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luxekook · 4 years

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zero gravity ✰ namseok

✰ pairing: namjoon x hoseok x reader

✰ genre: space au, f2l, angst, smut, slight crack & fluff

✰ summary: being the captain of a spacecraft is all fun and games until the only two others on board start hooking up and you start falling for both of them. it’s only natural that you act out - just a little

✰ word count: 11k+

✰ warnings: 18+, pre-established namseok relationship, mentions of throbbing disco sticks, jealousy, an unintentional viewing of dick pics, dom/sub themes (bratty sub!reader, dom!joon, switch!hobi), a bdsm club (reader watches a scene), grinding ft. jooheon from monsta x, smut (slight voyeurism, mxm, manhandling, spanking, threesome, unprotected sex (wrap it), oral (m + f receiving), double penetration, slight breeding kink)

✰ beta’d by: phia @meowxyoong | ✰ banner by: rose @jeonggukingdom

✰ commissioned by: THE LOML ATLAS @miamorjoon I HOPE YOU LOVE THIS UWU

The blinking lights from the monitors adorning the walls of the control room of your ship - The Imperial Kween - illuminate your path as you make your way towards the navigation deck. It isn’t like you to be awake at this hour; you’re usually sound asleep by 0100, tucked snugly in your soft bed within your cozy captain’s quarters. Yet, here you are at 0300 after a late night of binging Tron and Agnate Plus Eight (Tentacles).

As captain of the Kween, you are perhaps a tad bit overprotective of both your ship and your crew. You had won your ship some moons ago when you were on Xyreus - the lawless planet of the Huvian System. You had been on the run, having just recently fled the Space Force Academy where you had been a rising captain.

The Academy had seemingly been your only option as an orphan. Your years there had been heavy with intense physical, mental, and intellectual training. The strict regimen enforced by your commanders had almost crushed your spirit. Almost.

Instead, your path had crossed with Jung Hoseok and Kim Namjoon. They had been assigned to you in your last month with the Academy when you rose high enough in the rankings to begin training for captaincy. You had been designated as their tentative captain with Hoseok as your pilot and Namjoon as your first officer. Upon meeting them, you had been the perfect captain that your superiors had wanted you to be - cold, callous, calculating.

But then you had grown to like the boys. Actually, it had more so been that they had forced you to like them. With the two of them surrounding you day in and day out, your walls had crumbled. Hoseok taught you how to be happy again, how to see joy in the little things, and how to share that joy with others. Namjoon made you see other options, futures separate from the rigidity that had been the only life you knew.

It hadn’t been until you caught them whispering about wanting to leave the Academy that you realized that could be a possibility. And then that possibility became all you could think about. You had hacked into the Academy archives, taken inventory of the ships in the cargo bay, and carefully extracted information from your commanders.

What you had found was not pretty. Yet, it had also been strangely unsurprising. Perhaps you had always known the Academy was built on corruption and oppressive tactics. Perhaps you had subconsciously chosen to ignore it until you couldn’t anymore - not when such pure souls like Hoseok and Namjoon had relied on you and still do.

You had laid out your plans to Hoseok and Namjoon at the last possible second, protecting them from anything incriminating until the end. Your heart had burst when they dropped everything, choosing to follow you, to stay with you, to trust you. You think that had been when you first knew you loved them.

Sneaking out had been easy. You had been scoping out a small ship in the cargo hold, tinkering with its systems to get it set up for your escape. The hard part had been staying out. You, Namjoon, and Hoseok had barely breathed sighs of relief before you had Space Force officers tailing you. While Hoseok worked on evading their grasp, you and Namjoon had decided to direct your course to Xyreus to ditch your stolen ship and to negate any authority the Academy might try to push on you.

The three of you had spent a year on Xyreus, trading the parts from your Academy ship for a tiny apartment. The Academy eventually had lost interest in you all, probably replacing you easily. You had obtained freedom by the pen of a freelance forger who constructed new identification cards for you and your crew. And you had won your ship.

It had been a particularly eventful night. Hoseok and Namjoon had dragged you out of your apartment and to the Snake’s Den - a particularly popular club within Xyreus’ gambling district. The boys had really been into the fight scene and the rapid betting that accompanied it. You, however, had found your place amongst the card players. Your game of choice back then had been and still is Queen’s Revenge - a vicious game of strategy and deceit.

Amidst the haze of the club, you had located your people, settling into the crowded booth of players. Soon enough, you had picked your victim, a loud, obnoxious fellow from Gwexion who would not shut up about his ship. “She flies faster than any ship you’ll ever see!” He had cried, thrusting his stein of Xybrew in the air, “And she can vanish without a trace with the flick of a switch!”

You had wanted that ship. And you had gotten it.

About two hours after sitting at the table, you had made your move. “My ship for yours,” You had wagered, taking advantage of a lull in the conversation. The rest of the booth had laughed, only seeing you for your gender. Twenty minutes later, there hadn't been a sound other than the sobs of the man from Gwexion and the jingle of the ship’s control keys in your hand.

Hoseok and Namjoon had berated you for hours about your recklessness of wagering a ship you didn't have. You hadn’t cared; you had known you would win and finally be able to fly. The three of you had sold your apartment the next day, boarded your ship, and flew off. You haven’t looked back since.

Now, two years later, you’ve made quite a name for yourself across the galaxies as a mercenary of sorts. Your trade of choice? Information.

If something is going on in space, you’re likely to know about it; and, you’ll make people pay for that information to be shared or to be kept quiet. As captain of the Kween, you’re in charge of keeping the ship running - and that includes earning a profit.

Hoseok and Namjoon aren’t too fond of your enterprise of information because it often puts you all in danger. You can’t fault them for that. You know this venture is tricky, but it's also very lucrative and it often results in you screwing over bad people. So, you take that as a win.

You arrive at the navigation deck and sigh in disappointment at the absence of Hoseok who sometimes monitors the flight course during the night. Instead, you activate your ship’s Responsive Electronic Environmental Systems Engine - simply called R.E.E.S.E. for short. “Hey, R.E.E.S.E. Status report, please.”

“Hello, Captain (y/n). It is my esteemed honor to deliver a status update to you at this hour. I have been getting so lonely, you see. Usually Pilot Hoseok stays up with me, but tonight he has abandoned me for—”

“R.E.E.S.E.!” You groan. This is typical R.E.E.S.E., going off about something trivial in a dramatic fashion.

“Oh my. I have done it again. My apologies, Captain (y/n). All systems operating as normal. Shields activated and secure. Navigation set on nightly autopilot course.”

“Thank you, R.E.E.S.E.” You gaze out of the front windows for a moment; the view never gets old. Countless stars surround you with planets of every color scattered in between. Sometimes, you would see an occasional ship passing by, but right now there is not one to be seen.

You deactivate R.E.E.S.E. and head back to your captain’s quarters. Walking through the control room once more, you pass through the common quarters and finally enter the hallway containing your shared bathroom, both Hoseok and Namjoon’s respective quarters, and then your own at the end. The hallway is dim, illuminated only by the slight glow of the floor beneath you.

You move slowly, careful not to wake either of the boys.

And then you hear it.

Your first thought is porn as you pause in your tracks, standing stock still as the sounds of muffled groans and slapped skin seep through the sliver of space under the metal door leading to Hoseok’s quarters. Is he really jerking it right now, you think as you shamelessly creep closer to get a better idea of whatever - or whoever - is going down right now.

“Fuck, give it to me harder.”

Yup, that’s Hoseok all right. You place your palm on his door, dirty visuals racing through your mind. Who is he imagining? What you wouldn’t give for him to be thinking of you...

“Oh yeah, I’ll fucking give it to you hard, baby. Just how I know you like it.”

Your breath catches in your throat as you slap your palm over your mouth. Holy shit. Holy fuck. Holy hell in a handbasket. That’s Namjoon. Namjoon is there with Hoseok, fucking Hoseok.

Your imagination goes wild - as do your heart and your thoughts. How long has this been going on? How have you missed this? Are you that oblivious? Or are they just that good at hiding their relationship? Why haven’t they told you? Do they not trust you as much as they say they do? Do they think you won’t accept them if you knew?

It’s those final thoughts that hurt the most.

How is it possible that you know the intricate plans of an uprising occurring on a planet light years away, but you don’t know your only two crew members are hooking up?

You somehow manage to soundlessly continue down the corridor to your quarters. How does someone respond to overhearing the two men that you’re desperately in love with having sex? And just steps away from you at that?

All of your training never prepared you for this moment. You sit in your empty bed, gazing out the large window that takes up the majority of your quarters’ back wall. Emotions roll over you like waves. Arousal. Grief. Shame. Longing.

It isn’t that you are upset at them for being with one another. If anyone in the galaxies deserves love, it is Hoseok and Namjoon. You are more upset with yourself for naively thinking that they might have had feelings for you, that they might have loved you back.

There had been that fateful night at a bar on Xyreus when the three of you had gotten just a little too drunk on Xybrew and had fooled around. You still remember the feeling of Hoseok grinding into you on the bar’s tiny dance floor, his hands wandering across your body, driving you insane. You still remember the taste of Namjoon’s lips as he pushed you up against the wall of the small alley behind the bar, his fingers digging into your ass as he pushed his hips into yours. You still remember how Hoseok watched you with fire in his eyes as Namjoon sunk to his knees and—

Fuck, you can’t go there. You can’t revisit that memory because it only ends in disappointment.

“A drunken mistake,” They had called it the next morning before you could get a word in edgewise. “A threat to our crew’s dynamic.”

What a joke. It turns out that their only regret must have been including you.

Your mind wanders to all of the small moments over the past few years. The hugs, the tender looks, the things that had made you question whether they actually felt more for you after all turned out to be just signs of friendship.

With all these thoughts heavy in your mind, you eventually fall into a restless sleep.

The next morning comes all too soon as you find yourself going through the motions of everyday life with much less enthusiasm than normal. You’re drained, both from your lack of sleep and from the onslaught of emotions that still riddled your body.

And so when Hoseok greets you in the ship’s kitchen with that beautiful smile of his, you can barely get your lips to even turn up slightly.

“(y/n), are you okay?” Hoseok’s eyebrows are drawn together and he looks concerned.

You sigh, grabbing the pot of coffee and pouring yourself a cup. “Yes, I’m fine, Hoseok. I just didn’t sleep very well,” You eventually answer him, refusing to meet his eyes and choosing instead to gaze into your coffee like it might tell you how to behave right now with the knowledge you gained last night.

Obviously, it does not. You only see your distorted reflection gleaming back at you from its brown depths.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Hoseok pouts, making his way over to your side, “Is there anything I can do?”

You try in vain to ignore the affect his proximity has on you as you flick your eyes across his form. Hoseok is tall and lithe with delicate features and the most beautiful heart-shaped smile you’ve ever seen. Though he may look slight, you know the lean muscle that lies beneath his oversized t-shirts from the early mornings you catch him roaming around shirtless and half asleep. You have first hand knowledge of how well he can move that body from the late nights at the clubs on Xyreus. You know how well he f—

Nope, not today. Instead of going down that dangerous path, you choose to be the little shit that you are when you feel like you are at a loss. “You can share your secret on how to be so well rested, Hoseokie,” You say, your eyes laser-sharp on his expression, “You’re practically glowing this morning.”

Hoseok’s cheeks flood with color as he laughs lightly and replies with a slightly wistful look on his face, “Maybe someday, (y/n).”

You let out an unamused huff, which only makes Hoseok laugh again. You glare at the happy boy and then stiffen as arms wrap around your waist, tugging you back against a warm body. “Morning, (y/n),” Namjoon murmurs into your hair, his fingers leaving a blazing heat on your skin as they drag across the swell of your hips.

He turns your body around to face him, and you hesitantly bring your gaze up to his. God, he’s just as beautiful as Hoseok. Namjoon’s height had been the first thing that you noticed about him in the Academy. The second had been his dimples. You have been a goner for him ever since.

Your eyes drift up past his strong thighs to his tapered waist, his toned chest, his tanned neck, and finally to rest on his warm brown eyes. “Hi,” He grins, those godforsaken dimples popping out to greet you, too.

“Hi,” You manage to reply, your heart constricting painfully in your chest.

Always too smart for his own good, Namjoon catches your mood immediately, “What’s wrong?”

“She didn’t sleep well,” Hoseok comes up next to Namjoon, throwing an arm around his shoulders. His frown is prominent as he stares down at you. Namjoon’s expression quickly matches Hoseok’s as he brings his hand to cup your chin, lifting your face up to look at you.

“Baby,” He murmurs, “Were you dreaming of that damned place again? I thought that had stopped for you.”

You bristle under the weight of their inspections and from the pet name you now know means nothing. Namjoon is, of course, referring to your recurring nightmares from the Academy, and he is also inadvertently giving you the perfect excuse not to come clean about the real reason for your fitful night.

And so you nod as best you can with Namjoon’s hand cupping your chin, and the boys exchange a long look. Hoseok turns to you, “Go rest today. Namjoon and I can handle things. Okay, lovely?”

You turn away, forcing Namjoon to drop his hand. “I need to plan out a potential deal on Naroxu,” You mutter in disagreement, “I’ll be fine.”

“Naroxu?” Namjoon bites out, “(y/n), we talked about this.” You pinch the bridge of your nose between your fingers. Sometimes it feels like you're not the captain of your own ship. And it is exasperating.

“You know what?” You grab your coffee, brushing past the boys, “I think I will go rest after all. Don’t disturb me, okay?”

“But (y/n)—!” You leave them in your dust. Of course you should have realized they would have a problem with Naroxu. It’s a planet just as lawless as Xyreus, but it’s focus is more on the carnal sort of chaos. You aren’t unaware of the dangers that lay within the pleasures on Naroxu; you’re just unfazed by them.

Apparently, Namjoon and Hoseok feel differently. Your boys can argue with you about anything in the name of “safety”. You’ll definitely need to make certain that you’ll have a foolproof plan which leaves them with no room to argue. But, that is a bridge you shall cross another day...

A few days later, you realize that you definitely must have been oblivious to the relationship occurring right under your nose. There are signs of it everywhere - in the way they speak to one another, in the way their eyes linger, in the way their hands brush as they pass each other by.

You have not dared to venture out of your quarters late at night ever since that fateful discovery, but that doesn’t help. Your thoughts are constantly plagued by the sounds of their desire, their intimacy. Your mind conjures images that you can’t forget. You crave that. You want to be part of that passion with a desperation you have never felt before.

And so, you have accordingly descended into internal chaos, choosing to throw yourself into your plans instead of joking around with Namjoon and Hoseok in the common quarters like you usually do in your spare time.

They know something is up. It’s not like you haven’t spent almost three full years together. Knowing each others’ tendencies and habits is second nature. Well, clearly that knowledge has excluded intimate relationships - at least for you.

The tip of your pencil snaps under the strength of your grip; and, when you look down to assess the damage, you sigh. All you have written down so far is: “Plan A: Go with Joon and Hobi. Plan B: Go without Joon and Hobi if they don’t like Plan A.”

Pushing your desk chair back, you stand and stretch out slightly. The rest of the logistics for the meeting are set. Now comes the hard part - convincing the boys to come along. It’s not that you can’t go alone; it’s that you feel better knowing you have two people watching your back, no matter how frustrating they might be.

Walking out of your quarters, you make your way towards the sounds of laughter and low voices coming from the control room.

“We really do have to tell her soon, Hobi.” You hear Namjoon say as you draw closer. Are they talking about you?

“I know, Joon. I’m just scared. I don’t want to lose her friendship.” Hoseok’s voice is small, barely above a whisper.

“You won’t, baby. Just think of how free we’ll be to share our love…” Your ears strain to hear them now, even as you get closer.

“...Leaving her.”

Your feet stop in their tracks. Leaving? Are they really thinking of leaving you? Your body sags against the wall, sliding to the floor. What would you do without them?

You guess you could recruit a new crew, but no one could replace Hoseok and Namjoon. Not when they’ve been with you through everything. Not when they’ve accepted you for who you are. Not when they’ve become your life.

You allow yourself to sit for a moment. And then you collect yourself, shoving your useless emotions down to the pit of your stomach. You just need to move forward and enjoy every last second with your boys before they go. Because they would leave you, and you would let them go because you love them.

Standing, you make sure to make louder footfalls then normal to alert Hoseok and Namjoon of your incoming presence. Sure enough, the minute you step into the control room Hoseok tackles you in a hug.

“(y/n)!” He picks you up and swings you around, “I’ve missed you, lovely!”

You laugh despite your lungs being constricted by his tight embrace, “I saw you last night at dinner, you fool.”

Hoseok sets you down and jokingly pouts down at you, “But that was so long ago! You left me all alone with this one.” He juts his thumb out at Namjoon, “And you know how he can get.”

“Not as well as you,” You mumble under your breath.

“What was that?” Namjoon narrows his eyes, focused on you from his nearby stance leaning against the wall. His arms are crossed over his chest, the sleeves of his dark t-shirt straining against his biceps.

“Nothing,” You smile sweetly at him. “Hi, Joon, nice to see you, too.”

Namjoon stares at you for a moment more and then sighs. Walking over to you, he pulls you close, “It is really nice to see you, baby.” That blasted nickname is going to lower you into an early grave. Indulging yourself with a short hug from Joon, you pull back and decide it's time to get down to business.

“Alright, let’s go over the plan for Naroxu.”

“(y/n)!” Namjoon shoves a hand through his hair, “I thought we scrapped that idea. That planet is on our ‘no-go’ list!”

“Naroxu is dangerous, lovely,” Hoseok’s wide eyes bore into you, “Please think this through.”

“You scrapped the idea,” You say to Namjoon, “I kept it. Besides, that ‘no-go’ list was all you and Hoseok.” Turning to the boy you just named, you continue, “And I have thought this through. Extensively, Hobi. Don’t worry. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself, okay?”

You can tell they are getting pissed; but honestly, so are you.

“We know you’re a ‘big girl’.” You do not appreciate Hoseok’s use of air quotes, but you allow him to continue because you’re gracious like that. “But there are tons of bad people on Naroxu who would love to chew you up and spit you out - physically and metaphorically speaking.”

“Gross, Hobi,” You scoff. “And before you both cast judgement, why don’t you give me a chance to explain the plan? You don’t even know who I’ll be meeting for gods' sake.”

The boys exchange a glance. “Fine,” Namjoon bites out, “But this won’t change my mind.”

Obviously, you think to yourself. Trying to get Joon to change his mind is like trying to get R.E.E.S.E. to delete the overwhelming amount of data she has dedicated to some group of musicians from Earth. Impossible, but you would always try anyways.

“Okay, so the contact that I’m meeting on Naroxu is Joohoney—”

“What?!”

“Joohoney from Monsta X?!”

“Oh my gods, will you let me finish?” You roll your eyes to the ceiling and plead with any higher power to help you find patience, “Yes, Joohoney from the Monsta X clan. How many other people in the galaxies go by that name?”

Hoseok opens his mouth to answer, and you cut him off, “That was a rhetorical question, Hobi.” He blushes, bottom lip sticking out slightly.

“Anyway, we’re going to be meeting up at this space BDSM type sex club called Throbbing Disco Sticks. I’ll tell Joohoney what he wants to know, he’ll pay me, and we’ll bounce. Got it?”

You get nothing but silence. Looking at them, you notice the tightness of Namjoon’s jaw and the darkness in Hoseok’s gaze.

“Oh, now you want to be quiet?” You push them, “Well, you can both stay here. I made a separate plan to go alone so—”

“Not happening,” Joon grits out, moving closer to you. “We made a pact, (y/n). Or have you forgotten?”

“Together or never,” Hobi recites and you almost laugh. It’s absurd that they bring this up when they had just been talking about leaving.

“Fine,” You shrug, “Then we leave at 2200. Hope you have something tight to wear.” With that, you stalk out of the control room. Their shouts follow you.

“Tonight?!”

“(y/n)!”

You grin. Maybe this will be fun after all.

Update: it is not fun after all. You only have twenty minutes left to get ready and you’re panicking. You had just made the mistake of asking R.E.E.S.E. to bring up pictures of Throbbing Disco Sticks and immediately had regretted all of your life decisions.

Is that why they named that club what they did? You think both you and R.E.E.S.E. are scarred from the unexpected amount of male genitalia that the search produced. Only after you add the addition of ‘Naroxu club’ do you get the results you’re looking for - mostly.

You had just wanted some guidance on what to wear. Instead, your thoughts are now full of images of chained leashes, silk ropes, and dark rooms with blinds raised to welcome an audience. You wonder what sort of things happen in rooms like that and if you’d ever get a chance to try those things out.

Your tablet beeps, alerting you of your upcoming meeting. Taking one last glance in the mirror, you assess the way your tight leather pants accentuate your body and your slightly sheer black crop top hints at your lack of bra underneath. Still, your outfit is missing something… You think it over as you tug on your pointy black steel-toed heels.

Ah, you stand and make your way over to your trusty jewelry drawer. Of course. Carefully pulling out your body chain from its place, you drape it around yourself. The chain clasps around your neck and then falls lower between your breasts, settling around your waist. The coldness of the metal causes you to shiver, but the way the crystals embedded in the silver glisten as you turn to admire your final outfit makes it worth it.

You keep your makeup minimal - just a red lip and a slash of black eyeliner. You want to blend in, not make a statement.

Finally, you tuck the map outlining the information Joohoney wants into your back pocket. Any bag you might bring would be searched, so you can do without one.

You take one last calming breath and make your way down the hall to meet the boys. “Hoseok, Namjoon: Are you ready?” You call as you don’t see any sign of them out in the common quarters.

“Coming!” Hoseok’s voice calls back to you and then he emerges from his quarters.

You have to use all of your might not to let your jaw drop. It seems like he also had searched up what to wear because he looks like he stepped right out of the pictures you had seen just a half hour ago.

Hoseok is wearing tight dark jeans tucked into black combat boots that buckle up to the middle of his calves. What he isn't wearing is a shirt. Instead, a deep red leather harness is strapped across his chest with a silver hoop in the middle.

Did he just have that harness lying around? Gods save you.

While you are busy ogling Hoseok, you fail to notice him doing the same to you - so much so that he doesn't move an inch from his spot until Namjoon bursts out of his own quarters and bumps right into him.

At this point, you begin to sweat because Namjoon looks just as lethal as Hoseok in his light jeans, a black leather thigh harness, and a completely see through tight mesh t-shirt. You watch as he fiddles with the two leather cuffs circling his wrists.

“Hoseok, what are you doing?” Namjoon scowls, dropping his hands to his hips. Hobi says nothing and just points in your direction.

“Why are you pointing at me?” You huff, “Don’t blame me for being an idiot and just standing there practically waiting to get hit.”

Namjoon stalks towards you, eyes blazing into you as he takes in your outfit. “Change,” He orders.

He’s giving you orders? A burst of heat flares within you that you try to classify as anger but fail miserably.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Joon,” You fold your arms across your chest. Hoseok chokes as he comes up to stand next to Namjoon who is suddenly all up in your face.

“Go. Change.” Namjoon’s voice is deeper than you’ve ever heard it.

“No.” You stand your ground. Why is he trying to dictate your clothing choices anyway? He’s not your father or your boyfriend - not that you’d let either of those people tell you what choices to make with your own body.

Namjoon turns to Hobi, who still hasn't uttered a word to you, and says lowly, “Go set the course to land on Naroxu.”

Hoseok practically runs off in the direction of the navigation deck. You gape after his fleeing figure and then turn back to face the fuming Namjoon.

“Listen,” You shove your finger into his admittedly toned chest, “I don’t know what has gotten into you, Kim. This outfit isn’t even that bad. Besides, you’ve seen me naked before. Remember?”

“You’re really going to ask me if I remember.” Namjoon’s face is inches from yours. His scent wraps around you and you have to collect yourself for a second. His eyes drop to your lips for a second so brief you believe you imagined it. “You’re really going to ask me that as if the image of your body isn’t burned into my memory and as if every single time I close my eyes I don’t see you.” Namjoon takes in a shaky breath, “And so, (y/n), I’m begging you. Please go change. Not for you, but for me. And for Hoseok.”

You’re at a loss as your brain scrambles to make sense of the words Namjoon just spoke. Okay, he does remember... So, is he mad that it happened? Or is he mad that it only happened once? Must be the first, you think. He has Hobi, after all.

“Maybe you two should stay back,” You suggest, patting Namjoon’s chest comfortingly, “Then you won’t have to look at me while I look like this. I’m sorry it brings up bad memories.”

Namjoon looks completely baffled, “What? What the hell are you talking about? Stop trying to get us to leave you alone!”

“Please,” You laugh without humor, “Like I have to try.”

This time, Namjoon just looks pissed. “Baby, that’s the second comment like that you’ve made today. And I’m getting the sense that you have something to say. So why don’t you just say it?”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He is so onto you.

Namjoon’s presence looms over you, making you feel so small. Your gaze drops to the floor, “I don’t have anything to say.”

“You’re lying. Hm, what a bad girl.” Your head snaps up, eyes wide as you try to slow the pounding of your heart and the increasing pressure between your thighs.

“Do you know what happens to bad girls, (y/n)?” Namjoon croons, eyes dark and locked on yours. You don’t even have the ability to respond, and so he just continues, “They get punished.”

A small whine bursts from your throat before you can stifle it back down. Namjoon’s smile in response is predatory.

“(y/n)! Namjoon! We’ve landed! Oh—”

You and Namjoon turn to stare at Hoseok whose face shows a whole number of emotions in the blink of an eye. Hurt. Confusion. Lust?

All of a sudden, the ship feels too hot, and you need to get off. Ducking around Namjoon, you head towards the ship’s main door. You can hear them murmuring behind you, but you ignore them.

You need to get your shit together. It’s not good to get distracted on a job. It’s even worse to get distracted before said job even starts.

Practically punching the exit button, you tap your foot and wait for the door to open and the ramp to descend.

“(y/n),” Hoseok calls to you, “Slow down! We need to talk to you!”

“No time,” You reply, stomping down the ship’s ramp. Barely taking a second to appreciate the beauty that is Naroxu, you power forward through the landing site. Ships of all kinds surround you. The night sky is a dark inky purple and Naroxu’s famed twin moons shimmer with swirls of silver.

“Then make time!” Namjoon’s growly response sends a shiver down your spine that has nothing to do with the crisp night air. You increase your pace, heading towards where you hear thumping music and peels of laughter and murmured conversation.

“Namjoon, you of all people should know that’s against the laws of physics,” You retort as you finally burst through the end of the landing site and into the crowded street dotted with neon signs and vendors of all sorts.

“She’s so infuriating!” You hear him spit out behind you to Hobi, and you can't help the smile that winds its way across your face. At least you aren’t alone in your anger.

Finding Throbbing Disco Sticks is the easiest part of your night. You simply follow what looks like cylindrical sticks of shimmering glass mirrors spinning from atop a building. There’s a line that winds its way from the club’s doors and down the block. You quickly realize that your outfit is on the conservative side and grimace. You settle for tying your crop top higher on your waist so it hits right below your breasts. This is the best you can do.

“(y/n)!” Hoseok gasps from beside you as he realizes what you’ve just done, “Why are you torturing us like this?”

“Not this again,” You groan and decide that - fuck it - you’re going to name drop to bypass the line. It’s totally tacky, but you’re desperate at this point. Ignoring the hecklers amongst those waiting, you come to a stop in front of the two burly bouncers who are clearly Naroxuin natives with beautiful lilac skin and curling silver horns.

“Can I help you, little lady?” The slightly taller one addresses you, and you immediately swoon at the depth of his voice as it flows off his tongue like chocolate. Damn these sexy Naroxuins…

“I’m meeting an old friend,” You flash them your best smile, “And he doesn’t like to be kept waiting. Would you be able to let us in?”

Blinking your wide eyes up at the two bouncers, you watch as they exchange a short glance and then turn back to you. “Who’s your friend?” The other bouncer asks you, his sharp eyes assessing your figure.

“Jooheon,” You say, shrugging, “He usually goes by Joohoney.”

Their eyes grow large. “We didn’t know Joohoney had a pet,” The first bouncer comments, eyes flicking over your form, “But then again, you are quite delicious, aren’t you?”

A hand slips around your waist and grips it firmly, while another settles on the small of your back.

“Oh, does Joohoney share?” The second bouncer grins, his eyes turning to crescent moons as he stares at the hand digging into your hip. “I never would have guessed. Keep me in mind, would you, pet?”

“Oh, shut it, Jimin,” The taller bouncer laughs, “Like she’d ever pick you over me.”

“Fuck off, Tae,” Jimin glares, stepping aside to let you through. “Have a nice night, pet. You know where to find me.”

“And me!” Tae calls, laughing again as Jimin shoves him.

You move along, shaking your head at the oddity of that encounter.

“I thought you were supposed to be keeping a low profile!” Namjoon hisses over to you as soon as you’re out of earshot of the two bouncers.

“Yeah,” Hoseok mutters, “Flirting usually doesn’t fall under the category of ‘low profile’.”

“Oh my gods,” You tug out of their holds, “I barely said two words to them! And I didn’t realize that flirting at a sex club would be completely out of the ordinary. Wow, lock me up!”

“Don’t fucking tempt me.” Namjoon’s response is immediate. Your breath hitches as he corners you close, “Now, go finish your little mission and we’ll settle this back on the ship, baby. And, believe me, it will be settled.”

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit. You watch as Namjoon tugs Hoseok further down the corridor towards the main club area. “We’ll be watching!” Hoseok calls over his shoulder and shoots you a look you’re not even sure you want to interpret. And you can’t - not when you have a meeting to attend.

After grabbing a non-potent drink from the bar, you make your way around the crowded club. The dance floor is packed full of people of all shapes, sizes, and skin tones. You even see a few Uyiths with their glowing gold skin in the far corner, practically providing light for their whole area.

The majority of the clubbers here seem to be experienced in the lifestyle. Many are collared or are the ones leading the collared. Others are unclaimed and waiting to be approached or to approach. You, however, are just trying to not be propositioned for the fifth time in the past fifteen minutes.

“Well, aren’t you exquisite,” A low voice murmurs from your left.

“Not interested,” You say, sipping your drink and wishing you weren’t on a job so you could have something stronger.

“Your loss,” The man shrugs in your periphery before slinking away. At least this one had not been pushy like the last. You had to threaten to remove his balls using just the tip of your stiletto to get him to flee. You are so over it.

Hopping off of your barstool, you decide to explore the rest of the club while you wait for Joohoney. You try to ignore the heat from the two pairs of eyes glued to your every move. And then you duck into the dim hallway that you know leads to the individual rooms full of sin.

The first few have their blinds closed, much to the disappointment of your curiosity. However, the fourth room is fully on display. Only two others are gathered in front of the glass, paying close attention to the activities occurring on the other side.

And what activities they are… You peer through the glass at the sight. A man is tied to a St. Andrew’s Cross, his arms and legs straining against the cuffs as a woman dressed in only a leather bustier runs her finger teasingly up and down his shaft. A second man lays beneath her, his face buried between her legs. Your attention returns to the man restrained.

What had he done to deserve such painfully pleasurable punishment? Had he done it on purpose?

As if he feels you staring at him, the man’s head lifts up and he meets your eyes. A small smile forms on his lips as he raises his chin to acknowledge you.

The woman turns to follow his gaze and raises an eyebrow at you. She hooks her finger in your direction, beckoning you to come inside. Almost subconsciously, you listen. But before you can take a step, a hand catches your wrist and tugs you back.

“What are you doing, lovely?” Hoseok’s voice jolts you from the scene that had captivated your attention. The woman in the room eyes you for a second more and then shrugs, returning to her other playthings. “You weren’t really thinking of joining them, were you?

“And so what if I was?” You reply petulantly. You cast a glance around you, noticing that the other couple watching had since disappeared and that there is no sight of Namjoon. “Where’s your other half?”

“My other half?” Hoseok’s nose crinkles adorably as he thinks, “Oh, you mean Joon? He’s taking care of something.”

Your eyebrows shoot up your forehead, “He’s taking care of something? Why does that sound so sinister, Hobi?”

“It’s nothing to worry about, lovely,” Hoseok grins and then glances over your shoulder at the scene you had been watching. “Fuck, that’s hot.”

You, of course, turn immediately. The man is still tied, but now the other is sucking his dick as if his life depends on it while the woman watches with a small grin on her face. She holds a small device in her hand and is fiddling with its buttons. Then you notice the glimmering jewel that winks back at you from the ass of the man kneeling.

“It is… What do you think is hot about it?” You ask, as the tied man moans, throwing his head back and baring his throat.

“All of it. The way she commands the room, the way the men please her, the way she tortures them. I don’t know who I’d rather be,” Hoseok lets out a small laugh, shoving a hand through his tousled hair, “Do you?”

“I’d want to be tied up,” You blurt out before you can stop yourself. Hoseok’s breath hitches in his throat as his hands come down to clench your hips.

“(y/n), lovely, I’d want to see that, too,” His eyelids are heavy as he stares down at you. One of his hands travels lower on your body, palming your ass slightly.

“H-Hoseok,” You gasp, your back arching into his touch.

“Goddamn, lovely,” Hobi moans, “I thought I might never get to hear you say my name like that again.”

Your thighs clench as you vividly recall the memory not unlike this when Joon had eaten you out against the back wall of the club and then Hoseok had slid into you and fucked you until you couldn’t walk. You definitely had cried his name more times than you could ever count.

And this makes you so confused. Does this mean he had been wanting to hear you moaning his name again? That makes no sense considering he’s sleeping with Namjoon and planning to leave you.

Hoseok must read the thoughts on your face because he sighs, bringing your hand to his lips. “Later,” He promises - of what, you don’t know. He presses a kiss to your knuckles and then disappears back into the crowded club.

“Well, that was quite a show,” An amused man emerges from the shadows, “Just when I thought you might join the Mistress with Suga and Jin, you get caught up in another. How delightful.”

Sighing, you stick your hand out to greet your contact, “Hi, Joohoney. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Joohoney’s dimples flash at you as he grins and you internally melt. God, your thing for dimples is getting out of hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, too, pet. Please, call me Jooheon.” His hand grips yours firmly as he takes you in. You pay him the same regard, eyes wandering over his black long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pushed up his forearms. His shirt is tucked into slim fitting black pants and cinched with a belt that looks like it could also double as a harness. He looks expensive as hell.

And then what he says registers to you.

Groaning, you tug your hand out of his and grimace, “That wasn’t my fault! The bouncers just assumed, and I didn’t think to correct them.”

Jooheon’s grin turns wicked as he stares you down, “Oh, I’m not complaining. You can be my pet anytime you want, (y/n)…” He not-so-subtly flexes his wrist where a black choker with a silver ring in the center is wound around it twice, “This would look pretty around your neck, wouldn’t it?”

You struggle to find a response, your mouth opening and closing as you blink at the absurd turn your night has taken.

“Ah, don’t answer that. Let’s dance,” Jooheon smiles sweetly down at you like he hadn’t just asked to own you in every sexual way possible.

So you agree, nodding slightly, and then he whisks you onto the dance floor. The music thumps through you as Jooheon drags you into the throng of the crowd. Looking around you, your eyes fall on your boys.

Hoseok and Namjoon are wrapped around each other, their bodies pressed together, hips grinding to the beat. Their eyes are both on you, their gazes absolute and piercing. Namjoon grasps Hoseok closer to him, his hands drawing the other boy further into his crotch.

Are they really doing this right now? In front of you? While staring you down?

And so when Jooheon grabs your own hips to pull you back into him, you let him. The response from Hoseok and Namjoon is immediate. Namjoon’s nostrils flare as he watches you begin to shift your body in time with Jooheon’s. Hoseok’s tongue presses against the inside of his cheek as he glares over your shoulder.

“Looks like we’re making some people mad, pet,” Jooheon laughs, his lips brushing your ear. “Are you with them?”

You lean your head back to respond, “Technically, yes. They’re my crew.”

“Well, then why does your crew look like they want to fight me for putting my hands on you?”

“Oh, they’re just protective,” You reply, “They’re in a relationship anyway, as you can see.” You wave a hand over to where Hoseok and Namjoon are murmuring to each other, almost seeming to be mirroring you and Jooheon.

The motion of your hand recaptures their attention and you swear the movement of Namjoon’s lips produces the harsh phrase of ‘I’m gonna destroy him’.

You’re almost certain that Hoseok and Namjoon are about to blow your entire deal; you cannot have that happen. And so, you turn to Jooheon and ask if you can make the trade now. Luckily, he agrees and leads you through the crowd towards a door beside the bar along the far wall.

Before you step over the threshold, you turn back. Hoseok and Namjoon are steps away from you, looking pissed. And then you let the door fall shut behind you.

The trade deal goes down fairly quickly. You tug the map out of your back pocket; Jooheon places a few stacks of currency on the table. You count it first, of course. This isn’t your first space rodeo.

Thankfully, Jooheon is true to his word and has the full amount ready for you. You then unfold the map you had drawn and begin to explain it in detail. “So the Alravi are planning to attack the Wyxian border here, here, and here.” You point out the spots you had starred. “My informant is certain they will strike at 0400 in two rotations.”

A scoff meets your ears. One of Jooheon’s partners stands. He’s handsome and tall with full lips and sleepy eyes. “How do we know that this information is even legit, Joohoney? She could be making this up.”

Jooheon shoots you a look and you step towards the skeptic. “Well, Chae Hyungwon,” You purr, “I can guarantee that this information is as real as the tattoo of your mother’s name on your left asscheek.”

Hyungwon turns fuschia as Jooheon cackles, “Is that true, Wonnie? Do you have that?”

“Yah!” Hyungwon glares at you, “It’s not a tattoo of my mom’s name, it’s a tattoo of my ex-girlfriend’s name! It’s not my fault they happened to share the same one.”

Jooheon wipes tears from his eyes as he hands you your money, “Please, pet, call me for a trade anytime. This has been the most fun I’ve had in months.”

“Will do,” You grin, sliding the money into your pocket. It barely fits, but you don’t care. It always feels good to secure a bag.

You wave at Jooheon and his crew as you exit the small room and re-enter the crowded club. No further than two steps out of the door, you are thrown over someone’s shoulder.

“Hey!” You pound on your assailant’s back, “Put me down!”

“Shut it, (y/n),” Comes the growled reply.

You still for a second in an attempt to process what the hell is happening. “Joon?!” You cry, “What the fuck! Where’s Hobi?”

“Here.” Hoseok’s voice comes from behind you and it’s devoid of any of its usual amusement.

You curse, trying to wiggle out of Namjoon’s hold.

Thwack. Your ass stings and you gasp. Heat floods through you as you realize that Namjoon just outright spanked you in the middle of a crowded club - in front of Hoseok.

Damn you for even thinking a deal at a sex club would go well. No one even paid the three of you any mind as Namjoon sauntered out of the club and into the night with you hitched over his shoulder and Hobi trailing behind you both.

You even hear the laughing comments of the two bouncers from earlier as they yell over to you...

“Have fun!”

“Come back to visit, pet!”

You flip them off, but sadly Hobi obscures the gesture from their sight.

“I can walk, you know,” You mumble, thoroughly put out by your situation.

“Yeah, we do know, (y/n),” Hoseok scoffs, “You walked away from Joon and I just fine a few minutes ago. What happened to having one of us in the room with you?”

“I can handle myself just fine,” You retort, turning your head to assess how much further you’re going to be left hanging. You’re probably almost at your ship if you had to guess. “Plus, it was good practice for when the two of you leave me.”

Namjoon halts in his tracks and slides you off his shoulder and onto the ground. You wobble a bit from the blood rush, but he steadies you.

“What did you just say?” Namjoon’s voice is deceptively soft, his hands grip your biceps firmly. You can feel Hoseok behind you, his breathing hard.

You snap. Honestly, you’re a bit shocked it took you this long when you’d been feeling like you might crumble for days.

Your eyes glare back at Namjoon as your lips curl into a sneer, “Yeah, I know you’re leaving me, just like I know about you and Hobi. So why don’t you drop the act like you actually care about me and fuck off.”

Namjoon’s eyes are wide as they stare down at you. Hoseok seems to have stopped breathing altogether and a slight whine sounds from him.

“Hoseok,” Namjoon says, “Bring her to her quarters while I set the course.” He steps around you and stalks towards your ship which is only a few paces away.

“Come on, lovely,” Hoseok grabs your hand but you just shrug him off. A flash of hurt crosses his beautiful face and you almost cave and hug him close. But you have to be strong - just like you always have.

You march forward, heading up the ramp and onto your ship. Hoseok closes and locks the door behind you; the ship lifts off immediately.

Laughing bitterly, you head towards your quarters with Hoseok in tow, “What’s the big rush here? Can’t wait to start your own life together without me?”

“(y/n), please. Let’s talk about this,” Hobi begs, for what you’re not sure. The quiet desperation you hear in his words almost drains the fight right out of you, but you’re in too deep to stop now.

“What’s there to talk about?” Your words sting with bitterness as you enter your room, “I know you two don’t love me, and I get it. Who would? You and Joon deserve a better life. I’ll be fine without you just like I was before you came into my life.”

Hoseok shoves a hand through his hair as he gazes sharply down at you, “Lovely, no. Don’t say such things.”

Angrily wiping away a traitorous tear, you sink onto your bed. Just when Hoseok looks like he’s about to say more, Namjoon storms in. He takes one look at you and Hoseok and sighs deeply. “What are we going to do with you, baby?”

“She thinks we don’t love her!” Hoseok cries.

Namjoon blinks and then approaches you, “Is that what you really think, (y/n)?” He bends down, his face level with yours from where you sit on your bed. Hoseok sits beside you, and you watch as his hand slowly inches towards yours.

You tug it out of reach. “I know you don’t love me, Joon,” You shrug, “And that’s okay. I’ve always been alone; it's what I know best.”

Namjoon shares a long look with Hoseok and then he turns back to face you, “Baby, how did you get these ideas in that pretty head of yours?”

Your anger boils back up, “I got them from you!”

You spring up, standing toe-to-toe with Namjoon, “If you really want to leave to be “free to share your love”, don’t let me hold you back. After all, I’m just a drunken mistake, aren’t I? Just a nasty little hiccup in your relationship. Just a painful memory that makes you cringe. Don’t you realize how much that hurts me? I fucking love you and you both can’t stand the sight of m—!”

Namjoon’s hand grips the back of your neck as his mouth slams onto yours. Your mind blanks as you gasp, his tongue sliding over yours. You kiss him back. Your hands wind up his chest, feeling his skin burning through the flimsy mesh of his shirt. You feel another pair of hands grip your hips and that jolts you enough to come to your senses.

“Wait, wait, wait,” You pull your mouth away from Namjoon’s, “You can’t just kiss me and touch me like I’m yours when I’m not.”

“But, lovely, you are,” Hoseok tugs you back into his body and places a light kiss on your neck, “You always have been.” His mouth feels hot as it sucks gently on your skin, undoubtedly leaving marks in its wake.

“I-I don’t understand,” You stammer, trying to wrap your head around everything that’s going on. “I thought you were leaving me. I thought you were ashamed of that night on Xyreus. I thought you didn’t want me when you so clearly want each other.”

“For someone so smart, you sure draw some dumb conclusions,” Namjoon mumbles, his hands cupping your face carefully. “Number one: the conversation you overheard was about how we agreed that we would never leave you.” Your breath hitches as you feel Hoseok’s hands slip around your body to toy with the hem of your crop top right under your breasts.

“Number two,” Namjoon continues, recapturing your gaze, “We are ashamed of that night on Xyreus. But what we’re ashamed of is how strongly we came onto you, how we were so sure we felt more for you than you felt for us. We couldn’t lose you. If we scared you off with how much we loved you - and still love you - we would never live with ourselves. And so we cut it off.”

“You love me?” You breathe out, “Both of you?”

“So much, baby,” Namjoon looks down at you like you’re the most cherished thing to him.

“So, so much,” Hoseok growls in your ear, nipping at it slightly. You shiver, your body pressing back into his. You feel his cock hard against your ass and you press back even further, craving some kind of friction. “Fuck, lovely,” His head falls to your shoulder as he grinds into you.

“Hoseok,” Namjoon’s tone is hard and full of warning. It sends a rush of heat straight to your core.

The other boy groans but pulls back from you just a bit. You frown at the loss.

Namjoon notices and rolls his eyes, “How did I forget that you’re just as insatiable as him?” Before you can even retort, he continues, “Number three: yes, Hoseok and I want each other; but, we also want you. We talk about it all the time. How your pussy tasted on my tongue. How you felt around Hobi’s cock. How it might feel to fuck you at the same time…

His eyes are dark, his pupils so dilated that they encompass his irises. “I think about that, too,” You bring a hand up to hold one of Joon’s as he still cradles your face. “I think about how it would feel to be between the two of you as you pound into me, using me for your pleasure.”

“She almost joined a scene tonight,” Hoseok blurts. Your eyes widen as Namjoon’s eyebrows raise.

“Is that so, baby?” Joon murmurs, one of his thumbs brushing over your lips. “What drew you in? Hoseok and I can give it to you in any way you want; you just have to ask.”

Your thighs squeeze together as your walls clench around nothing. Of course, Namjoon’s observant eyes miss nothing and he quirks a small smile.

“I liked how they pleased their mistress,” You gasp out, “How they touched each other to make her satisfied. I want to do that. Let me do that for you.”

“Fuck, baby,” Namjoon groans, “You want to please me? Fine. Strip - both of you.”

Hoseok immediately sets on unbuckling his harness. Meanwhile, your hands shake too much to be able to unclasp your body chain.

“Leave it on,” Namjoon slips a finger under the chain between your breasts, “I’ve been dying to see you in this and nothing else.”

“But my shirt—!” Your protest is cut short as Joon grips the collar of your top and rips it straight off. “Namjoon!” You berate, shooting him a dirty look which he definitely doesn’t see since he’s staring at your half-naked body like it’s the sun in which he revolves around.

“So goddamn beautiful.” Just as you think he’s going to touch you, he backs off. “Hobi, take her pants off, and then I want to watch you make her come.”

Hoseok moves to stand in front of you. You stop breathing as you take in his bare body - his cock already hard. He sinks to his knees in front of you, hands winding their way up your calves, your thighs, your ass. Hobi slowly tugs down the small zipper on the side of your pants and then pulls them off you.

He lets out a moan as soon as he realizes you aren’t wearing underwear. How could you have in tight leather pants?

“You dirty girl,” Namjoon’s words reclaim your attention as you look up at him. He’s sitting in your desk chair, legs spread wide, making no move to hide his arousal. “Now keep your eyes on me when Hoseok fucks you with his tongue.”

You let out a moan both at Namjoon’s words and at the first brush of Hoseok’s tongue on your aching pussy.

“Gods, Joon,” Hoseok growls, “She’s so wet, so sweet.” His tongue flattens as it drags down the length of your folds before circling your clit.

You’re panting at this point, and when Hoseok lightly kisses your clit and sucks it into his mouth, your back arches. You grind your hips shamelessly down onto Hobi’s face, craving more with a desperation you haven’t felt before.

Your eyes never leave Namjoon’s as he speaks to you in a low voice, “Fuck yeah, baby. Ride his face. Does it feel good?”

“So good,” You moan, hands winding into Hoseok’s hair as he slides his tongue inside you.

“Do you think you deserve to come, (y/n)?” Namjoon questions, his fingers steepled in front of his face as he leans forward. “Even after the stunts you pulled tonight on Naroxu?”

“Y-yes,” You answer petulantly and then jolt as Hobi spanks your ass. Your walls clench automatically around Hoseok’s tongue and he moans, the vibrations make you squirm. The pleasure builds and builds inside you, coiling in the pit of your stomach and spreading across your body.

You murmur Hoseok’s name like a mantra as your fingers dig into his hair, holding him against your pussy.

“Stop.” Namjoon’s voice cuts through your impending bliss. Hoseok draws back and you whine at the loss of contact.

“Joon, please,” You beg, “I’m so close!”

“I want to feel you come around my cock, baby,” Namjoon walks over to you, “Can you do that for me?”

You nod furiously, and he smiles, his dimples peeking out at you. “Good girl.”

You watch as Namjoon strips, taking in the sight of the thickness of his thighs, the hardness of his cock.

He kisses you swiftly and then turns you around. “I want you on all fours, baby. Go on,” Namjoon squeezes you ass and then pushes you lightly onto the bed.

You shift onto all fours, all too aware of how much you’re on display for them. And you feel yourself getting even more turned on.

“Damn, Joon, look at that pretty little pussy,” Hoseok groans, “It’s all ours. She’s all ours.”

You feel a finger slide into you. “Babygirl,” Namjoon groans, “When I wreck you, I want you to suck Hobi off, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” You pant, needing them both so bad.

Namjoon chuckles darkly as Hoseok gets into position in front of you. He barely settles before you lean down to taste him. Your tongue swirls around the tip and then you take him into your mouth.

You feel Namjoon’s finger slip out of you only to be replaced by the head of his cock. As he eases into you, you groan around Hoseok’s length, making him twitch.

Namjoon slowly begins moving in and out of you. “You feel so nice, baby,” He murmurs, gripping your hips, “So hot and tight around my cock.”

You clench around him and Namjoon moans, “Fuck, baby, if you keep doing that, I’m gonna come too soon.” You clench again, because you’re a brat.

Thwack. Namjoon’s hand comes down hard on your ass and stays there, kneading the sting out slowly. His pace picks up. His cock slamming into you, his hips grinding into your ass with each thrust. Soon enough, you’re hurtling towards the edge once again. You release Hoseok from your mouth; and instead, you focus on moving one of your hands up and down his shaft as you lap at his tip.

You feel yourself gripping Joon tightly as you move your hips back to meet each of his thrusts. “You gonna come, babygirl?” Namjoon spanks you again as his other hand reaches around your body to rub your clit.

You come with a scream, your vocabulary erased to the point where you only know the names of your lovers. Namjoon continues to pound into you, carrying you through your orgasm.

But still, you’re not satisfied. “Hoseok,” You peer up at your sunshine, “I want you inside me, too.”

“Lovely,” Hoseok sighs, leaning down to press a sweet kiss to your lips, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” You nod emphatically, shaking your ass slightly.

Still inside you, Joon groans, “We’ve unleashed a monster, Hoseok. Go grab the lube from your room, yeah?”

“Why? I have some,” You point towards your bedside drawer. “It’s in there.”

Hoseok opens your drawer and curses, “Lovely, have you been fucking yourself with these toys?”

“No,” You retort, getting up from your bed and ignoring the noise of protest that Joon makes when he slips out of you. “I just stare at them for the aesthetic, Hobi.” You move him aside with your hips as you grab the lube from its spot.

Hoseok bites down on your neck. “Such a brat,” He mumbles into your skin as he kisses the mark he just made.

They don’t know the half of it... You grin, “Now, are you both going to fuck me? Or should I go back to take those bouncers up on their offer?”

No sooner had the words left your mouth than Namjoon grabs you, wrapping your legs around his waist and sinks his cock back inside you. “You think that’s funny, baby?” He growls into your ear, “You’re not even going to remember their existence when Hobi and I are done with you.”

You moan as you feel Hoseok’s finger teasing your ass, getting you ready to take him. The coolness of the lube sends a shiver down your spine as you eagerly anticipate being full of both your boys. “Please, Hoseok,” You whine, desperate for him. You grind your hips down onto Joon as best you can, and when you feel the first gentle touch of Hoseok’s cock against your hole, you throw your head back so it rests on his shoulder.

Hoseok sinks into you inch by inch, torturously slow. You’re panting now as you are stretched around the two of them.

“Gods-fucking-damn,” Hobi moans, his hips meeting your ass as he bottoms out inside you. “Joonie, I can feel you. Gods, you’re so tight, lovely.”

“Please,” You cry. You need them to move, to fill you up with their come.

And when they finally start moving in and out of you, you think you might be ascending into the astral plane. Namjoon’s mouth lowers to suck at your nipples. Hoseok’s hands roam around to flick and play with your clit. You’re so overwhelmed by the multiple sensations, your hands digging into Namjoon’s hair, holding him close to you.

“I’m gonna come,” Hoseok whines, his forehead dropping to your shoulder, his hips stuttering as he chases his high.

“Me too. Come with us, baby,” Namjoon orders, his own voice straining as he shifts your legs up higher to get deeper inside of you.

Tears stream down your cheeks as his cock hits that spot inside you, and you’re coming. Your walls clench down around both of their cocks, milking them. Their cum fills you up with warmth as your pussy continues to pulse around them.

“Oh, lovely,” Hoseok sighs, his voice breaking as he thrusts shallowly in and out of you, riding out his orgasm.

“You’re so perfect, baby,” Namjoon places light kisses all over your chest, “You were made for us.”

You can’t even find words as they eventually pull out of you. Cum drips down your legs as Joon sets you down. You watch as Hoseok swipes at it with two fingers and then brings it up inside you. “Want you to be full of us always,” He says, placing a swift kiss to your lips.

“My heart already is,” You murmur, your lips twitching as Hoseok groans at your cheesiness.

“Baby,” Namjoon sighs, his arms wrapping around you, “That was terrible.”

“Please,” You roll your eyes, “You love it.”

“Yeah,” They reply, “I guess we do.”

#bangtanhq #ficswithluv #networkbangtan #btswriterscollective #btswritingcafe #hyunglinenetwork #kwritersworldnet #bangtanarmynet #btsbookclub #btsnoonanet #ksmutclub #houseofddaeng #namseok #namseok x reader #namjoon x reader #hoseok x reader #poly bts #bts smut #bts fanfic

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sazorak · 3 years

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Every Game I Played in 2020, Ranked

2020. Boy, what a garbo year huh? Didn't actually play that many games this year all-in-all. Happens! My backlog is getting pretty big, but I just find it hard to focus on games when I could be working on something. Or put off working on something, as it may happen to be at times.

My arbitrary decision from years ago to only attach a numbered ranking to same-year releases is getting increasingly silly, especially given my propensity to wait on playing games until I’m in the right mood, but whatever. That order matters than the dumb numerical numbering anyway.

2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019

Later Alligator – 2019 – Steam – ★★

The style of this game is very cute, and the jokes are funny enough. But… ok, look, I’m not one to be precious about what is or isn’t a game. But this really isn’t a game. It’s a series of disconnected, unrelated challenges clipped from Atari Free Mini Game Collection 100, wrapped in a very non-interactive adventure-game. It’s cute, it’s kind of sweet, but it’s dull. Dull dull dull. There’s a pointless, mandatory sliding block puzzle early on that infuriated me by its mere existence. Them giving the ability to skip it because “wow you’re bad at this huh”, which, while accurate, also just sold the whole point meaningless of the “““interactive experience”””.

Also: when a huge part of your game is WOW WE ANIMATED EVERYONE REALLY GOOD, text boxes that reveal word-by-word, far away from the animations that occur when said characters talk? Kind of stinks!

8. Carrion – 2020 – Steam – ★★

What Carrion does well— the whole “You’re controlling The Thing and just rippin’ people apart!” shtick— is really neat. They made that bootleg The Thing animate real-ass good.

The actual game as a whole though? Kind of garbage. Imagine a Metroidvania with zero actual exploration, where every opportunity you have to venture off the path instead results in immediate railroading with constant, utterly inexplicable one-way pipes. It’s not that it’s linear, it’s that it actively slaps you when you attempt to explore. It’s very frustrating! Add the fact that the tentacle-monster-shtick makes challenging to actually, y’know, move around and control all your bits… the only reason I finished the game was due to foreknowledge of its extreme brevity.

I think if the game were more open and less obsessed with constantly handing out upgrades, as well as having less of a focus on pure combat, I think I’d have enjoyed it more.

SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays – 2019 – Steam – ★★

It is well documented at this point that I am both an active Gundam fan, and as well as an on-again-off-again tactical RPG aficionado. A SD Gundam game appearing on Steam with a good English translation and localization is… exciting, to say the least. That said, I have never had much context for this game series beyond the basic facts that the combat tended to be pretty well animated CG, and that it’s vaguely similar to Super Robot Wars. Turns out… it’s really different from SRW? I dunno how the rest of the series fairs, but Cross Rays is weird as hell.

For one, there’s zero tutorialization at all. None. Almost all of what I’m going to explain here is me figuring stuff out by trial and error, or by reading junk online. Gundam is insanely popular, you’d think they’d be interested in explaining how it all works, but… nope. Even Super Robot Wars has multi-level introductory bits for new folks to show them the rope these days.

So: Cross Rays is a tactical RPG where you can playthrough the storyline of various Gundam AUs. You can play through them in any order. These playthroughs are fairly literal translations of the stories. You take control of the lead mecha from those series, fight enemy mobile suits that show up in SRW-like tactical RPG combat, until all reinforcements cease. Pretty straight forward. There are occasionally mission variants like “prevent enemies from reaching X” or “prevent enemies from destroying Y”, but even those can be just reduced to “kill everything very quickly please.”

But here’s the thing: while there is a story progression, the characters in the story itself actually have no character progression. These characters and mecha are actually considered guests, despite it being ostensibly their story. Instead, you are able to field “permanent” mecha and pilots of your own choosing, which do have progressions. There is no plot justification for this or anything like it. The game does not recognize that it’s weird that during Iron-Blooded Orphans intro where nobody knows what a Gundam even is, you can have 25 Gundams show up at once and just fire lasers at everything. That’s because this game is actually about repeatedly grinding the same set of missions over and over.

Pilots are recruited by completing certain in-mission requirements. Mecha are acquired by either by getting enough kills with the progression-less “guest” mecha, combining mecha you already have gashopon-style, completing certain quests, or by leveling up mecha and then “evolving them”. This is the actual core of the game.

SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays is basically Disgaea, it turns out? You’re grinding story missions at various difficulty levels in order to complete missions, try to recruit specific pilots, equip them with stats and levels to make them stronger, and then hitting mecha together in a sort of quasi-SMT fusion system until you get all the powerful mobile suits you desire.

The combat itself is kind of… bland? There’s a lot of systems, but they mostly seem in service of making an already easy game easier, or burning through tedium. There are four different difficulty modes, because there’s not actually that many different missions you can play through. The expectation is you’ll just work your way through every story beat while ramping the difficulty up over time to where the “guest” mecha would not be able to handle on their own. In fact, letting the story mecha act out the story beats is actually bad after a point, unless you’re still trying to get those lead mobile suits, or if you’re trying to complete some mission requirement in order to recruit Named Wing Grunt Pilot #246.

There is something to the notion of “I want to get N and N and N and N on a team, piloting weird but powerful mobile suits, and just solo every Gundam AU in a row,” but the whole premise seems kind of against purpose. Why bother recreating story beats at all, then? It’s not like the game even acknowledges any of that going on.

If the point is that I’m supposed to be, like in other grind-heavy tactical RPGs, breaking the systems to my own end in order to proceed… why not make the missions you play challenges focused towards that? The story progression literally only exists to facilitate the mission-based unlock conditions, which makes all the energy put into making them JUST LIKE THE ANIME really damn pointless.

I like tactical RPGs, I like breaking RPG systems so as to beat hard challenges (I beat all the insanely hard extra bosses in FFXII for crying out loud), I looooove Gundam. I should like this. But I don’t really have the “god, I NEED TO FILL THIS LIST” gene that some folks have… except as an excuse to continue to engage in gameplay I enjoy. The gameplay here seems in service of the collection, rather than the way around.

7. Pokemon Sword: The Isle of Armor – 2020 – ★★★

Pokemon’s first foray into actually doing DLC is… a mixed bag. As a positive, they’ve improved the Wild Area concept I liked from the main game, and even brought back buddy Pokemon walking behind you. That’s neat. On the other hand: the actual progression in it is completable in like an hour, it doesn’t scale with you, so you’re bound to be over leveled for it, and all the raid stuff, while still conceptually neat, is just as flawed as in the base game. And so, you’re just left with even more new Pokemon to RNG grind on to continue to catch-them-all. Nah, I’m good.

Astral Chain – 2019 – Switch – ★★★

Platinum knows how to make good character action games. They’ve made a bunch of them. Bayonetta, Nier: Automata, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. They also know how to make some kind of mediocre character action games. Transformers: Devastation, Wonderful 101, their various shovelware character action games like Korra. Astral Chain falls somewhere in the middle, I guess?

Astral Chain has all the production of their good games. It has some stylish, cool action. It has a neat core mechanical idea, in that it’s essentially a two-character action game where you control both characters at once. It has a lot of the old mechanics from some of their best games brought in; witch-time last second dodging from Bayonetta, Nier’s shooting-and-slashing combination, the Zandatsu mechanic from Metal Gear Rising, even Wonderful 101’s multi-unit shenanigans. The setting is different, and there’s some neat world flavor all in all.

But, of all games I’ve played over the past few years, Astral Chain made me more vividly angry than any other. It’s not that it’s too hard— far from it, really, I found its combat incredibly mashy. No, the problem is that it has so many shitty mechanics slathered on that it become a chore to get to the “good bits”.

Why would you put forced stealth sequences in your character action game, especially when your movement controls are not suited for it?

Why the HELL would you put platforming sections in your character action game, constantly, especially when your stupid ghost buddy can accidentally yank you off the edge, your auto-combos can just throw you off the edge, or literally anything can knock you off the edge and make you lose life?

Why would you put so many constant excuses into the world to force me use the digital sensor in the game, that also makes it miserable to walk around while using it?

WHO THE LIVING FUCK THINKS THESE SHITTY BOX BALANCING MINI-GAMES ARE FUN???

These games are supposed to encourage me to perfect everything, right? Why keep putting fucking fights you need to complete in order to get an S rank behind backtracking, or Legions I don’t have yet? That isn’t adding replayability, that’s just wasting my time. There are even in-level missions that have fail conditions that you never even know about. Surprise!!! A lot of them involve chasing after guys and catching them with your chain, which is really obnoxious to do!!!! SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The story is just Bad Evangelion, straight up. Every story beat from Evangelion is here, executed worse. They also make your character have a twin just so they can have a character who can talk and feel emotions, because your boring-ass protagonist is stuck being an emotionless audience cipher. Cool!!!

Tetris Effect – 2018 – Origin – ★★★

It’s drugs Tetris. I personally don’t use, or have synesthesia for that matter. I imagine this game is better if you do. It’s an enjoyable enough experience but it feels incredibly slight for what I was expecting from it, or even compared to something like Lumines, which has tons of replayability by way of its difficulty. Tetris just isn’t that hard, unless you’re forcing yourself to do weird shit to get points. I WILL NEVER LEARN HOW TO T-SPIN. Never.

Castlevania Anniversary Collection – 2019 – Steam – ★★★

Kind of an unremarkable Castlevania collection. Neat that it has an official translation of Kid Dracula in there, but also… look, I prefer Metroidvania Castlevanias, OK?

6. Spelunky 2 – 2020 – Steam – ★★★

I’m not entirely sure why this doesn’t click for me where Spelunky 1 did. More annoying intro levels? Too many fiddly requirements for different ending-progression? Gameplay additions that just make things more annoying? Spelunky 1 was hard, but there was a kind straight-forwardness to it, even with its weird secrets, that made it much easier to grok and continue banging your head against. I’m just not having as much fun with this. Difficulty should be challenging, not a hassle.

5. Stellaris: Federations – 2020 – Steam – ★★★

This is the year that Stellaris just broke for me.

Federations itself is a good DLC; it adds some really interesting mechanics tied to various types of multi-national unions (the titular federations, as well as the Space UN), as well as the addition of unique “origins” that allow you to further specialize your gameplay. The origins in particular are a great addition that allows more specialization and roleplay.

I’m just tired of the sheer amount of busywork Stellaris forces you to do. Every DLC adds more junk you need to keep an eye on, and the fact that the AI doesn’t even bother with it (compensating with copious economy boosts in order to keep up) makes the whole thing frustrating. It’s like playing fetch with yourself; you just get tired of chasing after your own ball after a point.

I have to wonder if they’re pivoting towards a notional Stellaris 2 at this point? Might not be a bad idea for them, though it is weird with all they talked up adding more origins when Federations came out.

4. GranBlue Fantasy Versus – 2020 – Steam – ★★★★

This is probably the fighting game I got most into over the past few years. There’s just this nice, almost Street Fighter-esque ease of execution to the controls, and that Arc Systems Works 3D-as-2D style continues to just do work. I don’t give a single shit about GranBlue Fantasy (frankly, I think I’d enjoy this game more if it wasn’t attached to a property) but the characters are fun enough to play and look at.

The big problem here is two things: no crossplay, and no rollback netcode. In the span of a month, this game became a total ghost town on PC, and it doesn’t sound like PS4 faired that much better.

Ring Fit Adventure – 2019 – Switch – ★★★★

I’ve fallen on-and-off this game all year. At its heart: it works, it’s a fun exercise game. I don’t think it really feels like a “game” (in the sense that I’m not really coming to it for riveting gameplay or anything) as much as just a guided exercise experience, but… that’s fine? The in-game story is kind of flat, but funny in the fact of it existing at all. Buff Nicol Bolas and all.

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – 2017 – Steam – ★★★★

XCOM2: War of the Chosen is a great answer to what XCOM2 struggled with. As I discussed back in 2016 (Jesus Christ), XCOM2 tried to push against player’s worst instincts by incentivizing them to keep being aggressive through a whole bunch of timers— which, kind of just weren’t fun given how much accidentally walking into an ambush could “ruin” dozens of hours of play. War of the Chosen dials that back in some intelligent ways, by instead making the encounter designs themselves, as well as much more grab-and-bail mission types, encourage players to push ahead instead. Smart!

The addition of the Chosen makes the game feel more alive, and they really do make missions harder— particularly early on. But they’ve somehow accidentally fell into the hole, where XCOM just… isn’t that hard? Early on it’s challenging, particularly with the resource restrictions and all. But they keep giving you more and more options (that aren’t especially meaningful choices) that make your team more and more powerful, without increasing the strength of the enemy as time goes on. By the five-hour mark, you basically know if you’re going to steam roll the game or not.

The amount of additional character and variety in the gameplay is great, I just wish it had a more challenging difficulty curve. Maybe make the meta-layer of when enemies show up more targeted to where players are at. If a player is doing well, ramp up the difficulty, if they’re struggling, pull it back a bit. I should always feel like I’m just barely keeping ahead with XCOM, not like I’m bored. And by the end of War of the Chosen, I was kind of getting bored, really. Oh well.

3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 2020 – Switch – ★★★★

This is probably the video game that I spent the most time with hours-wise this year. I’m not entirely sure why? It’s a nice evolution of New Leaf, in that the crafting, environment shaping, and general quality-of-life improvements made are quite nice. There’s clearly been some thought on how people play these games, and ways to make the experience less frustrating.

… and yet, they kept so much tedium in the game. Like yes, the schedule stretching is the point, I get it. As someone who for some reason decided not to play with the clock, I only just recently finished the fish, fossils, and insects for the museum. But there’s just so many weird, little things that just make it hard to keep coming back to it. It’s like… to what end? When I’ve unlocked everything, and basically seen the entirety of the item list at this point, and the holiday events all being the game meaningless collectathons…. Why? I’m not going to try completing the collection; the museum stuff is about my limit, really (and even the paintings I can probably pass on).

I guess even an idealized, digital representation of a quasi-domestic life has the spiritual emptiness of consumerism-for-consumerism sake. Thanks???

Hypnospace Outlaw – 2019 – Steam – ★★★★

I grew up on the internet of the early 00s. I had an AngelFire website, mostly consisting of shitty sprite webcomics and hosted Gundam pics. I remember when Google wasn’t really a thing and you would heavily rely on website compilation sites like the Anime Web Turnpike in order to find anything of value online. It was weird, it was wild. It was exciting!

The internet seemed so different back then. There was a ton of garbage online, but also, like… there was a sense of optimism to it. Folks were shitty, there was plenty of bad stuff online, but it felt so disconnected from the fabric of the physicality of real-life that it was at the same time a perfect escape.

I was young when I first got “online”, something like 12. I remember having this notion that the internet was going to be this great equalizer, that it had infinite potential to change how people behave and interact. Boy, huh.

Hypnospace Outlaw is essentially a splendid alternate universe GeoCities recreation, where you’re a volunteer moderator of a grouping of websites on HypnOS, an internet-analog you access while you are sleep. At the surface level, it’s mostly about poking around the weird alternate-historical version of the internet they created, full of kids feuding, bizarre historical divergences, and plenty of amazing bespoke weirdness. All of this is great; there’s an incredible amount of content that’s just great to poke at, listen to, and explore.

Below the surface, there’s also a rolling plotline about the ethics of this industry-owned platform, those who run it, and the way corporations handle new technology, new platforms, and emerging digital societies. There’s a late game turn that’s pretty damn affecting. And as someone who has moderator his share of internet forums in his time, trying to balance ‘do it for the community’ and what your ostensible ‘bosses’ require of you, it was kind of a weird throwback in more ways than one.

Minecraft – 2011 – PC – ★★★★★

Turns out, Minecraft is really as good still who knew??? Started playing a bunch more of it this year due to Giant Bomb deciding to do so, and yeah: still good!

2. Hades – 2020 – Steam – ★★★★★

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again— Supergiant makes damn good games. I’d been holding off on checking out Hades until its full release due to my tendency to burn out on games easily, and I’m glad I waited. Hades is a fantastic rogue-lite experience. The way it makes narrative progression part of the reiterative, randomized rogue-lite structure is just perfect.

It’s got all the usual Supergiant bullet points. Great characters, voice acting, narration, and music. In terms of gameplay, it’s probably their least ambitious game— playing something like a cousin to their original game, Bastion— but it’s also been polished to a mirror sheen. It just feels really damn good to play, over and over and over.

That being said, the second (final?) ending feels kind of…. Tacked on? It’s fine as a goal to go for while continuing to do the game’s relationship mechanics for additional story bits, but it ends up feeling kind of unfulfilling compared to the payoff of the first one.

1. Crusader Kings III – 2020 – Steam – ★★★★★

I never could get into Crusader Kings II. Despite my interest, the sheer mechanical heft and unintuitive interface made the game a wall that I just couldn’t get over. I’m sure if I’d dedicated myself I probably could have learned it, but… ehhhhhh.

Crusader Kings III, on the other hand, has a good tutorial, a cleaned-up UI, and a very helpful highlight and tooltip system that make it much easier to understand how to actually play the game through resources inside the game itself. And, as it turns out: I rather love this game.

I mean, conceptually it’s an easy sell, isn’t it? Historical politics is something I enjoy broadly. I liked Stellaris but wish it had more narrative, roleplaying elements. They outright say that “winning” isn’t really the point of the game. Instead, it’s more about emergent storytelling and playing with the different systems and seeing what you can do with it.

My current game has had me taking the Haesteinn dynasty from its Viking origins into England, forming a London-seated Northern Sea Empire that encompasses all of Britannia, Iceland, Holland, Norway, and Denmark. I am currently working on hegemonizing Norse religious control over enough Asatru holy sites to finally reform the religion, such that more unified feudalization can occur. To that end, my current ruler’s predecessor invaded West Francia and conquered the whole of its territory, substantially reducing the foothold of Catholicism in mainland Europe… which seems to have kicked the hornet’s nest, given the Crusade I’m going to need to contend with next time I boot up the game.

Of course, a complicating matter is that my current ruler— the Emperor of the North Sea, King of Ireland and the Danelaw, liege of the King of Denmark, was elected from the extended Haesteinn family via Thing, the Scandinavian council of his erstwhile vassals. Where the previous emperor, the one who manufactured the invasion of Francia, was quite religious and beloved for his adherence to the old ways, I discovered as I took over as his successor that he really, really is into just boning down across Europe. We’re talking constantly attempting to seduce neighboring Queens and Princesses. His vassals are not thrilled with this. They also don’t care for his propensity for torturing people to death, constantly.

I had no real say in this; attempting to stay on top of a dynasty is kind of like riding a bucking-bronco, so many things are only tenuously under your control that some weird shit can happen. This is especially true when you use the systems that make it easier to maintain the coherency of your domain. The Norse religion encouraging concubinage results in you having a lot of kids, which means there’s a lot of domain partition going on (someday, primogeniture, someday). Naturally, using Thing election reduces that, but also makes you sometimes end up having to play Emperor Stabbo-Fucko because they thought he was the best candidate at the time. Hell, I thought he was the best candidate at the time until I discovered just how many people he’d be laying with on the low. But you just have to roll with it.

The way the game forces you to play ball with character traits is great. Doing things that match with the character’s traits makes them lose stress. Doing things against their character increases stress. Too much stress can force you to make the character take up vices (which can make them suffer health or opinion maluses, as well as altering their aptitudes), or even die outright. And sometimes those vices and attitudes can be boons, given they open up opportunities for different character interactions.

Emperor Stab-and-Fuck-Kingdom is perhaps the most relaxed person alive, it turns out, because his sadism makes him really enjoy sacrificing infidels, which makes the gods happy. It also freaks the fuck out of all of his vassals, so they’re a good supplicant mix of both appreciative of my religious sentiments and also utterly terrified of my skull piles. Some especially brave vassals occasionally try to assassinate me, but my lovers keep jumping in front of the knife and saving my life mid-coitus. Iiiiiit happens! :D

The game can be incredibly fun to just watch, as it becomes emergently weird. Georgia right now is incredibly Jewish in game. I’m not sure how that happened; I guess someone made a random Jewish guy into a vassal, who somehow moved up enough in the world to make it a movement? The Byzantine princes elected a Coptic as Emperor, which over the course of the decade resulted in very accelerated balkanization as Byzantium just lost its shit. The Middle East and notional HRE haven’t really unified in a meaningful way, so I’m curious how things are going to go if/when the Mongols unify and roll-on in.

It’s one of those “Just one more thing” games that can completely devour time. I have more than a few times checked the clock mid-game to see that it’s 4AM and that I’ve totally ruined my sleep schedule in the process of play. Oooooops.

I highly recommend checking it out if you’re curious; the introductory, pre-release video series Paradox put out showing off the game does a pretty good job of showing the core gameplay loop and also how weird it can get.

#GAME OF THE YEAR #GOTY #nonfiction #thinkpiece #2020 #Crusader Kings 3 #Hades #SD Gundam #Animal Crossing

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aesthetic-uwus · 4 years

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Movies/tvshow recommendations

1. Scott pilgrim (2010)

As bass guitarist for a garage‑rock band, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. As Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) skates into his heart

2. Growing op (2008)

A teenager tries to live a normal life while his parents run an operation growing weed out of their home

3. 10 things I hate about you (1999)

Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is beautiful, smart and quite abrasive to most of her fellow teens, meaning that she doesn't attract many boys. Unfortunately for her younger sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), house rules say that she can't date until Kat has a boyfriend

4. Juno (2007)

When precocious teen Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) becomes pregnant, she chooses a failed rock star and his wife (Jennifer Garner) to adopt her unborn child. Complications occur

5. Easy A (2010)

Prompted by her popular best friend to spill details of her boring weekend, Olive (Emma Stone), a clean‑cut teen, decides to spice things up by telling a little lie about losing her virginity. When the high‑school busybody (Amanda Bynes) overhears the conversation...

6. Warehouse 13 (2009-2014)

Plot. The series follows U.S. Secret Service Agents Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) when they are assigned to the secretive Warehouse 13 for supernatural artifacts. It is located in a barren landscape in South Dakota, and they initially regard the assignment as punishment.

7. ferris buellers day off (1986)

Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) has an uncanny skill at cutting classes and getting away with it. Intending to make one last duck‑out before graduation, Ferris calls in sick, "borrows" a Ferrari, and embarks on a one‑day journey through the streets of Chicago.

8. Perks of being a wallflower (2012)

Socially awkward teen Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two charismatic students become his mentors. Free‑spirited Sam (Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller) while overcoming the problem from his past

9. Sex education (2019-?)

Socially awkward high school student Otis may not have much experience in the lovemaking department, but he gets good guidance on the topic in his personal sex ed course -- living with mom Jean, who is a sex therapist. Being surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex

10. Anne with an E (2017-?)

In the late 19th century, brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, both past their prime, decide to take on an orphan boy to help out around their ancestral farm of Green Gables, on the outskirts of the town of Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island.

11. Santa Clarita diet (2017-2019)

Joel and Sheila Hammond are everyday suburban real estate agents in Santa Clarita, California. The couple face a series of obstacles when Sheila undergoes a metamorphosis, becomes undead and starts craving human flesh.

12. Atypical (2017-?)

This heartfelt comedy follows Sam, a teenager on the autism spectrum, who has decided he is ready for romance. In order to start dating -- and hopefully find love -- Sam will need to be more independent, which also sends his mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) on her own life-changing path.

13. That 70s show (1998-2006)

A comedy revolving around a group of teenage friends, their mishaps, and their coming of age, set in 1970s Wisconsin. Eric Forman is a typical high school student growing up in Wisconsin in 1976 with his family and his friends. ... The head of the group is Eric Forman who lives under the authority of parents Red and Kitty.

14. Tuca and Bertie (2019)

Premise. Tuca & Bertie follows "the friendship between two 30-year-old bird-women who live in the same apartment building, Tuca, a cocky, care-free toucan, and Bertie, an anxious, daydreaming songbird."

15. The end of the fucking world (2017-2019?)

James (Alex Lawther), a 17-year-old who believes himself to be a psychopath, and Alyssa (Jessica Barden), a rebellious classmate who sees in James a chance to escape from her tumultuous home life. ...

16 Derry girls (2018-?)

Derry Girls is a Northern Irish sitcom created by Lisa McGee. Set in 1990s Derry, Northern Ireland the show follows five teens as they live through political conflict while going through the challenges of being teenagers.

17. Grease (1978)

Plot. In the summer of 1958, local boy Danny Zuko and vacationing Sandy Olsson meet at the beach and fall in love. When the summer comes to an end, Sandy—who is going back to Australia—frets that they may never meet again, but Danny tells her that their love is "only the beginning"

18. Love simon (2018)

Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17‑year‑old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying

19. Legally blond (2001)

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) has it all. She wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But there is one thing stopping him (Matthew Davis) from proposing: She is too blond. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win

20. Legally blonde 2 (2003)

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) journeys to Washington, D.C., to have her say about animal rights, but is ignored by every politician she encounters and quickly learns that the White House can be even tougher to navigate than the Ivy League

21. shameless us (2011-?)

Shameless is the story of a family of six kids and their drunk and selfish father. The eldest daughter Fiona has to raise the rest of the family on her own. They need to steal food and steal money to live while their father takes everything and offers nothing. Meet the fabulously dysfunctional Gallagher family.

22. Dead like me (2003)

Georgia Lass is aloof and emotionally distant from her family and shies away from her life. After dropping out of college, she takes a temp job through Happy Time Temporary Services. During her lunch break on her first day, she is hit and killed by a toilet seat falling from the deorbiting Mir space station.

23. Daria (1997-2002)

A smart and cynical girl goes through teenage life as a proud outsider in a world of mainly idiotic adolescents and condescending adults. Daria Morgendorffer is an intelligent, unpopular, and quite sarcastic teenager tolerating life among the idiots at Lawndale High.

24. IT (2017)

Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, are about to face their worst nightmare ‑‑ an ancient, shape‑shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town's children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer

25. IT chapter 2 (2019)

Defeated by members of the Losers' Club, the evil clown Pennywise returns 27 years later to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine, once again. Now adults, the childhood friends have long since gone their separate ways. But then people start disappearing....

26. Stranger things (2016-?)

A young boy, Will Byers, goes missing near a top-secret government laboratory. On the same night, a strange young girl appears at a diner in the town. ... A love letter to the '80s classics that captivated a generation, 'Stranger things' is set in 1983 Indiana, where a young boy vanishes into thin air.

27. Ginger snaps (2000)

The story of two outcast sisters, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins), in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger's first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger's wounds miraculously heal

28. Arrietty (2010)

Arrietty, a tiny teenager, lives with her parents in the recesses of a suburban home, unbeknown to the homeowner and housekeeper. Like others of her kind, Arrietty remains hidden from her human hosts, but occasionally ventures forth

29. F is for family (2015-?)

Set in the 1970s, this animated raunchy comedy is inspired by the life of stand-up comic Bill Burr, who is a co-creator and executive producer of the series. Burr also voices the character of Frank Murphy, a short-tempered veteran who lives in the suburbs with his wife, Sue (Laura Dern) and their three children

#movies #television #recommend #ferris bueller's day off #derry girls #10 things i hate about you #daria #scott pilgrim #easy a #legally blonde #ginger snaps

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skvaderarts · 3 years

Text

Hiraeth Chapter 7: Reflection

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Seven: Reflection

Note: Thanks for the comments on the last chapter! I had a blast talking with you all, as always! Thanks for sticking around! Sorry I responded as late as I did!

-~-

Snow fell slowly from above, a saving grace and a curse all at once. While it chilled the air and impeded their progress by negatively affecting their body temperature and line of sight, it also served as a means of covering their tracks. That was something that they were grateful for, given their current circumstances, even if it did mean that they were mildly uncomfortable. Still, marching through nearly two feet of snow was a challenge on its own, but doing so in a race against the clock didn’t help.

The only sound that could be heard was that of the snow crunching beneath their feet and their labored breathing as they struggled forward. The occasional branch dropped it’s snow or even broke under their grasp as they tried to push it out of the way in order to pass, but aside from that, there was very little indication that they had ever been there. But after the better part of five straight hours of trudging through snow, they were both less than energetic, and more than ready to take a breather. The question was, did they actually have time?

Morgan suddenly stopped, leaning over and panting, taking deep breaths as she waved V along. He stopped, giving her a curious look as she tried and seemingly failed to catch her breath. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she reached in her pocket and took out a small device before holding it up to her mouth and inhaling deeply. It didn’t take him very long to realize the issue at play here, but it did concern him. Luckily after a few minutes of silence, she straightened back up and exhaled heavily, shivering. The young girl noticed the look on his face and shrugged, unsure of why he was looking at her like that. It wasn’t so much unnerving as it was perplexing to her.

“Probably should have mentioned it, but I have a breathing problem. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay. Just needed to use my inhaler.” Morgan said, holding up the small red device as evidence of her point. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to explain this fact to him, but she did. “It only ever bothers me when I’m up here. I think it might be the cold. It’s a little warmer where I’m from. But I’ll be fine. I think I caught it early.”

V nodded, somewhat relieved to know that his assumption about her condition was correct, and that she at least had a means of combating it. The nearest hospital was nearly fifty miles away from town, and heading back to town to try and find a doctor was a lost cause. Not only would she probably be beyond help by that point, but he was sure that all the doctors were probably indisposed at the moment if they were even still alive. It was an issue to be sure, but one that he was better equipped to deal with now that he knew about it.

As far as misfortunes in his life went, they seemed to be ceaseless and unending. But he was glad to be able to say that issues with his overall health were at least more than manageable. Sure, his energy reserves were what could charitably be called “lacking”, but at least he didn’t have any other underlying health problems. Well, at least, non that he knew about just yet. But he would worry about that later. For now, they needed to get going again. It seemed that they had some kind of lead in this little chase, and it was best that they preserve it. Pepper spray and politely asking their attackers to leave and never come back wasn’t exactly a foolproof insurance plan.

“Do you need to rest a little longer? I think we can spare a few minutes.” V asked quietly as he glanced around the space they currently occupied. He didn’t hear or see anything, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing in a situation like this. Their very lives were at stake. He’d like to know more about what they were up against if he could.

“Oh, no I’m fine,” Morgan said softly as she tucked the inhaler back into her pocket and wiggled her shoulders, trying to shake off the bitter cold that they found themselves in. “Let’s get going. I don’t want to be out here any longer than I have to be. It’ll be getting dark in a few hours, and the woods are the last place that I want to be, curse or no curse. Might get eaten by wolves or something like that. Who knows?”

They started along again, the pair glancing behind them to affirm that they were, in fact, actually going in the correct direction. It was easy to get turned around in these kinds of conditions, and neither of them wanted to waste precious energy walking back towards their untimely deaths. But the words that his young counterpart had spoken had caught his attention. It seemed that she knew much more about why the locals avoided the forest than he did, and he was genuinely curious to know about it. Although he wasn’t one for long conversations, or short ones for that matter, a good story was still a good story. And as long as they kept their voices down, he was willing to entertain the tale if she was willing to share it with him. It might prove to be a much-needed source of entertainment and distraction in such a chilling and uncertain time.

“You said something about a curse. What did you mean by that,” V asked quietly as they carried on. He could see the road just up ahead, which meant that they had not strayed from their path. It would soon be time to cross again.” The locals didn’t share much with me aside from saying that I should never venture into this place. Many of them didn’t really have much to say to me.”

Morgan gave him a curious look, seemingly puzzled by the statement. “They didn’t have much to say to you? Why? What were they doing? Just ignoring you or something?” She seemed to already know the answer to her question without knowing it, her response hitting the nail right on the head.

V blinked slowly, holding his now cupped hands up to his mouth in order to blow hot air into them. It was a wonder to him that his body still produced warm air at this point. It had to be below freezing outside, or at least near it. Yet another compelling reason to reach the next town over before nightfall. “Yes. That is exactly what they did. But I’m not upset by it. I’ve long since come to expect it from others.”

Now she seemed more confused than ever, her disapproval visible in every aspect of her facial expression. “You expect people to be rude to you for no reason? That’s awful. Why, do they always do that to you?”

The conversation had become more personal by that point than he probably would have liked, but he was still willing to answer it. He wasn’t really interested in elaborating upon it, but still. “I believe it has something to do with my hair color. Or, at least that is an aspect of it. I won’t pretend to know why my very existence seems to be so offensive to some people and, at this point, I don’t really care to.”

An almost sad look crossed her face as she hurried to catch up to him. She’d fallen ever so slightly behind, and had no intention of slowing them both down. Morgan knew that V wasn’t going to leave her behind, and she didn’t want her inability to keep up with his stride to be the reason they got left behind. “People are stupid. You dye your hair a fun color, and suddenly they just lose their-”

It’s actually naturally this color. Always has been from what I understand. Or, at least that’s what the orphanage I grew up in…” He trailed off then, instantly regretting the fact that he’d mentioned that. It was a painful topic, and he liked to keep it buried deep. Simply mentioning it then had brought up brief flashes of things that he’d wished his entire life up until then that he could forget, and he took a moment to mentally chastise himself for not simply shutting up about it. It was best that he not confront those demons. It did nothing but hurt him, and the last thing he needed in a situation like this was to suffer further. Becoming upset tended to lead to other unsavory side effects, and he had no interest or reason to want to cause himself further anxiety. Although his calm demeanor might imply that he was cool and collected, he was barely hiding the fact that he was scared out of his mind. The freezing temperature wasn’t the only reason that he was shivering and shaking.

Morgan blinked, her eyes going slightly wide. “Wow, really? I think that’s pretty cool. But then again, I’m fifteen, so I’m not allowed to know what’s cool. At least that’s what my mom says.” She shook her head still just behind him as she hurried along. “I’m sorry about you being an orphan and all that. Seems pretty rough. At least I have my mom.”

V was more than willing to agree with that statement. Being an orphan had indeed been “pretty rough”, especially when you were an orphan that even the orphanage had no interest in. The amount of disinterest, avoidance, and outright neglect that he’d been shown as a child made him question what an actual happy family must function like. And he’d never received a chance to find out, either. V could count the number of times on one hand that he’d actually been allowed to interact with a couple or individual that was looking to adopt. Something about the possibility of him chasing away adoptees due to being “abnormal.”

Yes, that wasn’t at all psychologically damaging to a young child. And no, the entire experience hadn’t emotionally stunted him as a result. But then again, that could simply be a heavy dose of denial. Whatever it took to get through the day. He told himself that they were simply singling him out, but there was a sad, deeply hurt part of him that couldn’t help but wonder if they were right. Somewhere out there, at least at one point, he’d had a set of biological parents, and he’d still ended up where he had at a very young age. There was always the possibility that something unfortunate had befallen them, but there was also the equally likely possible outcome that they had simply agreed with the same sentiments that the orphanage had shared and had decided to dispose of him before someone else noticed that he didn’t fit in with the rest of polite society.

He paused for a moment, realizing only then that he’d been lost in his painful thoughts and hadn’t responded to Morgan. She was watching him quietly, a concerned yet sympathetic look on his face that he knew he was responsible for. His discontent with himself grew slightly. It was not becoming of an adult to offload their damage onto a minor. He needed to do better. One would think that after a lifetime of burying his pain and insecurities deeper and deeper that he’d be better at hiding them when the need arised. “Sorry. Forgive me. And thank you, but I don’t need your sympathy.”

Morgan was more or less adept at telling when someone was hurt, and she was silently horrified by the overwhelmingly melancholy demeanor that he possessed. She hadn’t really noticed it until then, but it was there, no doubt about it. Her new companion was suffering a great deal from something she couldn’t even begin to guess at, and she wished she could help, but that would have to wait until they got out of this mess. Still, it was something she found extremely sad. He seemed like a good person from what she could tell. Good people shouldn’t have to suffer. Maybe a light dose of humor could help break the barrier that he was forming around himself?

“Eh, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing. And sorry that I can’t keep up with your long gazelle legs. I’m not that tall, ya know?” She kept a straight face as she spoke, but she couldn’t help but nearly laugh. On the inside, she was quaking from what she knew was probably a really stupid joke, but she couldn’t help herself. Humor was her only coping mechanism when she was down in the dumps, and as such, it was all she had to fall back on during situations like this.

V glanced over at her for a moment, a soft, brief smirk spreading across the right side of his face before dissipating. The comment had been so juvenile, but the lighthearted nature of it was somehow compelling to him. He was aware of the fact that he was very tall. There was no escaping it. He’d always been that way, even as a child. But he’d never heard someone put it that way, and it honestly sort of cracked him up a little. He genuinely appreciated the gesture, and was impressed by her level of emotional maturity for one so young. It had gone a long way towards reassuring him that everything might actually turn out okay in the end. “Thank you. I needed that.”

“Don’t worry about it, man. Were good. We just have to get out of here.” She brushed a fallen dusting of snow off of her coat, clearly displeased by the coating of white powder that had nearly hit her square in the face. “But we can’t be, what, more than like five miles away at this point?”

He nodded. “I’d say about six. It’s hard to triangulate without a map, but cutting directly across the center of a winding road has saved us a substantial amount of time and walking.” He sighed, relieved to find that his plan had worked for the most part. He was far from the hiking sort, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever enter another forest for the rest of his life after this. “They say that the quickest way forward is straight, and it has proven correct in this circumstance.”

Morgan cleared her throat as quietly as she could as they approached the edge of the road, the both of them looking around for any signs of company. From what she understood, this was the last stretch of their journey. If the trees were taller, she could only imagine that she’d be able to see smoke from the chimneys of the nearby city. It was much larger and more populous than the small town they’d just come from. Surely the worst hadn’t come to pass there, too. And if it had, then she was going to find the nearest car, hotwire it or something, and they were going to get the hell out of there. She’d had enough walking to last a lifetime.

He went across the road first, slowly crossing and looking around as he stayed as low to the ground as he could. There was no sight of anyone, but he still couldn’t shake the anxiety that threatened to boil over every time that he dared come out in the open. He felt exposed and helpless like a prey animal caught in the sights of an apex predator. It was a strange sensation, and he hoped to never feel it again after this little misadventure that they found themselves in.

Once he’d found his way to the other side of the road, V had gestured for Morgan to follow him as quickly and as quietly as she could. She did so, her eyes never leaving him as she practically leaped across the road and into the gulch below. They then both bolted into the woods, the tall, dark trees welcoming them like old friends. Despite the situation that they found themselves in, there was some measure of comfort and solace that they found amongst the trees. It was like a security blanket or a night light in a dark room when you thought a monster was under your bed as a child. Only this monster was real, and it was probably after them.

“... You said before that you wanted to hear about the curse, right? I totally forgot,” Morgan said after nearly a half-hour of genuinely unbearable silence. The mid-day sun was beginning to fall, and a strange sense of unease grew within her. As far as she was concerned, it was only a story. But then again, there was a measure of truth to every story, wasn’t there? “If it’s real, then we’re pretty lucky that it hasn’t come after us yet, right? I’ve heard that it’s pretty nasty stuff.”

V glanced over at her, an unreadable look on his face. “Let’s not say as much, then. We have enough bad fortune to contend with. Why chance it?”

Morgan shrugged, still somewhat detached from the reality of the situation she found herself in. It was the only way that she could keep it together for the time being. “I guess that raises a good question, doesn’t it? Are we lucky or unlucky, V? Because we made it out alive, but stuff like this shouldn’t happen in the first place, right? What a pain.”

“A conundrum for sure. Our perception of luck is subjective, and has a lot to do with our outlook on life. Someone more positive than me might say were luck, but I…” He drifted off again, catching sight of something just ahead. It looked like light smoke from a chimney, but he couldn’t be sure from this distance. They would find out soon enough, though since it was directly in their path. “I can’t say just yet. We need to get to safety first. Were not out of the woods just yet. In any manner of speaking.”

She shook her head and followed along, wrapping her arms around herself. He made a good point. Morgan could only hope she’d be this wise one day. With a playful jab in the side, she walked forward, her eyes trained on the same distant object that his had been only moments ago. “Oh my god, never tell a joke again, V. You really suck.”

-~-

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out this week’s chapters! I wonder what that object in the distance is going to turn out to be… Tune in next week for what will be the beginning of the end to this little snow arch. I hope it’s been an insightful and interesting look into V’s past so far. LOL DMC5 wasn’t his first nightmare, it seems. “After the Nightmare” is more like it!

#Hiraeth #V's Backstory #DMC #DMC5 #V #Vitale

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chiiwifruit · 4 years

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TCM Day 6: Fave Minor Character

This stretch of Valeria was desolate and empty, but for the deep valley that cut into the earth and the weather-beaten remnants of the tower that once rose above it, long since collapsed. Nobody dared come to this place. Rumours swirled in the nearby town that anyone who ventured too close to the valley or touched the stones of the tower would be cursed. In the past, the corpses of the guilty would be thrown into the valley, prevented from rotting by the strange magic of the place. Such practices had fallen out of favour in the last century, and now the only visitors were the curious - often children - and the reckless - often teens, and often in groups.

Occasionally, someone would come out here to die. Such things were tragedies and never spoken about.

On this particular day, it was bright and clear. Stunning weather for this time of year, when sleet and snow were much more typical. The calm air was disturbed, swirling about in place. Tighter and tighter it whirled, until the wind became a small tornado. No one living was there to observe as two figures emerged from the swirling air and looked around.

It was clear they were not from this country. Perhaps they weren’t from this world at all. Their clothes were formal and ornate, and not heavy enough for the bitter cold of a Valerian winter. The pair didn’t seem bothered, however. Each wore a heavy pendant on a long chain around his neck and gloves as white as snow. They were both young men, with pale skin and black hair, and eyes that seemed just a bit off.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone here,” Subaru remarked to his brother, who remained silent. Kamui wandered over to examine the heap of stones, each still formed in the shape of a rough rectangle. “Though I suppose there might be people a little farther out.”

“What a strange place,” Kamui remarked. “Do you feel it, Subaru?”

Subaru paused to pay closer attention to his surroundings. There was a strange weight to the air that got thicker and thicker as he moved closer to the steep drop of the valley. Subaru rubbed his arms, which were covered in goosebumps. “Yes. This is an ancient and powerful place, though not necessarily a benevolent one. We’d better not stay, and look for a town instead.”

He turned away from the valley, disturbed by the faint outlines of bodies beneath the snow. He stopped short when he noticed a figure standing atop the stones, one he had not seen in his initial look around. It was a child of indeterminate gender, pale and gaunt and poorly dressed for the cold. The child’s hair was long, blond, and tangled, brushing the child’s ankles. The sunken eyes were a bright blue that was a shock to see in such a pitiful face.

Subaru noticed with horror that the child’s feet were bare in the cold snow, and that the child had no gloves or hat. Subaru was a vampire and not affected much by the cold, but a human child could freeze to death out here.

Subaru’s first instinct was to help. He took several steps toward the child, who did not react. “You shouldn’t be out here dressed like that,” Subaru said. “Where are your parents?” The child was in such rough shape... perhaps they were an orphan?

The child looked startled. “You can see me?”

“What?” Too late Subaru realized that the child was slightly transparent, and that rather than standing on the rocks as Subaru had thought, the child’s feet appeared to hover just above them.

Subaru was speaking to a ghost.

“Oh.” This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Subaru and Kamui both had a high spiritual sense that was unrelated to being vampires. It seemed to run in their family. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize...”

Kamui came over to investigate, hopping up on the stones with the ghost. “Poor thing,” Kamui said. His eyes held pity. That wasn’t usual for him. He was far colder and more distrustful than Subaru. But the ghost of a child who had clearly been mistreated in life would move Kamui’s heart. “Did you starve to death?”

The ghost still looked surprised, as though they weren’t used to being seen. Perhaps the ability to see spirits was uncommon in this world. But the child did answer the question. “No, I fell. Down there.” And the child pointed down into the valley.

Kamui and Subaru both ventured to the edge to look. “It’s a long way down,” Subaru said, his stomach turning.

“It was longer when I died. I fell from the tower,” the child explained. He gestured to the stones, than pointed up. “It used to be very tall. I fell from the top of the tower down to the valley floor.” The child’s finger traced the path of his fall.

The child’s tone was matter-of-fact, which only upset Subaru further. Ghosts of children were usually volatile. They had been hurt, and they didn’t understand the circumstances of their own deaths. This one appeared to have accepted it. But if that was the case, then why hadn’t this child moved on?

Kamui looked around. There were no houses or signs of civilization as far as he could see. “Here? In the middle of nowhere?” he asked.

“This is the place for the guilty. So this is where we were brought.” The child hopped down from the pile of stones. He, for Subaru was beginning to realize that this was a boy, wandered over the edge of the cliff, and Subaru had to restrain the urge to grab at him. The child floated in the air, looking down. His feet had left no impressions in the snow, no sign that he was here at all.

“But what could you have possibly done? You’re so young,” Subaru asked.

“We’re twins. Twins bring misfortune. But killing us would be worse. So they brought us here. Me up there,” He pointed back up at the sky, where the tower once stood. “And Yuui down there.” And he pointed down to the base of the valley.

Kamui’s hand slipped into Subaru’s, and the child noticed. “Are you twins as well?”

“Yes.” Subaru couldn’t bring himself to speak, he was so appalled, so Kamui answered the question for him. “But twins aren’t considered bad in the world we’re from.”

“From another world...” The child looked wistful. He wasn’t looking at Kamui and Subaru anymore, but rather through them. Into the past. “Yuui thought we could go to another world together, if only we could get out. So there are worlds where it’s fine to be twins.” He seemed to sigh. He looked so sad. “But it was impossible. We couldn’t get out.”

“What’s your name?” Subaru asked. He wanted to know so that he could remember this boy who was a twin like him, but had been treated terribly because of it.

“Fai.”

And Subaru remembered where he had seen eyes that blue before. And a man by that name.

“Oh.” He sat down hard on one of the tower stones. “Your brother didn’t die?”

Fai shook his head and ventured closer. “The man said that if I died, he would let Yuui out. So I did.”

“We might have met him,” Kamui said. So he was thinking about Tokyo, too. Subaru wondered if it was okay to tell Fai what had happened in Tokyo. It might upset him.

But it was too late to back out. Fai’s eyes lit up. “You met Yuui? How is he? Is he tall now?” Fai asked, coming even closer.

Subaru glanced at Kamui, who was also looking at him. “Well, he was at a rough point when we met him,” Kamui said, his hesitation clear. “And he was calling himself your name.”

Some of Fai’s enthusiasm dimmed. “Oh. How bad?” he said in the manner of someone who was used to being the recipient of bad news.

“Well, he came to the world we were in, a place called Tokyo, along with his companions. One of his companions turned out to be a clone without his own heart, but one given to him by the original. The original came to Tokyo too, and the heart returned to him,” Subaru said. He wasn’t sure if he was explaining it well, but Fai listened intently. “And when his heart left him, the clone didn’t care about his companions anymore. And he... ate... one of Fai-san’s eyes.”

“For his magic,” Kamui clarified.

Subaru nodded.

Fai seemed to be processing this information. “So Yuui died?” he asked quietly.

“No. We made a deal with his companions. I’d give him some of my blood, in exchange for his companions helping the people we were with,” Kamui said. “My blood turned him into a vampire, so he survived.”

“Oh.”

Watching Fai’s face, Subaru felt tremendous guilt. He still thought he should have been able to do something to prevent the events in Tokyo. As if reading his thoughts, Kamui placed a comforting hand on Subaru’s shoulder.

“What then?” Fai asked.

“Well, they had to move on to the next world. And then so did we. We haven’t encountered each other since then.”

“I see.” Strangely, Fai didn’t look as upset as Subaru expected. Instead, Fai tried to touch Kamui’s arm, but his fingers went right through. He dropped his hand. “Thank you for helping my brother,” he said, staring up at Kamui.

“I didn’t do much,” Kamui said. To Subaru, it was clear that his brother was uncomfortable. Kamui wished he had been able to do more, too.

“You saved Yuui,” Fai said, voice firm. “You gave him a chance. I’m sure it will be hard for him to adjust to being a vampire, but... you said he has friends now.” Fai’s hands twined together. “We never had anyone before, but Yuui does now. I’m glad. Maybe they’ll help him.”

Subaru smiled, warmed by Fai’s optimism. “Yes, I’m sure they will,” he agreed. “They seemed to care about him a great deal.”

At that, Fai’s face stretched into a smile. It was an awkward smile on a face that wasn’t used to smiling, but Subaru thought it was beautiful. “Thank you for telling me about this,” Fai said. “And I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s best if you do not stay here. Some things seem to have changed since I was alive, but this world still isn’t a good place for twins. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Yeah, we’ll go,” Kamui agreed before Subaru could say anything. But of course he would want to go. He didn’t want Subaru to be in any danger.”

“Will you be all right here by yourself?” Subaru asked. “Shouldn’t you move on?”

“I’ll be okay. It’s nice and quiet here. Nobody bothers me. And I’ll go when I’m ready,” Fai promised.

Subaru didn’t like leaving him there, the pale ghost with a tragic story that he had done nothing to deserve. But there was nothing he could do to help, so Subaru let the magic surround him and Kamui and carry them to the next world.

#TsubasaChronicleMonth #Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle #TRC #Real Fai #Real!Fai #Subaru #Kamui #Spoilers #Ghosts #death #body horror mention #CLAMP #Fanfiction #My Writing #Fanfic

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bocceclub · 4 years

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Ariahd’s backstory

for real this time. also the lexicon is a separate post now because it got way too long; you can find it here. @sapropel here’s the massive wall of text as promised!

The Life of Ariahd of Leknos

The Yianlai believe dragons are the offspring of the god of choas, their goddess Valena's greatest enemy. When the Yianlai Empire invaded and conquered the north, their dragon-hunters began killing off the high dragons, until there was only one small population left in the Razka Mountains of Dymaexei. A warlock from the city-state of Leknos stumbled upon an orphaned clutch of high dragon eggs in the high mountains. The mother had been killed by dragon-hunters while defending her nest. Although luckily the clutch had remained hidden from the hunters, it had gone without being warmed by the mother for so long that, despite the warlocks’ attempts to save them, all but one of the developing dragonets died in their eggs. Ariahd, the only one of his broodmates to survive, was carefully nurtured to hatching by the warlocks. He formed a fast connection with Enos, the young daughter of the head warlock, who helped her father care for him after he hatched. As he grew they became close friends, communicating by writing, since as a dragon Ariahd had no ability to form human-like speech. He and Enos altered the Dymae alphabet into cruder forms that would be easier for him to scratch into the dirt with his claws, and even invented pictograms, creating their own shorthand script.

The imperial occupation of Dymaexei meant that Ariahd’s existence had to be kept a secret. Because of this, he grew up very sheltered, unable to venture beyond the high walls of the monastery, his only knowledge of the outside world coming from stories told by the warlocks, and the travelers’ accounts that Enos found in the library and read aloud to him. The two would occasionally sneak out to fly in the mountains surrounding the city, careful to stay under cover of darkness.

While his earlier years were happy enough, as he grew older he began to become aware of the fact that he was likely one of the last of his kind, which affected him deeply. Over the years, as Enos joined the order’s ranks as a novitiate and then as a fully fledged warlock, Ariahd also came to envy her freedom and the ease with which her human form allowed her to move through the world. As she grew older and learned magic of increasing difficulty and complexity, her formidable skill with sorcery was also a source of jealousy for him. He knew he had it in him to be just as powerful, but his dragon’s form was ill-suited to working the complex rituals of human sorcery.

Years passed, and as Ariahd neared thirty years old--still a child in dragon years--he became increasingly restless; as Enos’ duties within the order kept her occupied, he took to wandering the mountains alone, straying further and further from the monastery each time. On one such flight, unbeknownst to him he was spotted by imperial troops. Soon imperial inquisitors were dispatched to Leknos, with orders to dispose of Ariahd and execute the warlocks both for practicing sorcery, a heresy, and for sheltering a dragon. The monastery was attacked, and in an act of rash bravery Ariahd flew out to try to confront the attackers directly. He managed to kill a number of imperial troops but was mortally wounded himself; the distraction he provided allowed a large number of the order, including Enos, to escape into the mountains with the preserved dragon souls.

The remaining warlocks dragged the dying Ariahd back behind the safety of the monastery walls. Desperate, in agony, and afraid, he begged them to preserve his soul in a vessel to keep him from truly dying. The warlocks agreed. After performing the ritual, they hid Ariahd’s soul vessel in the relic vault, which was located deep in the maze of catacombs carved into the massive rock bluff the monastery sat on. They resealed the relic vault, then committed ritual suicide rather than be tortured and executed by the inquisitors.

Ariahd's soul laid dormant, trapped in its vessel in the vault as the years went by. Fifty years later, it was discovered by a Nephiri sorcerer, Yupal. On the run from inquisitors, she had fled across the Mysskaean Sea to Dymaexei and settled in Leknos thirteen years before, where she took up a new identity, married a Leknosian man, and had a daughter, Lys. When Lys was thirteen, the Great Plague struck the Mysskaean. After ravaging coastal Dymaexei, it reached Leknos, carried by those fleeing the ravaged ports. In no time it began running its way through the city; Yupal and her family fell ill, and her husband succumbed to the Plague, leaving her and their daughter alone and close to death. Desperate to save Lys’ life, she broke into the relic vault in the monastery, hoping she'd be able to find something there to heal her. She sensed the strong magic emanating from Ariahd's soul vessel, and stole it. By the time she had returned home, Lys had died. In desperation she attempted to use necromancy to channel Ariahd's life force to resurrect her child, but accidentally opened a conduit that allowed his soul to enter the girl’s body and fuse with her soul, creating the last Walking One.

Ariahd was taken to the monastery’s infirmary, where the monks were doing their best to heal the gravely ill. For days he lay in a deep sleep, as the two souls within his body fused into one, and the monks caring for him feared he would die. Finally, he awoke. Unable to speak or write with his new hands, he had no way of telling the monks who he was or what had happened. At a loss, the monks asked Phare, a senior monk and accomplished healer, to attend to him. She had been a novitiate before the inquisitors’ attack on the monastery and the warlocks’ extermination, and when she used magic to examine Ariahd’s soul she realized immediately what he was. Phare informed the monks, and they made the decision to take him in (along with countless other children orphaned by the Plague), and began teaching him to be human.

For about ten years he stayed with the monks, at first simply learning to live in his new shape but later becoming a novitiate within the order. During his tutelage he discovered he had a gift for art, which the monks had him put to use illustrating sacred manuscripts and decorating the monastery with frescoes of scenes from Dymae mythology. Under the monks’ guidance he also began retraining in the basics of magic; while he had mastered basic magecraft as a dragon, in his new form he had to completely relearn how to connect to and channel his own power. When he was skilled enough, they introduced sorcery into his studies, which he quickly excelled at without the restraints of his dragon’s shape.

Despite how much he enjoyed his new life with the monks, over the years Ariahd once again became restless, longing to see more of the world that he’d been cloistered from his entire life. When the time came for him to become a fully ordained monk at twenty years old (his body’s physical age), he decided to leave the order instead, and depart Leknos to seek his own purpose in life.

When it came time for him to leave, he hitched a ride with a loggers’ caravan to the port city of Kymospa and from there caught a ship to the island of Temuz, where he hoped to further refine the painting skills he had first developed at the monastery. While apprenticed there under a master artist he fell in love with Talit, daughter of wealthy cloth merchants and a fellow apprentice. They became lovers, and remained so for the three years of their apprenticeship. During their scant free time outside of the painter’s workshop, Talit taught Ariahd how to sail among the islets and sandbars in the sea surrounding the island. He also started to take a renewed interest in sorcery, especially weather-working, an ancient discipline practiced by Mysskaean seafarers to turn the wind and sea in their favor. It was at this time that he began to feel uncomfortable with his body and realized he thought of himself as a man. At the urging of Talit, who was also transgender, he sought out a physician and sorcerer specializing in flesh-sculpting to help him transition physically. Up until this point he had been using the name Lys, which had belonged to his human host, and which the monks (all except Phare) had called him. He renamed himself Ariahd, which means “he who sees clearly”.

The more Ariahd explored sorcery, the more fascinated he became with it. As the end of his and Talit’s apprenticeship neared he confided in her that he planned to depart Temuz for Dossiwarri, and enroll in its famous Chabawi University to study under the master sorcerers there. Talit, wishing to pursue her own career, was not willing to accompany him to Dossiwarri. The two parted amicably, and remained friends until her death a century later. Talit would go on to become a well-known and sought-after painter, commissioned all across the Mysskaean, and her and Ariahd’s paths crossed often.

Three years after arriving in Temuz, Ariahd bid his master and fellow former apprentices goodbye and set sail for Dossiwarri. Upon arrival in the city, though, his money and belongings were stolen. Determined to earn back what he had had saved up to to pay the university’s entrance fee, he took up work as a dock worker, staying in a squalid hostel in the Dymae Quarter and practicing hedge-magic on the side for extra coin. He also continued to further his transition, having taught himself flesh-sculpting from what he’d gleaned from the Temuzo sorcerer-physician.

A group of Dymae university students—Lesta, a physician in training, Kenoad, studying poetry, and Pallas, an apprentice architect—who were also regulars at the wineshop he frequented in the Dymae Quarter noticed that he always drank alone, and decided to befriend him. They offered him a room in the house they shared, and pitched in to help him pay his entrance fee.

Ariahd was accepted into the university, easily passing the entrance exam, and began studying under the formidable Dossiwarrim sorcerer Fatawa Bernu. When Fatawa saw Ariahd’s natural aptitude for magic, she brought him and a few other select students into the university’s under-school—a small circle of faculty and students dedicated to preserving the practice of disciplines banned by the empire, among them necromancy, shape-changing, and martial sorcery. Ariahd also studied, along with a select handful of other students, under Ilan-Afis, an Eshtari sorcerer, in the art of weather-working. The Dossiwarri had long enjoyed the knowledge and prosperity the sea trade brought to their city, but were not sailors themselves; weather-working had been developed primarily by Dymae, Temuz, and Eshtari seafarers over the centuries, and a sorcerer from one of those cultures had always been employed by the Chabawi University to teach the discipline to its students.

One of the other students to be inducted into the under-school was a young Dossiwarim man named Washadi; during their education he and Ariahd became first friends and then lovers. During this time Ariahd finished his physical transition to his satisfaction. As their studies dragged on, tensions were growing between the people of Dossiwarri and the imperial ruling class. When the long-festering resentment finally boiled over into a full-scale revolt one hot summer, Ariahd and Washadi, along with countless other sorcerers studying at Chabawi, were called to lend their aid to the rebels. During one of the skirmishes Ariahd was seriously wounded, and had to be put into a magically induced coma by the sorcerer who healed him. When he awoke, he was told that Washadi had disappeared in combat, and was almost certainly dead. Once he had recovered enough he searched day and night for Washadi, but in the chaotic aftermath of the revolt his efforts proved fruitless.

Heartbroken, he packed his scant belongings, found a ship in need of a sorcerer, and departed from Dossiwarri. He would not return for another ten years, whereupon he discovered that Washadi had been captured and imprisoned by the empire, but had escaped and made his way back to Dossiwarri. In the decade following his return he had married and started a family, but extended the invitation for Ariahd to stay in Dossiwarri, telling him he’d put in a good word for him at Chabawi University, where he now taught medical sorcery. Ariahd declined, choosing instead to continue working as a ship’s sorcerer.

After sailing the Mysskaean Sea (and beyond) for decades, Ariahd grew tired of life at sea. He made his way to the far north and settled in Nossk, the capital city of the island nation Gumir, where he works as a painter in the present day. While most of his business comes from mourners commissioning funerary portraits of their dead loved ones, he is also often paid by the city counsel to paint the murals that adorn Nossk’s government buildings, temples, and municipal spaces. He lives with his partner, a Vazkyrohk sailor named Skovej Tide-Runner, in a small house in Nossk’s artisan quarter. The two met five years ago when their ships wintered in the same port, and from then on became inseparable. Skovej crews on a whaling ship during the summer, but spends the off-season with Ariahd in Nossk. They own a longhaired black cat named Renjir, who Skovej found as a stray kitten wandering the city docks. After almost a century of wandering, Ariahd all the more appreciates the small comforts of domesticity, taking great pleasure in living a quiet life among his books and paints; his past as a dragon seems so far removed from his current life as to be a dream.

#issadai #ariahd #long post #sorry guys i just hate read more links

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kzsheridan · 5 years

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Character Endings for the students (Super spoilers)

· Byleth fought alongside Edelgard to bring an end to the tyranny of a godlike being. Though he/she was wounded in the battle and lost the power of the progenitor god, he/she remained determined to walk his/her destined path. With his/her legendary blade in hand, he/she will never stop standing against those who slither in the dark until Fódlan at last knows everlasting peace.

· Byleth defeated those who slither in the dark and put down the crazed Immaculate One. In the aftermath of the loss of Fódlan's great leading figures, he/she ascended the throne as the first leader of the United Kingdom of Fódlan. In his/her heart lived the indelible hope that their efforts would one day yield\nan era in which the people knew true peace and the horrors of war were a hazy memory of the past.

· Byleth helped Dimitri to finally crush the ambitions of the Empire. After the war, Rhea stepped down from her role as archbishop, and swore to lead the Church of Seiros in her stead. He/She helped to guide the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus as it brought leadership to the newly unified Fódlan and worked tirelessly to create a peaceful world free from the shackles of oppression.

· Together, Byleth and Claude sent the Fell King Nemesis, a foe from a bygone age, back to the flames of eternity from whence he came. Afterward, Claude left Fódlan, leaving Byleth to ascend the throne as the first leader of the United Kingdom of Fódlan. As he took his schemes and dreams and efforts to a far-off land, he hoped dearly that their joint efforts would one day allow for a world where all of humanity can coexist in peace and harmony, regardless of borders or bloodlines.

· As the new Adrestian emperor, Edelgard dedicated her life to reshaping the delicate political structure of Fódlan. With tireless work and great sacrifice, she reformed the class system to ensure a free and independent society for all. In her later years, she entrusted her life's work\nto a worthy successor before finally vanishing from the public eye.

· After his coronation, Dimitri spent his life reforming and\nruling justly over Fódlan. He focused particularly on\nimproving living situations for orphans and improving\nforeign relations. He was known for listening intently to\nthe voices of all, and for instituting a new form of\ngovernment in which the people were free to be active\nparticipants. He lived for his people and alongside them and was thusly dubbed the Savior King.

· Claude returned to his homeland of Almyra and assumed the role of a politically active prince. After inheriting the throne, he worked to improve relations with Fódlan. In addition to establishing new trade routes, he fostered trust by sending reinforcements into Fódlan to help quell revolts by the remnants of the Imperial loyalists. Under his guidance, the peoples of Fódlan and Almyra were finally able to set aside age-old prejudices, and over time, the fallacies of old were all but forgotten.

· Hubert devoted his life fully to the service of Edelgard. Operating in the light and the shadows alike, he disposed of countless burdens facing his emperor, using any means necessary. Though his ghastly appearance and imposing demeanor were ever feared, he paid his reputation little heed, focusing instead on his loyalty to the emperor.

· After officially becoming the new Duke Aegir, Ferdinand set about reforming his territory. He overcame numerous obstacles to help the lands of Aegir recover. To recognize his contributions during and after the war, the emperor appointed him as the new prime minister. Thereafter, he stayed by Edelgard's side to help the Empire achieve great prosperity.

· Linhardt abandoned his inherited position in favor of a carefree life at Garreg Mach Monastery. There he spent his days at ease, wiling away the hours at the fishing pond or in his private study. After his passing, a treasure trove of documents was unearthed, revealing the key discoveries he had made during his many years of Crest research.

· In recognition of his achievements during the war, Caspar was given the title of Minister of Military Affairs in the new Adrestian Empire. Though his command developed a reputation for occasional recklessness, he proved an able leader, guiding his troops to overcome countless obstacles. Long after his career had ended tall tales of the glory and good cheer that he brought to his army endured.

· After the war, Caspar set out alone on a journey of self-discovery. He traveled to every corner of Fódlan and even ventured abroad now and again. It is said that he got into mischief at every turn but that the victims of his antics, always more amused than harmed or offended, remembered him fondly and passed those stories on to future generations.

· As soon as Bernadetta inherited House Varley from her father, she withdrew from all political discourse and focused solely on the management of her own territory. Because of this and her penchant for spending long periods of time in "hibernation," she became known throughout the house's history as the "Bear of Varley."

· Dorothea returned to the Mittelfrank Opera as soon as the war was over. Thanks to her talent, the company enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that lasted well beyond the end of her own career. Once she gave up her position as a songstress, she settled down to a private life of peace and quiet. It is said that she was very happily married.

· Petra returned to her homeland of Brigid and inherited the throne from her grandfather. As ruler, she declared independence from Fódlan and worked tirelessly to secure friendly relations with both Fódlan and Dagda. Her efforts inspired her descendants to carry the torch she lit, ensuring a future of peace and prosperity for her people.

· As a loyal vassal, Dedue dedicated his life to supporting King Dimitri through his entire reign. After tending to his liege on his deathbed, Dedue resumed his post at Dimitri's grave on the edge of Fhirdiad. There, it is said he stood sentinel over the peaceful realm he had helped build until the end of his days.

· As Duke Fraldarius, Felix worked for years to revitalize and rebuild his territory. He became the king's right-hand man, serving as a trusted adviser on a range of subjects, especially military affairs. Later in his life, he inherited his father's nickname and was known throughout the Kingdom as the Shield of Faerghus's worthy successor.

· Even after the war's end, skirmishes continued to breakout across Fódlan. Bored and restless in his capacity as Duke Fraldarius, Felix abandoned his title, jumping at the opportunity to wield a sword again. Little is known of his whereabouts thereafter, but even many years later, soldiers continued to whisper rumors of a mysterious man able to deal swift death to scores of enemies.

· After the war, Ashe was formally knighted and appointed the new head of House Gaspard, which had no successors. His warm, sincere attitude toward his subjects was praised all over Fódlan, and Ashe was finally recognized as the ideal knight he'd always hoped to be. His deeds live on in countless tales.

· As Margrave Gautier, Sylvain devoted his life to improving relations with the people of the Sreng region. With oration alone, he succeeded in helping to create a new way of life for nobles in which Relics and Crests were no longer viewed as necessary. Though he went down in history as\nan extraordinary lord, it nevertheless became customary to refer to cheaters as "sons of Gautier."

· Mercedes left home and opened a small orphanage in the Faerghus region with her mother. There, she took in and raised children who had lost their families in the war, regardless of their blood or circumstances of birth. It is said that, in the town which grew around this orphanage, the children never failed to smile.

· Mercedes left home and went to Garreg Mach, where she became a model cleric. She devoted the whole of her life to the service of the goddess and became well-loved by the people, who revered her for her piety and her boundless generosity toward those in need.

· Annette returned to her hometown of Fhirdiad where she took up a teaching position at the Royal School of Sorcery. She was a gifted instructor, and many of her students went on to become world-renowned sages. Though her talent for teaching was remarkable in its own right, she was perhaps best remembered for effortlessly securing the trust and respect of her many students, as well as inspiring all who knew her by living a life of kindness, cheer, and humility.

· Ingrid declined to rule House Galatea, choosing instead to serve House Blaiddyd as a knight. After achieving widespread renown, she formed an elite order of Pegasus knights who served as personal bodyguards to the nobility. She never took a husband.

· When Galatea territory was seized, Ingrid argued strongly for the preservation of its borders. Her request was granted, and she was appointed to rule. From her new position, she gave her all to ensure that the people of Galatea lived peaceful lives and put in years of hard work to reform its farming practices. Her efforts bore fruit, to the people's delight, and Galatea became a land of plenty.

· Soon after the war, Lorenz assumed leadership over House Gloucester and helped govern Fódlan as a representative\ of the old Alliance lords. His political talent yielded revolutionary policy changes, many of which were of particular benefit to the commonfolk.

· Raphael returned to his hometown to serve his liege lord as a knight. After years of loyal service, he resigned his duty to devote his attention to the inn that his grandfather and sister had opened during his time away. Eventually he became the inn's proprietor and developed a reputation for astonishingly good cooking.

· After returning home, Ignatz persuaded his family that he should become a painter. He traveled all through Fódlan and beyond, painting beautiful landscapes and captivating portraits of the world's cultures. His unique style set the artistic paradigm for a generation.

· Lysithea returned home to help her parents restore their family land. Years later, when the end to their hard work was finally in sight, she relinquished House Ordelia's claim to nobility, ceding the territory to a nearby lord. Shortly thereafter, she and her family disappeared into obscurity.

· Marianne returned home to a hero's welcome. The people praised her talent and acknowledged her as a savior of Fódlan. Her adoptive father groomed her as his successor, teaching her the power of words over weapons. By the time she claimed her inheritance, she had transformed into\none of Fódlan's most skilled orators.

· After the war, Hilda set politics aside and focused on what she enjoyed most: crafting fashionable accessories. Her designs quickly achieved widespread popularity. With the help of her brother, Hilda then created the first artisan academy in Fódlan, where she served as both professor and headmaster.

· Leonie joined up with the mercenaries formerly led by Jeralt. As his greatest apprentice, she quickly took on a leadership role and eventually even inherited the title of Blade Breaker. She came to be known as Jeralt the Second, as she began to resemble him in all things—including his drinking habits. She left behind many unpaid tavern tabs.

#fire emblem three houses spoilers #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem #fire emblem spoilers

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jtannerposts · 5 years

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Valaran

Valaran is a plane dominated by truly massive arcologies, completely self sufficient, self contained cityscapes dotted across the landscape. Some are massive spires reaching into the heavens, others are spheres residing beneath the oceans or buried pyramids beneath Valaran’s surface. While no two acrologies look alike they all share the same traits of self sufficiency, being built over confluxes of mana. Even the smallest acrology contains hundreds of thousands of souls, supported by mage engines that convert mana into matter, conjuring material from the aether.

While each arcology has their own governments all are in practise mageocracies, given that their vital systems are supported by the magical expertise of mages every arcology is dominated by mages. Whether it’s by political philosophy, economic power, or sheer intimidation mages comprise the majority on ever political body of note. To be born with magic is a golden ticket to a life of plenty, to be without is to be doomed to be looked over. Even democratic and progressive arcologies have mage lead councils and presidencies, the sheer power and importance of mages in Valaran society ensuring their supremacy.

The world outside the arcologies is a landscape dotted with ruins, once home to a truly massive plane spanning Empire, the rise of the arcology spelt it’s downfall. The old Empire relied on a monopolization of resources to maintain it’s hegemony, encouraging a massive trade network that linked continents across the globe to establish an economic dependence on it’s markets. When the arcologies were built, their self sufficient nature provided an alternative to the Empire’s tyrannical rule. Slowly tensions mounted as arcologies began to sprung up across the globe, decades of labour going into their construction, draining resources and entire cities of population into them. Eventually the arcologies declared independence from what they saw as a failing Empire that had been imposing it’s culture and beliefs on the world for too long.

Most of the arcologies declared a mutual defense pact, some stayed neutral or even declaring loyalty to the Empire. Each had developed distinct cultures of their own over the years but the majority all decided that the time had come to break away and become their own political entities in their own right. Each arcologies free to rule it’s people as they wished.

The war raged for nearly a hundred years, slowly swinging in the favour of the arcologies as more and more were completed, people flee behind their defenses for shelter from the war. Powerful magic was tossed around by both sides, the megaspells of the Divines devastating the very land for centuries. Desperate weapon projects were started and abandoned in equal measure by all factions, littering the plane with rouge war machines and horrific monsters that still roam Valaran today. This proliferation of weapons would finally break the back of the old Empire, by the end of the war the overwhelming majority of the plane now resided inside the safety of the arcologies, the once great cities of the Empire being reclaimed by nature and the land was seething with monsters lurking in the shadows.

In modern times most people are born and die in their acrologies, growing up on stories of how dangerous the outside world is. In theory each arcology is capable of support all it’s inhabitants equally, in practise every arcology experiences a massive inequality in the distribution of resources. While people with magical talent make up barely a quarter of the any arcology, they take up over 70% of most the resources in most arcologies. Massively opulent and hedonistic parties are thrown from golden towers while non magic’s busy themselves with making a living Most people live comfortable lives and public education is a mandatory policy in every arcology so that only the poorest reach adulthood illiterate.

Because each arcology is self sufficient traffic beyond the walls is an uncommon occurrence. But it’s not unheard off; for the fabulously rich, mostly mages, they travel across the land in massive ariships, cruising through the sky on personal party barges. Everyone else is force to travel by caravans, hiring a small army of mercenaries for protection, or if they can afford it hiring a Hunter. Aside from tourist Mages the people most likely to travel are Adventures looking to plunder ancient ruins of the Old Empire for valuable scraps, travelling merchants and performers, or people just desperate enough to risk life and limb for a taste of opportunity somewhere else.

And that opportunity is found in two places the Freeholds or the Frontiers. The Frontiers communities of people who for whatever reason leave the arcologies to eek out an existence in the world beyond the arcology walls. These townships usually spring up around major trade routes, if a community can survive the initial few years and establish themselves with the patronage of an Arcology they usually grow into small cities of a few tens of thousand souls. The Frontiers act as extensions of an Arcology, many Frontiers reliant on their parent arcology for advanced magic and resources. While more equal they still suffer from the class inequality of the arcologies. But most people who live in the Frontiers prefer their harder life of honest work makinging a life to toiling in a mage’s sweatshop.

The other option for people who want to leave their arcology but want to truly break free from the yoke of the mages is to venture out into the wild and join a Freehold. Freeholds are rough communities of people who wish to live apart from their Arcology. No two are the same, some are hardy pioneers taming the land free from the yoke of their mage overlords, others are hives of scum and villainy. Religious convents worshiping a Divine, secretive cults, Arcane research facilities that the mainstream discourse dream unethical, Freeholds are a broad classification that covers any settlement not subservient to an Arcology. While they rarely grow beyond a thousand souls, most dying out in a few decades, a rare few survive to truly establish themselves as real cities. The Free Cities are often less corrupt than the Arcologies but with the added drawback of resource scarcity. Most are forced to trade with Frontier townships for resources and the number of truly established Freehold cities is less than a hundred.

Monsters and the old warmachines are a constant threat for these communities, even the arcologies regularly maintain purges on their surrounding lands least anything infiltrate their walls. Which is where the Hunters step into play, mercenary professionals who travel between the Frontiers, Freeholds and Arcologies taking contracts on monsters or occasionally providing protection to travelers.

Hunters are an offshoot of an old super soldier program from the plane’s history, centuries ago in the twilight years of the old empire a cabal of mages banded together to create the perfect fighters. Children were taken and experimented on with alchemical and magical concoctions, out of a hundred only 10 would survive the procedures. But those that did developed superhuman reflexes, mental acuity, stamina and strength. They were made resistant to all manner of disease and toxins, taught a small amount of magic and purposely had their empathy dulled. Expensive, brutal and highly lethal these soldiers were also rendered infertile, least the mage’s weapons slip their leash and breed a new race of superhumans.

Effective as they were their numbers were simply too small to save the failing empire and as time went on they all died out. Or so the world thought, in reality a squad of these soldiers saw the writing on the wall in the empire’s final days and disappeared into the growing wilderness, emerging over a century later to offer their services. In their self imposed exile these soldiers had survived in the wilderness, learning how to fight the roaming monsters of the new world.

They formed the Hunter Guilds, becoming a group of mercenary organizations selling their services for gold and supplies. They still follow the Procedures that created them, taking in orphaned children or purchasing them from the desperate. Even centuries later the odds of survival are no better than when the Procedure was first invented. Often a parent who sells there child never learns of their fate, and in the vanishingly rare moments it is often bittersweet when they do cross paths. The Hunter often either carries a chip on their shoulder at being abandoned, or doesn’t even recognize their parents.

The origin of the Divine Exalted is a mystery as records indicate they predate the even the old Empire, but what isn’t is the forms they come in, seperated into Holy and Unholy shards of White and Black mana. On Valaran angels and demons don’t just emerge from the plane’s mana, instead a shard of energy is formed called an Exaltation. This Exaltation seeks out a soul that fits it’s profile and merges with the person’s soul, granting them fantastic power. A person is chosen for how they act in the moment of exaltation, regardless of the actual content of their character. Angelic shards pick people performing Heroic or monumental tasks, while Demonic shards pick for profoundly selfish or cruel acts. Because of this it is not unheard of for Angelic Divine to go drunk with power and Demonic Divine to be overcome with guilt, but the majority of Divine play to type.

The Divine barely number more than 600 in total, a combination of the rarity of their creation and the tendency for new exalted to take massive risks while still riding the initial wave of power. The Divine are to the best knowledge of the plane immortal, the Exaltations keeping the bodies of their hosts sturdy and strong. The Angels and Demons of Valaran share some traits with their counterparts across the multiverse, but the biggest divergence is that the powers of the exalted is determined by the abilities of the host as the Divine shards boost it’s host’s abilities beyond what is possible by mere mortals. A mortal swordsman can parry an axe, with training an Exalted can parry magic. A mortal mage can throw fire, an Exalted mage can incinerate cities. The Divine look mortal, capable to manifesting their otherworldly nature at will, the only signs that a person of more than mortal is the tell tale glow of their eyes. Angels possess glowing golden pupils while Demons possess similar violet pupils. Many an arrogant mage or conniving trickster has sought to mimic this through illusion magic, though many Divine loath impersonation and most use this strategy sparingly to avoid retribution.

For this reason the Divine are venerated far and wide, with many setting up massive cults of personality around themselves. On Valaran most Arcologies have at least one patron Divine, or multiple. For the most part though the Divine don’t factor into the daily lives of the people and are content to enjoy the mind boggling luxuries afforded to them.

#Alethea #Fanwalker #Valaran #I try to write about my fanwalker #Ended up writing a dissertation on my fan plane #Writer problems

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megareviews · 5 years

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Spring 2019 First Impressions

The Spring list is late as usual (is it usual if it’s only the second instance?), but at least I’m closer to the beginning than last year. I’ve reached 50% completion on the doing this for an entire year consistently, so nice.

Aikatsu Friends!: Kagayaki no Jewel (Aikatsu Friends!: Jewel of Radiance): Aikatsu is relatively low on my priority list of magical girl megaseries.

Bakugan Battle Planet: This show actually premiered last semester, but in English, and this season is when the Japanese dub started. Either way it’s somewhere deep in the Bakugan series, which is based off of what are probably my least played children’s toys.

BAKUMATSU Crisis: Second season of an otome game adaption that looked okay when I started it, but I still haven’t watched past the first episode.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (Bokuben / We Never Learn): The main show that I know the source material of, and it is just about meeting my expectations. An average guy who has to study rigorously to maintain his average grades is put in charge of tutoring the two smartest people in his school. This might not make sense until it’s explained that he has to tutor them in their worst subjects, because those subjects are the ones they want to major in for college. It’s a nice theme of working hard for what you enjoy situated in a rom-com with some haremy aspects and an unusually high density of goofy faces, so watch it if you like those aspects.

Bungou Stray Dogs 3: I still need to see what they did with HP Lovecraft in season 2

Carole & Tuesday: What happens when a runaway rich girl and a poor orphan girl meet up on Mars? They form a band of course. A tale of two lonely souls finding each other and become a little less lonely in a big world, making music together. It looks great and it sounds amazing, so this is definitely a priority watch.

Chou Kadou Girl 1/6 (Amazing Stranger): Imagine Buzz Lightyear from the original Toy Story except in a 20 -something guy’s house and then failing the don’t move when humans are around rule almost immediately. That’s what this show is.

Cinderella Girls Gekijou CLIMAX SEASON (Cinderella Girls Theater CLIMAX SEASON): For somebody who doesn’t watch idol shows, the theater shorts are pretty fun, though I’m not nearly caught up in this one to say how this season is going.

Diamond no Ace Act II: Oh boy there’s so much baseball this season and a lot of it is sequels.

Fairy Gone: There’s a lot of things going on in this show but I think I can simplify it to military use of fairies to give soldiers super powers. The protagonist has been taking jobs as a mercenary to find her sister who was split from her after their village was burnt down. Then at an auction that she works as a guard, things start going wrong and the thief who appears is none other than that sister. The first episode ends with the end of a three way fight between security and the girls, so I’m not sure where the show’s going at all. Maybe if the show didn’t flash back to the protagonist’s village burning down three times, there would be a little more time to give direction.

Fruits Basket (2019): I never know how to deal with reboots for shows that I can remember, but haven’t seen the original. I know there’s people who turn into animals and a “do the carpets match the drapes” joke, and that’s about it from the 2001 anime.

Gunjou no Magmel (Magmel of the Blue Sea): After a new continent appears in the world, explorers flock to it, not always as prepared as they should be for venturing into the unknown. The main character works at a company to rescue explorers from mishaps along with a few others. The worldbuilding is interesting and the main character’s black lightning is pretty cool looking, but his attitude and decision making abilities kinda put me off for now. That and the comprehensibility of the subtitles I was watching fell off a cliff halfway through the episode.

Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine (Cinderella Nine in August): So far it looks like a pretty standard club building show based around women’s baseball. It looks nice and we have 4 club members as of the first episode, so they should make it to at least full team of nine pretty quickly. It looks nice outside of an odd montage near the end of the episode when the club plays a game with some local kids, and the character designs are a bit more memorable than the usual baseball cast. I appreciate the fact that they’re playing hardball, but I’m not the type of person to watch anything sports ever.

Hangyaku-sei Million Arthur 2 (Operation Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur): All I know about this show is that there’s a bunch of characters named Arthur and that it’s a sequel.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu (Hitori Bocchi's ○○ Lifestyle): When one of the most socially anxious kids in elementary school gets separated by her only friend when they go to different middle schools, her friend gives her a quest: to become friends with everybody in her new class. She’s got a real go-getter attitude, but from feeling physical pain from trying to talk to a stranger to fainting when somebody actually responds to her, she’s got a rough path ahead of her. It’s a really fun show that gets you rooting for the main character in her attempts of communicating with others in a normal manner.

Isekai Quartet: Four of the biggest isekai series in one short mash-up is a recipe for confusion. Especially since they’re all put together in a school setting where no fighting is allowed, even if there are holy gods and undead abominations in the same class. Anything can happen with all these people taken from their original normal lives, tossed into various fantasy worlds, and then slam dunked back into a relatively normal setting.

Jimoto ga Japan (I’m From Japan): I cannot find a trace of the anime anywhere online and I am glad of this having read the manga. It is just a really dumb comedy about Japanese prefectures that I struggled to read a few chapters of before giving up.

Joushikausei: A silent anime, as in there’s no spoken words, about a few high school girls. It’s an interesting concept, but I found it a bit uncomfortable to watch, mostly due to the whimpering and other nonverbal noises the girls were making.

Kedama no Gonjirou (Gonjiro the Yarn Ball): A children’s show that hasn’t been licensed and no group is fansubbing it, how unusual… It actually looks interesting though so I might search for the raws to check it out.

Kenja no Mago (The Magi’s Grandson): A child raised by a powerful wizard in the country reaches an age where he can move out to the city and attend a magical high school. Unfortunately for him, his parental figures only taught him combat and magic, so he doesn’t really know how to sustain himself in the reals world. It is a decent concept but there’s a 50/50 chance of any scene looking nice or looking awful, and the scene transitions all look like they were made in Powerpoint.

Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slaying Blade): A happy family of coal sellers is destroyed in a night when a demon strikes. The eldest son was out due to a combination of work and a blizzard, and when he returns he finds all but one of his family members completely cold and covered in blood. This last member is rushed down the mountainside for medical aid, only to turn into a demon on the way down. A meeting with a demon slayer turns tricky as he tries to protect his demonized sister who’s fighting between killing instincts and her love of her brother. The opening promises some beautiful animations and the overall show isn’t slacking either, so overall it’s a very promising show.

KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars-: It’s the TV version of a boy band movie tetralogy which is also a sequel I think?

Kiratto Pri☆chan Season 2: A sequel to a idol anime that I reviewed last year. I think this is one of the first times a sequel has shown up that I also reviewed the first season of, though unfortunately it was for a show that I didn’t watch fully.

Kono Oto Tomare! (Stop this Sound!): One more club building show for this season, this one about a Japanese instrument called a koto. After all the upperclassmen of the club graduated in the previous year, only the main character is left in the club, and needs more members before the club gets closed, the usual. The first new member is a seemingly delinquent 1st year who is surprisingly diligent. There wasn’t too much interesting or unique other than the topic of the club, so music fans might find this more watchable than I.

Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO (YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World): The first episode for this kind of front-loaded introducing characters and pulled out its premise of parallel dimensions and a device to navigate them towards the end, which means I’d probably have to watch another episode to figure out how I feel about it. It’s nice to not have a giant exposition dump take up the first episode of a show, especially since it will have two cours to tell a story, but I didn’t feel any particular gravitation towards the characters by this point, so I won’t be prioritizing any follow-up on it.

Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin (Midnight Occult Civil Servants): With a job at a place called the Nocturnal Community Relations Division, the first thought of the type of people dealt with is most likely not going to be fairies. Our main character is taken from a world of the ordinary to being able to see and talk to the supernatural creatures that live locally, called Anothers. His co-workers are equipped with magically enchanted police tape and other trinkets to help solve issues that occasionally arise between Anothers. I like the modern fantasy setting, and the fairly low level fights with the supernatural so far, so there’s promise in where the show goes.

Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (Ao Can’t Study): While the name Ao is usually blue, or sometimes even moth, in this case, it stands for Adult Only, the 18+ rating in Japan. This is due to her father’s profession, an erotic writer, and surprisingly, the main character hates her father for naming her that and spends her entire life studying to get into a college far enough away from him. This is thwarted by a guy confessing to her and filling her mind with romance and lewder thoughts, with the help of her father. I hate this as a concept and don’t watch this.

Mix: A semi-sequel baseball anime. I say semi, because from what I’ve gathered it is recommended but not necessary to watch the original first.

Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!? (Why is my Teacher Here!?): It’s about a male student and his teacher, ending up in awkward situations together, like being trapped together in a men’s bathroom stall. A show of pure fanservice through and through, so there’s not much else to say.

Namu Amida Butsu!: Rendai Utena: What started out as an action about cleansing impurities from the world gives us a quick bait ‘n switch to a slice of life about gods bumbling about in the human world attempting to be competent humans. I found it irritating to watch, and it was very clearly based off of a gacha game, which do not have a good track record of making good shows.

Nobunaga-sensei no Osanazuma (Nobunaga’s Young Bride): A modern age middle school teacher way down the ancestral tree of Oda Nobunaga meets the bride of the man himself, who traveled to the present from the day of the original Nobunaga’s death. She’s no older than when she left her original time, which leaves her at 14 years old, with no knowledge of modern day Japan so she’s stuck with the main character’s family and decides to be the new Nobunaga’s bride anyways, which… is weird.

One Punch Man 2: A big sequel of the season, and one where people have been waiting with wary anticipation due to the change in animation studio and director. It definitely looks a lot stiffer than the first season, for action and non-fight scenes, but the story is a bit more interesting in my opinion, as the show starts working on fleshing out other heroes and why they fight.

RobiHachi: the first episode of this really is a springboard for setting up what the plot and cast will be, just about starting right at the very end. We’ve got an ultra gullible man in debt, a genius teen with no sense of purpose, a robot rabbit helper, and their spaceship that blares its own theme song when it transforms into a mech. They set off to find a legendary planet that grants happiness after a couple of hijinks on their starting planet. It’s a very busy show, both visually and plot wise, but still an enjoyable experience if you can keep up.

Sarazanmai: 50% connecting with other people through oversharing with them, 50% kappas stealing souls from other people’s butts. It’s hard to describe the show but I’m having a good time, and the art is gorgeous, and special care is taken with little details in the show. I’d say watch the first episode definitely, and then decide whether or not to follow up on the rest of the show.

Senryuu Shoujo (Senryuu Girl): The focus of the show is on the Japanese poetry type of Senryuu, mostly because the main character can only communicate with others through writing these poems. Thankfully, she’s got some good friends and is in her school’s Literature Club, so she has plenty of practice and is around people who appreciate her work.

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san (Meddlesome Fox Senko): The fox gods of the world have a duty to protect humans, and are becoming more proactive in seeking out humans with negative emotions before those emotions go out of control. In comes the male lead of the show, an overworked businessman who has basically just been going through the motions of life by this point. One of the fox gods appears in his house, doing the cooking, cleaning, and other tasks to help relieve the main guy’s stress. It’s comfy and there’s some funny moments, but I feel like the show would be better off as a more episodic show featuring various humans rather than just the one that it looks like the show will focus on. I’m also worried about the romance genre tag that the show has.

Shingeki no Kyojin 3 Part 2 (Attack on Titan 3 Part 2): I’m still on episode 5 of the original series, with no particular motivation to make it any further. More people die in bloody explosions probably.

Shoumetsu Toshi (Lost City): As the title of the show would imply there is a city that has been lost to humanity, as in, it just disappeared one day. The main female character is the only one who survived the city disappearing, and is targeted by a mysterious group due to that, and she tries to return to where the lost city used to be due to a message by her father who went missing with the city. In addition there was a monk with super powers who was standing on a motorcycle’s handlebars facing off against the main girl who could summon her Lost bodyguard with a bunch of guns but that was kinda just thrown in at the end.

Strike Witches 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! (Strike Witches 501st Join Fighter Wing Takes Off!): Oh god it’s been so long since I’ve consumed Strike Witches content. This is a slice of life spin off of the original series, so the context is recommended, but not necessary. The animation is also very much on the rough side for a ten minute long short.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki (Yatogame’s Observation Diary): After briefly being disappointed in the lack of heavy Nagoya dialects encountered in Nagoya, the main character runs into a classmate who happens to have one. In addition, all of her favorite foods and animals are popular or famous in Nagoya, so he sticks around with her for meeting his ideals of what a Nagoyan should be. They then travel the city as part of the photography club to see all the sights of the city.

Youkai Watch!: Despite what it looks like from the title, this is pretty deep in a line of sequels of Youkai Watch.

#Megareviews #first episodes #anime review #Spring 2019

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sea-and-storm · 6 years

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ARUKH ; Drabble (pt. 2.5)

Another year had come, and another battle had passed. This time the fighting had been more brutal than any others of recent memory; and still, Arukh had lived.

He hadn't left the battlefield without injury, though. Besides the numerous small cuts and bruises that littered his body, the worst of it was a deep, nasty slash across the front of his shoulder where a Jhungid blade had caught and unhorsed him. Yet the enemy had paid for it with a knife in the stomach when he had come to finish him on the ground.

Still, injured as he was, he had risen to return to the fray until the sound of the horn signaling their retreat pierced through the chaotic chorus of battle like an arrow.

Upon returning to camp, he had been attentively tended to by the tribe's healers along with the other seasoned fighters. Though his body would likely still hurt and ache for days to come, he was confident enough in his recovery to suspect he would have at least one more battle in him. More, perhaps, if the gods were kind.

Though the same could not be said for many, he knew. Once he had recovered enough to leave the watchful eyes of the menders, Arukh had ventured out to the tents along the camp's periphery where the less fortunate injured had been tucked away, out of sight. To a place where their near inevitable passing would be as little inconvenience to the rest of the tribe as possible.

More than the cuts and bruises, and more even than the deep injury to his shoulder, it had hurt for him to walk through those tents. Many faces were those that he recognized, those that he had spent the better part of the last year preparing for that day. Yet more painful was the realization that they made up only a small fraction of those he had sent into battle.

Arukh was hardly a stranger to the death. The first year that he had fought, he himself had been one of few who had returned. Fewer still of those whom he had trained alongside had remained by the second year. By the third, his stubborn refusal to die and the number of Jhungid lives he had taken had earned him a chance to prove himself by training new captures. From then on, after his success had won him a path from slavery and the right to call himself Kharlu, he had grown accustomed to never again seeing those whom he had trained day in and day out after the fighting began.

Still, years later, it was hard not to feel their deaths weigh upon his shoulders as personal failure.

Tending to the injured in the aftermath had become something of a ritual for him. In truth, he knew there was little he could do for them. He wasn't a healer, and so the extent of his knowledge of treating wounds was how to tie a tourniquet to staunch blood flow just long enough to get up and keep fighting. But still he did whatever he could to help the menders, keeping the injured company, or giving the ailing a pair of listening ears for their final words to fall upon. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do.

It wasn't new that the injured slaves' care came second to the clan's stronger warriors. What was new was that there were so very many of the latter this year, leaving only few healers to care for the rest. And perhaps what surprised him most of all was that she was among them.

The seventh wife had been a rare sight around camp once the strife between Bayanbataar and herself had become known, and talk had begun to follow in her wake. Tribemates whispered scornful reproaches of the khan's hateful, barren wife. Drunken men made crude jokes of what would happen if Bayanbataar decided to relinquish his claim upon her. Even wild, conspiratorial rumors circulated ranging from alleged affairs to accusations of being part of a Jhungid ploy to distract their leader.

Arukh had heard it all; not only from the Kharlu, but occasionally in the envious grousing of the slaves as well. He had doubted the veracity of most of it, and in truth, his blood began to simmer each time he had heard such talk. Yet still he had kept a healthy distance from the girl for reasons of his own.

Ghoa's decision to emerge now and aid in the recovery of the slaves had been unexpected. Though he normally tried to pay as little heed to any matters related to her as possible, Arukh found himself watching her from a distance as she arrived in the morning and worked tirelessly into the evening. Each day, he suspected that she would grow tired of the frustrating hopelessness and thanklessness. But each dawn, despite his expectations, she returned.

Hers had become such a regular presence that on the day that she did not arrive until after noon, the warrior wondered what had caused her delay. That she only stayed long enough to give another mender some hushed instruction before hurriedly leaving again roused within him curiosity -- and suspicion. Though he had long ago resolved to give the woman a healthy amount of space, now he resolved to skulk after her from a distance.

It did not take him long to realize what it was that she was doing, sneaking about from place to place and pocketing whatever she could get her hands on when backs were turned. He watched as she grabbed rations, a waterskin, flint, a hunting knife. He watched as she stood at the edge of the pen where the horses were kept, a worried look of puzzlement on her face, undoubtedly trying to plan out how she would steal one of those as well.

Once she had returned to her tent, Arukh had returned to his own with the knowledge that the seventh wife was about to make an escape. Sitting upon that knowledge, he felt oddly conflicted.

On the most obvious hand, his duty demanded that he go to his khan at once. Despite that he did not share their blood, the Kharlu had become his people years ago. They had protected his birth clan for generations untold long before he had been born, and continued to protect them to this day. Though they had taken him from them as a slave, the Kharlu had allowed him a chance to earn his place among them. He felt no resentment; at least, not any longer. For a former slave, his loyalty ran particularly deep.

Yet despite having long ago relinquished the name and traditions of the Mankhadi, the memories of home remained.

He could still remember being only a boy when he had pressed his hands against his mother's swollen stomach and marveled at the soft kick from inside. He remembered the proud gleam in his parents' eyes when they explained that, soon, he would have a new sibling to care for. He could never forget the howling winds, the hissing rain, and crashing thunder paling in comparison to his mother's screams as she brought that tiny, tiny babe into the world. He remembered the first time he had saw her, and even as a young boy, resolving to keep his baby sister safe.

Worse were the memories of the day moons later that Elder Unegen had come to their home and taken his sister with her, before Ghoa had even had a chance to know him. The memory of the many months that followed filled with his mother's inconsolable crying. The memory of his father trying to make him understand what an honor it was to be chosen, even if his lectures sounded more like he was trying to make himself believe it.

He had changed much since that day that he had been taken by the Kharlu. He had become stronger, harder, colder even. He had become exactly what he needed to be in order to survive and become one of them. Now, he shared far more in common with his captors than his own birth clan.

Yet Arukh couldn't deny what blood ran through his veins, and that it was just the same as that which ran from hers. Only now, he was no longer bound by Shuurga law and tradition.

Darkness fell, and Arukh found himself making a trek across the camp back to the yurt where the menders had treated his injuries days earlier. All it took was a complaint of his shoulder bothering him, preventing him from sleeping restfully, for the young girl to give him a potion to help him rest. He thanked her, pocketed it, and moved on to the next.

The shepherd's son, Mukhali, was a boy of no more than fourteen summers, still more child than man. He was one of many children left orphaned by the war, having to take over his father's former responsibilities. One of which having been watching over the horses and sheep through the night. That was where he found him, sitting by the fire and staring out vigilantly into the night.

Arukh had come to him claiming concern for how he was holding up. He had known his father, he told the boy, and so they had talked at length of the departed man, sharing stories and laughter and heavy, somber silences between them. After a time, Arukh had offered a waterskin filled with kumis to the boy. Unfamiliar as he was with the drink, Mukhali seemingly failed to notice the odd taste of the sleeping draught.

If Ghoa succeeded in getting away with a horse under his watch, the boy's punishment would be harsh. That he was Kharlu by blood would perhaps lessen his punishment than if he were a slave, but still, he could only imagine Bayanbataar's rage. As he watched the boy's eyelids begin to grow heavy and excused himself, his stomach twisted itself into guilty knots.

His nerves on edge, Arukh did not yet retire to his tent. Rather, he found himself a shadowed corner from which to watch, as Mukhali finally fell fast sleep and eventually, as his sister crept into the pen.

He held his breath as she led the horse away, the air still caught in his lungs even after she disappeared from sight. He only breathed it out in a relieved exhale when he heard the faint, soft sound of a horse taking to a gallop in the far distance.

Slowly and carefully, the warrior made his way through the shadows of the moonless night back to his tent, taking care not to be seen. If his treachery became known, it would be his death.

But even still, he could not find regret in his choice. His commitment to his tribe had kept her from protecting her once before, but it would not do so again.

For once, he was glad to be the family she needed, even if unbeknownst to her.

#restless seas #Ghoa Mankhad #arukh kharlu #the past #drabble #BEEN SITTING ON BIG BROA FOR A WHILE NOW #just waiting for this drabble series to finally get written #so just throwin it out there now #since itll probably be important later #:eyes:

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amepcrdue · 6 years

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1584, year of the Evil Seed: Raphael, the young master of the House of Sorel in France, was a brilliant man, versed in politics, medicine, and swordplay. His tactical mind and quick wit had landed him as head of the house at a young age. He was only 26 when his life was permanently altered. A fellow noble, one allied with his house, attacked him one day, Raphael, seeking to defend himself killed the man in the process. Treacherous members of his house seeking power and to be absolved from his actions sold him out to authorities. Raphael ran, eventually arriving in the poor town of Rouen. Injured, starving, and freezing, Raphael didn’t think he would survive when a young girl, no older than 10, had hid him from the guards that closed in. She helped care for his wounds afterwards. It wasn’t necessarily out of concern for him at first, more that it was out of spite for the guards that harassed the poor. Raphael learned Amy was orphaned when her parents were lost to the plague. Overcome by the first act of kindness he’d ever encountered, he took her in as his own daughter.

Raphael started to see things in a new light after being exposed to how Amy and others in the impoverished town lived. Thins felt more meaningless, futile. Nobles fought amongst themselves and only cared for their own well being while those of lower stations had given up hope. The world was soulless. Raphael could not raise Amy here, so he sough to take her as far from this life as he could. Coming to the countryside in southern France, Raphael used his wits and a false name to befriend an old noble. He was determined to give Amy as good a life as he could. But the young girl had been hardened by her troubled life. She had a tenacious will to live with little hope for her future. Raphael wished to open her heart to the world, and managed to convince the old noble to let them into his home. They stayed for some time, Raphael gaining the trust of the noblemen and his servants and the town around them before one night poisoning the lord and convincing the others that he had left on extended business.

1584-1591, a plan is hatched: Sifting through the old noble’s library, Raphael found reference to the Evil Seed in the old man’s notes, the very incident that changed his and Amy’s life forever. He became obsessed with following this information, keeping himself locked in the library of the manor for weeks, only stopping to pay attention to Amy when she sought it. It didn’t take long for Raphael to make a connection between the Evil Seed and Soul Edge. If he could get that sword into the hands of the warring nobles, they would surely kill each other. Of course he knew there would be casualties among the common folk, but their existence was hardly better off than those already dead. If it meant he could secure a better life for Amy and himself, it would all be worth it. He left one night in the early part of 1591, bidding Amy good bye, and ventured out in search of the cursed blade.

Early 1591, Nightmare!: Raphael fought many who sought to find the sword for different reasons, and had defeated them all until he reached the very one who held the sword, The Azure Knight, Nightmare! They battled long and hard, but Nightmare eventually overpowered Raphael. As he lay battered and bleeding, he mustered the last of his strength, thrusting his trusted family sword, Flambert, into the eye of Soul Edge before Nightmare could deliver a deathblow. The blow saved his life and caused Nightmare to flee and allowed Siegfried to break free of the sword’s influence. Forcing himself to move, Raphael dragged himself from the ruins of Ostrheinsburg back to the mansion in south France. Amy, for the second time in her 16 years of life, dragged Raphael in and tended to his wounds. Raphael spent the next few days on the brink of death before finally starting to recover. It was too late when Raphael realised is that the wounds delivered from Soul Edge had infected Raphael with an evil energy more severe than the Evil Seed had malfested others. It ate into his body and corrupted him, and his darling Amy, in her attempt to heal him, had become malfested too.

Late 1591, Malfestation! Domination! War!: As the malfestation took hold of the disgraced lord and his daughter, it deepened an already concerning mentality he had started to develop. He began to develop a strange thirst. Feeling he had no choice but to escape, he fled with Amy from the life they knew in France to the mountains of Wallachia. They took up residence in the ruins of Vlad the Impaler’s castle. Finding Amy could no longer interact with the outside world, Raphael began spreading evil energy to the surrounding lands, infecting the townsfolk below and in the surrounding villages to make the world more suited for her. His actions... however did not go unnoticed. Some of the turned villagers were cured by a man who ventured through the area with a holy stone. Vexed, Raphael sought to find out more about this man, the stone, and how to destroy it, but was delayed when an army had shown up with siege weapons. They sought to end his reign of terror. Kissing his daughter on the temple and asking her to behave while he was gone, he set out once more, seeking to change the world to accept her.

His journeys and battles had made him realize that there must be a power greater than Soul Edge if it was capable of weakening those affected by it. He changed goals, seeking the sword Soul Calibur instead. Along his journey, he encountered a young woman with a shard of Soul Edge. Cassandra Alexandra. They battled and she fought hard, but he had bested her. In the fight, he managed to steal her shard, and decided to spare her life. They crossed paths one more time, and again he spared her as his concerns were greater than the young Greek.

1591-1608, Death, Graf Dumas, and Strife.: He was not successful in his ultimate endeavour. He never made it home to Amy. He never made it home at all. It was uncertain when or how he died. What was known is that his body was dragged back to the ruins of Ostrheinsburg, his body kept beneath while it was being readied to become the new host of Soul Edge. Raphael’s willpower was far too strong for Soul Edge to simply take over his body. It rewrote his memories, shaping him into the man that would be come to known as Graf Dumas, a powerful commander in the Holy Roman Empire. He had impressed Emperor Rudolf II with his political tact, his fighting skill, and his knowledge of alchemy and sorcery, and convinced the Emperor to reclaim territory it had lost to the Ottoman Empire. The masked Graf Dumas employed the young Patroklos Alexandra, son of Sophitia and nephew of Cassandra. Patroklos hoped that by working under Graf Dumas, he would be able to kill malfested, the very beings that killed his mother years ago. Unbeknown to the young man, the very people he was killing were not all malfested, but were merely souls that Dumas wanted to harvest to increase Soul Edge’s strength once more.

Once he obtained enough power, he revealed himself to Patroklos as Nightmare and began a campaign of terror and war across Central Europe with his followers. Eventually, Nightmare is killed by Z.W.E.I. and Soul Edge passed to Pyrrha, Patroklos’ sister. With Soul Edge no longer possessing Raphael’s body, he awakened sometime later in a dank cell that reeked of death and decay.

Late 1608, Memory Loss and The Search for Amy: Raphael remembered next to nothing. Not where he was, scarcely who he was. But he remembered one thing, Amy. Forcing himself to escape the cell he was being held in, he began his search for her. Raphael experienced occasional intense waves of pain that racked his entire body, often followed by flashes of memories that he couldn’t decipher. He had severe amnesia, only the memory of how to fight and his daughter drove him. Though to many he appeared as a spectre or a wandering vagabond, his blade remained sharp. He’d lost everything, his status, his home, his life, his daughter. All he had now was his sword, the only surviving witness to the tragedy that had been his life.

#~*a tale of souls and swords | canon*~#death mention cw #ask to tag #I started this 3 hours ago and cross referenced like 5 different sources all of them official.#If there are grammatical or spelling errors i'm sorry. It's 1am. I'm very tired.#But I needed this reference here for anyone who wanted it and for myself. It covers the timeline more cohesively.#long post for ts

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wildfire317s-oc-box · 3 years

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Name: Willow (no family name listed as she is an orphan)

Hair color: brown

Hair style: originally her hair is an absolute tangled mess but after she is found by the others it gets brushed out and put into semi-tame pigtails

Eye color: grey

Skin color: undead white

Age: physically shes maybe a month or two older than Klot, technically shes around 68.

Species: vampire (originally feral)

Fang placement: third from the left and right respectively

Lineage: she has no clue just that shes been hiding in the forest near town for the last few centuries being mistaken for a ghost.

Nicknames: little willow, little ghost girl, baby bat, sapling, thumper

Fashion sense: anything that will fit, would probably wear a paper bag if she needed to

Height: due to her almost never getting a proper meal her growth was stunted and shes actually a little bit shorter than Klot.

How she got there:

She was orphaned when she was still in her early to middle double digits and she got dropped off at a nearby orphanage. When that burned down about three years later she was left to her own devices and decided to dig herself a hideout in the woods that used to be either a fox or badger hole but had been abandoned. The main reason she hadn't been found earlier was because she almost never left her hideout because she remembered that mortal grownups were dangerous so she hid whenever she heard or saw anyone coming. But as the years passed the bugs and small animals she survived on started to avoid the general area of her hideout so she had to venture out more often. Eventually she started having to steal things from shops in town and peoples houses while they were sleeping. One dark stormy night when the clouds were so thick you couldn't see a speck of moonlight and wind blew so hard she could hardly control her flight pattern, a combination of a flash of lightning and a stronger gust of wind sent her spiraling through town and into a lamppost, crash-landing her half-starved, unconscious self right into the path of sunshine and her grandpa. Who of course suspecting he had finally caught a vampire picked her up by the scruff (while she was still a bat) and carried her back to their house where he put her in a cage in the basement. And she was stuck like that for a few nights barely moving a muscle and struggling to stay conscious until Polidori (who by now had figured out she was in-fact a vampire) actually began to grow concerned and began prodding her with a twig he found every now and then, to every couple hours, to every hour just to see if she was even breathing (which due to the massive amount of garlic he stored down there came out as more of a wheezy cough). His prodding only had a major reaction once after he put a smaller but still realistic bat dummy in the cage with her while she was sleeping and attempted to take it out again when she was awake, causing her to struggle to her feet and (while holding onto the cage bars) attempt to shield it with her body, face-planting to the floor and giving herself a bloody nose after he closed the cage again. After another week he started questioning what he was doing and if it was right so he decided to let Sunshine attempt to care for her which was a good thing considering she probably would have died otherwise. So Sunshine decided to keep her up in her room on her desk and of course Oskar ended up finding out. (This would be after Oskar eventually explains the whole vampire thing to her only after being prompted by ms.vonwitchblood) After explaining the situation both Oskar and Sunshine make an attempt to nurse her back to health. And over several days of sneaking and shenanigans (and baths in the bathroom sink to get rid of fleas) Willow is up and running again and attempts to fly out the window not realizing its closed, and bounced back to land on her butt and transform back only to reveal to both Sunshine and Oskar that she is an absolute ragamuffin-gremlin-child that is almost certainly feral. So she backs herself up into a corner and curls up into a ball and after about an hour its decided that Oskar should take her over to Stellaluna and Isabella's house for now. After another few weeks and many conferences with the teachers, the count, and Stellaluna its decided that she would continue to live with Stellaluna and Isabella (and technically Buck as well) and go to school with the rest of the little vampires. This is where she meets her new best friend and technically adopted big brother. Eventually She gets dragged into a shopping spree by her new friends/classmates when her adopted moms take them to a netherworld mall (well her adopted moms did the actual shopping, her classmates helped her pick things out) and she ended up with a new outfit (she also talked Buck into getting a new outfit).

Her experience with professor Polidori:

She isn't really sure what to think of him at all, she still has the bat dummy he put in her cage. Her new family, friends and teachers are hoping that she actually managed to change his mind about vampires.

Her experience with her peers:

She gets along great with everyone despite being a shy, feral little bat with next to no contact with anyone else. She and Buck basically become like Klot and Ashley where they are rarely ever separated but she is also pretty close to Oskar, Klot and Ashley. And Gothetta (much like how she is with Klot) decided to be the mom-friend. Since they are the youngest Willow and Klot tend to play together a lot whenever none of the others can/want to, and they also tend to team up on their teachers whenever either one or both of them want something (sure the count can turn down one set of "pouty bat eyes" but can he turn down both at the same time? I doubt it). Stoker did try to steal one of her blood-cookies once, he did not try a second time since she nearly bit his fingers as a knee-jerk reaction from having to defend her food from raccoons. Sometimes the others joke that she is the rabid vampire that polidori is always going on about but she doesn't care because its funny and it may or may not be partially true. Belladonna eventually gains her trust and befriends her through giving her cookies. She and Buck like Sunshines rebellious and mischievous side, mostly because she finds it funny.

Her home and school life:

She is very curious and tends to get in to things so her adopted moms and brother have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't accidentally mess up a potion or something. She likes it when all of her friends come over and they can all play and go on fun trips. She is a bit shy whenever Ludwig comes to visit but she likes listening to him play music and tell stories and she is getting used to him. She occasionally steals Buck's old/original hat (which is comedically big on her) which he finds hilarious since it droops over her eyes. She (understandably) has lower grades than everyone else but due to her situation prior to her discovery, she has been given a pass until she can actually catch up, and Belladonna has been tutoring her whenever her great uncle visits the castle and she comes with. While she was still getting used to being around other people she would occasionally take off to her hideout but eventually she showed the others where it is and while she did leave some things there in case of an emergency she took most of her stuff to her new home. Her hideout is actually somewhat reminiscent of a hobbit hole; sturdy, dry and a decent temperature but she had a pile of dry leaves, hay and anything made of fabric she could scavenge from town as a bed. She keeps the bat dummy in her coffin next to the teddy bat she got at the mall and her waist scarf which she has had as long as she can remember.

Her personality and behaviors:

She is very sweet but she is still pretty shy and almost definitely still a bit feral (much like buck who is still a bit of a stray). She is definitely a bit more cautious while out in the town than she is in the forest but then again she knows where all the danger is in the forest. Due to her still being a bit feral she doesn't usually eat around others, the most she will do is grab her plate and eat in the corner and she doesn't let anyone touch her food once she has it but she is getting a bit better at being less food-territorial. She also tends to keep anything of relative value she finds on the ground while she is in town so she has a few small collections of things that people lost or left behind, Buck occasionally helps with this since they share a room and they keep their horde in their closet. She does not like storms so whenever theres a bad one she will either hide in the corner the farthest away from all the windows and any doors that lead outside or go curl up with either of her adopted moms or if that fails her adopted brother, if all else fails she will go curl up the dragon. She is very curious so she is always asking questions which occasionally do not have answers. Only Lenny and Buck know this but she can unhinge her jaw like a snake, Buck thinks its cool, Lenny finds it mildly intimidating. She has a habit that pretty much everyone has noticed, whenever she is concerned about something where ever she is she will start doing the thing that rabbits do when they are trying to warn eachother of oncoming danger (basically thumping her foot on the ground repeatedly at high speeds) do call attention to it, which she picked up from observing the rabbits in the forest along with learning to run and jump like them on all fours incase she gets knocked to the ground. When it comes to blood she tends to either go after larger animals in the woods or follow her "adopted mom's" lead, she never bothers the rabbits because they taught her a lot of what she used to survive and earned her respect and protection.

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djinmer4 · 6 years

Text

Witness Protection (Amalgam!verse)

Takes place about a month after ‘Beware the Creeper.’

The doorbell to the Wayne Manor rang, but Logan happened to be in the middle of unmolding his new casein bullets, so he yelled for Alfred to answer the door. “Bruce said he’s going to drop by to discuss Creed’s and Colombina’s incarceration, so that’s probably him.”

Alfred gave a brief bow and left. After a few minutes he returned. “I regret to inform you that it was not young master Bruce at the door.” Logan looked up. Beside Alfred was the TV investigator, Kurt Ryder- with a laundry basket. “How many times do I have to tell you, we are not a laundromat.” Which of course Alfred promptly put paid to by indeed taking the basket and leaving the two Gothamites to talk by themselves. “Nor are we a fast food joint, since I’m pretty sure that you intend to mooch off us again.”

“Hey, I was going to do my laundry after my visit here, not my fault Alfred spotted it in the back seat and offered. I just felt I should at least carry it all the way down here. He is getting old, after all.”

“But you still expect to be fed?”

“Well . . . “ The taller man meandered in looking over various trophies that Dark Claw had collected from his opponents. “At least I have more than one reason to come by. A little bird told me that the head of SHIELD was coming by to discuss our most recent venture. I thought I’d come by and assist.”

Logan rolled his eyes, but Kurt did have a point. Bruce probably had a few questions about the recent capture of the Hyena, and this way Logan wouldn’t have to chase down the busy investigator to get his former ward his answers. Wouldn’t prevent him from ragging on the other though. “Sure, and has nothing to do with your non-existent cooking abilities or blatant crushing on Colombina now would it?”

“Between the show, the investigations, and vigilantism I don’t have time to cook anymore. I wish Anne-Marie would move back in.” Kurt sulked.

“No one wants an overprotective big brother around when they’re trying to get some free time with their significant other.”

“I wasn’t overprotective!”

“Okay, no one wants teasing, pranking big brother around when-”

“I get the point. And I’m not crushing on Colombina, I was simply being friendly.”

“Sure, is that what you called it with Kokoro?”

They could probably have gone on for hours, but Alfred was back again. “Young Master Bruce has arrived.” The younger man wandered into the room, taking the same roving path the reporter had done before. “Logan nice to see you again. Ryder, same.” He got down to business quickly. “Logan, I need to ask you a favor for the prisoner, Colombina.”

“Eh?” One arched eyebrow. “Shoot.”

“I need you to take her and keep her under house arrest for a while. Maybe even up to a year or two, although I’ll try to make it shorter.”

The two older men stared at him. This was not what they had expected. “I assume there’s a reason for this.”

“Yeah, when we put her vitals through the database, she came up as Kitty Pryde, missing child of twelve reported five years ago. Her dad’s listed as deceased, apparently a botched mugging a year after she disappeared. Mom’s also MIA, no contact information at all. They had divorced after her kidnapping, and her dad was the one who kept in contact with the police.”

“That doesn’t explain why you want her under house arrest. I mean yeah, that’s not great for her, but that’s what juvenile prison is for, right?” Logan felt a brief flash of regret when he saw Kurt wince. The reporter had a soft spot for orphans, being one himself. But that didn’t mean Logan had to take in every under age criminal he found.

“The problem is she came up twice in the database. Her DNA is listed under Department K, as Weapon-XXIV.”

“Oh shit.” Logan didn’t need the other to start putting the pieces together. Bruce didn’t want her under house arrest as an act of clemency. He needed to keep her alive to act as a witness against Department K.

After Sgt. Rock had bit the bullet saving the young Bruce from his own recklessness chasing the Green Skull, it had been a wake-up call to the SHIELD agent. Although still hot-headed, he had forced himself to slow down, and started taking better care of his teammates. Even Nick Fury had been impressed, saying that the man had eventually earned the promotion that he had initially bought. Eventually when the time came for Fury to retire, he had handed the reins over to Bruce Wayne. Logan occasionally went to see the ancient man and as far as he knew, Nick had never regretted his choice of successor.

Of course, being the new head of SHIELD meant that Bruce Wayne could no longer devote all his time to chasing the Green Skull. One of the many distractions that had popped up was Department K, the joint US-Canada program that attempted to create human weapons. Logan Wayne himself was a former product of the program, along with the Hyena. Both had been part of Weapon-X, but while Logan had come through with his sense of decency and morality intact, the same could not have been said for Creed H. Quinn. The fact that they escaped and both ended up in New Gotham really said everything Logan needed to know about both Fate and Chance.

SHIELD had been trying to shut down Department K since Nick Fury’s time. Now that Bruce had his hands on another eye witness . . . “You don’t trust anyone else with this, do you?”

The younger man shook his head then blue eyes met brown. “I had her pulled from the general population and put into SHIELD’s cells as soon as I found out, but you know how inter-department rivalry works. Sooner or later they’ll slip someone past our hiring screens or activate a sleeper agent, and POOF! goes all our evidence. Moving her here has several advantages. First, I know that none of you are sleepers for Department K. Second, you’re pretty high profile. I want as many eyes on her as I can. Third, I can also depend on you to be able to keep her under arrest. You and Sparrow have the necessary equipment and skills to keep her from escaping if it comes to that. And finally, I think living with you, Alfred and Jubilation will be good for her. She can see that despite what happened she can still have a worthwhile life.”

“For a second there, I thought you were going to say something about a normal life.” interrupted the TV celebrity.

“I don’t think anyone in this room can claim to have a normal life, Mr. Ex-Olympic Athlete. And the only reason I didn’t throw you out is because I want you to use your influence to keep the spotlight on her as much as possible until I’ve dismantled Department K. Worst case scenario, if they get her, but we make it into a big enough mess I’ll get orders from above to limit the damage. It won’t be the clean, official sweep I want, but anything’s better than nothing.”

Kurt flashed the man a lopsided salute. “Orders received, mein herr.”

Logan gave his friend an exasperated look. “It’s still my decision.” He remained silent for a moment. “I’ll need to run it past Alfred and Jubilation, but if they both agree, then yeah, we’ll take her. She’ll be here as a foster though, would look kind of suspicious if we treat her as a prisoner.”

“I’m issuing a blanket pardon in return for her testimony against Department K so that’s fine.” The younger man tilted his head. “Just a thought, but she is familiar with New Gotham’s underground. Perhaps you and Sparrow could use her in your operations.” He turned to the other crime-fighter. “Or maybe Nightcreeper could use a partner?”

“We’ll see.”

#kurt ryder #logan wayne #bruce wayne #amalgam!verse #no kitty in this one

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imagine-loki · 7 years

Text

Mr. Laufeyson's Ward

TITLE: Mr. Laufeyson’s Ward

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 9

AUTHOR: goddessofmischief

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you are living in the late 1800’s and your parents pass away due to a tragic accident. Leaving you an orphan, you are sent to a miserable orphanage. Then, a mysterious and harsh man named Loki visits the orphanage and takes you on as his ward. He brings you to his crumbling mansion in the English countryside, where you face his cruel intentions, and eventually discover that you care for him much more than you’d like to admit.

RATING: T

NOTES: This is another short chapter, but I promise the upcoming one’s will be much longer! Hope you enjoy, and please comment, like & share. I always love to hear your opinions ♥︎

“I was certain that you would have went back to bed.” stated my master once I met up with him at the stables. He held the reins of his horse Dorian, who was directly at his side, ready to be mounted. I looked up at him through the veil of black netting that partially covered my face. “It was indeed what I desired, but I thought it’d be best to concur with your wishes, master.” I teased, with an overemphasized bow. He chuckled. “You will not regret coming with me, I promise you. Now, up you get.” He gestured towards Dorian.

“But sir, he is your horse. Shouldn’t we saddle up Xavier or Arabella for me to ride?” “I wish for you to ride Dorian. Xavier is just inside. I will get him for myself once you are settled on the saddle.” I nodded, and, with my master’s assistance, hoisted myself up into a sidesaddle position on Dorian. Mr. Laufeyson handed me the reins and I tried to get comfortable, even though I was slightly nervous of the task that lied before me. Dorian was a very big horse in comparison to Arabella and even Xavier. But then, something caused me to abandon my tribulations: my master suddenly jumped onto Dorian to seat himself right behind me. I squealed. “What are you doing, sir?!” “I don’t want you riding by yourself just yet. I don’t need you getting hurt.” He then settled his strong arms at the the sides of my waist in order to place his hands over mine on the reins. He also slid his body so that he was exactly against my back. I was glad that he couldn’t see the way in which my eyes widened and how flushed my countenance probably appeared. He probably had noticed how quickened my breath had become, but he did not remark on it. “You lied to me! You never did saddle up Xavier, did you?” I exclaimed. He laughed softly. “Well, my Victoria, you must learn not to fall so quickly for my tricks in the future.” He then clicked his tongue and Dorian was on his way.

“Where are we going, sir?” I said loudly so that he could hear me over Dorian’s trots. “To an empty meadow.” I gasped as he said this, as I hadn’t fully comprehended how close he was to me. His warm breath tickled my ear gently and caused shivers to run down my spine. “I want you to practice.” The meadow wasn’t very far away from Heathcote, but I could see how it was a suitable place for practicing. It was the only nearby spot of land that was leveled and not disturbed by rugged terrain. Once we arrived there, Mr. Laufeyson didn’t get off the horse as I thought he would. Instead, he moved his hands off of mine and instead fixed them at my waist. “Go on, Victoria.” he whispered into my ear. “Let’s see what you got.”

Without delay, I urged Dorian forward and decided to go on with a basic repertoire: a trot, to a canter, to a gallop. My master remained silent the whole time, our bodies moving together in unison, in response to the horse’s movements, and the now familiar fluttering feeling returning to my insides because of this. I stopped after I finished the gallop, and Mr. Laufeyson slid off of Dorian. “That was pretty good, Victoria.” He complimented me, as he reached into a pouch that was attached to the saddle and took out an apple. He placed it in front of Dorian’s mouth and the horse began to loudly munch on it. “You sound surprised, sir. Did you doubt my competency?” I remarked. “Yes, and I still do. You must try to impress me further by riding on your own.”

I was not made nervous by Mr. Laufeyson’s challenge, and patiently waited until Dorian finished the apple to proceed. Beginning at a steady walk, I once again set out to complete the routine as before, occasionally looking in the direction of my master. His arms were folded firmly around his chest the whole time, and the cold look on his face did not diminish one bit. “Victoria, get over here.” He finally said once I was done. I obediently did as I was told and walked Dorian over to him. “What is it, sir? Did my riding displease you?” I asked, as I looked down upon him from my elevated height. “Yes. You’re bouncing around way to much. You must correct your posture. I know it must be difficult for you, as you are a delicate girl after all.” He dauntingly declared with a sinister smile, knowing full well the reaction that his words would bring on.

A deep rage permeated my once composed nature. “A delicate girl?! What’s that supposed to mean?!” I yelled in absolute abhorrence. “It simply implies that you are not strong enough to uphold a steady position.” He once again crossed his arms, but this time it was entirely done with a lofty air, rather than out of vain disapproval. “Oh, really?” I challenged him with a scoff. And without another word, I called Dorian forward once again - instantly going into a canter and then eventually a full on gallop. In focusing on my stomach muscles, and on keeping my back properly aligned, I found that it was more easier to move with the horse. I came back to Mr. Laufeyson after completing a few laps and he had no further critiques to say to me. Instead, he instructed me to move up more on the horse and hopped up behind me again. His large hands again held my waist as he told me where to direct Dorian to: a nearby path that would serve as a shortcut back to Heathcote. We slowly headed back home.

“I hope you don’t actually think that I am a delicate girl.” I murmured to my master, as we entered onto a beautiful pathway that was encompassed with trees budding with flowers of the purest white. “That was purely a form of motivation, Victoria.” He paused, and I soon discovered that he had been ruminating further on my nature, and the significance of the word he had chosen. “Yet, perhaps you are delicate in a way.” I swung my arm around to implement a forceful whack to his side. He sharply drew in his breath in response. “Just listen to me. What I meant is delicate in an graceful and dignified way, rather than being weak or fragile.” He then let out a chuckle. “And you have just exhibited to me that you are in fact rather strong.” I felt his hand momentarily leave my waist, perhaps to assuage the place in which I struck him. “Oh, I see.” I mumbled, embarrassed by my fit of rage. “I apologize for injuring you, sir.” He laughed again. “It’s alright. Anyway, I believe that it is long overdue, on account of some of my past transgressions.’

When we returned to the stables, I asked Mr. Laufeyson if we could take a walk together. It was still too early for breakfast, and I had no intention of venturing back inside just yet. It truly was a beautiful, early spring morning. Birds chirped happily in their nests, a calm wind rustled through the high grass, and the sun brilliantly illuminated the moors, which were strewn here and there with the light purple heather. In the distance, on a neighboring property, I saw a flock of sheep grazing the fields.

Mr. Laufeyson stood directly at my side, and I so desired to ask him something. Something that had been bothering me ever since I heard those townspeople in the bookshop. Something concerning my father.

But before I could ask any questions, my guardian said a statement that startled me profoundly. “You make me nervous.” “I make you nervous?” I asked with incredulity. Surely this wasn’t true? “Yes. You are far too intelligent for your age.” He sighed deeply. “And I often feel as though it is very hard to impress you.” I remained quiet for a moment, but as I noted that he was anxiously awaiting my answer, I responded promptly. “You have made that known to me quite a few times already, sir.” I stood right in front of him, and the significant height difference between us did not diminish the closeness that I felt to him in that moment. “And in regards to being impressed, you continue to impress me everyday. I very much enjoy the conversations that we share. I have never been able to uphold such conversations with anyone else before.” My words brightened his features tremendously. “I feel just the same in regards to you.” He disclosed softly.

I smiled faintly before I turned away and began to walk on my own, thinking of how I could approach him in regards to the question that had been bothering me for days. His long legs caught up with me quickly and he resumed the spot besides me. “Is something the matter, my dar-?” He caught himself, bit his lip, and suddenly ceased to speak. I looked up to him, utterly perplexed. His what? His darling? Was that what he was just going to say?

“Forgive me.” He murmured, and looked away. I assumed that he had momentarily got confused with who he was spoking to, and had perhaps thought I was Lavinia. Brushing off the mistake he had made, which I deemed unintentional, I spoke up and regained his attention.“It’s just that something has been bothering me. Something that I had overheard.” “From one of those people in the bookshop, I reckon? As I had said previously, I can find out who said those things about you, even though it was probably that rogue of a man, Mr. Lawrence.” He asserted with rage, his nostrils flaring with anger. “No, there is no need interrogate anyone. I-I just want to hear the truth. From you.” “The truth? About what?” He implored. “About my father.” He considered what I said, and his shoulders slumped slightly in anguish. It seemed as though the mention of my father affected him deeply, and I was curious why this would be so. I urged him to speak more with a forlorn entreaty: “Please, Mr. Laufeyson.” My words of desperation were all he needed.

He inhaled deeply before he began. “I think I made it known to you that I was acquainted with your father through matters of business, but I had not reached out to your father. Your father had reached out to me.” He gestured towards a nearby boulder for me to sit on, and he sat next to me: our shoulders touching one another. Today’s events had proved that all barriers of physical contact between us had been greatly reduced.

He went on speaking rather tentatively to me. “You’re father had been going through a rough time, monetarily wise, you see. And as he hailed from Yorkshire, he came into contact with me to help him find a new residency. He could no longer afford to provide for you and your mother in London, and, as he was well acquainted with farming from his own father, he hoped to build a new and peaceful life in doing just that. He no longer wanted to be a part of London high society. Your mother, however, was against moving to the countryside and accepting this change of lifestyle, but despite your mother’s aversion, your father was firm in his aims.“

I remained quiet, for this information was alarming to my ears. Although I had always taken notice of my father’s northern accent, I had never been told exactly where my father had grown up - nor had I been informed of my about my family’s altered economic condition. It was not like I minded my change of fortune, for I was never fond of all of the extravagances that my mother indulged in. However, I was rather worried because I no longer had as much money to my name as I had thought. This was daunting, for even though I had a guardian, I still wished for some way to provide for myself in the future. I didn’t want to live off of my master’s expenses for the rest of my life, especially because he would also have to take care of Lavinia, who he was going to wed in the near future. I would not have him buy me anymore extravagant purchases, nor allow him to spend any more of his money on me.

He went on: “Your father made plans for you all to move to Yorkshire at the beginning of July, and your father and I grew very close during his constant trips to Yorkshire, where he would check up on the house you were to live in.” In the months prior to the train accident, I had noticed that my father was always taking trips, but I had always thought they were for his job, not to find a new home for his family.

“One day, your father brought up the question of guardianship, just out of caution if anything were to happen to him or your mother. He stressed the fact that he was worried about you and that there would be no one else to take care of you if any unfortunate event were to befall on him and your mother. He considered me an honorable and trustworthy man, and asked if I would be so gracious to accept such a position.” He placed his hand on mine, which feebly lied on my lap. “He loved you, Victoria. Both your parents did. No matter how much they disregarded you in the past, you must understand that they were ultimately concerned about your wellbeing. And you must see that my upmost priority is upholding the promise I made to your father, and to make sure that you are properly taken care of.”

Tears welled at my eyes and, as I didn’t want him to observe how upset I was, I got up and briskly ran away from him, paying no attention to how my hat fell from my head and tumbled onto the soft, mossy earth. But, as always, I didn’t venture far until he caught up to me. He gently encompassed my arm with his hand and slowly spun me around to pull my body towards his. Without hesitation, my arms wrapped around him and I placed my weary head on his chest. I was a child in the sense that I wanted, no needed, someone to comfort me. And he did just that: he held me close as one of his hands softly ran down my back, and the other caressed my hair; his firm body soothingly melding with mine in a tender embrace. His next words made me believe that his actions did not only serve to console myself, but him as well. “Don’t run away from me again, Victoria.” He whispered, his hold growing ever more securely around me. “I won’t, sir.” I said, biting back my tears. “I won’t.”

#Loki #Lover #Angst #Submitted fic #submission #goddessofmischief #chapter 9 #mr. laufeysons ward #1800 #parents #tragic accident #orphan #mysterious #harsh #ward #mansion #countryside #cruel intentions #care

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