#top stories yahoo

[ckret2]

I feel like "Children of the O. D. D" by HarleyPoe fits him too. On another note despite Bill being a tyrannical figure I feel really bad for the guy. I can't imagine not being able to become yourself again that would be torture. I equate Bill's situation with Discord from mlp where if he tries to be normal he just disappears. He needs to be the person he is or he's not Discord. I know Bill being human is the point of this whole thing. He's supposed to be human so he can learn a lesson about consequences, still must suck though.

I can see it, you've got the culty religious overtones, the weirdness, and the trouble with authority.

He can be both tyrannical and suffering, and acknowledging one doesn't negate the other. You can feel bad for him, I wrote him super sad so that you would. This suffering doesn't undo any of the wrongs he's done, it doesn't improve the world, there's no justice in it; it's just suffering.

I'm gonna give this little bit away, since it's not really a spoiler so much as it is simply something that hasn't come up: Bill isn't a human to teach him a lesson or to punish him.

Bill's a human because if the Axolotl didn't turn him into something powerless, he would've just restarted Weirdmageddon; and, out of all the powerless things he could have been turned into, a human would be EASIEST for him because he knows humans backwards and forwards and he likes Earth.

The human body isn't a punishment being inflicted on him; it's a containment measure to prevent the apocalypse.

It's just that the only containment measure that could hold him happened to require stuffing him into a form that makes him miserable. It does feel torturous, it does suck, and it isn't supposed to give you grim satisfaction at a villain getting his comeuppance; it's supposed to hurt.

#(I'm not gonna begrudge anyone for going 'yay yahoo he's miserable'; readers bring their own experiences to a story. Death of the author.) #(But that's not the authorial intent. Don't think you're doing something wrong by feeling bad for the tyrant.) #(i don't even think he needs to learn a lesson about consequences. He died. It's hard to top that.) #(he's not a 4 year old being taught that if he's naughty then an authority figure will take away his toys. how condescending.) #(the things that are wrong with him are way deeper.) #scbhtvbtggt #ask #bill goldilocks cipher

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A year in illustration, 2023 edition (part one)

(This is part one; part two is here.)

I am objectively very bad at visual art. I am bad at vision, period – I'm astigmatic, shortsighted, color blind, and often miss visual details others see. I can't even draw a stick-figure. To top things off, I have cataracts in both eyes and my book publishing/touring schedule is so intense that I keep having to reschedule the surgeries. But despite my vast visual deficits, I thoroughly enjoy making collages for this blog.

For many years now – decades – I've been illustrating my blog posts by mixing public domain and Creative Commons art with work that I can make a good fair use case for. As bad as art as I may be, all this practice has paid off. Call it unseemly, but I think I'm turning out some terrific illustrations – not all the time, but often enough.

Last year, I rounded up my best art of the year:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/25/a-year-in-illustration/

And I liked reflecting on the year's art so much, I decided I'd do it again. Be sure to scroll to the bottom for some downloadables – freely usable images that I painstakingly cut up with the lasso tool in The Gimp.

The original AD&D hardcover cover art is seared into my psyche. For several years, there were few images I looked at so closely as these. When Hasbro pulled some world-beatingly sleazy stuff with the Open Gaming License, I knew just how to mod Dave Trampier's 'Eve Of Moloch' from the cover of the Players' Handbook. Thankfully, bigger nerds than me have identified all the fonts in the image, making the remix a doddle.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/12/beg-forgiveness-ask-permission/#whats-a-copyright-exception

Even though I don't keep logs or collect any analytics, I can say with confidence that "Tiktok's Enshittification" was the most popular thing I published on Pluralistic this year. I mixed some public domain Brother's Grimm art, mixed with a classic caricature of Boss Tweed, and some very cheesy royalty-free/open access influencer graphics. One gingerbread cottage social media trap, coming up:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

To illustrate the idea of overcoming walking-the-plank fear (as a metaphor for writing when it feels like you suck) I mixed public domain stock of a plank, a high building and legs, along with a procedurally generated Matrix "code waterfall" and a vertiginous spiral ganked from a Heinz Bunse photo of a German office lobby.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/22/walking-the-plank/

Finding a tasteful way to illustrate a story about Johnson & Johnson losing a court case after it spent a generation tricking women into dusting their vulvas with asbestos-tainted talcum was a challenge. The tulip (featured in many public domain images) was a natural starting point. I mixed it with Jesse Wagstaff's image of a Burning Man dust-storm and Mike Mozart's shelf-shot of a J&J talcum bottle.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/01/j-and-j-jk/#risible-gambit

"Google's Chatbot Panic" is about Google's long history of being stampeded into doing stupid things because its competitors are doing them. Once it was Yahoo, now it's Bing. Tenniel's Tweedle Dee and Dum were a good starting point. I mixed in one of several Humpty Dumpty editorial cartoon images from 19th century political coverage that I painstakingly cut out with the lasso tool on a long plane-ride. This is one of my favorite Humpties, I just love the little 19th C businessmen trying to keep him from falling! I finished it off with HAL 9000's glowing red eye, my standard 'this is about AI' image, which I got from Cryteria's CC-licensed SVG.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/16/tweedledumber/#easily-spooked

Though I started writing about Luddites in my January, 2022 Locus column, 2023 was the Year of the Luddite, thanks to Brian Merchant's outstanding Blood In the Machine:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/26/enochs-hammer/#thats-fronkonsteen

When it came time to illustrate "Gig Work Is the Opposite of Steampunk," I found a public domain weaver's loft, and put one of Cryteria's HAL9000 eyes in the window. Magpie Killjoy's Steampunk Magazine poster, 'Love the Machine, Hate the Factory,' completed the look.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/12/gig-work-is-the-opposite-of-steampunk/

For the "small, non-profit school" that got used as an excuse to bail out Silicon Valley Bank, I brought back Humpty Dumpty, mixing him with a Hogwartsian castle, a brick wall texture, and an ornate, gilded frame. I love how this one came out. This Humpty was made for the SVB bailout.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/23/small-nonprofit-school/#north-country-school

The RESTRICT Act would have federally banned Tiktok – a proposal that was both technically unworkable and unconstitutional. I found an early 20th century editorial cartoon depicting Uncle Sam behind a fortress wall that was keeping a downtrodden refugee family out of America. I got rid of most of the family, giving the dad a Tiktok logo head, and I put Cryteria's HAL9000 eyes over each cannonmouth. Three Boss Tweed moneybag-head caricatures, adorned with Big Tech logos, rounded it out.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/30/tik-tok-tow/#good-politics-for-electoral-victories

When Flickr took decisive action to purge the copyleft trolls who'd been abusing its platform, I knew I wanted to illustrate this with Lucifer being cast out of heaven, and the very best one of those comes from John Milton, who is conveniently well in the public domain. The Flickr logo suggested a bicolored streaming-light-of-heaven motif that just made it.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/01/pixsynnussija/#pilkunnussija

Old mainframe ads are a great source of stock for a "Computer Says No" image. And Congress being a public building, there are lots of federal (and hence public domain) images of its facade.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/04/cbo-says-no/#wealth-tax

When I wrote about the Clarence Thomas/Harlan Crow bribery scandal, it was easy to find Mr. Kjetil Ree's great image of the Supreme Court building. Thomas being a federal judge, it was easy to find a government photo of his head, but it's impossible to find an image of him in robes at a decent resolution. Luckily, there are tons of other federal judges who've been photographed in their robes! Boss Tweed with the dollar-sign head was a great stand-in for Harlan Crow (no one knows what he looks like anyway). Gilding Thomas's robes was a simple matter of superimposing a gold texture and twiddling with the layers.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/06/clarence-thomas/#harlan-crow

"Gig apps trap reverse centaurs in wage-stealing Skinner boxes" is one of my best titles. This is the post where I introduce the idea of "twiddling" as part of the theory of enshittification, and explain how it relates to "reverse centaurs" – people who assist machines, rather than the other way around. Finding a CC licensed modular synth was much harder than I thought, but I found Stephen Drake's image and stitched it into a mandala. Cutting out the horse's head for the reverse centaur was a lot of work (manes are a huuuuge pain in the ass), but I love how his head sits on the public domain high-viz-wearing warehouse worker's body I cut up (thanks, OSHA!). Seeing as this is an horrors-of-automation story, Cryteria's HAL9000 eyes make an appearance.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

Rockefeller's greatest contribution to our culture was inspiring many excellent unflattering caricatures. The IWW's many-fists-turning-into-one-fist image made it easy to have the collective might of workers toppling the original robber-baron.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/14/aiming-at-dollars/#not-men

I link to this post explaining how to make good Mastodon threads at least once a week, so it's a good thing the graphic turned out so well. Close-cropping the threads from a public domain yarn tangle worked out great. Eugen Rochko's Mastodon logo was and is the only Affero-licensed image ever to appear on Pluralistic.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/16/how-to-make-the-least-worst-mastodon-threads/

I spent hours on the sofa one night painstakingly cutting up and reassembling the cover art from a science fiction pulp. I have a folder full of color-corrected, high-rez scans from an 18th century anatomy textbook, and the cross-section head-and-brain is the best of the lot.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/04/analytical-democratic-theory/#epistocratic-delusions

Those old French anatomical drawings are an endless source of delight to me. Take one cross-sectioned noggin, mix in an old PC mainboard, and a vector art illo of a virtuous cycle with some of Cryteria's HAL9000 eyes and you've got a great illustration of Google's brain-worms.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/14/googles-ai-hype-circle/

Ireland's privacy regulator is but a plaything in Big Tech's hand, but it's goddamned hard to find an open-access Garda car. I manually dressed some public domain car art in Garda livery, painstakingly tracing it over the panels. The (public domain) baby's knit cap really hides the seams from replacing the baby's head with HAL9000's eye.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/15/finnegans-snooze/#dirty-old-town

Naked-guy-in-a-barrel bankruptcy images feel like something you can find in an old Collier's or Punch, but I came up snake-eyes and ended up frankensteining a naked body into a barrel for the George Washington crest on the Washington State flag. It came out well, but harvesting the body parts from old muscle-beach photos left George with some really big guns. I tried five different pairs of suspenders here before just drawing in black polyhedrons with little grey dots for rivets.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/03/when-the-tide-goes-out/#passive-income

Illustrating Amazon's dominance over the EU coulda been easy – just stick Amazon 'A's in place of the yellow stars that form a ring on the EU flag. So I decided to riff on Plutarch's Alexander, out of lands to conquer. Rama's statue legs were nice and high-rez. I had my choice of public domain ruin images, though it was harder thank expected to find a good Amazon box as a plinth for those broken-off legs.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/14/flywheel-shyster-and-flywheel/#unfulfilled-by-amazon

God help me, I could not stop playing with this image of a demon-haunted IoT car. All those reflections! The knife sticking out of the steering wheel, the multiple Munsch 'Scream'ers, etc etc. The more I patchked with it, the better it got, though. This one's a banger.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

To depict a "data-driven dictatorship," I ganked elements of heavily beribboned Russian military dress uniforms, replacing the head with HAL9000's eye. I turned the foreground into the crowds from the Nuremberg rallies and filled the sky with Matrix code waterfall.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/26/dictators-dilemma/#garbage-in-garbage-out-garbage-back-in

The best thing about analogizing DRM to demonic possession is the wealth of medieval artwork to choose from . This one comes from the 11th century 'Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros.' I mixed in the shiny red Tesla (working those reflections!), and a Tesla charger to make my point.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world

Yet more dividends from those old French anatomical plates: a flayed skull, a detached jaw, a quack electronic gadget, a Wachowski code waterfall and some HAL 9000 eyes and you've got a truly unsettling image of machine-compelled speech.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

I had no idea this would work out so well, but daaaamn, crossfading between a Wachowski code waterfall and a motherboard behind a roiling thundercloud is dank af.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/03/there-is-no-cloud/#only-other-peoples-computers

Of all the turkeys-voting-for-Christmas self-owns conservative culture warriors fall for, few can rival the "banning junk fees is woke" hustle. Slap a US-flag Punisher logo on and old-time card imprinter, add a GOP logo to a red credit-card blank, and then throw in a rustic barn countertop and you've got a junk-fee extracter fit for the Cracker Barrel.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/04/owning-the-libs/#swiper-no-swiping

Putting the Verizon logo on the Hinderberg was an obvious gambit (even if I did have to mess with the flames a lot), but the cutout of Paul Marcarelli as the 'can you hear me now?' guy, desaturated and contrast-matched, made it sing.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/10/smartest-guys-in-the-room/#can-you-hear-me-now

Note to self: Tux the Penguin is really easy to source in free/open formats! He looks great with HAL9000 eyes.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/18/openwashing/#you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means

Rockwell's self-portrait image is a classic; that made it a natural for a HAL9000-style remix about AI art. I put a bunch of time into chopping and remixing Rockwell's signature to give it that AI look, and added as many fingers as would fit on each hand.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/20/everything-made-by-an-ai-is-in-the-public-domain/

(Images: Heinz Bunse, West Midlands Police, Christopher Sessums, CC BY-SA 2.0; Mike Mozart, Jesse Wagstaff, Stephen Drake, Steve Jurvetson, syvwlch, Doc Searls, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mosaic36/14231376315, Chatham House, CC BY 2.0; Cryteria, CC BY 3.0; Mr. Kjetil Ree, Trevor Parscal, Rama, “Soldiers of Russia” Cultural Center, Russian Airborne Troops Press Service, CC BY-SA 3.0; Raimond Spekking, CC BY 4.0; Drahtlos, CC BY-SA 4.0; Eugen Rochko, Affero; modified)

#pluralistic #illustration #collage #fair use #creative commons #stock art #blogging #art #practice makes perfect

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

In 1832 Andrew Jackson stomped out the “nullification theory” when South Carolina declared federal law “null and void” and threatened to secede.

Historical figures are multi-faceted and led complex public and private lives. While justly regarded as a monster for what he did to Native Americans he also prevented a potential civil war and kept the union together. However one action does not necessarily balance the scales. History and politics is not black and white and will always remain shades of grey.

Governor Abbott is a political showman keeping the redneck fantasy of Tex-ass secession alive. They tell the Tex-ass MAGAts that Texas-ass is the only state not connected to the power grid because someday they might secede again. Truth is they keep it separate because Tex-ass RepubliKKKlans and their top 1% masters are all major shareholders in the ERCOT grid and make millions from price gouging their own constituents.

The border is something the RepubliKKKlans revisit every election year. They stir up the uneducated and misinformed base with racist and xenophobic nativist talk of an invasion and then when the election is over they do little or nothing about it.

Two years ago Republican operatives were detained in Brazil and questioned about their role in organizing migrant convoys and sending them to the U.S. southern border to make the Dems look bad. We all know they do this but the tv news won’t cover it. The far-right always gets a free pass by tv news. If you want real news about politics you have to go to respected print media and their associated websites for the whole story.

Greg Abbott will continue to human traffick migrants across the country and kill them at the border. US law supersedes state laws and he has no business messing with immigration. He’s trying to provoke a showdown with Biden so he can claim Joe is a dictator and rally the deplorable base. Biden is commander-in-chief of the Texas National Guard and could have the Defense Department order them to stand down but that would be risky politically so instead he keeps beating Abbott in court. Even if Biden ordered the Texas National Guard to stand down, Texas has a large state militia called the Texas State Guard that only answers to the governor and is not connected to the federal government. Abbott could always order those yahoos to commit atrocities against migrants and block federal agents. It’s all about creating a certain false perception of Dems appearing to want open borders.

Tex-ass once had a thriving economy that contributed to the federal government. However in the past 20 years Republicans have held power there and driven the state into the ground. Economically and socially it is now bordering on being a failed 3rd world state where oligarchs and gunslinging nativist white supremacists run amok. Tex-ass like most other red states is now a welfare state taking more from the federal government than it turns in. A handful of blue economic powerhouse states in the northeast and on the west coast now support nearly the entire nation. We pay high taxes that go to support Confederate states and the oligarchs that get perpetual kickbacks there.

#republican assholes #Greg Abbott murderer #Tex-ass secession #nullification is unconstitutional #Greg Abbott human trafficker #Tex-as republicans

[eds6ngel]

✎ when i kissed the teacher | part two

summary: with the christmas fayre coming up, alena offers for steve to help run your stall with you. but, how will alone time between the two of you affect your ever-growing feelings for one another?

if you aren’t caught up on the story, read part one here!

warnings: dad!steve. singledad!steve. 90s!au. fem!reader. swearing. mutual pining. slow burn. fluff. angst. robin being a matchmaker. slight age gap [r is 24, steve is 29]. r has a breakdown towards the end. more warnings in future chapters! [4.2k].

Can a teacher date a student’s parent?

Can a teacher and a parent be romantically involved?

Is it okay to have a crush on a student’s parent?

Hours upon hours spent searching the highs and lows of Yahoo! just to be met with the same answers.

Wouldn’t encourage.

Not advised.

No.

“What are you still doing up? You have kids to teach from 8am tomorrow,” your roommate Amy says, you peering at the clock on the wall, it reading 11:47PM.

You groan and bury your face in your hands, letting the inevitable frustration take over your soul, “I thought this new search engine was meant to be reliable? It keeps giving me the same damn answers.”

The sound of running water floods your senses, Amy taking on the task to tackle the growing pile of dishes you’d left rotting in the sink from your evening meal. “I mean, does that mean it’s unreliable? Or is it just not giving you the answer you desire?”

You slam your laptop lid shut, resting your head on top of the heavy, black outer, buzzing your lips, “Maybe, I’m not right about everything.”

“No one’s right about everything honey, that’s just life. You’re letting the self-doubt flood your mind again,” she reminds you, your mind racing about the situation at hand.

You lean back in your chair, Amy coming over and massaging your shoulders, “I think it’s time for you to get some sleep. Take your mind off of things.”

You let out a deep breath, one you weren’t even aware you were holding in, “Yeah, probably for the best.”

You leave your laptop on the kitchen table, raising from your seat and dragging yourself to your bedroom. Throwing on your pyjamas, you head to the bathroom to complete your nightly skincare routine. However, the silence of the small apartment made your thoughts worse. You couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same way, had these same exact questions. Although, there was nothing for him to worry about. He didn’t have the price of his whole entire job at stake.

By your own research, you also stumbled across articles of “breaching confidentiality,” which made sense to you. If you became a mother figure for one of your students, it would destroy the power dynamic. And with not many teaching roles available around the area, you couldn’t lose your one opportunity. An opportunity that you actually enjoyed.

You flop onto your bed, snuggle yourself underneath the silken sheets and try to let your mind wander into a weird dream that could never be explained. You needed a break before seeing his face again tomorrow.

The next two months felt like torture. Seeing his beautiful face, those gorgeous brown curls every morning and afternoon just made your crush on him intensify. And not only that, but Alena was improving in Math. He listened to you. Not only was he an extremely attractive guy, but he was also an amazing dad. The most deadliest combination of them all.

And you would also be lying if you said if you didn’t spend at least a few times a week scouring the internet for the answer you wanted to your question. However, with every new response, it just directed you further away from your desired answer.

“Thank you for being such wonderful, respectful and kind students today! I’m proud of each and every one of you,” you say, a smile plastered on your face. “Now, as you all know, the Christmas Fayre is coming up next week! You have all been working so hard on forming your chocolate boxes. But, I will need a volunteer to help me run our stall, and that volunteer I was hoping for would be in the form of one of your guys’ parents! So, if you could be so kind as to ask them—”

However, your request is cut short by Alena’s hand shooting up in the air, her practically bouncing in her crossed-legged position, “Yes, Alena?”

“My daddy will help!” she beams.

If there was anyone you hoped wouldn’t offer, it would be her. But, how could you deny? She was a six-year-old kid, you couldn’t just tell her no because you couldn’t cope around her father who you also so happened to have a crush on.

“That’s very nice of you to offer Alena, but wouldn’t it be wise to ask your daddy first just to see whether he can make it?”

“Oh, I know he’s free!” she says straightforwardly, “He finishes work at 1 on a Friday, all he does for the afternoon is sit at home!”

“Okay,” you breathe out, clapping your hands together, “Stev— Alena’s daddy it is! Don’t worry the rest of you, it’s all sorted now! Now, who wants to go home?”

A chorus of “Me!” can be heard from the voices of the children sitting on the rug, you walking over to the window to check what parents had arrived, and sure enough, Steve was standing there patiently waiting. You can’t help but give him a small smile as he looks at you, waving his hand.

God, stop acting like a teenage girl.

You look down and compose yourself, calling over to Alena and Harry, his mom also there ready to collect him. Alena bumbles over to you, giggling away at nothing as she cheesily grins. “Okay honey, off you go. Have a great weekend!”

Steve is smiling as his daughter runs up to him, causing him to slightly stumble back as she races into his legs and hugs them tightly, “Good afternoon to you too Missus! How was your day?” he asks, grabbing her hand and leading her out to the school parking lot.

“Sooo good!” she jumps, “I got all my math problems right!”

“That’s great pumpkin! That extra homework really helped out, didn’t it? Miss. L/N is a genius!” he beams to his daughter, trying to hide the fact that he was just complimenting your intellect as a human being, rather than just in your profession.

“Uh huh! And then me and Timmy played Hopscotch and I won, of course,” she says sassily, putting her hand to her chest, making Steve laugh. He was proud she inherited his confidence in a positive way, he couldn’t bear to see his own family turn out the way he did in his schooling career.

“Oh, did you? Was Timmy just not up to your level? Doesn’t have that Harrington magic?”

“Nope!” she shouts, popping the ‘P,’ “And then I got ten out of ten in my spelling bee! And we got to do lots of drawing as it’s Friday and Miss. L/N lets us have lots of fun on a Friday!”

“Sounds like you had a very busy day then!” Steve says, lifting her into the front seat and putting her seatbelt on for her. Alena waits to answer, kicking her feet in her seat as Steve situates himself in the driver’s side.

“Yeah! And then at the end of the day, Miss. L/N talked about the Christmas Fayre and I said you could help her out!”

Steve almost chokes on his own spit, spluttering out, “You said that I could help?”

“Yeah! You always talk about how lonely you are on a Friday without me, so I thought you could help her out!”

“That’s very nice of you to offer sweet-cheeks, but I thought I was taking you around the Christmas Fayre next Friday? That way I wouldn’t be lonely without you!” Steve says, trying to find any way out of the inevitable trap his daughter had put him in. It’s not like she understood, how could he blame her?

“But Miss. L/N really needs help daddy. Pleaseeeee! Auntie Robin could take me instead and I would still see you.”

He knew she was right. But, he may have found his one-way ticket out of the task, “But, sweetie, Robin works until two on a Friday, remember? She may be too busy.” She better be fucking busy.

“Can you just ask her daddy? Pleaseeeee!” she drags out, Steve caving into his daughter’s cuteness.

“Okay, okay,” he sighs out, “But, just keep in mind she may say no, okay?”

“Oh, I’d be happy to take her,” Robin smiles, Steve hearing the smirk in her tone through the receiver.

“Robin, that was a rhetorical question, I want you to say no. For the love of God say no,” Steve begs, knowing his best friend was fully aware of his crush on you. The countless hours of him both down the phone and in person rambling away about how beautiful you were, Robin soon picking up on the cues, and then her teasing him relentlessly about it was still going strong.

“Oh, poor Stevie can’t handle spending some time alone with his daughter’s teacher,” she whines dramatically, Steve rolling his eyes.

“I know you think you’re being funny Robin, but that is the exact mess I am in. How am I meant to stand there and run a fucking Christmas stall with her when she is the most gorgeous woman in the world?”

“You just gotta be yourself,” she laughs, telling him her signature advice, knowing that it has never helped him in the past.

“Stop with that bullshit Robin, you and I both know that neither of us have ever followed it,” he admits with a shake of his head, “Look, can’t you just say that you and Vickie have a date or something?”

“We’ve been together for eight years, Steve. You think we still plan weekly date nights? We’re almost thirty, you know,” Robin reminds him, the idea of the couple scheduling time out for romanticism seeming utterly ridiculous.

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” he complains, ignoring the fact that he was one year away from hitting thirty, “Right, I’m gonna call in Lena, just make up some excuse please, okay? She’s six, she’ll believe literally anything.”

“Fine,” Robin agrees, “Your loss dude.”

After Steve shouts Alena’s name, she comes running in, feet pattering against the wooden floor, “Auntie Robin is on the phone, she has something to tell you,” Steve says, passing the phone down to her smaller height.

“Hello?”

“Hi Auntie Robin!”

“Yeah?”

“Really?”

“Thank you!”

“Okay, byeee!”

Steve notices Alena’s pitch get higher as each word was spoken, her attitude getting happier and happier. Robin had definitely told her the truth.

As Alena passes the phone back, Steve quietly thanks her as she patters back to her bedroom, him raising the phone back to his ear, “You told her you could take her, didn’t you?”

“Uh huh!” Robin cheerfully replies.

Steve shakes his head in annoyance, “I hate you.”

“I know.”

After you had gotten all the kids with their parents, it was time for you to tackle setting up the stall. As previously told, Robin had collected Alena and Steve should be arriving any minute. The school had already set up the tables for every class, so all you had to do was transport the chocolate boxes over to your designated table.

A faint knock can be heard on your classroom door as you spin around, Steve standing there sheepishly, waving to you.

You giggle to yourself, “You can come in, you know? We’re technically out of hours, you don’t need to stand around like a lost puppy.”

He puts his hands up in defense, making his way over to you, “Nothing wrong with some good old fashioned manners.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” you smile, “Thank you for coming by the way, Alena was persistent on you being the parent to help out.”

“If you think she was persistent here, you should’ve heard her in my car that afternoon: ‘Daddy please help out Miss. L/N, she really needs it,’” he says in a baby voice, upping his pitch to match the tone of his mini-me.

You laugh at his impression, “She’s a character, that’s for sure,” you reply, before explaining the situation, “Okay, so the kids made a bunch of chocolate boxes. I’m gonna sell them for $1.50 a box purely for the array of brands. My bank account is currently punishing me, but that’s okay.”

“Wait, you bought all the chocolate yourself?” Steve queries.

You sigh, “Yeah, but it’s no problem, really. It was a great way of combining learning with fun. As you can see, all the outside boxes are decorated differently, so it was good to factor in their knowledge of shapes along with some artsy work.”

“You know, if you asked the parents, I would’ve happily chipped in with a few bars of Hershey’s,” he honestly admits, copying you as you begin to pick up some of the chocolate boxes.

You shake your head, heading out of your classroom and down towards the main hall, “Honestly, it’s nothing. That’s the kind of thing you sacrifice for being a teacher. We’re underpaid as it is, our wages not factoring in this entire classroom decoration business, so $10 worth of chocolate bars wasn’t breaking the bank too much. Actual Christmas shopping is the real breaker,” you softly laugh.

There it was again: that kindness. You would do anything for those kids, anything to make them happy, to allow them to enjoy school. Even if it meant dipping into your own savings. That was admirable.

You arrive at your designated table, “Okay, so just line them up in a way that makes them easy to see. No need for any fancy order or anything,” you explain, “There’s thirty boxes altogether, so don’t spread them too far apart. The table is pretty small after all.”

“You got it,” he replies, laying out the items on the red cloth-covered table, as do you, before you both walk back to the classroom and repeat your actions.

Once you have completed your task, you take a seat on the chairs that the staff had so kindly laid out for you beforehand. You breathe out, “Now time to relax.”

Steve checks the watch perched on his left wrist, “What time does this thing start again?”

“2:30,” you tell him, further adding, “I got lucky in the sense that I only had to lay out these boxes. I know other grades made snowmen and other decorations, or fourth grade did the classic antiques stall where they get the kids to bring in old or unused items from home. And then, of course, we have our lovely outside visitors who are doing the raffle, hook a duck, stuff like that. We also have to give the cafeteria staff enough time to prepare food since this is going on until 5pm. Oh, that reminds me, I bet Alena didn’t tell you how long this was on for!”

He smiles, thinking to himself how you cute you were when you rambled, “I think you forget it was on the flyer you gave out to the kids.”

You laugh in an embarrassed manner, hiding your face behind your hands, “Sorry. I genuinely forget that sometimes you are just a parent of one of my students. Like, as I’m talking to you right now, it just feels like I’m talking to a regular guy, you know?”

He softly chuckles, “I understand. I mean, I always feel like I’m just talking to a pretty girl instead of my daughter’s teacher.”

You become rendered speechless. Did he just say what you thought he said?

“You… You think I’m pretty?” you tenderly question, making sure you weren’t living inside of your own fantasy world.

Steve fumbles over his words, “I, um…” before he shakes his head, “What the hell am I lying for? Uh, yes. Yes I do think you look… pretty.” He looks down at his lap, twiddling his own thumbs as he awaits the ultimate rejection. You can’t just say that stuff to her, no matter how much it’s true.

You blush at his compliment, internally thanking yourself that you weren’t imagining his feelings back, “Thank you… You look handsome too.”

She’s just saying it to be nice. She’s just saying it to be nice. She’s just saying it to be nice.

“Um… Thanks.”

But, now that it was reciprocated, you began burying yourself into a deeper hole: the questions. The questions answered no. You can’t date him. You could lose everything. You couldn’t lose your job over a stupid boy. A handsome boy. A nice boy. A kind, sweet… caring boy. Could you?

An hour into the event and half the chocolate boxes were already sold. You had been doing the same stall for the past two years, the idea coming to you your first year of teaching after talking to another teacher about Christmas gifts. But, it had never sold this fast. Although, you noticed by the body language of some parents that Steve’s charm and looks were playing a major part in the quick selling. But, he had charmed you, so who were you to judge?

You were out of earshot and attending to another customer as Robin and Alena approached the stall, Alena shouting, “Daddy!” Steve’s facing lighting up with delight.

“Hey pumpkin! How’s it been so far?”

She giggles and bounces in her spot, “Soooo good! Robin got me some candyfloss and I had a hot chocolate. But, I got too excited and burnt my mouth. But, it didn’t hurt too much and I drank the whole thing!”

“The sugars definitely had an effect on someone, hasn’t it?” he says, lifting his eyebrows at Robin, giving her an accusatory look.

She scoffs at him, “Give her a break, it’s Christmas. Plus, I think we have better things to be talking about,” she smirks, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

He sighs, “She already called me handsome because my big ass mouth couldn’t shut up and told her that she looks pretty right to her face,” he mentally facepalms himself.

Robin grins at him, “Well, that’s perfect!”

“What do you mean?”

“Dude, are you kidding?” she asks, “She complimented you back after you complimented her. She literally reciprocated back. Girls don’t do that for no reason.”

“Robin, you don’t even like men.”

She looks at him dumbfounded, “Straights and lesbians aren’t that different, you dingus. We still react the same way when it comes to someone who likes us.”

“Whatever you say,” he replies, trying to ignore his best friend’s advice.

“I’m just saying, give it a shot,” she says, “At least if you get rejected, you can move on. I’ve had enough of you love-dumping about her down the phone.”

“Hey,” he points a finger at her, “This is payback for when you wouldn’t shut up about Vickie in your senior year.”

“And we’re still happily in love eight years later, so who’s the real loser here, Harrington?”

He rolls his eyes at her, Robin copying his action as you become free from the previous customer, tending to Alena.

Steve licks his lips as he thinks to himself: God, maybe Robin is right. What else has he got left to lose? A million girls rejected him during and after high school, that’s only another one to add to the never-ending list, right?

The event ended a little later than expected, a remaining two chocolate boxes left for you and Steve to carry back to your classroom, leaving the pot of money on the table for the staff to collect and count up.

“Thank you for helping out, you don’t understand how grateful I am. It’s much easier to sell products when there’s two people doing the convincing,” you say with a soft laugh to your tone.

He buzzes his lips and waves his hand, “It’s nothing, trust me. I would’ve been doing nothing all afternoon if I wasn’t here.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle, “Alena told me that last Friday.”

“She did?” he asks with a smile, you nodding along, “The cheeky little shit.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that when she said it. Like, damn girl, really outing your father’s loneliness like that,” you laugh, “Kids are so brutally honest, I love it.”

“Yeah, Alena’s definitely a straightforward kid, that’s for sure.”

A delicate smile crosses your face as you lift up a chocolate box to him, “For you.”

He takes it out of your hands, questioning, “Are you sure? You don’t need them for anything else?”

You shake your head sadly, “No. All the school does with unsold items is keep them in storage until next year or throw them in the trash. So, for food like this, it’ll get put in the trash unfortunately.”

He sighs solemnly, “That’s kind of sad, if I’m being honest. Like, there’s kids crafts here. Why throw it away?”

“That’s what I’ve always said!” you quietly shout, your voice small enough to not disturb the silent atmosphere, yet loudly projecting to show your agreement, “Like, you only get so many memories of the children that pass through this school, why discard them as simply as that? It’s like they don’t appreciate the kids personalities and only see them as future employees.” You sigh whilst shaking your head, shoving the remaining chocolate box into your own bag, slinging it over your shoulder, “Anyway, I should get going home. I’m sure you wanna go and see Alena too.”

“Wait!” Steve yells, the word spilling out of his mouth before he has time to compose himself. Just you standing there, you looked so beautiful. Your eyes so soft as they look up at him, lips slightly parted as if you wanted to question him, yet you let him continue. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah…” you breathe out, “Anything.”

Steve shakes his hands, trying to jitter the nerves out of his body. It was now or never.

“God… This is gonna sound so forward, and I’m sorry, but… Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

It was like a knife to the chest, you letting out a shaky breath as you clutched the binder and notebook in your arms, looking down at the floor as you swallowed. You really wanted to say yes. God, it was like a fire burning within you to say yes. But, you had to make a choice. This job was forever, who knew the long-term circumstances of the potential relationship? Was it really worth it to put your hard-earned degree in the background to focus on a love that might not even last?

And it’s not that you didn’t trust it to last, you had a feeling deep inside you that told you that he was the right person. But, there’s always the saying: Right person, wrong time.

“Steve, I… I can’t, I’m sorry,” you reply, trying not to let the tears fall as you explain your reasoning, “It’s not you, I promise it’s not, it’s just… confidentiality, you know? Because of Alena, if we became a couple, I could get accused of a lot of shit, potentially even lose my job. And I’ve worked a long time to get here, and I can’t be throwing it away for a relationship. I’m really sorry, but… Yeah, that’s why.”

You look up at him, his face telling that he was heartbroken, him wanting so desperately for the answer to be yes. He knew it, you were just being polite.

“Yeah, I get it,” he mumbles out, convinced that your reasoning was a cover up for your lack of attraction, “I get it…”

“Again, I’m sorr—”

He cuts you off, “It’s fine…”

You sigh out, “Well… I have to head home, it’s getting late,” you say, him nodding along, still not making any eye contact with you, “Have a good Christmas, Steve.”

“Yeah… You too,” he replies, you turning your back and heading out of your classroom, not returning for another two weeks.

You stormed out to the parking lot, the night sky covering over, the stars twinkling away as you throw your bag into the passenger seat. You slam your door shut, breathing out, the tears now falling down your cheeks as you hit your steering wheel forcefully, screaming out, “Stupid fucking bullshit rules!”

You pull your car out of park, reversing and steering out of the lot. You try to drive as carefully as you can, the rush of anger coursing through your blood making it extremely difficult to stick to the road safety rules you were taught at sixteen.

After arriving home five minutes earlier than normal, your bad energy keeping you slightly above the required speed limit, you unlock the front door to your apartment, Amy not expected to return home for another two hours.

You throw your keys and bag on the kitchen counter, grabbing your laptop and speeding to your room. You open up the lid and once again type in, ‘Can a teacher date a student’s parent?’

“Come on… Come on… Please, please!” you yell, your body shaking as you frantically search the web for the answer you so desperately require. There had to be some way around this. You couldn’t let this slip through your fingers.

Wouldn’t advise.

Strong discourage.

Do not do this.

Definitely no.

You scream as you throw your laptop away from you, crying out, “Just give me the fucking answer!”

But, that was the issue. That was the answer. No amount of wishful thinking would change that. You couldn’t date Steve Harrington.

everything got a little bit angsty towards the end, but that's what makes a good fic, right?

taglist: @livsters @bakugouswh0r3 comment if you want to be added!!

→ next chapter.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington comfort #steve harrington angst #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington one shot #steve harrington drabble #dad!steve harrington #singledad!steve harrington #eds6ngel #stranger things

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Fine I'll Bite

So I'm beyond the scope of normal anger here. Media has been on a crusade as of late to more or less make it out like child sex trafficking ISN'T happening and if it is, is only happening a TINY BIT. First of all. FUCK YOU. I'm not going to be calm here. The people CNN, MSNBC, ABC etc have had on to talk about this have been Prostasia supporters, and spokes people for fucking NAMBLA. Actual pedophiles are the people saying this movie is "over hyped" and " is fear mongering".

WHEN for all intents and purposes it's fully based on a true events, with very little changed for artistic posture. Which is why the movie was not a action adventure thriller with huge gun fights and explosions. Then we have THIS pos, and look, I don't know you but to you, fuck you.

And I'm not going to hide your name. You deserve to be looked into. "I always knew millions of people that were against child sex trafficking were fishy" Sure you did. Because it's impossible that there are not a few people donating to a movie being made that maybe aren't the best people.

Here's the kicker. Yahoo New, citing Newsweek both know what they were doing when they did this:

Yahoo News *Though the top header reads Jezebel so I'm a bit confused and concerned.

Newsweek

Now what do both of these have in common? Well when you first click on the Newsweek article it starts with the mug shot. Because regardless of the mans name, (and I don't personally know his nationality) He looks white. The media loves this. They want this. Because they know it stokes division. But what is the other thing they did? The headline. "Funder" is the word they used. And while Yahoo specifically goes out of their way to NOT mention the thousands of other crowd funders. News week at least had the decency to put it in the first paragraph. Though I am still pissed at the intentional slant here with the headline.

Now if you read the Newsweek article they don't give us much of anything. More or less not even telling us what exactly he's being charged for specifically as no information about the case exists it seems. At least not that Newsweek can verify also saying that he had direct involvement in the film somehow but then they go on to say this

So some credit again to Newsweek though they frankly don't deserve it.

My issue with both of these headlines is that it leads you into this idea that the movie got it's primary funding from this one guy. And the intent with that is to implicate the entire film as being a catfish. Why? I can tell you why. Because most of the mainstream left have sided with actual pedophiles and can't renounce them because if they do, they think the LGBT will revolt against them. Which is honestly disgusting because, let's suppose for a second, I as a moderate on the left, would believe that the LGBT would be mad if you called out pedophiles. What is the implication in that? Is it that you are saying that the LGBT ARE or are complacent in pedophilia? Because that sounds pretty fucking homophobic to me. Or is it that you don't want to risk alienating a voter base who seems to more and more align with you? At least the outspoken ones anyways.

I can't even express, as a victim of CSA myself how angry this topic makes me. THERE ARE legit avowed pedophiles trashing this movie, and ONE DONER out of 1000's does something f'd up that we have ZERO context on, and all of a sudden it's a win to prove the movie or the people as a WHOLE that support it are a problem.

I don't know how to tell you this. Hell I don't know how to force this down your throat. The movie. WAS. BASED. ON. REAL. EVENTS! And the telling of that story as well as actual news footage, shows there is a HUGE issue with child abductions and child sex trafficking. And saying that it's fear mongering, or that we shouldn't put that much worry on it REALLY makes it feel like you have something to hide.

And again. I can not even BEGIN to express how pissed off this makes me. I really can't. No one has any real reason to shit on this movie unless they have something to hide. No one has any real reason to shit on the movies message unless they have something to hide. Because the movie was based again on REAL LIFE. So either one you want people to not focus on this as a problem because you are a part of that problem. Or because you are mad that a large swath of the political middle and right have come out in support of it, but the neo liberal left has been mostly silent about it. And more the media has been propping up NAMBLA types to talk about why this movie "is just qanon fear mongering". If I could have a heart attack from sheer rage, I'd have had one having read that.

I've done my best to not lose my utter shit when dealing with the a-holes in the media trying to make this movie seem bad, and not worth paying attention to. And little by little I'm losing my patience. And I can't not be emotion driven on this because I'VE BEEN assaulted as a kid. I do my best to bury it every single fucking day and you're going to tell ME it's not that big a deal? Your going to tell ME that people supporting a movie based heavily on a true story is "Fishy". I don't support violence at all in 98%-99% of cases. For you, I'd make an exception. For the people at Yahoo(and or Jezebel) that wrote this, I'd make an exception. For the people that decided on that headline at Newsweek, I'd make an exception.

And for context, the Yahoo one is GOD AWFUL. And intentionally inflammatory. I will not link that here because they don't deserve the traffic. However I'll link the Newsweek one here so people can look at what a non story this bullshit is.

Newsweek Article

#discourse #yahoo news #rage #Youtube

[bl4cktourmaline]

haiiii may i request tsumugi with a chubby insecure gf and he reassures her how he finds her beautiful and loves her and stuff hehehehe thank u :3

🎋 . 鳥居 — aoba tsumugi

✿ — ♬ ⌨️ᶻᶻᶻ : yue is typing... ✉!

✿ — ↻ SYNOPSIS : aoba tsumugi with a chubby girlfriend who is insecure...

✿ — ♯ GENRE : fluff, female reader.

✿ — ↠ NOTE : pyon-yahoo~ first time writing for tsumugi and not gonna lie, I have so much fun with this one?! Chubby people are so cute like they would give the best hugs 🥺👉👈 I hope I did tsumugi's characteristics justice though!!

✿ — ♪ REMINDER : reblogs & likes are appreciated, in doing so will motivate us to continue delivering stories to you, thank you for all of your supports ~ !

✿ — ► ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : happiness featuring aoba tsumugi...

ᝰ The day you started dating Tsumugi was when he accidentally confessed his feelings towards you. It wasn't planned, his heart just couldn't bear to see you looking so down...

ᝰ Ever since that fateful day, your entire world change. Whenever you look at his kind eyes, all you could see in them was pure adoration...it is sweet, dark gold in colour as honey.

ᝰ He was exactly that. Throughout your relationship with him, he was so sweet to you... he always put you as his top priority such as when you get sick? He would go to work and take the rest of the day off so he could take care of you.

ᝰ But despite all that, dark thoughts would still cross the back of your mind and it's become more noticeable when you are alone...

Under the dark sky, the room was pitch black with the moonlight shining through the window.

Standing in front of you was a full body mirror, checking yourself out as a simple (colour) dress, reaching your knees with lace decorating its pleated skirt and sleeves.

You bought the dress a few days ago on your way home from work and now you're just trying it out. You really like how you look but in the privacy of your home where there is no one, no light and no sound...

You stared at the mirror with a puzzled expression on your face staring back at you. It is a cute dress and you really like it when you buy it on a whim but...

There was nothing that could stop the voices of doubt from making their way into the back of your mind, repeating over and over again, making you feel more self-conscious of your body type.

Is it too tight around the waist and chest?

The dress is ruined now from how much you're stretching it.

Nobody wants to see you in that thing.

You frowned, grabbed a blanket and completely covered the mirror with it. You take a few steps back, bumping into the dresser in the process as a few items fall onto the ground near your feets.

One of them was an idol magazine with its pages wide open, featuring multiple beautiful people. Thin and petite...you know that is the standard beauty no matter what others said otherwise.

BEEP!

A notification...

You grabbed your phone from the bed, switching it on as a text message pop out on the screen;

Mugi ♡ :

(name), I got some of your favourite desserts.

I thought you would like them after a long day at work.

"He is too sweet..." You faintly smiled at your boyfriend's kindness.

Tsumugi is your first boyfriend and he is one of the few people who always gives you confidence but he is also a popular idol meaning he will meet other celebrities...

Beautiful celebrities...more beautiful than you.

He might dump you for someone better than you.

You have no place standing next to him.

"..."

CREAK...!

"(name), are you there-?" He stopped, caught by surprise at the sight of your reddish face.

"M-Mugi...?" Your voice cracked.

Tsumugi looked at you with worried eyes, dropping what he was holding and immediately walked up to you as he placed a hand on your right cheek.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a soft tone, gently wiping a single teardrop that fell from your (colour) eyes.

"..."

You didn't even realize that you were crying...

Feeling ashamed, you turned your face away "I'm fine..."

"(name)..."

Tsumugi is stunned, he didn't know what to do at first but then he caught sight of the magazine a few feets away from where you were and that single glance at it was enough to tell him what was going on.

He turned to look at his girlfriend and took a hold of your hand which made you look up at him.

The look he was giving you almost made your heart stop.

Golden dilated pupils staring deep into your eyes as if he was looking at something precious...

The thought makes you blush.

"(name), you are worthy of love and respect...you are beautiful, kind and considerate so please don't think badly of yourself..." Tsumugi smiled gently, faint pink spread across his cheeks.

"... because you are my happiness"

#｡⊹˚yue; writing ˏˋ꒰🎐꒱˚彡๑ #ensemble stars x you #ensemble stars x y/n #ensemble stars x reader #enstars x reader #enstars #tsumugi aoba #aoba tsumugi #aoba tsumugi x reader #tsumugi aoba x reader #ensemble stars #enstars tsumugi #enstars x you #enstars x y/n #fluff #x female reader #x chubby reader #ensemble stars tsumugi #switch enstars #switch #tsumugi aoba x y/n #tsumugi aoba x you #tsumugi x reader #enstars x reader fluff #switch x reader #enstars headcanons #enstars imagines #ensemble stars fluff

[genshinluvr]

The Soul Puppet

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: You and the men were spending time together at the Mid-Autumn Festival at Liyue Harbor when a merchant called you over to show off a necklace that might interest you. After seeing how much the necklace cost, you refused to buy it. The merchant demands that you take the necklace, and you reluctantly take it in the end. Who knew that things would go downhill from there that cost your life?

Note: I have finally decided to type out this request because I have been trying to plan out this story ever since I first got the request! This is angst; there is no comfort (mainly because I didn't get any comfort vibes from the request). Please don't pop into my inbox to ask if there's comfort or not; read the request, and you'll know whether there's comfort or not. Or, skip to the ending to see if there's a happy ending or not (I do that with every angst I come across). Some angst doesn't need happy endings. To my new and/or returning readers, I post on AO3 as well, so if you have an AO3 and see a work similar to this, it's me (Aaliah_exo on AO3). I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: Stabbing, exorcism by using adeptal magic, lots and lots of blood, mentions of death, coughing and vomiting up blood

Word Count: 13.7k

Read Part 2 of the Soul Puppet [HERE].

The sound of the bustling crowd fills your ears as you walk around Liyue Harbor at eight o’clock at night. You were holding onto Zhongli and Xiao’s hands tightly as they guide you through the large crowd with the other men following behind you three. You looked at your surroundings in awe of the decorations all over Liyue Harbor. Lanterns hung on buildings, and children ran by with their lanterns while their parents and guardians chased after them to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.

“I knew that there would be many people celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, but I didn’t think the entirety of Liyue would be in Liyue Harbor to celebrate it.” You commented, gripping Xiao and Zhongli’s hands tightly as you and your boyfriends pushed through the crowd.

Zhongli chuckles, “It’s one of the most important festivals to the people of Liyue.” You let out a soft “oh” while nodding your head in acknowledgment. Once Zhongli and Xiao were able to guide you and the rest of the men out from the vast crowd, you three released your grips on each other’s hands before scanning around the harbor.

Thoma looks at Zhongli and Xiao before asking, “What should we do first?” His green eyes shone with wonder when he caught a glimpse of lanterns floating in the air.

“You know, I heard that drinking osmanthus wine is one of the traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival! Maybe we should do that.” You said, nudging Zhongli lightly with a smile on your face. Zhongli smiles down at you and rubs the top of your head affectionately; Zhongli is about to open his mouth to say something, only to hear someone say, “yahoo!” Everyone turned towards where the holler came from, only to see a buzzed Venti strutting up to the group with a bright smile on his face.

“I’m already ahead of you, Windblume!” Venti says, waving a cup full of osmanthus wine in his hands in the air near his head, his cheeks flushed pink as he takes a huge gulp from the cup.

You giggled, “Venti! You’re drunk already!” the anemo archon walked up to you with a cute dopey smile on his face before taking another sip of his osmanthus wine.

“Care to try some, Windblume?” Venti asks, gesturing towards the stall where the food and drinks are held— Ah, so that’s where he got his cup of osmanthus wine. At first, you thought Venti smuggled osmanthus wine into the festival, but alas, you were wrong.

You shook your head before giving him a faint smile, “No, thank you, Venti! I don’t want to drink anything alcoholic at the beginning of the festival. Maybe I’ll have a taste of osmanthus wine later.” You said, tucking your hands in the pockets of your shorts.

Diluc leans down to you before murmuring into your ears, “Good choice, but I recommend for you not to drink at all.”

You whisper back to Diluc, “Is it because I get drunk easily?” Diluc cracks a smile and bobs his head to your question. You pursed your lips and looked away from Diluc, flustered at the thought of you not being able to drink more than one glass cup of alcohol without getting drunk. It wasn’t your fault that you weren’t much of an alcohol type of person, plus you weren’t fond of the taste or smell of alcohol. It makes your nose hairs want to burn just by taking a whiff of any type of alcohol. 

“Uh, where’s Itto?” You hear Gorou ask nervously, his eyes scanning the crowd to search for the tall oni, who somehow managed to get lost.

“Hey, guys! Over here!” Itto hollers, waving his hand in the air with a big grin on his face before holding up a bowl of food to show you and the others.

“Ooh! Maybe we should eat something before we explore!” Aether says, his eyes lit up. Paimon appears out of thin air, her mouth watering at the smell of Liyuen cuisines lingering in the air. Paimon nods her head excitedly before flying off to one of the nearby food stands with Aether chasing after Paimon to make sure she doesn’t get lost in the crowd.

You were about to run after them when someone called out to you, “You over there, young one!” You looked around in confusion to look for where the voice was coming from. “Over here! You in the black shorts!” You made eye contact with the merchant, who waved you over to where he was standing.

You turned to look for your boyfriends, only to see some at the food stalls, the game stalls, and the storyteller’s stall. Since your boyfriends weren’t too far from where the merchant was located, you slowly walked towards the older gentleman, who gave you a broad smile as you approached closer to where he stood. The closer you came to the man’s stall, the more you noticed that the merchant’s stall wasn’t just any stall, but he was selling jewelry, expensive yet beautiful jewelry. 

“I couldn’t help but notice you with your friend group and think to myself, ‘I think this beautiful necklace would suit them!’” Said the merchant, who then held out a flat velvet box in front of you before opening the velvet box, revealing an extravagant antique necklace.

“Oh, wow! This necklace is very stunning, boss!” You gasped at the jewelry in front of you, eyes scanning the gorgeous orange cor lapis stone in the center of the necklace.

The merchant smiles pridefully before explaining to you the background and history of the necklace in his hands. According to the merchant, the necklace was once owned by a deity, a beautiful one, at that. It was given to her by her lover, who was also a deity, but she lost her lover during the archon war. The god was so heartbroken over the loss of her lover that she couldn’t bear to keep the necklace that her lover gifted her. So, she ended up grabbing it by the pendant, ripping it off her neck, and throwing it into the ocean, where it was swept away by the ocean waves.

“I believe that is how the story goes. But I’m not too sure; it was quite vague when I read about it.” The merchant shrugged his shoulders, examining you closely as you continued to stare at the necklace in awe. While the necklace is beautiful, you couldn’t help but get a strange feeling from the pendant. Your eyes fell on the price tag on the velvet box, and your eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. 

“While the necklace is beautiful, it is certainly not for me!” You said, letting out soft nervous laughter while scratching your arms. Why in the world did this merchant think that you could afford something that was over one million mora? Did he think you were loaded or something? Wait, was it because you were with Childe and Pantalone? Speaking of Childe and Pantalone, where are they?

The merchant’s smile slips off his face, “O-Oh, well, I can give it to you for free!” He exclaims, shoving the velvet box into your face. You backed away and held your hands up in front of you, laughing nervously.

“No, no! It’s alright, boss! While the necklace is beautiful, it certainly does not fit my taste.” You said, giving the man a polite smile. 

You weren’t sure why this merchant was so insistent with wanting to gift you the necklace without having to pay the price. The necklace was beautiful, but it was very expensive, and you did not want to parade around in jewelry that had a tragic backstory to it. It would be very disrespectful of you to do so, and it would make you look bad if you did wear it around and show off the necklace that used to belong to an archon that was now deceased. Not only that but there was something off about the necklace. Yes, it is beautiful, but your gut was telling you not to touch the necklace or go anywhere near it. It was telling you to run.

The merchant frowns at you, his eyebrows furrowing with frustration, “But I want you to be the only one that wears this necklace! I believe that you are the only person who can pull off this antique jewelry! Only you and no one else!” He exclaims, shoving the necklace into your face. “Just take it already!” The merchant growls, his eyes almost glowing with anger.

You let out a frustrated sigh, “Alright, alright, I’ll take it!” You held your hand out nervously, waiting for the merchant to drop the necklace into your grasp. The merchant gives you a satisfied smile before taking the necklace from the velvet box, gently placing the necklace into the palm of your hands.

You huffed, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a festival to enjoy with my boyfriends.” You said, pocketing the necklace in your pocket before walking off. “What a rude merchant. No wonder he barely has any customers at his stall! I find it strange that he would pick me to be his first customer, of all people at the festival.” You grumbled.

You approached where the men had gathered, you and Heizou made eye contact, and his eyes lit up before pointing over at where you were. The men turned to look at you as you approached closer to them, giving them a fake smile.

“There you are! We were looking for you!” Heizou says, linking his arms around yours.

Ayato sips the osmanthus wine before asking, “Where were you? It was hard to look for you with the number of people in the crowd.” 

You debated for a moment on whether you should tell your boyfriends about the merchant being persistent with you taking the necklace or not. You ended up choosing not to mention it to them because you didn’t want it to ruin their joy of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, nor did you want them to get into a massive argument with the merchant. You couldn’t get the encounter with the merchant out of your head. It was strange how the merchant was so desperate with wanting to give you the necklace, even though it was being sold for over one million mora. The necklace is beautiful, but there was something weird about the jewelry, but you couldn’t put your finger on the issue.

“I was distracted by many stalls and wanted to get a look at each stall before coming over!” You lied, giving Ayato a small smile as Baizhu handed you a mooncake. 

Your eyes lit up, and you gratefully took the mooncake from Baizhu’s hands before taking a bite out of it. The taste of red bean paste bursts in your mouth, making you hum in delight. It’s been a while since you’ve had mooncake, especially in your world, whenever you celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with your friends and loved ones back in your world. You examined the mooncake, nostalgia hitting you like a mitachurl.

“Wow, I haven’t had mooncake in ages.” You commented, blushing when you feel Baizhu wipe the corner of your lips with the tip of his thumb.

Baizhu hums happily, “Oh! So you’ve had mooncake before, I presume?” Baizhu asks, gazing down at you curiously before handing you something to drink. Since you weren’t a big fan of alcohol, Baizhu got you coconut milk to drink instead. 

“Yes, back in my world, I’ve had mooncake on special occasions and celebrations.” You said, finishing up the last bits of your mooncake. “It brings back a lot of memories, and I’m glad that I’m sort of reliving these memories with the men I love.” You feel your face becoming hot from the number of stares you are receiving. 

“Snookums!!! You’re too precious, my love!” Childe whines softly, placing his wine down before walking over to you with his arms wide open. He pulls you into his arms and hugs you tightly, kissing the top of your head with a big pout on his face. Childe leans over and presses a kiss on your cheek while lightly pinching your cheeks.

“Shall we go to the next stall?” Albedo asks, tossing his trash into the trash bin before turning towards everyone.

Kazuha strokes his chin before letting his hands fall to his side, “What stall should we go to next? There are many stalls to check out.” Kazuha says, his red eyes scanning his surroundings. Kaeya’s eye(s) landed on the last stall you were at and was about to point it out, but you pointed at a game stall that had many plushies hung up as prizes. 

“How about we go to the game stall that has a lot of plushies?” You ask, hoping that they’d agree to it and not go anywhere near the jewelry stall you were at moments ago. “I do need a new plushie to be added to my collection.” You sang, clinging onto Kaeya’s arm while Childe clung to you.

Kaeya chuckles and presses a kiss on your head, ignoring the glare that Childe gave him for kissing your head. “Then perhaps we should visit the game stall then!” Kaeya rips you from Childe’s grasp before guiding you toward the game stall that you’ve been eyeing. 

Dainsleif stood beside you, scanning the prizes that the stall was offering for the winners before looking down at you, “Are there any prizes that you have in mind?” You scrunched your nose while scanning each plushie that was hanging on the racks.

“What if I want one of each?” You muttered to yourself, staring at each adorable stuffed creature in front of you. You knew that you could only get one plush, but boy, you wanted one of each plushie on display.

“Then we will get you one of each,” Scaramouche speaks up, propping his arms on your head while examining each plush on display. While they’re all cute, the one that caught Scaramouche’s eyes the most was a cute purple bunny with a hat. That was the plush that Scaramouche is determined to get for you; he will get it for you one way or another.

“I can get you all of those plushies without lifting a finger,” Pantalone says, biting on his bottom lip, eyeing the most oversized plush of all.

Pierro sighs, “You cannot buy them all, Pantalone.” He crossed his arms over his chest while Pantalone laughed to himself.

“Aw, and why is that? I would love to see children cry from the lack of prizes.” Dottore says, crossing his arms over his chest with a big smile on his face.

Capitano clears his throat, “Aside from taking all of the stuffed animals for [Y/N], you do realize that if we were to take most of the plushes, we would have issues with bringing them all back to the abode.” 

“Hmph! Who cares? If it’s for [Y/N]’s happiness, then I’m willing to carry it all back just for them.” Xiao grunts, walking over to the game stall vendor before tossing a few mora at the vendor.

Childe perks up, his eyes lit up with interest, “Do I hear a challenge?” He asks, strutting over to where Xiao stood, who glared at him in return.

“Oh, I’m going to win this challenge! Watch me win all of these prizes for my precious onikabuto booboo bear!” Itto says, flexing his biceps before pushing through the men to get to the front of the booth. The men glared at Itto before rushing to the vendor, tossing their mora out on the booth counter while telling the vendor what prizes they wanted to get for you, despite not even starting the game yet. You stood behind the men and watched them toss a kernel-filled sack at a bunch of mini hilichurls. 

The night ended with the men having to carry over fifteen plushies back to the abode, with you holding three tiny plushies in your arms. The festival ended on a good note, and you ended up forgetting about the necklace tucked away in your pocket. Since it was late and the men didn’t have time to construct a new shelf to store your new plushy collection, they all decided to stack the plushes on top of each other in front of your already full shelf.

“We’ll start making you a new shelf for your plushies tomorrow! It’s getting a bit late, and we all need to get some sleep.” Gorou says, kissing your cheeks before bidding you goodnight.

“Alright! Goodnight, everyone!” You said, hugging each man before placing kisses on their cheeks as each man started to leave your bedroom one by one. 

Once your bedroom door closed after the last person left, you walked over to your closet to pick out your pajamas to change into after your shower. You took your shorts off and heard a loud clang when your shorts met the wooden floor of your bedroom. You paused for a moment and slowly knelt down to grab your shorts and dug your hands into the pockets, pulling out the necklace the merchant had demanded for you to take. You stared at the pendant for a moment before hiding it underneath your pillow and grabbing your clothes to take a shower. 

After your almost forty-minute shower, you walked back into your room and got into your bed. You lay your head on your pillow, pulling out the pendant that was shoved in your face by the merchant. You examined the necklace closely and couldn’t help but admire its beauty and craftsmanship. You brushed off your worries to the side and unhooked the necklace before wearing it around your neck. You closed the clasp around the chain before laying back down on your bed. You pull your blanket up to your chin and close your eyes, feeling yourself gradually doze off. 

The next day, when you woke up to get ready for the day, you felt a bit off. You went to your bathroom to brush your teeth, and when you looked in the mirror, your eyes turned black for a brief moment, scaring the absolute shit out of you. You choked on the toothpaste, coughing and spitting the toothpaste out of your mouth and into the sink. You looked back up at your reflection, and you looked like your usual self, minus the fear in your eyes. You shook your head and rubbed your eyes, letting your toothbrush rest on the counter of the bathroom sink before patting your cheeks with both of your hands.

“It’s nothing; it was nothing at all. I’m probably hallucinating.” You whisper to yourself, grabbing the cup of water to rinse out your mouth. “It’s all in your head, [Y/N].” You said to yourself, rinsing out the toothbrush before putting it in the toothbrush holder. What you didn’t realize in the moment of your panic, there was a black mist coming from the pendant before disappearing when you looked back at your reflection in the mirror.

While you were getting ready for the day in your bedroom, the rest of the men were downstairs, waiting for you to come down from your bedroom to have some breakfast. Everyone was lounging around in the living room; some were drinking coffee, and others were drinking tea. It was still early in the morning, but everyone had gotten up early to get ready for the day. You trotted down the stairs, fully dressed and prepared for the day.

You look at your boyfriends nervously, “Can I go to Stormterror’s Lair?” Everyone’s head snaps in your direction after the question leaves your mouth. Why in the world would you want to go to Stormterror’s Lair all of a sudden? Especially since that area is teeming with slimes, hilichurls, samachurls, the eye of the storm, ruin guards, abyss mages, and mitachurls. While the site isn’t as dangerous as it was when Dvalin was taken by the abyss mages, it’s still dangerous for you to go and explore. After all, you knew the dangers of Stormterror’s Lair.

“Stormterror’s Lair? Why would you want to go somewhere that is abandoned?” Aether asks, looking at you in confusion before giving looks to the others in the living area.

You hummed before rocking back and forth on your heels, “Well, I have seen it through a screen, but I would like to explore and see Stormterror’s Lair in person with my own eyes!” You said happily.

Heizou blinks at you curiously, “You’re not going to go all alone, are you?” Heizou asks slowly, getting up from where he is sitting before approaching you.

“Well, I can go alone if you’re all busy! But if not, then we can all go exploring together!” You said happily. “Plus, I have been to almost every region except for Snezhnaya, Dragonspine, the Chasm, Stormterror’s Lair, Natlan, Fontaine, and Sumeru.” You said.

“You technically didn’t go to every region, my love.” Dainsleif snorted, wrapping his arms around your waist before resting his chin on your shoulders. 

You huffed, “Alright, alright! I’ve been to three regions except for the ones I’ve listed!” You said, pressing the side of your head against Dainsleif’s head with a tiny pout on your face. “So? Can I go to Stormterror’s Lair?!” You ask, clasping your hands together with puppy dog eyes.

Diluc sighs softly, “You can go to Stormterror’s Lair, but we will be accompanying you there! We don’t want you to get lost or get hurt.” Diluc stated. You squealed loudly and cheered, jumping up in the air in Dainsleif’s grasp. Dainsleif laughs to himself before patting the top of your head; even if Dainsleif were to kiss the top of your head, with you bouncing, you might headbutt him on the lips. 

“Finally! I can finally see Stormterror’s Lair in person with my own eyes and not through a screen!” You clapped your hands.

Xiao sighs, “We can go to Stormterror’s Lair after you have breakfast. You shouldn’t be exploring on an empty stomach.” Xiao says, walking over to you before grabbing onto your wrist and pulling you to the kitchen to grab something for you to eat before going to Stormterror’s Lair. You adjusted the collar of your shirt to make sure that the necklace you wore around your neck wouldn’t be noticeable. It wasn’t like you didn’t want to show it to your boyfriends; you weren’t sure if the strange occurrence that had happened to you this morning was all in your head or not. 

Plus, you weren’t sure if you should tell the men that a strange man demanded that you keep the necklace even though you didn’t want the jewelry. They’ll insist that you should throw it away, but for some odd reason, you felt very drawn to the necklace. There was something weird but also intriguing about the pendant itself. It was almost like you were meant to find the necklace or the necklace was meant to find you.

After eating the breakfast that Xiao had made for you, you and your twenty-one boyfriends find yourselves at the entrance of Stormterror’s Lair. It was a little bit windy, but the breeze felt nice against your hot skin under the sun. While Venti was talking about Old Mondstadt, you slowly drifted away from the group and walked towards the broken lair. There weren’t any enemies around since some of the men had set out to get rid of the hilichurls, mitachurls, samachurls, abyss mages, slimes, and the eye of the storms before everyone stepped foot into the ancient ruins. When you stepped into the lair, you began to feel strange. Aside from the sound of the wind blowing, the den was eerily quiet. Your footsteps echos the lair while you scan your surroundings in awe. You’ve always wanted to see what the ancient ruins looked like before what it was now. While you were surveying the area, something caught your attention from the corner of your eyes.

You turn your head towards the direction of the item before walking over to where it lay. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you stopped in front of something rusted buried in the grass. You squatted down in front of the rusted item and grabbed it from the ground. You lifted up the item and examined it. The object in your hands was an old, rusted sword.

You turned the sword around, continuing to examine the object. “What’s a sword doing in a place like this?” You whisper, eyebrows furrowing while continuing to take in every detail of the sword in your grasp. Like the necklace, the same black mist oozes from the sword. You dropped the rusty sword in haste, backing away from the sword with a wary look on your face. 

“What was that?” The black mist continues to come out from the sword; you stare at the enormous black cloud, eyes wide with fear and confusion. 

The fog got closer each time you took a step back from it. The mysterious black fog suddenly shot towards you and flew into your body; you ended up running straight into the stone pillar while trying to escape from it. Your heart clenches painfully in your chest, your ears are ringing, and your head feels like there was a stone lawachurl stomping on your head repeatedly. Your eyesight grew blurry as you collapsed to the ground, clutching your head while letting out labored breaths. Your eyes roll to the back of your head before your vision suddenly turns black.

“[Y/N]! [Y/N]!” Someone was calling out to you, but they sounded so far away.

“Dammit, [Y/N], wake up!” Someone growls, patting your cheeks to bring you out of your unconscious state.

“Wake up!” A jolt of electricity shoots up your body, waking you up. You jolted awake, eyes wide and confused. You looked around you, only to see your boyfriends staring down at you with worry and fear.

“Scaramouche! Why’d you shock them!?” Thoma exclaims, glaring at the electro-vision holder, who shrugged at him in return without giving him a reply.

You winced when another wave of headache hit you, you clutch your head with your right hand, your face pinching up from the pain. “What happened?” You rasped, clearing your throat. Did you suddenly fall asleep at Stormterror’s Lair? What was that black mist? Was it all in your head? You feel weird. Someone was holding onto you tightly while a gloved hand was pressed against your forehead. You winced and looked at the person that was holding onto you; Al Haitham gazed down at you worriedly while Tighnari was eyeing you closely.

“Al Haitham? Tighnari? What are you two doing here? I didn’t remember seeing you two follow along with us to Stormterror’s Lair.” You said, rubbing your eyes tiredly.

“That isn’t important right now. What’s important is your well-being.” Al Haitham stated, tensing up when you moved around to adjust yourself where you were sitting.

“Al Haitham is correct! Our sudden arrival isn’t as important when you were found unconscious all alone.” Tighnari says, frowning at you before removing his hand from your forehead. Tighnari hums while propping both of his hands on his hips, “You don’t have a fever, but you don’t look too well.” He murmurs, getting up before looking over at the men who examined you worriedly.

“What happened? What happened was that you strayed away from the group and ended up here, unconscious!” Ayato says, frowning down at you.

“Oh, I apologize for straying away from all of you. I wanted to see more areas of the lair. I should’ve informed you all about it before walking away.” You said, your eyes downcast.

Albedo knelt in front of you, “[Y/N], did something happen?” You stared at Albedo in confusion before attempting to get up from the ground. Your knees buckle beneath you, and you fall back to the ground. You pressed the palm of your hand against your head, your head was pounding, and you felt strangely exhausted.

“Remain seated; you could have some possible injuries.” Al Haitham sighs, shaking his head while giving you a look. You frowned and nodded your head slowly, staying in Al Haitham’s arms while trying to survey the area around you. The sword was nowhere to be found, and it wasn’t where you’d dropped it.

Baizhu steps forward, “I believe that we should head back to the abode now. We need to get [Y/N] checked up to make sure there aren’t any injuries.” Baizhu says, holding his hand out for you to take. You nod your head slowly and get up from the ground with the help of Al Haitham and Tighnari. You grabbed onto Baizhu’s hands and let him walk you out of Stormterror’s Lair with your back pressed against his chest while the other men followed close behind. Upon arriving back at the abode, Tighnari, Baizhu, and Albedo immediately whisked you off to the medical area of the estate to get you checked up. 

“The tests came back, and you’re healthy, and there aren’t any injuries,” Albedo says, sitting across from you. 

You sighed and rubbed your temples tiredly, “Then why does my head hurt so much? It feels like something is stomping on my head over and over again.” You said, closing your eyes. Albedo doesn’t say anything and starts to rub your temples lightly; you lean into his touch, letting out a relieved sigh. While your headache was still present, Albedo massaging your temples helped ease the pain a bit.

“The important thing is that you’re safe, healthy, and uninjured.” Said Kaeya, leaning against the doorframe while watching Albedo massage your temples. You cracked your eyes open and looked over at where Kaeya stood; he gave you a small smile before walking into the room.

You laugh weakly, “Yeah, as long as I’m safe, healthy, and uninjured, that’s all that matters.” You said, resting your head on Albedo’s chest before closing your eyes. “Aside from the head-splitting headache I currently have, I’m feeling exhausted.” You murmured.

You hear footsteps coming from the hallway. You cracked your eyes open and saw Zhongli appearing by the doorway, looking at you intently. You gestured for Zhongli to enter the infirmary while continuing to rest your head against Albedo’s chest, listening to his heart beating against his chest.

Zhongli stood in front of you and Albedo while he eyed you from head to toe before speaking, “Did you see anything strange at Stormterror’s Lair while you were alone?” He asks. You blinked at Zhongli in surprise before thinking back to the memory of what had happened before you lost consciousness.

You answered, “Before I blacked out, I remembered seeing an old rusted sword on the ground in Stormterror’s Lair. I picked it up to examine it with my own eyes, but then black mist began to come out of it. Terrified, I dropped the sword, and it got close to me each time I tried to back away from it. The black fog flew at me, causing me to run into the stone pillar while trying to escape from it. My head started hurting, as did my chest, and my ears were ringing. That was the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness.” You answered. 

“How intriguing….” Baizhu hums softly, leaning against the desk behind him while stroking his chin.

Albedo pulls from you, both of his hands on your shoulders before looking at you right into your eyes, “You said the black mist flew at you. Did it disappear when it flew at you, or did it disappear inside of you?” 

If you were to tell them that the mist flew into your body, how would they react? Surely they can’t do anything about the fog being inside of your body, right? So far, it hasn’t caused any harm to you yet. Aside from the headache, heart pain, ringing ears, and feeling exhausted, the black mist that has disappeared inside of you hasn’t done anything to you. Even if you wanted to hide it from them, it’s no use in doing so when they can all read you like an open book.

You let out a sharp exhale before saying, “It flew inside of me.” Everyone in the room felt their breaths get caught in their throats after hearing your responses. If the black mist flew inside of you, the only way to know whether it’s inside of you or not is by using adeptal magic. “Do any of you know what flew into me by any chance?” You ask nervously.

Albedo sighed and shook his head, “Unfortunately, there isn’t a way for us to know what flew into your body. The only thing we can do for now is to monitor you and check if there are any signs.” Albedo concludes, giving you a sad smile.

Your shoulders slump before letting out a defeated sigh. “I see. Well, I hope we’ll be able to find out what it is.” You gave everyone a weak smile.

Kaeya approached you and held his hand out for you to take, “Let me take you back to your bedroom. You said you’re feeling fatigued; I will take you back to your room.” Kaeya offers. You grabbed onto Kaeya’s hands and got up from the examination table, bidding Zhongli, Baizhu, Albedo, and Tighnari goodbyes before walking to your room with Kaeya by your side.

“A black mist flew into [Y/N]’s body. How strange.” Tighnari murmurs, scratching his ears while reviewing the notes he took during your checkup. 

Over the next few days, the men were tasked to keep their eyes on you and your condition. While you weren’t showing any concerning symptoms, your boyfriends continued to check up on you. For safety measures, Tighnari, Albedo, and Baizhu would ensure that you were taking medication if you were getting a headache or strange chest pains. As for ringing in your ears, they couldn’t do much about it, so the trio had come up with the idea that they would conduct some occasional hearing checkups along with eye checkups.

One early morning, the men were residing in the dining and living room, waiting for you to wake up while their coffees were brewing and their teas were boiling. Diluc enters the dining and living area, combing his fingers through his fiery red hair with his hair tie between his lips. Diluc held his ponytail up with his left hand while grabbing the hair tie from his mouth with his right hand.

Diluc leans against the counter while tying his hair up into a high ponytail, “It seems like [Y/N]’s not showing any concerning symptoms other than a headache.”

Childe lets out a thoughtful hum while tapping on his chin, “I wonder what could be the cause of [Y/N] getting a headache.” He rests his chin on the palm of his hands, his head propped up on his hands as he flips through the photobook resting on his lap. After a few seconds of not finding what he was searching for, Childe closes the photo album before getting up from his seat to place the photo album back on the shelf in the living room.

Dainsleif lets out a small chuckle, “Well, not getting enough sleep at night can be the cause of headaches, and [Y/N] has always been the type to stay up past their bedtime.” 

Kazuha exits the kitchen with a plate of food in his hands before placing it down on the table, “Do you think [Y/N]’s still asleep? They’ve been getting up much earlier nowadays, but it’s hard to tell whether they’re awake right now or not.” Kazuha says, sitting down in his seat.

Venti looks at Kazuha curiously, “Do you want us to check up on them to see if they’re awake or asleep?” Venti asks, plopping down on the stool with his lyre resting on his lap.

Aether shakes his head, “I think we should let them sleep in. After all, the Stormterror’s Lair incident most likely drained their energy, so we should let them sleep in.” Aether says, smacking Heizou on the back of his head after beating him in another round of rock paper scissors.

Heizou hissed and glared at Aether while rubbing the back of his head, “Bastard.” Heizou grumbles under his breath.

Thoma gets up from the love seat, dusting his clothes off, “Well, while we’re waiting for [Y/N] to wake up, I’ll make us some breakfast if anyone wants something to eat.” Thoma offers, strutting towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, in your bedroom, you woke up to excruciating pain in your chest area. You kicked your blankets off your body and pulled your shirt collar down, only to see really irritated skin where the necklace sat. You went to your bathroom to get a better look at it in the mirror. You stood in front of your bathroom mirror before pulling the collar of your shirt down again. You let out a choked gasp, having a hard time taking in the sight in front of you. The necklace that you got from the merchant at the Mid-Autumn Festival was buried into your skin; the pendant looked like it somehow melted and fused into your skin. The skin around the charm was bright red and irritated. 

“What the fuck is happening?!” You whisper, gingerly touching the charm before wincing and hissing from the contact. “Don’t panic, don’t panic. You’ll figure out how to get the necklace out from your body somehow.” You whisper, leaning towards the mirror. 

You backed away from the mirror, burying your hands in your hair with a nervous exhale. You tried to go on with your routine as if nothing was happening, but your mind kept drifting off to the thought of the necklace fused to your skin. You brushed your teeth and combed your hair; each time you looked in the mirror, your head would start to hurt, or your vision would blur. You placed your comb back down on the counter, and when you were about to check your appearance one last time before heading downstairs, navy blue stripes began to appear on your arms. You gasped and looked down at your body; more navy blue stripes were wrapped around your torso and legs.

You looked in the mirror, and your eyes were pitch black. You blinked rapidly and shook your head, hands cupping your cheeks. “What’s wrong with me?” You whisper, looking back up at your reflection, and your eyes are back to normal. 

However, the navy blue stripes that wrapped around your arms, torso, and legs were still present. You suddenly feel a sharp pain in your head and your eyes, causing you to double over in pain, biting down on your lips to prevent yourself from screaming out in pain. Once the pain subsided, you noticed that you were kneeling on the floor with your head pressed against the cool tile of the bathroom floor. You weakly got up from the ground and propped yourself up on the bathroom sink; your head ducked down while taking deep breaths. You felt something drip from your eyes and your nose. You cracked your eyes opened and saw droplets of blood on the white porcelain sink. You lifted your hands up and touched your nose, your head slowly turning up to look in the mirror. Your eyes and nose were bleeding, and the blood looked a bit darker than the usual crimson red.

You suddenly hear a deep masculine voice, “Hand it over to me, now.”

You jerked up and looked around your bathroom to search for where the voice was coming from, but no one else was around.

“Back off! Their body is mine!” Another voice growls; you winced and clutched your head. The second voice you heard was shrill and feminine. You felt something inside of you stir; the pain in your head increased, and you felt like your skull was about to crack into two. 

“Who are you?” You whimpered; tears blurred your vision before sliding down your cheeks. “Who are you, and what do you want from me?” You cried.

“What do we want from you?” The masculine voice mocks you before breaking out into a burst of maniacal laughter. “It’s obvious what we want from you!” 

The feminine voice scoffs, “We? Who is we? I was here first, Decarabian! Go find another vessel, you parasite!”

You could feel Decarabian roll his eyes before responding, “As if you’re not a parasite yourself, Hua Yue!” Decarabian growls. Decarabian. Where did you hear that name from again? Without thinking twice, you ran out of your bathroom and slammed your bedroom door open before running down the stairs. 

Al Haitham sits up fast and looks toward the direction of the stairs before looking at the others, alarmed, “What was that?” 

You stumbled down the stairs and lost your footing, causing you to trip and fly down the stairs. Itto ran as fast as he could and caught you in his arms, your face buried against his chest, terrified of seeing their reactions to the marks on your body.

“[Y/N]! What’s wrong?!” Ayato asks, running up to where you and Itto are standing.

Itto looks at you in confusion before looking over at the others, “When did you have these marks on your body?” He turns around to have your figure face the other men. 

Xiao, Venti, and Zhongli froze at the sight, slowly getting up from their seats with their weapons materializing in their hands. Ever since the Mid-Autumn Festival and the mishap at Stormterror’s Lair, Xiao, Venti, and Zhongli couldn’t help but feel that something was off with you. They didn’t voice their concerns with you. But instead, they would have private conversations about it away from you and the others.

Gorou approaches you cautiously, “What are these marks? They didn’t have these marks on their bodies until today.” Nervous to reach out to place a reassuring hand on you. Alarms were flashing in Gorou’s head, telling him that something was wrong.

Scaramouche goes over to where you and Itto stand, “[Y/N], are you okay? What are these marks on your body?” Scaramouche asks, ready to place his hand on your shoulders when Xiao grabs Scaramouche by the shoulders to stop him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Xiao stated, shaking his head at the electro user. Scaramouche looks at Xiao quizzically before slowly looking over in your and Itto’s direction. Itto looked pale as a ghost, his face white, his pupils shrunk, and he slowly backed away from you.

You slowly turned towards the other men in the abode, blood bushing from your eyes, your nose, and your mouth. The sight of you in that state sent chills down their spines; everyone stood in front of you cautiously, their hands shaking.

“[Y/N], what’s going on?” Pantalone asks, prepared to walk over to you but was held back by Dottore and Pierro.

“I don’t know! I woke up feeling pain in my chest, only to see this necklace seared into my skin.” You cried, yanking down the collar of your shirt; the skin around the pendant was a deep red, almost bleeding.

Zhongli eyes the necklace, and Xiao and Venti glance over at the former archon nervously; their weapons are drawn. “Dearest, where did you get that necklace?” Zhongli asks, his eyes zeroed in on the pendant around your neck, now fused into your skin. You didn’t want to tell them about the necklace so soon, but it seems like you have no other choice but to come clean to all of them.

“A strange merchant demanded me to take the necklace, saying something that he wanted me and only me to be the one to wear it because it’s meant for me. I didn’t want it at all, but he shoved the necklace in my face, telling me to take it.” You cried, itching to claw at the charm around your neck. It hurts so much, and you just want to scratch it off your body already.

“Did he tell you the origins of this necklace?” Xiao demanded, tightening his grip around his polearm, ready to strike.

You nod your head, “He said something about the necklace that was once owned by a deity. It was given to her by her lover, who was also an archon. But he died in the archon war; she was so upset over his death that she threw the necklace into the ocean, and it got swept away by the ocean waves.” You breathed, your body beginning to get hot.

Zhongli shakes his head, “The merchant lied to you. The necklace was owned by a vengeful archon who lost her lover in the archon war. While she did lose her lover, she wore that necklace until her last breath before possessing the charm itself.” Zhongli says.

You felt your heart clench painfully in your chest; you doubled over in pain, tiny strained whimpers emitting from you. Tears and blood roll down your cheeks. You suddenly lose consciousness. The men around you froze when you suddenly stood still. The sounds of your quiet cries and whimpers were gone entirely.

“[Y/N]?” Gorou asks nervously, his hands trembling at his sides.

‘You’ slowly looked up; ‘your’ eyes pitch black. “If it weren’t for you, my boyfriend wouldn’t have been dead! He’s dead because of you! You killed him!” ‘You’ screamed, pointing at Zhongli and Xiao. Blood continues to cascade down your cheeks. You jerked forward once again. You looked around at the men frantically, almost back to normal, aside from the navy blue stripes wrapped around your body and the blood that continued to ooze from your eyes, nose, and mouth. 

“Archons, who was that speaking? Their voice is feminine and very shrill; just the sound of their voice makes my ears want to bleed.” Tighnari questions, covering his ears with the look of discomfort on his face.

“Please, please help me. I don’t know what’s going on.” You cried. “They won’t stop. They won’t stop screaming in my head.” You held your head in your hands, clawing at your scalp. 

Thoma’s eyes widened, “They? Are you saying there’s more than one entity using your body as a vessel?” He looks around at the other men fearfully. By now, everyone had their weapons drawn, preparing for the worst. Everyone except for one person had their weapons out and ready while Gorou hesitated; Dottore nudges Gorou, who reluctantly lets his weapon materializes in his grasp.

“They keep screaming at each other, at me! Please make it stop.” You cried; your head was hurting so much, and your chest was hurting from the necklace that was fused to your skin. You looked at the men in front of you sadly after seeing that they were ready to injure you if your body were to be taken over by Decarabian or Hua Yue. You let out a bittersweet laugh, “I see all of you are ready to injure me without questioning it.” You said, your lips trembling before fresh tears rolled down your cheeks.

Aether shakes his head, “We’re not going to hurt you, [Y/N]. We have to be careful because we don’t know how powerful or dangerous the two entities in your body are.” 

Al Haitham nods his head, “Aether is correct. We don’t intend on harming you, but we don’t know if the spirits inside of you will hurt us or not.” His sword is held in front of his person, and his grip tightens on the hilt of the sword.

You suddenly began to cackle, “Oh, glad to know that you’re all ready for a battle.” A deep masculine voice fills the tense atmosphere. “Once I’m done with all of you, I’m taking back Mondstadt as mine.” ‘You’ said, smirking right at Venti.

Ayato furrows his eyebrows, eyeing ‘you’ quizzically before muttering to himself, “Take back Mondstadt?” 

Venti felt his breath get caught in his throat before choking out, “Decarabian.” Venti stares at ‘you’ in horror. ‘You’—well, Decarabian— looked over at Venti from the corner of your (his?) eyes, a Cheshire smile stretching across ‘your’ face.

Decarabian chuckles and slowly approaches the bard with ‘your’ arms crossed over ‘your’ chest. “We meet again, Barbatos.”

“Listen, I don’t know who you are and your affiliation with Mondstadt. You need to leave [Y/N]’s body immediately, or else we’ll make you leave their body!” Itto says, his grip tightens around the handle of his claymore.

‘You’ look at Itto with a smirk, “Oh? You’ll make me leave their body? A small threat like yours is adorable, comical even.” ‘You laughed. “Since you all wanted a fight so much, let’s make that happen, shall we?”

Everyone starts lunging at ‘you,’ attempting to take ‘you’ down and restrain ‘your’ movements. But ‘you’ were quick on ‘your’ feet, a familiar sword materializing in ‘your’ hands. The sword in ‘your’ grip was once a rusty sword that was used to slay Decarabian. No matter how many people were lunging at ‘you’ while trying to immobilize ‘you,’ ‘you’ were able to escape from their grasp and attacks easily. You weren’t a skilled fighter. In fact, you don’t fight at all, and yet Decarabian possessing your body and making you his puppet made you an even more challenging target to attack.

Scaramouche growls, “How come we can’t land a hit on them!?” Trying to lunge at ‘you,’ but ‘you’ slipped through his fingers every time he tried to grab hold of ‘your’ biceps. ‘You’ look over at him with a triumphant smile on ‘your’ face.

“It’s because you’re all too soft on them.” Pierro states gruffly, appearing from behind ‘you’ before hitting the back of ‘your’ head with a sword, causing ‘you’ to stumble and fall to the ground; the sword that was once held in ‘your’ hands clattered to the ground loudly. Heizou and Aether ran to the sword, picked it up, and stood beside Venti with unfamiliar emotions on their faces. Before ‘you’ could get up, Capitano placed his right foot on ‘your’ back, pinning ‘you’ to the ground while Dottore held a sword up to ‘your’ neck. ‘You’ growled and began thrashing underneath Capitano’s foot, clawing at his legs to let ‘you’ go.

“How do we get rid of Decarabian? Do we get rid of him with the same sword that was used to kill him?” Heizou asks.

Dainsleif nods his head hesitantly, “It seems to be the only way we can get rid of him.” 

“But how?” Kazuha asks, looking at the sword hesitantly.

Albedo says slowly, “Perhaps the same way he was slain years ago.”

“You have to stab [Y/N] in the chest with that sword.” Capitano interjects, putting pressure on ‘your’ back while ‘you’ were growling and flailing around beneath Capitano’s foot.

Diluc takes a step forward, glaring at the Harbinger that was pinning ‘you’ to the ground. “No! Absolutely not; we’re not going to stab [Y/N] in the chest with the same sword that killed Decarabian.” 

Dottore sighs, “As much as I would hate to see [Y/N] in pain, if we do not get rid of Decarabian, then he will remain inside of [Y/N], holding them hostage as his vessel.” 

Childe scoffs loudly, “You do realize that Decarabian isn’t the only dead archon that has taken [Y/N]’s soul and body hostage, correct? Did you forget about Hua Yue?” He crossed his arms over his chest with a deep frown on his face.

“The only way we can get rid of Decarabian is by stabbing [Y/N] with the same sword that took Decarabian’s life. As for Hua Yue, we’ll need adeptal magic to lure her out from [Y/N]’s body.” Baizhu frowns. Zhongli looks over at Xiao, and the two of them nod at one another before Xiao disappears into a cloud of smoke.

Kaeya strokes his chin, “The real question is: who’s going to be the one that stabs [Y/N]?” He raised an eyebrow, looking over at everyone else in the room skeptically. Everyone fell silent and looked over at each other, unsure of who was going to do the most painful part. You finally regained your consciousness and held your hands out.

“Me! I’ll do it!” You screamed, reaching for the sword. “Anything to get rid of Decarabian, please.” You begged, beads of sweat rolling down your face.

“No! We’re not letting you stab yourself, nor are we going to stab you!” Diluc says, shaking his head stubbornly.

You panted, “Just do it! Do you want me to suffer?” You screamed, pounding your fist onto the wooden floor of the abode. “Get him out of my body! I don’t want to be his stupid puppet; I would rather die than be their vessel!” You cried.

“Let’s get it over with then,” Pantalone says, snatching the sword from Heizou’s grasp. He knelt in front of you and caressed your face in his hands, giving you an apologetic smile, “I apologize, my precious kitten. But it needs to be done.” He presses a kiss on your head before flipping you over on your side, plunging the sword into your chest, the blade impaling you. 

You let out a choked gasp and scream, blood pouring out from your mouth and chest. You gripped onto Pantalone’s wrists tightly, your nails digging into his wrist. Pantalone winced and drove the sword further into your breast, you screamed, and tears poured down your cheeks like a waterfall.

“That’s enough!” Al Haitham screams, grabbing Pantalone by the shoulders and jerking him away from you. The sword ripped from your chest, and you pressed your bloodied hands over the gaping hole in your chest, heaving and sobbing from the pain.

Your eyes briefly turned black before looking over at where the anemo archon stood. A weak and bitter chuckle resonates in the abode, “Just like how you stabbed me in the chest to kill me, you’re all going to do the same thing and stab them to death.” Blood drips down your face from the corner of your lips. “How does it feel, Barbatos? How does it feel to lose your dear friend to me, but now also your lover?” Venti’s face turns white, staring at you in horror. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head before your eyes returned to what it originally was. The black mist that was once residing in your body slowly flows out of your body and into the bloodied sword on the wooden floor as if it was being vacuumed back to where it originally came from. 

“One vengeful spirit down, one more to go,” Venti swallows the formin lump in his throat, eyeing the bloodied sword nervously. The final words that were spoken by Decarabian hit Venti harder than he had expected. Venti shook his head to try to brush the last words from his head. No, Decarabian was wrong. He was only saying that to hurt Venti even more, right? There’s no way that Decarabian was right.

Tighnari pushes through the crowd of men and rushes to your side, “We need to get [Y/N] to the infirmary, stat!” He lifts you up from the pool of blood before sprinting to the infirmary in the abode, with Albedo and Baizhu following after him.

Heizou frowns at the Harbinger, “You were a little too eager to plunge that sword into [Y/N]’s chest.” Heizou crossed his arms over his stomach, giving Pantalone a disapproving look.

“He had to do it,” Pierro says, stepping up towards Heizou and the other men that stood behind Heizou. “After all, you were all too hesitant on getting rid of Decarabian. It’s almost like you all wanted [Y/N] to be the puppet of Decarabian.” 

Aether bares his teeth at the first Harbinger, “We don’t want [Y/N] to be Decarabian or Hua Yue’s puppet! We didn’t want to stab them!” Aether scowls at the older Harbinger, his hands clenching in tight fists.

Dottore rolls his eyes, “And you all think we want our precious [Y/N] to be the puppet?” Dottore huffs, shaking his head. “Pantalone had to do what he needed to do in order to get Decarabian out of [Y/N]’s body, and you were all too scared to do so.” 

Capitano speaks up, “If it weren’t for Pantalone, Decarabian would still be inside of [Y/N]’s body, slowly killing them while using them as a temporary host.” Capitano glares at the men in front of him behind his helmet, “You should all be thanking Pantalone for saving [Y/N] and for driving Decarabian out of [Y/N]’s body.”

Thoma looks at the sword, then at the puddle of blood that is slowly drying up. The smell of copper lingers in the air, making Thoma feel sick to his stomach. “What do we do with the sword now?” Thoma asks, nudging the bloody sword with his feet.

“We bury it where it was originally founded. It needs to be buried deep where no one can find it or reach it.” Pantalone says, wiping your blood off his hands with a napkin. 

“Since the four of you didn’t have an issue with stabbing [Y/N] so easily, you four should go and bury that sword for us,” Itto says, clapping his hands. 

Dottore chuckles, “Fine, fine. We will do it if it eases your minds a bit.” Dottore waves his hands around. Dottore walks over to the sword and picks it up by the hilt before gesturing for the other three Harbingers to follow after him. Just when Dottore was about to walk out of the abode, Dainsleif grabbed Dottore by the arms, saying, “You better not do anything funny. Bury the sword and bring your asses back to the abode.” 

Capitano grabs Dainsleif by the shoulders and pushes him away from Dottore, “Relax, Boughkeeper. We’ll be back when the sword is buried where it was originally located.” He glares at Dainsleif before walking out of the abode with the other Harbingers following after him. After the Harbingers had left the estate, the men looked at one another anxiously. 

Childe breaks the silence, “Should we go check up on [Y/N], Tighnari, Baizhu, and Albedo?”

“I’m really worried about [Y/N]. Pantalone impaled [Y/N] with that sword. He didn’t simply stab [Y/N]! He impaled them with the very sword that was used to kill Decarabian.” Kazuha says, rubbing his temples with a stressed sigh.

Kaeya nods his head, “He was a little too eager to stab [Y/N] with that sword.”

Gorou’s bow vanishes in the air, “We should go check up on them. I’m really worried about [Y/N] and their well-being.” The men nod their heads at Gorou’s suggestion before sprinting to the infirmary where you, Albedo, Baizhu, and Tighnari are located. Upon arriving at the infirmary, the men saw you lying on the bed in the clinic of the estate, unconscious, chest wrapped with gauze and bandages. Albedo, Tighnari, and Baizhu were hovering above you, eyeing the necklace that had sunk into your skin.

“How are we going to remove this without hurting [Y/N] any further?” Albedo murmurs, his fingers lightly tracing the pendant. You whimpered in your unconscious state, face pinching up when you felt the skin around the pendant burn.

Tighnari lightly smears medicine paste on your chest, massaging it into your skin. “I do not know how long this will numb the pain, but it should ease their pain,” Tighnari says, looking up at your face while rubbing the medicine paste into your skin, examining your reaction very closely.

“Shall we wait for Xiao to come back to the abode, or do you want us to take the pendant out from [Y/N]’s chest?” Baizhu asks, putting on his gloves.

“We should wait for that Adeptus to come back. After all, you did say that adeptal magic will need to be used in order to lure Hua Yue out from [Y/N]’s body.” Scaramouche replies, slowly approaching the bed where you lay.

Ayato interjects, “Well, I personally believe that we should remove the necklace out from [Y/N]’s chest before it continues to melt even more into [Y/N]’s skin. After that, the adeptis can continue to lure Hua Yue out from [Y/N]’s body with adeptal magic.”

Tighnari nods his head, “It seems like we have no other choice but to remove it.”

Venti’s eyebrows furrow, “How are we going to remove it? It’s very deep in their skin and will scar once it's removed.” Venti says, eyeing the pendant warily.

“Baizhu said that Hua Yue can only be lured out from [Y/N]’s body with adeptal magic. Maybe it’s the same with the necklace that is fused to [Y/N]’s skin.” Aether says slowly.

Heizou hums, “Well, other than Xiao, who is an adepti?” Everyone slowly turns to Zhongli, giving him a look.

Zhongli hesitates for a moment before letting out a slow deep breath, “Please step to the side and give [Y/N] and me some space.” Zhongli instructs, approaching the bed. 

The men backed up two steps from the bed while Zhongli got closer to the bed in the infirmary. Zhongli takes his gloves off and rolls up the sleeves of his coat. Zhongli’s right-hand hovers above the necklace that was embedded in your chest, he places his hands on the pendant, and his hands begin to glow gold. Zhongli feels the charm starting to move little by little. You scrunched your face up when you felt the necklace being slowly removed from your chest. 

Thoma’s eyes lit up, “Oh! It’s starting to come out!” He moves around to get a closer look at the charm being removed from your upper chest. 

Just when Zhongli was about to remove the pendant from your chest successfully, your eyes snapped open, eyes pitch black. ‘You’ grabbed ahold of Zhongli’s wrist and tackled him to the ground, glaring down at the former archon. Zhongli rips his wrist from ‘your’ grasp before grabbing hold of ‘your’ wrist, flipping ‘you’ over to the ground. 

“Did you really think you could get rid of me so easily, Morax?” ‘You’ growled, thrashing around in Zhongli’s grasp. ‘You’ elbowed Zhongli in the stomach before flipping him back on the ground, pinning him to the ground with a smirk on ‘your’ face. “Prime of Adepti, my ass.” ‘You’ spat; ‘your’ hands slid up to Zhongli’s neck, ‘your’ fingers wrapping around his neck before squeezing his neck.

Zhongli didn’t want to kick you back, fearing that he would hurt you if he were to do so. He knows that Hua Yue has taken over your body as a vessel to avenge her dead lover, but regardless of Hua Yue possessing your body, he did not want to hurt you in any kind of way.

“What is going on here?!” A voice bellows, ‘you’ were immediately snatched away from Zhongli by Diluc, Dainsleif, and Childe. 

‘You’ growled and gnashed your teeth at the men while trying to get out of Diluc, Childe, and Dainsleif’s iron grips. Dainsleif grabs ‘you’ by ‘your’ waist and tosses you over his shoulders before walking over to the bed and placing ‘you’ down on the bed. ‘You’ looked up and made eye contact with Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, Madame Ping, and Ganyu.

“Oh, it’s unfortunate to see you all again after two thousand years.” ‘You’ said, glaring at the three men that were restraining your arms and legs against the bed. 

Ganyu looks at ‘you’ nervously, “Hua Yue, I see that you have chosen to use [Y/N]’s body as your vessel to communicate with all of us.”

“Release the mortal now, Hua Yue. You’re playing a dangerous game of using a mortal as your puppet.” Moon Carver demands, taking a step forward toward where ‘you’ were restrained.

‘You’ pouted at Moon Carver mockingly, “Aw! But using this foolish mortal as my vessel is so fun! Especially when they mean so much to the archon that killed my lover two thousand years ago!” ‘You’ looked over at Zhongli from the corner of ‘your’ eyes. “It would be a shame if they died as well.” ‘You’ batted ‘your’ eyelashes at the former archon.

Xiao growls as his polearm materializes in his hands before pointing the tip of the polearm blade at ‘your’ neck, “If you hurt them, I will kill you.” Xiao glares down at ‘you.’

‘You’ giggled, “Oh, Alatus, you do realize that if you ‘kill’ me, your cute little lover will be dead too, right?” ‘You’ quirked ‘your’ eyebrow at the yaksha. “Although it does sound like a win-win because if I can’t be with my lover, then none of you deserve to be with your lover either.”

Scaramouche glares over at ‘you’ with his arms over his chest, “You do realize that you can be with your dead lover too, right? In the afterlife!” 

‘You’ let out a shrill cackle, “You silly little thing, you really think that’s how it all works?!” ‘You’ scowled, glaring at the electro user from across the infirmary with a heated glare while trying to free ‘yourself’ from the restraints, only to be unsuccessful.

“Restrain their limbs and make sure that they do not escape. If they do, we will not be able to get Hua Yue out of [Y/N]’s body.” Madame Ping instructs. Diluc, Dainsleif, Childe, and Itto grab hold of ‘your’ hands and ankles, immobilizing ‘you.’

“We must warn all of you that luring a dead archon out from a mortal’s body will not be easy. Especially one that is vengeful like Hua Yue herself.” Cloud Retainer says, walking over to where ‘you’ were restrained. 

The other adeptis surrounded the infirmary bed, and they all began to glow while chanting under their breath. Zhongli walks over to where Diluc stood and reaches out to the necklace that was implanted into your skin. Zhongli’s hands began to glow. Your body starts to heat up, and the area where the charm was embedded into your skin is beginning to burn. ‘Your’ eyes widened as ‘you’ began to let out a blood-curdling scream, trying to pull ‘your’ arms and legs out of Diluc, Dainsleif, Childe, and Itto’s grasp.

“Don’t let her escape your grasp! We will not be able to get Hua Yue out of [Y/N]’s body if they manage to disrupt the process.” Mountain Shaper instructs over the sound of ‘your’ screams and wails. 

Tears and blood rolled down ‘your’ cheeks from ‘your’ eyes, your chest was burning, and you were in pain. Everything hurts; your head, your eyes, your chest, everywhere. The men around you winced and looked away, not able to witness the sight in front of them. You are in so much pain, and they cannot do anything about it. Whatever the adeptis were doing to you, it was for your own good, and they hoped that the outcome wouldn’t be detrimental to you and your well-being. You wouldn’t stop screaming, and it was hard to tell whether it was you that was shrieking or if it was Hua Yue that was screaming bloody murder while trying to free your arms and legs from Diluc, Dainsleif, Itto, and Childe’s grasp.

The ritual went on for what felt like hours to everyone involved. The four Harbingers stood by the door and watched the scene unfold in front of them, their backs pressed against the wall while analyzing what was going on and what the adeptis were doing to you. You— well, Hua Yue, put up a lot of fight. While she was no longer in her archon body and was using your body (a mortal) as a vessel, she wasn’t able to break out of the restraints. Something had finally happened after a few hours of constant adeptal magic being used upon you to drive out the vengeful dead archon’s spirit out of your body. Zhongli was able to remove the necklace from your neck entirely. Blood trickled down your neck and chest, staining the gauze and bandages crimson red.

“Look! Something’s happening!” Gorou gasps, pointing at the strange red mist began to leave your body and enter the bloody necklace slowly.

Itto’s eyes widen, looking at the others, alarmed, “Did it work!? Did we do it!? Is Hua Yue finally out of [Y/N]’s body!?” 

“We? It’s the adeptis that did all of the work of luring Hua Yue out of [Y/N]’s body.” Scaramouche gives Itto a look before looking over at where the others gathered around you. 

“You may have won again and have gotten rid of me, but I can tell you that after all of these hours of cleansing would have gotten rid of your precious [Y/N] too!” Your eyes flicker from pitch black to your normal eye color. “How do all of you feel after knowing you tortured your lover to death!?” ‘You’ wailed; the men around ‘you’ tensed up and looked away from where you lay. 

The red mist was now gone from your system and had returned to the necklace. The screaming soon came to a stop, and so did the thrashing. You collapsed into the bed, limp, barely breathing, and covered in your blood, sweat, and tears. Baizhu, Tighnari, and Albedo were immediately at your side, treating your wounds and cleaning up your blood.

Baizhu frowns, pulling out the gauze and bandage from the first-aid kit that was lying out in the open. “[Y/N] doesn’t look well. The magic and Hua Yue using their body and soul as a puppet and life source has completely drained their energy.” He pressed his hand against your forehead; your skin felt so cold and clammy. It was alarming. 

Zhongli handed the tainted necklace over to Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper. While Zhongli wasn’t sure where the two adeptis were planning on hiding the pendant, he had high hopes that the two adeptis would hide the charm from those who went searching for the item. The men thanked the adeptis before they all left the abode.

“Thank archons. This is all finally over.” Childe sighs, collapsing in a chair nearby, running his hands through his hair with a puff of breath.

“It felt like it had gone on for days, but it’s been going on for, I believe, almost thirteen hours,” Ayato says, letting his shoulders relax.

“I would hate to be that person, but it feels like it won’t be ending here,” Kazuha interjects, his eyes trained on your unconscious body. You were limp, barely responding to any noise that the men made. You didn’t flinch or wake up when Baizhu, Tighnari, and Albedo were treating your wounds. 

“We don’t know how [Y/N] will be feeling when they wake up, but their wounds have been cleaned and patched up. They should get plenty of rest. After all, two dead archons did take [Y/N]’s body as their vessel.” Albedo says, taking the rubber gloves off his hands before tossing them into a trash bin.

“Is there a way for us to know when they’ll wake up from their slumber?” Kaeya asks, brushing your hair from your sweaty forehead. You let out a soft sigh and strained whimper, eyebrows furrowing with pain. Kaeya frowns and brushes the stray tear that made its way down your cheeks. Even though Decarabian and Hua Yue were extracted from your body, you’re still in pain because of what they have put you and your body through.

Diluc sighs, “Those two are lucky they’re dead already.” He glares at the ground before kneeling beside your bed, grabbing onto your hands. Diluc glares at your hands, letting out a hum before taking his glove off to hold your hand without the gloves on. 

“What is it?” Dainsleif takes a step forward, gazing at Diluc worriedly. Diluc motions for Dainsleif to come closer while holding your hand up in the air for Dainsleif to touch. Dainsleif slips his glove off before feeling your hand with his bare hands. Al Haitham walks over to where the two stood and lightly brushes his fingers against the back of your hand.

“Their hands are cold.” Al Haitham states, looking up at the other men in the room. 

Zhongli hovered above you and pressed his ears against your slowly rising and falling chest. The ex-archon closed his eyes and listened closely; your heart was beating, but it was very faint. Zhongli lets out a slow sigh before slowly standing up and turning to the others; his expression is grim.

“Their heartbeat is very faint, and it’s weak.” He looks down at your unconscious figure, his eyes downcasted. 

“What are we going to do?!” Gorou asks worriedly, his hands trembling with fear while eyeing your unconscious body.

Tighnari frowns, “The only thing we can do now is to monitor them. For now, we can’t do anything else further.”

“And what if something happens to them in the middle of the night?” Pierro asks, staring at Tighnari, Albedo, and Baizhu closely.

“We will be watching over [Y/N] as they rest. Each of us will be taking turns doing so.” Albedo says, caressing your face in his hands. Albedo wasn’t surprised that your body would react this way; you did have two dead archons possessing your body, using your life source as a way for them to communicate and wreak havoc on the entire abode. The only thing they can all hope for is for you to have a smooth recovery, but looking at your current condition, it doesn’t seem like it’ll happen.

Throughout the night, each man would take turns monitoring you as you slept in the infirmary. You hardly moved in the bed; your chest was rising and falling very slowly, and the men could barely feel any air coming from your nostrils as you slept. Heck, you didn’t even wake up to drink water like how you would usually do. The next day, everyone woke up to alarming screams coming from the infirmary.

“What’s going on!?” Al Haitham demands, bursting into the infirmary with the other men behind him. 

Gorou and Albedo moved to the side for the other men to see what the commotion was about. There you lay on the bed, barely moving an inch. You looked like a corpse, and your skin barely had any color to it; you were gray. Aether and Xiao rushed up to the bed, their hands pressing against your skin. You were cold. Your skin was ice cold; there was barely any blood circulation. Aether presses his ears against your chest, his heart racing.

“There’s still a faint heartbeat; they’re still alive,” Aether says, turning towards the others.

Tears blur Heizou’s vision, ducking his head. “What is going on with [Y/N]? Why are they dying?” Heizou demands, warm tears cascading down his flushed cheeks.

“They’re not dying, don’t be foolish!” Diluc says, glaring at the anemo user. 

Diluc sits at the edge of your bed and brushes your hair from your face. Diluc looks at you closely for a moment, only to realize that you are shivering. Diluc gingerly lifts you up and cradles you in his arms, hoping he is warming you up.

“[Y/N]? Can you hear us?” Ayato asks softly, sitting down beside Diluc. Ayato reached over and rubbed the apples of your cheeks with the pad of his thumb. You cracked your eyes opened and looked around at everyone with bleary eyes. Your eyes are glazed over; there are dark circles underneath your eyes, and your lips lack color.

“Oh, thank archons, you’re awake!” Venti gasped, his lips trembling as he collapsed in front of you. Venti grabbed onto your hands and pressed his forehead against the back of your hand, tears rolling down his cheeks; his body shook with quiet sobs.

Thoma stood above your head, looking down at you, “How are you feeling, [Y/N]?” He knelt behind your head and stroked your hair.

“I don’t feel so good.” You croaked, wincing at the sound of your voice. After responding to Thoma’s question, you finally realized that your throat was hurting a lot; it was very sore and very dry. It was definitely from all of the screaming that had happened the day before.

“The important thing is that you’re awake,” Xiao says. “I apologize for not being able to save you or be able to detect the issues before the issues arose.” Xiao knelt and bowed his head to you.

You shook your head, “No, Xiao. Don’t blame yourself; no one is to blame except for me.” You said, letting out a dry cough.

Itto shakes his head, “Don’t blame yourself either, [Y/N]! You didn’t want the necklace in the first place, but the strange merchant forced you to take the necklace! If it weren’t for that merchant, you wouldn’t be in this position!” Itto exclaims.

Kazuha nods his head, “Agreed. It’s not your fault at all, my dove. The problem began because of that merchant.” 

You frowned, “But I wandered off in the Stormterror’s Lair and touched the sword that slain Decarabian.” You let yourself go limp in Diluc’s arms, your head tucked beneath Diluc’s neck.

Kaeya sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “It’s still not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.” Kaeya stated.

“I’m going to track down that merchant and kill him for what he had done to you,” Childe stated, clenching his jaws while balling his hands into tight fists.

Before you could respond to Childe’s statement, you felt a sharp pain in your chest, causing you to curl up in a fetal position, your hands clutching onto your chest. You whimpered, feeling something rise up in your throat while the inside of your throat began to itch.

Dainsleif gasps, “[Y/N]!” His eyes widened in fear when he saw your hands fly up to your mouth, covering your mouth with both of your hands.

“Are you okay!? What’s going on!?” Zhongli asks, pushing through the crowd of men surrounding you. 

You whimpered and shook your head, a bead of sweat forming on your forehead. The itch at the back of your throat was so intense that you couldn’t hold yourself back from coughing any longer. You began coughing into your hands while slowly getting out of Diluc’s grasp. You coughed so hard that tears were pooling in your eyes, and your throat and chest hurt each time you coughed. You began to taste something coppery in your mouth, and before you knew it, you were not only coughing up blood, but you began vomiting up blood.

You have never felt so weak before; your legs gave out beneath you. Dottore was quick to catch you before you could collapse into the pile of bloody puke. Dottore carried you back to the bed and placed you on the bed; you were going in and out of consciousness, your eyes glazed over. Baizhu and Tighnari scrambled around the infirmary in search of medication for you to take temporarily before they were able to deduce what was happening to you and your body.

Albedo puts on latex gloves before squatting in front of the bloody vomit, examining the biohazard before touching it with his gloved hand. Albedo lifted his hands up and looked at it closely, his eyebrows furrowing.

“[Y/N] vomited blood; there isn’t any half-digested food in the vomit,” Albedo says, getting up before grabbing a cotton swab and test tubes. 

“Do we know what is exactly causing [Y/N] to be in this condition?” Childe asks, sitting at the edge of your bed while holding onto your cold, clammy hands.

Zhongli hums, “Because [Y/N] was forced to be a puppet for two dead archons, their body cannot handle the amount of power the two deceased archons held. Not only did it drain [Y/N]’s life source, but their body was having a hard time healing from the traumatic experience.” Zhongli says, looking over at where you were lying.

“What are you implying?” Pantalone asks, raising his eyebrows at Zhongli.

“[Y/N] is dying, and we do not know whether they will heal from the entire ordeal or if they will ultimately die in the end.” Said Al Haitham, standing next to Zhongli with his arms over his chest. The men around Al Haitham and Zhongli looked at the two in shock and horror. The clinic was silent, but the only thing they could hear were your faint whimpers and weak coughs.

“Is there a way to save them?” Gorou whispers, refusing to take his eyes off of you.

Zhongli shakes his head, “I do not know if there is a cure for such a thing. A dead archon possessing a mortal’s body to use as a puppet is infrequent.”

Scaramouche threw his hands up in the air out of frustration, “Great, so there’s no cure, is what I’m hearing.” 

“We can’t lose hope! [Y/N] will be okay! They’ll make it through!” Venti says.

“How can we not lose hope when [Y/N] is bedridden, coughing and vomiting up blood, and how it’s rare for a deceased archon to use a mortal’s body as a vessel!?” Aether asks weakly.

“Believe in [Y/N]. Believe in them that they will make it out alive.” Thoma whispers, kneeling by the foot of your bed while holding onto your other hand.

How does one hold onto the last bit of hope that you will survive? Not only did one deceased archon take over your body, it was two that used you as a vessel, draining your life source and energy for their selfish needs. Is it worth holding onto that last bit of hope when the signs are clear that you wouldn’t make it? All the men could do was stare at your unconscious body, your chest slowly rising and falling.

Note: Whew, I think this is officially my longest Isekai'd!Reader fic and longest request ever! I don't know about you guys, but I didn't really feel the angst. I think it's maybe because I typed it out, but I'm not sure how any of you interpret this fic. One of my closest friend and mod read it for me to see if it's angst, and she said it's definitely angst! I hope you all enjoy this fic! Anyway! For those who are new or returning readers, please keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for "Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader" and my overall taglist: @xxkatsusjinsux, @huboi, @plumpkie, @crazyrichdaughter, @sucker-for-angst-and-fluff, @patata52, @honeybedo, @thedivinepriestress, @pencil-of-ashes, @samarill, @bakuhve, @yukima, @chaosinanutshell, @emperatris-rinaka, @neilify, @ksjjkthpjm, @jaisithebird, @mouchie, @emerald-smile, @jixlem, @the-blob-fish, @jiminscarmex, @bananazzzen, @thelost-in-time, @kryloxen, @ayolk, @tomansimp, @lordbugs, @c-camellias, @chihawari, @lilliansstuff, @zhongloml, @sweethcnvy, @wolf-chan2134, @simp4-fictional-men, @dai-tsukki-desu, @trash-queen-af, @tamayakii, @spo0k-mxchii, @hispasian-otaku, @stygianoir, @crispynutduck (if you have not been tagged, it's because you have your settings turned off for people to tag you in posts)

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^

#Genshin impact x reader #Genshin impact imagine #Genshin impact fanfics #Genshin impact fanfiction #Genshin impact one shots #Arataki Itto x reader #Gorou x reader #Thoma x reader #Kaedehara Kazuha x reader #Xiao x reader #Albedo x reader #Zhongli x reader #Childe x reader #Venti x reader #Diluc x reader #Kaeya x reader #Kamisato Ayato x reader #Dainsleif x reader #Scaramouche x reader #Baizhu x reader #Aether x reader #Heizou x reader #Al Haitham x reader #Tighnari x reader #genshinluvr #Pantalone x reader #Pierro x reader #Dottore x reader #Capitano x reader

[dreadfutures]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Tagged by @plisuu and @rosella-writes - and tagging the whole rest of the DA FanFic server crew:

@warpedlegacy @rakshadow @effelants @bluewren @breninarthur @ar-lath-ma-cully @ir0n-angel @inquisimer @crackinglamb @theluckywizard @nirikeehan @oxygenforthewicked @exalted-dawn-drabbles @melisusthewee @blarrghe @agentkatie @delicatefade @leggywillow @about2dance

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

49

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,645,298

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Maximum Ride, Pokemon, Spirited Away, Zelda, Pathfinder CRPGs, Elden Ring, Dishonored, and of course, Dragon Age

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Dead Pasts and Dread Futures (Dragon Age)

Hero of the Wild (Legend of Zelda: BOTW)

When the Wind Whispers (Legend of Zelda: BOTW)

The Brave Guide (Dragon Age)

Light in the Dark (LOZ)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I try to. I fall behind very frequently but I always try to say thank you. So many people tell me why these stories touch them, and to share that with me, is such a gift that deserves acknowledgement.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably 'The Hope of Fen'Harel' (on AO3) or the scene where Solas finds out that young Ixchel is dead (here on tumblr).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

the road seems too wild for mixing it with blues (Dragon Age) - literally it is a Solavellan happiest of happy endings. There are brown butter donuts.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes. Not infrequently.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Sometimes! I do try to write titillating smut but if it's in my longfics, it's got to be for character reasons and serve the plot. But I have more than one smut oneshot that's just there to get people hot lol.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have had ideas copied wholecloth.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of, but you are free to do so as long as you tag me and properly credit via the "inspired by" on AO3

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! ALL of my Maximum Ride fics were co-written. Literally sending passages back and forth over *yahoo instant messenger.* It was an absolute fucking joy. Those fics are gone now though lol.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Prooooooobablyyyyyyy Haku/Chihiro. I will read absolute drivel if it's got them in it.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I WILL ABSOLUTELY FINISH MY BOTW FICS I AM WORKING ON THEM OKAY?! The one i don't think i will ever do is my young!Ixchel fic. It's too fucking sad. But it lives in my head and calls to me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dreamy prose, evocative horror, and really motivated plots.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm verbose, I have a hard time connecting scenes / passing time without it feeling like it's dragging.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

So, for fantasy languages that you have to conlang -- I think you should just write it in English. Especially if you're not making up YOUR OWN conlang and instead relying on the work of a notorious jackass. I have taken to "[[brackets and italics]]" to indicate when dialogue is happening in Elvhen. In real life languages, such as Spanish, the current movement in ownvoices communities is to include the dialogue in its original tongue, with no italics. Readers are smart. They can look it up. And they need to get used to languages other than their own without it seeming other, alien, or magical. In my original novels, where Spanish is often used, I stick with this rule.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Maximum Ride or Spirited Away.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

it ends or it doesn't (Dragon Age), my Felassan-as-Benoit-Blanc arlathvhen murder mystery!

blank form below:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

#long post #tag meme

[iamstartraveller776]

Feel free to ignore, but you mentioned that the fandom landscape has changed drastically from twenty years ago, and I’m curious what that means for you. I’ve seen lots of posts on the topic, but am interested in your experience if you want to share.

I absolutely can share!

Twenty years ago, I found fandom through bulletin boards or message boards (depending on what you called them). Trekbbs was my first one, and it's still standing. High speed internet was relatively new, and it was easy to keep up with "threads." Whenever you logged in, it would take you to where you left off with any given thread so you could catch up. (Discord does this...kinda, but Discord moves at warp speed where BBS's moved at impulse power.) It was easier to stay connected, to get to know people. Also, the boards were (and are) heavily moderated. Trolls were banned, and folks who got too heated under the collar were usually temporarily banned until tempers cooled. So it was generally a safe environment.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the vast majority of the boards were grown-up only. That's not to say that minors didn't sneak through, but they were on their best behavior lest they get found out and kicked off the board.

And from the boards, we learned where to find fanfic. Back then, even though FFN existed, fic was primarily archived on private sites. There were no such thing as likes and kudos back then. It was fandom etiquette (at least for my corner of the Trek fandom) to leave a comment/review if you read a fic (and be nice about it!). It was the era of Kink Tomato (your kink is not my kink and that's okay) and don't like don't read and simply fun. We had challenges, did round robins—where someone would write a chapter of a fic, then another author would write the next, and so forth.

Even when I made the switch to posting more on FFN, it was pretty normal to send a message to someone to thank them for favorite-ing your story even if they didn't comment. And often they would message back, telling you what they enjoyed. I have some friendships born from this! It was normal. Writers weren't called "needy" and "self-absorbed" for hoping for more interaction with their readers. We were all in this together.

I also did yahoo groups for a time, and had a fantastic time with my friends in an email chain.

LiveJournal was kind of the peak of fandom, IMO. I think it was the first "public" website, rather than something privately owned, where we could build communities (private or public) as well as have our own pages (private or public). Some of the best fandom events happened on that site. But LiveJournal ended up imploding. (Cyber attacks then the new owners started wiping out entire communities without warning for violating the new terms of service. It was horrible.)

So we all moved to Tumblr. (And we were slowly moving to AO3. Some also moved to the site formerly called Twitter.)

Tumblr was pretty awesome back then. Because fandom people took the same community with them when they came. We didn't have replies back then, but dagnabit we screenshot tags or reblogged comments and posted them with replies. It was easier to follow tags and even some fandoms created blogs that were archives for fics. (Myself included.) The downside was, and continues to be, lack of moderation. Not that I think fandom should be gatekept, but it isn't as easy-going when you do have to worry about putting up with trolls as a rule rather than the exception.

Alas, life happened and I had to step away for a few years. When I came back...it's so much quieter. Significantly less interaction. Less comments on fics. There's just...less connection in general. People tend to flit in and out of fandom more often. And on top of that, there is the odd movement that fanworks shouldn't contain anything that would make a reader/viewer uncomfortable or is unrelatable to the general masses. As a fanworks creator, there have been times I felt more like a monkey dancing for a demanding audience rather than a squee-ing fan sharing things with fellow sqee-ing fans. I seriously questioned for a long time whether I would bother anymore.

(This also doesn't mention how streaming and binge-watching series rather than weekly releases have affected fandom. It's different when you get one episode a week for an entire season of 20-24 episodes than when a streamer releases the entire 8-10 episode series at once.)

A part of this is me, too. I don't have nearly as much time to invest in fandom as I used to. I can't be too critical of the changes in fandom, but it is different.

And so I hang onto a few of the friends I've found (like you!) and continue to find here and there. I write whatever I want and delete rude comments. I always reply to the others. And I keep plugging on!

Thank you for asking! And thank you for being part of what I love about being on Tumblr even after all these changes! (Sorry I got a bit verbose!)

#star replies #about me #fandom #curator on ao3 #fandom old

[harrisonarchive]

Photo by Curt Gunther.

“It was great being around him [George Harrison] and playing all those Beatle guitars that were all hanging up on the wall in his home studio, like being a child in a toy shop. He was a great guy, and I had some great times with him. I also had some embarrassing moments, like the time he played me the opening chord to ‘A Hard Day's Night.’ It wasn't the way I had played it all those years. I said, ‘Is that right?’ [Laughing] ‘Are you sure that’s right, George?’ He looked at me and went, ‘Yes, Gary. It's right.’” - Gary Moore, All Out Guitar, July 17, 2007

Q: “Did [George] show you the opening ‘Hard Day’s Night’ chord? Everyone seems to have their own version of that.” Tom Petty: “I remember [laughs] we were having a discussion about that chord, and this other guitar player, Gary Moore, was over. He played the chord, and George played it, and he said, mNo, that’s not right, it’s like this.’ And George is like, ‘No, it’s like this.’ And Gary asked if he was sure. And George goes, ‘Yes, I’m sure.’ We all fell about laughing.” - Reverb, 2017

a_t_m98 asks: "Mr. Harrison.. what is the opening chord you used for 'A Hard Days Night'?" george_harrison_live: "It is F with a G on top (on the 12-string)" george_harrison_live: "But you’ll have to ask Paul about the bass note to get the proper story." - Yahoo web chat, February 15, 2001 [x]

“[Gary Moore is] an unbelievable guitar player, he’s just — I mean, guitar players like him around, it makes me just feel like a skiffler.” - George Harrison, RTE interview conducted by BP Fallon, 1987

“The first time I really heard George play a solo I realized how gifted he was. It was kind of hard when you’re just strumming along to things, but when he came out with this kind of beautiful little masterpieces of solos. He could kind of think of something to play in eight bars that nobody in the whole world except him would have thought of. You realized there was a kind of a genius at work there. And to me he was a great melodic influence personally as a guitarist. He was very strong on melody. And if he hadn’t started to play at the time I did I don’t think I would have as melodic a background as I have now, and have that kind of sense of melody if it wasn’t for George.” - Gary Moore, BBC Radio 2, 2009 (x)

#George Harrison #Gary Moore #Tom Petty #Harrison contributions #quote #quotes about George #quotes by George #The Beatles #The Traveling Wilburys #A Hard Day's Night #Paul McCartney #John Lennon #Ringo Starr #1964 #1960s #1990s

[bumblepony]

Thank you for tagging me @adhdprincess Tagging @march-flowerr @two-birds-alone-together @becomethesun [Empty Q's are at the bottom of the post]

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 75

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 434,796

3. What fandoms do you write for? TLOU

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Unexpected Consequences : 327

Like You Were Always Meant To Be Here : 306

Glitch in the Code or Playing Video Games with My Uncle and Dad : 183

A Soul For Sale Or Rent : 164

After The Rain :126

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes, as much as I can. But I am bad at remembering, so if I get a notification and don't respond right away, my brain forgets it exists. Thank you, ADHD.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I think its a tie between these two.

Life is pretty cruel For a touchy feely fool

We're Only Going So Far

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Maybe this one. Boy I Was Back Then

8. Do you get hate on fics? No, not really. I had one fic that got some hate but it was pretty minimal. I don't even have that fic anymore; I planned to rewrite it but never did.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes, Yes I do. All kinds, but generally, it's soft smut; I don't do a ton of really out-there stuff, not that I am yucking anyones yum, just not my style. I have M/M pairings and M/F I haven't really explored F/F yet but I plan to just haven't got around to it yet.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Yes, I do. So far, only one has been published its TLOU/Firefly Turn On The Red Light . I am working on another right now for TLOU/LOTR

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, actually a few,

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? So, it's not really a Ship because they are actually together, but Bill/Frank is my favorite ship from the video game. I love that the HBO version actually gave us a relationship with them.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably my Henry & Sam Live Wip. Like, I want to write it, but it's going to be a lot of work, and there already is a great writer, @becomethesun, who is writing one that is amazing. It's called collaborators .

16. What are your writing strengths? Uggg, I guess my ability to come up with ideas for stories.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? My ability to finish writing those ideas.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I do it from time to time, but I try to get help from someone who actually speaks the language.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Technically The Heralds of Valdimar, but that was all through Yahoo email with my friends when I was 15-16 years old. My only published stuff is on AO3 TLOU.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Shit I think it's a tie with

A Soul For Sale Or Rent

Glitch in the Code or Playing Video Games with My Uncle and Dad

----

To copy on mobile, hold and press the text below and tap "Copy". Feel free to use the pic at the top of the post as well!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2. What's your total AO3 word count? 3. What fandoms do you write for? 4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 5. Do you respond to comments? 6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 8. Do you get hate on fics? 9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? 10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? 11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? 15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? 16. What are your writing strengths? 17. What are your writing weaknesses? 18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 19. First fandom you wrote for? 20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

#tlou #asks #tlou fanfiction #the last of us #ao3

[sweetertreats]

Honk

A story about a Clown

Sweet Tooth’s very own lil guy circus, now travelling Kalos! A performance where only one man comes out on top, the clown himself. Aged somewhere between middle aged and “Young as a berry”, this clown will have you wishing you never crossed paths with such an entertaining enemy. He won’t wipe your party without cracking a few jokes along the way. He’s not afraid to play dirty, but for the sake of good showman ship he’ll start off fair.

Which would be fair information if I didn’t write it myself, huh? You never know when the shows gonna start, so make sure you have your tickets ready! Or don’t! You didn’t really have a choice. Participation IS mandatory! My pronouns are He/Him, but if don’t worry about forcing the words out of your mouth when you’re warning your friends about the c-c-c-c-c-c-clown. 

[There is a ref below the lil dude intros ;o)]

What do you think? Good show? Bad show? Be honest. I don’t really like liars. 

What a magnificent turnout! I wonder who’s on the cast list?

Machete: A rather interesting looking Honedge with a bit of edge. Pretty sharp, if ya know what I mean.

Mimo: A Mr. Mime with a wonderful outfit! A Fire/Psychic type with a cute outfit to match her trainer’s, what’s not to love!

Vani: A Strawberry Flavored Vanillite with a very creative name! Cherry on top and sprinkles! 

Pretty Kitty: A sylveon that isn’t really expected to fight, just to look pretty for the show! All dressed up with the cutest little outfit, they’re the perfect distraction for any ambush. (to be designed) 

Dizzy: They say no two Spinda are alike, but they can be if you make yourself dizzy enough! This dude’s all dressed up in his clown best! A classic puffy little outfit that’s sure to make you forget the trainer behind him. (to be designed) 

Squishy: A Banette with a rather silly look to her. There’s no time like the present, and Squishy’s little tricks will have you rolling on the ground with laughter! (to be designed) 

now for some ooc info.

hi! names padfoot! i am an adult, so this entire blog is adult run. this is my first time running something like this on tumblr!!! so i am very excited! Sweet Tooth is adapted from the Twisted Metal series! I say adapted because he has been tweaked just a bit to fit the setting, but he’s still a loveable evil clown either way. everything will be tagged either with basic pkmnirl or rp tags :)

as far as everything goes, the concept of adapting him in this way, his design, and his first three pokemon are all credited to @moderator-monnie and @lazy-charlie ! the current pfp and the forever existing reference art was done by lazy-charlie! 

pfp and banner will be updated with the full cast at some point or another, but for now its just the truck and such. the other three pokemon will be drawn up and posted whenever i’m able to do digital art again, so far now text based description is all you get :( 

dni is basic, no nsfw (suggestive is ok!!!), no type of hate fuelled phobias, no slurs, no zoos maps or drama starters.  if i dont respond please dont get too upset about it, i will try and make responses to everyone that i can but if i miss you feel free to try again! just dont spam. as stated, i am an adult so i do have an adult life i need to tend too alongside this silly little project. 

for now responses will remain text, in the future some may be drawn if i cant find the words for things but we will see!

messages are open for rp requests, story building, or things like that :3 please respect that i am free to deny, block, or ignore any requests that make me uncomfortable. 

yahoo yippie wahoo! little dance! you made it to the bottom! do a little dance!!!

#pkmn irl #pkmn blog #pkmn rp #pokemon oc #pokemon #pokeblogging #twisted metal #sweet tooth #crossover #sweet tooths little guy circus

[kettleghost]

begging you to just post all your spot thoughts your art of him is so good... slurping it up like some kinda pasta dish

OF COURSE!! id be happy to! i have. so many thoughts about that silly dude.. here are my crazy spot headcanons 😁

he seems like the kinda guy who would like mint choc chip icecream

i think he’s autistic😁😁

there is no way that man is straight

i think when he worked for alchamax, him and liv octavius were kinda like. frenemies? i guess?? as in, they were coworkers and whatnot but were also kinda friendly rivals! i think liv definitely didn’t care that much for jonathan though since she was the head scientist and had a lot of other stuff to worry about- i like to think jonathan thought they were best friends and liv barely knew his name LMAO i think if she and him ever were to reunite after his incident, they’d definitely be a lot closer, bonding over wanting to destroy spiderman LOL

he definitely, albeit very briefly, debated actually adopting a dalmatian after miles’ comment

he watched better call saul and loved it.. this is the most important spot headcanon.. to me

i think at some point while travelling through dimensions (possibly before going to mumbattan, which would definitely recontexualise that comment he makes about not recognising himself in the mirror) he discovered an alternate version of himself, one that was still human. and that fucked him up big time and made him sad <\3 breh idk

i like to think the reason human spot appears in the movie with both short and long hair is because, when he was working on the collider, it took up almost all of his time, leading to jonathan pulling a bunch of all nighters and neglecting himself a bit, leading to his hair and beard growing out! when his work on the collider eased up nearing its completion, he got a haircut

i love the idea that his face hole can’t. actually close so when he sleeps it’s just perpetually open LOL maybe it subtly grows and shrinks when he inhales and exhales or something like that snooorkk mimimimi

he listens to weezer and talking heads it��s the truth

he can’t cook at all he lives off of two minute noodles like a struggling university student

he loves puzzle games, he’s definitely at a ridiculously high level in candy crush, he was probably a zelda nerd when he was younger

he used to wear a lot of fun button up shirts to his work (this one’s backed up by some of his concept art!)

he seems like the kinda guy who desperately wanted a pet lizard when he was younger but as he got older and his alchemax workload got larger, he decided against getting one out of fear he wouldn’t have time to tend to it

he uses emojis unironically

idk he’s just a silly loser nerd who does silly loser nerd things what a funny fella!!! yahoo

that’s all i got off the top of my head! but if you want more crazy spot thoughts you should check out my instagram story i literally. post every single thought that comes to mind relating to that guy over there (or follow me on @awesomesaucewizard i talk about him sometimes there too!)

#sorry for being ​cringe ☹️☹️ it will happen again #mint choc chip icecream sucks btw #the spot #headcanons #braj idk #spiderverse #text #not art

[solarsbrace]

♡ yahoo

two parents like caeda and ephraim, it's a wonder how this child ended up the way she did.

meet asherah (goes by ashe for short), the spoilt to the core daughter of ephraim and caeda. genetically very blessed, but unfortunately, her personality is what others might consider 'horrible'.

ashe was likely born after the reconstruction of magvel, simply so that her parents would have more time to care for her. she has never faced war, and likely has never even picked up a weapon, but that was alright with her parents. they had worked hard so that their child could live a carefree life.

though others might describe her as obnoxious and haughty, her parents would not be able to reconcile that with their daughter. with her parents, she can be rather clingy or needy, but she has always respected and loved them. this is a wholesome family, and she is grateful that she was born into it.

in an attempt to give her a happy life, her parents might have coddled her a bit too much. she is royalty to the extreme, and is not afraid to let others know. she doesn't have too much experience with the outside world, or even people outside her direct family. while she comes off very over the top and full of herself, she's only emulating what she feels a princess should act like. because her parents have never seen her act like this, they have never been able to correct that perception.

she is particularly close to her mother, caeda, who gives her an infinite amount of attention and care. together they share all kinds of secrets that ephraim would never be able to unravel. he's simply happy to see the two people he loves enjoying what he worked hard to protect.

though she doesn't understand her father's duties, or why he's such a hard worker, she is proud of him. flaunting him around like a fancy dress or piece of jewelry. though it embarrasses him, ephraim would suffer anything for his beloved daughter. when ashe is feeling down, or is seeking someone to take action, she knows her father will always be there for her.

aunt eirika feels like an all knowing genius to her, almost like a goddess placed on earth. when she gets to see her, they go on all kids of adventures in town together. ashe particularly loves the stories she holds about her father, which always make her laugh out loud. she sometimes wonders though... what happened to her father before she was born to make him as he is now. even aunt eirika, who seemed to share every detail, would be quiet about it.

her family is nearly perfect, and she doesn't forget it, which is why she insists of paying respects to her lost grandfather. her father doesn't speak of him often, but she knows that her grandpa was someone very important to ephraim. she'll get the courage one day to ask about him...

ashe particularly loves her vacations to talys, where she gets to enjoy the water. her mother lights up, too, which is always a plus in her book. getting to see the only grandfather she has left is nice too.

all in all, she's a girl who values family above all, and enjoys each day to the fullest. she hasn't made any friends yet, but she's content with her life as is.

#⌜ OOC . ⌟ ✦ * · ˚ #⌜ ANSWERED . ⌟ ✦ * · ˚ #(augh this one ALSO got away from me) #arcaeda

[kajaono]

2023 Tumblr Top 10

1. 3.722 notes - May 2 2023

Ha ha ha…. Burn them!

2. 3.323 notes - Jul 23 2023

The German edition from Iron Widow printing Zhaos cow picture extra large on the inner cover 😂

3. 2.880 notes - May 5 2023

Support by the actors is literally so important! Especially this statement… it’s just so true

4. 2.195 notes - May 14 2023

Just want to bring it to your attention that far right assholes in Germany right now claim that Germany lost again because Lord of the Lost refused to wave the German flag (for obvious reasons) and waved a rainbow flag instead. Appearently to facists , this is why Germany lost

5. 1.694 notes - Jan 5 2023

I didn’t thought: “Hugh Grant is a Bond girl” is how we start 2023, yet here we are

6. 1.095 notes - Jul 13 2023

That will be a really interesting SDCC this year

7. 843 notes - Jul 21 2023

What fans call „slow burn“ today is so wild

„Omg they are so slow burn! I can not stand the pining any longer!“ The couple in question kisses after one season containing 8 episodes

Honey….

8. 834 notes - Apr 8 2023

My villain origin story is German translations using formal „You“ between love interests or really good friends, even though they are on first name basis (no one here in Germany would be on first name basis AND use the formal „You“) and only switch to informal You after they have sex

9. 783 notes - Feb 20 2023

10. 699 notes - Jul 6 2023

Famous people all changing to Thread.com immediately like tumblr isn’t right there

Is this app a mess? Yes

Has it survived SuperWhoLock, Yahoo and a Purge? Also yes

I don’t know about you but I stay with the app that is running since over 10 years. Not reliable but a steady mess. I never know what will come next but I know one thing for sure. This ship sinks last. We don’t sink when a tiny fire happens because we are on fire the whole time anyway  

Created by TumblrTop10

Thank you so much @appleinducedsleep​ for showing me this website. I am so happy i know have a top 10 fpr 2023 nevertheless. Everyone go and try this! *Hugging and screaming excited* (Had to do some modifactions to the text posts because it cuts those, but worked nevertheless). I love how much WGA content there is on it!

#tumblrtop10 #tumblr #tumblr year in review #personal #tumblr 2023

[eriadu-in-the-wildwood]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks so much for the tag, @walker-lister !

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

31 (how??)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

449,431 (again, how??)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Doctor Who, a small dip into Critical Role (maybe soon some Baldur's Gate? :D)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Star by Star 2. Song of Kalaya 3. A frozen moment 4. Calming the waves (the lone Critical Role fic makes the top five, all right!) 5. Taking it slow

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Sometimes it takes longer than other times, but I do respond to all of them!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'd say When it all comes crashing down. Regeneration fic, what else can I say?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

A Dark & Verdant Door, maybe? Closest I've gotten to basically marrying Yaz and the Doctor, plus the possibility of a magical eternity in the forest together!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope, or at least not to my face!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Is the sky blue?? Yes, haha, and as for what kind I guess I'll say all sorts, but often with an emphasis on telepathy and how that could play a part in the proceedings.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No BUT there's an thing sitting in my ideas document that's basically a fusion of thasmin and One Last Stop that I'd love to write, but I'd probably have to reread the book and take a bunch of notes, and so in the idea document it stays.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah! to know how it ends and still begin to sing it again (as if it might turn out this time), co-written with @timetravelbypen

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Thasmin, of course!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

None that are partially published, but I have many, many WIPs sitting around that I probably won't get to! I'd say the closest to being abandoned is the third in the Echoes of War series, but I keep thinking about it because it's ridiculous that it's sitting there finished and just needs editing. But it's been in that state for a year, so I guess maybe it's time to let it go?

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uhhh always a tough question in these things! I think I come up with interesting ideas and twists on tropes!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I ALWAYS struggle with feeling like I've made my plot into a weird soupy mess that doesn't entirely make sense, so I am constantly working on that aspect of my writing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I don't think I'd go there because I wouldn't want to get it wrong!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Oh geez I guess it would be Xena, back in the yahoo! groups mailing list days when a bunch of us would write stories about our Amazon OCs!

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Well I hate to keep going on about An old police box, a tattered coat, and the constable who called herself the Doctor, but it really is my favorite. I also quite like Never Alone, because writing from the pov of a sentient painting was just too much fun.

I'll tag @timetravelbypen , @how-to-sit-gay , @timeandspacenovelist and @doctorinblue , if ya'll want to play along, as well as anyone else who wants to share!

#tag game #my fic #doctor who #thasmin