(This Was Originally An Ask Received Through Twitter)

Twisted-Wonderland

Azul Ashengrotto - Platinum Jacket (Voice Lines)

Following is my translation of the voice lines for Azul's Platinum Jacket card.

Spoilers after the cut.

Summon

🐙: What a phenomenal art collection - priceless works as far as the eye can see… This is the perfect opportunity to refine one's eye for beauty, wouldn't you say?

🐙: Appreciating the arts is the best way to strengthen one's imagination. Let us study well, and have a wonderful time today.

Home Lines

🐙: A hundred year anniversary, eh. That's simply amazing.

🐙: Floyd is as freewheeling as ever in museums. Though an eel he may be, he's nothing at all like the pair that served the Sea Witch.

🐙: I came across Vil admiring a piece of artwork very intently. When I inquired with him, he said he was simply studying the beautiful pose. I wouldn't expect anything less from a professional such as him.

🐙: It feels great to learn a piece you've had your eye on has increased in value. It's confirmation that your intuition was correct.

🐙: If there's a piece you're interested in, please don't hesitate to ask me about it. I've been studying the fine arts as part of my education, and am sure I could offer you at least a simple explanation.

🐙: Jamil-san appears to have a sharp eye for fine art, and I'll be glad to continue our acquaintanceship.

🐙: The King of the Underworld was said to be skilled in the art of negotiation. I'd love to read more about it - more so in detailed accounts, rather than just anecdotes.

🐙: Amongst those in the managerial profession, many have hobbies related to the fine arts. Being well-versed in art, music, and literature comes in great use when talking business.

🐙: I presume Ortho-san can identify counterfeits quite easily using his sensors… Perhaps if the opportunity arises, I'll inquire with him about it.

🐙: I wonder just how many merfolk the Sea Witch assisted throughout her life. She was such a mighty mage it could've been hundreds… perhaps even thousands.

🐙: This corsage was designed based on the shell the Sea Witch would wear on her necklace. It's lovely, isn't it?

🐙: Oh, my. That glimmer in your eyes… If you've taken a liking to that piece, I'd be happy to procure a reproduction for you - and I'll throw in a special discount for you, of course.

Groovy

🐙: Love is a wonderful thing. One's troubles never end when one has fallen in love, and it's a marvelous boon for those of us in the consultation business.

DUO

🐙: I could certainly use some assistance here, Jamil-san.

🐍: Well you certainly don't look it, Azul.

You can read my summary of this card's vignette over here on my twitter.

At some point in your life, you were taught that being slightly annoying is an unforgivable sin. Maybe it was by your parents or a teacher or a friend or a bully or an older sibling. But someone taught you that being slightly annoying is a crime punishable by death.

You must unlearn this.

You must accept that all people will be annoying at some point or another in their lives, maybe all of their lives, and that this is okay. It is okay for strangers on the bus, it is okay for children in the grocery store, it is okay for people on social media, and it is okay for you.

If you ever want to truly love your fellow humans, if you ever want to truly love yourself, you must have forgiveness for being annoying.

JUST A FRIENDSHIP GIFT (g/n reader x floyd leech) ★ you buy floyd a friendship gift. fortunately, he likes it! unfortunately, the gift could be misinterpreted for a love confession in the coral sea... where floyd leech was born.... uh oh! ★ fluff! tbh can be read as platonic or romantic ★ 2k words, mild cursing, not proofread, reader is called 'shrimpy', open ending :)

floyd leech is your friend. 

or at least, you think he is. he clings to you like you’re his life support, always leaning on you like you’re his personal armrest. you’ve grown accustomed to the loud call of “shrimpy!” whenever he sees you, always mentally preparing yourself for when he starts dragging you away to be part of whatever new hobby he’s picked up. you’re also no stranger to his bone-crushing hugs, the ones that lift you slightly off the ground and quite literally take your breath away.  

you thought that eventually he’d get bored of your presence and find someone else to pick on. he’s pretty open about the fact that he’d drop azul if he got boring. but it’s been a while now, and he still won’t leave you alone. in fact, you’re pretty sure he’s gotten clingier, if that’s even possible. 

you used to try and run, but you quickly found out that you cannot escape from floyd leech. a terrifying concept, but, well, he doesn’t seem to mean harm. most of the time, that is.  

nonetheless, floyd leech is still your friend. ignoring his occasional sadistic nature, he’s nice enough. he cheers you up whenever you’re sad, even if his methods are a little unorthodox. he’ll drag you away from classes, proclaiming that he can always go through the material with you later, and make you help him practice his basketball skills or recount the time he squeezed someone so hard their eyes were almost bulging out of their skull. and he’ll back you up in an argument, glaring down the person slighting you and telling them off with only a few words.  

(but he’ll make fun of you all he wants. you’ll excitedly tell him something new you learned and then he’ll laugh at you for not knowing basic twisted wonderland history even though you are from a completely different dimension.) 

you’re pretty sure you and floyd leech are friends. so, it was really no surprise when you did what any good friend does, and you gave him a gift that reminded you of him. 

it was this cheap matching set of phone charms that you picked up while buying your groceries at sam’s. his charm consisted of small, glimmering beads mimicking gold and ivory pearls leading to a shiny off-white seashell that dangled at the end of the charm. your charm was similar in design, but the gold beads were replaced with baby blue ones, and the beads led up to a seastar.  

you thought it was cute. you thought floyd might find it cute. so why... why is he just staring at it? 

“do you, like, not like it?” you laugh nervously, watching as floyd, for the first time ever, remains completely and utterly still. you don’t get it. did you offend him in some way with the charm? do eels not like phone charms? does he not like the seashell? does he not like the color gold??? 

suddenly, he breaks out into a fit of laughter. it does nothing to ease your anxiousness, or your confusion. 

“oh, man. you’re so funny shrimpy!” he grins, revealing his horrifyingly sharp teeth, “you have no idea what this means, right? man, i forget how dense you are sometimes!” 

okay. ouch. you take time and money out of your day to give him a gift and he calls you dense. 

“well, what’s wrong with it?” you ask, offended, “did i accidentally curse out your entire bloodline in eel language or something?” 

“nah,” he says brightly, picking up the charm to examine it closer. the beads gleam in the sunlight, making their pearl act look much more convincing. you still don’t get it.  

“look at it shrimpy,” he continues, “it’s shiny, pretty, and it’s part of a matching set!... still don’t get it? i’ll spell it out for you, ‘kay? listen closely... it would check all the boxes... for a love confession in the coral sea!” 

oh. 

oh. 

“so i’m asking you out,” you say dumbly. 

“so you’re asking me out!” he affirms happily, “awhh, you’re so cute shrimpy, asking me out in such a traditional way! i accept!” 

“wait-” you sputter out, “wait! it’s not a love confession- why did you say yes so easily?! it’s a friendship gift! because we’re friends! it’s not part of a courting ritual!” 

floyd laughs in your face again. you suddenly have the urge to either punch floyd leech or take away the phone charm and burn it. but you don’t. thank the sevens for your great impulse control. 

“it’s okay, shrimpy! no need to be embarrassed!” he teases between giggles, swinging the charm in front of your face, “c’mere! i’m gonna give you the biggest squeeze of your life!” 

“wait-” 

but floyd leech does not wait. he immediately tackles you with the force of a truck. you feel your feet lift off the floor as floyd hugs you so tight you feel your bones struggle to stay intact.  

“ow! owowow!” you squeak out, writhing hopelessly in his grasp. you try to form coherent words, but all you can make out are gasps of pain. 

just as suddenly as he grabbed you, he drops you on the ground and makes a bolt for the door. 

“wha- where are you going?!” you yell out. he grins at you from over his shoulder, swinging the door open and prancing through. 

“what does it look like? i’m gonna show off to everyone!” he yells back, turning the corner. you hear his cackling gradually getting quieter as he runs off. 

“wait- floyd! floyd!” 

you scramble to your feet, wincing at the ache in your ribs. you try to rush out the door after him, but it’s too late. floyd leech is gone with the wind. 

sevens save you. your reputation is going to take a nosedive straight into the mud. 

you’re so done for. 

you’ve been on edge the whole day. 

you’ve gotten wind that yes, floyd did attach the charm to his phone, and yes, he did flaunt it to everyone. and while he didn’t outright say it was from you, he did say it was from “shrimpy” and everyone put two and two together pretty quickly. of course, nobody thought anything of it at first, you gave him a charm, so what? while it is unusual giving a gift to someone like floyd, it’s not really a big deal in the end. 

that is, until floyd had apparently offhandedly said that such a charm, shiny, beautiful, part of a matching set... would totally be considered a love confession in the coral sea. 

and then everything went to hell. 

every few minutes some student runs up to you and starts yelling at you, telling you that you’re insane for asking floyd out. and then you must correct them, telling them you meant it as a friendship gift. of course, nobody believes you.  

to put it simply, it’s been a rough few hours. 

“you!”  

you jolt, thoughts suddenly interrupted as you see ace sprinting towards you, and you have half a mind to start sprinting yourself back where you came from. 

he skids to a stop in front of you, hands on his knees as he breathes in and out heavily. 

“you asked out floyd leech?!” he yells between heaves. you wince.  

“no, i didn’t,” you insist, crossing your arms, “it was a friendship gift. a friendship gift! great sevens, how many times do i have to say it?!” 

“that’s not what floyd said.” 

“you’d believe floyd over me?!” 

“listen,” ace takes in a huge breath of air, straightening himself, “i didn’t think it was possible, i mean floyd? getting a partner before me? no way. so i asked him who it was from, and he was like, ‘shrimpy gave it to me!’ i didn’t even register it at first, like, who the hell was shrimpy? but then i realized, great sevens, it’s you.” 

you groan in embarrassment. you’ve gone through this scenario multiple times today, but it’s even more humiliating going through it with someone you’re close with.  

“look, it was a friendship gift,” you try explaining, “how was i supposed to know it meant a love confession where he was from? i didn’t even know what beanfest was!” 

“yeah, yeah,” ace waves off, “i’m surprised i even found you. thought you’d hole yourself up in your room or something.” 

“you were looking for me?” 

“duh! bet some other people are too. i wouldn’t put it past some of the octavinelle students to try and get the scoop,” ace sighs in exasperation, “sevens, i keep telling you to leave him alone and you just don’t listen, do you?” 

“to be fair, he’s the one that’s been following me.” 

“well, why do you encourage him to keep following you?!” 

you don’t really have an answer to that so you clamp your mouth shut. why do you keep encouraging him? 

“you’re such an idiot,” ace groans, “forget it. i’m leaving. i don’t want to get caught up in whatever mess you’re dealing with.” 

“weren’t you the one looking for me first?” 

too late again. ace walks away, and you still want to curl up in a hole and die.  

no! you can’t think like this! you’re mentally stronger than this, you’ve gotten past multiple overblots and lived and you’re not going to let one scandal ruin you! let’s see, your next class is... 

oh. it’s the one with floyd. 

so much for being mentally strong.

you walk into the classroom, and immediately all eyes turn towards you. you scan the free spaces, and... 

...great sevens. the only free one is near floyd. 

“shrimpy!” floyd says loudly, gaining the attention of the entire room. you see a scarabia student share knowing looks with the heartslabyul student next to him. great. floyd beckons you over, and you groan internally. 

the sevens hate you. it’s the only logical explanation. you slowly slide into the seat next to him, and he quickly takes out his phone. the charm is attached, just as you had feared.  

“i still have the charm you got me!” he exclaims, showing you that seven-forsaken charm. it glimmers in the sunlight. you really wish it didn’t. 

“yeah,” you respond back awkwardly, not sure where to look, “uhm. just by the way...” 

“hm?” 

“...you know it wasn’t meant to be a love confession, right? it really is just a friendship gift.” 

“huh?” he says, “yeah. i know.” 

...? 

“wait,” you sputter out, “but you’ve been telling everyone-” 

“yeah! that you got me something totally snazzy!” his gaze shifts to the phone charm, and he plays with the seashell at the end, sporting a goofy grin. “it’s like, totally cool! i’m gonna treasure it for life!”  

“no- why did you tell everyone it was a love confession?!” 

“wha?” he looks at you, clearly shocked. you gape at him. why is he the one who’s shocked?! you should be the one who’s more surprised! in fact, he should be groveling for your forgiveness right now! 

 “i never said that,” he denies, pouting, “you makin’ up lies about me, shrimpy?” 

“you-” you bury your head in your hands, groaning, “didn’t you tell them it was a love confession?” 

“i didn’t,” he insists, “all i said that it was funny how you didn’t know this charm could be considered a love confession! never said it was one. not my fault people assume, shrimpy!” 

you can feel everyone staring at you and floyd. you look up and make eye contact with the heartslabyul student who you saw before, and he hurriedly looks away. 

“dammit...” you whine, “this is all your fault!” 

“huh?!” floyd cries out, “how is it mine?!” 

“silence!” professor trein interrupts loudly. he must’ve come in while you were busy dealing with floyd. the class’s attention is diverted towards the front of the board, and you have never been gladder for professor trein’s presence. 

you open your textbook, breathing out a much-needed sigh of relief. thank the sevens that you’ll have a few moments of peace! 

...that is, until floyd waves his phone in front of your face, the charm swinging back and forth. the nerve! he’s making fun of you! you shoot a glare at him, and he meets your gaze with a smirk. 

“leech. phone away,” professor trein demands.  

“awhh. okay.” 

note: in honor of me getting my second floyd leech ssr. was gunning for his basketball card but got his dorm uniform instead... ITS OK. ITS A FLOYD CARD ALL THE SAME. (i wanted ace) also the open ending isn't because of like some master writing idea it's actually just because i didn't know how to finish it.

a little caught up

I just wanna talk about Laios Touden who always ran away when things get too hard for him.

He left home when he couldn’t handle the pressure of being the village chief’s son and ostracization from the village.

He left the army after countless of hazing. Heck, they even tore up his monster food guide and he had to rewrite it from scratch :((

(which was a gift from his mother btw. It was one of the remaining connection he had to her despite being estranged)

He didn’t take care of himself when he deserted the army. He worked in bad working conditions at the caravan who adopted him. He worked without pay as long as they gave him food and a place to sleep.

And after the final battle, he couldn’t handle the pressure once again and was about to flee. But his reason this time is not out of being fed up, rather it was because he saw himself as a burden to his friends. His desires had hurt them and almost destroyed the entire world.

But Marcille (the one who was also under the manipulation of the winged lion) knew what his feelings were. She knows her desires also hurt people. She shares his burden for hurting her friends due to her desires. Thus, she knows what to do to make him stay.

Connection. Togetherness. A sense of belonging with people he considers his family and friends.

He ran away from home because he felt he didn’t belong in his village. He deserted the army because he also felt like he didn’t belong. All of it was stemmed from loneliness and being alone. However, in the final battle, despite the larger pressure and burden it presents, he stays because he wasn’t alone anymore. He had people who comforted him. People who would pat him in the back and tell him it’s alright.

So really, all he needed to shine were people to support and stand by him.

ii i i i. I ii i i i i iiiiiii. I iii

nobody talk to me i’m in yhe trenches

— " SO MEAN SHRIMPY ! " Suggestive / Fluff / Gender neutral reader | Another fic I'm not proud of [ Merform!Floyd }

The coldness of the water embraced your legs, as you let out a hitched breath, feeling your body cool down. It was incredibly scorching outside, your uniform was no help in the factor either, your thoughts trailed off as you felt something slightly spiky yet smooth, wrap itself around your legs. “How’s my little shrimpy, doing?”, Floyd perks up from the water, in his merform. 

Floyd lets out a small chuckle, noticing your initial shock; his thorny teeth on full display, you assume the object around your legs was his tail. It wouldn’t be the first time you’d see Floyd’s merform, his webbed hands and predatory appearance of sorts coming as no surprise to you. 

You let out a heavy sigh of annoyance as Floyd lays his head on your lap; drenching the rest of your clothing; “What do you think you’re doing?” you mumble out, too tired to cause a fuss, sadly the eel ignored you, coddling further into your embrace, snuggling into the fabric that was already damp with humid, you felt the warmth of his breath under the cloth; as he continued with his movements, trying to fit into a comfortable position. You could feel his body relax as he finally eases into your grasp.

You let out a heavy breath, you suppose you should give him the attention he so desperately, craves; you reach out towards him, tracing the heart shaped outline on his back slowly, the sink in your fingertips, caused his breath to hitch ever so slightly, as he let lose a breathy chuckle of sorts, you could feel the sharp sting of his fangs through the fabric of your clothes, ‘God those were sharp’, you thought to yourself, giving Floyd a light tap on his head, your way of telling him to stop with whatever he was planning. 

He raised his head, giving you a playful pout of sorts, “So mean shrimpy!”

© cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.

Azul Ashengrotto