#its very very very sweet i love it a lot... i had the imagery of this scene in particular stuck in my mind for an entire week

[lacecap]

i saw you once in a dream

#EEP #orv #kim dokja #han sooyoung #omniscient readers viewpoint #oldest dream #orv spoilers #ehh kiiindaa i guess #fishbowl #this is a scene from the fic linked above i am so so so dearly in love with it. very special fic about oldest dream #meeting the hsy of his worldline #hsy #kdj #can be doksoo if you want it to be. theyre soooooo (falls onto the ground #i will ramble a little bit more about this fic i think its so funny seeing hsy as an annoying little weirdgirl shes so real to me #its very very very sweet i love it a lot... i had the imagery of this scene in particular stuck in my mind for an entire week #before finally churning this out #my last note: i was listening to a scenery by sea-no the entire time while painting this #and i highly recommend listening to it if you'd like a feel for the atmosphere i was going for #also its just such a lovely instrumental ep in general

[sashi-ya]

東京 NIGHTS mini event

𝑰'𝑳𝑳 𝑩𝑬 𝑾𝑨𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 𓂃 ࣪˖ okkotsu yuuta x fem! reader

⤹˚ synopsis. some years have passed since the incident; he moved overseas, you stayed... however, you never forgot, and you always waited

requested by: Anon ➡ hi sash, I saw you love Yuta so can I ask for our sweet boy with a fem! reader and the prompt "meet me at Hachiko statue in 3 yeas"? thank you! tw: sfw. sweet, romantic. fluffy. based on Hachiko's and his story. there might be a second part of this story, with 18+ cont. You can tell me if you want me to post it ~ wc: 1.4k masterlist

“Meet me three years from now at the Hachiko Statue” “Shibuya? Again?”

Three years have passed, the incident left your hearts barely hanging from the tiny strings of an undeveloped love.

Waiting, day after day. Night after night.

A light rain plays a soft melody against the transparent surface of your umbrella. Your lips tremble, even if you fight for your façade to look as serious as possible. The doors of the subway station feel like the holy tori of a sanctuary; after all that happened some years ago, looking at the “to Shibuya” signs still makes you dizzy.

You watch youngsters coming back from school, other enjoying themselves as they probably get ready to visit karaoke bars tonight. And you remember that you used to be exactly the same as them… even if from the corner of your eye, creatures of many different types appeared to make you late.

This time, however, there was no creature. No curse. No ghost. But only the feeling of what once happened there. How many of you have lost much more than what you could remember…

You check your phone; no message from Okkotsu still. Will he be there? At least, is he in Tokyo at all?

You swallow and swipe the card on the ticket gate; the “beep” allows you to keep walking, but the sound of your heart beating fast covers it all. Soon enough, the subway train arrives perfectly in time, and letting other people go in first, you find a seat waiting just for you.

Once again, you check your phone. Nothing.

“He is not coming, why am I doing this? he probably forgot about me and this, and I can’t blame him…”

Sweaty palms make your phone get steam marks on its screen, but you don’t mind. Your leg bounces softly, the music in your earphones have absolutely no importance to you right now.

You close your eyes, wondering how he looks like now. Does he still have those dark beautiful circles under his eyes? The little reddish hint that always made him look as he had just stopped crying? The blackest messy hair, or maybe his narrow frame… “I just hope you haven’t forget about me, even if you don’t come”  

It takes very little for the subway to finally reach Shibuya station. Or maybe it was just you lost in time, that you didn’t notice.

As you walk up the stairs of infinite steps, you begin to feel the soft breeze of the busiest crosswalk in the world. It cools off your cheeks, already burning because Yuuta has always been your secret crush.

The rain has stopped, and there are just some pools on the ground reflecting the neon lights of the newly reconstructed Shibuya… this place used to look a lot different a few years ago.

The beat of the traffic lights sounds synchronize with your heart beating; the laughter of young people, the imagery of couples joining after work, the memories of painful and bloody happenings… everything surrounds you, turning your quivering legs a lot more weak than before.

You check your phone one last time before crossing; you need to get to the statue of Hachiko. That was your meeting point. Such a curious choice you had; Hachiko waited for his owner at the station until he died, because he knew one day he would come back…

As you cross, your eyes scan for the place. Looking at the faces of every man you could find, your disappointment grows bigger and bigger. None of them are him; none of them will be either.

You decide to wait for 10 minutes. Nothing more. Nothing less.

A few tourists stop you once you get to the statue, distracting you. They need to know their way to a certain restaurant, so you take your time to help them. But when they are finally gone, you are back to your loneliness.

“I’m going to check my phone one last time…” you think; unblocking your device. Nothing; again. “Yes, you are not coming… I hope you are fine, Yuuta” you whisper, low enough just for you to hear it.

With your head lowered, defeated, you begin to walk away. The rain has started to fall again, but you don’t even care to open your umbrella. It’s ok if your hair gets wet. It’s ok if your make up fades.

You wait at the traffic light to turn to green, you only want to hop on the station of your nightmares to go back home. Once and for all.

As the mass begins to move, and you put a foot on the street, something catches your attention.

A big bouquet of purple flowers covers the face of a tall man asking to forgive him while he opens his way through the crowd.

“Ah… lucky girl. Late but at least with such a big bouquet…” you smile, with your eyes turning a little shiny from incipient tears.

“(Name)!!” he screams, the moment that flower man reaches you. He bumps into you with the flowers, and he has yelled your name. You blink repeatedly, only looking at the hand holding the bouquet. A silver ring shines on his hand, and it makes you shiver…

There, right in the middle of Shibuya cross, under now a pouring rain, the shy face of a man sprouts from in between beautiful purple flowers.

“(Name)! My flight was delayed, but I wanted to buy you this before I came. I’m sorry, I am so happy you didn’t leave” he chimes, with a soft smile that hasn’t changed. He is a man now, stronger, taller, mature… but Yuuta is still the softest little boy you once met at the academy.

Your lower lip shakes like a leaf, and the tears start going down your cheeks. Maybe the rest won’t notice because of the rain, but Yuuta does. You can’t speak, no words come out of your mouth.

Violently crying now, you let yourself fall into his arms. The bouquet hangs from his hand to the side, while you nuzzle on the crook of his neck.

“(Name), don’t cry! I am here! are you ok?!!” he desperately asks, hugging you hard against his chest.

You sniffle and nod, inhaling his sweet perfume. Another thing that hasn’t changed a bit; his skin scent has always been the same. Even if the times you were able to enjoy it were barely twice, you can’t forget it.

“I… I thought you had forgotten” you murmur, as both walk hugging back to the sidewalk.

“Wh-what? I’ve been counting the days to see you again” he whispers, with his lips resting on the crown of your head. “How could I forget? I missed you so much”

You look up searching for his eyes, a sweet beam garnishes your face. He still has those dark circles; he still has that enchanting pouty lips. “You haven’t changed a bit, Yuta…” you whisper, allowing the warmth of his embrace to protect you from anything around.

He giggles, that pure laughter that makes you melt. “And here I thought I was getting older… you did, however, change (Name)…” he says, kissing your forehead after.

You gasp, the old Yuuta would have had a stroke before even kissing you. Or at least his cheeks would have become as red as tomatoes – to say the least.

“You look even more beautiful than before” he finishes, leaving you absolutely breathless.

You swiftly look around him; you don’t want to get killed by Rika. Once you positively check you are safe, you stretch your neck to reach for his lips.

Your mouth lingers closer to his, so close they can even touch but not quite yet. The warmth of his breath caressing your lips, yours doing the same thing to his. Maybe you just wait for him to kiss you, or maybe both want to enjoy the little previous moments of something that you’ve been waiting even before than you two met for the very first time.

“Can I kiss you?” he asks, taking his hand to your cheek. The soft caress, the cold touch of the ring grazing your skin… please do…

You nod, pouting just enough to meet his crashing lips. Both closed your eyes just when your eyes could see into each other’s, just when it was time to feel rather than see…

Your first kiss, and then another, and another. And the tourists taking pictures, because what’s more beautiful than a couple joining after years right by the statue of Hachiko who waited only moved by pure love?  💖

#yuta okkotsu x reader #yuta x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen #yuta okkotsu #yuuta okkotsu #yuuta okkotsu x reader #yuuta okkotsu x you #jjk

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

Image ID: Two glitter texts, reading as "NIGHTMARE FACTORY – DEVLOG 0". End image ID.

Hi, I'm Garça Visconde Mirigis, and I'm VERY happy to announce that this post you're reading is the first devlog ever for my nightmare game, a 3D platformer parody of mascot horror genre! And yes, nightmare, not dream game, because making my actual dream game is way out of my current abilities at the moment!

Ever thought to yourself how different a horror game would be if our protagonist decided to help the monsters instead of... [reading a list off-screen] killing, imprisioning, sacrificing, exorcizing or even banning them to other dimensions? Because I have, for ungodly amounts of time, and after literally years I decided that the time to actually make this thing has come. Welcome to the NIGHTMARE FACTORY!

OKAY BUT WHAT IS THE SYNOPSIS?

As previously mentioned, NIGHTMARE FACTORY is a parody of mascot horror games, set in an abandoned toy factory that also used to host a theme park. You play as Vera Torres, a 57 year-old mechanic who used to work in there. One day, our dear Vera receives a call from an old coworker: The higher-ups are going to sell the factory and the theme park, but they need a good inspection, and no one is accepting the offer! Feeling a bit nostalgic and wanting to help her friend, Vera decided to help take a look inside...

... Only to discover the place is now filled with strange monsters whose leader has, somehow, decided that she's actually his mother?! But she only had one kid ever in her life...?

Yeah, Vera is CONFUSED, and it's now your duty as the player to help her figure out just what the heck is going on!

... AND WHAT THE HECK IS THE GAME ACTUALLY ABOUT?

The game is a lighthearted and pink look at mascot horror as a whole, featuring little references to other games and lots and lots of silly jokes. It is also a long love letter for the genre, because as much as I like poking fun at FNaF, it did change my life for the better and it will forever have a soft spot in my heart. I love the franchise despite it all, and making a whole game just to poke fun at it and other similar games feels stupid. No one can create a good parody if they don't love the thing they're parodying even a tiny little bit.

NIGHTMARE FACTORY is not an "aha look at how stupid this is" look at mascot horror. I want it to be as sincere as possible, and the end product needs to be honest and not ironic in the slightest in order for it to be a success.

HOWEEEVEEEER. Despite the silliness, NIGHTMARE FACTORY can and will feature grapphic imagery and disturbing content due to its nature as a horror title. Trigger and content warnings have not been currently set, but shall be added as development continues.

WHAT ARE THE ~ INSPIRATIONS ~ ?

HEHEHE. HAHAHHAA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. MY FAVORITE PART!

The gameplay is inspired by the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy, Pac-Man World 1-2 and Rayman 2! These are my favorite platformers ever and I played them for hours as a kid, and since NIGHTMARE FACTORY is all about toys and childhood I figured it would be the perfect fit!

For themes and story, NIGHTMARE FACTORY is inspired by Five Nights at Freddy's, Bendy and the Ink Machine/Bendy and the Dark Revival, Tattletail, Poppy Playtime, Silent Hill 1-4, Welcome Home, My Friendly Neighborhood and the Lacey series on YouTube! Some of the themes include loss of childhood, the horrors of motherhood and girlhood, corporate corruption, trauma recovery, grief and rage.

For visuals, however? Alice: Madness Returns, Hello Kitty Roller Rescue, Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Game, Disney Princess' Enchanted Journey and old dress-up flash games are my references!

THE SETTING

The game is set in 2020s São Paulo, Brazil, AKA where I live, and it can and will feature elements of brazilian culture. The final version should have both english and brazilian-portuguese translations, with cultural notes being featured to help non-brazilians understand some jokes and themes better.

CURRENT SITUATION

NIGHTMARE FACTORY is currently sitting at "the single gamedev is desperate to start programming but he's busy with uni work" stage of production, but do not worry, the single gamedev is also working on the story, how level progression shall go, how the game should feel to play, and, of course, planning the mechanics, AKA the most important part of a fun game. I'll make an entire devlog detailing every single main mechanic as soon as I'm able to finally start fully working on this!

NIGHTMARE FACTORY is being made with Godot, Blender and Krita, and it will be released first for PC.

NOW A LOOK AT HOW THE SINGLE GAMEDEV IS ALREADY ANXIOUS ABOUT MAKING THE GAME

It wouldn't be a project I made without me losing my mind about it from day 0!

Nightmare Factory is a 3D platformer game, with around ~30 levels planned, divided into 5 acts/chapters/arcs/sessions. You can think as these sets of levels as Crash Bandicoot's Warped level selection, like this!

After answering some asks relating to mascot horror as a genre, I remembered a conversation I had with my amazing partner some weeks ago about how I want to release NIGHTMARE FACTORY. YES, I didn't even start programming it, but this is the type of thing I need to settle on before I build a good chunk of the game. It will be important!

But then. There's the problem: I don't like it when games are "released" but you have to pay more to get all of them. Yeah, each chapter would be super cheap so they would have a full game price when combined, but also. Do I want to do this. Do I genuinely want to do this. Like? Am I sure this is the right way to do it?????

Image ID: Screenshot of Crash Warped for the PS1, with Crash standing in front of a warp room with 5 blue buttons on the floor, each marked with a number from 1 to 5. The 6th button has the face of Tiny Tiger, signaling it to be the entrance to a boss fight level. End image id.

My first plan was to release each act separately so I could both get feedback and also have more fun, because by getting feedback I would be way less worried about messing things up + I could update things like character physics to be less wonky or more stiff in case it was a common complaint, which could change the entire level design. And also because I'm a clown and I want to make a mascot horror parody, and releasing it in chapters aligns perfectly with how I want this to go.

Anyways, this has now lead to me deciding that the game should be a "pay for it once" type of thing. I'll still release it in chapters, but the updates will be for free. Will I regret this decision because liking it or not I need money + I am an indie dev + there's nothing wrong with game devs expecting to be, y'know, PAID for their work? Absolutely so!!!!! But I think that, for now, this will be how I develop this silly game.

Anyways, this is getting long enough, so I'll finish it for now. Character introductions will be made after the gameplay-focused devlog, so see you guys soon enough! Byeeee <3

#devlog #gamedev #indie games #mascot horror #platformer #3d platformer #NIGHTMARE FACTORY #garcas devlogs #☀️

[acourtofthought]

Hello!! Don’t know if you already have a post about this but I was thinking about it and wanted to know your opinion (its always so factual and clear I enjoy it thoroughly)

Okay so I think Elain and Lucien are not Light & Light, I may be mistaken but some people seem to think thats the reason why they would be boring or something. I do believe out of the many Elucien symbolisms (Fox and fawn, sun and flowers) I don’t see Elain as the “light” itself (dont know if there is more canon associating her as light aside from Feyre’s painting idea of Azriel and her).

I feel like SJM spent more time making Elain seek the sun and light than her being that. I do like that her color scheme during ACOSF has been amethyst and lavender, a color maybe associated with the sunset, and obviously flowers.

All this to say that’s one of the reasons why I’m not convinced with the Light and shadow aesthetic E/riels want to assign her to. I don’t think Elain would be light with Azriel, (as he described the necklace needing light to shine I do think that was probably a symbol of her maybe?) I do think the light and shadow aesthetic is a lot more prominent in gwynriel when Gwyn is continually associated with colors, and glowing etc.

Let me know what you think! I believe this is so interesting.

You keep making me smile!! Thank you for your very sweet opening paragraph.

It's so odd that people would consider a Light / Light aesthetic boring when Feyre / Rhys and Cassian / Nesta are of a similar aesthetic. Feyre might glow because of Helion's light but she herself claims she couldn't be with someone like Tarquin because of the darkness in her. Just as Rhys has a matching darkness.

Cassian and Nesta share the Lord of Bloodshed / Lady of Death warrior aesthetic, also dark and dark like Feysand.

Aelin and Rowan are the Assassin turned Queen and Warrior Prince.

In comparison, Chaol and Yrene had a bit of a light and light thing going on. Yrene had the light of a healer and Chaol had the whole Captain America good boy vibe, the "I'm trying to do right for my kingdom by fulfilling my soldiers duty", while being bothered by how dark Aelin could be at times because her work fell outside that of the typical combat. Yes he made mistakes and had prejudices against magic that he needed to overcome but there are very obvious personality differences between Aelin and Yrene and and he and Rowan.

SJM's aesthetics aren't an opposites kind of thing. Yes, she loves the imagery of "light" and dark like Stars in the Night Sky but those two things are still complimentary to one another. Her imagery lends itself to things like moonlight and shadows (Gwynriel cough cough), warrior who has walked alongside death and Nesta as death, his blade, NOT the blooming life and light of Spring (Elain) with the darkness and shadows and death of the NC (Az).

As far as Elain there are mentions of her having a light aesthetic as well as that of optimism and hope.

She had always been so full of light Elain had always been gentle and sweet - and I had considered it a different sort of strength. A better strength. To look at the hardness of the world and choose, over and over, to be kind. "She had looked at that cottage with hope. I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger." Her sister turned toward her, glowing with health (wearing a lilac gown) She glowed with good health (wearing amethyst). Her sisters delicate scent of jasmine and honey lingered / like a promise of spring / a sparkling river. "the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark." "Instead I spent most of my time with Elain in her little garden. / She had come alive here and her joy was infectious." (Elain in nature)

Elain is full of light, kind, full of hope, glowing when in certain situations. I think the reason we haven't seen much light from Elain is because of where she's at and how where she's at often absorbs that light from her.

Something E/riels fail to acknowledge, that the things associated with the Night Court take away from Elain's light.

"Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection….that knife." "Elain in black was ridiculous." "The color of her long-sleeved modest gown leeched the brightness from her face." "But wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court….it sucked the life from her." Her gaze shifted to the carved wooden rose she'd placed upon the mantel, half-hidden in shadows. "the brutal, beautiful armor so at odds with the lovely garden. And my sister sitting within it."

Elain retains some of her light no matter what but it's still subdued. Yes she's found some joy in the Night Court but that is because that's who she is, something Nesta confirms "had ALWAYS come easy to Elain. Had always made Elain special."

And we can tell that light is diminished because of the constant mentions of Elain choosing, while in the Night Court, to remain by the sunniest of windows, to her commenting how she needs sunshine, how darkness is not something she prefers.

"The suite was filled with sunlight. Every curtain shoved back as far as it could go, to let in as much sun as possible. As if any bit of darkness was abhorrent. As if to chase it away. And seated in a small chair before the sunniest of the windows, her back to us, was Elain."

"Still staring at the window, but she was out of her room."

"Sunlight on gold caught her eye - and Elain slowly turned from her vigil at the window."

"Elain stood at the wall of windows."

"Elain politely refused, taking up a spot in one of the wooden chairs set in the bay of windows. Also typical."

"What can I get you, Elain?" But Elain shook her head once more. "Sunshine."

To me it seems apparent that Elain is trying her best to hold on to her light and optimism but she clearly needs more. She loves her sisters and she's doing her best to fit in at the Night Court but she's not really coming into her own in a way where she stands out and shines from the others. In the Night Court, she's always in the background, always waiting by the windows and staring at the sun, being drawn to the sun.

Lucien literally has Sunshine within him. I don't think SJM is telling us Elain has to be with him because of his power but there is something in the fact that his power is that of the sun and Feyre notes that the gates to Elain's mind are covered in flowers or would be if it were not for the fact that the blossoms were all sealed, sleeping buds. It all lends itself to the imagery that she will come alive when with her mate. And it's not really about his power so much as the court the power is associated with, Day Court (or even Spring with his connections there). And how those in Day Court and Spring aren't mentioned as having the same darkness as those that exist in the Night Court. Something SJM tells us with her writing of Lucien's characters.

If you think of it, Lucien has been through JUST as much as Az, had just as traumatic a childhood. Lucien is still taking hit after hit while Az has the love of his brothers and even Feyre, Mor, etc. Yet Az did become the embodiment of darkness and cold, revenge and anger. Lucien, despite what he's gone through has maintained an affectionate, apologetic, non confrontational nature. He doesn't lash out or seek revenge, he maintains his composure and prefers not to battle to solve problems.

It's not only about Lucien's powers though that enhances the imagery associated with what Elain needs. It's that Lucien, while having the light of the sun in his veins, actually embodies that lightness. He is about life and peace (though he'll fight when necessary), not violence and revenge.

He is warm and loving (comforting Feyre in her sadness, covering both she and Elain with cloaks to prevent them from being cold), shows emotion on his face (like the devastation over Elain's hollowness). He vomited over the faerie losing his wings and Elain vomited over the Cauldron decimating the Illyrian forces. He and Elain are both very expressive in how they care for others, how they respond to unnecessary violence.

I'm not sure how two characters understanding one another fully and being able to live their lives in a way that doesn't upset the other, that doesn't bring the other discomfort could ever be considered boring. It's much better than Elain's light and penchant for life slowly being drained away by someone who lives in the shadows and embodies death or on the flip, Az contantly feeling guilty for who he is because he knows those things bother her.

#anti e/riel #elucien #pro elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Kazui T1 Cover - Yowamushi Montblanc

How many of these until you're all tired of it? Well, we still have twelve to go after this one, so. Today's cover analysis focuses on Kazui's Yowamushi Montblanc! Very pretty souding song!

I can't bring myself to hope for it to be true As I'm still not strong enough In our contract meeting Once again I will fall into you Each and every of my pondering Translates into only so many words I loved you, but it's become too ponderous Is that all there is to it?

(Translation)

The singer of this song has romantic feelings towards another person, but they struggle to confess to them. They don't think they're strong or brave enough to do it, so they 'can't bring themselves to hope.' Every time they meet, the singer falls in love all over again, but their thoughts (ponderings) aren't fully expressed (only so many words), so their love becomes too heavy to bear (ponderous = heavy). In particular, they're afraid of the other person's reaction to those feelings, imagining that they will react with disdain.

"You should just die this very moment"

Thus, Yowamushi Montblanc is about a person who is too afraid to reveal their own feelings, with 'yowamushi' meaning 'coward.'

...

Yep! That's Kazui! Alright, end post everyone, take care!

...

Okay fine I'll talk about it a bit more.

[Cat] All those things I wanna do that I can’t say out loud I gotta keep it inside and act The beating of this heart… see… it’s no longer about good and bad… it isn’t I realize the futility, but I still can’t help but dream

Yeah, honestly, if you had told me Yowamushi Montblanc was Kazui's Trial 3 song I would not have batted an eye. The theme of being too afraid to reveal his own feelings is extremely prevalent in Kazui's story, regardless of what those feelings exactly are.

(gay gay homosexual gay)

Hell, the guy even straight up calls himself a coward in half.

[half] So many things I wish I hadn't known, I'm just a coward

In the song, the singer hides their feelings until they start drifting away from their love interest.

Who was it that I loved? I can't remember despite all that time I spent Now it's just fading away, out of my sight Although I'm sure it's still somewhere right here I can just forget about it it will disappear my own reflection [...] Yes, you are in my thoughts hanging in the air but you are slowly fading away, completely And I can no longer tell you anything

This vaguely fits the lyrics of half, which commonly reference drifting away due to indecision and fear. Who Kazui is talking to in half is honestly a pretty good question, but for our purposes, it works particularly well if we assume he's singing to the bartender.

[half] Only if your heart would change but that’s not possible Please tell me what I should do, my heart will float away and disappear

Finally, the titular Montblanc is referenced in this lyric:

It's fine for it to be true since I can't go back Or I will get scared again This mont blanc is so sweet I want to drown in its sweetness with my bare feet

The 'sweetness' likely refers to the idea of a relationship with the love interest, since the video has a lot of sweets as imagery of the singer's desires. And the snow of the mont blanc would be the sugar.

So 'scaling up the sweet montblanc with bare feet' would be revealing their feelings to enter a relationship and thereby taking in the sweetness unfiltered. The imagery of scaling a mountain makes it clear it would be demanding, but since the singer enjoys touching the snow with bare feet (touching the 'sweetness'), they would enjoy the process of putting effort into the relationship. Does that make sense? Again, it's not too hard to relate this to Kazui wanting to reveal his true feelings as well.

However, there's a bit more symbolism if you want to go into 'is this even intentional' territory, which I do. The mountain known as Montblanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and in all of western Europe, which again shows how demanding it would be to enter the relationship. However, the most common route up the mountain, the Goûter Route, is "simple and requires few technical abilities, but [...] it is also physically demanding, and may be totally exhausting to those with limited athletic ability." It's ranked PD, which I'm sure we're all aware is the second lowest difficulty for climbing mountains; not effortless, but very doable. Therefore, it is something most people can do without much difficulty, though naturally some people will struggle more due to physical limitations.

This makes sense in the context of the song, where scaling the mountain means engaging in a relationship. Society says being in a relationship is something most people should be able to do without much difficulty, but the protagonist does struggle with. There are several societal issues that converge in that point, but that's the main idea; the singer might feel insecure that they can't fulfill societal expectations.

...

Yep! That's him!

(T1) Q3: If you were allowed to do anything, what would you want to do? K: I'd like to live righteously.

(T1) Q4: Do you think that your family is proud of you? K: No. They must find me embarrassing.

Plus other stuff like this. Again, doubt I have to explain much further, Kazui's struggles to conform to expectations is another of his main character themes. One he shares with his prisoner pair partner, 08, who shall not be named lest I accidentally derail the entire post talking about her.

Anyways, that was that for Yowamushi Montblanc! Take care!

#milgram #kazui mukuhara #yowamushi montblanc cover #whole tag's burning talking about double #and here i am #vibing with my boy kazui

[heart2beom]

Hellooo I’ve said this as an anon before but I absolutely love your writing! Unrelated, but I was wondering if you have any Beomgyu fic recommendations? I read everything I could in the long post containing fic recs on your previous 4beomy account and I loved every single one of them, but now I can’t find anything left so I’m just rereading my faves LOL Thank you! (And also, thank you for writing! Again, your fics make me so happy)

You’re sooo sweet, thank you for complimenting me not once but TWICE 😭😭?? In terms of recs, I honestly have no idea if I’ve read anything much lately so I had to quickly cruise through my likes both on here and my old blog 😭

I present to you the list of beomgyu fics I’ve decently enjoyed (hopefully no repeats from my other list):

-> Message in a Bottle by @delacyrose224

very cute stuff, best friends to lovers...everyone knows at this point, but i'll forever express my love for this basic ass trope (i literally have a full list of books for b2l. the best romance books come from this trope!!!). one thing i loved about this fic is the portrayal of beomgyu-- just a genuinely good guy. the way he was discreet about his jealousy instead of making a whole deal about it, like fuck i love a mature, healthy dynamic, its so freaking cute

-> Night In by @tqmies

a dark fic, but its so good. i especially liked the fantasy element/twist on a common trope. everything about this is well written but the ending will give you some heebie jeebies (cant believe i just used that) its some fucked up shit 😭 um but b2l beomgyu!! (shoot me in the head)

-> A Recipe for Love by @tinietaehyun

who doesnt love a good old b2l beomgyu roommate fluff!?!?! it's soooo freaking cute i swear i never giggled so much 😭 this writer in general is very good with words and imagery, it's incredibly vivid.

-> how could you not know? by @angelbythewindow

have you noticed the pattern? yeah, it's another b2l. i LOVED the use of flashbacks here and the cute usage of the childhood "beanpole" nickname like shut up do you want me to die? the emotions here were OVERPOWERING. i felt everything beomgyu felt, felt everything mc felt, it was just sosososososo well written.

-> Why We (Don't) Work by @cafeseoulmate

haha. definitely not another b2l!!! i never included this on my other blog's rec list (bcs i dont think it was out at the time) but it is my most recent reblog on 4beomy so i'm fairly sure you've seen it. but regardless, for anyone else who's looking for beomgyu fics, please please please READ THIS. i wouldn't say it's a plot sort of story, it builds off of a lot of flashbacks and whatnot, but that's what makes it so great. like you get a feel for their relationship, why both characters just wouldn't work out (hence the title) but then the more you read the more you're like...alright... YOU KNOW?? like fuck, i almost teared up by the end it was such a cute love confession. a must read for all the bamtoris.

-> slam dunk, lover boy by @qqtxt

just absolutely cute stuff. check out everything from this blog, just binge, you're guaranteed fluffy cuteness. nothing really happens between the two here, but its still really cute and ykw i wanted some change here, so this is a sprinkle of e2l beomgyu

-> Stood Up by @imaginidol

okay, it's angst, i'll be straight up. but idk it was an enjoyable read, even though a little sad at the end 😭

-> Moonflower by @sleeping-sirens

really sweet short stuff, i love beomgyu i swear

-> somniferous confessions by @gyu-xiao

i don't usually read bulleted fics (this is the only one i've read actually 😭) but this is worth the read. i genuinely squealed a few times, giggled like tons, it was so adorable i loved it.

-> be my date by @blossom-hwa

honestly a little bit of a blur, i read this ages ago, but it's good because blossom hwa wrote it like trust me.

-> i know i love you by @universecorp

tried really hard to not include smut but this is definitely a little more plot driven than it is smut, it's sweet. a little angsty but i love it. smut at the end is definitely skippale, just concluding it as the fact that they made love is cute enough too 😭

-> check yes, juliet by @fairyofthestar

-> Yours Truly by @boba-beom

so so freaking cute. we're back with the b2ls but who cares, we all know it fits him so well!!!

-> old friend by @hueningshaped

a little bit of a spin on the fake dating trope and i love it. exes pretending to be lovers? hello? i'm so happy the ending wasn't hard hitting 😭

Fics I'm looking forward to read:

-> The Case by @tinietaehyun

not beomgyu centered but idk i love everything this person has written so far so i'm going to tackle this series. give it a read, i'm sure this'll give someone a good mindfuck since it is a detective series 😭

-> Ashen by @writingmochi

i think i might read this tonight actually, but yeah definitely check this one out. i can sniff out a great writer when i see one!!!!

-> Newsflash! by @ijhyo

teaser has me hooked, like everything about the secret identity...yeah, will wait on it.

-> This Love by @delacyrose224

ive always thought a beomgyu and taehyun love triangle would be a recipe for a perfect fic like… it just makes so much sense because theyre so different in personalities and that clash is just a perfect storm for a love triangle. so i will be reading 🙏 plus, it’s decently long! does it get any better?

Hopefully I got you covered for a couple of days anon 😭 I'll go back to reblogging recommended fics again once I get my shit together at uni, too many good writers out here 💔

#also howd you go through that fic rec list #90% of the links are broken 😭?!?!

[alpaca-clouds]

My favorite Ghibli film

Spirited Away was the first Studio Ghibli movie, I saw in cinema. Or rather, it was the first Studio Ghibli movie that was actually shown in a cinema when I was a kid. And really, I would love to watch this movie again in cinema, because it is just so hecking beautiful!

It still is my favorite Ghibli movie and it is by far the Studio Ghibli movie that I have seen most often. And it is fascinating how even now rewatching the movie still lets me see new stuff and realize new aspects of the story.

Miyazaki always has, politically speaking, been very based with his stories. Note, that we can have a long conversation on how he treats his workers concerning crunch, but that does not change his politics as displayed in those movies.

And Spirited Away is not different, there, with the entire bathhouse functioning as a metaphor for capitalist exploitation and the pressure of foreign interest.

It should be noted, too, that this movie in its core is a movie of that lost decade. For those who do not know: After the end of World War II, Japan experienced a massive economic boom that lasted them for decades. And then, in the early 1990s, there came the economic bust. A lot of people lost their jobs. A lot of companies had to close down. A lot of stuff that had been build for entertainment and the like closed down with not even enough money to tear it down.

As Chihiro and her parents come out through the tunnel, her father notes that this has to be "one of those old amusement parks", which refers to that exactly. (Please note: It is actually something that shows up in anime movies released since 2000 a lot. That there are old and abandoned amusement parks that just stand there and rot. Just from the top of my head movies that feature this include "Lu over the wall", "Suzume" and "Drifting Home".) I do assume that the mixture of "old amusement park" and the themes of the movie is tied to the Shinto idea that old abandoned things will usually becomed spirited.

Something I still struggle with interpretation-wise is the duality of Yubaba and Zeniba. Given they both are very heavily coded in Western (mostly Slavic) imagery, I do think they are somehow linked to the idea of foreign interest and their exploitation. But... Reading the movie like that... What is it about Zeniba, who is a positive force in the movie.

But... Even without those readings it should be said that the movie is just a wonderful movie about coming of age and all those sweet things. There are so many great scenes - and also the soundtrack just slaps so hard.

God, I love this movie.

#spirited away #sen to chihiro no kamikakushi #studio ghibli #ghibli #hayao miyazaki #anime #anime movie #nostalgia

[czortofbaldmountain]

what are your thoughts on being a luciferian/satanist while also using catholic aesthetics and imagery? I don’t want to be disrespectful to the Christian faith, but I’m just so in love with the symbols and rituals of Catholicism. I’m also obsessed with mother Mary and Jesus tbh, though I’m more drawn to the human, Jesus of Nazareth.

I'm an ex-Catholic and Polish, so Catholicism is part of both my upbringing and culture. To me, including and recontextualizing some Catholic practices and imagery, or subverting them, is an act of reclamation and defiance in face of of oppression. Because the Catholic Church is an incredibly oppressive institution and whenever it gets enough political power, it uses it to force its ideas on people (for example here in Poland it both supports and influences the decisions of the right-wing ruling party). Catholicism is a major factor in Polish queerphobia, it is also a religion that actively proselytizes and has itself adopted lots of elements from other religions in the process of christianization.

Mother Mary veneration in particular was shaped by syncretizations with various goddesses. She is not considered a goddess herself, though my Catholic mom says she "functionally" is lol. At the same time, she was a feminine figure people could connect with in Christian cultures throughout the ages (and though sweet, she actually was not just a delicate flower at all). In my experience, she is a really kind and welcoming entity, accepts me as I am and has never stopped acting loving and motherly towards me. Out of respect I do things for her separately from my demonic practice, and when I properly print my Rainbow Madonna picture, I will just put it on my ancestor altar which not only doesn't involve demons, but makes sense with my family and cultural heritage. She also often appears in Polish folk magic though, which makes me very happy as a witch, especially since my practice with her is mostly rooted in local Folk Catholicism (I have already worked with her as a witch, just had a break).

I have also recently approached Hildegard of Bingen, in the context of more religion-neutral ancestor veneration rather than Catholicism, we will see how that one goes.

I don't worship Christian God (Jesus included) for various reasons, so I won't be saying much here, though I know there are people taking more of a dual faith approach here.

@saint-stanthony you are a Luciferian who also practices folk Catholicism, would you share some thoughts if that's alright with you?

#czortposting #asks

[vostok3-ka]

Hi Aisha, hope you're having a nice start to your week! For the writer truth or dare ask game: 🦴🔪🌵(could be a character playlist or not)❄️(could also be something you wanna write yourself!) 🍄, and 🏜️. I'd add more because all of these are great but this is already one too many lol so feel free to pick and choose which ones you wanna answer, ofc<3

Hi Max!!! Thank you! It's Eid tomorrow so that's a pretty sick way to start the week ;) Thank you so much for the ask!!!

🦴- Boy howdy is there a piece of media that inspires my writing haha. I have quite a few that it's hard to put name to them all. Whenever I read a book or watch a movie/show I always feel like I take something away from them in order to incorporate into my own writing, but if I were to choose a few specific pieces of media that really inspire my writing, it would be Hannibal, what with the beautiful imagery and the way it is almost poetic in its brutality. I think the writers of the show did a really good job, and I just absolutely adore it. True Detective (season one) is also a piece of media that REALLY influences my writing. I adore the gothic vibes, and I love the way they make the characters human, realistic, with lots of flaws, instead of making them into heroes, and I am just in love with the very synesthetic feeling it gives, I myself am synesthetic and I think it really resonated with me in a way, and gave me a lot of inspiration as in how to describe scenes and emotions. Catch-22, both the book, film, and tv show, have all inspired my idea of Bucky in the war, and I have a few songs including Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths, О как хотела мама by Shortparis, Две недели by Aigel, and O, Children by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, that heavily inspire a lot of my Russian-era Bucky Barnes writing, as well as, for some funny reason, the TV show Бригада. I just feel like the show really shows both the human and terrible, gritty side to organized crime that I am CERTAIN Bucky was involved in, in some way, shape or form. Another film/book that has, heavily and directly, inspired my both my fanfiction writing and original writing is the 2008 film, "Morphine" and the inspiration behind it, the novella by Bulgakov, Morphine. My fic Noch' Ulista Fonar' Apteka was very non-subtly inspired by Morphine, so much! AAAND- I better stop here before I write a whole essay about how media has influenced my writing, because I could literally go on forever and ever!!!! ;)

🔪- I think the weirdest thing that I have had to research for a writing project was for my fic Noch' Ulitsa Fonar' Apteka. I had to, somehow, figure out how to write drug addiction from a first hand perspective, and, of course, I myself have not, and never will take any form of recreational drugs, so I had to scout through many pages of google before finding this legendary gem of a website that has been a lifesaver for me. The website looks like it was made in 2008 and I honestly was a little worried about clicking on it, but it turned out fine haha. It has a bunch of really detailed first hand experiences with all sorts of drugs you could imagine, including withdrawal, good trips, bad trips, and coming down. I think I spent a few hours just reading and absorbing everything to try to write Bucky's experience, and honestly, I came away from the research with an even stronger desire to never try drugs, as most of the reports highlighted how the spiral began. But yeah! That might be the weirdest thing I have researched, unless of course, if you count the time I had to research equine veterinary care in 1980s Russia lmao.

🌵- Gilded Soul This is my favourite playlist I've created, and it's so gentle and sweet and I listen to the songs on it so often. I adore it so much! All the songs have memories and feelings attached to them and ugh- my favourite. Hope you enjoy too ;)

❄️- Oh my God I know exactly what this fic is. I really, REALLY want a fic dealing with the aftermath of Hydra and Department X/The Red Room's brainwashing on Bucky in TFAWS era, but in a way where it doesn't become the point of the fic, and is just like a part of him in subtle, slightly noticeable, and not overwhelming way. I want to see him struggle and yet stay strong, stay independent. I want to see him have realistic feelings towards things like therapy and such, considering the time period he is from, and the fact that he's probably been abused in such settings before. I want to see him make bad, unhealthy decisions while still remaining himself. I want to see him smoke his anger away, I want his staring problem to be addressed subtly as a leftover from when he was trained to look straight ahead while in parade rest, I really want to see him have headaches, mild psychosis, and all the realistic after-effects of electro-shock therapy, and yet, I really do not want to see it in a way that makes him dependent, or child-like. I want to see him get up, grit his jaw and move on. It isn't the healthiest way for somebody to cope, but it's the way I am guessing Bucky would cope. I want a fic that has an overarching plot where these issues are a subplot, as not to make it ALL about his recovery, instead being interesting and realistic in the world that he would be living in. I feel like I have said realistic so many times, and that is the core of it all. I want it to be as realistic and true to comic/film character as possible. I might not make much sense but yeah! That's what I really want to read, and I don't know who would be the best writer to write it!

🍄- OOOH I like this one! A headcanon I have is that Bucky and Natasha dance a lot. They are both trained dancers, and they love it, and they just put on gentle, nostalgic Russian music and dance so prettily together when they are alone!

🏜️- Oh for sure the types of comments that point out what affected them personally. I really want to connect to people through my writing and whenever somebody comments that a certain bit made them feel in a specific way I just absolutely melt in joy and delight!!!

Thank you so much for the many questions again, this was SO much fun to answer. Hope you have the loveliest of days!!!

#vostok answers #ask game

[layingeggs]

Lost Kingdoms monsters that I like

Lately I've been playing a gamecube gem called Lost Kingdoms. It's kind of like if the Dark Souls crew got drunk and marathoned Cardcaptor Sakura and made a game about it.

Hang on, I can talk about this without mentioning Dark Souls.

It's kind of like if a bunch of Japanese young men obsessed with JR Tolkien growing up got drunk and marathoned Cardcaptor Sakura and made a game about it.

I want to talk about the monsters. Not necessarily the 'best' ones or even my personal favourite ones. Specifically the ones that made me unconsciously do my babytalk voice every time they appeared onscreen. Same as when you're out and about and see a cat you recognise.

This is banshee. Her card art shows her looking kind of like a nun in bondage? That's already very cool imagery, sex appeal aside. Sex appeal included just makes her better.

Look closely at her in game model, you can see she has a wispy tail like a ghost. But the affect of the tail becoming slightly transparent towards the end is not very visible.

When I tried showing my wife another of my favourite cards, a worm, she thought that that was this one. Without visible transparency, banshee does kind of look like a worm. Maybe she would have been a better monster as a worm! But ghost girl is good too.

And yeh, I took these pictures myself. There's probly better ones out there online, but I wanted to get the pictures of the actual cards I had collected, the friends I made on my journey with this game. They are my babies. They are my girls.

This is carbuncle. Maybe the first monster in this game who I really fell in love with. We're already off to a great start. Some kind of armadillo or pangolin with long floppy ears and forehead gemstone.

What you're not getting in pictures though is the noise. This creature makes a kind of sea animal singing noise? Like a gentle playful seagull. Very sweet.

I filled my deck with as many carbuncle as I could in the early game. Was useful back then. Sadly doesn't keep pace with the difficulty of later game levels, so I don't have as many decks with baby carbuncle in.

This is cockatrice. She's kind of, the first secret boss you can find in the game? Sort of? To me, I think she was the first notable challenge I really overcame. Also, some of the starting game monsters can be leveled up to evolve into her. So I feel like she's almost my starter monster if that makes sense?

Very cute. Very sweet. Though of course a pretty standard cockatrice. Turns you to stone. Very useful in early levels. Still useful in later levels.

Crystal rose. Pretty lady. Boobies.

She reminds me of the flower girl in Castlevania Symphony of the Night. One of the few characters in media to give me distant aching girl feelings from childhood all through to adulthood. I wish I was her.

Sweet baby rheebus. Kind of a useless card? My introduction to this card is that sea monk can be leveled up and evolve into rheebus. Lost Kingdoms plays some nasty tricks on you like this. Rheebus is very good, but also a weaker version of sea monk. Allowing sea monk to evolve into rheebus makes your deck worse.

A lot of evolutions are like this. Monsters can evolve into weaker monsters and totally waste all of the experience points you painfully collected. Honestly, I hate games that do this. But I choose to enjoy Lost Kingdoms for its other better qualities.

I've never ran rheebus in my deck. Weak and not very useful card. But I do love her all the same.

Any time I find a rheebus lying on the ground in levels, I pick her up and play her. I know she's weak, but it's a free rheebus. I want to give her the chance to come out and play outside.

She's like, what? A kitty cat with goat horns and covered in rich foilage? And she has a cyclops eye that looks very dorky in the ingame graphics.

I'm not sure how much of that is part of her body. Or if it's maybe obscuring her true body. Is that eyeball even hers, or is it the plant's eyeball?

Cute girl. Pretty girl. Beautiful lady. She's a bird. Birdy bird. Birdy girl lady.

Siren. I love her. She's great.

In the game, she stands perfectly still and damages anything that gets close to. No luring in and enchanting and eating alive like you'd expect from the namesake. She's more of an attack musician than a hungry hypnotic predator.

Maybe they could have played into that angle more. But I just enjoy that the artists created a cute or horny character design where the only human element is the head. Makes me feel like fromsoft and myself perhaps share some similar tastes.

This monster used to be my favourite until just last night. It's whip worm. The best monster in the game, bar none.

Lost Kingdoms is set up in such a way, that you have to be aware of a number of factors when building your deck and playing your cards.

-One issue is that each card has a limited number of attacks and missing even one attack is very costful for you.

-A second is that each card costs a resource called magic stones and starts eating your health if you run out of stones.

-A third is that you always have two objectives. Defeat the enemies, and explore the level to find more cards, which requires using up your precious attacks on destructible terrain.

Whip worm is the complete package. She melts enemy health even when she's fighting against type advantage. She costs so few stones you won't notice spending them. And, her attack involves her spinning around you and damaging everything that comes near. So you're not limited to just a few attacks, she just pours out constant damage everywhere you walk, destroying destructible terrain with little cost and meeting both main objectives at the same time.

The creature herself is a funny one. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at? She never comes out of that shell thingy so no idea if it's her body or a thing she found on the ground somewhere and made her house.

You can see in the card art she's got those big beefy arm muscles, but she doesn't punch or scratch or anything. In game, you can see she tucks herself in to that shell thingy. The only part that comes out is the tail.

Is she actually a worm? Who knows. I love her.

Oh, another little detail. Carbuncle is also a monster who spins around you and attacks everything close, and she can level up and evolve into whip worm! Since carbuncle is an early game monster, and she was my first favourite, I got this nightmarish game breaking brute quite early on!

This is tiger mage. And last night I learned something about her that shocked me utterly. I sincerely believe that this is the greatest monster I've ever seen in my life.

In the game, she's also another game breaker. You summon her, she waits to pounce enemies with somewhat decent damage, and she halves the stone cost of all cards.

As soon as she becomes available, you've gotta run tiger mage in your deck, surely? Some tough late game enemies will kill her easily but most enemies actually struggle with her, and she's amazing support for all other cards.

And the monster is cute, right? A little kitty cat tiger wearing a mage robe. That's so cute!

That's wrong. Look closer.

I somehow never noticed until playing the game last night when I happened to stand next to my kitty tiger mage and zoom the camera in while waiting for her to murder a goblin. Please take a look at these pictures.

The tiger isn't actually wearing that mage robe at all. There appears to be some sort of mage wearing that mage robe.

Except this also is wrong. The "mage" riding the tiger, hangs limply on the tiger's back most of the time, and only occasionally puppets up to cast a spell for attacks. She has no face. No hands. What exactly is this creature? Is this a creature?

Another disturbing element, and really the reason why I never saw the mage in the tiger mage before, is that the tiger herself is so animated. She growls. She leaps and pounces. She rears up for attack during the attack animation. I always assumed the fireball came from her mouth and the robe was just flailing around from the energy and movement.

At first glance, you have what looks like a wizard riding a tiger, but look closer and it's more like a tiger playing with a doll, right? As if the tiger is pretending that they are the animal companion or pet of a more powerful creature who's the actual monster?

To add to this, there's one more non-cat element. Those bat-like wings. I always figured they were the tiger's wings.

But if you look at my screenshots, you can clearly see the wings lift when the "mage" "stands up". Those are the "mage's" wings.

So this thing that appears limp and lifeless most of the time and has no hands and no face, does actually have at least some partial organic components?

What is tiger mage? Who is tiger mage? Which one is the tiger and which one is the mage? Is the tiger the mage?

I don't know if this is a reference to an established fairy tale creature or game monster or something that I'm not familiar with. Would love to know more if it was.

Finally is doppelganger. She might be my last favourite card. The last one who's capable of making me absent mindedly blurt out "It's doppelganger! :D" every time I see her.

All the other cards left for me to collect at this point are all big divine and deific. Have huge stone costs, often have effects that are very flashy but ultimately actually terrible in gameplay, and the monster design is just like an animal, a monster, looking kind of mean. Not girl. Not baby. And not my own personal aesthetic of mean either.

Doppelganger is very useful in gameplay, and she's a doppelganger, right? She can take any form she wants. But she takes your form! She's a cute girl! I love her. I also enjoy the weirdness of the player character finding a card that clearly has her on it. Carcaptor Sakura had one of these too, and she had a base form that the card art showed of what she looks like before she copies you.

I like doppelganger's card art. Thanks to the awkward use of colour, it looks distinctly like she is checking out her bum in the mirror to make sure she is getting the correct amount of undies rising up and skirt rising down.

But actually, that's not her bum. It's a magical artifact that this game calls the runestone. It's just an unfortunate choice of colour. Skin colour on a round surface and clothing colour on a strap like material. It's not her bum.

Though if it were her bum, then I would appreciate the irony(?) of a doppelganger copying your form and then checking herself out in a mirror. That's cute.

As you know, the legend of doppelgangers is that they are an omen of death. If you see someone who is your complete double, then it is a signal that soon you are going to die.

Lost Kingdoms represents this with doppelganger insta killing anything she touches. Including you. Let's have a see of what that looks like.

#Lost Kingdoms #Gamecube #Monsters #Creatures

[defensivelee]

Dear William— I'm not in love with you, I'm with another man now; that's Jesus Christ, whom you never found

This is the succubus AU oneshot. It is done. It took me way too long for it to be only 12k words but holy shit it's done. So enjoy the William whump! Here is the AO3 link for anybody who wants to read over there; once again, I would appreciate feedback there, but never be afraid of reblogging my stuff~

CW: accidental misgendering, religious imagery, Catholic guilt, domestic violence/abuse, lots and lots of stabbing, victim blaming, guilt tripping, mild gore, implied/referenced child abuse, nsfwhump, rape/non-con, very dubious consent.

Everyone knew the name of the best demon hunter of the day, the most devoted of God’s servants save for their bishop, the bishop that had baptized this very hunter. There was nothing remarkable about that; what was remarkable was how the people called for him to slay the demons that cursed them, their homes, their crops, and how he came every time, without fail banishing the demon and sending it back to its master the devil.

They called that boy Louis. He took up the business after his father, whom he had no time to learn from. No, he had to teach himself, when he would go outside at night and imagine that the demons were waiting for him in the trees. Some were not imagined, some came when he was very young to whisper that they saw danger lying dormant within him. They were kind to him, beckoning for him to enter their realm because they had something very nice waiting for him, indeed, come with us, little angel. But he saw right through their lies and turned away. That was when he learned to kill them instead.

Though he was young, he had already killed hundreds of these demons, though some were harder than others. He had a habit that annoyed many of the older men; he dragged his sword on the ground constantly, leaving a trail of holy water and sometimes blood behind him, and the sound scared even the wolves away. But it was a small price to pay for his neighbors, who relied on him and only him to vanquish the demons from their home.

Unbeknownst to the people, Louis fought demons of his own constantly. Pet demons like the ones he met when he was young. But these lived only in his head; he only let them out when he was sure no one was watching, and he took to fucking the bed and no one else until he was satisfied. As soon as he could, however, he confessed his sins and pleaded that he be absolved of them.

“How old are you?”

“Not very.”

He was then told that these demons would quiet down, fall asleep once he was married. He was young; he would find someone soon. “You must have faith,” Mazarin told him, “and remember that you are always being watched.”

But nobody knew, and nobody cared, for when they saw Louis dragging his sword along with him, or walking alongside his mother, or perhaps even peering down the ponds to catch sight of a carp, all they said was, “What a good boy, that Lo.”

So it happened that one very hot day he allowed himself to indulge in more sin, despite all the times he had promised to God that he would stop. It did not matter now; he was alone, so he lay back on his bed and stripped nearly completely so that he would not sweat into his clothes. This time, however, he was not as mobile, for it was only his hand moving over himself, and he buried his face into his pillow, sighing with a very sweet satisfaction he could obtain from nothing else.

When Lo was done, he was overcome with the usual guilt like any good Christian should have been. But he did not dwell on it, instead he dressed himself once more and stepped outside into the trees to cool himself in the gentle breeze. No one ever came this way, and he had chosen to live here for this very purpose— if any demons came to challenge him, no one else would be in harm’s way.

He lay down beside the stream and saw his face staring right back at him. He called himself disgusting, he called himself Satan’s plaything, and then he apologized that he was not stronger. A carp swam under his nose, which pulled his attention away from his sins. He gasped and followed its path down the stream; it was not a remarkable color, but they captured his attention nonetheless, ever since he’d been shown a very brightly-colored one by his mother a long time ago. He’d never found one like that since.

“Lead me to something better!” he called to it.

He followed it until night fell. The fish would turned back a few times, and he almost lost it. Once the moon’s light emerged, the fish doubled back sharply on his path, and Louis turned around with it. As he did so, his foot slipped on the mud beside the stream, and the boy nearly fell into the water.

With a grunt of frustration he stood, wincing with the first few steps. He tried to follow his fish again, but much to his disappointment he had lost it. So he went back home, and the disappointment soon turned to shame.

What Louis found in his room then was somehow not entirely unexpected. He opened the door to see a demon rather obscenely fucking itself on his bed, in a state approaching nudity much like Lo had been earlier. It had its nose buried in the spots where Louis had not cleaned off earlier, and its tail was raised high over its head as it dug its fingers with claws at the ends into its cunt, dripping wet over the blankets.

Louis flushed to witness such a thing, and his first thought was to leave the demon to what it needed before he killed it. His second thought was that he was somehow seeing himself earlier that day, as desperate and evil as this creature. It had to be killed immediately!

So he took the dagger like a demon horn from his belt and began to approach. The stupid thing had not noticed him yet, but as he took a step forward, well, who was the stupid one now? Its eyes opened up, and the demon looked back, shuffling with alarm off the bed and curling its tail close to cover itself.

“You have made a grave mistake,” Louis announced bravely. “You have entered the home of the most skilled demon hunter in this land.”

The demon did not seem phased, only narrowed its eyes with a hiss. “Forgive me, but I was starving. Not that it did anything, dry as it was, but I could have smelled your semen from hell with how much you have produced here.”

Louis blushed again. “Are you a succubus? Is that why you are here, to tempt me?” He dared to ask a bolder question. “Do you know what I have been doing on this bed?”

“Relax,” the succubus told him coolly, “I have no interest in tempting you nor telling anyone about this. It’s been a few weeks since I left hell, and nothing could make me return there. You will now allow me to leave and find a better meal; the few drops I swallowed were pitiful. I have been chaste the whole time I have walked this earth!” It lashed its tail as it tied the odd black cloth back around its hips, and Lo realized with much revulsion that it was the only thing that allowed it modesty. “And you would do well to learn to knock before you enter a room.”

“This is my home!” cried Louis. “And you will not leave this place.”

“Why not?” spat the demon.

“If I were to let you go, who knows what husbands you would seduce, good men that would otherwise scorn your advances if it were not for the temptation Satan has equipped you with!” said Louis. “You are a threat, and you must be returned to your master or die.”

“I do not bow to any devil save for myself,” the arrogant demon replied. “If I tempt any husband then I do it out of a need and desire to survive. Not because I would have liked to consume what I do.”

“I need not listen to the words of a whore,” Louis said. He stepped forward, backing the nervous demon into the wall. He went on, “Perhaps it is you who should knock before you enter, and if no one answers, then take it as an indication that you are not welcome.”

“Whore?” the demon repeated. “You are one to throw around that word.”

And Louis replied, “I can recognize my own kind.” He did not waste any time after that; he raised the dagger high, which the demon saw just in time to save its own skin as it darted to the side, hissing with its tail lashing. But its error was in its length; it waved before Lo’s face, and thus he was able to take hold of it. With a swift slash of his dagger, he cut off the sharp, pointy tip, as he knew from experience that they could make quick work of a man’s eyes if one did not neutralize it first.

The demon let out a furious scream, stumbling back onto the ground and clutching the bloody stump at the end. Louis shuddered and wondered if the shrieks would bring wary visitors. To avoid this he knew that he would have to kill the succubus quickly.

“Demon hunter—!” the demon snarled up at him, struggling to stand again with Lo advancing on it. “You will pay for this! You did it because you are scared of me!”

“Scared of you?” Louis asked, slamming the heel of his boot into the demon’s cheek to bring it down again. “I have no reason to be scared. I have killed many of your kind, and I will kill many more. It is you who should have been scared; that was your mistake.” He took a flask of holy water from his belt, one of the many he carried with him constantly, and he saw the demon’s eyes widen. “Ah, you are learning,” he said approvingly.

“I’ll go, then,” the demon said under Lo’s boot. “Just get off of me.”

“You do not deserve that mercy,” said Lo. He took his boot down, kneeling down beside the demon. At this the demon struck forward, its deadly jaws snapping like those of snakes. To this Louis only reacted with taking one of the demon’s horns and throwing his body, and as a result, the demon’s, to the floor beside them. He heard the demon’s head hit the ground hard, its body jolting with the shock.

“Evidently you would have not left me unharmed if I had let you go,” Louis said. He looked the demon in the eye as he drove the dagger into its thigh. He did not know why, but he had heard its screams when he sliced off its tail and wanted to hear them more. It pleased him, though with the logical side of his head he knew this was when he should have killed it.

Indeed, the demon let out another hoarse scream, and Lo opened the flask to pour the water on its wound. The blood where the dagger was buried hissed and turned black, as if it was burning, and the demon turned its head away, beginning to shudder violently. From the tears beginning in its eyes and the claws gripping the ground Louis could see that it was stifling another miserable sound.

“Cursed- cursed demon hunter,” he heard it mutter through its pants. “I will not let this- this be the way I die.”

And Louis told it to fight back, then, if it believed it was so brave. At this the demon turned around sharply to bite at him once more, and Louis this time took hold of its great nose, not very attractive on a succubus if you would have asked him. He squeezed it, stopping the air from flowing through, and the demon fell back, gasping rapidly through its mouth.

“If you want to keep your mouth open,” said noble Louis, “then you will drink what I command you to.” With this he poured the remaining water down the demon’s throat, much to its horror and agony, as it began to scream once more, thrashing wildly in Lo’s grasp. At last Lo did let him go, and the demon shuffled to the side, hitting its head on the bed and then running into the wall as it tried desperately to cough up the water that dripped slightly from his lips. The dagger remained in its thigh, and with its limp Lo thought it resembled a wounded, terrified animal.

I suppose that’s what it is, he thought. He sat back on the bed and waited for the demon to finally die, for the water to have its intended effect. It was too easy for him.

But much to his surprise, the demon did not soon keel over like he expected. Ultimately it managed to cough up all the water, and then it fell to the side, panting and reaching back to pull the knife from its thigh. But Louis could not let it have that, for it was a weapon, and even an injured demon with a weapon could be a danger, so he walked to the demon and brought his heel down on the back of its head. The demon merely flinched, so he did it again, harder this time, and that was what put an end to its fight.

Well, it shouldn’t have survived the water, Louis knew that, and any reflexes demons had to vomit were rendered useless in the face of a liquid touched by a priest. It was the easiest and cleanest way to kill a demon, and perhaps his favorite because he could see how painful it was for them. Sick, sick Louis!

So to see the demon had survived, even now with its chest rising and falling unsteadily, was nothing short of maddening for him. He dragged it along by its horn until the demon rested beside his bed, and then he sat down beside it, tugging the dagger free from its thigh. It came free not without protest, and he wrinkled his nose at the scent.

He tied a cloth around the demon’s tail and thigh to stop its bleeding; see, he could be kind. Here was another chance to kill the demon, and he should have, but there was another curiosity in him as if what he were staring at were another carp.

He lifted it easily in his arms and placed it down on his bed once he was sure it would not bleed onto his blankets, as indeed it had made enough of a mess as it was. He lifted himself over the creature, straddling it and leaning in to examine its face. It wasn’t as beautiful as he expected his first succubus to be, and it was rather offensive to him that the first one Satan had sent after him was this pale and hideous, though he found that the long eyelashes and graceful hands were more agreeable to his tastes.

He came to the conclusion that she was female. It was a comfort he was drawn to; for if it resembled a lady maybe then God could understand why he hesitated to kill this one.

When she next woke, she realized that her arms were tied behind her, and perhaps had been for a while, for the rope had started to burn, and her shoulders ached. But at the very least she was lying on a bed when she thought she should have been dead. She looked up and saw her captor staring down at her.

“Does it still hurt?” Louis asked, referring to her wounds.

“What do you think,” the demon retorted. “Why haven’t you killed me?”

Lo responded, “Maybe I am kinder than you first took me for.”

“Or maybe you just wanted me awake for it,” the demon said. “It’s my misfortune that I met a demon hunter again so soon after the last one.”

Louis huffed, his gaze drifting to the side. “How old are you?”

“Almost two hundred years now,” she replied. “I may not have seen much from my place in hell, but I know how you demon hunters work. You would never tell Him yourself, but God knows how you enjoy your job a little too much.”

“Oh, how could I not,” Louis cooed. “God loves to see you suffer, as well.”

“Not for long,” the demon said. “I came here to get baptized. Not as a Catholic, but as a Protestant.”

Lo stared. “Are you serious?” He couldn’t stop himself from laughing, laughing so hard that he fell back on the bed beside her. “A Protestant demon! Now I have heard everything. Do you think you’ll gain favor among humanity this way?”

“‘Tis true!” the demon cried. “I would give everything to be reborn as one of you. When I came here, I meant you no harm.” Her eyes darkened. “Well, I mean it now, because you have harmed me. But I would have never cared about you otherwise.”

Now that was the true offense to Louis; that Satan was not the one that had sent this demon, that no one had, that this creature was here by accident. He stopped laughing abruptly and sat up, glaring at her. “You did not come here to seduce me?” he asked.

“As a succubus I must follow all instinct,” the demon said. “But I hate it. I hate having to find a partner every timeI need to feed. I hate showing so much of my body constantly!” She let her head fall to the side with a sigh.

“I suppose it must be hard to find anyone willing to sleep with you,” Louis said.

“It is harder to find someone I like, but thank you,” the demon said, rolling her eyes. “What is your name? I want to send my hellhounds after you.”

“I will gladly tame them,” Louis said. “Tell them the man they’re looking for is Louis-Dieudonné Bourbon.”

“That’s quite a mouthful,” the demon said. “You can just call me William.”

“William?” Louis repeated. “That is a man’s name.”

“Yes,” William said with a bow of her head. “I am a man.”

“Oh,” Louis said, flustered. “But you...” Well, what was he going to say to that? The demon already defied most things with his existence. If he wanted to call himself a man, there was nothing Lo could say to convince him otherwise.

“What?” William raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing,” Louis said. He stood and walked to the window, peering out of it to make sure they were truly alone. William seemed to flinch at the moon’s light and turned away.

“When will you kill me?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Louis admitted. He looked at this demon with more curiosity now than outright hatred, though the disgust was still there, and with it, the beginnings of temptation.

“Then you will let me go?” William said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lo said, glancing back at him. “I will show you how a servant of the Lord treats his demonic guests. Maybe you can even earn my respect, or, more likely, I will earn yours.”

“Then they wonder why I hate Catholics,” William muttered under his breath.

It was no matter to Louis; for the first night of the demon’s stay, he untied William’s hands and instead tied the rope to the leather collar on his neck, right by the bed. He told the demon that he would have to stay put here, because if it stood at any moment then Louis would wake and just pull him back down. Then he threw a blanket over him and told him to sleep very well.

“On the ground?” William asked.

“Well, surely not on the bed!” gasped Louis. “I know what your game is; I will not play it.”

“The game of comfort, if that is what you mean,” replied William, but he did not say anything more. He turned resolutely to the side, chittering much like a bird as he examined the wound on his thigh. Lo could almost find it endearing if the face he was staring at was prettier.

The first night went well enough, though Louis kept waking up every hour or so, half-expecting to find William lying over him, with his claws either at Louis’ throat or in between his legs. But the demon slept soundly, excepting its rumbling, growling snores and the occasional shift of an injured leg.

In the morning, though, it was the demon that woke him up, batting at his face. “Dieudonné,” he said, nudging Louis’ head to the side. “Wake up, I told you yesterday that I’m starving and that has not changed.”

Louis opened his eyes and rubbed them, turning his head to glare at William. “And you think I will feed you?” he asked. “Do you not eat human food?”

“No, I need your semen,” William said bluntly, and Louis laughed without much humor, shifting his body away from him.

“Perhaps we should try human food first,” he said. “Every morning I go to eat with my mother. I cannot bring a demon with me, of course, so you will have to stay here, and I will bring something back for you.”

“You are leaving me alone?” asked William, his eyes widening. Lo recognized hope there, a plan forming.

“No,” Louis said hastily. “On second thought, I will bring you with me.”

So he dressed the demon up in his own clothes, which wasn’t so hard now that he realized that they were almost the same size; Louis was only taller because of the heels on his boots. The small black horns made the hat on William’s head hang rather awkwardly, but Louis hoped the feather was enough to hide it. What was more noticeable was the tail, so he tied it in a very pretty bow and hid it beneath the overcoat, nevermind William’s yelps and kicks as he did so.

He limped all the way there, but no one did see that, even when he stumbled right into Lo’s path and made very unattractive faces with every step. “I wish you had not tied my tail,” he said, but Louis said it was necessary to hide it, and only slipped his hand under the overcoat to tug playfully at it. William met this with a hiss.

His mother was very suspicious of this new visitor, considering that Louis had never brought her anyone else before other than his brother. Lo introduced the demon as William, a new friend of his who was going to help him with the demon hunting.

“William, say hello,” Louis instructed.

William merely lifted his head at her, then ducked behind Louis, growling under his breath.

“Does he not speak?” Anne asked. “What are you wearing, sir? I swear I have seen it on Lo before.”

“I swear you haven’t,” Louis said tensely. “Nevermind. William, just sit down. He does not speak, but he works better than any other man I’ve met.”

This seemed to do nothing to quell his mother’s suspicion, but what was she going to do? Turn them away? No; she served them their food, resting her hand on Lo’s head the way she always had when he was a child. There was another layer of protection there, Louis noticed, of wariness towards this strange visitor.

William ended up not eating very much, though as they were leaving he looked very hungry, his head turning this way and that like a starving wolf. He did not even bother to thank Anne, only darted outside as soon as he could.

“You keep an eye on that man,” Anne spat as she watched William pace back and forth. “There is something about his eyes, Lo. He’s like the demons you hunt.”

“He is not,” Louis said with a nervous laugh.

With a hand on his shoulder she told him to be safe, to which he replied that he was always safe, and anyway, what could she do if he decided not to be safe one day? What then? He didn’t know what prompted the question, but perhaps it was William’s presence that had him on edge. How it made him sick that his mother had to feed the obscene creature!

Unfortunately, it turned out that this very obscene creature had to join him on other errands, as well. “Lo, cast this demon from my home!” was the command shouted to him everyday, and today was no exception, though this boy believed it was his choice whether to help or not. He always said yes, though, and this, he told William, was what made him adored.

“I am considered merciful.”

Not very merciful, William argued, because what fool would call the horrible things Louis had done to him last night merciful? Was letting a succubus starve merciful? Was cutting off one of its only defenses merciful? Louis said yes, absolutely, why was he asking, and dirty William did not answer.

That day William watched Louis kill and exorcise twelve demons. Lo told everyone who asked that this was just his assistant, nobody important, and he told William to watch very carefully. Watch very closely, because one day, this could be you. Everyone thought Louis to be a wonderful mentor; not William. He watched through narrow eyes and he knew what was meant by this could be you.

When they returned home, Louis tied the rope back onto the demon’s neck, tying the other end onto a wooden post outside, right by the stream. William fought much at this, with a bite nearly deterring Louis.

“I do not want to sit here outside,” William said. “My leg hurts, and so does my tail.”

“Suffering is good for you!” Louis beamed. “Consider it a new way of asking for God’s forgiveness.”

“You did this to me,” William hissed. “It cannot be you who will convert me.”

Louis ignored him and sat by the stream, watching the fish go by again. He had already ruled out the possibility of William ever becoming a Christian after witnessing the awkward creature stumble around today like a sick deer. He wanted to mock the demon for it, but he was more annoyed that the temptations of last night had not disappeared.

He told himself that it was fine, this would be a challenge for anybody; after all, when would there ever be a chance like this, when someone walked into his home and asked  —no, William demanded— for intercourse? For the touch of a noble human like Lo? He would have considered himself very lucky if he didn’t see right through the demon.

“I’m still hungry,” William said behind him.

“I am not feeding you,” Louis snapped.

“Then why do you keep me?” William leaned forward, and Louis turned to see his teeth gleaming in the fading light. “What is the point? I’ll leave this place soon enough, but I’ll kill you before I go. I want to rip the smile off of a demon hunter’s face.” With a fierce roar he jerked his head violently to the side, and Louis gasped as the rope tore in half, an end hanging off of William’s collar.

“Oh, look at that,” Louis said. He began to reach for the dagger in his belt, but William leaped forward and threw him back against the water. Louis gasped as his head was forced under, and the black claws dug into his neck to hold him down. 

Was this the way the demon hunter would go? Drowning at the claws of a worthless succubus? No, Lo knew that could not be the case, so he kicked out as hard as he could with his heels. His eyes stung, and he was forced to shut them, though he knew that only left him vulnerable to whatever William had planned.

“Insolent human,” William spat as he pulled Louis’ head out briefly, his claws ripping into his hair. “You will see what comes of capturing me.”

Louis met this with a glare and slammed his heel as hard as he could into William’s thigh, right where his injury was. William cried out, his grip on Louis loosening, and Louis pulled himself away, lifting himself back onto the grass. He took deep breath after breath, trying to cough the water up in him.

“Just rubbing salt in the wound, aren’t you?” he heard William say. “Except this time it’s your stupid boot.” Louis narrowed his eyes, hearing the whipping of William’s tail in the wind behind him.

“Look at me,” the demon said.

Louis couldn’t answer. He looked up, saw William’s claws raised high.

There was another way to die. Louis rolled to the side, kicking William’s legs out from under him. William let out a frustrated hiss as he fell, and Louis leaped up on top of him, shoving his head down by his horns.

“You are insane, little demon,” Louis said, “if you think you could have killed me.”

“I still can!” William swiped his claws in the air, and Louis leaned back, taking William’s flailing wrists and pinning them down roughly over his head.

“You will shut up and you will obey me,” Louis said firmly.  “You are absolutely not going anywhere. The more you fight, the longer I will keep you here, and the longer you will starve.”

“What does it matter?” William sneered. “What I have realized now is that I would rather starve than let you be the one to feed me. Repulsive little brat, you only care for your pleasure and not of anyone else’s.”

“I could absolutely care!” protested Louis. “But maybe you make it impossible for me to care about you.”

“What is impossible is for you to care about anyone at all,” William said. “The problem is in you, not in me.”

“I can love,” Louis said. He leaned in and slapped William across the face, the demon snarling at the impact. “Do you want me to show you love?”

“No!” William struggled fiercely under him, and Louis sat back, taking William’s tail in his hands and coiling it around his fingers. The bloodied cloth hung off in a manner that caused it to have an appearance much like the sharp tip Louis had cut off.

“Keep up this behavior and I never will.” Louis stood and placed the heel of his boot right on William’s head as he sat up. “Very well, we’ll go inside.”

So they went inside, and there went another night that poor Lo could not sleep. William seemed to lie down and be just fine, though he moved constantly, and Louis could not take his eyes off of him. Every movement made him reach for the dagger under his pillow.

In the morning Lo was furious because of this, so he tied William’s tail tighter than he had yesterday. William didn’t protest much this time, only snapped his jaws in the air and shook himself with displeasure. Despite the fact that he had slept all night, he looked more exhausted than yesterday.

“Keep your head up,” Louis told him as they stepped outside. “If your hat fell off, your horns would show, and they would tell me to kill you. And I would.”

“I hate you,” was all William replied with. But he kept his head up.

He ate less than he had yesterday, only picking at the meat, and with what insolence! When he decided he was done, he pushed the bowl to the side and sat up, limping outside once more. Louis followed and brought him back in, and as Lo spoke to his mother, the demon fell asleep with his head resting on the table. Just as he let his head fall, the hat nearly swept off of his head. Louis hastily caught it and adjusted it around William’s horns.

“What was he doing last night?” Lo’s mother raised an eyebrow.

“Someone sent for us around midnight,” said Louis. “There were a few persistent demons there, but nothing I couldn’t have handled on my own.”

“If he does not want to eat what I offer him, then I will no longer feed him,” Anne said. “Do not bring him here, Lo.”

“I cannot leave him alone—!” Louis said, only for William to look up and blink his bleary eyes at him.

“You should have let me go if you and your mother were going to talk about me in my presence,” said William. “I can be alone, Dieudonné. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Out, then, take him,” Anne said with a huff.

Louis’ face flushed, and he stood, taking William by the wrist. “Forgive me,” he said curtly, and with that the two made their way outside.

“You do not show such disrespect to my mother,” Louis said. “You do not disrespect my mother.”

“Well, she should not have disrespected me,” William said. “And neither should you. I told you I am hungry and I will not eat the meals of humans.”

“So you will feed on us instead?” Louis asked.

“Why would I?” William sneered. “You would never allow it, anyway.”

No, indeed, Louis could never allow it. And he showed William why— he slew the demons that they crossed that day as well, and William watched with perhaps more disgust than he had yesterday. But he did not object, not even under his breath, only glared at the demons as they caught his gaze. Was this his attempt at showing he was better than them? Well, Lo did not believe that, either.

He told William so later that night, that nothing he did would make him better, but he encouraged trying it out anyway.

“Why would I try being better,” William asked, “if you don’t believe I can be?”

“Surely my belief matters little to you,” Louis said. He was tying the rope back around William’s collar. He tugged William forward, causing him to stumble and nearly fall on Louis.

“No,” William said. “Not at all.”

For the third night in a row Lo could not sleep, but this time William couldn’t either, restlessly pacing around by the bed. His tail kept batting at Louis’ face, so he sat up and untied the cloth, replacing it with a newer, darker one. It looked more like a bow now, even closer to the appearance it had before.

“What’s this?” William waved his tail in his own face.

“Does it not look pretty?” Louis asked. “More like you.”

“I am not a doll you can dress up as you please,” William said.

“Then take it off,” Lo said.

William did not. He rested his head on the wall and Louis lay back down as well, and finally he was able to sleep. In the morning he truthfully did not expect to wake up at all, but he did.

“Can I stay here today?” William asked as Louis dressed. His voice was quieter today, and Lo could not pick up any emotion from it.

“To stay here and escape,” Louis said. He pulled up his gloves and flexed his fingers curiously. “No, you may not.”

“Please, I have none of the energy required to make a step out of this house,” William said. “I would not want to leave if I had the choice.”

“You don’t have a choice,” said Louis. “Get up, William.”

But William did not stand, only curled his tail in closer. “You cannot expect me to walk with this wound. I swear it gets worse everyday. And you have not fed me! There is no way I can leave in this state.”

“I will not fall for your act of weakness,” spat Lo.

“It isn’t an act,” William protested. “I cannot go out with you today, Louis!” He stood as he said this, his legs shaking slightly.

“You did it yesterday and the day before,” Louis said.

“Through gritted teeth!” yelled William. “And your mother does not want me there!”

Louis’ eyes widened slightly. “How dare you raise your voice at me, demon?” He stepped forward, but William met his glare fearlessly, panting like a wounded dog.

“I will never kneel before you,” William said. “I will never respect you. You’ll have to rip the dignity out of me.”

“Maybe I will,” said Louis. He took the dagger from his belt and twirled it carelessly around in the air. “On your knees, William.”

“Never,” William growled.

Louis met this with a backhanded slap first, taking advantage of the demon’s brief shock to force his head down onto the bed by the horns. William hissed loudly, but could not do much to struggle as Louis held his knee over his back, one heel on his tail. He lifted the dagger and traced the blade all along William’s back, laughing as it heaved with heavy breaths.

“I thought every demon was taught to respect their hunters,” Louis said. “Especially in the state you are in.”

“No demon was ever taught that,” William said, glaring back at him. “You think you deserve respect for taking me into your home and nearly killing me?”

“Yes, every bit of it,” said Louis. He dug the knife into the pale skin below the black harness he wore, and William shuddered, biting into the blankets to stifle a whimper.”What? You will heal.”

William didn’t answer, didn’t say another word as Louis dug out a cross in him. He circled it and hummed with satisfaction, pulling William back by his horns.

“You look good like this,” whispered Lo. “Scared of me now?”

“No,” William said, wincing as Louis huffed against his cheek. “Get- get away from me.”

“You can stay,” Louis said. “But follow my rules.”

William turned his head sharply to snap his jaws at Louis’ face, and Louis shoved him to the side, slamming his head against the wall. “You still try to bite me?!”

“I will never obey you willingly,” William said, blinking rapidly as if he was fighting to stay awake. “I only stay here because I have...no choice...” He took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and letting his head fall back.

“Very good,” Louis said. He backed away and left the demon as he was.

As much as he tried, though, he could not forget William, and was terrified of finding him gone when he came back. He pretended that very demon he exorcised that day was William, mostly to convince himself that he wanted the demon gone. But Lo knew he did not. He could not. At least he felt the slightest bit of guilt over that; good boy!

Much to his relief William was there when he came back. He was sleeping, and the wounds on his back had healed, like Louis expected. Maybe he could leave this demon here alone after all. His mother would be pleased not to hear of him again.

It seemed that William hadn’t been lying— the next day, and the day after that, he seemed lethargic, only mumbling a protest whenever Louis tugged slightly at the rope on his collar or approached him. It became almost like having a pet around; one very unpleasant cat. He mostly slept now and refused to answer any of Louis’ questions.

If anything, Louis thought this annoyed him more. But he could not find it himself to complain— he liked the empty look in William’s eyes, how gleefully stupid it made him look. That was all he was, wasn’t he? An idiotic demon, desperate to feed off of the sins of humanity.

But what was worse, Louis found, was his growing willingness to be the supplier of that sin.

So when he next went to confess himself, he said this:

“There is...someone...who makes me feel things I am ashamed to say.”

“Say them.” Mazarin sounded bored. “Lo.”

Did he recognize Louis’ voice? Of course he had; stupid Lo. He swallowed.

“I- I just want to take that demon to bed...”

“Demon?” Mazarin asked.

“Demon—!” Louis coughed. “No, of course not. Not in the literal sense. As a demon hunter, you know-”

“Your mother told me of the man you brought around her a few times,” Mazarin said. “And she said that he is obviously a demon, with those eyes of his. Is that the demon you speak of? A male demon, Lo, no less.”

“N-No, she is paranoid—” Louis rushed to defend himself, but Mazarin interrupted him.

“If you do not kill that demon soon, it will become a danger to you,” he said. “And a danger to your connection with God.”

“I know-”

“You do not know. I am telling you now, as a friend— kill that monster.”

“Is that what I must do for penance?” asked Louis.

“No, you must do it for yourself,” Mazarin said.

So that was what Louis intended later that night, to kill the sleeping demon that had somehow ejected the water touched by Mazarin. As he approached it with his dagger held high he found himself apprehensive, staring down at the sleeping face. It was just like the first night.

He shook William awake. William only blinked up at him, weakly trying to bat Louis off as the latter pushed him on his feet and dragged him outside.

“So this is it? Will you kill me?” William whispered into his ear.

“No.” Louis set him down in front of the stream, and William lay back on the grass. In the moonlight, his horns glimmered before Lo’s eyes, and his gaze raked all over the pale body made paler by the night.

He looked back to the stream. The carp still swam there.

He turned to William and untied the cloth from the wound on his thigh. He hissed in sympathy at what he saw there, the skin around it swollen and still warm, though it may have just been the cloth that had been there for days.

“What?” William narrowed his eyes.

Louis brought William closer and began to pull his clothes away, until that demonic body lay completely exposed before him. This whole time William did not make a sound, merely watched suspiciously and attempted to cover himself with his tail.

“Here,” Louis said, removing his nightgown. He slipped into the water first and dragged William in beside him, holding him up to his chest. It wasn’t very deep, the water only made it up to their stomach, but it was exactly what Louis needed.

“Get your hands off of me,” William muttered. His tail slapped against Louis’ legs.

“You need me to hold you up,” Louis said. “You cannot stand on your own. Calm down; if my theory is correct, your wounds will heal up by tomorrow morning.”

“What- why?” William looked back at him. “I don’t believe it. Not in this awful starvation, they will not.”

“No?” Louis lifted the demon’s head and pressed his lips to William’s neck. “So I suppose you must be fed.”

“And you intend to feed me?” William asked.

“Hm? Is it not what you wanted?” Louis said. “It is what I want. You see, I can be merciful.”

“Merciful? After everything you’ve done?” William laughed, but too high and too forced. “That word is not- not yours to say.” Louis felt him shudder against his kisses, felt the tail slowly stop lashing and instead shake at the tip.

“I would be thrilled to be allowed this honor,” he went on. “You want to at least have a fighting chance?” He shoved William out of the water, pinning him down against the grass by his wrists. “Then you will accept this, what you have long been waiting for.” He flashed him a rueful smile, then bent down to push his legs to the side and bury his lips into the demon’s cunt.

William gasped sharply, but Louis did not stop there— he let his tongue in as far as it would go, sucking and kissing as if it were worship itself. He stroked at the base of William’s tail as he did so, and heard William still gasping, pushing his body up in approval.

“This is- this is not enough,” he let out, his eyes shut. “You must—”

“What? Take you myself?” Louis asked. “Trust me, I shall. I’ve wanted to do this since I saw you fucking yourself on my bed the day I met you.”

“You son of a bitch,” William mumbled, but not for long as Louis bowed his head again. He laughed as he tasted the wetness with his tongue, and not just from the stream.

“I knew you would be easy to take,” Louis purred, lifting his head and tugging at the rope on William’s collar. “Maybe this is why I have kept you alive.”

“You have kept me waiting for too long!” William cried. “Do this now or kill me!”

“Of course,” Louis said. He leaned forward and thrust himself inside of William, pleased to hear the subsequent whimper from the demon. As for himself, it was just as wonderful as he imagined his first time would be, and especially with a succubus— this creature was made for him.

He did not wait for William to become comfortable with the feeling; no, he’d been waiting for this for too long, as well. So he fucked the demon as quickly as he pleased, and William met every thrust with a loud cry, echoing throughout the trees. He dug his claws into Louis’ shoulders, his tail whipping against the demon hunter’s thighs.

“Oh, Louis,” breathed William in between his moans, like a prayer, “oh, demon hunter, take me—! Yes, there, like that, good boy—” He groaned into Louis’ ear, shifting under him to meet the rapid movement.

“Like every dream I’ve ever had,” Louis whispered, stroking William’s face as he bent forward to kiss him. William jolted as if it shocked him, but he returned the kiss briefly before turning to the side, trying to catch his breath.

“No- no more kissing,” he said. “I hate you.”

“Oh, how can you say that?” Louis clenched his teeth, disguising his pleasure as a messy smile. “After everything I’ve done for you?” He pulled out for a moment, pushing William to his side and lifting one of his legs to his shoulder to continue in that position. William dug his claws into the grass, opening his mouth in a soundless scream as Louis drove his cock deeper.

“Ah- Louis!” William turned his head slowly to the side, but Louis jerked it back with the rope so that he was staring right into the demon’s eyes.

“Look up here,” he ordered.

“No- no, I cannot, I—” William shut his eyes, and Louis began to pull out. At this William’s eyes flew open. “W-Wait, Lo—!”

Louis laughed. “Oh, if I had known you were this easy to control, I’d have fucked you a long time ago. From the moment I saw you.” He slapped a hand against William’s thigh, the one with the wound on it, and William let out a shaky gasp as Lo shoved himself back in.

No one had been lying about the feeling of a succubus; Louis thought he might never want to pull out. So he didn’t, not when William was begging him to finish inside, not when Louis knew nothing could have stopped him anyway.

“Remember who gave you this strength!” And Lo came right into the filthy demon.

William shuddered, letting his head fall back. Louis waited a moment before pulling out, letting his cock slide out in between William’s thighs for good measure. What a mess Lo had made here!

“What do you say, demon?” he asked.

William looked up and forced a thank you out through his fangs. Louis tilted his head to the side with a smile and yanked the rope sharply towards him so that the demon was forced to sit up.

“Look me in the eyes and say it,” he said.

“Thank you,” said William.

“There. It is the least I deserve— after you forced this temptation out of me!” Louis pushed him away and took hold of his tail instead, tugging it back at the base. “You monster! You are ripping me away from God!”

“I never forced you to do anything!” William snarled back. He yelped and attempted to pull his tail free. “You have captured me and you have kept me here! Let me go— we can forget about each other and-” He cut himself off with a vicious scream as Louis felt a satisfying snap at the base of William’s tail.

“Did I hurt the little demon’s tail?” Lo cooed. He held up the tip now; it was fully healed, as he had suspected it would be, the triangle shape satisfyingly sharp again. He untied the bow and leaned forward to tie it around one of William’s horns. “Poor baby.”

William made no sound save for a few pained gasps, and Louis examined his body to see if everything else had healed properly. It had, so he stood and pulled his nightgown back on. He glared down at William before taking him by the collar and dragging him back inside, shoving him against the bed.

“Look at you,” Louis spat. “As pathetic as you were the day I met you.”

“I should have never come in here,” William huffed out. “If this is God’s punishment—”

“Then God is very wise,” said Lo. He climbed into the bed beside William and wrapped his arms around him, in particular gripping hard on the collar. William coughed, his body shuddering as he did so, but at least he didn’t move. He stayed there, in Louis’ arms, and that was where he finally fell asleep.

Noble Lo thought he was so kind, lying there with an unholy creature beside him. Perhaps he was right.

In the morning, the bones in William’s tail had healed like the rest of him had. Louis stroked the demon’s head on occasion as he got ready to leave, as usual— what was unusual was how exhausted William still appeared, despite having been fed last night.

“I can trust you to stay here?” Louis asked, kneeling beside him.

“Yes, sir.” William bowed his head, and Louis couldn’t help but bark out a laugh.

“There we go,” he said, stroking William’s cheek with the back of his hand. “This is the gratitude I expected and wanted. Know that no one else would ever want to lay hands on you. I do it at the cost of my soul. And you have none, demon, so you know nothing of what that is like.”

William nodded, and Louis turned towards the bed, picking up his nightgown and throwing it at William. “Here, put this on,” he said. “Allows you a little bit more modesty. Now, you wait here for me, alright?”

Again, William nodded and obeyed, and that was when Lo began to wonder— was the vixen faking all this? Did he want to look weak so he could escape later? Well, that would not stand, Lo could not lose his demon! He took his dagger, pinned William’s head down against the pillows, and drove the blade into his other thigh this time.

The demon screamed once more, though it was muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. He dug his claws into the sheets, and Louis gently took them and pinned them behind him to tie them together. 

“Do not get on the bed until you’ve healed again, I would hate to come back to blood on the sheets,” he said.

William let himself fall back to the ground, panting in between his whimpers like a sick dog. He shut his eyes and Louis left him as he was.

The first question his mother asked him when she saw him again was how he had slept. She patted his head once and the second question she asked was if he had gotten rid of the demon, like Mazarin had ordered him to.

“Yes, I did,” he lied. “I made sure it hurt.”

“Then you are safe after all,” she sighed. “That was very kind of you, Lo.”

So very, very kind. Kind enough to kill the other demons as he saw fit, but when it came to William, he knew he was enjoying himself too much.

He was going to do it! Tonight, he promised himself— no, he was lying, because when he returned, he found William fucking himself with his tail on the bed, his leg thankfully healed once more, but his hands still tied behind his back. So that would explain the tail.

“Oh, Dieudonné,” he was saying. “Oh, God, take me...”

That was his name! Louis stepped back, less appalled at the scene and more horrified because he realized he liked what he was seeing.

“William,” he said. “You have missed me?”

William didn’t even look up. Louis frowned and took the riding crop from his belt— he had no horses to use it on as of now, but it scared some of the less powerful demons. He sat up on the bed beside William, who looked back just in time, his eyes widening as the whip came down on his thigh.

He let out a fierce hiss, like he was more annoyed than anything, and Louis took his tail, curling it around his fingers like he would a strand of hair. “Disgusting, filthy succubus!” he scolded William. “Now I have to wash this, too.”

“I can wash it myself, in the stream,” William said. He let himself fall back on the bed, curling in his legs to cover himself. “If you would untie me.”

“You are clever,” Louis said. “But no more than I am. No, you are staying here. I have a better solution.” He flicked his knife out, and William cried out, kicking his legs out at Louis, knowing very well what was coming next.

Louis sliced off the tip like he had the first time. He muffled the subsequent scream with a kiss, pinning William’s legs down and running his fingers over the demon’s cunt. He felt William jolt under him, gasping into the kiss, slowly falling still beneath Louis.

“Is this not what you wanted?” Lo whispered. He began to slide the nightgown off of him, but William only shook his head, letting his head fall to the side.

“Leave it on...it smells like you.”

“Oh, even you do not know what you want anymore,,” Louis said, shaking his head as if he were disappointed. In reality, he was too happy to fuck the demon in this very moment like it had been wishing.

It was easier this time, with William’s hands tied behind his back. William was also far more receptive this time, hardly moving at all, instead letting Louis fuck him however he liked. He was whining, panting like an honest bitch, as pleased as Lo was, but on occasion he would screw his eyes shut and bare his teeth as if there was something else within him that he was refusing to let free.

“You want it in you?” Louis sneered.

“Oh, yes, yes, please, Louis—!” William nodded rapidly, and Louis pinned his head down to the pillow by grabbing onto his horns. William grunted, but he had no time to complain as Louis came in him.

“We’ll see if you starve now,” Louis said. He lifted William’s head to press kisses, and then bites, against his neck. Much to his disappointment, the demon made no sound, only sighed, his now fully healed tail shaking slightly.

“Good boy.” Louis ran his fingers through William’s hair and pulled hard. Now that brought a whimper out of him.

Lo could get used to this, he thought, and William certainly would have to.

Lucky that he seemed to catch on to the game quickly, then; for whatever Louis asked of him, William obeyed and gave it to him. There was no fighting the day after that, only begging for more of Louis’ touch, for more of the strength that Louis promised. Every kiss was returned, though without much hunger there. And best of all, the demon stayed put throughout the day, waiting for his master to come back, and then offering himself up when Louis did return.

And Lo gave him what he wanted. He fed his William, his sweet, obedient William, who knew to shut up when he pulled out his dagger and just pay attention. But he realized he didn’t have to use it as much anymore; the threat was sweeter than the blood it shed.

As exciting as these days were, he ended up not thinking much of them in the long run. It was second nature to him now— expecting to take whatever he pleased from that unholy creature! Maybe William deserved it, but did ungrateful, ever-starving Louis deserve it? Of course not.

Then God sent something to stir him from this hedonistic dream, or rather someone. After a mass like any other, where Louis no longer bothered to ask for forgiveness, he heard a deep voice call out to him from behind.

“Sir.”

“Hm?” He glanced back, looking straight at a woman- a man— no, he didn’t know what he was looking at. He would have thought they were a woman if they didn’t dress so similarly to him, if it weren’t for the knife on their belt. What was most startling, however, were the bandages tied tightly over their right eye.

“You are the demon hunter of this town?” they asked. “Louis.”

“I- yes.” Louis was unsure of whether or not to take their hand to kiss it. “Did you need a demon exorcised?”

“No, I can do that myself. My father taught me.” They bowed their head. “I’m a demon hunter as well. My name is Mary.”

“Oh.” Louis still didn’t know if he should kiss her hand; ultimately he decided not to. “Hello, Mary. It is not so common to see ladies in this field.”

“Well, I was a man when I started,” she said with a sigh. “But that was never what I came here for. You see, I have been travelling for quite a while now, conversing with every demon hunter that I can find, for I have lost a demon that I must find...for my own purposes.” She pointed at her bandaged eye. “He did this.”

“My God,” Louis breathed out, narrowing his eyes. “He must have been quite vicious. I may have exorcised him already if he came to this town. What did he look like?”

“He was a succubus,” Mary began, and Louis’ heart stopped. “Lovely auburn hair. The sharpest blue tail, so sharp it was when he lashed it that he took out my eye. But he...he had the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen.”

“Is that so?” Louis swallowed. “I believe I did exorcise him, after all. You will not find him here.”

“Oh,” Mary said. Her gaze darkened. “I see. I’m sorry if I bothered you, I just- I’m sorry.” She turned resolutely away, and Louis let out a sigh of relief.

William was waiting for him on the bed when he returned, lying on his side as always and watching the birds intently through the window. He liked to do that often, look outside. Louis sometimes wondered if it was all he ever did when he was gone.

“William, dear,” Louis called to him, and William looked up. He then turned his head away, and the sunlight falling over his body, most of it easily revealed under the clothing he had first arrived with, made him all the more tempting to Louis.

“How was your day, sir?” William asked. Though Louis knew he was never very interested, he still liked him to ask.

“Very interesting, actually.” Louis slowly took the rope tied to his collar and then pulled back as hard as he could, forcing William up on his knees. William grunted sharply, looking back at Louis with wide eyes.

“What- what happened?”

“You told me nothing of the first demon hunter you encountered,” Louis snarled. “You took her eye?! And for what, attempting to kill you? That should have come as no surprise to you; you should have known not to cross us.”

“It was an accident!” William protested. “I- I’d been injured after fleeing from my home, and she came to me— I simply meant to turn around and run, but she was in the way of my tail, and when she fell and stained the river with her blood, I thought- I thought there was no point in staying for her to kill me.”

“And you want to call yourself a Christian?” Louis said. “A good Christian, even a Protestant, would have stayed to help her.”

“I realize that now,” William said. “But in the moment, I wanted to live.”

“Well, she has come for you now,” Louis said, pinning his demon back on the bed. “She came here to ask me if I had seen you. She wants vengeance, William.”

“What did you tell her?” William asked.

“That I had already exorcised you,” Lo snapped. “Ungrateful whore. Come here and thank me properly.”

“Thank you, sir,” William mumbled, though he looked as miserable as ever as he pulled Louis’ breeches down. Louis gripped his horn and shoved him inward, so that in a second William had swallowed all of his cock. He felt the demon shudder under him, but he understood what he had to do and obeyed.

“I know you monsters always liked it directly down your throat,” Louis said. “Make sure I finish first before you feed.”

William looked up and nodded. It wasn’t long before Louis had taken his horn again and held his head there so that he could fuck the demon’s throat as he wished. When he thought he was done, he pulled out and came all over William’s face and his open mouth.

“Good boy,” Louis hissed out through gritted teeth. “Very good.”

William swallowed what he could. “Thank you,” he choked out.

“Now that I have chased Mary off for you,” Louis said, pulling William’s head up by the rope, “you know why you have to stay here, don’t you? You could never leave now.” He knew, logically, that there was no way William would want to leave him at this point; after all, what other human could provide him with such a constant energy supply? But he still felt compelled to ask now and then. It worried him irrationally, as he deserved as well.

“No, sir.” William shook his head, wincing as Louis pulled him closer.

“Good. You will be good for me.”

William’s eyes drifted shut and he said, “Yes, I shall.”

“Very good.” Louis saw the way his tail dropped to the ground beside him, and he wondered if he should cut it off again. No, it was too pretty— but perhaps a reminder was in place. So he spent much of the night tying bows onto William’s tail, and told him that for each time William disobeyed his master, Louis would pull off one of the bows. When the number of bows was zero, the punishment was up to Lo.

What he didn’t expect was for the bows to run out so quickly. One would suspect it was because he was too eager to punish his demon plaything, but you couldn’t tell him that.

There were eight bows in total. William ran through seven of them in a few weeks.

One: he did not look Louis in the eyes when he sucked on his dick again.

Two: he did not moan his master’s name as he rode him.

Three: he did not look Louis in the eyes.

Four: he did not look Louis in the eyes.

Five: he hid away when it rained and Louis had wanted to hold him.

Six: he refused to go back inside when Louis took him outside to bathe him.

Seven: he did not look Louis in the eyes at this very instance, as he shifted his hips back and forth over his master’s boot. Louis raised an eyebrow, tugging on the rope to bring William in closer.

“Look up here, or another bow comes off,” he said. He had to laugh as William grinded faster. “Stupid, uncontrollable little demon. You look pathetic, dear.”

William bit his lip, though succeeded little in stifling his whimpers. He glanced up at Louis but then looked down again. Oh, how wet he was, what a mess he was making— Lo would have to make him clean it off his boot when he was done. That sharp tongue had to work for its meals.

And so do those eyes, he noted with displeasure.

“Well, William, this could have easily been avoided if you had just looked at me when I asked,” Louis said once they were done with that, both of them sitting beside the stream. He shook his head disappointedly as he pulled the bow from William’s tail.

“You never cared this much before,” William said indignantly. “I told you I could not do it.”

“Yes, you can,” Louis said. He tied the bow back on William’s other horn instead. The bow he had tied on first was still there. “There we go. Still all pretty and decorated for me.” He leaned in to kiss the horn. “Are you hungry, dear?”

“Not right now...” William hesitated. “And I am not sure I will ever be again.”

“What?” Louis jolted. “Why not?” He pulled William in by the rope.

“Come, Lo, you did not seriously believe I was going to be content with just you forever.” William shook himself. “I must find other humans...”

“But why? Am I not the only one you’ve ever liked?” Louis narrowed his eyes. “And the only one who would not kill you right upon seeing you. You know, William, that I am indispensable for you.”

“Sir, I am...grateful,” William said, and Lo hated how he spat out the word. “Very, dutifully grateful for your attention. It is all I have ever needed—!” He tore his head back viciously, and the rope snapped in Louis’ hands as the demon bounced back with a hiss.

“Oh, you little monster—!” Louis yelled. He reached for his knife, but in that instant William was swiftly upon him, slamming his head back against the grass. Louis jolted with pain, trying to throw William off, but it seemed the demon had the strength of God flowing through him, nothing like the first time he had fought back. His claws came to pin down Louis’ wrists, and Lo glared up at him defiantly. He was not scared, he was not scared.

“Why would you feed someone that despises you like I do?” William asked. “Why would you do such a thing, Dieudonné? Someone like you cannot forget that doing so would give me power.” He snapped his jaws near Louis’ face, and Lo drew back with a shaky gasp.

“Well, how was I to know you would do this?” he retorted. “Let me go, monster. No good Christian would kill somebody who fed them when no one else would.”

“Precisely. But you made it very clear that I could never be one, or am I wrong?” William curled his lip back in a sneer, lifting his claws to Louis’ throat. “I will spare you, but not because you ordered me to. Only because you fed me and gave me the strength to fight you.”

“I should have let you starve.”

“A very good thing you did not.” William sat back, and Louis shuffled back, his eyes wide. “I will go now. If you follow me, then I will kill you. No hesitation this time.” He ripped the last bow off his tail and turned away. “Goodbye, Lo.”

Louis, foolish boy he was, could not believe what he was seeing. His beloved demon! The one he had fed and kept here for so long, the dearest company he had ever known—! The truest form of rebellion there was!

And now he dared to walk away. No, this was not the way things would end. Not so easily.

“William,” he said, “you know what happens when the last ribbon comes off.”

“What?” William glanced back, eyes narrowed. “I never belonged to you.”

“That’s where you are wrong.” Louis stood and took a step forward, forcing a convincing smile on his face. Really, he wanted to sink his teeth right into William’s traitorous throat.

“Oh, really, now, what will you do?” William said. “You think you can defeat me now with all the strength I have? I told you that you do not have to die.”

“William, look,” said sly, clever Lo, “just because you leave now does not mean I will ever forget you. I want us to part like we always have. Come, one more kiss for poor Lo?”

The demon’s eyes widened, and Louis’ smile became just a little more real. He had him now.

“Why do you want to pretend you loved me?” asked William. “Even before I met you, I was sick of it. The things that have happened to me— none of it was love.” He turned fully to face Louis, crying out, “Do not lie to me anymore!”

“Of course a demon would not know what love is,” Louis said. “Do you think love exists in hell?”

“I had— friends—”

“None like me,” Louis went on, “who fed you and made you beautiful. Even though I shouldn’t have,” he added, “you managed to endear yourself to me, through your devotion. You were simply always there, William, and you came when I needed someone like you.” He stepped closer to his demon and took William’s hands. “If I hurt you, then you disobeyed me, and disobeyed God.”

“You- you do not know what love is,” William said. He shook his head, trying to back away, but Louis pulled him in by his collar.

“And what makes you think you would know more than I would?” he asked. “Please, enlighten me, dear—”

“Do not call me that!” William swiped his claws at Louis’ face.

It was hard enough to push Louis away, enough to make him to fall on his back on the grass, enough for him to realize that he could see less stars on the sky than before. And they were all unfocused, and he did not know if it was the pain in his head or the blood in his eye.

My eye. My eye! He gasped, sitting up and lifting a hand to his eye, where William had run his claws through. He tasted the blood running to his lips, and he turned his head to see if the slick fluid on his fingers was red. It was.

Surely I can still see, he told himself. The pain is not so bad.

Right? He looked up at William in shock.

But the demon was unfazed. He glanced down at his bloodied claws and turned away. “I hope you held no illusions that I ever loved you,” he said simply.

Louis would kill him now. He took the dagger from his belt and stumbled forward on all fours. He thought he was about to faint, but he couldn’t let William leave like this. The tail was so close, dangling before his face—

He pulled back on it as hard as he could, and William hissed, looking back only to cry out in shock as Louis took hold of his foot and dragged him down with him.

“Oh, you have never been denied anything before, have you?” William snarled. He raised his tail over Louis’ head, but the hunter slammed his heel back down on the tip, and William let out a pained shriek.

“You are going nowhere without me.” Louis coughed, trying to clear the blood from his lips. His whole head was stinging, burning now. “Tell me you will stay—!”

“I’ll kill you,” William spat, “if that is what you wanted.” He tried to pull his tail out from under Louis, only for Lo to drive the knife into his side. William screamed again, his body arching off the ground, and Louis grinned, crawling over him. His own blood dripped onto William’s face.

“What do you think of another man in you, William?” he asked. He forced the demon’s legs open, starting to pull the cloth from him. “At the same time, too. Mindless slut!” He pushed the dagger in deeper, and William gasped, tossing his head back.

“L-Louis—!” He kicked his legs out; Lo praised God under his breath for taking the strength from this demon through the knife. “It- it must not be this way—” The demon was weeping now, shaking his head as Louis pressed kisses to his face and neck.

“How could you do this to me, William?” he asked. “You did this to the hunter Mary, too, yes?”

“I- I didn’t mean it,” William told him through his miserable sobs.

Louis leaned back, holding his hand over his eye again with a slight groan, so he didn’t see the flash of silver beside him, right before a blade ran through his neck.

He opened his mouth to scream, but he could manage nothing but broken gasps. The blade was pulled sharply free, spraying blood all over his face, and he fell to the side, staring at William. Now, how had he done that?

No— it was not William. There was a taller shape illuminated by the moon beside him, sheathing the blade and glaring down at him. God help him, it was Mary.

“I forgive him,” she said coldly, “so there is no need to pretend you have any right to issue out divine consequences.”

You have killed me, he tried to say. He couldn’t lift his head any longer.

“Poor dear, he has stabbed you.” Mary knelt beside William, who shuffled back rapidly.

“Get away from me, hunter,” he said. His own breaths were labored, Louis noted with satisfaction.

“You know, my father stabbed me once, in that same spot,” Mary said. “It hurts very, very much. Do you want some help there?”

William. Louis weakly lifted his arm, reaching out for his demon.

“Do not touch him!” Mary kicked him in the side, and Louis grunted, his head rolling back so that it lay partially in the cold water. The stinging seemed to spread throughout the rest of his body then, and he shuddered. William’s body had been so warm beside him.

Do not leave me here—! He opened his mouth to speak, but something flooded into the back of his throat. Was that water, or was it blood? It was too thick to be either.

“Come with me,” he heard Mary say, “I just want to help you get the blade out, and then you can leave.”

“Louis lied to me...”

“Yes, and he lied to me, too. I knew you were here.”

“He said you wanted vengeance.”

“Oh, lies. All lies, as always. Come, leave him to die there, alone...” Louis heard footsteps then, and he looked to William one last time, holding onto Mary to keep himself up. He was leaving, after all.

Very well. He shut his good eye. He could leave, too.

I will see you in hell, William.

#i think i'm so funny referencing a vine in the title no one knows about #louis is going out with jesus now. ig #i didn't rlly wanna find a divider for this specific AU bc it's just the one fic so sorry #succubus au #fanta tag #whump tag

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

Yippee time for some oc headcanons because its my enrichment time <3

Vaelora!!!

- Her favourite flowers to plant are poppies because they got that sweet sweet opium in em, but she’s also kinda fond of em just cause they’re pretty

- Has probably been gifted a few masks to hide her weird birthmark (phantom of the operacoded), usually refuses to wear them out of discomfort but sometimes caves and wears them to big events she’s required to go to

- She was given Nightshade’s egg as a baby, honestly didn’t expect it to ever hatch but surprise! It did when she was like, in her 20’s or so, she probably got to ride her dragon once before kicking the bucket

- Has gone into the cranberry bog. Only once though

- She was definitely married at some point because she has Aeryn (and ol Jae probably wouldn’t be letting her go outside ever if she had a bastard *cough* Gael *cough*), but ngl her husband is…. Kinda unimportant, to me, so I just headcanon him as being a Crabb that died when their son was a baby

- She maybe probably definitely poisoned her husband but don’t worry about that

- Loves Aeryn because he’s her sweet special little quiet boy but has very much fed him a lot of fucked up homemade versions of sweetsleep and milk of the poppy, and probably tried even more fucked up medicines whenever he got sick

- It’s okay though! He survived! Mostly

- Has probably a dozen notebooks on her plant research, some of it is definitively about the trials she did on animals and other plants cause she definitely wasn’t sharing the human tests until after she died

- She absolutely has a shitty relationship with her parents which didn’t help her godawful reputation- but Jae and Aly didn’t really like… Do anything abt her weirdness, mostly because she didn’t step out of line until the witch rumours started popping up

- Was probably a bit mad when Rhaenys got passed over for Baelon. Not because of any legitimate reason she just hates her loudass older brother and his dumbass kids

- Not normal about any of her siblings tbh. Girl’s relationships were crazyyy

- She’s half blind in one eye. Nobody really knows why cause her birthmark doesn’t really hurt or anything so that’s kinda unique ig

- Grew weed in Aegon’s garden. Totally medicinal she totally wasn’t smoking blunts guys I promiseeeee

Naera

- loveddd a lot of physical activities. horseback riding and hawking queen <3

- Was proud to be a targ to like, an obnoxious degree. Definitely wore a lot of dragon imagery on her outfits even when she got married into another house

- Honestly looks a lot like Myriah, and that’s kinda on purpose! They also have an increasingly toxic relationship with her cause I said so!

- … ngl I kinda made her a lot like Rhaenyra in terms of personality, if Rhaenyra was like, not interested in the throne and spent 100% more of her brain cells wanting to kiss more women

- Definitely a daddy’s girl, one of Daeron’s favourites aside from obvious golden child Baelor and used that status to get away with everythingggg, even if Myriah wouldn’t take any of her fuckery

- With that though, it would probably take her doing something really bad to get Daeron angry enough to send her away- so I think the probable breaking point was her coming onto one of her brothers’ betrothed/wives, ngl I kinda hc it to be Aelinor because I always love putting this queen in situations <3

- Because I give slightly more of a shit about her husband- I’m gonna name him Theo! He’s probably a Tyrell or from a minor Tyrell branch and also a second son, but Naera was allowed to choose him so she was looking less at status and more… Willingness to ignore all her possible affairs because he’s nice and also a little naive lol

- Their first kid is a girl named Thea after her dad, and continuing the bad family relationship they do not get along that much. Even less when Naera marries her off to a Tyrell cousin and basically adopts a new daughter

- Second kid is a son named Forrest. His most interesting traits is that he’s kinda sickly and also tries to claim the throne after Maekar’s death before his mama tells him to sit the fuck down and mind his dang business

- Her third unofficial kid is her handmaid/lover’s daughter Ella, who’s probably treated the best because Naera like, actually wanted to be a mom for her so she gets spoiled and taken pretty much everywhere she wants

- When it comes to the whole “cutting off your hand and throwing it at the pirate captain” thing, that was insane but like, I cannot emphasize enough that it wasn’t in a girlboss way. Animal caught in bear trap moment

- It was surprising it kinda worked tbh- it was a pure desperation moment after promising “her hand” and she played on that misunderstanding to get away… Captain absolutely kept her hand though

- Doesn’t matter tho because she got a whole new hand!! And it’s better! Kinda- it has articulating fingers and is sorta light and functional, but it’s also a pain to strap on and uncomfortable to have for long periods of time

- Absolutely becomes a worse person after her hand’s gone. Toxic queen 😌

#love making shitty lil guys. should I make em worse? guys let me know if you want them to be worse and wretched #asoiaf ocs

[dee-is-for-lots-of-things]

one of the little subtleties in season of mists i love is the subtly different way Dream presents himself to the different ambassadors, like even down to what he’s wearing. he’s slightly different for everyone and i love thinkin about the attention to detail, it would have been so easy for him to be just in his full on dream king mode all the time but instead we get this (sorry this is gonna be long but i love this. its a sandman blog this is what u signed up for lol)

the first one to show up is odin, who offers up a prediction of ragnarok containing a fragment of dream’s soul

dream is in his casual moping outfit, t shirt and probably jeans, but sits above odin. it’s possible this is to sort of remind odin that dream is in charge here, since odin is a trickster and considers tricking dream through basically the whole book. the candles are probably a reference to something smart neil gaiman read but i just think they also add to the neat border, separating odin and dream.

he’s also pretty polite to odin, genuinely considering the offer and generally being nice about it (well. nice for dream lol)

next we cut to jemmy (ambassador for chaos)

this is immediately distinct because she’s stood so close to him. while odin was a little bit away and dream was sat above him, here thanks to the height difference that’s already there i guess he didnt think he needed to bother

dream is much harsher to her than odin (although not the worst he gets) the other think i wanna say is i think the image of dream with his balloon is very sweet

the candles are back when order’s messenger shows up, and he’s put his big dramatic coat on for being big and dramatic in. with the wide shot at the end the candles seem to once again be a barrier, this time against the floating emissary, shielding dream and keeping him in a little circle (whether this is the intention of dream or it’s a fun little bit of imagery to show how isolated dream has made himself, who’s to say)

he’s also a lot meaner again, outright dismissing kilderkin, which shows that he was being very nice to odin at the beginning. maybe he puts on his coat to be scarier after chaos just straight up threatened him

i always enjoy a shift in artstyle to represent the perspectives of other cultures, especially dream in similar clothes that i do not know the name of (sorry) also it’s weird seeing him in blue instead of black, obviously the way they draw black often uses blue to highlight but idk it’s just different and i like it. his words are similar to how he spoke to odin, and the offer is considered on the same level

bast and dream have at least something of a history together (correct me if im wrong it’s a while since i last read brief lives) and are a lot more direct. maybe the short, single word phrases mean he’s slightly taken aback or maybe it means this is the fifth meeting he’s had and he just remembered there’s still more to come and is very tired

also, lovin the collar

matthew interlude! this is very cute. moving swiftly on!

in terms of his physical presentation, i think azazel is the most interesting. for one thing, he’s hovering to match, and his cloak thing idk what to call it has a bunch of layers overlapping much like azazel’s many eyes mouths etc. the fact that azazel is the one one to really take offense with his cautious diplomatic tone is fun but not really unexpected, he’s a fucking demon.

oh also he’s back in his t shirt when the angels come and take the key. worth mentioning but i forgot to get screenshots lol

#writing this up makes me wanna get that annotated sandman book #comicc #season of mists #sandman #the sandman #lily liveblogs #dream of the endless #neil gaiman #long post #sorry but also not sorry

[johaerys-writes]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

tagged by @baejax-the-great thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3? As of now, 47.

What is your AO3 word count? 1,084,458

What fandoms do you write for? Currently neck-deep in my Patrochilles (Iliad/TSOA/Hades) obsession. But I've also written for Dragon Age (Pavelyan), Voltron (Sheith) and Castlevania (Trephacard, Lenector).

What are your top five fics by kudos? High-Flying Birds, Like Friends Do, Winter's Fruit, Jasmine and Yarrow, Where Blood Roses Bloom.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I love responding to comments!! Even if it's just to say Thank you. I absolutely love rambling in my replies and getting into discussions about lore or characters' motivations and such. This is the fanfic experience at its best for me.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Honestly I'm not great with angsty endings haha. Even if the fic as a whole is very angsty, the ending tends to be happy. I think the fics with the saddest ending are Loyal To The End and The Wound That Never Heals, both Hector/Carmilla (Castlevania). Some people have told me they found the ending of At The Water's Edge quite bittersweet.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Now we're talking haha. Of my most recent ones, Twin Flames has a very sweet ending. Fall Into Your Tide also has a super hopeful ending, and another favourite is A Place To Be. I'm all about that comfort after the hurt babey.

Do you get hate on fics? I think I've only ever got hate once or twice? As far as I remember. I honestly couldn't care less about it, I forget it as soon as it happens lol.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yessir. Not exactly sure what kind? Are there different kinds? I would say that my favourite to write is angsty smut with lots of complicated feelings. And also I do like sprinkling some kink here and there whenever I feel like it.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I've only ever written one crossover and I still love the fuck out of it, it's a Witcher/Dragon Age one with my OC Tristan Trevelyan and Dorian Pavus and it was sooooo fun to write oh my god. I would love to revisit that universe ngl!!

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of? Depends on what we mean by stealing. I have had parts of fics of mine lifted and used in other fanworks without credit, it wasn't great but it's been a little while since then and I haven't noticed anything else (not that I've gone looking though).

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! A super lovely person has been translating High-Flying Birds into Vietnamese.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? Yes! I've cowritten several fics with friends and it's always so nice, I love working with other people.

What's your all-time favourite ship? Oof that's a tough question. If we go by number of fics written, it would have to be Patrochilles. If we go by number of words written, it would have to be Pavelyan (almost 450k 💀). If we go by number of fics I've read and bookmarked, it would have to be Sheith. So idk if I can give a straight and clear answer lol.

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? God I really do want to finish A World With You and I do think I will do it eventually, it's just that I know there's a LOT of it left and it's often really daunting. I also want to finish Where Blood Roses Bloom but, again, the plan I have in mind is kind of ambitious and it will take me a while to get there. Also, Blood Roses In The Snow is one I want to get back to, and that one would be easier to finish since there's only like a couple chapters left.

What are your writing strengths? Probably imagery, introspection, and I've also been told I write good action scenes!

What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue, probably. It stresses me out the most haha. I also used to be able to write complex plots but it's gotten quite hard lately, idk why :(

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I don't love it. I'm fine with a word here and there or even a phrase, as long as it's been sort of explained before or it's one that's widely recognised. I just feel like having a big chunk of untranslated dialogue in the middle of a story breaks immersion and I try to avoid it whenever I can.

First fandom you wrote for? Dragon Age, specifically Inquisition.

Favourite fic you've ever written? Noooo you can't make me choose, don't make me choose 😭 Damn that's tough. Twin Flames is still a huge favourite. A Place To Be is one I often come back to and I'm super proud of how it turned out. A World With You is the first fic I ever posted and the longest, I have spent so much time with it and it has a special place in my heart. And this might be cheating because it's my current fixation, but I feel like you're a walking disaster, and yet— is some of my best writing yet, I'm very fond of it.

Tagging forth to: @elveny @pikapeppa @mary-aries @darlingpoppet @pinkfadespirit @sketchass @starlightvld @petrowriting @in-arlathan @figsandphiltatos @heypax and anyone else who'd like to do this! (Also, if you don't want to be tagged for these memes let me know!)

#tag meme #fanfic writing

[uroboros-if]

i just wanted to say i adored the demo so much! not only was the game so aesthetically pleasing and nice to look at, the writing is *chef’s kiss*! i just love your writing! it’s amazing and i was completely immersed within the first few seconds. your IF is very professional and put together and i feel like it should be put in a museum! that aspect is just amazing and should earn its own showcase. but now onto your writing and characterization. i. am. in. love. i absolutely ADORE the ROs so much! i just love how different they are from each other. each of them have their own charm that’s unique to them. i am definitely going to play multiple times for each RO so i can experience each of their routes.

like Salvatore, to me, feels like when you see a cat all curled up, sleeping under a spot of sunlight shining through the window. just warmth and happiness, but also maybe don’t mess with them either, lol. like i cant wait to learn more about them and get to really know them past what they present to others. it’s very exciting!

and Luciel! oh, sweet Luciel. i adore them and all their calmness. definitely feel like a foggy, somber pond with a weeping willow where the air is crisp and clean. having a picnic there would be very lovely and i would love to take them on a picnic to a isolated place with a nice view. i also want to understand them more and why they seems so separated from everyone. and why they’re always so nice!

Ciocana! they were so fun during the dance scene. i think that was one of my favorite parts, lol. to me, they feel like you and your friends on a late summer night after sneaking out of the house, going to an abandoned building with a chain-link fence with a ‘no-trespassing’ sign attached. and you just HAVE to climb that fence and explore that building. i cant wait to learn more about them! they seem like a very complex character and those rumors, however true, are just the surface. so i’m excited to explore that dynamic.

and Alessi! ALESSI! i’m in love with them. i loved their introduction so much! the fire, the passion, the defiance. the way they refused to bow down was very iconic. definitely a rebellious, passionate activist vibe. like standing on a flipped over car, a microphone in hand, speaking passionately about what they believe in. you get goosebumps on your skin at seeing them speak and you feel invigorated after their speech. i’m so very interested to see how MC interacts with them and how the whole investigation goes.

all in all, i’m so excited for your story! everything about it is amazing and i can tell you’ve worked hard on this. so congratulations on publishing your IF!

i hope you eat lots of food, drink lots of water, get lots of sleep, and take many breaks. you deserve it! <3

also, sorry not sorry for the long non-ask lol

🥹🥹 Anon, I want to give you a hug 🫂🫂 I'm a little obsessed with your ask

I am so so happy 😭😭 I wish I had words for this, but I am speechless. I cannot match your amount of enthusiasm and appreciation; my gratitude is inexplicable within the constraints of the language--flawed and so limited.

Again, it is super surprising to me that people can see that Salvatore is putting on a front, so to speak! Not that they're disingenuous or faking it, but they present themselves a certain way because they have to. I'm not sure how people are picking up on it, but that is exciting news!! You perfectly capture the happiness and tranquility of bathing underneath the sunlight through the window though 🫶!!

I also absolutely adore the imagery you have for Luciel!! Do you mind if I take inspiration from you? 😭🥹💕 I struggle to describe the exact image they bring to mind, but what you said is absolutely perfect!! Just the right amount of peaceful and yet mysterious and transporting.

I'm glad Ciocana invokes that vibe as well!! They are definitely the definition of teenage defiance, of being told that you can't do something and just wanting to do it even more (which... is probably how their romance is going to be!). I'm super excited to explore them further!

Alessi definitely brings that to mind with their fiery passion! With such strongly-held beliefs, though, they'd likely be hostile to MC at first... but MC is a little different from the gods. So we'll have to see how they feel about that!

Again, thank you SO much for all your lovely words, and your very long ask. Don't be apologetic! You yourself must have spent quite the time writing this ask, which is profound. I sometimes think about how I've taken just a few minutes of someone's life, just so they can say such kind words. When time and energy is so finite, I just... it's the most precious thing to be given of all things. Thank you for your ask 💕🫂

#uroboros-if #uroboros #asks #anon #compliments

[zuzusexytiems]

what other jp fics would u recommend? (aside from ooml of course wink wink)

Hello, hello! thank you for sending this (and sorry for getting back to it so late 😭🙏) I've recommended some of these at the end of OOML 11, but I've been wanting to make a version for the tumblr crowd so here you go! 😊<3

Please note that there are still a lot of Jeanpiku fics that I have yet to read yet tho, so this list is very limited 😭🙏🏽 But hopefully I get to add more in the future. ����

Anyway!

All but the brightest stars by astralcrow

Absolutely obsessed with this fic. It's a Jeanpiku college AU where Jean and Pieck start off a little rocky, but find they have more in common than they'd initially thought. It's got everything: angst, comedy, drama, playful banter—all of it written in a perfect balance.

The author, Crow, also writes in a way where you can perfectly envision everything that's happening; the characterization, setting, and pacing are rich and vivid without being too overwhelming, and I would honestly say that this fic is an actual piece of literature in its own right. It's also fully finished so you don't need to worry about updates! (Unlike OOML sdjkbhuysd SORRY usdihsdu)

Not-So-Adorable Home by yanniyogurt

Another all-time favorite! NSAH hasn't updated in a while, but it's definitely still worth the read. Jean and Pieck have a bit of a history in this fic: they were childhood friends and had a falling out, and meet each other again when they're older, when Jean—without realizing it—moves into the apartment next to Pieck's.

Yany's writing is brilliant and engaging—the kind where you immediately get hooked in and forget that you're even reading at all. If you end up getting into NSAH, please show her some love! Your encouragement in AO3 comments helps us authors a lot more than you know 🥹 <3

and then the sea swept in by @anarkvli

This is the first Jeanpiku fic I ever fell in love with. Jean and Pieck both have very troubled pasts (to say the least), and are dealing with their own personal demons when they meet. Filled with angst, mystery, and rich imagery, this fic is very much worth the read as well. Say hi to Rae for me in the comments! <3

All of @sparklekitteh's Jeanpiku fics on AO3

Jules is one of my dearest friends, and she also happens to be wonderful writer! Her works are sweet and special, and each one will leave you smiling when you're done. If you need a good dose of serotonin, I highly recommend her stuff!

bakedpotatocat's Jeanpiku Week 2022 fic collection

Saying that I loved every single one of these fics is an understatement. I've mentioned it at the end of OOML 11, too, but this collection truly is the epitome of hidden gems within the Jeanpiku fandom. I don't even know where and how to begin; please just read it. I promise you won't regret it. 🥹🙏🏼

save your love (for someone like me) by kosms

I'm not usually into arranged marriage AUs, but hooo boy, this was good. This fic has either been deleted from AO3, or the author has changed handles—I was only fortunate enough to download it to my reader while it was still up, but it was brilliantly written, and although it only had one chapter, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If anyone who's reading this has the updated link to it, please let me know, as I would love to continue reading! If you're the author of the fic and you'd like me to remove it from the list, though, please also let me know! Your comfort comes first.

@0venmit's Jeanpiku fics on AO3

I've always enjoyed 0venm1tt's writing; one of my personal favorites is Bear With Me, but I've decided to go ahead and recommend everything anyway because 1.) I really enjoy their writing style, and 2.) I still have some of them on my to-read list—leaving this here as a little reminder to myself to get back to it! <3 Oven, if you're reading this, thanks for sharing your work with us; I know it's been a while, but I hope you're doing well!

Everything Has Changed by @elmundodeflor

Flor is a very good friend of mine and one of the best people I know; she also happens to be a brilliant writer, as well! This piece is her first Jeanpiku fic, but her prose is exquisite. Please give it a shot! If you're into Levihan, Flor primarily writes for this ship as well—her AO3 is a treasure trove for LH enthusiasts. <3 Love you, bestie!

A special mention to All Things Go: Chicago no Kyojin by @opelemmescootpastya

Yet another fic I still have in my to-read list, but I want to mention it anyway bc I've heard a lot of good things about it, so I want to pass it on to you guys 💜 The author, Em, is also super sweet and supportive and has made a lot of contributions to the JP fandom herself! Some of the chapters also have accompanying art that I'm sure you guys are going to love—I know I did. 🥹💜

Em also has some published one shots that are definitely worth the read! My personal favorite the Jeanpikuween one, which you can find in her AO3. Fun, quirky, and had me smiling all the way 🥹 Please also send Em some love if you can; she definitely deserves it!

Another special mention: @antehatsy's Jeanpiku fics on AO3

Irina's fics are in Russian, but even with just the translate feature, her writing is still very much enjoyable and something I still recommend. A lot of her work features Jean and Pieck in a post-canon friendship with Mikasa, and it's a very fun dynamic.

I also recommend going through Irina's profile. She is one of my most favorite Jeanpiku artists (and have her work posted up on my bedroom wall, lol 😅)

Anyway, I *think* that's it! I really hope I didn't miss anything 😭🙏🏼 Again, there are still a lot of JP fics I haven't read yet (I'm very slow to read in general, my apologies 😭), so this definitely isn't all of it

If you have any recommendations, please feel free to reblog this and add some; you can also send some in my inbox (even if it's yours and would like me to read)! I can't promise to get back to it right away, but I will very happily add them to my reading list and recommend them to other JP's, too 🥰

Happy reading, everyone! 💜🐴🛒✨

#jeanpiku #jeanpiku fic #jeanpiku fic rec