Tumgik
#i'll probably add more specific thoughts later
nardos-primetime · 1 day
Note
what's the most fucked up thing/AU/whatever you made? I wanna desensitize myself to your work before diving in.
Starting out with saying I wouldn't condone any of the bad shit within my stories, often times these are just what ifs I find interesting to look into. I wouldn't look at an actual murderer irl and go "Awesome" but I'll joke around with my villain Mikey like "He hasn't done a thing wrong heart emoji" when he has actively killed and enjoyed the murder of multiple people.
A lot of my aus are more toned down from my regular more personal works, solely because I can't help but go a bit easier on the turtles since they are a comfort for me and I wouldn't find my more personal topics appropriate for the turtles.
Overall, I'd say body horror, disease, self harm, suicide, murder, and mental/physical abuse/child abuse/neglect is something to look out for in a lot of my works, along with gore and injury in general. I also have a tendency to write cannibalism (an interesting motif to me, I would not condone it irl, obviously) and/or autocannibalism (to cope with personal issues I am not comfortable elaborating on, it's some Mental health stuff.) Overall I like putting the turtles through it, lmao.
(Forgot to add animal abuse/death)
I will never directly delve into the topic of sex within my works (as in you'll never see me write any of them doing such acts), but I have a handful of somewhat older Leo's who specifically deal with unhealthy romance, one of these is within my magical boys au where all four experience some level of inappropriateness due to their fame, not once is this a good thing, and this is meant to be a bad thing within the story. The other has a Leo who dates around a lot but always falls short due to his anxieties and commitment issues. He never goes through with it, though he likes to joke about more sexual topics. (He's crude.)
The magical boys au, priorly mentioned, contains underage drinking and smoking, mental health issues, self-harm, and the boys being mistreated and abused within their own workplace, one way or another.
One of my oneshots currently has a younger child get murdered in it, though I've deliberately made the death surrounding it not as detailed, as even if younger children die in my stories it makes me uncomfortable to focus on it the same I would other characters, unless it's an injury a child survives, then it's a 50/50. This is a situation that is conflicting for the main character, but is done out of survival's sake. (In his eyes.)
Viral.Donnie has evolved into a character that focuses on addiction later on, and I do tend to give the turtles addictions depending on the story.
Million Dollar Box/Villain Mikey has hallucinations, vivid, probably not 100% accurate, but these are not his real brothers. Story wise, they are a way to delve into his mental state and look at his conflicting feelings about his family.
Villain Raph is less developed, but he actively is mentally (and physically) abusive to his brothers in his own way.
A lot of the time, my writing style mixes with the thoughts and personality of the main focus, and a lot of these times, the characters are not rational nor moral. Untrustworthy narrators are fun.
You will see I don't like actively splitting up the turtles entirely very much. Normally, I'd be able to do it easily, but I have a soft spot for them. Hell, Viral Donnie, Villain Raph, and Million Dollar Box Mikey's follow-up story gives them a family after losing theirs. Most of the time, if one turtle falls, I take the others, or at least one others with them. For fun.
I try to not go for just shock value, even if I like describing the horrors I like having a reasoning, whether it be some insane deeper meaning I made up, it fitting a character/their personality, or just being interesting for me. I do my best to tag all potentially triggering topics within my works, but I may slip up at times. Apologies for that.
Horror is my main fixation overall outside of TMNT, and I like various types of it. The Nonsense Apocalypse AU is supposed to be a mixture of slice of life and horror, resulting in a world that just doesn't make sense, with some more... serious aspects on top.
I hope this helps, I kinda went on a ramble, but I didn't want too much confusion since most of my actual aus aren't fully out yet in any way.
Hope it helps again, Anon.
20 notes · View notes
mewmew-dream · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media
uh, is it too late to make slay the princess long quiet (and narrator) designs..? the voices designs will get designed soon! ((narrator design is basically a spoiler for those who haven't seen or played to the end of the game so beware!)) theres more info for the design and the narrator's design below along with the full image!! - - - took me so long to actually start drawing out my design tbh! mostly a mix of procrastination and other things honestly!. anyways! you may notice how my design differs from what others designed the long quiet as and the official vague renderings of him! this is very much on purpose if you couldnt tell as there is an explanation for this. - (sorry in advanced for the very odd and choppy explanation, im not very good at explaining things so i'll probably draw what i mean later to compensate) - the long quiet in the first loop(s) looks like this, but with each new part to that specific loop he'll start transforming, looking more bird like (like what we have to go off of from art from the game) each time. this also happens in the void area! (i know its called the long quiet also but i call it the void.) the design was my first idea of the game before getting the game and knowing what happened but i kept the design, just not the reason on why he looks like this! basically my thought process on this before was basically " guy who was sketchy to begin with got cursed? cool! but he has to slay a princess due to him being an outcast and his curse? better!! " it doesnt hold up when you know what happened / happens in the end though but yeah.
Tumblr media
the narrator is based off what we get from the mirror when the player obtains 5 vessels for the shifting mound, except with all seeing eyes i guess.. he stays near the long quiet to observe in each loop yet out of sight. of course his voice is in the long quiets head so distance isnt accounted for when he's talking! he of course can see the voices as well with those big ol' eyes.
Tumblr media
aaand heres the full image! shoutout to anyone who can see the very visible but suppose to be hidden details! (they where very last minute..) also ignore the odd neck feathers, i was gonna add more to the chest but forgot up until now but i might fix it later!!
377 notes · View notes
ambrosiagourmet · 6 days
Text
Rin Masterpost
Rin! Rinsha Fana! Beloved side character I think about far too much (or maybe not enough?)
I decided that it might be nice to put together an informational post about Rin, since she has some of my favorite background details of any character in Dungeon Meshi. This is partly as reference for myself, and partly for anyone else who might be interested in her but not know where to chase down the tidbits we we get of her, both in canon & extra materials. There’s also a little bit of theorizing and analysis sprinkled in for fun.
If anyone spots something I missed, please let me know and I will add it in!
Alright. Time for ultimate #rinposting
History and Timeline:
We don't have an official timeline for Rin (even in the expanded Adventurer's Bible, sadly), but we can put a lot of pieces together based on Kabru's timeline & their respective ages.
Rin is 2 years older than Kabru, and they met when he was 9. Assuming that he met her soon after she was taken to the elven capital, that means that the elves took her when she was 11.
Before that, she lived on the Northern Continent. Interestingly, when Mickbell asks about Shuro, Rin says she was born "here."
Tumblr media
Since "here" doesn't mean the actual Island itself, it must mean simply "not the east." She is described in the Adventurer's Bible as having "no real knowledge of or attachment to the East," so maybe that's why she draws a "there" verses "here" line.
I'd also like to add a note here that the elves don't seem uh... they don't seem great about respecting the value of other cultures, especially those of short-life species. Milsiril seems to have discouraged Kabru from eating or remembering food from his hometown, at least, and that's even as an adoptive parent who cares (at least in some way) for her child. As I will touch on later, the "care" that Rin was under probably had even less respect for her history or ties to either Eastern or Northern culture.
That is all to say, considering that Rin spent many years with the elves, I'd take her having "[no] attachment to the East" as more of a comment on how she feels now, and less as a definite choice she made. She may genuinely have chosen that approach and opinion for herself, she may have been pushed towards it by the elves, and she may have had little choice at all in the matter - all are valid interpretations, though I personally lean towards the thought that it's unlikely the elves didn't have at least some hand in it.
Anyway, Rin does seem to know at least a bit about her heritage - she can presumably name and identify the specific island her parents are from, and she recognizes that "Shuro" isn't a name used there. She also knows that different places from the Eastern archipelago speak different languages, so she knows at least a little about the other islands as well.
Some additional extrapolations I'll make based on these facts: she never mentions, and probably isn't in contact with, any family from her island. This may be because her extended family died, because her parents didn't (or weren't able to) maintain contact, or because she lost contact when she was taken by the elves. Somewhat relatedly, she also prooobably doesn't speak the language, at least not fluently, though her being able to comment on the state of language in the archipelago makes me think that she at least learned a little as a kid.
Anyway, Rin's parents were refugees from the archipelago, though we don't know what specifically caused them to leave. There is this little tidbit of info we get (from the cover of chapter 48, of all places), though:
Tumblr media
So yeah, that seems like it would be the backdrop of Rin's parents fleeing. As I said earlier, it's unclear if Rin might have any living family left back on her island. The listing she has for “family” in the Adventurer's Bible is just a dash, but so is Izutsumi's, for instance, and we know that she was taken from her family with no knowledge of who might still be out there. It's possible everyone else was killed, it's possible they were separated... it's possible that Rin's parents didn't even know.
As an additional note, and this is speculation on my part, but I think there is an argument to be made, with this tidbit from the cover as well as the Nakamoto clan's specialty in espionage and use of ninjas, that the politics of the archipelago are partially based on Sengoku era Japan. Not necessarily super relevant here, but I think it's interesting context for all... of the archipelago characters, honestly.
(Especially considering it seems like the Nakamoto clan is in a relatively comfortable position, and yet clearly are involved, or at least prepared to be involved in larger conflict. How stable is their position, really? How is Shuro's father viewed by the wider region and archipelago as a whole? What about his lord? NOT THE POINT THIS IS A POST ABOUT RIN. BUT IT'S VERY INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT.)
Okay, back to Rin's parents.
Whatever caused them to leave, they made their way to the north, where they made their living with their magic for a time. There are no specifics about what kind of magic they used, but we know at least some examples of jobs that magic can get you, based on the flashback to Laios and Falin's childhood in chapter 26. Laios proposes that Fain could use her magic to be a priest, gravekeeper, or wandering exorcist. Though these are specific to Falin's affinity with spirits, they give some idea of the shape of the work that might be available. It's important, but it is also on the outskirts of society - not necessarily admired or appreciated by the average person.
And Rin’s parents were killed by vigilantes for that magic. It's not entirely news that superstitious villages in the area would sometimes kill magic users - we see a small drawing of people being burned at the stake in a panel towards the end of the manga:
Tumblr media
Nonetheless, Rin is the only person in the main cast who has experienced this brutality firsthand. And she did experience it firsthand, having been found by the elves as the sole survivor within the burnt ruins of her home.
It is unknown exactly how she survived, or what happened to her parents before and during the fire. Rin lived, and they did not.
The elves came some time after the fire, intending to investigate reports of ancient magic. They (and we) don't know if Rin's parents actually did use ancient magic, or if the reports and murders were simply spurred by general fear and superstition. Rin was the only piece of "evidence" that remained, and so she was taken back to the west with the elves when they left.
We don't know much about her time on the Northern Central Continent (where the elves/Canaries are based), but it doesn't seem like she was adopted or taken in by anyone the way that Kabru was. According to the Adventurer's Bible, after being taken into custody, "under their care she was treated as a captive animal would be." I would guess that means very basic food and shelter, little to no education. Probably the most social contact she got was from Kabru, as well as maybe, occasionally, from elves treating her as a curiosity, such as in this bit in the Adventurer’s Bible:
Tumblr media
Assuming she left with Kabru (which seems like it is the case, there's no info about them having separated during that time), she spent 9 years with the elves, and has been with Kabru on the Island in the 4 years since then.
She also stays in the Golden Country after the end of the story, apparently working as an alchemist.
Additional Details (& Speculation):
What does she remember of her family and home?
I'd like to take a moment here to explore a little of what Rin might remember of her parents and home.
For reference, we can look at Kabru. The canaries came to Utaya when Kabru was 6, and he arrived in the capital when he was 7. He remembers the events of the tragedy in his home, and has some memories of his mother and life in Utaya, including memories of local dishes.
Rin lost her parents and home at 11, so she presumably has much clearer memories of the events that lead to her being taken by the elves... or she might, assuming that they haven't been completely blocked by her trauma from the event.
Yeah, I am fairly damn sure that she's got some memory issues from trauma and PTSD. For one, this is the state she was found in:
Tumblr media
As already mentioned, she was also treated like something of an animal by the elves. She probably didn't have a lot of contact with other people, which would further perpetuate that sense of isolation and dehumanization. What I'm getting at here is that Rin probably didn't have much to help pull her out of this place, or heal these wounds. She had Kabru, who was also a kid and even younger than her, and she had herself.
Obviously trauma leaves different scars on everyone, and everyone responds and copes in different ways. But I do think it is interesting that we never hear anything about Rin's parents or life before the elves, and there are no real details about it given in the Adventurer's Bible the way we have for Kabru. What's presented is more surface level facts: they were refugees, they made a living with magic, they were killed.
I'm inclined to believe that things are laid out this way because that's how Rin holds on to these things. She knows things about them, but possibly remembers them more as things she was told/knows to be true, rather than actual memories she can picture herself experiencing.
Rin's Magic
In an interesting counterpoint to her potentially spotty memory, I do actually think Rin may have learned magic from her parents (or started learning, and was self-taught from there). She never attended a magic academy, and actually has a bit of grudge against people who did - owing to the social protection afforded to "upper-class mages," which her parents did not have. She also almost certainly wouldn't have been taught by the elves, who not only treated her as an animal but also knew her parents may have been involved with ancient magic.
Falin began to show signs of magical talent at 8, and was sent to the Magic Academy at 10, and that was as someone who had absolutely no guidance about or exposure to magic in her home town. Raised by two mage parents, I think Rin absolutely could have been learning some things by the time she was 11.
In terms of continued learning, I'll add that Rin is able to identify Marcille's magic as being A) from an Academy student, and B) cast by an elf:
Tumblr media
This makes me think that she continued to study magic on her own while held by the elves, and probably even more so after leaving with Kabru. They didn't form the party until two years after they left the elves, which would give Rin plenty of time to try and learn from other adventurers on the Island, or to study up on her own. She'd probably be able to pick up some dungeon-crawling basics (like the water walk spell), as well as become familiar with the skill level and expression of skill common in different people with different backgrounds (hence why she is able to comment on the "textbook" academy wards).
Much like Marcille, Rin also seems to rely on a 'one size fits all' Big Boom method of dealing with monsters: lightning. We see the best example of its power in the fight with Chimera Falin:
Tumblr media
But we also see her cast it pretty recklessly in a few other places, including the end credits of the new anime ED, which I think provides a good example of the downsides to such an approach...
Tumblr media
Yeah, it is very much a 'get out of the way or get zapped' spell.
Especially since Marcille's offensive magic is self-taught and works very similarly, this definitely reinforces the idea that Rin figured most of this stuff out herself.
Outfit and Character Design
Dear sweet Rin of the Red And Black... how I love her design.
Tumblr media
First of all, her clothes are damaged. Despite the fact that Rin looks relatively well put together overall, her outfit is worn out. I have some theories on why this is that I'll get to in a bit, but for now I'll just touch on what this design communicates in general about it.
I think, just like with Kabru's horribly messy room, it creates a sense that there is something more complicated underneath the surface. Something that isn't being addressed or seen to, just as the dress hasn't been mended or replaced.
It also reflects her not caring a ton about her appearance. She's neat, but she's not concerned about being pretty, so she doesn't bother with fixing up her outfit after her dungeon crawls. This also fits with her perpetual scowl (which I will talk more about in a bit), and slightly disheveled hair.
Next: the gloves. At first I thought they might be a sort of uncomfortable-with-touch thing, but after skimming through the manga and some bonus content, I have another theory. Rin takes the gloves off to eat, as well as a few other instances, such as when working on a spell with Holm and Marcille in chapter 36
Tumblr media
This one is especially interesting because she has them on in the next chapter, during the fight with Falin. Since she also isn't wearing gloves during some of the Daydream Hour art of her outside of the dungeon, that leads me to believe that they are specifically for combat.
What does she need them for, though? Most other casters we see don't wear gloves. Well... just look at the other half of the page where she attacks Falin with lightning:
Tumblr media
She is enveloped by this spell. I said it before was pretty reckless magic, but maybe its not just a problem for her teammates, but for her as well.
So here's my theory: maybe the gloves are rubber, or some other electricity-resistant material? They might help protect her from her own magic. I don't know why a caster would need gloves for combat otherwise.
I also think this might be why her dress is tattered at the bottom, by the way. Especially since the Daydream Hour genderswap design doesn't have a similar problem with his outfit, since the tunic isn't as long.
Tumblr media
I will admit this is a bit of stretch/guess, but I think it's a fun one, and I wanted to share. I do think I'm right about the gloves being for dungeons/fighting specifically, at least. That seems pretty consistent throughout all of her appearances.
I also mentioned her scowl, so I'll touch on that briefly as well. The (fairly confirmed) explanation for Rin's expression is that she intentionally wears a frown to prevent her other expressions from showing through. I think it's important to emphasize that it's not just smiling that she is trying to suppress here - it's any strong emotion:
Tumblr media
Anyway, because I can, here is the art of Rin smiling.
Tumblr media
Rin and Kabru
I have talked a bit about Rin and Kabru's history, but I think it deserves its own section.
I think it's very interesting that Rin is pretty much the ONLY character in all of Dungeon Meshi that has explicit canonical romantic interesting in someone. It's literally part of the main summary sentence in her character profile.
Tumblr media
This could be sort of reductive as a way to describe a female character (and in some ways it still is), but I think in part the simplicity and directness of it actually is part of what makes it so interesting. Especially when on the very next page we see the comic about her backstory. "This mage is in love with Kabru" -> one page of a horribly traumatic event and a child frozen in shock with no one to comfort her. What does that do?
Well, in my opinion, it shows how much Rin focuses on Kabru as something to keep her in the present. In contrast with the immense loss she has experienced, her love for Kabru is current and alive. He has presumably been her anchor for years, and I think that her love is part of that anchor.
Adding to this, in contrast with how explicit her feelings are, she never seems to actively pursue Kabru. She complains about his potential interest in other women, but she doesn't really flirt. She doesn't let herself smile around him any more than anyone else, and she doesn't hide her bitterness or anger from him to present a more appealing persona.
As much as she craves Kabru's attention, and has stayed by his side for years, I don't know that she really wants to possess him. He seems to know about her feelings, more or less, and she seems to know that he knows. Maybe she believes he doesn't reciprocate and is respecting that, maybe she's afraid of what she could lose if she tried to change things, or maybe the change itself frightens her. In any case, though she's not exactly happy with the way things are between them, she doesn't seem to be trying to change that status quo.
A specific thing I'd also like to talk about with their relationship, beyond Rin's love for him, is her fear for him. As the Adventurer's Bible puts it, "she worries that his knack for dealing with whatever life throws at him might lead him to get too full of himself and end up in serious trouble."
Rin is an interesting mix of restrained and explosive, herself. Her magic is destructive, her temper seems to run hot (she gets annoyed easily, at least), and her feelings for Kabru are apparent. At the same time, she doesn't let her emotions show on her face, she is the one who bluntly states that the group has hit the limit of their abilities, and she doesn't act on those obvious feelings for Kabru. It's interesting, then, that what she fears for Kabru is that he won't restrain himself.
And a small personal idea about that as well: I wonder if she somewhat blames her parents for getting killed. Again, this is very speculative, but I think it's interesting that her fear for Kabru is that he will get too full of himself. Take up too much space. It's never really stated what Rin thinks of her parents, but it can be easy in grief to search for control, and control often means blame. If they hadn't been so confident, so flashy, would they still be alive...?
I don't know if she's ever thought like that, and it could well be that her fears for Kabru come from a totally different place. But it's an interesting connective thread between her past and present - the idea of "getting in trouble" for taking up too much space and being too confident in one's own abilities.
Miscellaneous Tidbits:
On that note, I'd like to wrap up the main part of this post, and move on to a few extra things that I couldn't find another place for.
Rin plays with her hair when she's stressed
Using stressed as a pretty big umbrella here, because I think it's hard to perfectly pin down all the emotions at play, but it is a habit of hers. Best displayed in chapter 32, but it shows up in other places, too.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Her design contrasts with Marcille
This is a small thing, but I just love how much they are visual opposites.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Rin wears red and black and has dark hair, Marcille wears blue and white and has light hair. Marcille cares a great deal for her hair and puts it up in elaborate hairstyles, and Rin's is mostly loose and a bit messy. Marcille was even educated at the Magic Academy, which Rin dislikes. They both have little capelets. Also they both look very cute in each other's clothes.
Rin knows Flamela (and they meet again in canon)
Nothing much is done with this in canon, but I think it’s super interesting that Flamela's squad are the ones that find Rin as a child and take her away to the west, and then they end up stuck in the dungeon together for a bit.
Tumblr media
Two days??? I'm so very curious what things were like between these three.
Aaaand I think that's all I have to say about Rin! For the time being at least. There's a lot more analysis that could be done about her and Kabru especially, but for this post I wanted to keep things at least somewhat anchored to canon facts, with only a layer or two of speculation on top.
If it isn't already obvious, I think Rin is a super interesting character with a ton of potential depth to explore. She mostly interacts with Kabru in canon, but has ties to a bunch of other characters: she and Marcille fill similar roles in their parties but have differing personalities and histories, she and Falin (and Laios) have been tremendously shaped by xenophobia and fear of magic common in the Northern Continent, her parents fled from conflict in the same region Shuro and his retainers are from, and she has history with Flamela and some of the second canary squad.
Her temper, her fear, her love... her repression and passion - they all inform her character, even in small ways, even with as little time as she spends on the page.
197 notes · View notes
dotmander · 1 year
Text
How To Get Your Character Models Out Of A Game: Tips And Tricks For Bitches That Have Never Used Blender
Tumblr media
(it's me, i'm bitches)
(also ignore how messy that lighting is it's 1am and i should have been asleep hours ago. he's there for proof of concept 💕)
a couple people (specifically @forsaken-constellation and @ratasum) asked for a tutorial on how to rip models out of the game. this is not that, but it is a compilation of resources i used to learn about ripping, blender, and 3d modeling in general. i desperately wanted a post like this to exist when i was trying to figure this out, so here we go! all the resources below are completely free, with the exception of a link to the patreon of the person that created ninjaripper.
disclaimers:
there are probably more efficient ways to do the things i am doing. i watched a tutorial to learn shortcuts and then skipped to character models. if you have tips to add, corrections to make, or other thoughts, please feel free to share! i'll link to your post here. ^^
i do not know if any of this will get your account banned. i've ripped several models, so i'm going to assume it's fine as long as you don't try to make money off of it. use your best judgment, be an adult, etc etc etc
last updated: april 2, 2023
PROGRAMS & WEBSITES
ninjaripper 1.7.1 - there's a newer version on the creator's patreon, presumably with support for newer versions of blender and fewer bugs, but i haven't tried that
blender 2.79 - the import addon that comes with ninjaripper 1.7.1 is outdated for the current version of blender (3.5 as of this post), so 2.79 is needed to combine the .RIP files into a .BLEND (blender) file
noesis - ninjaripper saves your textures as .DDS files, noesis lets you view them and export them as .PNGs
blender 3.5 (optional?) - i just like it better than 2.79. if you're completely new it might not matter to you. all of the tutorials linked later are for later versions, though.
mixamo (optional) - rigs your character for you and lets you put them in Situations (like my guy above.) there's a whole library of free animations and poses you can try!
TUTORIALS
how to use ninjaripper - most of what you need to know about actually ripping the files and using ninjaripper is covered here. do not skip this one.
how to use blender 3.5 - full disclosure i haven't finished this series because it's uhhhh many hours long. but if you are a complete newbie to blender, i do recommend at least the first few videos; you'll learn about shortcuts that will make your life easier, how to unfuck your model when it fucks itself for no reason, and different terms that will help you google things you don't know later on. possibly he even covers some of the things i'm about to link! anyway.
what's a uv map?
how to apply textures
how to apply bump maps (note: for our purposes, you wouldn't add a color ramp node, you would add an image node with your bump map, and attach it to the bump node as the person does in the video)
there should be stuff here about weight painting, cloth physics, emission maps (makes your sylvari glow), and other stuff, but um. i haven't figured those out <3  
TIPS
Tumblr media
TURN UP YOUR GRAPHICS BEFORE YOU RIP - if you don't, you might end up missing certain textures/glows/etc. HOWEVER, you should turn animations down, because apparently high animation can make your meshes misplace themselves
rip from the character select screen, rather than an instance, because you will have 100 meshes to sort through instead of 1400. i am not exaggerating either of those numbers. if you are new to blender, please love yourself and start with character select.
your textures will be fucked up the first time you try to apply them. this is because the UV maps (the things that tell your textures where to go) of your models are flipped upside down in relation to the texture image. you can flip them back over manually, ooooor you can just flip the entire texture file in something like CSP or photoshop.
for some reason all eyes are red in the texture files. i have not figured out why. i recommend editing the .PNG to have the correct eye color before applying the texture.
mixamo only works for humanoid characters with tight clothing (or without clothing at all). if you try to use it to rig a charr or asura, or someone with a skirt or big sleeves, you will most likely be disappointed.
that's all i can think of for now - if you have other questions, feel free to shoot them my way, although i can't promise i'll have a straight answer ^^;;
information from bookahlogy about character proportions, fixing normals, and other fun tips
447 notes · View notes
i-heart-hxh · 3 months
Note
hi! so ive been so confused/unsure abt why killua's reaction to palm saying "you are the one gon needs most" looked like he was devastated. ive thought of different reasons on why he had that reaction:
1) he got scared/devastated/stressed at the fact that he was the only one who could really help gon at that moment, but he was so sure he was useless cuz he couldn't even snap gon back to his own senses. so its like "if i—the closest help there is to gon—can't help him, then who/what else can?" and so the overwhelming thoughts of gon possibly dying haunts him.
2) he couldn't believe that he's the one gon really needs the most after assuming that palm probably placed higher than him already, and was fully convinced gon cares more about palm more than him. but then palm says she cant even compare to killua, which gave him that reaction .... i guess its like relief but portrayed in a painful way cuz of his self worth issues.
3) he got pressured by the thought of being the one gon will always rely on the most. anything bad that happens to gon will always depend on what killua would do abt it. and killua always worries and sacrifices too much when it comes to gon, so pressure just added up.
aaaand this is making my brain all scrambled (TT) i wanted to ask if u have a clearer answer for this..? i trust ur judgement a lot (。-人-。)
Hello! Aw, I appreciate that you trust my judgment, that's sweet of you to say. ❤️ I'll do my best to explain my take on Killua's expression in this scene!
Tumblr media
So, I think his reaction of shock and looking devastated is primarily from the first set of reasons you brought up. He already tried to step in and stop Gon and got pushed away and told that the situation with Kite is none of his business essentially. Being rejected like that and being unable to change Gon's course of action (even though that's the role Gon entrusted him with) broke his heart, and made him feel like he can't change Gon's impending tragic outcome.
Bisky also told him this earlier in the arc:
Tumblr media
While we know his tendency to flee against a strong enemy is caused (at least in a large part) by the needle, which he's already removed at this point in the series, Bisky's words to him and the gravity of the current situation still weigh heavily on him. In this scene, he's realizing that Gon's fate rests on him--and he doesn't know what to do to save Gon at this point. There's no one else he can ask or rely on any more to save Gon, it all hinges on him. What a heavy burden that is to be entrusted with, especially with how deeply he loves Gon--to a degree where he has actively decided and even stated out loud that he'll die with him if it comes down to that.
That's why he's not happy or relieved (at least not visibly) to hear this, as much as being Gon's most important person is what he wants--to hear this at this point is a tremendously scary thing. He just broke down sobbing on the ground because he feels so helpless to do anything for Gon. This is what he needed to hear, and it's true as well, but it puts him a position of great responsibility towards someone he loves more than anything. He was previously directly told by someone he respects that he'll eventually leave Gon to die, which just adds extra fuel to the situation.
I do think both of your other ideas are things that contribute to Killua's state to a degree, but they're not the primary driving force of his reaction in this scene specifically. The situation with Palm and Gon did certainly destabilize his sense of his role in Gon's life (because he desperately wants to be Gon's most important person and, it's heavily hinted, his romantic partner) and that's why he's so fixated on whether Gon wants him at his side as his friend or his teammate. Hearing this from Palm is deeply meaningful for Killua--he even thanks her for it later (he doesn't specify what it's for, but it's obvious)--but again the timing is what makes it difficult for Killua to hear.
On your third point, I do think Killua also realizes as a result of what happens in Chimera Ant Arc that the dynamic between him and Gon can't continue as it has, hence the separation, but in this scene the situation is too urgent for him to be thinking deeply about future situations beyond the life-or-death one he and Gon are currently in. The pressure on him is absolutely a factor, though.
I hope that helps clarify this important scene for you!
58 notes · View notes
lvndrlondonfog · 16 days
Text
WOW PINNED POST!!!
HEYHEYHEY TO CATCH YOUR ATTENTION, I ACCEPT GOOD OMENS WRITING/DRAWING REQUESTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that I have your attention (I'll add more details on that below)...
I should've gotten around to this sooner than later, but here we go!
My name is Lvndr (yes, that's lavender; the name came from the drink!) and I like to consider myself a fandom artist, writer, and quite occasional storyboard-ist/animatic maker! I am a transmasc who uses he/they pronouns!
I enjoy yelling about Good Omens (and specifically Oopsie!Omens too) and just about everything related, much more than can be healthy; but it results in fandom content so.... an equal tradeoff, no?
Alongside good omens, I also love everything Doctor Who (almost as much as GO), Hannibal, Umbrella Academy, Moomin, DBH, Pokemon, WTNV, and the such!
My favorite music right now is: Hoizer, Queen, Abba, AJJ, Kimya Dawson, Hobo Johnson, and Will Wood! Never really left the 2010s, but that's more than fine with me, lmao
I ACCEPT WRITING/DRAWING COMMISIONS FOR GOOD OMENS STUFF AND THINGS!!! My apologies for yelling about that earlier, but it tends to snag people's attention and I really really want people to submit ideas and stuff!!! Just submit stuff in general, ask me for opinions, thoughts, ideas, anything GO related; I'm always more than willing to have a chance to yap; literally anything! And that absolutely includes Oopsie Omens and other AUs; I probably already know about them if they're out there, but if I don't than you've taken my plans for the evening to read up on them instead!
You can navigate my page and find my work/original posts through the melody of reblogs through these tags:
#lvndr writes
#lvndr draws
#lvndr yells
#lvndr answers
All kinda prove themselves as self explanatory (or so I hope,) so that about sums it up!
pleasepleaseplease talk to me i have so much to say I'm literally so normal about good omens
OTHER LINKS AND SUCH;
LvndrLemonade on AO3
LvndrLondonFog on TikTok and all other accounts!
26 notes · View notes
dizzystqrs · 1 year
Text
personal h2o lore & mermaid rules explanation
disclaimer: h2o: just add water is by no means a scientific show, the creators even said that they didn't put much thought into the specifics of anything, but if you are like me and Upset that they didn't, this is for u <3
disclaimer 2: these are my personal best-of-my-ability explanations, but they r Not canon at all, and absolutely feel free to disagree!
here we go!!
1. are the girl's human forms and mermaid forms separate bodies?
short answer: no, they aren't--but the episode red herring does make it seem that way, when emma's red hair is only in one form. however, if they were separate bodies, emma's finger cut in season 1 and rikki's head injury in season 2 which they both got in mermaid form would not have stayed when they transformed back (but they did!) it's more of a bodily permanent-to-not-permanent basis on what stays and what leaves during a transformation.
long answer: opalsiren also has a detailed post on this if you're curious (and i do highly recommend giving it a read bc it changed my life, reshaped my reality, watered my crops, etc etc) but i'll try to explain it here too
if we look at what stays and what leaves during a transformation, we can sorta see a pattern
freckles, scars, wounds, hair texture/length, bodily proportions (mermaid forms age along with their human forms) and eye color all stay the same, meanwhile clothes, accessories, makeup, hair dye, etc, all disappear. furthermore, anything permanent, genetic, or breaking the skin keeps, and anything temporary or sitting on top of the skin disappears, and then reappears later. (ex: hair length stays consistent because hair follicles penetrate the skin and go beneath it, semi-permanent hair color doesn't cuz it inly sits around the hair follicles. would dying your hair fully & permanently transform too? mayhaps!)
a scientific way to explain this would be that the transformation process takes into account genetics and then the current state of your body before making the switch into either form. so, during the 30 seconds it takes to transform, the process involves reading the genetic code (eye color, skin color, face shape, etc, and also perhaps it only does this the first time, and saves the information for the future?) and then the state of the body (wounds, age, weight, hair length, etc) and then proceeds to alter the genetic makeup to the incoming body type with the new information. (and all of this needs to be read so that the transformation doesn't mess with anything integral or unnecessary, and doesn't cause unwanted changes!! for example i like to think a mermaid bleeding out would not transform back, in order to preserve the body's energy and resources)
2. how do the girls get clean?
this is by far the most common question i see and. u know what... it is a good one to ask LMAO
as i went into before, anything that doesn't permeate the skin will disappear when transforming. this includes dirt and grime!! it will just disappear, then come back like everything else. while they could wash their face and arms in mermaid form, their legs will still be grimy cuz theyre unaccessible!! so like,, how is no one complaining that the girls smell all the time?
so first, fun solution; i like to think that a good solution is that the transformative process is cleansing, as in they straight up Turn Into Water so every single impurity on their skin (such as dirt, oil, makeup maybe, etc) is washed away in both human form and mermaid form in the 30 seconds it takes for them to fully turn. this is a little hard to explain scientifically but i think it would make more sense when given the magic treatment--it just does it bc it can.
semi-boring solution, probably the canon one: their mermaid skin IS their human skin, so cleaning a mermaid tail is just like cleaning their human legs. would make sense as to why they all take baths w their tails! this is also probably the canon explanation, because when dr. denman transforms a scale in her lab, it shifts right back into skin, meaning it is, essentially, the same material. this conflicts a teensy bit with previously established lore in my opinion but . yknow. it is a mermaid show for kids 💀
actual boring solution: there is a canon specific amount of water content that transforms them, which i believe is like above 32% or something. if a liquid contains 32% water, boom, tail. however, it wouldn't be too hard to find alcoholic wipes that contain less than that water content, which they could use to clean the parts of their body that the mermaid tail obscures. straight bars of soap are sometimes less water content than that too, so they could pretty easily just scrub then dry-wipe it off. is it... more sanitary/safe than just washing with water? probably not! but it's an option! and if you dont vibe with the above options, this is a p good alternative
3. hey, what the Fuck is the moonpool
fantastic question. literally no one knows. they are soooo vague with this piece of lore it actually makes me upset considering how COOOL it is that there is an ancient magic pool in a volcano on an abandoned island. they fumbled the bag so hard guys
heres like, pretty much everything we know canonly abt it (in h2o lore only, not mako mermaids, all my homies hate mako mermaids)
- it works hand-in-hand with the moon & planets
- it, or the water in it, is sentient, and is aware of any dangers to it
- it seems to have a connection to fate (as in, the 1950's mermaids & their connection to the 2000's girls)
- there are several of these (implied, but there could just be only one other in ireland)
- each one has a specific set of water-based powers to give out, evenly divided among each person that jumps in the moonpool in a full moon, and these powers can be amplified on specific nights. (this also seems to correspond with personality)
-it is magic. (this is a point because it is Very hard almost near impossible to explain it scientifically)
and yeah! i personally have a few headcanons for What the moonpool is and how it works, but i think it's a lot more fun to make your own so go crazy (and there is no way i could explain it cuz i have like 8000 thoughts abt it and None of them fit in a tumblr post) !! if youre curious u can read my fic about it tho B) xoxo
anyway that's all!! feel free to tack on any questions or answers slash disagreements about this silly little mermaid show as well !! <3
189 notes · View notes
nautilusopus · 11 days
Note
Do you have any advice for anyone trying to get into writing?
Not really a motivation thing or anything, just for improvement. Your writing has captivated me, and I felt like it's better to get advice from an author that is reachable than reading a ton of articles online regurgitating the same steps.
Aw, thank you, I'm honoured!
Apologies if this is kind of a mess, I mostly went through stuff I come back to a lot that helps me. Also tumblr seems to have removed the ability to do indented bullets. Fucking great.
In General:
When I'm first starting out writing a story I'm excited about, I usually don't do things in order -- I'll instead pick one scene I can see extremely clearly and am super excited about, one of the things that made me want to write the story to begin with, and then build the entire outline out from there to set it up (what needs to happen to set the scene up exactly how I want it to be? How do I justify that stuff? What would happen afterwards that would add to the scene even more in retrospect?) This not only helps keep the energy going for parts of the story that might not necessarily be fun to plan, but will inherently cause you to start building a story that is either circumstantially or thematically building to something. It can be something as small as a single conversation but it should be the bit that you personally want to see realised most strongly.
On that note, people like when they can see foreshadowing! That's what it's there for! This has been said by other people plenty, but I'll restate it here: the audience potentially being able to piece together your twist after a while is not a failure in writing, it means you put information into a story that allowed them to engage with it and conveyed something that made sense.
I personally sometimes (but not always mostly due to laziness and because I do try to approach shit chronologically so I don't have to double back and do massive rewrites, also due to laziness) like to write big keynote moments of character arcs in full in advance once I have the whole plot more or less laid out. That way, I know what's coming emotionally speaking and can have characters start clearly building up to things, do stuff like plant specific phrases that come back in big ways or are recontextualised later on, and it makes the story feel more cohesive as a whole and helps the scene hit a whole lot harder when you do get to it. Like I said though I'm lazy and I also don't like creating more work for myself if I don't have to, and if by chance the story doesn't shake out the way I thought it would by the time I get to that moment then god is it a pain to rewrite that sort of thing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Mostly I find it helps keep me focused on where it's going. It's a late stage thing though, I don't start doing this until I'm sure I know how the story will be laid out more or less chapter by chapter, which brings me to:
GO BACK AND CHECK IF YOU HAVE A MIDDLE OF YOUR STORY. ARE YOU SURE? GO BACK AND CHECK AGAIN. This is like the number one pitfall I see basically everywhere across any genre, both with fanfiction and professionally (and in movies always winds up manifesting in reviews as "the movie gets kind of aimless after a while/the third act kinda starts out of nowhere after a really slow part). People have an idea for a strong beginning, the rising action and the big dramatic moment when the stakes are raised, maybe a quiet moment in the middle reflecting on all the tension of the plot and how it's reflecting on the characters, a thing that sets off the end, probably an idea how it ends and how things resolve, et cetera -- and they will forget that at no point did they actually create any connective tissue between their plot development points. Travel! Character beats! The actual events in between big beat A and big beat B, no matter how barebones! Go back and check if you've made any!
As someone that writes a lot of heavily character-driven stuff I'm very biased here, but: in my opinion, if you have good, solid characters, they can carry even the most barebones dogshit story because they are the lenses that the audience is experiencing the world from and through, and whose actions are potentially shaping the course of the story, and of course who the reader is getting attached to. Conversely, even the richest, most lavishly detailed world and story is going to land with a thud if your characters aren't any good and don't have any more to them than making various political developments happen, because at that point you don't have a story with different elements interacting with each other to create events and tension, you have a lore wiki, which is not the same thing as a story. Maybe you could use that for a tabletop RPG, but people aren't necessarily gonna want to read it.
RELATED: JRRT was a linguist and historian first and a writer second. Lore is great and all and can help your world feel like it's a living breathing place, but think about if it's a good detail to include onscreen or not, or if it's just there to "flesh out the world". Stop to consider if this actually has a demonstrable effect on the things happening in front of the reader or not, and if anyone would notice if it were removed outright. Can some things be assumed? What might need to be explained?
Keep an eye on narrative voice versus character voice! If I stripped the dialogue tags from your story, could you still tell who was talking? Does everyone just talk like the narration? Like each other? Like you? Everyone is gonna sound like you at least a tiny bit because you're the one writing it, but at least try to keep an eye on how much you're doing that. It can be pretty boring to just listen to one guy talk the entire time across multiple mouths haha don't look at how long this post is getting shhhhhh
Any story (but especially horror, and especially especially cosmic horror), lives and dies by its suspension of disbelief. The rules don't need to be realistic because it is all made up, and they can be any rules you want, and if you establish them clearly then the audience will buy in as best they can because they want to engage with your story on its own terms (or they SHOULD grumble grumble but that's another discussion and not really something the author can control), but then once you've made them you need to stick to them, or when you do break them it should wind up meaning something.
Suspension of disbelief in horror or fantasy can be trickier, especially when it's something weird and the rules aren't even mechanically sound in their own setting. In that case, the important thing to preserve is emotional stakes the audience can buy into, about how this situation might feel to be in, or if there are any things in real life it might feel similar to. This one's more intuitive than you'd think. Sure, you might not know that the veil of reality is flimsy and all it would take to destroy it all is to get noticed by something much vaster than you could ever imagine; but you probably DO know what it's like to be one missed rent payment from losing everything and realising your safety was really all that never sound. I don't even flinch if someone's head explodes into gore in a movie, but I'll always wince and look away if someone has their fingers crushed or their eye pierced, because even though the violence is lesser I can imagine that happening to me and I don't like it one bit!
Horror can potentially struggle with this pretty badly. Unless you're writing a slasher where the point is to watch some dumb teens bite it, your movie won't actually be scary unless the audience can in some way feel endangered, and they won't be able to do that if what is going on is too disconnected from anything a human could experience. Writers tend to get fixated on making a Really Gross Scary Thing(TM) or Biggest Evilest Threat Evar(TM) and assuming their job is done.
There's no one right or wrong way to do something, but be aware that sometimes things tend to come up in stories a lot for a reason. The tools you have are just tools. Complaining a story has tropes in it is like complaining a tree is made of wood.
That said, if you're thinking of your story entirely in terms of which tropes you want to use, it may be time to take a step back and think about what you actually want to accomplish rather than mushing the same paste into the same holes for the 800th time (more on that later).
Dialogue. If it's something you struggle with, remember that chances are you're a person that knows how to talk, and so you inherently know how to create dialogue. The biggest pitfall I see is people overthinking it trying to "Write Dialogue in this Story" rather than just typing an idea the way they know inherently that it would be typed. If you wanna try and capture a much different voice, spend time listening to people -- and I mean really listening. People double back, correct themselves, trail off, change their train of thoughts in the middle, do more or less of these things when they're in a certain emotional state depending on their personality.
Frankly I'd spend time listening to real people anyway. Spend too much time online and characters wind up sounding like Twitter threads, or worst case scenario you wind up with perfectly articulated ideas and Therapy Speak. A character might not have the vocabulary you, someone who has been online for eighty to ninety years (est) would to convey specific ideas, and not everyone is perfectly self-aware about what they're saying. Someone's probably more likely to say "fuck you I had a bad day" than they are to go "gosh i dislike how much your own success reminds me of how my own mother held me to impossibly high standards so i have very high rejection sensitivity which is why i'm lashing out". Or, again, if someone does talk like that make it mean something. It could be a good example of someone either being insincere and going through keywords to shut someone up, or someone that's very socially awkward giving a rehearsed speech, and those are all potentially interesting ways to then take a story.
(Sidenote because I see this come up sometimes: Hate to single out a single genre here, but anime and by extent video games but mostly anime is a bad place to learn to write dialogue from -- if you're listening to a dub, they had to translate stuff from Japanese and then make it fit lip flaps on a screen, and if you're watching subs, not only were the subs translated but anime trends heavily towards melodrama and Japanese people typically do not speak that way.)
You gotta know the rules before you can break 'em! Read books. Actual books I mean, not just fanfic. Broaden your horizons. When you start breaking rules it will be because it's what you want to do.
Personal nitpicks, some fandom specific and some not. I'm aware some of these are basic but also you never know who might need to hear this stuff so:
Hentai is not a good place to learn about writing actual sex. It's a great place to learn about sex that is following pure porn rules, in which case go nuts and godspeed soldier, but unless you want your scene to come off as either unintentionally rapey or full of nonsensical leaps of moon logic when you're trying to write an otherwise somewhat grounded setting, you should probably read actual books meant for actual adults about fucking, or pull from your own experiences if you're able.
* This isn't advice but I want it known at this point I've seen at least three fanfics clearly written by a middle schooler that's never fucked before and honest-to-god genuinely seems to think some degree of omegaverse is how actual sex works. So that'll be interesting to encounter going forward. If you aren't committing to porn rules (there's that "the rules can be anything you want so long as they're internally consistent" bit again!) do research is my point.
If you started your character creation with their outfit and can tell me their star sign, bust measurements, the four shirts plus jacket plus socks plus shoes they're wearing, the kind of weapon they can summon, eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, height and weight, their agility score versus their magic score, and their favourite ice cream flavour, and yet you have one paragraph about "personality", your focus might not be in the right place and you are making an MMO character. That's fine for something you're going to be staring at the back of for 200 hours but maybe not for someone you're going to need to live inside the head of. Start with personality, and you can tailor all that fun back cover dossier stuff around who that person is and how it would inform the way they dress.
Bad child dialogue is my biggest pet peeve personally and I will immediately put a book down when I encounter it lol. A bigger portion of people are around children than you think and will notice if you've never interacted with a kid before. Children are not cavemen and do not talk like them. The gaps in their vocabulary tend to come from them having a limited amount of it and adapting new phrases into the few existing frameworks they have. This carries over to their psychology, by the way.
Specific to cosmic horror: you can't just make a Gross Thing, your horrors need actual motivations. Nobody cares how big of a squid you can invent, and going "uhhh it's so scary I don't have to bother can't describe it" can only work so many times and is not an excuse to at least not try to describe something. How it makes the characters feel, what the experience is like, whatever. Now, you don't ever have to tell the readers directly what the motivations of your old gods are, but you the writer should come up with some to shape their behaviour so the readers can see the inscrutable ghosts of clear patterned actions that almost make sense yet remain just outside human comprehension oooooooooo. Also readers can generally tell when that's missing and all you have is Large Squid Scary doing random gross shit so it's not an excuse to skimp.
Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. We have pronouns. We have context clues. We have sentence structures that convey what is going on to the reader. We have nouns. If you are going to constantly refer to your character as The Brunette it better be hugely massively goddamn significant that her hair is brown or it's gonna become clear real fast that you just ran out of ways to phrase things and it's gonna take people right out of the story. If the only way you can think of to describe your character in an intense emotional scene is "uhhh this is the one with the brown hair remember I hope you didn't forget" then that's code fucking red. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets. Stop using hair epithets.
And the two biggest bit of advice I can come up with for people trying to improve their craft that I give out every time:
1 Have a point. Have a clearly identified reason in your mind about what you want to accomplish with this story. This will help you get your thoughts in order when you are stuck, it will help you outline the story if you're not sure where you want it to go next, it will help other people troubleshoot with you if you aren't sure how to start solving a problem, it will help you make decisions about what and what not to include to help it feel complete, and it will help motivate you when you start to lose track of why you even started this project. Saying "well it's a Vampire AU and I want to do Hurt/Comfort with an ambiguous ending and a BAMF!Scrongus with Soft!Cromgle" doesn't tell me a damn thing, either as a reader OR as someone potentially trying to help you whip the thing into shape. That's a bit like asking, "How do I write a Cute yet Cool character?" like bitch I don't know it's your story there are a million ways to write this stuff and yes that is a real question I got asked once.
Instead, have an actual, identifiable goal that is personal to you, what you want to write, and what you have to say. That can be anything from "I have a lot of strong opinions about why gender is, across the breadth of experiences possible with human consciousness, a zero sum game that must be internally and deliberately engaged with before one is then able to determine their own relationship to it" to "oh man i love the idea of Mark from Accounts Receivable one day going apeshit and beating Jake from Auditing half to death with an office chair and the fallout that would generate and maybe also someone FINALLY FINALLY asks him for the first time 'hey dude are you okay do you wanna talk'" to "god it'd be so hot if this guy were bent over a pool table drooling onto the velvet and i am going to do everything in my power to facilitate that somehow". Either way, clear mission statement and goal that isn't just telling me what tags you're slapping on the finished product! If you have that kind of clarity of vision it will come across in your piece and resonate with people because it's a complete thought that the work is able to deliberately showcase, instead of just churning out Content™ that fits certain templates that are popular, even if you like said templates. What do you have to say? Why did this idea stick in your brain so hard you had to write it down and tell the world about it? What parts of it especially did you want to convey so badly? Show us!
2 Writing is vulnerability by proxy. Until we get the technology for brain uploading, you are only going to ever be you in your own head with your own thoughts, experiences, biases, and worldviews. If you think you can write something without exposing a lot of really revealing shit about yourself to an audience that notices it, perish that thought now. Quentin Tarantino and HP Lovecraft weren't slick about it and you won't be either. This is neither a bad thing or a good thing, it just is, and whether it affects the work for better or for worse is honestly dependent upon how you engage with that fact. I will say trying to back away from it generally leads to problems (unexamined prejudices showing up in stories, worldviews that it turns out most people don't share going stated simply as fact rather than being supported by the writing around it). It can also lead to a stronger story, though, if you're willing to engage with it. Engaging honestly with what scares you and why, what you find comforting, uplifting, upsetting, et cetera. All of these require vulnerability, and allowing other people to see that, and it's going to happen with your without your consent because you're the one writing the thing, so you may as well make peace with it and lean in. "But what if it's cringe" too late baby most things are cringe and that shouldn't be your focus. You are fighting a losing battle. We are all cringe. But we are free.
Hope this helps. I just know I've left half a sentence fragment in here that I said I'd come back to and then forgot oh god
24 notes · View notes
therosefrontier · 2 months
Text
TWST Family Lore: Heartslabyul Part 1
As a fanfic writer, the family question has been coming up a lot for me with these guys, especially with me wanting to potentially actually write these unseen family members that get mentions thrown out there, so I started collecting information, and then, I thought I'd make a post about it! This first part is just Heartslabyul, about their family members and what we know about them (that I could find, anyways), plus some of my thoughts/guesses. This very well might not be exhaustive, but maybe if I see something more I'll add on!
That said! Spoiler warning! I am including info from various vignettes, card voicelines, and events, including JP server only cards, but I will try to avoid too many specific JP event story spoilers (which in this post is pretty much just a lot of White Rabbit). I include main story stuff from book 1 and also the first part of book 7 (which is out in EN), but nothing from the rest of book 7 which is out in JP. Which probably doesn't have anything Hearts-related anyways (I do not know)? I might be waiting for the rest of book 7 to come out before posting a Diasomnia edition to this, though...
So anyways! Let's get to it!
ACE TRAPPOLA
Tumblr media
He has an older brother (seven years older than him, as mentioned in his school uniform vignette), whom he seems to be fairly close with. We also have mention of his dad, but so far, as far as I can tell, there is mention of no one else. He does mention his parents in the plural once: in his ceremonial robes voicelines, he says that "I think my brother was happier than my parents when we found out I made it into this school." We also know that his brother was a student at NRC himself and was also in Heartslabyul, which may very well be one reason for his enthusiasm at his little brother getting into the same school. At the freshmen orientation ceremony, Ace shows no surprise to getting chosen for Heartslabyul, assuming that he'd end up in the same place as his brother (Ace robes vignette).
But first, Ace's dad! He gets mentioned in his birthday boy vignette. He is not a mage (implying that, perhaps, Ace and his brother get their magic from their mom's side? As it does appear to be a genetic thing of some sort according to some mentions, but also, it can skip generations, as is seen with Epel), but he is really good at old-fashioned magic of the sleight-of-hand variety. When asked what got Ace into sleight of hand by Yuu for the birthday interview, he says it'd be his dad, who was "ridiculously good" at it.
Tumblr media
(image credit: Songstress Studios)
Ace goes on to say that he learned the "nuts and bolts" of it from his brother, whom he believes was also inspired by their dad, and he also says that whenever he visits home, he and his brother will show off to each other and challenge each other to spot the trick!
Ace also talks about his brother in relation to learning tricks in his dorm uniform vignette. He shows sleight of hand tricks to his dormmates, and when Riddle shows surprise and awe over the 'pick a card' trick he's definitely never seen before, Ace says that he reacted in pretty much the same way when his brother first showed it to him. When asked about his brother, Ace says that he "started playing around with cards for funsies" while he was a student, and Ace later learned from him, but not directly. He never gave away the secret, but Ace learned by watching him. (And he learned well, too! Ace has been shown to be very good at this, also coming up notably in the Fairy Gala IF event, for instance).
Tumblr media
(image credit: RedAngel)
Earlier, Cater had asked Ace to show him the secret, and Ace made a deal with him for it since he'd never do it for free, and after hearing Ace's story, Cater guesses that Ace's mentality of never giving away anything for free could have come from his brother.
It also seems that Ace's brother was absolutely the type to tease him. In his birthday boy vignette, Ace tells a story of how on his birthday, his brother gave him a box with a fancy watch inside, which got Ace all excited, but then he clarifies that the watch was *his* watch, not Ace's. Ace's gift was the box. His brother afterwards fills the box with candy, but Ace was not amused.
Tumblr media
And in other notes:
He is bad at cooking, according to Ace, who says he "doesn't know a cake from a steak" (school uniform vignette).
He taught Ace how to "kill time in the dorms" (school uniform vignette).
He took a theme park management internship in his fourth year at NRC, and he's continued to work there after graduation (Book 7, Chapter 4).
(Also, this thing about the theme park might be a reference, maybe?? In the Tokyo DisneySea park, there was this "villain recruiters" show that ran from 2015 to 2018, featuring original minions of various Disney villains who would make a pitch to invite guests to join the "Villains' World," and there was a Queen of Hearts card soldier character named Jack Heart, whose costume design does resemble Heartslabyul's! And he does the heart thing with his hands like Ace does in his official art! So, might have been inspiration? Anyways, this tumblr post by ceeyuin666 has a nice summary of it so there).
Anyhow, back on track and back to the school uniform vignette, Ace mentions how before he came to NRC, his brother would "take him about everywhere," which does seem to imply they spent a lot of time together, and he also seems to have been a big influence on Ace. For better or worse :). In this vignette, Ace does a favor for Trey in exchange for a slice of cherry tart, when tips for the history test were what he really wanted, a second motive Trey totally expected, and when asked if he was lying about loving cherries so much, Ace said that he wasn't: his brother told him "the most convincing lies are sprinkled with a dash of truth." Knowing Ace, Trey is not surprised.
Tumblr media
(anyways I really want to meet this guy so please Ace hometown event please!!)
DEUCE SPADE
Tumblr media
(translation credit to Ekala on Youtube!)
He has no siblings and was raised by his single mother, whom we have actually met! In the JP server, anyways! She shows up in Deuce's hometown event, the White Rabbit Festival. So, we have a name! Meet Dilla Spade (or Dilah? Dira? Deela?)! Romanization isn't clear yet; I'll just say "Dilla" for now. Also, we find out she's a delivery truck driver for the thematically-named White Rabbit Delivery company.
Deuce is shown to have been very close to his mom growing up, noticeable enough to the point that his old middle school friends teased him for it and called him "childish" (starsending vignette). We find early on that this is an important part to his story—when Deuce was in middle school, he was acting like a delinquent: skipping school, disrespecting teachers, being reckless and getting into fights. Then, one night, he overheard his mom talking to his grandma (only mention of his grandma that I know of, but, noted that she's in the picture too!), and he could tell that she was crying. She was feeling like a failure of a mother, and said that "maybe she never should have tried to raise him herself." Deuce, however, doesn't blame her at all. Seeing her like that really shook him up, and he resolved to "never do anything to make her cry" again. This is his motivation for wanting to be an honor student; he wants to be the opposite of what he was before and prove himself. He wants to be "someone she can be proud of."
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
As far as I know, we don't have any mention of Deuce's father or what happened to him. From context and with what his mom said on the phone that day, she might have been a single parent from the start, with the father never being in the picture.
Deuce, in talking to Silver during Silver's Wish in the Starsending event upon Silver mentioning his father in his wish, talks about his mom and how she raised him as a single parent, saying "I know she's had her share of hard times... So I just want her to be happy now. I'd love for her to live a long life." In chapter 10 of the event, Deuce wishes to be a police officer, specifically a magic marshal, which is a hard job to get, saying that he is "sure my mom will worry a lot less if I get a respectable job." He also talks about this in his event vignette! He reveals that upon getting a bad reputation at home, people stopped trusting him, and they'd accuse him of things he didn't do, but if he said he didn't do it, there were always two people who believed him: his mom and the neighborhood police officer. The officer would always come by to talk to him and hear him out, and both he and his mom were very grateful for that. Deuce says that if he could be like that, maybe his mother wouldn't worry so much, so he decided that he wanted to be a police officer.
At the end of the event, in chapter 12, Dilla calls Deuce in excitement over the falling stars in the sky. In response to Deuce saying that yes he saw it, because he's a Stargazer, his mom replies that "Night Raven College couldn't have asked for a finer Stargazer than you." And she says she's proud of him and it's really sweet :)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
And then he starts crying happy tears :)
Anyways! Deuce's character arc can be a whole essay in itself, so back to his mom! Some of the stories we got include:
"Battlefield" Sales Shopping. Dilla would bring Deuce with her when shopping limited-time sales, which she seemed to seek out actively. Deuce recounts spending "forever" thumbing through pamphlets looking for sales, and Dilla would then coax him into coming with her, saying things like "Deuce is so strong, and can carry a lot." Deuce remembers getting shoved around a lot by the other customers, and so, he takes his sales quite seriously today (school uniform vignette, new year's vignette).
Spring cleaning! Or, winter cleaning? Dilla and Deuce would go on a cleaning frenzy after the holidays and before the new year, because “if the house is clean, we’ll feel renewed too” (new year’s voicelines)
In his apprentice chef vignette, Deuce recalls how recently, his mom got sick with a cold but didn't tell him until she was better. This made Deuce sad, because he wished she would depend on him a little more when she was struggling, so he was motivated to learn to cook so he could be more dependable.
Also in his apprentice chef vignette, Deuce says that he did help his mom "a little" with cooking back home and knew how to dice vegetables, and the ghost chef was impressed by his skills! So she seems to have taught him well.
In her own words she claims that she is not very good at cooking, but she does know a lot of egg dishes, because Deuce likes them (White Rabbit, 2-4)
She would bring Deuce to the office sometimes, so her coworkers know him (White Rabbit, 3-10). In the event, they were a little nervous around him at first but then were surprised to find how different his behavior was now compared to middle school, and they complimented him on getting into NRC.
She made Deuce a bunny outfit for the White Rabbit Festival long ago, saying that Deuce was complaining over not having anything special to wear, and she didn't have the money to make or buy an outfit, but she asked her coworkers for some spare fluff and made it work. She looks back on this fondly, saying she was just happy to see Deuce having fun at the festival. (chapter 6)
She is great with cars, but terrible with electronics (White Rabbit Festival, birthday boy vignette). Deuce has to show her how to do stuff and recounts “fixing” home devices by simply changing the batteries, and he is the one to set up appliances at home, as she refuses to read instruction manuals. She only uses her smartphone for calls and pictures. Dilla calls cars "trusted partners" but says that electronics are too “self-important” (White Rabbit, Chapter 2-6).
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
In this scene, Dilla also praises Deuce in front of his friends for "fixing" so many electronic things around the house, which embarrasses Deuce as he does not think it was that big of a deal. She also mentions embarrassing stories like she knows full well what she's doing, teasing in a very affectionate kind of way.
I do wonder if Dilla dragging Deuce onto shopping trips all the time was in part her way of finding ways to spend time with him. She really seems to care about him a lot, and quality time is something that means a lot to her, but perhaps she also struggles with connecting and really getting through to him. In White Rabbit, she mentions sadly how she used to take Deuce to the festival every year, but then he lost interest. Deuce sees this as normal, but it seems there were some growing pains there.
Tumblr media
Also on another note which I honestly just find funny, there is a point in White Rabbit where Dilla is worried about Deuce having gotten hurt, and he says it's fine because he's "used to it," and she's just like...I don't how I feel about this but I support you! (sorry Dilla, your son's a budding shounen protagonist and his school's a disaster magnet. He's going to get so used to this haha)
Tumblr media
One more thing we really get to see from the event, Dilla definitely seems to have nerves of steel, too. Not revealing too much about what happens, she doesn't back down from this gang that is harassing her festival stall that her coworkers are terrified of, and then joins in with the idea to challenge them without hesitation. Deuce seems to allude to this when introducing Epel, saying that he thinks they'd get along because Epel has "grit and iron courage," as if he sees his mom the same way.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Going back to Deuce's story at the beginning...I feel like this is pretty significant, too. The impression I get from all of this is that she's scrappy and resourceful, strong-willed and vigorous, someone who'll keep an easy sense of humor and a smile in the face of a challenge... but also, she's someone who will bend over backwards to hide her struggles, such as when she hid her being sick with a cold from Deuce. Which is to say, she doesn't seem like the type to be brought to tears easily. This being just speculation on my part, but what if, that day Deuce overheard her on the phone, that was the first time Deuce really saw her break down like that? His mom, the strongest person he knows, the one always keeping up a smile? Although, in the background, she probably hid so many of the struggles she did have? Just saying, it'd have a lot of impact, I'd think...realizing the turmoil he put her through to get her like that...
But that said, I think it's important to note that she cares about him a lot, and she is proud of Deuce and who he's become, and I don't think that hinges at all on him becoming an honors student. Deuce struggles to try to make himself more reliable, but Dilla says as much in White Rabbit: he doesn't have to "go overboard." It doesn't have to be complicated. She just wants him to live life and be happy, simple as that. And also he could come home every once in a while, too :)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
31 notes · View notes
nono-uwu · 2 months
Text
Ons chapter 135 thoughts!!
Spoilers duh (also very long post. Lmk if I should add the read more cut)
-
-
-
-
- KAGAMI I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD IT IN YOU TO GIVE CHESS AND HORN MORE SCREENTIME BUT THANK YOU ANYWAYS
- I am so glad that the whole digestion thing is more symbolical bc... that inital wording really threw me off lmao
- on that note, the immagery of the dead trees with the bodies sticking out of 'em... very creepy and on point, I think it's neat
Tumblr media
- they actually adressed Crowley forgetting them! Wowzers (side note she looks hella adorable. My little skrunkly)
Tumblr media
- ouugh the dynamic... where was it earlier? It seems so much more casual than during the Nagoya arc (probably just wishful thinking on my part lmao)... idc how give us more of this
- "you two were my first servants", LORE CRUMBS! I guess.
Tumblr media
- wait so, they're still becoming demons? But isn't that a form of reincarnation, the thing Ferid is specifically trying to stop? But he's also devouring them... to absorb their power I guess? Since later on Ferid mentions now being more powerful after devouring Crowley (I'll get to that asspull later)
- Also Horn looks a teensy bit weird with the new artstyle but she's still super pretty 🫶 be my wife pls
- So, 16 year old Ferid is inside himself as his 'true self'? I assume that because he got the idea to stop reincarnation when he was 16 and hasn't changed his mind since (never let 16 year olds make big decisions in this world, it only leads to disaster)
Tumblr media
- the skrunkle part 2. Also I doubt being digested like that feels good in any way. And with how slow it's supposed to be, yikes.
- I have a theory (aka major amounts of copium): Yuu will bust in and save Crowley because of 'fAmiLy' and also save Chess and Horn since they're family by association
- No one can reach Ferid, eh? And then Corwley's voice reaches him. Kagami and his queerbaiting amirite
- However Ferid then snags Crowley and ig he's on the priority list of getting devoured. Probably bc he's the strongest vampire Ferid has eaten. Cannibalism as a metaphor for love and devotion or whatever, except it's very literal and I doubt there's any love beyond 'u and interesting critter dude' from both sides
Tumblr media
- Ok here's my major nitpick with this chapter: KAGAMI STOP BREAKING AND BENDING YOUR OWN FUCKING WORLDBUILDING AND POWER SYTEMS. Until now it was established that a vampires strenght is dependant on 1. their rank (as in who's blood turned them) and 2. their age. But now appearantly Ferid can eat vampires and absorb their strenght? If this was some universal but very difficult thing for any vampire to do, then I wouldn't be this salty. Also one of my favourite things about Ferid as an antagonist was, that power-wise he was on the weaker side. Despite being 'weak' he was still a major threat. He made up for his lack in actual fighting power with smarts and immaculate planning. But now he's another uber-strong genius. C'mon we already had Shikama and Rigr for that department. Bleh.
- now for the Yuu / Rigr and co confrontation, it's fiiiiine. I guess. At least Shikama is still somewhat of a formidable threat. Not to the major characters obviously but yk, it's something.
Tumblr media
- rip Basteya. You showed up, slayed for a little and died.
- Kirsten still looks fugly as hell lmao
- so do Ulrich and Roger
- So, who will be faster: Shinoa in absorbing Shikama or Yuu in saving him? My bet is on Yuu purley bc he's supposed to be the main character but ig we'll see next chapter
Tumblr media
- KRUL!!! AND THE BAT THING I FORGOT IT'S NAME
- sadly no Ferid / Krul brawl this chapter but yk what makes me excited for next chapter
- my guess is that now Krul is Ferids next target to be chomped. Hopefully she will beat his ass. Like when she first appeared. Ahhh the good old times
- 'A big fan of yours... M'lady Queen' lmao. What's next Ferid, will you put on a Fedora? Bro that last panel ain't it. Fuckin Sebastian of black butler wannabe 💀
36 notes · View notes
ikamigami · 3 months
Text
Sun helping others doesn't mean he stopped being suicidal..
When you're suicidal.. it's very fluctuative state.. suicidal thoughts comes in crushing amounts and some time later they can lessen.. but it still doesn't mean that someone isn't suicidal..
Like.. I always liked helping others and I was struggling with a lot of issues and I had suicidal thoughts..
You have better days.. and worse days...
Also does anyone remember when Moon said "I'll check on that later" and he was talking about Sun's comment to computer "Shoot me.. let's end this already".. It was in "Sun and Moon vs Mimic" episode...
And Moon never checked on that.. it was never brought up again...
Fans quickly forgot about it.. saying that Sun expressed having suicidal thoughts only that one time when he said "sometimes I wish I was dead"...
That's sad to be honest...
I blame mainstream media for how people see suicide. It seems that people think that only seemingly depressed people commit suicide which is untrue. In most cases people who killed themselves didn't have any diagnosis.
Another thing is that when someone is suicidal.. they're giving hints and clues that they are suicidal.. And I see this with Sun..
Even if others don't see anything it doesn't mean that there are no hints and clues..
And with Sun there's a lot of that and I talked about it a lot as well..
Another thing is that people are confused by the fact that people don't always commit suicide in "irrational way"..
Many people have plans, even very specific and detailed plans to end their own lives..
Unfortunately people often times think that those who commit suicide are selfish which is totally untrue..
Getting back to Sun.. we don't see his p.o.v. on events that are happening.. like for example we don't know what Sun was thinking when he and Moon found out that star is slowly killing Eclipse.. He walked away to think about it but we still don't know to what conclusion he got.. Or after his encounter with New BM Sun wasn't saying anything.. like he could even say I won't ever forgive them or I won't be giving anyone another chances... But he was silent when Moon and Solar were talking about the fiasco of their hunt for BM... Or he was silent when Earth said that maybe Eclipse could've changed...
Like we know a lot of p.o.v. of other characters, like we know more even about Solar.. and ofc I'm not talking about emotions but about characters thoughts regarding something..
And well.. Sun barely talks his thoughts out on any situation.. and again I'm not talking about ideas.. but thoughts which allow us to connect with said character more...
And that's why probably so many people don't understand Sun's character.. because showrunners don't give us his p.o.v. even if we get to see what he's doing...
Like why we don't see Sun questioning his own morals like he gave BM a chance and yet he seems so adamant on getting rid of Eclipse.. Something doesn't add up... The only thing Sun is doing is that he's recently voicing more of his intrusive thoughts.. and that's it.
We know that Sun is thinking about villains a lot cause he mentioned Eclipse a few times before he returned or now he was mentioning BM a few times as well... But we don't actually know what he's thinking! Like tell us! Tell us already something, Sun! Share your thoughts with us!
I'm sure that it's intentional on showed part.. We can't find out what Sun is actually thinking about various things.. not yet at least...
I really think that they're heading for some shocking reveal about Sun.. it won't be probably shocking to me but that's because I'm paying attention to what is happening with him...
At the end I like to bring up what I realised recently..
We know that Sun not always is cleaning the Daycare.. sometimes others do that for him e.g. Solar and Moon.. I don't remember in which episode it was but Solar said that they finished cleaning up the Daycare just like Sun likes it..
Which shows us that Sun doesn't even clean up that much.. He told about that to Earth during therapy session..
Someone could've thought and probably many really thought that it's a good thing cause he isn't cleaning so much anymore..
But when you realise that Sun isn't doing much beside cleaning - he only spends a whole day at computer.. So what he's actually doing?
Like I said he doesn't have that much involvement in plannings with Moon and Solar, he most of the time listen to their commands.. He doesn't contribute that much to plannings..
I think that Sun showed Solar and Moon how to properly clean up the Daycare because then they'll be able to clean it up on their own after he'll kill himself..
They don't need him.. that's what he thinks and that's why he's passing down his knowledge to others...
53 notes · View notes
captain-mj · 8 months
Note
Price finds out Graves listens to Dixion Dallas(Good Lookin, Whisky, F150), and decides to listen to see what kind of music Graves listens to and is thoroughly shocked by the lyrics lmao
This so fucking goofy yeah I'll write it
Does this count as a song fic? I don't know but it's super short and mostly song lyrics
Price looked at the spotify mix. It was one that Graves had made that was public. He was pretty sure it was because a few shadows asked for it. Seemed to be some sorta country music? Price wasn't that big on it, but most of the Shadows were from the south and seemed to really enjoy it.
Especially Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.
He had never seen so many military personnel sing a song about smashing something windows because of a person cheating so... aggressively before. Even Soap, a man who sang Scottish songs at top volume specifically to annoy his British squad mates, was taken back.
So he assumed that's what this was, but there were names and songs that he didn't recognize. So he turned it on and listened. Graves had let him add himself to the Spotify Premium that they had. The rest of the 141 had to share an account, but Price got special treatment. He claimed it was because he was their Captain, but nah, Graves just liked him better.
Price turned the playlist on, trying to give it a shot.
Summertime in the blue sky, your hand in my hand Cold beer with some Moonshine and our toes in the sand That look in your blue eyes, it makes me lose my mind I pull you closer, I'm so glad you're finally mine
Price blushed. He was positive that Graves couldn't know he was going to listen. His blue eyes were probably not thought of when this song was put in this playlist.
He put his hands up on my body, made the room a little hotter I'm sippin him like whiskey, got me wetter than the water, oh Swimmin' in, wanna swim in him too Make a little love, show you what my booty do Boy, turn around, lemme hit it from the back Yeah, I know how you love it when I do it like that
Price choked on his tea, blushing. He knew Graves listened to a little more.... for lack of a better word, raunchy music. But that was a shock.
He closed his mouth and kept listening.
Even though I hate to see him go, I love to watch him leave Levi's on top, what a sight, I love them booty cheeks And now he's grinding on my lap like it's the last night that we have I said, "Baby, make it clap, I wanna make this loving last"
Price paused the music.
"What the hell..."
Graves messaged him at almost that exact moment. "Do you want to go out later?"
"Where?"
"A bar."
Price stared at the song title and looked back at the messages. "In the mood for something specific?"
"Whiskey." Graves responded. "Bar nearby has some top shelf stuff for your refined tastes."
"I don't want it to taste like mouthwash." Price glanced at the song lyrics.
I can't take it, that boy drives me so damn crazy He got me catching feelings, I think it's too late to save me I said I can't take it, that boy drives me so damn crazy He's got me catching feelings, I think it's too late to save me
Graves responded. "You want sweetness, you get good company."
"You listen to a lot of Dixon Dallas?"
"Only with good company who buy me drinks."
68 notes · View notes
tamelee · 1 month
Note
I love the way you write, you're so articulate, I wish I could write like that 😭 I'm guessing you get good grades in school? Do you have advice on how to write articulately and clearly while also sounding professional? Like in essay writing?
Huuuu, that’s very kind of you 🥹;-; I’d never imagine anyone saying that to me… ever. 
Well, my grades are good, I have my last exams soon ^^
I do have a few tips! Or rather, there are things I’m still currently learning that may be helpful to you as well📝: 
(Sentence) Structure: I read a book called ‘elements of style’ by William Strunk (revised edition) recently and I learned that no matter how grammatically correct your sentences are, there are still ways to improve its structure. (I had to learn it all over again in English -.-) This is a big topic so I'll name a few specifics you can dive into.
Learn the difference between active and passive voice (passive isn’t bad and sometimes necessary, but active is almost always preferred). Don’t mind all this on your first draft though. It’ll only hinder you.
Study MRU (motivation-reaction units), often used in Fiction writing, but it helped me for essays as well. It is the logical pattern of cause and effect introduced by Dwight V. Swain and I read about it in 'techniques of the selling writer'. Here's an article on the topic as well.
Mind paragraphs. There are different rules for this depending on what you’re writing, but it helps its readability. For Essays especially it’s always good to keep topics separate and lead the reader to your conclusion in a way that makes sense. (It's sorta like holding their hand and going like "because of this... there is this... and therefore... and so.... that's why....") This may need some reorganizing of your premises/subjects at times. I especially need to organize my thoughts before I even start writing.  
Understand what it is that you need to write about and delete everything that isn’t relevant. If you’re like me and you get a ton of new ideas once you delve into a subject, then it’s good to keep a folder (or something similar) for these new ideas. Often these are entire topics on its own and including these into another will only make both unclear and your conclusion muddy. So, ask yourself whether it strengthens your point, or if it’ll make it more confusing. If it won’t make a difference then delete it anyway or save it in your folder for later.  
I always learned that objectivity is important in order to sound professional, though it depends on the kind of essay you’re writing. If you need to convince the reader of something then transparency about your own opinions can help your conclusion be more honest, but be careful of sounding preachy as well. I had to learn all these things when I still studied marketing/communication in entertainment, but it often makes me feel slimy because it’s all very manipulative. (Hence, I quit that path.) It's in fiction as well. Some authors let their own views bleed through their characters in such a way it becomes uncomfortable because it doesn’t argue for the story nor adds to the character— it attacks the reader’s personal morals which possibly gives them an ass-spanking while they’re at it which just really isn’t necessary. Emotional language is fine I think. Sometimes I got compliments from teachers especially because I didn't sound too professional, it requires a bit of knowledge when you can get away with it probably. Just make sure you can back up your arguments/statements and possibly add different views as well. In a way it's more about the confidence in which you present an idea than sounding professional and not being able to understand all the 'why's' I believe.
This one isn't that relevant for school-essays, but sometimes when writing one the question isn't clear. It helps both you and the reader to reformulate it in the beginning. Essays as well as stories are often nothing more than a problem you need to give an answer to. Even if there's no question, it helps to make one anyway so you don't wander off endlessly and drown in a sea of possible subjects you could write about.
Something that may help you as well— I created a roadmap for myself and the different types of things I have to write. That way I always know what to do first and it helps me structure both the essay and my process as I can get easily distracted otherwise. Making more decisions than necessary makes me freeze up, but with a roadmap I don’t have to do either.
Uuh, I've probably picked up on tons of helpful things lately, but I think these are great to start with. I hope they are helpful to you.
I always wanted to (story-)write, but gave up on it and decided to learn how to draw instead. Then, I sort of realized that I was being an idiot, because that desire never left and I had to write other things anyway— like this for example, and simply accepting the fact that no one can understand the load of incomprehensible rubbish I wrote, just wouldn’t do. You can check my older posts… it’s awful. If I ever intentionally want to give myself another headache, I’ll go and read those. 
It’s definitely not perfect now, but hopefully I improved though. I think so. Sometimes I still get scolded as I tend to ping-pong between thoughts suddenly and I can hardly tell the difference between BrE/AmE. (As I grew up I learned English mostly through a sort-of-aunt figure from Canada that always forced me to watch British tv with her.) But, the past few months I especially had to write many essays and (argumentative) case studies so I decided to learn and become better in writing. If that translated back to Tumblr then I'm happy and you’ve made my day >< 
21 notes · View notes
vodika-vibes · 5 months
Note
Can you write a cute piece with Jaster where he comes back from a long mission and finds the reader and Jango asleep together in his bed waiting for him? Maybe turns a little smutty at the end?
The Mand'alor's Aliit
Summary: Jaster's been gone for weeks, and now that he's back, some hard truths have come to light.
Pairing: Jaster Mereel x F!Reader
Word Count: 1714
Warnings: Reader was physically assaulted, Jaster's temper
Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni
A/N: I know you said you wanted a little smutty, and I'm sorry that this didn't turn out that way. I had a story that needed to be written, and smut just didn't make sense with what I had. Please feel free to send another request that I'll do better on next time.
Tumblr media
When you agreed to go on a date with Jaster, it was well before he was elected Mand’alor. Sure, you’ve always known that your ambitious man wanted more for his people, but the title Mand’alor wasn’t something that he specifically vied for.
And then he was elected, and things became a lot more complicated.
The Mandalorians didn’t like you. They didn’t like you when you were just some upstart who managed to catch the attention of Jaster, and they definitely didn’t like that Jaster went to you for advice when he became Mand’alor.
However, no one pushed anything because you’re not Jaster’s Riduur. So far as they’re aware, the relationship is pretty shallow.
So when Jaster comes home with a recently orphaned 8 year old, announcing that he adopted young Jango, and then when you quietly adopted Jango as well, people suddenly started paying attention.
And that’s when the missions started. Long term missions, taking Jaster away from you, and Jango, for weeks at a time. Maybe they thought that sending him away would drive a wedge between the pair of you, but they couldn’t be more wrong if they tried.
“I miss buir,” Jango mumbles miserably as he buries himself against your side, “And I hate the other Mandalorians.” He adds, sounding even more miserable when he sees you wince in pain when you move to embrace him.
“I know you do, kiddo. I miss him too.” You smooth your hand through his curly hair. Today had been especially bad in terms of everything. Normally the people who stood opposed to you wouldn’t dare lay a hand on you.
But they had been drinking, and they forgot themselves, and yeah, you won that fight, even though it was four on one, but you still have a cracked rib and pretty severe bruising to show for it.
Worse than that is the fact that Jango witnessed the whole thing. Which means he’s about three times as clingy as he would normally be. And you tolerate it because he’s your kid and you love him. You love him enough to allow him to crawl into your bed, and cling to you while you soothe him to sleep.
You’re not really surprised when you drift off to sleep as well.
It’s several hours later when you stir awake at the sensation of Jango getting pulled away from you. And while normally your reaction would be to shoot first and ask questions never, a warm hand on your shoulder and Jaster’s voice in your ear, encouraged you to not shoot him. 
You watch, half asleep, as Jaster carries Jango out of the room. And then you sit up, and you carefully stretch. Sleeping the way you were did nothing to help the pain in your side…you should have known better.
The door slides open again, and Jaster steps into the room, “Cyare,” His voice is low, exhausted, but he sounds thrilled to see you, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
The lights are still off, but there’s enough light for you to watch him remove his armor. And you smile as you cross your legs, “Welcome back,” You say first, “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you when I felt you pulling Jango away.” You add easily.
His fingers pause on the seal of his thigh plates and he groans low in his throat, “That’s probably the hottest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
You laugh softly, “I think you’re overtired if you think my threatening to shoot you is hot.”
Jaster laughs, and resumes removing his armor. He sets the whole set to the side to be dealt with later, and then he peels his bodysuit off and tosses it into the laundry. And only then does he climb into bed.
He lays on his pillow for a moment, and you watch him relax into the soft mattress with a fond smile on your face. 
And then he rolls over and crashes his lips against yours. “Missed you,” He rumbles against your lips, “Hate those long missions.”
“Missed you more,” You reply as you kiss him quickly.
Jaster pins both of your wrists over your head with one hand, and he releases a quiet laugh, “I don’t think that’s possible, cyare.” He kisses you deeply, and then moves his lips to your neck, “Missed you like a missing limb.” He slides his hand under your sleep shirt, and drags his hand up your side.
His fingers trail over your ribs, and a sharp hiss escapes you without your permission.
And Jaster freezes. He carefully presses his hand over the painful spot on your side, and then he releases your wrists and reaches over to turn on the lamp.
You squint at the sudden light, and Jaster’s fingers are very gentle as he slides your shirt up and over your head. His gaze is sharp as he takes in the red bruises covering a large portion of your body. He brushes his fingers over the swollen and split knuckles on both of your hands. And then he presses his hand flat over your cracked rib.
“Is it broken?” His voice is very, very even. And you know that he’s furious.
“Cracked.” You reply as you settle back on your pillow.
“So yes.”
“We both know that a crack and a break are totally different.” You point out with a sigh, as you trail a single finger over his arm.
“What happened, cyare?” Jaster asks, his gaze falling to your forearms, “These look like self-defense bruises.”
You sigh, “You’re not wrong.”
His eyes go cold, “Someone attacked you.” It’s not a question.
“You know as well as I do that there are some factions within the Haat who don’t approve of me…or Jango.”
Somehow, his eyes go colder, “I didn’t see any marks on Jango.”
You scoff, “I know I can’t hold my own against you, Jas, but if they even considered touching Jango, we’d be having a very different conversation. Very likely from the safety of my ship, in orbit.”
It’s the truth. If you thought, for a moment, that Jango was in danger on Mandalore, you’d take him and leave. And you both know it.
“Who hurt you?”
“They’re in the hospital.” You reply.
“Cyare-”
“Jaster.” He stops and regards you thoughtfully, “They’re in the hospital. You can’t do anything about it now.”
He inhales deeply, “Has anyone done this before?”
“I can handle a few pointed barbs, Jaster.”
His jaw clenches, “Why do they hate you so much?” He hisses, fury writ in every line of his body.
“Because I’m an outsider, and was barely good enough when you were just a son of Clan Mereel.” You reach up and lightly caress his cheek, “They thought I was your whore, and then we adopted a child together, and proved that I’m more than that.”
“They call you that? To your face?”
“Not when you’re around.” You sigh and tug him down so you’re able to kiss him, “Breathe, love.”
“They hate you that much?” Jaster asks.
“‘Fraid so.” Your smile is wry, “They want you to marry some proper Mando, raise an army of little mando children, and I’m not an acceptable choice.”
“That’s…that’s the dumbest kriffing-” He takes a deep breath, and then he cups your face, “You’re my choice. Always have been, from the first time I saw you-”
“I threw a rock at you and called you dumb.”
“You did, and fell in love at that very moment.” Jaster replies with a fond smile, “You are mine,” He murmurs, “And I am yours.”
You smile up at him, “I’m not about to let some small minded people scare me away from you, love.”
“Good,” Jaster kisses you solidly, and then pulls back, “Say the Riduurok with me.”
“What?”
“Right here. Right now. I have everything we might need for it.” His gaze is intense, “Become my wife, I’ll spend the rest of eternity making sure you’re happy, and no one will ever hurt you again.”
You stare at him, and then you smile, “Alright.”
He grins at you, and carefully climbs off of you.
“Should I put on some clothes?” You joke as you carefully sit up.
“Don’t worry about it.”
************
The following morning, while you’re fast asleep in your bed, coated in a thin layer of bacta to help you heal, with Jango cuddling against you watching cartoons, Jaster calls a meeting with the heads of the various clans.
He’s calm, very calm, dangerously calm. And apparently the men and women in the room can feel it, as they settle in their seats utterly silent.
“It has come to my attention,” Jaster starts slowly, not raising his voice, not having to raise his voice to be heard, “That there is a number among you who feels that my cyare is not good enough for Mandalore.”
Some of the people sitting around the table shift uncomfortably, and Jaster pins each of them with a dark, threatening, stare.
“It has also come to my attention that the verbal abuse turned physical yesterday.” At that there’s a hint of barely controlled rage in his voice, and more than one person flinched back. “Needless to say, not happy is understating how I’m feeling at the moment.”
He pauses, and no one says anything, so Jaster nods once, “So here are the cold, hard, facts. My cyare is now my Riduur. Any attack on her will be seen as an attack on me and my clan, and I will react accordingly.” He pulls his helmet back on, “Make sure that this information is passed out accordingly.”
There are general murmurs of assent, though one brave woman stands, “Mand’alor, I have to say that I think that the woman you chose as your riduur is not good for the future of Mandalore-” She starts only to trail off when Jaster unholsters his blaster and starts examining it thoughtfully.
“Your objection has been noted, and ignored.” Jaster says mildly, “Does anyone else have any complaints?”
The room is totally silent, and Jaster nods. And then he turns and leaves the room. He has a riduur to spend time with, and an ad he hasn’t seen in weeks. And at the moment, his aliit is the only thing that matters.
48 notes · View notes
puppycheesecake · 7 months
Note
Hey there! It is indeed very satisfiying to see CAS organized :O Could you share your process / sorting method? As I understand it I need to group all the stuff toghether in folders first. Do you dress up a sim with for example all your witch hats, search them in your folder and make a category out of it? That's how I thought I would do it but maybe you got a better way to do it :D (and if you want to have the CC sorted by creator do I need specific folders for tops, bottoms and full sets?)
Absolutely.
I dunno if there's an easier process or not, but I can tell you what I did.
I already had my Mods folder organized into folders and sub-folders, so for clothes and hair I just went into the respective folders and made a separate folder within for every creator, sorted alphabetically, then numbered them starting with 001. (In retrospect I should have started at like, 005 or something just to give myself a little wiggle room in case there was something I wanted to add at the top, but oh well.) Most CC has the creator's name in the filename, so that makes sorting it easy.
*** I number 001 instead of 01 or just 1 because when you open up your Mods folder in Sims4Studio to batch fix everything, it'll knock all your folders out of order unless there's three digits. Found that out the hard way. :T
I know the example in the tutorial didn't have their folders numbered and just has the creator name, but I'm not sure how they're managing that? I have all my folders numbered so I know what display index number I'm assigning them. (¤﹏¤) So ClumsyAlien hairs go in Mods -> Hair -> 005 ClumsyAlien, and I know when I batch fix it to set the CAS display index to 5. (And I'll know what to set the display index to for any new ClumsyAlien hairs I download in the future.)
*** On top of having folders for most creators I also have folders titled "A-C," "D-F," etc., for single pieces of CC that don't warrant their own creator folder. It keeps them loosely alphabetized. Like, if I only have a single shirt by Creator A and don't want to make an entire folder just for that, I can stick that shirt in folder A-C instead. The way I have it, I have creator folders at the top -> misc. alphabetical folders below them. So that shirt by Creator A won't be at the top of my CAS catalogue, but it'll be at the start of my "miscellaneous section" beneath all the creator sections.
For hats (or any category where I sort by function instead of creator), I open up a blank Sim in CAS, put whatever CC I want grouped together on them, save, then open them up in Tray Importer and drag all that CC into its own folder. Number the folder and batch fix as usual.
The example in the tutorial had them breaking up clothing by top/bottom/etc., but I don't really see the need for that, so I didn't do it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
*** When numbering folders/batch fixing, it's probably smarter to do every other number (001, 003, 005) so you can go back and add in more folders later, but I was not smart. :V I've already got a couple new creator folders tacked on at the very bottom, whoops.
It's a long and super tedious process (hence why I'm doing it in batches and not fixing everything at once), but man, it has been so worth it. I only have clothes, hair, hats, glasses, and shoes done so far, but even just having those organized has cut down on my time spent scrolling through CAS searching for a piece of CC.
42 notes · View notes
n0v4t33z · 7 months
Text
Dark Desires: Chapter II - Eternally Yours
Tumblr media
Pairings: VampireCatHybrid~Seonghwa x Female Reader, VampireCatHybrid~Ateez x Female Reader
Genre: Horror, Angst, Romance, Vampire Ateez, Paranormal?
Word Count: 10.1k
Tags/Warnings: For Mature Audiences, Violence, Language, mentions blood, Magic, Fantasy, Some Fluff, Highly Suggestive at times (This is a warning for the whole story overall)
Chapter specific: Lots of kissing, intimate situations but not explicit, flirting, blood, Y/n speaks about death and magic with the boys, (I'll add more later if more come to mind)
Author's Note💌: Okay so in this chapter there was originally supposed to be smut but I omitted that part due to being short on time because of my schedule. Unfortunately I'm not very fast at typing up smut because how much I struggle to write it so that'll come out on a later date so that I can put more thought into it. Since I don't write smut I felt like maybe it would have probably been a bad Idea if I forced myself to do it right now so to save you from cringe I decided not to include it! Either way I still hope you enjoy the chapter! 🌙
Spotify Playlist🩸
☽ ──── ༺𖤐༻ ──── ☾
A few days go by and I never find out who's scream it was that I heard a few nights ago, it didn't help that the door Seonghwa told me not to go into kept teasing me. So me being me I finish my work for the day so I could have more time to explore the house. The door was near the basement of the house from what I noticed is that they usually come here or the basement after feeding at night or after going out in general. I look around to make sure no one is around and I walk into the dark room I reach into my pocket and I turn on the spare candle in my pocket from when I was replacing them earlier, I walk around the dark room and notice a beautiful golden hourglass with a sigil on it, the same one in my room. I carefully look around and I notice a drawing on the wall, from what I could read it seemed to be from 1646. The drawing was of a woman whose features were almost identical like mine, could this woman in the drawing be me? Why was that drawing here? On the floor was that same sigil drawn in blood, In the corner I notice alot of black and white photos along with some drawings and pictures of different girls, were those their previous victims? All the girls were exceptionally gorgeous. From the corner of my eye I see the spine of a book, the front of the book was empty with no title so I decide to open the book. I slowly begin to realize they were diary entries, 1863, 1925, 1958. Under my breath I whisper to myself "When I called Master Seonghwa a history book I didn't realize he was actually writing one himself…"
I decide to look up my birthday as a strange curiosity and while skimming through the entry I come across something interesting "I had a dream of that girl again. It's been a while since I've seen her. I have a strong feeling she was born today, I can feel it. I can't wait until I find her. I'll do everything in my power to protect her, she's going to be the only reason worth living this cursed life only then I'll know what true happiness is." When I read those words I can't help but to begin to tear up, for the first time in my life someone was happy I was born. Yeah, my family might've been happy that I was born but they never really showed it. My family was rarely the type to show any affection for me at all so to think someone wanted to show that affection towards me really shocked me. This man has literally been waiting to be with me for hundreds of years even before I was born. Is this true love? Is true love when someone waits for you even years before you're actually born? Will he be disappointed if I'm not what he expects me to be? What if he realizes he doesn't like who I am and he kills me, then what? I have so many questions but yet I'm scared of how they'll be answered.
Suddenly the door behind me opens and I jump and drop the book and candle in the process. When I turn around and see it's Mingi I scream when I notice him charging at me, I try to move out of the way but he grabs both of my arms and begins to violently shake and yell at me "What were you doing in here?! Didn't Seonghwa tell you to stay out of here?! You're not supposed to be in here!" I look up at him and noticed his eyes were now glowing blood red "Master Mingi I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again!" he grabs me by the throat and squeezes my throat just enough to choke me but not snap my neck. He pins me against the wall then answers in a low growl "There won't be a next time, Hongjoong was right we should have sacrificed you that night." I cough trying to catch my breath while I try to claw his hand off of my throat. Suddenly everyone else runs into the room with Seonghwa yelling at Mingi "Let her go you bastard! You're going to kill her!" He then tries to run over to Mingi but Hongjoong and Yeosang hold him back then Mingi turns and smirks in his direction "She has to die now Seonghwa, Draven is going to be really upset. That time you bought her won't do her any good anyway, I was right not trusting this dumb witch. They're such deceitful and sneaky humans." San, Wooyoung,and Jongho run over to over to hold Mingi back.
Yunho gently puts his hand on Mingi’s shoulder and gently squeezes it. "Calm down, you know you can't be the one who does the sacrifice. You're a young vampire remember that, so if you kill her you'll ruin everything not just for you but for all of us. So let go of her, come on." Mingi hesitantly puts me down throwing me onto the floor then Hongjoong lets go of Seonghwa and helps Yunho escort Mingi out of the room while Yeosang stays with the rest of us. Seonghwa runs over to me and holds me tightly in his arms, his breathing still ragged from the scare "Miss y/n, I told you not to come in here.. " I continue coughing for a bit then I say in a slightly hoarse voice "I'm so sorry Master Seonghwa, curiosity got the best of me."  He sighs deeply "You scared me, you put yourself in such danger.." San gives me a worried look "You know If Wooyoung hadn't called us telepathically because he heard screaming, you would have most likely been killed by Mingi."
Wooyoung looks down slightly frowning "He's one of the youngest out of all of us with the youngest being Jongho, luckily Jongho's strong willpower helps him from giving into his vampiric instincts. Mingi on the other hand is terrible at it, he's still learning to control himself."  God this is so embarrassing... "I'm so sorry for betraying your trust. I promise I didn't have bad intentions." Yeosang courteously nods "it know, but now that means we'll all have to keep an eye on Mingi now. " Seonghwa says "She's going to stay at my side at all times.." I shake my head "No! I'll be okay I promise I'll just stay away from him. I'll just do what I'm supposed to from now on and not stray from my duties." Seonghwa worriedly looks at me "Are you sure? You really don't have to risk it." I get up and nod "It's ok Master Seonghwa I'll be fine." San looks at Seonghwa "We'll just do what Yeosang said if that's the case, let's just watch him. I'm sure ostracizing him won't help at all but make him resent Miss y/n even more than he already does. "
They all get up and Seonghwa looks over at me then at the guys and flatly says "Okay that's fine, I just need to have a word with Miss y/n can you guys please give us some privacy?" They nod in obedience and head out. Once it's just him and I he looks down at the floor and sees the book I was reading left open on the last page I read, he picks it up and puts it on a table near him then shyly smiles "I guess you found my diary." Embarrassed, I fidget with my hands "Well, it's more like a history book now." he chuckles "Okay you got me there." he takes my hand and pulls me a little closer to him "I've been looking for you almost all my immortal life, and now that I've finally found you I just want to protect you." His gaze connects with mine "Which is why when you I heard Wooyoung tell me you were in trouble, I was terrified of losing you." Now I feel bad for coming in here, he told me explicitly not to and I disobeyed him. I would have died by my own ignorance. It definitely proves that curiosity killed the cat. "I'm so sorry. I promise you I won't do something like that ever again. That was just way too close."
He clears some stray hairs from my face "Next time you want to see something just ask me, you'll be much safer with me okay?" I nod and rest my head on his chest "So, it was true that you're in love with me then?" He softly hums and gently strokes my cheek with his thumb "I knew what you were going to look like way before you were born, in person you're much more beautiful than the drawing I have of you, Hongjoong drew it for me." I pull away and look at him in shock then look over at the drawing again "Wow, really? How did you know though? Like how were you able to see my face?" He shyly smiles and holds my hands in his "I actually dreamt about you, which is why I was only able to see you a handful of times but everytime I did my heart felt something it usually doesn't." I giggle "So, you mean you felt butterflies in your stomach and you felt happy?" He smiles and nods then leans in close to my face, centimeters away gently caressing my cheek. "I'm sorry if this is too sudden but will you be mine?" His beautiful emerald eyes look deep into my eyes and for some strange reason I’m compelled to just give in without thinking twice about it.
Why is my heart beating so fast I can't breathe. He's so beautiful. "I- " My stomach churns and the longer I stand there the harder it becomes to speak until I blurt out "What if I disappoint you?" Seonghwa tilts his head and asks in a slight sad tone "Why would I be disappointed my love? I've been looking for you for almost my whole vampire life.." I stammer "Well, I mean, we've never met prior to this so our personalities may clash." He brings my hand up to his ice cold lips and gently presses a kiss on the back of my hand and looks deep into my eyes "There's a reason why I kept seeing you in my dreams my dear y/n. I'm willing to work with our differences if that's the case. That's how important you are to me." I look down slightly flustered from all the attention and how gorgeous the man is in general. Well he's nice right? I should be okay, he's definitely been treating me better than any of my ex's and that's a start. Seonghwa gently lifts my chin so that our eyes meet once again "So what do you say princess?" I nod staring deep into his eyes unable to look away.
"Of course I will Master Seonghwa, as long as you don't hurt me I'm all yours " He leans a little closer, he smelled nice. Nothing like how people usually say vampires smell like, dusty, and gross. His oddly sweet smell being quite soft and warm despite how cold his skin is in reality. "I promise you my eternal life I will never hurt you darling." He steps closer to me gently pressing his chest against mine "Just call me Seonghwa ." He gently places his ice cold lips on mine and kisses me. Slowly, while the kiss intensifies he slithers his free arm around my waist. I gently rest my hand on his chest while I kiss him, he then slowly kisses down my chin and onto my neck causing me let out a soft sigh. He slowly pulls away and re collects himself “I- not here. I don't want to risk anyone um.... Hearing things." I nod and shyly look away feeling my cheeks burning he takes my hand and gently kisses it "I guess I'll get back to my duties now." He nods looking at me very lovingly "Please be careful my love." He gently presses his ice cold lips on my forehead for a kiss goodbye.
When I step into the kitchen I stand there for a few seconds looking out the window thinking what I should make for dinner. A few moments later while getting all the ingredients ready Jongho enters and gently puts his hand on my shoulder "Miss y/n, how are you doing?" I slightly jump and I turn and look at him "Oh, Master Jongho hello. I'm okay, I’m still a bit spooked." He sits on a chair next to the table "I'm honestly glad you're okay. I'm sure having an angry vampire trying to kill you is pretty traumatic in itself." I begin chopping a few vegetables and let out a soft sigh just remembering the way Mingi’s eyes were burning into mine, his eyes had so much hatred in them that remembering made me feel unsafe and uneasy. "it was, but knowing you guys were there really comforted me. Although that made me want to go home alot more than before knowing there's someone here who hates me enough to hurt me."
He stares off straight ahead and walks up next to me clearly still upset from what happened "I'm so sorry, I can only imagine how you feel right now. I know this won't change how you feel but if it helps we all like having you here. Not because you do housework but because you're really nice, you're an amazing friend and because you really remind me alot of my own mother." I smile then I look over at Jongho and hug him tightly "I'll be here as long as I'm allowed to be here." He pulls away and looks at me, his cold grey eyes staring deep into mine. He then gently touches my face with his ice cold hands "it's like my mother never left me, when you came in to the practice room to cheer up my singing it reminded me of what my mom used to do." I gently hold his hand on my face then I gently smooth out his blazer "And I'll continue to do so as she did and cheer you on for as long as my human self is alive don't worry."
He rests his forehead on my shoulder and hides his face from my view "We can't sacrifice you to Draven anymore, I don't want you to be gone. You have to stay here with us.” He pauses for a few seconds then he continues  “You see, I'm not usually the one to freak out but Draven really scares me. To point where the thought of him taking everything we have from us all over again and being helpless terrifies me because that's not the position that I like to be put in. It's embarrassing being so vulnerable like that. " I gently lift his head and I look at him while gently stroking his soft Auburn hair "it's okay, we'll find a way to stop this I promise." I felt bad because I knew my reassurance was a straight up lie. How could I compete against this Draven guy? I have to somehow find out what's going on.
"I'll have to talk to Hongjoong about this, he has to know a way to stop this." He clears his throat trying get himself together "Of course, you should do that but for now just sit here and enjoy a meal with me and San, yes?" He hums in agreement and watches me cook while he waits for the food to be finished I pour him a warm cup of Earl grey tea infused with blood. San and Wooyoung eventually come in and sit next to Jongho "oh hi Master Wooyoung, don't worry I made extra food today."  I turn and serve them some tea then I begin to serve their plates and place the plates in front of them "let me know how I did today guys." They all take a spoonful of food then Jongho says "Oh wow, this is actually really good now I know why San's been eating with you because your ability to merge human and vampiric pallets is seamless."
I sit down and watch them eat with a smile on my face "Thank you so much Master Jongho but all I did was just add blood." San and Wooyoung look over at me then San says "Hey, aren't you going to eat?" I rest my hand under my chin “Oh yeah, I'll eat the leftovers don't worry"  San shakes his head and gets up "No, Miss y/n you're going to eat with us remember? That's what we agreed on." He serves me a plate of regular food and sets it in front of me "Ahh fine, I was just trying to be a normal maid." San sets a glass of grape juice in front of me and Wooyoung laughs "A normal maid? You stopped being a normal maid the moment you befriended us." Jongho then says "Remember how i said you're a great friend? I wasn't just talking about myself you know" 
I take a sip of my grape juice then in a slightly disappointed tone Wooyoung says "Times like these is when I wish we could do fun things together like normal friends instead of being at home rotting." San's face lights up and says "We can have a little picnic party in the garden tomorrow!" Wooyoung and Jongho nod in agreement then I say "We can, I'll make the food and the desserts!" Wooyoung gives me puppy eyes and says "can I help you cook please?" I nod "of course that would be amazing! You'll be a huge help" Jongho says "Well, I'll ask the rest of the guys if they want to help decorate since the garden is kind of big but don't worry Miss y/n, I won't ask Mingi out of protection for you."
I feel bad he’s getting excluded now. “Are you sure that he’ll be fine with that?” Jongho nods giving me a reassuring smile “I promise you he’ll be fine. Maybe him not being in attendance he’ll realize his mistake.” I hum in response then I give them a serious look "Okay so I have a question, who's Draven? And why am I supposed to be sacrificed to him?" They look at each other nervously for a couple of seconds then Wooyoung blurts out "He's a vampire demon we work for, We call him Draven but his real name is Zuphroi. Oh, and you were supposed to be sacrificed to him because Draven loves to feed on the life force and blood of humans." My stomach drops and my hands fidget under the table to try and calm myself “Hm okay, so who’s the guy in the painting that I saw in the main room of the house?” everyone stays silent for a bit then San says “Oh, that’s our creator. Sir Kim Jongkook.”
I look at their expressions and I could tell they seemed very sad. “If I may ask, what happened to him?” San looks at the guys almost like asking for permission then they both nod and San continues “Well, Sir Jongkook is actually Draven’s older brother..The thing is though that body is no longer Sir Jongkook’s brother because the demon known as Zuphroi possesed it yet he still presents and goes by Draven. The demonic powers Draven got also enhanced his vampiric powers which let him be able to easily surpass his already very powerful older brother and defeat him. Years ago he drained Sir Jongkook of his life force but kept his brother’s remains in his castle, to which remain there till this day. All of this happened because we all became very close to Sir Jongkook and Draven became jealous, the reason being was that he was like a father to all of us and we were like his children but his brother got upset he couldn’t form the same bond we had with his brother which is why he seeked Zuphroi’s power to destroy his own brother out of envy. Our bond was naturally stronger with Sir Jongkook because he was our creator.” I sit there for a moment processing everything “So that man in the painting is Draven’s deceased older brother?” San nods “Correct.”  I slightly raise my eyebrows in shock “Wow…That’s incredibly dark.”
Wooyoung nods looking a bit sullen “Yeah, you’d think because they were brothers Draven would have had mercy on Sir Jongkook since from what they told us they both suffered alot as children. They might not have been brothers by blood but they spent a good portion of their lives together. ” Wooyoung clears his throat clearly not wanting to get emotional and says “Anyway, any other questions?” I nod “Ah yes, why do San and Yeosang turn into cats?” San tilts his head “You know It’s not just us that can turn into cats, all eight of us do actually including Seonghwa.” Oh my gosh, Seonghwa as a cat? If San and Yeosang were so cute I'm sure Seonghwa would be adorable! I raise my eyebrow and blink then San continues “We all turn into cats because Draven put a curse on us.
The upside is we can obviously turn into cats and switch back to our “undead” selves at will but a few downsides are when we need to feed and are on the brink of starvation we become too weak and are unable to turn back into our “undead” selves until we feed on blood again. Another and I guess the worst one is Draven has complete control over our curse so if the amulet around his neck is destroyed then so is the curse, freeing us. Which is why we’re kind of scared of him and try to avoid him showing up at all costs. because we're usually totally vulnerable around him.” I sit back in my seat and look at the three guys sitting in front of me in complete shock “Wow, I’m so sorry this curse is such a burden to all of you. This Draven guy sounds scary. Honestly I would have never thought it would be possible to turn from one species into another.” Wooyoung smiles and wiggles his fingers in the air “That’s magic baby, the dark arts.” Jongho looks at me with a faint smile "Anything else? These guys are basically an open book.” 
I nod  "Hm yeah actually, so all those drawings and photos of those girls in in that room, who are they?" Jongho responds "That room is a room Seonghwa usually frequents as you can see most things in there are his, but those girls are girls he thought were you and instead of returning them we just sacrificed them to Draven because it was easier to keep the sacrifices going since we're kinda forced to keep them coming for him because we have a pact with him." I look down trying to re gather my thoughts then I say "So, you guys knew about Seonghwa's situation?" They all nod then I look at them worriedly "Then how come Mingi hates me and Hongjoong is always so uptight? Wouldn't they at least be a bit nicer?" They shrug then Wooyoung says "Hongjoong is just naturally like that since he's the leader, he takes his position very seriously but he's actually pretty cool and Mingi, honestly we don't know why he acted the way he did we were pretty shocked he attacked you."
I know he probably won't hurt me but knowing that because of me so many innocent girls were killed makes me feel terrible. San taps my hand to get my attention and says "Hey, Please don't tell anyone we told you any of this, I don't think Seonghwa wants you to know." I quietly nod "I understand Master San." Jongho reaches over for my other hand "I hope you don't think differently about any of us." I shake my head "Oh no, I understand you have to honor the pact." I get up and start to gather the dishes San turns to look at me "I hope you're not upset Miss y/n." I shake my head "Well, I can't be It's not in my place to be upset. From the looks of it if you don't honor your pact with him I'm sure you'll be in huge trouble."  Wooyoung looks at the floor for a second then shakes his head "Yep no, I don't want to think about it. Tomorrow night we're supposed to go find someone new for Draven, Hongjoong told San earlier."
I felt a pit in my stomach knowing someone was about to get killed in my place again. San looks at Wooyoung puts his finger on his lips "Shh, Wooyoung stop. It's making Miss y/n very uncomfortable." San holds my hand and gives me his sweet eye smile "How about I help you wash the dishes Miss y/n, today was alot of people who ate with us." He glances over at Jongho and Wooyoung "Evryeone, say goodbye to Miss y/n" Wooyoung narrows his eyes at San while Jongho sits there slightly confused. Shortly after they excuse themselves and both say their goodbyes while San stays behind and helps me clean up the kitchen and do the dishes.
“I’m so sorry for scaring you like that. I know as a human it’s pretty scary feeling so helpless.” I shake my head while clearing out the stove area “You really don’t need to apologize. It was done with good intentions. If anything I really appreciate you giving me a heads up.” San looks out the window looking at the darkening sky. "even so, I feel like I still need to apologize. It just feels wrong if i don't you know?" He glances down at his hand bubbles gently squeezing the bubbles between his fingers onto a bowl below. “You really are such a sweet person, Seonghwa really does know how to pick them.” I turn to San slightly taken aback "You think so?" He gives me a dimpled smile and pokes my cheek leaving a bubble on my cheek "I know so, I can feel you've been through alot. So I think you deserve someone who will love you and protect you, the way a beautiful girl like you should be treated."
He feels that I've been through alot? If only he really knew. Does that mean he has some sort of variant of being clairvoyant or can he just read my mind? Wait... I look to see a smirking San then I poke his side "You're cheating! You can read my mind! That's not fair!" San lets out a yelp and pouts "It's not cheating if you mean well! I'm just emotionally intelligent! Seonghwa reads your mind all the time why me?! " I part my lips in shock then I cover my face in embarrassment Oh god, he knows about me thinking he's beautiful.. "He wha-" San nervously chuckles and points out the window "Look, it's a legion of cats..." Confused I glance out the window and by the time I look back I see his little cat self running away. "Wait! Master San I thought you were going to help me do the dishes?!"
Later after finishing the dishes and bringing a drink over to Yeosang, I run into Hongjoong. He looks at me slightly suspicious and approaches me hastily "Why were you in that room?" I shake my head "I was just curious, I'm so sorry Master Hongjoong." He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Look, Seonghwa reminded me who you are now but that doesn't excuse you going around behind our backs sneaking around into rooms you're specifically supposed to stay out of. You're human, you can't expose yourself to some of these things because they will kill you.
Look what happened last time when you wandered off by yourself." I clench onto the beverage plate tightly trying not to look directly at the man’s clearly upset face  "I understand, I'm sorry Master I promise it will never happen again." He pats my head and his voice softens "Good news for you though, we've decided to use someone else as a sacrifice. The only thing is that we hope Draven accepts it." I fidget with the plate in my hands "So, does that mean I get to go home soon?" He clicks his tongue and shakes his head "I'm afraid not, you have to stay here with us."
I nod silently in disappointment. He then looks at me with worry in his eyes "Look, I know what happened with Mingi was really traumatic and it didn't help I was also being a bit rude and going around scaring you. I just didn't know if I could trust you, it wasn't until Seonghwa let me know that you for sure the person he was looking for and you were in fact the girl in the drawing. That's when I realized that I should be nicer since you'll be around here for a long time. So, my apologies for all the misunderstandings. I hope you can forgive me." He holds my hand and puts his other one on top of my free hand "Ahh, Master Hongjoong it's ok I understand." He warmly smiles "Thank you for being so understanding.."
For a few seconds it stays quiet before I decide I need to hear it from the leader himself so I look over at Hongjoong and quietly whisper "So Master, do you know why Master Mingi hates me so much?” he stays quiet for a bit and presses lips into a pained smile "I actually don't know about that one, he's very closed off and usually keeps to himself and distances himself from us alot. The only person he's truly close to is Yunho." Man, Mingi really is unpredictable if his own friends aren't as close to him as they want to. "I see, well I'll let you go now Master your laundry is almost finished I just need to fold it." He gives me an understanding nod "Thank you, you have my permission to leave it in my room when you're finished. "Once Hongjoong is gone I head over to the chapel in search of Yunho. He must be with Mingi. When I open the door and I notice he wasn't in here.
I turn and see Seonghwa standing behind me and I let out a muffled shriek "S-Seonghwa hi, I was just looking for Yunho." He smiles and gently pulls me into a kiss "It's time for your bath my love." I blink and look at him confused "Oh, but it's only 8:30?" He rests his forehead on mine and says "I want to spend extra time with you since I've barely seen you around all day." A flush crept up on my face Oh my gosh what is happening?! "Besides we were in the middle of something earlier remember?" He gently kisses me again, afterwards I swallow the nervous knot in my throat "Oh, of course I remember." He pulls back and he holds my face in his hands "Does that make you uncomfortable my love?" I shake my head "I- Uh no.." He grabs my hand and leads me to his room. It was so romantic looking, the lights being very dim with the red bedding contrasting beautifully with the black Victorian furniture. The room smelled like him too, that same sweet almond vanilla scent that makes me feel warm and safe.
I hear him lock the door behind him and take off his long cape-like jacket in one swift motion, gently hanging it into the matte black coat rack in the corner of the room. Without his cape on I notice he has a small, slim waist. Wow, he looks like a textbook vampire from his hair to his beautiful features, everything a girl could ever want all wrapped up in one being and he's all for me. I mean wha- He glances at me and smirks almost like he really is actually reading my thoughts. He reaches over for me and pulls me over to the bathroom. San was right, he is reading my thoughts.. Everything was set up, from the romantic lighting and ambience to the blood red petals in and leading to the bathtub. Amazed, I look at him not knowing how to react and he says “I hope you like it my love, you deserve to relax and unwind after a long day..” I look at how beautiful the tub is keeping my gaze away from his "I love it, the rose petals were a nice touch.."
He gently tugs on my hand and turns my face towards him "Are you shy?" I nod "I- Yeah, you're just so gorgeous It's hard for me to even look at you." He chuckles "How do you think I feel sweetheart?" He rests his forehead on mine "It's taking so much of me not to ravish you right now." He kisses me and without breaking the kiss he pulls me up onto his arms wrapping my legs around his waist and walks me over to sit me down on the sink. He swiftly undoes my dress, his cold fingertips gently brushing against my warm bare skin. "You're so warm my love." He then slowly pushes my dress off of my shoulders and pulls it off letting it fall onto the floor. He steps back to admire my figure in the lacy bra and panties he chose. "You look delicious.." My cheeks burn causing me to cover myself by pulling him closer to me while he leans into my neck and peppers kisses along my neck and collarbones. He runs his hands up my thighs and squeezes them. I'm going to get railed tonight aren't I? Seonghwa chuckles "I'm most definitely going to enjoy you tonight my love."
The next morning I slowly open my eyes and realize my head is resting on Seonghwa’s chest. Unlike a regular person, whose heart beat would wake you up his was nothing but silence which is slightly off putting. Giving me the urge to look up at him to make sure he was actually real. When I meet his eyes he looks down at me gently stroking my hair and says “Good morning my love, did you sleep well?” I nod then I bury my face in the crook of his neck, still slightly sleepy and he says “I wish we could stay like this forever.” I hum back quietly while he gently kisses the top of my head. After what happened last night it made me realize how much he longed for that moment to be with me. The fact that this beautiful man loved me enough to wait all these years for me. I still can’t believe it. I gently hold his hand to which he laces his fingers between mine “I wish we could too.” I say then he brushes a loose strand of my hair behind my ear and kisses me while he gently rests his hand on my neck and mine on his chest. He pulls me on top of him and without breaking the kiss I pull back.
“As much as I'd love to stay in bed with you for a little while I have to go and finish Master Hongjoong’s laundry from yesterday.” He nods then gently kisses the side of my jaw "That's okay, just stay here with me for a bit." He pulls me to lay on top of him while resting my head on his chest again, only this time his arm was around my waist while the other ran his fingers through my hair. "I'm happy I no longer have to wake up alone, I'm glad I finally found you." I gently boop his nose "Thank you for taking care of me. Hwa." He takes my hand in his and kisses the back of my hand "You've got nothing to thank me for my love. I only showed you how much I love you, because it comes from the deepest most sincere part of me." A small knot forms in my throat as he utters those words, for some reason evreytime he speaks his truth. I still can't believe someone actually feels that way towards me, he seems too unreal. "You know, I kind of feel bad because I feel like I have nothing to offer." Seonghwa tilts my head to face him, and looks at me with slight hurt in his eyes "Don't say such a thing, you have plenty to offer. Your love and respect is more than enough to me. I'm so sorry you might have experienced injustices in your life where you had been giving far too much than what you were receiving but I promise you I won't ever hurt you. I'll be with you forever. and coming from me, that's a long time."
My eyes begin to sting from the tears so I blink them away and bury my face in his neck. Seonghwa chuckles and pats my head "Don't cry my love, it's okay." I let out a slightly embarrassed laugh and wipe my eyes "Don't worry they're happy tears, I'm just moved by your words." He his thumb gently caresses my bottom lip "My age is showing again isn't it?" I shake my head and sit up on his lap "No, I like it. Trust me, people my age are usually stupid more than anything because of how selfish they are, at least you're empathetic and wise. That's very attractive in my eyes." Seonghwa smirks and nods "Alright princess, I'll take your word for it." I glance over at the clock next to Seonghwa's bed and it read "8:15 am" Ah damn, I have to go I need to start cooking for the picnic today or I won't finish in time.. I rest my arms on either side of his head and gently kiss his cheek "Okay, I've got to go now! No peaking in the kitchen until I tell you to.." He pulls me down on top of him again and smiles “Alright my love, if you run into any problems don’t hesitate to look for me okay?” I nod "No problem, you've got my word."
In the garden behind the house I stand outside taking down the laundry that I left to dry the night before due to Hongjoong's special request. While I fold laundry and look at the garden, I realize today is the picnic we planned so I try and fold as fast as my little  hands would let me. Eventually when I finish folding the clothes I walk to Hongjoong’s room and drop off his basket of clothes. His room is amazing, but yet somehow still messy so while I was there I decide to do some cleaning up so while cleaning up Hongjoong's desk I notice a stray sheet of paper that appeared to be ripped out of a book that said "The sacred blood of the witch is the elixir of magic and power.” I stand there for a few seconds wondering what that meant then I set the papers into a neat stack. Maybe I shouldn't meddle in his things and just go, I can probably get something out of San or Wooyoung. I carefully clean up the rest of the stray papers and books on the ground and exit his room.
After dropping off Hongjoong's laundry my next stop was the kitchen so I begin to prepare the food and some desserts, shortly after Wooyoung comes into the kitchen and says “It smells delicious, can I help? Remember you promised to let me!” I nod while I prepare the dough for some cookies “If you want you can help me with the food and I’ll do the desserts fair?” he nods and grabs an apron from the kitchen closet. A few minutes later while Wooyoung chops a few vegetables he says in a low voice “We’re getting that sacrifice tonight Miss y/n. If you don’t mind is it okay if you help us?” As soon as Wooyoung uttered those words my hands ran cold. Immediately I turn and look at Wooyoung and I slightly stammer “I-I don’t know if that’s a great idea Master Wooyoung.” He slightly raises his eyebrow and says “And why is that?” I begin to fidget with my hands then I look out the kitchen window “I can’t do that knowing you guys will kill that poor person because of me.” Wooyoung sets the knife down he then turns to me and puts his hands on my shoulders “But we have to go through with the sacrifice, especially if you want to stay alive. We just need your help to keep them calm that’s all, you won’t see the moment that person is sacrificed.”
I shake my head then I turn and look at Wooyoung “I can’t. Knowing that person is going to die because of me doesn’t sit right with me at all.” He sighs “But that person’s death is what’s going to keep you alive. I’m not supposed to tell you this but if Draven gets a hold of you, his power levels will increase and we really don’t want that. That man is already dangerous as it is.” I blink then a confused expression grows onto my face “What do you mean me? Is there something wrong with me?” He puts his hand on his hips and the other one gently tugging his dark hair clearly regretting he even said anything to begin with. ”Okay, look. So, you have a relative from a few hundred years ago who was a very powerful witch her name was Ursula but she was known as Sorceress Ursula. She was very well known among the underworld community which is why you're probably not very aware of it. So obviously, you being related to a witch especially a very powerful one you have literal magic running through your veins, the thing is Draven is not aware you’re related to her right now but once he smells your blood he’ll instantly know then you’ll be in big trouble.”
I swear I feel like a normal human I don’t get it, I’m most definitely not liking where this is going either. ”It's not just you who's going to be in trouble though so are we. Seonghwa for falling in love with a witch and us for helping him keep you alive. Witches and Vampires are forbidden to fall in love due to the fact that we are undead and to witches vampires are a perversion of life itself or in other words we aren't natural. We are not meant to be alive despite being considered dead." So Seonghwa is risking not only his life but his friends as well all because he loves me. I have to at least help out, I don’t want Seonghwa or my friends to get in trouble because of me. I sigh “Alright Master Wooyoung I’ll help.” He smiles and hugs me tight “Thank you so much, also please don’t tell anyone not even Seonghwa about what I told you.” The oven dings causing both of us to jump so I pull away and hurriedly get the oven mitts and I take out the other batch of cookies ”Don’t worry, I won’t say anything I promise. It'll stay safe with me.”
A few hours later San comes in with Jongho then he cheekily smiles “Can I have a cookie?” I nod and hand him the plate of cookies “Sure but just one, we have to eat first.” he takes one and puts it in his mouth “Oh my, these are delicious.” he chews on the cookie while he takes another plate of sweets and heads outside to put them on the picnic table. Jongho smiles and walks over to me and shyly nods his head “Good afternoon Miss y/n I hope making all these treats and food wasn’t too much of a hassle for you.” I smile and shake my head “Oh, no worries Master Wooyoung helped me, it was very nice to have someone help me but something funny is that I found out he’s actually a very good cook.” he steps over to the pots of food on the stove “Well, I’m glad it wasn’t an inconvenience for you, I can’t wait to taste all of these they smell delicious.” I smile then I hand him a pot of food to take outside “I’m honestly excited for the food too. I kinda skipped breakfast and I'm starving.” I grab another pot of food and we both head outside eventually fixing everything and setting everything up. I look at the table then I realize I forgot the tea so I walk back inside the kitchen and I notice Yunho In the kitchen with Yeosang heading outside to the picnic.
Oh my gosh Yunho. Maybe I could ask him about Mingi. Both Yunho and Yeosang say hi with Yeosang following up with “Miss y/n, Wooyung let me know about the picnic today. If I may ask will there be blood?” I nod “Yes Master Yeosang I prepared a pitcher full of pure blood but we will also be having some blood tea, Masters San, Jongho and Wooyung really enjoy that one as well so don’t worry. I also have a feeling the menu will be to your liking with blood since Wooyoung helped me prepare a special blood sauce to go with the food.” A small smile appears on his beautifully angelic face then he says “Ah, alright then sounds great. Come on Yunho let’s go get some food, I haven’t eaten human food in a few decades” I glance over at Yunho then I blurt out “Actually Master Yeosang, I have a question to ask Yunho we’ll catch up to you in a little.”
He nods and heads outside towards the beautiful gazebo where the picnic is being held. Yunho then turns his attention towards me then says “So, what exactly is your question Miss y/n? I also hope you’re doing okay from yesterday’s attack.” I look down and tightly grip the side of my dress then I fidget with my hands “I’m doing a bit better, still very much freaked out though. Although my question actually has to do with the attack. Master Yunho, why did Mingi attack me?” Yunho averts his gaze from mine for a few seconds then looks back at me “Well, Mingi is just sort of a younger vampire who can’t control himself and you happened to upset him when he noticed you were in that room. Thus, creating a very dangerous mix of elements.” His guard is up, I have to try harder. “Well that makes sense but even before that I sensed Master Mingi didn’t like me.” Yunho looks out the window clearly worried about all the questions being asked “Well, Mingi has always had trouble opening up to people just give him time and he’ll warm up to you.” I shake my head “I’m sorry Master but I have a feeling It goes far beyond him acting cold towards me, he literally almost killed me.”
Yunho slightly leans onto the kitchen counter almost leveling his height to mine “It’s just like what I said earlier, him being a young vampire and him being terrible at controlling himself is the reason why he attacked.” Hongjoong and Seonghwa are talking in the distance then Yunho quickly walks off outside with the rest of the guys leaving me alone in the kitchen until a few seconds later Hongjoong and Seonghwa enter the kitchen. Immediately I play off my interaction with Yunho by grabbing the tea kettles “Oh hello Master Hongjoong, hi Seonghwa I was just getting some blood tea for you guys and regular tea for myself.” Hongjoong waves and grabs a tray of cookies on the counter "Hello there Miss y/n I'll be taking this outside" He gives me a kind smile and leaves Seonghwa and I alone.
“I can help you my love” He reaches for one of the kettles from my hands “Oh, careful it's hot.” I say while I make sure the kettle doesn't touch his skin. Seonghwa glances down at me then smiles "You're so precious, you know that?" I cover one of my ears with my available hand hiding bright red ear and he chuckles "Your shyness is telling me you agree with my words." I look down slightly embarrassed "I'm just still in shock someone as sweet and loving as you has been waiting for me all these years." He kisses the top of my head and pulls my shoulder onto his chest "Which is why now I'm going to make up for all that time I lost not being with you." I raise my eyebrow with a cheeky smile "Well, I hope you enjoy being with all wrinkly old woman Sir." Seonghwa tilts my chin up looking deep into my eyes "Just know no matter how much time changes you, just know my love for you will never change." I meant that as a joke but why do I feel like crying? This knot in my throat... Unable to speak Seonghwa gently kisses my forehead and smiles "Let's go, I'm sure you're very hungry after all that cooking." We both walk outside towards the gazebo and I begin to pour tea in their tea cups then San says “Oh, hey Miss y/n don’t worry about pouring tea just sit and eat comfortably, after all we’re all sitting here enjoying a meal as friends even though it might be a little weird since we’re not exactly human.”
I set down the tea pot and I sit down “That’s okay, friends are friends. I mean you guys were human at one point in your lives so that counts.” I serve myself a plate then I look around “The garden is beautiful and so is this gazebo but from the looks of it it’s rarely ever used.” Jongho says “Oh yeah, usually just me and San are the ones that come out here. I really like to look at the graden and sing.” after swallowing a spoonful of food San says “I like to come out here and play in my cat form it’s so fun being able to run around since Hongjoong and Seonghwa don’t let me do it inside.” I pick up the floral golden rimmed tea cup and take a sip “Oh I’m sure being a cat must be fun. It must feel nice being so free, but how come none of you guys burst into flames when we came outside? Aren't vampires deathly allergic to the sun?”
The guys look at each other and laugh as if I've said the most hilarious thing even until Hongjoong clears his throat “Well, the sun severely hurts our eyes Miss y/n. The whole catching on fire or having sparkling skin thing is a myth. The only way to kill us really is by a stab in the heart with a wooden or silver steak, beheading or burning is also an option.”  Well, that's gruesome, I didn't think he'd mention that so nonchalantly. I slowly nod “Ah, that explains the sunglasses then? So how often do you guys need to feed? Is that an everyday thing or..” Everyone looks over at Seonghwa then he gently pats my head and says “Well, to be truthful we only need to feed at least once a week or every 3 days, meaning we each feed an average of 52 times in a year maybe a little more.” Wow that’s kind of a lot, 52 victims every year. With Draven involved though I'm sure the amount of victims is double the amount of death.
Seonghwa gently reaches over to hold my hand Wooyoung then smirks and says “The thing is though when a vampire falls in love with a human their thirst for their blood becomes very strong.” My hands grow cold then San turns to Wooyoung and smacks his arm “Hey, Wooyoung don’t tell her that you’ll freak her out. I’m sure she still doesn’t trust us like that yet..” Seonghwa gently squeezes my hand “Do you trust me Miss y/n?” His green and gold eyes look right at me very tenderly with no trace of malice. “Of course I trust you, I’m just still a bit scared from what happened. So knowing you might eat me in any second kinda scares me a bit. especially since um..” Oh my god, no wonder he would get extra riled up when he was anywhere near my neck last night. I glance at the rest of the vampires at the table then back over at Seonghwa who gently kisses my forehead and chuckles keeping his cool “I would never do that sweetheart, I love you too much.” Yeosang then says “You don’t have to worry about Seonghwa not controlling himself, he keeps his vampiric instincts under control very well.”
Wooyoung then cheekily smiles “Guys, I’ve never seen Seonghwa look at anyone like that, I like it, he looks less scary.” Yeosang shoots him a look then smiles “I mean when you’ve been looking for your soul mate for most of your vampire life then you finally find them I’m sure you’d act the same way.” Yunho looks over at Seonghwa and says “I know you’re happy but please keep an eye on her if something happens to her before we can get to her I really don’t want to think about it.” Seonghwa looks over at me then turns to Yunho slightly annoyed “Actually my dear Yunho, Mingi needs to be the one who's careful he should know better. Just because he’s a younger vampire doesn’t excuse him attacking people. he doesn't intend to feed on.” Yunho looks over at Hongjoong almost pleading him to step in but in return Hongjoong shrugs and says “He’s right, that can’t be an excuse. Look at Jongho, he's the youngest and he controls himself very well.” Yunho sighs in frustration then says “How can you just be on the witch’s side?! I’m sorry but you guys out of anyone here know how hard it is for Mingi to control himself. ”
Everyone turns and looks at Yunho in shock I then feel Seonghwa’s hand clench I hold his arm and gently squeeze it then he responds in a low tone “Yunho, don’t ever disrespect Miss y/n like that ever again.” Yunho grows a very sullen expression “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stand hearing you guys say those things about Mingi. I promise Miss y/n he’s a great person. It’s just that…” He looks over at everyone for a second then he looks back at me “MIngi doesn’t like you because of your witches descent...You’re a witch.” Hongjoong gets up and grabs Yunho by the arm “Alright come on Yunho, you’ve said enough today.” I know Wooyoung told me earlier but hearing him say it that way makes me realize I'm somewhere I shouldn’t be. I have a feeling I’m going to die here.  
While Hongjoong escorts Yunho back to the house I sit there in shock and embarrassment. Seonghwa pulls me close and gently pats my head and without thinking I say “I honestly wish I was gone. Ever since I arrived here I’ve brought so many problems to you guys, you especially Seonghwa. I’m so sorry.” He gently kisses the top of my head and gently strokes my cheek “No, it’s not your fault please don’t say that. From the day you were born I hoped to have you in my arms that’s how much I love you. Being born of a witch's descent isn’t your fault at all, to me you’re just human.” San, Jongho, Yeosang and Wooyoung walk over to me and Seonghwa. Jongho puts his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezes it he then sits next to me and holds my hand “I also am glad you were born because who else Is going to cheer on my singing?”
San moves some plates aside and sits on the table “Yes, and who else is going to play with me or give me really delicious snacks. Only you Miss y/n” Wooyoung then says “If you weren’t here I'd have no one to test recipes for, you’re also an amazing cooking buddy. It’s really fun cooking with you.” And finally Yeosang says “Not to mention if you weren’t here I'd have no one to help me out with experiments since none of these guys ever want to help.” I sigh “I’m so sorry for being selfish, but please understand where I'm coming from. I’m terrified just being here, don’t get me wrong being with you guys has its upsides because if I'm honest in the back of my mind there’s always that thought that maybe one day i’ll end up dead. I’m just a mere human, I’m not a witch I don’t have powers or powerful spells.”
Seonghwa slightly smiles and turns my face towards him “As long as I'm here I'll protect you with my life so you have nothing to worry about.” San looks over at the other guys then says “Us too, I know we just met not long ago but we’re all so fond of you now so don’t mind grouchy Mingi. We’ll protect you.” San then turns into his cat form and walks over to me purring and rubbing his tiny head on my arm I gently pick him up put him on my lap and pet him. My throat grows a heavy knot but not one of sadness but one of happiness and slowly my vision blurs and tears well up in my eyes. “Thank you so much…” I gently hug San in my arms while Seonghwa wipes away my tears “Oh no, don’t cry my love.” I smile and shake my head “I’m sorry I'm such a crybaby it was just happy tears.” Everyone else smiles then Jongho says “How about we help Miss y/n clean up?” I put San on the table and I get up and pick up all the plates “All the dirty dishes can go in the sink I'll wash them when I’m finished packing up all the food” they nod and take the pots of food inside San stays behind then turns back into his regular form “About what Yunho said, just ignore that. He got a bit emotional because he’s really close friends with Mingi.”
“It’s okay, I know I'm a witch by blood he wasn’t wrong about that, It just hurts because of the way he said it. I thought he was my friend and I’d never thought he’d say those things, but I totally understand I honestly would have stood up for my best friend too.” San sighs then grabs a cookie from the plate and takes a bite “True, but he didn’t have to use the fact that you’re a witch against you it’s like getting upset because fire is hot. It makes no sense because you can’t change who you are although I do think the fact that vampires and witches have a strong rivalry against each other plays a strong role as to why they’re acting that way especially Mingi, for him everything that Draven says he follows. Draven hates witches but he loves the power that comes with them so when he drinks their blood he favors that over human blood any day.”
San picks up some pots of food and we walk back towards the kitchen. He leans over close to me and says “Do you need help with the dishes again?” I shake my head and smile “Oh no, it’s okay Master San you can just bring me the remaining food from outside besides I'm sure you need to rest and prepare yourself for um… That thing happening tonight.” He looks over at Seonghwa, Wooyoung, Jongho and Yeosang talking to eachother while they bring in the rest of the food then San gives me an eye smile and says in a low whisper “Oh right, I almost forgot about that it’s today.” The rest of the boys walk into the kitchen and set the remaining food onto the kitchen table then Wooyoung says “Forgot about what San?” San then turns to Wooyoung and awkwardly smiles “Oh you know, that thing that’s happening tonight” Seonghwa then says “Oh, did you let Miss y/n in on what we’re doing?” Wooyoung nods and says “Yes, I told her this morning and she says it’s okay.”
Seonghwa looks over at me slightly worried “Are you sure you want to do this my love? I don’t want you to get scared over what happens or you know see us in a different light.” I force a smile and hold Seonghwa’s hand “It’s okay, I understand. You guys are in a pact after all and the last thing I want is for you guys to get in trouble so I decided it’ll be best I help and not be useless. I need to put my personal feelings aside.” Yeosang then says “I don’t know if Wooyoung told you this but please try not to get attached to this person, I know you’ll probably want to make friends with someone but It’s best you don’t we don’t want to risk an escapee.” I nod “Yes Master Yeosang understood.” Yeosang puts his hands on my shoulders his ruby red eyes looking into mine "Seriously, you cannot get attached Miss y/n, no matter how kind they are and how much you want to comfort them do not get attached." Huh, I wonder why...
☽ ──── ༺𖤐༻ ──── ☾
If you would like to be on the taglist DM me or leave a comment! 🌙
Tag List: @tunaasan @watermelon2319 @thanxx1117
I work super hard on these so please reblog!🔁✨
Last Chapter | Next Chapter
33 notes · View notes