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amatchinwater · 2 years

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Hey there, can you write an Eddie Munson x gn!reader where the reader is into witchcraft and has spiritual beliefs? They might be collect gemstones or read tarot and i would like to see how Eddie would react this

Hello, lovely, thank you for the request! I sure can! I personally think he'd go crazy, but in the babbling excited kind of way.

Will I Graduate? | Eddie Munson x gn!witch reader

Summary: Jason sees your pentagram ring and accuses you of being a Satanist. Eddie steps in and protects you from his wrath. After declining his offer to sit with him at the Hellfire table, he goes with you in the woods outside of school where you explain to him that you're actually a witch and not a Satanist. Eddie asks you to do a tarot read for him with absolute heart eyes.

Warnings: Jason (I really feel like he should be a warning lol), witchcraft, tarot readings, crystals, (I don't see them as warnings, but hey everyone is different), nervous reader

Words: 2118

a/n: I, like the reader, haven't done tarot in a very long time. This is by no means a guide book or probably one hundred percent accurate considering I had to do research because my memory was failing me. I checked with my actual guide to tarot book to make sure I didn't mess anything up, but I'm not perfect. I hope you like it my love and thank you so much for the request!

Requests are open! Master list

Not my gif!! Credit to creator!!

At this point, it really shouldn’t be surprising to you that Jason has it out for you. Between the fact that you always come to school wearing all black and the fact that you try your best to keep your head down, it was a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. The whole point of keeping your head down, and talking to literally no one, was so that this wouldn’t happen. But Jason “I’m the king of assholes” Carver, never really gives a fuck about what people want. Even more so when what you want is solitude.

Having friends wouldn’t be a bad thing, in fact you’d actually like to have someone to talk to. But there’s just never really been anyone in school that hasn’t looked at you like you’re some kind of freak. You’ve only been at Hawkins High for about four months now. So still being the new kid definitely hasn’t worked in your favor either. Today just seems to be the day that shit wants to hit the fan.

“What’s that?” Jason sneers, yanking your hand curling into the strap of your bag. You try to yank it away, but his grip is tight and firm, your finger going numb under the pressure. “You a satanist freak, too?” The jock pinches the finger adorned by your pentagram ring.

Fighting away the eye roll, knowing that will only make matters worse, you keep your voice small. You really don’t want to piss him off further, “no, Jason, that’s not-”

“A freak like you doesn’t get to say my fucking name,” he spits, grip only tightening, your jerking movements making it worse. “Are you fucking stupid?”

You grunt, trying to get him to release you, the tip of your finger turning purple, “let me go.”

“Just tell-”

“You heard ‘em, Carver,” a voice booms behind you. “Let them go,” the calm, powerful tone is one you’ve heard quite often in the cafeteria. “I’d really like to not tell you again, man,” Eddie warns.

With one last sneer, angry blue eyes narrow at you, “fine, touching them will probably give them a chance to sacrifice me or something,” dropping your hand harshly. The moment you’re released, Eddie’s arm curls around your shoulder, protectively curling you to him. “Fucking freaks,” Jason takes one last jab before storming away.

“You alright?” Eddie asks, leading you towards the Hellfire table and you freeze.

“Y-yeah,” you look at the group of boys, nerves souring your stomach. You appreciate Eddie helping you out, but you’re not ready to be the center of attention in a friend group you’ve never properly met before. Honestly, you hadn’t even wanted to be in the cafeteria, but your growling stomach got the better of you on your way to the woods behind the school. “Listen,” you start, fumbling with the wrapped sandwich in your hand, “thank you for helping me with Jason.” You step out of his grip and he lets you, smile only widening.

“Us freaks gotta stick together, right?” He winks at you, trying to lighten the mood and then tension in your shoulders. You manage a small laugh at his antics. “I promise, we won’t hound you or anything like that. But if you want to sit with us, you’re more than welcome to.”

“Thanks, but I was actually heading out to the woods for lunch,” you sheepishly smile, tucking your head to your chin.

“You really shouldn’t go out there by yourself,” Eddie’s voice sounds so full of concern that your heart swells. “We just want to be your friend.”

“I-” you stop yourself, not really sure where you were going with that. Then the words spill out of your mouth unfiltered, “you can come with me if you want to. Protect me from all the squirrels and bunnies,” you tease, keeping it lighthearted. Having company might actually be really nice.

“Okay,” he beams at you, “let me grab my stuff.” Eddie rushes over to the table, relaying a quick message to the boys before grabbing his metal lunchbox. Bounding back over, his smile hasn’t gone away, “ready.”

—

“Not that it’s any of my business,” Eddie asks, watching you twirl the pentagram around your middle finger. “But are you a satanist? I don’t judge, just curious.” Curious enough that neither of you cared that the bell for lunch’s end rang well over an hour ago. The two of you started talking and simply couldn’t stop. You feel like you’ve learned all there is to know about him and really hope that you get to call him a friend after today.

You like your solitude, but there’s something about Eddie being effortlessly kind that’s drawing you in.

You laugh softly at the question, not even a little surprised by it. “No, I’m not. People see a pentagram and are quick to assume that devil worship is the only religion that it could be associated with. I don’t work with him and have no intentions of doing so.” Your plan was to come out here and look for more crystals. Last week you were walking aimlessly and found a small chunk of smoky quartz. You were so shocked, you’d hoped you’d be able to find more if you came back. “I’m a witch. Or Wiccan if that makes you less uncomfortable.”

Eddie’s eyes light up, “so can you like, cast spells and shit? Like, the whole nine? Or what? Sorry,” his eyes widen, expression twisting with guilt, “that was super insensitive. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be. I’m just excited. I’ve never met a witch before. And playing DnD I’m more than a little familiar with wizards. I just want to know more about you. I’m sorry.”

Giggling at his struggle, you bite away a wide grin. “It’s okay, Eddie,” you assure him. “I haven’t done much in the way of spells aside from some protection on my house and my person. Well, I do know of a type of spell that will basically see if someone wishes you ill will and how to return it back to sender. But I also charge my crystals under the full moon to help balance them and myself. And I read tarot- kind of, it’s been a while and I’m a little rusty.”

“No fucking way,” if at all possible, it looks like Eddie’s eyes are about ready to pop out of his head more than before. “Is- is it rude to ask you to do one for me?”

“A tarot reading?” You ask, chest tightening with anxious energy. You always keep a deck on you, but it’s been a long time since you’ve done one. You’re not even sure if you remember the meanings of all of the cards, it’s been that long since you practiced. But Eddie’s eyes are sparkling with excitement and sincerity, giddy as he practically bounces in his seat on the picnic bench. “O-okay. Yeah,” you clear your throat, “yeah, I can do that.”

“Hell yeah,” his lips curl at the edges as you dig into your bag, trying to find the small pouch that contains your deck and the crystals you use to help you.

Finding the felt fabric, you pull the purple bag with gold ties out. “Seriously, it’s been a really long time since I’ve practiced,” you warn him. “I don’t remember a whole lot aside from the basics. So, please, don’t make fun of me if I have to do this by the book.”

Eddie only shrugs, “when I first started as a Dungeon Master, I went by the book too. It takes time to learn everything and be able to do things on your own. I won’t laugh at you. Promise,” he places his hand over his heart as he vows to you.

Pulling the strings, you pull out the deck of cards that’s styled to look like Lord of the Rings, your crystals tumbling out onto the tabletop.

“As if you couldn’t get more fascinating,” Eddie coos. Your eyebrows pinch in confusion. Pointing at your deck, “Tolkien is a personal favorite of mine,” he explains, “didn’t know tarot cards could look like that.”

“Maybe I’ll take you to the shop just out of town that I go to,” you hide your smile in your focus of arranging your crystals in a small circle on the table. “There’s a lot of things there that you might actually enjoy.”

“I’d like that,” Eddie responds and you don’t see the fond expression on his face when he does. “Whoa,” ring clad hand pointing at one, “that one looks really cool,” he says in regards to your tiger’s eye. “What is it?”

“That's a tiger's eye,” you lift it, letting the light catch and flash golden hues in the brown, “see how it kind of looks like the eye of a cat when the light hits it just right? It’s kind of like my crystal, I use it with everything,” you reach into your shirt, pulling you the small black cord holding a tumbled stone. “It’s great for protection, empowerment, and deflecting fearful thoughts.”

“And the others?” He asks, looking at the rest placed around the table.

“That’s jasper,” you point to the red and brown crystal, “it helps to keep someone grounded.” Going around you point at, “pyrite, think of it like a shield. Sodalite,” you continue, “helps decipher messages and focus during meditation; great when trying to read tarot. And finally, crystal quartz,” you point to the biggest crystal you own, it’s a mini tower. “This guy not only can purify and charge other crystals, it works as an amplifier. Spells, intention, whatever you’re trying to accomplish, really.”

Eddie’s resting his chin in the palm of his hand, mouth open in wonder.

“That’s how I understand it at least,” you shrug, not wanting to misinform or anything like that. “Your own research will help too. Not that you have to. Okay,” you sigh, taking a deep breath to try and center yourself. “I’m just gonna keep it simple,” you say, shuffling the deck. “Think of a question and we’ll see if the cards are willing to talk. Okay?”

“Am I finally going to graduate this year?” Eddie asks without missing a beat.

Closing your eyes, you continue to shuffle the deck. One card throws itself out, but you keep going, feeling like it’s not quite done yet. Sure enough, two more cards get sfly out, clattering to the table. When you open your eyes, you see the Ace of Pentacles staring up at you. You can't even contain your smile, "that's a really good sign," you tell him. "The Ace of Pentacles is a sign of good luck, that if you go for something, chances of success are high. Wanna look at the rest?" You ask, pointing at the two that fell face down.

"Fuck it," he grins, "let's see them."

Flipping one over you find the Two of Cups and your cheeks burn. Typically meaning the romantic joining of two people. You don't know if you and Eddie are there yet, you've only just spoken today. Wracking your brain, you remember the other potential meaning, "this signifies a close bond with another person; romantic or otherwise. In regards to your question, maybe the cards are saying you need help in achieving your goal."

"Someone to help me study?" Eddie muses.

"Maybe," you tell him, "this isn't an exact science. Especially when I'm no expert."

“We’ll see about that,” Eddie smiles, flipping over the last card. You’d be angry about someone else touching your deck, but considering this read is technically for him, you don’t mind his energy being transferred into them. “Uh, so wands…is that a king? A Knight?”

Inspecting the card and seeing no lavish crown on the man’s head, “that’s the Knight of Wands,” you inform him. “He shows great signs of determination and willpower. If you want it badly enough, you have the means to do so. Unless they’re teasing or playing tricks, I’d say your odds of graduating this year are really well. Eddie.” You smile at him as you collect your items back into your small pouch.

Just as you both stand up from the table, the final bell of the day rings. “Wanna hang out at my place? You can show me that anti ill will spell.” Eddie asks, throwing his arm around your shoulder again, “see if Jason is more of a dick than he seems? Maybe you’re also the study buddy that I so desperately need. You any good at math?”

“Very good, actually. I’d like that,” you agree, wrapping your arm around his back as he leads you out of the woods, “do you have an egg?”

---

Eddie tag list: let me know if you'd like to be added

@only4wakingup @decadentpaperduck @ruinedbythehobbit @wolfhrdds @live-the-fangirl-life @imnotsiriusyouare

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x gn!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #stranger things 4 #stranger things #Match Writes

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maneki-mushi · 9 months

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Saint Ceri: July devlog + small update

Read it on itch.io | Try the demo

Hi everyone! I've done a lot this month!

First, I've published an updated demo! It has no new content, but it adds blinking animations and makes small fixes to the art assets. It also adds all the variables the final game will have, so hopefully that'll make transitioning from a demo save to the full game less prone to errors and crashing.

I've also finished and published the trailer for Saint Ceri! I hope it properly conveys what kind of game SC is.

I've finished scripting all of the pre-ending content, which I'm really happy about! I've done a few rounds of testing, though I haven't yet tested every single branch. That'll be very tedious and hard to keep track of so I'll have to do it over a long period of time :')

I've also started writing the endings, though pretty slowly; I've only added about 4k words this month. I've written some general epilogues about unromanced characters and the church, and I'm now starting to write the actual proper endings and have finished the platonic one. It's adding a bunch of new art assets to my list (a casual outfit for poor Kyros who'll finally get some time to relax, some new locations).

I've also figured out how to code in achievements for steam, which is a relief! I was a bit worried about that. There'll be quite a few, and they should help players find the various endings (though I do intend to make a guide, too).

Finally, I took part in o2a2 again!

UNDYING: REJECT is pretty different from my previous projects. I'm actually planning to make more games in this setting after Saint Ceri is complete, so I'm really happy that comments have been positive so far! The first one I'm planning will centre around Silas, the character you meet in REJECT. It'll be shorter than Saint Ceri and darker (it'll specifically have yandere things going on, which I know isn't everyone's cup of tea but I really want to try!), but like all of my games it will be mature and have moral quandaries, so I hope you'll find it intriguing! I'll share more about the project when I have visuals to show. That's it for this month! Next month I'll do more writing, some design work for achievement icons, and hopefully start working on some of the new art assets needed in the endings.

Thanks as always for reading!

#indie otome #visual novel #otome dev #vn development #english visual novel #otome #saint ceri #vndev

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artificer-dice · 1 year

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Hello! It's been a bit since I've posted here, but I feel like that's mainly because I've been working on development a lot and haven't taken a moment to share how that's been going!

Liquid core sets are almost here!

It's a bit of a long post, so I added a cut.

You read that right! The liquid core sets are almost ready to launch! This is true for both the shaped and round shell types!

(All of the dice shown are in various states of being finished which is why they don't have painted numbers and may have some matte faces or mold marks)

Here we have some examples of both shell types! The matching red d6 and d20 are the shaped variety, and the rest are the round type. Some examples of how they look in a set...

Shaped, with a simple mica swirl and an inky black outer shell

And round, featuring teal sand and gold foil!

(These are both missing a percentile because I had to make a second d10 shell mold for both and I got impatient and wanted to test them first)

Now you may see the d4s and think they look kinda funny. They do, which is why they're off to the printer for round 3 of prototypes sometime this week. It's a bit hard to tell for the darker set, but the shell is still *just* too small so that has been adjusted. Also the tiny orb in the center of the rounded version ends up slightly off center for the same reason, and the orb itself should turn out to be about 50% larger so it's not so.. awkward. The new size should hopefully fit better and also be easier to fill. The current ones are stubborn.

Also, while those are getting reprinted, a new d4 shape (a crystal shard - I've teased it here before) is also being printed, as well as its accompanying shells and blank!

The shells have improved a lot from the first attempt, which ended up oddly textured and kinda blurred on the inside. They were also awkwardly thick in the first run. The following two dice were made in the same mold, with the silver one actually being made first. The outside surface is the same, but the inside is definitely not.

V1 (gold) vs V2 (red) - it looks so much better! I also managed to keep sharper edges in the second round as well

That's a nice notebook

The new shells aren't perfectly smooth on the inside (and definitely not on the outside, but that gets coated in more resin so that texture disappears). The newer ones have the finish that reminds me of how the glass in stained glass tends to look, which is a neat effect.

Since the shells are made of resin, I can make them any color or effect I want! The seams on these are fairly obvious at this stage, but they've been sealed with epoxy resin as opposed to UV resin, which so far has proven to hide the seams better in the end. I'm still practicing that part with the resin, but I made some silicone guides to help make sure they're aligned properly.

I can also insert things like glitters or clay fruit slices in the shells!

So these are nearing the end of the development stage and I'm tentatively preparing for them to be launched in February, which is wild to me because it would be almost exactly 2 years after I first started making sets, which were nowhere near as nice as they've become now.

So if you've been here from the beginning or if you recently joined to follow along, I'm happy to have you here and I hope to be able to share more progress soon as well as maybe some new projects coming along!

-MJ

#artificer dice #liquid core dice #handmade dice #mjs shop talk #polyhedral dice #long post #undescribed #sorry but there's a lot and I'm not the best at describing things #i have more examples of prototypes i can share in the next few days but the things I'm making take a minimum of 3 days for casting alone #i did a few as commissions but i figured generic versions of the same concept might be better examples than the obscure references #plus the design i did may be cute as pride dice 👀#admittedly i did make a rainbow for the first attempt #so that works

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mbti-notes · 2 years

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As an INFJ mental health provider, I have a feeling that I could be communicating in a way that might better meet my sensor clients. My intuitive clients seem to really feel supported by me, but some of my sensor clients seem confused or maybe put in a position of insecurity by my communication style. How can I do better and improve?

This topic is covered in the articles about Emotional Triggers and Caring for Emotional Needs, please read them. Your question is quite basic and it's difficult for me to respond when I don't know how much you know. If you want to be able to apply knowledge about type appropriately, you first need to have good knowledge of all the types, so read the study guides if you haven't yet.

For example: There are 8 kinds of Sensors, are you familiar with all of them and their unique characteristics? Do you understand what Sensing is, what being a Sensor means, and how it differs from being an Intuitive? Do you understand the two different Sensing functions and how they differ from each other? Do you understand how being Ni dominant influences your relationships with SPs versus SJs?

When trying to help, it's only natural that people begin with strategies that have worked or would presumably work for themselves. However, as you've seen, the strategies do not always transfer well to others if their way of perceiving and judging is very different. When your higher functions are someone else's lower functions, using your natural approach will only serve to trigger their lower function problems and insecurities.

For instance, INFJs are very future-oriented because of dominant Ni. Advising Se doms with inferior Ni to be future-oriented may backfire because they have no idea how to do it the way you do it. What's worse, they will likely feel bad for it and then have to manage that negativity, on top of whatever problem you're helping them with.

Ni has a tendency to mistake belief for fact, so it's important to ensure that you give people the help they actually need rather than the help you believe they should need. Communicating about needs is vital. Identify how they perceive/judge the situation (through their functions) and address the problem from their perspective, in ways that align with their aims and goals.

What is the state of your Fe development? Fe health and maturity is vital for INFJs to be effective helpers, carers, or providers. Fe grants you a much greater capacity to empathize and grasp what others are feeling. Also, the more mature auxiliary Fe is, the greater dominant Ni's capacity for accurately visualizing someone's perspective as a whole, even when it's very different from your own. This is the main strength of INFJs and developing it should be an ongoing project.

General rules of thumb for dealing with your opposites:

Sensors prefer help that is concise, concrete, and firmly grounded in reality. (Do you understand what "concrete" and "grounded" really entail, considering that Se is your inferior function?) Ss don't have as much patience for long drawn out explorations of speculative routes to a solution. They need to have complete confidence that an idea can be carried out successfully at the start, which means you should work out all the details or steps properly before presenting an idea to them. You need to properly account for all of the practical difficulties they are facing, or else they will feel as though you don't understand them.

Thinkers prefer help in the form of factual explanations (of the problem), straightforward logical connections, actionable advice, and reasonably quick tangible results. Their feelings and emotions are not as plentiful and near the surface as Fs. They may require more creative approaches for getting in touch with their feelings. They may not require as much time for emotional processing before getting down to brass tacks.

Extraverts prefer help to be action-oriented. Since they face outward more than inward, they have less aptitude for inner reflection. For extraverts such as SPs, prompting them to think too much can actually become self-destructive. While they need to develop their auxiliary introverted function, the process always has to be respectful to their dominant extraverted function, or else they might unwittingly fall into inferior grip and make everything worse.

Perceivers (aka Prospectors) prefer to maintain an attitude of openness, hopefulness, and trust in the world. They might not like to hear things that imply: they only have one option, there is only one way of doing things, or there is only one possible outcome, etc. The help you give them should allow them to feel a sense of agency and flexibility in determining the outcome for themselves.

One of the most common problems when opposites meet is that they tend to be blind to each other's strengths and only see each other's weaknesses, because their functions are on opposite ends of the functional stack. To help them effectively is a matter of seeing and acknowledging their strengths and guiding them to make better use of them. It's difficult because their strengths are your weaknesses and thus likely to unconsciously trigger your lower function insecurities, which is why self-awareness is an important component of helping. You need to know how you are factoring in to the helping relationship and whether you are being objective, fair, and impartial in your evaluations. What you don't want is to inadvertently make people feel as though there's something fundamentally wrong with who they are (because they aren't like you) and then try to change them (to be more like you).

#infj #auxiliary fe #infj relationships #helping #opposites #ask

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funnywormz · 2 years

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If they don't do anything w/ Jacob Hopkins in the remaining episodes we have left (which, ya, seems pretty likely lol) I wonder if his whole character was a remnant of the original plan for a full season 3, like the whole theoretical episodes/arcs that took place in the human realm. And we would had at least one episode mostly or even fully focusing on Belos finding him and...doing whatever manipulative or possession thing he would plan idk. I'm just very curious of not only what was og outline for the show's final season as a whole, but what obstacles the kids and Camilla would had to face during their time stuff in the human realm.

oh this is an interesting take! ive been wondering a bit abt the original plans for season 3 as well, and what might have happened if the owl house crew had had another season, or even a couple more seasons, to flesh out what was going to happen. to me it feels like the kind of show that should have been really epic and pretty long running, it feels like it's been cut off at the knees a bit......... but at least they have been given enough notice to write a proper conclusion to it, which is something, rather than the cancellation happening with no warning.

i think you're right that jacob would have played a bigger role in season 3 if it had been a full season. i can imagine him being kind of a "joke" antagonist, a bit like he was in season 2, getting used as a way to raise the stakes of plots but without being too much of an actual threat, maybe. im thinking a kind of denzel crocker from the fairly odd parents type of situation lol, where he's obsessed with witch hunting to an extent that seems absolutely ridiculous to anyone else, and is constantly trying and failing to catch the kids in the act of doing something magic related, making himself seem like a fool in the process.

it would have been interesting to get philip introduced to him, and to maybe see him make the change from being a joke villain to a scary villain (albeit just by virtue of being the body philip is possessing lol but still). i think philip would have found jacob intriguing, due to the possible family connection there, and also due to jacob being an example of a modern human still fixated on witch hunting. the kind of conspiracy theory stuff jacob talks about reminds me a lot of the weird shit i read abt witches in king james's demonologie, it's a modern manifestation of the same kind of mindset.

there is the fact that we only see philip possessing dead things and hunter, who is arguably undead due to being a grimwalker... it's possible that possessing living humans isn't something that philip is capable of. however i can imagine philip would have found other possible ways to control/manipulate jacob, or at least guide his reactions. he wouldn't have been able to confront jacob directly due to being stuck in his goop monster form, but he may have been able to find ways to use him indirectly. jacob is kind of pathetic, but i don't doubt that philip would have found some use for him...

just in general it makes me sad thinking about all of the things we missed out on because of the show being cut short. there were so many little moments in "thanks to them" where i was watching and thinking like "wow, this should have been a whole episode in itself"... it would have been interesting to see luz try to reintegrate with human school and society after spending so long away from it.

im also sad that we haven't gotten more wittebane lore, although i don't want to speak too soon on that because there are still 2 episodes left... i know they probably won't be a huge focus, but i hope we at least get to see a properly animated backstory sequence and to see caleb and evelyn, and philip as a young kid too. fingers crossed we get something like that 🤞

#sorry i got a lil off topic there lol #ask #anon ask

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thegirlwholied · 2 years

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I feel like talking about books! but "book I'm currently reading" does not accurately reflect the situation so uh

book I am technically in the middle of but suddenly it's been a couple weeks since I actually opened it: Ruthless Ladies' Guide to Wizardry (it's not that I don't like it! It's that I hit a scene with a dead cat and went "nope not before bed we're not" and the dead cats are in fact a plot point so momentum has not been regained. Also while a standalone I loved Unnatural Magic, the previous book in this world, so much, the different mood of this one has an uphill climb in my heart)

book I've been reading super slowly because it's short stories and I'm savoring each one but I'll also then forget I'm reading it and it'll wind up buried in my to-be-read: Dying with Her Cheer Pants On (I mean to finish this month as tis the spooky season and delaying a read for the right season is also a thing I do)

series reread I started for a new release & petered out on: somehow i still haven't read Rule of Wolves (I was overdue for a complete Grishaverse reread to appreciate it properly but my copy of the 3rd book in the original trilogy is on ye olde nearly-defunct first gen Nook plus I had loaned my copy of Six of Crows at the time, and... oh boy that was April 2021 when the show was first coming out, wasn't it, whoops)

book I thought I finished and then realized at Barnes & Noble honestly can't remember if I did so I better check before I pick up the sequel: The Ex Hex

book I keep meaning to read because 'everyone's read it' but I haven't made it past page 3 yet: Where the Crawdads Sing (haven't seen the movie either because I'm theoretically? going to read the book first)

last book I finished: The Atlas Six (finally got around to it just in time for the sequel to hit soon so will be reading that soon enough)

last book I bought and still haven't started because this is what I let happen when not under a library deadline: Her Majesty's Royal Coven

book I almost just bought because I want to read it immediately but I already have a hold on it at the library and realistically, would I get around to it before that hold omes through: The Golden Enclaves (I will ultimately buy this in paperback as I own the first two, but can I resist until my library hold or will I pull the lever on the e-book purchase for that instant gratification? tbd)

book sequel I almost bought because I own the first one and they'll look pretty together but I should be watching $ this month and also I already have a hold at the library: For the Throne

book that comes out today that I will have to acquire ASAP: Greywaren (I was listening to its playlist already last night but will need to invest some time & likely *emotions* here so may not start it quite as ASAP)

...this is not comprehensive, nor would it be even if I listed the books I've just checked out of the library that may get read before any of the above, but for the sake of assuring myself of my own sanity ahhhhh I think I'm stopping here.

#books #bookblr #to be read #'currently reading'#about me #anyway this seems to be a writing mode week which is a good and lately too-rare thing but when I'm in writing mode very little gets read SO #(even on AO3 which is a whole other reading world)#my currently-watching tv list runs similarly all over the place but in that case it's at least driven by who I'm watching shows with!#anyway resisting the part of my mind that says 'you should reread the Raven Cycle and Dreamers books so far before Greywaren'#the 'all coming back to me now' approach of diving right into a new release serves me far far better

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kogarashi-art · 19 days

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Posting Fic - How to prep your writing to display correctly on AO3 (via LibreOffice)

So I've seen guides online about how to convert your fanfic for AO3 after writing it in Google Docs, because a lot of people use GDocs to do their writing (which is a decent option, since it saves it in the cloud and all that). I'm not planning on repeating that here.

But I don't do my writing in GDocs, I do my writing in LibreOffice Writer, because it emulates an older version of Word (which is what I grew up on and am most used to), and because I can have more robust spellchecking than on GDocs. And when I was first considering finally posting my work to AO3, I'd heard lots of commentary about how often pasting into the rich text editor sometimes loses formatting, or what hoops people had to jump through to make sure everything looked good.

So I'm here with the actually-pretty-darn-simple method I use to post to AO3 for anyone who needs this, because I want to be helpful.

Please note: this is largely for the basic formatting one might use on AO3. I haven't tested it with fancier things (not even smallcaps yet, though I'm hoping that won't prove too difficult when I finally get around to a chapter that needs that functionality). Also, these instructions are for Windows, which is what I use.

The first step is, obviously, to write up your story in LibreOffice Writer. I have some formatting standards I prefer because it makes my works look like they're publication-ready, which helps me stay in the "I'm actually writing fiction here" groove.

Once you're done writing, you need to make sure the file is ready to save for AO3. With how I write, the only thing I change is that I remove that first-line indent across the whole document. This is easy enough. Select everything, and then go to Format > Paragraph.

Once in that dialog, change the first line indent to 0. If you don't see a number there at all, just enter the number in there.

Then press "OK." This will realign all the paragraphs, including their first lines, to the left margin.

Note that I haven't changed the spacing between paragraphs at all. It's still single-spaced, and that's fine, because the next step can handle that.

DON'T SAVE OVER THE ORIGINAL.

What you want to do at this point is select "Save As" and make sure to save it as an html file, not whatever file format you normally use. LibreOffice will probably ask if you want to do that or use its native format, and you can just tell it "use html format."

You should now have an html file wherever you saved it. If you double-click it, it will open in your default browser, and you can check that the formatting carried over properly if you want. It should look ready for posting, complete with the internet-standard single empty line between paragraphs. LibreOffice knows to wrap each paragraph in html paragraph tags, which is what AO3 likes, and AO3 (and generally the rest of the internet) reads that as the extra empty space between paragraphs, just like you should see here on Tumblr.

Now you need to navigate to where you have the file on your computer via your file manager of choice (I'm on Windows, so I use File Explorer, which I can reach just by right-clicking on the Start button, but I also have a shortcut to it on my taskbar). Right-click on the file, and "open with" Notepad. You can also just open Notepad and open the file from within the program.

You should see the html code for the file.

This is all set and ready to go. Copy everything between the "body" tags in the file (I also skip the lines that are for the chapter title, because I can enter that in a different spot on AO3).

Copy the selected code and paste it into the HTML editor on AO3. If you want AO3 to do a bit of cleanup for you, you can click over to the Rich Text editor, then back to HTML, and it will clean up extra carriage returns and such, but this isn't necessary. Double-check that everything looks good by clicking "Preview," and if you're happy, click "Post."

This even preserves smart quotes, which I don't bother to change to straight quotes, though I suppose you could do so if you wanted.

But honestly, that's how easy it is. Save the file as html, copy the html over to AO3, and done. No scripts, no file converters, no worrying if your formatting is going to survive being pasted into the Rich Text editor. Just LibreOffice and Notepad.

#fanfiction #fanfiction resources #tips and advice #how to copy from LibreOffice to AO3

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minmin-pal · 9 months

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ahh aighto, so following the guide list and watching part 1 n 2 in close succession, 3 then 4 then rohan ova, then 5 and 6. on the liveaction one, ngl i wouldn't really have much complaints about the fact it's not art, always fun to experience a fandom in its entirety like all the cool different mediums and stuff like that, especially for how long jjba's been going on for, there's so much to explore :D

okay not gonna lie, i may have desperately needed that warning about no characters being safe lol i get way too invested and attached to them so the head's up is appreciated ;; (/gen) i don't know why i'm kind of very curious about that though now, i haven't seen any author ever just straight up kill of characters (well i have but ya know?) especially main ones? got me on the edge of my seat now ngl. i'm also wondering whether i should just stave off the manga for now till after i finish the anime and that jazz, dunno to be able to binge the manga and feel it properly tbh

and ohh alright, i was reading another guide just now and it linked the "Stone Ocean OP / Opening" from yt and i see what you mean by cgi, i dunno how they do that so i'll assume it's like 3d models, the way the 3d bits fit the 2d animation style looked so cool and aaa the expressions are just so uniquely styled and all from what i've seen of a 1 minute clip lol but glad u were still able to enjoy the season tho tbh (/pos)

and oh!! there's tarot connections? aa i'm so excited to see how they do that, it's always super fun to see those small little references and u can giggle since your like "yay i got that ref :D" (/lh/hj) might have to grab some kind of bingo to see how many refs i catch haha (/j) but alrighty, noted, no research on kira will be committed, i mean aside from me searching for his design yesterday lol (/lh)

i don't know if it classifies as spoilers much but from the guide i read it said that around part 3 they switched to entities called strands with random powers? that was basically the gist of what i got before i stopped reading so is that one of the differences that separate part 1/2? but oh wait what? why would they say to skip :(? isn't it just more fun in general to start from the very, very start? and oh! joseph! i believe you've mentioned him before but i never heard of jonathan before, his hair looks super cool tho omg and no cause fr :( the uniqueness is part of the appeal isn't it? jjba already has the reputation of being: funky, unique and just being so alive, i don't get how someone would start watching an anime with a rep like that and not watch the first 2 seasons just cause ;; (/lh) awh help i'm getting attached to joseph now, he sounds so sweet tbh (/pos)

and yooo i get why you said "they really did that just cause they could" now" tbh that's a tad more impressive as opposed to just doing the special effects to big scenes, kinda feels like a flex about the artistic control they got over the season tbh (ya know, since like- creators don't really often get that much artistic autonomy with their shows anymore?) i really like that bit now actually ill be honest (/gen)

and yes rohan is for real representing all side-characters doomed to only appearing for like 5 minutes or having no voice lines lol (/joke/lh) but ahh i'm actually interested in his character development now, the sillyness of him being the only one that could publish manwha properly whilst everyone else couldn't has piqued my interest xD (/lh) oh wait no, your point does actually make a lot of sense though if people demand utter copies from canon then it wouldn't really be as fun tho i dunno, creative liberties are very cool and ngl i could see it somewhat bombing if they did make it irl anime type ya know? idk but seems like the kind of thing twt would poke fun at :') (/lh) i'm glad about how it seemed to turn out though, poster looks super cool too

and oHH you like aot? yay :D! i haven't watched in a while but unfortunately, i may have spoiled myself- kind of? i've seen the designs and new art style but the lore lost me even before i last watched a couple of years ago, have you caught up with the manga? what's your thoughts on the story and just general stuff like that if you don't mind me asking? feel free to not censor spoilers for this one, my brain's already pieced together bits of lore whenever aot would go trending on social media lol (/lh/nf) but yay hope you had fun with your brother while you watched it! (/gen)

i dunno why i always imagined that motion to be like a croak-type 'laugh' lol, but yeah denji's character definitely seems very funny haha tho course there's the serious story bits, not sure why but he actually somewhat reminds me of mineta? albeit of course denji's a lot more fleshed out and established (i'm not really caught up with the bnha manga so i dunno how mineta is currently, though tbh the similarities kind of end with their primary motivations centering women? (i dunno if i phrased that right, i hope the idea got thru tho ;; /lh)

wait oh noo, i've seen the anime already but this clip compilation is actually so sweet omg ;; i love yor but for some reason the first few episodes of loid being practically a single dad has my heart in a vice grip lol, they really did do the family dynamic between them so well (/gen) and ohh what are your thoughts on uhm- what's his name? yuri briar? yeah that's his name, the uncle and niece dynamic between him and anya was adorable to see lol

i finally found an proper working site with the english trans for the comic lol, i myt finish it in abt a day so i can ask some indepth questions about that when i do :D (if you don't mind ofc!) ngl being able to relate to a character however flawed really shows how well the writing was done (/pos) and wait that frame actually looks so pretty omg?? the artstyle is to be adored tbf, there's so many details and you can almost tell the emotions even without the text woah. and ohh! wait his been your layouts? i saw the holding knife banner but i didn't recognize the artstyle till you pointed it out (/lh)

help naur, disliking sm that you don't remember his name is very cool lmao(/hj/lh) but oof, i already don't like him from this one frame i see, ah- i'm kind of excited to see this dude that comes before him now lol. and yeah the 'brown haired boy' archetype is definitely a hit or miss, have you ever watched 'a silent voice' by any chance? i can see your fond of found family/slice of life and genres like 'killer in love' (assuming you read from the genre /lh, eng is failing me rn im srry) what are your feelings or thoughts on other genres? maybe like- time travel/romance/reincarntion (is that just isekai actually?)/comedy/action maybe? i heard shield hero was pretty popular, do you like that?

honestly, i get how you feel about one piece ngl:') i've watched a ton of analysis videos on that but it's always a whiplash to see the diversity in the male characters then see the female characters, coming from a vid i watched they said "It's like there's no middle ground, your either made into the standard body type (the girls in the images:') ya attached ) or your made 'grotesque' (the video cues a photo of big mama)" tbf i don't actually know big mama's character and there isn't really anything wrong with being that weight but i do get the gist of the idea the vid was talking about (artstyle side ofc),

and oh, i''m gonna be honest i've never actually understood the whole highlight thing, i always assumed they were all sweating when i saw the shine if that makes sense (/hj/lh) but yeah, i can get how it's p much a redflag or at least can makes someone uncomfy (/gen)

and yay, ty for clarifying on that, i don't realize how much the text piles up till i send the ask ngl, and oh wait- i never really noticed the ideas might have felt disconnected tbh, flowed p fine for me though i may just not have noticed it /lh)

and oh, i don't really mind it lmao, feel free to call me mikey or custard (it actually sounds silly in a /lh way lmao haha /pos/lh) feel free to choose whichever, i don't really mind tbh

last bit- omg min (r you alright with me calling u that btw?/nf) did jjba s1 outro make the "we'll be right back" meme sound?? i'm questioning everything i know rn (/j/lh)

happy morning (very long response)

(also poorly formatted. every line break is answering its corresponding one in ur ask) (in most cases im so sorry :sob:) mhm!! theres a whole lot of extra stuff to read aswell-- like after part 4 araki didnt just make the rohan ova, he also made "dead man's questions" which you probably should also read (not watch as theres no anime version) after part 4-- it follows a character who dies in part 4 which is why i wont say ANYTHING about it. i heeaaavily advise you to not even search it up- like at all its mc is a MAJOR character spoiler like not until youve finished part 4 okay

also, despite no character being safe, i wholeheartedly push you to still love and care about every character your heart Will. shatter atleast once, but thats the fun in it really? i started jjba after watching the original naruto, so the first time a main character, like a *main* died i was just shellshocked the entire time i was waiting for them to bring the person back cause it was like You can't be serious? i REALLY dont wanna gas it up but the ending to part 1 was genuinely wild aswell W series

for the stone ocean cgi i didnt really mean the into but in animation itself for some scenes they used like 3d models and such for the powers and effects, and it sometimes might not be noticable, but when you see it. you see it and its like theyre really doing that and its genuinely so cool

the tarot connections are mainly part 3's thing- the way they names most abilities at least my favorite being death (13) mainly because the episode had me SO intrigued- honestly my favorite jojo episode other than this episode in part 4 (will not disclose [spoilers] but its the "bites the dust" episode- youll know it when you get there) hearing the ability names; it was always great to go "hey i know that band!" but i must say if youre watching the anime with subtitles, or in dub, what you read is not the stands name (or hear if dub) the stand name in most cases, will not be the same as it was originally, as well, copyright purposes really, so in western versions the name the person says (for sub) will not line up with the subtitles man in the mirror for example in the subtitles is reffered to as "mirror man" , so if you get to the part with stands, just know you might not be able to like get some references unless you listen to the japanese name not that it matters it just popped into head lol

and yes thats the big change really, the reason people say to fully skip part 1 and 2 the lack of stands which is so childish.. like really? you dont like the main fundamental parts of the series cuz they dont have big punchy monster powers? i assume youve met johnathan by now, judging byyour comment on the ending music YOU WILL (PROBABLY) LOVE HIM hes just a sweetheart like a mary sue mc but in a not mary sue way

yayaya :DD the team behind jojo REALLY can take the liberties they want and thats probably because the manga/araki is weird as hell like think. uh. spy family you just couldnt do the stuff you do in jojo there, not even story wise but art wise everything is so "polished" and set? like i dont wanna say polished, because jojo is *very* sleek looking but like you get what i mean

where was i.... honestly, jojo side characters (unless theyre like minor antags that get beat in one episode) are really prevalent as the seasons go on and one thing i can REALLY applaud araki (as if i havent been applauding him for EVERYTHING) is that he doesnt forget characters if you meet a side character that isnt evil, you Will. meet them again at least once something i like in part 4 (can you tell its my favorite part?) is that all the characters sort of have their own episode (even the sidest of side characters) when you watch it itll make more sense, but like the side characters arent just plot devices i guess youll see them roaming the street and the characters'll walk past the same bg characters multiple times, and that bg character genuinely wont matter i think it goes hand in hand with the whole everyone knows everyone small town theme but it's still super cool and yes!!! i get so dissapointed when i see irl anime reboots and they are literally just cosplaying the characters nooooo!! the point is that its in real life!!! make the story your own!!! yeah i loved aot :D its not a favorite of mine but its top on my lest i should do like a tier list or something of all the mangas/animes i can remember ive watched ive watched a whole lot actually theres not a lot else to do when youre a shut-in :sob: im all caught up with the aot manga the ending. had me shellshocked genuinely had me blinking like.. thats not okay where was my happy ending??? my overall overall thoughts are is that.. well.. i really love when mangakas just through your expectations out the window and thenh grabs them back and spits on them and throws them out another window just to mess with you so i loved aot; the lore behind the titans and everything? confusing but once i got it they had me rolling over in my bed sorry if ive been getting off topic alot by the way . _ .

croak type laugh is what i meant thanks for giving me a solid term :pray: and !! what i like about csm is actually something i saw in a rant on reddit and i have this issue where i repeat what ive read or heard verbatim solike. what im saying next is not only my thoughts but csm isnt really.... about the lore it isnt about the backgrounds and the world building its about denji and his personal growth and!! the growth of the people around him too https://www.reddit.com/r/ChainsawMan/comments/103xnqk/rant_i_hate_how_people_misunderstand_the_point_of/ ^says it much better than i ever can also... i think the biggest difference between mineta and denji is that denji knows what consent is also that denji is a person, whilst mineta is sorta just his character trait (one was made to be disliked, one made to be liked aswell) i am So glad youve seen sxf its just so charming honestly like,... i love happy slice of lifes sm nichijou, lucky star, shows like that and spy is just such a good show, its heartwarming whilst also definitely being about a spy trying to safe the country by adopting a kid and getting married the family dynamic is just c: -- i dont really love or hate yuri him and anya are cute together but... ive never really liked the obsessive brother trope and that Is yuri's entire character mainly so idrk how to feel about him hes not a bad character though i will say

and yES!! when u finish it i'd love to hear your thoughts and questions :pray: and!! being able to like characters that r super bad people is such a major sign of good writing and having bad characters that causes your reader physical pain is also a sign of good writing

i genuinely love this artstyle it feels full of color. and is in black and white :kneel:

nameless white haired guy is just really insufferable from what i remember hes just gassed up too much by the people that surround him so his ego is the size of the lotte world tower the dude that comes before him comes into the manga EARLY like EARLY- chapter three i think theres another person just like him, more like him than the guy i was referencing, "arata" hes bad too but not.. as bad. the guy i was referencing assuming youve read to atleast chap 3 is the hooded weird guy with black hair I can't remember his name either. :grin: i love him though his name is just not said other than one time i think; (sorry this is so..... discombobulated- m reading ur ask then directly responding here. i need to start using transitional phrases) i have watched + read a silence voice, i loved it but i watched and read it in like the same 2 days so i cant tell you small stuff i liked its like cramming studies before a test. you absorb it for a day but afterwards youre only left with how you felt- in this case i remember crying at the end- and the ending but i dont remember specifics or like the traits i loved minus.. nijimiya? i think? was a sweetheart. genuinely adorable i loved her and her little sister as well as shoto (i think is his names) character development. kids are assholes; he was an asshole kid and he grew up and was Not an asshole kid whats not to love for other types of genres... i like horror but i dont like horror mangas/animes that are 'scare' horror idk how to describe scare horror but like.. if stuff r creepy just to be creepy its just not enthralling i love psychological horrors though things like oyasumi punpun or junji ito's stuff (notably uzumaki) i like dramas aswell but like. neon genesis type i think you could sum up my taste as things that are depressing at their core... minus slice of lifes. and like every other romance

i think those would fall into the isekai category for comedy and action though i dont mind it honestly all depends on the thing itself-- i dont like sports mangas but i watched blue lock since it looked cool to me and i didnt hate it not a favorite, but its not under like c tier i havent heard of shield hero honestly-- but i did check it out the designs are nice but i dont think ill watch it

the ONE reason i wont watch one piece is the femals character designs i know its like a 1000+ chapter manga, made by a male mangaka which is a bad sign because to make manga, you must like manga people who like manga enough to write it probably do not see people of the preferred sex at all, so like yeah hes never met a woman other than his mother so he cant draw them but come one you mentioned her so i have to bring her up

come on man. is this really it? just like you said, its either they fit the mangakas beauty standard for women or they are grotesque theres no in between at all and the men designs are so different and unique and vibrant!! he could make more unique female designs he just doesnt :sob:

for the highlights on skin type thing. i have exactly one example in mind- now as a preface peni parker (the girl) is fifteen miles morales (boy) is seventeen im not insinuating anything being illegal here, and if you think that it wouldnt be my point, so ihave to make a point here that that is not what my problem is as a second preface, miles morales looks like this

i sound silly as hell right now. "of course miles looks like that- whats your point? arent we talking about art highlights??" (art is not mine. of course it isnt its.,... look at it...)

I'm not going to comment on the bulge. I won't comment on his lips. I won't even comment on the fact that this is ship fanart, for a ship that... if you've watched itsv or atsv just feels wrong the one thing i immediately picked up on was how they highlighted that line on peni's thighs theres alot of stuff you can just tell by an artstyle the person who drew that i can honestly say is not a good person even if they didnt draw miles like... that... i wouldnt trust them around children highlights alone my point originally wasnt that i didnt like how they look, it was more that you can tell alot about people by the way thy draw just like how you can tell a bit about someone based of their vocabulary the person who drew that Is a pedophile i can just feel it things like that

I DONT MIND THE TEXT PILING UP :pray: IT MAKESME RLLY HAPPY TOI RECIEVE THESE I AM DELIGHTED THE FLOW IS ALSO FINE!! :thumbsup: u can call me whatever (min, minjae, minmin, minpal, 8, 8pal, palpal... i dont think theres any other names associated with this acc)

and last but not least the end IS the meme i had the same realization youre not alone

#min-pal.asks #mikey 🍮

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streetlights-was-taken · 2 years

Text

💭: character exploration i

in the process of writing the first interlude for long live the long life, I figured I should write down how I want to characterize the main plot drivers for the new story arc, since I'm completely doing an original plot from here on out.

the first arc was kinda easy to write since I was just building up to the canon divergence and I was writing around in-game plot. and I have a pretty good grasp of what venlumi's character journey will be like.

I also have some small regrets for making the first arc so long considering it was........ an introductory arc, but what's done is done lmao. we needed to establish venlumi's characters anyway, and introduce scaramouche and albedo before the canon divergence, and introduce the concept of little palaces. ANYWAY.

this time though, I'm on my own and I'm working with waaay more characters than I did in act i, so I need to plan out my characters better and actually set them up properly, since I am no longer relying on in-game events to do that for me.

since I am a writer that relies heavily on themes to understand the direction of my writing, I basically ended up giving each character a guiding theme to center themselves on.

mona: one of the main stars of our interlude who will introduce one of the themes of the fic. mona believes in guidance through absolute fate; that is, the stars seem to clearly dictate the future, and so we should seize the destiny that is given to us. a bit of a fatalist, but with a rebellious side that wants to believe in free will. she is a compatibilist that believes free will is not incompatible with determinism. although she is more of an introductory/side character, the events of act ii will make her question what it means for her to advise and read the fates of others when she realizes that she has been reading from a script all along, that the fates of this world have been written long before, and loops back around time and time again. more importantly, the script can be rewritten. we won't see the conclusion of her character until the epilogue, but she is here for the ride and must witness the events of the story until the end for her to grow. I would like for her to, in the future, become a protector of free will.

"But if all time already exists, haven't we already made this choice?"

"I don't know, but what's that to stop you from making it?

xingqiu: exists to contrast mona (and to be a witness for the events of act iii later). if mona believes in guidance through absolute fate, xingqiu believes in guidance through fiction. that is, the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we proliferate and believe in are the cornerstones of human culture, and should be the guiding hand that pushes us to the future. he's a little bit like venti in this regard. although he's a realist when it comes to business, deep in his heart xingqiu is a hardcore idealist and optimist when it comes to everyday life. his only goal in the story is to get inspiration for his next book and write. and oh boy is he gonna get the wildest inspirations in this fic. like mona, we won't see the conclusion of his character until the epilogue. he is also more of a side character than mona is. but his role in the epilogue will be one of the most significant, so it's important for him to be introduced early to witness everything.

albedo: the star of act ii who will lead the investigation of the different mysteries presented to him. why and how did heru die? what was she researching about? and what is happening to mondstadt?

albedo searches for an objective truth to the world; an explanation that clearly and scientifically explains how the world works and why. this also parallels with mona's belief in guidance through absolute fate. if fate is determined and truth is objective, then there is a "correct" way to live and an "ideal" life to aspire to. of course, although this is the ideal, albedo desires agency just like anyone else. the compelling characteristic about albedo is that he displays compassion for people but also has a very methodical and lowkey intense desire to search for the truth. so... if finding the truth costs a lot, how much is albedo willing to pay? he won't let others get hurt, but he himself can probably take it, whatever that cost might be.

and I think that's what excites me to write him. his character arc is similar to 9S from nier automata. he's curious to a grave fault, and will poke his nose into anything to find the truth, even if it's a Bad Idea. it will be fun to write him as a detective, with scaramouche as his watson.

I also want to do an eldritch horror moment for him once he does figure out how teyvat (in the fic) works. a moment where he feels like the ant (mortal) being inspected by a human (god); the ant who cannot comprehend the world the way god can. and right when he's close to reaching enlightenment... he must pay the cost, and he is back to his limited ant worldview.

scaramouche (kunikuzushi): I'll call him scaramouche here, but for most of the fic he'll be referred to as kunikuzushi. scaramouche exists to contrast albedo (and to be one of the main drivers of act iii later). if albedo believes in an objective truth, scaramouche believes in the importance of a subjective truth. he is a puppet created for a purpose, but he can't even fulfill it. so for him, subjective meaning has more weight. out of all the long lifers in this fic, scaramouche also has the biggest desire to be a god and to have power, mostly so he can definitely for sure protect his own agency and control over his life. this also parallels with xingqiu and venti's belief that humans shape the future through the stories they tell themselves.

he is a supporting character to albedo in act ii, but will shine more as the main character in act iii. I hope to write both the rough and fragile parts of him, as they are all different sides of himself. he does gravitate to albedo though because albedo treats him like a person, whereas elsewhere he is treated as a puppet (by ei, dottore), as a suspicious fatui member (mona, paimon), or as someone to pity (venlumi — at least, this is what he believes venlumi sees him as). he won't admit it, but one of the reasons why he planted his own directive in lumine is because he wanted to secure for himself an ally that won't betray him no matter what he does or what face he shows. it may not be "genuine" loyalty, but it will be a secure one. and for scaramouche at this point in his story, that's more important.

the other reason is that he's just really pissed off to see lumine waste herself away like ei does lol. the soft boy that he was before he became a puppet is the kind who would sympathize with people in situations similar to his (i.e. lumine, albedo). it's like, "oh you already have everything in life and you still want to waste it? fuck off, I'm making you live even if you don't want to." he's rough around the edges now, but that kind boy is still there inside him.

at some point, he will probably have a similar moment to yin yu from tgcf where he's very angry and hateful, but he's just gonna say, "so what? I do hate and I am angry, but so what?" I see him as someone who is both soft and empathetic inside and just wants to be loved, but he's hardened by his experiences and has an intense and prickly demeanor as a result. and that makes it hard for him to trust, but also makes him very protective of the few people he decides are good.

because of that, I've had to think about what happens to his fatui underlings after he leaves the fatui. I think as a harbinger, he already put some distance between himself and his team and doesn't entertain any attachments towards them. so when he left the fatui, he let everyone disperse to other teams so they wouldn't be held responsible for his actions. but even so, I think he would have a few loyalists in his team, for whatever reason. so of those that still want to follow him wherever he goes (there's not a lot of them, probably just a handful), I'll shuffle them off to diluc lmao. there are several reasons:

it's like a peace offering. diluc would be the most distrustful and wary of scaramouche being in mondstadt. but unlike the knights, he's not bound by politics and hierarchy to do something about it (e.g. if the knights did something about signora or scaramouche without evidence of them doing something against mondstadt, that's like attacking a foreign diplomat for no reason. which, you know, isn't what your government should be doing against ambassadors of any nation, let alone one with the strongest military). so it would be in scaramouche's best interest to earn diluc's good will.

even though scaramouche likes albedo, he doesn't necessarily have to like the knights of favonius or anyone else really. so in his position, diluc is the best option to take care of whoever is bananas enough to still want to follow him. particularly because diluc is also not fond of the knights, is also familiar with how the fatui work, and is also familiar with working with underground networks and using more shady methods that the upstanding knights publicly shy away from (don't forget, that man is ready to torture abyss mages if needed).

most importantly, albedo and alice already approve of diluc's character. scaramouche doesn't necessarily trust diluc, but as a friend of a friend, he is not on the shit list.

scaramouche will be a nice contrast to aether later in act iii, but that is for another post. I also still need to see how his character actually pans out in-game, since I haven't done any of the sumeru archon quests yet or heard his voicelines. so the nuances of his character might be enhanced or changed as needed to make his characterization closer to canon. I'm still trying to strike the balance between his mean side and his soft side. I don't want him to be too soft, since that's not how he presents himself in the game.

"if the legitimacy or the meaning of a belief really came down to whether or not it were actually true, then most people wouldn't believe anything in this world."

dorian (subject two): dorian serves as a bridge between the themes monaqiu and scarabedo represent. originally I wasn't planning to write dorian and would merge his character with albedo. however, somehow he just popped up into the fic one day and demanded to be included. very in character of him to assert his own existence like that, both in the game and even in this fic lol.

originally, I planned to have albedo be the one to question what it means to be human and how one should live. but I think this is much more effective to explore through dorian. the canon divergence already makes it so that he has a tenuously amicable relationship with albedo and friends, so his whole thing is about navigating his own place in society as an individual. he still poses as albedo, but he wants to differentiate himself from him as well. albedo wants to think his way through life and figure out the truth, so dorian will try to experience life to the fullest through action. he will get his shining moment in the end of act ii and in the epilogue for his efforts.

"there is no reality except in action"

venlumi will take a backseat for act ii to give other characters room to grow, especially since we (readers and writer) are no longer going through the fic with a shared understanding of canon events. act i was easy to write because everyone knows what happened in inazuma, so I can skip a lot of world building and let the game establish the characters and relationships for me and I'll just add on top of that. but this is no longer the case!

but even if we diverged from canon, venlumi won't just suddenly disappear! I plan to use act ii to develop their relationship and to give the readers an opportunity to see them through an outside perspective, since act i was zoomed in on their own internal thoughts and was used as a space to establish their individual stories (with venti being a god who believes in the romance of hope, lumine as a god bound to her ideals of duty, and how those two values combine and clash through their characters).

in the interlude, I wanted to start building on their reputation together as this sort of power couple lol. well, for those who know venti is the archon (or at least, suspect that he's not an ordinary person), they are a power couple. but for those who know venti as a bard, they probably see the two of them as just a cute pair of lovers (while internally wondering how the heck venti of all people managed to seduce the honorary knight).

in the grand scheme of things, mondstadt is centered on found families. I think barbatos will adopt just about anyone into the family, including some ex-fatui members. at the same time, lumine will start sharing in that kind of love for the people. she wants to protect mondstadt because mondstadt took her in as part of the family too. in other countries, she's a hero and an outlander whose reputation precedes her. but in mondstadt, she's the honorary knight. mondstadters see her as one of their own, and they knew her before she became famous. they have built a personal relationship with her beyond just her "hero" persona.

since I'll be focusing on the development of other characters for act ii, venlumi will be more like a lens through which others can reflect themselves. albedo's search for the truth, scaramouche's search for meaning, mona and dorian's struggle with fate vs free will... all of those are things that are not strictly venlumi's problems, but they'll be there to help their friends get through them.

so I guess we're going back to the classic "traveler helps out other people with their problems" story lol.

both of them will come back into focus in act iii when aether gets introduced! especially venti, since act iii will be the conclusion of his and scaramouche's arcs. but looking at how many words act i needed... that won't be for another 40k+ words lmao

---

there are other characters in act ii, but in case someone reads this post to the end, I'll remove my thoughts on them here to keep the mystery going.

there are also some characters I still need to flesh out for act iii (namely: alice, aether). idk if some of the inazuma characters will come back (namely: kazuha and kokomi); I planned to do that originally, but I was doing some lore reading and realized that my original plan was not going to work lmao. uh, so I'll figure it out later. they won't be needed until at least four more chapters, and we already know how long my chapters can be. so... this will do for now!

#fic: long live the long life #appendix

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wiccans-blogging · 2 years

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The controversy of spirit boards

Spirit boards more popuraly known as ouija boards were pantented and mass produced for the first time by attorney and inventor Elijah Bond with businessman Charles Kennard. In 1891 the ouija board was pantented. Ouija stood for the word yes in French (oui) and German (ja). It was meant as a talking board for adults for parlor games or entertainment during parties and small gatherings. Although the two men were both given attribution for the invention of the ouija board l, the first boards were stamped with the name of William Fuld, the manufacturer. Fuld was very protective of this product and had many legal battles when knock offs came onto the market. When reachinf its height in popularity around 1967, being even more popular than monopoly.

In the era of WWI Pearl Curran, a medium, showed that the ouija board could be used for divination to receive messages from the past, present and future (Chauran, 2014).

Now onto the controversy, in my personal experience people can be quite freightened by the use of spirit boards, saying it is dangerous and could invite evil spirits or demons into your home.

My mother in law, a knowledgable witch, gave me a stern warning about the dangers of spirit boards and how I should be careful with whatever I was thinking about doing.

My grandparents who've had experience with the spirit board with no knowledge of divination were freightened by what they had experienced and haven't touched one since. My grandfathers, grandmother came through and told them his older brother would get dangerously sick and needed help. The very next day, my grandparents got a phonecall that my grandfathers brother was brought to the hospital in a dire state but luckily survived.

I've bought a beautiful ouija board about 6 years ago just for display. The planchette I have hidden away in a small box so visitors could not play with it when I was not around. The thought of that happening gave me the heebie jeebies as I would never use something like that before doing proper research. I also never had the desire to actually use the ouija board as I prefer other methods of divination.

I have used it a few times however when friends were interested. And I would take precautions by casting a circle (with a small doorway so spirits could enter and leave. But also invoking the God and Goddess to protect and guide us. When finishing our session I would ask the spirits respectfully to leave this space and asked the God and Goddess to guide them if needed. I never had any bad experiences with the board myself. I never got any clear messages either just a random assortement of letters and numbers.

After that I got more interested in doing research and I would read into spirit boards on the internet but that wasn't very helpful since many people were contradicting eachother. That was until by chance I found a book on a fair called Spirit boards for beginners by Alexandra Chauran, the one I referenced earlier. Through this book I was able to get a greater understanding of spirit boards and how to properly use them. It also made me understand that there is a lot of misunderstandings on the dangers of spirit boards. Yes, it can be dangerous if you do not take the right precautions or use it with respect.

I am not the most knowledgable witch on spirit boards, you can decide for yourself if you would like to take my advice, but I would recommend not reading about spirit boards on the internet, same for youtube or tiktoks, but to pick up a book like I did. It helped me immensely. I have not used the spirit board since my research I must say, because again I do not have much interest in using it.

#witch #wiccan #ouija board #ouija #spirit board #divination

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enekorre · 2 years

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Tag 9 people you want to get to know better 💖

Tagged by: @thenoaidi Tack! :D

Favorite colour: Yellow! It reminds me of happiness and the sun. I miss the sun. I also really like to pair it with either purple or green. Yellow/purple is my favourite combo, but yellow/green is summery and happiness and reminds me of laying inside a juniper tree (they're prickly unless you know what you're doing) one summer at school. It also reminds me of the fields and forests here. Everything is so grey this time of year, it gets me really down.

Currently reading: I'm one of those people who read a ton as a kid, and then suddenly found themselves unable to read. Because of that, I'm currently reading 4 books (I havent touched any of them in a long time). Oldest is the first Raven Cycle book. I got a few chapters in. Next one the list is You will get through this night by Dan Howell. Yes, I mainly bought it for nostalgia (watched Dan's vids as a teen/kid), but also because a self help guide seemed like a good idea. I could probably really use it right now, tbh. Haven't been feeling well for quite a while. Next I have 2 books that maybe shouldn't even be on this list, because I only bought them at the end of october, and I haven't actually started them. One is Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Of AO3 founder fame). I really really really loved Temeraire, and I recognized the fannishness of the writing in Uprooted (while reading Temeraire I didn't know she was Astolat, even though book 8 is very much amnesia fic lol). Because it reminded me of fandom I needed to look her up and lo and behold, she has played a big part in my online life without either of us being aware of it. (If you like dragon go read Temeraire. Most libraries will probably have it. They are So Good.) The last book is the third in a series, where I've read the last two previously. It's The winter of the witch by Kathrene Arden. The first two were really good, lots of fun Russian folklore!

Last series: Not sure is Critical role counts, so Midnight Mass. It was really good, and gave a realistic portrayal of people, good and bad. But it is set in a very Christian town and the first half of the whole show had me hissing in discomfort. If you have some sort of trauma/beef with Christianity be aware of that before starting to watch.

Last movie: Hmm... It might have been Dr. Doolittle? I had two friends over, and one of them wanted to watch it. It was a fun time, very much a movie for the whole family. Kinda made me feel like when I was a kid, hoping magic was real.

Sweet, savoury or spicy: I like all three, but I'm a sucker for sweet. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't use snuff, I don't drink coffee... But candy, that's my addiction. I can easily eat several kilos of candy in a day. If I have some at home I usually can't stop myself. The only way past it is simply not buying any. That way, if the night is young and I want some, I at least get a walk in before stuffing my face.

Craving: Recently I've been having issues with eating enough, and in general liking food has never been my thing. So as to not be boring and just say candy, I'm gonna as my grandparents cooking. As a kid I also had issues with food (someone really should have figured out I was autistic a log time ago), but at my grandparents place I would stuff myself. I think one reason is that they make everything from scratch, and another is that they actually season their stuff properly. I'm okay with stuff that doesn't taste, and I'm also okay with really spicy stuff. But everything that in-between, that just kinda tastes, it's really just ewwww to me. I can force myself to eat, but not much and I always feel like it got stuck in my throat afterwards.

Currently working on: Learning to crochet. My sister is having a baby (unplanned, and she's young, and I dislike the dad, so that's one reason to my bad mental health currently), and I want to make stuff for it when it comes out. I'm gonna be the best aunt ever and love the baby very much. So far I've made a tiny duck, but it's really tiny, and so my mom suggested i make one of those hanging mobile things. That way, I can make more in different shapes, and they wont go to waste.

I tag... Hmm...

@thefollow-spot, @acindra, @comp-lady @seriously-a-dragon @yharnamsnewslug, @perskuiskaaja @punalippulaiva and uuuh anyone who sees this and feels they wanna do it!

Also, people tagged, no need to do it if you don't want too :D

#m #man this got loooong #ask game

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meenah-chan · 3 years

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Quintessence

A Lucifer x MC’s Over-protective! Sister fanfic

4.45k words

Genre: Angst

Trigger Warnings: mentions violence, self-inflictions; Read at your own discretion.

Chapter 1: click here

Chapter 3: click here

"Is this a some sort of punishment?"

"You're really lucky... I am quite jealous, if I may say."

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

With the noisy, yellow demon unconscious, the only sound on their way to House of Lamentation is MC's periodic yawns from the lack of night's sleep and the rumbling wheels of their suitcase on an empty road.

"We're here! Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone. They should be in the dining room right now." Starting to feel the exhaustion she's been holding back since meeting the other-worldly creatures, Alexandria let her sister half-drag her off to somewhere.

"I'm home!" Pulling her to a room, the first thing she saw is a large dining table filled with food and... Five more demons. Five male demons.

"MC, we're leaving." She tugged on the female's hand, still attached on her own, but in turn resisted her slight force.

"What? No, we won't." The teen raised an eyebrow from her sudden demeanor.

"MC!! I MISS YOU!!" A brown-haired guy came rushing towards their direction with open arms. Yet, before he could even latch his arms around the girl, Alexandria pulled her away, causing the male to hug nothing but air.

"MC! Why did you avoid— Huh?"

"MC, w–who is she?" A purple-haired tensely asked, anxious of the stranger in their home.

"She's my sister—"

"Ahhh!!" Alexandria and MC flinched from the sudden outburst of the man who came running at them moments ago, which caught her off-guard.

Suddenly, her hand was yanked away from her little sister's grasp and was held a few centimeters to the demon's eyes.

"Wha... such a..." He then stretched the said arm out and tenderly stroke it up her shoulder, "What a flawless, plump, porcelain skin..." then let go and cupped her cheeks with both hands.

"Such a refined beauty. But wait..." The male narrowed his eyes for a second, "Are you not sleeping well? Your face is a tee~ny bit dry and a bit of bag under your eyes." The demon gave her a sad pout.

"I usually appreciate such flattery. However, right now, I can only sense it as an assault from a stranger I just met. So will you please refrain from your harassment?" Regaining her composure, she snapped at him.

"Asmodeus, stop harassing our guest unless you wanted punishment." Asmodeus instantly raised both his hands up from the domineering voice on the doorway. Lucifer appeared with a beat Mammon.

"Whoopsy! My bad. What a rude way to greet a wonderful guest such as yourself." Asmodeus sends her a wink before returning to his seat.

"MC, will you introduce her to everyone."

"Hmm! Everyone, meet my sister, Alexa! Due to certain circumstances, she'll be staying here with us all throughout my stay here."

"Pleased to meet all of you. I'm Alexandria Evergreen, MC's older sister. I'm here to watch over her. I hope to have a conflict-free relationship with everyone."

"No, the pleasure is ours." A blonde-haired man replied, "I'm Satan, the fourth eldest. I maybe the Avatar of Wrath but I assure you, I'm the nicest and most logical person here." But her instinct says otherwise as she felt an odd atmosphere around the green-eyed man.

"Bush e'shi, shoo shais shoo hamp 'o shibi." Her eyes travelled to the oranged-haired man who seemed to be emptying the table stuffing himself.

"Beel, you shouldn't talk while chewing." A drowsy, navy blue-haired guy yawns beside him. "MC, he means you said you have no siblings." He rubbed his eyes before turning his attention to the older sister. "Hello, I'm Belphegor, Beelzebub's twin and the youngest. I'm also the Avatar of Sloth. This guy beside me is Beelzebub, the Avatar of Gluttony and the sixth oldest." The scarfing guy nods and she returned the gesture.

"Oh that? Yes, I don't have one back then, but our parents got married a few weeks ago. We're originally childhood friends."

"WoOAAAHH~!! That's just like the anime 'My Dearest Childhood Friend became my Sister after our Parents got Married but now the Aliens Invaded the Earth so We Became Heroes and Stop the End of the World!!' and that is really LIT!!" The demon, whom she thought was timid a while ago, squealed in one breathe, and it certainly caught her by surprise.

"That noisy one is Levi." MC sweatdropped.

"I'm Leviathan, the third oldest and the Avatar of Envy."

"And don't forget about the sweet and charming Asmodeus here~~ I'm the fifth eldest and the Avatar of Lust. You can call me Asmo-chan~~" he winked for the second time.

Yet contrary to his positive attitude, Alexandria cocked an eyebrow. "So you mean..." Her gaze followed Mammon wobbling to the table. "That crook right there is the second oldest?"

His head snapped at her. "Oi! Gotta problem if I'm the second oldest?"

"Yeah, in more ways than one." She curtly replied. "So, if you're the Avatar of Greed, you being a crook does make sense."

"Oi! You don't have to say it twice!"

Ignoring Mammon, she faced the oldest. "And you're the Avatar of Pride, I suppose?"

"Yes, and let me properly introduce myself to you." He placed a palm above his chest. "I'm Lucifer, the oldest of the seven brothers and the Avatar of Pride. I'm the one who leads this household and tend to all of these problem children." Satan, Mammon and Belphegor glared daggers towards him.

"Ha! More importantly, I have a juicy piece of news to you guys." Mammon grinned which alerted Lucifer.

"Not a word Mammon."

"'Ya see, that's no normal human right there. A few hours ago, she just made THE Lucifer on his knees and tied him in a pact with her."

The five brothers' eyes popped out of their skulls and jaws dropped. Even Beel almost choked.

"Pact... you say?" 5 pairs of eyes darted between a grinning Mammon, a displeased Lucifer and the new female.

"You're right. She's not an ordinary human but let me clear two things." The menacing red-eyed demon crossed his arms and raised his chin. "The only one on his knees, or rather, on his back is none other than you Mammon. You're the one knocked out after just three blows from her. You're also the one who caused this series of unfortunate events... Don't ever think I'm done with your punishment yet."

"Eek!" Making shrieked and cowered in fear.

"Wait– She what? I know Mammon is weak but, she really knock him out with three blows??" Asmodeus exclaimed.

"Are you really sure she's a human?" Satan added.

Although Beelzebub is also shocked, his brows twitched in realization, glancing at the two female. "MC, Miss Alexandria, you probably haven't eaten anything yet. You should eat."

"I think I'll pass. I'll get some shut-eye first." MC awkwardly laughed. Beel is pretty amazing in his own way...

"I thank you for the offer, but I also needed some rest." She slightly smiled.

Lucifer stepped closer beside her. "If that's the case, then you should stay in MC's room for now. Mammon will clean the room beside MC's for your use later."

Glancing at the oldest, she shook her head. "Providing a room for me is more than enough. I can tend to it just fine. And I can't impose to you anymore than I already did."

"But you're a guest. It's only natural for us to ensure you'll have a great time staying here."

"But I insist. And I'm not a guest. I'm the one who made my way here so it's only natural for me to help here in exchange for my stay." She paused as she crossed her arms. "Unless, freeloading is a thing here. That'll be bad, for encouraging irresponsibility and decadence."

"..." Lucifer speechlessly furrowed his brows.

Seven pairs of eyes were both shocked and amazed to see someone actually have the guts to run their mouth against one of the strongest demon in their realm without breaking a sweat.

"She really is not a human. There's no way a human can stand her ground against Lucifer." Asmodeus gaped.

"Or maybe she's just clueless of Lucifer's true power... Though I could use her help to mess with him." Belphegor and Satan snickers at the same time as if having the very same thought.

"To not even have the natural instinct to flee from danger is just dumb." Alexandria ominously glance towards Belphegor, Satan and Leviathan, causing a chill run down their spine.

"Then please excuse us. MC shall be my guide." Drawing back, she bowed towards Lucifer and the others before pulling MC and their luggage out of the dining room.

"MC... I must say, our time here will be anything but harmonious..." The older sister sighed.

"But I'm sure you'll have fun. There's no boring times here" MC just laughed awkwardly.

"Oh well, all I want is a peaceful time you. Even an hour or two a day would be nice."

-----

Forget their peaceful time, getting along with most of the brothers is hard, except Beel who is too nice to her to be considered a bother. All the other brothers do was try to steal MC away.

Well, Asmodeus is an exception. He's not trying to take MC away. He's trying take both of them away for his beauty and night out shenanigans.

A few days have passed, and she was also made into a student to be with MC as much as possible.

"Hey Alexa-chan, I'm just wondering... Is there anything you can't do? At this rate you'll end up stealing MC's heart faster than any of us. You're too dreamy, you might as well take her as your bride." Asmodeus pouts as he lazily pokes through his steak Alexandria prepared for dinner.

"O–Oi! The hell are you saying, Asmo?" A flustered Mammon yelled, sitting beside MC.

The older female sighed and glance at Asmodeus, sitting beside her. "Just eat Asmodeus, you're just hungry. And I told you to not call me Alexa."

"But aren't I right? You're so in love with her enough to follow her here. And you're not really her sister by blood, so it's possible."

"If I told you, you and Mammon look good together, you should marry each other, what would you feel?"

"Eww! That's the grossest thing I ever heard." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"She really hates you, lololol." Levi snickers at Mammon, sitting across him.

Mammon narrowed his eyes at him, tapping his knife on his plate.

"I never saw this child that way. I'm more like a mother to her more than anything." She points to the 'child' next to her, too busy stuffing her face with the food to notice she is the topic on the table. "Saying that, I didn't protect that child just to fall for any demon."

"Aww... And I thought it'll also be interesting if there's that kind of plot twist." Asmodeus look down, only to find his plate empty. "Hey! Beel, give me back my steak!" His eyes darts across him, towards the orange demon chewing happily.

"I thought you don't want it anymore so I ate it." He smiled innocently as Belphegor and Satan laughed in amusement, witnessing the whole theft.

Alexandria glance around the room, searching for a certain person she haven't seen since yesterday night. "By the way, where's Lucifer?"

"He's probably still in his study, it's the time of the month he have tons of work to do." Satan replied.

"He'll probably coop himself until tomorrow or the day after." Belphegor added, finishing his meal.

She gave a second glance in the table, void of any trace of any food left, sweeping to the also empty plate of her sister.

"Hmm... MC did you eat well?"

"Yes! I really missed your steak!" The teen beamed at her, having a drop of sauce on her lips.

"What am I gonna do with you." She giggled as she wipe the stain off. "Come on, you should rest for the night."

After sending her to her room, Alexandria strolls towards the kitchen and left with a tray on hand, walking towards the library.

She passed by the tall shelfs with several missing books of all sorts of fields. Going further in, she knocked on the door inside the library.

"It's Alexandria, I brought you something." Hearing no response, she let herself in.

The first thing that attract her eyes is the tall pile of paper wall on the table and the male who is almost hidden by it, black circles around his eyes.

"Are you still alive?" Lucifer's flipped towards her, finally noticing her presence.

"Ohh, it's you. What do you want?"

"You probably haven't eaten anything since this morning. I brought you some sandwiches and fruit shake." She set the tray down the small table in the middle of the room and took the plate of sandwiches and the large cup of fruit shake, moving towards Lucifer's study table.

"Here, taking a breather won't hurt." Red orbs darted between the plate, the cup and her face before reluctantly taking it after a sigh and setting it down the free space is the table.

"This is a nice study. It's cozier than mine back in human world."

"What's your deal?"

"Well, I like the fireplace. I can't have one in my apartment."

"If you need nothing, then leave. I don't have time to waste."

"Yeah, I need to do something." She took a few leaves of paper from the desk and scan through it. "Hmm... I see... As expected..."

"What is it you need to do?" Lucifer raised his eyebrow.

"I'll help you with this papers. With us two, we can finish it by morning."

"Hmmp! There's no way I'll let a human mess with the financial statements of the Devildom."

"If it's about the difference of terms and flow of currency, then I have already studied about it."

"...Huh? How..." The demon suddenly remembered the several books missing from the library's shelf. "Ahh... But then, how did you learn how to read our language?" His brows furrowed.

"There's no way I could have extensive knowledge about pacts and such if I can't read the original texts about it."

The lady in front of him never failed to impress him. And yet, "The answer is still a no." Stoic expression returned his face.

"Then let me rephrase it. My master is having a hard time," Lucifer almost slip out of his chair from her words. "...and I can do something about it, so I want help however I can."

"Did you just say 'Master'?"

"Yeah, based on our contract, you're technically my master. Though you can't take advantage of me, which is a good thing..."

Lucifer wouldn't admit it. He can't admit it. But being called master by this capable human who always amaze him has stroked his ego more than he could ever felt from anyone, he can't even stop himself from grinning.

"You really know your way with words. But don't get me wrong. I only allowed you because you've went so far just to do what you want." A smile was also plastered on her face.

"Yes Master Lucifer, if you say so." She chuckled a bit before taking the papers Lucifer choose for her to do.

Sharing a few conversation while working, they really did finish by morning as she predicted.

------

"Alexa, why aren't you in your room? Did you woke up early?"

"Yeah, something like that." With a bit of sleepiness clouding her head, Alexandria chose to eat light breakfast before taking a rest. Good thing it's weekend.

MC moved her attention at the demon on the end of the table. "Lucifer, it's really unusual. You've finished quite early."

"I just discovered a breather had been rather helpful." He stealthly stole a quick glance towards the lady busy eating her food.

The only sound on the table after that is a few yawns— from the usual sleepy Belphegor; and Leviathan and Mammon, probably from overnight gaming marathon they could never finish tonight as Lucifer is out of his confinement.

Everyone has their own world when Alexandria breaks the silence.

"MC, you told me you're hanging out with Mammon and Asmodeus today, right?" She place down her utensils as the girl glance at her.

"Yeah, we're going to shop some clothes on Majolish. Why? You're coming anyways, aren't you?"

"No. I have some business today, but I'll leave you to Beel. Is it alright with you Beel?" She scan the face of the food-loving demon whom just finished his food.

"I don't mind." He smiled softly.

"Thank you. Please do bring her safe and I'll treat you to Madam Scream's of anything you want."

"Madam Scream's...? Really? With anything I want?" Beel's eyes sparkles as drool pools down his empty plate.

She gave him a broad smile. "Yes, anything."

"Alexa, you probably don't know what you're saying. Beel will definitely bust your pocket in no time." Belphegor yawns as he took a bite on his toast.

"But I'm aware of Beel's appetite. Let's just say I'm loaded enough to feed 10 Beels for at least 1 month." She swiped a black card in air with her middle and index finger.

"Hey... Is that..." Satan raised an eyebrow.

"WOAHH!! The legendary black card! Imagine how many Ruri-chan collectibles and games I could buy with that." Sleepiness flushes out of Leviathan's system as he stared at the black card.

"Can feed... 10 Beels..." The sixth-born's drool intensifies.

"Hmm? When did you get one? You should've just asked me to process it for you." A surprised but rather unfazed Lucifer asked.

"I told you I don't want to be a bother. Though I admit getting one is not an easy task."

"Hey Alexa-chan. Are you sure you don't wanna join us shopping?" The fourth-born playfully twist her bangs around his fingers. "And while we're at it, let's have a full body Super Beauty Mud Course~"

She touched her chin in thought. "I'll think about the mud course, but not today."

But then, a demon, who should be hyper at the sight of a premium item, was rather silent.

"Hey Alexa-sama... Can I touch it?" The second-born teleports beside her, orbs sparkles gold and fingers twitching on air in a perverse way. "Please. It'll be a dream come true to hold it in my arms for even just a second."

"I refuse." She slid it back her wallet as fast as she swiped it out. "Show me first that I could trust you." She pinched the tan nose facing her, grinning.

Cherry red orbs observes the sight of the lively table, a curve tenderly forms across his face.

"O-Oi! Let go–" *Ring ring*

The sound of a phone rung through the spirited atmosphere, which wiped the smile off Alexandria's face.

Picking up the cup of tea with her free hand, she gulp it down before letting go of Mammon.

"Take care while shopping later, MC." She ruffled her sister's hair, "Thank you for the meal. Now, if you'll excuse me." ...before leaving the room.

"Then, I'll also retire for today and take a rest. Don't make a mess while I do so." Feeling tired of his restless shift, Lucifer decided to leave and retire to his room.

On his way, he heard the familiar voice of the lady behind her door, seemingly distressed.

As unethical as it seems, the oldest's curiosity of the enigmatic female wins him over and decided to stood his ground.

"I told you Father, I can't right now, that's why I'm telling you to just let me quit...... If I tell you, you'll definitely try to take me back there....... No...... Not telling......."

He could hear the series of loud sighs and frustration beyond the door.

"No, I don't want it. Brother deserves the company more than I do. So please think it over again.... Yes....... Yes, I will. Then, bye." He then heard a beep ending the call.

On the verge of stepping away as to not get caught, the next thing he heard render him motionless in place.

"I'm not even a your real child to begin with. If I continue there, I'll actually end up killing myself..." Unconsciously, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Alexandria jolts in surprise as her door opened out of nowhere.

"Wha..." Surprise was imminent on her face yet, realizing it is the first-born, her brows scrunches. "Don't you know knocking is a common courtesy?"

"What do you mean by you not being your father's real child? And what do you mean about killing yourself?" He ignores the annoyed expression of the woman. There's no way he could let this information pass under his nose. Not with this girl who made him concede more than he expected, and certainly not because of that grim words.

"What do you want?" She narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"Killing yourself is something I could not ignore. And, I want to know more about the human who have the audacity to force a pact with me." He returned the same gaze with crossed arms above his chest. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the lady yield for the first time.

"Alright. I guess as a demon who have a pact with me, you have the right to know. We are, after all, connected by soul in spite of everything... Let's go to your office or something. I don't want anyone to hear this like you did."

"Right now, Satan is probably cooped in the library. He'll certainly asked why we're together. Let's go to my room instead. It's quite spacious for someone to eavesdrop."

She followed behind the oldest brother, careful not to be seen by anyone. Entering the room without meeting anyone down the hallway gave her a sense of relief.

"Even your room is nice." She casually strolls in the room, brushing her fingertips on the bones in the pillar, the candelabra, the gramophone, and scanning a few picture frames above the fireplace.

"You may want to start your story this instant or I'll pull the words out of you by force." Growing impatient, Lucifer took a sit at an angle on the corner of his bed, arms drapes his chest again.

With another sigh, she sat on the length of the bed partially behind the man, placing both her palms on the bed as she face the furnace.

"Too eager, aren't we?"

"Unlike you, I want to take a rest." Alexandria chuckled of his remark.

"It's true I'm not a real child of the current family I'm in. I am adopted after all." Her Aquamarine eyes glows a hue of orange as she stare at the dancing fire in the furnace. "It's no secret to MC. I did met her in an orphanage after all.."

"She's a volunteer that time when we're still young. Is that good enough? Am I off the hook already?"

"No. That doesn't answer my second question. You're still hiding... something." The strained smile he witnessed on her face almost made him regret continuing his statement.

"Is this a some sort of punishment?" A self-reproachful laughter rings the room, "You're good with picking your card if it is."

"You can say that. But I'm also curious of you."

"Yeah, yeah... But it'll be a long story. Is it alright with you?"

"I have the whole day available. And you?"

"I also have nothing to do. I just gave MC a sister-free day or she'll get tired of me."

"Then, continue your story." He moves facing the same fireplace.

"Ahh, right... If I remember correctly, the Great Celestial War... It's a conflict within your family, right?"

Lucir flinched from the sudden question. "...Why did you ask?"

"I just thought we may have the same sentiment... or maybe not."

"..."

"Anyways, MC knew nothing about what I'm going to tell you, so it's our secret, okay?" She waited for his reply before continuing.

"You see, I also have a big family. I'm the oldest with my six, adorable siblings. They're 3 set of twins. Amazing, right?" She smiled at him, softly.

"We're living a normal, happy life. I'm really satisfied with our big family I feel it to last forever... Or so I thought." The softness in her face disappeared into a grimace. Colors in her eyes disappeared as she travel back to time.

"I was 9 at that time when that night happened. It was freezing I couldn't feel my fingertips. Snow was falling hard when I witness everything."

"Unlike that fire, the place was rather cold and dark. My struggling brother's neck in his bare hands, my limp and beaten mother trying to pry him away from my brother, the bloody corpses of my 3 sisters, my 2 other brothers writhing in pain... and that sickening smile on my father's face." She spat, grabbing Lucifer's comforter with her fist. Lucifer watched the scorching flame reflected in her eyes as if it's her own.

"There's no way I could ever forgive him for what he have done..." She rid of her shoes and hugged her legs, facing Lucifer as she lay her cheeks on her knees. "Like how I could never forgive myself for what happened."

"Forgive yourself? That's a foolish way to put it. You didn't do anything wrong."

Bluish orbs draw itself towards his own as she gave him a bitter smile. "You can say that because you don't know everything."

"Then tell me what I don't know."

"Let's just say that a drive to protect MC and a drive to live are two different things. And I've been searching for the latter to no avail."

"You're really lucky to still have your brothers. I am quite jealous if I may say." She wore her shoes again and amble her way to the entryway. "It seems like this is as far as I could tell you right now. Maybe I'll continue it next time. If you'll excuse me." She bowed before closing the door.

In contrast, Lucifer couldn't utter another word. Perhaps it's because of the pact above his chest which connects them, but he felt his heart ache slowly since she started telling her story.

And right now, he feels an unbearable pain. An unbearable pain as if he's reliving his own scars.

He stared at the same scorching fire, and as though imitating her, he tried imagining the grief he have felt of losing someone dear.

"...lucky, huh... I guess I really am..." Clutching the fabric above his chest, he felt a pang of guilt from his curiosity.

If anyone asks if I hate Mammon for bullying him here too much— the answer's no. In fact, he's my # 2 (sometimes # 1 coz Luci). I really love him and his dorkiness! But he's just so adorable when he's flustered that I end up picking on him a bit too much (maybe that's also the reason why I love Luci and he's my first if not because of my occasional Mammon hype).

Anyways, it's a good thing I posted it now. I've been proofreading it for the umpteenth time cause I don't have any friends to ask nor share sentiments with the Obey Me Fandom (sad life of an otaku). I have many revisions but I'm quite satisfied with how it turns out again. UwU

And I didn't even noticed it's already 3 a.m. so I'm gonna peace out now~~

Chapter 3

MASTERLIST

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