#maybe if i tag this correctly it’ll work

[actuallysaiyan]

Kinktober Day 15: Roleplay(The Perfect Girl)

warnings/kinks: roleplaying, cunnilingus, teacher x student fantasy, usage of the terms "senpai" and "kohai", innocence kink pairings: Kyojuro Rengoku x Fem!Reader word count: 1.4k tag list: @beneathstarryskies, @ricflairdrip20, @witchofcustom, @loki-love, @xailem, @the-eternal-sunflower

You weren’t sure you had heard him correctly at first. The words had come out of his mouth with just as much gusto as anything else the flame Hashira said, but these weren’t the words you were used to hearing. Kyojuro had mentioned doing something different in the bedroom to spice up your sex life(not that it needed to be any more spiced, but this man is all about fiery love), and you thought for sure he had meant something like blindfolds or silk scarves to keep you bound to his bed.

“R-roleplay?” You ask him, and he nods happily.

“It’ll be fun! Trust me!”

You couldn’t argue with his logic. It would be fun and you’ve trusted him before, and he’s never let you down. So you sit down with him at the kitchen table and you begin discussing the logistics of this sexual act. Kyojuro wants you to pretend to be his little student. He wants you to pretend to be innocent and unknowing about sexual things. You’re a little aroused just discussing it. You think about it for a few days, trying to set up the proper time and date for something like this.

One night, while you’re at home and Kyojuro’s out of the house for work, you decide it’s the perfect night to prepare for this. You take a long, warm bath. You doll yourself up for him, but you keep it all an innocent look. Then you take one of his old haori and you get ready. When he comes in through the door, he calls out for you. You pitter-patter down the hallway and greet him with a bow.

“Good evening, Rengoku-sama! Welcome home, senpai!”

Kyojuro looks at you with wide eyes, “O-oh! Good evening, my little kohai.”

Your cheeks redden, “Dinner is almost ready. But first, I think a sparring session is in session.”

You take his hand and guide him towards your garden in the back of the home. He follows you, clearly enjoying this. He mentions how nice the cool breeze is outside and how the wind blows around your haori, and it’s very eye-catching. Of course, you’ve never been a demon slayer yourself. You’ve only helped Kyojuro once when he came to your village to save you. After that time, Kyojuro hated the idea of you fighting demons. Only he would be the one to do that. He is the flame Hashira after all. He knows what he is doing.

“I’m glad you’re home now. I’ve been practicing all day long,” You mention, hoping to get praise from your husband.

“Hmph, is that so?” Kyojuro asks, and he removes his haori and places it on one of the benches. “We’ll just have to see if you’ve improved.”

You remove your own haori and get into a fighting stance you’ve seen demon slayers take often. You are sure that your husband wouldn’t go too hard on you, all things considered. But you see the fire that’s often present in your husband’s eyes and you’re a little worried now. Maybe you might be in over your head.

But when he comes rushing over to you, he isn’t rough with you. His movements are so graceful, and though you are sure you’ll have a few bruises, he isn’t hurting you at all. Kyojuro has always known that protecting people is the most important thing, but you are so in awe of him not even hurting you as you pretend to spar. Eventually, you try your best but it is not enough. Soon, he has you pinned to the ground and your little heart is racing in your chest. You have him right where you want him.

“S-senpai! You won!” You let out, and a little giggle follows.

Kyojuro smirks, “I bested you, my little kohai. I deserve a reward, don’t I?”

You swallow hard, “Oh! Of course. What would you like?”

He doesn’t answer you, instead he leans in to kiss you. You squeak softly at this, as you are still playing your role as his innocent little student. You moan as he deepens the kiss. Your little panties are getting more and more soaked by the minute.

Kyojuro pulls away, “I’m so sorry, kohai. I shouldn’t have.”

Your eyes widen, “N-no! It’s okay, senpai. Really…it actually felt good.”

“Do you even know what it meant for me to kiss you like that?”

Your eyes widen once more, and you shake your head “no”. Kyojuro grunts and his cock twitches in his pants. This is almost too good. He knows he’s the one who desired this little fantasy, but he is now unsure how he could even last long if he fucked you while you’re acting like this.

“I want you to kiss me again, senpai. Please.”

He’s almost speechless. “We shouldn’t…”

But this time, you reach up to press your lips tentatively onto his. It’s such a sweet gesture, and it makes him so much harder than before. Kyojuro can’t take it anymore. He has to have you. He’s been waiting all day to see his cute little wife, and now you’re out here with him playing out his wildest fantasies.

“You’re such a sweet little kohai,” he mumbles between kisses. “Can I show you something else that will be fun?”

You tilt your head in confusion, “like what?”

He grunts, “I’ll make you feel so good.”

He knows he needs to buy himself a little time. If he were to bully his cock into you right now, he’d blow his load much too quickly. It would prove to be too much. But if he licks your little pussy, at least he can pleasure you and make you cum first. That way if the love making ends in premature ejaculation, you’ve still been pleasured.

Kyojuro smiles, “I’m gonna lick your little pussy.”

“That’s naughty, senpai. Are we allowed to?”

He stifles a moan, “Of course. I’m your senpai. I’m doing something to help you.”

You bite your lower lip and hum to think about it. You can feel yourself growing more aroused with each moment that passes by. Finally, you nod your head and voice your consent. Kyojuro’s eyes roll back at just the thought of doing this to you. He’s careful to begin undressing you from the waist down. With every piece of clothing gone, he coos gently and soothes you through the whole thing.

“You’re so wet, my little kohai. Does your senpai turn you on?”

You blush, “Y-yes. I know it’s naughty, but I really like you.”

His heart is ready to burst out of his chest with love, “You are a sweetheart.”

He kisses you softly and then he gets between your thighs. Kyojuro spreads them even further, and you’re trying to hide yourself for a minute to keep up with the charade. He reassures you that you are beautiful, and this settles you. You uncover your pussy and he’s practically drooling at the sight of it. There’s a little slick dribbled out of you and it is connected to your inner thigh.

“I’m going to lick you now, little one.” He says, before he leans in.

Nothing could prepare you for the softness and yet firmness of this first lashing of his tongue. It’s unbelievably good. Kyojuro has eaten you out plenty of times, but it would seem that while you are in character, it just becomes something different. Especially for the both of you.

“Oh! Senpai, it feels so good!”

Kyojuro moans against your sopping pussy, “It tastes good.”

You can feel your whole body turning rigid as he laps at you like a starved man. Between that and him sucking on your clit, he moans the sweetest things about you. Neither of you break out of character, not even for a second. Kyojuro laps at you expertly, bringing you so close to your orgasm so quickly. You can feel your thighs shuddering.

“Somethin’...somethin’ funny deep inside of me,” You whine.

Kyojuro grunts, “cum for me. Let go for your senpai.”

And that’s all it takes for you to fall off the edge. Your eyes roll back and you cry out his name. Your thighs are clenching around him, almost suffocating him. But he loves every moment of it. He eagerly licks up all your juices and prolongs every moment of pleasure. Finally, when you come down from your high, Kyojuro pulls away.

He sits up on his knees and unbuckles his belt. His hands move to take his cock out of his pants, and you watched him with dazed eyes. You aren’t sure what he expects you to do now.

“Come here, kohai.” He beckons you closer as he strokes his erection, “time for me to show you how to pleasure your senpai.”

#bacon.writes #kinktober 2022 #kinktober day 15 #kyojuro rengoku #rengoku kyojuro #kyojuro x reader #rengoku kyojuro x reader #kyojuro x you #rengoku x y/n #kny rengoku #rengoku x reader #rengoku smut #demon slayer #de #demon slayer smut #kyojuro rengoku x reader

[chronically-ghosted]

WIP wednesday

thanks for the tag @noxturnalpascal @burntheedges @wannab-urs! @nerdieforpedro *cracks open WIP folder and a puff of dust and an Old Man Groan leaks out*

Step one: post snippets of the fics you're working on (can be a summary if there's no snippet)

Step two: put them in a poll and let people vote on which one you should work on

Step three: every vote is one minute you put on a timer to work on that fic (ex. 15 votes = 15 minutes of writing)

feel free to send me asks about any of these!

snippets and poll under the cut!

i know these folks are gonna have more interesting wips than me! @ezrasbirdie @morallyinept @sp00kymulderr @schnarfer @haylzcyon

lsyr part ii - joel miller:

It’ll be small. Just a latch. Your fingers brush his wrist, eyes downcast, lashes soft against the curve of your cheek. There’s a smear of something green on the sleeve of your dress. Fresh grass, maybe? Herbs from your garden? The light behind you illuminates the thin skin of your ear, the supple drop of your earlobe. He knows he should be listening, you’ve worked hard to make this supply run as quick and easy as possible for him and yet – 

le petite mort - dirtbag!dieter:

It’s arousing. It’s elicit. You swallow, drink in hand entirely forgotten.  All this time, for all these years, your mother had proudly displayed artistic pornography for everyone to see. Two people fucking, right under your nose.

riders of the purple sapir - din djarin

For as long as he lived, he’d never forget the look on your face the morning after, when he walked back into the shack and found you curled up under stiff blankets, a blade in your hand and panic in your eyes. Bloody, tear-stained, and trembling, you were going to use the last of your strength to kill him, had he been a stranger. But the instant your eyes recognized him, you dropped the blade and fresh tears ran down your face.

summary: twelfth night with dieter bravo bc i want to play with my favorite screaming bisexual

#taylor tags #feels weird leaving it open for a week but guess who is not on the same time as most of the mutuuuals!

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

hello,how r u?

i hope ur doing okay

i have a question,how can i improve my writing skills and draw people to my blog?

btw you're so cool🌸

hii angel, im doing well thank you, how are you? I think you’re cool💓

im in no way a pro, so these are just some tips and tricks that I find helpful and some that I use

I think the main ones are:

— read a wide variety of other writers work, but from different fandoms and different ways of writing. that way you can establish what sounds and reads best. it helps you learn different formats and that way you can see what works best for you. but only take influence from them, don’t copy

— write in a way that feels natural to you. I think we all kind of have a flow when writing, and that makes it more organic. try to stick to that, and then it flows easier

— make mind maps to base your story on. write lists of keywords and phrases you like that you can implement into your work

— start small as not to overwhelm yourself. at first stick to a character (assuming you mean fanfic) you’re the most comfortable with, and note down details about them, how they act, how they talk. and it’ll make things easier and help keep the ball rolling

— my style of writing has changed loads from when I first started, so be open to the idea that at first it might not be how you 100% want it. but just keep at it, and practice in different ways and then you find that sweet spot

— there are lots of writer tip blogs on here, so have a little look on those. they can be really helpful, especially if you’re stuck/ in a block

— learn/ understand how to structure sentences and paragraphs, and it just makes everything easier. eventually it becomes second nature and you don’t even have to think about it

drawing people to your blog:

— use tags correctly. sometimes when people tag something as angst and it’s actually fluff, it peeves others off and sometimes it earns them a block. clogging them doesn’t always mean more visibility

— in the tags, use the character name, character name x reader, character name (genre: ie fluff, angst, smut) character name fanfic or fanfiction or fic, character name x you or y/n, character name series or movie title. those sorts of things. it makes it simple and clear and again, it lets readers know exactly what they’re reading

— have the title, pairing, word count, warnings clear from the beginning. it makes it easy for readers to know what exactly they are getting. have a look at other writers, but again don’t copy theirs. have images too, a pic of the character or the vibe of the story makes the whole thing more visibly appealing. I often ignore writing posts that don’t have those clear, it’s very deterring

— follow and reblog others work. it creates a community

— once you’re comfortable with who you originally write for, move onto others, maybe ones that are more popular and that way you’re more likely to get more people involved

— sounds silly, but don’t focus too much on notes and numbers, it’s important to have fun with it, and its not when it feels labouring

hope these help lovie💓

#ask #writing tips

[seriouslysam8]

Please correct me and let me know if I’m reading this wrong, but I’m kind of getting Auror Harry and Demelza vibes from Sirius and Teagan. They work well together and can fool people into thinking they're a couple on a mission, but they’re just friends in the end.

With everything going on in Brumous, I can’t see him giving her the time of day if he can’t even give it to Marlene. I get the sense his main focus for a while will be Harry and protecting him from Voldemort. I find Sirius to be extremely loyal, so I think once he knows Harry is safe, maybe then he’ll look into his romantic life, but I think he’s the type of guy that would want to make sure things with Marlene are officially over before he moved on. I think there are a lot of unresolved issues, and in order to be truly happy, he needs to either resolve them or come to terms with them. Again, this is my interpretation, and because I see Sirius as someone who really values loyalty and someone who’s not one to give up on someone he loves. Feel free to let me know if I'm wrong. I don't mind at all! I just want to make sure I'm understanding things correctly.

I’m just gonna put this under a spoiler tag because I’m getting so many questions and being aloof is not working. 😂😂😂

I’m serious. Don’t read if you don’t want spoiled. Don’t send me asks about this because I won’t answer them and spoil my thought process for others. I will delete any asks that get into this spoilery information.

Make a comment or message me if you have questions.

I believe Sirius is hyper focusing on Harry in part because he really fucking cares about the kid but it is also allows him to push all of his problems back and not deal with them.

Sirius has a long laundry list of shit he needs to deal with. He’s not interested in having a girlfriend right now. He’s definitely not interested in attempting any sort of relationship with Marlene because that’s another can of worms that he doesn’t have the emotional capacity to even deal with.

But Sirius is lonely. Very lonely. He’s been lonely for a very long time. With Harry back at school and his freedom on his fingertips, I could also see Sirius entering into a very casual relationship with someone he trusts. One where he will ditch her mid-sentence because his kid calls him. One where he will have no qualms if she gets upset with him because his kid needs him and Harry comes first. One where he doesn’t want to even tell Harry about because he’s just looking to not be so fucking lonely night after night after night while Harry is at school.

I’ll be honest. I planned that while Harry was off at Hogwarts, Sirius would let off some steam with a girl for awhile now because the guy needs to let loose under the sheets. He needs a bit of physical touch that he can only get with another adult. Nothing serious. Not a relationship. Just a bit of fun where he could feel normal again and help him work out some of his issues. I had someone already planned for that role and it wasn’t Tegan.

I did not anticipate for Sirius and Tegan to have so much chemistry. I wanted her to play a role in gaining Sirius’ freedom for the Demelza storyline. But the two of them just clicked when I was writing. She seems like the better option of helping Sirius cope a bit than my original one.

But we all know that Sirius isn’t capable of any real relationship right now. Nothing more than a spot of fun. It’s more of a shag buddy situation. It’ll be long over before he leaves for the Horcrux hunt.

The real question is: what happens after the war? Who lives? Who dies? And what kind of mental state is Sirius in after the war and will he or won’t he be ready and finally be able to deal with his issues in order to have a more meaningful relationship?

Will he chose the girl he loved since eighteen whose death nearly destroyed him and knows all of his deep dark secrets and has a lot of baggage?

Will he choose the girl who is a fun and fresh clean slate that he already had a wild and carefree romp with who knows nothing of his darkness?

Will he choose the girl who I originally planned to be his shag buddy?

Will it be a girl who is none of the above?

Nobody knows. Not even me at this point.

[alwaysxlarrie]

you know it’s an alwaysxlarrie fic when ... + 2022 writing self evaluation 

ok so i’m a tiiiiiny bit late to the game, so i’m just combining the two tags lol. thank you to @hellolovers13, @larrysballetslippers, @zannithinks, @lunarheslwt, @brightgolden & @momrryrights for tagging me in the moodboard challenge (that’s what i’m calling it lol). hope everyone enjoys my chaotic moodboard hehe & thank you to @neondiamond, @onlythebravest, @lunarheslwt, @greenblueish, @thedevilinmybrain & @loveislarryislove for tagging me in the self evaluation tag !! here we goooo

for the moodboard we’ve got 2013 larry bc that’s my fav era & how i always imagine them in my fics, football player louis, santa’s sleigh, office space, cute notes on a white board, a clothing rack, new york city & gentle touches. i don’t think i need to say there’s not any specific mood theme going on here for anyone to figure that out LMAO but i did try my best regardless :)

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 9!

2. Word count posted for the year: if i’m counting correctly ..... 93,735 ????

3. Fandoms I wrote for: one direction. i have a fic for the 5sos fandom that i’ve written a few chapters for & was editing it in an ao3 draft but then the page refreshed for some reason & i lost everything & kinda lost steam, so .... maybe it’ll see the light of day next year

4. Pairings: louis/harry, zayn/liam (side pairing), shawn/niall (side pairing)

5. Story with the most…

Kudos: i swear i could give you everything

Bookmarks: also i swear i could give you everything lol

Comments: it’s i swear i could give you everything again LMAO 

Hits: gimme everything you got 

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): i think i’d say either gimme everything you got or i need something, so tell me something new. gimme everything you got bc i put a lot of my personal experience (give or take) into it & it got such a positive response & that made me super happy. i need something, so tell me something new bc it’s my first ever published fic in general & fic in this fandom.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): oooof. prob my sub harry fic. i enjoyed being apart of the fest & i enjoyed the experience, but writing it was so much harder than i’d anticipated & it felt like my writing got very redundant after a few scenes. i’m glad i stuck it out & that i published it, but yeah i def don’t think i did it the justice i’d wanted to.

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: i’m really enjoying all the reviews/comments i’ve been getting on my cinderella au! it’s my first chaptered fic that i’m posting chapter by chapter, so that’s been really encouraging. but in general, i appreciate all the comments i get. as a small/new writer, i don’t expect to get any comments at all really, so whenever i do, i get excited. there was a comment on my christmas fic santa, won’t you bring me the one i really need? where someone said it was the best christmas fic they’ve ever read :)

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: the sub harry fic lmao. i love service kink harry fics so i was like alright sweet this will be a no brainer & basically, i fucked around & found out. i literally went through like 5 drafts until i finally found a premise that went w the prompt i was using that i felt i could build off of without turning the fic super predictable & dead end. i think if i’d waited to do that type of fic next year & done more research than i’d done for this one, it would’ve gone much better.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: the beginning of my cinderella au -- i’ve been very vocal about the fact that i write only fluff fics to balance out all the angst in our fandom & then i go & write a cinderella fic & make the first two chapters packed w angst LMAO. it’ll turn around soon, but that’s def the biggest one as of yet for me, i think.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: i’m not sure if i have a favorite tbh, but i like this one from i swear i could give you everything: --------------

“So what have you got for us today, Haz?” Louis asked, knocking on the table with his fists, excitement and anticipation both thrumming through his body.

“Well, I was just messing around in the kitchen last night, really,” Harry began, messing with the hem of his shirt and seemingly determined to continue looking at the floor as he made his way towards the fridge a few feet away from the table Louis was now sitting at. “And then I realized I had the ingredients. So. I just figured. Why not, you know?”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows, trying to piece together what Harry was talking about. All he’d done was ask Harry what he’d made. He guessed the ingredients were relevant to the conversation and he did enjoy listening to Harry talk - even if he really was talking some shit - so he decided to humor him. 

“Oh yeah, sweetheart?” Louis prompted as he placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on one of his hands.

Harry was apparently too busy rummaging around the fridge to even glance back at him when he responded. Which wasn’t rude, really. Louis just. Wanted to see his eyes, was all.

“Yeah, so like. I thought you might enjoy it. You talk about it a lot, anyway. So I figured, I might as well, if I have the ingredients, you know?” 

“Sure, sure. Absolutely. No point in having all the ingredients if you’re not gonna make a good meal out of it.” Louis had completely lost the plot at this point but was still determined to try for Harry.

--------------

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: well let’s start w the fact that i began the year convinced i’d remain a reader & beta forever. so the fact that i’ve published one fic, let alone nine, is pretty big in itself lol. aside from that, i’ve gotten more comfortable writing smut & dialogue. before i wrote fics, i only wrote original stories & never included dialogue, so those were my biggest weaknesses when i first started writing fic & they’re still not my strengths yet, but i’ve definitely gotten better, i’d like to think.

13. How do you hope to grow next year: i def want to get more comfortable writing smut & building sexual tension. i want to write longer fics. i want to finish at least 5-10 of the 20 wips i have lol. i’d love to finish all of them, but 5-10 is a good goal. i want to write some different genres like historical, slow burns, etc.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): i have a few! @loveislarryislove is a big one -- if i need help w a metaphor, making sure a sentence sounds right, incorporating tension building touches, brainstorming, honest feedback, etc, annika is my pea in a pod. also @panye, steph is so lovely & helpful when it comes to brainstorming, talking out what phrasing sounds better, she tells me what needs fixing & how to fix it; basically, she’s the better half of our shared brain cell. @zanniscaramouche is pretty much the reason i feel as comfortable as i do writing smut. she’s patient, she gives examples, she’s kind, she knows just how to change wording around to make a description or dialogue top tier. @justanothershadeofblue, is my sprinting buddy (along with zanni when our schedules align!). having a daily sprinting buddy who cheers you on is delightful, especially when they’re as supportive & willing to get sidetracked in off topic convos w me as zjo!

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: gimme everything you got is based on personal experience in terms of the stigmas that come w female masturbation / women being shamed for exploring their bodies. i work in retail, so while that didn’t inspire it’s like i’m powerful with a little bit of tender, it def helped me know bts info lol. lastly, i’ve recently switched my major from psychology to interior design & my minor from interior design to psychology, so i guess my (new) major showed up in you are my destiny (you are the reason that i still believe). hostile work environment was also inspired by my retail job as well LMAO. there’s more in my wips tbh, but as for my currently published fics, that’s it, i think!

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: just remember that how ‘popular’ or ‘unpopular’ your fic may be / may get isn’t an indicator of your talent. write something bc you want to write it, not bc you think it’ll appeal to people. take breaks -- if you’re stuck on a scene or sentence, get up & do something else for a bit. if you keep rereading the same sentence over & over, it’s only going to keep sounding more & more scrambled. you’ll work much better with a clear head & will be able to see where the mistakes -- if any -- actually are.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: my cinderella au for sure! i started a fic inspired by one of my fav fics staring across the room by the lovely @allwaswell16 & it’s been put to the side for much longer than i’ve wanted. i initially put it to the side to get more practice writing tension building, but def want to finish it next year. i also finally started the sequel to my girl direction fic, so that as well. & the sequel to my christmas fic lmao. i have lots of things i need to finish 😭😭

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read: i honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t done or been tagged in either of these yet, but i’ll tag a few anyway lol @lululawrence @thebreadvansstuff @panye @kingsofeverything @voulezloux @infinitelymint @londonfoginacup @twopoppies @littleroverlouis @tommokat @crinkle-eyed-boo @disgruntledkittenface @kingonafiftymetreroad @daggerandrose @homosociallyyours @ireallysawanangel & anyone else who wants to do these!

#tags and challenges #my fics #my writing #fic q&a #finally did it with one day in the year to spare #not counting tomorrow at least lmao #wooooo

[honeysweetcorvidae]

hey would you like to do all the prime numbers for the ask meme too. :3

i WOULD i’m gods bravest soldier and i can answer questions

i am, like mango, going to put this under a cut, because good grief this is a lot of questions.

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

lol. I tend to have a general shape in my head for what the whole thing will look like when i do multichaps, but no, i wing it; if i allow myself to do an outline then it will be Done in my brain & therefore dead in the water

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

1) go on swingset, play music on shuffle 2) put that bitch in a Situation in my brain 3) enter fugue state 4) hit post

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

ehh. i am very sensitive, but from people i trust & when i have time to brace myself it can be helpful? most of the time i am just sitting here though. love 2 have fun and indulge.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

fugue state.

genuinely, it’s just whatever feels best at the moment! I have a taste for outsider POVs, but what i do for things that aren’t that varies from story to story— WTA flips back and forth from chapter to chapter where playing heroes is scattershot, etc.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

oh geez picking “favorites” is an ASTONISHINGLY difficult thing for me— i have read probably hundreds of fics in the shuake tag alone, and the things I like I like for different reasons, and my MEMORY is so terrible that the word ‘favorite’ fills me with dread— so I’ll go with ones I immediately think to recommend? for p5, @malevolentmango’s what you’ve already buried and everything or nothing at all are phenomenal (i am marking this as One because mango is sooo specialwonderfulthebest and i could just list everything on their ao3. god wait how could i not also shout out no ballad will be written)

and then there’s interminable ballistics, which rewrote my brain, first step, which is frankly ASTONISHING, killing care and grief of heart by @jortsbian, which made me want to tear down an office building with my nails(honorific), and so on and so on and so on. this is way more than three. @ceilingfan5 has some of the best taakitz fics out there, if you’re into taz.

i would also, of course, be remiss not to nod to the fic i’m most insane about of all time, my guiding light my life my joy my favorite most special little enormous incomprehensible sadomasochistic bug alien clown porn religious worldbuilding space opera epic, @birchbow’s price of forgiveness. i’m super normal about everything they’ve ever written for homestuck tbqh BUT PoF is my darling. (it’s NOT the one i wrote a whole real actual literary analysis essay about. but that’s because it’s too long.)

okay moving on. i did not answer this question correctly.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

uh. um. uh. does “don’t misuse punctuation too badly” count as a writing tip? man i don’t know i am an insane person about writing styles

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

if it sucks hit da bricks >:/. no but actually for real though, i tend to go out on my swingset, switch to a different project, or just Do Something Else for a while! i’m a big proponent of taking breaks.

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

well,

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

please for the love of god punctuate your dialogue correctly

no, but sincerely— i think that the best possible thing you can do for your work is to write what you actually want to write. do the stupid self-indulgent bullshit! write tropey nonsense, write the same shit over and over in different permutations, who cares! if you love it it’ll show.

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

the characters make the plot happen and the plot makes the characters act? so i mean i guess characters, but they’re interminably linked.

37 I already answered;

41: Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

ha. hahahaaaa. according to ao3 i have visited price of forgiveness one hundred and sixty-seven times. i know i have read it logged out at least twice. so, you know,

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the “If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself” kind of person?

i like recovery! I like to see people brought down and still swinging, and then for them to be happy again after. so i guess the latter?

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

that’s between me and god

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

well it took me going back ~50 pages into my ao3 history to find PoF, and the last time i read it was in june, so i’d say i read more than i write

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

everyone i know knows everything about me because I have cannot-shut-up-ever-disease, yes. my mom has been forced to hear the plot of my NG+ au.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

I enjoy writing, and I like to have a community! when I’m not writing fic I write original stuff, and I miss the engagement when I do that, but it’s still the same compulsive joy, I think. I doubt I could ever just stop writing forever.

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

independent ideas, generally! I am very bad at sticking to a prompt; my mind tends to wander ALL about the joint.

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

[LAUGHING]

(the answer is severe autdhd and being an extremely fast reader.)

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

um. uh. um um uh. someone told me the other day that i am a fizzy mocktail and i don’t know what that means but i’m gonna go with that. i think my style is pretty distinctive, and i know i’m a skilled writer, so I guess. that? and i mean who else would write quite so much deeply emotionally vulnerable tentacle content. really.

#my writing #SORRY FOR THE TAGS EVERYONE. i wanted to credit people whose tumblrs i knew

[the1laff]

WIP Post

Tagged by @jittyjames, thanks for the tag!

Rules: Post names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that intrigues them, then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I’ll try to tag as many as I have WIPs but idk if it’ll happen. Also if I tag you, you don’t have to do it, Idek if you write, sorry.

@binch-i-might-be @duelamort @cecescomposition @himnnnnnn @xcminhdang

Hamilton

Hellfire and Rhinestones

Jamilton fic, modern day, angst?

Thomas is a demon (more specifically the devils son but that’s not important till way later) and takes a liking to Alex so he starts showing up when he needs help, and then more frequently just bc. Alex doesn’t know Thomas is a demon yet. At one point he think he’s a guardian angel or some shit. I love irony.

That Little Noodle Fuck

Jamilton fic, modern day, fluff and some emotional comforting.

Adopted from parsniffs, 3AM Warmth. Alex is a college student who writes for a living and Thomas is also a college student who works at a late night cookie shop. Alex orders cookies way too often and before too long he realizes he actually has somewhat of a relationship with Thomas. Thomas is a caretaker at times for our poor Alex. I tried to keep them as close to how parsniffs wrote them.

You Won’t Die Alone!

Jamilton, modern day, fluff, angst, slow burn, one of those soulmate AUs where everyone has a black mark/stain from where their soulmate will touch them for the first time, once they touch it turns into bright colors.

This starts as a senior year HS fic and if it goes to plan then it will evolve in to a college fic. Alex thought he didn’t have a mark. He kinda likes Thomas at first then hates guts then eventually comes around and can be civil-ish and I haven’t gotten past there if I remember. There is snow at some point, drinking, drinking games, minor injury and pranks. He does end up in possession of a particular jacket. The rest of the gang makes intermittent appearances. Also Washingdad

“T” is for Trauma

Lams, modern day, established relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort.

John is a paramedic, Alex is a freelance writer. There are a lot of chapters centered around real calls I’ve been on, some are altered for reader enjoyment and to abide by HIPPA laws. I don’t use real addresses/names obviously. There is a lot of medical trauma, infant, child, adult, and animal death. Alex gardens, there will be a mental trauma reveal for John later, possible smut if I can get over the fear of posting that. I try to balance it with wholesome fluff and couple things in between. My longest and current favorite fic I’ve written.

Sherlock

Reading Too Far Into It

Johnlock, modern day, fluff, maybe some angst.

John discovered Ao3, and reads fic. I can’t say more without spoiling the entire plot. Pre slash if I remember correctly. Lots of Sherlock antics, there is a case I plan on throwing in at some point.

#ao3 writer #tag game #WIP #wip stuff #fic writing #jamilton #lams #johnlock

[ashes-writing]

Could I get MJF headcanons please? 🙏

Oh my goodness, certainly! Thank you so so so so much for sending me this. You didn't really specify what type of headcanons and whew.. These kinda got away from me a little bit maybe?

They're not x rated. Just a lil spicy. A little food for thought if you will.

Warnings: ah.. if i remember correctly, because I wrote these while half asleep... there's not really anything in here that needs mentioning.

Tag List : ahh, well.. There's really not anyone on my taglist for anything I write just now because I kinda just made it. But if you wanna be tagged, please add your name [ here ]

[ my inbox is still open. I write for so many fandoms.. so many it's ridiculous... Headcanon asks only for now, any characters I have listed on my PSA -or if you wanna know if I'll attempt them ask me, and I'll close the box when I've chosen all five that I'm doing this round. this has been fun! ]

I do not consent for my work to be reposted -or plagarized, elsewhere.

✯ He’s probably going to insult you. It might be on accident, it might be on purpose. The reason for this is simple. He likes you and it really bothers him. I mean… it really, really, really bothers him. Maxwell isn’t the kind of guy who really notices a person right off the bat, so if/when he notices you and can’t get you out of his head, it’ll drive the poor bastard insane. This will lead to confrontations in confined spaces, your friends telling you both collectively to just get a fuckin room already and placing bets behind your backs about how long it’s going to take until you finally ‘get a room.’. 

✯ “Bite me.” “Is that a challenge?” - yeah, there’s a lot of that thrown back and forth too. The kicker to this is that when you’re insulting / roasting each other, it comes across as flirting. There’s a lot of staring at his lips or his biceps or the way that forest green shirt brings out the multitude of browns in his eyes and on his end there’s a lot of trying to restrain himself when you do that little thing where you pinch and rub the bridge of your nose because he’s got you so damn annoyed it’s bordering on a migraine. Or the way he towers over you, which.. For him to not be a very tall guy, I very much feel that he’s probably drawn to shorter people because he wants to feel like the bigger one, the stronger one, but anyway, where was I? Oh.. Oh yeah.. There’s also a lot of touching. Like he’ll step closer to you, sufficiently blocking off any path you might have to retreat. His hands will stop shy of grabbing hold of your hips to pull you in closer several times and this manifests itself in tightly clenched fists. He once clenched his fists so damn tight while you two were having a confrontation that he left imprints from his nails on the palms of his hands. 

✯ He loves to make you angry because your cheeks darken and your nostrils flare and you get this little attitude.. It’s like.. You’re making yourself every bit as tall as you can, you’re looking him dead in the eyes. You’d think he likes a person he can intimidate, right? You’d be wrong. Totally wrong. Holy shit you’d be wrong.

✯ Let’s switch it up a little, shall we? Just because he’s the first to antagonize you, this in no way means that he’s going to stand back and let anybody else do it. If someone is trying to come up on you or they’re being shitty to you, he’ll appear out of nowhere as if summoned by the patron saint of assholes themselves, that cocky smirk on his face as he stands behind you and waits on his chance to insert himself. - Note.. this has led to fights. So many fights. Bby is a grumpy personification of the fight me emoji and we all know that every now and then, he bites off so much more than he can chew.

✯ “I had that, asshole.” & “But did you really? Because it didn’t fucking look like it to me.” - the exchange happens nearly every single time he inserts himself into whatever craziness you’ve been dragged into. You don’t really know why he gets himself so bent out of shape over something you were going to handle yourself but secretly, it gets you just a little hot… watching the way he would quite literally take on the meanest motherfucker around to defend you, who he makes it so painfully clear he hates. Or this is what you’ve come to think.

✯ Try not to imagine him jealous. Or don’t. But it’ll look a little something like this. His hips against yours and his hand beside your head, leaving you literally nowhere to go. He’s fuming, his chest is heaving with each angry breath he takes and he’s ranting as if he has some kind of primal claim over your ass. When you laugh, oh no. Oh no no no no no… Anger flashes in those brown eyes, darkening them. Gonna go out on a limb and say it. If you haven’t figured out why he does the shit / is the way he is towards you, try flirting and living your life. It’ll make him snap and when he snaps, holyyyy shiiiit… The hand beside your head rests rough against your cheek as he drags his thumb across your lips. The kiss that follows is angry. It’s messy and mean and full of biting, sucking and the angry gnashing of teeth as your mouths meet again and again. And then again, because when you finally shove him away so you can at least attempt to process, he grabs your face and crashes his mouth against your mouth all over again. So yeah… If you want him to crack like an egg, make him jealous. Either intentionally or not.

✯ Once you’re finally past all this, – it’s about damn time, if you thought he was protective and borderline territorial before, whew… People aren’t even allowed to breathe in your presence and have him find out about it. If he even thinks this is happening, he will appear as if summoned and waste zero time showing whoever happens to be intruding / encroaching  your bubble exactly who he belongs to. Yeah.. Dude is territorial as hell.

✯ His jealousy -and his ego, they both stem from this strong undercurrent of him being one hell of a lot less self confident than he carries himself to be. His whole attitude is a defense mechanism.

✯ He is also surprisingly romantic.. After a few little arguments and you finally convincing the bastard you’re not going anywhere, it’s like this whole other side of the man opens up. Privately, of course. He’s been known to have your favorite chocolates, Midol and whatever else you need on hand at any given moments.

✯ He loves, loves loves to gift you jewelry. But what he loves more than this is to look up at you or catch your reflection in the mirror when you’re doing the deed / riding him and watch the way the light catches on the jewelry, especially if it’s a necklace.

✯ He’s not so much into full on PDA as he is smaller and more reserved gestures. He’s also not the biggest fan of putting every second of your private lives out there for the world to see on Instagram, but he has been known to indulge you every now and then and that bio damn sure reads TAKEN AF or some form. With him it’s more or less the smaller and more intimate things that mean the most. It’s the covert ass grabs or the way he leads you into a room with his hand on the small of your back. The way he’ll always be lingering close by even if you’re not always holding hands or finding private corners in crowded areas every few seconds.

I hope you enjoy these. I had a blast writing them, to be honest. I haven’t thought about/watched or written wrestling in quite a few months.

#le asks #mjf #maxwell jacob friedman #my headcanons ; mjf #my writing ; mjf #so this is me.. attempting to get back into the flow of creativity. #i really hope these work for you.

[yuudayaro]

Be Not Afraid (5456 words) by Yuuda-cchi Fandom: 新世界狂歡｜NU: carnival (Video Game) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Rei/Olivine (NU: carnival) Characters: Rei (NU: carnival), Olivine (NU: carnival) Additional Tags: Sex Toys, Overstimulation, Religion Kink, Oral Sex, Altar Sex, Transformation, Mind Control, Cock Rings, Anal Beads, Angel Sex, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mildly Dubious Consent, Porn With Plot, a tiny dose of unknown horrors and healthy dose of oli and rei being kinda nice to each other, also a set up for a future fic with a different pairing Summary: Rei finds Olivine in a embarrassing position in a forgotten chapel, but this isn't the awkward situation it looks like at first. The priest is changing and something is lurking nearby.

Rei was only passing by the secret corridors under the temple, but a thick smell of essence permeating the area made him curious enough to stop halfway on his route. He knew this particular smell. If he recalled correctly, that had to be the priest. He had a feeling like something wasn’t right with him yet again.

Father flapped his wings and looked at Rei with his huge eyes.

“I know, I know. Let me think.”

Olivine should have not been able to find his way here. If any texts mentioned these corridors, they should have not come with any instructions on how to find them. None of the handful of people who knew where the entrances were located would have told him either.

Then there were the vocalizations. They sounded a little pained, but also like it could have just been a really good time and Olivine was just really whiny. But nobody in their right mind would be having sex or engaging in a similar activity in this place. It was dingy, it was dirty, it was damp. There was moss on the walls, and spiders in the cracks. Nobody was maintaining the torches, so under the scent of essence that was so predominant right now, there was a miasma of rotten cloth, charred remains, and wet ashes. Olivine and his perfectly tailored trousers didn’t belong here.

Suppose the worst-case scenario: the situation was dire, Olivine was in danger, maybe even of dying. In that case, nobody would find his body besides Rei. And he’d saved the priest’s life before; it would have been rude for something or someone to undo his hard work.

“We’re just going to check and then we’ll take him somewhere safe if necessary,” he whispered. “It’ll take five minutes. I promise.”

Father agreed wholeheartedly with the idea. Sure, they were both a little annoyed, but what could they possibly do? It was either doing it now or risk having to come back for a dead body later.

As they followed the noises — equal parts ecstasy and agony, now that he was close enough to tell — Rei noticed that he was walking into an area he usually avoided. Just as he was wondering if Olivine would be behind that one door that gave Rei goosebumps just by coming near it, he turned a corner and saw that his luck had given up on him for today.

It was slightly ajar, and Olivine’s voice came from behind it. He had no idea what was past. He’d tried to open it once a long time ago to no avail, and he’d suddenly felt so ill just from inspecting the lock that he swore to never try that again.

“Let’s both keep our eyes wide open,” he told Father. The owl nodded once. Rei then pushed the door open.

On the other side was a small chapel. White walls, white marble floors, several rows of cherrywood benches. A long red carpet in the middle led to an elevated altar, and right at the bottom of the steps, Olivine lay haphazardly.

He was wearing next to nothing except for a revealing white tunic. With his body nearly paralyzed by uncontrollable shaking and his skin covered in the sheen of his own sweat, he appeared to be in the middle of crawling upwards.

Behind the altar was a pair of heavy curtains, and a small gap between them. The darkness beyond it made Rei want to turn around. Father’s claws dug into his shoulder. The was nothing immediately suspicious about this place, but nothing about it offered any comfort besides the man suffering on the floor.

Keeping his cool nonetheless, Rei firmly walked up the aisle towards Olivine, his steps muffled by a red carpet.

“You look inconvenienced, priest.”

"Rei?" Olivine panted between moans, raising his head, but not turning around to face him yet. "You're not... supposed to be here."

Rei raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well. I am, though. Not much we can do about that. What’s wrong? You don’t look like you’re having fun there, despite the…”

He had a better look at the situation now that he was closer. No matter how quickly Olivine had covered himself up, Rei had still caught a glance of an object protruding from under the white cloth over his crotch. It emitted a faint warm yellow glow and appeared to be deeply lodged inside Olivine’s ass.

“Oh, I see,” was the only thing he could think of saying.

“Ah… It’s not what it—" Olivine stopped mid-sentence, to flip himself onto his back to get a look at Rei. The long patch of white cloth that fell between his legs did nothing to conceal his erection underneath. “I’m not… against you being here, I’m just…”

He covered his face with his arm as he twitched and tried to regain control over himself. Rei wanted to point out that the change in position just now wasn’t helping, but that probably didn’t need saying. Olivine’s back arched as if to release some of the pressure.

“Take your time.”

He looked at the gap between the curtains. Maybe he should be telling Olivine to hurry along instead.

“Ah… I’m so… sorry that you have to see me like this.” Olivine raised his feverish gaze for a second. “But thank you for… Well… Looking at me as always and not—”

The end of his sentence was interrupted by a breathless moan.

“Don’t mention it.”

The way that Olivine’s body twisted, his legs tensed and his toes curled did nothing for Rei. It wasn’t his thing, but he swallowed as he looked away. He knew what others liked; he wasn’t blind or stupid. There was probably no small number of people who would have loved to see Olivine this way. In a revealing outfit, writhing at their feet, his eyes begging to be helped out of this mess he was in. Probably willing to do anything for the sake of it.

Helpless and accessible.

Rei shuddered. It was fortunate that this had happened here, where nobody would see it, for it would have been dangerous if the wrong person had been the one to find Olivine.

Father cooed something. He was offering to check behind the curtains. Rei suddenly felt like throwing up at the thought.

“Let’s not risk it,” he said, staring at the darkness head-on nonetheless. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he’d seen something move.

“Mr. Rei?”

His attention turned back to Olivine.

"What is it?"

"Can you please... take a look at this... I can't take it out..."

This? The toy? He grimaced.

"That sounds like a job for a doctor. Not me. Not just that, I’m starting to feel like we should leave right about now."

"Please... This artifact just won't stop... I can’t… even get up like this…"

Artifact? That piqued his interest.

“Did you seriously use something that important as a makeshift sex toy?"

"I-it’s not—! It was just… It’s not its intended use, sure, but I still didn’t mean to... I… I cannot explain what came over me..." Olivine took a sharp breath. Sweat trickled down his brow and between his pecs as he propped himself up by his elbows. He raised a leg, proving he was surprisingly supple despite his build. "Please... hurry..."

Did Olivine understand what he was doing? Or had his mind already turned into such mush from sheer stimulation to the point where his body subconsciously moved in the most tantalizing ways possible? If Rei didn’t have the advantage of not being interested in what Olivine had to offer, this would have been twice as awkward as it already was. But he was also not entirely immune.

Rei took a deep breath and crouched to closely examine what they were dealing with.

He did his best to ignore Olivine’s body, his splayed-out legs, and the stickiness of the cloth and thong covering Olivine’s groin. Rei moved those aside to expose him. Olivine’s erection sprung out, red, slick, and swollen. There was a cock ring that matched the rest of Olivine’s jewelry at the base.

Consider it data collection, he told himself.

“Please, hurry…”

“Don’t pressure me,” he said. His focus then lowered to the root of the problem.

He could only see the handle of the object, a small thing in the shape of a ring. The rest of it was lost inside, but the handle appeared to be made of rose gold. It also looked sturdy despite the usually soft material. It was engraved with wings and halos of light painted in gold, and decorated with tiny opalescent stones that were responsible for the faint glow he’d noticed earlier.

Something about it was alarming. Rei couldn’t quite figure out what that was. Knowing full well that this could be risky, but still willing to try for the sake of scientific curiosity, he tried to hook his finger around the ring and pull.

Olivine became a loud mess of shrieks, moans, shudders, and tears. He turned around, his ass up and his head hanging low, and dragged himself further up the carpeted steps. Rei observed him and then stared at his hand as Father flew away and perched on one of the wooden benches that lined the aisle.

His hand tingled. Had it taken some of his essence? Somehow, he felt different than just a second ago, but he couldn’t figure out in which way exactly.

“Well, that backfired, somehow,” Rei concluded. He would not be trying that again.

“Th-there has to be a—”

“Shush. I’m thinking.”

He reached into the pouch attached to his legs. He just so always happened to be carrying the necessary implements for measuring strange items like these. If it could be measured in the first place, that was.

“Priest. Lift your head,” he said as he walked up a pair of steps. He crouched in front of Olivine, his back facing the altar.

Olivine, shaking and with drool dripping down his chin, did as he was told. Rei flashed a light in his eyes. No response. He tried different instruments for his purpose, and none were yielding any results that made sense. The only thing he was sure about was that this was no ordinary toy, but he had been able to tell that much just by poking at it.

Olivine remained there, on his hands and knees, softly muttering something to himself. Sometimes calling out Eiden’s name. He nuzzled against Rei, maybe trying to find some kind of comfort. Rei had half the mind to push him away just a little, and his attention snapped back to his work. He infused a small tool with some of his own essence, waited for it to go around Olivine for a little while, and waited for it to return.

“Hm?”

His essence came back, but it had been fundamentally changed. It didn’t feel like his own.

“Rei…”

Trying to get his attention, Olivine’s hands roamed up Rei’s arms and shoulders as he attempted to close the gap between them. It was doing strange things to Rei’s head. It would have been easy to grab the stole of Olivine’s outfit and make a gag or some ties with it. It would put a stop to the adventurous exploration of Olivine’s hands.

Focus.

“Rei… T-take me further up…” Olivine whispered straight into his ear.

Rei frowned and pushed Olivine’s head away.

“Can stop grinding yourself all over me? I’m trying to think.”

“Please…”

Rei clicked his tongue.

“Why do you even want to go up?”

“A… A prayer…”

“A prayer?”

Olivine nodded. To Rei, this sounded useless, but one could not argue with someone whose faith was this strong. It would at least help him feel better, if nothing else, and if that was necessary for a moment of peace to figure out what to do next, it would work.

But in that direction were also the curtains, and whatever was beyond them.

“Maybe I can drag you out of this place somehow. You don’t need to pray at the altar, right? I think that would be much safer than going any closer to—"

“No! It has to be there— I—!”

As a loud moan filled the chapel, Rei looked over his shoulder at Father, who instantly flew to close the door. He appeared to be urging Rei on. Something was off. It was time to leave.

“Mr. Rei, please!”

He didn’t get it. They had to get out of this chapel. Then why was he frozen in place?

“Please, what? What do you…” He trailed off as he looked at Olivine. The room spun.

“Take me up. Please…”

He gave Father one last glance and shrugged. There was no helping it. He had to.

Rei reached out, tentatively sought Olivine’s hands. Their fingers intertwined. Poor guy. Even that had him turning into an electrified mess.

“Alright, alright. I’ve got you. But only a little. Deal?”

After Olivine nodded, Rei pulled him up to his feet. They carefully shambled towards the altar for the remaining steps. Something tickled the back of Rei’s neck. He made a point to not look back, even as Father, perched on top of the door, flapped his wings in alarm.

“How did you get yourself into this, anyway?” He asked. “Have you been neglecting your essence levels? Was it a dare? Part of your duties? Some experimental ritual?”

“It’s… According to manuscripts, it was only— ah!”

“Manuscripts? For a toy?”

“It’s not a— Ah… I figured that if I followed the instructions, that would be…” Olivine’s knees gave in, but Rei caught his waist just in time. “I… I’m sorry…”

“Where did you find it?”

“Right here. Something called me here, and it was right here.”

He pulled Olivine up the last step and then closer to the altar. The back of his thighs came into contact with the hard and cold marble surface. Tripping on his own feet, Olivine’s weight fell on him. A shiver ran up and down both of their spines.

“Hey…”

He froze as Olivine straddled his lap despite his apparent weakness. Something was different when they looked at each other in the eye. Olivine’s breath was hotter than a mid-summer afternoon, his irises turning closer in color to that of the marble stone under them. His chest expanded and contracted violently.

White gloved hands reached out to the sides of Rei’s face. Olivine smiled. His eyes appeared to now be of a lighter shade of green.

“Thank you…”

It took him a second. Wind was coming from behind. From below.

“You’re welcome.” Not what he meant to say. “Finish your business soon. I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here any—”

Olivine’s lips pressed against his before he could realize what was happening. His mind nearly blanked, but the sudden feeling of his essence being absorbed snapped him out of it. He quickly shook Olivine off and threw his back against the altar that he’d so desperately wanted to reach.

He could get up, though. Their fingers still intertwined, Olivine's strong grip would not let him straighten up. And, Dear Lord, he was strong. The magnetism of his pale irises just as much.

“Please… don’t go…”

“This place is bad news.”

“Don’t go…”

The room grew brighter. Soon he realized that the source of the light reflecting on the polished surfaces came from Olivine himself.

Rei’s shoulders slumped.

“I think something’s happening to you, Priest.”

“Yes… I can feel it.”

From behind his back sprouted a pair of luminescent wings, squashed down by the weight of his body. Slowly, several rings of the same ephemeral light began to form over his head, where they rotated like an armillary sphere. His eyelashes fluttered, feathery and sparkling electricity.

Was this Olivine? If it opened its mouth would it still talk like Olivine at least? The thought was so distressing that the relief Rei felt almost made him want to cry.

Why?

“Do I… Do I look fine? I feel different.”

“You look…”

His eyes were only green at the rim. It took Rei some time to notice the abnormally quick growth of his hair. As the fringe covered his eyes, the temperature of the room began to rise.

“It’s a good look.”

A numbness swept up from his hands where he was touching Olivine and up his arms. It engulfed his body. As Olivine lost his grip on him from his spasms, he was again free to move. Half-mindedly, Rei reached out for his notebook and a pen, still unable to take his eyes off the ongoing metamorphosis in front of him. He had to document it.

Something thrashed behind the curtain, now drawn open, but the light irradiating from Olivine would not let him see past him as he sat up on the altar, his knees close together, hands resting on his legs, facing the ceiling with a peaceful expression on his face.

Or so Rei imagined. He didn’t see the face that he knew was there. In his eyes, there was nothing in this chapel anymore. Only light.

“It hurts. Help me…”

Rei dropped everything in his hands. He stood up and took a step back, looking down at the strange apparition. How was he to help? What was needed right now? He didn’t know.

“Help…”

He pushed Olivine down by the shoulders. Long green hair fanned behind Olivine’s back in gentle waves as his back hit the altar. Rei wasn’t sure how to help, but he was willing to try what he knew.

Clueless as to what came over him, Rei lowered his head until his lips came to touch the pulse on Olivine’s neck. He breathed in the scent there. It made his head spin like contraband liquor. He licked his lips before his tongue darted out and ran along the patch of sticky and sweaty skin under him. It tasted fresh, like mint and chamomile tea.

Gasping, Olivine’s arms circled his head as he brought Rei closer, encouraging him as he kissed, licked, and suckled his way down to his chest. As his ministrations led Rei down his abs, the priest’s hands folded in a noiseless prayer. His lips moved, but his vocal cords could only produce obscene moans as if that was the only thing he had to offer to the heavens.

Not that it mattered. Rei only was interested in his current task.

He lifted the cloth that covered Olivine’s dick as his tongue gave the patch of skin right under his gemstone a few licks. His fingers curled softly around the erection in front of him and slowly rubbed it up and down. Soon, his thumbs stopped at the piece of jewelry at the base.

This thing was enchanted. Rei chuckled heartily against Olivine's tensing stomach.

“Silly priest,” he said, running his finger along the cock ring that kept him painfully erect. “You should take these things off before you try on new toys.”

Olivine was no longer responsive to anything but the movements of Rei’s fingers. Waves of pleasure moved up and down his body along with the steady rhythm. His chest rose and fell, the little chains around his body moving in tune to play soft chime. Rei twirled one around his finger and gave it a gentle tug.

“At least these are normal,” he said as Olivine whimpered. “But that’s probably just because they’re tied to your gemstone, right? Who knows what might happen if you get too adventurous?”

After giving a quick nibble and a peck at Olivine's fleshy thighs, Rei moved in closer. Holding this cock in his hand, his mind was filled with a warm, pleasant sensation. Only half aware of what he was doing, he swallowed Olivine’s dick whole.

The room flickered as Olivine’s moans climbed up an octave. Rei wasn’t typically fond of such needy partners, but this time, he found Olivine perfect. Divine, if you might. He chuckled at himself as he bobbed his head up and down, creating as much friction as he could with his wet lips and tongue.

Olivine’s back arched as he became undone, creating a gentle shower of ethereal feathers as he thrashed left and right to free the newly formed wings that were half-tangled in his hair. Sucking him off was not helping with anything, though. It only made Rei feel a little enamored for a fleeting moment.

Help me.

Help me, Rei.

Such vague instructions. He gave Olivine’s cock one last lick before letting go of both it and the gold chain, and then he went on to hold onto the cock ring with two fingers. His other hand sunk firmly into the soft yet firm flesh of his thigh.

“It’s a little engorged. Don’t scream.”

He pulled and twisted on the ring, and Olivine’s wings opened and curled to cover both of them in a protective gesture. Surrounded by the light and feeling this low hum against his body as he pressed against Olivine, Rei felt so at peace here. He didn’t want to finish the job just yet, but he knew he had to.

“Almost there. You’re doing great,” he said, planting a wet kiss on the head of Olivine’s cock as he pulled the ring just a little further.

It slid out at the same time that he felt cum hitting his face, and tasted some of it in his mouth and on his lips. Olivine’s voice echoed inside the chapel as the halo over his head shook violently.

More, Rei thought he heard the chapel say.

“Greedy,” he said, as he swallowed Olivine’s cock again, taking him further back into his throat and trying every trick of his tongue that he knew about. Noisily, sloppily, and dripping in worship and carnality. He tossed the now useless ring aside, and his index finger came to hook itself on the handle of the toy buried in Olivine’s ass.

He pulled. A single bead came out. Rei could feel the effects it had against his tongue: the twitching, the leaking, the essence so thick it almost felt like it would get in his eyes. He pulled again, and a second bead came out, hot to the touch and coated in a slick fluid.

MORE.

He let go of his cock for long enough to just say, “if that’s really what you want.”

The next time he swallowed his entire length, his nose pressing against Olivine’s skin, he pulled on the string of beads with all he had. Olvine legs jerked, his thighs coming up to smother Rei as he filled his throat with cum.

Rei sputtered as he tried to breathe to no avail. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes. He was going to pass out if Olivine didn’t let go soon. But he didn’t complain, he didn’t try to get away. He opened his eyes and saw this man before him from between his damp eyelashes. His back curved like an arch, panting, and helpless like an injured bird.

Just as his eyes were about to close on their own again, Olivine slumped on the altar and his legs gave Rei room to breathe and move again.

Rei swallowed and coughed as he straightened up, running his hand through his hair, immediately coming to fix the mess that was his ponytail. It took him a few seconds for it to finally dawn on him.

“Are you okay down there?”

Olivine nodded, his eyes obscured by his overgrown hair. Rei suddenly remembered the situation they were in. He could not believe he had forgotten. He grabbed his things, pulled Olivine by one of his arms now partially covered in fluffy feathers, and pulled him up.

“Can you move? We needed to leave five minutes ago—”

He looked behind the curtain by mistake. And he could not describe it, but he thought that he’d learned a secret that he was never supposed to know.

One of Olivine’s wings blocked his sight as soon as his head felt like it was about to split apart. He found himself pressed thightly against a lightly feathered chest, and kept safe by a strong pair of arms, gently cradling him like a delicate creature.

“I think that’s probably a bad idea,” Olivine said with a calm smile.

A sharp stab of pain shot through Rei. With his thoughts too scrambled for anything other than habit and instinct, he let himself be pulled back on his feet, down the steps, and out of the room. He only registered Father perched and fretting on his shoulder when they were far enough to no longer feel the ominous aura of the chapel.

Rei wasn’t sure why he’d stayed at the temple. Olivine’s strange halo had collapsed and fallen to the floor by now. They’d picked up the pieces and disposed of them, but he’d kept one for himself when he thought Olivine wasn’t looking. He plucked a loose feather as soon as he got the chance as well.

He was now standing behind Olivine, who sat on his chair in front of his desk. By the time they had reached this room, Olivine’s hair had grown well past his knees, and Rei had offered to cut off some of the length. Why? he wasn't sure. He should have been at home trying to do something about his condition.

This had to be some kind of of brainwashing.

“How did you end up like that?” He asked, ignoring the nagging thoughts.

Olivine didn’t move from his spot, nor did he look up from the floor.

“I’m not sure. I think I broke for a second there.”

He seemed forlorn.

“You broke?”

“I was looking around the chapel. I’m not even sure how I ended up there. I simply woke up in the middle of the night after hearing a noise and suddenly…”

Rei sat on the desk. With the scissors, he got rid of some of the extra hair length in front of Olivine’s eyes.

“What do you think that was?”

“Did you see it?”

“Briefly.”

Rei swept his hair back. He could not remember what it was. But if he had to explain it, his mind felt naked after he’d faced it, even for that one second.

“Mr. Rei, how are you feeling?”

"It wasn't that bad."

"You look ill."

He chuckled bitterly. And he thought he was doing a good job keeping his pain a secret. Of course. The cold sweat on his brow, the shivers, the labored breathing. Someone used to treating the injured would be able to tell, right?

“It’s nothing out of the ordinary, it happens all the time. I’ll go take care of it once I’m done with you. Stay still.”

“Is there any way for me to help? I feel terribly indebted to you after that.”

“Don’t be.”

“I insist. I don’t care what it is. If you hadn’t been there to help, again, I don’t know what would have happened.” His eyes pleaded as he leaned forward. “It’s not about owing you or getting even. I’m simply grateful. If the congregation had seen me like that, I don’t know how I would have…”

He trailed off. Rei waited, but Olivine didn’t say anything more. He leaned back against his chair and sat straight and uncomfortable as his wings began to decay.

“Pretty sure they wouldn’t have minded.”

“That’s not the issue.”

“Then?”

Olivine’s head hung low.

“Back there, that darkness was so deep that any living soul would want refuge from it. Yet my voice wouldn’t reach the God of Klein when I pleaded with him to dispel it. My only choice was to become an angel and try again like that, as a blinding light to fight it. What I used is supposed to be… It’s meant to be a kind of rosary, but I could not keep my mind straight to finish the job. I gave in. Conceded to a blasphemous thought. I failed.” He raised his chin, his eyes on the ceiling. “And as an angel, I was rather useless. All I could do was block your view.”

Rei shrugged.

“It was good enough.”

“For you, maybe. But I don’t know if that would have worked in a room full of people, you see. I can’t cover the eyes of a crowd. What else was there that I could do?” He paused, took a shuddering breath, and went on. “How do you think people would have reacted when they realized their protector wasn’t good enough? Please, be honest with me. Would they have taken a good luck charm, pieces of me as you did just now?”

Rei had to concede to some of that, but he also took insult to it. He wasn't precisely a man of blind faith. It would take more than a promise of hope for him to do something like that.

“I only did because I’m interested in figuring out what happened. Do not lump me with your hordes of fans.”

“I’m not—”

“More importantly, have you always been like this? I didn't take you for the defeatist type.”

Olivine took a deep breath.

“I’m just shaken, I think.”

He figured. This wasn’t like him, but that experience was probably enough to change someone, even if only for a while until they recovered.

“Do you still want my honest opinion?”

“Yes. I'd like to hear it.”

He had no intention to make it easy to hear, though.

“They might have torn you to shreds. I only caught a glimpse of the abyss that was there. You are right. I imagine many would have wanted a source of light to keep close to their chest for protection if they happened to see it as well. Someone zealous enough would have not thought far ahead enough to realize what that would do to you, I think.”

What a sad little look on such an otherwise glowing face.

“Would that have helped, at least?”

“Hard to tell. But there's probably an answer to that problem that isn't martyrdom. We just didn't know enough about it. Though I think swallowing helped. Maybe.”

Flustered, Olivine tensed up, his knees pressed tightly together as he looked around the room nervously, but before he could say anything, Rei groaned and bent over in pain.

He was taking too long here. He shouldn’t have let Olivine talk while doing nothing at all to move things along. Half of this hair should have been gone by now.

“Mr. Rei? I’m serious about wanting to help. Just tell me what I should—"

Rei’s eyes snapped to Olivine, impatient and fed up.

“My idea of you helping me right now is that you let me ride you. I’m warning you. If you insist one more time, I will make do with you.”

Olivine froze as the words finished sinking in.

“Oh! Uh… Well. That's not really what I do…” he said in confusion and embarrassment.

“I know. I could tell. Let’s just cut your hair already. I’ll ask more questions some other day,” he said, reaching out for another section of hair. After he cut it, he held it in his hand, pondering.

“You can keep it if you want,” Olivine said with a reassuring smile.

Was he really that predictable?

“It’s for research,” he replied, not sure why he felt like justifying himself.

“It's not problem. As long as I can be of help, I would love to.”

What a good outstanding guy, huh? It was like his default mode. But.

“Father Olivine. Stop offering help. You know what will happen.” Seeing as Olivine’s reply was only a nervous smile, Rei was confident that he’d made himself clear by now.

But he did want to ask about something else.

“Actually…” Rei muttered.

“Yes? What is it?”

Rei took a second to safely put away the lock of hair for later.

“Can I borrow the artifact?”

Who knew that it was possible to look so judgemental despite smiling so naturally? Olivine surely had mastered the nuances of such an expression.

“Absolutely not. Sorry.”

Oh well. It was a shame to have his request denied, but that was only the easy route. Rei had a feeling that not even a week from now, Olivine would be banging at his door, barely containing his anger because, let’s be honest, it was quite easy to borrow things from people when they weren’t looking. He had a valid reason too.

Surely Olivine would want to do something about what was still in the chapel, right? But first they had to figure out what their options were, and Rei believed himself to be just the right guy for that. Although perhaps he'd have to ask for some help.

#nu carnival #fanfiction

[impishbiscuit]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @wanderingaldecaldo. I've been working on NaNo, and I'm not entirely unhappy with what I've written! Definitely got some rough spots, so expect this to be polished up before it's posted properly.

.....

Ashley runs a finger along the narrow rim of her bottle, thinking. After a moment, she glances up and looks directly at him. “So she doesn’t cling to us now. But she did cling to you.”

Literally and figuratively, but Garrus shrugs and downs the last half of his turian brandy to avoid answering immediately. “That was just for one night, Ashley,” he eventually says, shuddering at the burn that lances down his throat. “She’s been dodging me ever since.”

Liara tilts her head and acknowledges, “That may be true, but it does not seem to have solved the issue of her being fixated on Thane.”

“She’s not exactly opening up to me and talking about her feelings, Ash,” Garrus points out. “Do you really think that if I tried to approach Shepard with the intent of getting her to open up that it’ll solve our problem?”

Tali lets out another long cackle. It’s a good thing she’s finished with her current drink; they’re going to have to cut her off, and Garrus doesn’t fancy trying to pry a drink out of Tali’s grasp. “Ooh, new idea! We all approach her about this all at once!”

“Let’s pick literally any idea that doesn’t involve an intervention,” Liara says with a long-suffering look. She’d been hanging out with Tali since before Garrus had arrived, and he is starting to get the sense that Liara is very much sick of the tipsy Tali problem. “If there is anything that will make Shepard stop listening to us and continue to isolate herself, it will be if she feels we are surrounding her. Like with an intervention.”

“So, we don’t surround her. Go back to what we said before, with just getting one person to approach her. To get her to cling to someone. Or, barring that, if we can at least distract her from her own misery long enough, maybe she’ll start being happy again and go back to being normal Shepard.” When the rest of the group stares at her, not quite following, Ashley lets out a frustrated sigh and drains the rest of her beer, setting the bottle down with a clink before saying, “I don’t know. Maybe Garrus can go seduce her or something.”

What.

Garrus is pretty sure his brain was rattled too hard on the shuttle ride back to the Normandy, because there is no way he heard that one correctly.

Tali lets out an undignified snort that rapidly turns into a maniacal cackle. “What a brilliant solution! Why didn’t I think of that? Go get in Shepard’s pants, Garrus. That’s sure to stabilize her emotions.”

Liara sputters. “This isn’t a rom com! Shepard isn’t going to be fixed by a man.”

“I didn’t say anything about fixing her. Like I said, we’re just distracting her. We can get her therapy when this is all done. Unless one of you thinks you can successfully drag Shepard to therapy in the middle of a war?”

As much as Garrus hates to admit it, she has a point.

.....

Tagging @ravenstrange and whoever else feels like sharing!

#wip wednesday #writing meme #mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #noodle incident in the making

[lady-eny]

TITLE: ON THE NATURE OF DUTY (10/17)

Some tags: AU - Spies & Secret Agents, Enemies to Lovers, Action, Canon-Typical Violence, Minor Mikenana, Minor Zekehan, Minor Character Death, Reincarnation

Summary:

When Levi, Eldia’s best agent, is sent to kill the marleyan star analyst Hange Zoe, he doesn’t expect what awaits him.

Forced to team up with his enemies to save the world, he soon starts losing sight of his duty. Despite reminding himself how much he hates her, Levi can’t prevent his brain from scrambling at her mere presence, ever closer…

Perhaps it’s that he knows her from a long time ago…

CROSS-POSTING ON: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 Notes: We're in the second half now! O.O And I've got news: Tomorrow begins the Levihan Drabble Week!!🎉To avoid overwhelming you, next chapter will come out in two weeks (meaning: around JUN-17)

I'm sure this week will be full of amazing works, so pls support the Levihan fam! Thank you so much for reading! See you soon!

✨Feedback is very much welcome! Hope y'all have great two weeks!

Chapter 10

She threw her ODM gear and dropped to the ground. Raised her goggles to her forehead and looked up at the starry sky.

“Come see this! I don’t think I’ve ever seen them shine so brightly...”

He winced at the dirt she was wallowing in. “No way.”

She tugged on his pants. “I promise not to ask you to capture a titan for me all day tomorrow.”

“For a week.”

“Three days.”

Reluctantly, he flung himself down next to her and allowed his muscles to relax. She snuggled closer to him and an unusual warmth washed over him.

Maybe being down here wasn’t so bad...

Levi didn’t know how used he was to meeting Hange’s eyes whenever she was around until now that she’s purposely looking elsewhere. Though he maintains he didn’t say anything incorrect. She acted wrong and trusted way too much back at Tybur’s. Excessively so.

At least they’re on the right track, which makes him assume they can succeed. He’s closer to completing this mission, returning to his apartment, and living like nothing ever happened. 

Bliss.

First things first. They have to uncover those bastards and stop them. A step forward is not yet the finish line. 

As soon as they enter their new hotel room, Levi pulls out his phone and dials Erwin, anxiety quivering his insides. They continue in Helos, the city of Tybur’s primary headquarters. He’d have preferred to stay in one that practically doesn’t belong to that company, but it couldn’t be helped—the yacht party will be held close. 

He sits at the desk next to one of the three identical beds. Twists his neck while waiting for his boss to answer, dreading the sound of his voice. Like yesterday, he’s been out of reach the entirety of the day, something Erwin absolutely hates.

“Ackerman,” Erwin answers dryly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

An expected reaction from Erwin. Levi blows out a breath and briefs him on today’s happenings, everything orbiting around the same simple implication: he had no time to call back—even when, truth be told, he did. 

“You took such a great risk for nothing,” Erwin concludes, disapproving. From the years Levi’s known him, he can tell Erwin’s hardly containing a scold. 

“Not really. I…” Here comes the hard part. Levi glances at Hange and Mike, who are acting all busy with their bags but secretly remain attentive to his conversation. It’s kind of awkward, speaking with Erwin under their scrutiny. How are they perceiving the exchange? “I… We need an invitation to a birthday party in honor of Willy Tybur. We’re certain it’ll take place tomorrow night.” Silence on the line. “I know you have many favors stored from the times when Eldia and Tybur were on friendly terms, so…”

Securing an invitation to that precise event wouldn’t be an easy feat. Levi knows it. Yet their stolen one won’t do it, as it contains a code that won’t be admitted unless issued correctly. In addition, it’s addressed to Mr. Magath, a prominent businessman who’ll be in attendance. Without the invitation in its rightful owner’s hands, the code will surely get deactivated. Erwin, for instance, can move his numerous contacts and collect some favors to attain a genuine one—if he wishes to. 

“So, you’re requesting something from me after disobeying my every order for the last few days? Even when your behavior has been nothing but irrational as of late?!” Erwin’s shout resonates through the room. By Hange and Mike’s bug-eyed expressions, they overheard it.

Levi clears his throat. “Err… Yes?” He won’t dwell on explanations while the gaze of those two burns on his nape. “In that party, we can find out if Tybur’s indeed implicated and how to end this. And successfully fulfilling this mission would position us on good terms with the WCO—no more public censorship, no more exorbitant fines.” Levi’s aware his convincing skills are rusty at best. That doesn’t stop him. “This can be good for us in the long run.”

“I wonder if we’ll get any direct benefit from this in the end.” Another thing Erwin hates? Someone else telling him what would be best. It’s one of the reasons he’s constantly fighting with their superiors. “No eldian has been killed in the recent attacks. Furthermore, it will do us little good to be on friendly terms with the WCO if the war resumes and our most valuable agent is incapacitated. Or dead. Stop being delusional,” Erwin fumes. The optimism Levi gained prior to this topples. He doesn’t even want to imagine the face Mike and Hange must be making. 

“I’m asking for this favor as your f—friend.” Levi internally coils at the break in his voice.

After a moment, he hears Erwin sighing. “I’ll see what I can do. But if you disappear like this ever again, Ackerman, consider your salary cut to half. Permanently. Wait for my call.”

Erwin hangs up and Levi lowers the phone with an exhalation. For some reason, Hange’s reports to Nanaba come to his mind. Even when one of them was in a higher position, they never talked with each other as boss and subordinate. Rather, they did it as comrades. Friends.

Because above all, that’s what they were.

Maybe he and Erwin have never been real friends. Maybe he’s the faulty one for believing so, due to never knowing what true friendship looked like. Until now. 

“That was…” Mike trails off, sounding insecure. “How much time should it take him?”

Levi shrugs. “Some hours.”

Mike throws himself into the middle bed and turns on the TV projector up front. In the meantime, Hange puts on her sweater.

“I’ll get something to eat,” she announces, walking to the door.

“I can go instead,” Levi suggests, quite futilely. Hange doesn’t as much as acknowledge his words before leaving.

Uneasiness crawls under his skin. He’s juggling with the idea of following her when the TV projection captures his attention. A reporter is talking.

“As far as we know, the explosion in Liberio hasn’t shed light on the investigations. We obtained some footage of the moment of the explosion. Viewer discretion is advised, as the following images might contain sensitive content.”

The screen shows the late airport. Levi’s brain struggles to link that massive building with the pile of rubble he saw this morning. In the bed, Mike stiffens when a smiling red-headed woman appears on the screen, talking to the camera about her travels. She’s showing her cellphone when a violent boom deafens her. The airport behind her explodes, and then there’re only screams. The video fades to black and the reporter returns into view. 

Levi doesn’t get to hear the reporter’s next words.

The bathroom door slams shut. Mike’s no longer in the bed. Levi didn’t see him moving, abstracted by the screen as he was. Unsure of what to do, Levi uselessly hangs in the same spot. Ignoring the constant danger of Hange exposing herself in public, this is another excellent reason why he should have gone looking for food instead. Unlike him, Hange would know how to deal with her friend. He awaits her coming in at any second. 

She doesn’t. 

Does he have another option? He drags a hand through his hair and knocks on the bathroom door. 

“Mike? Are you alright?” Mike doesn’t reply, so Levi lets himself in. 

The blond is on the floor with his head between his knees. Levi shifts uncomfortably in the doorway. Finally, opts to sit at Mike’s side, whose faint cries echo in the bathroom’s acoustic. Settling, the white tiles under him are ice blocks and the whole space smells like toilet paper—not so bad, taking into account how most bathrooms reek.

Mike’s shoulders are shaking. Levi looks from his hands to the ceiling. What can he possibly say?

Mike beats him to it. “I didn’t see it happening live before. T—The explosion. I should have been there…” Mike chokes through his tears. Levi identifies this feeling, blaming yourself for not preventing a loss. Knows it overly well. He recalls wild desperation in his legs, a sensation from a bygone day compelling him to run faster and faster. And still, no matter how hard he forced himself to move, arriving when everything was already in motion. His mother calling him with her last breath. Chaos all around. Too late. The memories make him heavier, but Mike’s cries remind him that his pain isn’t unique. “I only want for her to come back with her sly smile. To stop feeling like shit. I miss her. Will I ever stop?”

Levi has no good answer. His features and voice soften. “I don’t know... I hope it gets better.”

One doesn’t feel like shit every single day afterward. But in his personal experience, it’s because he hasn’t been feeling much since that day. Is that preferable to constant pain?

“This is embarrassing.” Mike wipes his tears with the back of his hand and throws out a teary laugh.  

“No, it is not. I… I also know how it feels to lose someone who mattered too much,” Levi admits, a phantom ache squeezing his chest. Mike meets his eyes, and Levi encounters a sense of understanding between them. Reassuring in some way, knowing that someone else goes through the same. After all, it proves they’re not completely alone.

Silent minutes tickle by until Mike’s faint sobs subside and his spine erects taller.

“She isn’t mad at you.” At his confusion, Mike explains, “Hange.”

“Brilliant way to show it.”

“She’s mad with herself. And ashamed for putting lives in danger. I don’t think she considered that possibility.”

“Clearly.”

“Hange,” Mike begins with a fond tone, “is very trusting, which can be a problem. Still, she’d never put someone in danger on purpose.” I know, Levi sorts out. “She believes union is one of the many things needed to end the war, for which we should rely on each other. But… I think not everyone deserves her faith.”

Levi wholly agrees with Mike, as he’s the first one undeserving of it. He lies his head on the tiled wall behind him, which is like touching snow to his skin. Ignores all the germs that must be rubbing on his hair. “She has never had trouble sleeping in a room with me.” 

Mike snickers. Levi lifts an eyebrow at him. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s just that… I didn’t mean you. You’ve proven yourself highly reliable relating to her.”

What? “Are you nuts? I’m the last person she should count on. I’m an eldian.”

“So what? Do you really fool yourself into thinking you hate her?” He shakes his head. “And what if she’s a marleyan? I didn’t peg you as the prejudiced type.”

“I…” 

Do you really fool yourself into thinking you hate her? Mike’s words reverberate in his head. He… can’t, because he truly doesn’t. Not completely, at least, and not anymore. Hange might not be one of the worst creatures to ever inhabit this planet, as he once believed.

Levi glances at the disgusting floor where he’s sitting, focusing on the dirt between the tiles which he hates so much. But maybe, just maybe… He doesn’t. Maybe he’s always forced himself to despise it, because otherwise, how could he continue living, knowing how much of it he’s swept from this earth?

The main origin of his strong loathing used to be more due to his body feeling out of control in their first meeting than her nationality. However, now… He still dislikes her, of course—being her a marleyan, that couldn’t be any different. And yet…

“I don’t hate her,” Levi states. His declaration doesn’t surprise Mike in the slightest. While he doesn’t hate her, she remains a marleyan, something he can’t forget at any cost. Doing so could only harm his land and himself. “I just don’t get her. What are her motives?” 

It’s challenging to shake out the idea of marleyans being deceptive, except… Hange looks so open—so sincere, saying she wouldn’t let his leaked information be used for anything but. 

Can he believe her?

He can’t. Shouldn’t. But… he wishes he could. 

“Ask her, then.” Mike jerks a shoulder as if that was the most evident, easiest solution to everything. Which may be.

“Mike? Levi? Where are you?” Hange’s muffled voice comes from out of the door. 

In an instant, Levi becomes aware of where he is, and what he’s been talking about with Mike. A feeling of camaraderie was flowing between them, but her voice woke him to awkwardness. Dammit, perhaps Hange’s teeming openness has infected him. 

“Here!” Mike stands and goes back to the room. “What did you bring?”

Hange’s slit eyes glide from Mike to Levi with suspicion before handing them packets of cookies. Popping cookies in his mouth as if they were candies, Mike sits down on his bed, and Hange on the floor. Levi takes the desk chair and starts eating, the TV noise filling the room. Hange looks weary, hands slow and posture slouching. Chewing, she glances up and catches his gaze for the first time tonight. He can’t read her expression, but her hazel eyes appear dimmer. She lingers on him for a moment without expression and then turns to the TV.

It stings. 

In the news, they’re interviewing relatives of today’s explosion victims. It dawns on him that the reason those people lost their families is because of them. Because they haven’t done a good job unveiling those responsible for this. The previously sweet chocolate cookies taste rancid in his mouth. Mike and Hange seem to be sharing his thoughts; he looks like eating shit while her shoulders sag lower. Her hand reaches out, in search of what Levi now recognizes as reassurance from the fur peeking out of her bag. She clings to Mr. Sonny as unnecessary repetitions of the explosion play on the screen. But neither of them makes a move to change the channel.

On the nightstand next to Mike’s bed, Levi’s phone rings. They all look at each other. Levi strides to the phone and looks at the screen—an unknown number. He accepts the call with his guts tied up.

“… Yes?”

“Ackerman?” Probes a fruity voice. 

His guts untie. “Petra,” he breathes out. “What’s wrong?”

Hange’s head snaps to him with a deep-set frown on her face, looking even more bothered than a minute ago. Levi flops on Mike’s bed, rubbing his brow. How did Petra get this number?

“Erwin told me to call you,” she reveals. Naturally. “Erwin got to convince someone about the invitation, the people with it merely need an address to send it.”

He taps his feet, thinking of logistics. “I’ll send you a location.” He can pick it up in the morning.

“Very well. And… Ackerman.” A pause. “Even though I can’t make a lot of questions, I know this has something to do with Tybur, so… Take care!”

Levi smiles. Petra’s one of the best people in his life, always taking care and worrying about others. “I will. You take care, too.” He gets off the phone.

Mike cocks his head to a side. “What happened?”

“Erwin got it.” Tomorrow they only have to study the area, make the preparations, and lastly, adhere to the plan. 

“All is settled, then.” Hange immerses herself in eating her remaining cookies. 

Mike finally switches channels to one with a movie where a spy is parkouring from one building to the other. Levi scoffs; that’s sheer fantasy. 

“Ackerman,” Mike says, “I wanted to ask you this since I met you… Is the rumor of you jumping from a third floor with only a blanket as a parachute, and still surviving with an insignificant wound, true?”

Levi scratches his heated cheek. Understanding he possesses a reputation is never the same as hearing one of the many rumors surrounding him. Some people even consider him to be a myth, and he prefers it like that. 

“It is,” Hange affirms. Grimaces instantly, as if regretting saying it a second too late.

“How do you know?” Levi wonders. She’s right; it is true—it wasn’t as effortless as Mike implied, but no one but him and Erwin should know it for sure.

Mike grins. “Don’t you know how much of a fan Hange is? She has probably watched all your supposed videos, although I believe half of them are fak—”

Hange shoots Mike with a glare so intense that the blond shuts up mid-sentence. And with that, the silence restores. 

Mike falls asleep first, his loud snores almost rumbling the entire hotel. Levi climbs to the bed nearest to the door and lies down. Instead of following suit, Hange slides open the balcony door and disappears from his sight. He hesitates for a split second before joining her. 

She’s observing the horizon, the glistening and colorful lights from the many billboards shining over her skin. Without a look back at him, she collapses to the floor. There, those artificial lights can’t reach her. Her back leans on the side concrete fence of the balcony, head tilted up at the starry sky.

He settles across from her, one leg outstretched and another bent to support his arm. Arctic wind blows against his skin and chills his bones, but he doesn’t come back inside. He has something to say. 

“I… I’m sorry for snapping at you. Earlier.”

She doesn’t reply right away. Her gaze won’t meet him yet.

“It’s okay,” she eventually says with a hint of tiredness, pushing her glasses up her nose. “You weren’t wrong. I didn’t consider the girls’ safety. Even without that, we didn’t know anything about them. It was a mistake…” Her shoulders hunch along with her head, bangs shadowing her eyes.

Levi strokes the back of his neck. It’s less sore than most of the time. “Right. You can only trust yourself.”

“There I disagree.”

His frustration mounts at the sight of her defiant chin. “Oh?”

Her eyes finally catch his. She crosses her arms over her chest. “To achieve great things you need other people, to work together and believe in them. I firmly believe it. Maybe I overdo it, maybe I need to doubt more, true. But confiding in no one, never? That’s not the solution but the problem, and the reason why we’re still in this fucked-up conflict. We never let our guard down.”

Because your people have betrayed us on countless occasions. 

An impatient snort from him. “It’s better to work alone.” Less danger and risks for everyone. Levi likes the control it confers him, the steadiness. Why would he prefer the contrary?

“It isn’t.” Her jaw sets. “Such as today. The plan would have worked better if only you had waited for me and trusted me.”

“Trust is difficult to achieve,” is his brusque reply. He knows better than to rely on someone working for the enemy.

“Because you don’t put anything of yourself into trying!” Her nostrils flare. “Do you know how difficult it is…” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in. “How many times have I told myself I shouldn’t even talk to you? You literally tried to kill me!”

Her statement floats in the space between them for a while, making the air dense. 

Levi wants nothing but to dissipate the tension, but a thickness in his throat prevents him from responding. Unable to bear her glare, he angles slightly away from her. Summons her words; she said it was difficult not because he’s an eldian, but because he tried to kill her. Somehow, how genuinely unprejudiced she is keeps taking him aback. 

“How come you don’t hate me?”

“In truth, I used to hold only hate for eldians. Raw, bitter, consuming hate. But then I thought, this will never get me anywhere. There and then I chose to stop.”

Levi flaps a dismissive hand. “Pff. You make it sound as if it was something you could just decide and voilà. No more hate. Choices aren’t that almighty.”

Her expression grows turbulent. “Oh, but they are. Our choices define us, wholly and entirely. Regardless of what happens at the end of our lives, everything hitherto is simply a succession of them. That’s what we are. Choices. We keep making them and following those we believe are the best.” A tight smile forms on her mouth. “But you’re partly right. It is not easy at all. Wasn’t. Yet it was my choice and I stood by it. Even so, I was wary of eldians afterward and for a long time. I didn’t genuinely try to understand your lot until recently. I have to thank you for that.”

“Me?”

She doesn’t reply, her gaze lost in the distance. Completely disregarding his presence. 

He wishes he could fade into the floor underneath him. It’s like they crashed into a wall. A massive, solid wall they can’t get past unless he does what, deep down, he knows he should have done a long time ago. 

Levi clears his throat. Glances at his hands. Swallows.

“I’m sorry… about that night. In Odiha.” 

She flinches. And something between them fractures. More importantly, something in him shatters; the idea that his work justifies the damage he inflicts. That by protecting his people, the corpses he leaves behind are unimportant. 

They aren’t. 

They’re significant. 

They matter to him and have always done so.

His head hangs, and there is this empty, draining feeling. 

She purses her lips, pensive. “Do you enjoy it?”

“Enjoy what?”

“Killing.”

His head jerks up, muscles tensing. How can someone enjoy something like that? He feels like dying little by little with every life he takes. If those missions were more constant, would there be anything left of him? 

“No.”

“Okay, then.” She droops against the wall and presses her palms over her eyes, glasses askew. “Apology accepted.”

Albeit her words are agreeable, he can practically touch the waves of anger still coming out from her. 

“What do you want from me?” He blurts. 

“Excuse me?” She drops her hands and blinks. He repeats the question and her eyebrows furrow. “To be friends. I want to be your friend. But you don’t… you can’t trust me, can you?”

How can he? It’s not like she isn’t harboring secrets. “You say you want to be my friend and talk about trust all the fucking time, but you don’t trust me either. Why were you going to that museum that night?” Her teeth clink loudly by the speed with which she closes her mouth. “See? You ask me to do something but you won’t do the same.”

“I…” Her eyes snag on his. “I was looking for my sister.”

Her… sister? Didn’t she say she was dead? Levi racks his brain, but actually, she didn’t. He just concluded it. Didn’t she disappear more than ten years ago, though? To continue looking for her sounds… 

“I’ve been seeking information on what happened to her ever since she went missing,” she mutters, and his chest folds painfully at the tinge of sadness present in her voice. “Well, not ever since—I was pretty young when my parents died, and then I moved with Nana’s family, which… wasn’t a pleasant experience, so I left after a year or so. It was when I moved to my last home that I started looking. The caller told me he had information about her, so… I stupidly went.” She toys with the hem of her shirt.

The unexpectedness with which she flew from Marley, the recklessness in her act… Was it all because of her sister?

“I see.” Levi wants to express how sorry he is, to remove some of her glaring sufferings, but he’s unable to do it. After some sluggish minutes, he changes the subject. “You really used to watch my videos?”

Hange’s eyes widen, cheeks flushing red. “No! Yes. Umm, I mean… you’re famous for your exceptional fitness… which I’m interested in…  Ah! I mean… interested in the scientific aspect of it, as expected…”

Her sputtering sparks a weird twinge in his chest. A sensation of contentment spreads throughout his limbs. “Now I know why you recognized who I was in the elevator.”

“Your fighting style is unmistakable,” she nods, a smile dangling at the corner of her lips. “You should start diversifying a bit.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Hange dedicates him a smile, her hazel eyes bearing humor in them. Once more, meeting his eyes with ease. He returns the smile. 

For the first time, he envisages how everything would be if Hange wasn’t a marleyan. Would they be friends? Best friends, maybe? Recalling how loose he felt talking with her last night, he can see it. And… doesn’t entirely hate it. 

Nevertheless, things are as they are, and the reality is that she’ll always be his enemy and he’ll always have to eliminate her. There’s no point in crying over spilled milk. And crying, he never does.

She places a finger over her mouth. “Why do you think they didn’t ambush us on Tybur’s? I wasn’t even wearing a costume, as the last time they did it. Could they have given up?”

Whatever refrained them from going after her today, he doesn’t think it was for lack of motivation. They had plenty of chances for that before. So why stop now? 

“It’s odd,” it’s the only thing he says. 

Levi lets his muscles go slack under their comfortable silence. She lies down, her long fingers laced together loosely on her abdomen. 

“Why don’t you like them?”

He notices her line of sight, toward the stars above them. Watches them, too. “I never said I didn’t. I do, and am glad to be able to see them from here.”

“Don’t you want to know how they look from closer?” Her tone is dreamy.

“No. Humans are fucking plagues. I don’t want to witness how the planets orbiting them are dying for yet more humans.”

“That’s so pessimistic… I think we’re bringing life to those lonely planets and that the stars enjoy the new company, don’t you think?”

Levi opens his mouth and closes it. He never saw it like that and doesn’t dislike her perspective. It’s a brighter picture he couldn’t have conceived by himself, one that makes him feel somehow better. 

The canvas of the night is usually painted with gray and heavy clouds. But tonight it shines brightly, the points of light in the distance seeming, for a flicker, colorful. With her steady breathing and earthy scent floating to him, Levi feels so light. He takes a deep, satisfied breath in, and closes his eyes…

They left their building behind and went deep into Marley’s streets. Hours ago, he was feeling rather ill, so Hange and he separated from the others to get some rest. But she insisted on catching up with them, now that he was feeling much better. 

“We’ll get lost,” he muttered, meaning that he was already lost. 

Hange put a finger over her mouth. “Onyankopon said three blocks to the right… Oh, excuse me,” she said to a woman in a street stall. Marley had lots of these, he’d noticed since arriving. “Do you know where the theater is?”

“Four blocks in that direction,” the woman replied, pointing to the left. He sighed; Onyankopon got it wrong again. “Where are you from?”

“Ahhh… From far, far away!” She looked around in a panic, as if trying to find an answer. Slang an arm around his shoulders. “My dear brother and I got lost from our group.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “You look nothing alike at all.”

“She was adopted,” he explained.

“Me?” She made a scandalized face. “But I’m the one who looks the most like mom!”

He couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping him. This was kind of fun.

Following the woman’s instructions, they arrived at the theater. Armin was the first to spot them. 

“You made it! Come this way, the view is much better,” Armin urged, pulling them toward the front line, where the other kids and Onyankopon were already settled. Everyone looked overly enthusiastic—even Eren, who had been down lately. 

A red curtain opened in front of them, and the show started. 

Two hours later, the group left the theater with equally down faces. 

Mikasa brushed a tear from Sasha’s cheek. “It was… so sad!” The brown-haired cried, chewing a blue cotton candy.

Jean and Connie agreed with a nod. Levi exhaled; it was definitely not what he was expecting. 

Hange stepped in front of them, hands on her hips. “It wasn’t sad.”

Onyankopon glanced at her with confusion. “They all died!”

“Mmm.” She paced in front of them, a hand holding her chin. “But didn’t you see everything they suffered before? And it was implied that they reunite afterward. It was happy,” she declared.

“That’s true…” Armin rationalized. “It wasn’t that sad after all!”

The smile resurfaced on the other’s faces. 

“Exactly.” Hange clapped. “Now, we should go looking for something to eat.”

“Yesss!” Sasha shouted, leading the way ahead.

Hange turned to him and tilted her head. “Shall we?”

Levi’s stomach fluttered. He was aware she also found the show sad—he was right beside her, hearing her sniffling. Still, she put her emotions aside and found a way to make the kids happy, offering them an alternative viewpoint where it all looked more radiant. That’s what she always did: examined all the possible aspects to find the correct answers, the beauty in the ugly. Either with titans, people, or plays…

“I won’t eat whatever crap Onyankopon suggests tonight,” he replied, following the others with her by his side. 

Her eye acquired a thoughtful quality. “I read that the fish here is prepared differently…”

Everything always looked better when she was around, more so in these depressing days, when she became the Commander they needed the most… Constantly looking forward. 

***

D-5

Hange hasn’t breathed once since they started their march to the yacht. They reach the guard at the beginning of the boarding ramp and hand him the valuable invitation. The guard dedicates a brief look at the paper, scans it with a little device in his hand, and nods at them. Just then, Hange expels all her breath. 

The night is clear and the wind pure and refreshing as they walk through the ramp. No one pays them any attention as they blend with the crossing crowd. Yet Hange clings to his arm, her fingers curling and uncurling in anxiety. 

“We are completely, one hundred percent sure he’s here, right?”

“It’s his birthday. Plus Erwin confirmed it himself. He’s here.” Levi controls the impulse to pat her arm in reassurance. 

They pass the narrow yacht’s threshold, and Hange looks around in apprehension. “We could try some other way.”

Levi looks at her. Her hair falls around her shoulders in soft jagged waves; one hand is smoothing down her onyx dress, while the other’s nails are biting into his skin. Forcing himself not to linger on her current appearance, he quickly directs his attention to the long hallway at their front.

“We don’t have time for any other way,” he retorts, dusting off an imperceptible fluff from his sleeve. He adjusts his suit jacket. The clock is unstoppable as it ticks-ticks toward another explosion. They have to hurry and act promptly. 

There isn’t a better time to fool one of the most powerful men in the world than now.

Or attempt to do so.

They discovered the yacht is Tybur’s property of many years, so the hope is he spends some time here, thus leaving personal stuff behind. Their plan is straightforward. Levi tries to find something that could lead them to the criminal organization (unlikely to succeed), while Hange goes to Willy Tybur and clones his phone (likely to succeed). That way they’ll get a glimpse into his private matters, and hopefully, something relating to the attacks. Even if they don’t, it’d help them locate Tybur wherever he hides later. With that sort of information, getting him in a less crowded place should be easier. Or so he was told. 

“He could have hundreds of phones,” he complained earlier, when they were in the middle of their planning session.

Hange scoffed from where she was sitting on the hotel room’s floor. “That’s an overestimation.”

“He might,” Mike agreed with him. “But the man believes himself untouchable. He must carry a personal one with him.”

Levi wasn’t convinced. “Say you’re successful. Say we get out of there alive. Will we have a chance if we let him go tonight?”

“It’s the only choice we have.” She had a point there. “We can’t kidnap him with all the security he’ll have around. And we’ll be in the middle of the ocean without resources. I say this plan is as good as it’ll get.”

“Well, maybe,” Levi conceded. “Is he even that smart if he’s one of the people behind this? They must know the government will never resign their power but still made that silly demand.”

She rose to her feet, as if assaulted by an epiphany. “Maybe they do know it. The public didn’t know them before. Now they do and the ones in power are painted as the true villains. Maybe that was their goal all along!”

In that case, it isn’t they aren’t smart, Levi mused. They must be pretty damn intelligent, because it’s working. The public is giving their backs to their leaders. 

Mike nodded. “Yeah. Years ago in my psychology class, I learned people tend to associate things. Here they must be associating the murders with the ones they can see and easily blame. Their governments and the WCO.”

Instead of regarding most of his words, Levi got fixated on one part. “Psychology classes? Aren’t you an agent? What do you actually do for a living?” Hadn’t he mentioned something about acting classes just yesterday?

Mike shrugged. “Why should I do one sole thing my entire life?”

“I can’t stop feeling there’s a reason we’re habitually a step behind.” Hange was pacing in the room. Suddenly, she stopped and snapped her head at Mike. “Mike. Don’t inform the WCO about the yacht location.”

“Okay?”

“Thanks. And Levi…” Her pleading gaze met him. “Just trust me on this. Erwin didn’t see the invitation before, right? So just don’t tell your people and I won’t tell mine. At least until we’re already on our way there.”

“… Fine,” Levi said after a few uncomfortable seconds. He didn’t fancy the idea; in fact, he did it so little that in the end, he couldn’t keep his word. 

Erwin hadn’t known much about the Yacht party. He’d only asked for a favor and received the invitation, but never held it in his hands. Yet he knew of its existence and Levi’s future assistance, so he couldn’t possibly keep him in the dark. Therefore, when he called, Levi left the room and the prying ears to provide his report. Sharing his whereabouts with his boss and obeying, as he must have been doing all these days, was somewhat relieving. 

That’s why he’s currently relaxed. A weight is off of his back. He’s finally doing his duty, behaving as the eldian agent he is. And they’re about to take a massive step toward the end of this, so, yeah. 

It’s a good night, isn’t it?

Following the flow of people, they pass the deck and enter a barely illuminated hall. Underneath their feet, bright green and blue water blend, and in each corner rests a vertical green water tank with a woman swimming and dancing inside. It must be some kind of android or hyper-realistic projection, obviously. No one would survive that long without oxygen.

In the center is the bar, whose ceiling is surrounded by green lights. Although there are tables with velvet lounges, they move to the bar—or struggle to do it. They can’t take a step without running into someone with increasingly extravagant and phosphorescent makeup; gleaming yellow, purple, and blue lipsticks glowing in the darkness. Despite the coolness outside and the air conditioning inside, Levi feels sweat trickling down the back of his neck. 

Hange and he finally make it to the bar, where Levi glares at the seats. Is everyone a fucking giant, or what? Hange stifles a laugh at his face while he hoists himself onto the too-high stoll next to her.

“This is the biggest yacht I’ve been into,” Levi comments, glancing at the high ceiling and the breadth of the place; and he hasn’t even seen the room’s section, whose corridor he can catch a glimpse of on the other side. Maybe someday he’ll come to one invited for real. 

“This is the only yacht I’ve been into.” Hange snatches a wine glass from a waiter’s tray and empties it at once. Takes another one. “Want some?”

Levi shakes his head and asks for a glass of water from the barman. Just when she’s about to booze the drink, he plucks it. The last thing they need right now is alcohol.

“Boo! I won’t get drunk!” She complains and retrieves it. “It tastes great…” Another waiter walks by, and Hange steals yet another drink before Levi can react. She offers it to him. “Want to taste it?”

 Levi takes a sip and then drinks it in one gulp. “Now we should focus.”

She nods, and then mutters, “You look great.”

Heat consumes him from all around. “Ahh… thanks. You… too,” he says, sounding strangled. 

I look great, he tells himself. She’s plainly stating a fact. Nothing else. To make himself think about something else, he turns to the bar and sips his water, examining all bottles displayed. Some must be worth more money than himself. 

Hange blows a short breath. “Alright. It’s that one over there, yes? He looks like Tybur-father, at least.” Her chin gestures to the left, where three men in tailored suits huddle around another man with long, blond hair and a charismatic smile. 

“By the way everybody glances at him,” Levi says, observing the people at the party, “I’m inclined to agree.”

Erwin told him the Tybur heir looked much like his father, and he has no siblings, so… 

“I’ll go now, then.” She swivels, but Levi puts a hand on her arm before she leaves.

With Mike, they went over the plan hundreds of times: Hange merely has to butter up Tybur long enough to get his phone cloned. With that, they’ll get knowledge of his locations and conversations. Simple enough. 

Only, Levi hadn’t paused to think what Hange would have to put up with, just to entertain that man—up to now.

“I…” 

A red tailored suit hogs Levi’s vision. He looks up.

Argh. 

He knew there was a reason why the air suddenly reeked acridly.

Hange’s hand flies to her chest. “Zeke! What are you doing here?”

A bottle of beer dangles from Zeke’s fingertips as he looks at Hange from head to toe. Levi feels a weird drop inside his chest and straightens. What the hell is he doing here? 

Zeke shares a smile that dsplays the teeth, his hair combed back with something that stiffens it and makes it shine. “You told me you’ll come here and I was nearby. I thought backup wouldn’t hurt.”

Hange takes a sharp breath in, gaining a squint from Levi. 

When did she tell him the location? How close was he? How did he even get in? Could whatever he was doing have something to do with Eldia? Erwin doesn’t swallow the ‘family matters’ explanation; he theorizes Zeke is secretly working on something relating to their war, something shitty. Levi can’t disagree, but is aware his personal bias is an influencing force in his opinion. Better said, it most surely is. 

“Oh, really? I merely told you half an hour ago,” she says, her voice unnaturally monotone. Levi has spent so much time observing her, deciphering the nuances in her expressions to later use against her, that he can’t but notice how something in her face is… off. 

Zeke grabs her hand and kisses her knuckles. “By all means, I couldn’t let you take such a risk without me around.”

She wraps her arms around his neck. Levi adopts a sullen look while hot spots burn in his stomach. They don’t have time for this bullshit! Hange needs to get to Tybur as soon as possible, not to fraternize. They’re losing momentum.

Hange separates. “Thanks for coming. You’ve seen Tybur before?” She inquires, still sounding flat. 

“No, no. Yet I’m sure you won’t have a problem with him—all the time we had to sweeten those tycoons will finally pay off.” 

She responds with a tiny smile. Levi’s mind stirs under the new pictures parading behind his eyes, of Hange and Zeke attending fancy parties, of them working together toward their shared goal, Marley. How many memories do they share that he’d never know about? Not that it’s important at all, it’s just… a little annoying. 

“I’ll go now, then.” Hange tips back the rest of her drink. Looks ahead, betraying her emotions, which summarize as: quite frightened.

Levi takes her elbow aside. Draws her closer and inclines to her ear, all but touching it. “Are you okay? Don’t do anything too uncomfortable, we can always find another way. And… don’t you dare die tonight,” he whispers at her neck. “I’ll be close.”

She quivers. “I know… See you later.” 

For some reason, her phrasing evokes a sense of dread to his chest. Levi empties his water glass as she slides to Tybur, her spine firm and confident, dress slipping behind her and gleaming with the greenness of the floor. 

“Wonderful, right?” Zeke asks, glowering at him with contempt. 

Hange or the party? Levi decides to interpret it the easier way, and spits, “Snob’s party.”

Zeke bursts a laugh. “So, tell me, Ackerman. How much do you tell your superior? Erwin’s his name, I believe?”

Levi’s face automatically fades to neutral. What is he getting to?  “Uh?”

Despite the loud music, Hange’s laugh reaches his ears, followed by Tybur’s. Levi hopes it’s a good sign. 

“I’ve been investigating,” Zeke explains. I couldn’t care less, Levi thinks and huffs. “Part of my work is knowing everything that’s happening everywhere, and I just tripped over something beyond interesting. Seems like the ones who have been trying so hard to kill our dear Hange are related to Eldia.”

Levi paralyzes. “That’s… impossible,” he states, though lacking conviction. 

“It truly isn’t. I actually know for a fact that Eldia has been the one giving the orders.”

Levi’s mind speeds. 

No. They wouldn’t, would they? 

Yes, they would. 

But without notifying me? 

Levi’s brain goes memory after memory to prove Zeke wrong. He remembers the call after meeting The Ripper, Erwin ordering him to let her die and even to help if necessary. Everything sorts itself in his brain; how Erwin knew about the bridge without him mentioning it, how familiar the man he fought with was, how angry Erwin got with Levi’s interference… The reality hits him and settles like acid in his gut. 

“You honestly didn’t know?” Zeke smirks. “Didn’t they initially send you for that?” The little alcohol Levi drank sloshes around his stomach. Levi’s eyes throw flames at the other man, whose curled mouth and ugly beard and ridiculous glasses… “Oh, you like them?” Zeke takes his glasses off. “Hange made them for me, years ago. Aren’t they special? Just like her, and us, of course.”

Levi glances at Hange, whose hands wave while speaking with Tybur. Her head tilts the slightest bit to a side to hear him with attention—and she always pays attention, Levi realizes. Colorful light dances over her smooth skin as her pinkish and silky lips curve into a smile.

Unable to look longer, he gives her his back and supports his weight on the bar counter. The acid recedes, but it’s replaced by a dead weight pulling him down. 

Yes, they did it. He’s sure. 

Eldia desires her death above everything, and he knew it all this time.

Could that mean they’re also behind the bombs?

No, Levi instantly rejects. That would be going too far, even for them. He’d never doubt his people, not even for a second, on something of that scale. And about this… He can’t blame them for trying to kill her. It’s their job. His job. Constantly out of her home’s protection, she’s an easy target: someone dangerous in need of extermination. It’s a logical tactic he should have recognized sooner. An understandable one, but—

Wait.

Levi’s muscles freeze. He leans on the bar counter…

We need to get out of here.

He swivels. Hange is nowhere in sight, and neither is Zeke or even Tybur. Where did they fucking go? He goes straight to the dancing crowd, head snapping from side to side in search of a glimpse of her. Bodies push and pull him, their body odors asphyxiating him from all around. 

She’s not here.

He drags himself out of the throng and hurries to the door through which they entered. Outside, couples are looking at the vast ocean before them, smiles on their faces. Levi throws himself to the rail. His breathing comes faster and faster until he’s gasping. He looks up at the same ocean which seems to be so beautiful to the others. To him, it’s only one thing: deadly.

Erwin knows they’re here. 

They’re here, isolated in a yacht in the middle of this trashy body of water with no easy way out. Only sea and more sea surrounds them. The perfect place to attack, without reinforcements or anything able to aid her in time.

Levi grips the icy rail with force. How could Erwin keep him in the dark about this?

 He dashes back inside. Pads down the hall to the room corridor, where the men who used to be with Tybur are chatting. 

“Where are they?” Levi spits to them.

“Who?”

Levi seizes a man by the neck and pins him against the wall, lifting him off the ground. The man’s wine glass falls to the ground and shatters with a crash. 

Many heads turn at the disturbance, their wary eyes on Levi. He doesn’t care. Fuck anonymity.

“Where. Are. They? Tybur and the person he just met! Which room?”

“Whoa, calm down buddy.” The man raises his hands in surrender. “No idea!”

Hange and Tybur must be in one of the rooms, but which one? Levi lets the man go. Sweeps the corridor. He hears nothing. Jolts the doors to find them all locked. Does he have time to break into every single one?

Against Tybur and whoever dares to confront her, Hange can handle herself just fine—he knows it. But Erwin’s men… some of them even trained with him. She wouldn’t be able to hold on forever—not without a weapon, a place to run, or a warning. Not alone. 

At the end of the corridor opens another hall, this one elegantly adorned with a gold chandelier hanging on the ceiling, tables with white tablecloths, and velvet crimson curtains on the walls. Elegant people wander around; dark black hair, long tanned neck, thin-fabric dress, red hair, green suit… None is Hange. 

Where is she?

Levi advances, pulse elevating. His finger taps his thigh uncontrollably as he looks around, and around and around at the dozens of faces that look the same. 

Suddenly, a door opens from the corridor he just left, and a disheveled Hange comes into view along with Tybur. Levi stops breathing, his body going limp at her sight. His hand covers his forehead to recover.

She’s fine, and he found her. Now they can get the hell out of here.

A touch of red infuses her cheeks as she nods at something Tybur is muttering. The man hands her a wine glass, and she’s accepting it with a grin the second she encounters Levi’s gaze. Hange glances at Levi over the rim of the cup, eyes smiling; discreetly, she gives him a thumbs-up, communicating her success. Levi can only look at her from a distance. 

All this time, his people have been the ones trying to hurt her. 

Whatever his expression is, it manages to wipe the grin off her face. She opens her mouth as if to say something, and... 

The sound of a gunshot reverberates through the room, stunning everyone present. Screams. Running. Panic.

Levi doesn’t move. He stands in the same spot, watching as Hange’s eyebrows begin to crease and her skin pales, as her hand reaches to hold her side and redness drips to the floor. 

Tybur reacts first. He pulls Hange’s arm and bodyguards appear out of nowhere to spread around them, forming a protective wall that moves in unison towards Levi’s opposite direction. 

Their departure wakes him up. 

He rushes towards them, running into the panicked crowd that drives him in the opposite direction. And then, men dressed in brown, a badge he now recognizes, pour into the hall. Levi tries to run away, but in his frenzy, the men detect him and lunge at him.

They surround him. Levi steps back until slamming into a table. 

“Don’t let him interfere,” a tall, masked woman commands. Accompanied by many others, she slips into Hange’s direction. The remaining half encircles Levi. His mind tries to find a way out without harming them. It’s his people, after all, even when they don’t understand that she matters. That she can save this fucking world if only they let her. 

He should allow them to do their job and do his, which is following orders, the ones that stipulate he must do nothing. He’s sick of failing them, but—

The boom of more gunshots resounds loud and potent in his ears.

Levi just can’t let them. 

He drops to the floor and crawls back under the table. The men charge at him. Too soon, Levi jumps to his feet at the other side and pushes the table to them. He needs to get out of here, not to hurt them. Just get to her. 

Levi bolts to the room’s corridor. But someone grips his shoulders and sends him spiraling against a wall. 

The men must have orders not to injure him seriously, because instead of pulling out his gun, this agent uses a dagger. Aims at Levi’s arm. Moving more swiftly than the man’s reflexes, Levi easily ditches the attack. Kicks the man on the chin. On the neck. 

Another agent grips him from behind and tries to tie his arms. Levi dips his heels on the carpet and rotates the man over his back and to the floor. 

The others are struggling to get to him, stopped by the frightened people rushing around. 

One frees from the crowd. Levi takes a food tray and throws it like a frisbee to his head. It knocks him with a metallic sound, and the man falls. Levi ducks, narrowly avoiding the punch of another agent, who collapses from the impetus. Another directs a dagger straight to his head—perhaps they weren’t ordered to avoid anything. Levi grabs the heavy curtain behind him and manages to stop it, trapping the dagger in the material and snatching it from the man. Levi points the dagger at them, yet more and more come to encircle him. 

Levi glances back. The curtains must cover something, right? He slides them open. Even though he’s no expert in the matter, the glass in front of him looks thin. Fragile. He grasps a chair as the men get closer and closer. Hurls it at the window, breaking it with a loud crack followed by tiny tinkles. Levi jumps out the window and runs as fast as he can. Footsteps soon rumble behind him, but not many people are faster than him. 

He strides into the hall where the bar is. It’s deserted. 

They are not here.

But they came in this direction, so they must be nearby. 

Levi seals the door behind him, blocking it with tables. It shudders with every hit from the men outside, not budging. Across from him, a door is ajar, swinging in the wind. They must have gone that way. 

From his peripheral view, Levi catches sight of a stocky man in a dark suit coming at speed. Levi lunges toward the swinging door, but the man charges first. He crushes Levi with his heavyweight, knocking him to the floor. Levi’s forehead hits and bounces off the glass that covers the glittering green water on the floor, causing a break in the surface. His head spins, a metallic taste filling his mouth.

Levi tries to get rid of the weight, but it’s too much for him. He can’t move, and with difficulty manages to breathe. He feels something hard against his head and hears the familiar click of a gun.

“Don’t move,” the person above him orders.

And Levi recognizes the voice.

From the doorway, the icy wind brings whinings and a cacophony of gunfire. Louder screams explode in the air, halting his heart.

They’re Hange’s. 

#levihan #levihan fanfiction #levi x hange #levi x hanji #levi ackerman #hange zoe #aot #aot fanfiction #snk #mine #myfics #OTNOD #multichapter

[bugbyte]

For everyone’s sake, I made a new tag called #healthposting, for when I’m blabbing about my own health and medical nonsense, so if you don’t want to see that it’s got a thing for your blocking convenience now. I went back and tagged old posts, too.

Anyway. So like a week ago at pt my shoulder got yoinked out of place accidentally, and hasn’t really fully recovered yet, and meanwhile I’m losing my mind unable to really draw or play much of any games or do anything much, so that’s been just great. I feel like I’ve read the entirety of the internet twice and watched every video ever made. All of them.

I have managed to get some writing done in bits and pieces, and I’m finally starting to get a handle on getting out the story for this game I’ve been attempting to make exist for a while. I started throwing together a big messy document with everything in it, and somehow it’s just flowing. I am a little worried that it’s getting over ambitious in places but if I can make it work I think it’ll be really good. It’s less about technical stuff, which I know I can figure out eventually, and more about weaving narrative stuff together in a way where the jokes land properly and the stuff that isn’t jokes foils correctly. Writing!

It’s got a lot of non linear things happening, which I couldn’t wrap my brain around in terms of writing, and then it occurred to me I could just write the story out as if it’s a walkthrough, and bam, progress. I’ve been making use of Freeform on iOS/Mac since that released sort of recently and it’s a really really good tool for mapping some of this stuff out visually and collecting references and links and stuff.

I have been thinking about this story and these characters for years and I have to make this happen because I want people other than me to meet them and love them too. At least I hope they will. I am aiming for endearing and relatable.

Now I just have to get my….everything….healed and working and maybe I can eventually start making this thing for real.

#blog #bug makes games #healthposting #cw medical #cw injury

[hydrus]

Version 496

windows

Qt5 zip

Qt6 zip

Qt5 exe

macOS

Qt5 app

Qt6 app

linux

Qt5 tar.gz

Qt6 tar.gz

I had a great week. There's more Qt6 work, and the first version of note parsing is finished.

UI Scaling and Qt6

The media viewer now understands UI scale and will draw images with all available pixels and state the current zoom correctly. Previously, if you were on 150% UI scale, it would draw at the smaller 100% size and then nearest-neighbour scale up. Now it compensates for the UI scale completely, drawing at that size, so if you look at a 4k image on a 4k screen, it'll look the same no matter what your UI scale is.

Some funny math went into this, particularly as I stitched the image tiles together through several different coordinate spaces, so if you are >100% UI scale and see a grey or white line flickering anywhere as you pan an image around, let me know your details.

After last week's nicer thumbnails at >100%, a user let me know that the thumbnail banner text was actually looking pretty bad at 100%. Looking at screenshots of the two situations made it obvious. I chased down what was going on, which turned out to be an annoying technical problem with no easy solutions, and figured out an ok solution. If all your monitors are 100% UI scale, the thumbnail banner text should now be antialiased. It isn't perfect (and even looks blurry with some semi-transparent background colours), so I may revisit this, and it may be the underlying Qt issue causing the ugly font gets fixed one day anyway.

The rating shapes (circles, squares, stars) are now antialiased too, and I re-did the star shape to look better.

note parsing

This is still for advanced users, but if you know the downloader system, feel free to try it out!

Note parsing works now! All the downloaders have note import options, there's a defaults system, and it is all wired into the parsing system. The main remaining limitation is the parsing system still can't handle multi-line text, but if you make a note parser and download, it now gets added to the file. If you are a downloader maker, please try it out and let me know where it falls short. I intend to get multi-line parsing working in the coming weeks, and then I will update the default parsers for hydrus to grab artist notes.

For the defaults, I updated the 'manage default tag import options' dialog to also do note import options, so you can grab and rename notes from specific sites in different ways. The initial defaults I set are fairly simple 'get everything' options. I would like to see how these new systems shake out in the real world, especially as we deploy new downloaders to many users, and maybe I will revisit them.

full list

note import options:

the client now has a system to set default note import options. it works exactly the same as default tag import options and shares the same UI, now named _network->downloaders->manage default import options_. you now set tag and/or note import options for a particular domain. I don't think you'll have to touch the note defaults until this system is really going and we learn more about what we want. I have made the initial defaults get all notes with some simple conflict resolution that won't discard any data

all url pages, watchers, watcher pages, gallery queries, gallery downloader pages, and subscriptions now have a note import options. by default, they are 'default'

the edit subscription dialog now has a button to set note import options _en masse_

all the behind the scenes stuff that connects and powers these systems is done. note parsing now works! advanced users, especially downloader makers, are encouraged to play around with this for real. the remaining hurdle is still multiline parsing support

notes now have a cleaning system before they are saved. to start with this week, they are now trimmed of leading or trailing whitespace or newlines

.

Qt6:

the media viewer now draws correctly on UI scaled displays. If you are at >100% UI scale, it will now render images beautifully, using all available pixels, and state the correct zoom percentage. you look at a 4k image on a 4k screen, you now see 4k, no matter the UI scale. previously it was rendering at 100% UI scale coordinates and being nearest-neighbour scaled up

after several sad hours banging my head against font metrics, I finally discovered the magic flag needed and have improved the font quality of the thumbnail banners when you boot the client with only 100% UI scale monitors. should be anti-aliased now, although if you have a semi-transparent banner colour it may look slightly jank for reasons I still need to investigate.

I fixed the 'don't process the click that activates a media viewer into the shortcuts system' hook for Qt6 (and still working on Qt5). it is a little smarter now, too

.

misc:

the new import options button is now an arrow-menu button. the secret right-click menu is no longer hidden. I also did some behind the scenes stuff to make it so all these arrow buttons spawn their menus on your cursor when you click, rather than hanging off the bottom-left corner of the button proper

rating stars of all shapes are now anti-aliased

greatly improved the shape of the 'star' rating star

moved the 'checker options' button on watcher highlight panels down a bit. maybe it'll get integrated into other import options one day--I am still thinking about it

archive/delete filters will not present 'delete from hard disk' as a final choice if the current domain is 'all local files'. I thought I fixed this a couple weeks ago, but there was a legacy issue

fixed some real jank logic when setting the tag domain in autocomplete dropdown widgets. this got messed up a little with recent updates to file and tag domain searching. I reworked the signal path and fixed some weird update bugs and situations where you could seemingly set 'all known files'/'all known tags'

.

boring code cleanup:

refactored all zoom code from the media viewer canvas to the media viewer container. the canvas no longer manages zoom numbers or container size

refactored all container-position-tracking code from the media viewer canvas to the media viewer container and cleaned it

updated the media viewer container to recognise UI scaling and adapt the stated zoom to reflect the raw pixels on screen, not the device independent coordinate system

updated the native animation widget to recognise UI scaling, adapt its underlying renderer resolution appropriately, and draw that super-resolution frame to the canvas

updated the static image widget to recognise UI scaling, adapt its tile coordinate system and resolution appropriately, and scatter the ethereal powder of the cleansed ancients across the QPainter in order to stitch the arbitrarily zoomed super-resolution tiles together on a sub-pixel canvas with no visible seams

the animation and static image widgets also recognise changes in the current UI scale--if the current monitor changes or you move across monitors with differing UI scale

updated some old pubsub update calls in the canvas code to Qt signals

cleaned up some old const definitions in canvas code

refactored and simplified some test methods related to the canvas container and media show actions

cleaned up some old painter code and hacks to simpler alternatives

cleaned a tangle of file/tag domain update code in the autocomplete dropdowns

cleaned up some options getting/setting methods in the downloaders

next week

After three weeks at this, I am now super behind on other work. I would like to just kick out some normal bug fixes and so on, keep multiline text parsing in mind, and also turn to some long-delayed serverside admin workflow improvements. I would also like to switch the installer exe over to Qt6 next week.

#release

[wawataka]

Hey so. Disney, being the ever so greedy monopolistic company to ever exist, is trying to trademark the names OF LITERAL NORSE GODS. like how many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man. it’s absolutely ridiculous that we have to sign a petition to stop it

#i honestly hope walt disney successfully cryogenically froze himself so he can come back and i can slap him #actually just straight up merk him #like that is a literal religion isn’t it #like did you not learn your lesson from the time you tried to trademark día de los muertos??? #anyway sign the petition god that fact that this is a situation is shameful #maybe if i tag this correctly it’ll work #loki odinson #thor ragnarok #what else #just #disney #? #petition

[redrobin-detective]

sleep like the dead

“And now, I, Technus, shall finally have my electronic vengeance on you, ghost child and conquer this puny human world!” Technus shrieked, exiting the portal in a suitably dramatic fashion. The various weapons around the lab shook and trembled from his power and static from his core crackled, raring for a fight with his favorite enemy. Only the Phantom didn’t appear.

“Hmm, maybe I wasn’t loud enough,” Technus mused before starting up again. “Pathetic Phantom! You can only hope your miniscule half human strength will be enough to take on my squiggling mess of the tangled wires of terror!” He threw back his head and cackled loudly, waiting for his nemesis to show and the battle to begin. His laughter petered out after a bit and the lab became silent once more.

“Well, now he’s just being rude,” Technus fumed, floating up through the ceiling. “Don’t ignore my threats, child. I know you’re here, I can feel your cold core.” He stopped once he reached the ghost boy’s human lair, hovering a few feet from the bed where his rival was sprawled out, sound asleep.

“Come ghost boy, it’s time for fisticuffs! I have some new moves and some great catchphrases I’m ready to try out on you!” The technology ghost exclaimed in excitement, miming some punches. Phantom didn’t answer, just kept laying there barely moving save for his soft, shallow breaths. Technus watched as his breath fogged with each exhale, his core’s ghost sense but it still didn’t awaken him. “Child? Have you expired?”

He leaned forward and gently poked the boy’s cheek. It was squishy but firm unlike a ghost’s exterior and he could feel the dense bone underneath. Phantom didn’t so much as twitch. Technus drew back his hand, unsure of what to do. He’d surprised the child while he was in bed before but he always woke up and they fell into the usual routine. But now he’d changed the script and if there was something ghosts didn’t like, it was change. He flew back down to the portal and sped into the Ghost Zone at top speed, searching for someone who would be able to help him understand. 

“Wow, baby pop whooped your butt that fast? Either he’s getting better or you’re getting more pathetic, my bet is the latter,” Ember teased as she strummed to herself from a floating rock near her lair.

“The ghost child won’t wake up and fight,” Technus said in a rush. “I went to the human world but no one answered my challenge. I went to his human lair and he was just lying on his bed thing and he wouldn’t move, even when I touched him.”

“That’s not like him, he’s usually more hopped up and ready to fight than a groupie on coke,” Ember frowned, setting aside her guitar. “Well come on, sparky, lets go check the kid out.” 

They developed something of an entourage making their way back to the human portal. A few of the locals had heard that the infamous half ghost child was behaving differently and well, curiosity didn’t stop when the cat was killed. Skulker chuckled menacingly under his breath, Youngblood bounced around the adults. Johnny and Kitty had been going to the real world anyway and decided to tag along. 

“Were his folks or Jazz home?" Johnny asked, riding his cycle slow enough to keep pace with the group. 

“Who?” Technus questioned, “er no, the annoying children always with him were not around for once.”

“Annoying yes but they don’t live- uh occupy the same lair as the brat,” Johnny explained. As a younger ghost who’d held onto his humanity more than some, he had a better grasp of human culture. “His parents, the crazy ghost hunters in the blue and orange jumpsuits. Or his sister, Jazz. She has red hair and is kind of a know it all. They’re his family, they live with him.”

“Oh those weirdos,” Youngblood said wrinkling his nose. “Always loud and shouting about ripping apart ghosts. They’re not even good hunters.”

“Obviously, they haven’t noticed they got a ghost living with ‘em,” Ember added with an eyeroll.

“It’s a very stressful situation, Danny was worried about what they’d do if they found out,” Kitty frowned before sticking her tongue out at Johnny. “Danny’s a good guy, at least he talked to me about things that mattered.”

“Good target practice, you mean,” Skulker declared as they entered through the portal. Instinctively they all looked up to where the ghost boy’s core was humming but sensed no movement. “Alright, I will admit that is weird. Let’s see what the whelp’s up to.”

It was a bit cramped, the five of them crammed into the small room especially when they were keeping their distance from the room’s only living occupant. He had not moved since Technus had last been in here. At their entrance, his breath fogged again and he shivered for a second before settling back down. 

“Well, he’s alive at least,” Johnny shrugged before leaning in close to examine him. “Kid looks wiped though.” He picked up the boy’s bony wrist which had been dangling off the bed, his fingers brushing the floor and held it up before dropping it. His knuckles rapped against the ground but he didn’t stir.

“Johnny, leave him alone, he’s trying to sleep,” Kitty hissed, yanking her boyfriend back by his ear. 

“Come on, I’m not doing anything bad,” Johnny defended. “But, come on, how often are we gonna get a chance like this?”

“Hmm is human sleep that interesting that the ghost child would ignore all of us?” Technus asked, floating over and laying himself down on the bed. He laid there on the bed next to the boy for a few moments. “I do not believe I’m doing this correctly.”

“Nah you gotta close your eyes and go off to dreamland,” Youngblood said, grabbing a sock off the floor and then some papers from the desk and began stacking them on the half ghost’s head. The boy still didn’t react in the slightest. 

“Is dreamland close? Another pocket dimension like the Zone?” Technus, ever the scientist, asked curiously.

“No, you idiot,” Ember sighed before tentatively reaching out and laying a hand on Phantom’s chest. “Yow, man that’s weird.”

“What?” Skulker asked, having been mostly content to watch until now. Youngblood had now piled several more items on the ghost boy’s head but he slept on, unawares.

“It’s just,” she scrunched up her face as she looked for the words, “I know what ghost cores feel like and I’ve been around enough humans to know the signs of life but he’s got both at once. His core flares and fades opposite his heart beat. It shouldn’t work but it does, somehow.”

“He is a most curious specimen, I rarely see Plasmius in his human skin so it’s hard to compare,” Skulker commented. “Of course Plasmius I can understand. He acts like a ghost, thinks like one. But the child, he’s certainly a ghost but he’s also decidingly... human.”

“That’s why we should be leaving him alone,” Kitty frowned, plucking Youngblood out of the air and moving him away from the sleeping teen. “If Danny isn’t waking up with all of us causing a racket then clearly he’s exhausted. We bother him enough, let him rest and fight him some other time.”

“But I wanted to fight now,” Technus whined, rolling over on the bed and resting one arm over the ghost boy’s body. “The Phantom surely wants to hear my latest monologue on how I’m the supreme ruler of everything electronic and beeping.”

“I know I don’t,” Youngblood shrugged.

“Me neither,” Johnny scoffed.

“Or me,” Ember muttered, putting her hands on her hips.

“Just let him rest,” Kitty said shooing the others back and gently brushing some of the kid’s hair out of his face revealing sallow features and dark marks under his eyes. “It’s hard enough being human much less a ghost on top of that; between fighting us and trying to have a normal life I bet he hardly gets any sleep. The least we can do is give him a break before he breaks.”

“I suppose it’s not sporting to kill a sleeping prey,” Skulker pouted. “And it’ll make his defeat more meaningful if he’s well rested and not uh,” he gestured to the Phantom’s general state of disarray. 

“Better appreciate it,” Ember sulked for a second, kicking away some pajama pants from the floor. “His stupid human life. I’d give anything to sleep again, just for a minute.” 

The ghosts sat in quiet contemplation for a moment, the dead looking enviously and curiously on the silent, sleeping boy, on a world they could only watch but not engage in. The moment was shattered by the front door slamming open.

“DANNO WE’RE HOME AND WE BROUGHT CHINESE!” Resonated through the house. Startled awake, the ghost child leapt out of the bed and hovered about a foot above it for a moment before sinking back down.

“Darn it Dad, I was napping,” Danny grumbled before he opened his eyes and saw several of his ghostly enemies standing awkwardly in his room. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Technus lounging on his bed. “What the-”

“Oh good, you’re awake!” Technus tittered happily, leaning into his personal space. “Ready to hear my spiel?” The temperature in the room dropped rapidly as his core ramped up and spilled over into his eyes which were no doubt glowing a fierce green.

“Get out of my room!” He shouted, reaching over to grab his emergency under the bed thermos but a sock falling from his hair into his face distracted him.

“Hey, just stopping by but we were just on our way out, sleep well, Danny sweetie!” Kitty said dragging the whole group through the floor. His core thrummed in agitation until he felt them cross the portal into the Ghost Zone. He sat there for a moment, shaking and panting from the adrenaline rush before he decided he really didn’t want to know. He flopped back onto the bed and reached over on his nightstand for the bottle Jazz had given him the other day.

“The heck is in this stupid sleep aid?”

#danny phantom #another flash is the pan DP fic #just something about Danny being so tired (also ODed on Nyquil) that he just misses his ghost sense going off #and the ghosts being there and without all the threats of death #just kind of hanging around #looking over him curiously snooping #how often do they get to like see him up close? #he's a freak! lets look him over also stack shit on his head! #and the weird space where you just cant remember being human and what sleeping is like but also being so envious that you cant do it anymore #((also just a note that Danny had all his enemies in his room and slept soundly but woke up in a jolt when his parents got home)) #((take that as you will))

[xmalereader]

The Mandalorian X Male Reader

-

|| Masterlist ||

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I FORGOT TO TAG THE REQUESTER 😭😭 IF YOU FIND THIS PLEASE TELL ME SO THAT I CAN FIX IT!!

Requested: Hey can I request engineer!reader x Din Djarin where reader travels with Din and Din just assumed reader can't fight for shit since reader is an engineer and he's seen reader get scared of insects, but then Din is in trouble and reader comes to save him, guns blazing, like "listen you pay me to take care of the ship, not to take care of you"

Warnings: Fluff, language, engineer reader, slight violence, sassy reader, badass reader that din falls in love with!

-

-

It has been a few days since they have landed on Nevaroo, fueling up and getting supplies for their next journey. But, of course, they couldn’t leave yet without repeating the crest. Poor thing was busted up and his partner was in charge of fixing it up.

Din couldn’t asked for some help from Greef but y/n refused the help, saying that he was the personal engineer and it was his job to fix the dam thing.

Thing is, they have been on Nevaroo way too long. They were suppose to head out three days back but because of the crest not working up, they had spent the next few days trying to fix it, but so far no success and y/n still refuses the help they are offered.

“SON OF A BITCH!”

Din is sitting in the cockpit with the child when he is startled by the loud shouting. Grogu too, gets startled, causing him to drop his favorite ball and to turn his head towards the engine room. His ears raise in alarm as he turns to Din and gives him a look. Din can only shake his head with a sign, “Let’s hope you don’t repeat those words one day.” He said as he climbs out of his seat and heads towards the back.

Approaching the engine room he hears the other grumbling to himself as he got closer.

“Stupid piece of junk! Why won’t you work?!” Y/n whispers to hismelf as he works on the wiring, reaching inside to try and fix it but ends up getting shocked instead, causing him to yelp in surprise and pull away, glaring at the thing he kicks the wall.

“I thought you were fixing my ship, not breaking it more.” Said Din, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. Y/n gasps as he turns around to see the Mandalorian. “I’m trying but your ship is a piece of junk.” He says back with a glare.

Din sighs again, he’s dealt with y/n for awhile now so his additude was nothing new to him. The two have grown so close that y/n no longer found the Mandalorian intimidating like before.

“Treat her nice.” He reminds the engineer as he bends down to check the wiring. “Dank ferik.” He can see the wiring but can’t reach it, grunting he tries to reach for it again but slowly gives up after a few seconds. “Any suggestions?” He blurts out.

Y/n hums. “You won’t like it.”

“That’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Y/n.”

The two stare at eachother as y/n speaks up quickly. “The hole is small enough for the kid to crawl through.”

Din rasies a brow from underneath the helmet. He was close to regecting the idea until he gave the small space one last look, taking in the size. He looks back to y/n who only grins in return before the two slowly turn their heads towards Grogu who was standing in front of them. Watching them with big curious eyes, giving off a small coo at the two.

—

“—the red wire goes where the blue wire was and the blue wire goes where the red wire was.”Din tries to instruct the kid. The two were able to squeeze the kid inside and Din had explained Grogu what he needed to do and the kid agrees to the idea with a small nod and here they are now.

Din has been trying to guide the kid on what to do but the small gremlin can only give him questionable looks, confused on what he was suppose to do.

“No—you put the red one where the blue used to go.”

Y/n sighs and rolls his eyes at the Mandalorian, suddenly getting frustrated as he crouched down and shoves din aside. “Move over tin can, the kid doesn’t know what he’s doing.” He says as he looks inside the small space and gives Grogu a soft smile.

“Grogu.” The kid tilts his head over to y/n his ears rising at the attention. “Hey kid, We need you to help us fix the wiring, you are the only one who fits and if you can help fix it then maybe we can leave early and explore another planet.” Grogu coos at the idea of exploring a new planet or at least getting to know a new area.

“Good, now listen—“ he tries to guide the child and make the situation a bit more easier for the kid to understand. “Grogu, show me the red wire.” He instructs.

Grogu grunts as he lifts his small arm, holding the red wire towards y/n with a tilt of his head. “Good job! Now, on the board you will see two colors. Blue and red, I need you to put the red one into the blue.”

Grogu huffs and gives off a squeak, questioning himself weather that was right or not? He was a child and had the mind of a child, so of course he’s going to be confused as to why the colors need to be opposite.

Y/n is quickly get the signal of the child. “Grogu, you see the red one has to go inside the blue charge because it’ll make the ship work faster and better. Don’t you want the ship to go fast like last time?” He asks, reminding the child of the time that Din spun the crest around in circles, causing the child to squeal in joy and throw his little arms up.

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Said Din as y/n glares at him and slaps him on the leg before turning back to Grogu with a fake smile.

The kid turns back to the board and looks at the two different cables. Cooing he plugs the red one into the blue charge, “yes! Perfect, now put the blue wire into the red charge!”

Grogu lets out a small huff as he plugs in the red wire, causing the ship to come to life as y/n stands up and cheers. “HA!” He points at Din with a mischievous grin. “Told you that he can do it.” He folds his arms over his chest with a raised brow and a smirk on his face.

Din rolls his eyes under the helmet, “well—“ he walks over to help the kid who was trying to get down from the small height. Taking the kid in his arms he strokes one of his ears. “At least the kid is a better mechanic than you.”

Y/n gasps with a glare. “You take that back.”

“Sorry, but no.” Din shrugs and leaves the area, heading back to the cockpit where he sets the kid down and starts to check on the controllers to see what was functioning correctly this time.

After the checkup, they were ready to head out. They had all of the supplies they needed and could last for a few weeks. “Come on kid,” he nods towards Grogu. He was sitting on top of the boxes while holding his favorite silver ball. He watches Din move the boxes against the wall and straps them in. “Looks like we are good to go—“

He is cut off by a scream coming from the cockpit. Din is quick as he climbs up to the cockpit and rushes inside with blaster in hand, “what’s wrong?” He sees y/n standing by a corner with wide eyes as he points towards the pilots chair. “Kill it.” He says.

Din rasies a brow in confusion as he turns to look at the pilots chair, stepping forward he spins the chair around to see a pretty large spider on the seat. “Oh.” With his blaster he nudges the creature, causing it to move.

Y/n gasps and tries to push hismelf further into the corner. “Are you crazy?! Kill it already! Just kill it!” He shouts. The Mandalorian chuckles at the mans actions and shakes his head. “It’s not going to hurt you, these aren’t poisons like the rest.” He puts his blaster away and turns to y/n. “Didn’t know you were scared of small creatures.”

“Shut up! Spiders and Womp rats are two different things! One can easily kill you and the other just runs away!” He exclaims.

Din shakes his head. “I’m starting to think that you don’t know how to do much.” He mumbles out before turning back to the chair to remove the spider, but once he turned back he sees Grogu holding the creature in his small hands and shoving it in his mouth. A loud crunch can be heard as he chews on the thing.

Y/n gags and covers his mouth. “That’s disgusting.” He groans out and quickly leaves the cockpit to avoid the scene that he just witnessed.

Din chuckles, turning to the kid and with a shrug he says. “At least you ate something.” The kid grins back at his father and laughs.

—

Din and y/n say their goodbyes to Greef and Cara, thanking them for the help and for allowing them to stay for a couple of days. Now, they can officially head out and visit another planet.

As din prepares the engines he glanced over to y/n who sat next to Grogu, playing with the kid as the crest slowly lifts off.

“Where too?” Asks y/n with a small smile as he holds one of Grogus tiny hands in his own big ones. “I was thinking that was visit Tatoonie for a bit, I need to visit someone.” Y/n rasies a brow. “Visit someone, who?”

Din smiles. “An old friend.”

The ride to tatooine was long, it took a few hours for them to arrive through hyper space and all in one piece. The crest was flying smoothly and no damage has occurred quiet yet, but hopefully nothing bad happens.

Y/n looks out the window as they arrive, taking in the desert planet as they fly over mountains and a few towns. “It looks lonely here.” He blurts out without thinking.

“Trust me, I’ve seen worse.” Din replied back as he turns the crest around and slowly lands them down in front a big building that y/n didn’t recorgnize.

“Want me to come with?” He asks, holding Grogu in his arms as Din turns off the engines and turns around to face y/n. “Best you stay here, I’ll be back quick.” He gives din a nod and looks down to Grogu who coos back and pats his cheeks, trying to cheer him up.

Din nods at the two before leaving the cockpit.

Y/n is left behind with the kid, holding him close he watches from the cockpit as The front gate is pulled away and Din is allowed inside, he watches the gates close again leaving him alone with the kid. “Alright womp rat, what should we do for the next few minutes?” He asks.

Grogu tilts his head with rasies ears, wanting to know if they’ll do something fun. Y/n laughs and heads towards the ladder, climbing down with the kid in his arms. “Their sand outside, maybe we can play for awhile?” He suggest as he drops down the ramp, allowing them to step outside.

Once y/n step out a blast of heat hits him, causing him to groan. “It’s too hot.” He grumbled out as he sets Grogu down. The child waddles down the ramp and towards the sand.

Y/n makes sure to guide the kid towards a shady area where the sun won’t hit them. After finding a perfect spot he sits down next to the kid who begins to play with the sand, making small hills as he squeals and kicks the sand around in joy.

Y/n was too distract by the kid that he didn’t notice a small pack of anoobas coming towards them. A deep growl pulls him away from his distraction as he looks up ahead to see anoobas slowly making its way towards the two.

Y/n quickly gets on his feet and pulls out his blaster. “Damn desert beasts.” He hissed out. Grogu whines and hides behinds his legs, holding onto his pants as his ears pin down.

“Grogu, get back to the ship and hide just how we taught you.” He instructs the kid who listens carefully and nods. The ramp wasn’t too far from them and as the kid makes a run for it the anoobas are quick to jolt into action. Running towards them as y/n shoots his blaster at the creatures.

Grogu whines as he climbs back inside the crest and quickly hides behind some boxes. Y/n continues to shoot at the creatures, taking one down but still having two more charging at him.

Cursing under his breath and heads back inside the crest, quickly grabbing Mandos beskar staff that he left behind and using it to defend himself. The creature jumps at y/n, he rolls away from it and uses the staff to stab its side causing the creature to scream in pain.

He holds the staff hard in his hands as he glares. “Come on you filthy mutts.” He says as he spins the staff. The two creatures circle him, he follows their footsteps and keeps track of the two, waiting for one to make its first move.

The one behind him attacks first, swinging its claws at him. Y/n is quick to suck the attack and swings the staff under the creatures legs, tripping it over as the other jumps at him. Gasping he steps back and almost trips himself. “Stupid sand.” He mutters out before the creature bounces on him.

Using the staff he holds it up in front of him to stop the creature from digging its teeth into him. Grunting he holds the staff tight as he holds the creatures sharp teeth away from him by. The creature growls and puts its weight on him as y/n screams, trying to push the thing away from him. His arms were starting to tire him out and soon he’ll become this things next meal.

Before his arms could give out a blaster shot it heard and the creature falls limp on its side. He shoves the creature away and pants, standing back up as he turns around to not only see one but two mandalorians, making their way over.

Signing in relief he lets himself relax for bit until he notices the other anoobas approaching the mandalorians from behind. Y/n’s eyes widen in worry, gripping the staff in his hands he glares at the creature. “Mando look out!” He shouts. Using his last strength to throw the spear at the creatures head as it tumbles down into the sand.

Y/n placed his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. “You—you—“ he pants out and walks towards the mandalorians. “You took forever!” He points to Din with a small glare. “I almost got killed and then I had to save your life! You almost got killed by that damn thing!” He points at the creature before walking over and yanking the spear out of its head, stumbling back as he looks at the weapon. “It’s all dirty now.” He says.

“So this is who you hired?” He hears the other Mandalorian say.

“He was suppose to be an engineer...didn’t exactly expect this.” The other replied back as he puts his blaster away. “Where Grogu?”

“I told him to stay inside the ship, he’s probably still hiding inside—just like I taught him.”

“You taught him?”

“Hey I just saved your life, you hired me to fix your ship not to be your babysitter.” He shot back with a hand on his hip as he gives him a sass like stand.

The other Mandalorian chuckles under his helmet as he listens to the two argue. Y/n turns to the other and nods towards him, “something funny to you bucket head?”

His laughter dies down but underneath the helmet he is smiling. “Nothing, just impressed by your ways and strength. You could make a good Mandalorian.”

Y/n hums. “Yeah—I’d rather not.” He tosses the staff to din who catches it. He walks passed the two as he sighs, “I’m gonna get the kid.”

The two mandalorians watch y/n walk away and head back towards the crest. “I’m surprised.” Said Boba. Din rasies a brow at him and holds the staff in his hands as he looks at him. Boba turns towards his friend. “Surprised you haven’t married him yet, best you hurry before I decided to take him for myself.” Said boba.

Din glares at his friend who laugh at him before shaking his head and patting his shoulder. Din may have found y/n a bit annoying and tough to handle but after seeing him fight he couldn’t help but fall in love just a little bit more with the man.

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