#like . as humans we live in such a hurry and then you have dream that at the time he must have been like 18

[thatone-brightstar]

someone i saw in a dream once...| C. Berzatto x fem!reader oneshot

a/n: creds to the lovely @thebearer bc i love her dad!carm blurbs and wanted to try it out myself... loved it btw. happy holidays and happy new year to you all 🎄✨🧸

ps. I was actually gonna call this "a very merry hoe-liday special" lol

WARNINGS: smut, piv unprotected sex, dirty talk, reader is on birth control but isn't mentioned (wrap it up IRL tho), minors DNI but you'll do what you want so don't say I didn't warn you

“Yours?” He asked lazily.

“Uh… no.” A nervous laugh escaped your chest from your space on the warm bed, one of his arms wrapped around you as the other played with your hand above the covers. “I don’t wanna argue about why we haven’t baptized her yet, again.”

“That’s fair.” He responded with a chuckle. 

“Yours?” You asked back.

Carmy shook his head immediately. “Fuck no.” 

“Y’know, she’s gonna ask why we’ve never been to her Grams when she’s older…” 

“And when she’s older. I’ll tell her ‘bout the time her ‘Grams’ ran the car through the living room on Christmas Eve.” He stayed silent for a little longer and you moved your gaze from your intertwined hands to his creased brows. 

As best as you could, you pulled your other arm from under the covers and up to caress the side of his jaw, drawing his eyes back to you.

“I don’t wanna put her through that shit.” 

You nodded and offered a thin smile “No- I know.” then dropped your head back over his warm chest. “We don’t have to do anything. We’ll just stay here, watch somethin’ make breakfast… and maybe see the lights when it’s not so cold out.”

“You think she’ll like that?”

“Oh yeah,” You reassured. “Pjs all day, presents and The Grinch? She’s gonna eat that shit up.” Your words made Carmy chuckle again, the sour memory buried back as he leaned down to kiss your forehead. 

“I dunno why she likes that movie…” He murmured, adding kiss after kiss around your beaming face. “Fuckin’ green thing’s creepy.”

You laughed and slid your arms around his neck while he dropped slowly over your laying body. “Probably reminds her of you, you grinch.”

“Oh yeah? You think I’m a grinch?” Carmy teased, smiling as he continued to drag his lips along your skin, down the side of your jaw and to the little spot against your neck that drew shaky breaths.

One of his hands pushed against the plush mattress to hold himself up while the other began to rake smoothly up your naked thigh. You nodded in agreement, giggling when the soft curls tickled the side of your cheek.

“Save it for naptime-” You reminded him. “Your kid’s got the best timing-”

Almost like clockwork, three little knocks barely rattled the door and you raised your brows up at Carmy.  ‘Told ya’ you mouth at him then asked teasingly “Who is it?”.

A little giggle made it past the wood, followed by a tiny voice. “Me mamma!” And another three hurried knocks.

“Come in!” You sang back again as Carmy pushed himself off you and you leaned up just in time to hear the door creak and catch the tiny human hurling herself into the unmade bed. “Omf!”

“Merry Christmas!” She shouted with extended arms once she managed to balance herself over the duvet on her knees. 

She threw her tiny arms around both of your necks and pulled you in for a hug as tight as her little strength allowed her. You corresponded the embrace, one arm circling her, while the other hugged Carmy. 

“Oh merry Christmas, pretty girl! Did you go see what Santa brought you?” You asked, pushing back the wild hairs she had inherited from her father. She shook her head no. 

“Aren’t you curious?” Carmy asked and she nodded. “Cause I think I heard a little bell last night…”

That was enough to rattle her excitement even more, a gasp obvious over her flushed cheeks and before you could say anything else, she dragged herself off the bed and onto the floor. 

“C’mon Daddy!” The little girl ordered, taking his hand and dragging him out the room with her. 

Your smile beamed as you waved a teasing goodbye at him, then threw yourself back, stretching your limbs into the bed. 

“Mommy hurry up!” You heard travel through the hallway and sighed out a short laugh.

“Comin’!”

**********

“Vale, baby, not so close to the tv, okay?” You reminded the toddler from your space by the kitchen counter, slicing up fruit for breakfast.

“I don’t get it…” Carmy continued muttering by your side while whisking the batter. 

You sniggered at his tone and shrugged. The theme song to the movie played through the speakers again and you could hear her little voice sing along as the stuffy in her hands danced to the tune. 

“I mean, what even is he?”

“a who…” You answered obviously and he furrowed his brows again.

“a what?”

“No daddy-“ She turned around and pushed herself up on the back of the couch to try and appear bigger, stuffed grinch hanging loosely from one of her hands. “a who!”

You laughed as Carmen nodded jokingly, mouth trapped in an obvious ‘oh’ shape and the sound of your laugh made her giggle even harder, before carefully crawling off the couch and padding her way into the kitchen beside him.

“What’cha making?” She asked curiously, standing on her socked toes beside him but barely reaching the top of the counter with her nose.

“Pancakes. You wanna help?” He asked and she nodded excitedly. 

Carmy turned to you with a small smile while wiping his hands on his rag, then moved down to pick up the awaiting child, who wrapped her tiny legs as much as she could around his torso.

“Alright chef Valentina,” He began, making her giggle and curl up against his side. “ wanna pour the chips in?”

He sat her on the edge by the bowl and handed her the cup filled to the brim with chocolate chips. It took both of her little hands to hold it and with slightly clumsy movements, she poured them in slowly. 

“Atta girl…” He whispered, holding the bowl steady so she could whisk them in, and something about the sweetness in his tone warmed your heart.

You eyed them every few seconds, an ever present smile on your face. It really did warm your heart to see him that way, sweet and nurturing and kind. Carmy was what you always hoped to find in a partner one day, the kind of person you dreamed about but always assumed you’d never have; yet there he was, perfectly present as he helped your daughter flip pancakes for christmas breakfast. 

“Mommy look!” She called towards you, making your smile grow twice as big, if that was even possible.

“I see baby, good job!” You praised too and moved to their side.

She stood on her step stool over the pan, at a careful distance from the fire, while you and Carmy guarded her sides. A kiss was placed on her wild hair as you brushed your hand over her back then laced in into Carmy’s arm, leaning your head on his shoulder. A pleasant feeling of contentment washed over you.

**********

Breakfast took up most of your morning, between batter stains and sticky blueberry maple syrup, it was as if the tiring action of flipping a couple pancakes had worn your daughter out and before her plate was finished, her head had begun tipping into it every few seconds. 

Carmy chuckled as he watched her chew herself to sleep for the third time while he got up to start clearing out the table. 

“I got it.” You whispered, afraid to wake her up, though she was already out like a light against her high chair. “You go put her to bed.”

“Alright little grinch,” He cooed and as soon as he pulled her up from her chair, her limp body draped over his chest. “how does a nap sound?” 

Carmy kept mumbling sweet words and rubbing her back in a soothing manner as he carried her into the room. You would have joined them, but he was always the better one to put her to sleep. Something about him gave her a calming and safe sensation. 

While Carmy took his time in your daughter’s room, you began to tidy up the kitchen. The ending scenes of the grinch passed through and the last songs served as ambience while you worked. You hummed along to the soundtrack, washing the last few dishes, when an arm gingerly circled your waist and the warmth of his chest pressed to your back. 

“Merry Christmas.” He whispered beside your ear, pressing a kiss to your flushed cheek as a beautifully wrapped box appeared in front of you.

You half turned to him with a soft smile pushing up against your cheeks. “Carm, we said no presents…”

“Just open it… you’re gonna love it.” Carmy said with his characteristic shy smile as he took the soapy dish from you and handed you a drying rag.

You dried your palms and took the small box with caution. After undoing the ribbon and slowly pulling off the lid, a beautiful heart locket shone back at you, taking your breath away. With a slow finger you traced the soft ridges and the delicate designs, as if a piece of lace had been dipped in molten gold then shaped into the small work of art

“Oh Bear, it's beautiful…” 

“And you can open it too” He added and unhooked his arm from around your hip to take the box back in his hands. 

Carefully, he picked  it up and pinched the sides open to reveal a tiny photo inside. It was from a few months back, you remembered the day. The Bear had just received its second star and Carmy and Syd had decided to close that day to offer another friends & family dinner. Richie had taken it outside the restaurant just before service. Carmy stood in the middle, with his pristine chef’s whites slightly unbuttoned, Val sat on his shoulders in her best dress and full of glee and you leaned onto his side, left hand cupping his cheek and glowing engagement ring full on display.

You sucked in your bottom lip to avoid the tears threatening to spill out, then turned to him fully and beamed with joy up at him. “You’re right, I love it.” 

His proud smile reached the little creases decorating the sides of his eyes before he leaned down to kiss you with adoration. 

Before he could go any further, Carmy blindly placed the necklace back into its box, then slid his fingers past your jaw, burying them in your hair. The movement of his desperate lips over yours left you breathless and despite not wanting to, you moved your face to the side to inhale a few deep and shaky breaths. He stayed glued to your skin, peppering wet kisses over your cheek, jaw and holding your hair up above your neck to grant him greater access into the area.

His other hand roamed down the side of your curves until it reached your hips, then it slid under the thin fabric of your shirt and up again, where it found your naked chest. His thumb skimmed over the tender skin of your nipple, making your hands tighten their grasp around the nape of his neck and sigh out another breath.

“Is she…” You tried to ask but failed as he continued his soft movements. 

“Asleep? Yeah.” He answered in a deep tone and hungry searched your lips once more.

With each stroke of his thumb and pull on your hair, you could feel him grow harder against your abdomen and the images crossing your mind didn’t help calm the arousal in your gut either.

“Good.” You smiled against his kiss and pulled him in deeper. “Room. Now.”

That’s all it took before he nodded rapidly and began taking quick steps forward, guiding you through the short hallway and into your bedroom, shutting the door lightly. Once at the foot of the bed, Carmy pulled your shirt off in one swift movement and dumped it somewhere on the floor. Now both of his hands held you by your ribcage, both palms massaging your chest and pulling little moans from your joined mouths.

“Fuck- I love you so much.” He groaned, slowly dropping you against the mattress and without daring to detach from your kiss, followed close behind.

Your hands found their own way to his hips, desperately pulling at the hem of his shirt until it was over his head in seconds, disheveling his hair even more. “I love you so much.” You mumbled back. 

Your clothes laid discarded around the room in a few seconds, leaving you buried in between the covers and him. A long sigh parted your chest when you finally felt the sweet relief of his cock inside you, matching his tempo with the strokes of his tongue against yours. Your legs parted even deeper to make space for his thrusts, one thigh wrapped around his hips to accentuate them even harder.

“Fuck- Carm-” You moaned close to his face, trying to be as quiet as you could with him slamming into you.

“Shh, shh- you’re doin’ so good baby-” He praised as he adjusted his weight on his arm and wrapped the other around your thigh, pulling it higher up. “God, you feel so- fuuck”

His movements faltered for a second and he gave a soft breathy laugh that fanned the side of your face, then he placed another kiss over your collar bone and began to slam even faster into you. 

Your soft cries vibrated against his skin and fueled his pace, almost rocking the headboard against the wall. Carmy rested his forehead against yours, looking directly into your eyes as he pulled your other leg up and spaced them both beside your elbows. The new change in position had you feeling him so deep in your core you could almost taste him and the way your eyes started to lose focus plastered a grin across his face.

“You love it when I fuck you like that, huh?” He asked in a breathless tone, but all you could do was nod frantically. “So fuckin’ beautiful…” He mumbled over and over.

Each stroke felt deeper than the last, the only indication of your upcoming orgasm was the brows screwed over your face and the trembling of your thighs. Carmy rocked himself continuously into you until you couldn’t take it anymore. A thousand little lights exploded behind your eyes, making your back arch away from the bed and your nails dig into his sturdy shoulders. Your walls contracted against his thick cock as he pushed in a few more strokes, before his chest shuttered with a contained groan and he let himself fall carefully over your panting chest.

Carmy pushed himself off you with effort and rolled to your side, then hooked his arm under your shoulders and pulled you to rest over his still rapidly beating heart.

“How does a nap sound?” He whispered over your head after a few silent minutes.

You chuckled at his tone but nodded in agreement, tracing little shapes over his chest until his beats took a more relaxed tempo and the breaths fanning over your hair grew longer and heavier.

**********

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[ataraxiaspainting]

Chrollo Lucilfer Yandere Analysis.

Yan Chrollo x F Reader.

Warnings: Yandere themes, kidnapping, not SFW (both non-con and dub-con), the reader is described as AFAB and uses she/her pronouns respectfully, forced tattooing, Chrollo having a god complex but that's nothing new lol, Stockholm Syndrome, stalking, parallels to religion (mainly Judeo-Christianity), implied body transformation (using Chrollo’s book), masturbation, manipulation, and violence/gore.

Word Count: 13k.

credits to @ddarker-dreams for the yandere MBTI and like everything she writes for this creepy greaseball (check her out if you haven’t already!!) <33333

another thanks to @depravitycentral for the inspiration! check them out too!!!! their general profile and nsfw profile for mr. chrollo specifically BUT everything they write is pretty good! <33333

one last thanks to @phasmophobia-territory for the ultimate yandere types list and @blughxreader for the yandere personality meme. both have inspired the unique qualities part of this analysis, so please be sure to check them out! <333

also, for quotes i tried to do something like genshin impact/honkai: star rail voicelines so i apologize if they aren’t good (ﾒ﹏ﾒ)

*~*~*~*

I look forward to living life with you from here on out. However, just know that there will be many different roads we will walk together on. Their lengths will depend on you, for better or for worse. As time goes on, however, I know that they will all end eventually.

→ Introduction.

The very definition of an empty shell, Chrollo has had his humanity stripped of him from a very young age. The only people who have ever made him feel something are all members of the Troupe or are buried underground, burning in hell or soaring above the clouds as angels, either one a much better existence than the life they all spent in Meteor City. So, when he sees you, someone who has been able to make him feel something without interacting with him at all, without the use of Nen, without even brushing your shoulder against him while running to your train in a hurry, he does not know what to do.

He feels like he is back to being a small child, roaming the streets and looking through dumpsters for anything of value trying to ignore the pain of the cuts and infections all over his body. You bring up a feeling he has not felt in years; fear. Despite this situation being far, far different from those times, his brain thinks otherwise. It sends him a fight or flight response every time he sees you, as much as he hides it, much like he hides himself among the crowds and crowds of people as he follows you home. You have resurrected a beast thought to be long dead, something innate, animal, almost carnal, without even lifting a finger.

Is this who he is, he wonders? He finally feels something, for once, a sense of belonging and identity and… humanity.

It fills him with a sense of euphoria, while you view it with dread every time his Zetsu slips for just a moment. You always look over your shoulder during those times and start walking faster, but definitely not enough to deter him, and it will never be enough.

→ Darling Character Analysis.

Creative.

Chrollo has a deep curiosity about the world and appreciates a darling who shares this thirst for knowledge and intellectual growth. The form of expression doesn't matter to him, whether it's through writing, music, or eloquent speech. What truly matters to Chrollo is that his darling can communicate uniquely and authentically.

In a concerning manner, Chrollo imitates his darling’s behaviors to an extreme degree, devouring everything they do with an insatiable appetite. It doesn't matter how his darling presents their interests to him, whether it's straightforward or not. For instance, if his darling mentions their love for playing the violin after spending days alone with only Chrollo for company, the next day a brand new violin will mysteriously appear on the table beside their side of the bed. Chrollo will secretly learn to play the violin himself, the one he purchased as well as the one he gifted to his darling, practicing when they are not paying attention or are fast asleep.

As a result, his darling may find themselves obligated to reciprocate this behavior by learning Chrollo's favorite musical pieces.

He will experience immense joy, perhaps so much that he will hold them down on the bed and shower their face with kisses while they squirm and kick. Even when they eventually stop, he will continue, disregarding their pleas for him to stop.

As always, his strength is overpowering, leaving you with no action to do other than to say no.

At least there is some form of care after it is all over and done with, although it always somehow involves blending with whatever activity preceded it. For instance, if it was playing the violin, he would play you with both your favorite pieces on the gramophone he put near the bathtub while giving you a massage and preparing a relaxing bath for both of you.

It is painful, more so than the usual ache between your legs, because he pays attention to your desires and exploits them, even when he appears to be gentle. The pain lingers, no matter how hard you try to disconnect from everything happening around you.

He gives you everything you want, and it hurts because you always know why.

Bold.

A darling who never hides their intentions and just goes for it would spark some sort of admiration in Chrollo, especially if they use their boldness on him as a manipulation tactic.

He finds it entertaining most of all, but also there is a small part of him that is grateful for it because it makes his darling seem more human to him and not just something to own.

Boldness is quite a human trait, one that he so adores, especially with those he holds close like fellow members of the Troupe. It is also quite a trait that can easily be manipulated.

If you attempt to flirt to lower his guard, he will flirt back twice as hard. 

When everything is over and done with, he will admit he knows exactly what you are doing as he kisses you again, you not kissing him back this time, as good as your acting was, much to your horror.

Resourceful.

Chrollo sees himself above the rest of man, a God in his way, so a darling who is quite similar to him he would adore.

That is not to say he could not fall for someone the complete opposite of him, someone who is impulsive and wears their heart on their sleeve and everything else he does not and cannot do, but the probability is low compared to a darling that plans everything and keeps their cards close, much as he does.

That makes escape attempts though, quite common, considering how resourceful his darling can be, like using a file to saw the metal in one of his safes or the iron on their leg keeping them in his penthouse. But he loves it, it is one of his favorite things about them.

It is endless entertainment to him, a sort of fight against himself, albeit he is much, much stronger when it comes to wits most likely. You can think on your feet as much as you want, but so will he.

He will mirror their actions until the end.

Independent.

Much like his beloved's cleverness, he derives amusement from their self-reliance. He takes pleasure in dismantling their barriers bit by bit until they have no choice but to rely on him completely.

Indeed, Chrollo views his beloved as simultaneously superior and inferior to him.

There is no equality between them, only a shifting power dynamic that his beloved will soon discover. They will never be certain if his actions, like retrieving their favorite snack from the top shelf of the pantry, are expressions of love or gestures of mockery.

At times, it may be both. At times, it may be neither.

His thoughts remain inscrutable, and he revels in it.

Cunning.

Chrollo loves it when your eyebrows furrow, when you’re deep in focus, especially when you are trying to come up with an escape plan and not noticing him right behind you, because of that expression on your face.

It’s unholy, the way he worships you with sacrifices both living and not. He wants to ruin you, yet keep you as you are. So, after a long time of pondering, he concludes. He will remake your shape, not enough to completely alter it, but just enough for your walls to tumble down and let him in. That is why while he will let you try and try again to escape, he will still attempt to get into your head. He is like a poison, a parasite, imprisoning you in your fears, insecurities, and plans that are doomed to fail sooner or later. It is what he wants to be, but he also wants to be more. 

More and more he will be, and more and more he will take from you. It is only natural to want more than what is given, correct? 

It is how Chrollo and the other Troupe members survived so long in Meteor City. They take and take, not caring who they hurt because it is human instinct to want and seize. He will argue as such whenever you try to guilt him because you will soon know that he holds no shame in whatever he does. He is selfish, and he wants to stay that way. He wants you to do the same, so he loves it when you fight him or try to run away because he knows it is only nature. Nature will run its course regardless of who wants it to not. Nature does not care, so why should he? Why should you?

But he also wants you to not be as selfish as him, despite him knowing that it most likely will not be unless you are broken down enough. But that is fine, Chrollo tells himself because that time will eventually arise.

Mature.

Maturity is an elusive quality that characterizes Chrollo, yet eludes him as well. It ebbs and flows like a breeze, carrying seeds to unknown destinations, beyond the perception of onlookers. Unfortunately, you, the observer, are an unwilling participant in the multitude of games he plays and the various disguises he dons. Occasionally, Chrollo can act impulsively, adopting yet another facade acquired from others in the interludes of his life. However, there are moments when he patiently waits for the opportune time to strike, akin to a cunning serpent. But this outcome relies on your level of vigilance or innocence. Perhaps, one day, you'll find it best to surrender to his will. Chrollo eagerly anticipates that day.

Hardworking.

Chrollo feels a mix of jealousy and a desire for control when he sees someone truly dedicated to their pursuits. He wants to replicate their passion and adopt a similar persona. At the same time, he is intrigued by their determination and ambition, as he wants to understand every aspect of their character. This admiration creates a thrilling challenge for him, as he seeks to imitate their drive while also appreciating it. He wants to both admire and exploit this trait to engage in a game of cat and mouse until they submit. Perhaps it would be good to do just that, to prevent yourself from getting hurt again.

Observant.

Chrollo finds great pleasure in the thrill of the hunt, especially when his keen-eyed darling begins to notice subtle indications of being watched. These signs, carefully planted by Chrollo himself, make his darling increasingly cautious. For Chrollo, taking risks brings great rewards. Although these signs are intentional, they still hold, don't they? A lingering footstep behind them. A faint smile on a stranger's face, an unfamiliar figure lurking in an alley near his companion's residence. These signals confirm that they are being stalked, and Chrollo is entertained by the fact that their sharp instincts assure them that this is no mere coincidence or misunderstanding.

Logical.

Chrollo's beloved should possess some semblance of logic, even if it deviates from conventional understanding. The key lies in their thought process, rather than adherence to reason. This cognitive approach, be it driven by emotions or rationality, captivates Chrollo. They meticulously evaluate facts, evidence, and outcomes, exercising caution in moments of perceived advantage, as well as during bouts of insecurity and danger, where they must think quickly on their feet. This mental calculus can either serve them well or inadvertently lead to their downfall. They carefully weigh the pros and cons, thus fueling Chrollo's insatiable desire for the fun of the chase, which hinges upon ultimately catching his beloved in the act.

A Leader.

If you hold a position of leadership, whether at work or among friends, this situation will be even more perplexing and distressing for you. In an instant, you were no longer in charge, forcibly removed from your familiar surroundings and confined. Your authority, influence, and status, which held great significance, have been stripped away. You may experience a profound sense of helplessness and powerlessness as if all your hard work has been unjustly taken from you. Chrollo, as your captor, will seek to exert even more control over you if you possess the characteristic of leadership. He finds it ironic that you are now compelled to follow him, forever robbed of the opportunity to lead while you remain in captivity.

Confident Outside, Insecure Inside.

Chrollo takes great pleasure in this particular attribute, as a mere few words, be they soothing or otherwise, have the power to manipulate you effortlessly.

You find yourself compelled to dance and sing, controlled by invisible strings or some intangible force, as there seems to be no other recourse in this predicament. After enduring prolonged isolation, you will unquestioningly revere Chrollo's words, no matter how distorted they may be, treating them as a testament to be praised. And Chrollo eagerly anticipates the arrival of that day.

It instills fear in you, as both of you are aware that such a day will inevitably arrive.

With a few choice words, Chrollo can elicit tears or smiles from you, a feat that few others have managed to accomplish.

You despise it, while Chrollo utterly loves it. Intelligent.

Intelligence encompasses a wide range of abilities, making it possible for Chrollo to be drawn to various types. However, what truly captivates him is a darling who possesses either linguistic or interpersonal intelligence, or even better, both. He desires someone who can effortlessly decipher people's intentions, using words that ignite a fire within him, even if those words are aimed at him or others.

The type or types of intelligence his darling possesses greatly influences their relationship. How he presents himself in public, whether as a kind gentleman or someone who keeps his distance, depends on their emotional intelligence and intuition. Additionally, Chrollo finds it incredibly appealing when his darling shares a specific interest that is completely new to him. This not only allows him to learn something new but also adds another mask to his ever-expanding collection.

Someone who is emotionally intelligent, like his beloved, would pose a challenge for him to manipulate. They possess the ability to understand him better than most, making it all the more satisfying for Chrollo when they succumb to his desires. After all, as Chrollo often says, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

→ Yandere MBTI: CAMS. (Cruel, Aware, Manipulative, Strict)

Chrollo possesses great skill in dismantling individuals but lacks the necessary expertise to reconstruct them according to his vision. Unfortunately, you have become an unwilling participant in his experiments. Share with him your deepest anguish and vulnerabilities. Chrollo also portrays himself as a universal remedy, claiming that he holds the power to alleviate all your suffering and resolve your troubles, provided you heed his advice.

However, he waits until he has captured you, and your defenses have crumbled. In that moment of vulnerability, when you are cut off from the world, consumed by sorrow, unable to eat or speak, he reveals himself as a deity. He extends his hand to you, leading you along a path he meticulously constructed. This path is filled with suffering, a never-ending cycle of waiting for both of you. But at the end of this dark tunnel lies Chrollo's ultimate desire: your affection.

What is your ultimate pain, what is your ultimate wish? I can provide anything and everything for you, beloved if you do not stray away from the light.

If you happen to encounter him in public before he abducts you, it is because he willingly allows you to do so, aiming to create a favorable impression that will prevent you from suspecting his true intentions. However, if you do find yourself growing suspicious, it is not without justification. Nevertheless, he will persist in attempting to dispel your doubts by showering you with more gifts and displaying gentlemanly behavior such as pulling out your chair and kissing your hand or inner wrist. Yet, everything appears excessively flawless, to the extent of inducing nausea. Everything is so… flawless all of the time, but only when you are around him and him alone. Ironically, despite Chrollo's desire to dissuade your wariness towards him, his tender and kind gestures only evoke fear.

Chrollo effortlessly switches between portraying himself as a divine figure and a malevolent force, adapting to the circumstances at hand. On one hand, he displays an uncanny perfection, never making a mistake and seemingly possessing an understanding of your thoughts and emotions even before you do. On the other hand, he reveals his true nature as pure evil by casually initiating a bet to see who can consume the most alcohol, leaving you as an unwilling participant in this game of his. As soon as you become intoxicated, he unveils himself as the embodiment of wickedness, groaning as your clothes rip off and you cry his mouth is on yours and he keeps murmuring things into your ear that are so much more terrifying than sweet and-

Panaceas are eternal, refusing to fade away, regardless of your preferences. And so is this situation with me, my dearest.

Chrollo often repeats the phrase that he would sacrifice his life for you. However, there is doubt as to whether he truly means it. His actions, whether they be subtle or overt, inflict daily harm upon you, both mentally and physically. He disguises his hurtful behavior as casual conversation, a serious one, and everything in between. Chrollo's self-centered nature raises the question of why he would make such a claim.

You remain unaware of his true intentions, as Chrollo holds the knowledge of what is genuine and what is fabricated close to his chest. He perpetuates this ambiguity, ensuring that you will never uncover the truth. Once again, Chrollo finds himself in a position of guilt, but the specific charges remain unknown. As an impartial judge, you can't discern between deceit and honesty when you have never been taught the difference. Chrollo, determined to maintain this state of uncertainty, ensures that the truth remains elusive, no matter what lengths he has to go to to make sure it stays that way.

Chrollo possesses the ability to assume various roles. He can portray himself as a reliable partner rather than a deceitful captor, a compassionate individual rather than a mass murderer, a savior rather than someone in need of rescue... The possibilities are endless. This charade is not merely a game to him, but a necessity to maintain his façade. Even if he desired to, he could never remove these disguises, as he is oblivious to his true identity, because who is he without his lies? Nothing? It is a sorrowful predicament for both me and him, you will think someday, one that may prompt you to ponder whether it is Stockholm Syndrome or your inherent empathy for others.

At some point, you will allow him to take what he desires, whether it be when he reaches a breaking point and loses control, or when you become desperate for any form of human interaction.

Whenever you are in need, call out my name. I will be there to provide whatever cure you desire for the ailment at hand.

→ Unique Qualities.

Yandere Type: 

Possessive.

Chrollo in one word would be selfish, and he himself would not deny that it suits him quite well.

Whatever he touches turns to gold in the most metaphorical sense. Whenever he sees something he wants, he will take it. Everything Chrollo takes either has rhyme and reason to it or none at all. He turns them into gold as a sign of who owns them. Even if you have fallen or will eventually fall prey to this touch. The golden touch immobilizes you so you never ever leave him. 

Like King Midas, he is selfish, and he takes pride in it. He is never humble in anything he does. That much is certain. He holds you in his arms at night like he knows your weight in gold, that he could never lose you as he lost himself all those years ago. His kisses are gentle when he wants them to be, or they can be as aggressive as he wants them to be. You’ll come to learn that it does not matter what you want, what matters is what Chrollo wants. Does not having a say in your hell hurt? Or does not having a choice help you justify to yourself that you must escape this?

Monitoring. (Watches From Afar / Direct Contact)

Really, it is Shalnark that does most of the work here, but it is still worth mentioning, especially since what Chrollo cannot get through traditional stalking alone, he asks a very teasing Shalnark to get for him. Though, if Shalnark fails, Feitan is put to the task, much to Feitan’s quite less than subtle annoyance, not that he would ever voice it. Through this trio, the work is separated into three strategies.

Chrollo’s way of finding information is as classic as it comes. Either he is observing you go about your usual day, to that coffee shop you visit before going to work, to the library you frequent on the weekends, to a park you like walking in to see the birds and to get a change of scenery while you read, or he is inside your home, looking through drawers, sampling some leftovers even from your fridge, and making a literal list of things to buy you either later or in the present moment and things to take with him when he inevitably steals you away. Shalnark’s way comes through the internet, through placing cameras in your home and showing Chrollo the footage day in and day out, and perhaps even making an online friend of you if you are that social with other people. To him, it’s all child’s play, especially with finding family members and friends of yours for later, to perhaps ask them questions under the guise of a fellow friend of yours even. But the information that neither Shalnark nor Chrollo can get from stalking alone relies on Feitan, which is where all the finding people you know and love trickle down and puddle at the bottom of this sort of vial of differing plans. This is a last resort, sort of, because there are better things that Feitan can be doing, really, but he is nothing less than loyal to Chrollo and the other Spiders, so he’ll find people who may know the answers his boss was looking for.

He does not blame Chrollo, because if the information was something even Shalnark could not find, it is something so secretive that it could metaphorically be so beneath the waves that it is on the bottom of the ocean floor.

Feitan takes on the role of the more experienced diver because he wants to make Chrollo happy.

Thankfully for most of those you know, only a maximum of perhaps five people are flicked off before you are brought to whatever penthouse Chrollo has bought for the next month or so. The rest can continue with their lives as it was, not that Feitan cares or Shalnark cares or Chrollo cares, except for poor, poor you.

Removing Nuisances. (Murder Likelihood: 8/10)

Similarly to gathering information about you, dealing with rivals follows a similar sort of hierarchy. Chrollo follows them, albeit with far less care and perhaps even stealing a few things along the way, if the rivals are rich enough, though that is quite rare to happen. Instead, he would try to threaten them through anonymous emails or letters, perhaps even with a photo of them sleeping thrown into the mix. But if that does not work, Shalnark is up next, digging up past searches and buyings that the rival perhaps regrets or wants to remain hidden. It could be anything, really, and soon this information will start to spread like a flame until the rival’s reputation is utterly ruined. If the rival is still stubborn about wanting to be romantically involved with you, Feitan is last, burying a corpse underground that looks far from the human it once was by the end of it all, and Feitan, unsurprisingly, likes this sort of business rather than simply lying in wait for a friend of yours to unfortunately cross his path.

Perhaps even Chrollo will join Feitan in this session or sessions. It sometimes happens, when Chrollo is too pent up or feeling especially angry, although he hides it well with a smile that is a bit too wide, at this rival in particular. By the end of it, when both he and Feitan look like they took a bath in blood with their clothes on, Chrollo laughs, and Feitan snickers. He feels good, both of them do. Maybe this is why Chrollo is so taken with you, Feitan wonders. The power and control that comes with you… it’s utterly addicting, isn’t it?

Adam and Eve. (Absolute Isolation) (Kidnapping Likelihood: 10/10)

Before he takes you away, Chrollo makes sure that whatever he cannot replace he takes with him. This includes memorabilia, photos, family heirlooms if you have any, and even annotated novels you have on your bookshelf with notes sticking out of them like sore thumbs. He manages to take it all away easily, just like he does with you. Chrollo, despite how selfish he is, still wants in some capacity to make you happy. In your “adapting stage”, you may be able to hide away from him in the bathroom and lock the door, but at least you will have the choice to continue whatever hobbies you had before that Chrollo allows you to do while you are self-isolating. 

He sees this small reason for you not to hate him entirely as a win. A triumph followed by many others to come.

Collector’s Habit. (Comfortable Imprisonment / Chains + Cages)

Chrollo’s penthouse is lined with things both of significance to him and you. Almost all of it is stuff that he has stolen, however, not that he cares. The paintings lined up in the dining room, the many pretty dresses put in your closet and you are forced to wear, the jewelry that he clasps onto your neck and fingers and wrists like chains, all of them are stolen in some capacity or another. 

The things that he had stolen from your home all look like they belong there, almost. Your favorite pink beret placed next to a porcelain plate of macaroons and fruit a note telling you to get ready for a date later in the evening, an old photo of you placed in a frame that ought to be at least three hours worth of your salary, your most cherished books all lined up next to Chrollo’s own, all the covers and sizes somewhat similar to one another that it almost drives you mad. It brings Chrollo comfort, while it brings you ire. 

Possibly, you’ll read one of his Dostoevsky pieces when you think he is gone, or you’ll try on one of his many fur coats when it gets too chilly or when you are curious. But curiosity always finds a way to kill the cat, because when you think you are not going to be caught, Chrollo finds a way to sneak up behind you and simply observe, smirking, even when you see him.

Attention-Seeking.

Chrollo has always been one to utterly enjoy being in the limelight. He loves acting parts, playing parts as classy as a Prince Charming to a part as scheming as a villain that has locked the princess in a tower. You get both, the unlucky person you are. He gives you roses and proclaims poems and confessions of absolute love and undying loyalty, but you then remember that he is the one that trapped you here, to begin with.

This life that was forced upon you is a fairytale very close to cracking and falling apart, but never does.

You are forced to be a helpless maiden waiting for a knight in shining armor to rescue her, but unfortunately for you, that knight is also the very evildoer in this story. So, you try to be your own knight, your own prince, but it will never be as close or as real as an actual hero. So, your attempts fail, regardless of how long they were in the making. You are not strong enough, not fast enough, and you simply cannot write your own ending in this whimsical tale if Chrollo is always aware of them.

But you come up with a plan that takes weeks upon weeks and months upon months for it to bear fruit. 

You'll comply with his desires and make your getaway when he least anticipates it. Thus, you're compelled to dance with Chrollo, flawlessly and without objection, to safeguard your plan. However, with each movement, it feels as though nails are penetrating your foot, for you're uncertain if Chrollo is aware of your actions, and it fills you with immense fear.

But it is too late to back out of this, so you keep on doing this waltz.

Eliminating Rivals. 

The basement, as always, is filled with dust and dirt with insects both alive and dead scattered on the floor next to Feitan’s equipment. Chrollo does not mind it, though, despite him still wearing the suit he wore when he was following you to the train station, the route you usually took to get back from your best friend’s house to your place. He does not like her, but he decides to let her still do whatever with her life as she pleases, unlike the person currently zip-tied to one of the rusty chairs with broken legs. As long as she does not try to seek to be more than friends with you, she’ll be safe from harm. Even though Chrollo’s gut is telling him that she will try, that she will kiss you, say “I love you” to you and maybe go on top of you in bed and-

He tries not to think about it, he is already behind schedule enough as it is, though he could just make Feitan do the work by himself. He tries not to think about it because he has to start preparing his penthouse for your arrival soon to come. He has already purchased some new comforter sets for the bedroom, along with some of the skincare products he knows you use in the bathroom. He’s busy, too busy to involve himself with something other than torturing this man and getting back on track. He focuses on the scene ahead, trying not to think about that friend of yours or the barista who always looks at you for a tad bit too long. If he let his emotions and not logic control him, he would have murdered half this town already and left love notes on their headstones.

He looks at the man, covered in his own blood, his own vomit, his own feces from being confined there for days before Chrollo arrived, deathly thin from starvation and dehydration. From what Feitan told him, Feitan gouged out one eye one day and the other eye the next day, leaving him blind and weeping, his vocal cords far-reaching past their limit, crying out gibberish like some sort of animal, something not too conscious enough of its surroundings to be anything considered even near human.

“Fei, do you hear that?”

“...I do.”

Sexual Drive: 5/10.

Chrollo knows most of what there is to know about sex, but not for his own pleasure. He uses this knowledge mainly in intelligence gathering, when Shalnark, Feitan, and even Pakunoda are not able to get the information the Troupe needs for their next heist. He holds sex with little to no emotional value because of this, since his love for the other Troupe members is high above what little admiration he could possibly hold for those people that he subtly interrogates while fucking them as gently or as hard as they want him to, whispering in their ear when they are feeling their most euphoric, asking them what dons are trading with each other and with what, asking them how the president of this company makes so much when the value of their imports and exports don’t exactly match up, asking them how exactly many secret passageways this mansion has… it’s endless, really, how much information he can get out of them. The human body is so vulnerable, especially when pain mixes with pleasure or pleasure mixes with pain or pain is alone or please is alone. Chrollo is grateful for it.

But when it comes to sex with you, Chrollo then finally sees the emotional side of this spectrum. Your bodies bond and become one, melting into one another as you both moan out each other’s name, lovingly yours and lovingly his.

This development does not surprise him because he does want an emotional bond with you in some sense of the word, he wants you to worship him just as much as he does with you.

Let us go, shall we? Before you could answer, his hand grabs your wrist, his grip making it impossible for someone like you to break away. We… have plenty to talk about and do, correct?

Violence Towards Darling: 3/10.

Don’t take this as a sign that he will not use violence on you at all. Believing that Chrollo's violent tendencies towards you are limited to slapping or ignoring you is a naive assumption. You soon realize that attempting to strike him is futile due to his lightning-fast reflexes. Fighting back against Chrollo will not resolve anything. Instead, you come to understand that he wants you to be like a pet, constantly performing tricks and obediently following his commands.

You wonder if he would also display you like a trophy. Uncertain, you contemplate whether or not you want to find out. Eventually, a few nights later, you dream of a life without Chrollo's constant control, where he does not touch you possessively and parade you around expensive events. You recognize that you are nothing more than his lapdog, his pet, his trophy.

However, Chrollo claims to see something more in you. Is he being genuine in his belief? Do you really desire to uncover the truth?

Violence Towards Others: 8/10.

In his search for you, he maintains his usual calm demeanor, though his eyes reveal his inner turmoil. Anger fills his vision, overshadowing any light. Surely, you couldn't have gone too far. He frantically scans the penthouse until he finds you on the balcony... in the company of someone else.

“Feeling intrusive, are we?”

He pays no mind to the identity of this person, although it's likely they are a former lover or at the very least, a love interest. Your declarations of love and reciprocated kisses leave no room for doubt. How they managed to reach this height is irrelevant to him.

Without uttering a single word, he opens his book, channeling an unseen force from his hands to your ill-fated companion, causing them to plummet to the ground amidst screams from both of you.

After a few moments of tears, mumbled apologies, and the utterance of their name, he informs you that a serious discussion will take place later. With that, you silently follow him back inside. He will contact Shizuku to handle the cleanup of the body in due time.

Vanilla / Kinky

Favorite Kinks:

Begging.

Both inside and outside the bedroom, Chrollo likes having you beg, from you begging him to let you orgasm to you begging him to get you that new book in that series you were quite interested in before you got stolen away. It’s a power dynamic no doubt, it makes him feel wanted by you, needed by you, loved by you. That’s all he wants, really, your love and devotion and for you to promise to be his sun and moon and stars, for you to say he is bigger and more important to me than the sky, for you to hold him, for him to hold you.

No matter how much time passes, how many different places you both stay in and leave, how many countries you visit for leisure or for Chrollo's next big scheme, he refuses to break this unhealthy pattern, even for your sake. He enjoys this routine, so why would he alter it? He will occasionally tease you for being rather selfish, even as you both grow older and wiser and your hairs both white and your skin wrinkly. He will even say it to you when your corpse is resting peacefully in its coffin, as he sheds tears for the first time in many years.

Every time please, Chrollo, please, I… comes out of your mouth, it sounds like to him, the most beautiful martial vow. 

He locks each and every one into the deepest crevices of his heart like unwilling prisoners, despite how small and cold and dead his said heart is, at least to you. They don’t want to stay, but they have to because I want them there in remembrance. Just like you. Poetic, is it not?

Voyeurism. 

The screen in front of him showed you coming out of the shower, your body dripping with soapy water with a towel on your body that barely covered anything and a smaller towel covering your hair that was put up in a clip. Shalnark placing cameras all around your place made things much easier to know things about you that he could not find out through traditional stalking alone. He is grateful for him.

Slowly, as he smiled, one of his hands went into his pants, then his boxers as he caressed the half-hard thing beneath them both. He kept groaning as it got harder and harder, his breathing getting faster and faster. He is not sure how much time had gone by, but he knows that there was now liquid, slow and warm, running down his legs and is all over his hand, and as always, you were none the wiser.

Oral. (Receiving)

Your knees are on the floor, having been there so long it hurts. Your neck is curved backward and your mouth is in pain from his large manhood in there like an unwanted intruder, as you desperately gag and choke and cry. The only reason you have not successfully gotten away is because one of his hands is grabbing the back of your head and pulling you every time you pull, hopelessly still trying to fight.

Your hands are tied behind your back with silk to not damage the skin of your wrists, while you desperately try to claw your way out of them.

You’re in the clothing that he wants you to wear, as usual, though calling it clothing would be an overstatement as it hardly covers anything. A black thong with a short skirt, along with a low-cut bralette. As always, you have no say in the matter, and even though you are unable to utter a word, he showers you with affectionate words, as fake as they seem.

Favorite Parts:

Your Thighs.

It is more of a comfort thing than anything else, really. The way that it is one of the softest parts of you, one of the meatiest parts of you, and, most of all, the easiest parts of you to grab and hold and kiss and press hickeys into and fuck.

It’s only natural for a thief to want to keep their prized possessions close to them, is it not, my darling? 

While Chrollo still places you all of his mementos and diamonds and paintings among the many, many other things he has hidden away in his current penthouse, seeing you as better than all of those things combined, he still sees you, in some ways, as something to be sanctioned, whether it be for your own safety or just his pure, unadulterated selfishness, or perhaps both.

So, he holds onto your thighs at all times pretty much, squeezing the flesh for either attention or just because he needs some security that you are still there with him, no matter how close you physically are to him.

He will occasionally rest his head on your lap, reciting his book aloud while you are obliged to listen. He never dozes off because he is too cautious for that, although he yearns for it. His desire to lie down and have you run your fingers through his hair as he gradually drifts to sleep almost surpasses all his other needs. It may sound like a fantasy for him, no pun intended.

However, it would be a nightmare for you, whether he falls asleep or not. But as always, Chrollo hardly cares. If you dare to object, your longer skirts, shorts, and one pair of sweatpants will vanish for approximately a month, only to be replaced by outrageously short clothes that barely qualify as attire.

They’re soft, just like your lips, your voice, just everything else about you, you, you. It’s the parts that most perfectly describe you, he’ll say, forcing you to tolerate all his touches because his hand is not going anywhere, just like the rest of me, sweetling.

Just stay still and let me see how plush you are just for me, alright?

If he ignores all the goosebumps and the shivers, he can assume that this is what heaven feels like. It must be, right, dearest?

Your Collarbone.

Despite everything else about him, Chrollo can be a sort of traditionalist when he wants to be. This applies quite rarely though, only really affecting the relationship he has with you, both inside and outside of the bedroom.

He likes how the bones stick out, the crevices just so perfect for him to slide the tip of his fingers across, just so perfect for him to kiss and bite, just so perfect to hang necklaces from so they are on a sort of diagonal and reflect the light, making them shine and making them highlight the hickeys that have been pressed into them, right below them, and right above them…

He forces you to wear all kinds of accessories and low-cut shirts that he can find, not caring how much money it would cost, just to see some diamond-encrusted choker on your neck. He says in the calmest voice he can muster that it is no big deal, darling, just trust me and I got this for you and you alone, now why don’t you be a sweetheart and put it on? You might think that a choker and a collar are essentially the same, as they both tightly grip the neck like a suffocating hold. However, Chrollo pays no mind to this, as owners don't concern themselves with their pets realizing they're wearing such a sign of possession.

Your Feet.

Chrollo appreciates art in his own unique way, specifically when it comes to sculpting and realism. He finds your feet to be truly exquisite, along with the rest of you. Despite your attempts to ignore it or cover them up, he has a clear fondness for your feet. Your toes are round, your heels are perfectly shaped, and your soles fit perfectly in his hands when he places heeled shoes on them. In secret, he also enjoys the scent of your feet, although he would never admit it. He would rather die than confess. 

Your feet are cute and can become sweaty and sticky, making them easy to hold onto, just like your thighs. 

Those traits really remind him after you orgasm, with you of course begging repeatedly for it a few moments before he lets you.

It's a hidden pleasure for him, even if you were to discover it, he would keep it to himself. You won't be able to get any information from him. If you do happen to find out, don't be surprised when a substantial portion of your jewelry drawer is filled with anklets.

His Fingers.

Chrollo admires his hands more than most other parts of his body. He trims his fingernails every two weeks, putting hand cream every time he steps out of the bath, never skipping this routine of his. The reason he admires his hands so much is that despite all the bloodshed and other dirty acts he does with them, they remain on the outside clean. It boosts his ego, in a way.

There are just so many uses for them, he loves flipping the pages of his favorite novels with them, he loves cutting food for both you and himself with them, he loves squeezing your thigh as either a warning or a sign of love… there are just endless possibilities, at least from his perspective.

But his new favorite thing is to fuck your clit with them, and yours alone.

Is it a privilege, then, that only yours can bring him such joy? Whether you believe it to be so or not, it holds no significance, for Chrollo finds pleasure in this, and only his satisfaction matters, given that he is the one who has taken you captive.

Please, Chrollo, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, I can’t take this anymore I-

His movements are flawlessly executed, almost unfairly so. They are deliberate yet unhurried, demanding your submission. However, he will only grant you this pleasure if you plead for it. The act of begging will consume several minutes, perhaps even a minimum of two, leaving you in a state of desperation. Meanwhile, he will revel in your discomfort, relishing the power he holds over you. This perverse satisfaction is what he adores the most.

As you wish.

Inevitably, you will find yourself succumbing to your desires, unable to resist the overwhelming pleasure he provides. Despite your stubbornness, your willpower will eventually crumble under the weight of his expertise.

He derives immense pleasure from knowing that he alone possesses the ability to bring you such ecstasy. This knowledge fuels his ego, heightening his sense of self-importance.

His Words.

Chrollo has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, but he also derives great pleasure from imparting knowledge and amusingly embarrassing others. And when it comes to you, he takes it to another level.

He constantly showers you with compliments, comparing you to famous heroines like Juliet and Ophelia from classic literature. He insists that you possess the same beauty as any damsel in distress from those timeless tales. To prove his point, he even offers to acquire paintings of these fictional princesses and damsels for you to admire and compare yourself to.

Wanting a break from his constant attention, you agree to his proposal. Besides, you get the bonus of owning some exquisite artwork. What could go wrong, right?

Well, it turns out to be a colossal mistake.

Upon waking up, you find yourself surrounded by what feels like an entire museum filled with paintings of fictional damsels, duchesses, princesses, and queens. The overwhelming presence of these artworks threatens to suffocate you. And to make matters worse, Chrollo insists on meticulously going through each painting one by one, forcing you to endure this ordeal that could very well last for days.

Your legs resemble hers, your lips resemble hers, your feet resemble hers... every aspect of your physique and the muse's physique that he remarks upon, leaves you feeling incredibly exposed, more so than ever before.

The duration of this process is absolutely exasperating. It leaves you feeling as defenseless as a lamb anticipating its fate in the hands of a butcher.

His Knowledge.

Chrollo truly treasures his knowledge, viewing it as divine nectar from the heavens, if indeed it exists. This belief is so strong that he occasionally overestimates it, taking every opportunity to display it in a way that impresses you more than anything else he does, both inside and outside of the bedroom. Whether intentionally or not, he will state the obvious, like pointing out that the creature you're observing in the rose garden during your “date” is not a slug, but a snail. 

It frustrates you, but you acknowledge that it could be worse–he could forbid you from venturing outdoors altogether. 

Surely, that counts for something, doesn't it? 

…Doesn’t it?

Fantasies. (Consent / Non-Con) (Coercion / Brute Force)

If one were to make a comparison, they would compare you to a piece of art so beautiful, that it is instinct to witness, praise, and worship until their bodies all turn to mere dust, in which they will be swept away by those alive who do not want your refinement to be stained by those who have passed on. For what is a beauty without a beholder? Chrollo will gladly take up that role, as he is the only one worthy of seeing such a piece. You, leaning on the pillows, legs crossed, hair put up in a neat bun, wearing makeup that he has said he likes on you before, looking up at him like he has come to bless you with a mere glimpse of the divine power he holds, wearing the black lingerie he chose for you to wear this evening, made of lace with patterns of roses scattered about.

This is his welcome home gift, from both himself and you. He may have requested that you could partake in this, but since you are doing it without any complaint but instead loving doing the task at hand, he could consider him soon becoming one with your body for the evening to be an award from you for all the work he has done for the Troupe these past few days.

If such a prize is laid before him, ripe for the taking, why wouldn’t he? So, without so much as uttering another word, he starts to undress as you watch, a mix of genuine joy and interest laid out on your face. He hasn’t even touched you yet, and with this simple act, you are bound to him with the invisible thread of lust.

When his boxers are all the way down, he approaches, and you don’t blink, wanting to take it all in. Shall the fun start? When your lips meet, all reservations that you once had dissolve, as few as they are now.

(But don’t think Chrollo respects your boundaries completely when it comes to sex; if you deny him enough, over the course of months and months, he will break his composure and show you where you belong; underneath him.)

→ Strengths.

Realities. (Your Own, His Avow) (Patient / Impatient)

The being that is above you in this bed is unlike any human you have ever met before. His looks and personality are all artificially crafted, like some automaton made to resemble actual living things, but do not stray far from their roots, what they were made for, and what they were made of. I’m real, you think, I’m real. Chrollo is not.

He’s aware of everything you do. Every step you take. Every word you say.

He is aware. He possesses knowledge of all things, much like the god he feigns to be. His understanding of emotions is as keen as his logical reasoning, resulting in a situation of dread that pertains solely to you.

It instills fear within you because he holds the key to all knowledge, while you remain in not-so-blissful ignorance.

→ Weaknesses.

Lotus Eater. (Dreamy Idleness)

Chrollo, despite his attempts to appear superior to others, is not without his flaws. If those around him stroke his ego, he becomes overly confident. Yet, if one were to try the opposite approach, it would have the same effect as boosting his ego. He is cursed with arrogance, always believing he is superior to others, even some members of the Troupe. Perhaps you can use this knowledge to your advantage. Faking affection could lower his guard and further inflate his narcissism. It is a strategic move, preferable to engaging in a physical fight that you cannot possibly win. 

Therefore, when you believe you have the opportunity to escape when his guard seems lowered enough that he won't immediately pursue you, you run. At that moment, his facade will crack, his eyes will grow emptier, and the hollow husk chasing after you will not resemble the Chrollo you once knew.

→ Daily Life.

Welcome. (Day One)

Chrollo remains a mystery begging to be left unsolved.

He rises at his usual hour each morning, and it's a rarity to witness him actually sleeping. His breakfast consistently consists of sausage and eggs, seasoned solely with salt and pepper, as he avoids other spices. He purchases fresh bread from whichever local bakery happens to be closest for the week or a few days ahead. Occasionally, if you're fortunate, he may bring back something sweet while out and about, such as a chocolate-filled croissant or a cherry jam-filled danish. However, trust, whether in platonic or romantic relationships, is something that must be earned.

Interestingly, it appears that regardless of the circumstances, Chrollo seems to possess a certain level of trust that you won't make any foolish choices. On your initial day in this penthouse, he simply greeted you, patiently waiting until the effects of the drugs wore off, allowing you to cry on the bed until your tears ran dry. He comforted you, softly shushing you and gently caressing your cheeks with his thumb.

Yet, he never becomes too intimate.

Was that his motive? Is that why he opted to masquerade as a compassionate gentleman rather than a captor? Instead of asserting his authority, he chose to console you, demonstrating that such solace could be snatched away in an instant. You were oblivious to his true intentions. On that initial day, you wept more than any other day, the taste of mint on Chrollo's breath and the aroma of coffee still etched in your memory. He would inflict further harm, and for the sake of your sanity, you believe it is preferable for him to remain an enigma, shielding you from the repulsive monster lurking beneath his attractive facade.

What Could Be. (And What Is)

Strangely enough, there are still parts of your life after Chrollo has captured you that would still sort of count as normal enough that you could turn the other way and ignore all other cosmic horrors that are happening in the general vicinity. You could still decide what you want to eat and drink that day, what to watch, what to read, what time to wake up and what time to go to bed, what to write in your diary (that not-so-strangely has its lock missing now), listen to the morning birds or to the music that Chrollo allows you to listen to (which is most of it, shockingly)... the list really is endless, really, aside from a few things that you forget sometimes, much to future you’s horror.

But sometimes you forget on purpose, to divulge in the fantasy Chrollo has carefully crafted for both of you, either to fool him or your walls really are as broken down as he wants them to be.

He finds it nice when you ask him questions about whatever place he has rented for the two of you for the time being, the location at hand most likely being related to the Troupe’s plans to steal whatever is of value. He likes to show off, and to listen to him talk for hours requires the patience of a saint.

→ Punishments. (No Punishments / Tortuous Punishments)

Welcome Again. (Failed Departure)

The penthouse looked to be the same after you ran out the entrance door that you lockpicked. The fireplace was still lit. There was still a smell of peppermint in the air along with some scent of coffee, lattes maybe. Everything looks the same, just as it always has. It nearly scares you more, how calm and warm this place is, than the hand that has a grip on your wrist so tight that you feel like he will dislocate it in the very least.

But he does not look angry, but that smile is not good at all either.

He does not say anything as he closes the door behind him, turning the lock on the door so it will remain that way. He does not say anything as he continues to drag you, albeit a bit more tight in his grip now that you are within his grasp once again. Whatever you say goes in one ear and out the other, and you know better than to struggle and scream, because you do not want this day to result in yet another bloodbath, and it would be useless anyway, even if someone came to rescue you. That is why, like the sort of pet you were trained to be, you bite your tongue and obey. He seems to not be angry now, but who knows what awaits you once you are in the bedroom, where most talks and actions are the consequences of your supposed crimes. You can’t really breathe, but that is alright. Chrollo will help you every step of the way after all, as the dutiful owner he has come to be.

Perhaps a pet is all you will be.

He wants you to look up at him like some god, some deity that you worship with all your being. But you can’t, not yet, and Chrollo knows that. Perhaps some methods unknown to you but known to him can help, can’t it?

He hopes so for your sake, but what do you hope for, wish for? You don’t know, and maybe never will.

Venus Fly Trap. (Temptations of a Liar)

Chrollo is well aware of the diverse array of predatory flowers, each manifesting in its own unique way. Perhaps you too possess such characteristics, with your alluring fragrance and honeyed speech, deceiving him into a false sense of security before stripping it all away. However, there is one crucial detail you seem to have overlooked. What transpires when a venus fly trap ensnares a prey that surpasses its own size and devours its own kind and others, rather than the typical fly it ensnares?

Undoubtedly, they suffer. Yet it appears that this lesson has eluded you thus far, hasn't it?

You have displayed kindness, sweetness, and a willingness to comply, within certain limits. Undoubtedly, you possess some degree of skill, though not enough to deceive him, the enigmatic masked orchestrator of this theatrical production.

Therefore, it is without much remorse that he renders you motionless with delicate silk and persuasive words that possess the potential to sting, should you ever dare to push him too far.

However, deep down you are aware of the truth, just as he is aware too. If he doesn't take a firm stance, what other undesirable situations will you find yourself in? With a single hand, he flips open the book, while using the other to shush you.

“A shame,” He says, turning the pages. “A crying shame, really. The sky is so lovely tonight… Who knows when we will get this scenery again, hmm?”

You don’t know what he will do to you. 

…Does he?

→ Quotes.

Hello.

Greetings. It is truly an honor to meet you face to face like this at long last, [First]. There is no need to introduce yourself to me as I already know who you are. That, and… hmm. That, and I think you are not all there right now. Please, I recommend relaxing and listening to what I have to say. But just to make sure, try to speak to me… as expected.

Chat: Ballet.

All dancers must put themselves fully into whatever moves they do. I suppose that can be the same thing for you and me.

Chat: Athenaeum.

Libraries and archives are some of the places I enjoy going to the most. Maybe if you continue behaving, I’ll take you to one nearby.

Chat: Reimbursement. 

Quid pro quo, darling; I assume you know the best ways to compensate me for the broken locks?

When It Rains.

The rain is perfect for a day of staying inside. Though, hehe… you’ll be indoors no matter what, right? Good thing you have me as company today. …What do you mean? I leave sometimes, mainly to get you things might I add. I suggest being more grateful if you don’t want that koala plush to disappear.

After It Rains.

Sigh… the smell of morning dew and the sounds of birds chirping… simply marvelous. Let’s go dance on the balcony, but be sure not to get your new shoes wet and slip. I would hate to have to bring Machi again.

When Thunder Strikes.

Aw, are you going to cling to me so cutely whenever there is a storm? I wouldn’t mind that, I’ll even give you more blankets to hide in if you wish. …Wait, dearest, come back… sigh… of course she hid under the bed again.

When It Snows.

So cold out there, isn’t it? If you ask nicely, I’ll give you back your socks and slippers. Go on.

When the Sun Is Out.

Let’s go on a walk tonight when it’s not so hot out. The sunset’s beauty will only be second to your own.

Good Morning.

Good morning, love, I made coffee. Feel free to use one of the creamers I got you, and there is oat milk near them somewhere in the fridge… Hm? I have never really been a fan of sweet drinks, so black coffee tastes good to someone like me. 

Good Afternoon.

Sure, you can cook lunch. But allow me to cut the ingredients and heat sources. We know how you used them last time.

Good Evening.

It’s so quiet you can only hear the crickets chirping. It’s quite a romantic atmosphere, isn't it?

Good Night.

Ah ah ah. No bed for you yet. Give me a goodnight kiss first. No, you can’t sleep on the couch either. Or the floor. If you keep refusing, I’m going to ask you more questions than yesterday. …That’s better.

About Chrollo: Tattoos.

There is something comforting about them, I think. No matter what the person does to reject it, it will stay. The permanence of such an act should also be what you should be. Now, bite me again and you will sooner than later find yourself in a tattoo parlor. Am I understood?

About Chrollo: Lies.

Don’t say that, my love. I’m not lying to you, I’m just picking what parts of the truth to show and hide. There is no harm in that, I think. 

About Us: Home.

This place is much more human with you in it. Do with that as you wish.

About Us: Cull.

Life and death have a sort of agreement. A contract if you will. The more lives taken by your hands, the more your own life is put at risk. Quite poetic. Like everything else in life, there must be balance.

About Us: Matrimony.

Being bound by just a few words… The very idea is beautiful in my opinion. If you want, we can get married. It is not like anyone else is going to put that pretty ring finger of yours to good use, anyway.

About Us: Panoply.

Anything you want you shall receive. Just say the word. Unless it is already here, which is a possibility.

About You: Humanity.

The human psyche is truly fascinating, don’t you agree? All it takes is a few words or a few actions and it all comes crumbling down. Like you.

About You: Epiphany. 

Not a man, not ten men, not a hundred men can ever provide me with the same joy you give me. You’re special, you know? You make me feel… alive.

Something to Share.

“Be glad as children, as birds in the sky.” A quote from Fyodor Dostoevsky. But… birds are constantly migrating to better places, so really, are they grateful and glad for the gift of life?

Interesting Things.

I see you are doing experiments with pH again. Just be sure to not use all of the vinegar, please. And no, vinegar cannot melt a door, for the final time. 

About Nobunaga.

He thinks more with his heart than his head. But he means well for the Troupe. Or himself when he makes someone call to order takeout for him. 

About Feitan.

I learned a lot of torture methods from him. He truly is the best at what he does. As for social skills… not so much. But everyone has their ups and downs, and that is Fei’s.

About Machi.

One of the most loyal people I have ever met. Also one of the most in tune with their wants and needs. If she thinks of something to say, she’ll say it without a doubt. She is very transparent when it comes to that kind of thing.

About Hisoka.

Hisoka… he is very… out there, isn’t he? But he is valuable to me, so I give him free rein to do whatever he wishes.

About Phinks.

One of the physically strongest. Though also one of the only ones to ever get a laugh out of me. Shizuku once asked him why he did not have any eyebrows, and the way he stopped talking and stared at the ceiling caused us all to snicker. Feitan did earn a blow to the head by the end of it because Phinks does not hit women… He is much more gentlemanly than he appears.

About Shalnark.

When it comes to computers and such, Shalnark is the person to do it. He was the one to convince me to get a newer phone model and taught me how it worked. He kept chuckling as he did, and every question I had asked earned a wide smile in response but no actual answer. He says I am an… “old man at heart…?”

About Franklin.

He is not the most talkative one out there, but if ever comes to games to decide matters, he is the one for the job. Once, Uvogin betted fifty thousand Jenny if he ever beat me in chess. Franklin managed to almost win in the end, but he gave up at the last moment. He said he couldn’t bear to do that to me.

About Shizuku.

At long last, she at least remembers my name. She is quite charming in her own way… I see why Franklin took on a sort of caretaker role for her.

About Pakunoda.

Paku… Paku is one of the sweetest people I know. Whenever I didn’t feel well, she was the first one to come and help me feel better. She even fed me her rations, regardless of the tough times we were put through. I should ask her to make me soup again, I have missed the taste of it…

About Bonolenov.

When he trusts you enough, he has quite a humorous and proud side. He is very proud of his culture, and as someone who did not have one as a child, I find it very admirable.

About Uvogin.

I swear he could drink enough beer to kill a whale and still not be satisfied. The same goes for fights. Any challenge goes, whether that is an eating or video game contest.

About Kortopi.

His copying ability is quite useful, and Nobunaga wanted to give him a haircut using his sword. He declined of course, much to Nobunaga’s disappointment. …Hm? A copy of you? No, you are priceless, and nothing can ever compare, even a version of you that does everything I ask. There is a charm to your disobedience. That, and Kortopi cannot make living copies.

More About Chrollo: I.

Come. I got you some books for us to read together. But before you touch them, I must tell you that you can only read them while on my lap. Isn’t that such a great deal, dearest?

More About Chrollo: II.

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven…” Yes, I can see the parallels between this line and myself. Is that why you decided to show me this? …Oh, you just wanted an excuse to call me Lucifer again. Do what you wish, I suppose. But please put that book back on the shelf where it came from when you are done. You know I hate it when you mess up the categories. …Hm? Don’t do that, or I won’t get you any more mochi. …You know my threats aren’t empty, my dear.

More About Chrollo: III.

…Do you need something from me, dearest? No? …Why am I asking? So you just happen to be pressing your chest against my arm for no apparent reason? …I see. Well, if you want my attention so badly, who am I to refuse?

More About Chrollo: IV.

Yes, that note is from me. That gift is also from me. Open it, please. …You should try wearing that set next time. Your thighs will stand out better. You were the one that was asking last night, not me. Ah, you are feeling rather adventurous these past few weeks, aren’t you? …Looking for something? Is this it? You know, I’m disappointed in you, to put it frankly. I thought you were coming around. You know what happens now, don’t you?

More About Chrollo: V.

Time has certainly sped by, hasn’t it? Let me give you a word of advice. No matter what happens, always remember those who have gotten you to where you are now. As a result, your situation can prove to be much less isolating that way. …Yes, that includes me. For when you are alone, my dear, your mind always finds a way to eat you whole.

Chrollo’s Hobbies.

Leading an orchestra and executing a grand theft operation share fundamental principles. It is imperative to maintain a commanding presence, ensuring that others adhere to your lead. Collaboration becomes the pivotal factor in achieving triumph during such endeavors.

Chrollo’s Troubles.

I find it perplexing how some individuals effortlessly navigate life with a serene demeanor, rooted in their unwavering sense of self. Maybe it stems from a twinge of envy, or perhaps there's another elusive element at play. But being envious is part of being human, is it not?

Favorite Food: Black Squid Ink Carbonara.

It is briny, and salty, like the sea. Quite refreshing as well, especially paired with homemade pasta. Only the best quality is allowed. …I am not being too picky. Do you know how many children in Meteor City have grown up never eating from a fast food place, much less a local restaurant? I simply am greedy because I can now. I couldn’t before, and that is why I do so as an adult.

Favorite Food: Opulence. 

As an adult, my current ability to indulge in greed is a newfound privilege that I couldn't have experienced previously. Hence, I find it impossible to resist the temptation of adding an extra serving of truffle or caviar to my plate.

Least Favorite Food: Canned Cabbage.

One of the very few foods I refused to eat unless absolutely necessary was canned cabbage. It was slimy and always came in watery vinegar with mostly moldy parts… I was desperate, but not desperate enough to eat that. Machi, Nobunaga, and Phinks all agreed. Feitan didn’t, much to everyone’s annoyance.

Least Favorite Food: Waste.

Paku, Machi, and Feitan had a sort of pact that they forced on the rest of us to never throw away things that were still edible. According to Shalnark and Uvogin, moldy food is still edible. Phinks and I disagreed but… we got outvoted. 

Receiving a Gift: I.

Indulging in scrumptious meals truly possesses the power to alleviate all worries. So, how can I express my gratitude?

Receiving a Gift: II.

Oh? Thank you, dearest. …For your own good, you better not have put salt instead of sugar this time.

Receiving a Gift: III.

Ah... considering you seem to have a moment to spare, would you be interested in sitting down and enjoying a shared reading session? The choice of material is entirely up to you, of course.

Chrollo’s Birthday.

You are such a prize, you know? You’re in an outfit worth its weight in gold, actually, now that I think about it, diamonds. Autumn has set in, the weather gets colder, and the food gets warmer. Perfect time for spending quality time with someone, wouldn’t you say so? Please, allow me to do this with you, [First]. I have never really cared for this day if I am being honest, but… now that you are here, I feel like new opportunities are around every corner.

Birthday.

Happy birthday, [First]. Within reason, I would like to treat you to whatever your heart desires. Food, art, wine; anything, just tell me, alright? I will see to it. …Heh. I’m afraid a fall from this penthouse will not be enough to kill me. …No, I am not going to put it to the test, since I am certain about it. Please think of something else. The world is your oyster, dearest. But… remember that I can always close it before you can get to the pearl.

Feelings About You: Ethereal.

This feeling… I haven’t felt something like this since… Hmm? Am I? Quite the observation.

Feelings About You: Euphonious. 

…I miss your voice, you know. I always like it when you get caught up in a topic that interests you, no matter what it is. …But last time I took the gag off and took you out, you behaved quite terribly… Here, I’ll tell you what. I’ll take the gag off, and I’ll get you something related to your interests, and then we can talk about it. Does that sound good to you?

Feelings About You: Eternity.

We shall be together forever, bonded at the hip if we must be. I promise you. Do not worry about the details. It does not matter if you like it or not, because I will take care of whatever obstacles get in our way. Whether that obstacle is you or any… outsiders.

Feelings About You: Elision.

Do know that I do mean it when I say that I do want to make you happy. Yes, our relationship is less than ideal, but in the end, just know my feelings for you are indeed sincere. …I’m not exactly willing to take criticism, but I could try, perhaps. If you like to do so, I am willing to compromise, though.

→ Conclusion.

You never hear Chrollo in his movements, but you do in his actions when he wants you to.

He puts far more effort into the little things, the details than outright saying his feelings for you, or just telling you his threats. That mysterious gift that appeared on your bed while you were away at work, that just so happens to contain some of your favorite sweets? 

The bouquet on your kitchen table that was placed while you were asleep? The box of dozens if not at least a hundred pictures of you by your mailbox when you tried to file a police report? 

Chrollo is patient to a fault. You will never know what is happening, at its fullest, until it is far too late.

You can put as much blame on yourself as you want, and hate yourself as much as you want, for not realizing how dangerous this entire situation is. But this position under Chrollo’s thumb is so much more horrifying than you could ever imagine, so do not blame yourself for not noticing everything at once.

That is not to say Chrollo won’t try to degrade you into thinking this is all your fault.

Your walls will be as good as broken and crumbled down sooner than you think.

#aya analyses #yandere hxh #yandere chrollo #yandere chrollo x reader #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere hunter x hunter x reader #yandere hxh x reader #yandere hunter x hunter #yandere chrollo lucilfer #chrollo x reader #hxh x reader #yandere chrollo lucilfer x reader #hxh smut #hunter x hunter x reader

[ckret2]

Chapter 31 of human Bill grudgingly enduring being the Pines' prisoner because the Henchmaniacs won't take his call: Summerween night! Everyone gets ridiculous costumes!

The Summerween Trickster's buddies are attempting to resurrect him. Robbie's making a music video. Bill's attempting to woo Ford back into friendship, to terrify Dipper with cursed knowledge, and to recover his dignity from THE most gentle chastising imaginable, and he only succeeds in 1 out of 3 of these endeavors:

It's not this one. He's just gotta process these emotions while wearing that stupid wig.

####

Soos was putting the final touches on his cosplay (the suave and mysterious Masked Guy In A Suit, love interest of the heroine from the classic anime Teenage Planetary Soldier Girls) when he heard the phone ring in the office. "Hold on, I'll get it!" He hurried downstairs, ducked under a construction paper chain Mabel had strung over the door, picked up the phone, and said, "Hello?"

A mysterious voice droned, "The sun sets a deep blood red."

"Oh, no thanks, we don't want any." Soos hung up, sighed happily, and said, "Ah, Summerween. Always brings out the weirdos."

"Hey Soos!" Mabel ducked into the doorway. "Where's the candy bowl?"

"Oh, hey Hambone. It's in my bedroom." He put on a stage whisper. "I put it in there so Bill couldn't steal it."

"Thanks Soos!" She ran upstairs.

Dipper and Bill waited downstairs, the tension thick between them (on Dipper's side, anyway; Bill—watching a black-and-white horror movie, sipping at a can of cider, and brooding over going to voicemail—didn't notice). Dipper was waiting by the door in a folding chair; but he kept glancing toward Bill in the living room. When the silence got too much to bear, he asked, "Okay, what are you dressed as?"

Bill was wearing a brown bedsheet toga (the most historically-accurate part of his costume); a cheap wig of a teased mullet that had ended up mostly red with yellow streaks, forming a plume of hair right over his head and then a long straight tail he'd draped over his shoulder; and a bunch of paper faux-Greek homes taped all around the hem of his toga, forming a ring around his calves.

"And are those my sandals?" Dipper asked.

"Take it up with Mabel, she loaned them on your behalf," Bill said. "I'm not telling my costume. You have to guess it."

"Seriously?" Dipper sighed. It had to be a god, gods towered over their mortals' temples. What god would wear brown? "I don't know—Demeter?"

"What? No. Do I seem like the Demeter type? Pathetic." Bill waved off his guess. As Mabel ran downstairs, Bill said, "Hey, Shooting Star, you haven't made your official guess yet."

Without hesitation, Mabel said, "A time-traveling hair metal singer touring the Roman Empire and trying to find a way home before his hair dye runs out."

"Wrong, but I would love to live in the world you've dreamed up." He meandered into the entryway to join Mabel as she plopped down in the second chair by the door.

Dipper screwed up his face. "Are you helping us answer the door?"

"No, you're helping me answer the door. I'm cursed, remember?" Bill leaned over Mabel's shoulder, dug into the candy bowl, and popped a lollipop in his mouth. "But you're not getting rid of me, if that's what you're asking."

Soos headed to the door, cape billowing dramatically behind him. "Hey dudes. Hey Bill." He paused in the door, studying Bill. "Hey! Is that a Bobo the Uncouth Berserker cosplay?"

Bill blinked. "Who?"

"Bobo the Uncouth Berserker! You've gotta read Bobo. He's this primitive hero descended from lost Lemuria who goes on daring adventures through the lush impenetrable jungles of Central Europe. He's got this comic that was so popular it spawned an anime, which got an American movie adaptation, which formed the basis of a second comic continuity that isn't as critically acclaimed as the original but has drawn in a lot of new fans... and..." Soos petered out. "You're not Bobo, are you."

Bill shook his head. "Thanks for playing."

"Aw." Soos's shoulders slumped. "Anyway—me and Melody are gonna be at the cosplay contest at the theater. I'll keep my phone on in case of monsters."

"We'll be fine!" Mabel said. "Go have fun!"

"You too!" With a dramatic flourish of his cape, Soos disappeared into the night.

Bill watched Soos go enviously. He could have been given a human body that looked that good in a suit and top hat, but was he? No. It wasn't fair. And Soos didn't even wear the right hat size.

Dipper glanced sideways at Bill. "Hey. Is... Lemuria real?"

"Not anymore." Bill perked up as Stan passed by, dressed like Frankenstein's monster. "Hey, Stanley! You haven't guessed yet. What am I?"

Stan surveyed him. "White columned buildings, Statue of Liberty dress, and a red clown wig. I dunno, the American government?"

Bill squawked in laughter. "That's my favorite wrong answer so far. I like you, Stanley." He fished a chocolate bar out of the bowl and held it out.

Stan grunted in disapproval, but accepted the candy. "If any of you need me, I'm gonna be up on the roof, terrifying kids." He held up a boombox and a cassette that said "Spooky Sound Effects of Halloween". "If you hear screaming children, don't worry: that means I'm winning."

"Where's your brother?" Bill asked.

"Avoiding you." Stan passed through the living room and left.

Bill's shoulders slumped; but he just dug into the candy bowl for more chocolate. Then the first trick-or-treater knocked on the door, and Dipper jumped up in relief to answer it.

The shack didn't attract quite as many trick-or-treaters as the houses closer to the center of town, but they got a steady stream of children, and more than they'd gotten the year before. Between visitors, Bill dug into their candy stock, gleefully ignoring Dipper's complaints. After the fourth or fifth visitor, Dipper and Mabel realized that Bill was covering up the amount of candy he'd pilfered by meticulously re-folding the empty wrappers and putting them back in the bowl.

"It's fair play," Bill said. He untwisted one end of a Twisty Roll tube, squeezed out the candy, blew into the wrapper to re-inflate it, and twisted the end shut again. "The kids are trick-or-treating, right? Sometimes they get treats and sometimes they get tricks."

"Come on, seriously?" Dipper said. "Even for you this is low. You're literally taking candy from babies."

"The babies are trying to take candy from us. I have no sympathy." With the precision of an origami master, Bill refolded a paper fruit chew wrapper into a box and dropped it back into the bowl.

"They're supposed to take candy from us, that's how the holiday works." Dipper looked at Mabel for support.

But she was holding up an empty 3 Fencers wrapper and squeezing it lightly between her fingers. "Wow. How did you make the wrapper puffy again? It's so convincing."

Bill shot Dipper a nasty smile, then turned to Mabel and said magnanimously, "I'll teach you everything I know." He twirled a glue stick between his fingers.

Another trick-or-treater knocked, and Dipper answered.

"Trick or treat! Please give us the worst candy you have."

Mabel blinked, leaning around Dipper to see who was outside. "Wait, what?"

Outside stood a purple-furred monster with a dozen limbs from a dozen different creatures. He gasped in surprise. "Ohhh, twin costumes! That's so cute! What are you two, haunted dolls?"

Dipper took a surprised step back. "Limby Jimmy?"

The monster was silent a moment, taken aback. He took off a bear mask he'd made out of a paper plate. "Is it that obvious?"

Mabel asked, "Have we...?"

Dipper said, "Oh! Sorry—Mabel, this is Limby Jimmy, I ran into him last year in the Crawlspace under town when I was trying to get your face back—"

Helpfully, Bill threw in, "He's Gravity Falls' most accomplished arms dealer. And legs dealer, and tails dealer, and ears dealer..."

"Limby, this is my sister Mabel. Actually, I don't know if I ever introduced myself—"

Limby Jimmy cut in, "Ohhh, yeah, I remember you! You're Troll Boy, right?"

Dipper winced. "It's—it's Dipper, actually." He paused. "Wow. We meet a lot of weird people."

"Nice to meet you, Jimmy!" Mabel held out a hand. After a moment of thought, Jimmy elected to shake it with a tentacle and a dog's paw.

"What are you doing up here?" Dipper asked. "Is Summerween the one night of the year that Gravity Falls' monsters can walk among humans without fear?"

"Oh no, I'm terrified. I wouldn't be out here if I wasn't collecting donations," Jimmy said.

"Donations?"

Jimmy hesitated, then lowered his voice. "You've been in the Crawlspace, so, you and your sister are cool, but is the lady...?" He wiggled a hoof toward Bill.

Coolly, Bill said, "I'm actually an ancient interdimensional energy being cursed to wear a human form."

Dipper and Mabel flinched in alarm and rounded on Bill, hissing, "Bill!" "Shhh!"

Ignoring them, Bill said, "So, continue."

"Oh," Jimmy said brightly. "That's all right then, yuk yuk." He wiggled his multitude of right arms. "I don't know if you humans have heard yet, but the Summerween Trickster got eaten to death last summer! It's really sad!"

Dipper and Mabel, who had watched as he was eaten to death, stayed quiet.

"But probably happy for him?" Jimmy mused. "Since I think that's what he wanted? But it's sad for the rest of his poker group, we all miss him! So I'm out here with Doug—"

"Who?" Dipper asked, looking around the porch for a second monster.

"Oh, he's back there." Jimmy pointed toward a tree at the edge of the clearing around the Mystery Shack. The tree chittered unnervingly. "We're going around collecting donations to resurrect the Trickster! Or... re-summon him? Or however this works. We never really asked him how he came to exist, it seemed rude."

"Naturally," Bill said. "You can't just ask a freak what made him so freaky. It's a sensitive topic."

"Right! You understand," Jimmy said. "Anyway, we need a lot of crappy candy!" He looked at their bowl. "Which pieces have the kids been ignoring this year?"

Mabel had started bouncing on the balls of her dusty Victorian ghost shoes; and the moment she had a turn to speak, she squealed in excitement. "You're the Summerween Trickster's friend! That's perfect! Stay here, I'll be right back!" She shoved the candy bowl into Bill's arms and zoomed up the stairs. "I've got some stuff for him!"

Bill looked at the bowl, looked at the stairs, shoved the candy in Dipper's arms, and followed Mabel. "Hey, Shooting Star? What are you doing?"

Her voice drifted down the stairs: "Getting a donation! I'll be just a minute!"

"Hold on, you're actually helping that guy?" Bill laughed. "Why?" He climbed high enough to poke his head above the attic floor  and lowered his voice so Jimmy couldn't hear. "I wasn't paying that much attention last Summerween, but I got the impression from your little costume store brawl that the Trickster was trying to kill you kids. Am I missing something?"

"I mean, yeah, he was—but he was in a really bad place back then, that doesn't mean he deserves to be dead for it. And now he knows someone out there wants to eat him, so maybe he'll be less insecure and evil." Mabel laughed, "Anyway, the Trickster isn't that bad! He didn't try to kill me half as hard as you did!"

Bill froze a couple of steps from the top of the stairs. He didn't move for a few seconds; and then wordlessly, he slunk back downstairs.

Dipper watched as Bill, face beet red, trudged into the living room. "Hey. What's Mabel...?"

"How should I know." Bill curled up on the couch, picked up the can of cider he'd been drinking earlier, shotgunned it, and glowered at the horror movie on TV.

Dipper considered Bill—all alone in the living room and not doing anything important—and considered Mabel, upstairs; and said, "Hey, Jimmy. Do you mind waiting out here until Mabel gets back."

"Sure! I don't have any plans." Jimmy rocked back on his many heels.

"Cool. Thanks." Dipper shut the door.

He sidled oh so very casually into the living room and leaned against the TV. "Guess it's just the two of us right now."

Bill's gaze didn't waver from the TV. "Terrific counting skills, Troll Boy." He popped open another cider can.

Dipper grit his teeth. Let it go. "Sooo! You're from the second dimension, huh? What's that like?" (His voice cracked embarrassingly on "that.") "Just—just curious. Making friendly conversation. Caaasual conversation." He flashed a pair of finger guns at Bill, to underscore just how casual he was. "Yyyep." Witness the junior paranormal investigator in action.

Bill turned the cold, empty eyes of a killer on Dipper. He took a long, slow sip from his cider. And he asked himself: what can I say that will make this stupid boy regret ever daring to speak to me?

Bill smiled. "Yeah. Sure. Okay," he said. "You wanna know what it's like? Have you ever read the Allegory of the Cave?"

Dipper hesitated. "By... Plato?"

"That one. You know—ignorance is like being a prisoner chained in a cave, watching shadow puppets being cast on a wall, and thinking they're reality; and having knowledge is like being outside the cave in the sunlight, seeing the real shapes that are casting the shadows—"

"I have read it, actually," Dipper said, a tad defensively. "It was for extra credit in—"

"English class, I know."

Dipper frowned; but he soldiered on. "So... living in the second dimension is like being chained in a cave, staring at the shadows on the wall, and thinking that's reality? Bleak."

Bill laughed so loudly that Dipper started. "Wow, you're so dumb! Use your brain, kid: it's the second dimension. You're not the prisoner: you're the shadow on the wall." Bill's lip curled in a sneer, "An illusion in somebody else's allegory. And the only one who can see the cave's exit... is you. That's what the second dimension is like!" He laughed again. It sounded forced.

"Oh," Dipper mumbled. He tried to wrap his head around the idea of being a living metaphor for ignorance. "Sounds... pretty bad?"

"Awful," Bill agreed. "Doesn't hold a candle to what your dimension has going on, though."

"Wh... why, what's going on in the third dimension?"

Bill gave him a malicious smile, and Dipper had the sinking feeling he'd just walked into an obvious trap. "You idiot, you still think you're in the third dimension? Really?"

Was that a trick question? What answer was Bill looking for? What could this be if not the third dimension? "Nnooo?"

"Wow. I can really see why you're a straight-A's honors student," Bill said. "You're so good at figuring out what answer the test wants and regurgitating it—even if you don't actually understand it at all." He heaved himself back to his feet; and Dipper was sure there was something threatening in the movement—something that reminded Dipper that he was talking to a dangerously unstable extinction level event precariously packed into an unsteady human body. "Although copying the year of the Louisiana Purchase off of Brandon's test in fifth grade  probably didn't hurt, did it."

Dipper's stomach dropped. The secret shame buried beneath the foundation of his honors roll-worthy record. Pull that out and his entire academic career came toppling down. He'd get kicked out of the honors classes. He'd go to jail. Was cheating against the law? "H... how did—?"

"What year was the Louisiana Purchase?"

Dipper's brain immediately went blank. He was silent, trapped in the paralyzing intensity of Bill's gaze. After several terrifying seconds, he croaked, "1803?" and hoped he was right.

"Attaboy. Too bad you couldn't have learned that a little sooner, isn't it?" As he spoke, Bill had closed in on Dipper until he'd backed him into the corner behind the TV set, filling Dipper's exit route with one hand on the TV and the other on the wall. "But we were talking about dimensions, weren't we! Whaddaya like to read, kid," Bill asked too casually, "do you like cosmic horror? Do you know what real 'cosmic horror' is?"

Dipper regretted this conversation completely.

"It's having an eyeball on the inside of your body, and seeing another dimension through it. And ohoho, I think you'd be amazed at the things I can see from here—"

Dipper got the distinct impression that if he didn't get out of this conversation, he would only hear things he'd be telling his therapist about for months. "Cool! Good talk, man. Hey Mabel?" (That was an absolutely humiliating voice crack.) "How's it going?"

A pause. "I think I need help!"

"Coming!" Dipper ran behind the TV to escape Bill and gratefully bolted upstairs.

The kid had caved so fast. And Bill had only just been getting started. He smirked, sat, and turned back to the movie.

A moment later, Mabel and Dipper came back downstairs, carrying four bulging plastic grocery bags. Mabel set one by her feet, opened the door, and shoved the first bag into Jimmy's arms. "Here! You can give these to the Trickster!" She shoved over the second bag.

Jimmy stumbled back under the weight. "Whoa there! What is this?"

"Candy chalk-hearts! I completely bought out the leftovers after Valentine's Day," Mabel said. "I wanted to make sure that if we met the Trickster again, I could let him know he's loved and appreciated as the terrifying avatar of spooky holiday spirit that he is! And that I also respect that he's made out of gross candy nobody likes to eat." She picked up a chalk-heart box and waved it in Jimmy's face. "So here's a gross candy that expresses love! See, the little hearts say things like 'You smell nice' and 'I heart ur face,' but they taste like if dehydration was a flavor."

Dipper handed his bags to Jimmy. "Wait—Mabel, that's why you got all these? You've been planning to help the Trickster since February? I thought you were gonna build a chalk-heart house or something."

"Oooh, that's such a good idea. I should do that next year!" To Jimmy, she said, "I was gonna give these to him personally, but if he's still dead, I guess you can add it to his candy sacrifice pile or whatever? And make sure he gets this!" She handed Jimmy a store bought Shimmery Twinkleheart Valentine's card. It read, "I BELIEVE in our friendship! Happy Valentine's Day!" Mabel had scratched out "Valentine's" and written "Summerween".

Choked up, Jimmy said, "Oh—wow. That's the nicest thing anyone's done for us all night. I'm sure the Trickster will really appreciate it when he's not dead anymore."

Dipper was a little more vengeful. Dipper didn't want to do anything for one of the many guys that had tried to kill them last year. But, on the other hand, Mabel had just gone all in on this, and Jimmy seemed nice enough, so... Dipper sighed. Whatever, it was Summerween and this was a trick-or-treater. "Hey," he picked up the candy bowl. "There's really only one bag of good candy in here. The bottom of the bowl is filled with after-dinner mints our great uncle's been stealing from restaurants for the last six months. The Trickster would probably love that, right?"

"Aww—thanks so much, you guys! We'll have the poker group back together in no time!" Jimmy dug past the good candy and started scooping mints into his bag. "Oh—since I'm here, can I ask about our other poker buddy? Do either of you know Mr. What's-His-Face? He disappeared around the time you were visiting the Crawlspace, maybe one of you saw something? Any information would be helpful." Jimmy looked at them with weird, plus-shaped, but very hopeful eyes. "Between the Trickster's death and Whatsis disappearing, the local paranormal community's been hit hard. Especially us guys in their friend group. I'm—I'm not gonna lie," Jimmy heaved a sigh, "It's been a really hard year."

Dipper and Mabel, who were directly and personally at fault for Mr. What's-His-Face's disappearance and knew he was frozen in stasis in Ford's bunker at that very moment, exchanged a look and came to a silent agreement.

"Nope, don't know anything," Mabel said.

"Sorry, buddy," Dipper said.

Like the Summerween Trickster, Mr. What's-His-Face was a weird faceless shapeshifty monster that had tried to kill them. But they felt like that was where the similarities ended.

By the time of the Trickster's death, Mabel and Dipper had realized that his deepest inner longing was to be called good enough to eat. Mr. What's-His-Face's deepest inner longing was to steal innocent people's faces. If Mabel and Dipper helped resurrect the Trickster, he'd probably go back to ensuring everyone displayed sufficient holiday spirit, while hopefully mellowing out about eating people now that he'd been consumed once. On the other hand, if Mabel and Dipper helped free Mr. What's-His-Face, he'd probably just keep stealing faces.

And on top of all that, they could help resurrect the Trickster without admitting they knew the guy who ate him. They couldn't really lead Jimmy to Mr. What's-His-Face without admitting their great uncle was keeping him captive. And that would be a problem for the whole family.

"Oh," Jimmy said. "Okay, that's fine. Thanks for all your help. You know where to reach us if you hear anything."

Mabel shook her head. Dipper nodded. "Yeah, we'll let you know."

Jimmy hopped off the porch, shouted, "Hey Doug, can you help me carry these?" and chucked a couple of bags of chalk-hearts toward the tree line. Dipper and Mabel stared. Nothing emerged to pick the bags up.

They shut the door.

"Man," Dipper said. "We kinda devastated the paranormal poker group last summer, didn't we?"

"Yeah." Mabel sucked in a breath between her teeth. "Wow. Feels... kinda bad."

Dipper offered her the candy bowl. "Drown our feelings in chocolate?"

"Please."

They grabbed a piece of candy each, tore open the wrappers—and frowned. Mabel stomped a foot. "Dang it—Bill!"

"Hm?"

"How many of these wrappers are empty?!"

Bill poked his head out of the living room and said, smugly, "Like candy from a baby!"

####

A knock, and Dipper opened the door. "Wendy! Hey! Good timing—"

"Hey." Wendy lowered her voice. "Quick question—this is super important—is Goldie here?"

"Uh—yeah, why—?"

"Yello?" Bill carefully wove his way out of the living room, already less steady on his feet than when he'd sat down. "I heard my name, who's summoning me?"

Wendy pointed over the twins at Bill and turned to shout into the dark, "Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you! Live and in person... Toga Lady!"

A half dozen teenagers immediately went bananas. Hooting and hollering and cheering and whistling: "To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!"

Bill's entire face lit up. Without missing a beat, he pushed past the baffled twins out onto the porch and spread his arms wide, basking in the cheering. "That's right, keep it coming! Worship me! I'm the greatest!"

"Yes!" Robbie pumped a fist in the air. "The legends were true!" Nate immediately added, "The prophecy! The prophecy!" Tambry snapped photos of Toga Lady's fresh look as fast as her phone could save them, muttering, "Everyone's gonna flip when they find out you're still in town."

Wendy waited, grinning, until her friends' faux hysterics had died down. "Okay—okay, after getting you hyped up, I should probably say that Toga Lady is actually Toga Guy." She glanced questioningly at Bill. "I think?"

"Eh, I'm not picky."

"Anyway this is Goldie, he was stuck in another dimension for thirty years, it's crazy, and now he's like my illegal backup cashier. He actually... doesn't usually wear togas?"

Bill laughed. "If you can't wear a bedsheet on Summerween, when can you?"

Lee said, "Thompson wore a bedsheet to homecoming."

"Hey."

Bill pointed at Thompson. "A man of impeccable fashion! I like it!" Thompson gave him a look of eternal gratitude.

"And Goldie, this is the gang! That's Thompson, he's the guy with the van; Robbie and Tambry, they're like, gender-swapped versions of each other, they even share their hair dye..."

As Wendy did introductions, Mabel whispered to Dipper, "Did you know she was gonna introduce Goldie to everyone?"

"No! This is bad, I told her not to trust him..."

Bill was responding to a question, "No, no, you've gotta guess, I'm making everyone guess!"

The teens considered the question. Robbie offered first, "Punk caveman?"

"Nope!"

Hesitantly, Thompson tried, "Nero fiddling over the burning of Rome?" He winced when Lee laughed.

"I like where your head's at, but no! I can't fiddle."

"The gremlin king from Huge Maze?" Tambry said.

Mabel piped up, "No, but the wig came from a gremlin king costume and I appreciate you for recognizing that!" Tambry nodded in cool approval.

Bill dispensed of Lee, Nate, and Wendy's guesses—Greek Christmas tree, that one guy who keeps painting burning banks, and hair metal Hades—before Robbie loudly cleared his throat to cut in. "Anyway, would love to stay and chat, but we've gotta move if we wanna be in position before sunset. Dipper, Mabel, you ready?"

"Ready to ghost it up!" Mabel said, squeezing around Bill with Dipper onto the porch.

Robbie surveyed their makeup—deathly white skin, ashen grey lips, and dark circles around their eye sockets. "Yeah, that's pretty good. Could use a little color, maybe. Like bloody tears?" He turned toward Tambry.

She said, "I think I've got some red eyeliner."

"'In position'?" Bill asked, giving Dipper and Mabel a questioning look.

Wendy said, "We're helping Robbie film this music video tonight."

"We're the creepy ghost twins!" Mabel announced proudly. "We get to sing the chorus."

Robbie said, "Yeah, the song's about childhood and growing up, but like, with ghosts? Because once you've grown up, your childhood is all dead? It's metal, but introspective. I'm calling the genre 'intrometal.'" He flipped his bangs dramatically. "It's a super deep song. Metaphorical layers."

"Oh yeah?" Bill stared Robbie down. "Sing some of it."

Robbie blinked. "Oh. Yeah, okay uh, I haven't warmed up my voice but, the hook is like—" He pantomimed playing a guitar and whisper-screamed, "'BABY DOLLS! BASKET BALLS! BASKET CASE! HUMAN RACE!' Like that."

Bill nodded slowly, face expressionless. "Ah, yeah, I see. Really deep stuff. Makes you think."

"Thanks." Robbie looked at Dipper and Mabel. "Anyway, if we're gonna get any footage in the graveyard before the jack-o'-melons start burning out, we've gotta move. Let's go, Creepy Ghost Twins."

"Wait, you're going out?" Bill asked Mabel. "Like out-out? Leaving me here? By myself? On Summerween?"

"Wh—yeah, we're only handing out candy for half the night," Mabel said. "I told you that."

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"When?"

Mabel thought. "No I didn't," she admitted. "Sorry!"

Wendy punched Bill's arm. "Sorry to steal them. We'll be back in a couple of hours," she said. "Or you could come help—?"

"No!" Dipper and Mabel both shoved Bill back into the house before he could accept. Dipper said, "You've gotta—guard the house." Mabel added, "And hand out candy!"

"Right," Bill said flatly. "Yes. That. Ha."

"See you later!" Mabel said, and then shut the door in his face.

The last thing he heard was Wendy explaining to her friends, "He's on house arrest for, like, academic plagiarism and war crimes or something..." and then they were gone.

Bill's shoulders slumped. Well, now what? He couldn't celebrate a holiday by himself. What was the point of wearing a costume if no one sees you in it. He picked up a piece of candy, discovered it was one of his decoys, and picked up another. 

Someone knocked on the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Bill sighed. He picked up the candy bowl, turned toward the door, and paused. Ah. Right. What was he supposed to do with this impenetrable portal-blocking slab of wood.

Who was left in the house? Stan on the roof, Ford in the basement, Abuelita probably already in bed... were any of them worth harassing to help him answer the door? Maybe Stan, he'd gotten all dressed up, he liked the holiday even if he didn't like Bill—

The trick-or-treater knocked more insistently.

Or. Or.

He could pick up the bowl, peer out the small window in the door, and make direct eye contact with the children outside while he ate candy.

As a piece of mid-tier chocolate melted on his tongue, he saw three trick-or-treaters' faces fall as their faith in a kind, caring universe died. He grinned at them and ate another chocolate.

Oh yeah. He grabbed the rest of his cider from the living room and set up post next to the door. This would keep him entertained the rest of the night.

####

He made seven small children cry.

####

Stan watched from his post on the roof as yet another sobbing kid ran away from the shack. "HA! Gottem! Sucker!" He affectionately patted his boombox. "Creepy ghoulish laughter, you never disappoint! Terrifying moochers since 1989!" He paused the cassette and rewound it a few seconds to replay the best part.

He heard a scraping sound above him, and looked up just in time to see Ford sliding down the roof to join him. "Oh, hey! I didn't think we'd see you again tonight."

"Mabel made me promise to celebrate Summerween a little."

"Good for her!"

Stan had already claimed the sun lounger, so Ford brushed some dust and leaves off the roof's cooler and sat. "So, what are we doing? Scaring trick-or-treaters?"

"Yep. This year I'm taking a more atmospheric approach." He gestured at his boombox, which by now was playing haunting organ music. "Nothing like screaming zombies and rattling chains from nowhere to freak out the kids."

Ford nodded. "Psychological torment. I approve."

"Not quite as good as getting to see the terror in their eyes, but." Stan shrugged. "Bill was hanging out with the kids. I didn't want to put up with him."

"Mm. There's a reason I was spending the holiday in the basement."

"Heh. Well, there's always Halloween."

They were silent for a moment, listening as the cassette moved on from organ music to werewolf howls. Stan asked, "Think we'll be rid of him by then? I know we were hoping to be done with him before the Fourth of July—but since I haven't heard anything lately, I figure you hit a roadblock."

Ford winced. "Guilty as charged." He was still relearning how to keep other people in the loop. Even Stan. "You're right. I have a weapon that can destroy him, but I can't find a fuel source without restarting the portal. I'm hoping Fiddleford will come up with a solution I haven't."

Stan nodded. Ford had told him he was getting Fiddleford involved; even as reluctant as Ford was to admit how little progress he'd made, he wasn't going to tell someone outside the family about Bill without letting Stan know. "Any breakthroughs on his end?"

####

During the credits between episodes of the retired samurai period drama (most recently, the samurai had been asked to use his sword to help cut flowers for a bouquet), Fiddleford leaned over and whispered to Ford, "So I've been a-lookin' at those blueprints you left me."

"And...?"

"And I've constructicated a power adaptor. Just jimmy out the fuel tank, swap it for the adaptor's cord, and you can power that weapon by pluggin' it into the wall! It'll just drain all the power from the town for a few seconds, that's all."

"Fiddleford, that's amazing—"

"Now, hold on. There's bad news," Fiddleford said. "Try as I might, I can't quite get it to draw enough power to activate those energy-destroying features what you'd need to disintegrate Bill. It'll work like a powerful laser, but nothin' else."

Ford sighed. "It's a starting point, I suppose."

"I'll send you home with the adaptor anyway. Never know when you'll need a big laser."

"Very true. Do you have any promising leads on other alternative fuels?"

Fiddleford shook his head. "It's the NowUSeeitNowUDontium or nothing. But I've got a hunch we could synthesize it under lab conditions. I'll letcha know in a few days."

And then the next episode started, and they dropped the conversation.

####

Ford let out a heavy sigh. "He's only had a partial success so far. But I'm hopeful he's on the right track."

"So, if he's working on this weapon, what are you doing?"

"Waiting, mostly. I don't know what else I can do."

Stan frowned. "What—that's it? You've been downstairs all day every day—if you're not figuring out how to destroy him, what are you doing?"

"Passing time somewhere I can be on call if he gets up to something—but I don't have to look at him," Ford said wryly. "And—as long as I'm waiting to hear back from Fiddleford, I've been... picking apart that list of spells Bill gave me. To see if any of them are tricks or traps."

Stan couldn't say he was surprised. That was his workaholic brother. A pamphlet of demon magic was like catnip to him. If anything, Stan was almost glad Ford had that letter to distract him. Over the past year...

Well, Ford was fine on land—when he temporarily had a mystery to solve, an adventure to pursue, an anomaly to study, a distraction to fill his time—but at sea, when his mind was unoccupied, he was listless. He had books he didn't read, field notes he didn't enter into his journal, games he didn't play. He fed himself and exercised and did chores around the ship like a robot programmed to take care of itself, and he stared out at the sea.

Last summer, Ford hadn't seemed happy but he'd seemed alive. Tired and angry, but alive. But after Weirdmageddon, a light in his eyes went out. Stan didn't know if it was the end of summer, or guilt over the memory gun, or the gap between finishing a thirty-year-long quest and discovering the next one. All Stan knew was the light hadn't come back on until the moment Bill Cipher, clad in a new body and a purple cartoon bedsheet, tried to cave Ford's skull in.

Ever since they were children, Ford had had a tendency to develop obsessions. It was somehow simultaneously both what made him most interesting and what made him boring. Depended on the obsession. But these all-consuming interests had always tended to last a few months, at most a year; and he'd never seemed to be without one, much less for nine months. Stan had no idea what carrying a single obsession for three decades might have done to Ford's mind.

Stan was glad something had woken Ford back up, and he worried that losing that focal point again might leave Ford permanently adrift. But another part of him worried that, this time, Ford wouldn't let the object of his obsession go. He tended to collect things related to his obsessions.

But then, he usually tended to like his obsessions. He hadn't seemed bothered to burn the contents of his creepy Bill shrine last summer. Ford wouldn't do anything stupid, Stan told himself. Ford hated Bill. "So? Were any of the spells traps?"

"Not... so far, no." Ford sounded irritated by this.

Stan shrugged. "Makes sense. He's trying to butter us up. If that idiot thinks being nice to us for a week or two is gonna make up for the years of grief he's given us—"

A loud rattle-clattering below made them both start. Stan sat bolt upright. "What the—?"

Ford inched to the edge of the dormer roof, knelt down, and leaned over the edge just far enough to see the window.

Bill's face was pressed to the glass, eye rolled up toward the roofline. He grinned in surprised delight and shouted through the glass, "HEY, STANFORD! What are you doing up here?! I thought you were downstairs!"

"Ugh." Ford turned to grimace at Stan. "Speak of the devil."

Bill pounded on the glass again. "Hey, Sixer! SIXER! Open the window!"

"Why?"

"I wanna talk!"

"No."

"Come ooon, the kids ditched me and I'm bored! There's no one in the house to talk to! The old lady's asleep and Stanley's on the roof, so—" He abruptly fell silent, squinting with deep suspicion at Ford-who-should-be-in-the-basement kneeling on the-roof-where-Stan-should-be, and said, "Wait. Are you Stanley right now? Show me your hand."

Ford did not. "Go away, Bill." He left the edge of the roof for his cooler seat.

"Get back here!" The pounding redoubled. "I don't care which Stan you are! If you don't wanna talk, I can always go wake up Dolores!"

Ford looked at Stan. "Mrs. Ramirez's name is Dolores?" He had gotten used to everyone calling her Abuelita.

Stan stomped on the roof, "Shaddup!"

Bill did not shaddup. "Come ooon!"

Stan sighed in defeat and heaved himself to his feet. "If he keeps that racket up he's gonna break that window, never mind that hex you put on him." When they'd taken out the original Bill-shaped window, Stan had replaced it with the cheapest window he could find. He didn't think it was very durable. "How much trouble can he get in with one open window twenty feet above the ground and both of us watching him?"

Ford Frowned.

"Don't gimme that look. Do you want to pay for a broken window?" Stan flipped through his keys for his key-shaped emergency lock pick, leaned over the edge of the roof, and wedged the pick into the window frame. The latch popped open. Lucky this window was so cheap, that wouldn't have worked on one with deluxe features like "airtight weatherstripping" or "a properly-fitting frame." Stan swung open the window. "Okay, you have our attention. Now what's the fastest way we can get rid of you?"

Bill clumsily climbed out to sit on the windowsill with his legs in the shack, and leaned back so he could see up onto the roof. "Hiya Fo—" He lost his balance, flailed, and yelped as he toppled backwards.

Stan and Ford lunged forward to seize an arm each. Stan snapped, "What are you doing, you maniac?!"

Bill stared up at them both in wide-eyed amazement. "You do like me."

Stan made a noise of disgust, let go, and wiped his hands on his pants like Bill had cooties.

Ford said, "We like you trapped in that body and not free to cause the apocalypse."

"I heard 'we like you'!"

"Shut up." Ford managed to haul Bill back upright. (Touching Bill felt wrong—all soft flesh and skin and the suggestion of bones underneath. Even when looking right at Bill's human body, Ford still expected him to feel like heavy shadows and heatless flames.) From this close, Bill reeked of cider. "Just how much have you had to drink?"

"Not so much I won't remember whatever you say in the morning, so be nice to me!" Bill laughed. He leaned back, this time hanging by one hand off the window frame to precariously maintain his balance, and grinned up at Ford. "So! The least fun person in the house has finally emerged from his lair? And you didn't even come into the house to join in the Summerween festivities! 'All work and no play'..."

Ford had to crouch at the edge of the roof, hovering nearby in case Bill lost his balance again. "I wanted to participate in Summerween, actually. It just so happens that the last person I'd ever spend a holiday with is in the house."

"Listen, Stanford. I know you're holing up in your study for days on end just to hurt me. But let's be honest, you're hurting yourself more! When's the last time you saw the sunlight! Look at how pale you're getting, you look like a vampire."

Stiffly, Ford said, "It's costume makeup. That's my vampire costume." Stan laughed.

"It what." Bill flipped up his eyepatch and squinted blearily at Ford's face.

Wordlessly, Ford bared his teeth to show off his plastic vampire teeth.

"Oh." Somewhat deflated, Bill said, "Nice work, it's convincing."

"Thanks," Ford said grudgingly. Giving in to his curiosity, he gestured toward Bill's (somewhat disheveled) reddish-yellow wig. "What are you."

"Oh!" Bill perked back up. "You've got to see the whole thing. Hold on—" He turned around in the window, ignoring how Ford half reached for him in case he needed steadying, until he got his legs outside to dangle on the roof. "What do you think!"

Ford looked over the brown toga flared out like a cone, the eruption of red hair, the small paper city below, and said, "Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii? Very clever."

Bill's face lit up. "Finally! You're the first person all day to get it!" He smoothed out the skirt proudly, his jerky gestures just a bit more exaggerated than usual. "Do you know how long I've wanted to go to a costume party as Vesuvius? But nobody off Earth would get it! And now that I'm finally here, I can't go to parties and I'm shaped more like a mandrake than a volcano." He flung up his hands, wobbled, and caught himself before Ford had to intervene. "But at least you got it. I knew I could count on you, IQ."

He sounded so sincerely grateful. Ford regretted calling the costume clever. It was, but Bill didn't need the ego boost.

"Oh! By the by—I didn't think you'd emerge before the day was over, so I saved this." Bill fished around in his toga until he retrieved a mini pack of jelly beans. "Here!"

Ford eyed the pack. "Why is it open?"

"Because you only like the weird-shaped jelly beans, so I ate all the normal beans and saved the weird ones in one bag."

"I don't want this. You touched every one of the beans, that would be disgusting even if they weren't coming from you," Ford said. "Anyway, this is a patently transparent attempt to buy your way into my good favor—"

"It sure is, Ford, and if you don't accept it I'll get to be annoying about your ingratitude for weeks! Is that what you want? You know I'll do it. Everyone will be on my side—"

Ford sighed, but snatched the bag from Bill's hand. "Fine. Now drop it."

"That's more like it!" Bill favored Ford with an approving smile. "Anyway, it's just about the only candy left in the house, I ate everything else—hey, have you ever been cross faded on cider and a sugar rush?"

Ford was still trying to decide whether he wanted to engage in this one-sided conversation enough to ask Bill what "cross faded" meant when Bill moved on without him: "It's—not that interesting, actually. 6 out of 10. Anyway, all that's left in the bowl is mints and wrappers. And Mabel even managed to give most of the mints away—hey, she's so nice, did you know she's helping to resurrect the Summerween Trickster?"

She was doing what? "No. Why?"

"She's so nice."

"You just said that."

"What is she so nice for. What's she getting out of it," Bill asked, more to the universe at large than to Ford. "If more humans were half as nice to freaks as she is, your rotten planet wouldn't need people like you and me to save it."

Ford didn't even know where to begin with that. He looked to Stan for help.

Stan was sitting straddling his lounger, elbow on one knee and chin in his hand, watching this exchange like he was watching a weird bug on the wall try to navigate around a picture frame. At Ford's glance, he rolled his eyes and pantomimed sipping from a drink.

He could say that again. Ford cleared his throat. "Bill, maybe you should..."

"Hey," Bill said. "Great talk, we really should catch up more sometime. And pull your weight next time, I always have to do all the talking. But right now, I'm..." He gestured vaguely off to the side. "I'm gonna lie down and try not to throw up. Ciao!" He swayed as he tried to get back in the window, tumbled backward into the shack, and thudded heavily on the floor. "Ow."

Ford gingerly shut the window.

Stan turned up the boombox. "Chatty drunk, isn't he."

"He's chatty sober, too." But in front of the kids? Neither of them saw Bill as a role model, but they still didn't need to be exposed to that kind of behavior. Especially when the responsible adults were outside or asleep... "Did we really leave Bill alone in the house with the kids?"

"W—I—" Stan shrugged defensively. "They were all right! They can take him! They're doing karate or whatever! You didn't see how Mabel flipped him at the mall! It was like David wrestling Goliath."

"David and Goliath didn't wrestle."

"You know what I mean."

Ford supposed he didn't think Bill was any threat to the children. At least, not right now, and not physically. He felt like he'd know if Bill was about to try anything.

He looked at his open bag of gross felt-up jelly beans. Speaking of trying to butter them up... Ford wound up and chucked the bag as hard as he could.

He stared into the dark after it.

A small part of him was beginning to wonder whether this wasn't all just an attempt to get Ford's guard down. The gifts, sure, that was as clear-cut a case of bribery as you could get. Nothing ambiguous there.

But the endless chatter... Back when Ford had called Bill his Muse, this was exactly how he'd wanted Bill to talk to him. Not in the flighty half-distracted way of a friendly businessman catching up on a work project's progress before hurrying on to the next meeting; but just talking for talking's sake, talking for the company.

Getting what he once had longed for made his skin crawl. And he couldn't even tell if Bill was acting.

The boombox let out a ghastly banshee shriek. Ford and Stan both jumped, then laughed awkwardly.

Ford sat on the cooler again. "Is it just me, or... did Bill completely ignore you as soon as he realized I was up here."

"Well. I wasn't gonna mention it. I didn't wanna sound jealous of the attention. But yeah—he's been doing that since he got here. If you're in the room, he tunes everyone else out."

"I thought it was in my head." And he hadn't wanted to sound like he wanted to imagine Bill was favoring him.

"And you do the same thing around him," Stan said, and laughed at Ford's flinch of alarm. "It's—it's fine, I get it. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? You've got some kind of superhero-supervillain nemesis thing."

Ford got the distinct impression that Stan was offering him a convenient excuse for the tunnel vision. He took it. "I suppose that's true." The way his jaw clenched and his shoulders tensed around Bill certainly felt like a "nemesis" reaction.

But if Stan thought Ford was a bit too preoccupied by Bill... well, maybe he was right. Once Ford had gotten over his initial wave of fear, of despair, of outrage at the injustice, at finding Bill was still alive—there was a part of him that was almost relieved. A part of him that had been on guard against nothing for the past year, twisting around looking for an absent threat. Now that it knew where the threat was, that part of him could finally settle down and watch Bill with steady, certain eyes. Having nothing to worry about made him more anxious than having one thing to always worry about.

(Maybe Shermie's kid had been on to something when he suggested Ford might benefit from therapy.)

Knowing Bill was back didn't put the old starlight and awe back in that hole Bill had left in Ford's chest. But dread could fill a hole all the same.

Ford tried to push Bill out of his mind and the conversation. "You think I'm like a superhero?"

"You run around fighting monsters with a space laser. What else would you be?"

"Huh." Well. That made his night.

"Just as long as you don't pull that 'hero spares the villain to show how good he is' shtick."

"Never." Ford laughed ruefully. "I think I left 'good' behind a few felonies back." He'd probably left "good" behind the night he accepted the portal blueprints.

"Couple stragglers," Stan said, nodding out into the dark. It took Ford a moment to spot the costumed kids and remember it was Summerween. "I recognize those costumes, I scared them off an hour ago. What are they doing back?"

Ford squinted at them. "Are those toilet paper rolls?"

"Wh—Hey! What are you little runts— Hey!" Stan leaped to his feet, shaking his fist at the kids below. "Get away from my car! Stop that! I'll have you know that's a classic— No, not the eggs!"

Ford slid out his freeze ray, turned down the power, and offered it to Stan. "Here. At this power and distance, it'll feel like getting pelted with invisible snowballs."

Stan snatched up the weapon. "Eat this, twerps!"

The Summerween night air was filled with the screams of terrified children and the evil laughter of an old man.

####

Wow. It sure sounded like everybody was having fun. Outside. Without him.

Bill was nauseous.

He stared at the spinning ceiling, flat on his back, one leg on a cushion and the rest of him on the floor. 

Bill was nauseous and alone. The loneliness tore at his throat. Even Mabel had ditched him. Of course she did—he'd tried to kill her. He'd barely even remembered he'd tried to kill her until she brought it up. Had he tried to kill her? No, surely not—he liked the kid, he'd always liked her—he'd been faking to force Ford's hand, he never would have gone through with it. He would've teleported her into another room and pretended he'd disintegrated her. She didn't know he hadn't meant it. She was just mad he'd scared her. She couldn't take a joke.

But, Ford talked to him. Ford even liked his costume. It wasn't much, but it would get Bill through the night.

When he saw Kryptos again—when, not if—he was slicing him into a jigsaw puzzle for not taking Bill's call. The nerve of that guy, hanging up on a human without even waiting a few words to see if they had anything interesting to say. 

(What if it hadn't been an accident, he wondered? What if Kryptos had realized it was Bill and still hung up?)

(No. Of course it was an accident.)

He shut his eyes. He was probably too drunk to dream tonight. Well, he could try again tomorrow. His little lucid dreaming guide was currently teaching him to influence the next night's dream by focusing on a topic before sleep. Maybe tomorrow he could dream about the Nightmare Realm.

He missed home.

####

(Congratulations to the approximately 50% of respondents who correctly figured out Bill's costume when I posted the art on Halloween, you're officially smarter than everybody in Gravity Falls except Ford. This is one of those chapters with a whole lot going on so if you enjoyed, I'd love to hear your comments!!)

#(tbh that's the best Mabel & Dipper I've ever drawn) #bill cipher #human bill cipher #mabel pines #dipper pines #(for both the art & fic) #grunkle ford #grunkle stan #(for just the fic) #gravity falls #gravity falls fanart #gravity falls fic #my writing #my art #fanart #bill goldilocks cipher

[081314]

Book 7: The Ruler of the Abyss – Chapter 6 (Part 1)

Following is part 1 of my translation of Chapter 6 of Book 7: The Ruler of the Abyss. This part contains only Episode 7-88 (it’s as long as several episodes put together, so I had to give it its own post)

Main storyline spoilers after the cut.

Episode 7-88

Grim: Ugh… Where are we?

Sebek: This is… I recognize this place. This is where the Darkness engulfed us earlier! We’ve returned!

Silver: Where’s father and Sir Baul?

Sebek: They set off for the Moonless Forest, but…

Silver: !! You guys, look at the ground over there! Looks like some soldiers went this way!

Sebek: Appears to be the Silver Owl’s men…!

Silver: Father and Sir Baul are in danger. We need to hurry and find them!

Iron One A: W-What amazing power!

Iron One B: If our magicians hadn’t deflected those flames just now, she woulda burnt us to a crisp!!

Knight of Dawn: Focus! You’ll get trampled if you don’t watch out!

Meleanor (Dragon form): Rooooooaaar!!

Iron One C: Don’t give her even a moment’s rest! Charge!! Chaaarge!!!

The Iron Ones: Uoooooooh!!

Sebek: Ahhh…. Lady Meleanor!!

Grim: Get a move on, Sebek! We gotta make sure to stay close to the dreamer, right? We’re gonna lose sight of Lilia at this rate!

Sebek: You needn’t tell me that! I understand full and well this is but a dream, I just…. Dammit!

Yuu: I know this is hard for you, but we need to keep moving.

Silver: …Right. We have to hurry or else the rain’s going to wash away their footprints. Let’s go!

Grim: Geez, the rain’s comin’ down harder an’ harder!

Sebek: The roads are all muddy, and the sun’s set, too… You need to go faster, the both of you! Their footsteps are vanishing before our very eyes!

Grim: Oh, save your breathe, dude! I’m already runnin’ as fast as I can! Can’t ya just use that spell you showed off when we were lookin’ for Silver earlier? You know, the one where you were glowin’ an’ zoomin’ around all over the place.

Sebek: I take it you mean “Living Bolt”?

Silver: I’d never seen that spell before, either. Just when did you develop your Unique Magic?

Sebek: ‘Twas during the period when I trained alone in the valley, after you’d enrolled at Night Raven College… While refining my celerity, so that I might rush to our Lord’s side in the event of an emergency, I found an opportunity to develop it. However… I’ve far from mastered it. My Unique Magic allows me to transform my body into a bolt of lightning, and in that state, I can move rapidly and fire off attacks. …But as I lack the skill to properly use it, I become momentarily impaired after casting it. I’m thankful my opponent just now was our resident slouch, for had I tried to use it on a real enemy, they wouldn’t have waited around for me until I recuperated. It’s out of the question for me to use it to catch up with Lilia and my grandfather right now, as I would only be a hindrance to them as soon as I reached them. In truth, I had intended to hold off on demonstrating it before others until I’d mastered it. To think, I’d end up having to waste it rousing this sluggard here…

Silver: I… I’m sorry. But you know, it’s a really fitting spell for you.

Sebek: Hmph.

Sebek (whispering to himself): …As this is a dream and all, I should have liked to have pulled it off flawlessly for once…. Geez…

Silver: Something’s been on my mind ever since we crossed into father’s dream. This dream was made by Lord Malleus’s magic, so I don’t understand why it’s just been one tragedy after another this whole time.

Yuu: Now that you mention it…

Silver: In Sebek’s dream, he had it so father and Lord Malleus were about to go off on their internships together. If what Lord Malleus said before is right, then these dreams we’re trapped in should be based on what would make the dreamer happy… Dreams that would keep us spellbound forever. In father’s case, he should’ve been dreaming about Lord Malleus’s parents being alive and well, and not having to fight any wars against the humans. And the Land of Briar should’ve remained as it was, not chopped up into Briar Valley.

Sebek: Hmm… You certainly have a point there.

Silver: Lord Malleus said he’s observing everyone’s dreams… and that he’s reigning over them, too. If he knew that we were here, then he probably would’ve tried to get rid of us by now, like how he did in Sebek’s dream.

Sebek: Hmm… ‘Tis only speculation, but perhaps something is preventing Lord Malleus from observing Sir Lilia’s dream.

Silver: That’s possible, yeah. I wish we could wake up father already and have him help us, but…

(Swords clash in the distance)

Everyone: !!

Sebek: Someone’s fighting yonder!

Silver: It sounds like it’s coming from close by. Come on, let’s go!

Battle Map Conversation

Imperial Guard A / B: Gyagyaaa! Giii!

Iron One A: You assholes just don’t know when to give up!

Sebek: Look there! Some guardsmen are surround by the Iron Ones!

Silver: I don’t see father or Sir Baul with them. Maybe they stayed behind to buy them some time.

Iron One A: Ack- Looks like they got some back up! Doesn’t matter, you guys have no hope of beating us! Now lay down your weapons and surrender, or you’re gonna regret it!

Grim: Sorry, but the dictionaries we got at NRC don’t mention anything ‘bout “surrender” or “regret”! GET ‘EM!!

Battle Map Conversation

Silver: Augh, their reinforcements just keep pouring in…!

Imperial Guard A: Goeeee! Garururu!

Sebek: What!? You say you’ll take over for things here, and you wish for us to go on ahead!? But that’s…!

Imperial Guard A: Gyagyaaa!

Sebek: …Yes, sir. I promise you, we shall deliver His Eggcellency to the palace, together with Sir Lilia. Please, stay safe!

(Silver and co. depart)

Battle Map Conversation

(Something sparkles on screen)

Silver: …! This light, it’s…

Grim: The sparkles are showin’ us where to go! Must be magic!

Sebek: This magic… Doubtless it must be my grandfather’s spell. He left behind these landmarks to guide us. He trusts that we’ll be able to regroup with them… Let us hurry!

Land of Briar – Woods

Baul / Lilia: Haaa, haaa, haaah….

Lilia: Did we shake ‘em off?

Baul: !! General, look out!

Iron One A: Found you, Vanrouge!

Iron One B: Do you even have any idea how much pain you’ve put us all through!? Once I kill you, then my grandfather will finally be able to rest in peace!

Iron One C: Be careful where you aim! We can’t leave even a scratch on that egg!

Baul: Dammit, we’re surrounded. Looks like they’ve got ten… No, 15 men on their side. General, you go on without me and I’ll handle this. Hurry!

Lilia: Bullshit! There’s no way you can take these guys on by yourself.

Baul: What they’re after is your head, General, and the heir’s egg. And we cannot allow them to take either. As you can’t very well fight while lugging around the egg, I, Baul, promise to wipe out these miscreants myself. I’ll rejoin with you later. Now hurry!

Lilia: Dammit…! And I’m going to have your head if you die on me!

(Lilia departs)

Iron One A: Vanrouge is getting away! After hiiiim!!

Iron One B: Uwaaah!? What was that attack just now?

Iron One C: He cut down that massive tree with one swing of his Magearm…!? Shit, now the road’s blocked!

Baul: LISTEN WELL, HUMANS! MY NAME IS BAUL ZIGVOLT!!! I AM A MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD OF THE LAND OF BRIAR – A TITLE I BEAR WITH PRIDE! THOSE WHO WISH TO SULLY MY AXE’S BLADE, STEP FORTH NOW! I’LL DEVOUR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!

Grim: Woah! Look, you guys! Somebody’s fightin’ for their life over there!

Silver: That crocodile mask… It must be Sir Baul!

Sebek: The Silver Owl has got him completely surrounded. We must assist him! Quickly!

Grim / Silver: Okay! / Right!

Iron Ones A: What the!? His reinforcements snuck up on us from behind!?

Iron One B: Wait they’re… They’re’ humans!? The hell are they siding with the fae for…!?

Sebek: This has nothing to do with being a fae or human! It is simply that we do not like you! And so, we must fight!

Grim: That’s right! If you don’t like somebody, then you gotta show ‘em what’s what! That’s our motto at NRC!

Iron One C: Who the hell are these guys!? Troops, get in formation! We’re retreating for now!

(The Iron Ones depart)

Grim: Hey, look! They’re runnin’ away!

Silver: It’ll be bad if they come back with reinforcements… But chasing after them could end up costing us. Right now, we need to focus on tending to Sir Baul’s injuries.

Sebek: Sir Baul! I apologize it took us so long to find you!

Baul: Y-You guys…. Augh!

(Baul collapses)

Silver/Sebek: Sir Baul! / Sir Baul!

Sebek: What terrible injuries. Please, take this potion at once-!

(A whistle sounds)

Grim: Yikes, sounds like they really are callin’ up their buddies!

Sebek: We must get away from here. Sir Baul, please come with me! Here, rest yourself against my shoulder.

Baul: I’m staying here. It’s my duty to fight. You boys go after the General.

Silver: No, that’s… We can’t leave you behind!

Baul: Silence! I told you before, I don’t need help from the likes of you lot!

Sebek: ………. Silver, Grim, Yuu. Go on without us.

Grim/Silver: What!?

Sebek: I shall stay here with Sir Baul, and we shall buy you some time.

Silver: What!?? No, you guys can’t- …Besides, there’s no telling what’ll happen if you get too far away from father.

Sebek: WE’VE NO TIME FOR HESITATION!!! As he is carrying His Eggcellency, Sir Lilia isn’t able to move around freely and defend himself right now. You must go now and protect him! Protect what is precious to you! And I… I shall protect what is precious to me!!

Silver: Sebek…

Sebek: Hmph. You best not take me for a fool, Silver. We shall dispose of the enemy and regroup with you in but a moment.

Silver: …Okay, I understand. Let’s go, Grim and Yuu!

(Silver and co. depart)

Iron One A: We finally got the armored excavator past that block in the road! This is the end for you bastards!

Sebek: Hold your tongue! As if a pathetic little piece of scrap metal stands a chance against me! Sir Baul, please get behind me.

Baul: Human… Why are you doing all this for me…!?

Sebek: I know that even if I fight here, it won’t change reality one bit. However… There are things in life that I simply cannot concede on. Listen well, you wretched Silver Owl! I, Sebek Zigvolt, shall be your opponent! NOW LET US BEGIN!!

Sebek: It ends here! Haaaa!! Haaa… Haa… That was… the last one… S-So what did you think, Sir Baul! I’ve done it!

Baul: Amazing, you really did defeat them all…. You fought splendidly.

Sebek: !! Truly, I am underserving of such kind words…. Augh…!

Baul: Human… Why are you so desperate to help us fae?

Sebek: Though my father is indeed a human… My mother is a fae.

Baul: !!

Sebek: My maternal grandfather was not at all fond of humans. One could even say he despised them. And when his only daughter announced she was betrothed to a human… I couldn’t even begin to describe how terribly they fought. Presently, my father and my grandfather remain at odds with one another. However, not once has my grandfather ever distanced himself from us grandchildren. He’s a taciturn man, always with that same stern expression upon face, and I can’t recall him ever greeting us when we called upon him. And yet, he always kept his house stocked up with brand new children’s books, as well as candies and sugary refreshments that he’d never dare consume himself. I truly respect my grandfather, from the bottom of my heart. And that is why I… that is why I wish to be of help to you- to you all!

Baul: …..Hmph. I’m not sure you’d be of much help to anyone walking around looking like that. Your baton’s about cracked in half, and your defensive gear is in pieces.

Sebek: Y-You needn’t be concerned! Here I’ll – I’ll simply borrow some equipment from that collapsed Iron One over there and…

Baul: Human… Nay, Sebek Zigvolt. I give you my thanks for your actions today. As you’ve damaged your gear in battle, I’ll grant you your own suit of armor.

Sebek: What….?

Baul: In the name of Baul Zigvolt, Imperial Guardsman of the Land of Briar, and in celebration of the birth of this new warrior… The Night’s Blessing upon Ye.

Sebek: T-This armor… And this magearm, it’s…!?

Baul: The same ones we Imperial Guardsmen use. That magearm belonged to a fallen comrade… But I’m sure it’s preferable over your half-broken baton.

Sebek: Oh, ‘tis far and beyond preferable! I have no words! To be granted the privilege of wielding the very same equipment as the Imperial Guard!

Baul: All that’s left is your mask…. Hmm. This one should work well for you. In my troop, I’m the only one allowed to don the crocodile mask. As we share the same surname, and if it is true that your grandfather is a fae… Then perhaps the General was right. Perhaps our meeting was fate – Sebek Zigvolt, the half-fae warrior. I’ll be expecting great things from you.

Sebek: …Yes, sir! I vow on this mask, and on the Zigvolt name, that I shall fight with glory. Grandfa-… I mean, Sir Baul!

Baul: Alright. Now let’s hurry after the General!

Sebek: Yes, sir!

Battle Map Conversation

Grim: Where the heck did Lilia go!?

Silver: Black Scale Castle, the Imperial Palace, is located in the northern region of the Land of Briar. So let’s just head north for now.

Iron One A: Don’t stop looking! There’s a nice reward for whoever finds that dragon egg!

Silver: A reward…? …How dare they! We can’t let them lay a single finger on father or Lord Malleus. Come on, we’ll have them take a nice little nap for us.

Battle Map Conversation

(The ground beings to rumble)

Grim: What the- Is that an earthquake!?

Silver: !! Grim, Yuu, look out!

Grim: Waaah, that tree right in front of us just got hit by lightning!?

Silver: Lady Meleanor must still be fighting right now. We need to hurry and find father while she’s distracting the enemy for us...

Iron One A: I heard voices coming from over there!

Iron One B: It might be Vanrouge! Search the area!

Silver: Damnit, they heard us. I’m sorry, but we’ll be forcing our way through!

Battle Map Conversation

Silver: Have you seen my fath-… I mean, General Vanrouge anywhere? Ah! I know I’m a human and all, but I’m not your enemy…

(ring ring… ring ring….)

Grim: The fae are waving at us to follow ‘em. Maybe they’ll take us to where Lilia is!

Silver: I guess they believed me… Thank you!

Land of Briar – Woods

Iron One A: There he is, it’s Vanrouge! Capture him!

Lilia: Augh!

(Lilia collapses)

Iron One A: He’s down! Surround hiiiim!

Iron One B: …So this is the Land of Briar’s General of the Right, eh? The feared “Dragon’s Right Hand Man.”

Iron One A: Aww, he looks like a wee li’l bat that can’t get off the ground. Just breaks my heart.

Iron One B: It’s over. Just give us that egg and we’ll spare your life.

Lilia: Kishaaa!!

Iron One A: The guy doesn’t know when to give up, huh... Sounds like he wants us to take it from ‘im by force, then! I’ll give you my mercy as a knight and end this quickly. Haaaa!!

Lilia: …!

(Someone blocks the attack)

Iron One A: The Knight of Dawn?? …No, wait you’re… Who are you!? State your name!

Silver: …My name is Silver, and your tyranny ends here. NOW DRAW YOUR BLADES!

Land of Briar – Woods

Silver: Now’s my chance! Seyaaaah! …General Vanrouge! Are you okay!?

Lilia: Somehow or other, thanks to you. You made it just in the nick of time…

Silver: We ran into tons of Silver Owl on our way here, and there’s probably still a bunch lurking around. We need to hurry and press on.

Lilia: …Silver, you’re not at all obligated to take on this request, but I need you to listen to me.

Silver: Huh?

Lilia: I’m not gonna make it much longer… My body’s just about called it quits.

Silver: W-What are you…

Lilia: Please, take this egg… to Black Scale Castle for me. Go to Mystic Mountain, you’ll find an Imperial Guard’s camp site near the base... There’s a unit out there that patrols that whole area. First just… aim for there.

Silver: Are you telling me to leave you behind…?

Lilia: You probably can’t hear it, but there’s a bunch of soldiers headed right this way. There’s way too many for you to fight off alone while trying to drag me along. Once they get here… I’m gonna tell ‘em I got sick of carrying the egg and threw it into the ravine. That should buy you some time…. *cough cough*!

Silver: …..Alright. Yuu, could you hold Lord Malleus’s egg for me?

Yuu: Just leave it to me!

Grim: Man, this thing’s even bigger up close.

Silver: Please excuse me, General Vanrouge. …Okay.

(Silver lifts up Lilia onto his back)

Lilia: The hell do you think you’re doing!? I’m not a damn baby, you don’t need to carry me around! Don’t tell me… You’re gonna try to climb Dragon;s Tail Mountains with me on your back? That’s ridiculous! Just leave me here, dammit…! *cough cough*

Silver: I’ll be fine. I grew up around the mountains and have plenty of experience hiking with heavy gear. My teacher always used to say, “As long as you’re still alive, things will work out in the end.”…. So you can’t just give up on life already… You can’t!

Lilia: You little… The hell do you think you are, trying to lecture me… …Ugh…

Grim: Lilia passed out.

Silver: I’m amazed he was still standing when we found him. Let’s take a break for a little while. Now, should we head for that camp site, or just cut straight through to Mystic Mountain… In either case, we’ll be heading up north. Come on, you two. We need to get father and Lord Malleus to Black Scale Castle.

Battle Map Conversation

(Lightning flashes)

Grim: !!! Didja see that, Yuu! There’s a big ol’ mountain way over there. Looked like it was jet black.

Silver: That’s the sacred mountain known as Mystic Mountain. According to legend, the Thorn Fairy herself used to reside up there… And now, this country’s imperial capital, Dragon Capitol City and Black Scale Castle, sits on its peak.

Grim: Wait, so we gotta climb up that thing!?

Silver: We might be able to get them to loan us some flying mounts once we reach that camp site… But the mountain is always covered in dark clouds, and I heard anyone who climbs it without the dragons’ permission gets struck by lightning. Apparently, it’s to keep out any intruders. So I doubt we’ll be able to get there by air travel…

Grim: Yeah, but ain’t we carryin’ their egg!?

Silver: Everything depends on us getting to the camp site, I suppose.

(Soldiers march close by)

Silver: !! Those footsteps…

Grim: It’s the Silver Owl! What should we do?

Silver: Let’s hide in the thicket and wait for them to pass by… And then, we’ll pick off any of their men who have their guard down. We’ll be able to minimize any damage to our side that way.

Yuu: So we’ll have to fight them, then.

Silver: Yeah, if we don’t take some of them down and reduce their numbers, there’s a good chance they’ll just end up surrounding us. You know… The way he talks is all different, but the things my father says now really aren’t all that different from what he used to say when he was on the Guard.

(The soldiers approach)

Silver: …They’re here. Let’s go!

Battle Map Conversation

Silver: There’s some buildings up ahead, past the forest. Is that the camp site General Vanrouge was talking about?

Imperial Guards: Gyagyaaaa! Gyaruru!

Grim: Ooooi! We brought Lilia. Hurry up and come help-

(The guards brandish their weapons)

Grim/Silver: !?

Imperial Guard B: Human, enemy! Comrade, give back!

Grim: Crap, they think we’re the bad guys!

Silver: Damnit, and Sebek’s not here. We don’t have anyone who can translate for us…

(a projectile lands in the camp)

Everyone: !?

Iron One A: We found the fae’s campsite! Men, chaaarge! Ah! That huge egg that human’s holding… Is that the dragon egg!?

Iron One B: What luck! Out of all 15 units that entered the mountain, ours is the one that ended up finding it!

Iron One A: That egg is ours! Chaaarge!!

Imperial Guards: Gyagyaaa! Firume! Garrururu!

Grim: Grrr, it’s just one problem after another with these guys!

Silver: We have to help them. Grim, Yuu, we’ll need to fight our way through!

Battle Map Conversation

Silver: Phew… We were able to chase off the Silver Owl. But still… I can’t believe they have 15 of those units prowling the mountain. We won’t be able to stay here. Let’s go.

Imperial Guard A: You, not enemy? You, beat iron one…

Grim: That’s what we’ve been sayin’ this whole time, man!

Silver: We’re trying to deliver General Vanrouge and the heir’s egg to Black Scale Castle. The general is badly injured.

(The Imperial Guards huddle tighter and talk amongst themselves)

Imperial Guard A: Okay. We, enemy, search, beat. You, castle, go. Comrade, we, protect, far away.

Grim: Uhhh… Are they sayin’ they’re gonna handle whoopin’ the Silver Owl for us?

Silver: Yeah. And they’re even offering us their protection.

Imperial Guard A: Attack, sorry. Night’s blessing, upon ye.

Silver: …Thank you. And the Night’s blessing upon ye all.

Battle map conversation

Grim: Haaah, haaah… Geez, the road’s gettin’ steeper an’ steeper. Ya better not drop Tsunotarou’s egg, henchman!

Yuu: It sure is heavy…

Silver: You okay, Yuu? I don’t see anyone trailing us, so I’m fine if you want me to hold the egg for a while.

Grim: What, you’re gonna carry both Lilia and the egg at the same time!? Don’t you ever get tired?

Silver: Of course I’m tired. But it’s weird… I also feel like there’s this strength welling up inside me. Maybe because I’m thinking of “that day”.

Grim: Whaddya mean?

Silver: The day I found out my father and I aren’t related, I ran away without even thinking. It was a night kind of like this one, it was raining really hard and the forest was pitch black… the weather was just awful. I couldn’t go back home, I couldn’t move forward, I just sat there and cried… But my father came and found me, and he carried me home on his back while I was bawling my eyes out. And that’s why… I know it’s probably not really appropriate to say this given the circumstances, but that’s why I kind of feel happy right now. I’m happy that I’m now able to carry him on my back. And this time, I’ll be the one to carry him home.

Battle map conversation

Grim: Hmm… Is Malleus really inside this thing? Looks more like a big ol’ jewel than an egg to me.

(Grim pokes the egg)

Yuu: Something moved inside! …I think.

Silver: For as long as I can remember, Lord Malleus has looked pretty much the same as he does now. Makes me wonder what he looked like when he was born.

Yuu: He was probably in his dragon form.

Silver: Ah! …Maybe that’s what’s stopping Lord Malleus from interfering with father’s dream, because he’s dreaming of a time before Lord Malleus was born… Imagination is the root of all magic. And maybe it’s hard for Lord Malleus to control something he knows nothing about, something that’s beyond his imagination…

Grim: Whatcha mumblin’ about, Silver?

Silver: It’s nothing. There’s no use wondering about this and that. Let’s keep moving.

Battle map conversation

Silver: Huh? …The smell wafting from this forest, it’s so familiar. ...Ahh, that’s right. The house father and I lived in is across Mystic Mountain. …It’s okay. I have all those memories of the time we spent together in that house right here with me. No matter what happens here on out… I’ll never lose my way again.

Land of Briar – Woods

Silver: Haaa, haaah…. That bridge up ahead… goes over the gorge that connects Dragon's Tail Mountains and Mystic Mountain.

Lilia: Ugh… Where are we…?

Silver: Are you awake, General Vanrouge? We’re just about to reach the bridge that goes up to Mystic Mountain.

Lilia: So you really did climb up the mountains carrying me on your back…?

Silver: Yes, sir. And there weren’t any issues along the way.

Lilia: And what about the egg!?

Grim: No worries. Yuu’s got ‘im.

Lilia: *sigh* …Oi, Silver. I can walk by myself, let me down already.

Silver: Are you sure? I’m fine carrying you to Dragon Capitol City.

Lilia: Heh, you’ve gotten so cheeky. Listen, you might not be able to sense it, but the fog that envelops this place is rich in magic. My wounds’ll heal up in no time here. …Easy does it.

(Lilia climbs off Silver’s back)

Lilia: Yuu, I know you’ve been lugging that heavy thing around for a while now. Here, give me the egg.

Yuu: I’ve kinda gotten attached to him.

(Lilia takes back the egg)

Lilia: I don’t see any cracks or anything on it. ….*sigh*… It’s so damn heavy. Ah, and before I forget, I don’t see Sebek anywhere. Did something happen?

Silver: He stayed behind with Sir Baul to hold back the enemy for us… We haven’t met up with them again yet.

Lilia: I see… So he’s with Baul…

(The ground rumbles)

Grim: Eep! Was that an earthquake!?

Lilia: No, that awful noise has to be…

Iron One A: We finally found ya, Vanrouge!

Iron One B: Take out the bridge with the armored excavator! We have to slay Vanrouge and get that egg at all costs!

Lilia: Tsch. They’re bringing out that huge thing again…!

Grim: And there’s Silver Owl guys pourin’ in from left an’ right!

Silver: General Vanrouge, Yuu, Grim, you guys hurry and cross the bridge! I’ll buy you some time! I WON’T LET ANY OF YOU PASS THROUGH! I’LL BE THE ONE TAKING YOU ON!

Iron One A: Ha! You’re just a stupid kid, you seriously think you have a chance against us? We’ll smash that bridge and throw all you guys to the bottom of the gorge with it. ARMORED EXCAVATOR, FULL SPEED AHEAD!

???: I call upon thee, Lightning – Pierce through the clouds above! Living Bolt!!!

Iron Ones: Guwaaaaah!!!

Silver: That flash of lighting just now, it’s…

Sebek: T-To think, you would be standing around dawdling here of all places…. D-Did you fall asleep along the way? …Yowch!!

Silver: Sebek! ...That armor…!?

Sebek: Ha! So you’ve noticed, have you! I should very much like to flaunt it off right now, but… That will have to wait until after we’ve dealt with the enemy! Ouch!!

Iron One A: Reinforcements, huh! Arrgh, hurry up and get that Armored Excavator up and running again!

???: Oh, no you don’t! Haaaaa!

Baul: There’s no way we’d let rotten scum like you take even a single step on these sacred mountains! I’LL DEVOUR THE LOT OF YOU!!!

Silver: Sir Baul! You’re okay!

Baul: …Hmph. You did good making it this far. I’ll commend you for your tenacity, if nothing else.

(Bats fly across the screen)

Lilia: Heh… Looks like you’ve escaped death as well, Baul.

Baul: General! I apologize for taking so long to get here.

Sebek: Sir Lilia! Where are His Eggcellency, Yuu, and Grim?

Lilia: I had them wait somewhere safe, beyond the bridge.

Sebek: But should you not be recuperating with them…!

Lilia: Dumbass. I wouldn’t be much of a general if I sit this one out, now would I? You don’t need to worry about me, my wounds are all closed up now thanks to our blessed Mystic Mountain. Now then, Silver Owl… If you want to run away, now’s your last chance.

Iron One A: Hah, you talk big for somebody who looks like he’s about to pass out. You guys don’t stand a chance. We’re gonna take both your head and that egg of yours and go home heroes! You aren’t gonna have your way with things any longer! …YOU MONSTERS!

Land of Briar – Woods

Iron One A: T-That’s impossible… How are they beating us?! There’s only four of them, why the hell can’t we bring them down!?

Iron One B: I heard fae can draw in magic energy from nature. They must be absorbing the evil energies on this mountain and healing themselves while we fight! They’re gonna wipe us out at this rate. Commander, please, give the order to retreat!

Iron One A: Damn those blasted monsters….! To make it all the way here, with that egg just within our reach… Dammit! MEN, RETREAT! RETREEEEAT!

(the iron ones depart)

Everyone: Haaa, haaah ,haaaa….

Sebek: Did we… Did we chase them off?

Lilia: Looks like it…

Silver: T-Thank goodness…

Baul: Praise be to the Mystic Mountain’s divine protection, praise be to the Night’s Blessing…

(The ground rumbles)

Silver: !? An earthquake!? And it’s a big one!

Sebek: The storm’s raging even worse now… Augh! I can hardly open my eyes!

Lilia: The land is resonating with the dragon’s- with Meleanor’s rage.

Baul: What on earth! There’s a bunch of black clouds and thorns covering the Verdant Moors.

Silver: !! This is just like when Lord Malleus overblotted…!

Sebek: Don’t tell me, is Lady Meleanor-!

Lilia: Shit, the bridge is about to collapse!

Baul: Hurry, everyone!!

Battle Map Conversation

Lilia: Haaa, haaah….  I can see… Dragon Capital City up ahead… We’re almost there, Black Scale Castle isn’t too far off. Soon as we drop off the egg, I’m heading straight back to the Verdant Moors….!

(Something rumbles in the distance)

Everyone: !!??

Grim: Eep! I think this earthquake’s the biggest one yet!

Baul: Everyone, to me! I’ll put up a forcefield!

Sebek: I-Is it over?

Baul: Appears so… Ah! There’s a bunch of boulders blocking the path we just came down.

Silver: We’re not out of the woods yet. Let’s hurry!

Part 2

Part 3

#lilia vanrouge #twst silver #sebek zigvolt #baul zigvolt #twst #twst spoilers #twst jp #twst book 7

[wafflesex]

Spoilers for Floyd's Stitch Event SSR

I wrote this all down in a hurry so certain nuances aren't 100% accurate, but this is the gist of Floyd's Stitch vignettes! It starts with Floyd surfing. Azul and Jack tell him it's time to head back to the cottage but Floyd complains about wanting to do an activity that can only be done at nighttime. This is when he gets the idea to make fireworks! He goes to Stitch's spaceship and asks him to turn any excess scrap metal into a fine powder. Floyd: A'ight, time for Dr. Floyd to experiment! This will be yellow and this will be red... Aha~ I did it! I'm a genius~ Stitch: ? Floyd: Are you interested in what I'm making? This is called a "flying jellyfish." Oh wait... what's it called on land again? Ah! That's right. Fireworks, fireworks! D'you know about 'em? (seems to be a reference to Part of Your World: "... What's that word again? ... Streeet~") Stitch helps Floyd make a ton of fireworks. As they build, he tells Stitch about Jade.

Floyd: You know, a long time ago, Jade and I went to the beach to watch the fireworks. Jade's my brother. Stitch: Ohana! Floyd: Hm? Jade's not a flower. He's the same moray mer as me. ("hana" means "flower" in Japanese, so whenever Stitch says "ohana," everyone thinks he's saying "flower") Floyd: Didn't I tell you? I'm a merman. I used to live in the sea before I went on land. Back in elementary school, I secretly went up to the beach to see the fireworks. Dad and mama always used to say "It's dangerous for kids to go alone, so don't go anywhere near the coast." Stitch: GRRR! Floyd: Nah, it's been a long time since merfolk and humans have been afraid of each other. After the sea princess and the land prince got married, merfolk come and go as they like. But little merfolk shouldn't wander close to shore alone because they could be swept away or beached. Floyd: Adults can survive that alone, but not a kid. Anyway, there's lots of shops for merfolk along the coast now. They're like the cottage we built where they stick out into the sea. They sell things like hoodies and accessories. ... My parents have several shops like that. Floyd: Those are for the grownups to go near though, not children. ... But Jade and I used to go to the beach a lot anyway and not tell our parents. I mean, when someone tells you not to do it, you want to do it anyway, don't you~? Stitch: WEHEHEH Floyd: There's tons of rare stuff by the coast. Flying jellyfish are our favorite though. Watching 'em from the sea is the best! They light up like stars on the black water, the reflections are so sparkly... It's like swimming through the nighttime sky! Floyd: Stitch, you came from space, right? You should try swimming in the starry sky then! Even going from sea to land was exciting for me. I'd always be like "What's this?" or "Is that guy really like that?" It would be cooler if I could go to space. I'd get to see even more! Floyd: Are there other aliens in space like Stitch and Gantu? Ahhh, if I say I met an alien on a deserted island, there's no way Jade would believe me. "It seems as if Floyd had a very unique dream," he'd say.

Floyd: So since I'm going back to school soon, make sure you come and play, Stitch, ok? And bring a really weird alien with you! Liiike... an evil genius scientist who created you or a guy with one eye or spies who like to disguise themselves! Something like that. (very obviously a nod to Jumba, Pleakly, and Cobra Bubbles in Lilo and Stitch)

Azul shows up and asks how the firework arrangement is going. He's surprised to see A LOT of fireworks. Floyd: This is the sparkler type Azul taught me how to make and this one is a disc that rotates. But THIS square one is a design of my own!

Azul: Floyd's original fireworks arrangement...? I hope it doesn't spontaneously explode. Floyd: Don't worry, don't worry~ It's made properly with magic.

Azul: Honestly... when he has a "I want to do this" attitude, Floyd's focus is incredible. I hope it can always be like this, especially at work. Floyd: Enthusiasm got me hungry. Can you guys help me carry the fireworks? We'll hide them on the beach and surprise the others~

Back at the cottage, everyone sees all the lights are off. Floyd and Stitch have also given them buckets (I'm assuming to extinguish the sparklers afterward.) They're then led to the beach. Jack: You're not planning on surfing at night, are you?

Floyd: Buuu buuu~ (buzzer sound) The correct answer iiis... this! A large orange firework shoots up into the sky and explodes. Lilia: What a marvelous fireworks display! Floyd, how did you prepare all this? Floyd: Stitch turned the junk parts into a powder~ Everyone: YOU MADE THEM? Floyd: Stitch, bring me the rest of them, ok? Jack: Uwa-! You mean the big pack Stitch was carrying was full of fireworks?! Floyd: Yup~ I wanted to do this at night so I made 'em in my downtime earlier. Grim: Whoa! With this many, we could play all night long! Lilia: These long and narrow ones are handheld fireworks... But what's this square one? Floyd: That's my original one~ You do this and then you put this away-- Goldfishie, gimme some fire! Riddle: Don't go using people like matches. Honestly... There~! Floyd's firework explodes and it's a gentle rain of blue and white sparks and stars.

Everyone: Woooow~!! Floyd: Right? Aren't the reflections of it on the nighttime water pretty? Ace: Floyd-senpai is really freaking incredible~! You're a genius! Can I light one up too? Floyd: Go for it~ Do as many of them as you want. Lilia: Ohh! This sparkler lets off a green color like Diasomnia! Jack: And this one is yellow... Amazing. How did you change the colors? Riddle: This is my first time doing fireworks. So, I just light the tip of this stick on fire? Azul: Inside Mostro Lounge, it's common for us to set up fireworks on cakes and for celebrations. ... So it's refreshing to do it outside like this instead. He then walks over to Floyd who is quietly watching everyone else play.

Azul: Even though you were so enthusiastic about making them earlier, you're not doing a firework yourself. Floyd: Mm, now I feel like watching instead of doing. Azul: I didn't think you were the type to get all sentimental while watching fireworks. Could it be... that if Jade was here, you would do them then? (he has a mischievous smile here, so he's probably trying to embarrass Floyd) Floyd: Why're you talking about Jade? He's probably running the Lounge alone right now so I'm gonna hear a lot of complaints when I get back. I'll hear that instead of "I wish I could have been there~" Anyway, isn't it more fun if he and I do our fun things separately and then come back with souvenirs and stories? If you like those stories, then you'll wanna visit those places. If you don't like 'em, then you won't go. Floyd: Jade is the same as me. With mountain climbing, one day he got hooked on it and started doing it alone. It's always more interesting if we do different things separately from each other. Besides... if we were together 24/7, I think things would be pretty bad between us.

Floyd: In the past, it was common for us to get into big fights and beat each other up. Azul: The way you brothers quarrel truly is ferocious. I was terrified the first time I witnessed it. Floyd: It's been a long time since it's been like that. When we get serious with each other, I know my life's in danger~ Well~ If I have to fight, then I'll do it~ Riddle: HEY, STITCH! GRIM! Don't go fighting with fireworks!

Floyd: Oh, looks like Stitch is having a good time! I'll join in too! Azul: Fu~ Doing something like this at night on this island certainly is refreshing. A fun game that sparks and pops at the tip of your fingers... huh... Are you satisfied, Floyd? Floyd: Ehh~? You think I'd be satisfied with only this much? Azul: Yes, that was a stupid question, wasn't it... By tomorrow you'll be looking for another stimulus.

Floyd: Hmm what should I do tomorrow~? Doing this on a deserted island is really rare, you know. So I wanna do something that'll make Jade say "Please take me with you next time~" Play, rampage, do whatever I want! Gotta enjoy myself so much that I don't have time to be bored!

And that's it! Very happy to have more crumbs of tweel lore......

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst spoilers #lost in the book with stitch #floyd leech #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #octavinelle #my translations

[clickbait-official]

Pericardium

prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting - "I love you. That's why I have to leave." "Well, I love you too and that's why you have to stay."

Thranduil brainrot is GETTING ME its GETTING ME

masterlist

~~~

This was getting unbearable, I thought to myself. Climbing the stairs leading to the gardens was not what I was referring to, though they were rather tiring.

The unbearable part was having to live like my heart wasn't beating.

Let me explain.

I moved into Mirkwood years ago, under the request of Lord Elrond of Rivendell. Assumedly, he'd thought that my experience with growing plants might be helpful in a place actively combating giant spiders.

He was right, as he normally is, but not for the reason he thought.

Instead, I'd found myself the right-hand of the Elven King himself. For no apparent reason at all - no background in diplomacy or in royal affairs helped rationalize just how I got here.

But that is not why you're here, is it?

Over the years by the King's side, I'd grown close to him. We shared hopes and heartbreaks, dreams and despairs. It felt healing, I suppose.

That closeness breached professionalism at times. It scared me.

Once that line was breached, there was no going back.

I had not even earned my position here. I was not a native to Mirkwood. How in Middle-Earth would Mirkwood's elves ever agree to such a union?

They would not, I decided. It made what I was about to do much easier.

I could not stop my heart from beating for long. I had to leave, quickly, before the traitorous thing choose to turn against logic yet again.

Surely Lord Elrond would welcome me back to Rivendell if I explained my situation, right?

The thought of leaving Mirkwood, the place I call home, as well as the king who rules it, forces my heart to skip a beat.

I must learn to live without a heart, I think. If only to curb the pain to come.

Rushing to the stables, I see my horse at the far end. My heart begins contracting in my chest. That is my cue to hurry the hell up, as the humans say.

One step after another. All to take me further away from here.

I clutch at my horse's hair. She dips her head down in recognition, letting me freely hug her close. My closest companion, now that I'm leaving.

It feels a little bit like burning at stake. Not that I know how that feels, but it's the most similar thing, I suppose.

My heart is being cooked in the flames of love.

I close my eyes to center myself for a minute. And like a good pie, I savor the moment.

Sighing, I open my eyes. "Let's get going, starlight."

"Go where?"

The sudden intrusion is startling, and I turn to look behind me.

Thranduil.

He looks stunning as always, like a star that's descended from the heavens. His eyes, the color of a clear sky, zeroed in on me.

"Well?" He tilts his head slightly. Every day I forget how speechless he makes me.

"I... I was just planning on taking a short ride around, my King."

To this he lifts an eyebrow. And smirks, damn him.

"Oh? May I accompany you, then?" He knows I can't deny him.

Not wanting him to know my true intent, I nod at him, "Certainly."

The slight smile gracing his face made everything else disappear. For a single moment, all I could see was him.

It took a minute to prepare, then we were off. Into the beautiful forest we call home.

~~~

I was busy admiring the tall grey-brown bark of the trees we were riding past when he broke the silence.

"Do you like it here?"

The question surprises me. Both in its suddenness and in its intimacy.

"Of course, my King. Why do you ask?"

I can feel his eyes on me, studying the map of my face. I can feel the blood pumping in my veins.

"If that's so, why does Elanor speak of your mentioning departure from Mirkwood?"

To this I advert my gaze. Caught.

He continues. "You seem to be more and more distant than usual. I can't help but wonder why."'

"Because I'm in love with you" My heart screams. I stay silent.

Thranduil notices this, and both his eyes and voice turn sharp.

"What are you hiding?"

I sigh softly. "My king, I must return to Rivendell."

He studies me, not believing a word.

"And I must leave soon. I did not want to cause any more burden to your shoulders, my King. That is why I did not tell you."

"You were never a burden. And did you not think of the panic your disappearance would cause in the palace? The panic you would cause me? You cannot just leave like that. Not without a proper reason." He gets more and more animated as he speaks, and I feel my temper rising to match his.

"I need to leave-"

"No you don't!"

"And go to Rivendell and-"

"Not without a reason! You can't just leave! I forbid it!"

His voice echoes in the forest. Mine follows suit.

"I love you! That's why I have to go!"

Ruined. That's what this friendship is.

He, for once, falls silent. His hair shifts as he turns to look at me, truly look at me. His eyes, once cold, are now softer.

"I love you too. And that's why you have to stay."

...What.

~~~

Brainrot is real because its happening to me

#lotr #x reader #lotr x reader #the hobbit #the hobbit x reader #thranduil x reader #thranduil #thranduil oropherion #tolkien

[sketchy-owl]

...How I met your father...the tale of a bat and a raven...

Mentioned Lilia Vanrouge x fem reader

Silver x mother reader.

(Owlie note: this started as a joke but it became really serious so I couldn't include it in the Dorks in wonderland series)

Silver;*looks at Y/N* ...moth-...Y/N....

Y/N:Silver darling what I've already told you?

Silver:....to keep calling you mother when we are alone.

Y/N:*smiles and pats his head* Exactly, you have a good memory sweetie.

Silver:Mother please...*blushes*

Y/N:Ok ok I'll stop*rises her hands in surrender * what were you trying to say dear?

Silver: How did you meet Lil-...I mean father??

Y/N:Well that's a long story...wait Lilia never told you?

Silver:....He would tell me that you met in school or that you were bound to meet each other by fate or during a fight in a tavern or that he dreamed of you before you actually met. The most absurd one was that you almost killed him.

Y/N:*sighs * Of course he wouldn't tell you the true story but just few details of it, your father lives for those kind of games.

Silver:What do you mean mother?

Y/N: Your father did tell you how me and him met...he put a small piece of the truth in small stories. But now I'll tell you what really happened.

Silver:*nods*

Y/N: Your father and I are indeed bounded by fate, we are something that humans call...."soulmates" so we were destined to meet eachother....but our first meeting wasn't actually the most romantic thing of the world.

Silver: At least it won't be a cheesy tale like the ones father told me.

Y/N:...Well you could call it the tale of a bat and a raven .....You see...I was a warrior from an enemy kingdom...all I knew in my life was fighting...and killing...I was a merciless murderer....at the time I was called "Raven" due to the mask I was wearing...

Silver:*shocked* "The mask I found in the attic...."

Y/N:When I first met your father...it was during a war...I still remember that day...as if it was yesterday... I was killing every single soldier not caring if they were enemies or allies...then my general:

Flashback

~In the middle of the battlefield~

General: The queen is right there!! Raven!! Go an kill her!!!

"What the queen was in the battlefield!?"

"Yes she was, I was surprised too... I've never seen someone brave as her. So brave to fight along with her people...the king I was 'serving'...was a real coward he sent his soldiers to war and never dared to fight with them....now can I go on?"

"Yes...I'm sorry mother...."

General: Hurry you useless slave! It's your occasion...

Y/N:...*looks at the queen and runs to her ready to strike with the sword*

"As I was about to cut her head off...your father came in to stop me"

Lilia:Not so fast!*stops Y/N's sword*

Y/N:....*stares at Lilia with cold eyes*

Lilia:*smirks* You must be the famous Raven I've heard about!!! Finally I have the honor to meet you! You look very strong but what general I would be if I'd let you kill my Queen.

~Present~

Silver: Father was no different from now.

Y/N:*chuckles* Yes...We fought for days and nights...none of us dared to stop...It was...exciting....because I had finally found someone strong as me...*smiles*

Silver:Who won?

Y/N:Your father of course. He used magic, my army was defeated and while they were running away ...I was left behind...

Silver:Cowards...

Y/N: Well it was good for me don't you think?

Silver: Yes of course.

~Flashback~

Maleficia: *looks at Y/N* They left the raven here...

Lilia: How foolish...he was their best warrior...

Y/N:...you.....masters?.....kill....me?

Maleficia:*her eyes widen* General...remove the mask immediately...

Lilia:*do as she said*....WHAT!? A woman!?

Maleficia:....poor creature....*gets close to Y/N*....what did they do to you....

Y/N:....me raven....me kill...

Lilia: She was literally raised as a warrior...not even given a proper education...She repeats the words she heard the most....

Maleficia:.... for how long were you fighting....no....how many masters you had...

Y/N: .....masters....dead...old....many...

Maleficia:She is not a human...she must be like us....probably from a conquered village...

Lilia:This explains her unnatural strength....she could be even stronger with magic...

Maleficia:....*looks at Y/N's face* those E/C ....She's...from the Kourona Montains ....tribe...

~Present ~

Silver: Kourona?? Wasn't that your last name?

Y/N:Yes....Apparently I was the only survivor of the Kourona Tribe... I rare fairy kind... who lived 500 years ago... after the war the Queen welcomed me to her Kingdom... I received a proper education I learned how to speak, read and use my magic.

Silver: Wait....Fairy?? But do you don't...

Y/N:Have wings? Well as you may know not all faes have wings but the Kourona tribe was famous for having the most beautiful wings among all fae...

Silver:..mother...what happened to yours?

Y/N:I had them once...but they took them away from me...

Silver:*shocked*....Forgive me mother I'm making you remember all those bad things...*looks down*

Y/N:*caresses his cheek* My dear son...I may have suffered at first for those 200 years....but my pain was rewarded with wonderful.... gifts...A home....a man who loves me...and...

Silver:And?

Y/N:*smiles* And you my dear son.

Silver:*tears up and hugs Y/N*....thank you mother..

Y/N: I'm the one who should thank you for bringing me happiness...*holds him close* my precious son.

Lilia:*appears from nowhere *What? Hugs session without me?I'm offended.

Y/N:*rolls her eyes* Don't you have something else to do then bothering us?

Lilia:My little raven you wound me...*dramatic pose *

Y/N: If I really wanted to wound you I would use something stronger.

Silver:....*smiles and hugs both of them*

Lilia:*looks at Y/N and whispers* What happened he never acted this way...

Y/N:*smiles* it's a long story....my bat.

#disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland lilia #silver #silver twst #twst silver #silver twisted wonderland #lilia vanrouge #twst lilia #lilia x reader #silver x reader #lilia vanrouge x reader #twisted wonderland x reader

[moonpedri]

game over.

summary: meeting your ex at your friend's birthday party was the last thing you wanted, yet you somehow couldn't stay away from him.

pairing: pedri x reader

genre: fluff (sort of?), suggestive

warnings: none really, just a bit of toxic/fuckboy!pedri, making out

word count: 2.2k

a/n: this is my first fic i ever published. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing!! <3 (not proof-read)

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The music around you is loud, blaring through the speakers. The people in front of you dance to their hearts content, watching them as you sit on the sofa somewhere in the corner of the room. You lean back and laugh at the birthday boy in the middle of it all, moving like rent was due tomorrow morning.

Sira joins in at her boyfriend's antics.

Tonight was Ferran's birthday. And as with every birthday of his, he liked to go all out. Especially with the house parties. Especially especially because it was his first one in Barcelona, having spent the last one in Manchester. He was happy to be back in Spain and more so to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

It has always been a childhood dream of his and by extent yours too. The two of you grew up together in Valencia and always dreamed of living in the big city up north. You for your studies and him for the football. You managed to leave first, enrolling into the University of Barcelona. Ferran took a little detour to England before joining you 2 years later. It was one of the best news you have ever received.

Both you and Sira helped preparing this party and you are happy that so far everything went well. You still aren't sure how Ferran knew so many people in the short time he has been here in Barcelona but the house is filled up to the last bit - which worried you at first but, oh well.

It wasn't up to the ideal athlete lifestyle either, but who followed that nowadays anyways? It was his birthday and they don't have any important games in the next few days. Though maybe training's going to be a pain in the ass tomorrow, but that didn't have anything to do with you.

You focus on the crowd in front of you again.

Next to Ferran is another figure, one that was quite familiar to you. You two lock eyes for a split second before you turn your head away. Displeased, you take a sip of your drink.

Sira, who noticed immediately, looks at you with a smirk on her lips. "Have you still not talked it out?"

You sigh, "There is nothing to talk out really."

She hums, "Hm, sure. That's why you two always look like you want to make out and rip each other's throat out at the same time."

"Sounds kinky.", you say, not adding anything more and take another sip. You really didn't want to talk about him. Sira on the other hand suddenly takes great interest in the topic.

"__, come on. This can't go on like this forever. You know what always worked whenever Ferran and I fought? The jealousy card."

You look at her exasperated, "Are you trying to give me relationship advice right now? We didn't fight, we ended things, Sira. I don't want him back."

"Then stop looking at him like every two seconds."

You hadn't even noticed. You groan, "I'm going to get myself another drink." And with that you hurry to the kitchen. Far far away from Sira and her stupid advices. She calls after you, but you ignore her.

Yeah, okay. Maybe you looked at him like what, two times? So what. You haven't seen him in a while, of course you were a bit curious. That was only human, right? After all, you had a right to be curious.

Annoyed that you think about him again, you open the door to the kitchen only to be greeted by the devil himself; and apparently an accomplice of his as well, as some girl was clinging to his arm.

A curse almost leaves your mouth at the sight.

Pedri.

He looks good, he always does. His face was freshly shaved and his dark locks frame his face oh so perfectly. He wore a dark T-Shirt that highlighted his toned upper-body, it was truly unfair how attractive he was right now.

At the sight of you, the blonde girl next to him dugs her long nails deep into his biceps. She is pretty, you notice quickly, which just makes the whole situation worse.

You stand there for second, thinking. As much as you want to, leaving was absolutely not an option. You wouldn't give him the satisfaction. You want Pedri to know that you don't care about him anymore, just like what he said to you all those weeks ago.

So, you straighten your back and squeeze past them and straight towards the fridge. You hear the girl scoff behind you, probably annoyed that you interrupted whatever they planned on doing. Trying to seem unbothered, you open the fridge and lean down to grab one of the energy drinks stored at the bottom. You could have kneeled down too, but maybe you wanted Pedri to see. The dress you wore was short, barely covering your ass. And seeing this girl in his arms, alone in the kitchen, irks you for some reason.

She could never be you, and you wanted to remind Pedri of that.

You could feel his eyes on you, "I know that I was the best thing that probably ever happened to you, and that you miss me, but did you really have to follow me all the way back to the kitchen?", he says and the girl next to him giggles. It makes your blood boil. Who does he think he is?

You turn around, just in time to catch him checking out your ass, and smile at him, "You're so full of yourself, it's actually disgusting, you know?"

He pretends to think, "I've heard those word a few times before, yes. In a different context though."

Oh, how you hate him. You detest him so so much, and yet it makes something churn in your stomach. "I hate you.", is all you say before you leave the kitchen. You believe to hear a "Likewise" leave his mouth. Bastard.

Maybe Sira was right. The jealousy card worked, but not how you wanted to. Not on him, but on you. Somehow the thought of leaving Pedri alone with that blonde bitch irritates you. It enrages something deep within you. And you want to turn the tables.

Without really thinking too much about it, you move your way into the middle of the dance floor, grab some guy's hand and move your hips like you were on the broadway. Like you were Britney fucking Spears.

Two could play this game. You chuck down the last bit of your energy drink and move in-between all these sweaty bodies. It may looked wrong but it felt good to let loose.Lost in both music and thoughts, you suddenly someone bump into you. You recognize the brown locks immediately.

Pablo Gavira. A very close teammate of Pedri and possibly his best friend.

You met him a little bit later than Pedri but nevertheless considered him a pretty good friend of yours - even after everything that happened.

"Oh, sorry- __, hey."

"Hey.", you say and involve him in some small talk. You haven't seen him in quite some time either. Due to the loud noises though, the two of you were forced to talk to each other in close approximity. Not that you complained, he is an attractive guy, you just never saw him that way.

Gavi knew his boundaries, you both knew them. And you don't think he was interested you in that way either. However a little fun never hurt anyone, right?

You tucked Gavi a little closer and moved your hips against his. Your hands hold firmly onto his shoulders and to anyone around you it may have seemed like there was definitely more going on between you two.

To Gavi and you, though, it's nothing. It's fun. If Gavi knows what your true intentions are, he doesn't show it.

You catch movement from the left side of your eye. Pedri and the girl stand in a group of people now, talking and chatting with each other. You recognize Sira and Ferran to be part of them.

Sira spots you first and smiles mischievously. Next to her, Pedri now turns your way as well. He furrows his brow immediately and you look back to Sira, who is signaling something to you. You understand, of course. Giving in into her "advice", you grab around Gavi's neck and push your chest against his. As Gavi's hands wander down slowly, you lean in closer to his face.

But Pablo wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what you were doing. "And here I thought you just wanted to spend some quality time with me.", he whispers into you ear, acting fake-hurt by your actions. You reckon that he is joining in on this little game you are playing, knowingly playing with fire too.

Innocently, you reply, "Am I not?"

"Hm, are you not?", he asks and tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

You laugh, "Who knows," his hand is now on your lower back, ",but I have to admit you're surprisingly good at this."

"Ah, now you're hurting my feelings for real. Why is that surprising?"

"I don't know, I just didn't expect it I guess. You never gave me an opportunity to think otherwise.", you say and the tips of your noses almost touch.

It was mindless chit-chat really. To anyone looking from outside though, it definitely was not just mindless chit-chat; which is exactly what you wanted. You look over to your left, dark brown eyes boring directly into you. You can't decipher the look on Pedri's face; but it isn't difficult to point out that it's not positive. You grin at him and watch as his jaw clenches.

Right then, Gavi turns your face to him, index finger under your chin. "Well, at least you know now.", he glances behind you and chuckles, "He's going to kill me later, but for now good luck."

He lets go and suddenly a large hand circles around your waist and pulls you back. You hate the way you lean into the touch unconsciously; how your body responds quicker than your brain and recognizes it straight away.

Gavi winks at him (or you, you're not sure to be honest) and turns back to the crowd.

"Game over, princess.", Pedri whispers into your ear. Goosebumps spread all over your body. "You think I don't know what you're up to? I'm not stupid."

"So why are you here then?"

He lays his hands on your hips and spins you around. His face is impossibly close, "Because you're a fucking minx and it's annoying me."

You look at him unimpressed, "Fuck off, Pedri."

His tight grip on you prevents you from leaving. Pedri grabs your jaw, "That was your plan all along, wasn't it? Getting me all riled up, try making me jealous with my best friend out of everyone."

"So what?", you look up at him. And he only stares back. You could have pretended to be innocent, but you were done. You wanted to lay all cards open. He couldn't do anything about it, you weren't his.

"I thought you hated me?"

"I do."

"Yeah?"

You hum, "So much." You haven't realized how close he was to you now, your lips only inches apart.

Pedri looks at them for a split moment. Then his eyes wander down your body and it takes everything in you to not buckle under his gaze. You remind yourself that you were strong, not weak. You wanted to leave him high and dry, show him that he couldn't find anyone better than you. But that task proved itself to be harder than you initially thought.

So you tug him forward by the hem of his pants and pull him down by his neck, clawing at it almost. "And did my plan work?", you breathe against his mouth.

Pedri's lips on yours are the only confirmation you need.

He kisses you with force and so much desperation and frustration. You did with just as much. It's been too long.

His hands roamed your body, stopping at your ass. It hurt to admit how much you missed him on you. He squeezes the flesh of your butt, pulling you into him and you gasp into his mouth. "God, I missed you so much.", he roans.

You don't know how long you continued to make out, exploring each other as if it was your first time.

Only when someone bumps into you, the two of you part. You feel your heart beat hard against your chest. Stil trying to steady your breath, you look at him - unsure on how to proceed. But your lord and savior, in the form of Ferran, saves you from the awkwardness

"Pedri!", he calls him over. The boys are gathered in a group, and whatever they managed to do, they wanted to show Pedri.

He looks over to them, signaling them that he's coming.

He turns to you with a smirk. "We should definitely repeat that.", Pedri winks and caresses your face. He leaves a soft kiss on your cheek before leaving. His actions and words didn't match, which confuses you even more. But that was a problem for another time.

For now, you just bite your lip and smile after him. "Yeah.", is all you manage to say.

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© moonpedri - DO NOT copy, translate or post my work anywhere without my permission!

check out my masterlist for more! 🤍

#pedri x reader #pedri fanfic #pedri one shot #pedri fluff #pedri imagine #pedri gonzalez #football fanfic #football imagine #football x reader #fic: game over #moonpedri

[feelingdozy]

The Nightmares Return

Finnick Odair x Reader

Hunger Games Masterlist

Summary: long after the games and the quarter quell, you're still having nightmares about them and Finnick is the only one able to keep them away.

Warnings: talk of death, talk of killing,talk of blood, nightmares, swearing, crying, yelling, screaming, insecure thoughts/self blame, knife mentions

It's always the same. the nightmares always find ways to return. Your dreams feel like reality, replaying the same horrible events you dread and hate with all of your body.

"y/n!" "Y/n!" "Hurry up!"

Running. Faster than you thought your legs could ever go. Your lungs were exhausted and your tongue deprived of water. You looked back up at your district partner. You felt bad. The knife that struck their stomach didn't help, as the fresh blood splattered on your face covering most of it because they were in such close distance to you.

You ran again. And again. And again and again. you felt bad. You didn't even get their name and they'd already paid death a visit, now a permanent stay. They were so young. So beautiful. So deserving of life unlike you.

You were a loner, even from district 4 a career district, you had no such skills to survive. So you got your way there by sacrifices. human sacrifices. But not on purpose. The first was your unlucky district partner with a knife to the torso with the splatter staining your face.

The next was a random career tribute from 1 or 2- at this point you didn't remember because the only thing you did remember was their excruciating death and the pain they'd gone through by accidentally saving you. How did it come to that? Another career. It's always your 'alliances' til they declare you're not good enough and worthy of their team efforts.

The next wasn't a sacrifice for you, but the deaths to win the horrible games. They thought no one else was alive except for them, battling it out in the arena until they both got each other in the chest with an axe and the other a knife. Injured and bruised, you watched the blood splatter on the ground.

That forever stained your eyes, your brain, your memory. You could never, ever forget what went down those days. You'd never killed anyone, but they showed up asking for your mercy.

"don't kill me y/n. Don't make me die again. It's all your fault."

"I thought you'd help me, y/n? Didn't we have an alliance? You should've saved me from those careers."

But instead you'd sit back and watch. You were the disappointment of your district. How could you just sit back and watch everyone else do the work as a career? The winning tour or whatever it was named, didn't help the fresh nightmares either.

The parents stared into your eyes. You couldn't take it. You couldn't take the looks they gave you. The pain on their faces. Especially the two you were allies with. Their faces were nothing but anger and pain towards you, their eyes dark and wishing death upon you. But what could you do?

You knew it would've been better if you'd died out there and had the other tribute from district 4 win, or anyone else that just wasn't you.

It wasn't worth it.

You only found your meaning in life after the victory tours, in a man close to your age at the time. You had been 16 in those games, and him one year ahead of you making him 17. He was more knowledgeable than you, deserving of his young win and you looked up to his charming and amazing qualities.

By the time you both were somewhat in your 20's and had been mentoring kids for a few years, you knew you couldn't live without each other.

Then the quarter quell came. The greatest thing to tear you apart. Ruin what had been built. Tear years of friendship and love down in a matter of seconds.

Only 1 come out alive in a pool full of victors? It had been the death you had been looking for, desiring, hoping for, if only it had come earlier.

One night prior to the quarter quell, you couldn't sleep. Nothing could put you to sleep as the bad memories flashed through your mind with no remorse. You had cradled into a ball so tight your body ached, the air flow was tight, and your tears pooled up beneath you. At that point your cries grew louder and louder, you thought you had been secretive but most of the peacekeepers could hear your despair through the doors

Your cries muffled your hearing and your mind, so when someone put their arms around you, you jumped and accidentally smacked whoever it was in the face out of survival instinct.

"oh shit"

You said between sniffles, your crying now paused to apologize to however came to comfort you.

"I'm so fucking sorry oh my go-"

They held you closer, and at that point without a word said to each other you knew who it was.

"are you ok Finnick? That was a hard fucking hit"

You laughed, staying cautious because you didn't know if he was actually ok. You heard his contagious laugh after yours, it calmed you down a bit, making you forget about the wet tears down your cheeks.

"I think I should be asking you if you're ok. A little hit gets me a little.. more into the game?"

You both laughed at that, knowing he'd tease you for it later.

"but really y/n, do you need me to stay here? I don't need you missing out on your sleep the day before the games. You at least need to be energized."

He always tried to take your attention away from the bad things when you were upset, getting you to pay more attention to the positives.

"you're not gonna be able to help me when we're in the games y'know-"

"I can help you wherever you need me to y/n, you know that. I've been here for you since I met you and I'm not leaving now."

He said as he planted a kiss on your lips, leaving you suddenly longing for more.

Your eyes widened and guilt dawned on you. He was always so good to you, why couldn't you be the positive one comforting him? He had to get tired of this by now, you guys were in your fucking 20's! How could he not? Years and years and he hasn't once doubted your relationship? Bullshit.

"I don't know why you stay"

You mumbled under your breath before a big sigh. You were moving underneath the blankets as his hand grabbed your arm and held you still for a second, bringing you closer after you looked into his eyes.

"I stay because I love you y/n. No matter how many times you doubt yourself, or hate yourself, or whatever you choose to do. I stay because I love who you are."

You were tearing up again, your tear stained cheeks becoming obvious on your skin as you felt more drop in their place.

"you can't look me straight in the eyes and say that to me before we go into an arena where we're destined to die Finnick. You know I'm not making it out of there alive, you have better chances with someone else!-"

He was quickly towering over your form, hands to the sides of your head. Raising your chin with his soft hand that caressed your cheek ever so softly, you'd think you were already in heaven.

"there's nobody I want to spend my last moments with but you y/n."

He went in for another kiss, you deepening it this time as whenever he touched you, the whole world would disappear and all that was left would be you and him.

It had been years since that, and you both had stayed the same. Finnick ever so persistent with his love for you, and you had become more bold in your words as well. But there's something that had never changed, no matter how long it had been.

The nightmares.

They came in all different forms, sometimes they'd chase you til you awake in a cold sweat or just stand over you and threaten your life until you woke up screaming. His arms always wrapped around you knowing how it felt because sometimes you'd be the one to comfort him and his nightmares, as he had the same problems as you.

You both didn't know what you'd do without each other. Your arms comforted each other, sweet voices reassuring one another you were ok and there were no games anymore.

When would it end? You both never knew, but you knew that you'd always have each other.

#the hunger games #hunger games renaissance #the hunger games catching fire #thg series #hunger games fanfiction #the hunger games trilogy #finnick odair #thg finnick #thg books #thg fanfiction #thg trilogy #thg movies #thg #the hunger games finnick #finnick x y/n #finnick odair x reader #finnick imagine #finnick odair fanfic #finnick

[satoru-is-the-way]

Spoilers for Avatar 2!!

Avatar! Rick Quaritch x Navi reader

"Given Enough "

Series Master List

Tag list: @the-wanderer-2022 @zootsutra @anyzandy   @kneelingforvillains @dioriez @mylovelyreblogs @dinobae-replyacc @voodoogoul @freshmoneyalmondathlete @thedumboneforsomereason @world-dominating-kitty @scarletpines

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Angst, Mentions of Dead, Killing in a sort, depression, and maybe some more not sure I'll add it I find one!

Also lowkey not proofread lmao. ..Also this does Include Mayan language and such because me trying to represent my peeps. Love you fam...but low key had to add the flying bison 😭 y'all don't @ me

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 -Flying is lesson one

Quaritch wakes up only to meet (Y/n) beautiful eyes gazing down at him. Yesterday felt like a dream. He never imagined himself to be in this position. But anything to make Jake Sully pay for his sins. “Lik'en,” She said. He looked confused at her. “Get up.” (Y/n) repeats in a more annoyed tone. “We will have to teach you our language. You are like a baby. You know nothing of our ways.” This earned a simple eye roll.

“So I assume we will be going over the language barrier today?” He stood up slowly standing a whole foot taller than (Y/n). Mastering the language would be the hardest part; everything else he figures would be easy. In the marine core, they trained him for many scenarios, but the likes of Pandora had not been one. But how hard could it be? “Unless you have something else in mind, princess.” He grins a flirty tone. (Y/n) looked down. 

“No, first we eat and then we ride.” She comments. Quaritch follows her. She tossed him a rather odd fruit-like food. It resembles a dragon fruit but on a much larger scale. “Lesson one is flying.” Quaritch chuckled.

“I already have that down with my Ikran.” He bit down on the fruit taking in its sweet flavor. He truly liked Pandor and could not wait until it belong to them. 

(Y/n) chuckled also eating her fruit as they walked through the village. “No, I am talking about another animal. Bigger, stronger, and faster than any Ikran. We use the Ikran for many tasks. But  Kamimaljuyú has another way of flight. They are part of our clan and have been since the dawn of time.” She called out for her Ikran who soon arrived along with Quaritchs. “We have many sub-villages in our large domain. However, these creatures live farther out to the east.”

“SISTER!” Called (Y/n)’s younger brother landing beside her Ikran. “The Mamífero Ka’anal’s have just given birth hurry!” Quaritch has never seen anyone this happy before. He took a mental note that these Mamífero Ka’anals could be a weak point in this clan. He nods over to (Y/n) and they both take off flying deeper into the clan’s territory. Quaritch knew he hit the jackpot landing here. If he could mate with the Princess all of this land, people, and warriors could be his to command. “Hurry before the children find their soul animal.” Her brother, Balam, smiled. Quaritch’s eyes widen and his ears go back once the large creatures come into sight.

The humans had very little information about this creature. He could remember the small paragraph written over these ‘Sky Bison’ in human terminology. They were large animals of the sky, they belong to the air clans, every ten years they could be seen on migration, and they would disappear into the mountains never to be seen again. They land next to other Ikrans. He noticed many children possibly around 9 years old gather at the edge with food in hand.

“What the hell are they?” He asked. (Y/n) smiled softly seeing the baby Mamífero Ka’anal’s fly around their mothers. 

“They are the Mamífero Ka’anals Great warriors in the sky. Or as your people might call them Sky Bison’s as they resemble an earth creature. They are part of our family.”

“Why are the children here?” He asked, walking closer toward the edge. An animal like this in a war would be unstoppable. 

“In our tribe when children turn a certain age they are given more responsibility and utilities before they reach adulthood. Such as this. New Mamífero Ka’anal’s are brought here. The child and the Mamífero Ka’anal bond for life. Much like the Ikran, they will never have another owner. But if their companion dies they can ever fly again.”

“What do you mean by never flying again?” He asked watching the newborns fly down to the Navi children. They were so small and innocent, weak. An easy target. (Y/n)’s ears lay back thinking of the sad times a Navi died before their sky bison. “Did…I say something wrong?” He touched her hand. 

“No, it is a very sad time. We bond with the Mamífero Ka’anal for life. It is more than a connection to an Ikran. They become part of our family, we are friends for life on a spiritual level. If we are in danger they can sense it and vice versa. Our bond with them is sacred and blessed by Eywa.  If a Mamífero Ka’anal dies we can never choose another. But if a Navi dies before the Mamífero Ka’anal’s…” (Y/n) paused, “The animal gives up their will to live. It’s cruel and unfair how they work differently. They will lose all motivation to fly, live, and be happy. They will not eat or drink. Normally to avoid the torture of starvation we perform a ritual in front of Eywa and kill the animal in a humane way before we return them to her. Then they can live in eternal happiness alone alongside their companion.” (Y/n) whipped the tears which fell from her large (e/c) orbs. He felt bad not for the animals or Navi but for seeing her cry. The colonel shook his head trying to stop feeling sympathy for the enemy. Her beauty meant nothing in the end because his goal is to kill Jake’s whole family. 

“Hey, Princess, don't cry. In the end, they are happy, right? They don't suffer anymore. They are returned to their family.” He tried to comfort her which seemed to work. “So…do I get one?”

“Yes, but there are very few adults. Sadly in some cases when a Navi child does not make it to age, there are some who are left over. It is harder to bond at an older age. Mainly catching them but I can help you with that.” She clears her throat. “First be thinking of a unique call.”

“So these Bison respond to a certain call?”

“Yes, they do. Watch and listen.” (Y/n) cupped her hand over her mouth calling out to her bison (this sound). The colonel listened and looked to see the bison come for their master. Soon the large creature called back, flying towards the floating land. “Hurry!” She yelled running towards the edge of the floating rock before jumping off. 

“Fucking hell!” He yelled before following the Navi princess. How did she land smoothing on top of the Bison? "SHIT!" He yelled, landing with a thud on the animal's back. She laughed and walked up onto the large creature's head connecting her queue to him. He gripped onto the bison's fur. 

"Áramà! My beautiful girl! I want you to meet someone." (Y/n) smiled as the bison flew down to the ground below. 

"Was jumping off the cliff necessary?" 

"For dramatic purposes…Yes it was." She laughed jumping down. Quaritch follows examining the animal. He looked for weak spots. This creature would be a nightmare to fight. "Áramà this is Rick Quaritch." (Y/n) said. The Bison leaned over sniffing the Colonel. 

"Hello there. Áramà is it?" He was supposed to treat this animal like a native. It seemed intelligent. Rick noticed the silent communication Áramà had with (Y/n) maybe their bond is on a spiritual level. "So girl where is the other at?" He asked reaching up to pet the female Mamífero Ka’anal. She looked at Rick before glancing at (Y/n) making a few sounds that sent the Navi into laughter. "What's so funny?"

(Y/n) chuckled," She said she cannot wait to watch you fail." The colonel looks at the bison and huffs. 

---

Currently (Y/n) , Rick, Balam, and Áramà are above an unclaimed bison. "So Balam , she is your sibling?" 

"Yes I am younger though. Now focus. You have to drop down and make the connection quick." Balam instructed. "Or else it will not work. Just try and think gentle happy thoughts when connecting. Calm and command the Mamífero Ka’anal. When you are done I will help you fly him." Balam said. Quaritch nods looking at (Y/n).

“What do you say, give me a kiss for good luck, princess?” This caused (Y/n) to smirk and move closer lips near his. Quaritch felt his heart race ear going back.

“I said dont call me princess.” She then pushed him off. Quaritch yelped, falling off Áramà and turning around to land on top of his bison. It was quick how much the beast began to thrash around in an attempt to get Quaritch off his back.

“Ts'a a wóoli' yéetel beet le vínculo!”(Hurry and make the bond!) (Y/n) yelled.

“WHAT.THE.HELL.DOES.THAT.MEAN?” He called back. This was much harder than some Ikran. This beast had strength. Quaritch refused to let an animal make a fool of him. He needed to focus on the mission. With one mistake it would all crumble. With a loud war cry, he leaped forward and connected his queue to the Mamífero Ka’anal. The bull instantly settles down. “That’s it, boy.”

Balam dropped down chuckling,” Not bad for a human. I am surprised you didn’t die.” (Y/n) soon lowers her bison so they are riding side by side. 

“Now give him a name.” She smiled.

“How about Pup?” He asked, causing the siblings to chuckle.

“I like it. Now come on. Let’s teach you how to fly. They are much different from an Ikran.” (Y/n) smiled. 

---

It was now nightfall and Balam returned to the village on his bison leaving Quaritch and (Y/n) alone. The pair lands on the ground side by side before descending from their bison. “So how did you feel about lesson one?” She asked, nudging his shoulder. The colonel had trouble admitting he enjoyed today. Enjoyed being with the Navi princess. Also, her brother was not so bad, her complete opposite. 

“I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy myself. Today was a different one for sure. Pup here is rather pleasant. It is so odd how…I understand him even without being bonded I feel him. Hear him. Know what he knows.” Rick did not know Navi could truly be this emotional. Have connections not only with their forest but animals. 

“Well, then tomorrow we are going to dive deeper into more traditions and our way. Including our language which you desperately need to learn.” 

“So then I get my kiss?”

“Tch, in your dreams.” She blushed.

“I am counting on it, princess.”

Chapter 3

#Spotify #avatar x reader #avatar way of water #na'vi avatar #avatarmovie #jake sully #neytiri #sully family #colonel quaritch x reader #colonel quaritch #Avatar x navi #way of water #avatar x you

[kobb4ni2]

･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐎 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

-> [ Part One. |Part Two.| ]

✧ .* pairing ─ None. [For now]

✧ .* gender/pronouns ─ Female and She/Her

☆ .* note ─ This part is a build up for Jimbie's part, so there's no romantic stuff here YET this part is just to tell what happened during the escape. I really reccomend that you read this and not skip this part out bc it doesn't have any x readers yet but this part is very much relevant to the story, so I hope you guys like it :3 !!!!!

☆ .* TRIGGER WARNING ─ Abuse, Sl*v*ry, Implied SA,Abduction and Spoilers for Tiger Fishs' and Boa's backstory.

┈➤ Synopsis: Being a Warlord is a hefty job or title. Many fear you or look down on you. You may be looked down on as a Government Dog to other pirates but yet being feared and respected by your infamous reputation and the strength you had acquired.

There are many rules of being a Warlord that are implied to even normal pirates, one of them is to devote yourself to your captain or your goal when you're traveling in the seas. 

It's just too dangerous to fall in love, especially on the high sea, yet that didn't stop your fellow Warlord from being intrigued by you. And are willing to do what it takes to take you, you were theirs in the first place eversince they laid their eyes on you.

Blue. You were used to the color blue especially when you lived half your life under the sea. Fishes, whales and other colorful fish swam around you at Fishman Island- it is your home country after all. But nothing compared to a clear sky of that particular shade of blue. The only thing better would be seeing a white cloud in the shape of a heart hovering just above the surface of the ocean. Or perhaps some clouds made of the purest white. Those are beautiful too. Those were your thoughts when whenever you rose from the ocean to see Sabaody Park, All of your friends' dreams were to step foot or fin on land, but by strict rules and how your elders told you how dangerous humans are towards fishman, people of your generation lost hope of being even with humans.

 Your mother taught you that the world is much bigger than the ocean, vast lands, deep green "forest" and all the other stories your mother told you. You've always been awed by such stories, what will happen if I ever step foot on land? Will they hate me because we're just different? Many questions roamed your head every day yet no matter how strong your curiosity was your consciousness was much stronger.

Your hometown was water blue, vasted by the ocean while your head was sparkling with curiosity every day. Yet the memory that sticks to you most that gave you a lot of hope during the time you were at your worst was a fiery red scenery, the opposite of your environment.

The world should learn that no matter how much you control people, the length of one to achieve freedom is endless.

Tiger Fish was the name of the fish-man who freed the slaves that day at Mary Geoise. Many couldn't thank him enough for what he had done to save them. He burnt down and infiltrated the place. The scenery was red and ashy others might think it was hell while the slaves that experienced hell knew this was a heaven-sent moment. The slaves finally have their freedom, the freedom that the owners never give to them after years of torture and one of them was Boa Hancock, Sandersonia, Marigold aka the Boa sisters and you.

Boa ran. Ran as fast as she could while her sisters were behind her catching up. Boa's bare feet hurt but the adrenaline made her forget about the cuts and burnt feet of hers because of the fire they had to cross over.  She looked back and saw her sisters getting closer. It wasn’t long before they caught up to her.

Marigold grabbed onto Boa's wrist and said, “We need to hurry or else they'll kill us!” Boa nodded in understanding and started running again faster than ever. Hope was in their grasp until they heard someone speak up.

The three sisters stopped their run and turned around to see a tall man standing a few meters away from them with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Marigold felt her knees weaken but kept her feet rooted to the ground. Boa's heartbeat became louder, her breath shorter and her palms sweaty and so were her sisters.

The man speaking was a guard to one of the celestial dragons, not any kind of guard, he was one of the strongest. Boa and her sister knew that they didn't have any chance against him. Yes, they may have devil fruit powers but this man showed many times how ruthless he is. One memory that stuck the most was one time he even used an armament haki-coated bat and used it to break your back because you desperately stopped the guard from even touching one of the sisters. And of course, it ended with you being in pain with a broken spine, and ever since that day, you've shown your selfless act was the day that the sisters were truly in debt.

You were then there to again protect them from the man, you've protected her and her sister many times before, you then told Boa to run away and that you'll take care of this, Boa hesitated. She doesn't want to leave you here! Before she can even utter a word you yelled at her to immediately go. Which caused her brain of thoughts, she then hesitantly turned back and ran while her tears were flowing.

Boa still to this day remembers your yells of you telling Boa to run away and when she turned back she saw you smiling with the fire behind you.

Tiger Fish knew what he was doing, he was following his instinct, his morals, and morals that are built by the things he saw and experienced at the land, especially the mistreatment of his kind - the Fishmen-.

Through the years when he was a slave, he saw many people from all different countries and seas. It was heart-wrenching to see many people slave away because of people who had authority over them and how unfair it truly was not only for him but for other species, even their kind.

So when Tiger Fish escaped the hell he was in, he immediately went back to his home country, even if he was free he could never forget the faces of the people who were slaved away, especially the children, no matter what gender or species the kids are, they didn't deserve any of this suffering.

And that moral still stands today when he was now burning "The Hold Land - Mary Geoise". He watched as all kinds ran, ran for their freedom, as he was going to leave to help more slaves he heard a loud young scream coming near him to be precise from the left side of the fire.

Tigerfish ran as his feet could take him, he was pretty sure that he took all of the slaves in the part he was heading towards.

When he arrived at the scene he saw a badly beaten (F/C) girl mermaid, she was bloody everywhere and was laying on her front where a certain mark was on her back. Tiger Fish knew why the young mermaid was here but her mark just proved all of his suspicion. He was so focused on the barely conscious, bleeding mermaid that he completely ignored the fact that there was a person in front of her, he only noticed that presence when the person stepped on the young girl's back which caused her to wince out in pain.

Tiger Fish immediately looked at the person and saw a man wearing a tattered black leather jacket holding what appeared to be a gun, which was pointed at the bleeding female mermaid. Tiger Fish knew that the man was a guard around the place or the celestial dragon. The man was staring straight at Tiger Fish's face, his face showing with a scowl on his face, his eyes showing rage and hatred. The man's body shook slightly, a vein visible on his forehead popping up as his grip on the gun tightened, and then without a second thought, he pointed the gun right at the mermaid's head.

“Don’t move or else I’m going to pull the trigger and end this worthless mermaid life!” 

The guard shouted as he pushed the end of his gun deeper into the mermaid's head which caused a small whimper from the (F/C) mermaid.

Fish Tiger was fuming with fury, angry that anyone dared threaten a young girl who was forcefully abducted by her home and then had to experience all the painful and traumatic experiences she had to go through.

Tiger Fish’s train of thought when he heard soft, barely audible words coming out of the mermaids mouth

“Please. . .  p-please save me!… I want to- to- survive please!” as the mermaid reached out her hand towards Tiger Fish. The guard then began threatening the girl which caused the girl to sob tremendously.

But at that moment, those words were what Tiger Fish needed to hear. The guard then stepped more on the gashing wound you have on your back just to provoke Tiger Fish.

“Come get me, man! You want to save your kind then do it but you first have to go through me-“

The guard didn’t have time to finish his sentence before a fist was straight to his face. Tiger Fish’s punch was so quick and powerful that the guard didn’t have time to react and was immediately thrown back, the guard was most definitely knocked out.

Tiger Fish huffs and immediately went to aid the girl. He carefully picked up the girl carrying her bridal style and protected her with his large frame. The mermaid girl then brushed the disheveled hair in front of her to see her savior. He then smiled, “It’s over now little one, you’ll see the blue sea again.” The Fishman said before smiling at the girl in his arms.

The mermaid’s eyes started to swell then she immediately cried in her saviour’s arms her tears finally telling her that the years of torture are finally over. With that, the girl started bawling profusely, her cries heard around the Holy Land.

And with that the rest of the night was history.

#x reader #one piece #yandere #yandere x reader #one piece x reader #yandere one piece #yandere op #warlord x reader #yandere warlord x reader #yandere warlord #yandere warlords #boa hancock x reader #warlords #seven warlords #tiger fish #story #fanfic #fem reader

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

Fate is Definitely Drunk

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: fluff-ish, very meet cute if meet cute was more panicked and frozen in shock, cursing b/c I can’t write without cursing apparently

Word Count: 1,050

Summary: Everyone has the words their soulmate will first say to them written on their skin somewhere. You have the most average words in the known universe so you assume you’ll have a soulmate that matches that. Fate ain’t happy you underestimated her.

A/N: This is part of my marvel soulmate series. I did a whole thing. Sort of.

Soul marks were a funny thing. Mysterious. Unpredictable. Seemingly random. Science tried to understand it, but no matter how many studies they pushed out there never seemed to be a concrete answer. Some people referred to the marks as, ‘Scrawls of Fate’. That’s what it had to be, right? Fate pulling the strings, dragging people together, and creating happy endings or whatever.

You weren’t bitter.

And yes, that’s probably what bitter people said, but you were not bitter.

Not more than the average human at least.

You’ve seen dream couples meet because of the words on their skin. You had a friend in elementary school find her soulmate in the first grade. Yes, they got stuck with words said by their toddler selves, but they were stupid happy. You had just attended their wedding six months ago. It was sickeningly beautiful. Most of the couples you’ve seen get strung together were doing pretty well. Nothing special or crazy unique, but they were content.

That was the goal, right?

To be content.

Anything above that was just extra, and there was nothing wrong with extra, but if you walked around thinking the fates owed you extra then of course you’d be disappointed. That was your view of it at least. Even as a kid you never really got worked up over your words. They were simple, average, and you wouldn’t be surprised if a handful of other people in the world had the exact same mark as you coincidentally.

‘Terrible weather, huh?’

Your soul mark was literally the epitome of small talk. You’ve seen a lot worse though. A friend in high school had the words, ‘Fucking fish’ on their arm. You were still very curious as to how that would’ve come up in conversation. Maybe you needed to reach out to him later just to see if he had met his soulmate yet.

The sound of your name brought your eyes up from the table in surprise. The gaze of all the other brand-new interns were zoned in on you, and the only reason you remembered the initial ice-breaker question was because it had put you off on the tangent your brain got stuck on.

“Nope.” You shook your head quickly and offered the group a smile that you hoped was less awkward and more ‘happy to be here’, “No significant other at the moment.”

The group leader, your new boss, was a chirpy brunette named Janice who was living her best life right now. Her smile filled her entire face and she seemed to radiate sunshine. Which was cool for her, but you couldn’t imagine being that excited on a Monday morning unless you were on something.

“I was hoping Tim would be back by now.” Janice hummed, drumming her nails on the table, “I was gonna have him pick you guys up some coffee. Nothing like a caffeine boost before we move onto the program training.”

You raised a hand, “I’ll go grab us some coffee.”

“You will?” Janice beamed. “You’re a saint. Just tell the barista that I sent you.”

The group gave you their orders, that you jotted down into your phone, then you hurried out of the boardroom with a sigh of relief. It was nice to finally stretch your legs after being stuck in there for the last couple hours. Honestly, you were so thankful to have this job. You were just a low-level grunt working the mail room and answering phones, but you were a low-level grunt at Stark Industries. Everybody said that’d look fantastic on your resume and since you had no real future plans right now it seemed like a safe bet.

The coffee stand was on the first floor in the lobby and was packed. It took a good ten minutes just to get to the front of the line, but you weren’t in any kind of rush. You ordered the coffees then wandered off to the side to wait for them to be made. Your eyes drifted to the large lobby windows that were currently being pelted with rain. You loved storms. It was funny that rainy days brought you such comfort, but you always figured it tied into your soul mark. You were never actively hoping for anything, but maybe your subconscious just knew this would be the setting you’d find the one in.

The barista called out your name and you turned away from the view. You grabbed the drink carrier that had five cups balanced on it. Before going upstairs, you drifted a little closer to the front doors and paused for just another second to stare outside. The board room you were stuck in had no windows at all, and only this close to the door could you smell and hear the rain.

Someone stopped a couple steps to your left and you couldn’t help but look over at them as they undid the clasp holding their umbrella closed. It took two seconds for you to realize that the person standing beside you with their umbrella was Captain America. Your eyes widened in shock. He always looked so big and in charge on the news, and in person he was legitimately intimidating. Tall stature, broad shoulders, and God, he was good looking. As in, who the hell had the right to look so good so casually??

Captain America glanced at you, his blue eyes meeting your gaze, and though your brain screamed at you to look away and not stare like a frozen creeper, you couldn’t move a muscle. You just stood there looking like the idiot you felt like. He politely gave you a tiny nod and warm smile. Captain America motioned to the door, “Terrible weather, huh?”

You felt the words on your shoulder tingle and your jaw fell loose in disbelief. Captain America just gave you one more nod before walking to the door. He opened his umbrella and you lost sight of him out in the storm amongst all the other walking umbrellas.

Had he just…?

Had you just…?

The drink carrier slipped from your hands and five full cups of coffee hit the tiled floor causing a disaster at your feet. You couldn’t even register that people were looking at you or that the hot coffee had burned your through your pants’ leg or that you were now standing in a pool of caffeine.

You gasped, “Oh, fuck me.”

[next chapter]

#steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x reader #marvel #reader insert #Female reader #captain america x reader #captain america x you #soulmate au

[hyperfixationsporfavor]

True Form Sukuna/Reader: A Moment in Time (Part 1- The Sorcerer's Demise)

Author’s Note: Hey guys. This is the first part of the series A Moment in Time. This is a Sukuna/Reader. I’ve been wanting to write a Sukuna fic for a while but I was having difficulty approaching it. Is Sukuna loving? Is he not? I think I’d like to just spitball with some ideas and see where we go from here. Any type of feedback is always appreciated. Please enjoy!

Warnings: nudity, jjk manga spoilers (ch 219), blood, murder, sukuna being a menace, minors dni

Part 2

You found yourself on a bed of furs, a bed that wasn’t your own, surrounded by darkness. Not a stitch of clothing on you, your naked body on full display. You were alone but you felt as if someone was watching you. A thought that created a warm tightening feeling in the core of your stomach. 

Suddenly a hand shot out from the darkness, attached to a looming figure you couldn’t make out. Against your better judgment you reached out to the figure, your fingertips almost brushing their palm.

~

“(Name)?” a voice called out. 

Who are you?  

You opened your eyes to find a servant boy standing over you with a troubled expression on his face. 

So it was merely a dream. 

Clearly now that you were back in your cramped room. 

You would have happily traded a bed of furs for the small cot you resided in at night. 

“Yes?” you groggily murmured.

“I apologize but the palace ladies have instructed me to prepare Yorozu for the Harvest Ritual.”

Yorozu was a new inhabitant from the countryside who had wormed her way into the palace with her finesse in Jujutsu Sorcery. 

At first you couldn’t help but admire her, a woman making her own way in the world. However your admiration quickly waned when you and the rest of the household staff came to discover her abuses extended beyond curses and the egos of powerful men. Hence, why the young boy trembled before you. 

You sighed and forced yourself to get up.

“Alright, just let me get ready and we’ll go together.”

~

The servant boy walked shakily behind you as you made your way down the hall to Yorozu’s room. Other people rushed past you, hurrying to complete preparations for the festival. 

“Have you heard?” the servant boy whispered. “Ryomen Sukuna is coming.”

You had heard, which explained the urgency. 

While you had never seen the curse in person you had heard tales of a beast with four arms and two faces who ravaged countless villages and plundered the lives of men, women, and children indiscriminately. 

A monster that dined on human flesh. 

You pictured a beast that had blood gushing from his lips, bones crunching between his teeth. 

“Do you think he really has a mouth on his stomach?” the servant boy speculated.

“Don’t speak of such things,” you warned. “We’ll invoke his wrath.”

~

When you arrived to Yorozu’s room you found her lounging on her bed with the entitlement of the finest aristocrat. 

The act proved unconvincing given the sorcerer from Aizu sat atop of her throne completely nude, a state she preferred to remain in. Fine in the comfort of her own room, but not so much in the open courtyard where she’d proudly display herself for all to see. 

“Lady Yorozu,” you addressed her. “We’ve come to help you prepare for the harvest festival. Shall I lay out your clothes?”

She stared blankly at you and returned to munching on the berries she had stolen from the kitchen. 

It took everything in you to not lose your temper, but no one in the palace ever challenged Yorozu, everyone knew the results would be fatal. 

The young servant boy got on his knees and bowed. 

“Lady Yorozu. Please put something on. If you don't, the palace ladies will discipline me again.”

Yorozu scoffed and dismissed his concerns with a wave. “You should be used to that type of thing by now.”

Your irritation only grew at the dismissal of the boy's tears. 

“Lady Yorozu-”

Although,” she interrupted. “I’m sure the snacks will be plentiful.”

Before either of you could stop her Yorozu pulled a thin robe over her bare shoulder, not even bothering to tie it, and waltzed past the both of you. 

~

The servant boy turned to chase after her in a panic and begged her to come back. You placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face you. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll get her back before she can cause a scene. Go get her clothes ready.”

The boy did as you were told and you hurried down the hall to catch up to the unruly sorcerer. 

~

“Lady Yorozu,” you called out. “The success of this festival is vital to the safety of the capitol. We have a highly respected guest coming.”

She turned to face you, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Why is some lowly maid talking down to me?”

You held your tongue, knowing the threat she was when provoked. “I just think it’s necessary to tread with caution today.”

She scoffed and turned away. “And what am I? A joke in comparison to this imposing figure? I could kill all of you before this so-called King even lifted a finger.”

She continued down the hall and turned the corner. Suddenly, she just stopped. 

“Lady Yorozu?”

You closed the gap between the both of you and followed her gaze. 

The courtyard had been prepared with a newly installed wooden stage for the guest of honor. 

And there, sitting beside a white haired attendant, was Ryomen Sukuna. You could hardly believe it, but the rumors were true. A man with two faces and four arms laid ahead of you. 

He was massive, looming over the humans below him like a bear inspecting a colony of rabbits. 

When you finally managed to regain yourself you shakily placed a hand on Yorozu’s shoulder. 

“Let’s go back to your room,” you nervously requested. 

Instead of listening to you Yorozu did the complete unexpected and lunged over the banister on the walkway. 

Yorozu raced towards Sukuna with great urgency. 

You wanted to run after her, but your feet felt rooted to the floor. 

Was she going to challenge him? Attempt to exorcize him?

Yes, Yorozu was a capable sorcerer, but there was something about Sukuna. 

A feeling of dread crept up in the back of your throat as your ears started to ring. 

Your shock grew when she wrapped her arms around Sukuna’s neck, pressing her lips against his forehead. The courtyard went silent, no one dared to move. 

“Don’t worry. I’m here,” she cooed.

The white haired attendant looked at Yorozu with a mixture of disbelief and repulsion.

Sukuna, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to push her away. He just stared off into the distance, his thoughts a million miles away. 

“You aren’t alone,” she mindlessly continued. 

The attendant waved their hand and sent Yorozu flying back towards the gravel beneath the stage. 

“Back off,” they warned. 

Yorozu just laughed at their scolding. “Why don’t you back off and I’ll take your place?”

She stood up and pointed at them, playfully countering their threats. “And I’ll be able to take away his pain and loneliness. The man I love.”

A fine line was cut in Yorozu’s torso, a wound that began to ooze blood. 

The crowd gasped when she suddenly collapsed. 

“Yorozu!”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know! She was a woman possessed!”

“Get a doctor!”

“It’s too late for that.”

“You’re right. She’s dead.”

You peeled your gaze away from the crowd forming around Yorozu’s corpse.

When you looked up your breath hitched. 

Staring directly at you was none other than the man Yorozu had just proclaimed her devotion to. 

Sukuna looked at you with an unreadable expression. 

You wanted to look away, but you were paralyzed by his gaze. 

One of the palace ladies stormed up to you, enraged with your incompetence. 

“Don’t just stand there you fool! Go get some men to carry the body away!”

You forced yourself to nod. “Yes ma’am.”

“Quickly! Before he decides to finish us all off!”

You raced back inside the palace and prayed her words wouldn’t prove to be true. 

~

The End. 

#sukuna x reader #ryomen sukuna #true form sukuna #jjk x reader #ao3 fanfic

[yannisrandomstuff]

February 14 valentines day special with Alternate Gabriel and Archangel Gabriel

TW: Susbriel be dum dum, fluff

Alternate Gabriel:

Man doesn't know what valentines day is so you gotta be the one telling him

Gabriel will be wondering why mandela County suddenly have heart and decorations in their houses and seems to be lively and stuff

Obviously he doesn't like that

He will be asking you questions why and what's happening to the world

When you finally explains what valentines day is he just stare at you arms crossed with a confused disgust look

"Hmmm... that's interesting I didn't know you humans celebrate love.."

(He doesn't really like love but if it's from you he'll be happy)

"I thought you know what WE love Gabriel"

And that he just rolled his eyes and flick your forehead and leave.

After 20 mins he opens your front door and seems to be hiding something behind his back

"Oh! Good you're back I made something for you.., eh? Are you hiding something?"

He then take out the bouquet of red and white roses and handed it to you

"Happy valentines day..?"

"Ohh myy thank you! Oh wait!"

You handed him a paper roses you made while he was gone

"Ah.. I'm flattered dear and thank you for the effort"

He held your hand and kiss it from the back

He feel like his non-existent heart begins to beat and flutter

"So this is what celebrating this valentines day is"

"Yeah"

"I'm looking forward on doing this again it's very romantic"

"me too"

"te quoque amo"

He smiled and plant a kiss on your forehead, you didn't know what he said, was that Latin?, you don't know but you gave him a heartwarming smile and hugged him.

You looked at him once more, gosh he look so handsome

Then the both of you enjoyed your day by him asking questions of what humans do in valentines day and you happily answer it <3.

Archangel Gabriel

TW: be prepared, just be prepared(haha)

He knows what valentines day is and want to celebrate it with you too but he knows he can't because of alt Gabriel being around

Sure he knows that you and Alt gabe are not officially a couple and he might still get a chance and he will try

So he would give you flowers and sweets like chocolate in secret or whenever alt Gabriel isn't around

After "Gabriel" left you thought it's the perfect time to make a paper roses for him. After 10 mins you were finally finished, but suddenly you heard a knock on your door

You were hesitant to open it but did anyway,

When you open the door you looked around there was no one there. You looked down and surprised when there's a bouquet of variety of flowers and chocolates In your door mat, there is also a valentines card, you picked it up of course and locked the door. You go upstairs to read the valentines card whole eating the chocolate

"My Dearest,

I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to express my love for you, and the deep longing I feel to be with you every day.

I know that circumstances beyond our control have kept us apart, but my love for you continues to grow stronger with each passing day. I think about you constantly and dream of the day when we can be together.

Though I may not be able to be with you physically, please know that you hold a special place in my heart. Your smile brings light to my days and your laughter is music to my ears.

I love you and I will always will

I will always protect you

If he do something horrible to you I will protect you

I promise.

I am willing to wait for as long as it takes for us to be together.

Please know that you are always in my thoughts and in my heart. I love you now and forever.

Yours always,

Your secret admirer"

You kept the letter and place it to your drawer, you didn't know if you need to tell "Gabriel" about this but your guts said don't tell him for some reason, you didn't know why.

You heard someone unlocking the door and then you hurried downstairs to see it was "Gabriel" hiding something from his back.

Archangel Gabriel POV:

" I hope you know that I will wait for you my dear, I will earn the courage to tell you that the one who you love was the devil disguised as me, but don't worry if he do something horrible towards you I will protect you from him. All that I could only hope is for you to be aware of him.

I love you even if you did not know that"

And that he flew away.

Tissue?

KSJSHSJAJAAJAH Happy valentines day Everyone! 💖

#alternate gabriel #the mandela catalogue x reader #the mandela catalogue #tmc alternate #headcanons #xreader #alternate archangel gabriel #the mandela catalogue archangel gabriel #alternate gabriel x reader #tmc #imagines #scenarios

[gabessquishytum]

been thinking about the omegaverse ask from a while back about Dream coming back and finding the world was infected somehow and now everyone's an alpha, beta, or omega.

so. that, except it happens after he's come back.

option 1: people are able to really dream again and a bunch of fandom people dream about it, making it come true. incredibly funny. annoying but hilarious, 10/10 would dream it again.

option 2: some spell goes wrong and accidentally curses the entire human population, similar to the previous ask. it's both slow and sudden, people feeling changed but not knowing what the fuck is going on. it's chaos.

Dream comes to visit Hob and realizes something's wrong. but before he can ask, Hob goes into heat for the first time after smelling Dream and is very distressed.

all he can think about right then is sex with Dream and Dream only, and for some reason being bitten? and babies? and something that scientists have been calling a knot.

he's whimpering, crying, in distress and honestly feeling kinda gross from the sudden slick - and Dream will of course do whatever he can to help him <3

(bonus points if Hob's never been fucked in the ass before lol - first cock and first knot? he's so lucky to have Dream as his first <3 <3 <3)

Oh I love this. Obviously it's terrible for Hob but it's so spicy spicyyyy.

Maybe we can add a little public sex into the mix, too. Because ever since the omegaverse pandemic happened, public indecency rules have gotten pretty slack. If an omega goes into heat it is perfectly acceptable for them to be fucked in public (as long as they can give some kind of consent).

But honestly, consent is the last thing from Hob’s mind. He just wants something inside his arse, which is... insanely weird for him. He's never wanted that before. He's fucked men but he's always been on top, no exceptions. Now his hole is oozing and loose like a cunt and all he wants is a cock inside him. He wants Dream to cum inside him until his seed catches and makes Hob undeniably pregnant. He wants all of this - but he's also horrified and confused and crying.

Someone tells Dream that he'd better hurry up and put Hob out of his misery before someone else comes along. And Dream snarls like a wild beast, covering Hob with his body and slinging him across the table right there in the middle of the pub. The other patrons just kind of shrug and get on with their lives.

Hob howls out the most broken, relieved noise when Dream fucks into him without any hesitation. He grips onto the table, clawing at the wood while Dream pounds him good and deep. His hole tries to suck Dream’s cock even deeper, clenching until the tightness is almost too much. Dream whispers to him the whole time and tells him that he's such a natural cockslut! Such a good omega, he's going to take Dream’s knot so beautifully.

And he does, of course. The second Dream knots him he slips into a massive orgasm of his own which seems to go on and on - he just can't stop coming. And all the while his hole is being filled with Dream’s own potent cum. His brain buzzes with dopamine and his body feels utterly content, like he's finally complete.

He passes out on Dream’s knot, poor little omega. When he finally comes to hours later its to Dream’s mouth between his legs. He gets to scream his orgasm even louder in the privacy of his own flat <333 and bless him, Dream has even waited for permission to bite him.

Spoiler alert - he says yes. You can bet he's going to be the best damned omega this weird fanfiction universe has ever seen <3

#the sandman #dreamling #nsft #cw omegaverse #cw public sex