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cheapshrimpysheep · 10 months

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Taking Care of You - Younger Demon Brothers

This is the continuation of Taking Care of You - Older Demon Brothers

SUMMARY: What would a week with them taking care of you be like when you are sick? They taking turns to each take care of you for an entire day.

CHARACTERS: Younger Demon Brothers (Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub & Belphegor)

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader, Kissing, Comfort

WORD COUNT: An average of 980 words per character. A total of 3.950 words. (in this part)

COMMENTS: This was supposed to be shorter. So much so that this was supposed to be a post with all 7 demon brothers. But I think I got too inspired and ended up writing a lot, so I decided to separate it into two parts: the first with the 3 older brothers and the second with the 4 younger brothers.

I hope you enjoy ;)

CONTEXT: This is the continuation of Taking Care of You - Older Demon Brothers

This happens in the original time line, not in the Nightbringer one. So, you live with the Brothers in the House of Lamentation.

You got too sick to go to RAD. You need to rest in your room. Fortunately, it's a human exclusive illness, which means it doesn't affect demons whatsoever. So they can take care of you without any problems. The doctor said you would have to rest for a week, so everyone will take turns taking care of you for a day.

Shortly after midnight you receive a message from Satan: “Today it's my turn to take care of you. If you need anything, even if it's in the middle of the night, just let me know. I'll stay with you all night if you need me.”

You take this chance to ask him if sleeping with you counts, and he responds to you with, "Of course. I'll bring a new book I bought that I think you'll like. I can read it to you if you want.”

A few minutes later Satan knocks on your door and you let him in. To your surprise, not only does he bring a book with him, he also has a cup of tea. He sits on the bed next to you. “I've been reading about your illness and found this tea that can help you sleep better and soothe any aches and pains you may have. Do you want to try it?”

You sit on the bed and accept the tea. Maybe it's not the kind of flavour you like the most, but after drinking it you feel more relaxed. You say that to him and he gives you a sweet smile, glad that he could help you a little.

He shows you the book he brought, it’s a book of trivia. Some Devildom fun facts you can learn while listening to Satan's voice reading them to you in a voice you can fall asleep to.

You give him space to lie in bed with you, and he pulls his arm away so you can lay your head on his chest. He'll use one hand (and if necessary a little magic) to hold the book and turn the pages, while stroking your head with the other. You wish you could have cherished that moment longer, but being there with him was so comfortable, his hand so tender and his voice so soft, you fell asleep in no time.

When you wake up, you see him still by your side, but reading a book that wasn't that trivia one. When he feels you move and realizes you're awake, he places a bookmark you gift him in the book, closes it and sets it down. “Good morning” he says in a whisper and kisses your forehead “Did you sleep well?” You show him that you did, either in words or in murmurs as you smile at him.

You two snuggle for a bit. “Don't you want breakfast?” he asks you. You say yes, but that it’s very good to be with him like that. He chuckles “Don't worry, I can stay like this with you all day if you want. “But we should eat something. Especially you.” you agree in a murmur, he gives you one more kiss on the forehead and gets up from the bed.

He returns with a tray and the two of you sit at the table in your room. Cat face pancakes! With eyes, nose, mouth and whiskers drawn in chocolate. You tell him how cute they look and kiss him on the cheek. He kisses you on the cheek back and offers to feed you the pancake. You accept if he lets you feed him back.

He won't leave your room if he doesn't have to. If you're awake, he'll chat with you, read books with you, and watch a movie if you want. If you feel able to walk around the house, he can lead you to the Common Room where the fireplace is lit, to snuggle and cuddle with you. And he will try to attract some cats for you two to pet outside. Big chances he'll take a picture of you playing with the cats. Two of the things he loves most together!

If you need to rest and take a nap, he will stay in your room with you, sitting in a chair reading a book, right next to you. And if you let him, he will hold your hand in the meantime. Maybe he'll even ask you if you want to lay your head in his lap. And he can pet your head while you sleep. As he would do with a cat?... Maybe...

At lunch, he’ll cook for you whatever you want. And even if you want something he doesn't know how to cook yet or something complex, he won't deny your request. He will do everything possible to cook the dish you ask for. Even if he has to read and reread every cookbook he can find. Part of that is because he wants to be able to make you happy. The other part is a mixture of pride and stubbornness.

At dinner, it’s his and Asmo’s turn to swap sits at the table with the twins. And that’s okay. He already spent a whole day with you, he can give up that place by your side this time. Lucifer is on the opposite side of you and Mammon and Levi are at your feet.

At night, and before his turn ends, he returns to your room. He sits next to you on the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asks you. You tell him you feel fine, still a little sick, but fine. “I hope it was as pleasant for you to spend the day with me as it was for me to spend it with you.” You tell him it was, and he should make those cat pancakes more often. “For you, of course. But don't tell my brothers about them. I don't want to make those pancakes for anyone else, much less for them.”

“I also wanted to ask you if you would like me to read you some more from that book to help you fall asleep better.” You accept the offer, but this time he can't sleep with you because his turn is running out. So you ask if you can thank him for taking care of you that day, before you fall asleep and he leaves.

“As if I would deny such a request.” he says with a smile. You sit on the bed and kiss his lips. You feel his hands land on your face, as if he's asking you to let the kiss last a little longer.

After you break away from the kiss, you lie back down. He caress your cheek and starts reading that trivia book in that soft voice that makes you fall asleep in no time.

You wake up with a message from Asmo. It’s 00:24am. “Hi hon~ It's your darling's turn to take care of you~! If you're awake, what some company~?” You reply that now you are awake. “*shocked emoji* Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry! Please let me redeem myself. Let me treat you. I have wonderful things to help you sleep and even improve your skin. Please~?” You surrender and tell him he can come to your room.

He knocks at your door, you let him in and he walks in slowly, as if already apologizing. “Hi hon...” he speaks in his softest, cutest voice. “Sowwy~” he goes to your bed and sits next to you “I didn't want to wake you up, but I wanted so much to enjoy these twenty-four hours with you. I brought some of my skincare products. Will you let me take care of your pretty face? It's very relaxing.”

You accept his offer and settle in bed. He didn't want to make you get up to wash your face, so he used a spell he usually uses when he's feeling a little lazy. Allow him to do all your skincare in bed. He massages your face with such gentleness and care that it doesn't take long for you to fall asleep again.

When you wake up, you see Asmo sleeping next to you with an eye masks. You know he doesn't like to have his beauty sleep interrupted, but it was time to wake up and you guys need to eat breakfast. So you try to wake him up as sweetly as you can.

You whisper his name in that voice of yours that you know he loves so much. And if that's not enough, you start kissing his cheeks as well. He smiles and takes off his eye mask. He looks at you and then proceeds to attack you with kisses. As if he was thanking you for the best wake-up anyone could give him.

“Good morning~” He says, hugging you on the bed. “How do you feel, hon?”

“Loved” is what you answer him with a smile.

“Awww, you're so cute!” he kisses you again “I'm glad, but do you feel well?” You say yes, still a little sick, but fine. And hungry. “Ha ha, you sounded like Beel now. But I'm also getting hungry. I'll prepare breakfast for us.” he kisses you one more time and get out of bed.

When he returns, he brings out a tray with two plates of rainbow waffles and whipped cream hearts. “(Y/N)! Look! Didn't they look so beautiful? I made them! Am I not so beautifully talented?” The waffles really were beautiful and you tell him so. Before you eat, he asks you to take a picture with them together.

It doesn't matter if you are sick, Asmo can still make you beautiful. He'll give you a spa day at home. He'll even take you to his bathroom for a better experience. He'll use his scented candles, fill the bathtub with bubbles (you can get in in a bathing suit), put on relaxing music, and give you all the spa treatments he knows.

If you fall asleep, no problem. He probably fell asleep in the middle of all this relaxation too.

At lunch, if you feel able to walk around the house, he will take you with him to make lunch together and he will teach you how to make more beautiful dishes. And, of course, take pictures with them.

And since you feel better and the two of you are having fun cooking all those beautiful dishes, you ask Asmo if he would like to make them for dinner for all to see. “That's a great idea!” he says excitedly “We can show them the beautiful things we can do together. But, are you sure you feel well enough to do it?” You say yes, at least for now. “If you start to feel too tired just let me know, I can finish the dishes. Don't try too hard okay? You're still sick after all.”

You two surprise the others with your dinner. Everyone else starts asking about you, if you haven't tried too hard. But you assure them that you are fine and that when you feel tired, Asmo finished the dinner. They also compliment your appearance and especially your skin.

You felt able to eat in the Dining Room, so that's where everyone had dinner. No need for Mammon and Levi eat at your feet. Although Asmo started to use it to tease them and say that maybe they liking to be at your feet, say something. Mammon protests and Levi turns red as a tomato.

Before his day is over, he returns to your room. “Hi hon~ How are you? Feeling better?” You tell him that you are feeling better than you did at the start of the week, but that you’re still not fully healed. You still feel a little jaded. “This means that next week you will be healed, right?” he had a hopeful smile on his face.

You ask him if he misses you at RAD. “Of course I do! It feels like ages waiting for you to get well again. Nobody loves me like you do.” He was making puppy dog eyes at you, a mix of pity and sadness.

You tell him that. for missing you so much and taking such good care of you, he deserves a thank you kiss. His smile lights up his face and he hugs you, both of you sitting on the bed. You start by kissing his cheek, before he sulks a little, impatiently. And then you kiss his lips. It isn’t a lustful kiss, but a loving kiss, showing how much he misses you.

He is sad to have to part from kissing you, but his turn is ending. He gives you a bunch of goodnight kisses before he leaves, almost at midnight. He wanted to be with you as long as possible.

You fell asleep shortly after Asmo left your room. But you woke up a few minutes later, hungry. At that moment, you receive a message from Beel: “I came into the kitchen to get some midnight snacks. Do you want some? If you're awake.” You say yes, that you had just woken up hungry. “Okay, I'll get some more things and go to your room.”

He knocks at the door and you let him in. “I didn't wake you up did I?” he asks you, with a bunch of snacks in his arms “You know, with the message?” You say no, that in fact he even sent the right message at the right time. “I'm glad.” he smiles like a happy Shiba inu “I brought all your favourite snacks. I didn't know which one you wanted.”

With only 10% of what he brought, you were full. Beel ate the rest of the 90% of the snacks.

“Today is my day to take care of you.” he remembers “Is there anything else you need?” You take advantage of his question to ask him if he would like to sleep with you. You would sleep much better with him. He blushes a little. “I always sleep better with you by my side too. I'll just text Belphie to let him know I'm sleeping in your room. He might be worried if he can't find me anywhere.”

He texts his twin and then joins you in bed. However, the bed is a little small for the two of you. You take the liberty of snuggling up to him and resting your head on his chest. He smiles at you, he wanted to snuggle with you too. He puts his arms around you “Goodnight (Y/N)” and feeling protected by him you fall asleep in his arms.

You wake up with Beel's soft lower voice whispering your name. You open your eyes slowly and look at him, slightly sleepy, but you feel like you slept well, and enough. “Good morning” he whispers to you with a cute smile on his face. And before you could say good morning back to him, you heard a snort. His belly.

“Sorry. I'm hungry.” he apologizes, both with his words and his expression. You ask why he hasn't gone for breakfast yet if he was already hungry. “I wanted to have breakfast together with you. And I didn't want you to wake up without me by your side. You're very cute when you're sleeping, you know?”

You smile flattered and thank him for being so thoughtful of you. You tell him that he can go get breakfast for the two of you now, but remind him not to overdo your part. Despite it being Saturday, the other brothers are not at home, because they had to take care of some RAD related things at Diavolo's request.

He returns with two towers of pancakes, one in each hand, and pancake syrup in his coat pocket. He had a huge smile on his face, he loves to eat with you. “I overdid your part, didn't I?” he asks, seeing your surprised face. You say maybe, but surely they must be delicious and he can eat whatever you can't.

Unfortunately, you woke up a little nauseous from your illness, so you ate less than usual, which alarmed Beel a little. “Are the pancakes not good? Did I put too much sugar?” You tell him that he doesn't need to worry, that the pancakes are great and that you would like to eat more, but you can't at the moment because you're nauseous. “I can make more when you feel better if you want. I don't mind.” You ask if he's sure. “Of course. It’ll be hard to resist the urge to eat them right there. But it's to make you happy, so I'll do my best.” You thank him with a passionate kiss on the cheek, which makes him smile even wider. He will gladly feed you if you want.

If at any time during the day you need to get some sleep, he will respect that and not leave your room in case you need something when you wake up.

Fortunately, you feel physically better and he suggests that the two of you take a short walk around the garden to get some air, since you haven't left the house in a week. You will walk hand in hand. If you feel cold, he will give you his coat or hug you. And if you feel tired, even just a little, he will carry you back to your room if you let him.

If at lunch you want his pancakes, he'll make them, if not, he'll make whatever you feel like eating. And at dinner, the usual, since you can already eat with them at the dining room table. And at night, before his day is over, he comes back to your room.

“Your appetite returned at lunch and dinner. I'm glad.” he tells you with his cute smile “How are you feeling?” You tell him that the walk in the garden did you a lot of good, and you thank him for the idea and for taking the walk with you. His smile only grows when hearing that he helped you like that. “I'm glad you're feeling better now. I've been miss you so much.” You tell him that you felt the same way and that you were very happy to spend that day with him, only him.

“Me too. I love Belphie, and spending time with you two, but I like spending time with you like this more.” he sits with you on the bed and hugs you. You take advantage of this to cup his face and kiss him. His kiss is sweet and tender.

He'll stay there with you, holding you, until his twin brother knocks on the door shortly after midnight.

Belphie knocks on your bedroom door and Beel opens it. They talk for a while before Beel bids you both good night and leaves to go to their room.

“You're going to let me sleep with you right?” Belphie says, with that cute little brother smile he uses to get what he wants. “It's been a week since I've only seen you at dinner. And today is already my day to take care of you. So...”

You lie down, giving Belphie space to lie down next to you. As he does and hugs you like you're his favourite pillow, which you probably are. “I've been dreaming about you.” he whispers, sleepy and close to your neck “Which only makes it sadder to wake up without you with me. You really are mean doing that to me, you know?” And in an instant he falls asleep in your arms. And you in his.

When you wake up, he's still fast asleep and clinging to you. You try to wake him up, whispering his name, poking him... But he just complains in sleepy moans. “Belphie, I'm starting to get hungry.” you tell him, what makes him answer: “Then wake me up with a good morning kiss.”

You kiss his forehead, but apparently that's not enough. Then you start kissing his cheek several times until you suddenly stop. He complains lazily and you tell him you can continue after he brings breakfast. “Mmmm... Fine...” And he kisses your cheek before getting up and, somewhat reluctantly, leave your room.

Whatever was the matter at RAD, the others had to go to the Demon Lord's Castle that Sunday to finish things off. And because of that, you're alone with Belphie.

He comes back with a basic breakfast, like toast, but they taste pretty good. Even if you already feel healed, remember that we are talking about the Avatar of Sloth. So, if it's up to him, the two of you will spend all day in bed or on the sofa in the living room, just chilling and cuddling, sleeping or watching something. Or at least, that's how you spend your morning.

At lunch, knowing that you already feel practically healed, he will convince you to cook with him. Especially since cooking alone for two people is a lot more work and doing anything with you is better. At some point while you are cooking he will hug you from behind and rest his chin on your shoulder. But if you still don't feel well enough to cook, don't worry, he'll cook everything if he sees you're still not well.

Since you haven't left the House of Lamentation for a week, he asks if you'd like to spend the afternoon in the garden, under the stars (Since in the Devildoom it was always night). The weather was even nice. You agree, and Belphie gets you a picnic blanket to lie outside. In the middle of the afternoon, if you're hungry, he'll go into the house to get you two some snacks, but only after you convince him with a few kisses.

When the others arrive home, they get worried for not finding you or Belphie anywhere, until Beel decides to look in the garden and finds you two. The others start complaining about Belphie taking you outside, because if you were still sick it could be worst for you. But you explain that you already felt better and that getting some air after spending so much time in bed was doing you a lot of good. Lucifer even praises Belphie for the idea, until Belphie said that Beel had already taken a walk with you the day before which extended Lucifer's praise to him as well.

Dinner felt like the usual with the brothers, but you could tell by their good mood that everyone was very happy that it was the last day you need to stay home and rest. Everything will be back to normal the next day. Even though the next day was a Monday, they were happy.

Like the others, Belphie came to your room before his day of taking care of you was over. “Hi how are you? Completely healed, right?” he asks, and you nod “Great. So where is my compensation?” His compensation? “Yes. I was away from you for a week, I think I deserve an apology for the emotional damage. Oh! And I still took care of you all day today, you even made me wake up in the morning to bring you breakfast, I deserve a reward for that too, don't you think?”

You smile and sigh, gesturing for him to sit on the bed with you. You hug him and start kissing him on the cheek before getting to his lips. He hugs you tighter and leans over to make you lie down on the bed, as he lays down next to you.

After the kiss he continues lying down and hugging you. “You're not going to sleep here again tonight, are you?” you ask him

“Why? Don't tell me you want me to go away?” he says with sad puppy dog eyes. He knows perfectly well that your answer is no. You sigh, and snuggle into him. He gives you a few kisses on your cheek and around your neck, lazy, loving kisses, until you both fall asleep.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

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lynaferns · 11 days

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The Forest On The Other Side

Chapter 1: I want to go home.

Ver. [ENGLISH / SPANISH]

A girl gets lost in the forest and finds a misterious gate in the middle of nowhere. At the other side she meets a... very peculiar individual who seems to only want to befriend her and play. Everything seems fine. Until night falls and someone else joins to play...

Again, I appreciate feedback about the english adaptation. English is not my first lenguage and I still mess up sometimes.

This is in some way a more "joyful" story than BIOMáquina, still with its dark themes. I wrote this a year ago. By this I mean I forced myself to get it written down and ended up hating it and burning myself out. A couple of weeks ago I decided to reread it and I though it was pretty ok actually, so I edited it a bit to make it flow better. It used to be written more as a script for the comic I wanted to draw buuuut that didn't happen (cough stressed myself out cough forced myself cough don't force yourself to make content out of a hobby, a hobby is supposed to be for your own fun). I'm not completely satisfied with the final draft but I think is good enough for my first ever fic written.

I originally planned to make it a Y/N thing but that didn't last long. But I keeped the original idea of the first person POV. The Y/N stories I've read has always some narrator telling you what you do insert you in the story. I thought of making the MC the narrator, this way the reader can insert themselves like it's their story or they can read it as if someone else is telling them a story. This is also a bit limiting, since the narration is also the MCs thought process and sometimes I may skip details MC couldn't have seen.

AU, Magical forest, DCA centered, Sun fnaf, Moon fnaf, Elves Sun & Moon, OC, Selfinsert, Character & OC, platonic, friendship, slowburn (kind of), Moon is agresive at first, Moon is also a bit of a gremlin, Protective Sun (I think), OC is a potty mouth, Female Main Character, First person, Angst.

The first post where I showed this AU and my first sketches ideas.

Tumblr archive with all of the art, ideas and anwsered asks.

Youtube Playlist which I'm pretty proud of how it turned out :] It's in a specific order but you can put it on mix.

Note: even though I try to keep things light some things may be triggering for some readers.

CW: Anxiety, Suicide ideation, Implied death, Choking, Non sexual abuse.

Wordcount: 9,700 (It's not rounded, that's literally the number Word tells me it's at lol)

Welp.

Here we are again, in the old village house (yey...). Well, 'I am', my family won't arrive to settle in for another week. They brought me here beforehand a few days ago for organizational reasons. They took a quick look inside before they left to see the state of the house, if it needed any repairs and such, and they headed back to the city. While they finish preparing everything, I take care of the house and text them messages about anything that may be needed for when they return.

We haven't been here in years, the house needs some repairs, and I'm sorry for the spiders, but it could use a deep cleaning. We can't do a deep cleaning but I have been cleaning what I can these last few days, at least so that it looks decent... at first glance.

Well, it's not like anyone is coming to visit.

It's a quiet town, until the kids from the town next door come to make a racket with their bikes. They play in our field, scare away the cats and throw cans around. They are assholes.

Anyways, the people in the village are nice. The adults I mean, the kids I used to play with, I don't get along with them anymore. Some of them aren't kids anymore, we have grown up and are going down different paths. But those who are still kids... they're still interested in the only older kid in the town who listened to them and let them do whatever they wanted, to a certain extent.

I don't want them to come looking for me to go out and play. I've been avoiding them by saying that I'm busy cleaning the house and getting it ready for when my family arrives, but I feel like interacting with them less and less. That's why I'm going out to the woods behind the house to get lost for a while, as always. The kids don't go near the forest so they won't bother me there.

There is an area for tourism and hiking but not many people come, some police cars border the forest from time to time but they never go inside. The reports of missing people in this forest have been coming in for decades, only some lost children have returned but there is no trace of any of the adults who disappeared along with the rest of the children. The areas marked with signs are safe but you can't go out of bounds unless you want to disappear with those people.

And I, who right now am alone and with no one to notice my absence if I go missing, am going to head straight to the forest. Don't you think, I don't want to disappear, I just don't like people and I usually go into the forest but I don't go too far away. As long as I see my house in the distance, I know how to return.

I grab my bag with my sketchbook and pencil case, in case I feel like drawing (probably won't) and step out to the back porch. The outer sliding metal door that protects the inner one is rusty and difficult to open. It would be better to oil it but I don't know when it will be done, considering that the broken railing has had a wooden board tied to it for years. I already sent my mother a message talking about it.

I enter the forest and start walking around. It's hot, of course, it's early summer, but it's quite noticeable after being in the cool inside the brick and stone house. That's the good thing about coming here in summer, the houses are made to stay cold inside and it's great, sometimes I even need to wear a jacket. But outside I'm dying, the trees don't provide enough shade. In fact, some trees are missing. I used to have my routes memorized but time has passed and some paths have changed, some have disappeared and others have formed. I admit that it makes me a little sad... I began to walk absorbed in my thoughts not paying attention to where I was going.

I'm walking away, I should go back. I'm not going to draw anything here anyway, and it's hotter outside than inside so I'm gonna to turn around-

I hear screams and laughter in the distance, the sound of the voices produces me an immediate disgust. It's those kids from the next door village. They must have come to 'investigate' about the disappearances or maybe they don't care and they just came to be idiots-

They're getting closer.

I don't want them to see me. God. Don't let them see me. Anyone but them. They're getting closser. Don't let them see me. I can't go back home now. They're cutting me off. Of all the people who could have found me. It had to be them. No, please. Don't let them see me. I have to go further into the forest, I can't let them see me. They're getting closer. Don't let them see me. I want to leave. I want to leave. I'm getting too far. I want to leave. I don't see my house. I want to leave. I don't see the village. I want to leave. I don't see the kids.

...

Where am I?

Fuck.

Where am I?

I want to leave.

…

—

Now I'm wandering through the forest. I don't want to go back. I want to get out of here. Even though I'm walking in a straight line I feel like I'm going around in circles, and I'm not going to get out of here now. Great. I'm lost. Now what? People who get lost in this forest don't return, no one has returned except for some children.

...

I'm going to disappear.

...

For now I keep walking until something happens. Maybe there's an animal that kills people who get lost, or maybe it's a group of kidnappers, or maybe I should stop giving myself anxiety and focus on getting out of here. Maybe if I find a field or road, or even the tourist area, I'll be able to get out of here and return bordering the fores-

...

There is... colorful graffitis on the trees. Someone has painted eyes, hands, stars and more on the bark of the trees...

What's this?

I don't know where I've come to, I didn't know this was here, in the middle of nowhere in the forest. The trees have red leaves like in autumn even though summer has just started... The first thing I thought was 'climate change's fault' but there is something that stands out in the middle of this entire flat area and it is disturbing me.

In the center there is a kind of circular gate made of stones supported by roots.

Okay, maybe it doesn't sound aaaaas disturbing as, I don't know, a totem with a human figure being impaled or something, but it's giving me a bad vibe. What is this place? Who built a stone arch in the middle of everything and why?

A bird appears flying from behind me and goes through the gate, but nothing comes out on the other side... wait what? how? The bird has crossed the gate, and disappeared behind the stone arch? ...I had to imagine it, it's not possible that that happened. I approach the arch but not before picking up a rock from the ground and throwing it to the other side of the gate.

It's still there.

…

For some reason the thought of going through the gate makes me uncomfortable, so I go around it.

...

...And the rock? It's not there.

I go back and look from inside the portal.

The rock is there.

...

I look from outside. The rock is not there. I repeat this multiple times. Rock. No rock. Rock. No rock. Rock. No rock... What?

Alright, this is weird, this is VERY weird.

Even though it is clear that this isn't normal, I have to go back, pick up a fallen branch from the ground and pass it through the portal. This time I don't throw it, I've grabbed a branch long enough to see it peek out from the other side of the arch.

...

Welp.

I should be seeing not only the branch, but also my hand sticking out of the side, but I'M NOT SEEING IT. OKAY. OK. ALRIGHT. IT'S CONFIRMED. THIS IS WEIRD.

I'm asleep, right? Or unconscious. I must have passed out from exhaustion from endlessly wandering through the woods and I'm delirious or something. No, wait, it can't be, in my dreams I'm not this aware of what's around me. Where am I?

A breeze begins to pass through the gate. It's getting stronger but not enough to push me. The leaves rise from the ground and float towards the portal, none slipping outside, all entering through the stone arch. Suddenly the breeze that had become wind stops. The leaves fall to the ground.

...

I look back for a moment, as if there was something behind me that could help me make a decision. Grabbing with both hands my bag strap I look back at the portal again. Okay. Alright. This is possibly the death of me. I'm going to cross. I'm going to go to the other side. I'm just one step away from crossing. I wrinkle my face and narrow my eyes before taking the last step.

...

Nothing has happened. Everything seems the same. However, I know it's not the same... Or at least it doesn't feel the same!

Well, I've already crossed. I'm gonna... keep walking, I guess, even though this is scaring me and I don't know if I'll know how to go back. For now I'm moving forward. The red leaves have disappeared several meters ago. It's starting to look like a normal forest, except for the multicolored drawings and handprints that I keep seeing on the trees. In fact, it seems like the trees are taller with every step I take. So high that I can barely see the top. I almost tripped while looking up. Whether this is the same forest I come from, I no longer know.

This was a bad idea. I just hope to find something that'll help me know where I am, a sign or the road if possible.

*cling*

...?

I hit something with my foot. There is a ball attached to a small chain on the ground. Oh, no, wait. *cling diring ding* It's a rusty bell, I think. It doesn't have the typical cross-shaped hole or slot, rather it has several holes in a pattern. It looks like it can be opened.

There's nothing inside.

There's nothing? But I could have sworn it had rang. I close it again and shake it.

*...*

Nothing.

I'm going to put it in the bag, it's totally a good idea. I'll think about it later, for now I'm moving on.

—

I've been walking for a while now and throughout this time I had a constant chill on the back of my neck, as if someone had their eyes on me.

*din dirring* I hear a soft tinkling in the distance.

Okay, I'm not alone, awesome, what do I do now? Do I say hi and risk the potential danger finding me? Do I ignore the sound of bells and keep moving? It's very possible that whatever made that sound is watching me right now...

“Hello?” Still nervous, I try to say hello looking around “...” “Is someone there? H-hello?”

“-HEEEEELLO!”

“AAAAAH-!” I cover my mouth with my hands as I turn to look at what the hell has greeted me back. I take a few steps back while I look at the figure of earthy and sunny tones who responded, he seems as surprised as I am, I think (with the scream I made, normal), at least it looks like he's surprised. He wears a two toned wooden mask... it looks like a sun, with a crescent moon on its right... It gives the impression of two faces merged into one... Damn, he is tall, he's almost doubles my size. He appears to have two skin tones dividing him in half, his right side being the lighter and the left darker, especially the arm, which also has a light-colored tattoo of lines representing a sun symbol that covers from the shoulder to the pectoral and to the middle of the bicep. The right arm is covered by a long fingerless glove that reaches to the shoulder and is tied around the chest. He's wearing baggy pants with leaves coming out of the waist and legs, some... cloth boots? with a long toe bending sharply and curving in a geometric swirl with a bell at the tips, a bag hangs from the waistband of his pants and falls below his hips. His chest and neck are tied by ropes decorated with hanging stones, metals and crystals, he wears a pendant that ends in a carved symbol of a crescent moon with rays. Some of the 'sunrays' on his mask have ropes tied between them holding them in place and some metal dangling. Some red ribbons along with bells hang from his wrists.

“um... Helloooooo.” He greets again, this time he lowers his tone of voice. I manage to react, I turn around and walk away. “¡ah- eh- Wait!” Nope, I'm not going to wait and see what he does with me, I'm leaving. “He-! Hey!” Nope. I quicken my pace and try to get lost among the trees, changing direction every time he appears in my vision angle. “Human? Human-! FRIEND. Can I call you friend?!” Nope, nope, nopnop, nop, nop, nope. “Friend! Hey!” God, no, god, god, no, why are you following me? “Look, I know what you're trying to look for...! And believe me, you're not going to find it~!” How are you still following me? Where do you come from? “Hey! Listen! Why don't we do something else besides running in circles!?” Noooooooooo... “There are TONS of other activities we could do! Like... HOLY MOLY, look at this stick! Do you like sticks!?” Leave me aloneee... “You aren't looking at it! Okay, alright, you don't like sticks, erm... what might be of interest to you...” If I don't look at it it doesn't exist. “Could you help me a little here?” I want to leave... “Look, no matter how much you wander around, you won't find the portal-!”

“STOP—! STOP FOLLOWING ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!” The sudden scream startles him again, making him jump in place. He stands completely still looking at me. I'm leaving before he gets angry.

“B-but I- ...okay.” I thought I heard him say before I left him behind.

It seems that this time he's not following me, finally... Although I'm not calm, he could still be following me and simply not be in sight. Anyway, I think I'm coming back? I hope I am. I want to find that portal as soon as possible and go back to the house- what the fu-? “WHY?”

He's there. Right where I left him. Sitting on a rock. Waiting. “...! I haven't moved from the spot!”

“Yeah- but- WHY?”

“Because I knew you were going to come back here!”

“...What?”

“Is what I was trying to tell you! You can't leave! No matter how hard you try to find the portal, it won't appear before you!” The Sunman exclaimed.

“…” I'm just about to turn around. In fact, I'm already turning around.

“N-No, wait! Please don't go!” I stop in my track and look back at him. He gets off the rock he was sitting on but remains squatting, almost at my height, a little below. I move back, keeping my distance. He puts his hands up. “Look, I'm not doing anything! I won't chase you! Just- ...don't go.”

“…”

“L-look, listen, there's no way it's going to show up! Well, not to you at least. But even if you find it back, it won't work! It only works when it wants to work.”

“...” Let's imagine that I trust what he says “Ok... and when does it want to be working?”

“...” “No idea!”

“...”

I'm about to collapse on the spot. At least he doesn't seem hostile, for now. “...” “Okay... Good... Great...” “...” “FanTAS-tic.”

“...” “You don't seem like it.”

*ಠ_ಠ* I could only look to the side in frustration in response to that. I looked back at him with concern showing on my face and grabbing the strap of my bag with both hands. “And... what... do you plan to do with me?”

He took his hand to the chin of his mask and with the other he held his elbow in a comical thoughtful pose. “MmmmnnDUN know! What do you plan to do?” He asked so nonchalantly. He ended up sitting on the ground crossing his legs. “You have a good while until the portal opens again...!”

“...”

He started swaying. The silence has become uncomfortable for a while now, but I can't organize myself on what to say, and I don't know if I trust him. I don't even know if he's human, although something tells me he's not.

“You could wait here.” He suggested, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Or anywhere else, if you want. I would recommend somewhere high like the treetops (for no particular reason)! If you're going to wait... But wouldn't that be really boring?” There was something in his tone of voice... “Being there... at the top of a tree... waiting... alone... with no friends to hang out with (can I call you a friend?). Aaall on your own until the portal opens again.” He looks aside for a moment “...” And back at me again. “With no one to be with you.” He repeats the head motion “...” “alone...” Wow... I wonder what he's implying, ahem. “Wouldn't you want to have someone...? ...Someone...keeping you company?” Yeah, yeah...

“...” I guess... “I-I guess I wouldn't want to be alon-?”

He rises to his knees. “That's what I thought! Do you want me to accompany you? Only if you want! But can I?” He clasped his hands together as if asking a favor.

“um...”

“Can I?Can I?Can I?Can I?Can I?Can I?Can I?” He approaches, dragging his knees on the ground.

I'm starting to miss personal space. “Okay! Okay, alright...”

“REALLY?” He started hopping and jumping around me. “OH, ohoho hO! Great! Oh, there are TONS of things we could do! Like... Like...!” He moves faster, doing bigger and bigger flips and jumps, it almost seems that he is very light, as if the breeze of air lifted him. “We could paint and decorate trees! Or we can also paint on rocks! Or paint leaves! Or paint us! Oh! We can tell stories! I'm very good at making shadows and puppets.” He moves from place to place with each sentence he says. “We can also play something!” It's moving so fast all I can see is the wind and the leaves it stirs up as it moves. “Anything! Whatever you want!” Finally he stopped in front of me half crouched. “What do ya say?! Hmm! Friend!?”

“Don't... call me like that.” Makes me feel awkward.

“Oh...why not-? Oh true, true! How silly, I don't know your name! What do you call yourself, potential friend?”

“...”

“...” “Aren't... you gonna tell me your name?”

I twist the bag strap “Depends...” I must say I'm a little skeptical about this. “Are there any consequences for telling you my name?”

“...Consequences...?”

“Like... I don't know... Mmm-by telling you my name I become your possession and cannot regain my freedom until... certain conditions are met...”

“...”

“Why- how-? Where did you get that from!?” It did sound a bit stupid when I said it out loud.

“I dunno- that's what they say in old children's stories about elves and fairies!” I just hope the embarrassment isn't showing on my face.

“Really?” I could feel his deadpan expression behind the mask.

I shrugged.

“...” “Okay... Oh, what if I tell you my name first? Will you tell me yours? It's only fair, I'm Sun!”

“...”

“Can I know your name now?” He asked expectantly.

“...How do I know you're not trying to trick me?”

“...” I must be driving him crazy with this “The only thing I can do with your name is treasure it in my memory.” He put his hands together as if he was carefully holding something and brought them to the forehead of the mask. I gave him a distrustful look. It doesn't seem like it made him desist “Please?”

I grip at my worn out bag strap “...” “ Fern...” I ended up murmuring.

“Hmm? Fern? OH, I like it!” “Sounds like FRIEND.” He emphasized the last word by making a gesture like jazz hands, leaning to the side and moving his head closer to me.

“Yeah... I think you are missing a couple of letters.”

He straightened his posture again. “Nope, I don't think so!”

“You're still not my friend.”

“Oooowwwwwnnnnnggghhh” He lowers his head dramatically until it practically touches the ground “nnnnnnngggghh, alright!” And cartwheels to stand up again “So... what will it be?”

“Hm?”

He straightened his posture and puts his arms on his hips “We have plenty of time, ya? What do you wanna to do?”

“I don't know, what do you want to do-?” Bad mistake.

“Come with me!”

“aaAAAAA-!” Before I knew it, he had grabbed my arm and I was being dragged through the woods. We visited several places and he offered me an activity to do in each of them.

—

Sun took me to a place where the trees were full of colorful paint “We practice painting on the trees here!” He said.

“Ah.” That explains the crossed out lines and the repeated imperfect shapes. By the look of it is also where he tests the quality of the paint.

“Do you want us to paint something!?”

“Not really...”

“Oh, would you prefer it to be on a rock?”

“Nah.”

“...And in star leaves-?”

“I don't want to paint, Sun.”

“Oh... Well, I can show you more places!”

“OkayyEEEEEE-” And I'm being dragged away again.

—

He brought me to another area of the forest, the ground here seemed more leveled. Not a single tree was straight, all of them were twisted and even seemed to be hollow. “How about playing something!? Like hide and seek-! No, wait, I can’t let you out of my sight.” He mumbled at the end “And chase?! We can climb a tree and see who reaches the top first! We have a place full of vines and it's perfect for swinging- and jumping from one tree to another-!”

“I don't... really want to move a lot…” With the way he runs without getting tired and me, who doesn't exercise... he would let me dead.

“Oh... well, theeen-”

—

We arrived at a place full of vegetation and humidity. Sun seemed quite excited... “This place is full of insects! We can look for cool bugs!”

“Mmmmmnoooo... I don't want to.” I had to tell him, trying to show as little disinterest as I could.

“You don't like them?” He sounded a little disappointed hearing my reaction.

“No, I do like them, some of them, but I don't like to touch them.” And I'm terrified of them flying into my face.

“Oh, well, it's okay!” He said brushing it off and we moved on to the next stop.

—

“I know that bird!” He stopped us on the way to point at a robin high up on a branch.

“ah.” I said as I removed leaves from my hair and clothes, and checked that I still had my glasses.

“He's a little rascal!”

“...” I think the bird is making us the equivalent of 'mooning'.

—

“Look fish-! Oh, they're gone…” The noise must have scared them away “We can go find more places to look at them if you want!”

“...” “...no, pass...”

“…”

—

“Look at this stick!” Sun had suddenly sprinted past me, picked up something from the ground, and came back just as fast, showing me the stick as if it were a sword.

“oh.” It's a cool stick, must admit it.

“Do you want to look for more sticks!?”

“No...”

“oh...” He looked at the ground in disappointment.

“Why would we go looking for sticks? There are all over the ground.” Specifically, in this area the ground was all sticks. We are literally just stepping on sticks right now. I don't see the ground.

“Variety!” Sun said pointing at the ground with both hands. A branch is heard falling in the distance.

—

“That's a deer!” He pointed at the deer passing nearby. The deer stopped to look at us.

“Yeah, I see.”

“We call 'em Adoquín!”

“...Why is it called Adoquí-?”

*THUMP!*

“…”

The deer smacked itself against a tree when trying to run away. It stands still for a minute, processing the hit, looks at a side and then the other, then runs off again but this time avoiding the tree.

Another *thump!* is heard in the distance.

“...” Alright.

—

“Do you wannaaaa look for pine cones? There will be some fallen around here. Oh! We can also look for mushrooms!”

I keep saying no to everything he suggests and it doesn't look like he's going to run out of ideas to pass the time. In fact, he's very insistent that we do something. I guess at some point I'll have to say yes to something. “...” “...okay...”

“Hmm?! Okay? Okay to what?” His exaggerated surprise offends me but I don't blame him.

“To... I don't know, pine cones?”

“...You don't look very convinced.”

“…”

“OKAY! On the hunt for pine cones then!” I startle a little at the sudden shout. He makes a pose pointing in a direction, as if he were leading an expedition.

He takes me through the forest looking for pine cones. We aren't finding many, especially me who's not paying any interest. He tries encouraging me to put more effort into it but I keep looking at my boots.

We passed near a shingle river. I find a pebble at my feet and bend down to pick it up and take a better look. It's like a bluish gray, it has some reddish lines in the shape of waves, it feels good to the touch.

I hear the soft tinkling of a bell and feel a shadow fall beside me. “You like pebbles?” Sun is crouched next to me with his arms full of pine cones.

“…” I nod.

We go down to the river and spend some time collecting pebbles with curious shapes or small details of colors, lines, spots, etc. He comes over to show me one every time he finds weird shapes.

“…”

*rin* This time he's hunched over resting his hands on his knees. “You look… a little down.”

“…”

“Hey... we can do something else if you're tired of the pebbles.”

“...” I drop the pebbles I was looking at on the ground.

“...” He turns his gaze from me to the sky. It hasn't gotten late enough to be getting dark, but it's been a while between the walks we've taken (dragging me from here to there), looking for pine cones and then pebbles in the river. He looks back at me. “Oh, I know! Can I take you to one last place? A better place than the ones I've shown you!”

“…” I got up from the ground and waited for him to start leading to follow him.

We enter the increasingly thick forest. The trees are taller and bigger, in fact, I start to see platforms and bridges lying between the trees, I even see small shanties in them.

“Wait here!” He takes a run and jumps onto one of the trees with bridges. He takes three steps running up the tree, with a jump he pushes himself off and climbs with agility until he reaches the platform and climbs on it. “Just a moment!” It can't be seen from here but I can faintly hear some squeaks. I have no idea of what he's doin-

*rush*

“........eh?”

A rope.

A rope has fallen. At the level of my head.

“.......”

What?

…

He said he knew a better place.

No. It can't be this.

“Is it at a good height?! Can you reach it?!” He says...

It can't be.

A better place.

He can't be referring to this.

A better place.

A better place. A better place. A better place. A better place.

“Can you put your foot in?!”

“..........” For some reason what he said throws me off. “WAT-?”

“Can you put your foot in the loop and hold on to the rope so I can pull you up!?”

“..............”

“You can't climb trees, can you?! ...or you can?"

… “...” Oh “....It's...It's too high!”

“Okay!” Squeaks are heard and the rope descends to the ground.

I put my foot into the rope as he told me and hold on to it. “O-okay...!”

“Are you ready!?”

“Yes!”

“Okay!”

He begins to pull up the rope (which doesn't tighten around my foot as it supports my weight) and helps me up to the platform. (That's what it was for, obviously, what else would he want? I'm such an...) “Come on!” He says cheerfully, as always, and takes me over the bridges. “You seem tense... Don't tell me you're afraid of heights!”

“S-something like that... it's nothing.” He tilts his head at that but he says nothing. I have an unpleasant sensation in my throat.

We arrived at a high place with a view of waterfalls, I can't see above the trees. We sat on one of the bridges, resting our arms on the rope that serves as a railing and letting our legs hang off the bridge. I've thought about taking out the sketchbook to draw... but I don't really feel like it right now, so I just quietly observe the landscape. It is a better place, yeah.

…

I feel watched. I turn to look at him ...Of course he was looking at me. I don't even know whether to say something or keep quiet. ...I decide... not to say anything and look to the front.

“You... aren't very talkative, huh.”

“…”

“Not that it's a bad thing! Many people who have come here weren't very talkative at first either.” More people...

“...” “I have… nothing to talk about.” I don't want to talk.

“...” “Well, I do.”

“…”

“If it's okay with you, of course.” He laughed. Although something tells me that he is going to talk anyway.

“…”

“...” “What brings you to the forest?”

“...” Really? “I got lost.”

“Yeah, I already know!” He says between laughs “But what made you get lost?”

“...” “There was a group of kids I didn't want to get close to and I decided to go into the woods to lose them.” He makes a 'hum' sound and looks at me expectantly waiting for me to continue “And... I ended up getting myself lost...”

“...” “Only that?”

“...” “Well, yeah.” What do you mean 'oNlY tHaT'?

“...Mmm...” He places his hand on the chin of the mask.

“...” “What?”

“Nothing!” “...” “You know? You're the first human to visit the forest in a loooong time. For several cycles now…”

“Cycles?”

“Mhm” He nods.

“...What are cycles?”

Sun points to the sky “The turns that the Moon makes in the sky!” He emphasizes by rotating his arm in the air. It's pointing right at the Moon that's visible in the sky.

“Oh...” He uses the lunar cycles to know what day he's in, makes sense. “...” “So no one has been here in a while.”

“That's what I said! Well no, but yes!”

“A-and so the humans who came are still here? Have they been here all this time?”

“Yeah...! Well, no!” He paused. “They're gone!”

“What do you mean they're-?” He didn't let me finish the question.

“They are gone! They 'left'!” It sounded like he had given this answer many times already.

“What do you mean they left-?”

“They 'left'!”

“...” “...You mean...they disappear-?”

“Nope!” “...” “Something like that!” “…” “Mmmore or less…” He hesitated between one answer and another.

It seemed worthless to ask about the missing people. “...okay.” “Can I ask you-?”

“You can ask me anything!” A hint of nervousness escaped his tone.

“...okay. What is this forest?”

“My home! And the home of many other animals.”

“...” “Alright, and... how many are you...? How many of you live here? I mean. You have taken me everywhere and we haven't seen anyone of your…” I make a pointing gesture, spinning my hand around in the air. He can't be human, it doesn't look like he is. “...” “Honestly, I don't know what you are.”

“...” “There's only me... And someone else!” He looks away, as if trying to hide something.

“Oh... and who's that someone?”

“Oh! N-no, don't worry! He’s… just a friend… But it’s not important that you meet him or anything!” He brushes it off making a gesture with his hand. “Uh-um- How about we talk about you!? huh? What things do you like? Earlier, since you said no to everything, I thought you didn't like ANYTHING!” He continued talking without letting me respond. “I didn't know what to do if I ran out of ideas. I started to worry! But at least you're not one of those who spend all day shouting and threatening with a weapon in hand, ahaha...” He let out a nervous laugh.

“Um-”

“Well, you ran away screaming, yes.” He began to gesticulate widely as he complained “Like everyone-! No, not like everyone, some don't run, but those who, apart from running and screaming, attack you...! I mean...!” Something tells me he wasn't going to shut up and I was already half listening. “First they throw rocks at my head, then they insult me and run away. And I have to run after them because I can't just leave a human running around alone! No! I can't! Not in this forest! Anything could happen to them! But they never let me warn them!” He sounded tired. “And when I get them to stop running away from me, they throw things at me again and yell before demanding me to tell them where are they and how to get out of here, and when I explain it, they yell at me even more and accuse me of lying!” He turns to look at me with his hands pointing to his chest. “What reason would I have to lie?!” I don't know if he hasn't noticed or if he's ignoring the deapan I responded with. “UGH! I don't know what to do with those! But anyhow... I'm so glad we found something to do in the end!

“eh?” I snap out of my thoughts. It seems that now he is directing the conversation to me.

“The pebbles!” He sits turning his body towards me, leaving one single leg hanging from the bridge and the other resting on it. He takes out of his pocket some of the pebbles that he had been collecting with me. “I don't know why I assumed you wouldn't want to look for rocks. Maybe because you didn't want to paint them before... You left them back in the river in the end tho, I thought you would keep some.”

“Ah... I don't know. I didn't think I could take them with me.”

“You can keep some of mine!”

“No, it's okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“You suuuuure??” He insist.

“Yeees.”

He puts a pebble very close to my face “Suuuuuuuure?” Each 'u' sounding higher than the last.

“...” I push the pebble away from my face “Yeeeees.”

“mmmh... Okay! But I hope you don't regret it later when you don't have a cool rock like these and think 'Oh man, I could have a cool rock right now!'.” After a bad impression of me, he keeps the rocks in his pants. “So... Besides pebbles, what else do you like? Mm? I haven't been able to deduce much from today.”

“Don't know.”

“What do you mean you don't know!? Oh! Is it a secret?” He approaches and starts to whisper, putting his hands to the mask's mouth “I won't tell anyone, promise.”

“No. I don't know.” I looked to the side. “I can't think of anything... so suddenly.”

“ooow...” He slumps a little over the railing, looking sad.

“…” I hesitate whether to say something or not “...Drawing...”

“Mmm?!” He no longer seems sad.

“And listening to music, I guess.” “It's... all I do... most of the time.”

“Really!? Oh! I also like drawing! And music! But is that really all you do all day? Don't you do other kinds of things? Like reading! Or writting. Don't you go out for a walk or play with your friends?” I wrinkle my face at that last bit and he tilts his head in confusion.

“I don't go out.” “I have comics, but I rarely read.”

“Comics?”

“Um... They are stories but instead of narrating what happens there are drawings and only what the characters say is written.”

“...It's a book with drawings?”

“Yeah, but with a lot of drawings on each page, from start to finish.”

“WOAH.” He sounded perplexed. “That's drawing A LOT.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Ahh, I'd love to see what they look like.” He rested his arm on the railing to hold his head in his hand “Too bad I can't…”

“I didn't bring them anyway.”

“Do you normally carry them around?”

“No, it's just that I didn't bring them to the village with me, I left them at home.”

“...” “Oh!” It seems that something has clicked on him. “You are not from the village.”

“No, I'm from a more urban area. My family used to come to the village every year in the summer, but we stopped coming. Now it seems that we are trying to get back into the habit.” I sighed.

“Why did you stop coming?”

“...That's personal.”

“Oh... okay.” He let a minute of awkward silence pass. “Hey, I can bring some books that I have at home! I think you might be interes-!” He looks away from me to the sunset behind us, the sun is almost gone. “-ted...” I look at the sunset too and then at him with confusion. “...” “...oh...oh-OH, Oh-no!” He stands up abruptly causing the bridge to shake slightly. What could have he seen? “We have to move!” He extends a hand to help me up. “We have to start moving!”

I get up in a hurry on my own, ignoring his hand. “O-okay, to where?”

“Come, run!” Once again he grabs me by the arm and leads me over the bridges between the trees until we reach a tree hut. It's small and dark, it looks like a small shelter. He opens the door and enters “You'll spend the night here, stay inside, do not go out, try to hide well and don't open the windows or doors, okay? Here, there are some blankets. I'll come back later.”

“Wait wait wait! What? What do you mean you'll come back later? What's happening? Why do I have to hide-!?”

“Sssh-ssh-sh” He grabs me and covers my hand with his, his left hand resting on the back of my right hand. He begins to speak in a calmer tone, with a voice that I had not heard him use until now. “It's okay, nothing happens. I have to go, I'll come back, but I can't stay now. You hide, try to rest, I'll be back, I promise.”

“...” I take my hand away from his. “Okay.” “I'll stay, but don't take too long.” Please, I don't want to be here alone.

“Yes. I'll be back.” He affirmed one last time. I watch him run away and disappear among the trees and undergrowth. I enter the small shelter to inspect it.

*TAP TAP TAP* *PLOK* *TAP TAP FOOSSSH! *

…? A noise comes from behind me. I turn around and there's a pebble on the floor.

…

Okay.

I take out my phones flashlight to see better inside the house. There are what appear to be some trunks, small cabinets, and a trapdoor in the floor, It seems that there are corners and blind spots for the windows where the little moonlight that enters through the cracks cannot reach. It's freezing cold and I haven't brought my jacket. I leave the bag on the floor against the wall, I cover myself with the blanket and curl up in a ball in the most hidden corner I can find. I'm tired, I want to sleep, but I can't close my eyes.

…

—

It's been a few hours now.

…

I can't sleep, I simply can't.

…

It doesn't look like he's coming back.

*creek*

…?

*rin*

*tap tap, creek*

Sun?

“S-...” I pause before saying a word, I have the feeling I shouldn't speak. I remain silent and wait.

*tap, tap, tap, creeeeeek, tap*

*rin dirrin*

If it were Sun he would have already let me know it is him. That or he's playing a prank on me which isn't funny, but I'd better stay silent. From the shadow I look at the windows. I notice movement through the cracks, something has just passed through the wall next to me.

*dirriring dirring*

I cover myself more with the blanket, back against the wall, I stay as still as I can, I leave a gap between the blankets and the floor to see. A red glow sneaks through the cracks in the window and scans the room.

…

The glow is gone.

*tap, tap, rin, tap, dirring, tap, tap*

It's on the roof.

…

*tap, tap, tap...*

It moves again.

*rin *

…

It sounded on the other side of the wall.

…

“nghehe...”

It laughed. Why did it laugh? Whatever is on the other side of the wall just let out a laugh that made the hairs on the back of my neck and all over my back rise.

…

Oh no.

Oh no no no no no no no no.

I have to move. I have to get out of here. I can't stay here.

*creeek*

It came from the door. It's trying to get in.

*rin*

The trapdoor.

*rin dirring*

Where was the trapdoor?

*creek creeeek*

I crawl across the floor making the minimum noise, carefully feeling the floor, looking for the edge of the door.

*tap tap ring dirring*

…!

I found it. I open it carefully. It's too high. I'm at a very high altitude, I don't know if I'll be able to go down.

*rin, creeek...*

…

Fuck it. I slip through the gap quietly, closing it slowly, but that doesn't stop the door from creaking. I cling to the bark of the tree-

…

I left my bag. If it comes in and see it it'll know for sure that I have been there-

…

It doesn't matter now. I have to focus on getting down from the tree without killing myself. My fingers hurt and I can't put my foot down properly because of the soles of my boots. I feel like I'm going to slip at any moment. Somehow I make it to the ground. Still attached to the tree, I look up at the house. I don't see it-

…

A shadow appears from behind the tree. I press myself against the tree and hold my breath. It's looking for something. When he doesn't seem to look I move to a nearby tree, he moves to another tree, I move to the next, and the next, and the next. We continue like this until I start to get further and further away from him. When I think I've lost him I start running. I hide behind a tree to catch my breath.

…

I slowly peek out from behind the tree.

*rin*

…

It sounded above me.

…

I don't look up, I run.

“nnghehee...” He laughs.

He gives me a few seconds advantage before coming after me. The chase begins.

I run forward as much as I can, I hear his footsteps behind me but I don't look back, there's no time for that. I hear him laughing like a madman as he moves from left to right, from one tree to another, crawling on the ground, trying to confuse me, waiting for me to make the slightest mistake to catch me.

“Ah-” I trip. As soon as I fall to the ground I get up, ripping my stockings and scraping my knees, falling again, my nerves not letting me stand up.

“Nnhehehhehe...” Asshole. He has stopped running, he approaches by walking. I try to keep as much distance as my hands and legs allow me to move. I search desperately with my hand for something on the ground to throw. Finally my hand finds something.

I throw a rock at him “AGH!”

The rock passes by him, flying one or two meters away from him. He hasn't even moved, he didn't move a single muscle to avoid it, he just watches me still from where he is. I hear the nearby *pof* of the rock falling to the ground.

“...”

…

I get up and run. He grabs my leg and I fall to the ground again. He won't let me get up, every time I try he throws me to the ground. I struggle, I kick, but I don't break free from his grip. He never stops laughing, he is enjoying this. He drags me closer to him, no matter how much I twists, he doesn't let go. “ACKH-!...Hhhh-hh...-hh-h...” He grabs me by the neck, red pupils stared at me, I'm looking straight into his crescent moon mask (or waning, I don't know. Do you think I care right now?). He raises his free hand and his veins begin to glow a platinum color that extends to his fingertips. The hand approaches my face, I don't know what it's going to do to me, I'm scared, I don't want to look. I close my eyes, cover my face with my hands. I wait.

…

…?

Nothing's happening. It stopped. Why?

“Mun, nïe.” I hear Sun's voice. I open my hands a little to see what's going on. Indeed, it is Sun, several meters away from us... He looks exhausted. The one with the moon mask stares at him for a moment, until he decides to look at me again while bringing his glowing veiny hand closer. “¡Mun!” The Moonman looks at Sun again “Fehreh.” He seems to speak another language, I don't understand what he says.

“...” “Nïe” For the first time I hear him say something else besides laughing. Even though I can't understand him.

“Fïer pehgïer.” Sun responds.

“...” Moonman remains silent again.

“Bïelïe óubseh góuh...” Sun continues.

“Móu txehb móunsuvïe.” The Moon responds.

“Lïe bóu ¿Sóundïe mïesugïeb fehreh nïe txehtehrlïe?”

…

The air feels tense. Probably because of the hand grabbing my neck.

“¿Zkaóu fuóunbehb txehtóur tkaehnvïe nïe bóueh mehb zkaóu ïesreh rehuh óunsóurrehveh óun leh suóurreh?” Longest sentence I've heard him say so far.

“...” “Fïer óubseh góuh.” “...” “Vóuyehmóu óuntehrdehrmóu vóu óulleh” Sun takes a step forward “Nïe suóunóu fïer zkaóu ehtehkehr ehbu” Another step forward “Nïe sóunóumïeb fïer zkaóu txehtóurlóub... óubsïe” Another step “Óullïeb bïelïe óubsehn... fóurvuvïeb.”

“...” There's no response from the moon man.

“Behkehb tïemïe óub óubïe.”

“...”

…

The hand that grabbed my neck now grabs my shirt and yanks it. I grab his wrist as he pulls me to my feet and drags me to Sun, making me stumble. He throws me against him. Sun catches me before I fall over.

“Ska óubpkaóurhïe óub óun gehnïe.” The moon says something as he walks past. Sun puts a hand on his shoulder before letting him go, there's a pause between the two. The Moonman disappears into the trees. Wind and leaves are heard passing by.

…

He's gone. I feel dizzy. I fall down.

—

…

A faint light begins to seep through the cracks, illuminating enough to wake me up and make me open my eyes, I look around. I see my bag propped against the wall. I'm at the shelter where Sun left me.

…

My body aches, I have a hard time keeping my eyes open, it feels like I've been sleeping on the hard floor. No, wait, there are some blankets underneath me... It's still too hard to sleep well, either that or as I said, it shouldn't help me at all that everything hurts. After a while of staring at the ceiling I try to sit up. I emphasize trying. With every slight effort a pained moan escapes me.

“Oof...” Hurts.

*creek, tap tap tap tap*

Those wood creaks bring back bad memories from last night (which by the way, I'm alive, wow, I just realized), I can't help but cringe at every noise, I hear footsteps approaching, I try to move but the stinging pain prevents me from it.

*creek... *

The door opens.

Triangular shapes appear through the door followed by orange earth tones. “…Oh…!” “Early bird!” Thank god it's Sun and not the other one, or something worse “I didn't expect you up this early!” He says laughingly.

“ah?”

“How are you feeling?” He walks in. When he sets foot inside I lean back, towards the wall. “...” I don't really know why I did that. Sun stands at the door showing confusion with his usual head tilt. “...Arrr...re you okay, Fern?”

“...” I became tense suddenly. I really don't know still if I can trust him? He hasn't done anything to me yet but that doesn't mean that I can trust him. I don't know if he plans to do something with me like whatever that other one, the moon one, was going to do last night. “...ehh...hhh...h...” I can't get a word out, I'm afraid to ask.

“Mm?”

“...” I don't know what to say to him. My eyes go somewhere else.

…

He enters further into the house, ignoring that I keep my distance from him, leaves a bag he was carrying on the floor and begins to open the windows, letting in the little light of the dawn that is just beginning. He kneels on the floor in front of me with the bag. “Are you hungry?” He opens the bag and takes out an apple “Do you like apples?”

“...”

“No?”

“...”

“Um... I also brought berries... (It's what I had on hand coming here) There are... different types, you can choose” He brings the bag closer to me. I move further away. “uhhh...”

“...” I want to leave.

“You don't like them either...?”

“...” I don't want to eat. I want to leave.

“...”

“*snif... *”

“u-um...!”

“...*snif* *sob*...” I started crying out of nowhere.

“Ahhh...! D-do- don't cry! Ah-I-Um- Ca-can go find other things you might like-!”

I felt ashamed for crying and I put my hands to my face trying to wipe away the tears, but they wouldn't stop coming. “*hic, sniff, snif *” I looked away in an attempt to cover my face. I ended up looking at the floor, letting my hair act as a curtain.

“I can go in a moment!” Sun was already getting up.

“...w-want to leave...” I managed to get a murmur out.

“...W-what? Um...”

“...” *hic, hic *

“O-okay, um... If you aren't hungry... -we can do something else- uh- we can go look for rocks like yesterday in the river!”

“...” I don't want to do anything “...want to leave...”

“O-or we can do something else! Ah-bah-b-b-b- W-won't you like to go draw??! Somewhere, some landscape?! Wherever you want! We can draw together! If you prefer we can look for animals instead of landscapes!”

“...leave...want to...go... *hic, snif *”

“¡D-don't n- uh! ¡L-let's... um- let's not- uh!” He no longer knew how to order his words “H-hey, ¿Why don't we go to-?” He extends his hand towards my arm.

“I want to go home...”

He stops before touching me and removes his hand. “...” “...home?” There is a pause. He remains silent and unmoving. He finally speaks “Do you want…?” His tone became more serious.

“...”

“...to... go see the portal?” I look up slightly, I can't see through the tears and the fogged lenses of my glasses.

“...” I nod my head.

—

…

We didn't walk far until the red began to become visible. He brought me back to the portal. The same plain of red leaves and stone arch in the center of it all, as yesterday.

…

Sun has been quiet the entire time.

He advances towards the portal and stands facing it. He turns. “Come.” He extends his hand towards me. “You can pass through.”

“...”

I advance towards the portal. I stop before crossing. If it doesn't take me back home, what do I do? I don't want to stay.

A breeze begins to come out of the portal. The breeze turns to wind, the leaves rise, they pass through us. It's the same thing that happened yesterday when I went to cross. I turn to face Sun. Motionless, he looks back at me, the leaves pause in the air for a second as if time has stopped, the wind changes. From where the wind and leaves came now they come in, they push me towards the portal. I finally cross it.

…

Am I in the forest I know? I turn to look at Sun who stayed behind in the portal. “...Sun?” He's not there. I look around. He's not here. I've already crossed the portal, he must have left.

I notice a sudden draft pass by me. It's soft, like someone walking past you. I turn towards the forest, I have to start moving, I don't want to be here another minute.

...The air current that I noticed has lifted some leaves, they reach the trees, between them the wind does something strange, it forms a transparent silhouette. It looks like Sun, I can barely see him but I could swear it's him. The wind figure raises its hand and makes a gesture, it wants me to follow it. When I approach it turns around and walks into the forest, leaving a trail of leaves behind it. I follow the trail of the air current. Sometimes it stops to look at me, making sure I'm still following it. The red-leafed trees and the paintings disappear from view the farther we go. We crossed the forest until we arrived at the entrance of the town, near my house. There is no one on the street. If I walked into the house and pretended nothing had happened, officially no one would have noticed my absence.

I'm not one hundred percent sure if the wind figure that guided me is Sun or not, but I should at least thank him for bringing me back.

…

The air current has dissipated before I turn around. I look around, there's no one.

…

I enter the house, go up to my room and throw the bag on the floor. I go to the bathroom to wash. …I feel something strange in my hands but I couldn't say what. Doesn't matter. I change my clothes and get into bed, the tiredness of the previous night makes my body succumb immediately and I fall asleep instantly.

—

…

“ah...!” I wake up with my lungs begging for air. I need a moment to calm my breathing. I look at the clock without lifting my head from the pillow.

…

It is 12 midday. I rub my eyes and from my eyes I move to my face. I'm still tired. My body still aches. I stare at the ceiling.

…

My bag. I reach out to pick it up from the floor, making strange positions so as not to get out of bed.

I open it and search in the pockets. The bell. I put the bell to my ear. “...” I shake it.

*rin, diring diring*

“...”

I open it.

…

It's empty.

#my writing #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fanfic #forest elves au #the forest on the other side #oc #selfinsert #platonic #sun & selfinsert #moon & selfinsert

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darlingsart · 5 months

Note

your oc is so adorable! 😍 can you tell us more about him?

Thank you!! 🥺❤️ Here he is (+ His little brother!)

Okay SO I've had these Patchilles OC's for like 3-ish years now and I've never shared them on here before bc they mean so much to me the idea of putting them out here seemed super scary BUT here are two of my Patchilles kids Maximus and Hyacinth 👉🏼👈🏼 (Yes that name is intentional and supposed to be ironic lmao)

More about them + the lore under the cut!

Basically, this is canon divergence and the lore is that Pat and Achilles don't go to Troy and instead stay in Phthia after their time on Pelion. Thinking that they no longer have to worry about a prophecy, they end up getting married and starting a family but, unbeknownst to them, the prophecy doesn't exactly go away, it gets passed down to Maximus and becomes it’s own big thing as the war goes on for well over a decade overseas. Thetis is the only one who actually knows about this and she keeps it a secret from Achilles and takes it upon herself to train Maximus and turn him into the next aristos achaion.

I'm actually in the middle of writing this as a series on ao3 (Currently on the 4th work!). If you're interested, you can start with the first fic, New Beginnings, which explains everything a lot more (their engagement, the reason why they stay) OR you can jump right into the story I'm currently working on, The Rest of Our Lives, though you might be a bit confused!

Maximus is by far one of my favorite OC’s but I love developing his siblings as characters too. If you read/have read The Rest of Our Lives, you’ll see that Maximus definitely takes after Achilles like without a doubt and it’s brought up several times but as he grows older, he becomes a well rounded mix of them both and I like to think that Pat’s attributes shine more then though I haven’t written it all out just yet! Maximus is just a fun loving, rambunctious kid who tries his best with the cards he’s dealt, he’s very loving and kind hearted and an overall good kid!

Hyacinth is about four years younger than him and one of my favorites too, especially as he grows into his character. So they do have another sibling but I’ve only just gotten there in the story so I don’t want to spoil anything, but he is a true middle child lol it’s actually an important part of his character that really gets explored later on in the series. He’s also a sweetheart, a little more reserved than Maximus but I wouldn’t call him an introvert, he’s just not as…. Hyperactive as his older brother lmao but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get roped into Maximus’ antics too.

I’ve also written modern au stuff with them (which I haven’t posted anywhere), so like now whenever I imagine any au with Pat and Achilles, it’s hard not to picture these two, especially Maximus, in it too lol

Sorry for rambling so much, this is the first time I’ve actually talked about these two outside of my writing 😅 I hope y'all enjoy them as much as I do! And feel free to ask me about them from time to time if you want :)

#asks #the song of achilles #tsoa #patrochilles #angies art #sorry for answering this the next day I spent the day drawing all of these pictures bc of my hyperfixation brain lol #it feels so weird to post about them on tumblr but I wanted to share them!!#also if you’ve already read the rest of our lives…. hey 🫣🫡#fancy seeing y’all here LMAO #my ocs

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olderthannetfic · 4 months

Note

fandom social justice history anon here - aaah, thank you, early fandom being dominated by academics definitely connected the dots I was missing, thank you! Yeah, now looking at it with this in mind, it's pretty obvious how the tone of the meta essays from that era, while often snarky or even outraged, definitely sounds more like the tone of people who are used to passionately arguing in a setting that doesn't allow you to just throw whatever ad hominem accusation at your opponent's head. In contrast, tumblr's (and as a result, twitter's and tiktok's) style of fandom drama now reads to me even more blatantly like a catfight between high schoolers who have just recently learned some Big Words they only care to use as ammunition. I've read multiple older fans (including your invaluably informative blog) talking about how tumblr definitely reshaped fandom and brought in a TON of new people, and how slash was far from the "mainstream" of fandom even in the livejournal-ffn.net days, and I'm having a feeling that, for all the imperfections of this first tumblr generation of fans' activism ("let my gays marry" etc etc) the thing that got slash to be "mainstreamed" within fandom the way it currently is, also has to do with this pretty sizeable influx of new fans being mostly teenagers. As in specifically, overwhelmingly teenage girls who were having their first sparks of interest in romance during the height of the "I'm not like other girls" era + everyone shitting on twilight & "girly" musicians, because if you look at the posts from that period, they often contrast being a slash reader with being the slutty partying "other girl" or annoying hipster & at my school too slash kind of spread as a "not like the other girls" alternative to mainstream romance. Yes, not the healthiest attitude either, and it's good we've mostly grown past that, but like I said, there's a good chance that was what buffed up the numbers of slash fans to the point where today people are surprised fandom ever even was hostile to it, and at least in my environment, fandom activism, for all its flaws, was most people's first exposure to any sort of "-rights" activism at all. But (as is probably obvious) I did not experience most of even that era personally (I joined tumblr fandom in 2014). Anyways, excuse the rambling, if you feel like adding anything to confirm or deny my hypothesis, I greatly appreciate it, and I hope you have a nice day/evening!

M/M still isn't mainstream in plenty of fandom contexts, just not the ones I hang out in, and "not like the other girls" of the type you describe was already big in the 90s among people who'd heard of fanfic. It's just that fanfic was harder to stumble across overall.

I think the two biggest factors are the changing attitudes towards gayness in mainstream culture in a number of countries and... well... AO3 getting popular.

FFN was the big place in the past, though not for my crowd. Now, AO3 is taking a massive bite out of not only its market share but now, in the last few years, Wattpad's.

When the visible institution around which fanfic revolves puts filtering out het front and center, it sends a strong message that previous fandom platforms did not. You had your m/m-only archives and your f/f-only archives and your places that let you filter for those but that treated het as an unmarked default.

Look at early discussions of AO3. There's an undercurrent there that we all assumed it would be one of a number of archives and that we didn't expect it to get this big.

Nobody could have foreseen the Het-Is-Eternal-Default Wattpad crowd being forced by their own platform's suckitude to come camp on the thing built by slashers. Now, we are the admins and they are the also-tolerated. That never happened before.

The thing that makes people not report gay hand holding as evil porn that must be eradicated is simply AO3 putting its foot down.

Anyone who thinks that virulent slash hate is gone just hasn't looked at other spaces.

This is not about individual fans behaving better: it is about institutional power.

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doe-eyed-fool · 3 months

Text

Fallen {Chapter Eight}

Alastor x (fem)Reader

"I was also thinking we could add some gaming consoles. Just if you get some younger sinners coming through. Doesn't have to be all new, some people like older systems too." I say to Charlie. She was writing some of the ideas I had down as she listened.

So far, I had suggested a television with some movies to go along with it. As well as a Bluetooth speaker for playing music, and some board games. And it wouldn't hurt to add video games as well. "I think I can get my hands on some of those." Charlie says with a smile.

"Any other ideas?" She asks. "Well, I did have an idea for advertisement. But first I have to ask, why haven't you created a build board yet?" I guess it would make sense for the city like aesthetics of hell would have build boards too. And I've seen tons. Advertising all sorts of things, even admittedly some pretty silly and downright stupid things.

"Well, it's not like I haven't tried." Charlie laughs weakly. "As you can imagine, no one is really taking my idea seriously. So, there's that. Also, there's a ton of people ahead of me trying to get one."

"But aren't you the princess of hell? Can't you just...you know? Make them bump you up to the front?" I ask. "Nah, I don't want to have to do that." Charlie shrugs. "I wanna try and do this my own way, without abusing my power. I've only had to do it once, and that was when Alastor showed up to the hotel. I had to convince him to not pull any stunts behind my back and to basically play nice with the people checking in." She explains.

"I guess even he has to listen to you." I say with a slight smile. "Eh, yeah. But it's like pulling teeth." Charlie sighs. "I believe you." I sigh as well. Charlie eyes me for a second before speaking again.

"You said Alastor helped you find your way here from a bad spot. But how exactly did that happen? He isn't the most...friendly(?) of people." I felt a twinge of panic surge through me at that question. Though, I had a feeling the question would come up eventually. But I had hoped I'd never have to be the one to answer it.

"Um yeah...I was in bad shape when I landed in hell." I began, trying to make this as convincing as possible. "I was really injured and he helped me. Then he mentioned this place and brought me here. I uh...really want to go to heaven. And when he said there was a place to help me get there, I jumped at the chance."

"I see." Charlie nods. "I guess I'm still just a little shocked that he of all people offered to help someone out. He didn't try and trick you or anything...right?" She leans a little closer to me as she whispered. I smile as best as I could and shook my head. "Nope. I came here of my own will." Charlie leans back. "Huh. Ok. Maybe this place is rubbing off on him after all." She says, her smile returning.

"Though, I have a feeling he'd deny it if I told him that." She chuckled. "Well, if you can't get a build board right now. Maybe stick to posting the hotel online? Maybe make an account just for the hotel and it's amenities?" Charlie takes out her phone.

"I've tried that. But there's not many followers, and the attention the hotel does get is mostly from troll accounts and overall dickheads." She says as she shows me the phone. She opened up an app called Sinstagram...uh, clever? And scrolled down to the comments under the photos.

And just as she said, it was filled with crude, hateful, and downright inappropriate comments. Very little people were taking it seriously.

"Oh, I see." I mutter. "I know you said you didn't want to use your status to get your way. But, I was thinking maybe use that kind of power in a good light." Charlie gave me a confused look, she stayed quiet, letting me explain further.

"Why not throw a ball and invite some persuasive people? Maybe the overlords? They seem pretty important. You could pitch the hotel to them personally, and if you can catch their interest, they're bound to talk about it." Charlie leaned back and hummed.

"I do like the idea of a ball but...I don't know, the overlords never expressed any interest in the hotel. Besides, most if not all of them gain from people's sins. Especially in the entertainment industry, like Val and Vox. Those two are unstoppable when it comes to providing for the sinners in hell. Of course, they don't topple over the deadly sins themselves but uh..." Charlie trailed off when she noticed how lost I was.

She cleared her throat. "But, it wouldn't hurt to try...right?" She smiles weakly. I could only nod, matching the grin.

I did feel for her. Starting a project that you're very passionate about, only to be met with hate and dismissive comments has to sting. It seemed like even her own father didn't care about her dream. I wish there was something more I could do to help her.

"Hey, how about those new curtains huh?" I say, trying to brighten the mood. Charlie and I looked towards the large windows, the fancy velvet red curtains that accompanied them. For the past few days, the hotel has gotten a bit of a fixer upper.

New furniture, wallpaper, and lighting had been installed into the hotel. We even gave the outside a good polishing, thanks to Alastor's help that is. Otherwise it would have taken much longer. And now with a new common room with various forms of entertainment on the way, the hotel was looking better with every passing day.

If it's one thing people could say about the hotel, that wasn't completely bashing or berating it, was that it looked aesthetically pleasing.

"If you did throw a ball, the look of the hotel will surely impress them!" I try to cheer her up. Charlie looked around before turning her attention back to me. "Ah, what the hell? Let's throw a ball." She says with a shrug. "I can't let the what if's get in my way. I won't! I will throw a ball, I will invite those uptight asshole overlords, and my parents! And I'm gonna show them just how effective this hotel can and will be!" I smile at her determination.

After getting to know Charlie, I've learned that she was all but willing to give up. Especially when it came to something she really cared about. And she certainly did care about this hotel. "I hope all goes well." I tell her. "You have a good heart Charlie. I want you to succeed." Charlie smiled warmly before hugging me. "Thanks Y/n."

I hug her back, and shortly after we parted. "Alright." Charlie nods. "I have a lot of planning to do. I'll catch you later, ok?" I nod my head and waved before she hurried off. Suddenly, a pang of anxiety hit me. And it was then I realized, I had never been to a ball before. Of course I hadn't. I mean, I haven't even been to a large party before. "Uh oh." I mutter.

"Something the matter?"

Ah yes. That's something I've gotten use to. Alastor's sudden voice in my ears have became somewhat normal to me over the past few days. I sigh before speaking. "Yes."

What followed was Alastor's breathy laughter that only stopped when he suddenly appeared beside of me. "Let me guess, it's about the ball that the princess is planning? Never had much experience mingling with important figures, I take it?" He asks smugly.

"How did you guess?" I roll my eyes. "I'm kind of regretting giving her the idea now. Gosh...the overlords scare me enough. But Lucifer and Lilith being there...I think my heart's going to explode."

"Oh, try not let it. The heart is the best part, wouldn't want it to go to waste." I sent him a glare. "Very funny. Im serious."

"So am I."

I groan in annoyance before turning to face him. "I mean it. Im gonna make a fool of myself. Maybe I'll just fake being sick that day." I say with a sigh. "Nonsense! You'll do just fine." Alastor waved his hand dismissively. "Everyone at the hotel will be there, so you'll be around some familiar faces at least." He tells me. And admittedly, that did bring me some comfort.

I hadn't known these people well, but it was better than not knowing them at all. I got along pretty well with Charlie, but I am certain she'll be busy with the overlords and her parents at the ball. But surprisingly, me and Angel Dust had gotten along as well.

Despite his rather...perverted and lewd behavior, he was actually pretty decent to talk to. And, I also felt a little sorry for him. From context, his boss seemed like a rather cruel and unforgiving guy. Abusive even. Angel's line of work was already tough and dangerous enough. To have a boss like that on top of it all...It must be exhausting.

But even with the somewhat comfort of knowing they would be there wasn't quite enough to convince me. "I don't even have a dress. I can't go to such a fancy event like this." I say, gesturing to my outfit. It wasn't terrible, but it most certainly wasn't ball wear. Causal, is the best way I could describe it.

"Then perhaps you should buy one." Alastor suggests. "With what money?" I counter. "Also I don't know any shops around here to even get a dress. I really think I should just skip out on the ball. Those types of things aren't for me anyway."

"Im sure Charlie would want you there. You're the newest guest in the hotel after all. It'd be strange if you didn't show up." Alastor says with a smirk, knowing he was right. I frowned deeply. I hate that he was right. "Fine I'll go." I say, defeated. "Wonderful! Now, come along." Alastor walks ahead of me.

"Where?" I hesitate before following after. "We're getting you a dress. Not to any shops around here of course. No no, we're going to proper shop for your dress. And I know just the place!" I stop in my tracks. "I already said I didn't have any money." I try to argue.

"Consider it a gift, from me to you." Says Alastor, a hint of false kindness in his tone. I narrow my eyes. No way. He'll want something in return for sure. I cross my arms, still not moving an inch. "What's the catch?" I ask.

"No catch." Alastor says simply. "I don't believe you." I mutter. Alastor only chuckled before snapping his fingers. Before I knew it, we were in front of a store. A big, fancy, expensive looking store. "Alastor!" I snap my head up at him. "After you." Alastor says, opening the door for me. Realizing there was nothing I could do to change his mind, I sigh and walk inside.

The clothes inside of the store looked just as fancy as the store. Soft music played in the background, it being the only noise in the otherwise quiet store. "Feel free to look around." Alastor tell me. I repressed the urge to shoot him a glare before walking further into the store. I didn't even know where to begin. Well, other than finding the women's section that is. "I guess...I just find the best looking one?"

"Or. You could look for one you like?" Says Alastor. "I mean yeah but. Shouldn't it be really fancy and elegant?" I ask him. "The king of hell is going to be there." Alastor looked at the dresses in front of me, he bummed before shuffling through a few. Then he pulled out a red and black dress.

It wasn't what I was use to, but I had to admit, it was a very beautiful dress. And conveniently was backless, perfect for my wings to fit through. "What do you think of this one? Elegant enough for you?" Alastor asks. I had to tear my eyes away from the dress to look at him. "Um, yes. I think that one is fine." I tell him.

He then hands the dress to me before leading me to the fitting rooms. "Go ahead and try it on then. See if we need to make any adjustments." I nod before walking inside one of the stalls and shutting the door behind me. After changing, I turn to the full length mirror behind me.

To my surprise, I was left in awe at the sight of myself. My new form seemed to have complimented the dress wonderfully. I was actually taken back by how nice I looked. "Almost done?" I could hear Alastor call from the other side of the door.

"I am." I say before opening the door and stepping out. If I blinked, I would have missed how Alastor's brows shot up for a brief moment, before returning to normal. "My, how lovely!" He compliments. "I say it suits you quite well. But what about you? Too tight or loose in any areas?" He asks. I shake my head and look down at myself. "No, it fits pretty well. It's shocking comfortable too."

"Well then, let's check out." Alastor guides me to the register. The cashier politely greeted us, but quick to cower in fear as they noticed Alastor. They rang up the dress, eyes darting from the register to Alastor, as if waiting for him to lunge.

When I heard how much the dress was worth, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Al-" I didn't get a word out before Alastor bought the dress and escorted me out of the shop. As we left, I could hear the cashier sigh in relief.

What just happened?

(I published chapter eight too cause I got hit with a wave of motivation! Chapter nine and ten are in the works!)

#alastor x reader #alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #charlie morningstar #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel

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that-one-gay-writer1227 · 10 months

Text

𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕤𝕥

(tighnari x shy!fem!hybrid!reader) A/n: This is my first post from my hiatus. I really hope you all enjoy it. I've really been hooked on some new characters so you all might see some more variety in the future, as always- drink water, and enjoy <3

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

𝚜𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜: 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍. 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚝….

𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐; 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎/𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Walking down the street, you were dressed up for the evening, dawning a stunning cocktail dress. The shade complimented your eyes perfectly, and sleeves slightly rolled up just enough to maintain a reasonable temperature in the summer night heat. You’d put a bow hair clip just next to your left ear that really brought out the wonderful shade of your fur. Feeling it sway as you walked helped build the confidence you were surely going to need.

Your friend Brian had set this up for you, in his words you “needed to get out more, and live life before it’s too late”. Something you didn't entirely agree with, but he did make a decent point that you were indeed a little lonely. You didn't particularly like people, as you typically got nervous around strangers, making you into something of an introverted loner. You much preferred studying medicine in the previous years occupied the majority of your time, leaving little to no breathing room to have a partner, let alone try to go on dates with anyone. It was just more comforting that way.

Well, it seems this evening you were lucky enough to find some time. You had spent the previous days testing for your senior finals. These were the last few classes you needed to graduate from the akedemyia. A difficult road, spending years studying different healing techniques, the mechanics of medicine, how to make the medicine, how the body works, and much much more.

The evening was pleasant besides the heat, mid-August seems to do that. The sun was minutes away from being fully set, reds and pinks painting the sky waiting to retire, leaving the city to the night-dwelling population of insomniacs and party-goers.

Arriving at a small cafe you were instructed to, you took in the sight of the sign reading “Puspa cafe”. You’d heard of this cafe before, but never quite got the chance to visit it.

Taking a breath, you settled your nerves, readying yourself for your blind date, and walked to the door- opening the wood frame and stepping into the warm atmosphere.

The lights were slightly dimmer than you expected- as is with most eateries in the evening-early night. Wandering around, you noticed a seat at a table that Brian himself had been occupying. walking over in your attire, you chuckled a little awkwardly- you hoped this date would go well.

“Well don’t you look lovely, I can see you went all out for your date.” Brian greeted, his tone slightly teasing but you could see he did genuinely think you looked nice. Taking the seat across from him, you took his glass of wine and took a sip, much to his dismay at the loss of his drink.

“Thank you, but to be honest- I have no idea what I’m doing. This is my first date ever really and I’m really nervous.” Brian took notice of the sweat drops forming just to the side of your temples. You saying you were nervous was an understatement, it was bad enough that your knees nearly gave out the moment you noticed someone walking towards the table. The man looked to be around yours and Brian’s age, maybe a few years older. His hair was platinum blonde and his eyes a jade green with tints of blue. He had freckles- and what seemed to be a very salty face since he walked in.

You turned back to Brian a little panicked, what if he didn't like the idea of being on a date and only agreed out of pity or something? Brian only looked at you and chuckled, “You’ll be ok, just be yourself. He just has a resting bitch face. He's really sweet.”

You glared for a moment, silently cursing Brian for not giving you this information to start with. That would’ve been especially helpful given the fact that people talking was not your forte. Shaking it off you put on a smile for this stranger, standing up at the same time as Brian to greet him. You took in his appearance for a moment. He was dressed up, but more casually than you’d done so.

Were you overdressed?

“y/n this is Ethan, he moved here from Fontaine not too long ago actually. Ethan, this is y/n, she’s a student at the akademyia. Now that the introductions are done, this is my time to dip. Play nice you two, wishing for the best” Was all that Brian said before throwing you to the wolves and running out the door, damn near tripping over himself. Your jaw dropped a little, just enough to stay under Ethan’s radar.

Closing your mouth, you looked back at the blonde hair brooding boy and smiled once again. When you spoke your voice was timid and a little shaky. “hi, I’m y/n…it’s lovely to meet you, Ethan.”

He looked at you with a raised eyebrow and his scowl only seemed to drop further. “I figured that you were y/n. Who else could it be?”

Well, this is awkward now. You looked away, feeling a little silly, and red-faced. “Yeah, that’s true.”

The both of you stood in silence for just a moment, the air was thick and awkward beyond comprehension. Without speaking a word, he turned and sat in the seat Brian had just stood from not 10 minutes ago. You took the cue to sit back down in your own seat. Taking the glass you’d stolen from Brian and tinkering with the handle to ease the anxious feeling, you tried to break the ice.

“So…uh…tell me a bit about yourself. What do you do for a living?" You looked at him slowly, hoping that this would start somewhat of a conversation. He turned his attention to you, seemingly squinting at your facial expression. He took a few moments, examining you and your body language.

“I’m a practicing medical professional.” He deadpanned, looking almost bored. When he didn't say anything further, you took the chance to ask more about his answer.

“Oh! That’s really cool. How long did you study? Could you tell me a little about what it’s like being in the medical field?”

He only sighed. “I studied for 8 years, and I graduated a few years early due to my advanced abilities in the subject. honestly, I wish I chose something else- it seems I can’t make enough money in this profession.”

“Graduated early you say? I wish I was that smart. I've been studying medicine by myself for a few years, it sounds really helpful to have been able to shave off some of that time.” You expressed, speaking a little fast. It was exciting to see that he also studied medicine! Maybe this wasn’t a lost cause after all. Feeling a little more comfortable, you leaned forward feeling your tail swish behind you. He seemed to take notice of this, smirking a little.

He leaned over making it obvious that he was looking at the appendage behind you. You blushed a little out of embarrassment, tucking it away a little bit to give him a hint that you would rather he be making eye contact than staring so intimately. He leaned back and finally stuck his two cents to your response.

“Well, not everyone has the ability needed to leave school so early, it’s difficult enough for us people, let alone someone like yourself.” His tone was matter-of-fact and you swear you heard your own thoughts shouting ‘what the fuck’ right at him.

Going between raising your eyebrow and narrowing your eyes, you settled on a gaped mouth and glare.

“I'm sorry? I don't think I follow.” Being a bit defensive was only natural in moments like this. Now it was his turn to glare right back.

“Well know, your kind’s only real reason for socialization is mating and doing what we humans tell you to do. Given you are derived from literal animals-” His words were cut off by you standing up. You hadn’t even eaten, hadn't even placed an order at the restaurant. you walked over to him and slammed your hands on the table.

“For someone who graduated early, you sure are stupid. Maybe take that misplaced confidence and stick it right up your ass, you jerk.”

This made Ethan stand up, looking livid at your outburst. At this point, most of the restaurants had all paused their meals and conversations to watch the scene playing out in front of them.

You took a slight step back, “Why’d you even agree to a date if you thought that way huh? What are your intentions?”

Ethan stepped closer as you stepped back. No one had intervened just yet, all simply staring in shock. You felt the eyes on you slowly breaking your confidence. He leaned over, still angry. “I think you can put two and two together. Now sit.”

You looked at him for a moment, distaste clear on your face. You scoffed and turned to leave but he placed a hand on your wrist harsh enough for it to hurt. You winced and a few folks stood up from their tables and walked over to your aid.

One of them took Ethan's wrist in his hand. Gripping with the same strength, making him let go. “That is not how you treat people. Get out now before I make you” Was all the older man had stated. Another person, the woman who’d been accompanying him had come over and taken you away from the situation. She led you outside a side door on the other side for fresh air and at least a little privacy.

She looked at your wrist, turning it over a few times to check for injury. When all she saw was a faint red mark that’d leave only a small bruise by morning, she released your hand. Looking up at you, her eyes were a beautiful brown, something you didn't mean to take too much notice of at the moment but ended up doing so.

“Are you alright?” She queried. Her voice was calm and a little husky with age. She smiled sympathetically, providing comfort given the situation. You returned the smile a little bit and nodded your head. “Good thing! Please don’t listen to that miscreant. He doesn’t deserve your tears or your time. You’re too pretty and too kindhearted for that. Don’t worry about having to go back in there, we’ll take care of him.” You nodded your head one last time, feeling thankful for her kindness, and you played with the hem of your sleeves a little bit. “Thank you, ma’am. It means a lot that you helped. I’m not even sure why I agreed to a blind date, maybe dating just isn't for me, but I’m glad you stepped in… you and your partner really saved me.”

“Oh shh, don’t say such silly things, you just haven't found the right one yet. There’s still plenty of fish out there, just give it some time. And there’s no need to thank us, we’d’ve wanted the same if we were in your place.” Was her rebuttal. “Will you be alright to head home, or would you like me and my partner to walk you home? There’s no pressure, we wouldn't mind at all with whatever you prefer!”

Your smile spread. Her kindness was touching and began erasing the words Ethan had said about you. It made you feel a bit better. Not entirely so, but enough that you felt happier than you did before. Shaking your head you let her know that you’d be alright walking alone and that you’d actually be stopping somewhere in town to get some fresh air for a little longer. She happily let you go, wished you a happy evening, and advised you to take some time to do self-care for healing before returning to the building.

You took your leave, walking a little ways into town. You stopped to look at the shops and what they had to offer. You still felt a little down by Ethan practically telling you that your “only purpose” was spreading your legs and living as a walking incubator. It both made you pissed and self-conscious.

Walking down the winding maze of Sumeru City, you came across a larger crowd. They seemed to be surrounding a performer and made quite a loud ruckus. Pulling your ears gently down to the sides of your head, you groaned. The sound was painful and honestly- headache-inducing. Though you did admire the music and performance of the city, the noise became something of a deterrent. You could usually get away with it in the day since you’d only needed to head to the Akademiya, but given tonight's agenda- you were exposed just a wee bit more than usual.

As you were turning around your attention was caught by someone. You took notice of his similar reaction to the music. He'd pulled his ears down to his head, and grimaced. His hair was two tones of green, both almost darkened to black, and a bright forest green streak ran through his bangs. His eyes had a similar green fading up into a brown-hazel color.

He was slightly taller than you, you took notice as you walked over to him- still covering your ears. He made eye contact with you and smiled- albeit awkwardly due to what you presumed was a mild headache he’d probably be forming.

As you finally fully approached him, you lowered one of your hands from your ears and tapped his shoulder. Once you were sure that he knew you were trying to communicate, you mouthed ‘follow me’ to him. Something he happily agreed to, it got him out of the loud crowd didn't it? And you seemed to have good intentions given the similar circumstance.

You both walked for a moment, just until you reached an area where letting your ears go didn't feel like excruciating punishment. You took a breath, finally being able to hear at your full potential. You looked up and smiled at this handsome stranger-

“Are you a little better? I noticed it was a bit loud over there. Figured you could use a hand”

he returned the smile politely, seemingly appreciative of your rescue. “Yes, it was rather loud. Thanks for that. I don't know if you’ve found any way out of that crowd.”

You felt your face heat up. His voice was intoxicating and honestly gave you butterflies. And his smile- though you knew it was more polite than anything- was beautiful. You cleared your throat putting a fist to your mouth to hide your blush, something he took particular notice of and felt his own face heat up.

“Are you alright, miss? You seem to be overheating a little. I’ve seen my fair share of ailments so I may be of assistance.” He stepped closer to put a hand on your forehead, seemingly from instinct. He stepped back quickly. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first, I’m not sure what’s come over me. I’m not normally this forthcoming.”

The moment his hand met with your forehead you felt yourself melting into his touch, though you didn't outwardly show it. His hands were warm and softly calloused. When he pulled away, seemingly panicked, you simply smiled and chuckled at him.

“It’s alright, no worries! My name is Y/n. Who might you be, and what brings you out to the city at night?” Your question was welcoming, almost with silly intent while laced with curiosity. You would be lying if you’d said he didn't pique your curiosity just a little bit.

He relaxed a little when you excused what he thought was crossing boundaries, chuckling at his own embarrassment as well, cheeks dusted in pink. “Tighnari, I’m a forest watcher. I came to collect some materials for some research, thinking that night would be the optimal time to avoid loud crowds. But it seems I miscalculated. What's your name, and what brings you out here? You seem dressed rather formally for a night-time walk.”

Looking down, forgetting that you’d just come from a bombed date still wearing your dress, you looked back up and chuckled. “I’m y/n. Failed date, he ended up being a jerk (dickwad) so I decided to ditch and take a walk before heading home." Your response was honest, though you left out a few details. He cringed sympathetically.

“Failed dates are the worst. I’ve personally never been on a date, so I wouldn’t know firsthand, but a few of my friends have been and they sound awful when the other person seems to be such awful company.”

“It’s quite alright, this was the only one I’ve been on really. Though Brian is gonna get an earful when I see him again. he set up the blind date, even told me Ethan was a ‘sweetheart.’” Tighnari looked at you a little nervously but also seemed to hold a little humor in his gaze. You both just looked at each other silently for a moment. It took but a few seconds for your tail to betray you and sway happily from side to side.

His eyes were so pretty- that captivating ombre of earthly hues. The way they twinkle in the nighttime lights of the city, along with the moon overhead. They held the same aura that he did. strong-willed but humane. Wise and passionate. Caring, nurturing, calm, collected, kind, gentle-

“Hey, would you like to take a walk with me? I could use the company.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from speaking as your mouth moved on its own. The feeling of the words coming out- dripping like honey from your tongue. You panicked internally for a moment, he was a stranger! It’s not like he’d just accept a request to walk around. You certainly wouldn’t be following a stranger around only 5 minutes after meeting, why would he?

“I would love to. I’ve collected all my needed materials and have some time to burn before returning.”

…

Well, that caught you off guard-

Your smile grew exponentially as your tail sped up in its swaying, something he took silent notice of without any comment. He held his arm out for you, “Whenever you’re ready.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No way! Really? you studied in the Amurta Darshan as well?!” You asked enthusiastically. Your arm around his as you listened to him talk.

He nodded his head back, “Yes, I actually specialize in botany, I find it’s quite fulfilling. You practice medicine, you said, correct? Perhaps we can arrange for you to stay in Gandharva ville to practice medicine there. Archons know that with the obnoxious travelers eating random flora and getting sick all the time- we could really use your skill.”

You both banter, coming up with ideas continuously. Playing on each other's minds.

Coming round a corner, you both sat down on a bench near the edge of town. It’d been high up in the city and hosted a perfect view of the moon in all its glory.

You took a deep breath, smiling to yourself. This evening started off crappy, utterly awful, but something good did come of it. Turning your head to the side to look at Tighnari who seemed preoccupied with the moon, something good came of it indeed.

Shaking your head- you shook the thoughts away. You’d only known him for one night. You shouldn’t have feelings that quickly. He's just charming, that’s all. and smart, and funny….

The night seemed to be perfectly peaceful now until there were footsteps coming up the path to your little reprieve.

“You!-”

‘Here we go again....' was all you could think as Ethan came storming up the way to you and Tighnari, leading you to look at him wide-eyed. Tighnari looked at him and then at you, seemingly very confused. He had a hunch this was the ‘bad date’ you mentioned but was unsure.

Ethan came closer and closer and you couldn't help but stand up as he got close into your personal space, face mere inches from yours and yelling.

“You little bitch, thinking you can run off like that, leaving me to embarrass myself because you’re too much of a prud-”

“That's enough.”

Tighnari had put himself in front of you, pulling you behind him. You were shocked. He was willingly standing up for you?

You couldn’t see, but Tighnari’s glare was dangerous and aimed directly at the bastard that ungracefully graced tighnari with his attitude and fishy breath. “Who the hell are you?! This has nothing to do with you, fox.”

Ethan tried to step to the side to get to you, but Tighnari stepped in that direction too, continuing to block Ethan’s path. “Better question- who are you?” Was all he spoke, his tone was venomous and sharp. You noticed that Tighnari’d taken up a stance that seemed as though he was ready to fight. Before Ethan could answer, Tighnari had cut him off, “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you. it won’t end very pleasantly.”

You gripped the back of Tighnari’s shirt, to which he responded by grabbing your hand softly in his own, holding it visibly so that Ethan would get the hint.

Ethan only scoffed, and turned muttering something about “tease, just not worth it.”

As he turned the corner, you let out a breath of relief, finally he was gone. Tighnari turned around and looked you over, taking notice of the tears pricking your eyes. He gently put his hands on either side of your head, placing his forehead on yours. Normally this would’ve flustered you, but the moment called for comfort, something you desperately needed a pinch of.

“Archons, the pheromones coming from that guy, what an asshole. Are you ok?”

You placed your own hands on his and nodded, letting a few tears fall. “Yeah…I’m ok.” This was his cue to move from holding your face, to holding your shoulders and pulling you into a hug tightly. One hand on your back, the other on your head. “Why’d you help me?..”

He sighed, leaning closer into the hug comfortingly. “Can I be honest with you?”

You nodded your head.

He took this answer to finally say his piece. “I…I’m not sure..something about you just makes me want to protect you, to spend more time with you, I just want to be around you…”

You were silent, utterly stunned. So he was feeling the same way as well? Was it an instinct thing? Was it…

“I’m sorry, that was brash wasn’t it? We barely met...I hope I didn't scare you off.” You leaned back, looking into his eyes that now seemed anxious for some form of response.

You chuckled and put your hands on either side of his face, much like he’d done with you before. “Do you trust me?”

He nodded his head, leaning into your touch. “Close your eyes.”

He obliged without objection, eyes squinting shut as your hands tightened around his jaw ever so slightly.

You took a breath, now or never. Make or break, this was it.

You leaned forward slowly, inching closer to his face with your own. The air was thick and your heart was pulsing beyond belief, it felt like it would jump out of your chest at any moment. You stopped just an inch or two in front of him.

When he felt your breath graze his lips he gasped a little bit, eyes relaxing from their previous squint. He seemed to understand what was happening finally, what he was feeling, what you were feeling.

Finally, you tilted your head slightly and connected your lips gently.

His lips were soft and relaxed, you could feel the tension release as you felt him lean into the kiss. His ears flattened to the side identical to as yours did. You let your thumbs brush under his eyes and then trail down to his neck and finally at the nape of his neck to play with the short hairs of his undercut.

His hands went from his lap, to holding your waist. His own thumbs ran circles over your hips, kneading at the skin concealed by the fabric of your dress.

The kiss was intoxicating, it felt like all the world around you had evaporated, leaving nothing but you and the wonderfully addicting man in front of you. You never wanted to leave this feeling, it felt like a dream that you could hold onto.

At some point, you both needed air, so you leaned back just enough for oxygen to enter the same lips that’d just been dancing with Tighnari’s.

“Meet me here tomorrow night?” was all you could mutter out, feeling blissful beyond words. You didn’t know you needed this, you finally understood the fuss about finding the one, the joyous other half.

“I’ll be here”

#tighnari x reader #tighnari x yn #tighnari #genshin fic #genshin boys #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #tighnari fluff #genshin tighnari

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 7 months

Note

AITA for "causing a stain on a marriage" and ruining a honeymoon?

Hey everyone! This is a separate AITA issue, but also technically an update idk if that's allowed.

I'm the one who asked AITA for telling my hairdresser the truth.

I (25f) had a friend D (31m). He married an 18f recently. I do want to clarify something I said in the last post because I saw in responses I didn't write it out clearly. I do NOT approve of minors dating adults. I do NOT approve of 18-21 year olds dating people way older then them. If I, a 25 year old, wanted to date someone older with that same age gap, that would be fine. That's what I meant when I said I typically didn't have an issue with age gaps, but I realized I didn't write that well.

Anyways onto the reason I sent this in:

I saw D in person. Him and his...wife... have been married for a bit now. Anyways, I was trying to avoid him. He knew. Because he called me later that day and asked me why.

I calmly told him we weren't friends and I felt weird. He asked me why snd I told him, I felt weird about his wife. I also told him I didn't appreciate him calling me names. He flat out asked me what names, I said the name back, and he said "I would never say that you must have misheard me". He kept getting louder and I know for a FACT I didn't mishear because I clarified "did you just call me ----" and he said YES

So I yelled at him "you're a manipulative asshole and a groomer" to which he went quiet. And then his wife spoke. Apparently I was on speaker the entire time. She said I was jealous and an asshole and hung up on me.

An hour later his mother called me and at least she told me I was on speaker. It was her, D, the wife, the wife's mother and maybe someone else those are the only ones who spoke. They all took turns expressing how hurt they felt and how I was putting a stain on their marriage and how I was ruining their honeymoon. I flat out said they aren't even on their honeymoon rn so that shouldn't matter.

I said, and I quote," You chose to call me. I tried to avoid you. I want nothing to do with you, as far as I'm concerned im done. I won't talk about you, dont talk about me." To which the hairdresser got brought up by D. She didn't name me, but she dropped him. D claimed I swayed her. I said "if your actions swayed her then that was on you". I then was getting yelled at by many and the mom again yelled at me and cursed at me and said Ime calling him a groomer (pls note I hadn't except for the phone call earlier that day) could have complications for him and I shouldn't be "a vindictive jealous bitch".

I replied "im not jealous, if I had wanted him I could have, but that just proves he is one" and hung up.

I didnt realize fully until my sister brought up what happened when I was 16, D had tried to date me. It was a short period and he had flirted with me and would constantly buy me stuff and then guilttrip me for it.

To be quite honest a lot happened between us but I had told him I never wanted to date him. He did hold my first kiss over my head, which I hadn't even wanted to kiss me he just did. To be honest, I never wanted to think about it and so I didn't. Cause from that point on he had always dated women his age or older.

I guess I was groomed too. I'm not even sure, because as some people noted it is a small community. You talk to one person and guaranteed they are related or friends with the person you are talking about. Everyone knows everyone. His mom had always told me that he had only developed a crush on me because of the closeness and I had accepted that. I hadn't seen anything wrong with it when i was 16, but it makes me grossed out now.

I went on a tangent sorry, but the mother has vagueposted about me and people are assuming me. A few coworkers are asking me about the situation and I've not said anything. But apparently D and his wife are fighting now and im being blamed. His entire family is sending me messages and I have these new accounts send me messages, idk if they are real or not. I've deleted most of my social media now, because everyone is telling me I was in the wrong for trying to tear them apart and that they should be a happy newlywed couple and instead I've ruined that.

So AITA?

TLDR: my exfriend (31m) married an 18f. I called him a manipulative asshole and a groomer. His entire family is coming at me now and sending me messages. Genuinely unsure how to feel because part of me feels bad that I hurt the girl, the other half is pissed everyone is defending him and doesn't care.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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hollowed-theory-hall · 3 months

Text

The Riddle of Tom Riddle: Part 3/7

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7)

Wool's Orphanage

This is actually one of my favorite theories I ever made. The full psychoanalysis of Voldemort's character took some time to figure out, but I think I cracked it. I know why Tom did everything he did.

As it's a little long, I've broken it down into multiple posts. And I think there are gonna be 4 more besides this one. So, let's go make sense of Voldemort and prove he is reasonable, he just has some unexpected goals.

I want to preface all of this (and future posts) that the point isn't to excuse Voldemort and his various atrocities. But it bothers me when I don't understand why characters do the things they do. This is about understanding Tom Riddle and Voldemort.

Without farther adu:

So, we'll start our analysis from the beginning. Voldemort, or, more correctly — Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on December 31st, 1926, in a rundown orphanage in London:

“And Merope? She . . . she died, didn’t she? Wasn’t Voldemort brought up in an orphanage?” “Yes, indeed,” said Dumbledore. “We must do a certain amount of guessing here, although I do not think it is difficult to deduce what happened. You see, within a few months of their runaway marriage, Tom Riddle reappeared at the manor house in Little Hangleton without his wife. The rumor flew around the neighborhood that he was talking of being ‘hoodwinked’ and ‘taken in.’ What he meant, I am sure, is that he had been under an enchantment that had now lifted, though I daresay he did not dare use those precise words for fear of being thought insane. When they heard what he was saying, however, the villagers guessed that Merope had lied to Tom Riddle, pretending that she was going to have his baby, and that he had married her for this reason.” “But she did have his baby.” “But not until a year after they were married. Tom Riddle left her while she was still pregnant.”

(Half-Blood Prince, page, 214)

So, one important little disclaimer:

A lot of the information we have about Tom comes from Dumbledore's guesswork. As Dumbledore has an agenda in all his "lessons" with Harry and that I have a whole series of posts dedicated to my strong feelings regarding Dumbledore's machinations, we need to approach everything he says with a grain of salt.

This part is pretty true though. Merope does enchant or dose Tom Riddle Sr with a love potion or some other spell and gets pregnant. We also know that for some reason, she stopped with the enchantments/potions at some point and wound up alone in London, with no family, no money, and on death's door.

“I was wondering whether you could tell me anything of Tom Riddle’s history? I think he was born here in the orphanage?” “That’s right,” said Mrs. Cole, helping herself to more gin. “I remember it clear as anything, because I’d just started here myself. New Year’s Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not much older than I was myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn’t the first. We took her in, and she had the baby within the hour. And she was dead in another hour.”

(Half-Blood Prince, page 266)

This is from Dumbledore's memory, but it seems factual enough. Dumbledore also has no reason to lie about this.

So, Tom was raised all his childhood in a London orphanage in the late 1920s and 1930s. These orphanages were dreary, lonely places:

The children are fed and clothed but there is a dreary uniformity to the picture, emphasised by the black and white image. Boys eat in regimental lines, seated on hard benches, and those waiting to sit down are also assembled in a strict line. The attendants you can glimpse are dressed in black and white uniforms, a stark echo of the grey and black of the boys’ clothes. A few pictures adorn the walls – one looks as though it’s about to fall to the ground – but there are no curtains, no floor covering, no comfort.

(Source)

This was not a pleasant place to be raised in. And considering Mrs. Cole's words: "Well, she wasn’t the first", the orphanage was probably crowded. This was after World War One, and Britain and Europe as a whole were still licking their wounds. Poverty is high, food is low, and the inflation rate is insane.

And this is the world Tom grows up in. A dreary, lonely existence, where if he didn't fight for his food, he probably didn't get left any.

And when the Second World War started in 1939 (his second year at Hogwarts), things just got worse, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Then she said, “He’s a funny boy.” “Yes,” said Dumbledore. “I thought he might be.” “He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you know. And then, when he got a little older, he was . . . odd.”

...

because she said in a sudden rush, “He scares the other children.” “You mean he is a bully?” asked Dumbledore. “I think he must be,” said Mrs. Cole, frowning slightly, “but it’s very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents. . . . Nasty things . . .” Dumbledore did not press her, though Harry could tell that he was interested. She took yet another gulp of gin and her rosy cheeks grew rosier still. “Billy Stubbs’s rabbit . . . well, Tom said he didn’t do it and I don’t see how he could have done, but even so, it didn’t hang itself from the rafters, did it?” “I shouldn’t think so, no,” said Dumbledore quietly. “But I’m jiggered if I know how he got up there to do it. All I know is he and Billy had argued the day before. And then” — Mrs. Cole took another swig of gin, slopping a little over her chin this time — “on the summer outing — we take them out, you know, once a year, to the countryside or to the seaside — well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they’d gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He swore they’d just gone exploring, but something happened in there, I’m sure of it. And, well, there have been a lot of things, funny things. . . .”

(Half-Blood Prince, pages 267-268)

We learn some interesting things here, quite a few of them actually. That Tom doesn't have any friends. That the other orphans and the caretakers in the orphanage all think he's weird. They thought he was odd since he was a baby... and this is starting to get familiar. there's a reason Tom mentioned he and Hary are similar:

Because there are strange likenesses between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike. . . .

(Chamber of Secrets, page 292)

Because they are.

From Mrs. Cole's words, it seems Tom wasn't liked by the kids and staff and he fought back in the only way he could. His magic. It isn't that much different than Harry's apparating away from Dudley's gang or setting the boa constrictor on his cousin. The situations are awfully similar.

“How do you do, Tom?” said Dumbledore, walking forward and holding out his hand. The boy hesitated, then took it, and they shook hands. Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair beside Riddle, so that the pair of them looked rather like a hospital patient and visitor. “I am Professor Dumbledore.” “ ‘Professor’?” repeated Riddle. He looked wary. “Is that like ‘doctor’? What are you here for? Did she get you in to have a look at me?” He was pointing at the door through which Mrs. Cole had just left. “No, no,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “I don’t believe you,” said Riddle. “She wants me looked at, doesn’t she? Tell the truth!” He spoke the last three words with a ringing force that was almost shocking. It was a command, and it sounded as though he had given it many times before. His eyes had widened and he was glaring at Dumbledore, who made no response except to continue smiling pleasantly. After a few seconds Riddle stopped glaring, though he looked, if anything, warier still. “Who are you?” “I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school — your new school, if you would like to come.” Riddle’s reaction to this was most surprising. He leapt from the bed and backed away from Dumbledore, looking furious. “You can’t kid me! The asylum, that’s where you’re from, isn’t it? ‘Professor,’ yes, of course — well, I’m not going, see? That old cat’s the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they’ll tell you!” “I am not from the asylum,” said Dumbledore patiently. “I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force you —” “I’d like to see them try,” sneered Riddle.

(Half-Blood Prince, pages 269-270)

Now, I marked a few sections in this scene because there are some interesting things to talk about when it comes to Tom's psychology.

First, I'd like to talk about Tom's assumptions here. The first thing Tom assumes the moment Dumbledore introduces himself as a "professor" is that he is here to take a look at Tom — to take him away to the Asylum. Considering how quickly Tom came to that conclusion one has to assume it's something he heard before.

It means the people around him, probably both the caretakers at the orphanage and the other children repeatedly told him he was insane and would be better off at the Asylum. He spent his childhood being told he belonged in a madhouse.

I don't think I need to explain what kind of damage that does to a child. Tom grows up completely isolated from his peers and caretakers, everyone hates him because he is different. So Tom latched on to the idea that he was better. Because if he was different, and he was, and he wasn't better, it meant he was worse than them — it meant they were right about him. Tom thinking overly highly of himself is a coping mechanism and a lie (to himself most of all).

The thing is, while he is aware he is smart and capable, we'll see later in his life how he continuously seeks out validation and connection since he didn't get either until he was eleven. And like any child, he wants these things, he wants praise, attention, and connection. Telling himself he is better, and therefore above such needs, is a way to try and convince himself everything is fine.

The second thing from the above quote is his trust issues. Dumbledore tries to tell him he isn't taking him to the Asylum and Tom doesn't believe him. He immediately goes on the defensive.

As of Mrs. Cole's previous words, it's clear she blames Tom for things she has no evidence he did. And if we look at Harry's cases of accidental magic that harmed Dudley, a lot of them were out of his control. It's possible Tom wasn't completely intentional in everything he did, but took credit anyway if it meant the other kids left him alone and didn't bother him.

"|'d like to see them try," Tom said, he is already using fear. That is just as much a coping mechanism as his trust issues and air of superiority. When kids fear you, they don't bother you. If Amy and Dannis feared him they'd stop calling him a nut-case — If they feared him, they wouldn't bother him.

And Tom is used to his magic allowing him to get his way, forcing people to tell him the truth in an accidental version of the Imperious. It's important to remember he is a young child on the defensive. He has been on the defensive probably since he could comprehend language. As such, I'm not surprised to see him use his magic to make people treat him better — or at the bare minimum, not lie to him.

All I see from the above interaction is a scared, lonely child who never had anyone so he's on the defensive. He guards his heart and interests with all the weapons he has at his disposal because he has no one else who will. This is a child that needs help.

“Magic?” he repeated in a whisper. “That’s right,” said Dumbledore. “It’s . . . it’s magic, what I can do?” “What is it that you can do?” “All sorts,” breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked fevered. “I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to.” His legs were trembling. He stumbled forward and sat down on the bed again, staring at his hands, his head bowed as though in prayer. “I knew I was different,” he whispered to his own quivering fingers. “I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something.”

(Half-Blood Prince, page 271)

What we see here is actually really cute. Okay.

So, Tom Riddle, lonely and mistreated finally gets the confirmation that yes, he is special, not insane, he is better like he always tried to convince himself he was. So he immediately gets excited and starts gushing — boasting — about all the magic he can do. He's flushed and fevered and happy.

He is so excited to share this with someone else, to have someone like him, who understands him. He was elated at Dumbledore's existence at that moment.

This is a lonely 11-year-old child who never had a friend or kind caregiver in his life, trying to connect to the first adult to not call him insane. The first adult to tell him he was special, that he wasn't wrong.

And then Dumbledore speaks down to him and pretends to set all his (very few) belongings on fire.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts —” “Of course I am!” “Then you will address me as ‘Professor’ or ‘sir.’ ” Riddle’s expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unrecognizably polite voice, “I’m sorry, sir. I meant — please, Professor, could you show me — ?”

(Half-Blood Prince, pages 271-272)

This is the moment Dumbledore made his greatest mistake when it came to Tom Riddle. Instead of trying to direct him and help him like an educator, he showed his dislike for Tom. He thought Tom to close up his heart, that even among wizards he would not find this connection he seeks.

So Tom hardens his expression and goes to the cold, polite, distant mask we'll see him wear for the rest of his Hogwarts years.

#harry potter #harry potter thoughts #harry potter theory #hollowedtheory #hp theory #wizarding world #overthinking #lord voldemort #voldemort #tom riddle #tom marvolo riddle #voldemort analysis #hogwarts #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #wools orphanage #albus dumbledore #hp #hp thoughts

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thatonecrazykat · 2 months

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TW // Mentions of grooming, sexual abuse, incest, abuse

So since you all saw my Danganronpa post on Korekiyo Shinguji like around 3-4 months ago, I decided I would try and explain more on Korekiyo and how he was groomed, manipulated, and sexually abused by his sister:

As I've said before, the way his sister acts is downright demanding and straightforward. We can see this by the way she acts in Korekiyo's altar:

"You mustn't become wavered, you mustn't become flustered." (Or something like that)

"Come on, Apologize. Apologize, apologize, apologize." (Not only the altar of her, but Korekiyo himself I think?)

"Sweet Korekiyo, there must be times where one admits defeat." (After Shuichi makes the final argument).

The way she acts is demanding, and even her gestures to Korekiyo seem controlling as well. For example, she made him wear something she made. This seems sweet at first, but Korekiyo says that she thought that his old outfit wasn't suitable for him, so made him a new one. She's also the one who got him into anthropology and even made him pursue his interests. Now that doesn't seem like much, but you need to remember that groomers exist. Groomers do small or big things for you, like listening to you talk, getting gifts, and whatnot. Groomers often observe their victim as well, so this was easy for Korekiyo's sister to do because she was older and related to him. She must've looked at Korekiyo's naivety. They also tend to sexualize relationships, like head patting and rubbing shoulders, things that aren't sexual regularly. You know why they do this? To desensitize the victim to their touch. They aren't always on the internet. Groomers usually hold some sort of power over their victim(s). They can be older. They can be a teacher. They can be higher up. They can even be an older family member. Now, why would she do this? So that she could live through him. Think about it, she was described as being ill. When she saw how interested her younger brother was in anthropology, she took this as an opportunity to live through him. However, she needed to convince him. So she began to do things for him, and began to isolate him, which is what groomers do. They isolate their victims so it's easier to gain control. Of course, she hurt him in a way nobody should ever be hurt. It was easier to do because Korekiyo looked up to her, and was becoming isolated. And who started the incestuous relationship? Not Korekiyo, but his sister. This caused Korekiyo to believe that his simple admiration was romantic love, when it wasn't actually love. When she died, he said he nearly went mad. This probably wouldn't have happened if he wasn't so isolated. Think about it. Say you're alone on an island, and have been alone for however long. You eventually find someone, and aren't alone anymore. But what about when they die? You'd probably either quickly or slowly start spiraling into madness. All of this caused him to believe that his sister became lonely again (because of her hospital visits and sickness, she was alone), and made him think that he has to kill 100 people he deems worthy as his sister's friends. The thing is he doesn't even call his sister by his name. He refers to her as "Sister" or feminine pronouns. Of course, this caused the whole fandom to think of names for her which I believe, one of them is "Miyaderi" or something like that. I actually called her Miya at one point while thinking of something I could call her.

He also has a love for ropes. But why? Well, it's also worth noting he's interested in rituals and whatnot. He must've believed that he could've brought her back, but to no avail. This could also tie back into the fact that he started killing people for her. Anyways, he explains at one point that he was doing fieldwork in a village for one of his visits (important because he's an anthropologist, which now I think about, makes the pursuing interests thing make sense), and the villagers had bound him so tight to the point he nearly passed out and then, proceeded to whip him. That was a near death experience, but he doesn't see it as that because that must've been where his alter came in. Alters form after traumatic events or after someone has had enough trauma to the point it causes a break in their reality. This led Korekiyo to believe that he had been reunited with her and held the incident in the village as something beautiful. If you were reunited with someone in let's say, Missouri, you'd probably love Missouri after.

So Korekiyo was groomed and abused by his sister. The thing is he probably doesn't realize it. Sometimes, victims of abuse don't realize they have been abused. Not every abuser knows automatically when a relationship of any kind is abuse. They don't always hate their abuser. Everyone has a different response to abuse. Another character that was abused by someone was Mikan Tsumiki. She was abused by Junko, yet stayed because she must've thought that "this is what love was. Junko is hurting me because she cares about me." (She was also severely bullied.) This is kind of the same thing for Korekiyo. He must've thought "Sister is doing all of this because she loves me. She cares about me," which she didn't and still doesn't. His sister also probably guilt tripped him by using her illness against him. He's a victim. He doesn't realize that, and it would take a lot to get him to realize a horrid truth. He couldn't heal, and probably still can't.

If anyone doesn't like Korekiyo, or deem him to be triggering, then I completely understand. You don't have to like him. I understand why he would be triggering. He grossed me out at first as well, especially since incest is wrong. There's almost always a reason why incestuous thoughts exist for some, but we must remember that people that were in those relationships were probably feeling trapped and unable to escape, and probably didn't know better at the time. It's important to help, talk, and do whatever we can to help get people out of such incestuous thoughts, or even relationships. We need to help them however we can. The same goes for abuse and grooming victims. We need to help them however we can, and make them understand whatever happened or is happening was/is wrong, otherwise something worse could happen. I wish that if Korekiyo survived for longer, then he could've realized that he was being used and his sister was terrible. Though, sadly, some people don't realize until it's too late, or never do.

Sorry for this long post, but yeah. I discovered everything thanks to other people, so thanks to them!

#talking #danganronpa #danganronpa killing harmony #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 killing harmony #drv3 #drv3 killing harmony #danganronpa korekiyo #drv3 korekiyo #korekiyo shinguji #danganronpa fandom #killing harmony

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wyvernquill · 8 months

Text

Finally some more Dreamling Anastasia AU!

(Obligatory link to the masterpost with all the other posts in this AU - it's also pinned at the top of my blog!)

So, it's been... a while... but I've recently finally got some motivation to write a bit more of this. Apologies to everyone really looking forward to the finale/resolution - I've decided to go all the way back to the start of the story, instead. I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless!

(Tag list: @10moonymhrivertam @martybaker @globglobglobglobob @anonymoustitans @sunshines-fabulous-legs @dreamsofapiratelife @malice-kingdom - since it's been a, uh, really long time, please let me know if you're no longer interested in this AU/fandom and don't want to be tagged anymore, I won't mind! On the other hand, if someone else would like to be tagged in future updates, please let me know!)

---

“Sister… it’s me.”

The man on the dilapidated theatre’s stage shrugs a heavy, moth-eaten velvet coat off his narrow shoulders. It crumples into a dark semi-circle around him, releasing a dramatic cloud of dust.

“Dream… of the Endless~”

“Ah. Hm.” A somewhat fussy older gentleman in the empty space usually reserved for the audience adjusts the small circular glasses on his nose, grimacing in a polite and distinctly English way - which he has, once, after first coming to this realm and taking this form, spent hours practising in the mirror - while checking a long list in front of him. “Mr… Carter, was it…?”

“Oh, please.” The man on stage flicks back his white-streaked bangs. “Call me Hal.”

“Yes. Of course, Mr. Hal.” The gentleman purses his lips. “That was… not, er. Not terrible, I suppose. And we’re pleased to note that you appear to have… brought your own cloak.”

“Don’t get used to it. Zelda and Chantal only let me borrow it for the audition.”

“Well, it is a lovely cloak. Only, ah, while Dream of the Endless was known to have quite striking eyes, I do think that, perhaps a little less eyeliner…”

“I could tone it down, I suppose, but I really think the performance would lose something without the makeup.” Hal sighs melodramatically. “I can sing and dance too, if you need it for your… what is this audition for, actually? Play? Music hall show? Ooo, one of those moving pictures?”

“Er.” The gentleman fidgets with his cane, grass-green eyes flickering around the empty theatre. “Well-”

“Thank you, Hal.” The younger man beside him interrupts with a winning smile that only barely covers the boredom and frustration lining a rather ruggedly handsome face. “We’ll let you know.”

“Hm.” Hal, clearly enough of an old hand in the acting business to know a polite “you’re not getting the role, piss off” when he hears one, frowns, and bends down to gather up the borrowed cloak, stalking off towards stage exit right with his head held high, not deigning either of the two men with even one more look.

“...I really do not think this will work, young Robert.” The older man mutters, decisively striking through Hal Carter’s name on his list. It is the last. “None of them look even remotely like him. And the voice-”

“I know, Gil. I know.” The younger man, Hob - only Gilbert is proper and precise enough to call him Robert - rubs at his temples, as if to stave off a headache. “They never manage to get the voice right, do they.”

“Ah, if it were only that…” Gilbert sighs, setting the list down. His eyes are soft and unfocused, seeing far into a past that has long since been razed to the ground. “His Lordship, he… he had a certain air about him, you understand. An otherworldly strangeness. He was the dream-maker, and dream-made, and to look at him was to gaze upon infinity.”

A soft scoff.

“Even if we claim that he has been greatly reduced by being turned into a meagre human - no offence, dear friend - as long as he does not have some spark of endlessness about him, nobody who has ever met him would fall for the ruse. And we are attempting to con his family. I simply cannot see any viable path to success.”

Hob does not respond, for a moment, picking up one of the flyers on their table.

It reads:

SEEKING Actor, slender, pale, tall, dark-haired, in the 20-40 age range to play the role of Dream of the Endless (method actors preferred). Generous pay and further benefits await. Auditions each weekday at 6pm at the Old Whickber Street Theatre, Soho. Ask for Hob and Gil.

“We’ll find him.” Hob insists. “The perfect pretender. He’s out there, I just know it.”

“We are not the first fools who have attempted a, a caper of this sort.” Gil points out, almost gently. “None of the others ever succeeded.”

“Yes. Well. None of the others managed to find and correctly identify the late Dream’s own pouch of genuine dream-sand on sale at the black market.” Hob shoots back, gesturing at the cord just barely peeking out from under Gil’s collar. (They’ve decided it would be safer if Hob comes into contact with the sand as little as possible, and Gilbert has taken to carrying it as closely to his heart as he can manage.) “It’s hard evidence, Gil, it’s a sign, it’s our chance - and it might just be enough. The trick with a good con is really making it look like you’re giving the mark exactly what they desperately want… and there’s nothing in the world Death of the Endless wants more than to have her brother back.”

(She wants it so desperately, in fact, that she’s offering immortality to any sentient being who manages to procure Dream for her.

And, well.

There’s nothing in the world Hob wants more than to live forever…)

“Your word in- or, well, kept out of Destiny’s ears, young friend.” Gil sighs, collecting his lists and notes and the remaining flyers, tucking them into his coat and reaching for his cane. “In the meantime, how about we go down to the public house and have a bit of a snifter to wash away the memories of all those atrocious performances, eh, my lad?”

“Best idea you had all day, Gil.” Hob grins, clapping a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder. “Are you buying?”

Gilbert raises one grey brow. “At the risk of provoking a joke regarding my non-human status: in your dreams, Robert.”

Hob laughs; and, together, they step out into the winter night, old snow crunching under their shoes and new flakes beginning to drift, gradually, down from the sky.

It has been a decade since the end of the Endless’ reign.

Ten years since humanity tore Destiny’s book from his hands and burned it.

Ten years since Destruction abandoned his siblings, hiding away in his own, separate exile.

Ten years since Despair’s first aspect was killed, and another took her place.

Ten years since Delight went mad with grief and became Delirium…

And ten years since Dream of the Endless was captured, bound, turned human, and killed.

People still whisper about it. Still speculate, trade gossip and hearsay back and forth. Some insist that the Dream King yet lives, hidden away, turned human, just biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to return to his siblings.

It’s a lovely legend, Hob supposes. A fitting end and non-end, for the Lord of Stories, to live on in one… but that’s all it is. A pretty tale, which will breathe new life into a myth only for as long as it’s being told. It isn’t true…

…but now, ten years later, Hob and Gil will damn well make it so.

Ten years is also, coincidentally, all that a man a few streets down from the old theatre can remember of his life.

Ten years since he was found, naked and emaciated and bleeding, in a ditch next to some countryside road in East Sussex.

Ten years of fighting his way through a life in poverty, with no family, no friends, no-one to care for him, except perhaps the birds.

Ten years of strange and haunting dreams, blurred faces calling out to him with names he can never remember later but knows are his; ten years of waking every morning with tears on his face and a longing for someplace - and someones - he wishes he could remember; ten years of a woman’s voice begging him night after night to come home to her, to them.

Ten years of being much too busy starving and freezing and barely surviving to spare even a single thought to the dying legends of the Endless.

This man turns his face up to the sky, snowflakes catching in his dark hair and on his coat like stars glinting in the night; and he shivers, his breath clouding mist-white in the air, curling thin arms around a narrow torso.

(For a moment, just a moment, his eyes glow dark and infinite, a mirror to the night sky and the endless universe beyond.)

And then, he ducks his head down into his scarf, shivers again, and continues on through the snow.

Ten hard years have taught this man better than to waste his time standing about and daydreaming.

#WyWrites #dreamling #the sandman #anastasia dreamling au #it's been 84 years......#i've got a rough draft of a scene or two after this too #endlessly busy with uni of course #and getting back into Good Omens my old love #but i've been feeling like dabbling with this au again lately so why not #and i just HAD to give you Hal doing the iconic coat drop scene #he would have been iconic as drag Dream of the Endless just saying #Hob and Gil are missing out #and the first glimpse of Murphy... I can see it in my mind's eye so clearly #him looking up at the sky with the stars in his eyes and the snow in his hair #and Death forever calling out to him in her sleep #gosh have i missed this au #can't guarantee too much more #but a few more bits are definitely in the works!

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jerzwriter · 7 months

Text

The way I screamed when I received this commission! I was going to wait until it was a little closer to Halloween to post, but I'm not that patient! @/artbyainna (IG) knocked it out of the park again!

On the Spot

Book: Open Heart (Post Series) Pairing: Tobias x Casey Carrick (MC) Featuring: Vivian Carrick, Jordan Carrick, Sammy and Brooke Category: Halloween Fluff Rating: Teen Words: 1284 Summary: It's their first Halloween as parents of two, and things are a little crazy at the Carrick's, but it's nothing they can't handle. A/N: Participating in @choicesoctober - Costume/Halloween and @choicesprompts Flufftober - Found Family (Okay, it's a stretch... but it is really fluffy lol)

Chaos. It’s to be expected in any home with little children, and the Carrick household was no exception. But, on certain days, the chaos was dialed up just a notch. And Halloween, with all of its events, costumes, and free-flowing sugar, was certainly one of them. Casey was running around, tending to her long to-do list, when the clock struck one.

“Shit!” she spat, peeking her head into the kitchen. “Tobias, you’re going to take care of feeding Brooke, right?”

“Absolutely,” her husband beamed, quickly returning to making silly faces at their giggling baby girl. “I've got this. You go take care of yourself, babe.”

But the makeup kit on the table in the hallway reminded Casey of one more thing she had forgotten to do. Grabbing it, she made a beeline to the living room, where her mother-in-law, Vivian, was having a very important tea date with her older daughter, Samantha.

“Hey! Tobias is taking care of feeding Brooke. Would you be able to do Sammy’s makeup so I can get dressed?”

Vivian shot her beloved daughter-in-law a look that just screamed... really? But her reply was far more diplomatic.

“Casey, dear. What do you think I’m here for?”

“To be an utter pain in my ass,” Tobias yelled from the kitchen.

Vivian let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know why you married him. Don’t misunderstand,” she quickly corrected. “I’m delighted that you did... I just don’t... understand it.”

“Aw, Viv, you know I love him.”

“And I'm appreciative," she grinned. "Now, go... get dressed, dear. I'm happy to do my little angel’s makeup.”

Casey rushed upstairs and pulled a teeny black dress from her closet, quickly shimmying into it while stepping into her red heels. After placing a wig on her head, she put her makeup on at record speed. Then, she looked around her room in a panic.

“Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no! Did I leave my shawl at the hospital? Oh my god... I think I left my shawl at the hospital!”

She was frantically searching when Tobias stepped in. While his eyes traced every single curve on her body, he let out a slow whistle, which brought Casey’s attention his way.

“Damn, baby! Look at you!" He hissed. "Do we have to go trick or treating? I could tell my Mom to take the girls, then you and I could stay home and work on baby number three.”

“Really?” She smirked. “You know damn well there is not going to be a baby number three, Dr. Carrick. Not unless you want to find another wife.”

“Well, that’s not happening,” he assured. His arms encircled her waist as he nudged her hair aside and pressed a warm kiss on her neck before continuing. “I'm all right with just pretending to make baby number three.”

“Tobias Carrick,” she giggled. “Are you seriously suggesting not going trick or treating with our little girls?"

“Nah,” he grinned. “I’d never miss that. We'll save our private celebration for later. Now, why were you panicking when I walked in?”

“I can’t find my shawl! Without it, I won’t look like Cruella. I’ll look like I'm running a brothel!”

“Nothing wrong with that,” he laughed, handing her the shawl. “Looking for this, babe.”

Casey’s shoulders dropped with relief. “Oh, thank God! How the heck didn’t I see that?”

“Because you’re doing a hundred things at once. Let me help.”

“You can help by getting into your costume. We have to introduce Boston to the sexiest dog catcher it’s ever seen.”

“Yeah, I still think you picked that costume so you can tell me it’s my job to run after Sammy all day.”

“Hey, why do you think I bought you that big net?” she smiled.

Tobias’s eyes glistened. “Just remember,” he said, kissing Casey’s cheek. “Once we put our little puppies to bed tonight, the only thing I’m going to be chasing is you.”

“Hmm... why do you think I got you that big net,” she teased.

“That will definitely be fun.”

“I’m going downstairs,” Casey said, pulling herself away. “It's not fair to ask your mom to get both of the puppies ready.”

“Are you kidding? That woman nagged me for grandkids for nearly three decades. This is payback.”

“Tobias?” Casey playfully admonished.

“OK. Go. Go. But make sure you tell my mom that any Butterfingers the girls get trick or treating are mine!”

“Babe, we have six bags of Butterfingers to hand out; you can keep one for yourself if you like."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

“Well... I like that... but still... it’s the principle. She needs to know every Butterfinger on the planet doesn't belong to her!”

“Yes, dear....” she laughed as she headed for the door. "I'll see what I can do."

~~~~~

Thirty minutes later:

“Hey, Sammy! Look at Uncle Jordan! The camera loves you, sweetie!”

“It was so nice of you to come take our pictures,” Casey smiled.

“For my three favorite relatives?” Jordan flashed a bright smile. “I’d do anything.”

“Real nice,” Tobias chided. “Omitting one of our girls from your favorite relatives.”

“Oh, you know you were the one being left out of that equation, big brother,” Jordan laughed.

All heads turned when the front door of their townhome creaked open.

“Well, you better up your favorite relatives list to four, son. Otherwise, these two little girls could easily replace you in my will.”

“Why didn’t tell me she was here?” Jordan asked Tobias through clenched teeth.

“Because it’s much more fun this way,” he gleefully replied.

“Guys!” Casey called out. “As much as I live for Carrick family banter, can we finish taking the pictures? Sammy’s daycare party is starting soon.”

“Leave it to my two idiots to make this precious little girl late,” Vivian scolded.

Not wishing to push his mother any further, Jordan decided to speed things up.

“All right, let’s get the family picture taken. Do you think there is any chance we can get Brooke to look this way?”

Casey shook her head. “Jordan, the chances of getting them to simultaneously look in your direction are slim. Just do your best. No one expects perfection.”

“Uncle Jowdan,” Sammy giggled. “Look! I’m a doggie, I’m growl... RAH.”

“Oh, that’s good!” Jordan approved. “That’s good! Keep doing that.”

As he snapped away, little Brooke began gumming Tobias’s cheek, leaving him and Casey laughing with that overjoyed grin only new parents seemed to achieve.

SNAP!

“That’s going to be the winning shot right there!” Jordan declared.

“Thanks, brother,” Tobias smiled, shaking Jordan’s hand. “Are you coming to the party?”

“Do you have room in your car? I thought you were taking Mom? Where did she go anyway?”

A guilty-looking Vivian turned around just before she entered the front door.

Casey couldn’t help but laugh. “Vivian. Were you heading in for the Butterfingers? I can easily get you your own bag on the way back home. There is no need to steal Tobias’s.”

“It’s da pwinciple,” Sammy giggled as Casey rubbed her temples.

“Oh, no! I can’t handle three of them!”

“Mom, get in the car already,” Jordan cackled. “I’ll stay behind and edit the pictures. I'll join you for trick or treating after.”

“Editing?” Tobias shrugged. “Look at these subjects? They'll be perfect. What do you have to do?”

“Uhm... photoshop your hand to a more appropriate place on your wife. It is a family photo, big brother,” he snickered. “Talk about butterfingers.”

“Oh, for the love of God!” Vivian spat out, holding Sammy’s ears. “The amount of therapy your poor child is going to need!”

“She’ll be just fine,” Casey laughed. “Now, Tobias, please drive, we’re running late.”

"Fine," he said, starting the car, but not before yelling out the window. "Jordan!"

"Yeah?"

"Leave my hand exactly where it was," he winked. "We're married, for God's sake."

"Ah, yes," Casey sighed. "It's a very Carrick Halloween."

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @openheartfanart

Other tags on reblog.

#choices fanfic #choices fan art #open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfic #tobias carrick #tobias carrick x mc #tobias casey #playchoices #playchoices fanfic #playchoices fanart #halloween

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nekropsii · 1 year

Note

on the topic of Hussie's racism translating into the comic itself: the origin of lil Cal's name came from a racist comic Hussie made in his TeamSpecialOlympics line It's titled "Rollin with lil Cal" and depicts a black character adopted by a white dad that just goes "Shit! I be 29 years old mutha-fucka!" he either re-used this character itself throughout these comics or was just lazy, but what appears to be the same og lil Cal was in his comic "Underground Funk Railroad", which ended with "Slaves Recaptured: funky swagger to blame" as well as mocking systematic racism and segregation with the racial slur negro (which, historically by white people in that time frame, was pronounced similar to the well-known n word [re-stating out of habit to keep clarification of why it's bad/an actual slur])

From my research, "Lil' Cal" as a name actually seems to extend a little farther back than that. Looks like the origin of Lil' Cal as a character- or at least as a name belonging to a Black character- dates back to around 2005-2006, with the creator being Andrew Hussie's brother, Byron Hussie, also known as Byrobot. You'll see that username a lot when poking around archives of Team Special Olympics comics. I give the estimate of 2005 or so, because Byrobot's Lil' Cal strips predate Hussie's, and not only was Hussie's edition of "Rollin' Wit Lil' Cal" posted in (late-ish) 2006, but Byrobot closed his website in around early 2006, which is where that strip was originally hosted. Plus, I've seen a couple anecdotes that it was around 2005 when that first started being a thing... Either way, though.

Unsurprisingly, Lil' Cal wasn't exactly illustrated with much... Class. Here's Byrobot's first Lil' Cal strip. This is the first iteration of Lil' Cal ever posted online.

Yikes. Yikes on bikes.

To fortify your points, though, I'll post the strips you're talking about here.

Here's Hussie's "Rollin' Wit Lil' Cal", which depicts exactly what you said. This was posted on 08/01/06, as a part of the "Scribblettes" series on the Team Special Olympics website.

And here's Hussie's "Underground Funk Railroad", once again depicting exactly what you said. This was posted on 11/02/06, but is the same story otherwise.

I understand the anxious urge to do it, but I don't think most people really need an explanation as to why any variant of the N-Word is bad. Though, since you brought it up...

Have this. 12/20/06. I needed to curse someone else with it. Same story again, this is still a part of the Scribblettes series.

Regarding the speculation on whether the reusage of Lil' Cal was an act of laziness or not: TSO's Scribblettes have many recurring characters and recurring bits, Lil' Cal just happens to be one of them. Now, applying that same train of thought to Lil Cal's appearance in Homestuck... Homestuck is chock full of references, both to random things/media, and to Hussie's older works- like Problem Sleuth, Humanimals, And It Don't Stop, et cetera. Lil Cal, the puppet, was named the way he was as another throwback for longtime fans. Lil' Cal, the TSO character, was reused during the runtime of Scribblettes just for fun.

I have nothing profound to say about any of this. This guy sucks, lol.

#homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #team special olympics #andrew hussie #lil cal #cw racism #homestuck.pdf #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms

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shakespearseclipse · 11 months

Text

No one has to know what we do

Summary: Kinda just a prologue, there is not a lot happening, basically reader is Azriels sister and its a modern!au

A/N: Hi guys! My first acotar fanfic wow! I just NEEDED to write for our Highlord. There are not nearly enough fanfics about him and Im so seriously in love with him its not healthy. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated!

Anyone interested in me posting a part 2?

Being Azriel's slightly younger sister, you were not a stranger to his two best friends, well, they were more like brothers really. Cassian and you had always had a sibling-like relationship, but it has always been different between Rhys and you.

When all four of you were children, you would steal both Azriels and Cassians things without even thinking about asking them. When you wanted to borrow something from Rhys, however, you would put on your cutest face, eyes wide, lips slightly curved into a smile, and ask him nicely.

When the four of you were growing up, your three former best friends and you drifted apart slightly. You quickly found your own friends and didn't spend much time with the trio. But the separation did nothing to end your little crush. Quite the opposite happened, whenever you would see Rhys, you would become overly nervous and giggle.

The year you turned eightteen and the boys turned nineteen was horrible for your relationship with Azriel. It was the year you brought home your first official boyfriend. You had given up on your stupid fantasy of Rhys falling for you and decided to move on. Your parents weren't overly interested in your boyfriend and you were stupid enough to think that your brother wouldn't either.

One evening, not long after introducing him to your parents, thinking you were home alone, you invited your boyfriend, Tamlin, over. At first, everything seemed to be going well. The two of you ending up on the couch with him on top of you, kissing slowly.

"I still don't get how exactly you managed to tear down the building at the lake, Cass, but-"

Rhys deep voice was silented pretty quickly, when the trio entered the living room, taking in the scene before them, all of them seemingly in a trance. Their expression of utter shock would have been funny, had you not been in a compromising position underneath your boyfriend. You quickly pushed him off, standing up and clearing your throat.

"Hi", you croaked out.

"Hi? Hi? That's what you say after I find you with his tongue down your throat?", Azriel practically spat out, trying and horribly failing to stay calm.

"I think it's best if you leave", you quietly said to Tamlin, trying to get him out before your brother would do something he'd regret.

"Why should I leave? I'm not scared of your brother."

Idiot. Stupid Idiot with a death wish.

Before Azriel could react to the most stupid thing anyone has ever said, Rhysand stepped forward, radiating just as much rage as Az, but seemingly keeping it concealed beneath calm exterior.

"Maybe you should be. If you think you'll win this fight, be my guest. I won't be the one wearing a body cast.", he casually shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips as he imagined your boyfriend in a cast.

Apparently, Tamlin wasn't as fearless as he claimed to be. He swallowed heavily before looking to the floor and leaving without another glance in your direction.

The second Tamlin had left the room, three pairs of eyes strayed to you.

"Since when do you have a boyfriend?", Cassian asked in as nice a tone as he could manage. He didn't exactly love the image of you making out with someone, but he did wish to ease the horrible tension which had befallen the room.

Clearing your throat, you answered: "I've known him a few weeks now."

"Who cares? Why are you going around kissing people? When I was your age-", Azriel started

"Oh please, when you were my age you practically banged the whole neighborhood.", you said, getting slightly agitated with your older brother. The hypocrisy!

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do."

You could feel three disbelieving stares on your back as you left the room. Just before closing your bedroom door, you could hear Cassians booming laughter.

"Oh she's definitely going to be a lot of trouble for you, Az. When did she become so feisty?", Cassian managed to get out before continuing to laugh.

"Shut up."

Rhysand stayed silent. His mind was jumping back and forth between being pissed about you kissing someone else and the way you just left the three of them standing there afterwards.

"You both have to promise me something.", Az said slowly.

Cassian had managed to stop laughing by then and both Rhys and him were looking at their brother with a question in their eyes.

"No matter what fucking happens, neither of you can ever start anything with my sister"

#acotar fanfiction #acotar #rhysand #rhysand x reader #acotar fic #modern!au #acotar modern au

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hwanghyunjinenthusiast · 1 year

Text

Tripped and fell into VerDi brainrot and, this is the result. Had this in the drafts for awhile now and I was initially going to post another piece before it but, I want to work on posting works in chronological order from when I start them. Honestly, this might be my favourite piece that I've written so far. Enjoy the filth.

Lee Chan x Fem! Reader x Hansol Vernon Chwe, Chan and Reader are in a relationship, voyeurism, exhibitionism, Vernon watches Chan and Reader have sex, praise kink (f. and m. receiving), unprotected piv sex, spanking (f. receiving), creampie, oral sex (m. receiving), Dom! Chan, Switch! Reader, Sub(ish)! Vernon and Chan being an overall menace to both Reader and Vernon.

I will block you if you are a minor and/or have no easily visible indication of your age on your blog if you interact with me in any way.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

When your boyfriend first suggested this, you were more than a little uncertain. Not that you had any issues with Vernon, quite the opposite actually. You two got along incredibly well, much to Chan's relief, and have become relatively good friends in your own right. However, being good friends with your boyfriend's best friend doesn't magically equate to being comfortable with involving him as a third during sex. Vernon is a good looking man, to put it simply. You weren't blind to that. It also didn't help that you found his more shy and reserved personality endearing. Sometimes wondering how he became best friends with your loud ass boyfriend. The two of them feeling like complete opposites at times. Regardless, while you were attracted to him, you did had your reservations about including him in your sex life when your boyfriend brought it up.

"I- what brought this on?" You asked Chan, completely bewildered by this suggestion to let Vernon watch the two of you. Chan's ears are a bright red as he explains what his friend confessed to him one night after one too many drinks, "He thinks you're hot. Always has. He said one night he overheard us fucking in the dance studio and, got off on hearing us. He said after that he's been curious about what watching us would be like." All of this information hits you like a truck. Learning far more about Vernon's sexual interests than you ever expected to in your lifetime. While you can see the appeal for yourself and Vernon, you do wonder what's in it for Chan. "Why do you want to do it?" You finally ask when you remember how to formulate words. Your brain still reeling from all of this. Chan just smirks before answering, "I thought you'd notice by now, I like showing off."

That's how you find yourself thighs spread wide with Chan fucking into while Vernon sits across from you two on a chair, watching. Chan's hands grip your thighs tightly to make sure they stay open. Making sure Vernon can see ever movement of his girthy cock inside of you. His chest is hot and sweaty against your back, his breaths against your shoulder and neck giving rise to goosebumps. A particularly hard thrust from him has you throwing your head back and, moaning long and loud for both men to hear. "Isn't she so pretty?" Chan asks the older man over your shoulder, moving one of his hands to toy with your hardened nipple. "Yeah, so fucking pretty," Vernon responds completely transfixed by the sight of the two of you.

Vernon is yet to do anything other than sit there and watch, in nothing but his boxers. Both men agreeing to let you take the reins in that regard. Honestly, he's just happy you both agreed to let him watch. You're quite literally making one of his wildest fantasies a reality. He wasn't going to get all greedy now. Trying his best to ignore the painful ache of his profusely leaking cock in his boxers, he struggles to choose where to focus his gaze. One part of him desperately wants to watch the way your tight pussy eagerly swallows his best friend's (kind of intimidating) cock. The other part of him wants to watch your tits jump and bounce and jiggle with each of Chan's precise thrusts. The final part of him wants to watch your beautiful face. Eyes lidded in pleasure, lips bruised and swollen from how thoroughly Chan had kissed you and, every little noise you make shooting straight to his cock. Vernon would never tell Chan this because the younger man's ego is enormous enough as it is but, he thinks he finally understands why you're so willing and eager to spread your thighs for him, any and everywhere. Chan is nothing if not thorough at making sure you're fucked out.

He settles on alternating between looking at every part of you but, he finds his eyes wondering to your pussy more than anywhere else. You may be becoming too dazed to notice but, Chan notices and he pounces.

He fucks into you particularly hard, biting back a groan at how you tighten around him and dig your nails into the skin of his arms as he holds onto you firmly. "She's so tight. I can barely move," he tells Vernon, enjoying the way his words wash over his friend. His grip on the arms of the chair he's been sitting for what feels like hours tightening slightly as he swallows thickly. "Chan," you whine out in embarrassment at his words, turning your head in an attempt to hide from Vernon's scorching gaze. Chan won't be having any of it, however. The hand that had been toying with your nipple moves to cup your jaw, turning you back to face his best friend, whispering in your ear, "There's no need to be shy, baby. Look at how hard Vernon is from watching us. From watching you."

You shyly let your eyes wander to Vernon and are immediately struck with how delectable he looks. His brown locks sticking to his sweaty forehead, face flushed an adorable shade of pink and his cock straining against his boxers with a noticeable wet spot. The sight of him causing you clench around Chan's cock and moan out far louder than you intended to. "Y-you look so pretty, Ver-Vernon," you stutter out, taking great pleasure in watching his blush darken and spread down to his neck. "She means it. I almost came from how hard she clenched around me just now," Chan adds over your shoulder, moving his hand from your jaw to your clit.

"Th-Thanks," comes Vernon's bashful response, his cock throbbing from the praise. He watches intently as Chan makes quick work of your clit, still fucking you incessantly while encouraging you to cum on his cock. Cum while Vernon watches.

"Don't you want to show Vernon how much of a good girl you are? How beautiful you look when you cum?" Chan asks loud enough for both of you to hear clear as day, his fingers and his cock not giving you much of a choice. You hold Vernon's gaze as you cum. Insides tightening around Chan like a vice while your juices gush down his cock and his balls onto your shared bed, mouth open as you cry out for both men to hear.

Vernon has never cum untouched but, he thinks he just might from watching how hard you cum. You're arching and squirming so attractively, all your sounds of pleasure making his boxers even more of a sticky mess. Chan was right, you do look beautiful when you cum. Speaking of the younger man, this is probably the first time he isn't running his mouth all night. His own moans mixing with yours from how hard you try and milk him for his cum but, he resists. He still has other ideas in mind for how he wants this evening to go. Steeling his resolve to not fill you with his cum, he does keep you steady against his chest as you ride out your climax. Slowing his thrusts down as to not completely overwhelm you and, cooing encouragements and praise at you for how well you did, how pretty you looked and how good you were for him.

"Are you okay? Do you want to take a break?" Chan asks you softly, hands now rubbing your thighs soothingly. Once you finally start to regain the ability to formulate words you respond, "No, I don't want to stop. I have an idea actually. I want you to fuck me while I suck off Vernon." It's a desire of yours that's been building as you've watched Vernon squirm in that chair while Chan makes you take him. You want to touch Vernon, to taste him. You'd even be okay with letting him fuck you too but, you know Chan probably wouldn't be comfortable with that. Atleast for now. "That's if you're both okay with that," you add hurriedly, giving both men ample opportunity to back out. They seem to have a silent conversation with one another for a moment. Communicating through eye contact and nothing else. You try not to squirm too much on Chan's lap, his cock still very much rock hard inside of you while the two of them communicate. Finally, Chan's hands gravitate to your hips and he kisses the side of your head before say, "I'm down and something tells me Vernon is too. How do you want us, baby?"

That's how you find yourself with your face in Vernon's lap while Chan gradually fucks into you from behind. His hands holding your hips while he thrusts into you slowly. Giving you time to adjust to the new angle and focus on Vernon with minimal distractions. Vernon watches you in a mixture of fascination and shyness, your face centimetres from his still covered cock. You slowly reach for his boxers, giving him the chance to stop you if he wants to. He doesn't. You watch through half-lidded eyes how his lengthy cock smacks against his stomach, smearing pre-cum on his skin. Chan's grip on your hips tightens for a moment when you clench around him at the sight of Vernon's cock, picking up the pace behind you gradually. "Is it o-okay if I touch you now?" You ask him, hand hovering just above his cock that is flushed a rather angry looking red. "Yeah," he breathes out and, it takes everything in him not to cum on the spot when you finally do touch him. Wrapping your hand around him and stroking slowly to become accustomed to the weight of him.

Vernon is a little embarrassed at the noise he makes when you experimentally lick him, his taste a little salty but, otherwise not unpleasant. "You can touch me too, okay?" You tell him softly with a smile before easing your mouth onto his cock, feeling him pulse violently against your tongue for a few beats. Vernon's shaky hands find themselves in your hair, being careful not to tug too hard as you begin to well and truly suck him off. "You can be more rough. Not only can she take it, she loves it. Isn't that right, princess?" Chan asks you, giving your ass a harsh slap to prove his point. Your answering moan with a mouthful of Vernon's cock and attempts at nodding make Chan smirk before he focuses his attention back on making sure you're fucked thoroughly. Watching the way your pussy takes ever bit of his cock and your ass kisses his abs with ever thrust have him steadily heading towards his orgasm. Vernon isn't fairing much better. Even while partially distracted by Chan, you still try your utmost to make sure the older man is enjoying himself. Taking him as far as you can, swallowing around him and deliberately slowly easing off of him until his tip rests against your tongue once more. He thinks he might just lose his mind with how much of a tease you're being. "I- please" he begs hoarsely, grip tightening on your hair as you ease down onto his cock once again. At his plea, you meet his wild eyes, stilling your mouth momentarily while you stare at him with a glint of amusement. He knows what you want him to do and Vernon has never been too proud of a man to beg for what he wants. "Please. Please l-let me cum. Please," he whines, trying his best to stay still and behave for you.

Chan groans from behind you at how you clench around him at Vernon's words, fucking into your faster. His grip on your hip and ass bruising now. You wouldn't be surprised to find indents of his fingers on your skin when he was finished with you. Deciding to treat Vernon with a little kindness since he asked so nicely, you continue your ministrations on him. This time not slowing down or taking it easy on him in the slightest. Your bedroom filled with the sounds of skin slapping against skin, you gagging on Vernon's cock and the moans of pleasure from the two men.

To the surprise of everyone, Chan is the first to cum. You know before he informs you based on the way his cock pulses incessantly inside of you and he keeps you still against his hips that he's going to cum. His cum is warm and familiar inside of you and, the vibrations from your moans at being being filled up by your lovely boyfriend quickly send Vernon over the edge as well. You do appreciate his attempts in trying to warn you but, you were more than happy to swallow his cum. You try your best to swallow all of it but, there's just too much of it so bits of it dribble past your lips and down your chin. You lap at him softly until he moans from the oversensitivity so, eventually you stop and give him some time to catch his breath. Vernon watches you scoop up all his cum that made it past your lips with your fingers and push them into your mouth until they're licked completely clean.

God, you're so hot.

Chan gently eases out of you. Both of you shuddering at the feeling and, he takes a moment to admire the view of his cum leaking out of your pretty pussy. Honestly, you don't think you've felt this full of cum and well-fucked in your life. Which is really saying something because your boyfriend is an extremely thorough man when it comes to sex. Even on the verge of blacking out, you're so glad you decided to say yes to this idea.

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