#// like magical girl rising project | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fillinforlater · 5 months

Note

Hii! Could you do a smut of Minnie x Yuqi x Miyeon please? I don't really have any specific things I want in it other than scissoring and all of them just all over each other lol

Sorry im in a mood-🤪

To Glide

Minnie x Yuqi x Miyeon

Length: 2.000 words

Tags: lesbian sex, lesbian threesome, LOT'S OF LUBE, annoyed sex, fingering, clit play, scissoring, lesbian missionary, fold in half (Yuqi), pretty and submissive (Miyeon), has had fucking enough (Minnie)

(A/N: Here is a random drop to start of the new year lol. This is what happens when you send the right ideas to me. Have fun and stay healthy!)

“This is such a not-good-idea.”

Minnie sighs and pinches her forehead. To say that she has doubts about this new ‘project’ of Yuqi would be an understatement. She hates that this obnoxiously loud girl always pushes onward with her ideas without ever thinking of the consequences. Like last week, when she threw this party at Miyeon’s house—Minnie expected a handful of people—and suddenly hundreds of people turned up and trashed the whole thing. For some reason, Miyeon didn’t even care all that much.

Guess Yuqi’s tongue kept her busy all night, Minnie thinks, an envious blush on her cheeks. That’s the curse of Yuqi, she might at times be a bad friend, but in the end, she is just irresistible. In the end, Minnie can only blame herself for not rejecting Yuqi’s plans of filling a small pool with lube—in the middle of Minnie’s own living room.

Your house is the biggest, Yuqi argued, and with a few adorable blinks, she got what she wanted. And now Miyeon is already ready to dump in over ten bottles of lube into the small plastic construction, definitely not made to withstand whatever crazy games Yuqi will come up with. Minnie can still say no, still send them home, hell, they can have enough fun with each other in Yuqi’s—

“Aw, why not, Nicha?” Yuqi complains cutely and wraps a sly arm around Minnie’s waist. “It will be so much fun, don’t you think? I can’t see how it can go wrong.”

“It’ll be such a mess,” Minnie argues, but it’s fragile, because Yuqi’s magic goes beyond puppy eyes and that deadly voice: she is already fiddling with the buttons of Minnie’s jeans, easily able to pop them open and dig her hand onto Minnie’s sex. The thought alone arouses her. “I-I don’t want to clean up afterwards.”

“Then I will clean up, okay? Pinky promise?”

“O-okay.” Dammit, she couldn’t resist again. Minnie is just too weak for Yuqi.

“Perfect. Miyeon, pour in the lube! Let’s have some fun.”

“Okay, babe~” Miyeon shouts back and gleefully squeezes out bottle after bottle until the clear liquid has thoroughly covered the entire plastic surface. “Should we get our bikinis?”

“Nah, screw those. Bikinis are for public pools.” Yuqi starts to unzip her top and jumps out of her pants. “At home, with my girls, I don’t want to wear clothes!”

“Oh~” Miyeon coos and Minnie can see that horny glint in her eyes. “I love that! Let me get undressed too.”

Minnie looks at them for a second, their bodies being revealed piece by piece, bare and completely spotless. Yuqi is a perfectionist when it comes to her own nude body, but at the same time, she does not give a single fuck about other people’s short comings. She just loves nudity, and so Minnie isn’t the only one starring when Miyeon gracefully removes her tight crop-top and moves her hips in quick circles until her black shorts fall down.

“I see you came prepared,” Yuqi says in excitement, because of the lack of underwear on Miyeon’s stunning frame.

“I still have the bikini in my bag, but—

“I kinda knew you wouldn’t want to see it.”

A heat is rising up inside Minnie. No anger or annoyance can keep it down anymore; the arousal is too great, irresistible, like the sight of Miyeon and Yuqi flopping into the pool. The lube flies everywhere, most importantly on their legs, their chests, their hair, their bellies, their feet—Minnie does not notice the mess being made.

She is depraved and horny, the way she tears off her jeans and top is chaotic, unplanned. Minnie has become a mess by just looking at her friends. Luckily, Yuqi does not notice. She's too busy with Miyeon and getting her fingers all over the elder’s skin. That is until Minnie bursts in and disrupts them, putting real strain on the edges of the plastic pool.

“Hey, watch out,” both Yuqi and Miyeon laugh. “You’re about to break it.”

“I- I don’t care! You two are being too loud, I need to shut you up a bit.” Minnie’s rebuttal is weak, because Yuqi gets a hand on her hairy cunt and starts to rub all over it.

“Oh, you want to shut us up by destroying this pool? Makes sense, makes sense.” Miyeon giggles and adds. “I think our friend here is tripping a bit. Tell us, Mi~nnie~

“How do you want to make us shut up?”

Minnie has never felt this ferocious, it’s like the spirit of a savage, unchained animal has overcome her. She wraps her entire arm around Yuqi’s tiny waist and spins her around. The small woman is still laughing, but with two lube-drenched fingers straight into her tight cunt, she is now Minnie’s prisoner. A happy prisoner, who quietly moans and hums with every curl the digits in her pussy make.

“Oh my~” Miyeon gasps and intently watches on as Minnie squeezes Yuqi tightly and makes sure to never stop pumping into that wet cavern. Yuqi still thinks this is all fun and games and tries to kiss Minnie, but the Thai girl goes straight for Yuqi’s neck and marks it with a frantic bite.

“Mi-Minnie, what the—I never knew you liked—”

“How about you shut your pretty mouth up and get on all fours?

“Now.”

Yuqi twitches around Minnie’s fingers when she hears this command. After a bit of slipping and falling she finds herself in the suggested position with Minnie’s hand cupping her labia and slowly rubbing lube across it. Yuqi arches her back, eyes closed to intensely feel every touch on her folds, then inside her pussy when Minnie decides to penetrate her once more. Miyeon gasps again.

“How about you lay down too, pretty?” Minnies suggest to Miyeon who needs a few seconds to wake up from her slumber and lay down into the slippery mess. She instinctively opens up her beautiful legs when Minnie’s hand approaches her, then the girliest of moans leaves her lips when her cunt gets filled.

Minnie’s heart is pumping up to her head, knocking on her brain and she loses all her senses except for touch on her fingertips, which become drenched in arousal. Every thrust, it doesn’t matter if they are hard or soft, makes her greedy, as if this scenario wasn’t enough. She has everything a girl could ever want, but now she needs more.

Minnie needs Yuqi to ruin herself—which happens sooner than she could’ve ever dreamed of. Yuqi’s ass moves on its own, her hips slam backwards and swallow every inch of Minnie’s flicking fingers and when three of them finally pierce her pussy open, she cums. Face buried in ridiculous amounts of lube, Yuqi groans and trembles and falls over, eyes rolled into the back of her head—that’s what Minnie wanted. But her greed doesn’t stop.

She looks at Miyeon, her pout, her need for release in this slippery mess right in the middle of this living room—Yuqi will have to clean it meticulously afterwards, because Minnie plants her puffy pussy right on Miyeon’s and starts to wildly rub it over her. Minnie knows that Miyeon is quite familiar with scissoring, this is definitely no first for her, but she nonetheless reacts to it like a virgin. She desperately holds onto Minnie’s hip and through a voice broken by moans begs her to go slower.

“Should I really go slower?” Minnie teases when Miyeon starts to grab her waist and bite her lip. Her face is so eerily perfect with all the wet lube and sweat on it, the blush that isn’t faint but blunt and bright. “Don’t you want to cum with your pussy, pretty princess?”

And then Minnie just continues, her hips slam down, against those aroused folds. She also makes use of her hands, spreading lube all over Miyeon’s boobs, midriff, down to the hard nub that looks like it’s about to explode if just—

Someone would—

“Not there, not there, Mi-Minnie, I’m about to—”

Minnie plays with it, rubs the clit side to side and Miyeon bursts into a loud and wet orgasm that has the pool suddenly filled with lube and girl juice. Minnie still doesn’t stop, instead she squeezes out every last second of Miyeon’s high by squeezing her breasts and squeezing more lube over her feet, which Yuqi is already eagerly playing with, in trance at the taste of Miyeon’s soles.

“Gosh, she looks so hot,” Yuqi whispers at the sight of Miyeon, who cannot escape the overstimulation. There is just no grip on anything, it’s like the entire universe wants her to glide back to Minnie and her pervy hands. Hands that can’t stop groping her, covering her in so much lube, she feels too heavy to fight back.

“You’re one to talke,” Minnie responds and raises an eyebrow when Yuqi dares to look back at her. “She went down fairly easily, but I know I need more with you.”

Yuqi smirks and like the angelic devil on Minnie’s shoulder leans in and hums:

“Then give me more.”

It’s hard to tell if Yuqi regrets her witty remark or if this was the actual reaction she wanted. In the blink of an eye, she finds herself below Minnie, in the deepest mix of cum, sweat and lube she has ever been in. Minnie immediately goes for her limits, grabbing her ankles and folding her in half while looking absolutely unamused.

“I know you can fold like a lawn chair,” she snarks and Yuqi gasps when her heels are almost level with her eyes. “So you better keep this up, because I won’t stop.”

“Wha-what are you trying—?”

“You’ve never had it like this, huh?”

Minnie crashes her hairy cunt right on Yuqi’s perfect slit. The slap is loud, the sting is painful at first, but Yuqi gets no time to scream because Minnie just continues. She rides her fat lips all over Yuqi’s shaven crotch, spreads her arousal to add more wetness, to glide better.

Glide she does. Yuqi has to take deep breaths that quickly turn to moans every time Minnie glides over her clit. Back and forth is great, left and right is excellent, Yuqi’s mind starts to spin in the same rhythm that Minnie’s pussy spins. That is until she goes up and back down. That’s too much to handle. Yuqi’s nails dig into Minnie’s elbows and she can see the Thai girl only through tear filled orbs.

Hottest of all: Minnie shows no reaction to this athletic feat. She just leans down, lips right on Yuqi’s, but instead of kissing her, she spouts dumb, dirty bullshit that has Yuqi in an ultimate frenzy.

“You never had a girl take you missionary. I fucking know, because I always hear them moan, not you. You think you’re such a player, Yuqi, the girl that gets all the bitches—that’s over now. Now you’re my bitch and I will fuck you like it. You will cum on this hairy pussy and then I’ll make you clean it up.

“Do you understand?”

“Y-yesh, Ma’am!”

Yuqi whines, Minnie smirks.

“Good. That was easy, didn’t know you could be so submissive. I think you should get an orgasm, slut.”

As predicted, the final thrust starts of Yuqi’s climax, one that lasts for a while. While not as messy as Miyeon’s, Minnie can see how intense it was for the smaller woman below her. Yuqi is a fucked mess, messy hair, messy pussy, messy face, something that can surely be a seat in the future—nah, fuck the future. Yuqi won’t always be her bitch, might as well—

“I think you’re learning your place.” Minnie gives Yuqi some time to adjust her posture, time Minnie spends on a quick look at Miyeon, who is busy stimulating her nipples to the sight of what happened in front of her. Minnie has no clue how and if to include her; an issue for later. “Now eat me.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

#kpop smut #female idol smut #girl group smut #idol x idol smut #gidle smut #minnie smut #yuqi smut #miyeon smut

430 notes · View notes

yuri-is-online · 1 year

Text

When He Sees Me: Azul Ashengrotto

a/n: this is supposed to be part of a series about the boys who start out with a less than good opinion of Yuu falling in love with them anyway. Azul wasn't supposed to be first he was just the most cooperative. I will add a link to the rest when they become available, but it will take a while because this is really fucking long. Like 6,261 words long.

notes: SPOILERS FOR CH. 3 AND AZUL'S BACKSTORY. Azul is thirsty for Yuu, nothing explicit just mild mild spice. They/them pronouns used for Yuu, but there is a reference to things "girls find attractive" that isn't meant to be aimed at Yuu and discussion of the myth of Princess Kaguya. Morons in mutual denial/pining, references to the events of Azul's labwear and Ruggie's ceremonial robes vignette. Edit: other fics can be found on my masterlist here.

Azul has always been a dreamer, in both senses of the word. When he wants, he wants with intensity that borders on insanity, it is only natural for those thoughts to invade his dreams. When he was younger his subconscious would engage in a painful loop of equally impossible scenarios, sometimes positive but mostly extremely, horribly negative. They read more like memories being played on a sickening repeat, harassments and insults that he can’t run or hide from because his dream won’t let him move at all. Now that he’s older he seldom has those dreams, tucking the hurts away behind mountains of successful plans for the future. Tucked away but not dealt with, his overblot clearly proved that. Azul is no stranger to having dreams, no, but lately he has been experiencing something new. A dream that plays on repeat, never changing but with an underlying feel to it that makes him think if he just had a bit more imagination he could direct the flow. It is a memory, sort of like those other, painful dreams though this one doesn’t hurt quite the same, less painful and more… pining.

He’s standing in front of the photos at the Atlantica Memorial Museum, eyes steady on the photographs. “You have talent.” the Ramshackle prefect says with such enviable confidence. “You are amazing as it is, even without stealing anyone else’s powers.” He looks at them, he searches desperately for the lie, for so long he misses the timing for his line but the dream keeps playing yours. “You work so hard, determination is much harder to master than magic.”

“You think that?” he asks, begs really because in this dream he gets to wrap himself up and live in this moment where someone sees him as his subconscious plays your words on loop.

“You have talent… You are amazing… You matter…”

He rises from slumber, but doesn’t wake.

“Nyaaah who does Azul think he is!” Grim whines and you sigh, for what feels like the eight hundredth time but is probably just the third. “He can’t just scam us outta money like that!” You give a noncommittal grunt and Grim takes his grumbling to under his breath where it belongs while you ruminate on the morning’s events on your way back to Ramshackle. You had woken up to Azul knocking on your door with a photograph of Grim… fighting with Lucius? You weren’t entirely clear on the details, Grim stole some food or something you couldn’t really care less, but Professor Trien certainly would, which was the point Azul had made with a smile on his face and an outstretched hand. He needed a “small favor” he said, just follow him to Ignihyde and help him and Idia out with a project Idia was working on. He tried spinning it to you as helping out Ortho, which hey you did care about, let it not be said that the prefect of Ramshackle did not care about sweet little Ortho Shroud. You just… didn’t trust Azul as far as you could throw him, so when the part he asked Grim to retrieve was revealed to be worth a gajillion thaumarks you were not surprised and you did not care. Grim, of course, freaked out and the two older students laughed at him. Laughed at you both really, and sent you back to your dorm with a can of tuna for Grim’s trouble and a coupon to the Monstro Lounge for yours.

That you decided as you stared down at the little golden ticket, did piss you off. You were tempted to light it on fire, but that stupid part of your brain that got excited when you heard laundry detergent was on sale at Sam’s wouldn’t let you. Like you would offend and be permanently cursed by the gods of couponing if you did; so you tucked it away in your wallet and ran through the list of students you didn’t currently want to beat with a steel chair for someone who would actually use it. “Hey prefect, you got a moment?”

“Ruggie.” You snap out of your thoughts to see an angel standing outside Ramshackle’s door. He looks at you a little confused, but still peppy.

“That’s my name! Now as I was sayin, you got a moment? I’ve got an opportunity for you.”

~~~~

In a game of chess the player who moves first has an inherent advantage. That advantage, however, is not absolute which is something Azul is cruelly reminded of when RUGGIE BUCCHI waltzes into his restaurant, whistling, with his carefully played opening in his hands. “Hey, is this thing real? Prefect said you gave it to them but that sounds fishy. Why would Azul be giving out things for free?”

“That’s confidential.” he pushes up his glasses and Ruggie simply leans back on his heels, hands behind his head grinning like a well fed cat. “What I am anxious to know is why you have it? It was not meant for you.”

“What’s it to ya’?” he has enough sense to keep his annoying laugh to himself but it’s echoing in Azul’s ears anyway. His gaze flickers to Floyd, weighing the pros and cons of involving the twins in this… admittedly private affair but that seems to be enough for Ruggie. He drops the easy going act, “No seriously what is it you’re trying to do, they seemed seriously pissed.”

“Who says I’m trying to do anything?” Anger was… not the reaction he was expecting but the look on Ruggie’s face is making him feel especially like he should have. Like there was something incredibly obvious he was missing here. His sigh just punctuates that.

“Because you're Azul.” He says flatly. “Look it’s not my business and I don’t want it to be, are you gonna give me a free drink or not.” Azul takes the coupon with his best customer service smile and tries to make another plan.

~~~~

“You are amazing.” He gets to look at them this time, see their honest admiration. He wants to reach for it, hold it up to the light and admire it from every possible angle. His hand moves, agonizingly slow like he’s reaching through jelly, desperate for purchase as it lands on their cheek, running his thumb along the curve. Azul is a merfolk, utterly unaware of what it feels like to drown. But he surrenders himself to the tide as he guides them closer, closer, to him and the realization he never wants to let go.

Azul wakes up alone and upset, a good thirty minutes before his alarm which just adds to his frustrations. He fumbles for his glasses and goes for the safe next to his bed, if he’s awake he can work, he should work it will take his mind off of… whatever this is. It isn’t important, his bad dreams always fade away over time, he will conquer this, he has to. A notification lights up his phone. It’s from magicam, from Cater who he usually ignores but he opens it anyway. The post is a dump of short videos of Heartslabyul students messing around in the maze, there was an unbirthday party yesterday complete with pastries and those weird games he never understands the appeal of no matter how many times Riddle explains. There’s Trey posing like a middle aged man with his flamingo, Cater running around conducting mock interviews with the flowers, and a number of students making nonsensical toasts with admittedly nice looking china. And in the final video, if he pauses it at exactly 7.23 seconds there’s the prefect. They look clueless, disappointed even as they watch Grim demand he be allowed to play croquet, it’s cute but that’s not where his gaze goes. Tiramisu. It’s difficult, painful even to make, but they seem to be enjoying their slice. It really would be an excellent item to add to the Monstro Lounge’s limited time menu for numerous reasons completely unrelated to… whatever this feeling was. If he keeps the paused video up and next to his paperwork while he draws up his plans, no one needs to know.

~~~~

You wake up with a sneeze a good two hours before your alarm and if you were actually awake you have no doubt the timing would fill you with righteous fury. The moon still peaks through your window, soothing your hypothetical temper slightly as you meander out of your bed towards it. Ramshackle has always been a good place to watch the stars, at least according to Tsunotarou. You’ve always been more partial to the moon, there was something comforting about its constant presence. No matter where you went in your old world, even if the constellations changed the moon would always stay the same. If you focus on this one’s shape, if you ignore the snoring monster in your bed or the shape of the window you’re looking through, you can almost trick yourself into thinking that things are still the same. That you will get back to sleep and see your loved ones when you wake up tomorrow. A strange bile builds up in your throat and you turn away from the window towards your desk. The photographs that decorate it are filled with things that should be impossible. Leona standing on a flying broom somehow bored out of his mind, Jack and Deuce posing at a track practice, Ace trying to teach Grim a card trick, but if you were giving awards for the most out of place… There’s eight people in the photo, three humans, one monster, one beastman, and three merfolk, but only two sport tails. Azul looks exactly the same as the day you met him, dressed in a neatly pressed dorm uniform with that stupid hat covering his beautiful, perfect hair. You can’t decide what’s more unreal to you, the Leech twins' appearance or the location of the photograph, but well they sort of go hand in hand don’t they? Your eyes settle on Azul. He had refused to show his true form during the trip, if you didn’t know any better you would assume he was human like you but not like you. There’s something undeniably magical about him, beautiful even. He belongs there, in that photo under the sea, in this world. The moon illuminates the photo with her gaze, cold, distant, completely out of your reach but oh so very beautiful.

You take a deep, shuddering breath and try to throw away your thoughts.

~~~~

“Hench-human! Look at me look at me!” There are many days you feel like Grim’s parent as opposed to his… dorm leader? Classmate? Fellow traveler? Whatever you were actually supposed to be.

“I’m looking Grim, I promise!” You cheer him on, waving up at the monster who is happily flying above you on his little broom. “You’re doing great!” Coach Vargas had gone out of his way to find it for him so he could “train his muscles” with everyone else in flying class. It was cute, soothed the wound of not being able to participate yourself just a bit. The list of exercises Vargas handed you certainly didn’t.

“Slacking doesn’t build muscles!” You knew it was stupid to want to participate in a class that’s literal purpose was to teach students to channel magic, but it still sucked to be expected to do yoga in the corner of a field while Ace, Deuce, and now Grim get to zoom around above. At least you know Deuce isn’t making fun of you and will give you a ride if asked. “Hey while you’re at it would you mind keeping an eye on Azul? He’s supposed to be practicing over next to the bleachers.” You blink, stupidly at Vargas.

“I’m sorry?” Vargas points towards what is usually your exile corner and see- a sight. One you can immediately tell Azul would probably rather you never have ever seen. Your beautiful merman, rival? Acquaintance? Object of affection? Is pathetically hopping up and down with a stern look of determination on his face like he’s trying to negotiate with the broom rather than fly it. Your heart beats uncomfortably close to the front of your chest. Cold. Out of reach. And yet so blindingly pathetically beautiful you have to choke down bile as you make your way over to your little corner and begin clumsily stretching and keeping your gaze firmly on Grim out of habit. You hear rather than see him notice you.

“Prefect!” he splutters, chokes really and you have to physically bite your tongue to ground yourself enough to speak normally and completely lose it when you turn to face him. Azul’s winded, the tentacle waves of his hair are shimmering in the late afternoon sun with what’s probably sweat, but he doesn’t smell bad at all. His glasses are slanted and he’s clinging onto his broom so tightly his knuckles are turning white.

“Azul! Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” It comes out as a squeak and you break eye contact immediately. “I just-” you don’t want him to think you’re spying on him. “I usually-” well that just sounds like an excuse. “I can’t fly!” The smile on your face has got to look stupid but when you look at Azul he doesn’t seem to mind. If anything he relaxes in both posture and expression.

“I can see that.” He smiles and his eyes shimmer for a brief second before reaching to push his glasses and his persona back into place. “Does Coach Vargas always have you exercise during flying class?”

“Pretty much.” You don’t feel like you should complain really, it would be a bit unfair on paper if you were the only one relaxing during a class filled with physical activity. “Crewel convinced him to let me do yoga because I ‘need to relax more’ or something like that.”

“Do you not find exercise relaxing?” It’s a relatively simple question but this is Azul asking so it feels like the start of a survey that ends with you agreeing to sign away your immortal soul. So naturally,

“Not when everyone can watch.” you answer as honestly as possible because according to the dark mirror you don’t have one anyway. If Azul notices your skepticism it doesn’t stop him from plowing on ahead.

“I can understand that.” He lets out what you think is his best performative sigh, hand over his heart in a manner you are sure even Vil would compliment as well crafted showmanship. “Really there’s no reason for this school to force us to participate in activities we simply aren’t meant for.” You have to swallow a giggle at his use of “we,” that earlier display must not have been a one time thing. Sure would be a shame if you asked Floyd about it, he definitely wouldn’t tell you embarrassing things about his best friend. “Do you not find the lounge relaxing?” He asks the question with the same tone as his previous monologue, but it catches you off guard. You had expected this line of questioning to go in a different direction. Maybe he wanted to know just how close you were to the staff and see if he could use you as an in, not a google review.

“It’s very relaxing.” You aren’t just trying to flatter him, though you won’t object if he decides to puff up with pride from your praise. “There really is- well I certainly haven’t ever seen another place like it, I just have other places I should be spending my money.”

“You know I can help with that right.” You must look extremely unamused because he deflates slightly but doesn’t falter. “The National Track and Field Meet is coming up relatively soon, and I’ve been making some… changes to the menu. It’s meant to appeal to a different clientele than we typically serve. As a human from a completely different world your perspective on such a switch could prove invaluable.” You stare at him, hard, trying to figure what angle he’s working and can’t really hit on one. Well beyond the obvious; he thinks this will make him money.

“Are you sure you don’t just want me to wait tables during the event?” Azul’s offered you work before, usually through Floyd dramatically arriving at Ramshackle unannounced to slack off in your guest room because “Azul will never find me here. Not if I close my eyes and hide behind little shrimpy.” But you weren’t too sure if that arrangement could apply to an event.

“I’ve already secured Ruggie’s assistance with that, but if you’re interested in a paid position Jade will certainly need some help in the kitchens, well assuming you’re better at washing dishes than Grim.” You both have a bit of a laugh, though yours is significantly less mean spirited. “I can give you more details about the menu tomorrow night, assuming you are free.”

“I suppose I could find some time.” you give your best impression of Azul’s own shrug and hope he isn't too insulted. “Any fine print I should be concerned about before I completely agree to this?” He pauses, you are tempted to say because he didn’t expect to make it this far, but realistically he’s probably just trying to pick out what part of his plan is safe to tell you.

“The waitstaff will all be wearing their ceremonial robes as a special uniform for the event, but since you would just be washing dishes I would recommend-”

“I’m sorry, do you mean those things everyone was wearing at orientation?” You don’t mean to interrupt him, really you’re just confused. “The Octavinelle dorm uniform looks just fine.”

“I’m pleased you like them.” He means it, you can tell by how he stands just a little bit taller, stopping your heart for what you tell yourself is the briefest of seconds. “Our school's ceremonial robes are extremely popular with the local girls, so I am hoping they will draw more outside attention to the lounge.”

“The ceremonial robes? Seriously?” Not that you could ever have been considered an authority on what types of menswear was objectively attractive but you were a person with preferences and the ceremonial robes looked a bit difficult to take off. Not that you have thought extensively about them or anything else you’ve seen Azul wear.

“Do you not find them attractive prefect?” The fact Azul’s asking you seriously, with a touch of distress doesn’t register until you’ve inelegantly vomited up your response.

“Not really. I mean from what I remember from orientation you looked good in them but I can’t say I like them better than your dorm uniform. You even make the stupid hat work.” You physically bite down on your tongue to keep from saying anything else incriminating but the damage is already done. The poor man looks like a boiled octopus, red from the tip of his ears to the point of his nose. “Azul?” He coughs into his hand.

“Well, disagreements about fashion aside, I take it we have a deal?”

“Sure. Just send me a message on magicam when you need me and I’ll be there.”

~~~~

The location flickers in his peripheral vision, his focus wholly consumed by them. He’s never touched them like this, they’d never let him hold them like this but those thoughts fizzle in the face of your memory. “You are amazing.” He kisses them slowly as he gently cradles their face. Closer, he wants them closer but tauntingly, agonizingly they pull away as the scene settles. He’s on land, in the vip room of the lounge arms wrapped tightly around their waist while they’re sitting in his lap. Closer they’re not close enough to him they can still move away, but they show no sign of leaving. They just stare down at him, into him seeing him for who he is and not flinching at the sight. Closer. They lean back into his kiss and he pulls, surprisingly strong, into a tighter embrace. Closer. In dreams you don’t need to breathe, he’s free to move his hand behind their head and maneuver them down. Closer. He pins their hand next to their head, intertwining their fingers. Closer. “You look good, you look beautiful.” He shudders into them, and-

Wakes up dry heaving into his pillows with a scream. He’s panting, desperately trying to convince himself it’s out of disgust but he knows that’s not the case. Azul’s known for a while now just how he feels about them, he finds it ugly. Not them, sevens never them, he doubts he could ever truly find them as insignificant as he did before losing his contracts ever again. He untangles himself from his sheets and reaches for his glasses and phone, searching for the picture they’d taken at the museum. They look so happy, in awe even, and if he wants to lie to himself he can pretend that’s his doing and not the allure of the sea working its magic on yet another human. But Azul is a merfolk, he may admire the sea witch but he knows the tale of the mermaid princess just as well. The love between her and her prince was always portrayed as pure, innocent, devoid of things like thirst and greed. That’s the sort of love he thinks they deserve, the kind that’s not burdened by insecurities or possessiveness. Who would love someone who constantly lies?

“You are amazing as it is, even without stealing anyone else’s powers. You work so hard, determination is much harder to master than magic.”

If he closes his eyes he can still see your face as you say it. You meant every word, he knows you did. Even now you don’t really treat him all that differently than you do your other friends, his efforts are appreciated and respected according to the work he puts into them just like he’s always wanted. A wry smile works his way to his lips. How poor and unfortunate he is.

~~~~

“When you need me” came sooner than you expected. As soon as you made it back to Ramshackle you had two messages from Azul, one letting you know it was him and the other saying he had a space available for you to buss tables tomorrow if you were still available.

“I haven’t forgotten about my original request, once closing tasks are complete you can expect a truly unique reward.”

He texts like he speaks, professionally. If you didn’t know he was still a student you’d assume he was twice his actual age and already established in an office somewhere. Part of that was true you supposed, he did own the Lounge and was probably texting from his office.

“(* ^ ω ^) I’ll make sure to be on time!”

“Hench-human.” You look up from your phone to see Grim sitting on his favorite armchair, he sounds deathly serious and his face is bent into a look of disappointment he usually only reserves for Ace. He’s even crossing his arms like a disappointed parent. “We need to talk.”

“Did you puke on the bed again?”

“No!” He drops the act for a brief second before remembering he’s supposed to be “the one in charge” or something like that. “But if you keep gigglin’ like that I’m gonna!”

“Like what?” you attempt to mimic his energy by folding your hands across your chest.

“Like you got a crush on that stupid octopus.”

“Oh.” Oh. You hadn’t really thought much about that. On purpose really. “Well you don’t have to do that.” You had thought many things about Azul, felt a lot of things too. Frustration, no one got to treat your friends that badly and then laugh about it. Disappointment, someone so talented shouldn’t be wasting his time bullying others to feel better about himself. He should be secure in his own successes. Pity, but then again how else could he be expected to feel with his childhood having been what it was? Anger, that made his actions all the more inexcusable, you didn’t really regret putting him in his place even if the method was… less than ideal. Awe, you were aware most of your friends were still stuck firmly in anger. Sure, Ace and Deuce didn’t have much of a problem buying things from the Lounge or using their point cards, but there still was a bit of a sting to the whole arrangement. Grim might not have been capable of much but he could hold a grudge. Especially when someone hurt you, it was exceptionally sweet. You however…

It started with his overblot form. Floyd never should have told you that’s what he actually looked like, you swear you forgot how to breathe for a solid minute. Azul was beautiful, ethereal, and awe inspiring. You didn’t even mind that he was actively trying to choke you with his tentacles, you were that tempted to let him. Once he came to and came back to his human form, you were forced to swallow those feelings. Tuck them away in the hopes that Azul would go back to being that distant pretty face he had been since he ran down Grim at orientation. You told yourself you were content being friends with Riddle and the Heartslabyul gang, you didn’t need the acceptance of other dorms.

But he hadn’t. The trip to the museum apparently made the twins decide you were a friend; Floyd would follow you around when he got bored and demand you play with him, and if Jade had your schedule memorized no he didn’t prefect him ambushing you with an invitation to check out his club was completely coincidental. Azul remained distant, only ever really approaching when he needed something or to make an offer. It hurt that small part of themselves they’d been beating away with a stick, it hurt even worse when he reached out harder when they ignored him. This world’s already hurt you enough, you don’t need to be pining over an emotionally unavailable guy who viewed everything in the world through material value.

“Mmmmm.” Grim’s staring at you, clearly unconvinced and trying to not come off as worried.

“Really Grim. I promise, no kissing fish for me.” your phone pings and you see another message, from Floyd this time, and swipe to unlock just as the front door of Ramshackle nearly cracks off its hinges to announce his arrival.

“Shriiiiiiimpy, I’m so bored and Azul’s makin me work.” A loud obviously fake whine rings through the foyer and you sigh.

Looks like you will be seeing Azul a bit sooner than expected.

~~~~

The lounge is chaos by the time you sprint through the mirrors into Octavinelle. You scan the lounge frantically for Jade and settle on his retreating form heading towards the back office. It would be undignified to sprint towards him so you force yourself to speed walk through the waves of customers towards Floyd’s usual section. Another first year, one that actually belongs in this dorm, is floundering around trying to figure out why he’s even alive and nearly jumps out of his skin when you tap him on the shoulder. “Sorry I’m late, can you let Azul know I’m here?” He abandons you faster than a sinking ship and you barely resist the urge to scream at him to show a little gratitude. The Monstro Lounge is a “gentleman's establishment.” It doesn’t employ howler monkeys, but it sure does serve them. You snap your best customer service smile into place and glide over to one such cherished customer whose glare is threatening to freeze you to the floor. “I’m sorry about the wait, how can I serve you today?”

Meanwhile, back at the office, Azul is attempting to convince himself that he isn’t mad. Really, he’s just disappointed and really how could he be that when Floyd has been such a cherished friend for so long and-

“Oya, Azul, you’re starting to resemble a boiled octopus, are you sure this hasn’t complicated your plans at all?” Jade is usually, key word being usually, just as inconvenienced by his brother’s mood swings as anyone else. But this time, this time, Azul thinks while his left eye threatens to spasm out of its socket, he has a slight feeling that Jade might have encouraged this one. He’s smiling way too wide.

“Nonsense, I always have back up-” Jade doesn’t let him finish his thought.

“Ah but we can’t just go calling the prefect for this can we? Not when things aren’t perfect yet.”

“Just what are you getting out of this?” He really shouldn’t have to beg, Jade seems surprised he’s even trying.

“Maybe I’m just a bit better at reading things than you are.” And before Azul can try strangling Jade for that comment one of his students bursts into the back room panting as if he’d just run a marathon.

“Dorm leader! The prefect came over to take Floyd’s section. Said to let you know they were here.” He doesn’t respond immediately, he can see his plans going up in dust around him while Jade laughs beside him.

“There you see, Azul? No need to worry.” And as if the night couldn’t get any worse that damn moray bows to whisper in his ear. “They came for you after all.”

It really is a good night for unagi.

~~~~

The walk back to Ramshackle is quiet. If you just keep your eyes on the path in front of you, the only thing you can hear is the chirp of an occasional cricket. The sigh of an owl. And of course the light click of the footsteps beside you, if you were extra quiet, you could maybe even hear Azul breathing. It’s soft, if you could bring yourself to look at him maybe you would see that he’s just as nervous about this as you are.

Not that “this” is anything special really. You’ve worked closing shifts at the lounge before, and someone always walks you back. Usually it’s Grim, he never actually helps with the work but he’s more than happy to show up at the end and claim some share of the reward for shepherding you home. But this time the little weasel had decided not to show and, for some reason, Azul had asked to accompany you. “For my sanity if nothing else.” You hadn’t been able to speak since hearing that for fear your heart would leap right out of your mouth, you aren’t even entirely certain how you managed to nod an approval. Not that Azul’s been much better, he hasn’t made eye contact with you since you started the walk back. Or spoken. You’d almost think he’s annoyed, or angry, if not for how the closer you get to your dorm the slower his steps get. Maybe he doesn’t want things to end so soon either…

“The moon is beautiful tonight.” He breaks his silence with a sigh and you choke slightly, eyes darting towards him warily even though you know for a fact that phrase doesn’t hold the same meaning here.

“Ramshackle always has a great view of the night sky.” you look up at the moon to avoid Azul’s quizzical gaze. “It looks almost exactly like the moon in my world.”

“You enjoy watching it then, I take it?” You don’t answer immediately, the question swirling up a myriad of contracting emotions and answers.

“Sometimes.” You settle on a thought, haphazard as it feels. “It’s funny, the longer I look at it the more it makes me think about a story I used to really like.”

“Used to?” You don’t have to look at Azul to know he’s doing the thing he always does while probing for information. Yet you do anyway, the little unnecessary push he gives to his glasses is too cute.

“It just feels a bit too close to home now.” It feels silly to say that, but then again, this is Azul. He could also technically be considered to be from another world, so maybe he’d understand. “There’s this bamboo cutter who finds a baby in one of the bamboo stalks he cuts and raises her as his daughter. There’s always something just a bit off about her, when there’s a full moon out she stares at it and cries a whole lot, like there’s something up there she misses. She’s extremely beautiful though so everyone kind of brushes that off, and after finding her the bamboo cutter starts finding gold in every bamboo stalk he cuts.”

“That’s unrealistic.” scoffs Azul. “There has to be a catch.” You can’t help but laugh, of course this is where he’d choose to interrupt.

“It’s a story, Azul. And besides you literally live in a world where magic exists calm down.” He snorts and you quickly start talking before he can begin his protests. “Anyway he starts finding gold inside the bamboo and becomes wealthy enough to be considered important. His daughter grows up to be an otherworldly beautiful woman and gets a bunch of attention from all over the country, people call her a princess. She’s so popular the emperor himself comes to see her and they get to talking. The two of them find they have a lot in common, so when the emperor proposes he’s sure she’ll say yes.” Azul’s smart, you’re pretty sure he’s figured out the plot twist already by the way he’s set his jaw, but he makes no attempt to stop you. Almost like he’s hoping you will prove him wrong. “But she doesn’t. She says she can’t marry him because she isn’t from his country and can’t be his queen. He’s heartbroken but the princess agrees to keep in touch so he thinks that maybe he could one day have a chance, but then the princess’s strange behavior’s start getting more erratic. She starts spending every night outside looking at the moon, and when her father finally asks her why she tells him a secret. That she is from the moon, and that soon she’s going to have to return.” You look back at Azul, expecting his eyes to be on the moon only to find them centered pointedly on you. It’s a heavy gaze, suffocating almost.

“I can’t imagine the emperor was accepting of that.” He’s trying to make a joke, at least you think. The words fall sort of flat.

“When the princess tells him that, he tries to send soldiers to her house. To prevent the moon from taking her back. But it doesn’t work, when the time comes for her to return everyone in the house falls into a deep sleep while the princess is swept up by the moon people.” You both stand in silence for a moment before you think to add. “That’s not really why I started disliking it though. There’s- when she goes back to the moon they wrap her up in this cloak that makes her forget everyone she met on earth.”

“Do you think that’s what will happen to you?” There’s an emotion in his voice you can’t quite place. If you had to describe it you’d say he was teetering on the edge of desperation, over what you can’t quite tell. “Do you want that to happen to you?”

“No!” You surprise yourself with how forcefully you shout. “I don’t think the lady from the moon did either. Pretty much every version of the story I ever read really made it seem like she wanted to stay, but-”

“Why didn’t the emperor go himself?” He’s getting closer to the edge, similar to how he sounded when his contracts got turned to dust but thankfully not yet that desperate. “If he was in love, why didn’t he demand they stay?” And that aura from flying class is back; he’s talking but he isn’t saying what he means but this time you think-

The way he looks at you has changed. Azul’s smiles have started reaching his eyes, you belatedly foolishly realize, and now his carefully concealed doubts have too. “Maybe he was afraid.” you don’t have to phrase it as a question, there’s no real question about what’s keeping you both silent here. He flinches, trying desperately to steady himself. You take a deep, shuddering breath as Azul squares his shoulders and steps closer to you. “That they wanted to leave all along and he couldn’t bring himself to deny them.” Closer. “Maybe he thought somethings were more important than taking a risk on someone from another world.” Closer. Not quite yet as close as he could be but firmly within reach, but he doesn’t dare move any more.

“He’s a better man than me.” It’s a warning, or at least it should register as one. Make you reconsider the smile that escapes your lips and settles firmly into his poor unfortunate heart. “I don’t think I could let such a rare person go if they shone so clearly against the night sky.” You want to laugh. Really you do but you’re too busy reveling in the newfound light in his eyes to do anything other than choke back a sob.

“Then I guess you’re lucky I’m not from the moon.” And finally, finally, finally you move to close the gap so you’re standing chest to chest under the light of the moon, warming the cold beat of his heart into something far less shallow. Finally, finally he sees you, and knows he doesn’t have to look away.

*Jade encouraged Floyd to ditch so Azul wouldn't be in control of the conversation. Partially to mess with him and partially because I think someone as obsessed with perfection as Azul should be forced to realize love isn't something you can plan every aspect of and I think Jade would agree with me because I am the author and I say so.

**In the original translation I read everyone is blinded by a light. I changed this for correlation to chapter 7.

#twst x reader #twst x yuu #azul ashengrotto x reader #azul x reader #azul x yuu #azul ashengrotto #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland x yuu

579 notes · View notes

canolaaoil · 1 year

Text

To all my best friends, only twelve leagues and one text message away

1. Dearly Departed, Brockhampton. // 2. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion. // 3. unsent project. // 4. I am in Eskew. // 5. His dark materials. // 6. Where did you go? Hishaam Siddiqui. // 7. parts in motion, Vera Much. // 8. Your Name Engraved, Herein. 9. Hmu, spacegirl GEMMY.

Description follows

[ID: song lyrics reading, "What's the point of havin' a best friend if you / end up losin' him?" end ID]

[[ID: a photograph in the style of an early digital camera of two teenage girls cuddling under blankets on a couch watching something on a computer. end ID]

[ID: a poem reading, "Life changes fast. / Life changes in the instant. / You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. end ID]

[ID: a fuzzy photograph in the style of an early digital camera of three people huddled around a fridge. All of the people have brown hair, glowing golden from the lighting and only one of their faces is turned toward the camera. end ID]

[ID: a text entry on a pink background reading, "To: Harry I / i've written 43 / poems about you. / come back and i / won't have to write anymore. / -asle" end ID]

[ID: a photograph in the style of an early digital camera of a couple in a photobooth with only their feet and legs visible behind the curtain. one is sitting on the other's lap. ]

[ID: text reading, "The problem is, my love, is that I can't sustain the fact of your death. / I can convince myself that it's true, force myself to picture your rotting, ruined face dumped in a mass grave somewhere out in the world... / ...and then my phone buzzes and I'm still expecting an unexpected message from you, telling me what corner of the globe you've holed up in, the foods you're eating, the card-players you're outwitting." end ID]

[ID: a photograph of two people in an aquarium, shot from behind. they stand in front of a large window showing a tank of water and seaweed. the two pose as if dancing grandiosely with no one else around. end ID]

[ID: a paragraph reading, "And it was comforting to think she and Will had another thing in common. She wondered if there would ever come an hour in her life when she didn't think of him- didn't speak to him in her head, didn't relive every moment they'd been together, didn't long for his voice and his hands and his love. She had never dreamed of what it would feel like to love someone so much; of all the things that astonished her in her adventures, that was what astonished her the most. She thought the tenderness it left in her heart was like a bruise that would never go away, but she would cherish it forever." end ID]

[ID: a photograph from behind of a group of people walking together down a city street. two of the people have their arms around each other shoulders. another two link arms. the image is slightly blurry. end ID]

[ID: a couplet reading, "One day I woke up and we no longer spoke the / same language. I haven't heard from you since." end ID]

[ID: a photograph of two people, focused on one in the foreground. A young woman looks lovingly towards something out of frame, her face resting on the meat of her hand. In the background a man looks away towards another subject. The lighting is dreamy and yellow. end ID]

[ID: lyrics reading, "Show me it all / Tell me what's wrong / You got your hard drive stolen / Your phone's been broken / Play me a song off of mine / Show me it all / Show me a rise / Show me a fall / Pay me no mind / Paint me in gold / I don't mean to pry, but give me a call" end ID]

[ID: a gif from the movie 'Your Name Engraved Herein' of Birdy and A-han riding a motorbike through the streets at night. Both smile widely as they breeze along, Birdy sitting behind A-han with his shirt off over his head, yelling happily. End ID]

[ID: lyrics reading, "They say everything has reason / Life fluctuates like seasons / And maybe someday soon we'll both find our reason / But bitch you're still the bro / Never letting go / Of the friendship bracelets we made when we were twelve // I'll be waiting by my phone / For you to hit me up / For you to hit me up / Hit me hit me up" end ID]

[ID: a photograph of a plaque on an outside wall reading, "LIFE HAPPENS BUT I STILL CARE FOR YOU. I HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL." end ID]

#web weaving #parallels #comparatives #brockhampton #i am in eskew #vera much #his dark materials #the unsent project #back on my quest to make people cry in the brockhampton tag apparently #the caption is a reference to the epic of gilgamesh #when gilgamesh has to cross twelve leagues of darkness to get to the realm of heaven/the gods #but uh yeah madilyn i hate you (your dad) for moving away and im so happy you escaped and we didn't die but i fucking miss you and i hat #that you're taller than me its rude #that spacegirl gemmy song makes me crazy fr though #also listen to vera much. now <3

261 notes · View notes

bodhranwriting · 9 months

Text

Finn and the Arsonist by Bodh M.

In three years of running the only cat sanctuary in Middle Besser, I’ve heard a lot of their odd tales about how they ended up here.

Getting into fights is a common one. Getting trapped in wells happens more often that you’d think. Inattentive families, owners needing the space… the list goes on. I try not to judge people’s situations too harshly. After all, my main witness is going to be a little biased and cat-senses don’t always translate well to human, as you’d expect. But there are definitely pickups I’ve done that have made my blood boil, if you don’t mind me saying.

But I’ve never had one before that made me scared and certainly never had one involving one of my closest friends.

It was a stinking hot day in the middle of summer when a small child barged open the door to the Respite with a terrified cat yowling at a pitch to match the temple bells.

I had been dozing at the counter, sweat sticking my sandy curls to my forehead and a new bandage wrapped around my arm – one kitten had not wanted to take her medicine – so I damn well fell out of my chair as a screaming feline was dumped a fingerbreadth from my face.

“I found them in Gert’s Alley,” the girl said helpfully, in lieu of greeting. She was probably nine or ten; a scruffy little thing in a faded blue dress with adorable tight black coils and a missing tooth so her next words came out as a lisp, “He theemed thercared. Look at all the blood!”

Dragging myself up from floor and trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes, I blearily focused on my newest patient. She (and definitely she, I noted as she wriggled out of the blanket) was a gorgeous black Kysi with golden eyes and the huge ears typical to her breed. As she backed up, hissing, I reached out a hand and concentrated, drawing up warm reserves of the little magic I had from my chest and into my throat.

Translation spells, in my experience anyway, always had a taste. I’d never been particularly good at them: it was almost easier to just do the hard work and learn the language. But translating my tongue to that of cats was like clicking your fingers might be to someone else. Easy. Not requiring much thought at all.

Cat tastes like buttermilk. I don’t know why, but there seems to be a connection to what I taste and what I’m trying to speak. Bee tastes, almost boringly, of honey. Spider has a dusty texture. Rat, for some odd reason, is hazelnut. I haven’t worked out that one and neither had the teachers out in the Hartland’s. I think one of my classmates who fell into the academic trap – track, sorry – is compiling research on it.

(I answered her very impersonal letter a few months ago and never heard back. Hope I helped. She did bully me into passing my star-reading exam, after all.)

I took a breath, the flavour rising into my nose, and attempted first contact. “Easy there… I’m not gonna hurt you… what’s your name…?”

The cat hissed again, but only for show because she answered quickly, “Smells-like-this. But upright call me Smoke.”

“I’m Finn,” I said, almost more for the benefit of the still-watching urchin. I projected an imitation of my scent into her mind: a kind of mix of cat fur, woodsmoke, and lye soap, and asked, “May I touch you? I need to find where you’re bleeding.”

Smoke hesitated and then lay down. “Yes.”

Carefully, I reached forwards, letting her sniff my hand. “Could you get me a bucket from the pump?” I asked the girl.

She nodded with great dignity and vanished outside. I turned my attention back to Smoke. It was funny: she was far better fed than a stray ought to be –

“Know your smell, upright.”

I jumped. Swallowing hard, I managed to keep the connection strong enough to ask, “You… do?”

Smoke curled up under my hand. “It was on take-off furs. And blood not mine.”

Ice settled in my stomach, cold fingers squeezing my guts paper-thin. “Whose is it…?”

Her tail thrashed, ears flattening against her head. “My upright.” The flash of fangs made me jerk my hand away. I was panting and I didn’t know why.

“What happened?”

Smoke sat up again, fixing shining golden eyes on me. She raised her head like a queen, crossing one paw in front of the other.

“Uprights invade territory. Smash door. I fight. Upright feeder does too. I run when they lay red flower.”

“Red flow…” Suddenly, the buttermilk soured to smoke and ash as my mind made the necessary translation. Terror thumped through my chest. “They burnt the house?”

I grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck as she bolted from my shout. She tried to claw at me, but I didn’t even feel it. “What does your upright look like, Smoke?”

“Put down!”

“Please, tell me. What do they look like?”

“Upright! Smell like this! Not white-yellow fur like you. White-orange fur! Cloud eye! Make pretty noise a lot!” She meowed as I dropped her, landing perfectly on the table as I fell into my chair.

“Gert’s Alley… that’s where you were found?”

Smoke leapt to the ground and gave me the feline equivalent of a shrug.

I was up and running down the street before I even realised I’d processed the information.

#writeblr #writing #deaf #queer #fantasy #Finn and the Arsonist

117 notes · View notes

theresattrpgforthat · 10 months

Note

Excuse me, would you tell me of some games with consequences for losing fights more interesting than having the story end because all the protagonists are dead baked into the rules, where losing fights is expected to happen more than once in a blue moon?

THEME: Failure In All Its' Forms

Hello friend! I had a couple of different thoughts about how failure in conflict might manifest itself in games. I decided to give you a few examples of different game types, and hopefully diving into these kinds of genres or playstyles gives you even more options!

24XX: Dire Pulse, by Matt Kaley-Burton.

BUILD A BETTER TOMORROW – Only the Company stands between humanity and extinction. Help us reverse environmental collapse with Project Omega! Injured on the job? Unable to work? Our cutting-edge exoskeletal rig (Exo-Rig™) technology gets you contributing again. Sign up today!

In Dire Pulse, losing a fight and even dying aren’t the end of your character. You are in a setting where air-borne nanites will reconstruct you in the event of your loss, although they will also resurrect anything you kill as well. For your characters, the Company has your life in their iron-clad claws and they don’t want you to die until the job is done.

I think the narrative stakes presented in the character creation options are interesting to look at when considering failure in this game. Characters work for the Company for a number of reasons - they might be in debt, they might rely on the company’s technology, they might be getting blackmailed! So the threat that hangs over your character’s head in case of failure likely takes shape in Company retribution, although there’s no rules about how to role-play this in game. Then again, for these kinds of games, OSR rulesets rarely spell it out for you.

Mectors, by Chubby Crow Games.

In Mectors, players take on the role of a farmer, miner, fisher, carpenter, or some other worker in a labor intensive field. Mector Owners come from all kinds of backgrounds. Some own a Mector that’s been in their family for generations. Others came across theirs recently, through purchase or luck. And a rare few have managed to piece their own together using scraps from decommissioned Mectors, but this is even harder than it sounds. No matter how they got it, they now have a powerful tool with a long history.

Mectors has a really interesting take because it incorporates mechs into a more slice-of-life style game. Your characters are going to meet with challenges, but the focus is less on adventure and more on helping your community thrive. The consequences for a bad roll in this game might injure you, but they’re just as likely to add stress and scars that will affect you down the road. Your characters also have plenty of tools to avoid or minimize failure; having strong relationships is one way that you can avoid or cancel an incoming consequence, for example. The game system is Charge, which takes a lot of cues from Forged in the Dark games, so if you liked Blades or a similar hack, you might want to check this game out!

Swellbloom Kids, by lampara games PH.

SWELLBLOOM KIDS is a ttrpg built around Filipino beliefs and folklore. It features reimagined mythical figures, from the moon-eating snake Bakunawa (here, a primordial force of chaos seeking to swallow reality) to the personified cold La Niña (here, a rain goddess that warps time).

The setting stars the eponymous swellbloom kids, whose moods rise and fall due to cosmic El Niño and La Niña, respectively. Sensitive to the movements of the universe, they are gifted supernatural abilities thanks to The Twelve Guardians, deities watching over the different parts of the year and forming a zodiac of sorts.

Games about kids with powers are usually designed so as to give you the ability to take on a lot of big threats without actually threatening your character’s life. In this case, the player characters are kids blessed by gods, but this could easily work for magical girl games or games about superheroes of some kind. Losing a fight means you get taken out, but you’ll be able to come back later - what you might lose is your confidence, or perhaps you harm your relationship with your patron. I find this game really interesting because it’s rooted in Filipino mythology, and that makes this kids-with-powers game really unique!

Legacy, Life Among the Ruins, by UFO Press.

Legacy is a game of survival and rebuilding in a world ravaged and altered by incomprehensible calamity. Craft characters and families, head out into the wasteland and create true, lasting changes in the world. With cutting edge rules, a highly flexible multi-generational system, and more than a dozen character playbooks to choose from, Legacy has everything you need to start playing.

In Legacy, you play not just as a single character, but as a faction. Losing one character to death or time won’t prevent your faction from success in the long run, and failure is more likely to affect your family’s assets and status in post-apocalyptic society than it is to wipe them out.

Legacy games are meant to be played over long stretches of time - at the end of each cycle, the group will move the clock forward one year, ten years, heck even 100 years to see how your family changes over time. When you zoom in to moments and certain conflicts, you’ll pick up a singular character who is meant to represent your family, someone with notable skills and a valuable role to play. These characters might live into the next cycle, but their role will likely change, and they are just as likely to fade into the background - and if they do die, their death has a big mechanical impact that doesn’t end the game but rather pushes it forward.

Court of Blades, by A Couple of Drakes.

Court of Blades takes place in the vibrant, fantasy renaissance city-state of Ilrien, in a world populated by scheming nobles, court magicians, and dashing duelists.

As a noble retainer, you will engage in the polite civil warfare of the great families. You will host lavish balls, and manipulate the courts, uncover the plots of your rivals, protect the city from arcane dangers, manage your own intrigues and personal scandals, leverage your reputations, connections, and so much more.

You’ll likely get into fights in this game, but the stakes are not about killing your opponent - in Court of Blades a duel is about understanding your opponent, upholding your honour, and managing others’ perceptions of you. Losing a duel is more likely to tank your social status than it is to threaten your life, and I can see some battles being completely without weapons - a duel of words, for example, or an attempt to gain more information.

The game is inspired by the warring families of history, as well as the Montagues and Capulets of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. If you like the intrigue and scandal of a noble court, and you want to damage your opponent’s reputation more than you want to rip off their limbs, I recommend checking out this game.

#dnd #tabletop games #game recommendations #indie ttrpgs #asks

81 notes · View notes

samepisodebracket · 1 year

Text

justice for sam

If the spnepisodebracket craze has shown us anything, it's that the supernatural fanbase is extremely divided, with the lowly sam stan seemingly at the bottom of the pile. sam is always last in polls, so this is a bracket for the 10% or so who always votes for him. because yeah, there's 327 episodes of Supernatural, but how many are popular because of a dean or destiel moment? how many good episodes are drowned out because they focus on sam?

i've chosen, with some crowdsourced peer review (special thanks to @spneveryseason, @suncaptor, and @ambersock!) 125 episodes that are Sam Relevant. Some are extremely sam-centric, some just have a shot where sam looks like he's being crucified that gives me brain worms -- i tried to be generous about it to keep a relatively even seasons distribution! matchups will be random and polls will last 24 hours each. in the tradition of @spnepisodebracket (who this is obviously inspired by and would not be possible without!) i'll try to rb a gifset for every episode in the poll!

a final note: no this is not that serious but the criteria for voting here should be how good the episode is as a SAM episode, not as anything else, so please vote accordingly! i am making this for people who actually enjoy sam and if that is not you, then this is not the poll for you!

with that out of the way, here is the compiled list of episodes! voting starts this sammy sunday, 3/26!

Season 1 Pilot (1x01) Bloody Mary (1x05) Home (1x09) Asylum (1x10) Scarecrow (1x11) Nightmare (1x14) Shadow (1x16) Provenance (1x19) Salvation (1x21) Devil's Trap (1x22) Season 2 Simon Said (2x05) Croatoan (2x09) Hunted (2x10) Playthings (2x11) Houses of the Holy (2x13) Born Under a Bad Sign (2x14) Heart (2x17) All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1 (2x21) All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2 (2x22) Season 3 Bad Day at Black Rock (3x03) A Very Supernatural Christmas (3x08) Mystery Spot (3x11) Jus In Bello (3x12) Time is On My Side (3x15) Season 4 Metamorphosis (4x04) It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester (4x07) I Know What You Did Last Summer (4x09) After School Special (4x13) On the Head of a Pin (4x16) It's a Terrible Life (4x17) Jump the Shark (4x19) When the Levee Breaks (4x21) Lucifer Rising (4x22) Season 5 Good God, Y'all! (5x02) Free to be You and Me (5x03) Changing Channels (5x08) Sam, Interrupted (5x11) Swap Meat (5x12) The Song Remains the Same (5x13) My Bloody Valentine (5x14) Dark Side of the Moon (5x16) 99 Problems (5x17) Two Minutes to Midnight (5x21) Swan Song (5x22) Season 6 Exile on Main St. (6x01) You Can't Handle the Truth (6x06) Family Matters (6x07) Clap Your Hands if You Believe (6x09) Caged Heat (6x10) Appointment in Samarra (6x11) Like a Virgin (6x12) Unforgiven (6x13) The French Mistake (6x15) The Man Who Knew Too Much (6x22) Season 7 Meet the New Boss (7x01) Hello, Cruel World (7x02) The Girl Next Door (7x03) Season 7, Time for a Wedding! (7x08) Plucky Pennywhistle's Magic Menagerie (7x14) Repo Man (7x15) Out with the Old (7x16) The Born-Again Identity (7x17) Season 8 We Need to Talk About Kevin (8x01) Hunteri Heroici (8x08) Trial and Error (8x14) Taxi Driver (8x19) Pac-Man Fever (8x20) The Great Escapist (8x21) Clip Show (8x21) Sacrifice (8x23) Season 9 Holy Terror (9x09) Road Trip (9x10) First Born (9x11) The Purge (9x13) Meta Fiction (9x18) Season 10 Black (10x01) Soul Survivor (10x03) Fan Fiction (10x05) Inside Man (10x17) Book of the Damned (10x18) The Werther Project (10x19) The Prisoner (10x22) Brother's Keeper (10x23) Season 11 Form and Void (11x02) Baby (11x04) Just My Imagination (11x08) Oh Brother Where Art Thou (11x09) The Devil in the Details (11x10) Into the Mystic (11x11) Ouroborus (11x14) Red Meat (11x17) Don't Call Me Shurley (11x20) Season 12 Keep Calm and Carry On (12x01) Mamma Mia (12x02) American Nightmare (12x04) Rock Never Dies (12x07) The Raid (12x14) Who We Are (12x22) Season 13 Lost and Found (13x01) Patience (13x03) The Big Empty (13x04) Various & Sundry Villains (13x12) A Most Holy Man (13x15) Funeralia (13x19) Beat the Devil (13x21) Exodus (13x22) Let the Good Times Roll (13x23) Season 14 Stranger in a Strange Land (14x01) Mint Condition (14x04) Nightmare Logic (14x05) Byzantium (14x08) Prophet and Loss (14x12) Lebanon (14x13) Peace of Mind (14x15) Game Night (14x17) Moriah (14x20) Season 15 Back and to the Future (15x01) Atomic Monsters (15x04) The Rupture (15x03) Golden Time (15x06) The Gamblers (15x11) Unity (15x17) Inherit the Earth (15x19) Finale: Carry On (15x20)

Edits: Bugs (1x08) will be added, polls will not be completely random bc im not doing this for science im doing this to see a good episode win and my randomizer pit when the levee breaks against swan song in round 1

#samepisodebracket #sam winchester #polls #spn #spn polls

172 notes · View notes

answer2jeff · 4 months

Text

posting old carmen berzatto blurbs i don't totally hate because i need to clear out my drafts

(part 1/??)

note : these are from September - October and aren't very good compared to the rest of my work. my sincerest apologies. regardless, take the fucking blurb i didn't write this in my public library for nothing!!

You let out an exasperated sigh as you wiped your wet shoes on the welcome matt outside of your apartment that read, "Fuck Off." Your best friend thought it would've been funny, but it mostly felt like a shitty joke that never landed every time you came home—especially this late at night.

You fished your key out of your purse, keychains and coins jangling around while your hand dug through every pocket. You unlocked the door, quietly walking in before searching for Carmen.

"Carmy?" You called out, closing the door behind you with the heel of your foot. The slam echoed through the kitchen.

Still no sight of Carmen. You took a seat on the couch.

"Baby," you call out once more, kicking your shoes off and waiting until he'd magically emerge from whatever corner of tour apartment he was in. You hoped the petname would lure him in. He was like a cat, quietly waiting for his only reason to reappear to come home.

"Hey. You're home a little late."

Finally, Carmen slowly walked out from your bedroom, seeking a little out of breath as his tight fitting, white t-shirt stuck to his skin. You smiled at the sight of his gold chain dangling as he practically scooped you up from the couch, enveloping you in his arms.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I just—" you took a deep breath, feeling your shoulders relax and your body temperature rising to Carmen's touch. "I was workin' on a project with the girls and I lost track of time."

With the renovation of the restaurant, his hours had become more flexible while yours have become more hectic. Being the one to come home at ungodly hours was nothing short of unusual.

"You get home alright? I was, uh— I was a little worried 'bout you." Carmen planted a kiss on the top of your head as you rubbed circles on his back, his rough hands carefully holding your delicate face.

You only hummed, "mhm," as you nuzzled your face into his chest, his arms around you and slowly rocking you side-to-side. He breathed deeply, taking in the smell of your perfume and Chicago rain on your clothes.

"How long did I keep you waiting?" You tried not to laugh, still feeling a little guilty for these nights; the nights you didn't wish you had to cherish. It wasn't easy for the two of you, constantly being out and about and hardly ever taking the time to relax during reasonable hours of the day.

"Eh, not long. Just enough so I could clean the place up a bit. Do a little laundry." Carmen rested his chin on the top of your head, quickly moving as you picked your head up in surprise.

You knew he liked doing little favors for you, fluffing up your pillows and throwing the sheets in the drier to warm you up after a long day— but you almost felt like crying at the idea that Carmen lifted the weight of keeping your space tidy off your shoulders.

"You cleaned?" You nearly yelped in utter disbelief, staring up into Carmen's eyes as he cupped your cheek, nodding his head "yes."

You peeled away from his embrace to flick the living room light on; it was practically spotless.

The coffee table was clean, every book and stack of paper neatly tucked away in the bookshelf. You stepped into the dimly lit kitchen, Carmen following behind; every counter was shiny and there wasn't a single dirty dish in the sink.

"You hungry? I can make you somethin.'" Carmen suggested, taking a seat on one of the barstools and leaning his back against the island counter. You spaced out, still admiring the sight of a clean apartment.

You couldn't remember the last time you did any organization, let alone have someone else do it all for you.

"Baby?" He snaps you out of your amazed trance.

"Huh? Oh— yeah, yeah. Please." You reconnect with reality while removing yours Carmen's crewneck sweater and tossing it onto the countertop.

"Wanna hop in the shower while I figure something out?"

The suggestion rolling off Carmen's tongue was soothing. It felt like his words are being massaged into your skin, undoing knots created by stress.

This was love. Tender and caring.

#carmen berzatto #just a blurb #my writing style is so different now geez #sorry this sucks but i didn't totally hate it so i didn't want it to go to waste!!#ok goodnight #mwah #carmen berzatto x reader #carmy x reader fluff

43 notes · View notes

fairytales-and-arts · 12 hours

Text

HOW MANY SACRIFICES IS A HAPPY ENDING WORTH?

Daniel and Célia have dreamed of each other since she saved him from death and fall in love with each shared dream encounter.

When they finally meet in real life, Daniel thought he could finally have her both day and night... But destiny never makes things easier for hearts willing to truly love and he soon witnesses the girl of his dreams rise into Brazilian royalty as promised to Henry, the Prince of the Northeast.

While outside the palace the people applaud what seems to be a fairy tale, inside its walls Célia is corrupted by a painful and cruelly manipulated reality which only seems to get worse as the boy of her dreams and his friends try to help her save herself.

Trapped between promises, lies, beautiful dreams and harsh truths, Daniel and Célia realize that the only way to escape this nightmare is to discover how many sacrifices they can endure for an ending that consider them happy.

This is the premise of my first story, aka animation.

My goal is to make something that takes place in modern times, but with an air of magic and fairy tales like the Disney classic and with history and overflowing feelings like those of Studio Ghibli.

For this story, I will be using the animation style of my favorite artist: @junchiu, creator of the story of "Medusa - the Stone Kingdom" animation (yes, it is an animation, comics can be considered animations if you can place them and play them); a video with background music, to create a series of episodes that will tell the story of Célia and Daniel.

I'm an independent artist and this is my first big project. I decided to share it here because I want to document its construction and, who knows, find people willing to watch it grow and watch it when it's ready.

I'm finishing the script for the first episode and I'll be posting them here, as if it were a "fanfic-movie" like "The Kingdom of Wishes" by @annymation

I hope that whoever finds this random post among thousands likes what's to come.

Kisses full of light and stars!

~Emy

11 notes · View notes

mairaiscarrierofthepaperclips · 5 months

Text

Fic Writing Review 2023

Tagged by the glorious @thewolvesof1998.

Words and Fics

117,284 words published to AO3 (so many words still in docs as WIPs)

2 fandoms (9-1-1 and The Rookie)

Most recent drop: i opened my eyes (and all i saw was you)

Longest Fic: hard kick, slow burn (M, 11,382 words)

Top Fics by Kudos (all Buddie)

and i always will (M, 2,365 words)

you're where i stand, hearing the sea (T, 2,972 words)

i am never without it (T, 3,404 words)

a madman and a minstrel (T, 2,575 words)

to the depth and breadth and height (M, 6,231 words)

My fandom fic events in 2023

Flufftober 2023! And it was a banger.

My Buddie collection for Flufftober can be found here.

Upcoming Events and Projects for 2024

Fics I'm going to try and get out in the upcoming year:

Almost complete:

lazarus rising - Buck needs space after the lightning strike. Eddie doesn't understand, not really, but he lets him go. But when Buck comes home, he finds out that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Already started:

magical realism fic (Buck thinks he's allergic to Eddie. Spoiler warning: he's not).

vesper - inspired by the poker episode, Athena asks the boys to go undercover in a poker ring. Think Casino Royale.

Gravedigger fic - fans of Bones will immediately know what I'm talking about here, amirite?

not like this (title TBC) - based on the New Girl kiss (IYKYK)

snow shovel fic - AU where Buck and Eddie are neighbours. it's a whole thing.

you're in my arms (and all the world is calm) sequel - Chenford fic, sequel is from Lucy's POV (and answers the cliffhanger from YIMA)

a Davrick (Schitt's Creek) piece inspired by the 9-1-1: Lone Star episode 'Saving Grace'.

Ideas/planned fics (basically the Notes app on my phone):

No Nut November fic - my actual November turned hectic, but if all goes well I'll still write this one because the plot makes me giggle.

Multi-chapter AU featuring past lives, reincarnation, and soul mates.

night strewn salt across the sky sequel - featuring Barista!Buck and Nurse!Eddie's First Date!

when words and deeds are in accord (my whole world is transformed) sequel - featuring established Buddie fluffiness. With singing!

apocalypse fic - snow. so much snow.

I have had so much fun writing in the 9-1-1 fandom this year - I switched from the HP fandom due to Reasons, and the welcome and love I've been shown has been truly lovely.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read/left kudos/commented/mentioned me in a post or sent me an ask - y'all are amazing.

#911 #911 fox #911 abc #buddie #911 buddie #buck x eddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 ao3 #ao3 #writers of ao3 #ao3 writer #tumblr tag game #fic writing review 2023 #chenford #davrick #writing #tumblr lists

21 notes · View notes

aurumacadicus · 6 months

Text

There are still a week left to read A Darker Shade of Magic, but we’re voting for our next book now so we have plenty of time to get it for the first day of reading on December eleventh! Book summaries are under the cut! Each new title is in bold for clarity.

If you’d like to join the book club, now or for the next book, feel free to send me an ask and I’ll give you the link to our Discord!

(We'll also be voting for our January book immediately after this poll ends because we're doing our first themed month: Author Debuts! Some of the choices are very new and we'll need time to source them, so we're voting on that one early!)

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra

Captain Nathan J. Northland had no idea what to expect when he returned home to Lorehaven injured from war, but it certainly wasn’t to find himself posted on an island full of vampires. An island whose local vampire dandy lord causes Nathan to feel strange things he’d never felt before. Particularly about fangs.

When Vlad Blutstein agreed to hire Nathan as Captain of the Eyrie Guard, he hadn’t been sure what to expect either, but it certainly hadn’t been to fall in love with a disabled werewolf. However Vlad has fallen and fallen hard, and that’s the problem.

Torn by their allegiances—to family, to duty, and the age-old enmity between vampires and werewolves—the pair find themselves in a difficult situation: to love where the heart wants or to follow where expectation demands.

The situation is complicated further when a mysterious and beguiling figure known only as Lady Ursula crashes into their lives, bringing with her dark omens of death, doom, and destruction in her wake.

And a desperate plea for help neither of them can ignore.

Thrown together in uncertain times and struggling to find their place amidst the rising human empire, the unlikely trio must decide how to face the coming darkness: united as one or divided and alone. One thing is for certain, none of them will ever be the same.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl… Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.

She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success – not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined – every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just Jade. I’m not a real hero.”

As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all—they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next ten years.

Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds, has never worried about the Trials…or rather, he’s only worried for others. His best friend Niya—daughter of Tierra, the god of earth—is one of the strongest heroes of their generation and is much too likely to be chosen this year. He also can’t help but worry (reluctantly, and under protest) for Aurelio, a powerful Gold semidiós and Teo’s friend-turned-rival who is a shoo-in for the Trials. Teo wouldn’t mind taking Aurelio down a notch or two, but a one-in-ten chance of death is a bit too close for Teo’s taste.

But then, for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses a semidiós who isn’t a Gold. In fact, he chooses two: Xio, the 13-year-old child of Mala Suerte, god of bad luck, and…Teo. Now they must compete in five mysterious trials, against opponents who are both more powerful and better trained, for fame, glory, and their own survival.

#polls #book club #also you can vote even if you're not in book club i know you guys like clicking things lol

23 notes · View notes

innocenthedgehog · 9 months

Text

Writeblr Intro

Hello everyone! I'm Tom (he/him), and I decided to join Writeblr to make some more writing friends. I have no idea how any of this works, but let's give this a go and see what happens!

My Writing

I mainly write YA sci-fi, though I'm open to a bunch of other things

I started writing seriously in April 2021, messed around with a few projects, finally finished a first draft in 2022, shelved it, and have been project hopping ever since. But I've finally found a story I have passion for, so here's hoping purgatory is over!

I'm a pantser

I like third-present, first-retrospective, pretty prose, specificity, pulpy action scenes, unique worlds, sympathetic characters, disaster characters, sympathetic disaster characters

WIPs

Beneath the Burning Sky

I call this story Berg for short, after my friend was very mean and called it ice Dune lol. This is my main focus, and a book I hope to traditionally publish someday. I have no idea how much I'm allowed to share with that caveat, so I'll probably avoid major plot things.

Genre: YA sci-fi sapphic romance

Status: Currently drafting, approximately 25K

Description: When they're both stranded in the frozen wilderness by an attack on their planet, Lana (a village hunter) tries to bring Sierra (the president's daughter/rising star of the stage) back home. Rivals to lovers, class conflict, winter survival. Lana may have a long-lasting crush on Sierra from watching her performances on TV. Also sentient flying snake aliens which are very friendly. Mostly. I promise I will write an actual blurb soon lmao

To Dream of Brighter Shadows

This has a very complicated history which I won't go into now, but in it's current form, it's a project I desperately want to write some day. The discovery writing I've done for it so far is by far my best prose.

Genre: Adult literary sci-fi

Status: Discovery writing

Description: A university student struggling with burnout and undiagnosed neurodivergence uses VR cybernetic implants to try and rebuild her old life.

Space Spies

This is entirely vibes right now, but it'll probably be the book I write when Berg's first draft is done.

Genre: YA sci-fi thriller

Status: Brainstorming

Description: Think Cherub/Gallagher Girls in space. May or may not include aliens.

The Ether Cycle

I will not let this distract me.

Genre: Adult? epic fantasy

Status: I will not acknowledge this exists. Though I may have the start of a magic system. And a world. And a conlang.

Description: A world made of floating islands, trees that are impossibly tall, reverse waterfall elevators, magic airships, teleporters, matchlocks? There is no plot.

Can't wait to make some friends here. Please like/reblog/friend me if you like the sound of any of this. I'll be sure to post some WIP intros and some excerpts soon!

#writeblr #writeblr intro #amwriting #writers of tumblr #writing #scifi #science fiction #young adult

44 notes · View notes

dalgursbate · 3 months

Text

Dame Aylin's Home for Wayward Girls (9/?)

Summary: Isobel swears she didn’t mean to start a commune. She’s not so sure about Aylin, though. Or, how a celestial and her reanimated girlfriend help the heroes of Baldur’s Gate process their trauma.

Rating: E WC: 22,548 Pairing: F/F/F, Isobel/Aylin/Shadowheart

part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || part 6 || part 7 || part 8

Aylin returns at first light, just as she said she would.

Isobel awakens at her entrance, blinking groggily against the soft sunlight that pours in alongside her. Her mind is moving slow and syrupy with sleep, but she can feel Shadowheart’s warm body wrapped around hers, can see the halo behind Aylin’s form from the early morning sun, and a pleased grin stretches across her features before any conscious thought slides over her.

“You’re back,” Isobel murmurs, and she disentangles herself from Shadowheart so she can rise to meet Aylin. She needs to embrace her, needs to feel the warmth of her, alive and sure, after having spent yesterday so sick with worry. Wants to pull Aylin down and create a conduit between the three of their bodies, wants to turn the pile of blankets and pillows on the ground into a nest, a haven just for them. The sleep clinging to the edges of her consciousness loosens her body, makes the short walk over to Aylin like trudging through a puddle of molasses.

Aylin says nothing as Isobel approaches, just smiles at her sweetly. When she pulls Isobel in for a kiss, Isobel expects it to be like sliding into a warm spring, for her muscles to relax with the feeling of coming home again.

Instead, her lips meet Aylin’s and Isobel’s body seizes as though plunged into the icy depths. Her barely-conscious mind screams something curdling and awful and she gasps against Aylin’s mouth, her thoughts becoming alert to the sensation of nobadwrong.

“Get away from her,” Isobel hears from the other side of the tent, Shadowheart’s voice deadly and serious, surprisingly vigilant for having been asleep just moments before.

Isobel tries to pull away, but the thing that looks like her lover digs its fingers into her arm and holds her there, and Isobel cries out and struggles in its grasp. She has never been so desperate to move, to escape; she is flooded with the need to put distance between it and herself, anxious to forget the touch of this thing wearing her lover’s skin. Part of her wishes her wits weren’t returning to her so quickly now, that she wasn’t so keenly aware of the points of contact between her and this vile imitation.

The thing laughs wickedly in Aylin’s voice, a sound so foreign and ugly on that beautiful tongue that Isobel has to bite back tears suddenly. It shoves Isobel away from itself hard enough that she stumbles and falls back into the pile of blankets. From her position on the ground, Isobel sees offensive magic already lighting up Shadowheart’s hand, the other woman having stood to put herself between the creature and Isobel.

Aylin’s body contorts and jerks, her body moving at unnatural angles as the sound of snapping bone fills the tent. Isobel can only watch in mute horror as it transforms, until soon a female changeling stands before them. The expression on her face is manic, toothy, and sickening. Her pale hair cascades in a loose braid over her ever-swirling marble skin, and Isobel realizes with revulsion that she seems to be wearing a carapace made of flesh. Isobel’s addled mind finally comprehends that this must be Orin the Red; it also occurs to her that Shadowheart must have recognized her immediately, judging by the readiness of her response. Orin is still laughing, her voice having morphed from Aylin’s into a garish and sing-songy rasp.

“Get away? Oh, but it tastes so sweet, doesn’t it? Like sickly rotted fruit, it is, the little grave-touched cleric,” Orin taunts melodically. She eyes Isobel with a cruel hunger, dragging her tongue across her lips in a languid motion as though savoring the flavor of her. “Yes,” she hisses delightedly, “it tastes of delicious death! A walking corpse that reeks with the slow anguish of sugary decay.” A maniacal giggle trips over her tongue, her eyes growing wide and bright with glee, “I bet it’s filled with anxious little worms! Writhing, squirming, twitching!”

“Orin,” Shadowheart says, her voice cold and flat, a spell still poised at her fingertips, “tell me what you’ve done with Aylin, or I will end your miserable life where you stand.”

Orin laughs again, as though Shadowheart’s threat had not even registered. Isobel cannot stand the way she moves and speaks, so overwrought and self-important. She reminds Isobel of a child play-acting at evil, almost, or like the villain in a bad melodrama, but she knows all too well that the danger the woman poses is poignant and sincere. It makes her guts churn.

“Poor, suffering godling! She only just escaped Thorm’s cage and someone’s already gone and clipped her wings again. He was good for one thing, I suppose, that spineless would-be traitor—taught me how to catch a little birdie in my hands, didn’t he?” The look Orin levels them with is callous and sadistic, full of a brutal revelry that settles uneasily in Isobel’s bones. “The curious dove went looking for a wizard and found herself in the clutches of a beast all made of teeth.”

“Oh, but don’t fret, little death-walker! How I do so hate to see its features all twisted up in sadness,” Orin continues, voice drenched in faux-pity as she looks at Isobel, pouting exaggeratedly in a way that makes clear how much relish she is taking in her pain. “Though the godling would make a decadent offering to the Murder Lord, she resists death ever so insistently. Mother Dearest puts her thumb on the scale—it’s so unfair!" She stomps her foot petulantly. "No matter how hard I squeeze there always seems to be more life to wring from that pretty neck of hers.” She smiles again, mad and menacing. “But oh, what fun I have had trying anyway.”

Isobel lunges at her then, attempting to run past Shadowheart so she can dig her nails into Orin’s milk-white eyeballs. Shadowheart grabs her wordlessly and pulls her back, restraining her while Isobel seethes and snarls. It feels as though she may shatter with how violently her frame shakes at the enormity of her emotion. The thought of Orin touching Aylin, hurting Aylin—it fills her so full of incandescent rage that her vision blurs and her head pounds with it.

“We will kill you for this,” Shadowheart promises darkly, and Isobel can feel the muscles in her arms flex and jump with tension as they strain to keep Isobel still. She can tell that Shadowheart is wound tightly as a spring, prepared to launch herself at the changeling at a moment’s notice. “Tell us where she is.”

Orin tuts at them. “Eager, are we? But foolish; you must be sharpened before you set your edge against my skin. Sharpened against the tyrant’s throat.” Orin’s body wrenches and twitches once more, fluctuating disorientingly until an exact likeness of the false Duke of Baldur's Gate stands before them. “You’ve heard Gortash’s whispers—I see how your skull swarms with his promises. He whinges and wails over the Crown of Karsus, wanting to command it without me.”

“Get on with it, Orin,” Shadowheart says tightly, voice seething in quiet fury. “We are not going to sit and listen to you monologue endlessly.”

“Such an impatient piggy you are,” Orin giggles in Gortash’s voice. The sound of it makes Isobel want to vomit. “I’ll cut to the chase, then: You must kill the tyrant. Slit his poxy smile from ear to ear and take the Netherstone from his corpse.” Orin shifts once more, back into her own form, and her lip curls into something bitter and inhumane. “Then, meet me at my temple.” Her face distorts quickly back into that vicious, fevered grin, and she claps her hands together excitedly. “There we slice and shred each other. The survivor claims the stones. What’s left of the other belongs to Bhaal.”

“Refuse me,” Orin continues, “and you’ll learn what happens to those that defy Bhaal’s doctrine. So will your little birdie.”

Shadowheart inhales sharply through her nose. A pregnant silence hangs in the air, heavy and oppressive, punctuated by Isobel’s feral, animal panting.

Finally, Shadowheart speaks again: “Alright, fine. I'll kill Gortash. Just…please don’t hurt Aylin.” Her voice is resigned, defeated. Isobel nearly shrieks, is hardly able to stop herself from demanding that they kill Orin right then and there, but there’s something in her tone that makes Isobel hold her tongue.

Shadowheart is lying, Isobel realizes. She is trying to buy them time, in hopes that Orin won’t hurt Aylin any further. There is a tidal wave of anxiety crashing over Isobel anew in every moment, beating over her ceaselessly each time she pictures Aylin at the mercy of this monster. But Isobel knows with utmost certainty that Shadowheart is the hero that will save Baldur’s Gate; Isobel trusts in her leadership, trusts that she would never play needless games with Aylin’s life. The certainty of her conviction, the depth of her faith in the other cleric—it shocks her for a moment. She does not know when, exactly, she came to believe in Shadowheart so entirely.

“No worries, pet, I’ll keep the godling nice and comfortable while I await your arrival.” Orin smirks, the threat in her voice evident. “Play along, and I’ll even make sure you find her in one piece.”

With that, she disappears, and Isobel collapses to her knees. Shadowheart comes down with her, arms still wrapped tightly around Isobel’s shoulders. Isobel turns her face into Shadowheart’s chest and grabs two fistfuls of her shirt as her body is wracked with violent sobs, overcome with terror and grief at the thought of what Aylin must be going through. She can feel the way Shadowheart’s body slumps against hers, her shoulders shaking slightly as near-silent whimpers escape her throat, and the two of them say nothing as they cling to each other for a long moment.

When Isobel’s crying eventually quiets down to mere sniffles, she swipes at her tears and pulls back to look Shadowheart in the eye.

“We’re going to kill that horrid bitch,” she says simply. “We are going to make her beg for mercy like the pathetic slug that she is, and then we are going to kill her.”

“Yes,” Shadowheart replies, voice utterly calm even as her red, puffy eyes betray her sorrow and concern, “we are.”

“I’m coming with you,” Isobel says.

“I know.”

And she does, doesn’t she? Shadowheart knows Isobel: body, mind, and soul. She knows her entirely, somehow, even in the short time they have spent in each other’s acquaintance.

Isobel takes a shuddering breath and presses her forehead against Shadowheart’s. She meets her eyes, searching them, and sees her own fear and sadness reflected there. She sees Shadowheart’s resolve, too, the steeliness of her will and her boundless determination. Isobel has a moment of overwhelming gratitude for her, so brave and so strong and so kind. She brings her hand up to Shadowheart’s face, stroking her thumb gently across the other woman’s cheek. Her stomach still flips in agonizing worry, clenching and convulsing painfully as she imagines Orin torturing her beloved. But, she thinks, there is no one else in the entire realm, in the entire world who she would rather have at her side through this.

“I am glad that Aylin has you,” Isobel tells her, and her voice is thick with emotion. “I am glad that we have you.”

“I feel the same,” Shadowheart says, and her voice breaks a bit at the end of it. Her lip trembles, and Isobel’s hand trails downwards slightly so she can swipe her thumb over it.

“I–” Isobel starts, then swallows. She needs to say it suddenly, needs Shadowheart to hear it: “I love you.” Her voice is barely a whisper, choked and beseeching.

Shadowheart exhales a long, shivering breath, and her eyes grow shiny and bright. “I love you, too. I love her.” She looks very earnestly at Isobel, and raises her own hand to cup Isobel’s cheek. They hold each other’s faces in a perfect mirror of one another, creating a cradle that protects this precious moment from the world beyond them. “I won’t let anything happen to her, I swear it. I won’t.”

“I know,” Isobel says, an echo of the assurance that Shadowheart gave her moments before. She presses a brief, delicate kiss to her lover’s mouth. “I know.”

#bg3 #my fic #bg3 isobel #bg3 dame aylin #bg3 shadowheart #isobel/nightsong #isobel/dame aylin #moonmaidens #moon lesbians

10 notes · View notes