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greysfall · 3 years

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My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

- Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

- The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

- The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

- Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

- The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

- Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

- Still good music

- Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

- Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

- The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

- The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

- Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

- Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

- The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.

- I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

- The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

- The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

- Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

- Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

- Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

- Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

- Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild. Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.

#neotwewy #neotwewyspoilers #ntwewy #ntwewy spoilers #neo the world ends with you #twewy #review #meta #neo twewy #shoka sakurane #rindo kanade #tsugumi matsunae

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starvine · 3 years

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first date headcanons

attack on titan (modern au)

summary: some first date headcanons with some of the attack on titan characters.

warnings: none, just fluff :)

eren jaeger: movie

a little basic but it’s all eren could come up with

besides, it was between a movie and dinner and dinner felt too formal so y’all decided on a movie

he’d let you pick the movie tho

he might argue with you if it’s something stupid and claim that it’s horribly written (as if he knows a thing) but that’s it

eren would make sure to get the BEST snacks. spicy food? check. candy? check. popcorn? check. fruits? check.

he just wants to impress you (even if he did have to confide in his friends for some advice)

he just really likes you

during the movie, you guys would start shifting closer to each other, both a little too timid to move all the way all at once

but you guys would make commentary throughout the movie, laughing when things seem too cliché or when a character says something funny

half way throughout the movie, you guys aren’t even really paying attention it it

you’re too busy throwing popcorn at each other and trying to catch it in your mouths, feeding each other candy, and giggling at each other

it’s intimate in its own relaxed way, which makes eren realize how perfect you are

you both could make the most out of a pretty average first date situation and make it into a beyond amazing first date

and that was all he needed to ask you on a second date before he dropped you off at your car, walking with you to make sure you got there safely

and ngl you’d be a bit of a fool to say no to eren

armin arlert: aquarium

sweetheart is so nervous

before he came to your apartment to pick you up for your date, he was a little nervous wreck

he was fidgeting with his fingers, playing with the buttons on his shirt--he probably accidentally opened one by accident

but once he saw you, he felt fine

it was as if he physically melted, you just make everything okay

once you guys got to the aquarium, he would NOT shut up

he was probably pointing things out, telling you fun facts, asking you what is your favorite marine life

“oh, you like pufferfish? that’s cool! i like them too. they’re very... puffy.”

he’s like a child in a candy store

but while he’s rambling about how the digestive system of a sea cucumber basically cleans the ocean, he’s wondering how he should make a move

he doesn’t want to scare you off or anything, but he doesn’t want you to be disappointed

but while you guys are looking at one of those large fish tanks, the ones where you walk through a tunnel, you guys just sort of stand there and watch in awe

or rather armin watches in awe while you look at him, a soft smile gracing his pink lips as his eyes dart across the illustriously blue colored glass

and when he feels your pinky latch onto his, he’s a little shocked that you had made the first move

he didn’t not expect it per say, he just thought that he would be the one to make the first move

but his overthinking got in the way

and when he turns to look down at your intertwined pinkies, he caught you sending him a delicate smile that made his heart squeeze until he felt as if every part of him was on fire

but it was him who finally held your hand fully

he just needed you to give him the extra push

mikasa ackerman: book store

it’s a very calming atmosphere, which is something you’d both need for this first date

mikasa is probably pretty anxious for the first date, and wants to make sure you’re okay and enjoying yourself while also making sure she’s okay and enjoying herself

so the calming scent of the book store and the quietness is perfect for her to multitask between mediating the two

you’d both be tasked with picking each other books and then buying them for each other

so initially mikasa was nervous because she wasn’t sure what to get you but then you asked what she liked to read and so that allowed her to ask the same, making the situation less stressful

and all while you two are walking from isle to isle, eyes scanning the various book titles and covers, she sneaks glances at you and how pretty you look

and the fact that you seem very deep in thought, heavily concentrated on getting her the right book, makes her feel less concerned on whether or not you’d rather be with her or not

the answer is obviously a yes but mikasa has a hard time understanding that sometimes

so when you give her the book you bought for her, making sure to lightly touch her fingers while you hand it to her, she already knows that another date is what she wants you both to have or else she’ll probably explode

and based off of how flushed she looks, the possibility of her exploding is not highly unlikely

you guys will sit at this little table in the corner of the store, reading your books

i can picture mikasa annotating certain lines that remind her of you, making mental notes to show you later

overall, the date is pretty lowkey and very sweet

connie springer: dave + busters/bowling

ok there’s not much of an explanation for this one besides the point that if feels right

like connie is pretty energetic and i feel like you can learn a lot about a person based off of the games they’re drawn to

hence the arcade

i think connie really likes those racing games or the zombie shooting games

he also claims he’s really good at ski ball (he’s not, he’s trash)

so a good portion of the date consists of you just laughing at him the whole time cuz in all honestly he’s not the best at games but he enjoys them for the fun of them

he’d definitely cheer you on when you were playing or try to mess you up if it was you two against each other

but either way he’d give you a hug or a pat on the head after every game

even if u beat him

he’d probably try to sneak a kiss when you guys were in one of those shooting games that requires a booth and the curtains drawn (does that make sense?)

it’s not really romantic like at all, especially since it smells like a million different people in there, but it’s very low stress so in all honesty that’s what makes the kiss nice

and after you guys had used up all your tokens, you’d combine your tickets and pick something together

your prizes would mostly consist of candy and him insisting he get you a plastic gem ring so you can always remember your first date together

it was also his little, strange way of asking you for a second date

levi ackerman: art museum

unlike connie, he’s not super energetic

so a museum is right up his alley

levi’s a bit awkward, he doesn’t really know how to talk to you

and especially since you’re lovely, his words jumble together and he gets all flustered

so a nice, quiet museum exhibit is perfect for him

it’s a nice balance between casual and formal, so you both dress nice but aren’t restricted by the need to be super polite and stuff

he’d probably like it when you try to imitate the poses that are shown in the paintings or sculptures

just imagine the soft chuckle he’d be unable to prevent from escaping his lips which then melts into a soft smirk

beautiful, beautiful lad

he probably wouldn’t join you though, he doesn’t want to embarrass himself

he just smiles at you and stares at the art, reading the background info they give on those little plates near them

but he would notice when you stare at him

he could be looking at some art made during the dutch golden age, but as soon as your head slightly tilted in his direction, his cheeks would HEAT up

you almost asked him if he was feeling alright he was so red

but as the date went on, levi really just thought about how much he enjoyed your presence

and he’s not a wicked talkative guy so being able to feel comfortable with someone even if you aren’t talking or doing much is pretty important to him

as the date concludes, levi finally works up the courage to place his hand on your shoulder, asking if there was anything else you wanted to see before the museum closes for the day

his face might be bright red, but the smile you give him makes him feel a little less embarrassed

what can you say, you’ve got charm 💅

hange: the fucking zoo

ok i won’t lie when i got the idea of hange taking you to the zoo for your first date i thought it was so funny and idk why

like they’d be so excited that they’d nearly forget that they’re on a date with you

they’d drag you around from exhibit to exhibit, pointing out the exact breed of tortoise or some really strange fact about the zebras without looking at the little description panel in front of the exhibit

it’s pretty comical

but then randomly, when you guys are sitting down and eating some fries from one of the concession stands, they start going on a rant about animal cruelty and how a lot of zoos don’t treat the animals properly

and you’re just sitting there like “what 🧍‍♀️” cuz they’re mood changed so quickly LMAO

and as soon as their rant started, it finishes and they’re rushing you to the reptile exhibit

they’d probably try to figure out if they could hold one of the snakes

you’d have to drag them out of there before they start harassing one of the workers into letting them hold a snake

they’d also give all of the animals names only to forget them in 2 seconds

“hey, robert, it’s good to see you again!” “hange, i thought you named them dante?” “oh... did i? 😁”

however there’s probably like one animal they absolutely despise and idk why but i feel like it’s parrots

y’all would be walking through this rainforest exhibit, birds flying from tree to tree and the whole time they’re cursing the birds under their breath for no reason at all

just an angry person walking through a rainforest exhibit, cursing out birds

pretty normal if you ask me

however, the date itself is pretty casual and almost feels like you guys are just hanging out

or it would if they didn’t ask you out on another date before dropping you off at home, kissing your cheek as their farewell

pieck finger: café

very simple and quaint

i feel like pieck has a coffee addiction and always puts her in a better mood

so what better place to go on a date then a café?

she’s definitely an iced coffee drinker, and will occasionally go for a hot drink but usually iced coffee is her go-to

and if you get a coffee or tea that she also happens to like, you’re already practically golden in her eyes

since pieck has a very soothing and lowkey nature, i can see the date being much more just like a conversation with someone you’ve known for forever instead of interview-y which is something i’ve found coffee/lunch/dinner dates to be a bit like

but pieck knows how to keep things interesting and she’s a pretty calming person to be around so all is well

i also can’t see her getting super nervous before the date

she seems pretty calm unless in high-stress situations, but even then, she’s pretty level-headed

but since she’s so calm, it makes you wonder if she really cares for the date

and of COURSE she does, she’s so excited about it

it’s just the way pieck is

but as the date continues, she’d probably start to tease you by playing footsies under the table

you gotta keep the date interesting, you know?

you guys would talk about your interests, family, friends, shows you’re watching

literally just anything and everything that’ll allow you guys to get a feel for each other

and if all goes well she’ll definitely suggest another date ;)

also don’t expect to leave without her either writing something cute on your cup, pressing a lip-stick stained kiss to your cheek that matches the one surrounding the rim of her cup, or a promise that your game of footsies will continue next time you see each other

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gb-patch · 3 years

Text

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 1

It’s been longer than usual since our last answer session, so I’m answering a ton of questions today! It’s so big I split it into two parts. Thank you for the patience on getting a response to these.

Thanks for reaching out to us with your questions and kind words ^^!

Sorry if this has been asked before or isn't something you can say but is there anyway for Cove to confess in step 4? I wanted him to confess in step 3 and followed all the steps to make him do it but ended up texting my family instead of Cove at the end.

Yeah, Cove can confess in Step 4!

Hello! I heard that Cove is on the spectrum, albeit undiagnosed. As someone who is ND, this makes me UNBELIEVABLY happy. I literally was brought to tears! Thank you for that!

Out of curiosity, will Cove be diagnosed in Step 4? I have a strong feeling y’all won’t make it a HUGE deal/make it out to be negative, so I’m not worried about that whatsoever! I’m just curious just he’ll off handedly mention it? Or will it just not be touched upon at all (which is ok!)?

Either way is ok, I’m just curious!

I’m happy it made you happy! Admittedly, Cove simply being someone with autism that grew up not being diagnosed was something I included for myself. I didn’t really think anyone would notice or ask about it, aha. But players did start to have questions about his traits, so I started to talk about it outside of the game. It’s great to see it get such a positive response and now I do feel like having it be a non-topic may have been the wrong choice and bringing it up would’ve been good in terms of having positive representation for that. I don’t know if I’ll find a way to mention it in Step 4 now, with how far along the game is, but I am at least thinking about it when originally it wasn’t something I really even considered.

Hey! Just wanted to say thank you for Our Life. It's been a bright spot and a needed escape in what's otherwise been a crummy year. I know you just did a Q&A post but I figured I'd ask anyway. Was just curious about Step 4. Will it be similar to the other Steps in that it consists of several different moments or will it just be one long sequence?

Step 4 is shorter than the prior Steps because it’s just an epilogue rather than a full arc of a story. It’ll consist of scenes that all happen in a set row one after the other. There won’t be a collection of Moments to choose from. But it’ll still be very sweet and fun.

¡hola!, you see, first I want to say that I love Our Life! (°◡°♡) and I have 2 important questions, would Cove cry watching titanic? and what is the saddest part according to him? (sorry for my english)

Titanic would make him cry. He’d probably think the parts showing people who aren’t able to make it to the life boats/are choosing to stay and go down with the ship were the saddest.

Hello, I wanted to ask how much you earn with creating games? Like is it possible to make a living? Thank you >< <3

How much I earn varies a lot month to month based on Steam sales, Patreon backers, and how many projects are in full production at the time. It’s also hard to say how much I make historically, since that also changes dramatically year by year. But I do earn enough to work on these games full time! I really appreciate all the support that allows me to do that.

Hey!! I was wondering for the 18+ Our Life moment, will there be an emphasis on safety/comfort for all involved? I feel like there would be just going off of what the rest of the game is like, but I wanted to ask

Yes! Cove is a nervous boy himself and also super cautious about doing anything the MC doesn’t like, so clear consent from both is absolutely needed for anything to happen. It’s a conversational sexy times Moment with stops/starts so the two can talk about how they’re feeling, rather than a heat of the moment just going for it kind of thing.

Hey!! I was wondering how long the wedding dlc would be? Will it be broken up into moments, or just one big event?

It’s one long series of scenes all in a row rather than a collection of Moments to pick from. It’s the shortest and the least expensive of all the DLCs. It’s not super crucial to get and those who aren’t into big weddings can totally skip it without worry.

HELLO AMAZING DEVS 👋 i am hopelessly in love with the worst guy ever (jeremy king) and because of this i have a really stupid question: does he really hate people who are nice to him? TvT he’s too cute to be mean to istg it’s a miracle JB held the urge to be consistently nice to him bc just look at his FACE he is so cute! thank you for jeremy’s route it’s so lovely (and awful bc he’s scum 11/10) it gave me so much laughs LMAO i hope you guys have a good day!!

Haha, thank you. He doesn’t hate them but he’s certainly not pleased with them. Jeremy is either uncomfortable with or annoyed by people being sweet on him, depending on how they approach it. He’s far more comfortable with jerkiness. It lets him relax and he can be himself without it being a problem, since he’s also a jerk. He feels a level of guilt being such a little punk to kind people, not enough to be a better person but still.

Has Cove dated or been interested in someone other than MC?

Nope! He stays single over the course of the game if he’s not with the MC.

Is Step 4 more mature? Or it's gonna be set in similar atmosphere as Step 3?

Step 4 is a similar atmosphere as Step 3. Though, it’s actually kind of less mature-topic heavy than Step 3 since it’s just a ‘hey, let’s check in on the gang to see what they’re up to’ style epilogue rather than a story arc with serious issues.

will there be new music for now and forever?? or will the old our life music be reused?

It’s gonna be a brand new soundtrack. We’ll be opening up a job position for that soon.

Hi, is it okay if we use the assets in Our Life (like the sprites) for fanworks or fan content content, like edits?

Sure! Just as long as you don’t use the assets made by those artists to make money.

Quick clarification on Step 3 choices: I hope I didn't come off rude (because I LOVE the game, really!!), I was just curious because the intro threw me off at times. For example, you could choose how you felt about Elizabeth in Step 2 (Dinner), but during the Step 3 intro, it says that you got closer to Liz and I didn't get a choice in it.

For the example, it can’t be helped that you’re closer to Liz in Step 3 than you were in Step 2 because she’s inherently closer to the MC regardless of whether you liked her or not in Step 2. Her feelings are out of your control and the game isn’t so dramatic that you can push her affection away and not let her bond with you, haha. But ‘being closer’ can still be relative. For some people maybe that means you’re best buds now and for others it might just mean you’re not fighting all the time any more. If there’s other parts you want to mention, feel free to let us know.

Did the illustrator for Our Life change?

We have many OL artists! The main artists who set the game’s style haven’t changed, but there’s multiple other artists who help finish assets.

So Miranda's type is confident and outgoing, huh? So...does that mean Terri's her type?? 👀

Haha, sorry for the late reply on this. As you might’ve seen in our post yesterday- yeah that is her type.

Hey! First, I just want to say I've really enjoyed how detailed OL got with gender identity and sexuality and how respectful the topics were handled! It's been so wonderful to play since the experiences could be close to my own (I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up at parts). Second, I was wondering, would future games explore the topic of polyamory? I'd love to see more visual novels allow room for that and I saw you've explored the topic before.

Keep up the amazing work! ♡

Thank you! We do want to include polyamory in at least some of our future projects. Floret Bond, which might be what you’re referring to when mentioning how we’ve explored the topic before, is on hold unfortunately. So right now I’m not sure when something might release or what will be the first game of ours to come out with poly relationships (we might do something else before FB is done). We’ll have see how things ends up coming together.

Hey um. I feel like im not allowed to ask this on the private discord cuz people will yell at me but why is there so much focus on OL2 and not finishing OL1 stuff? I like the new people but i kind of want to finish cove's story and get derek and baxter stuff first. didn't people pay for it?

I’m sorry, I don’t understand entirely what’s making that situation a concern. There’s a channel in the discord for critique where no one is allowed to comment back. People can voice things they’re worried about without any way for others to push back on it. And the two teams working on the OL games are different. We try to post pretty often about how we’re hiring brand new people to start on Our Life: Now & Forever. The OL1 team is all still working on OL1 like normal. There’s only more updates on the Patreon for OL2 because the expansions to the first game are mostly script-based at this point while OL2 is just starting to get all its art, which means there’s a lot more to show off as previews.

Also, there was a Kickstarter for the first Our Life, if that’s what you mean by people paying for it. But one of the stretch goals was to start Our Life 2 early, before fully completing Our Life 1, so that the new game could be out sooner. It wouldn’t make sense to stop doing OL2 work because that would be going against what backers were promised. Maybe you didn’t get the full story before and hopefully this clears it up!

Hello! I know it's up to every player but.. What is your recommendation for playing order? Did you ever had any timeline events planned?

I didn’t make the events with a planned timeline. The events got made simply as I had ideas for them and then I just kind of organized them from left to right on the screen in an order to space out more dramatic ones between more lighthearted ones. Any order the player wants to go with is totally valid!

Hi! It's Step 4 a paid dlc or update? And how long it's planned to be? Ps. Love the game!

The Step 4 epilogue is free! The Cove Wedding DLC does cost money, though. Those are planned to be shorter than the usual Steps/DLCs.

Will we have options for what sort of job the MC might have by the time step 4 takes place?

Yeah, you can. It’s not super exact or detailed, but there are options about it.

Is there a pandemic in Our Life world, or is it just in a better timeline with no pestilence?

Our Life is pandemic-free! That didn’t exist when we began working on the project and it’s not something we’d like to feature in this story now that it has unfortunately come along, aha.

Hi, you said that you can play tic-tac-toe or hangman with Cove in Boating if you're sick/scared but I keep getting tic-tac-toe. Am I doing something wrong?

After being sick/scared you have to continue to be upset/unwell. If you calm down and decide to just chill you’ll end up playing tic-tac-toe.

Hi, GB Patch! Since Lee was initially commissioned to only appear in two Steps does this mean she won't appear in the Wedding DLC? I really like her character so it'll be a little weird to not have our cousin at our wedding, aha.

She is gonna be in Step 4/the wedding DLC after all! We’re still working with her creator to make sure it fits with what they wanted.

Is Sunset Bird based on a real place? Asking for a friend, not trying to move there or anything. 👀

It’s based on small beach towns in So-Cal, but not one specific town you could go see in real life, I’m afraid. It’d be nice if it was real, though.

—– —– —– —–

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

#our life #Our Life Beginnings & Always #Our Life: Now & Forever #ask #gb patch #gb patch games #xoxo droplets

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byulsgrease · 3 years

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if you arent too busy, can you write a idol!hwasa x idol!reader, wherein they both have to practice with each other for a special stage. However on the first meeting they become starstruck and cant believe somethings are real, but soon warm up to each other?

i'm not terribly busy but this still took a while anyway oops - sorry this took so long anon! here you go :D

if anyone has requests for the other members hmu cuz I've got 2 more hyejin reqs after this one (not that I'm complaining)

"who says we can't do something on our own?"

(hwasa x idol!reader, ~1.2k words)

cw: food + alcohol mention (y'all know how it is)

I named someone Minjeong - it's not Aespa's Winter, idk anything about 4th gen gg's - 민정 is my Korean name so it's just what came to mind

"Hey, wake up. You've gotta see this. GET UP," a voice piercing through the fog of your sleep.

What a rude awakening. Your shoulders being shaken vigorously by a pair of small hands meant they belonged to none other than Minjeong, your youngest group member. You rolled over to glare menacingly at her with one eye open, trying to pull your brain out of the slumber. All you could see was the bright light of her phone shining in your eyes - a video of some kind. But then you heard the audio:

"Have you seen the clip?" asked the interviewer.

"Yes, my members and many MooMoos made sure I saw it"— Moos? Oh, it's Hwasa. WAIT. Both your eyes flew open as you sat up and snatched Jeongie's phone out of her hand to stare at the video. Your mind immediately flashed back to the interview you did last week - they asked who you most wanted to collaborate with, if there were no limitations. Your ears started to heat up at the sheer thought of the flustered mess of an answer you gave - of course you said Hwasa. Both of you debuted relatively close to each other, within a year, but never interacted much over the years. Mamamoo as a group was a force to be reckoned with, but there was just something about Hwasa specifically. You mostly just admired her unique singing voice and undeniable stage presence, and her relentless drive to always be herself in an industry constantly trying to fit women into a box.

Finally snapping out of re-living that embarrassment, your attention turned back to the phone in your hand. The interviewer must've asked her to send a message in response to you, because you couldn't believe that she was waving and saying, "How haven't we gotten to know each other better over all these years? I'd love to work with you on something sometime," curtly dipping her head in a slight bow.

"SEE? You needed to see that," Minjeong rushed to say, full of energy. "And close your mouth, your jaw's on the floor," jokingly pointing.

You side-eyed her and shut your mouth. "Is this what Loco felt like when she called him during Hyena on the Keyboard?" you wondered aloud.

"At least she's not calling you while on camera," she commented, knowing full well that you'd probably embarrass yourself again if she did. "But hey, at least she noticed you! Can I have my phone back now?" It would be a dream come true to collaborate with her, but cross-company collabs... always a pain. that couldn't be helped. The fantasy abruptly ended with demands from your rumbling stomach. Done with your what-if's, you placed the phone back in your maknae's outstretched hand to get up and make breakfast.

~~~~

With award show season rolling around, the crazy scramble of rehearsing for special live stages without leaking sets and collabs began. Checking your email that morning showed a schedule to record the backing track for a special live stage, but that was it. With who? You texted your members a screenshot, but they all told you that block of time in their schedule was empty. A solo stage? The solo mini-album you released this cycle did relatively well, the title track got a music show win, but not a multi-week chart-topper by any means. Possibilities turning over in your mind, you stepped out from your place to head to the company, totally in the dark about what was in store.

The recording studio always smelled the same along with the couches, a comfort for all the insanely long nights and crack-of-dawn early mornings over the years. With a bit of time to kill, you plopped down on one and gingerly patted the worn cushions as some kind of symbolic thank-you for supporting you (literally).

A hesitant but loud knock sent your gaze directly to the door. Watching it slowly open, you leaned forward to see who it was. Needless to say, your jaw fell to the floor again as you clapped a hand over your gaping mouth, eyes widening. Like a soldier obeying a command, you immediately stood up as straight as possible and bowed profusely at Hwasa, sporting a very similar expression on her face (which you failed to notice, your mind running a million miles a minute).

After a series of frantic bows and miscellaneous utterances to each other, she spoke. "It's nice to finally meet you," she said with calm, surveying your frenzied state. "I guess we're granting that collab wish from your interview, huh?"

The red-hot embarrassment leapt to your face. "I...I definitely made a fool of myself answering that question. And our maknae showed me your interview clip too, which was cool, but never did I think it would actually happen," you stammered. I should probably stop talking.

"Well, here I am," she half-smiled coolly. "Let's get started, I'm really looking forward to finally work with you on this," a gleam in her eye and a hint of excitement in her voice.

The studio suddenly felt a lot smaller with her in it, despite there only being your managers, the producer, and the both of you - less people than you and your members alone. Both of you remained relatively quiet the whole time, rather unsure of what to say or talk about. You watched enough MMMTV to know that all the members on their own were shyer than together, and Hwasa knew the same was true for you. But the work basically took care of itself, seamlessly taking turns in the recording booth, witnessing each other's work style and process. The both of you knew your way in front of a mic, seasoned professionals by now. Upon wrapping up, you bowed politely to each other after a quick exchange of KaTalk info, a short and sweet goodbye.

That was... anticlimactic. I mean, it's finally happening - I can't believe it. But maybe I was too idealistic about maybe creating a meaningful relationship with her outside of work... What does she think of me?

~~~~

In the days leading up to the collab stage, you kept going back and forth on whether to reach out or not, despite now being in possession of her contact info. What would you even say? Thoughts of a witty one-liner or relatable meme came to mind, but maybe she'd assume the worst - that you were clout-chasing, or something. Anxieties abuzz, your phone vibrated in your pocket. The KaTalk notification sprawled across your screen. Speak of the devil, it's her.

"Hey, awards season has me stressed. I know you must pretty busy right now too, but I somehow get off early tomorrow if you wanna grab dinner after work?" You had to reread that one. Oh, what? She's inviting me?

Trying not to be weird about responding too quickly, you typed out, "Wow, yeah, that sounds great! ^^ wait, your company doesn't care about you going out to eat during award season?"

"nah, they stopped having that kind of control over us a while ago, we are the money-maker of the company, after all 😏"

"so I guess this means they don't check your phone either ㅋㅋㅋ"

"nope :)"

You proceeded to set a time and place to meet, someplace with meat.

In the process of feasting on an inordinate amount of gopchang imbued with a splash of beer, you learned a fair amount about each other. You talked career, professional aspirations, the weird habits of your members, and more. What surprised you most was the amount of things she already knew about you, having admitted to watching some of your behind-the-scenes content after seeing your interview clip.

"Ah... I'm sorry if I came across as distant during that first recording session," she confessed, pausing to sip her beer. "I honestly didn't know what to do with myself, I felt a little star-struck."

"Oh what?? I felt the exact same, so no worries - and sorry if I came off similarly distant," you rambled back. A bit of silence fell between you, acknowledging the mutual sentiment. You spoke up after a bit, "Thanks for inviting me out tonight, I didn't realize how much I needed this."

"Thank you for making the time, I had fun getting to know you better," she articulated with a smile. "Maybe it'll make the collab stage better," she added on jokingly. You responded with a nod and expression of mutual affirmation.

~~~~

After that, messaging each other became a regular occurrence, that gopchang outing having broken the ice. Honestly, you tried your best to talk about anything besides work, but the baseline of shared understanding connected you in a way that came more naturally than it did with your non idol friends.

You stood across the way from her at the sound check for the final stage, dressed in joggers and slides. Funny to think that you'd be recording this for real in a couple hours, making eyes with the blinking red light on the cameras surrounding you. It sucks that fans wouldn't get to experience the energy and atmosphere of the performance - Hyejin alone is one thing, but adding someone else into her stage presence? Unmatched. There's nothing quite like a live performance - and while you knew everyone in the industry dealt with the consequences of the pandemic, it certainly took a toll to perform and not feel the energy from fans. But realistically, nothing you could do about it. The sound check went over smooth like butter. The stage chemistry came flowing naturally between you both, even when bare-faced and dressed in just sweats.

And when the time came for the actual filming, you both absolutely killed it, an upbeat mash-up of TWIT and your title track. At the very end came a sliver of hesitation before throwing your arms around each other with a big smile for the ending fairy, proud of the work you accomplished together, and a mental fist-pump to yourself for making friends with one of the industry's finest.

Once again walking to a restaurant that served mostly meat to celebrate, you playfully proposed, "We... should do that again sometime." A little puff of air came out her nose in amusement.

"Yeah, we should. Too bad we're gonna have to wait a whole cycle before we can release anything else together again," she sighed longingly.

"Who says we can't do something on our own?"

#did not know how to end oops #mamamoo x reader #hwasa x reader #mamamoo hwasa #ahn hyejin #hwasa fanfic #hwasa imagines #hwasa #mamamoo fic #mamamoo imagines #mamamoo scenarios #girl group fanfic #girl group imagines #girl group scenarios #kpop #kpop fic #gg fic #gg fanfic #requested

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discoclubofvenus · 4 years

Text

Morning Haze

Morning Headcanons w/Hinawa, Victor, & Maki

Warnings: None~

Genre: Fluffier than cloud 9

Attributes: gn reader

Type: Request

A/N: This was such a cute little request omg, but I finally got around to making some banners! I’ll make more as I write for different characters

He is getting up at the ass crack of dawn to be productive and no you cannot get him out of this routine

Sometimes he’ll just be reading a by the window and watching the sun come up or he’s cleaning or cooking breakfast

Mans said “I will be up to have a peaceful moment before dealing with those damn hooligans” 🗿

He mainly gets up early due to it being a habit from his military days 😗

He always gives you a smooch before leaving for work

(I swear he stay havin a shit load of paperwork)

On his days off..he would definitely sleep in

He would still wake up pretty early (like 8-9am) but not at the ass crack of dawn

He would be the type that’s completely awake after 2 minutes of being awake

Weird af but it’s that military trainin in him hun

However you can easily convince him to stay in bed by giving him a massage

If you wake up before him you should 100% get/make some breakfast so you two can have breakfast in bed

He would appreciate it sm

Also hinawa without his glasses is so hot??? But when he put them glasses on?? Phew chile..this man a snack

HE HAS A REALLY DEEP AND SEXY VOICE IN THE MORNING

YOU KNOW THE ONE

If he wakes up before you he’s most definitely staring at your sleeping form

He’d snort at you for drooling too but never make fun of you

He looks at the way the your expression is just so serene

100% will lightly joke about your snoring

He’d definitely make you breakfast in bed

Hinawa makes his way to your shared room in careful but hurried footsteps. In his hands sat a tray that carried plates full of food. He already put the glass of (f/d) stop of your nightstand, so all he had to do was deliver the food. Which he did, successfully. He placed the tray on his side of the bed and gently ran his knuckles along your face. Hinawa could barely focus on anything but you. His love, his pillar, his ribbon. The scene in front of him was one he’d commit to his memory forever. Alas, you needed to wake up before the food got cold. So, with little to no hesitation Hinawa gently shook you awake along with a peck to your nose. “Good morning my darling”

If you’re still sleepy he’ll pet your head and let you rest on his chest while he reads

Hell he’ll even kiss your forehead sometimes

You guys would take a shower together with jazz or soft piano playing in background

Give this a man a massage while he’s contemplating whether he wants to get out of bed

He’d most definitely appreciate it and give you a token of his appreciation in kisses

You two will either wake up at the same time or you’ll wake up before her

Baby gorl will stay asleep till the cusp of noon (11am-12)

Her sleeping face is so adorable, kiss her cheek for me wouldja?

She wont have an iron grip around you if you try getting up, however, she will slowly start to wake up if you’re not beside her anymore

She’ll get pouty if you don’t come back soon

Give her around 10 minutes or so to adjust coming to reality

I recommend running your hands through her hair

She has such a tiny voice in the morning aodlfuebwuweb

Will appreciate you sosososososo much if you give/make her breakfast in bed

She would love to help with making breakfast! That’s one quick way to completely wake her up

Doing yoga in the morning together (if you both wake up early enough and this is another way to get her completely up lol)

Once she’s fully awake tho??

Homegirl is definitely finding excuses to stay in bed and skip the day

“Why don’t we stay in bed for a few more minutes? It’s not everyday we have such a peaceful awakening.” Maki states as she takes a sip of her steaming green tea. You give her an incredulous look as she closes her eyes--whether to ignore the stare she knows you’re giving her, or she’s savoring the moment within her whole being. You’re not sure, but if the serene smile on her face is anything to go by you would say the latter..if she weren’t adamantly trying to stifle her laughter. You sighed, with a small smile stretching across your face and a shake of your head you made your way to the closet. “You know Hinawa would kill the both of us if we skipped out on our duties--mostly me because he thinks I persuade you to stay in bed.”

You both help the other choose their outfit and you also have a little routine when it comes to your individual morning routines

While you’re in the shower, she would be doing a face mask and washing her teeth. While she’s in the shower, you’re washing your face and outside the bathroom doing your hair.

Please sing with her if you’re in the bathroom at the same time she’s in the shower

Before you guys leave your room for the day, she’ll give you a kiss and 1 reason as to why she loves you

He does not want to get out of bed, he dont so he won't

Simple

He will LITERALLY whine if you try getting him out of bed

He likes getting up around afternoon when he has days off because he will spend all night researching

Has you tangled all up in his limbs

RIP if you gotta get up to do anything cuz if he feels you move he’ll grip tighter

Will definitely tease you if he wakes up before you (just as a way to cover up how gorgeous he finds you in the morning)

“Eeewewew your morning breath is awful (n/n)”

“Oops looks like your bonnet/scarf travelled on a journey without you last night”

Someone beat his ass

That doesn’t stop him from giving you a nice gentle and slow smooch

Will drag you out of bed and get you up and ready

“I’m not going through this whole day without my stress reliever”

You guys brushing your teeth together

You wiping his face and him giving you kisses as appreciation

I’m soft

All of that only happens if you guys have a productive day ahead of you

ON A LAZY DAY??

He ain’t gettin up you can hang it up (and if he ain’t gettin up NEITHER ARE YOU)

You are gonna be the one to get up first because this man will sleep the whole day away if you let him

It’ll be the only way that his brain ACTUALLY takes a break

Unless he dreams about his research….

He prolly does if we’re being honest

Petting his hair while he sleeps (this man has an afro, therefore he has curls, which entails that this is a MAN WITH MELANIN. I’m not sorry, I made this rule and I’m gonna follow it)

Your dream slowly started to shift away to uncover spots of light trying to gain your attention. Soon your eyelids peeled open and your face was dotted with the sun’s rays. Looking to your side you spotted the curtains having a slight opening, wasn’t it time that you changed that? Black out curtains were made to block out the sun from waking you up after all. At a leisurely pace you attempted to get up and close the nuisance--YOINK. Letting out a squeal you were pulled back into the arms of your lover, Viktor Licht. When he got such strength to pull you back like that, you couldn’t find an immediate answer. Which pegged another question….how is he still asleep after such a stunt. Hearing the brunet groan beside you answered your question..he was only half-awake.

In bed you guys will talk about any and everything, your voices won’t be above a certain level to keep the atmosphere around you peaceful

He would definitely tickle you to break that unspoken rule

The only way you could get this man to get out of bed is if you’re making food

Or have it delivered bc he’s not leaving the crib on his day off

#fire force imagine #fire force imagines #fire force x reader #Takehisa hinawa x reader #Maki oze x reader #viktor licht x reader #maki oze imagine #hinawa imagine #viktor licht imagine #fire force maki imagine #fire force viktor imagine #fire force hinawa imagine #fire force viktor x reader #fire force maki x reader #fire force hinawa x reader

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charmspoint · 3 years

Text

Mars Red: Anime vs Manga pt 1

Alright so I promised myself that I would do my best not to compare the anime and the manga too much because the anime isnt the adaptation of the manga but the adaptation of the stage play and since I haven't watched the stage play I don't know which one is staying more loyal to the original and which one is adding stuff in/cutting stuff out. That being said if anyone did watch the stage play and can answer these questions please come talk to me I'm very curious. So that being said I'll do my best not to mention too much manga only scenes like Suwa's backstory, Takeuchi, Yamagami and Suwa doing slice of life lab stuff, or the conflict between Suwa and Kurusu. The anime may get to this stuff later, it might not I wont judge it for not including it rn even if I feel that the conflict between Suwa and Kurusu should be developed more consistently what did we have maybe one scene? That being said while I can't compare it on different scenes I sure as hell can compare it on scenes they share with each other. I may not know which one is more loyal to the source material but I sure as hell can say which one is more effective tl;dr: It's the manga, read the manga its more effective and it only has 9 chapters so far, please join me in hell under the cut

That being said I'll be comparing the execution of two scenes

1. Conversation between Suwa and Akesato

So the conversation between these two is mostly fine honestly, though the reason Suwa even went to see her (that she reminded him of someone he knew as a human and which turned out to be his little sister) is missing, which kinda gives the whole scene a slightly different tone. The manga has a much slower, softer pace to it, Suwa really comes across as more somber instead of coming in here to sleep in some girls lap, in the manga he keeps his distance for the most of the conversation before sitting next to her when he starts opening up about his past.

Like I don't think it's bad for anime Suwa to have sought out some human contact but it does leave quite a different impression about him. Manga Suwa leaves a much more thoughtful, mature impressions, he never once asks to touch Akesato in anyway and mostly refers to her as a child, but doesn't patronize her. It very much comes across as a tone of a dotting older relative because you know, she reminds him of a family member he had forgotten. Idk I just like the image the manga paints of him better, he comes across as this distant person but also a kind and mature one, which isn't the Suwa we often get to see on the field. I just don't think anime brought across the same feeling. To me it just made it feel like his very goal was to come in here and lay in someone's lap whereas Suwa in the manga is v much there to scout and meeting Akesato is a sheer coincidence based on his hazy memories and so a long lost feeling of attachment.

Anyway, lets talk about uh

In the manga Suwa has yet to be unmasked. And for a good reason. The anime doesn't set it up very well I think that 'I'll lose control' line is the only set up we get and far too late considering it's happening now. In the manga we have a whole lil slice of life chapter in which multiple different things are introduced, one of which is the fact that Suwa constantly wears his mask because he spent a long time as a feral vampire and if he smells human blood he will go feral. It's kind of...very disappointing to see this moment that I felt would be rather monumental in the manga (cuz feral vampires are way scarier in the manga I'll talk about that later) just kinda...pass here. Suwa unbuckles his own mask too??? And then at the end of the episode he takes it off willingly??? In a district very much swarming with humans??? Some of which are people he works with??? I think the screen writers forgot that the idea of 'a character takes off his mask to show his true emotions' doesn't really work if said character will go on a murder frenzy if he has his mask off. This is what I mean when I say that the manga takes its characters more seriously and is more impactful. The manga simply thinks more about how its characters would act and react to things. In the manga Akesato doesn't even take off his mask, she just hugs him and that gets her close enough to him that he freaks out, because his mask isn't as thick as usual. Just to that much he reacts somewhat violently in pushing her away and it leaves you wondering what would it be like if it was completely off. It really makes the anime Suwa just plopping on her lap out of his own free will even more meh :/

dw he immediately apologizes after this cuz he seriously didn't mean to hurt her he just lost control.

But that's what I mean, the manga makes this scene feel so much more serious, it puts so much bigger threat behind Suwa taking off his mask. It leaves you with a feeling of 'fuck, he lost a bit of control just by a human being close, if he was to take it completely off he would really lose all reason' While the anime just makes you feel 'oh he can control himself for a few moments after the mask is gone? That's good lol' It just minimizes the threat Suwa could pose when unmasked n seeps out so much tension out of that situation. Double especially when he just fucking takes it off at the end of the episode.

WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT LOSING CONTROL YOU STUPID FUCK (tho I did like him asking Takeuchi to teach him some songs, that was a nice addition.)

Anyway my last and least complaint cuz it was just kinda...funny

WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH AKESATO FALLING ASLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CONVERSATION??? THAT WAS SO FUNNY WHAT WAS THAT??? SHE JUST FALLS ASLEEP LIKE THAT SITTING UP, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CONVERSATION, EXACTLY AS HER PATRON IS STARTING TO YELL AT HER JKBBHJ???

Its so weird cuz in the manga we get this soft ass moment

Like jhbhjkbhj that's just a completely different vibe. I think this ending scene actually best shows off the vibe Suwa has in the manga. Gentle, caring, distant but affectionate. Compared to the anime where the similar scene almost ended up looking like a gag jnjkbkj idk man like the anime mostly has the same dialog, aside Suwa dunking on western influences which i enjoy, but the atmosphere is all over the place and it kinda feels too fast, idk. I dunno if I explained this well but here we are.

Part 2: Kurusu vs the vampire mob

#Mars Red #Suwa #lucy rants #honestly am a bit glad that the anime will get ahead of the manga cuz this whole episode i couldnt help but think #well this was done better in the manga #so once it gets ahead ill be able to enjoy it on its own and then enjoy it more once its in the manga

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withluvgen · 4 years

Text

My songbird - Warren Worthington X Reader

Words: 1,601

Warnings: Angst. Mentions of abuse and death.

Request: Hi!! could I request a Warren x reader where him and reader have sort of the same mutation (reader's wings are like crow feathers) and they met before the whole Apocalypse thing and they reunite after and Warren cries cuz he thought he would never see them again? Thank you!

A/N: I tried to make this gender neutral because the pronouns used in the original request wasn’t gender specific either, so I just thought it would be better if I did it this way. Also, parts of this fic may or may not be based on Hawks from My Hero Academia, as well as some content of him I saw on tik tok (mostly just the songbird thing). Anyway, I’m sorry this took way too long. I just had a lot on my mind and couldn’t think of a way to write this until now.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!!

---

When Y/N met Warren, they were delighted to have met someone that looks like them. Warren had a beautiful pair of white wings that looked like they were as soft as clouds. He looked ethereal. While Y/N on the other hand, has wings as dark as night and weren’t quite as large. Warren looked like a literal angel, while Y/n looked like they grew crow wings on her back. This didn’t really make them feel insecure in anyway, they were honestly really proud of their wings as they can do something that Warren’s cannot.

Y/N had the ability to telekinetically control the feathers on their wings and can sense things through them. It wasn’t really much of a game changer when it came to the cage matches but to Warren, Y/N’s wings were amazing.

The two of them became friends easily because of what Y/N had said to Warren. Looking back, it was a bit cringey but hey if it made the curly haired bird boy stay, they’d gladly say it again.

“Oh hey you must be new here?” Y/N said as they looked out of the cage they were in.

“Tch.” Warren coldly responded as he sat on the ground hugging his knees.

“What’s with the attitude, bird boy? I was just being nice.” Y/N sighed before continuing. “Look, I know it sucks to be stuck here, but believe me it helps to at least make a friend or two. That way you wouldn’t be alone in this.”

“I don’t see the point of being friends if they’re just going to make us fight each other to the death.” He responds, head rested on his knees.

“Well aren’t you an absolute ray of sunshine?” Y/N chuckles “Those of us who’ve been here long enough to survive aren’t really pitted against each other. And seeing as you’re here in the same cell room as me, it’s least likely we’ll be fighting each other. Plus, we don’t really fight to death. Most of us anyway. We mutants got to stick together you know?”

Warren looked up from where he was sitting to finally take a look at the mutant who was talking to him. From behind the cell bars, he took in their features and noticed a pair of wings on their back, much like his, but they were smaller and a different color. Y/N noticed Warren staring and they smirked at him.

“Take a picture, bird boy, it’ll last longer.” They said with a wink. Warren’s face turned a light shade of red from the embarrassment of being caught staring.

“I-I wasn’t…” he started before Y/N’s laugh cut him off. Their laugh, it was something entirely different. It was enough to change the atmosphere in the room. He felt a warm feeling inside of him just from hearing them laugh.

“I was just teasing. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself?” They asked before reaching out their hand to him. “I’m Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Y/N.” He thought to himself. The name suited them. He looked at their outstretched hand and took it. “Warren Worthington III.”

“Well, Warren, looks like you and are going to be really good friends.” Y/N said as they stretched out their wings. “After all, birds of a feather flock together, right?”

“That was stupid.” Warren laughed for the first time since being caught. He could tell that something about this mutant was different.

It was about a year later, Warren and Y/N had become a little more than just friends, but neither of them dared to address it or put a label on whatever they were. They were just two people who cared so much about the other, and besides their current situation wasn’t exactly ideal for a relationship.

But after Warren’s fight with Nightcrawler and all the mutants in the cage fights managed to escape, Y/N was separated from him. The last time Y/N saw him was when he struggled to fly out of the cage and into the night sky, only hearing about him days later on some news channel that he had joined the mutant called Apocalypse.

A few months later Y/N was flying around the night sky of Westchester when they saw a familiar winged figure standing near a lake. Y/N knew the place to be Xavier’s school, they were on their way there to seek refuge, knowing well that Professor Charles Xavier took in mutants. Y/N had hoped to find a new home in Xavier’s, what she didn’t expect was the person they once thought of as their home was standing on a few feet away.

They didn’t bother at first to go near the figure they saw by the lake, they thought it might just be a trick of the light or something. Only landing at the doorsteps of the mansion. The vast door opens to reveal a handful of mutants running about. It was late at night so Y/N didn’t expect to see other mutants until the next morning.

“You must be, Y/N?” A red headed girl asked.

“H-how did you know?” Y/N asked in surprise.

“The professor knew you were coming.” She smiled. “Come on follow me.”

Y/N followed the girl to what seemed to be an office at the end of the corridor. The mansion looked even more stunning on the inside than it did on the outside. As the red-head lead them inside, they were greeted by a bald man on a wheelchair. “That must be the professor.” Y/N thought.

“Thank you, Jean. Hello, Y/N Y/L/N, I am indeed Professor Charles Xavier.” He said with a smile on his face. “Came a long way, haven’t you?”

“Yeah. I started in Germany and flew from country to country just to get here.” Y/N said as they stood awkwardly in the center of the room, next to the red-head named Jean. “I’ve been through a lot, honestly, and when I heard about this place from some other mutants, I knew I that this is the place I should be. I’m sorry if I just came here so suddenly, I just had to get away from all the violence.”

“I see. You are more than welcome to stay here with us, Y/N. In fact I think you may find some familiar faces.” The professor smiled and as if on cue, there was on a knock on the door. “Come in.”

“You wanted to see me professor?” Both Y/N and the boy were in shock at the sight of each other.

“YOU?!” They both said in unison.

“How did you get here?” Y/N asked the boy. “Last time I saw you was when you were in the cage fight with- the day we all got to escape that hell-hole.”

“I was brought here by the person who saved me, Mystique.” He said as he paused for a bit. “It’s not just me who is here. Someone else from the cage fights.”

“Warren?” Y/N said jaw dropped as they saw the familiar winged boy for the first time in months standing by the door. He’s changed. His wings no longer had the beautiful white feathers that Y/N adored, they were now matched the look on his face cold and metallic. But after seeing Y/N in all their likeness, the expression on his face seemed to soften.

“What are you doing here?” Warren said as he came rushing to wrap Y/N in his arms. The professor nodded to Jean and Kurt, signaling them to take their leave.

“I flew here. I didn’t know where else to go.” They said as they melted in Warren’s embrace.

“I’m so happy to finally be with you again, songbird.” Warren said and Y/N’s heart fluttered at the sound of his pet name for them. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you. I swear, I wanted to look for you after I escaped but my wings they- I lost them. They were beyond recovery and when Apocalypse came I- I’ve done some terrible things in the past few months without you and I thought that what I am now was the universe’s punishment for all that I’ve done. I can’t erase or undo what I did, and my wings and the tattoos on my face are a constant reminder of that. Every time I look at myself, I’m reminded of what I’ve done. But that wasn’t the worst part of it. The worst part is that I thought I’d never get to see you again, but here you are. I’m sorry.”

Y/N stops for a moment as they look up at Warren and see that he’s been crying. They wiped his tears with their thumb and cupped his face in the process.

“Hey, none of that. We’ve all done some terrible things in our lives, but it’s what we do to make up for them that matters. You being here means that you want to change, right?” Warren nods as he leaned in to their touch. “I don’t care what you did, or how you ended up looking like this. I don’t care about any of that, Warren. I knew how badly hurt you were that night. I came to find you but when I saw you on the news, I knew you had to do what you did. You don’t need to apologize for anything, Ren.”

“I’m just so happy that you’re here.” Warren said as he pulled them in for another hug. Wrapping his arms around them tighter, as if he was afraid that if he let go, they would disappear.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Y/N said as they buried their face in Warren’s chest.

---

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zabrak-show · 4 years

Text

Plant Magick | Maul x Reader

Setting: Dathomir and Zanbar

Summary: Reader is a nightsister from Dathomir sent to Zanbar by Mother Talzin to help Maul and the Shadow Collective. Based on the prompt from @botherbother-blog , “ Can I ask something about a witchy reader (maybe a Nightsister?) teaching Maul magick and Maul teaching her martial arts... and the things start getting steamy? I haven’t ever asked a request and I’m not sure if that’s okay, too much or too little, sorry!”

Warnings: Ok, this was my attempt at writing smut, but it’s really just super poetic and not that graphic, because i am the way that i am. and lots of consent cuz that’s what gets me hot. So very fluffy and soft Maul etc. also, the nightsister/nightbrother thing does not make them brother and sister so no incest here.

Word count: 2.4k

Sweat ran down the middle of your chest and pooled where the fabric of your red sleeveless tunic tightened at your breastbone. It was a hot day for Dathomir standards and you were crouched over picking herbs for magick potions. This was a part of the forest to which you were very acclimated, having come here since you were very small. You had learned from an early age to have an appreciation of all the living things around you, there was magick in everything, it was only a matter of learning how to tap into it all.

Mother Talzin was an exceptional teacher, but sometimes you felt like there must be more to life, at least more to learn than what she taught you and all your sisters. You did your best to never let these feelings show. Mother would not appreciate your wandering thoughts. You wiped the sweat from your brow and packed up all your herbs to head back to your clan, making your way down the meandering wooded path, wisps of mist gently caressing you on your bare skin. These small moments all to yourself brought you clarity and peace of mind.

It did not take long to get back to the clan and at once you went into the temple where a foreboding tall figure clad in all red stood over a cauldron.

“Mother, the herbs you needed.” you held up the bag of herbs to the towering pale woman with an oversized forehead and black tattoos accenting her face. She clutched the bag of herbs from your hand at once, held it to her face and breathed deep.

“Yes, I think this should do nicely. Well done, sister (y/n).” she spoke aphrodisiacal as she exhaled. You smiled slightly and started to turn and leave.

“Wait, Sister (y/n). I have a new mission for you.” You turned back to listen to your new instructions.

“Whatever it is, you know I am at your service, Mother.” you lightly bowed as you declared your subservience.

“Yes, there is someone who is in need of our aid. In need of our magicks. I am sending you as you have proven time and time again your loyalty, dedication to the craft, and independence.” her hoarse voice rang out in your ears like the most beautiful melody you’d ever heard. To get such high praise and honor from Mother was unheard of, and to finally be sent on a mission outside of Dathomir. A real purpose to your life at last.

“I am beyond honored.” your inflection was stoic, but you were brimming with joy inside.

Aboard the transport vessel to Zanbar, you learned that you were sent as a mercenary to help defend an organization called the Shadow Collective. Mother did not give you a great deal of information other than you were to find and meet up with a former nightbrother Lord Maul, once you arrived. Your head swam with the possibilities of this mission. You had never left Dathomir and you had never been without your nightsisters presence for more than a few days. It was exciting and terrifying and you couldn’t be more thrilled.

You recognized the nightbrother Maul almost as soon as your feet hit the pavement of the ships’ hangar in Zanbar. Of course you had never met him, but he stuck out like a sore thumb to you, with his unique crimson skin, intricate black tattoos, and crown of horns. As happy as you were to leave home, it was also nice to know you’d be around someone who understood where you came from and your culture.

The other passengers and crew milled about picking up their baggage, meeting up with old friends or scurrying off to maker knows where. You slung your simple black woven bag containing mostly weapons and Dathomirian herbs, across your back to head straight towards the shirtless nightbrother, Maul. Even from a distance you couldn’t help but admire his tattoos. You had a few tattoos as well, as was your culture, but nowhere near the scope of his.

He walked up to meet you halfway and as soon as you were close enough to see just how handsome and chiseled he was, you felt dizzy with desire. You had never quite felt so attracted to someone, but then you had barely met anyone besides your fellow nightsisters and the occasional nightbrother ritualistic mating encounter. His odour was intoxicating, you could smell the Dathomirian magic in his blood, but there was something else darker and stronger with notes of roasted coffee and cedar. Maker, how could he smell so damn good?!

“Sister (y/n). Mother tells me you are one of her strongest witches.” His voice thick like honeyed wine seeping into your ears. You felt yourself blush and wished your skin was as crimson as his to hide your body’s emotional betrayal.

“Yes, well I am at your service now, Lord Maul.” you declared with full confidence, attempting to brush the lustful feelings aside for now.

The atmosphere of Zanbar was not too different from Dathomir, but it lacked the magick lifeblood you were so used to coursing through everything. There were swamps all around the settlement you were staying in and you had decided to venture around to see if you could find any plants to weaponize for Lord Maul. It was a challenge without the help of Dathomir’s magick at your disposal, but you were still able to identify several helpful plants and you busied yourself plucking them from the swamp, humming a little tune as you worked.

A shadowy figure stole your light and you looked back to see who it was. The sun was beaming around them like a hologram making you squint, but the crimson skin could still be easily seen.

“Lord Maul,” you greeted as you stood to face him, still slightly squinting from the sun in your face. He took note and rotated himself to the side of you so that you would not have to stare into the sun to talk to him.

“Are you finding what you need here?” he questioned with genuine curiosity.

“Yes, well, I am finding some things. It’s harder to feel the magick here, I feel like my senses are dulled.” you admitted to him looking into his dynamic golden eyes.

“Hmm.. yes your power does come from Dathomir, it will be hard for you to be away from that. You must learn other ways of fighting and surviving.” his eyes stared deep into your own, not breaking away for a lifetime it felt.

“Mother taught me how to survive.” you said defensively breaking the gaze to look beyond him and crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“She taught you how to survive in her world, yes. There is much yet for you to learn. I can teach you Teräs Käsi, an invaluable combat skill. As a trade... for you teaching me about your magick.” he cocked his head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow ridge as he waited for your approval. You found it hard to refuse teaching him your magick and you had desperately wanted to learn new things before coming here after all.

“Oh, alright,” you gave in with a smile, “what could it hurt?” This seemed to please him greatly as a sinister smile spread across his face.

“I promise not to make it hurt too much” he jeered and you both made your way back to the settlement.

The next day you met Maul for your first Teräs Käsi lesson in a small training room. You were no stranger to physical exertion and thank the maker for that, because it was a more physically demanding sport than you were expecting. You were dripping with sweat almost immediately, doing everything from push ups, planks, sit ups, fast feet, jumping jacks, and squats. In between each drill, teaching you a new attack and having you try it out on the punching bags and then him. You felt yourself getting dizzy, but you dare not let him show you were tired or wanting to give up.

“Keep fighting! Keep fighting!” he’d yell prompting you to punch him or the bags. You felt your arms get noodley, but you kept throwing punches as hard as you could, pure grit and determination painted on your face.

At last he brought you some water signifying that today’s lesson was over.

“You did very well. You still have much to learn and much strength to gain, but you are a natural fighter.” he sat down next to your sweaty form as you stretched out your sore muscles.

“I did not realize you were going to work me so hard,” you said, still slightly panting from the workout.

“In a fight, you do not get to decide how tired or well rested you are. You do not get to decide when your attacker will stop. You have to keep fighting through it all. Through all the pain, all the weariness, your mind will tell you you can’t go on, but you must. You must train hard so as to not let that voice creep in and tell you to give up. Your body is stronger than your mind will let on.” he lectured as he stared deep into your eyes and studied your face while you took in everything he said and saved it to your brain’s data bank. Not only for the inspiration and wisdom, but how he said it. His voice was smooth and theatrical, emanating a great power and sensitivity. You wished you could sit there all day and listen to his proclamations.

“What kind of magick do you want me to teach you first?” you finally inquired, now that you had cooled down a bit and your breathing was back to normal. He looked at you thoughtful for a moment before answering,

“Teach me about all the herbs you pick and how to make potions from them.”

You found it hard to hide your excitement at teaching Maul about herbs and potions. You took him out to the edge of the swamp to begin your lesson. It was a cloudy day and the swamp was buzzing with life from bugs and small critters that scampered away as soon as they heard both of you coming. You settled on a small clearing above the swamp’s water level so you could sit without getting wet and go over your lessons.

“How do you know what plants will work for what?” He asked before you could even begin.

“Well it’s harder for me here. On Dathomir I knew all the flora and fauna already so I could feel the kind of magic each life held just being near it. The plants don’t have Dathomirian magick here, but I can still sense different properties they hold.” You explained as you noticed Maul’s skeptical look. You held yourself back from scoffing at him for being a typical dense nightbrother and instead offered, “Here, I’ll show you.”

You grabbed your small knife from your belt and carefully cut a few different small plants near you. You held one plant in one hand and with your other grabbed Maul’s hand. He raised a tattooed eyebrow and you simply nodded and closed your eyes. He followed suit and you bore your energy into the plant, a green mist now surrounding the both of you. You held it for a moment and let go opening your eyes, Maul’s eyes still closed and holding your hand. He looked so peaceful and innocent in that moment. You hesitated before letting him know he could open his eyes you wanted to let him remain so pure.

“Could you feel the power of the plant?” You finally asked him, still holding his hand.

“Hmm yes… I sensed it was poisonous in high doses, but medicinal in very small doses.” He carefully answered, looking down at your hands still clasped together.

“Yes! Could you sense what kinds of things it could treat as a medicine?” Your eyes got big as you looked at him with wonder awaiting his response. He squeezed your hand and replied in his cool deep honeyed voice, “heartache.” You couldn’t help but giggle as you squeezed his hand back.

“Well heartburn, but close!” You reassured him.

You spent the afternoon talking plants and potions and magick with the crimson nightbrother. Your face began to hurt from smiling all day, a happier moment in your life you couldn’t recall. The thick fog began to roll in and you started to pack up your books and herb jars. Maul laid back and stared straight up at the sky watching the fog swirl around as it slowly enveloped you both.

You laid back next to him staring up at the fog as it thickened like gravy around you. A hand grasped yours and you wove your fingers between his and lightly squeezed. Your body ached with desire, but you froze to the ground afraid to make a move. The night brother leaned up and over you placing a hand on your face.

“May I?” He practically whispered.

“Yes,” you closed your eyes and met his lips with your own, kissing him deep and passionate. He crawled on top of you, his metal legs cold and harsh against your soft warm legs. You wrapped your legs around his middle pulling him in closer to you and he continued kissing you with a frenzied gusto. You wanted to touch him everywhere and be touched everywhere by him. Your frantic hands caressed his head around his horns, resulting in a purr emanating from his chest and vibrating into your frame, overwhelming your body with pleasure and desire.

He ran his hands all over your body, his strong hands grasping and massaging your sore body. His intoxicating scent of coffee, cedar, and petrol mixed with the plant and soil odors of the swamp in an orgasmic medley. You moaned in pleasure and he started to reach down to your core, but stopped to ask your consent once again.

“Yes!” you breathed into his ear and wriggled out of your clothes. The moss was soft, cool, and gentle against your bare skin and you laid back and guided him into you. He started off slow and rhythmic both of you moaning and grunting with each thrust. You felt yourself melting into him and into your surroundings, becoming the fog or the fog becoming you. Wrapping yourself around your lover, around yourself and everything in between; becoming the earth, the sky, the galaxy all at once. A perfect moment of ecstasy and bliss, you never wanted it to end.

You both lay on the moss bed, bodies entangled, breathing and moving as one, dozing in and out of sleep. Oh to be with this handsome nightbrother forever in a secluded swamp with no one else to answer to or deal with ever again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

hey thanks again for reading. it means more to me than you’ll know.

toss a heart to your witcher o’ tumblr of thirst

tag list: @brilliantbutbatty @maulieber @emissarydecksetter

masterlist

#darth maul #darth maul x reader #maul x nightsister #nightsisters #nightbrothers #dathomir #zanbar #shadow collective #lord maul #star wars #star wars x reader #fanfic #star wars fic #prequels era #fluff #soft maul #hand holding #poetic sex #swamp

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cicadahaze · 3 years

Text

Here’s my entry to the @pnatsecretsanta for 2020! @quarktrinity, I hope you enjoy! It’ll be crossposted to ao3, link will be in a reblog. Thank you for your patience!

Isabel: hey so

Isabel: when are u going to get here

Max: wat?

Max: its xmas ev

Isabel: you really need to get a new phone

Isabel: and remember? youre supposed to come to my place tonight, wait it out

Isabel: max?

Isabel: if you were spacing out again im going to kill you

Isabel: you WERE doing the face again now that i think about it

Max: u guys ned 2 mak imprtnt info cler. Y i spcd

Isabel: you need to listen! this time mr spender remembered to tell u and everything. youre not allowed to be mad at us this time

Isabel: in short, get ur butt over here before midnight. sneak out if u need to, thats what isaac does

Isabel: in long, if u dont santas gonna kill u

----

“Let me get this straight.” 11:30 P.M. December 24th, 20XX. Max sat in Ed’s room on a chair hastily drawn up, with a jacket pulled hastily over his pajamas and hat still jammed on his head, massaging his temples. “Santa’s real, he’s a spirit, and he hates all spectrals and is coming to kill us?”

“That’s a bit of an oversimplification, but yeah,” Isaac said, and Max shot him a glare. He could hear that smugness. “So like, there’s a lot of spirits that kinda grow from ideas humans have, right? I don’t know what’s up with Scrapdragon, but like, Muse came from the ideas around ancient Greek muses, like his name. They can be really off base but still have the same ideas- like Lucifer, Mr. Spender’s spirit, is just some lightbulb guy, but Lucifer does mean light and stuff, so they can just be along those lines. But like, a LOT of kids believe in Santa and think about him a lot, so there’ve been a few spirits that manifested around the idea of a guy who can get anywhere to deliver presents to good kids and punishments to bad ones, especially with stories like Krampus too.”

“But most spirits can’t interact with humans, so this guy mostly goes around to other spirits and ghosts and stuff,” Isabel said, distracted by her attempts to spin her umbrella like a top. “So he likes spirits a lot. And we kick a lot of spirit butt,” she punctuated this with a particular spirited spin of the umbrella, “so he hates us and comes to try to kill us every year. And because he can teleport, he can get inside the barrier. So gramps makes us all stay with him until sunrise every year so that all the adults can fight off santa and his reindeer so we don’t get put in a sack and teleported somewhere.”

Max groans and tries to fall backwards in his chair, but the chair doesn’t budge. “Your paint really isn’t good for drama,” Max informed Ed.

“Don’t be so dramatic then,” Ed snickered. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Says you, You just stay at home all night. I have to sneak out! My dad’ll kill me if he finds out!”

“I just put a pillow in my blankets and it’s fine,” Isaac says with a shrug. “If your dad looks harder than that, we probably have a tool lying around that can wipe memories or something.”

“I don’t want to mind wipe my dad,” Max grumbled, but resigned himself to slumping grumpily in his chair to watch Ed play some punching game or whatever. Bad enough that his own baseball bat might want to eat him, and he was trapped in this town with no way out- now Christmas hated him too.

Isaac caught his eye and smiled sympathetically. “You get used to it,” he whispered.

“I thought I was used to it a month ago.”

Max jumped as a knock on the door sounded, glaring at Isabel’s laughter. The door opened without waiting for a response. Mr. Spender poked his head in through the door with a goofy grin. “Alright, kids! You all ready for this year’s Christmas night?”

Ed didn’t even look away from his video game, waving lazily. “We could use some snacks. That’d be nice.”

“Yeah, where are the snacks, old man? You want us to starve?” Isabel waved her umbrella at him like a grumpy old woman might a cane.

“You’re well fed enough already. I made sure of that.” It spoke wonders to how used to this existence Max had become that Mr. Spender knocking politely had scared him, but Isabel’s grandpa floating through the wall didn’t. The man’s bulk and imperious gaze still caused him some anxiety, though, and he had to consciously remind himself that he’s a punk, he’s cool, and he doesn’t respect anyone’s authority, even a scary ghost’s. Yeah, totally.

The atmosphere of the room quickly shifted, and Isabel’s eyes dropped. “Yeah, I was just joking. Sorry, Grandpa.”

“Joke or not, this night is too much effort to make light of. My students and I are putting ourselves at risk for you,” Mr. Guerra said, looming over the room, “so only vocalize a need if you need it.”

Isabel glowered at the carpet. “Alright, Grandpa…”

“So. I will ask again. Are you all prepared? Midnight strikes soon.”

“We are, sir,” Isaac said. Max fought not to pull a face at Isaac’s please pay attention to me, authority figure tone, but for once it was helpful, so whatever. He could let it slide.

Mr. Guerra eyed Isaac. “...good. We’ll get you once the sun begins to rise.” And with that, he turned away and slid down through the floor. Max could already hear him barking at the pupils below.

Mr. Spender grimaced. “Well… good! Everything’s all set then.”

Isabel grumbled, picking at the carpet.

“...trust me,” Mr. Spender said, forcing audibly fake cheer into his voice, “This isn’t a hassle at all. You guys getting stuffed into a sack- now, that would be quite the kerfuffle!”

They all stared as Mr. Spender slowly deflated. “...sure,” Max said. “Uh, we’ll be good, stay up here, it’s fine.”

“Great.” Mr. Spender nodded, stared awkwardly for a moment, and stepped out the door. “Well, Merry Christmas, children!” He shut the door behind him. Max listened with the others as his footsteps hurried down the hall to the stairwell.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, a distinctly uncomfortable experience for Max. It was almost impossible not to ramble, and he was reaching his breaking point and about to open the floodgates of inane and overly verbose chatter when Ed, thankfully, took point.

“That sucked,” he said simply, and Isabel groaned and fell back.

“I hate when he does that!” Isabel laid her umbrella by her side and waved her hands in the air exasperatedly. “It’s like he has no in between and I’m always either The Best And He’s So Disappointed In Me For Not Being Perfect or A Helpless Kid He Needs To Do Everything For! He always gets like this tonight!”

Ed paused his game, and reached around to pat her on the knee. “I mean, we could prove him wrong. We beat up spirits all the time, how hard could this be?”

“Okay, hold up, hand on,” Max said. “No? I- this is a terrible idea, you just got finished telling me about how if I wasn’t here I’d be killed by Santa, and now you want to go out there and fight Santa?”

“Well, not Santa,” Ed said. “Duh. He mostly just sends his reindeer to do everything and hangs out on rooftops.”

“And no offence Max, but uh…” Isaac scratched the back of his head.

“You’d totally get killed if you were on your own.” Isabel flipped herself upright. “All you got is that dinky bat, and magnet powers. You can’t even do a spec shot, dude, you’d get thrown in a sack in no time. We’d be fine.”

Max crossed his arms. “Alright, screw you too.”

“But other than that… that sounds like it could be pretty fun.” Isabel grinned. “Show the old man and his big dumb deer who’s boss. Maybe then he’ll stop coming to Mayview every year.”

“That would be pretty nice actually.” Isaac was clearly thinking hard- he had his broody face on. “I would like to stop having to sneak out every year. Sooner or later my parents will notice.”

Max shuddered. “Actually, yeah, Isaac has a point. I don’t want to die to Rudolph or anything, but if we keep having to do this, I’ll die to my dad, which is way worse honestly.”

“Your dad’s a teddy bear,” Isabel said, and rolled her eyes. “Stop complaining.”

“You haven’t seen him when I fail a test!”

“So are we going or what?” Isabel was already pulling her jacket back on, tucking her umbrella firmly under her arm. Ed bounced on the balls of his feet with a grin, already eyeing up the window and painting himself a rope.

Max looked at Isaac, who shrugged and got to his feet. Max sighed, and stood up, regretfully leaving his scooter on the floor. “Yeah, alright. We’re going.”

Well, Max was regretting this. He was regretting this so much. He tromped through the snowy woods, eternally grateful for his boots. “Why in the world do we have to fight the spirits of Christmas in the woods? Why can’t we do it in town, or like, on the road at least? The roads we salted. The roads wouldn’t be as cold.”

“Cuz we’d get caught, dummy,” Isabel snorted. Or maybe it was a sniffle. “Either someone from the dojo would hear us and yell at us and get in the way before we can prove anything, or someone in town would yell at us and call the cops or something.”

“Maybe having people nearby to help isn’t a bad thing? You can’t just say that after saying that I’m the most likely person to die!”

“You came out here anyway,” Isaac pointed out, and looked all too unaffected by Max’s glare.

“I hate you. I hate you with everything in my being you- you chump elf.”

Isabel laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, this place looks pretty good, huh?” She stopped, looking around the snowy clearing they’d come into and turning in place. She nodded, satisfied. “There’s room to fight here, and we could come up with some pretty solid traps. Isaac wouldn’t have to worry too much about blasting a bunch of trees.”

“Looks pretty good!” Ed pulled off a mitten with his teeth and dug his paint brush out of his pocket. “What’re you thinkin, Izzy? Tripwire? Net?”

“Let’s go net,” Isaac said. “They can fly.”

“Plus, last time you tripped Isaac, remember?” Isabel elbowed Ed in the side. “Max and I are pretty fast, but Isaac needs some help.”

“Please. I can jump higher than your house is tall.”

“But you still fell just flat on your face,” she cooed. Isaac grumbled, cursing her just loud enough for Isabel to overhear, but she just batted her eyes and paid him no mind. “Okay, so,” she said, looking up at the sky through the hole in the canopy, “we probably only have a few more minutes before one of the reindeer finds us-”

And that’s when a dark shape, faster than cheetah and twice as forceful, barrelled into Max. And off he went, hanging by the hood of his jacket on a wicked sharp antler prong, into the sky and away to the sound of jingling bells.

----

Things were quiet this year, Richard reflected. It was honestly a relief- maybe the spirit had finally given up. Probably too much to hope for, but, Christmas miracles and all. In any case, there seemed to be plenty of time to get the kids some mugs of hot cocoa and cookies to wait out the night with.

“Need any help balancing those?” Day asked, and Richard felt his mood become momentarily strained.

“Actually, that would be nice, if you think you could.” The tray of mugs and cookies he was balancing was quite the challenge, after all. Day reached up and somehow grabbed the plates of cookies perfectly- Spender could swear he saw her eyes flash for a moment, smart woman- and left him to balance the four mugs. A much easier task now.

“I really thought things would be more eventful, with how much Francisco was fussing over it, but everything’s pretty quiet, isn’t it?” Day smiled and followed Richard’s footsteps to the stairs.

“Well, usually there’s more cause for it, but the spirits seem to be laying low this year. Not an unwelcome reprieve in the slightest, but I do worry about Max… if this isn’t the new status quo, I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.”

“He’s a- well, he seems like a really smart kid,” Day reassured him. “I think he’ll make sure to be careful next year too!”

“I hope so. He does seem resourceful, but… he can be reckless.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” she said, before stopping with a small frown on her face. “They’re being pretty quiet…”

Spender listened for a moment himself. “Hm, they are… mayhaps they went to bed early?”

“That doesn’t sound like them.”

“No,” he said, dread creeping into his heart. “It doesn’t.”

He set the tray of cookies on the floor. He approached Ed’s room. He knocked.

He opened the door.

Richard’s lips thinned into a grim line as he surveyed the dark room. “They’re gone.”

------

Max screamed for his life as he was lifted faster than he could process into the sky. It was a clear, starry night, and they all looked like streaks as his captor circled through the sky, closer and closer to the top of the dome before colliding headfirst into it. Max didn’t have any more air in his lungs to scream as he was jostled loose and began to fall down, down- only to be caught again, this time like a sack of potatoes on the spirit’s back. He was overwhelmed by the sound of silver bells as he caught his breath, eyes screwed tightly shut.

Eventually, his lungs rallied to his call, and he was able to take in an unpleasant few gulps of animal-scented air. Max cracked his eyes open a peek- and immediately shut them again. Too high. He was way, way too high up. His heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest, and the wind burned his face and the tips of his ears.

Hold on.

“My hat,” he wheezed reaching one hand up to grope the top of his head. “My hat’s gone!”

“Soon that will be of no matter.”

Max screamed- even he was getting fed up with his own screams at this point, but instinct didn’t seem to be on the same page.

“Quiet,” the rumbling voice said, and the spirit turned to look at Max. “Your sounds irritate me.”

The spirit that held Max on its back was by far the biggest deer of any Max had ever seen. It was shaggy and majestic, even as its fur was electric yellow, and its huge rack of knife-like antlers shivered as if they were made of candle flame. Its many eyes blinked, and it beared serrated teeth- a stark contrast to the many silver bells that seemed a part of its pelt. Max looked away, avoiding its cruel gaze, to see three pairs of legs, hooves thundering over empty air. And below him, seven more enormous shapes were blazing their way towards the distant forest clearing, led by an eerie red light. “Oh no, oooooh no, no no no no no no…”

“But yes, child. At last you have been retrieved, and soon your friends will be as well. Then, you can all face your punishment.” The spirit laughed cruelly. “I am Dasher, and I was simply the herald.”

“So you’re just, you’re just Dasher? Like from the poem? One of those things down there is…” Jeez, this was surreal. “...Donner? And, Vixen?”

“Many tremble in fear before those names. It would do you right to show some respect.”

“What? No, nobody does! You guys are like, goofy little stop motion dolls, man, how’d you guys end up looking like this?”

“Our powers are untold by your human poems-”

“Aren’t you guys based on the poems?!”

Dasher snorted and tossed his head in anger. “That is an egregious oversimplification-”

“I thought your name was Dasher, not Dictionary.”

The spirit cried out in frustration, and Max felt something in him settle a bit better. Poking things with words, he could do that. Just don’t look down. “So, uh,” he began, shifting a bit so it was less like he was thrown over Dasher and more like he was riding him, “why am I not in a sack yet?”

“Our pilot is attending to his annual business in Mayview,” Dasher growled. “It is we who have the ability to fight and fly- so it is we who collect naughty children. Once your compatriots have been obtained, then we may return to our stations.”

“Wow,” Max drawled. “I can’t believe Santa needs his reindeer to deal with three preteens.”

“You do have a teenager within your ranks. That does provide some extra challenge.”

“Whoa, wait, really?”

“Yes. He cannot fully be counted as a child by our pilot any longer- he has aged enough to become a teenager. It is not he that we seek.”

“Wow, that’s weirdly arbitrary and nitpicky.” Max was so going to tease Isaac about this later. If he didn’t, well, get thrown into a sack and… baked into a pie? Eaten alive? Thrown into a dungeon? Whatever. Try to be positive.

“If you take issue, you may air your complaints to our pilot.”

“Taking it straight to the manager, alright.” Max stared at his hands, balled in bright yellow fur, and took a deep breath as he relaxed them. He wasn’t going to fall, he was certain Dasher wouldn’t allow him, channel a Karen- and he released the fur, balancing on the spirit’s back with only his legs. Before he could lose his nerve, he swung his backpack off his shoulder and grabbed his bat. Okay, weapon acquired. Just… what to do with it.

Dasher huffed. “Puny weapon. Even with the power of an enslaved spirit, you cannot defeat me. Especially not with a spirit as weak as that one.”

“Ugh, not you too,” Max grumbled. At least this thing wasn’t getting aggressive. “I’m kinda tired of being called the weak one, it’s getting old.”

“It would have been better, then, if you had kept your power to yourself, and not bothered the true denizens of this world, as the other child does.”

“Other child-? You know what, I don’t know what you’re talking about and I do not care. Now let me think.” Max re-gripped Dasher tightly, this time grabbing the reigns, and looked around. Man, of course Max got magnet powers in the place where there’s no tall buildings anywhere- it would be great if they could pass by a skyscraper or two for Max to attach himself to. But alas… then, his eyes caught a gleam, a dark silhouette against the colorful lights of Mayview.

A transmission tower in the woods. And they were heading right for it. Max shrugged his backpack back on to his shoulder and gripped his bat as tight as he could.

“Thinking will get you nowhere, child.”

“Yeah, but it’ll keep me quiet,” Max mumbled.

“True,” Dasher said. And started to turn back towards the clearing.

“No!” Max yelped, holding his bat out desperately- he knew the tower was too distant still, but he put all his will into the bat, trying to extend its power as far as he can-

Dasher lurched beneath him with a confused cry, the bells jangled, and Max’s focus was broken with a shout. Immediately, Dasher steadied beneath him.

“Child, if you do that again I will throw you off into the ground-”

“What- I don’t even know what I did-” Max’s breath caught as he realized what happened. The bells. They were metal, and he had what was definitely a terrible idea. But it was his only idea.

Quickly, before Dasher could retaliate, Max activated his bat. Dasher howled with rage as all the bells in his body strained in the direction of the magnetic center, and Max laughed with panic.

“RELEASE ME AT ONCE-”

“No,” Max said, filled with thrill and panic, and directed Dasher back towards the clearing. The spirit barrelled towards it at supernatural speeds, a furious scream echoing through the night as he crashed into the snow like a comet. Max tumbled off of the spirit’s back, and the bat’s angle changed wildly, forcing Dasher in mad circles.

The other seven deer spirits, crowded in the woods, were as thrown into chaos as Isabel, Ed, and Isaac were, but Ed recovered fastest. “Max!” He crowed, head popping out of the snow. “You’re alive!”

“Somehow!” Max laughed, voice squeaky with panic. “For now!” In the corner of his eye, he noticed another spirit- a large one that was on fucking fire, so must be either Comet or Blitzen- and quickly swung his bat around to point at it. Dasher was forced to charge full speed into the other spirit, which dissolved into a wisp with a cry of shock.

Isabel whooped. “I can’t believe it! Magnet powers are good for something!”

“Serves you right!” He felt about to shake apart, and still dizzy from the crash, but spinning Dasher around like a top was easy enough- and the other jingling spirits were drawn in too. It was a glorious explosion of color, sound, and christmas spirits as one by one they melted each other away into whisps. Finally, only Dasher stood in the snow, puffing furious, cloudy breaths into the air.

“You will pay,” Dasher hissed. “Naughty children. You will not escape your punishment, this I swear to you.”

“Whatever you say, bub,” Ed chirped, and raised his scythe above his head.

“Wait!”

Max and the others turned back to look just in time to watch an arrow streak through the night and imbed itself in Dasher’s forehead. “No, no,” he groaned, watching Isabel’s face light up with glee.

Agent Day and Mr. Spender ran into the clearing, both panting and exhausted. “Thank goodness we found you,” Agent Day breathed, hands on her knees. “We were so worried that you were taken…”

“But I saw Dasher fall from the sky!” Spender’s chest heaved, and he swayed with effort, but he somehow managed to stay upright. “I’m so glad you’re all alright, even Dasher alone is quite the challenge to combat…”

“Nah, we got all of them.” Isabel grinned and punched her palm. “Max was able to yank ‘em around by the bells with his bat, and he got em all to poof each other. It was really easy to hit ‘em when they were all clumped up, too.”

“You- you really beat them all? Where are their tools?!”

“Right here, Mr. Spender!” Isaac called, arms full of a few rocks and sticks. “They’re, uh, not much to look at, but…”

“Amazing! Wonderful job, all of you- these will be great for the club’s stores!”

“But you shouldn’t have snuck out. We were so worried about you, and you’re glad we found you! Your grandfather is worried sick!” Agent Day wrung her hands together, cane stuck in the snow.

“Yes, he’s… not happy,” Spender admitted. “But, surely he’ll be proud when he finds out what you’ve accomplished?”

“Probably not,” Isabel sighed, sticking her hands in her pockets.

“...probably not.” Spender came over to put a hand on her shoulder. “But, for what it’s worth, I am.” Isabel looked up at him, then threw her arms around him. Spender smiled softly and hugged her in return.

“This is great,” Max groaned. “But I’m being crushed by a flippin’ reindeer, so can I get some help?”

Oblivious to Max’s irritation, Dasher continued licking Max’s hair life the reindeer he resembled. “You’re not so bad, I suppose. Resourceful child.”

“It always happens to me.”

“The arrow will at least last the night,” Agent Day said thoughtfully. “It should be safe for you to go home, in that case- you too, I think, Isaac! Since all the others are gone, after all… Maybe Dasher can take you home!”

“Nooooo!”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Ms. Day,” Spender said. “You could perhaps take Isaac and Ed back to the dojo, and I can take Isaac back to his home…?”

“Yes sir!” Day smiled. “Merry Christmas, Max, Isaac,” she said. “I hope you get back undetected.”

“Thank you, Ms. Day,” Isaac said. “You too.”

“You guys suck,” Max grumbled.

----

It took a bit for Max to wrangle Dasher into taking him home, but under Day’s spell, the spirit was a fairly easygoing ride. As Max climbed back in through his window to his undisturbed bed, he heard the spirit settle on the roof to keep watch for the sunrise. And, taking comfort in not being discovered and in the knowledge that next year, when he’s a teen, he won’t have to worry about any of this, Max changed back into his pajamas, settled into bed, and slipped into a deep sleep.

#jakalwrites #paranatural #pnatsecretsanta #pnat #paranatural secret santa 2020

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katsmonsterblog · 4 years

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Sunflowers in the Cemetery pt 1

OMG okay so... I feel like I have to post this now. If i don’t then this will probably be a full blown novel... and I mean I wouldn’t complain but I have literally been working on this for months.

So this is a story about two of my OCs :D how they met actually. At over 5k words and 13 pages long, its one of my longest works and I’m so super proud of it you guys. I came to a stopping point and...While the story isn’t fully done, I’ve decided to make it a part one of however many (pls don’t kill me ;-;)

Its a bit pg13, mentions of sex and cursing

If you like this then please support me on Ko-fi! And check out my commissions page and my masterlist :)

Anyways! Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music pumped through the speakers around the club, vibrating the wood of the floor and bar, a pulsating beat that made you want to grind and sway and move. Well, the music only helped add to the atmosphere of sex on the dance floor, in truth, there was something else that seemed to be at play here. There weren’t many places like this in a smaller city like this one, and it definitely wasn’t the alcohol that brought the demon here. No, it was definitely the sex. A hand clapped him on the back and took his predatory gaze from the crowd of writhing bodies. “You know Andras, I don’t much like demons in my place of business but for you I’ll always make an exception.” The male beside him was a friend of a friend’s, and his club wasn’t one that especially catered to the supernatural, more a way to get food if you were invited to prowl and were smart about it, though Liam had never expressly liked his kind. “Is it because I’m pretty Liam?” Andras smirked, sipping whiskey that would never get him drunk. “Or is it because when I’m here you make more money than you know what to do with?” He batted his eyes as the vampire laughed, flashing his fangs and then leaning into him. “Both. Are you hungry tonight Andi? Cuz I’m starving..” Liam purred, green eyes flashing red, a spark within the depths, and having little effect on the incubus. Andras in turn smiled, though his own deep blue gaze was hard, and rolled his neck….a tease for the male and a little something more. Around them it seemed like the humans grew frenzied in their grinding, the aura of lust rising. Prince was only a title he had once held, but it was a title and a bloodline in itself and Andras came from a rare breed of Incubi, his power and aura like another part of him. Like breathing. It flowed out over the crowd of humans, heightening their touch, their lust... “Don’t call me Andi….but yes I could most definitely go for.... a bite...” He responded with a wicked smile as he looked out to the crowd once more and caught the shy gaze of adoration on a younger male, human but very willing. Ah he knew that look, one that said, ‘oh please come here and wreck me.’ Who was he to deny that wish? “I’ll catch you later Liam.” He said as he slid off his barstool, the picture of liquid heat and raw sex and ...gods help the multitude of humans he’d burn through tonight. True that he could feed on just the lust in the room, the arousal, but it was like water to a starving man. Empty calories, and not only that but it would take longer, even through chaste touch, as skin to skin heightened his ability to use his power. It was so unsatisfying.

Tonight he wanted a full course meal... ~~~~~~~~~~

It was as dawn was just peeking out over the city that Andras slipped out the door of whatever apartment he’d been in, a lit cigarette in his mouth, and pulled on his leather jacket. Not that he needed it, it wasn’t particularly cold and the rain from the night before had stopped, but he had to blend in. He looked human for all intents and purposes, if only a little punk rock for most people’s tastes, fishnets and leather and piercings.

He took a deep breath of nicotine and tar, not caring about the smell or taste really, it didn’t harm him, but it took the edge off. The humans he'd left in the apartment upstairs were spent, but alive. They'd likely be drained, and deliciously sore, for a few days. As much as he was down for cuddles after… he shook himself from those thoughts, frowning and turning towards the street. Humans were clingy...and weak… he couldn’t be around them for long without them being addicted to him. Literally. It wasn’t his ego talking either, humans were known for becoming addicted to the use of his power, to the touch and taste of him, to the point they grew mad and fanatic. He had just decided to disappear, a demon’s way of teleporting that they called ‘smoking out’, when movement caught his eye.

Really, there weren’t many people up at this time of day, so when he turned to see someone staring at him from across the street, he halted. He couldn’t tell why it shocked him at first, people stared at him a lot, but it had always been lust and awe. This wasn’t that, instead she stared at him as though she were staring through him, like she knew him. She was dressed cute, in cuffed jeans and a sunflower blouse, her hair a mess of red curls and something about her heart shaped face and wide eyes screamed innocence. But as soon as she saw that he was also staring, turned in a hurry with her bike and pedalled off.

He should leave that alone.. really, because from what he could sense in that instant, she was human. But the way she looked at him, could she somehow see him for what he truly was? He blew out a cloud of smoke and tossed the cigarette. This was fucking stupid, it was just some fucking human.

But even as he thought that, he followed after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holy cow biscuits. He saw her.... Didn’t he? She knew him, the demon.. Well she didn’t know him really.. But she’d seen him. She’d seen him before she ever saw him. It was difficult to describe, how she knew things before they happened, how faces stuck in her mind only for her to come across them in real life. How her powers were a curse, not a gift, and often not helpful at all.Especially when it all but invited the demon to see her too...

Cassie winced at her own train of thought as she coasted her bike around the corner and looked both ways before she rode across the street to the one lane road that would take her to her favorite painting spot. Forest Grove Cemetery was old, one that the city had stopped using a while back, but it was still visited and kept clean, filled with old statuary and wildflowers and moss. It was odd, but she always felt at peace here. Today, she had all day to paint, she’d brought her materials and a backpack of packed lunch, snacks and water, but now…

She looked behind her as she parked her bike near the entrance gate, sure that she’d do so at some point and see ...him. It was crazy… but then when was her life sane? She didn’t ask to have these powers. Pulling out the huge drawing pad that was mostly sketched and colored, she set herself on one of the only benches in the cemetery and set to work, following lines that were already there and some that she just knew should be.

“Funny spot for a sunflower, a cemetery.” The voice wrapped around her, honey toned and ...well it might have been soothing, or alluring even, except it scared the holy bejeezus out of her. Whipping around, she clutched her book to her chest and froze. It was him, the demon from before, leaned against the tree watching her. He looked for all intents and purposes, human.. But she could see past his glamour magic. An Incubus demon. His skin a deep blue, black horns curling back and up away from his face, a face that looked both softly sensual and so sharply beautiful that it hurt, and was dotted by silver piercings. The horns seemed more prominent where his hair was shaved on the sides, and where his human mask had blue eyes so dark they looked black, now his eyes were like the night sky, full blackness with a swirling blue galaxy that almost made you drown in them. He was… sinnfully gorgeous, built like a swimmer with narrow hips and a lean frame... And he was powerful...she could sense it. The only issues she had right at the moment was the cigarette that dangled from his hands as he pulled it from a pack in his jacket and lit up. He watched her curiously, smirk on his lips when she hadn't replied, only stared. “What’s the matter, sunflower? Cat got your tongue?” he asked.

“No..” She voiced, hesitating when he raised a brow at her. She frowned at him. “Those things smell awful by the way...” She commented, knowing that since he was a demon, he probably didn’t care much about it possibly affecting his health. Heck it probably did nothing for him besides maybe making him seem ’cool’. He blinked at her, before he smirked again and snuffed out the cigarette, chuckling. “You can see through my disguise, can’t you?” He gestured at his body, “Not many humans can, although you’re not the first…” He sighed, straightening out and stretching like a big cat. He reminded her of some large jungle cat with the way his lithe blue tail swished back and forth lazily… maybe he meant more with that analogy of his. She wondered what kind of demon he was, she could feel his power, like warm breath over her skin. It was… nice, but why could she feel it? She’d been around other demons, and fae, and while they held power, most were uninterested in her, didn’t see her even. Was he pushing it to touch her? Was there supposed to be an effect? It was odd, Andras let his power pool around her and yet… she simply stared at him, up close he could see the freckles across her face. But there was no feeling of lust, and her hazel green eyes didn’t linger over him, her pupils didn’t dilate in want... she wasn’t affected by him. That fact hit him like a ton of bricks. Not that there weren’t beings that held immunity to incubus powers, though it was a small range especially for one of his lineage and status but.. for a human to have no effect well, that was a rare thing. “You gonna answer me sunflower?”

“Yes, I can see what you are..” She spoke softly, trailing off. She was nervous, he could see it in the way her fingers played with the ridges of her book. But it was the nerves of a potential prey likely to bolt, it wasn’t anticipation he saw normally with females. She licked her lips as he stepped forward. “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything by staring..You caught my eye…. Not that I mean anything like that by the way..”

“No.. staring’s fine.” He grinned, interrupting her ramblings. He was trying to read her, appear.. charming, playful...she tilted her head a bit and he continued. “I was curious to see what you were up to all alone, like I said, a cemetery is an odd place for a sunflower.” He stepped closer. Her eyes widened a little at that and she made to stand up, leaning away. Okay he probably could have worded that better.

“Why do you..” She started, then looked down at her shirt and flushed a little. “I’m not a sunflower. I’m sketching and I don’t want any trouble so...you can be on your way Mister Demon.” She mumbled, and Andras was confused. When she didn’t say anything else, it was clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him...still that didn’t deter him.

He stepped closer again and it brought her gaze up in a hurry… was she… scared of him? “It's not everyday I get shooed away by a pretty girl. I’m not gonna hurt you.. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’d like me if you tried.” He purred, winking and putting on a smile. “At least tell me your name?”

This time she did stand up, shoving her padbook into her bag with a small frown in her lips. He was being.. a creep. Was this normal for an Incubus? Didn’t he know that commenting to a girl that she was all alone and secluded with some stranger with every potential to hurt her was… scary? Again, she felt his warm power and realized that he was.. Flirting..? Trying to seduce her? Heat crept up her cheeks, not only by realizing what he was doing but also for what he kept calling her. And she really didn’t feel like giving him her name. Clearing her throat, she looked down at her stuff then back to him. “Listen.. I’m sorry mister demon but… I didn’t ask to be able to see the real you.. And I’m not interested in…” she gestured her hands, “yeah, so you can ...just not... with the names and flirting. I just came here to sketch and I’m sure you have much more fun things to do like parties and whatnot... so..yeah...” She trailed off again, hesitating in her speech. She didn’t want to be mean, or piss him off...right now he seemed laid back, non threatening. But that could change. Grabbing her backpack she turned away in a hurry.

Andras blinked, a frown of his own turning to a confused scowl. “Hey! Wait a minute.. Hey, sunflower..!” His voice caught her before she could get far and she paused, turning to him with another frown. “I don’t mean to be a pest. If it’ll help, I’ll tell you my name?” He asked, whatever small awkwardness he held melting away. She had to admit, he was charming.

“What’s your name then?” She asked, and he seemed to brighten up.

“Andras.” He answered her, giving a mock bow that seemed to be more sensual than romantic. “And what can I call you? If not a sunflower?” he chuckled. She paused again and then smirked.

“See ya around then.. Andras.” Not answering and then she was off, heading down the path and disappearing off into the cemetery. He was… stunned. And he didn’t even get her name! He huffed as he pulled out another cigarette and stopped, scoffing a laugh when her words in his head came back. Smells bad? He never thought to care about that, and most people didn’t comment on it.

He thought about going after her again, but instead, he turned and stopped when something caught his eye.... On the bench where she had been sitting was a folded piece of paper, stuck as if she’d dropped it. He shoved his cigarettes back into his pocket, walking over to pick it up.... and smiled. Looks like fate had other plans for his runaway sunflower...and what the hell, he liked the chase.

Disappearing in a cloud of blue tinted smoke, he set out to make some plans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her bike tires skidded to a halt in front of what used to be an old book store. A few months back they’d renovated it into some sort of building for art classes and after working overtime, she’d signed up to take one. The flyer, that she couldn’t for the life of her remember where she put it, had said that each week was a different theme or lesson and it seemed...exciting. Maybe it would inspire her to draw something other than..

Again she shook herself from whatever weird dreams she’d been having that week and parked her bike against the building. It was a little later in the evening but it seemed to be the only time she could do with her work schedule, she just hoped she wasn’t too late. As she headed inside though, she was relieved to see a smaller gathering, probably ten or fifteen people, all standing around mingling. The room was nicely lit and a warmer temperature than outside, to the right of the room was a circle of chairs and easels set up around what looked like a platform. That made her pause...in her dream last night-

“Hey! Welcome to the class, you must be Cassie?” A middle aged woman with white blonde hair came up to her, breaking her thoughts.

“Ah! Yes ma’am.” She answered politely, feeling nervous when others turned her way. She wasn’t as dressed up today, since she’d be painting, she wore a big shirt that had star trek next generation on it and some ripped jeans, both already had paint on it. All that coupled with her beanie and reading glasses, made her look like a nerd and a boy...a look she liked but often felt out of place around others.

“Great, thanks for joining us! My name is Sofia, we spoke on the phone? We were expecting another person but they canceled on us. Still, For today’s class, we’ll be painting a live nude model, I mentioned this right?” She asked and Cass assured her that yes she knew of what this week entailed. Though, something in her brain nagged at her, why did this particular room look so familiar?

Sofia had her fill out a form, and then called the class to order, no time for deja vu thoughts when she got to set up her paints for her easel, grabbing her pencil to sketch first. It was then, she found out, why the room looked so familiar. Sofia introduced the model with a flush on her cheeks, and a hush fell over the room as Andras walked in from behind a screen she hadn’t noticed at the back of the room. She froze in place while the others awed over him, he was just as gorgeous as before but.. what hit her most... was that this moment was her dream last night.. She had seen this, him, in her dreams, dreamt of tracing his lines with her pencils.. her fingers... He noticed her with a breathtaking smile as he introduced himself and stepped onto the platform. He was once again in his human guise, and yet she could see past it if she tried hard enough. And then he was shedding his robe, and while the idea of sex had never appealed to her, she felt... something in her stir as she took him in...he was a work of art.

“Alright Andras, give us a comfortable, natural pose and hold it. We’ll break when you need to.” Again, Sofia’s voice cut through her thoughts and Andras posed as she explained that they were going to take everyone’s unique style in the form of real life sketches first. But Cassie’s mind was already going, and so was her hand.

She always went to a different place when drawing, and when painting, but here it was like the two of them were the only in the room. He hadn’t chosen a provocative pose, one arm bent up and the other reaching down, he looked like a greek god, or a statute of one. She sketched the lines of his face, the curve of his mouth, his hair, shaved on the sides and wild on top, black and soft, and each piercing in his ear, nose and lips. His upper body was studded, small raised patterns of skin, like scars made purposefully, they traveled across his chest and down his stomach. For some reason, drawing him, drawing him in hard lines seemed wrong, so instead she used soft curves and watched him come to life on canvas...and that made him more real than him standing no less than ten feet away.

Before she knew it, Miss Sofia was calling for a break and Andras was stretching, moving again and completely comfortable with being in the nude. There was chatter, a few people flocking to Andras to ask him questions as he robed up and Sofia gave him a bottle of water. Cass...stayed seated. She followed the lines of her pencil, letting it complete the curves and edges that was him. Somehow she’d managed to capture some sort of emotion on his face, mischievous, wistful, lusting… distant.

“Do sunflowers always sit by themselves?” His voice startled her and just as she whipped her head up to see him standing behind her...she caught his reaction to her drawing. His face said he was impressed, but there was also.. A softer something in his face. He was so...tall, she mused. He seemed to shake himself though and smile down at her. “You have some wicked talent.” That got her to flush red more than any of his attempted flirting had. “Thank you.. Um, could you not call me sunflower?” She asked, dropping her gaze as he took the seat beside her. She wasn’t even wearing that shirt anymore.

“Not a chance.” He grinned, “You never told me your name. But I stilI found you.~” he sang with a small laugh. She frowned at that, found her?

“You were looking for me?” She tilted her head, confused, “Why?” She didn’t leave the cemetery that day.. He could have followed her, but he didn’t.

Andras wondered how she could make such an innocent gesture look so ...cute, and it was surprising to him that he thought something like that. He sipped his water and sat back with a smirk. It was easy for him to stretch out, feel all of the eyes in the room on him. But hers wasn’t in want. “Because you’re a bit of a mystery. Won’t tell me your name and hang out in graveyards? And you can see me. The real me.” He watched again as her hazel eyes dropped to her hands. What was she hiding? And again while he could feel the lust off of everyone in the room, from the instructor to the only two males, all of them lighting up on his radar, she alone was a blank spot. All of the others' works had seemed innately sexual but hers...there was something different.

This time she rolled her eyes a little. “Cass, my name is Cass, or Cassie if you like.” she said, her eyes lifting up, looking through him more than at him. “Did you seriously sign up as the model to get to me?” She asked and when she put it so bluntly…he guessed that he was being a bit stalkerish.

“What can I say? You left an impression on me.” He smiled. It was just then that the instructor lady got his attention, asking if he was ready to continue their session. He said he was, glancing once more to Cass, and stood up. Looking at Cassie's painting and then back up to her, he gave another dazzling grin, “Paint me like one of your french girls?” He asked.

And she laughed, head back and eyes closed, a loud sound like he’d caught her off guard. Something in Andras liked that, that he’d made her laugh, and he gave her another smile as he stepped up to the platform and shed the robe again.

He resumed his pose, able to look right at her, though she seemed once again to just be looking through him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks followed and for some reason it bothered Andras that he hadn’t seen her since then. She’d only shown up at the one art class, and when he asked about her, the instructor woman had even said she’d left her painting to be displayed. He declined sticking around after that… after he bought the painting with enough cash to buy the studio. One reason why it had been weeks was because he had to feed, at least once or twice a week depending on the “meal” available but when he wasn’t doing so, he was.. quite literally hanging around, bored out of his skull and hoping… to see her. He went back to the cemetery several times, but no luck. Out of all the flowers there, not a single one was the sunflower he wanted to see.

He scrubbed a hand down his face with a growl as he walked down the street, when did he become such a fucking sap? Why was he still hung up on one human woman? She obviously didn't want to be around him. And again...humans were predictable, weak...except he didn't think that she fell into that category. Still, he felt wondrously bored out of his skull and a bored demon wasn’t something anyone wanted. Maybe it was time to let this all go, move on to another city.

“Andras?” The voice halted his steps, and he turned to see...Cass. She was standing in the doorway of a small pottery shop that was wedged in between two larger buildings, a tote bag tucked under one arm and a curious expression on her face. Well.. fate had other plans once again. “Are you stalking me again?” She asked, raising a suspicious brow in his direction and stepping off the step of the shop.

“No.” He winced, because...had he been? Kinda. Maybe. Okay he had been. “Well not really,” He amended, “I've been hoping to find you again but no such luck. But fate has led me to my sunflower.” He smiled, charming and cheesy all at once. He watched her frown, pursing her lips a bit though her eyes rolled and he caught amusement as she moved past him to a small alleyway where her bike was parked.

“It’s not sunflower, remember? It’s Cass. And fate is stupid.” She grumbled, pouting her lips. He wondered why the sour tone. Was that really how she felt about fate, not that he could fault her on that really, or was it his presence that made her frown like that. He couldn’t have that.

“My apologies, Cass.” He smiled again and followed after her as she set her bag into the basket on the front of the bike. “And yeah, fate is a tricky mistress. I'll give you that. And yet just when I'd given up, you popped up in my sights. So that must count for something right?”

She eyed him, relaxing a touch and sighing a little. “I guess so.” Though she felt otherwise on the matter for sure… still it wasn’t his fault. Not really, especially when she had other reasons he didn’t even know of, that made her stance on the cruelty of fate more concrete. She was stolen from her thoughts by the warmth touching her again, his power? Or did he just radiate that? Looking up, she could see him watching her, his curious dark eyes… it didn’t take much to see past the illusion he held of being human, and the real him was just as flawless. Why was he so interested in her? He could have.. Anyone. Was it her odd powers that lured him?

She shook her head. “So, you’ve found me...again, what now? I told you that I’m not interested in flirting.” She said, her tone was softer, unsure of what he wanted but wanting to remind him, casual sex was off the table.

“Hey, even I know that no means no. I’m not here to seduce you,” and then his smile turned to a grin, his voice a lower purr. “Not unless you want me to try. I do like the chase.” he teased, quick to drop that tone and she was grateful. “but really, I just feel drawn to you. And though I’m not sure why yet, I’d like to find out.” He admitted, shifting again from the role of wicked incubus, that bit of awkwardness she’d glimpsed before coming back. “There’s something there, I know it..” He said and Cass found herself taking a breath to steady herself. Of course there was something more...but she couldn't tell him that. Could she?

“You hungry?” Cass blurted before she lost courage, picking at the edges of the tote bag in her bike basket. This was stupid.. She didn’t get involved with demons...But Andras grinned. “And if I am?” he asked, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans, hanging low on his hips. She looked at him then, and again, no lust or want or arousal, but nerves.

Cass shoved at her hair and pushed a headband back through it, away from her face. “I just got off work,” She pointed to the pottery shop, “We could.. grab a bite to eat? And maybe talk.” She probably sounded stupid.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Andras said and stepped in close. She barely had time to protest before he was pushing her bike down the street, her trying to keep up with his long strides.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cass dipped another fry into her milkshake, kicking her feet because she was too short in the booth to touch… which he found cute really. She was more than cute, she held a softer beauty, one that felt feminine… yet not, he couldn’t describe it. He’d been with males and females, and those that felt they were neither, both or in between.. Bodies that were warm and soft or hard and rugged...he liked them all. And she was no exception. He had seen first her outer beauty but there was something.. More. Again, it was difficult to describe the pull she held. “I know that it’s not the most...unbelievable thing, not to people like you.” She said softly, “But I don’t exactly go around broadcasting my�� abilities.” She shrugged, munching on her food, glancing around to the only semi busy burger joint.

“I mean, that’s understandable.. and I did stalk you.” He grinned at her, completely unashamed of his actions apparently. But she smirked, a twitch of her lips that made him notice the dimples she very barely had. “And by the way sunflower, there are no people like me.” he added on, watching her roll her eyes, protesting that she was not a sunflower. “But you are human, and you have... a power to you. A pull… help me understand why that is? I know you didn’t ask me to lunch just because.” He knew that if it had been someone else, his charming smile and sensual allure could have them eating out of his hands, but Cass seemed wary. Like a nervous cat about to be caged, and he didn’t want to scare her off. It felt… awkward, trying to get someone to open up to him with actual… effort.

Cass seemed to purse her lips in thought, her eyes dropping to what was left of her food, before launching into her life story. She told him about her powers, unstable as they were, how things, demon or otherwise, were always drawn to her and how she had visions that often caused her to black out from the force of them. It was why she rode a bike instead of driving. “My parents didn’t have powers.. in fact they hated that I did and tried to get the church involved.” She winced, very vividly remembering what cruelty they had dealt her. Then there was her sister, a few years older and just… gone one night. She’d said goodbye, a sleepy memory that she tried to hold onto but part of Cassie felt that she’d been abandoned.

“And you’ve had visions of me?” Andras asked, listening to her as though she weren’t babbling nonsense. A waitress came by, slipping her phone number in with the check, smiling and touching him as though she couldn’t help but to do so, she completely looked Cassie over, which didn’t bother her much. She was used to it for the most part. Andras though, seemed to preen at the attention and tucked her number into his pocket with a wink. It hit her that she’d only seen him as a demon now, she didn’t see his disguise though she knew it was there otherwise the waitress would have freaked.

“Sort of?” She questioned, mostly herself more than his question. “I’ve seen you.. before I saw you on the street, I mean. In dreams and such. I had a vision where I was just.. happy, and you were there.” A tint of warm pink touched her cheeks when she admitted that. “But for the most part I don’t know how to interpret the things I see. They aren’t always accurate or certain and time changes the outcome so.. I try to avoid it.” She spoke softly now but seemed less tense.

Andras sat back in the booth. “Well that makes sense. You’re what us.. Other folks would call a Seer.” He’d met more than one and none were ever alike.. and that did explain the pull he had towards her, but not why she had no reaction to him. Cass nodded like she was familiar with the term. “But, have you ever considered finding someone to work with your powers? You’re young but If someone my power level is drawn to you..” He knew that he had meant her no harm but… there were always those that did out there. Cass looked away.

“I usually outrun them.. When they find me.” She voiced and he frowned.

“Who’s they?” He asked, though he had an inkling as to who she meant.

“Demons, fae, vampires once. People who think that I can control this and scare me..” She admitted. She didn’t know why she felt like admitting this to him. She had thought of running from him too. But maybe it was their constant meeting, or maybe.. She did find him charming in a way. Andras paid, though Cassie protested and as he walked her down the street, Cass pushing her bike, he again brought up the idea of seeking someone to help her harness her power.

“I tried to go to a psychic.. One of those ones that claimed to read fortunes.. But she was a farce.” Cass explained. It had been embarrassing and frustrating to have someone read a premade astrology horoscope to her, not listening once to her problems and seeming irritated for voicing them. She stopped pushing her bike and looked up at him as he stopped too. “Why are you so interested in helping me..?”

“I can’t let other demons stalk you now, it’s my job.” Andras grinned with a wink, and of course, he was rewarded with a smile. “Look, let me pull some strings. Least I can do is help out my new friend yeah?” He stuck out his hand. At this, she brightened and reached out, shaking his hand.

“Okay.” She agreed, liking the idea that he could be a friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @doodledream @jellyflux @serenitydusk @sunrisehoneybee @ijwrff @the-dying-red-rose @junepop45 @no-need-to-apply @nickthegiantboi (its not gt but I hope you don’t mind me tagging you) @scribbles-main-blog @matronofthevoid @bee-wrecker @spooky-scary-lesbian If I forgot anyone Im so sorry! >.< And if you want to be tagged just let me know!

#My writing #my ocs #fluff!#some mentions of sex #Part 1 #incubus #human

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totaldramafan-lauri · 3 years

Text

So.....I wasn’t originally gonna share this, but eh.......

On top of Eurovision, I’ve also been really into Friday Night Funkin’ recently thanks to a friend of mine introducing me to it.....and its plethora of popular mods. In particular, there was one mod that caught my attention....a-and....well.....h-hasn’t let it go yet......Mainly there’s this one really cool character that’s been on my mind a lot, so.....

S-so, I uh.....made an OC. A-and....I wrote a profile for her yesterday....

I-I guess I’ll share this, cuz I feel like there.....might be a possibility that I’ll do something with her in the future? Cuz I do have some story ideas.....I-it’s just a matter of finding the confidence to get back into writing.....I-I dunno if it’ll happen, but it might.

I-it’s kinda....embarrassing, tho....I-it’s been a while since I’ve made an OC purely to be a....well, simp, but here we are.....>//////>

(Also, the picture below is NOT drawn by me. I’m not an artist. It was drawn by the same friend.)

Name: Lina (she doesn't remember her last name...or her original first name for that matter) Height: 5'2" Quotes: "I-I'm sorry!" "Ms. Sarvente would know what to do...." "I hope I don't forget what happened today..." "D-don't look, please..." "W-were you listening? O-oh gosh- uh-" Age: In the 20s range Eye Color: White (in another art style, her eyes would be purple) Hair: Black, waist-length, pretty thick, and usually pretty messy due to her not having the energy to brush it all (she usually makes some kind of effort before going to the church, but it's not a lot) Build(Body Type/Shape/Any Scars Or Markings): Pretty thin. Not stick thin, though, as she does have curves and a pretty decent chest size (that she hides under her sweatshirt most of the time), but she's still pretty thin. She doesn't eat as much as she should. Normal Outfit(The clothes they most commonly wear): A baggy baby blue sweatshirt with a simple sleeveless pink dress underneath, and a matching pink scarf. Knee-high white socks and baby blue slip-on shoes. When it's really warm out, or when she's lounging at home, she'll take off the sweatshirt and scarf and just wear her dress, but most of the time she likes being covered. It makes her feel safe. General Personality: Lina is a very timid, shy woman who is scared of opening up and spilling her feelings out to people, not wanting to be a burden. She has really bad social anxiety, but attempts to be kind and polite to people, even with her lack of experience in social situations. She's always carrying a notebook with her, writing in it frequently. Most of the time, she's very quiet, but when she gets riled up or excited about something, she can talk more than you think. However, she has a tendency to stutter and stumble over her words a lot, especially when anxious or flustered. Her anxiety is bad enough that she hates asking people for things and is scared to draw too much attention to herself (due to awkward experiences with her roommate). She looks up to Sarvente and wishes she could be like her, and loves helping her whenever she can, liking the feeling of being useful (and, although she'll never admit it, to catch glimpses of Ruv). In her writing, she shows a more poetic, hopeless romantic side to her that she's too embarrassed to share, spilling it out into the lyrics she writes. She also uses her writing to vent the feelings she's too terrified to share with the world - her infatuation with Ruv, her feelings of jealousy towards Sarvente, her want and desire to become someone she can never be. She hates her feelings, and she's scared of her feelings.... Other random facts: -Lina is so bothered by her unknown past that she's absolutely terrified of forgetting things. This is the reason why she kept carrying around notebooks. She's been doing this for so long that if she's ever separated from her current notebook, she'll have an anxiety attack. -She's currently unemployed, but is able to continue living with her roommate as long as she takes care of the house. She's flat broke most of the time, only being leant money for her writing, so she doesn't have a phone. She only eats when her roommate does, but on the rare occasion she has extra money, she'll treat herself. -Like all FNF characters, Lina is musically talented - she writes songs (although she hasn't shared them), and she can sing decently well. She's scared of singing in front of others, but does it to herself all the time. However, she has very little experience with RAPPING specifically, making her a pretty easy opponent. -Her favorite colors are pastels, especially blues and pinks. -Besides going to the church on Sunday, she doesn't have much of a schedule, mainly just being alone in the house on most days. -She has a MAJOR weakness for cats. If she sees a cat, she'll immediately go to watch or pet it. Cats are the easiest way to make her smile. -She's normally pretty clumsy, and not physically strong at ALL. She can handle housework just fine, but not heavy lifting. She also can't cook at ALL. Please help her, the woman's a mess -Despite attending church, she's mostly agnostic. She mainly goes just to hang in the back of a side isle and watch Sarvente and Ruv. -Lina doesn't know that Sarvente is a demon, seeing her as a normal nun like the rest of the public. She's also unaware that Ruv is a criminal. -While she's talked with Sarv, she's never spoken directly to Ruv, being too nervous to. He's looked at her a few times, and that's been enough to send her into a frenzy. Likes: Music, writing, feeling useful, inspiration, being at the church, seeing Ruv, when people are nice to her, cats, pastel colors, sunny days, the rare times she's proud of something she wrote, pizza (she associates it with her roommate being nice to her, so it's her favorite food) Dislikes: Forgetting things, being put on the spot, loud noises (like thunder), large crowds, asking for things, being seen crying, when people ask to see her writing, whenever she feels jealous of Sarvente, embarrassing herself in front of Ruv, her body Powers/Skills: No powers. She's a normal human. Skills, however....she can write poetry and music, she can sing, and she's a pretty smart thinker when she's not stressed. Weapons: None Backstory: Lina was found at the site of a horrible accident by the person who would become her roommate, who felt sorry for her and took her in. She had no memory of her life before the accident, being left a scared woman with no past...a blank slate.

At first, she was a wreck, understandably. She tried desperately to remember her past, but nothing worked. Even as she settled into her new life, the fact that she couldn't remember who she was ate away at her day in and day out. Feeling sorry for her, her roommate gave her a notebook to make notes in. Lina found that that helped a lot, and discovered how much she loved writing.

Over time, her roommate started becoming apathetic toward the little "freeloader", and a deal was made so that she could continue living with them until she could somehow get a job: she was to clean and watch the tiny house while they were away at work. She didn't mind this deal since it made her feel less guilty. During her free time, Lina also discovered her love of music, and began singing to herself while alone.

She eventually accepted the fact that she may never remember her past, but at least she can try her hardest to make sure she never forgets again. She began carrying a notebook with her wherever she went, and continues to store all her old notebooks in her room. She never throws any page away.

She records everything: her thoughts, her plans, everything noteworthy that happens to her, and every lyric she thinks of. She finds it relaxing to spill her heart onto the pages, so no one will ever hear her say them....this is especially true after she meets THEM. After meeting Sarvente one day, Lina is invited to join a church. She's unsure at first, but decides to go. And that's where it all began....she met Ruv (well...more like she saw him talking to Sarv), and immediately took to him. Tall, stoic, intimidating...and yet, Lina could see a softness in him whenever he was with Sarvente. She wished she could meet someone like that....someone strong, who could protect her and keep her safe...

And over time, she realized that she couldn't get him off her mind. As if...she was fixated on him. She found herself writing about him a lot. And then she realized that she was very rapidly developing a crush on the man. Being unable to remember what a crush feels like, it was a lot to adjust to at once, but she found herself really liking the feeling....that is, until she realized that she could never hope to achieve the same closeness to him that Sarvente has. She wished she was like Sarvente....

...She realized that she had become jealous of someone who had only ever been kind to her. And she hated it. So, Lina hid her feelings away once again.

Currently, Lina visits the church every week. She's always the first to arrive, and the last to leave. Even when people come and go, she always sits in the back of one of the side isles, writing away in her notebook. She simply likes the feeling of being in the church. The safe atmosphere, Sarvente's kindness, and the possibility of seeing HIM. Sarvente has noticed how long Lina stays for, and sometimes asks her for volunteer work, which she's happy to provide. However, although Sarvente is happy to have a regular visitor, she also doesn't take Lina very seriously, talking to her as if she was a child due to her appearance (if she HAS caught on to Lina's crush on Ruv, she hasn't said anything because of this). "Oh, little Lina, you're so cute!" Lina doesn't mind the headpats and squeals, but has a hard time believing that she's "cute" in any way. Lina looks up to Sarvente, treating her with a lot of respect, calling her "Ms. Sarvente". Sarvente calls Lina "little Lina". Lina likes helping out, but...she also often feels insecure and inadequate due to constantly comparing herself to Sarvente.

One day, after the church closes and Lina is on her way out the door, she runs into someone who Sarvente had a recent tussle with...a guy with blue hair.

(There she is, the tiny pastel nerd.....seriouslyIlovethispiceeeeeeeeebigthankstomyfriendfordesigningheroutfit)

#friday night funkin #friday night funkin oc #mid fight masses oc #she scribble #she a mess #wow what a simp #cringe culture is dead #and zavodila killed it #(seriously im sorry if you read this fcgbfchncfghxgch)

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nitholites · 4 years

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Day 6- Flower Shop/ Tattoo Artist AU (really really late, ik, but I'm done editing it cuz it's driving me mad)

(in this one, I replaced Goro with a different detective, to remain nameless. They weren't Shido's kid, but was screwed by him so they took on Akechi's plan while Pancake Boi took a different route for revenge. After the end, though, he gave up on the plan when Shido went to jail)

The buzz of the tattoo machine filled the air, constant and usual. The inked art came to life against the woman's skin, careful designs and colors seamlessly filling the requested space. Handling the machine and making the art come to life was one Akira Kurusu, his curly black hair held back in a messy bun and his dark, loose tank top showing the tattoos he had along his upper body. His arms didn't have many- mostly on his inner forearm and simple designs, but with bold colors and shading. They were somewhat random and increasing in quality. On his back, however, the real art started.

Little could be seen of his back that day- just the back of his shoulders. But it was enough to give anyone the impression there had to be more. On his right shoulder, what looked like the top of a skeletal pirate sat, permanent grin cocky and easy as a pipe lay between his shoulders. On the left, a red panther tail curled towards the back of his neck, the head turned towards anyone behind him and ending at the edge of his back. The seemingly incomplete art made people wonder what was on his back.

His friends knew exactly what it looked like, seeing as they all pitched in.

The panther stood, flames dancing around it. The pirate had no ship, riding on lightning. Below and on top of the lightning was a white fox, dark and light blue accents coating it's fur as ice provided a step for it. Beneath the panther on the other side of the fox was a masked queen in grays with neon blue accents, holding a spiked staff towards the middle, dissapering behind the one in the middle and reappearing right before the fox. In the middle was a mostly black and gray humanoid, red gloves held up as though it were pulling one tighter as small, curved, red horns escaped beneath its mask and hair. Beneath it all was a vigilante wearing pink, a black cat curled around her shoulders and an intelligent gleam in it's blue eyes. To the left of the cat and vigilante was a dark book with lime accents, binary barely visible unless you got a good look at it. It lay on his left hip, pages appearing open only to the other figures above and around it.

He and Yusuke had spent about a week on the design, confirming it with their friends before each of them- minus Morgana- got a matching one either the same size or smaller and in various parts of their bodies.

On Akira's front, hidden beneath his shirt and on his right hip, lay the Phantom Thieves symbol, the iconic 'Take Your Heart' directly beneath it.

He couldn't steal hearts anymore, but he and his friends would always be the Phantom Thieves.

The bell above the door jingled, letting in the bustle of the underground mall for a moment. Akira didn't waste any time, hands steady with practice as he let his attention slightly fade. "Just a minute," he called over the rock/jazz music playing in the background. At that moment, Rivers in the Desert was playing.

In a moment, he turned the machine off, wrapping up what he needed to do to make sure the red heart with the name 'Saki' stayed permanent. He quickly recited care for the tattoo to the woman, who nodded and gave her full attention before standing and leaving. He walked her to the front, sliding behind the counter as the bell jingled when she left. He stood comfortably behind the counter, turning down the music. "Hi, welcome to Thieves of Arts, how can I help you," he recited, taking in shoulder-length brown hair and red eyes. He recognized the young man, of course. The person who worked the small flower shop across the street was nice enough from what the owner said. Hard-working and reliable, just like Akira had been when he worked there a couple years ago. Back then, he had four paying jobs- the Phantom Thieves couldn't pay for everything from Palaces, especially in the beginning- with one being in the same flower shop the man was working in. After everything with Mementos, life went on as normal- Akira went back to Shujin after a long talk with his parents, who agreed to give Sojiro full custody over him after a long debate, and spent his last year with his friends and working in Leblanc. After, he officially quit his part-time jobs and decided to do what he wanted- which was, surprisingly, open a tattoo shop. He used part of his- admittedly- large savings to get the place, pay the bills, and get the equipment, learning what he could from an old aquaintance before making his goal a reality. Before opening shop, he practiced quite a bit on himself and willing customers, glad his artistic childhood kicked in a bit to help him adapt faster.

He still helped out in Crossroads when Lala-chan needed and in the flower shop when the owner was sick or couldn't come in- in her words, he knew more about flowers than she did at that point.

But, surprisingly enough, this was the first time he talked with the other employee. "Actually, Hanasaki-san said you could help with the flower shop?"

Akira nodded, brow furrowing as he pulled out his phone, noting the missed texts from the kind lady herself. "Oh, yeah! Sorry, I put my ringer off when I'm working," he explained, quickly replying before sliding his phone back into his pocket. "Yeah, I'll help you. Just lemme close up real quick." He effortlessly slid through the parlor, quickly cleaning and putting away what he had to as the young man called after him.

"You don't have to! I'd hate to cause you trouble."

"It's nothing," he easily replied, fishing his keys from his pockets. "I owe Hanasaki a favor, anyway." He led the man out of the shop, quickly locking it behind them before following the man to the flower shop, taking note of the lists of requests lining the counter. "Right, I got the ones with meanings. Get the colors and size ones. Do you know what the flowers here mean?"

"For the most part," he said, glancing through the lists.

"Good. When you're done with the color and size, help out with the meanings you know, okay?" The man nodded and they got to work, silently working alongside each other.

A couple hours later, all of the arrangements were picked up and Akira was leaning back on the counter, letting his breath escape him. "Man, that was the fastest I've had to work since busy days in the beef bowl shop," he commented, running a hand through his hair. The man laughed slightly, equally as worn. "I never got your name, by the way." Surprise floated the man's face, but he responded.

"Sorry about that. I'm Goro Akechi."

"Akira Kurusu," he responded easily, giving the man a nod. "Aren't you that kid detective who retired last year?" Akechi nodded.

"I'm surprised anyone remembers. Public opinion is a fickle thing." Akira snorted, nodding.

"Ain't that the truth. So, why are you working in a flower shop, mister detective?" It had been years since Akira called anyone that, but he refused to let memories cloud the present again.

"I like the atmosphere here," Akechi responded with an obviously fake smile (obvious to Akira, who studied people like learning materials in his free time, anyway). "Hanasaki-san could use the help, anyway."

Akira hummed, but let the subject drop, allowing his mind to briefly wander. "You look tired," he observed. "I know a place with amazing coffee, if you want."

Akechi paused, gazing curiously at the younger man. "I'm often busy..."

"Then I can leave you the address," Akira easily responded, already pulling a pen and small notebook out from behind the counter by reaching over it. "It's not far, and has an atmosphere as great as the coffee. You may get a discount if you mention me." He scribbled an address he knew well on the paper, ripping it out and holding it to the ex-detective.

"Leblanc?"

"I hear it's French," Akira explained, shrugging. "Don't doubt the coffee curry combo till you've tried it, though," he warned, pushing off the desk. He glanced at the clock, noting the time before lifting the apron off of him, hanging it back where he got it. "I'm gonna go. Give it a chance when you've got the time, alright?"

With that, he swept out of the shop.

#persona 5 #akira kusuru #persona 5 akechi #goro akechi #akira x goro

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