Put it on speaker phone,” he instructs, zooming his camera in on your phone screen which is now dialing Charles.

After a few rings, the warm, honey-smooth voice you adore comes through. “Allô mon amour, what’s up?” Charles greets you sweetly. “I’m just finishing up some simulator runs but I should be done soon to help with dinner.”

“Hey baby,” you reply, your voice automatically softening. “Sorry to bother you, I know you’re busy. But I’m out right now and I just passed by that little boutique near the casino, you know the one? And I saw the most incredible pair of shoes in the window. I swear they were calling my name.”

Charles laughs affectionately, the sound like music to your ears even through the cell phone speaker. “Oh yeah? The ones that were calling your name last week turned out to be, what was it, €900?” He teases.

You roll your eyes playfully even though he can’t see. “Okay, fair, but you know I hardly ever splurge on myself. I’m usually so frugal!”

“Mmhmm, whatever you need to tell yourself, chérie,” Charles says wryly and you can practically hear the smirk in his voice. “Let me guess, you need to go get these dream shoes right now? Or else they’ll haunt you forever?”

“You know me so well,” you gush dramatically. “I promise I’ll pay you back though! I get paid next week and-”

“Hey, hey, stop,” Charles cuts you off gently. “Mon cœur, you never have to pay me back, you know that. I love being able to treat you and spoil you. You deserve the world. Never forget that.”

You feel yourself melt at his earnest words, momentarily forgetting you have an audience. “I love you so much,” you murmur. “Thank you for always being so good to me.”

“Right back at you, ma belle. Je t’aime,” Charles says tenderly. “There, check your banking app. Let me know if you need any more. And have fun shopping! I’ll see you at home in a bit, okay? À bientôt!”

You glance down at your phone as a notification from your bank pops up on the screen. Your eyes widen slightly when you see the amount Charles sent over, but you recover quickly.

“Thank you, baby. See you soon!” You reply before hanging up. You turn back to the TikToker who is gaping at you in disbelief. Casually, you turn your phone screen towards him and his camera so he can clearly see the notification that €10,000 has just been deposited into your account.

The poor guy looks like he’s about to pass out from shock. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, rendered speechless. You just laugh good-naturedly.

“Well, guess I won your little challenge, huh?” You remark, slipping your phone back into your purse. “Tell you what, why don’t you donate whatever money you were going to give me to a local animal shelter instead? I think it’ll be put to much better use there.”

The TikToker finally manages to pick his jaw up off the floor. He laughs shakily and nods. “Yeah ... yeah I can do that. Wow. Um, thanks for being such a good sport about this. And congrats on, uh, winning, I guess?”

You give him a friendly wink. “Anytime. Have a nice rest of your day!” With that, you turn gracefully on your heel and continue on your way back home, feeling rather smug and deeply appreciative of your wonderfully generous boyfriend.

“Wait!” The TikToker calls out after you. You glance back over your shoulder curiously. He hesitates before asking in an awed voice, “If you don’t mind me asking ... who the hell is your boyfriend?”

An enigmatic smile plays on your lips. “No one special really,” you reply breezily. “Just a guy who loves driving fast cars.”

You leave the gaping TikToker in your wake as you saunter off, already daydreaming about showing your appreciation to Charles later for being the most incredible boyfriend imaginable.

Maybe you really will splurge on those designer shoes after all … and pick up a little something special from the lingerie boutique next door while you’re at it.

Your smile widens. Just as a little thank you to your man, of course. Life is good when you’re in love with Charles Leclerc.

[sm-baby]

I want to see all the carnival AU bios again, but finding Zooble's is too hard, even when using the search. I hope there's a more organized way to view them.

(Trying to come up with nicknames that said characters would give my characters.)

CARNIVAL AU MASTERPOST + BOUNDARIES

Augh... I never know how to organize stuff! But here is a mini master post of the TADC Info Cards (edited):

The Main Cast (Minus Zooble :C)

Zooble ( Plus Zooble!!! :3)

Shiny Cards ✨

Lesser AI

THE GLOINKS!!!

Level layout

OFFICIAL COMIC:

The Entire Comic has also been dubbed by @volticglitch !! If you're not a reader, You can watch their dubs instead!! Here is the dub

Your best friend!

Jesterly duties

The hallway

Crying

First clue

Special event!

Foul language - a silly

Excuse me?

Leave!

A word with Bubble

Let it Settle

CONCEPT ART:

Characters Relationship Chart ( Bonus, OC relationship Chart!)

The Tent

The Funhouse

Cutscene

Pomni expressions

Character design

Meet Pomni

ALT character skins (Bonus, Maid skins because of course I did)

Pomni expressions AGAIN!!! (and a bonus)

The Jester's Circus tent (and a bonus)

References

Shape language ramble

LOREEE:

Neck pieces

Neck pieces (prt 2)

Neck pieces (prt 3)

Silly Frilly

Toxic Positivity Duo

Quick Ragatha Doodle

The Rabbit

Non-sentient Pomni

Pity Laugh

First act of violence

First and only visit

DOODLE DUMPS:

First look

Meet Jax

Meet Ragatha

Meet Kinger

Meet Able

Zooble's room

Theatre shinanigans

Thanks for listening

Jax Doodles

Ragatha doodles (Feat. Kaufmo)

Caine doodles

Queenie?

Colored doodles

Eye popping

Jax Ko-fi request!

SILLIES!!:

The "Sillies!!" Section is moved HERE becuase the mastpost couldn't take any more links!

╔══ ❀•°❀BOUNDERIES/FAQ❀°•❀ ══╗

"Can I make OCs In Carnival?" - Yess!! Multiple people already have and they make me so happy! do whatever, as long as you're happy and having fun!! " Can I make NSFW?" - Yas and slay, just be sure to warn and spoiler it, etc. etc. be responsible when posting NSFW! " Can I make Fanfics?" - Yes and please show me!! that would be lovely!! " Can I dub/voice your stuff?" - Yes but, I have only one rule... show me pleaaasseeee pls pls pls 🥺🙏 " Can I ship the characters/self ships/ OC x Canon?" - Aughh.. this is gonna suck to explain cuz its a lot to ask.. You're allowed to ship any ship! My only boundary is that it doesn't include either Pomni or Caine being with others who are not eachother! For example: Ragatha x Jax ✅ Pomni x Jax❌ Kinger x Queenie✅ Kinger x Caine❌ As long as the ship does not include Pomni or Caine individually, I'm all aboard!! I respect Jax x Pomni shippers, as well as Kinger x caine shippers, I just don't like them myself and don't want to accidentally stumble upon them in the tag! I do apologize if that's a lot, it just makes me uncomfy! Bounderies can be very tight! :')

[rad-batson]

Batlantern Headcanons Because I Found My New Brainrot and I Cannot Contain Myself (Platonic or Romantic, You Decide <3)

Hal is the only one who gets away with calling Bruce nicknames. Oliver tried calling Bruce “Spooky” once. He still has nightmares.

Several long-winded missions combined with Hal’s couch-surfing escapades have resulted in Hal having his own official Wayne guest room.

Alfred has smacked Hal with a dish towel several times. Reasons include: trying to wash the dishes, using a mini vac that he brought from home, and spitting gum into the garbage without wrapping it in a tissue first.

Tim gave Hal all of their streaming passwords to piss Bruce off. Hal proceeded to make his own profiles because he fears nothing, so Bruce changed all of his profile names to “Parasite.” Since then, it’s turned into an all-out war of renaming Hal’s profile every time they’re using it.

Highlights so far have included Sugar Baby, Freeloader, Ring Pop, Green Abomination, Magical Girl, Noisemaker, The Better Side Piece, and This is Your Official Eviction Notice Hal. (Bruce still hasn’t changed the passwords.)

Hal: You need to let go of your fear, Bats. Let’s do a simple breathing exercise. Bruce: I am breathing. Hal: No, like calming breaths. Follow my lead, okay? In- no, not that fast. Maybe close your eyes first. In…and out-No. No. Are you having a panic attack? Do I need to call someone?

For one mission, a few other JL members had to go undercover as couples. Bruce and Hal were the spares and paired up out of necessity. To everyone’s surprise, however, they were the most convincing duo because they “bickered like an old married couple.”

Bruce: I’m growing soft, Clark. I’m weak now. Clark: You told Hal ‘Good job.’ What’s wrong with that? Bruce: It’s unprofessional! *in the other room* Hal: I think Batman just confessed his undying love to me.

They have each other’s coffee orders memorized and regularly prepare the other’s coffee for them out of habit when they’re together.

After a while, Hal stops playfully flirting with everyone and reserves it only for Bruce because he gives the best reactions.

At a ‘Thank You, Justice League’ party hosted by Bruce Wayne, Hal slips up and flirts with Bruce in his civvies, only for Brucie Wayne to flirt back without missing a beat.

Hal had to go cool down in the bathroom for a few minutes. He was not ready for that. (Bruce is so fucking smug too. He’s been waiting FOREVER to give Hal a taste of his own medicine.)

Hal, introducing Bruce to the Lantern Corp: This is my pet bat. Careful, he bites.

Bruce, introducing Hal to new JL members: This is my partner. He’s been in training for ten years.

During an important strategy meeting, Hal waves his hand around, and Bruce just sighs. “What now, Lantern?” “Your plan of attack has like four holes in it.” “Where?” Hal gestures to the areas and suggests different strategies, and suddenly Bruce is like Does anyone else think it’s hot in here?

He lies in bed that night contemplating every single life event that’s lead up to Hal Fucking Jordan turning him on with his impeccable battle strategy.

Barry: I think Batman’s mad at me. He didn’t even react when I told him about the great rescue mission from last week. Hal: What do you mean? He was smiling the whole time. Barry: His face didn’t move an inch. Hal: You didn’t notice the lip twitch?

Batman has blackmail material on every single Justice League member, but only Hal has blackmail material on Bruce and the guts to use it. (Hal knows Bruce gets pedicures for fun. And he gets little designs on his toes too.)

Arthur: So when did you and Green Lantern start….you know. Bruce: No, I do not. What did we start? Arthur: You know what?! I think I forgot to walk my fish. Bye!

*Barry sees Hal with a hickey while they’re drinking coffee* Barry, jokingly: Did Bruce give you that? Hal: Yes, actually. How’d you know? Barry, backing away frantically: Oh okay, cool! Okay okay. Cool. Cool cool cool. Okay. Bruce, entering: What’s with him? Hal: I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to like the mug you bought me, though.

The JL has a betting pool called “BatLantern FMK” where they bet on which will happen first: will they fuck, marry, or kill each other?

Only Clark, Diana, and J’onn know that one of them happened already

[dalishious]

A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase

I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.

In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.

There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?

In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.

There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:

“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”

The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.

However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!

While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.

BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?

The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.

Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.

[This piece is also available on Medium!]

[impactedfates]

L Bozo Ratio!! - Dr Ratio x GN!Reader

★ Notes: I couldn't think of a better name haha, finally got to finishing and posting this!! This is slightly in a scenario format. They’ll be mini time stamps ^^ It's a kind weird format but it's one that made sense at the time of writing it

☆ Characters Included: Dr Ratio (Romantic) + Aventurine (Supporting)

★ Genre/Trope: (one-sided) Rivals to Lovers (but no one gets together yet) + Fluff + Crack(?)

☆ Warnings: None

★ Extra: Dr Ratio may be OOC // I'm not actually sure if the Intelligentsia Guild has a school but just pretend for the fic // Not fully proof-read // First half may be slightly dialogue heavy

“And you’re sure you don’t know when this started?”

The blonde asked as he shuffled some cards, peering at you through his heart shaped glasses

“Positive!! He was decently kind to me when I first joined the Guild. I don’t know what happened!!”

Aventurine chuckled, dealing out the cards between the two of you.

“If I know the doctor, I know he wouldn’t dislike someone for a reason-”

“He dislikes me?? Why! I didn’t-”

“Let me finish [Name]. He’s not someone who dislikes another for no reason, and I do believe you haven’t done anything wrong. So perhaps there’s a different reason why he acts this why”

He slowly places the remaining cards down, looking at you with a small smile that almost hinted he already had an idea.

“Now tell me the whole story, how you met and how it started. And the things that happened afterwards, just tell me everything from the start to now”

"Huh- Uh okay?"

.

.

.

HOW YOU TWO MET

You had just joined the Intelligentsia Guild. Setting up your classroom and preparing for future lessons with the students who had already signed up for your course when you heard a knock on the door.

You went and opened it and were met with the eyes of a purple haired man who stared at you.

"You must be the one everyone's talking about. I am Veritas Ratio, but many here just call me Dr Ratio"

He speaks before you could welcome him or even utter a greeting. You only smiled before responding yourself.

"People are already talking about me? That makes me a bit nervous...but yes, I'm the new teacher here. You can call me [Name]"

"No ones talking ill about you, don't fret. I just came by to introduce myself. If you ever need anything, my room is just down the hall. Just don't interrupt too much, especially if I'm teaching"

"Oh! Thank you Dr Ratio. I appreciate the help"

He peered inside the room, taking a small look around at the decorating you had down so far.

"Perhaps call an interior designer before you start your lessons, you may need it"

"WHA- Hey! I'm not even do-"

But he was already off walking down the hall before you could finish. With a sigh escaping your lips, you closed your classroom door again to continue decorating

WHEN IT STARTED

You weren't sure on the exact date, I mean who could name the exact date someone randomly seemed to despise you when you thought you had a good relationship?

Sure you weren't close with Dr Ratio, but you weren't exactly not friends with him either. You two would chat, especially when the two of you had free time, but one day he just ignored you?

You weren't sure why, until some of the yearly exam results came out and he proudly showed how well his students did. You were confused at the sudden appearance but it wasn't unwelcomed as you happily showed your classes results as well.

"Our students are pretty smart!! All our classes passed with flying colours"

You happily said as you slid over the total marks your classes did. You expected him to congratulate you or...something? You weren't sure what to expect from his reaction, but not for him to glare at the score, throwing his paper carelessly and walking out, turning to face you. He said in a determined voice. "I'll beat you next time Mx. [Name]"

"...Beat me in wha-"

He slammed your classroom door...

You grabbed the paper from the ground and double checked the two scores, there must be a big difference if he suddenly challenged you or well...vowed? To get a higher score than your class? Even if it was out of character for him to care-

.

.

.

A 1% difference...?

DURING THE "RIVALRY"

You tried to talk to him, tried to pinpoint why he suddenly cared so much about "beating" your class in test and exam scores. Sure you didn't know him that well, but at the same time? You knew it wasn't in his nature to care about this kind of thing.

Honestly you didn't know anyone who would actually care...

It was just test scores, just showing how well the two of you taught a class...he wasn't trying to show he was a better teacher right...?

Sure the students praised you more but that was merely cuz he was stricter with his teachers. Apparently he threw someone out the window?? At least that's what you heard in passing...

In any case, you couldn't think of a logical conclusion as to why he suddenly wanted to have this sudden rivalry. But you wanted to find out.

You tried to talk to him, knock on his door a few times a month to talk to him, giving him his favourite food. Heck you even gave back the chalk you accidentally on purpose forgot to give back to him.

But he was dry with his response, looking away when you tried to talk to him or heck even smiled at him.

YOUR SMILE WAS NOT THAT BAD.

This became such a habit the other teachers noticed. They already noticed how kindly Dr Ratio already treated you compared to the others when you first joined, and when he became more cold and dry to you they noticed more.

You could see their lingering stares as the scholar once again shut his book with one hand and walked off without another word to you. You tried asking the other scholars but they weren't sure what was going on either. None of them have dealt with this so-called rivalry.

You knocked on his door once again, to which he slowly opened. Being accustomed to the soft knocks that came from your hand.

"Ratio!! I brought you some Stargazer cake!!"

"....many thanks [Name]"

He muttered, taking the plate from your hands.

"So I just wanted to-"

He shut the door in your face...again. Does he have a thing for not letting people finish or are you the lucky one?

CURRENT

"And that kinda brings us to here? But yeah, I'm not sure why he started the rivalry"

"Perhaps it's to hide something~ Something he doesn't want to tell a certain someone yet"

"What? Hiding something...what could he be hiding"

"That he lo-"

"That's enough Aventurine."

You snapped your head up to the source of the voice, as the gambler leaned his head back to look at the new addition to the room."

"Doctor~ Funny to see you here again, good to know your interrupting habits and not letting someone finish their sentence doesn't only apply to your cru-"

"...Shut it gambler...I need to have a word with you"

Aventurine chuckled, as he stood up and placed the cards down on the middle of the table. Telling you he'd be right back as the two of them went into another room.

You sat there, for maybe a minute or two. Until curiosity hit you like a brick. You knew they were talking about you. Or at least, that was most likely, and if you were right. Then that means the duo were chatting about Ratios behaviour...surely a small listen wouldn't hurt?

You slowly walked over to the room, careful to be quiet as you listened to the conversation.

"And what makes it so hard, Doctor? Just tell them. You can't keep using this whole rivalry thing to buy you time"

"You don't understand...it's easier said than done...besides, I'd rather make it more special. I can't just go out there and tell them in this situation"

"What would flowers and a more romantic setting do?"

"Make them feel special...make them hopefully feel the exact same way I felt when I realised I loved them"

FINALLY FINISHED IT!! I got my computer fixed a bit ago but still struggled to find the words to continue but here I am >:D Hopefully this was worth the wait sipadgpsirp

[harmonyrae]

Devil in the Mirror

I could not sleep until I wrote this... Don't usually write for Raf, but his Abysswalker fit & vibe absolutely ruins me. So... enjoy!

Synopsis: Abysswalker inspired Assassin Rafayel works non-stop. A contract unaliver and artist, who knew he'd be so damn busy. A big job is around the corner, but tonight, he's relaxing. He didn't intend on meeting the most gorgeous girl and getting swept away in the heat of the moment. But there's an unforeseen complication...

Warnings: Mentions of violence, death & explicit sexual descriptions. 18+ MDNI

Word Count: 4.9k

Playlist: RUNRUNRUN - Dutch Melrose Heaven and Back - Chase Atlantic I wanna be your slave - Maneskin The Death of Peace of Mind - Bad Omens Swim - Chase Atlantic Bed Chem - Sabrina Carpenter

The water finally turns pink as the blood rinses off your skin. You grab the small brush from your kit on the counter and start brushing it over your fingertips. The blood underneath splatters against the porcelain. You finally reach for the soap to do a final wash before taking a paper towel from your kit and drying your hands. 

You carefully undo the clasps of your mask and wipe it off haphazardly before tossing it in the duffel bag by your feet. You inspect your face, a few specks of blood frame your eyes. As you run a hand through your hair you feel a clot catch on your fingers. 

“Damn… he actually got me?” 

You grab a large plastic tarp, placing it on the shower floor before turning on the water. Unbuckling your leather vest you glance into your kit to see a small suture pack. You place it on the counter before placing the vest in the large trash bag already holding your gloves and overcoat. The skin around your ribs is already starting to bruise, but at least the gash across your chest has stopped bleeding. 

As you unbutton your pants, you hear a faint buzz from your room. You slip the blood coated pants off and into the bag. Right before you slip off your underwear you hear your ringtone. Specifically, your “work” ringtone. 

Run, baby, run, run for your life I'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine

You know exactly who it is and you know he’ll give you an earful if you don’t pick up and give him an update. You stroll into your room, the mini-fridge already rummaged through, bottles scattered on the TV stand. The hotel is paid for by your client, fuck yes you’re going to rack up the bill. After this job you needed a little buzz to settle down. You grab your phone before stepping up to the window looking down over the busy city. Linkon this time of day was always a shit show and you loved watching the chaos. 

Father, please, she’s perfect in your design

You chuckle, you’ve made him wait long enough. You swipe to answer.

“Thomas, mah boy.” 

“Took you long enough Raf. Do you have an update?” His voice strained, like always. One day you’ll ask him why he took this job to begin with. Until then, you’re glad he has stuck around.

“It’s all good. Easy. Bit messier than I intended. Guy was massive! You could have given me a heads up!”

“I DID! You never read the briefings… Did you need a clean up crew? Or a doctor?” 

“Nah, I handled it. And I’ve gotten pretty good at patching myself up. I’ll be back at the house tomorrow.”

“Actually…” 

“You’re kidding… Thomas…” You whine knowing another job is coming your way. Right before your event. 

“The client is offering a huge payout and said they’d consider contracting you permanently if you pull this off.” 

“Puh-lease if I pull this off? Are they joking? They know my work, right?”

“They do. I mean, they called the best in the business, didn’t they?”

“Fair. Deadline?” 

“One week from accepting the job.”

“Target?”

“A hunter, top tier apparently.” 

“A hunter, huh? That’s new. Client solid?”

“Very. Big corporation. They even sent a down payment to try and persuade you. Check your account.”

“No need, I don’t care about the money.”

“Check your account Rafayel.”

You sigh dramatically before pulling the phone away from your ear. Clicking your banking app, it automatically logs you in and displays the balance. Holy shit. You don’t care about money. You have more than enough. Your art career is doing well and your… bonus job… is very lucrative. But this is crazy. 

“A down payment of 10 million?!” You shout into the phone.

“Told you. I can send you the details if you want to consider the job.” 

“Send them tomorrow. I need a break tonight. Go ahead and tell them I’ll take the job.” 

“Oh one more thing, they do have a clause for no completing the job. It’s… intense. Are you sure you don’t want to read the details first?”

“Nah, I always finish the job. Now please, I beg of you, don’t disturb me anymore tonight.”

“Wait! Rafayel, don't forget the art exhibit tomorrow night! Journalists are hounding me for interviews and I promised them you’d be there.” You are a literal assassin and Thomas handles your kill contracts and he still gets more stressed out about your art exhibits. This man is something else. 

“I know, I know. And why did you promise them?! You know I hate doing interviews!”

“Raf, please…” You know for a fact he is pouting. How dare he use your tactics against you.

“Fine. Good night Tommy.” You hear him huff before you hang up. He hates when you call him that. So you always do.

You toss your phone on the bed and grab the small bottle of Kraken Black Spiced Rum before heading to the shower. You open the bottle, flicking the cap off and taking a swig before pulling off your boxers to hop in the shower. Bright red water pools on the tarp as the stream hits the wound on your head.

“Fuck…” 

The pain settles in and you take another long swig in an attempt to numb the throbbing at the back of your head. You set the bottle on the small bench in the shower before grabbing the soap and scrubbing your body diligently. Once you’re satisfied and every tiny speck of blood is gone, you focus on the bloody mess on your head. The water has started to run pink, so most of the clotted blood has rinsed away. 

The gash is not too deep and there’s no glass in the wound. That asshole really wasted a perfectly good bottle of Brandy trying to stop you. Cute. After that, you made sure his end was some of your best work. Satisfying honestly. 

Once your head wound is rinsed out, you turn off the shower and grab the towel, tying it around your waist. You grab the Rum bottle before stepping out. You stare at yourself in the mirror as you take another sip. At least he didn’t slash your face, facial scars are sexy, but you still didn’t want one. At least not yet.

After disinfecting the wound you carefully place a few stitches, closing it. Holding a gauze pad over it to dry, you head back into the hotel room to pull out a pair of dark jeans and a loose fitting button up. Nothing fancy for tonight. You’d be working up a sweat and doing your best to get properly drunk. You don’t get many opportunities to slip into a club unnoticed so tonight you wanted to be very low-key - a foreign concept to you but still the goal.

You slip on a clean pair of boxers and the jeans, shrugging on the cream colored shirt leaving it unbuttoned as you head into the bathroom. You carefully roll up the tarp and place it in the plastic bag. You take your time cleaning up the bathroom counter. Tossing the bloody gauze and empty disinfectant bottle away, pouring an entire bottle of bleach in the sink and shower. 

Running a hand through your dusty purple hair, you take in your appearance. You look good. Not great, being so tired, but good. The pink in your eyes catches the light, helping hide the exhaustion with the bright contrast. You button your shirt, leaving most of your chest exposed. You roll up the sleeves to your elbows and secure your bracelets before slipping on your laceless boots. Your phone slips into your back pocket with your wallet and you’re off.

The walk to the club is about 10 minutes, perfect for people watching and admiring the night sky. The bright lights of the street lights drown out the moonlight. You shove your hands in your pockets and count the cars passing by. You round the final corner before seeing the club across the street. The neon pink and blue lights pulse along to the base you can feel under your feet. The line is long, very long. 

You jog across the street and lock eyes with the bouncer. He nods at you and unclasps the barrier rope to let you pass immediately. The grumbles of waiting patrons reach your ears and you giggle to yourself. After painting a mural for the club owner, you always get the VIP treatment. Immediate entry, free drinks, private booth. Perks of being famous. You hate to love it.

The bar is packed, but you nod at the bartender and she motions for loitering patrons to make room for you. You hop up on a stool as three men leave, thank god, you have some breathing room. You lean forward on your elbows and flash your brightest smile.

“Avery, looking gorgeous as usual!” 

“Ever the flatterer Raf. What can I get for you?” Avery leans on the bar towards you, inching closer and you catch her glancing at your mouth. You make out with a bartender one time and now your lips are her addiction. 

“My usual if you please, cutie.” 

“One Rum and Coke coming up.” Avery winks before swinging her raven hair over her shoulder and turns to start making your drink.

You glance around the club, noting the exits and counting the security guards. A lot more security tonight. Probably has something to do with the increased Wanderer activity. They’re not hunters, but most club goers won’t think that far ahead. Your eyes scan the dance floor, you recognize a few people. A few artists who come to every exhibit you host, a handful of club regulars who you’ve hung out with before and maybe one or two one-night-stands. Okay, cool, will be avoiding that side of the dance floor. 

The lights change with the song, shades of purple wash over the dance floor. A light passes over a dancer in the middle of the floor. Damn. 

She was always dealing with the devil She was always into taking those chances, yeah

A girl swaying to the music, her sparkling dress catching the light as she moves. You’ve seen movies like this and you half expect time to slow around you. Fuck, why does it feel like time is slowing… 

Avery sets your drink down in front of you and says something, but you can’t focus on anything other than her. You pick up your drink and take a sip, not taking your eyes off the girl. She locks fingers with her friend and they dance together. 

She’s high She lives in the sky Tonight, she’s satisfied

She flips her hair over her shoulder, her strapless dress showing off her stunning chest. No matter how many sips of your drink you take, your throat is dry. Setting down your drink, you clear your throat and rest your head on your hand. Not bothering to pretend you aren’t staring.

Rolling back her eyes But then, she starts to cry Everything is turning to black

She glances over to the bar and locks eyes with you. Fuck. You can’t look away. No backing down now Raf. She smiles and doesn’t look away. Shit. You smile back and rub your thumb across your lip - was that sexy? Jesus. You never get this flustered over a woman. Like ever. So what kind of spell did this woman put on you? She glances down at the floor before looking back up at you. Wait, is she looking at someone behind me? Oh god. You turn and look over your shoulder. The patrons behind you are all facing the other way. When you look back at her, she’s giggling, her hips still swaying to the music. Wow. You can’t help yourself, your eyes trail down over her body. Her toned arms and legs on full display, her short dress hugging her curves, her hair smooth as silk, a few strands sticking to her back from the sweat she’s built up from dancing. 

All in one night She just went to heaven and back

And then the best, and most terrifying, thing happens. She starts walking towards you. You immediately face forward and blink at least 100 times, surely. When you look back, she’s still walking towards you, a sexy smirk plastered to her face. You take another sip of your drink silently praying you don’t say something stupid or that your voice cracks. 

She slides onto the stool next to you. She keeps her eyes on you. Avery appears in your peripherals.

“What can I get you hun?” 

“I’ll have whatever he’s having.” For fucks sake, her voice is… beautiful. Sultry, soft, smooth. 

Avery turns and starts to prepare the drink. The woman leans her head on her hand, matching your position. Her smile turns wicked. She 100% can tell you’re nervous right now.

“So what’s your name, pretty boy?”

You shift in your seat, your blood is rushing directly to your cock. Goddamn. You need that blood for your upstairs brain. You chuckle trying to play it cool. 

“Rafayel. Or Raf, whatever you prefer, cutie.”

“Rafayel, nice to meet you. I’m Y/N.” Your name on her lips… Yeah, you’re completely under her spell now.

“Likewise, Y/N.”

Avery sets down a Rum and Coke in front of her. She nods at Avery and picks up the drink bringing it to her lips. She takes a sip and pulls back, closing her eyes tightly. 

“Damn, that is strong. Is yours that strong?” 

You chuckle and slide your glass to her.

“You’re welcome to compare.” 

She doesn’t hesitate. She picks up your glass and takes a drink, her lipstick leaving a print on the glass. Her eyebrows raise as she looks at the glass. 

“Hmm… yours is balanced. Maybe the bartender was feeling generous with mine.” 

You glance over at Avery, her cheeks are definitely flushed. She sees the way you are looking at this woman and she is definitely staring at her. You sigh and return your gaze. 

“Generous is one word for it.”

“Jealous is another, yeah?” 

How? How? How is she in your head? You can’t help but laugh. She is spot on after all. Before you can think of how to respond, she has her hand on your knee. She squeezes gently.

“I don’t mind a little competition.” 

You are not going to survive. You don’t have a will written up. Who is going to get all your money? Thomas probably. He’s going to be so mad at you for missing the exhibit tomorrow. You aren’t even wearing designer brands, you’re going to die looking like this? It could be worse. You could be naked. Well, that wouldn’t be so bad.

“Rafayel?” 

Her voice brings you back to reality. Fuck. Real smooth Raf. Good work.

“Oh… aha… yeah, sorry. Competition, right. You don’t mind? You… So you like challenges?”

She giggles at your struggle to get the words out. She leans forward.

“I love a good challenge.” With that she grabs your hand.

“Woah, where are we going?” 

“To dance, pretty boy.” 

You follow her to the dance floor, she goes straight back to the center. Her grip on your hand tightening as more people start crowding around the DJ booth. The DJ drops another track and the lights start pulsing faster with the tempo. 

I wanna be your slave, I wanna be your master I wanna make your heartbeat run like rollercoasters

She finds an empty spot and turns towards you, she guides your hands to her hips before placing her hands over your shoulders. She pulls you closer as she clasps her hands behind your neck. She starts swaying her hips, letting her head bob to the beat.

I wanna be a good boy, I wanna be a gangster ‘Cause you could be the beauty and I could be the monster

You match her movements, your grip on her hips tighten as you pull her closer. The music fades into the background as you stare into her eyes. She giggles, her smile sending your heart into a panic. You smile back at her, letting the music and movement relax you. The booze finally heats the blood in your veins. Or maybe it’s just how turned on you are that’s making the room almost unbearably hot? 

She suddenly turns around, she presses her ass against you, her hands cover yours on her hips. As she starts grinding, all attempts at trying to keep a cool head come to a screeching halt. She leans back and looks over her shoulder. Her hooded eyes sparkle as she bites her lower lip. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

You hold your breath feeling her hips sway and grind against your painfully hard cock. There’s not a doubt in your head, she definitely feels it against her ass. She doesn’t stop and her head falls back against your shoulder. You bring up a hand to run your fingers across her collarbone. You move her hair off her neck and press your lips close to her skin, making sure she can feel your breath. The goosebumps you feel rise across her chest confirm she does. 

Your other hand rises to her stomach, pulling her completely flush against you. She brings her arm up and grabs onto the side of your neck, her fingers playing with your hair. You can feel her breathing getting more and more unsteady. Your lips finally touch her neck and she fully stretches her neck out to give you full access. Gentle kisses turn to bites and licks, marks already appearing faintly all over her neck and shoulder. The room feels empty - it’s just you and her. And then you hear her moan quietly against your ear.

“Raf… fuck…” 

And I’m a killer who’s searching for redemption I’m a motherfucking monster who’s searching for redemption

“Want to get out of here?” You whisper in her ear as the song ends.

“God, yes.”

The door to your hotel room slams against the wall as you stumble inside. You’re not even in the room before she’s kissing you, her lips feeling like heaven. Soft, sweet, a hint of alcohol on her tongue. She bites your lip as she pulls you into your room. You kick the door closed and walk her backwards to the bed. 

Your fingers pull the zipper of her dress down. She’s already unbuttoned your shirt and pushes it over your shoulders. You reach back to pull it off and throw it to the floor. Her shoes kicked over to the corner, her dress hanging off her body. You reach up and pull it down, as you work the dress down her legs your mouth dives into her bare chest. She steps out of her dress just as you reach the bed. 

She falls back on the bed, her body glistening with sweat, her lipstick slightly smeared. You know you have it all over your face and chest since she couldn’t keep herself off of you on the walk to the hotel. You unbuckle your belt and unbutton your jeans, pushing them and your boxers over your hips. You kick your shoes and pants off before meeting her gaze. She lets her eyes trail over your body, stopping to take in your cock. You’ve been dying to address this little - well, aha there’s nothing little about it - now is not the time for jokes. Your head is swimming with how you ended up here with this gorgeous girl. 

She leans up on the bed and wraps her pretty little hand around your cock, stroking lightly before picking up the pace. Your head falls back. Holy shit. You squeeze your eyes closed. There’s 100 things you want to do to her, but hearing your name roll off her tongue over and over is at the top of the list. 

“Ah- fuck…” 

You look down to see her mouth around your leaking tip, her tongue tracing circles. She continues to pump you as her mouth opens wider. She sends her tongue over you rapidly before settling in to push you towards the back of her throat. Your hands fly to the back of her head, grabbing fistfuls of her soft hair. She’s so fucking bold. She gags lightly, but then she finds her rhythm. She bobs her head and lets her teeth lightly graze your shaft. She grabs onto the backs of your thighs as she moves. She moans against you. Her mouth feels insane wrapped around you. Every muscle in your body relaxes and you let her set the pace. She could do literally anything to you at this point, fuck, she’s a force of nature.

She brings her hands around to squeeze your ass, earning her a gasp from you. She did not just grab your ass?! The audacity. You’ll never admit that that was very hot and may have been the key to your undoing. She giggles, the vibrations pushing you to your limit. How the fuck is she getting you there so fast? It would be embarrassing if it didn’t feel so right, so good. When her hand finds your balls, massaging them gently, you have absolutely lost it. 

“Damn… cutie, I need to- fuck… ahh-”

She takes a sudden breath and sucks, hard. Nah, you are done for. Ruined. Conquered. Your release coats her mouth and when you feel her swallow you stop biting your lip and moan aloud. Her hands move to caress your thighs. She continues to suck and trails her tongue over your tip, gathering every ounce you gave her. When you look down at her, she locks eyes with you as she lets your cock slip out of her mouth. Her chin is coated with your cum, she licks her lips. She smiles as she takes in, what you’re sure is, your very fucked out face. 

You reach down to pull her up to her feet. She wraps her arms around your neck before your lips crash against hers. You can taste yourself and the burning in your stomach grows. You need her, you need to be inside her, you need all of her. You hook your thumbs along the band of her panties and tug them over her hips before dropping them to let them fall to the floor. You lean her back on the bed slowly. She carefully scoots back as you crawl over her. Before you can lower yourself, she places her hands on your chest and pushes. She rolls you over and swings her leg over your torso, she straddles you and, god, she’s perfect. 

Her hands feel your chest, dragging her nails down your abdomen. You tighten your core at the sensation. You hear her giggle before she leans down to capture your lips. She pushes against your lower lip begging for entrance, who are you to deny her? She damn near fights with your tongue. You know she’ll win, but she did say she likes a challenge. 

Her hand has reached down between her legs to grab a hold of your cock, once again rock hard. What is she doing to you? She’s effortless, you’re so desperate for her. Not a soul will ever hear you say that. Well maybe her… And then you find yourself whimpering exactly that.

“Fuck I’m desperate- ahh- for you…”

WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?! You weren’t actually going to say that what the hell… She smirks down at you, her eyes shimmer in the stream of moonlight shining through the window. She glides your sensitive tip along her clit slowly rolling her hips.

“Now’s the time, pretty boy. Make me scream for you.” 

Your eyes widen and the intensity you usually reserve for your kills surfaces. You say a silent prayer to, god knows who, that you won’t hurt her. You grab her hips and pull her forward, you reach down and move her hand before wrapping your own hand around your cock. You press your hips upward, your tip tucked into her. She gasps, falling forward she plants her hands on your chest. You slowly push down on her hips, stretching her slow and steady. You let go of your cock and settle your thumb against her clit. 

“You’re so- wet for me- shit…You like me that much, cutie?” 

Your words are rushed as you struggle to breath, she’s clenching so tightly around you your mind is turning to mush. She digs her nails into your chest. One of her nails catches the edge of the cut you patched up earlier. What you thought would be agony is euphoric. The pain causes you to thrust your hips up and you bottom out. 

“Raf- fuck oh god- Rafayel!” 

She screams your name and it is everything you could have wanted, needed, desired, dreamed of. You keep rubbing her clit, harder and faster, her gasps guiding your pace. Each thrust of your hips she matches by rolling her hips. She’s so tight and you feel your tip hitting her deepest sweet spot. 

“You’re close- shit- you’re so close aren’t you, angel?” 

You reach your hand up to palm her breast, she’s so fucking soft, except for her nipples. You cup her breast and press your thumb to the peaked bud. You roll your thumb up and down, slowly at first, letting it flick back to pointing straight out. As you move faster, she reaches a hand up to press against yours.

“Rafayel, RAF, shit…” 

She screams again and you feel a warm rush against your cock. She stops rolling her hips, too overwhelmed to ride out her orgasm. You bring both of your hands to her hips and rock her through her high, your thrusts more desperate now. The pressure building is dangerous, you’re close too. She leans back and puts her hands on your thighs, her head thrown back, your name rolling off her tongue over and over - just like you wanted. 

She’s beautiful, radiant, confident, sassy, bold, direct… And you found her dancing in a club on a random Thursday? You believed in fate, but never depended on it. But now? Fuck. Maybe you should go all in. Your chest tightens as you reach your peak. Jesus. You feel her release and yours mix and slide against your cock, it leaking out of her as she moves up and down. You reach down and coat your fingers. You reach up and use your thumb to pull her chin down.

“Open.” She does as she’s told.

“Good girl.” 

You put your fingers in her mouth and she moans as she licks them clean, releasing them with a soft pop. You return your fingers between you and gather more, bringing them to your lips this time. She watches you lick your fingers like a goddamn popsicle, she presses her hands to your chest once more. And as soon as you finish licking your fingers clean, she wraps her hands around your neck pulling you upwards. Her lips are hot and heavy against yours. Now who’s desperate? Thank god… It’s so much better being desperate for each other. So much hotter. 

As her hip movements slow, your thrusts follow suit. Her kissing becomes sloppy as exhaustion takes over. You feel yourself slipping out of her. You gently lift her off of you and sit her on your stomach. You wrap your arms around her back and roll her over. She relaxes into the mattress, your weight holding her still. You place soft kisses all over her face, watching as her eyes slowly close. 

“Raf…” 

“Shh, sleep. I’ll clean you up.”

She smiles before leaning up to kiss you one last time before settling in to rest. You carefully roll away from her and get up. You grab a blanket off the couch in the corner and cover her up. You make your way to the bathroom, but before you make it you hear your phone ding. Jesus Thomas. You grab your phone and then head to the bathroom. 

You splash cold water over your face, running your hands through your hair. You clean yourself up with hotel towels and get a few ready to take care of her. You grab your toothbrush and squeeze a drop of toothpaste directly in your mouth. As you brush your teeth, you open your phone to glance over the contract details Thomas sent through. 

A basic contract killing. No witnesses, easy. Plant evidence, poor sap named Xavier is gonna catch the charge it seems. What the fuck? Retrieve her heart? Who the fuck is this client? Why did they want her heart? Not that it’s any of your business. You’re just not used to doing fucking surgery after a kill. First time for everything. Okay, locations, she has her own apartment, no roommates. Consequences for failing the job… What in the actual fuck does “you don’t want to find out” mean? You can take a guess, but hello??

Your toothbrush hits the floor. Your blood runs cold as ice. It takes you a full minute to realize you’re not breathing. You gasp for air, your phone hitting the counter as you reach out to steady yourself. No fucking chance.

Target: Y/N

Tag List (comment if you wanna be added!): @trishiepo0 @not-so-quite-human

This is a one off, but I could see doing a long form story with this. Also, writing Rafayel's inner dialogue had me rolling so I wouldn't mind. Tell me if you'd read more... Thanks for reading!

[licorice-tea]

The Way Things Go

Pairing: Kaku x reader

Content: huge spoilers for water 7 and enies lobby!!! kaku calls reader “miss” but gender nuetral pronouns are used besides that, reader is a strawhat, flirting and things!

Word Count: 1.4k

A/N: this is going to be a mini series covering the reader’s arrival in water 7 (with the straw hats ofc!) to the end of enies lobby. basically, how the reader meets kaku, falls for him, learns his true identity, etc. it’s been a WHILE since i watched the water 7/ennies lobby arcs so im sorry if some things aren’t accurate!! also this is very self indulgent, ik he doesn’t have a ton of fans but seeing him in egghead put me back in my kaku era😇 enjoy! <3

Part 2

You walk towards the doors of the shipyard nonchalantly, but with clear direction and intent. “I need to help find a shipwright who can evaluate the Going Merry and tell us what it’ll cost to fix.” Just a few minutes ago, you’d split up from Nami, Luffy, and Usopp in favor of heading straight to the shipyard while they went to find a place to exchange all of your “stolen” treasure for berries, first. Which is how you ended up standing outside a set of massive doors and an equally tall wall to what you had been told was the Galley La Shipyard. However, after finding no buttons or opening mechanism, you try and fail to push open the incredibly heavy doors.

“Afternoon, miss. Are you looking for a way into the Galley-La Company, by chance?”

You turn around expecting someone older, who has lived a life and now finds no reason to speak in anything other than proverbs and make casual small talk using the same dialects that were popular half a century ago. But instead you’re met with a young man, no older than 25, and a nose reminiscent of Usopp’s. He’s tall, with pretty eyes and strawberry blond hair. You notice the words “Galley La” stitched on the front of his baseball cap, and realize he must work there.

“Hi! Yes, I’m looking for a way into the shipyard.” you nod earnestly.

“Allow me to introduce myself then,” the man removes his hat and holds it to his chest as a gesture of respect, “I’m Kaku, one of the shipwrights of the Galley La Company.” Then he extends his hand toward yours, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss…?”

“Y/n,” you take his hand and shake it once, “and the pleasure’s all mine.”

He smiles and (ever so slowly) lets go of your hand, then brings two fingers up under his chin in a pondering expression. “Say, you look awfully familiar miss y/n. Don’t tell me… you’re a model!”

You giggle at the compliment, “Only on wanted posters!”

“Ah, we get plenty of pirates around these parts, but I’ve never met one as pretty as yourself.” he punctuates his comment with a wink.

You smile and shake your head, “I’m sorry but I’m kind of on a time crunch; would you be able to let me into the shipyard? My crew and I need repairs on our ship.”

“Certainly, miss. Wait here, and I’ll have the doors open in a jiffy.”

As the shipwright leads the pirate through the yard, he makes quick work of getting closer to you. It doesn’t take long for Kaku to boldly rest his hand on your lower back as if to guide you in new directions. At one point he even hooks his arm around your shoulders to turn you toward a particular construction area, but his flirting does not go unnoticed.

“Next on our tour,” he gestures forward at a building with one hand, with his other on the small of y/n’s back, “this is where we design some of the new ships.”

The building is one of few within the large, outdoor shipyard. Kaku opens the door for you and announces to his fellow shipwrights, who are hard at work designing various ship parts inside, that he’s brought a guest. The building isn’t very large inside, either- just a few tables decorate the interior, all covered in blueprints and drawing tools. You wave politely around the room and even excuse yourself for the intrusion, but your tour guide puts his arm around you once again and assures you that it’s no bother. And he’s right; the ship designers either pay you no mind or kindly explain what they’re doing as  you make your way through the room. Their work is intriguing, and extremely detailed- almost artistic, in a way.

Kaku catches the glint in your eyes and asks, “Are you an engineer? Or- no, an architect?” he incorrectly guesses your occupation, but his attempts are cute at the very least.

You laugh and smile, “No, I’m not. But this work is really amazing… there’s just so much attention to detail; it’s very…”

“Beautiful?” he offers with a proud grin.

“Hm. I was going to say skilled, but yeah, beautiful.” You continue in a slow lap around the room to observe the blueprints and the shipwrights drawing them. When the two of you exit, you give another wave by the door and thank the shipwrights for letting you see their work. Kaku stays behind and winks at his coworkers, who all grin or shake their heads in amusement at his clear pursuit of the visitor (you), before following you outside.

He jogs to catch up and falls into step alongside you. “So, what do you do then if you don’t mind my asking, miss y/n?” Then, he takes on a teasing tone: “Besides pirating, of course.”

“I do plenty.” You joke back. Sure, you could tell him your dream and your role on the crew but… where’s the fun in that? Besides, you barely know the guy.

“You’re awfully mysterious, miss y/n.” He not-so-discreetly observes your profile as you continue walking through the shipyard. “Say, how long are you and your crew in town?”

“Oh, well.. however long it takes for our ship to be repaired, I guess.” Then, your gaze meets his with a somewhat knowing expression. “Why do you ask?”

Kaku smirks, “I’d like to get to know you better.”

With a smirk and a hum of acknowledgment, you both continue walking side by side with an added air of flirtation in every brush of your hands or shoulders. You reach the end of the shipyard, and turn around to head back. On the way back to the front entrance, Kaku agrees to personally asses the Going Merry free of charge, “just for you.” The two of you make plans for him to come to the place where the Straw Hats hid her later that evening when he has time. Finally, you two have done a complete lap around the Galley-La Shipyard, and you find yourselves back at the entrance.

“Thank you again for agreeing to check out our ship. She means a lot to us; my crew and I.”

He puts his hands in his pockets, sort of mimicking your own nonchalant demeanor; “It’s no problem at all, miss. In fact, it’ll be my great pleasure to work for you.”

You giggle at his flirting once again, and bid him farewell. “Well, I’m going to go find my crew mates. I think they probably found us some hotel rooms by now.” (You’d all planned to stay in a hotel while in Water 7, in order for repairs to be carried out.)

Kaku nods, “Then I hope you’ll come visit me when you have the time. Or would you prefer it if I came to you?”

“…You don’t have to do that.” Awkward laughter escapes your lips.

“No, but I sure would like to,” he takes one of your hands and surrounds it with both of his, “if you’ll let me.”

This has your mouth gaping as you search for the right response… He’s so straightforward, unlike most of the young men you’ve met on your travels. “W-well, ok.”

“Ok? So, that’s a yes then?” He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood and ease your nervousness (though he does find it endearing.) “I could only accept your enthusiastic consent, miss y/n, if I were to go ahead with courting you.”

“I- Courting me?” you hold back a laugh, not wanting to tease him for his old fashioned way when you find it so charming. “Then, yes. I enthusiastically agree.”

He grins, “Swell! I think I’ll swing by your Going Merry around 5, shouldn’t talk long to asses damages and give you a quote on how much she’ll be to fix. How about we meet then?”

And you nod, “Sounds like a plan.”

“It is one.” He leans in conspiratorially and wriggles his brows, “One could even call it a date.”

You hide another smile by biting your lip and take a step back. “Right… Well, I’ll see you then!” With a wave over your shoulder, you’re off. He watches for a moment as you disappear into a more crowded area of the street and chuckles to himself.

What a sweet guy. A little old fashioned, but very polite, and so tall and handsome and- sigh.

You’re already falling for him.

[plor-bindery]

Bound: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This one is for a friend, whose spouse made me a bench hook. I used @canon-in-too-deep's delightful free typeset (thank youuuu!) Binder friends, if you're not already perusing and using canon's typesets, I urge you to take a look! They are so well done, beautifully laid out, and so lovely to look at.

While the book and the cover colour were both at the request of my friend, I think P&P is my favourite book in the world, so it wasn't exactly a hardship to dig into this bind. I'm very fond of my Oxford World Classics copy from my uni days, and I also own a Penguin clothbound version... but I might need to make my own someday.

I reflected already on how this started off as a cursed bind, but I'm happy to report that though the text block cuts are not perfect, the book itself came out quite well. I'm thankful I didn't give up and start over!

Process and materials as per usual under the cut.

Materials: First time using faux leather! I am still not sold -- it's just wooqu's version of the stuff, and while the colour and texture are nice, it's quite plasticky overall. But I remain uninterested in real leather, so I suppose it's good to start trying some faux options. It was a little harder to crease/turn in, and wanted more patience with my mix. But it was easy to wipe errant glue off, which was kind of a treat. Also easy to mark with a hasty fingernail, less good.

The rest is nothing new: ledger paper (24 lb Xerox) cut down to short-grain letter (badly). I sewed on tapes since this baby is 440 pages, but used waxed cotton floss because my linen thread is quite heavy and I was worried about swell. I also used a bone folder to flatten each signature around the thread as I sewed it, which helped. Basically no swell! So far so stable?

End papers are scrapbook papers. Endbands are cotton floss on leather cord (yes, I sewed them; yes, it was a weird choice for a friend who probably won't care. I wanted the practice!)

I bought the peacock cover art when I was doing an early bind (Probationary Action, I think) from a seller on Etsy. Yes, it was horrifying to weed.

Process: As mentioned above, this started out as a cursed bind, but I pulled it out of the fire pretty well by the end! I did a trial run applying HTV to the faux leather because I was worried about the heat melting the material. It didn't seem to have that issue, but the carrier sheet for the HTV left indelible impressions wherever I pressed the edges into the material. (I press with a cheap Amazon mini-press, but I don't use a huge amount of pressure.) So I decided to do a cover/spine design that would allow me to use a full sheet of HTV that ran edge to edge on each part of the cover, so I didn't have to worry about that edge marking issue. It worked!

I have tried rounding and backing spines before, but it's almost impossible to do backing well without backing boards, which in turn need a lying press or finishing press, and I'm still over here working with wrapped bricks and two cutting boards with carriage bolts and wingnuts. So I'm trying to figure out ways to avoid needing to round/back. 20-page signatures help! Lighter thread! etc etc. I did one rounded spine (a bind of Sense and Sensibility I've never shared here) and it was... okay? Without backing, rounding is mostly an aesthetic choice anyway.

I need to get my guillotine sharpened. There was a whole saga a month back with me trying to level the blade and almost slicing my fingertip off (ouch) but the result was that I had trouble putting the damn machine back together properly and the blade sat on the fence a bunch while I was figuring it out, which definitely dulled part of the blade. I'm procrastinating about getting it done because a) terrified of cutting myself again getting the blade off and b) mad at myself that my almost new guillotine already needs this service. So for now, I'm just shoving scrap paper under every text block I cut so that the dull bit of the blade is failing to cut the waste paper and not the block. Works? Annoying, but works?

See, this is the problem with a writer doing a craft, I won't goddamn shut up once I start typing.

[araneitela]

Notes on Kafka's trailer, "A Dramatic Irony", this'll include the obvious and the less so noticeable details. I'll be elaborating on and making use of these in the future, but for now— a little list for myself (and you?) on things I want to talk about. Oof, my dear girl, there is a lot to unpack about you and I still won't be done in a year from now: Edit: It ended up being long, but who's surprised, really?

— Background music. Entirely based on Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Most very accurately pick out 'Winter' as that's what it starts with and it's also immediately recognizable, but it actually transitions into 'Summer' just after about halfway through and beautifully ends in it. The inclusion of them both is one of HoYoverse's finest decisions musically.

— The usage of rose petals instead of blood. This one thrills me, because they add such an inherent romanticism to the concept of death, which is an ages old tale and concept (hey, do we want to tie in the beauty of how Blade craves its peace so desperately yet cannot obtain it and she cannot grant him it? I do), and it plays in beautifully to the concept of what 'fear' is usually most tied to, and how she doesn't feel it. Now what exactly are these petals of? If it's your regular red rose, then yes— it is likely referencing the intrinsic romanticism of death. I initially wondered if it could be the China rose, which would indicate longevity which could be hugely interesting but no. However, with the impending goal of 'seeking fear' and tying it directly into 'the value of life', I find the more traditional take of the red rose, a sign of intense passion/love, or a potential for the hope of passionate love, incredibly intriguing (my stance on the potentially implied ship with the MC is still where I stand, but another is creeping in through a lot of rationality and logic; because I do think that's how they plan on doing it— it's what makes most sense with implications made in her dialogue).

— Inspiration: Rorschach inkblot test. "What do you see?" It says at 0:15, and it threw me for a moment, until I looked around the text. The ink blot. Leave it paused for a second. What do you see? It's the Rorschach inkblot test. It hit me with the ferocity of a ton of bricks. For those not sure what I'm talking about, do a little search and you might have seen it used in television by some psychologists, it is a test to examine a person's personality characteristics and their emotional functioning, everyone may see something different in specific ink blots. When you leave it paused at 0:15 seconds in, that's the first card and it's called The Fear Card; intrinsically fitting, considering: "Elio said that I'm good at creating "fear", even though I don't know what it is." I didn't actually recognize the ink blot until I started typing this up and analyzed it again for the umpteenth time. I'm losing my mind, no, I've actually already lost it, because on further analyzing, I think the spider on the back of her coat also looks like it's been designed after the ink blot/card in question because it grows into a similar shape, though more so when it grows into the lines/threads of her Spirit Whisper that you see around the 1:13 mark. The entire sequence of ink blots at that timestamp give us an insight into what the guard sees that she's talking to, he sees his own death. /breathes very casually. God, I'm losing my mind, this might actually play so much more into her character. What do you see, she asks— Kafka, what do you see?

— She's so incredibly cultured. There are a lot of very classical but also archaic elements that play into the design of her character across the board. Classical music is so rarely used anymore, but it adds such a different level of sophistication to her character. Kafka stands out amidst most of the other characters, not because she's classier in general, but because they tie very old-fashioned and less used concepts into a very modern design and mold them into a perfect whole. The classical music and how she never foregoes this intense connection she has to it, the insane archaic katana versus the very modern uzis (ode to Devil May Cry, anyone? A pair of guns, one black and one white, and a katana? Along with having once worked as a 'demon hunter'? Capcom deserves the nods) and grenades, her attire especially between the coat, the high waist, the glasses and the dress shirt— but it's all beautifully put together in an incredibly modern outfit. She's so cultured, there's an intense class to her and I will not stop falling more in love with it with each passing day.

— Storytelling. 'Intermission', 'oneiric structure', 'MacGuffin', 'non- linear structure', 'fin', these are all firmly tied into the art of storytelling in film (and literature as well). Intermission is a pause in the midst of a performance. Oneiric structure refers to a structure of a tale that replicates something non-linear, so something relating to the dreamlike (oneiric comes from the Greek 'oeneiros', which means 'a dream'), think of... something surreal or distorted in reality, something that simply can't be real. MGuffin in a plot device that takes form of an a goal (an object, for instance) that is an important element in a story due to it being firmly tied to the story's characters, a driving force if you will (so for Kafka, you could see her pursuit of feeling fear). Non-lineaur simply means that a story does not follow an order of events that's necessarily chronological in terms of timeline. And 'fin' marks the end of a performance. I cannot stop being feral as to how consistent HoYoverse is with this. It isn't just referencing her trailer, or the overarching narrative of the game of Honkai: Star Rail, but also her character directly, terminology commonly used in film are in her trailer, she herself seems to be rather passionate about film (you receive a text from her regarding being alone in a movie theatre during the play of one, and she laments that there aren't more people there to watch), her eidolons being after musical terms tied to music that she thoroughly enjoys and is used time and time again to represent her. God. God.

— What some may note as being a clock counting down, is not a clock at all, but an elevator that represents a life counter. With each kill, the elevator descended one more level until it reached the ground floor. I've seen some make references to Inception and upon further glance, the reference can be intended. The 'floors' can be seen as being representative of the different levels or layers of a person's subconsciousness as she delves deeper and deeper, as she is inherently able to control and manipulate minds. God, Kafka, surely this isn't a power all from New Babylon have.

— Threads of silk; a Moirai reference tied in with the arachnid? "The silk is too fragile to be a threat, unless you're more fragile than the silk." We know she isn't fate itself, but we know, in essence, a puppeteer that ensures all sort of unfolds as Elio has foreseen, particularly with the Trailblazer, even if she trusts him/her to make the right decision. We know arachnids are far and wide associated with manipulation, which we know she's abundantly capable of and responsible for, but it goes infinitely further than that. Spiders spin webs of silk, threads of silk, threads of fate, destiny, this is an incredibly thorough and intricate character design that they settled on. Everything is so perfectly interconnected, it's absolutely unreal.

[eurydicees]

pls can u tell me everything about fhq and esp fhq iwaoi i don’t really know what it is but every time i see you repost one of those beautiful heart wrenching artworks i want to die in the best way

YES GLADLY I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING I CAN !!! under the cut because you're getting everything.

ok so some of the history lesson portion of this may be a little off, it's been a hot minute since i've done much research into this lol. but final haikyuu quest first appeared as a spread in one of the bonus pages in the manga! throughout the manga's run were occasionally drawings of the characters in little fake movie posters, one of them being an action/fantasy movie called final haikyuu quest:

this first poster and the original character designers are drawn by furudate! from there, it went on to become a mini bonus game in the haikyuu 3DS game, which is kind of crazy if you think about it too hard.

there's a playthrough uploaded on youtube here, but it's obv in japanese and i don't think there's been a translation of the game. there's a translation of part of it here on tumblr, but i don't think it's complete. poster from the 3DS game:

from there, it went on to be a CD drama (videos 8-10 on this youtube playlist, with subs), which is super neat. it's also one of the haikyuu light novels, but i have yet to find a full english translation of that.

i haven't read the novel or watched the videos with the CD drama audio myself, so i'm not sure how much it differs from the 3DS game. i assume they're pretty similar though.

so the premise at its most simple is that hinata and his party of adventurers are off to defeat the demon king oikawa and his henchmen! those are the basics.

the "canon" characters in hinata's party are hinata, kenma, aone, iwaizumi, and kageyama. on the opposing side we've got oikawa (the demon king), kuroo, and kiyoko. kiyoko has servants in the form of tanaka and nishionoya (they don't care for oikawa, they're just there for kiyoko). there's also michimiya, who is in the "fair princess kidnapped by oikawa" role that hinata & co. are trying to save. the full character profiles can be found here (everyone in game) and here (heroes only)!

now this whole premise is like. a little silly. the whole deal is a little silly. this is a volleyball manga.

with THAT being said, though, sometimes the most fun to be had is when you take the silly thing and make it devastating. and it's so easy to do that with FHQ. so let's talk abt iwaoi now <3

so in the story, oikawa is the demon king. because the premise is so simplistic and boiled down to good v. bad due to, like, this not being a real piece of media, oikawa is objectively on the "bad side." iwaizumi, on the other hand, is a knight, presumably human, and "oikawa's (former) friend."

iwaizumi being oikawa's former friend is literally his speciality and i think about that all the time btw. for context, kageyama's specialty is "prodigy" and hinata's is "strongest decoy." and fucking iwaizumi is out here like yea hey guys i used to be on the bad side but im mad at oikawa so now i'm with y'all. also my specialty in this fantasy universe is that i used to be oikawa's friend :)

like. what the hell. as you may imagine, the iwaoi angst potential here is ENORMOUS. iwaizumi who has betrayed oikawa and joined the heroes' side to take him down, iwaizumi whose greatest strength comes in knowing oikawa in and out, because the villains you love are both the hardest and the easiest to destroy. iwaizumi who loves oikawa, and who cannot save him.

(**side note, there's a lot of kuroken angst potential involved in this au as well, but let's focus on iwaoi for this post and save kuroken for another day)

so, as i said, the game's interpretation of all this is pretty simplistic and pretty silly. but personally i love thinking too hard and finding depth in things that are so not that deep. and it seems like most fhq fans also employ this as a favorite hobby because holy shit the angst people put in this au is INSANE.

the way i've interpreted it myself has been that iwaoi were besties/lovers/unclear situationship until oikawa kind of "fell into the dark side," because this is an au of every fantasy trope possible, and his reign over aoba became corrupted and "evil." iwaizumi betrays him to join hinata and take him down--save the world, at the cost of the demon he loved so much. but that demon, who oikawa was, is gone already, isn't he?

one of my favorite comics about them is here by @/ichigomaniac, where oikawa falls to the dark side and iwaizumi kills him to save the kingdom he loves. another FAVORITE similar one is here by @/hawberries! the premise of a lot of fics/art in this au run along these lines <3333

another super fun interpretation is a 5 part comic by @/duskisnigh, where oikawa and iwaizumi are running a kind of underground rebellion/safehouse in a world demons are oppressed by the human race. but as oikawa sees more and more evil on the behalf of humanity, he gets more and more unhinged until iwaizumi feels that he no longer knows him--and runs away with kageyama, with the intention of taking oikawa down.

personally i think the BEST aus are where iwaizumi--so loyal, so in love--is forced to leave because he can't stand to watch oikawa fall to more darkness, while oikawa himself is so devoted to iwaizumi that it's his love for iwaizumi that is corrupting him.....

in the fic i wrote, it's a story about forbidden love and how oikawa just wants to be allowed to love iwaizumi and he'll fight a war in order to do it. but iwaizumi can't watch oikawa fight this war anymore, because he's getting more and more dark as the war rages on. so he leaves, and was any of this ever worth it?

ggaahadhgjkadg . fhq. its crazy. i have a tag for it here, where i have been curating my favorite art. special shoutout to @/amezure who has some GORGEOUS pieces in their tag. OH ! and some of my fave fics in this au :

in the arms of loyalty and the hands of devotion (iwaoi, 23252 words), self promo lol

i can go anywhere i want (just not home) (kuroken, 3662 words) by keplcrs

wondering if your heart's still open (iwaoi, 683 words), by birdintheriver

Diorama (iwaizumi & kenma, 2027 words) by PlumTea

the ao3 tag is beautiful everywhere you turn, but i have a special love for those fics <3

so yeah that's the general deal! if you ever want to talk more about it, i am HAPPY to discuss !!! pls pls plsplsplsplsplssplsplslpslslslss!!!!!!

[nanamissuit]

Hello!!! I'm a recent follower and just wanted to say I absolutely **adore** the stuff you write and I've binged your entire blog 🥹💕 If you're up for it, could you write something with Ghost where he meets a woman who's *just like him* personality-wise (wary of strangers and untrusting)? (headcanons encouraged!) Thank you so much for all you've written so far, please keep going and have a great day! ☺️💕

Twin - Simon 'Ghost' Riley

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Violence?,Guns?,Fluff

Ghost has always been wary of strangers, he doesn’t trust anyone…But you. When he first met you he could tell, you were just like him.

So a couple years later you guys move in with each other, more so you move into his house so you can look after it while he’s deployed but when he comes home he takes you out to dinner.

He noticed what you noticed, a lady at the bar staring you down like she was telling someone something on the phone about you.

“I don’t trust-” “I know. Just ignore er’ probably talking trash. Look at those split ends.” You nearly spit out your drink as you let out a laugh you leaned over and then you heard it. A gunshot that JUST missed you.

Ghost quickly picked you up and ran to the back of the restaurant. What the fuck happened on that mission?

“I knew something was off!” “How are you not fucking terrified you nearly got shot!?!” “Dad used to be a cop, been to the shooting range a couple of times-Not the point! How the fuck do we get out of here?” Ghost rolled his eyes

“Right..There’s that window right there? If we crawl out we should be fine. Will probably take us around the back.” You nodded, “You should probably go first and also tell Price about this later…” He went out the window and reached for your hand and pulled you out and carried you down the block.

“I will tell Price, can you call an uber?” “Yeah thank god we didn’t take a car I would’ve been so pissed.” Ghost scoffed. “You’re like a mini me.” “Shut up, no I'm not..” You finished up with the uber and Ghost passed the phone and it was Price.

“Jesus, are you okay? Ghost told us what happened-” “Blonde hair…Split ends like 5’4? Brown eyes. Does that help?” “Oh-Actually yeah thank you..” You talked for 5 minutes then handed the phone back. Thank god the uber showed up, you get bored quickly.

Ghost and you like the same shows,foods,And you practically have the same emotions. It was like you were just the female copy of him. It was terrifying how accurate your emotions were.

“Si! Can you get me-” “Chips? Got it.” “Thank you!” You didn’t know how he knew but he did and you loved that. 

You guys did buy a german shepard, his name is Rocky and at first Ghost didn’t want him but he trained the dog to attack on command so now he likes him.

You both love coffee. BLACK coffee. It can never have anything too sweet in it or you’ll both hate it. 

Has definitely listened to all your playlists and loves them, lets you have AUX cord a lot.

One time on an undercover mission he let you drive all of them to the designated spot they needed to be able to see the target at.

“God, I hate these missions.” Soap complained and Price rolled his eyes. “And I hate you Soap, were here lower your voice!” “Okay mini Ghost.”

You glared back at him from the front seat and Ghost turned around and tried to tell him in a hand motion to shut up!!

“We can end this early and I will come back there and kill you myself.” “I-You know what my bad I’m sorry Mrs.Riley.” You turned your attention to the window and watched for the target. You liked the ring of “Mrs.Riley”

“You know what Si-” “Yes, we will look at ring’s later.” “Okay good, at that one store-” “Yes the one at the mall you like.” Soaps jaw dropped.

“You aren’t married?” “We are by paper and have been for 2 years, we just have to do an event and get rings.” Ghost spoke up and you smiled a little. You loved this life no matter how crazy it really was.

YAYYY I LOVED THIS!! MAKING AN AU FRFR!!!!!! 😻

[froggy-demon]

Oh, Deer - Part Two

A/N: This is part two to my Alastor x OC slowburn story, I hope you enjoy <3

Chapter Summery: Lilly gets settled at the hotel and a stressful day of work leads her to getting a little closer to one particular staff member.

Part Three

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up to my morning alarm blaring at me, shit I didn’t even think about how long it will take to get from here to work, fucking fantastic. And I have none of my clothes, also fantastic. I book it out the door and head to my old apartment. I grab a book bag I had laying around and stuff as much of my shit in it as I can fit, the less trips back and forth I can make while moving, the better. I change into an outfit for work, a pinstriped mini skirt and a turtleneck blouse with puffy sleeves with my trademark tights and kitten heel Maryjanes, throwing my backpack over my shoulder and getting to work as fast as possible. All in all, I was only 10 minutes late which is a fucking miracle if I’ve ever heard one. I busy myself by checking in with the other assistants and sorting out who is covering what assignments and shows today. Velvette slams open the studio door and is already looking pissed off, the day just started how can it already be going to shit? That question answered itself as behind her trailed in Valentino talking her ear off, switching between whining and yelling.

“Valentino it is time for at least one of us to actually do our jobs, fuck off already and find someone else to bitch to!” She yells at him and stomps off. This pushes him over the edge, he grabs a passing by assistant and snaps her in half, like it’s nothing. I duck my head down and find a way to be very busy and as unnoticeable as possible, hiding behind my clipboard as much as I can. 

“No you fuck off Velvette! Tell me what the fuck I can do one more fucking time! Try to run anything once I’m done with you precious shitty studio!” He threw the couch he had trapped that studio aid on just the other day against the wall and it smashed into a hundred pieces. He reached for a fleeing model and ripped her head off, damn and she wasn’t even an annoying model. He rampaged through the room and Velvette just ignored him and stomped my way. 

I straightened my back as she approached and tried to not seem bothered by the 10ft lunatic killing my coworkers and ripping apart anything else in his reach. “We are not getting off schedule, get my designers so we can keep our shit on the air! Get them here in the next five minutes while I get fucking Piss Baby out of here.” She Barked and I nodded

“Yes Ma’am.” She seemed pleased enough and walked off to order around anyone else still breathing. I used my ear piece to try to locate the desired designers, keeping my back to the scene behind me. 

“Designers, if most of your limbs are still attached, your presence is requited by Ms. Velvette immediately, bring what you have been working on for her and try not to be killed on your way.” I received 4 affirmatives and glanced back to see Velvette on her phone to presumably Vox. Thank Satan, this was definitely a big guns problem. I looked around at a few cowering workers near me and smoothed out my clothes. “C’mon, get this place straightened up. It’s a fucking mess in here, get a broom and a mop, now.” The three jumped up, though a bit reluctantly, and went in search for the cleaning supplies. I saw Velvette manage to force Valentino out the studio door and lock it behind him, hopefully keeping him out. I saw two of the designers come in and waved them over, having them stand up on a small platform that wasn’t totally wrecked and Velvette made her way over.

She was clearly still not happy, but at least wasn’t getting worse. Vox appeared next to her with a cheeky smile plastered onto his plasma face, contrasting her fiery attitude. I thought I saw him give me a small scowl, but I've never spoken to Vox, it couldn't be personal. He asked her where Valentino had gone and was back on his way. 

The day continued with far fewer bumps, minus the power outage caused by Vox's tantrum. Valentino stayed away so I guess Vox was able to calm him down well enough and Velvette stayed at a manageable level of pissed off until the outtage. 

“Fucking hell! Fine fuck him, everyone go the fuck home!” She screeched and no one was waiting to confirm that order. I grabbed my bag and booked it out of the building and back to the hotel. Alastor’s broadcast was all I could hear people talking about, though they kept it hushed so close to the Vs. Losing was not something they, especially Vox, liked. When I walked through the door I was surprised to find a new face in the parlor. He was a snake demon and Charlie was excitedly chatting with him while Vaggie stood to the side looking apprehensive. 

“Here she is!” Charlie exclaimed turning to me, smiling ear to ear. “Lilly! This is Sir. Pentious, he is our next guest at the hotel!” She motioned for us to shake hands, which I obliged. He seemed nervous, but still gave a small smile. 

“Ah, Lilly, it isss quite nice to meet another future redemption-ee!” He said and I tried to return his smile. 

“Lilly he blew up the hotel this morning.” Angel added dryly, I stopped smiling and looked at Charlie confused. Angel clearly wasn’t buying whatever the serpent was telling Charlie. 

“He said he is sorry! That’s what we’re all about, second chances!” She defended and really tried to sell it. I looked between her and Sir. Pentious, a little skeptical myself honestly. 

“If you are confident, I will trust your judgement.” I stated and turned to Angel, who filled me in on all of the details on the fight that had taken place that morning while Charlie taught Sir. Pentious how to apologize to Alastor. Geez, you go in for one shift and miss everything!

“Say, Dear, how did my little show go over at Vs HQ?” Alastor asked, appearing behind me and giving me a bit of a fright. He sounded particularly staticy. Angel rolled his eyes at his theatrics. I turned to face the demon and met his glowing eyes for a moment before looking back at Angel. 

“I couldn’t say for sure, but I’d say not well. Vox particularly was still glitching and zapping about when Velvette dismissed us after the power shut down. We couldn’t do anything with him fucking up all of the tech.” I said and he laughed, clearly pleased with himself and patted my head. Angel was deeply distracted by his phone, someone was texting him quite a lot, every few seconds his phone would buzz with a new notification. 

“Wonderful to hear! I’m glad I got my message across.” His eyes glowed a bit brighter, clearly there was some contempt held for Vox, and it went both ways. Seeing him like that sent a little zap of fear through me. I know what he’s done to those he doesn’t like to get what he wants, but he chooses to be so hands off with it this time? Maybe he just wanted to give a fair warning, I don’t know, but I do not want to get in the middle of it. “Speaking of your work,” He moved to stand between me and Angel now. “Why not find some new employment now that your housing is supplied? Something less television based maybe?” He eyed me, as though he suspected me of something. I tried to look past him to Angel again, but he blocked my vision, seemingly growing a little taller, a little more menacing. 

“Well, as much as I’d like to,” I said a tad nervous of the overlord in front of me “I can’t. Velvette owns me, my soul that is. As a day job it isn’t too bad at least.” I mumble the last sentence and Alastor raises an eyebrow at me. Angel is still preoccupied, but I see him throw a look my way when I mention my deal. 

“Deals aren’t usually Velvette’s style, she typically prefers to leave that work to the boys, how unfortunate for you then.” He says, returning to his normal chipper self and walks off. As he disappears I finally take stock of myself, I look like shit. There is dried blood on my shoes and spots of guts dotting my outfit for the Valentino’s carnage earlier, gross. 

“Angel, I’m going to take a shower and unpack a little you know where to find me if you need anything okay?” He doesn’t look up, clearly in a mood, sitting down on a nearby chair and crossing his legs over the arm and mumbles out an okay. I make my way upstairs, to my room, and then turn on the hot water for the shower attached to my room. After peeling off my clothes it felt good to let the hot water wash over me. The water pressure was better here too. A little refresh is really what I needed after today. Once I felt better I rummaged through my bag until I found my pjs, a pair of little shorts and an oversized t-shirt VTech gave out during some marketing campaign, it was at least comfortable. I started to unpack more and realized Niffty must have been here earlier because there was significantly less dust everywhere and my bed spread seemed freshly laundered. I will have to thank her the next time I see her. Just as I’m finishing up I hear some kind of commotion coming from somewhere in the hotel, what the fuck was that? I poke my head out and hear more noise, like someone is fighting, is that Angel Dust? I run down to the noise and meet Charlie and Vaggie walking up to the same disturbance.

Angel says that Sir. Pentious is working for the Vs, but I can smell the liquor on him from here, and the snake denies the accusation. Angel rolls his eyes and points out the video camera hidden between two books on the shelf, causing Sir. Pentious to panic. He screams into his watch to help him as Vaggie face palms and it's my turn to roll my eyes. Not only is he a spy, he’s an absolutely terrible one at that. I can hear Vox laughing at him though the watch, but Charlie has big doe eyes. He begs for a quick murder, but Charlie welcomes him in with open arms, despite protests from the three of us. After a set of profuse apologies, we head back to bed. 

Angel has his arms crossed, the whole walk. I want to say something, but he has been in a bad mood all day and I don’t want to accidentally make it worse. “Angel, y'know I-“ but he waves me off. 

“I don’t want to talk about it. Work shit, and we said work shit stays at fucking work.” He snaps, but sighs and I know he isn’t mad at me, just someone else. My guess, Val. I wonder if that’s what Valentino was raging about this morning, I hope for Angel’s sake it’s not. He slams the door to his room and I turn towards mine, just to be greeted by Alastor, he sure does have a knack for popping up. 

“Take off your shirt, Dear.” He glares at it, taking me back. This is a tone shift. 

“Excuse me?” I ask, taking a step back, not there there is really anywhere to go if you want to run from a shadow walking overlord at night. 

“Well, I’m going to burn it and I just figured you would want it off your body before I do that, but if you prefer,” Alaster smirked and lit a small fireball in his hand “you can keep it on!” He was very serious, I look back down at my shirt, I guess I set myself up for this one wearing a shirt with Vox’s face plastered on it, but hey it was a free shirt. I yanked it off and Alastor took two big steps towards me and took it from my hands, his eyes glowed devilishly as he set it on fire and watched Vox’s face burn away while he grinned ear to ear. “Much better! I appreciate your cooperation, however,” he bent down to my height and made me look him in the eyes. His voice grew more staticy as he said “I better not see anything else with his face on it here.” 

I nodded, it was all I could manage, I felt frozen in place and suddenly self-conscious as I realized I was in my bra and shorts in front of a murderous overlord, not exactly confidence inspiring for me. He stood back up straight and spun his cane, pleased with himself. “Very well, Goodnight!” He sang and I didn’t wait before quickly going into my room. Great, now I need a new sleep shirt, that will be a tomorrow night problem. I got into bed and curled up. I’m not doing amazing at staying off Alastor’s bad side, maybe tomorrow I will break that streak. 

The next morning I joined everyone else in the parlor downstairs, I had some time for once before I was needed at work. Charlie excitedly explained that we were doing some bonding activities as a group today, that it would help if we all trusted and got to know each other. I wanted to check in on Angel, but he was still hung up on his phone. Okay, so I’m going to have to make a second friend, it can’t be that hard can it? What do I have to work with? 

Niffty is a little… crazy… maybe not my first choice. Let’s see Sir. Pentious is eager, but do I have anything at all in common with him? Let’s see he likes building things? Nope. He likes being a leader, of his egg boys at least, uh in the right light sometimes you could kinda say I like bossing people around. I think that’s everything I’ve learned about him though, and I’m not really someone who goes out looking for a fight anymore, even if Cherri wants me to. Vaggie is a little too focused on Charlie I think to start worrying about anyone else, I can’t blame her, as sweet as Charlie is she is also a handful. I think Alastor is waiting for me to sneeze wrong to justify breaking my neck and is no where to be seen sooooo… my new friend is going to have to be Husk! The only hard part about that is he doesn’t really ever want to participate in our activities. I can work with that though. 

I take a seat next to Husk for activity time and give him a small smile. I haven’t really gotten what his deal is from Angel yet, maybe he just acts tough. “So, Husk, what brings you to the hotel? You don’t really seem like you’re here for redemption to me.” I ask trying to sound cheery. He just rolls his eyes at me though. 

“My job.” He huffs out, motioning over to the bar. Okay smartass. I fold my arms and lean forward towards him. 

“And out of all the bars in hell, why work at this one? Don’t tell me its for the dental insurance.” I quipped and he almost smiles. He leans back in his chair and looks across the room at nothing in particular. 

“Alastor, he tells me to go so I go.” He finally says. Ah, could Alastor really own his soul? I won’t press for now. Satisfied with the answer I sit back in my seat and he slumps down more in his, but then my phone rings. Velvette, why is Velvette calling me? I don’t hear from her that much seeing as I never have a day off anyway, not even extermination days. I hop up out of my seat so not to bother anyone and answer the phone. 

“Yes Ma’am?” I answer, stepping out of the room. She shouts that she needs me immediately, one of the models didn’t show up today and now she needs extra hands on deck and I better be there immediately. I try not to let her hear me sigh or sound disappointed. I guess I did get to sleep a couple extra hours which is more than enough to be grateful for. “Yes Ma’am.” I reply and she stresses I better hurry or I’ll be costuming for Valentino’s sets for the next year and she hangs up. I walked back in and the group looks up at me waiting for my explanation. “Okay guys, sorry to cut the team building short, but I’m needed at work sooner than expected, sorry Charlie.” Charlie looked disappointed. 

“Oh.. so when do you have a day you don’t work anyway?” She asks. “We’ll just catch you up then!” She beams at her great idea. Angel chuckles, Cherri probably has told him before if he knows my situation. 

“I don’t get any days off, sometimes I only work 10 hour days though!” I tried to make that sound like a good thing and gave her a thumbs up, but Charlie frowned again. 

“Well that’s not good, you’ll never have any time for our activities then!” She protested and started pacing. “Can’t you just say you need a day off for something important?” She looked at me with those big doe and and I shook my head, crossing my arms. 

“Some of us have jobs, dollface, contracts.” Angel points out dryly. He finally looks up from his phone to give Charlie a pointed look. It must be nice to be her. 

“There are no days off for me, if Velvette says come in I can’t say no. It’s just the way it is. Now she’s waiting for me, I have to get going.” I slip on my shoes and head for the door leaving a protesting princess behind.

I get there as quickly as possible and as soon as I walk through the door Velvette is tapping her foot waiting for me. She looks as pissed as usual, but it isn’t usually my direct fault that she’s pissed off. 

“Now, I happen to know that your apartment is all of five fucking minutes away so how the fuck did that take 25 minutes today?” She demands. Since when has she even known where I live? I straighten my back, I am not used to talking back to her, usually we even work pretty well together. “Well, spit out whatever pathetic excuse you have and get to begging for forgiveness! Some of us have important shit to be doing!” An assistant walked up to her and they quietly conversed while he showed her a different selection of blouses.

“I moved Ma’am.” I stated, adverting my eyes. She snapped her head away from her conversation to look at me again. 

“Well who the fuck told you to do something stupid like that? I need you near here for when I call you, fucking move back.” She said it like it doesn’t matter where I live or what I think if it doesn't serve her needs. She might own my soul, but that is not our deal. 

“Ma’am, with all the respect in hell, I cannot do that.” I stayed cool, that’s good. She walked over to me, until she was less than a foot away from my face. Her red eyes glowing and piercing into mine. 

“The fuck you will. As fucking kind as I am to you every fucking day, whose dick you’re riding just to crash in their shitty bed anyway?” She snapped at me, glaring at me while waiting for my answer. 

I took a deep breath. “Charlie Morningstar, Ma’am, well her hotel that is.” I added, looking down. Velvette was seething in front of me. She grabbed me and threw me to the ground. I hit my head hard on the stone floor, because exactly what I need is another head injury. 

“Don’t give me that kind of bullshit ever again. Remember who you are speaking to.” She spoke through gritted teeth. She materialized the link between us, the chain attaching me to her, our deal. I knew exactly what I signed, but she was right. I should have held my tongue. She used it to pull me to my feet in front of her. “Now get to fucking work.” She spat and let me go. I stayed on my feet and smoothed my outfit and hair, composing myself for the coming day. 

“Yes Ma’am.” I kept my eyes on the floor as she rolled her eyes. 

“Good, now get Kelly Killjoy’s suit options ready, it’s almost time for her to be on air, then come back to me.” And then she waved me away and I was happy to be able to walk away. I did as I was ordered, bringing the approved wardrobe to the news host's dressing room for her to pick from once ready. I raced back to the studio room to see what was next and Velvette sneared at me when she saw me. "Perfect, the seamstresses need a pin cushion, go be that until they are done with their projects.” And she turned away from me again. A pin cushion, this was going to be a long day. 

Twenty hours later I am still in the studio, but I have finished every task I’ve been given, skillfully I might add. Well, as skillfully as one can be a pin cushion, mannequin mover, and general studio bitch without a single moment to sit or even pee. I was back in front of Velvette awaiting her next order. She looked at me and shook her head. 

“Morning, cunt. Your outfit is hideous and you look more terrible than usual.” She said and zapped me into a new outfit, honestly the highlight of my day to have on something fresh, but really it was just a toned down version of her own outfit, but is all grey. Of course she would think her outfit was better. “Now perk the fuck up, I need you to set up the lights for the shoot we’re doing for my fabulous new clothing line today! And set up all the looks we created for it. Make sure those fucking models look right too, I can’t stand shitty sloppy work.” She said and I nodded, hoping it will be easy to learn how to set up studio lights. 

“Yes Ma’am.” 

After falling off a ladder more than once setting up the lights, organizing all of the set groups of items for the photo shoot, and labeling them, and then adjusting every single item on the models throughout the 10 hour shoot, I was ready to beg for Velvette’s forgiveness. I hadn’t had a drop of rest or caffeine in nearly two full days. 

Finally I was told to go home, but to be back tomorrow bright and early with a smile on my face. I don’t know what pissed Velvette off so badly in the first place that she felt the need to take it out on me, but maybe tomorrow will be different, unlikely, but maybe. I walked into the hotel and went straight to the bar, come to think of it that might be one of the best parts about living here. I slumped onto a stool putting my head down on the bar. Husk raised an eyebrow at me while he was organizing his bottles. 

“I wasn’t sure if you were coming back when no one saw you last night, where ya been?” He asked, he didn’t sound concerned, but he did sound curious. I picked my head up and propped myself up on my elbows. 

“Work. I’ve been at work since I left. Someone pissed off Velvette and that became my personal problem.” I muttered. I took a deep breath, I don’t need to bitch about my shitty day though that won’t have made it any better. No, I wanted a boost, I should go out I want to feel good about myself. I don’t want Velvette to be able to dictate my mood like this. 

“My, my, someone looks a little worked over,” Alastor sang as he walked up. “Did someone mistake you for a pin cushion?” He asked lifting my arm to inspect the hundreds of tiny and sore pricks in my skin. I pulled my arm away from him, trying not to humor him. 

“Hello to you too, Sir.” I said, holding back my irritation. I look at husk and he poured me a drink, I give him the best smile I could muster when he placed it in front of me. Alastor took the seat next to me, crossing one leg over the other and giving me his signature smile. I took a sip and let the warm feeling wash over me.

“Tell me, is television work loosing its charm? Such superficial work after all, but maybe that’s how you prefer it, dear.” He laughed at his own joke and tapped his cane on the ground. I drank more of the mixed drink Husk had made me, but it didn’t cool me off as much as I needed it too. I gave him another look and he went to pour me another but I looked up at him and motioned to just give me the bottle. 

“Aye, take it easy kid.” He said, but still handed it over. I took three big gulps and set it down. 

“Alastor, I’m not in the mood for your insults and condescension, I think I’ve had more than enough of those today.” I said dryly and took another drink. He looked at his nails, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, enjoying getting a rise out of me. 

“Oh, but I’m positive they haven’t been as witty as mine will be! Humor me won’t you? It’s been so boring today.” He leaned towards me, it was another request that didn’t really sound like a request. I couldn’t push back against Velvette, but I could with Alastor, maybe. I finished the bottle for some confidence and got out of my seat.

"No." I told him flatly, that should have been enough to get him off my back, but not Alastor.

"come now, don't tell me the big bad overlords you've worked for for years just now broke your spirit! Where's your moxie dear?" the demon quipped, leaning an elbow on the bar. I could feel my misplaced anger building, but shit he didn't have to be such a prick when I clearly was in a bad mood. I can't have five fucking minutes of peace?

“I told you, fuck off!” And stomped out the door, throwing aside the now empty bottle. 

Fucking Radio Demon, fucking Velvette! I’m more than that, I’m not just someone to shove around. I don’t have to take that, not when I’m not at work. She might be able to give me as much shit as she wants, hell she could actually assign me to fuck ass Valentino’s porno costuming I wouldn’t even care, but I will not go home and have some other demon make me feel like shit too. I’m worth something!

I look up from the sidewalk that I’ve been so concentrated on and realize I don’t really have anywhere to go, I’m tired of bars and clubs, but hell maybe it'll make me feel like a person again anyway. Maybe someone will talk to me like I’m just a fucking person. So at the next neon sign I see advertising a drink I walk in and order and get just that. It doesn’t take long, it never does in hell, until someone starts talking me up, buying me a drink, then another, and another, and then says we should get out of here. He's good looking for a demon, tall and thin with blood red hair and long black horns twisting out of it like a ram's. I agree. I follow him outside and he starts taking me down an odd way, its quiet and dark here, but maybe he lives on a quiet street in hell, what do I know. Then he turns around, smiling, and holding a handgun. It takes a moment to register. He closes the distant between us.

“What are you doing?” I ask, he laughs and grabs my arm. I’m not stable enough to avoid it and he pushes me up against the alleyway wall and points the gun at my chest. 

“I’m robbing you, dipshit, cough up whatever you have on you. I know someone dressed as pretty as you has a couple of bucks to spare right?” He sneers and shifts the barrel to under my chin. The only problem was I really didn’t have anything else. I had maybe a single dollar on me after buying that first drink and I don’t think that’s what he wanted to hear. 

Then all the sudden he was off of me, I fell a little and caught my breath which I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. What the fuck was that? I looked around and saw a familiar pair of eyes walking out of the darkness, blazing red. Shadow tentacles were holding up the attempted robber as Alastor emerged from the darkness, how is Alastor here? He was taller than his normal stature, and had a sinister smile, antlers protruding from his hair. This is the demon I’d heard on the broadcast those years ago, he had bloodlust in his eyes. 

“I don’t think so.” His voice was thick and distorted cutting up the still night, I could feel the energy pouring off of him. I didn’t know if I should stay where I was or get the fuck away from there at this point, but my legs felt too heavy to run very far. I looked up at him with wide eyes, it was like a car accident I didn’t want to watch him rip this demon in half, but I also couldn’t look away. He laughed maniacally as the sinner he held begged for forgiveness and his life. The Radio Demon drew him closer “Is that anyway to treat a lady?” Static filled the air and there was ringing in my ears, it felt like it was pounding in my head to the point that it was difficult to keep looking up. Alastor met my eye for one brief moment and then, unexpectedly, threw the creature across the city rather than ripping him in half. His piercing eyes didn’t change as he began to return to his normal self as he walked toward me having eliminated the threat. The static softened and I felt a weight leave my chest. “Terribly sorry for the fright! Charlie sent me to make sure you came back to the hotel in one piece tonight, I didn’t expect to find you in so much trouble.” He put an arm around me for support, but I shook it off. As uneasy as I felt I’m not sure if he was the one I should take it from.

“I wasn’t expecting any help, especially from you.” It came out as a statement of near disbelief, but I was still angry. Recovering from the personality whiplash Alastor had given me I took a few steps away towards the entrance of the alley. How am I supposed to see that and then trust him? “I can handle myself.” My knees wobbled and I leaned my palm on the wall again for support.

“Clearly.” He said sarcastically and smoothed his hair back where his antlers had disrupted it. “You sure did seemed to have a handle on that one! Next time I’ll just let it run its course, how’s that sound?” He adjusted his tie and grinned. More of his bullshit. I took another step back, I was certainly afraid of the power I’d just witnessed, but looking at him now he was just another demon.

“Whatever, I don’t need to take this bullshit, you can’t just talk to me like that because you’re used to being scary, I get enough of this every other hour of my day. Maybe you can treat Husk however you want because you own his ass, or other people are just too scared to say shit, but I’m exhausted! I’m too tired to bite my tongue and,” I was running out of steam, and those burning red eyes were still bearing into mine “it seems I’ll never get out of that cycle.” I slid down the wall to my side and held my knees to my chest. “I just, I’m tired of filtering myself to fit the situation I’m in. Just to please someone who can’t even tell the difference anyway. Putting up the right front to help maintain her goddamn brand. I can't do it with you too.” I sighed. How disgusting. Here I am shouting at someone who would love to rip my head off my body, just because my boss is shitty and unappreciative, and now I’m pitying myself for it on the ground of a filthy alleyway. This might just be my rock bottom. 

Alastor quietly walked to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder, sending a jolt through me. “If it’s any help, I’m condescending to everyone!” It was so stupid, so fucking stupid I had to let out a laugh. Geez, at least it isn’t personal I guess. I ran a hand through my hair, looking at my shoes in the dim light. “What was Charlie’s first lesson? Apologies.” I looked at him funny, his red hair nearly looked all black in this lighting, did he want an apology from me? He’s as crazy as Niffty if he thinks that’s happening. I picked at the ground next to my shoe to occupy myself. “Charlie also wanted me to apologize, I didn’t really mean to offend you. While I do find joy in watching the misery of sinners around me, on the other hand I am here to help Charlie and I can’t do that if I’m sending one of her guests spiraling now can I?” He offered me a hand up and I just stared at it for a second. “I’m sorry, Lilly.” He sounded as sincere as I’d ever heard him, which granted was likely a front to save face anyway, but I pushed my pride aside and took his hand, standing back up. It felt good to get that rant out of my system and it maybe even felt a little good to get an apology. I brushed the grime off of my skirt as best as I could, looking back at Alastor. He looked happy with his pep talk, but he kind of always had that demeanor so it’s hard to say. 

“Thank you Alastor.” Was all I managed to say. Pleased, he hooked our arms and pointed us in the direction of the hotel. We were quiet for a minute, I knew it was my turn to say something more, but I couldn’t figure out what was right. I kept dwelling on how he looked back in the alley, how the energy he put off felt all the way down to my bones. Even now it made my skin crawl, I’m quite glad to have made it onto his team I suppose because I would not want to be on the receiving end of that fury. “Why do you want to help Charlie?” I said it as soon as I thought it, but it brought me back to earlier. Husk is here because Alastor is here, but why the hell is Alastor here?

“A good question! It’s really very simple, I think Charlie will succeed and I like to be on the winning team. Plus,” He looked at me with a wicked look in his eyes, “If I’m wrong I’m no worse off and I get to watch everyone else suffer!” And began laughing. Not very comforting, but does make sense. Still I have a feeling Alastor is a few steps ahead in whatever plan he is hatching than he is willing to share. I wonder what else he was working up in his head, he’s difficult to read that’s for sure. The only actual emotions I’m sure he experiences are joy and anger. “If we’re asking intrusive questions now, I must say it’s been plaguing my mind, what exactly do you get out of your deal with Velvette?” He smirked, “Don’t tell me it’s for the dental insurance.” He mocked me, is there anything that happens in that hotel he doesn’t know about? 

“You mean besides a boss who won’t fire or fuck me? Well,” I chewed my lip for a moment. I always felt ashamed of my deal, how ironic as I landed myself in hell for the vice of pride in life. “You know it’s not easy starting out down here, one day I met Velvette and she, well she made it look easy.” In life I was the secretary to a man who ran a fashion magazine, I was so enthralled by his work I thought every piece that crossed his desk was genius. I fantasized about what I would design if I was able to. “When Velvette told me what she was doing down here I wanted in, hell a bit of me wanted to be like her, she told me there was only one way I could be on her team, but her success would be my success too and really I didn’t see any other opportunities coming my way. I was naïve and she was happy to take advantage of that. Don’t they all kinda go like that though?” I laughed awkwardly, mentally preparing myself for whatever shitty jab Alastor would make at my expense. He let me stew in it for a minute, or maybe for once he just didn’t know what to say. The sound of my heels rang in my ears as I was aware of his lack of response, buzzing with the city noises happening around us. 

“How unfortunate!” He used my arm hooked with his to pull me closer and gave me a sideways smile. “I would have given you a much better deal than that!” And winked at me. I gave a small laugh, right like being his tailor for the rest of my afterlife, how fun. He glared at the window of a TV shop as we passed it, Vox was giving some interview, but it distorted more the longer he looked at it. Just as soon as we had passed it, the screens returned to normal. Another mystery to Alastor. “Don’t worry dear, you aren’t the only soul in hell who has made an unwise deal. I think half the inhabitants of our hotel are in that very same boat with you!” As dumb as it is, it kinda made me feel better that I’m not the only sucker that I know. 

We reached the steps of the hotel and he followed me up. 

“Well if you need any emergency alterations you know where to find me!” I smiled and opened the door. After all of that I do think Alastor made me feel better, and I still have the entire $1 to my name that I could have lost, or worse. 

“Well someone is in a better mood than she was before.” Husk snarked from the bar and I shrugged. 

“I didn’t die so I guess I can’t complain too much.” I threw a wink to him and he let out a small chuckle. Alastor cleared his throat to regain my attention, which I gave him, clasping my hands behind my back.

“As happy as I am to have been of service tonight, I must bid you adieu my dear, I have much to do!” He gave my head a pat and made his way up the grand staircase without waiting for a response. I watched him go and disappear down a hallway off to whatever chores awaited him. I let out a well earned yawn and looked back at Husk. Is he always behind the bar? Where does he sleep? When does he sleep? I shook the thoughts from my head and waved him goodnight.

 I made my way up to my room but as soon as I drifted off to sleep all that filled my dreams was the image of Alastor in his demon form in the alley, but this time I was his prey. I would focus on his eyes and the intense fear they filled me with, shadow arms raising me higher and higher into the air as he laughed at my pleads for help. His whole body expanded and grew more wicked and disturbingly sharp. One of his claws dragged across my cheek, drawing blood. I woke up in a cold sweat and panting to catch my breath. I went to my bathroom to splash some cool water on my face, but struggled to feel much calmer. It was just a dream, but it was based on real events, even if they didn’t happen quite like that. I decided to throw on a robe and knock on Angel’s door, it was late, but hopefully he would be awake. He opened the door, rubbing his eyes. 

“Lilly? What the hell are you doin’ up at this hour?” He asked, one set of arms hugged himself and the other attempted to straighten his hair. I realized how dumb the truth sounded. ‘Oh I had a bad dream and wanted to talk to you’ I couldn’t say that, he would close the door in my face. 

I glanced up and down the hallway, surely even Alastor is asleep at this time of night? “I need to tell you about my day, now.” I tried to look very serious, but I was also pretty tired. Angel stepped to the side and let me in, giving me the first proper look of his room. It was very nicely decorated, it looked just like him. Everything was pink and there were little string lights hanging from the wall giving off a soft purple twinkle. 

He sat on his bed and patted the spot next to him. “What can’t wait until the mornin’ doll?” I took the seat and crossed my legs in front of me, pulling my robe a little tighter for comfort. “Husk told me you walked out pissed, but nothing else.”

“I just needed to get out. After the last two days of nonstop I just wanted to feel like a person and I didn’t here. Listen, to make a long story short, Alastor showed up to get me out of some hot shit. Apparently Charlie had sent him, but I saw him attack this demon and I, I don’t know I just can’t stop seeing it now. I’ve seen some fucked up shit here, I literally saw my coworkers get torn limb by limb a few days ago, but I don’t know something about how he looked at that demon.” I shivered. “How he looked at me after. It just, it freaked me out a little.” I pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on my knees. Angel rubbed my back to sooth me. 

“Ah don’t worry about him too much, you’ve got Charlie’s stamp of ‘Do-Not-Kill’ on yah so he won’t lay a hand on you!” He crossed one set of arms “even if you want him to.” Apparently still making no progress in his flirtations. “Plus, if it’s dreams you’re worried about, maybe you just wish his arms were around you in another way!” He joked and lightly elbowed me in the side. I rolled my eyes at him and smiled. 

“Angel if you can’t pull him I’ve got zero luck, plus I am not interested like that. He’s just such a mystery I can't keep him out of my head.” I said, thinking on it I know shockingly few things about him for the amount that he seems to pop up and know things about me. 

“Oh baby, the best dick is!”  We both giggled and I felt a lot better. I asked him how his day was and he lit up. “Me and Husk got to have some quality time, if you know what I mean!” And he gave a cheesy smile. “We shared a drink is what I actually mean though. I think I’m breaking him down!” He beamed and then told me about how Husk had once been an overlord, until he was too far in the hole with gambling and ended up making a deal with our very own Alastor, confirming what I thought. Once I was caught up on the hotel tea I noticed my eyelids feeling heavy and the idea of getting some more sleep sounded better and better. Angel laughed and pulled the blanket over me and before his head hit the pillow I was out. 

Part Three

[colourstreakgryffin]

WOAHH YOU'RE TAKING MINI REQUESTS NOW!! NICEE

I have an idea shshaijsiajs :3

Obanai with reader who is absolutely FUCKING OBSESSED with dragons! like the Asian ones that, ya know, the ones that look like snakes and fly without wings! I, myself absolutely adore dragons due to their peculiar portrayed design, but mostly the Asian dragons since they just look like a noodle ahah :3

have some obanai in a maid dress, hmm yes, absolutely scrumpdiddtlylumpcious!

ANYWAYSSS, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, DRINK LOTSA WATER, EAT ENOUGH FOOD, SLEEP ENOUGH HOURS AND STAY OBSESSED WITH OBANAI, FELLOW OBANAI ADMIRER!!!!!

-p.s. this can be yandere, modern or the original au, anything you find easier to write since I don't wanna make you write too much, buh-bye!

Oooh… okay, something simple and small! Thank you, dearly, loves. Not much can be actually done with this concept since it wouldn’t impact the relationship too much but I’ll do it anyway! Hmmm, I’ll just make it normal/original-verse

Iguro Obanai

Obanai is quite the patient man. He doesn’t mind his beloved partner having a passionate like towards something. Sure, he is insanely jealous of the fact you’re beyond obsessed with Chinese dragon types of dragons. The ones depicted in ancient Chinese reading material

Obanai wants your attention. He gives you a whole lot and he feels like he doesn’t get a lot back so he wants your eyes on him and your hands trialing over his face for, at least, a few more seconds than usual. He loves you dearly but he is almost desperate for your attention whilst you’re devoted to your passion for the Chinese dragons

Obanai, to satisfy your love for Chinese dragons, buys you every Chinese dragon-like glass figure and Chinese dragon-like crystal ornament, just to enjoy your happiness and also enjoy the affectionate gratitude you pour onto him. You don’t neglect him as he is your beloved boyfriend but you do give a lot of love to your dragon passion

Obanai does find those Chinese dragons you like interesting. Chinese culture is vastly different from his usual Japanese culture and he does understand why you like those dragons, and he can bring himself to bond with you over them. Making cute banners painted with all kinds of Chinese dragon designs to see those gorgeous sparkles of admiration in your eyes

Obanai, at the end of the day, may be jealous of how much you love Chinese dragons but he loves you even more so he continuously feeds it to make you happy. Doing so makes you love him even more since he is so encouraging and supportive where every other man would get sick of your passion

Obanai is the best out there to handle you as his partner and handle your Chinese dragon love, and you know it, that being one of many reasons why you love him so much

(Cries in losing good icon-pics for the characters I write for~!)

[finalfrontierpublishing]

A Great and Gruesome Height by @moku_youbi. 

So this bind was a wild ride, with experimentation galore. It’s my 10th bind (HURRAY) and I started this bind knowing I wanted to play with thread, given I had so much fun with the stab binding. I had some red thread which i had originally purchased for the VTE bind - and just the right shade i was going for so i went for it.  

the original idea i was going for was ‘red thread of fate, but make it MURDER’ and so this tidy little concept was born. half way through the design conceptualization phase i had a little epiphany while watching season 3 of hannibal that blood spatter stringing was ALSO red thread and i just couldn’t resist (yes i know hannibal’s little murder tableaus seldom have blood but the string! MORE STRING!) 

More photos under the cut. 

Statistics: 

115559 words || 426 pages

Body Text: Crimson Text 

Chapter Headers: Cormorant Garamond

I quite like the experimentation with body fonts and trying to divert away from regular Garamond. So far, I’ve only used Baskerville, Garamond, Liberation serif and Cardo, but I do like this one. I lack the typography terminology but it feels fancy and posh and something Hannibal would enjoy. 

I also aggressively rounded this book - boy is it ROUND, perhaps a little too so. i had a difficult time getting the spine piece to be as round as I liked. 

Also, it was my first time putting a quote on the first few pages - i have zero regrets. Also featuring my new imprint page with AN ERROR (IT’S DECEMBER 2022 NOW OOPS). 

I didn’t have enough heat-reactive foil and this fic has 40+ chapters so I could only foil the last couple of chapters which were actually short mini-sequels to this fic which I also added in. I have to say, using a laminator over an iron for heat-reactive foil is MUCH superior. I didn’t have to work myself into a frenzy trying to get an even layer of foil on it. 

Endpapers are a little bunchy because of the thread. But i had to put butterflies because THE CHRYSALIS has hatched (i will never tire of hannibal metaphors).

See below for the conceptualization phase on cricut and er paper. I have zero art skills and have aphantasia so I had to print it out to try and figure out where everything needed to go. 

This bind is also the bind where I won my blood sacrifice badge - don’t use rusty tools guys. The spouse had borrowed my rotary cutter to cut wrapping paper for christmas wrapping and is RIGHT-HANDED. Self is LEFT-HANDED. Tool returned to me as is and I did not check if the blade protector was on the correct side as the tool will get flipped direction wise depending on the handedness of the user. So guess who needs to get a tetanus shot today? :joy:

 All in all, still a successful bind. It is a little busy, and if I had to do it again, I might not put the titling on the spine (always a little crooked, cause I roll that way). The Siser gold and silver metallic HTV for the hands fought me the entire way, and I’d probably not use it for such delicate lines - only part of it adhered and it made me very upset at first but since the bind is for myself it’s fine. 

I’d also use a thinner red thread next time (the thick waxed linen thread for leather work doesn’t fuck around, WILL NOT BUY AGAIN) because as you can see 3-4 rounds around the finger looks like it’s choking it and i had some space limitations at the edges. 

Well, a fun idea, with less than perfect execution but I’ll probably do it again one day if i ever summon up the courage to consider making this again (perhaps for the author if i get over my massive to-bind pile). PROBABLY NOT IN WHITE - gad WHITE IS SO SMUDGEY - nothing to remind you how dirty your hands are than white bookcloth. this is off-white pearl BUT fingerprint smudges!!! 

Resources: Page dividers made by evil-robot-cat here. 

EDIT: THE AUTHOR WANTS A COPY!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  🥳  😱 🫠 yessss AUTHOR COPY!!!!