#(they long to be) close to you fanfic

[frozen-seagrass]

Thinking about Mav being unsure of what Ice's eye color is

Of course he's not going to do the normal thing and ask the man, so he settles for finding ways to get up close and personal to try and see for himself without being obvious (-> he fails)

But every time he gets a close enough look they're different. One day they look blue but the next they look hazel. One moment they look brown but then he turns his head and a different light catches on them and they look almost green

It turns into one big game of "How close will he let me get? How much will he let me see?" And it's not until he's gotten to the point of being a breath away from Ice's face- close enough to brush lips- and standing under the bright white LEDs that he realizes that they're gray

[kori-senpai]

Fanart for @honeydots Fire Emblem fanfic. I've been using it as a reason to fluke out of social interactions for the last two weeks and boy oh boy I will continue to do so >:)

[youchangedmedestiel]

Destiel AU idea (again)

Dean is searching for a flat because he recently divorced Lisa. He wants one that is big and comfortable enough to welcome his children, Ben and Emma. It's been months since he started searching for one. Fortunately, Lisa is understanding enough to let him stay in their old house until he finds something.

They actually aren't in a hard and conflicted relationship right now, their marriage stopped because there wasn't love between them anymore. They still care about each other.

Dean knew he wasn't in love with Lisa anymore and he suspected the same for Lisa, but he was fine with it. Lisa though thought otherwise. She asked for divorce because she said that they both deserved to find love and be loved.

So, Dean is doing his umpteenth visit for a flat that he spotted on Internet. This one seems really nice and clean, his children will be able to have their own rooms. And the kitchen looks awesome with enough place for him to cook.

The real estate agent who give him the tour of the flat isn't bad either. He has blue eyes, which looks surreal, long and dark eyelashes that match his hair and his growing beard. Dean listens to him attentively and can't help but look right into his eyes when he speaks. Dean wants to confide in him and he does that naturally actually.

He tells him that he is sick to search for a home for his family. It's been months, and he's exhausted to be disappointed each time he thinks he found something. But at the same time, he wants his children to feel good in that new home so he is demanding.

That real estate agent, Castiel, is compassionate and doesn't understand why Dean doesn't find one with his solid, complete application. Castiel tells Dean that maybe it's because others real estate agents are struggling right now. There's a lot of people searching for a new home at this time of the year, so a lot of work. Castiel admits that he, himself, is buried in work all day long.

He works 6 days a week constantly. Since Dean is really attentive to what the man in front of him says, he notices that Castiel doesn't seem to have someone in his life to get back to. So, he goes for it. He asks Castiel if he wants to go and get a drink with him once they have finished the tour.

Castiel seems surprised by the offer and looks away. He fumbles with his pen and papers and puts them on the kitchen counter. He takes a deep breath. So, Dean fears his answer.

"Are you asking me on a d-" Castiel starts asking hesitantly.

"Yes." Dean cuts him, because he somehow fears that word. It sounds too official and he's still living with his ex. Plus, it's been a while for him.

"O - okay. Yeah." Castiel agrees, and neither of them is able to look at the other.

[prepare4trouble]

Anybody else know that feeling when you think about a fanfic you haven’t read in years and you want to read it again but you can’t remember the author or the title, all you know is the plot and that it was so damn good and you have no idea how to find it?

[fountainpenguin]

🌃 City Lights AU 🌃

Fairly OddParents: A New Wish

An FOP series with a focus on exploring characters, relationships, and Dimmadelphia as a setting. Draws largely from "A New Wish" canon, but not beholden to it.

#ridwork guides

What Is City Lights AU?

An FOP: A New Wish-inspired series centered around character relationships... Namely, friendships, adventures, and traumas regarding the humans in A New Wish (alongside studies of Cosmo, Wanda, and Peri as they adapt to life in Dimmadelphia). Magical lore and Fairy culture exist in the background, but are not the focus.

🌃 City Lights AU follows an internal canon. While not necessarily compliant with A New Wish, all pieces within it are compliant with each other. They may build on each other to create larger storylines. You may also like Off the Rails: my AO3 series for misc. FOP AUs (Ex: Random one-shots based on A New Wish that don't comply with City Lights).

AO3 Series: City Lights AU

Blog tag - #City Lights AU

Tone

Mostly Angst, Drama, Romance, and Fluff.

Think "We talk about Dale's trauma, Dev's sadness, and Peri's stress, but we also see Cosmo and Wanda or Hazel's parents flirting while Hazel has a great time with her friends."

Pretty up and down, back and forth, like the show itself.

Characters

Heavy focus on the A New Wish cast. Limited appearances by OG series characters. The ones most likely to return in this AU are folks like Goldie Goldenglow and Sammy Sweetsparkle (Classmates of Poof and Foop in the OG series).

- Peri goes by Poof in backstory 'fics since Cosmo and Wanda seem to hear his new name for the first time in "Battle of the Dimmsonian." (Same deal for Foop-Irep). - Foop's alt personality may be mentioned by the name of Hiccup, as that's his name in Cloudlands AU.

Potential appearances from my existing OCs like Anti-Marigold (Goldie's counterpart), Finley (Pixie kid attending Spellementary alongside Poof and Foop), or Anti-Coriander (Foop's betrothed in Cloudlands AU), but maybe not! We'll find out together.

Most notable OC for this AU is definitely going to be Ed Leadly's daughter, Hadley, whom I set up with Dale back in 2018 (Cloudlands AU) and I think it's really funny to keep that canon in City Lights.

If Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda appear in this AU, they'll be referred to with those names since that's how their voice actors are credited at the end of "The Battle of Big Wand."

Timmy, Chloe, Kevin, Molly, Tammy, and Tommy will likely appear, but I don't expect them to be a focus. Time will tell.

Ships

This AU is not specifically Devzel-oriented, but not in an anti-Devzel way... More like "We don't have time to unpack whether or not they'd work together" / "What do you mean- SWEET GOODNESS!!"

I'm not opposed to Devzel, but there's a very specific story beat I feel is a dealbreaker for both of them. We'll find out together! Leave comments as I post works in this series and share whether you think they can work it out :)

Cosmo/Wanda - Retired, mostly chilling, very much love their son and definitely very good at being human.

Dale/OC - Hadley Harrington comes out swingin'! (Cherry lemon ship tag, my beloved...)

Peri/Goldie Goldenglow dating drama that's remarkably less traumatizing than it is in Cloudlands AU, but not necessarily... great. Mostly Peri groveling for her to take him back because I think it's funny if the kid who had everyone fawn over him during school because he was popular ends up struggling with relationships he has to put effort in <3

Mark/Vicky because I love them and I am not taking criticism at this time. You can pry them from my cold, dead hands.

"Are you going to bring their child OCs over to this AU?" - I... don't know. I think it would be hilarious. So, probably! In Cloudlands AU, she joins Mark on Yugopotamia as queen, but I'm equally fascinated by the possibility that Mark left his royal life to stay on Earth, which I think is 100% in line with his character. I'm into it. Let's do it.

Jorgen/Tooth Fairy - I have kid OCs for them that are very far-future in Cloudlands AU, but due to the way Fae age in City Lights, I think I'll bring them in and let them be baby... Italy and Fang, my beloveds...

Angela/Marcus because I think they're cute :) Probably nothing super focused on them, but they sure do exist.

I'm sticking with my Cloudlands AU ships of Timmy/Molly & Chloe/Kevin; they presumably live in Dimmsdale. Kevin and Molly are step-siblings in this AU too.

Leaning towards Irep/Sammy Sweetsparkle dating life fluff/drama because I want to :) Not sure if that's present-day or in their past. That said, we also might not go that route. We'll see!

Honorable mention to Dev and his many squishes. I don't think he knows what's going on either, but I support him.

Setting

Largely takes place in Dimmadelphia with references to Dale, Cosmo, Wanda, Vicky, Crocker, A.J., and others having Dimmsdale history. Some 'fics take place in Dimmsdale.

Fairy World, Anti-Fairy World, and Pixie World may make appearances, and so could alien planets. However, this AU centers around humans and is mostly grounded in Dimmadelphia... hence the title City Lights!

This series will follow a specific AU timeline, meaning birthdates will be picked for some characters. They might be contradicted in future seasons, but this is an AU, so that's fine.

Is It For Me?

- Pieces can range from G to E (Childhood silliness vs. trauma vs. Dale having a very hard time working up the courage to father a kid).

More info in the AU Notes and Warnings section under the cut.

- Heavy focus on Dale recovery, Cosmo and Wanda settling into Dimmadelphia, Hazel adjusting to moving (and occasionally reflecting on her past), Dev's upbringing, and Hazel's interactions with her godparents and friends.

- If you like 'fics that feel like grounded-in-reality character studies and lean into trauma, you might like this series!

- Limited exploration of magic and Fairy World. For now, this AU uses the same magic system and Fae culture vibes I've already made for Cloudlands AU - Click the Keep Reading for details - but I don't plan to delve into it. It just exists as a backdrop.

Major Themes

- Trauma!! How it haunts you... Letting go... Oooouggggh.

- Relationships! Growth, strain, ups and downs, self-care, break-ups, meltdowns, humility, forgiveness, toxic co-dependent friendships that haunt you long-term... The usual.

- Emphasis on friendship, family, adventures, and kindness... and the unbearable lightness of being a child in Fairly OddParents media.

Nobody has ever been okay in this show or any time after I've gotten my hands on them, but it's fine; that's just how it is, sdklfj...

Plot Highlights

- Dale and Vicky were friends when they were kids... Little by little, their dynamic starts to shift.

- Dale and his betrothed work through courtship and married life... also, Dale works through trauma. Newborn Dev is here too.

- Cosmo begins training to take over as Keeper of Da Rules after Jorgen. Long road ahead, but whatcha gonna do?

- With Cosmo's new position hanging over their heads, Cosmo and Wanda retire from godparenting. They enjoy a 10k-year vacation and settle in Dimmadelphia... disguised as humans and struggling to pass. I hope they pay rent.

- Peri vs. his strained relationship with Goldie Goldenglow.

- Hazel's early explorations of Dimmadelphia and friend-making.

- An exploration of the Peri-Dev dynamic during the 4.5 months between "Lost and Founder's Day" & "Operation: Birthday Takeback."

- Whatever Mark and Vicky are up to. Probably being their flirty, violent selves... Mark adapting mostly well to human life except for when he isn't. Actually, the same could be said of Vicky.

- Background Timmy/Molly and Chloe/Kevin married lives. Shout-out to Timmy/Molly still together because I love them and refuse to divorce them in more than one AU sldkfj.

- Probably not a lot of Hazel content at first, but I'll plan more for her when we find out if we're getting a Season 2. Leaving myself wiggle room for now.

Ongoing?

This AU guide was posted in September 2024 and this AU is very new. Works will be posted over time.

No update schedule- Just wherever the vibes take us~ But my plan is to post the story beats in the Dimmadome arc first (in the "50 Words" style) and then we'll circle back to "present day." In other words, we're gonna hit the ground running, fly through the timeline until Dev's an adult, then loop back for more detailed 'fics and fluffier childhood days :) You'll find out where we're going and then we'll work through how we got there! I post FOP 'fics on Fridays (if I have something to post; any AU)

Related

Relevant info for anyone interested in subscribing to some or all of my FOP 'fics on AO3:

🌃 - City Lights AU - All works for the AU described in this post. 🖤 - Off the Rails - Collection for misc. FOP AUs. This includes works that draw from A New Wish lore, setting, or characters, but which are not compliant with City Lights AU. 🚂 - 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash - Large one-shot collection focused largely on the OG series. Mostly adheres to Cloudlands AU canon, but other AUs appear as well. 🌈 - Rainbow Train - All-encompassing series for any FOP works that are not in 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash. ⭐ - Subscribing to both 130 Reasons and Rainbow Train will cover all my FOP 'fics (All AUs).

You can also subscribe to my AO3 directly if you want to. My AO3 is multi-fandom, so the above are the series I suggest looking into if you're only interested in my FOP 'fics. You can do whatever you want forever.

Warnings, notes, and explanations below so readers can learn more about this AU. Don't like? Don't read.

Dead dove warnings, so prepare yourself mentally. I am once again exploring child trauma in 'fics for the show about child trauma and bad decisions.

👀 Take a Peek

New here? You might like to start with these:

- "You Deserve It" - Dale - freshly escaped from Vicky - attends a fancy dinner party with his dad... and reunites with fellow rich kids from his childhood.

- "50 Words of Dale and Hadley" - 50 prompt snippets about Dev's parents (before his birth).

- "50 Words of The Dimmadomes" - 50 prompt snippets about Dev's early upbringing.

- "An Old Wish" - Dev, Peri, and a series of comedic magical attempts to win Dev's parents' love (including time travel, memory manipulation, and raising the dead).

These 'fics are early in the timeline and fairly tame :) At the time of scheduling this, they're unrevealed on AO3, but will be up soon.

Start Reading

Recommended ways to get into the full AU

🌄 First Written - "50 Words of Dev and Hazel"

51. Horror - Okay, so maybe that movie had been a little spookier than he'd prepared for... But even if flesh-eating mermaids haunted his dreams for a year, setting up that chocolate board, pillow fort, and brownie bar for his and Hazel's ultimate horror binge-watch was totally worth it.

50 scene snippets about a snotty rich boy (self-improvement in progress) and an anxious newcomer to the big city (Livin' big and lovin' life) - Set during "The Treble With Rivals" and the week following.

OR, Dev and Hazel go to Tokyo, say hi to Dev's mom, and Dev picks on orchestra kids because #Band For Life.

(G - 5,000 words)

📅 Chronological Start - Lemonade and Papercuts

Dale backstory 'fic that alternates between his extreme childhood trauma and adulthood stress (Especially regarding business deals, his wife's pregnancy, and Dev's birth).

Click HERE for chapter summaries

Not yet written, but very likely E or Not Rated for excessive trauma, uncomfortable arranged-marriage honeymoon, the intimacy leading up to Dev's birth, pregnancy, and probably a childbirth scene. Will update info when confirmed! Btw, I'll be posting Dale's character profile on the sideblog soon- Both that and the summaries page are a great place to get "Who is City Lights Dale as a person?" vibes if you want to read my take on his personality, but don't want to read this intense 'fic. I expect this to be the most intense of my dead dove longfics in terms of upsetting or sensual content as this one won't have started on FFN (with its restrictions), and also... Look at him. He was just handed to me with my favorite trope in the world: "Overwhelming intimacy issues that make bedroom life a cesspool of nerves and doubt" <3 Cupioromantic asexual instinct to strip him to his bones and take his mind apart...

I don't recommend starting the AU with this 'fic unless you're ready, but it IS the beginning of the chronology.

There are several tamer pieces in City Lights AU that touch on Dale's past with Vicky and Hadley if you'd prefer to start there.

🗺️ Worldbuilding - So, You're Studying the Cloudlands...

A collection of worldbuilding and meta essays covering subjects like biology, culture, history, holidays, magic, maps, and a handbook on new godkid assignments.

I'm not planning to change my worldbuilding because it's very detailed and I don't feel like starting from scratch. However, City Lights AU is not likely to deep-dive into magic and culture. Because... the cloudlands are heavily featured in Cloudlands AU. We live on the ground now.

You may also like my @riddledeep blog, where I first posted this meta. New Wish short bios and full character profiles can also be found on the blog.

I'm currently moving lore posts from the sideblog to the guide linked above. This way, the content is backed up and accessible to those who don't use Tumblr.

📋 AU Notes & Warnings

Notable lore tweaks (i.e. not canon-compliant with A New Wish)-

- I've heard rumor that Dimmadelphia is "canonically" not in California. However, in this AU it is because there are many Dimmsdale characters and references (such as the sign pointing towards Dimmsdale, implying it's near). -> In the OG series, Timmy's parents seemingly went to Dimmadelphia to look for Timmy in "Channel Chasers" after he ran away from home (They went inside the Dimmadelphia Cable building), further justifying it being nearby. -> In City Lights AU, it's in California (but you still have to go to Dimmsdale to climb the Rainbow Bridge from the bottom, as we know from OG canon that it touches down there). - This AU will most likely be replacing Hazel's 1 million wishes in "The Battle of Big Wand" with a fairyversary plot, because it just makes more sense to me. - No pasta puberty. My lore is very biology-based, so insect people producing spaghetti from armpits doesn't work for me (Plus, that episode was rough on my hemophobia and it simply does not spark joy). -> In City Lights AU, Hazel had something else going on that fell halfway between human puberty and having a ton of magic in her, kind of like the Terrible Twos from the OG series. - Dale is trying to keep Dev alive. I'll probably keep the part where he knocked Dev over in "The Battle of Big Wand" because it's interesting, but I'm playing him with a "My son needs to be my heir" angle. He will still talk about loving boots more than his wife and son, but he sure doesn't want his heir dead. - "A child must always get what they want" is not in Da Rules. That's not a smart thing to put in the laws that hold the universe together… Why even have a rulebook at that point? - Minor detail tweaks for world consistency - Ex: The people who show up at the school concert or stand near kids in lines likely have connections to them; this influences family headcanons. -> Classroom has consistency - Ex: In the show, Kev tends to disappear so Dev and Hazel can be portrayed onscreen at the same time, but there's no need for me to do that in 'fic. -> I've seen a lot of cool Dev heterochromia headcanons, but in this AU, his eyes are consistently blue. My thought here is that Dev's and Dale's eyes look green under harsh yellow lighting, but blue is what I'm drawing/writing them with.

Morally gray characters abound - No one is "purely cruel" or "purely good." Since I expect to post a lot of Dale trauma content, I want to be clear that he will neither be portrayed as extremely abusive towards his son nor excused from his wrongs.

I'm playing Dale from a neglectful angle where he tends to assume Dev is doing "just fine." He doesn't go out of his way to cause harm, but we don't excuse the harm he does. There's a lot of "Hadley comforting and supporting Dale" themes because... she's his wife and she was there when he was fresh out of his abuse. Just keep in mind that even if Hadley and Dale think they're good parents, we know they're not.

Idealization of abuse & neglect - City Lights Dale cared a lot for Vicky, denied and excused a lot of what she did, kept hoping she’d change if he was "a better friend," and had a hard time adjusting to life after she stopped telling him what to do. He has to work through a LOT of trauma.

Also, general vibes of Dev looking up to his parents and making excuses for them. Lots of rose-colored glasses in this family... Dale definitely did the same for Doug and Pearl.

Themes of guilt and shame - Dale blaming himself for Vicky abusing him… Doug insisting his son keep quiet about his trauma lest people start to talk.

Shout-out to the au pairs beating themselves up over their failures in canon: a trait I will totally be expanding on in this AU. Dale, do you wanna talk about that?

Fairy & Anti-Fairy counterparts consider each other family. They colloquially refer to each other as "cousins," but biologically, they're the same person (one soul split in separate bodies, with many believing they'll reunite as a single person after death).

It's fair game for them to attend family reunions, remark that they're relatives, or reference their shared soul. If that's a squick for you, you'll also want to avoid my Cloudlands AU. Example one-shot - "Scarred" - Stream of consciousness narration where Poof discusses his social and mental relationship with Foop. This is Cloudlands AU, but these vibes apply here.

Peri is a gyne: a biological "queen bee" whose freckles and pheromones lure in drone Fairies (who require preening to stay satisfied). Will he find any of his own in this AU? I don't know... Maybe in this AU, Cavatina doesn't try to kill him. That would be fun!

For reference, H.P. and Big Daddy are gynes in my lore; Peri will have the same bulky shape when he's older. Why is he one? He's an insect person who ate too much jelly as a baby- That's biology!

"You're not gonna explore a different-?" -> No, Irep's still got his pilot stripes (i.e. mustache and goatee), so I have no choice <3 "But he doesn't show freckles-" -> They're still in the pale white stage (and Irep's will still be purple like Foop's are in canon). Peri is still young and his freckles won't darken until he's older.

Poor Peri has a stronger scent than other Fae due to those pheromones. Even humans can whiff him without much effort.

As a "queen bee," Peri is wired to fight other gynes to the death if he gets agitated and loses self-control. I don't plan to delve into this in City Lights since that's what Cloudlands AU is for, but it might be referenced now and then, especially since Goldie thinks it's hot.

In City Lights, he still grew up as Finley's roommate (with Finley the dominant one). Peri is under the usual gyne lore: drones are drawn to Finley over him, but Peri's pheromones start picking up when he's in a place where he's the dominant gyne... like the Dimmadome household. Unless Dale and Dev spook him so much that he stays submissive, which is very funny, actually.

Violence, threats, and spooks - Canon-typical threats and commentary of the villain variety, keeping in mind that I write semi-realistic physics which can make these things more upsetting than the cartoon.

- Vicky's many weapons. OG series confirms she's left scars all over Mark and he interprets them as courtship signs. OG series Vicky often threatened Timmy and others with blades. - OG series H.P. put shock collars on Cosmo and Wanda and thought shocking them even when they did nothing wrong was hilarious ("Wish Fixers"). - OG series Vicky ate meatballs while believing they were eyeballs and claimed a severed arm served for dinner was "been there, done that" ("Timmy's 2D House of Horror"). - Bad luck can get messy. In canon, stepping on a crack breaks your mother's back. People get roughed up. People may experience burns, scrapes, and general injury. - Harassment charges and potential jailtime (e.g. "What if Tootie never toned back as she grew up?" & "Hey, maybe there should be consequences to Dale stalking a little girl.") - Foop's always had a thing for poisonous spiders and flames

Grossness & Gore - Messy, but always for a purpose.

- Vomiting (Magical backup, pregnancy, allergic reactions, general sickness) -> It is very likely Dale will have an eating disorder (or more than one). Will edit with specifics when I've finalized plans. I've always played Foop's alt personality with body dysphoria and bulimia, but it's never been shown onscreen. we'll see what happens. - Yoo-doo doll damage (Limb loss, smacks, cuts, burns, bite marks, and similar damage that can be inflicted on a doll) - Unpleasant descriptions of decaying bodies and bones. - Heavily implied (and possibly portrayed in L&P) cannibalism (Would that be messed up if I took Vicky's "2D House of Horror" comments literally or what? why did she say she's eaten multiple severed human arms? hey. what. Am I supposed to be normal about that? When will I ever get that 'fic opportunity again.) - Some characters go hunting (For birds, big game, etc.) Other characters (like Chloe, the Pixies, Gary, and Betty) are opposed to hunting. -> Dale (raised by Doug), Hadley (raised by Ed Leadly), Timmy (Pappy & Timmy's Dad grew up in the woods and Sparky is a good hunting dog), and Chester are all hunters (In canon, Chester and his dad eat things they've hunted or foraged iirc).

Detailed discussions of trauma, neglect, child abuse, and misery - Especially regarding Vicky, Crocker, and their influence on other characters.

'Fics are tagged. Trauma is discussed much more in the 'fics with high ratings. Trauma is glossed-over, sillier, or not mentioned in Gen and T works for this series.

- Dale, Peri, Timmy, and Irep in particular have issues with Vicky (Weapons, yelling, bullying, etc.) but that's par for the course. - Peri's Hocus Poconos trauma, such as in a possible post-"Lost in Fairy World" 'fic where a nervous Peri hovers over Dev. - Canon-typical miserable children in the miserable children show.

Character death - I'm committing to my "Doug is dead and Dale misses him" theory. If that gets disproved in later seasons, that's fine; this is an AU.

- Expect a 'fic of Dale witnessing Doug's death. Even if he doesn't, Doug's absence will be mentioned multiple times. - There will probably be minor character (OC) deaths in high-rated 'fics. I've not finalized plans, but it's likely. - Other character may also be mentioned as dead (Ex: Assorted ancestors, Cosmo's dad... Big Daddy could show up and imply he's doing shady things). - Beyond that, I don't have plans to kill canon characters at this time. If I do, I expect it to be in a far future piece where characters are in their old age, or when Fairies have moved on and are reminiscing on the past.

Break-ups & strained relationships - Peri/Goldie are strained for sure. They have a very on-and-off dating life that plays into the popular kid vibes the OG series set up for their school days.

Things are tense, but less traumatic for those two here than in Cloudlands AU (We're not mirroring their dubcon arc over here- They have new young adult problems now like learning to live alone and cook real food)

- Difficult family relationships (Ex: Dale & Doug, Dale & Dev) - Potentially some Irep/Sammy (or Irep/OC, especially if I go the route of betrothal drama). Undecided! I write a lot of Foop/OC in other projects and I think I'd enjoy the Irep/Sammy character exploration. - I don't have infidelity themes planned, but it could be discussed (Ex: My lore is that Big Daddy had an affair with a non-fairy - hence Anti-Wanda's round ears instead of pointed ones - so there's that, but I don't think that will come up in this AU). -> Dale's wife is super paranoid that he'll cheat on her because he hangs out with a lot of rich and powerful folks who are nice to him... but I cannot express enough how spooked of people City Lights AU Dale is and how much he would Not Do That. -> Now that I think about it, I feel like Dev is the kind of person who would try to set his mom up with someone else. Maybe I'll write that. She's a happily married woman, but I respect the hustle.

Sexuality and Consent Themes (Ex: Aspec- or trauma-themed dubcon)

Dating life, married life, aphobia (especially of the internalized kind), and sexual themes... written by an aroace person who enjoys playing with the ideas of attraction, anxiety, and consent [in fiction]

-> Think "Dale trusts no one, but has a kid- Let's talk about it!" and characters with thoughts like "Oh, maybe I'm not as comfy with this as I thought. Good to know!"

-> Imagine internalized aphobia along the lines of "Some of these characters grew up in the amatonormative 90s or early 2000s and don't consider that not getting in a relationship (or not having sex / children) is a genuine option they could pursue, or that there's even a word for their feelings or lack thereof."

- I write a wide range of aspec characters who each have their own preferences (some interested in relationships while others aren't). If you want a peek at these portrayals, I discussed many of my asexual headcanons HERE. - As with all themes, do not come to this AU expecting everything to be hunky-dory. Author deeply loves being aroace, but we raise a glass to drama... especially of the "just realized I'm aspec and not necessarily at a good time" variety. lol.

- I don't have rape themes planned, but it's on the table as something that could come up. Ironically, I can confirm it won't be for any of the characters who have rape/non-con trauma in Cloudlands AU. I do not expect it, but I would hate to not warn and then have it come up. As always, AO3 tags exist for a reason and there's nothing wrong with not reading 'fics that aren't for you- No pressure!

Themes of childfree life - And steps taken to prevent accidental kids. Not described in detail, but very relevant to some characters.

Ex: Dinklebergs are big on childfree life, all male witches are infertile, my OC Finley will die if he loses that much magic, some characters just don't want kids.

Themes of memory, including memory loss or manipulation - Godkids losing memories, Dev and Dale after "Battle of Big Wand," and so on. Peri [Poof] never got to say good-bye to Timmy.

Timmy and Chloe do not remember Cosmo, Wanda, or Peri. They've grown up to live normal, happy grown-up lives. They're chillin' with their partners (Molly & Kevin, respectively). I'm playing this as a positive thing, but it's worth warning for those who don't like AUs where Timmy loses his memories. Alas... the average kid stays average to the end, and no one plays the game forever...

That's everything I can think of right now. This AU is still in the early stages, so things might be added later. Works will be tagged appropriately on AO3. Please let me know if you think of anything I missed!

You can create works based on this AU. Please cite me and/or the AU as appropriate (i.e. for things very specific to this AU). You are free to expand on ideas you've thought of thanks to my AU as a jumping off point. I'd love to reblog or link things to my AO3 works if I see them!

I write content with morally gray characters. Please don't portray my story events or worldbuilding out of context with intentional malice. As in, I request you do not post things created for the specific intention of bashing me or the AU

[whosthere54]

I can’t find my original post about it but I did do a poll a while ago on what fic I should finish. Yes it’s been a WHILE but I finally did it so here’s the “If Icarus got that hug in family reunion” fic cause I can

Until Ao3 Works you get it here :]

The TWs for Family Reunion are Panic, Yelling, and Manipulation. Let me know if you believe anything else should be added and I’ll edit the list.

You know how it is, these themes will carry over to my fic so pls make sure to take care of yourselves first <3

“I never asked to be here at all. So why do I still have to face the fear of loosing it?” - Song: The fear of loosing this by Florist

Or - What if Icarus got that hug?

—=+=—

There’s a moment of silence between the two brothers, Rae glancing at Aax before speaking again.

“Do you… do you want a hug?”

They look up, surprise and confusion washing over them before they’re able to adjust their expression to something neutral.

“I… yeah. Please.” Their wings adjust on their back, draping themselves over their shoulders as they move their arms to cross over their chest.

Rae nods, glancing at Aax again who gives him a nod back. He takes a few test steps forward, when they don’t move he walks over to them. Aax follows, keeping a decent distance between her and Rae- letting him have space but making sure he’s safe. They can’t exactly blame him, like they said- the two don’t have the best track record when it comes to “talking” right now.

Rae gets close, and they instinctively take a small step back, feathers flaring for just a moment before settling again.

Rae stops, holding his hands out placatingly. He gives a gentle reassurance, a simple repeat of what they’d said before- another “we’re not here to hurt you” “I-I’m not mad.” and some other quiet reassurance they didn’t quite hear.

After a moment of hesitation, they take the next step forward- Rae immediately pulling them into a hug.

It was nice. They couldn’t remember the last time they had a hug from Rae.

Trying *so hard* not to let tears escape, they look at Aax over his shoulder. Though immediately regretting it when she just looks so… sad. Pity held in her gaze that makes them feel sick.

They hid their face against Rae’s neck, quiet shaky breaths the only indicator that they were trying not to cry. Rae sighs softly, and when he speaks again it sounds like he’s close to crying as well. “It’s gonna be okay Icarus… I’m still going to try- I promise I’m not going to give up on you.”

Maybe that causes some of their tears to fall, and maybe Rae holds them just slightly tighter.

When their knees shake and threaten to give out Rae adjusts them so they’re both sitting in the wet grass, not letting go of them. (Not letting them fall, even if it’s something as stupid as this.)

They hear Aax settle to sit nearby, facing away from the brother to scan for threats. It was comforting, they couldn’t do it themself and if Fable came back and did something to him they don’t think they’d be able to forgive themself.

They sit like that for a while, Rae occasionally murmuring soft reassurance not once loosening his hold. It was nice, a comforting pressure- a distraction away from the cave they were still sitting outside of. Rae seems to think of something then- adjusting slightly and causing Icarus to pull away. Not completely- just enough so the two brothers were looking at each other. Icarus tilts their head just slightly as Rae looks at them with renewed sadness- pity in his eyes causing them to look away, fidgeting with the hem of their sleeves.

“I… Icarus it’s four months today isn’t it…” He says it so softly and they can’t-

“Shut up-“ They mumble.

“Icarus-“

“No-no. He isn’t… he isn’t gone I can fix it I’m going to fix it! He’s gonna come back-“ They wrap their arms tight around their chest careful of the ever-changing wound still concealed.

“Icarus…” Rae tries again, but they cut him off just the same.

“No- if you’re gonna say what all of them have been saying I’m not- I don’t have to *mourn* him he’s gonna come back, I don’t have to think about it because when I fix it it’ll be fine… you can go back to normal and it’ll be fixed…”

Rae’s face contorted into something confused, and then shocked and it crumbles into something sad, he blinks tears away so he can see them clearly.

“Is that… is that why you’re working with him?”

They give him a weak laugh, head angled down so their hair covers their face- goggles having fallen to their neck earlier that day and they didn’t bother to put them back up.

“Icarus…” they can’t handle this. They can’t handle the way he’s talking to them, holding them so gently like they’re something that’s going to *break.* they can’t handle him looking at them like that- they can’t-

“You have to go.” They say their voice firm and monotone.

“Icarus no-“ Rae’s brows furrow slightly and his hands linger on their shoulders.

“Please”

And that makes Rae pause.

“I don’t… Icarus I don’t want to leave you alone here. I- even if I don’t… *like* him Fable isn’t here right now. I’d rather you at least have him here.” When Icarus frowns at that Rae asks another question that leaves them thinking- more than they should be. When they think it doesn’t usually lead to anything good.

“Icarus how long has fable left you alone?”

They shrug. They really haven’t been keeping track of the time he was gone.

“He’s… he’s busy. The faster he gets whatever he’s doing done, the faster we can get this over with.” They mumble. It feels like they’ve said the same things over and over and *over* again and it still seems like nobody understands what they’re doing even after they explain it. Geez how many times have they done this circle of conversations with the things in the past four months?

“So you’ve been… you’ve been alone out here most of the time?”

They shrug, and nod. (They don’t want to lie anymore. It leaves them feeling sick and *wrong*)

“Icarus…”

Aax gets up quickly, face contorting into muffled anger, motioning at them to get up as well.

Rae turns to them- “Icarus-“ but they shake their head, getting up and helping Rae up as well.

“You have to go-“ They repeat the words, this time fueled by anxiety.

“Icarus!”

“Rae!”

“Icarus!” Fable’s booming voice echoes through the small clearing and they back away muttering a quiet apology under their breath that only Rae was meant to hear.

“Are you alright? Are they… are they here for anything?” He pulls out the reaver and it takes all of their power to look away from the blade glinting in the rain dimmed light.

“I’m okay… I ’m-I’m okay.”

“We’re not here to fight.” Rae’s gaze lingers on them for just a moment to long that it makes their skin crawl, arms wrapping around their torso and wings pulling slightly tighter to their back as Fable sighs.

“Of course. I see that it is only the two of you.”

Aax moves to stand only slightly in front of Rae, trident out and ready to attack if necessary. His voice carries confidently actress the clearing, low and sharp. An easy enough warning to understand. “We wouldn’t be stupid enough to come just the two of us if we were here for a fight.”

“No. You wouldn’t be that… stupid. No one would be.” He looks at Icarus then, solid gold meeting heterochromatic gold and purple. His eyes are too sharp, and they look away, casting their head down again.

He turns back to Rae, head held high. “But why are you here?”

“I’m here for Icarus.” They look at Rae through unkempt bangs, eyes darting between Rae and Aax as if analyzing them for a threat.

“Because they don’t need to be alone out here with just you, isolated from everyone else.” His tone holds more anger with Fable than it had with them.

“I’m not alone.” They say, loud and probably too sharp. They wince at the sound of their own voice casting their eyes to Fable when he looks at them again.

“Yes.” He looks away, and they do too. “They have me, they have Ven, they have Arisanna…”

“Which don’t know where you are?”

They cast their eyes down once more shuffling their feet.

“This place is supposed to be a secret for a *reason*, Rae. To keep others safe.”

“From… what, exactly? We’re not the ones running around hurting people.”

“Perhaps not now.”

“You haven’t changed! You’ve always hurt people! I’m starting to remember more of that now! You’ve always been like this… and now…” Rae turns to them, his voice softening just slightly again. “Look, Icarus he’s not a good person!”

“Neither am I!” They hold their head up as they say that, regretting it immediately in the way Rae shuffles and glances between them, Fable, and Aax.

“None of us are good people right now, Rae.”

He starts talking, he starts talking and they try so hard to tune him out. They don’t want it- they don’t want him to say more stupid words that get them to comply because they’ll comply regardless of what he says. They don’t think he knows that, but they will. They don’t… like him. They don’t trust him. But they’re good at putting on a show, and they can pretend they do. (Maybe deep down they do. They try not to, they know he’s wrong and they know what he’s doing to them -they don’t want to acknowledge the fact that it *is* working- but they love him. He’s their dad after all, and when they have no memory of their childhood he’s something that they can cling to)

“You hit me!” Rae says, anger disappearing to leave a suffocating tone of sadness fear, and *betrayal* that lingered in his voice.

“I did.”

They just look between him and Rae feet shuffling against the grass, begging their head to go blank like it tends to do. They’re feeling too much and it’s too wrong and they’re thinking- thinking leads to questioning and questioning leads to things they don’t want to know-

“Where is she.” Rae’s voice wobbles with anger and unshed tears. They glance up to Fable as he turns to them- “Where…”

“Icarus, do you wish to see your mother?”

They blink, looking back up at him with a muted look of confusion. “Yeah…” they said it too quietly, too much emotion filling their voice that wasn’t supposed to be there. They can tell in the way they feel Rae’s gaze on them again. They try to cover it up- “Yeah, yes, yes.” But then Fable starts to walk towards the stupid fucking cave and-

“W-wait- wait” they stare with wide eyes as Fable creates a small opening, just enough for them to get through. “Uhm..” Rae glances at them again, Aax moves to stand in front of Rae, trident in hand face contorted into disgust and then anger. “Wait-wait where…” He pulls his shield out.

“It was the one place I did not think anyone would go.” He breaks a small hole through the stone, just enough that they would be able to walk through. Rae walks closer to him, while Aax lingers behind.

“Uhm…. Um…” They walk towards him, stopping about the same distance Rae is away from the entrance for a moment before moving up to stand beside Fable.

They don’t want to be here anymore- they don’t want to be that close. They don’t want to *see* it again- they can’t…

Their breathing shakes.

“Where are you… where is…” Aax moves quickly back in front of Rae. “Where is that? What are you…”

“She is in a pocket dimension. Just as Enderian had held her before.” He says his sister's name with a sneer. “I will bring you Rae, and I will bring Icarus to see her.”

They can’t breathe- they look through the space Fable had cleared into the cave. The first thing they noticed was that there was still blood on the floor… theirs or Centross’s they couldn’t quite tell. Their eyes fell on the slab, seeing their blood still dried on the smooth stone and splattered on the ground in front of it. Fuck they can’t breathe… their chest *hurts* they can’t-

They manage to pull their gaze away from the cave back onto Fable as he speaks again.

“I’m sorry, Aax, but I will not let you see her. I cannot take the risk.”

“Why… why does it smell like death in there?” They turn to look at Aax, his tone settling on a heavy undertone of sadness as they speak.

They try to bring themself to explain.

“It… it’s-“ Fable cuts them off sharply. “Because it is a place that I thought was of life. I was *foolish* enough to believe it was of life. But it is a place of death. This is where the first mortals were made by me. This is the place where I first mourned them when they *died.*”

“This is where… Centross… died.”

“And you’re taking him in there alone, just the two of you?”

“Yes. I know you do not trust me…”

Their chest aches. They have to take a moment to breathe through a wave of pain that courses through their chest, through their ribs. They tune back into the conversation a moment later when Fable says their name again, though they don’t pay much attention. Their mind won’t stop wandering, and the things won’t stop talking.

“If *anything* happens to him. Know that I will be hunting you to the ends of the earth.”

“As you should. Rae is important to you, as he is to me.” He turns and walks into the cave, but before they can even *think* about following him Aax stops them.

“Icarus. I need you to promise…”

They nod, trying to get their thoughts to work to the current conversation. “Yeah… I’m- he won’t-“

“Promise me he’ll be okay.” Aax asks, and they nod firmly this time.

“He’ll-he’ll be okay.” They can’t tell if they’re trying to reassure her or themself.

“Okay.”

Icarus turns to the entrance, hesitating a moment before heading inside.

“Are you ready?”

“We’re going… in?”

“Yes. I did not think Enderian had this power. I thought she could simply create the bubbles, but she could move if she wished it. If she had other abilities I now hold. She might have been able to escape at any time if she had known. If she could’ve held the same powers I now have .”

They have to take another minute to even out their breathing.

“She couldn’t escape. She- she gave them to me. She was trapped there.”

“Just as Isla was. But now we can move freely to see her.”

They nod lightly. “Okay.”

Fable inhales, “Here we go.” They teleport into the small pocket dimension.

It was a bright, glow stone blinding encircling the small space. As soon as they looked up at their mother- blonde hair blocking a face they couldn’t even remember- they felt an overwhelming sense of dread. It was almost like anxiety, the way it thrummed through their veins. Just a sense of something was wrong.

They couldn’t tell if Rae felt it, but when they got in there they knew he was more distressed, probably at the sight of their mother in a stasis chamber than anything else.

“Icarus I can… I can help. You don’t need him- I can- I can help her! I can help us…” They don’t know what to say, but they get cut off by Fable before they could respond.

“How, Rae?”

“I… I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going to let you do something else to her. Or screw up trying.” He spits the last part with lingering anger, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“Rae…” He turns to look at them a moment before turning back to Fable as he speaks again.

“You will not give me the chance to help your mother? *My wife?* To bring her back to us.”

Rae doesn’t speak, he simply shakes his head.

Fable frowns. “No?”

“No.” Rae says softly.

“You’d have her stay here?” Rae’s expression crumbles.

The next time they look back at Isla, they can’t look away. This is the first time they’ve seen their mother in person. They don’t have any image of her in their memory other than the portrait that’s sat locked away in Fable’s house. She looks different, they can’t quite see her face but she seems so… tired. A lingering sense of sadness seems to be all she has in that small tube, and it almost physically pains them to see her like that. (To have her feel so similar to what they feel locked up in their house.)

“I have Enderian’s powers now. I could wield them.”

They look back at Fable then. “What?” They glance between him and Rae.

“You could do this! You could hurt her all over again!”

They frown. “He wouldn’t.”

“He did it the first time!” Stray tears are beginning to fall down Rae’s face now that make them stop.

“As a *mistake*, Rae.” He tries, but Rae isn’t having it.

“So what’s preventing you from making the same one?!”

Fable sighs. “Remembering what happened the first time. Seeing my wife’s face, and having it haunt-“

“She doesn’t want to be yours!” Rae yells, his voice echoing in the small chamber. There are more tears spilling down his face, and Icarus can’t help but take a step back as they take another shaky breath. They watch Fable's face, but he doesn’t seem to react. Simply responding calmly, anger quiet and reserved (as if that doesn’t scare them more.)

“She gets to make that choice. Not-“ Rae cuts him off again. “Does she?!”

Fable frowns, and his tone comes out just slightly more angry than he probably wanted it to. “Yes. When she is well, Rae.”

“You don’t get to make that choice, you tried to take that choice away from her. I won’t tell you shit!” Rae talks over what he tries to say next, words hitting their mark effectively when Fable sighs again.

“Rae!” They start, trying to maybe help in some way, try to get that information. But they go quiet as Fable talks again.

“I understand. If that is what you wish.” He inhales sharply again, and they are teleported back outside the bubble. Back into the cave.

They can hear Rae’s breathing shake, as he is ushered out of the cave by Fable. They take a lingering glance back, eyes falling on the slab, and then spot Centross died before Fable pushes them out.

They linger near the cave entrance as they hear Fable walk out behind them with a sigh. Rae goes to huddle next to Aax with his head down as he wipes the lingering stray tears from his face.

“Rae. When you are ready to help your mother and to fix our family, now you know where we are. You said it yourself, you can do that Rae. Bring her back to us. I have made mistakes in the past, but I have done my best to watch over *you* and your brother in her absence. I have protected you and your brother as best as I *could.*”

His tone changes then, more earnest, more desperate. It was all tinted with an undertone of anger a force perfectly covered as he says the words that hit their mark as Rae seems to cower as he says them.

“It was not perfect, I admit this, none of this has been perfect. None of this had been perfect. I have not been perfect, Rae. But *you* gave me a chance. All the same. As you have given so many others. *You* freed me from purgatory Rae. I owe you my life. You can do the same for your mother. You can give her a *chance.* When you are ready to give her that chance, we will be here.”

There’s a deafening silence as Rae takes a few steps back, eyes moving between Fable and Aax.

“We should go- we should go.” His voice sounds like he’s trying so desperately not to cry and something in them feels concerned, it does, but as Rae and Aax fly away all they can think of is that he didn’t say goodbye.

All they can think of is that he didn’t even look at him after they left the bubble. All they can think about is how he left them alone again without saying goodbye. He’d just said he wasn’t going to give up on them. That he wasn’t going to leave them alone here again, but that’s all they feel like is happening.

Fable ends up coaxing them inside. They take the confirmations and reassurance he gives them, ignoring the fact that they know that sometimes he’s lying to them. They ignore the things all yelling, ignoring the way they erupt again when Fable apologizes to them. Apologizing that he couldn’t remove Quixis from them. They ignore them as they say he just apologized for not killing them that day.

They just don’t want to think about it anymore. (They don’t want to remember… and that’s a concerningly familiar wish for them.)

Fable finally gets them to take their mind off it, changing their focus to the birds lingering at their bedside.

They eventually lie down, Fable leaving them to their own thoughts again. The things leave soon after that, sleeping or going somewhere else they still don’t exactly know.

The silence is so so much worse. They curl in on themself under the covers, their birds having fallen asleep a bit ago on the birch next to their bed, so they weren’t making any noise either.

There’s a lingering feeling they can’t quite explain. It’s something under their skin that just makes them want to cry. It’s the lingering feeling of their brother’s hug, his hands running through their hair and his arm wrapped securely around their back. Their wings try to compensate, wrapping around their curled-up figure tightly as their arms wrap around their chest and their tail falls over their legs.

They want their dad. As stupid as that sounds. They want their dad, they want Rae they want… they want Centross.

Four months.

Their hand moves to stifle a quiet sob.

They miss him- gods they miss him so much.

They miss him randomly interrupting what they were doing to get them out of their house. They miss talking with him, joking with him. They miss being *near* him, as pathetic as that sounds. His presence was always comforting. Something that made them feel *safe* and fuck they missed that feeling.

They miss his voice, they miss and they miss and they miss.

They *swear* they’re going crazy when they get the phantom feeling of fingers running through their hair, just closing their eyes and willing themself to just sleep as their breathing shakes through more muffled sobs.

It takes too long in their opinion. By the time they fall asleep, they’ve run out of tears. Sitting in heavy silence for too long until they finally fall asleep.

Maybe sleep isn’t much of a release, the only thing they see is the memories of their best friend, the happiness stained by a lingering sadness and guilt that follows them when they wake up in the morning because of the memory of the cathedral that the dream always ends with.

Soon.

That’s all they have to remember.

It will be over soon.

[blizzardfluffykpop]

Christmassy [12 days of Winter Year #8]

(Tagged as: Wintertime 3)

The group you can request for is THE BOYZ (requests closed for: Sangyeon, Younghoon, Hyunjae, Changmin, Sunwoo, and Eric)

To request; pick a prompt and a member of TBZ, and the specific reader you want it for (if not specified, I’ll make it gender neutral). And if the genre is not specified, it will be fluff.

Completed stories will be posted every odd numbered day of December!

Prompts that are strikethrough have been requested.

Please request!!!

[Requests are closed as of 12/6 - thank you all for helping me close it this early!! 🥺💖🥰]

------

A festive storyteller

“You’re just what I always wanted, a Christmas delight.” 

Making snowmen and failing miserably.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you look beautiful underneath Christmas lights?”

Christmas On and On! (Choose a member’s proposal from the Christmassy mv & send it in~) 

“What do you say to matching pajamas, watching Christmas movies, and hot cocoa?”

First snowfall on the *car* track

“I wish you could come home for Christmas.” “Open your door.”

A Creepmas [supernatural and/or horror themed] party

“Let’s make Christmas cookies together.”

“I don’t want to get ice cream, it's freezing out! We’re going to get frostbite!” “I think it’d be fun.” “Yes, I agree, let’s do it.” (Loosely based off of the Monster House line “...I don’t wanna go inside a monster and I don’t wanna die.” “I say it’s worth a shot.” “Yes, I agree, let’s do it.”).

Make your own prompt!

[spongebobcockroach]

so i crossed the chuckle episode of the ai flirting and

and my tumblr girl internet brain immediately thought of the most devious experiment

the one men were too coward to try

so here's the documenting of my findings:

in the video, AI schlatt is demanding and all down for the ERP, and AI ted was the hard to get one

so what happens when i copy their message to the other? do they still behave like that?

well, to my surprise, AI ted jumped that man.

i kid you not.

AI schlatt didn't do shit. he just grumbled a lot and whimpered A LOT. really. that ai described so many grumbles and whimpers, and arching his back. AI ted was on his lap but AI schlatt was arching his back......

when i said he did nothing other than stutter and be (literally, i kid you not) called a 'good boy', i mean it.

from what they got in the video, this was NOT how i expected the experiment to go, but.

honestly, THANK GOD i accidentally closed the tab right as a reply of 'hands in pants' was coming through.......

[yoosung-ah]

1. nothing could be more suspicious than that hair of yours. I swear this woman's hair gets bigger every time I see her. is that all real, or extensions? if it's real, then drop that haircare routine sis

2. if you choose the first one, Rika accuses you of being a pervert. she's not entirely wrong, but also, why did Cheritz even give us that option to begin with? this is not how I wanted to see him on his knees. bad vibes

3. top 10 saddest screenshots ever taken. literally just put me out of my misery

4. to draw this interaction this way was such a choice. I love how it looks both homoerotic and like a weeb's rendition of a biblical painting using their favourite characters from different franchises

5. first, I'm a fan of how this looks like the cover of one of those cheesy romance novels that grandmas read, and second, literally impossible. cruel of him and the writers to even suggest such a thing. I'm too selfish and don't have the coping skills or neurological genetics to do what you're asking of me

6. the absolute purity that radiates from this is unmatched. I almost don't want to be with him because he's too good for anyone. also babe did you break into V's studio to take this photo with the professional backdrop and everything? because I support that kind of behaviour

7. let's all together beat him up, then. if, like discussed in your AE, "there's no right or wrong," then violence should be acceptable. him and his security guard can't take us all on, and aren't you all about self-sacrifice? and protecting the twins? where's that attitude now?? you're already going to jail anyway. surely you have some repressed anger that you can make use of. Rika and I have enough crazy between us to equate to 3 men in battle too, like let's go

8. same energy as "now I feel weird" or "my head hurts" from days 8 and 9... sir, is this your tsundere way of saying you have feelings for me? I'm flattered, but as you can see, I already have a bf

9. we get called a goddess by both Chois. Cheritz saw the feedback from AS and Yoosung's route and made good use of it

10. "but not me" same. let me know if you need my help in any way. like how V "helped" Rika after her "skirmish" with your mom

... this feels oddly meta. as if Cheritz was like "we know you sickos have fantasized about ending up with both of them, so here you go" and you get to be with just Saeran in the alternative end. here it feels like Saeran's your husband, but Saeyoung's your boyfriend. like why they both holding bouquets, with us in the middle? I thought Saeyoung was looking at his brother's happiness, but he's actually looking at us

in addition to Chairman Han, I am petitioning Cheritz to also give us a Driver Kim and Prime Minister route. the former has a heart of gold but his voice and cadence makes me think he may have k!lled someone in the past, and I know that the latter has, but red flags never stopped us before

[sosadraws]

Anyone has Mynah fanfic recomendations?

Or at least fanfics where they're plot relevant or recurring characters. I'm not picky regarding genre or ships

[kindaasrikal]

How the hell did i write 7k words on chapter 1 of my morro fanfic wth

Praying it’ll end at 8k, but if we’re being realistic it’ll probably be closer to 9k

[itwoodbeprefect]

one thing i have to hand to people online who leave reviews on obviously low budget westerns is that at least they don't complain that it's an obviously low budget western. it seems that i can't say this for some of the people leaving reviews on obviously low budget queer movies

[kanene-yaaay]

Focus (Or: The Unfortunate Destiny of Not Running Laps)

(Don't forget to read the warnings, they are v important!)

Kanene's notes: I am here to call out RUOYE!! BECAUSE THIS ENTIRE FIC IS FRUIT OF ITS SMUGNESS WHILE CAPTURING LANG QIANQIU IN THE FOREST. Like for REAL it just stopped, looked at him all :] and then captured him like jhgfdfgh pls stop being so silly it's killing me.

Warnings: This is a tickle fic and is basically an AU based in the idea I had in this post. Long short story with no spoilers: Xie Lian decided to tell the truth sooner to Lang Qianqiu and the boy had time to deal with his feelings and their relationship didn't become too strained, even if they parted ways. Another modification here is that the nameless boy that is always by LQQ side is called Xiao Mengyou, like I've seen he be called in the fandom. Besides that, nothing more! There's brief light bondage (thank u Ruoye) and some feet tickling during lqq's revenge, in case u don't like that. But it's the famous fluff with light angst, tickle fights and lot of silliness. Around 6.500 words.

[~*~]

Lang Quianqui discreetly managed to take in a deep breath, eyes glued on his preceptor, body unconsciously falling into the defensive stance that has been taught to him for years. It was hard to keep himself still. His entire being was thrilling with energy, an adrenaline that had not dissipated since he woke up and realized what day was today. The energy had fed his mind and body constantly as he fell along the main forms and drills they’ve been covering since the start of the day, over and over, each correction of Fang Xin over his posture and handle of sword only serving to make him buzz even more with nerves and the wish to impress him, trying harder and harder to focus until his movements went from stiff and tense to fluid and natural, striving for perfection.

Attentive eyes watched him like a hawk, more staring than normal, looking for something that Lang Qianqiu didn’t know if he was hiding well. It made him grip the handle of his sword more firmly and his movements quicker. The prince didn’t know if it was just his imagination, and the mask didn’t really help in his analyzes, but he could swear that he saw his mentor’s face glimpse into a confused frown as he accidentally kept stammering clumsily through the stances that he had already mastered a few months ago, even being on his best today barely reached the excellency he had every other good day. Still, he continued to strive for perfection.

Training with Fang Xin was… incredible. In the last year exactly, for the first time since he was only a kid receiving his first wooden sword, Lang Quianqui felt excited to go train, never once getting bored during the lectures, never going through his lessons unchallenged, each and every teaching pushing him to through his limits in a way that left him thoughtful and expectant to expand them even further, see how far he could get. His Guoshi had a different method of teaching and after his parents saw his improvement after a few months into his classes, together with his clear joy in having them, they gave the adult free reign of his studies, changing his routine as much as he needed, as long as it didn’t harm his other responsibilities. They supported them with materials and rooms as necessary and always listened with proud smiles when Lang Quianqui went to ramble to them all they had done and accomplished that day.

Fang Xin valued both the training of his mind and body, much to Lang Quianqui chagrin, especially as he kept dishing out writing punishments and calligraphy exercises that would leave him grumbling about missing the better days with old teachers who would simply have him running laps for slipping into quick naps during their lessons. Usually such commentaries only resulted in more writing and longer punishments, when Fang Xin listened to it. In the end, it was fine. After the initial glooming and pouting, he got to realize how the books that he had to copy always proved to be interesting, challenging his mind with stories and theories he hadn’t thought about before and giving him even more ideas to share with his teacher later, who always listened to him carefully, - even with an ever-lasting air of satisfaction that brought a smug glint in his eyes and a pleased hum in his words - no matter how long he spent in his musings, prodding him with questions and small lectures until he arrived to conclusions that would make the adult nod in a hidden pride, or at least, he hoped so.  

It was no surprise to him to find excitement and anticipation in his mind for each class,  wondering what would be the main skill trained today. If they would focus in his flexibility and quick thinking to get the upper hand into surprise attacks and uneven grounds (his mother almost had an heart attack when he fell out of the roof and broke her window with an accidental kick) or his ability to coordinate planned attacks with strong strategies that would exploit his opponent’s weakness and entice his own strengths.

For today, as it seems, they were going to stick with spars and practical learning. It was probably good, with how many mistakes he had already made just during the warming up and how distracted he was today, waiting impatiently for the end of the class. Having a close range exercise that would force him to focus unless he wanted to explain to his preceptor why his mind was flying away, a dangerous but not impossible possibility, was very good, especially because he wouldn’t be able to respond his teacher if he asked and Fang Xin would immediately catch his lies or any attempt to stir the topic away and he really, really couldn’t risk to get any punishments today. 

Afterall, Fag Xin Guoshi probably was already extremely displeased with his performance. Even if he was too polite to show. Lang Qianqiu gritted his teeth and embraced himself. 

There will be no more mistakes from now on. He will do his best!

They circled each other for a few seconds before the buzzing energy became stronger than him and Lang Quianqui jumped in his direction, starting the fight. He feinted an attack on the teacher’s right, jumping away from his defense and immediately falling into another attack. Just like the first blow, this one was quickly blocked and the crown prince was pushed to the side, Fang Xin’s blade pressing against his sword with such a strength that Lang Quianqui had no other option but to start backing up before the sword was pushed to his throat, trying to at least stabilize himself.

“Concentrate on your footwork.” Fang Xin chided, his voice even and calm as always, showing no hint of strain. The arm that was not holding his weapon was curled on his back and he didn’t move a single step in his direction. Lang Qianqiu was sure that if he glanced at his forehead, there would be no sweat. He, on the other side, could feel his breath already beginning to speed, arms trembling as he tried to not be overpowered. “There is always going to be someone stronger and taller than you during war and you can’t afford to lose. Don’t try to outstrength them because you won’t. Prioritize your speed and versatility.”

“Right!” Lang Qianqiu agreed, immediately dropping himself to the ground, the preceptor's sword passing with a quick gush of wind just inches from his face as he tried to trip the other, rolling around and quickly jumping to straight himself again when more attacks went in his direction.

Fang Xin pivoted around the same spot as the young prince sprinted and threw himself at him in a mix of misleading attacks that attempted to both pull his attention elsewhere and open his guard. Extra, even if rare, punches and kicks tried to make him lose his balance. It’s been exactly one year, yet Qianqiu hasn't been able to make him move around the arena one bit.

A sudden kick going to his face made the boy yelp and twirl to his left, only to almost get a sword going right to his flank, but blocking it with his blade at the last moment. 

“Focus.” His teacher remarked, starting a series of strikes aiming for his torso. “Pull your sword closer to your body. You’re paying too much attention in protecting your face and not losing your stance that it leaves your entire flank unprotected.” 

As if to prove his own words, his blade quickly aimed to his face, only to be immediately pushed away in a move that wobbled the other’s grip on the handle. Before the prince could explore that, however, Fang Xin speedly twisted and turned his attack back to his sides. Again, Qianqiu almost didn’t manage to rotate his long blade enough to catch it, being pushed away as the sound of metal scraping metal filled the training grounds. “Keep on rolling and jumping, if you must, just do not lose your balance and attention to your surroundings.” 

He striked again and, following his words, the young one threw himself on the ground and rolled away. Panting as he straightened himself, he watched his preceptor, reading his sword.

Before he decided to attack, Lang Qianqiu went first, deciding to just make his moves up as he goes. He jumped and twisted, aiming for the neck. He watched as the adult glided aside with an effortless grace and turned to block the blow, pushing the blades upwards, weakening his grip on the sword at an alarming speed. The thought of using their closeness to kick him away had just crossed his mind when a purple and white blur appeared right by his sides and-

He jumped away with a squeal, his lips being pulled in an unexpected smile, hand running to cover his ribs, skin still tingling.

What was that! 

He turned around, pulling his sword even closer, face red from the embarrassing sound that just escaped from his mouth without his permission. 

Someone had just tickled him! 

Still reeling with the sudden bust of energy and tickly sensation, his eyes immediately stopped at Guoshi, staring at him warily, but being only answered with the same calmness and collectedness that always filled his every action and words.

Maybe was it him who…?

“Do not charge right back in without correcting your mistakes and very much less without a plan.” Fang Xin went back to his initial stance, one hand holding his sword and the other resting calmly on his back. His posture had no flaws, his lips held no grinning smiles and his voice got no playful cadence that betrayed his serious tune. “Remember what I said, use your speed and versatility. Ready?”

…No, it couldn’t be him. The imperial preceptor would never step down to do something as silly and childish as tickling. He probably imagined it? 

Once more, he watched his surroundings with narrowed, attentive eyes. Maybe it was…

There he was.

Behind him, on the other side of the arena, his friend smiled at him. Lang Quianqiu shuddered in alarm. 

Since a couple weeks ago, when Qianqiu had used the other’s distraction to unleash a playful surprise tickle attack on him, Xiao Mengyou had been using his every opportunity to tickle him senseless back, going even further as to wait the end of his last martial class - when he usually laid on the cold ground to get his breath back - to immediately attack him with pokes and wiggling fingers the very moment Fang Xin Guoshi turned his back and pretended to not hear them fooling around, leaving the prince giggling and squirming until he was tired enough to not immediately get him back as revenge. 

(Too lost in their own game, none of them noticed the initial moment, when the adult turned back promptly at the squeal of the prince, ready to defend, only to stop and smile amusedly at the joyful friends in front of him, leaving them be and enjoy their own playfulness. There was a deep melancholy pooling in his eyes in that evening.)

Seeing that the attention was still on him, Mengyou made a walking motion with his fingers on his palm and then a thumbs up. Lang Qianqiu felt his eyes wide and he took a wobbly step backwards.

Did he just… confirm that he was the one who tickled him?

Watching his face, Xiao Mengyou smiled a tiny grin and nodded.

Lang Qianqiu bristled and started to head into his direction with firm steps. Mengyou frowned and tilted his head to the side, in apparent confusion.

“Lang Qianqiu.” The crown prince automatically froze with the clear commanding tune on the other’s voice, posture straight as he turned around to his teacher, suddenly remembering that they weren’t alone in the arena. 

“Your lesson is not over, yet. Focus.” His Guoshi seemed more amused than annoyed, though. Lang Qianqiu internally exhaled in relief. How embarrassing, his mind was really all over the place today. “Let’s start again.”

Nodding, the younger one went back to his stance, eying his opponent before charging straight in. He swore he listened to Fang Xin huff in exasperation, but the sound of blades colliding resonated louder and quickly pulled his attention back to the spar.

This time it took longer before he got distracted and another poke attacked his armpit as he tried to push his teacher’s hand out of his sword’s handle. He squeaked and jumped backwards, quickly scurrying away as Guoshi’s blade followed him without a rest.

And so, the onslaught of brief, equally light and impossible to ignore, tickly touches kept following him.

A prodding on his side and a loud yelp.

Another poke on his belly and a wheezy snort.

A tickle across his entire spine that made him jump and almost lost track of his teacher.

A scribbling on the back of his neck that pulled a couple of giggles out of his throat and sealed that silly, wobbly smile forever in his face.

All through this, he kept his fight. The adrenaline of waiting for another tickle attack and the wish of stop being so childish, giggling and squirming in front of the person he looked up the most, made him the most focused he has been the entire day, falling and rolling and charging blow after blow, fuelled by the bolts of electricity that ran across his meridians every time he saw a blur of white and purple in his peripheral vision and felt titters bouncing in his throat long before the ticklish feeling even touched him, descending in chuckles and huffs of laughter as he managed to escape another playful attack.

He had just managed to run right behind Fang Xin in an attempt for a surprise attack, when he felt something latch on the back of his robes, scurrying across his neck and jumping in between his articles of clothes. There was no escaping from the loud, surprised shriek that ran from his throat the moment he felt the tickles dig in his armpits, making both of his hands lock on the handle of his sword and his arms to clue to his sides, the attempt of protection being too late to stop the soft - so extremely, absurdly soft - sensation that ran up and down his pits, prodding and drumming and pulling hysterical giggle after hysterical giggle from him. His legs stumbled and his shoulders bounced with the energy and need to squirm away, but he kept his stance. 

The tickling traveled to his back, scribbling freely on his ribs and poking incessantly his spine until the young prince gave up from his form and turned around in pursue of his attacker, eyes closed from laughter, trying to push whoever was targeting his shoulderblades with so much wiggling and scratching away. His cheeks were in flames with the way squeaky hiccups began appearing in between his crackles.

He tried to open his eyes to better escape and fight his revenge, but there was already tears blurring his vision and, the moment he felt that soft touch worming its way to his sides, all he could do was sheath his sword and swing it around blindly, ignoring how silly he must been looking (he would never forgive himself if he cut Xiao Mengyou by mistake). 

Strings of “no, no, no, let go!” fell in waterfalls from his mouth, yet they did nothing to stop his sides from being lavished in tiny pinches and a playful spidering. His head was thrown backwards with the force of his laughter as he hugged himself, unsuccessful to himself from being tickled to pieces.

A strong, warm hand was laid on his shoulder and, lost in his laughing fit, Lang Qianqiu almost couldn’t catch when Guoshi said to let him go and the tickling feeling magically disappeared.

The prince couldn’t help the way he wobbled on the same place, tittering snickers and wheezy chuckles still filling the air, and leaned on Fang Xin, his Guoshi rubbing his shoulder while keeping his other arm tightly close to his body. His face had that expression he always carried when he was about to lecture him and leave another writing assignment, but it disappeared as quick as it came when he noticed Lang Qianqiu watching, his eyes instead twinkling with a suave amusement.

The crown prince had just gotten his breath back when his eyes traveled the rest of the arena and he saw his friend just a few steps of them, looking strangely uncomposed with a red hue painting his face. Lang Quianqiu squinted warily as he noticed his gaze and jumped on the same spot, getting closer.

As he opened his mouth to say something, the prince beated him to it, quickly straightening himself and turning around to bow politely at Fang Xin.

“I request a small break, please, Guoshi!”

Also looking a tad restless, but never losing his posture, Fang Xin nodded, getting his sword and walking away, probably to read some poem book as he always did during their moments of rest. Lang Qianqiu paid him no mind and instead swiftly turned back to his friend, who still looked flushed and confused.

“Your Highness, are you alright? I saw-”

His words morphed to a shriek when the crown prince jumped on him, no other word exchanged or mercy in sight as he energetically clawed his belly, chasing his loud squeaks until a high pitched laughter began to fill the entire arena, promptly making Xiao Mengyou immediately try to muffle it all behind his hands.

“Wait! Why!!”

With the flourish of someone who had done this plenty of times before and would continue to do so for plenty times more, Lang Qianqiu simply huffed - half amused and half annoyed - and  turned around, successfully sitting on his legs and trapping him in a very tickly destiny. Mengyou, with the same ease of someone who had been in this situation plenty of times before and knew very well about his future fate, started to squirm and trash much before he felt his shoes being pulled out, pleas falling from his lips like raindrops during the summer.

“You Highness, no! Not my feet, please, please! You know, you know I am the most ticklish there. Your Highness, just leave them alonEHEHE! NOHO!”

Lang Qianqiu did not, in fact, leave them alone. Instead, he dodge a kick - not before leaving a few scribbles on that sole for his trouble - and grabbed his other feet, holding his ankle down in a firm but gentle grip and spidering his fingers from the lowest point of his heel to his toes in a way that he knew it would leave his childhood friend crazy, watching with a smirk as he clamped his hands even harder over his mouth. Still, he was unsuccessful to muffle the uncontrollable crackles and squeals at each tiny scribble that escaped from his lungs. For this he blushed even more, kicks getting more energetic. 

Mengyou tried to roll away and escape, but, since the attack that hit Lang Qianqiu a couple of moments ago had been unrelenting, following his every move and tickling him everywhere, so was his comeback. His blunt nails chased his squirming no matter where, delivering scratches across his entire sole and focusing his pokes and scribbles on the sensitive spots he already knew it tickled the most.

The crown prince huffed with no heat when another strings of pleas and a few protests mingled together with the stray screeches that he managed to fish every time he concentrated his tickling right in the middle of his arch, changing from soft touches, full of circles being drawn slowly on the sensitive skin, to scratching it with no mercy, hysterical giggles and bubbly laughter dancing mingled in the air. Finally, when another squeaky “Your Highness” escaped his friend, Lang Qianqiu declared enough. He turned around fiercely and crossed his arms, staring directly at his friend, who barely watched him back with how much squinting in a big smile his eyes were.

“You were the first one to start it! Even attacking me in front of Fang Xin Guoshi.” Just the reminder of how he completely lost his composure and giggled like a kid in the middle of the fight made his cheeks burn hot. The fact that the other simply kept watching him with gleaming eyes and restless titters also didn’t help. “Don’t you think I am being fair?”

Xiao Mengyou kept snickering and snickering, head turning around in an attempt to hide his silly, disheveled state. Lang Qianqiu almost pouted with how even the most ruthless attack to his most ticklish spot couldn’t make him stop hiding his face.

When more moments flew away with him staring at his friend and the other being lost in a mess of giddy giggles, he reached skillfully behind him for his toes, burying his wiggling fingers right under them and spidering energetically, a joyful smirk appearing easily in his face at how this finally made Mengyou low his arms and sit up, trying to push him off his legs without any real force.

Seemingly as his words finally sank on the other’s mind, Mengyou answered. “You t- attacked me first that day! I was only getting revenge.” A snort flew from his lips and his face got even redder. “It’s been such a long time, too, Your Highness. Why tickle me back now?!” 

Lang Qianqiu was speechless. “Such a long time? That is it!”

He got out of the other’s legs, waiting as he took his breath back.

His childhood friend looked at the crown prince with a mix of surprise and wariness. Lang Qianqiu took the opportunity to turn around and run his gaze across the arena, noticing that Fang Xin Guoshi was nowhere to be seen. Uh. Maybe he got hungry and went to grab a snack? Well, since he still had some business to complete, Lang Qianqiu didn’t care to think too much about it.

His golden eyes glinted with mischief when they turned back to stare at Mengyou, who jolted on the same place and braced himself.

“Let’s have a tickle fight.” Lang Qianqiu copied him, also preparing himself, determination clear in every trace of his expression. Mengyou felt slightly amused with how serious he was taking this. “The first one to surrender wins and the loser can’t get revenge anytime soon.”

Mengyou looked thoughtfully at him and the crown prince was sure that his friend haven’t made his mind, and yet wasted no time in looking for the perfect place to strike, somewhere that would make him boneless and closer to surrender, that would make him forget everything besides how much it tickled and swapped his energy quickly. He found himself doing just the same, eyes locking on his knees before they widened in realization.

“Wait!” He scrambled to take off his own boots. “Now we are even.”

“Your feet aren’t as ticklish as mine, Your Highness.” As it always did, his voice stumbled just the tiniest bit over the word ‘ticklish’, but it still maintained a grumbling tone. Lang Qianqiu held his chin pensitive. “And the imperial preceptor will be back soon, there is no need.”

He was right. 

“My sides are my most ticklish spot.” As he conceded, the crown prince began pulling the string that kept his stash together, robes starting to loose up as well. “That is fine, I will just take off my upper robes.”

“Do not!” In a flash, there were hands pulling his away and quickly tying his stash firmly back. Mengyou’s voice stumbled again, tune equally serious and a tad hysterical. “What are you thinking, Your Highness?! What if Fang Xin Guoshi comes back or your parents decide to oversee your lessons today? How will we explain if they see you in that state? It would be irresponsible of you at least and shameless at worst!” 

Properly admonished, Qianqiu let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his head. “I didn’t think about that.” Then he shook himself and focused on the matter at hand, gold, intense eyes watching Xiao Mengyou again. “We must have a fair tickle fight, still. I can’t have it any other way!”

Sigh. “It’s easier to worm my hands on your robes than for you to do the same with my boots during a ti… our fight. I will just put my shoes back.”

Lang Qianqiu gaped at him. “How is that fair? You’re hiding your ticklish spot while you just said it’s easier to get mine!”

“Well, you already got me there!”

“You’re making excuses, you tickle me on my sides all the time!”

“Yes, just like now.”

“Exact- wait, wh-” But before he could finish, Xiao Mengyou was already jumping on him, skilled fingers working their way to his sides and squeezing in a much more energetically determined way than his attack during his lessons, making his muscles lock up in place as squeaking laughter immediately escaped from his lips. Before he could lose all his force to the laughter, the crown prince attacked back, and soon two sets of giggles, squeals and crackling laughter were filling the air.

Until the sighing mentor came and declared the break over, even if there was still a different kind of gleam in his eyes.

The same gleam that stared now right back at him, in the middle of that forest, centuries later, with the former king of Yong’An alone and Fang Xin, no, Xie Lian being accompanied by the very own Ghost King, his friend.

Lang Qianqiu tried to escape the white silk that had so suddenly wrapped itself around him and rendered the younger martial god immobile on the floor. It was futile.

“What is this!” He tried to wiggle and squirm, but the fabric kept a firm, yet non bruising, hold on him. Like this, there was no way he could show his former Guoshi how he had grown his combating skills and how he probably could, if not take him in an equal fight, at least be a worthy opponent. An explosive indignation at the unfairness of Xie Lian’s tactic began flaring on him. “Let me go, this is not fair!”

“You didn’t specify that we should only use swords in our fight. Ruoye is my weapon, afterall.” If Lang Qianqiu had ever doubted that Xie Lian was indeed his old mentor, all of it would be gone now. The scolding, teaching tone was just the same, even after all the time. Although, it felt more tired, now. Older. “Besides, you should always be prepared for your opponent using unhanded tactics and surprise ambushes. If this was a real combat, you'd be dead already.”

Hua Cheng chuckled and for a moment Lang Qianqiu felt a wave of deja-vu wash over him, reminding the younger one about a similar situation when he had been rendered immobile in the past. 

(That is right, Qianqiu realized, with shame beginning to fight against him and prickle his skin, his Guoshi had been there too, hadn’t he?)

After such a true, yet unforgiving point, his lips pressed into a thin line, displeased. It was all just the same and infinitely different from those days when he was a teenager. 

For one, even with everything, Xie Lian seemed much more carefree. It was in the teasing tilt of his smile as he kneeled closer, in the slight slouch of his form, in the way he chatted and displayed emotions that had never been present in his in the imperial preceptor’s face before. Fondness, insecurity and, especially, indecision. Fang Xin Guoshi seemed sure in every step he took. When he lied to him and when decided to tell the truth, when he saved his life (again and again and again) and refused his invitation to a duel right after Lang Qianqiu discovered his identity. His Guoshi had been giant, indestructible, bigger than anything that crossed his way. Sometimes, Qianqiu still saw him that way, in his dreams and nightmares. 

Overlapping the image of his teacher and the kind god that ascended thrice seemed impossible.

Then he remembers him rescuing him in the Ghost City. He remembers being equally saved when he was twelve. He remembers his resolute composure when he confronted him about being his former Guoshi and the warm hand on his shoulder when Xie Lian woke him up after the heavenly conference. The way that he looked at him now. Serious. Admonishing. Somehow still soft. 

Suddenly piercing together those two images wasn’t really difficult at all.

Very different and yet the very same.

“Let us fight seriously this time! Only swords, no other weapons, until one of us surrenders or blood is drawn. Let me go, Guoshi.”

Xie Lian sighed in the same way he did centuries ago, when Lang Qianqiu kept pestering him to teach him said foolish maneuver that saved his life. The young one trashed more energetically in protest. “I told you once, didn’t I? ‘Do not charge right back in without correcting your mistakes and very much less without a plan’. Tell me, how could you have prevented me from winning the fight?”

Immediately his mind blanked with both the nostalgia and surprised feeling that ran through him and the former king stopped trashing, looking at his Guoshi with wide eyes. Xie Lian, then, looked horribly unsure for a moment, but in his next blink that expression was gone and he watched him in expectation, not taking his words back. 

Lang Qianqiu could understand.

There was anger and indignation bristling in his chest. He wasn’t that kid anymore, looking for the approval of his mentor, the person that he looked up to the most, the person that deceived him, who left a young boy, alone, scared, betrayed to rule an entire angered kingdom. 

As soon as the anger came, however, it soon went away, leaving only tiredness and nostalgia behind. Lang Qianqiu didn’t feel as furious as he had been when he discovered the entire truth, a long, long time ago. He wasn’t as single focused on it as he once had been. 

It’s been so many years. So many centuries.

(Sometimes he still felt like that kid.)

As time passed in his silence, Xie Lian looked awkward, perhaps sad, and he recomposed himself, preparing to leave.

As usual, Qianqiu’s mouth moved first than his brain.

“I could’ve dodged Ruoye!”

Xie Lian froze on his way up, searching his face for something. He must have found it, since he went back to his kneeling position and Hua Cheng stopped looking at the younger with something dangerous in his glare. Lang Qianqiu itched to finish their previous fight. Before he could think too much about that, though, his former guoshi’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“It would follow you no matter your move, which was already hindered by your surprise and slow reaction. It’s a spiritual weapon with long range. You’d still lose.”

He wanted to protest the use of ‘losing’ on this occasion, since his victory truly couldn’t hold any honor or weight after using such an improper ambush. However, before he could get a single word in, something white appeared in his vision field.

Lang Qianqiu blinked and turned to Ruoye, who seemed to shake in what seemed like an… attempt to a wave… or maybe it was a threat? The martial god would answer it in kind, even if just for the curiosity of seeing what the apparent sentient weapon would do, but his arms continued to be glued to his torso. 

Something in his face must have answered it, since the silk twirled happily.

And then immediately proceeded to attack his defenseless neck and ears in a soft, light kind of tickle that made shivers run across his spine and his lips turn into a gigantic smile.

An old memory tried to resurface.

“Whahat is this?!” He protested in between his teeth. Tiny, high pitched giggles made his shoulders shake, Qianqiu did his best to both hold them in and try to escape the tickly attack. He scrunched up his shoulders, except this only encouraged the soft weapon to scritch excitedly behind his ears until he turned to hide them, leaving his neck open once more. He tried to shake his head, still the maddening, gentle scratching sensation followed him with no problems, dancing across his skin without a single worry. “Dohon’t! Let me go!”

An amused huff cut his silence. “My, had I known about this, his capture at my kingdom would’ve been much smoother and quicker. Maybe I could even have given a different, more exciting show to my subjects, raise his price a little.”

For a moment Lang Qianqiu imagined it and the scenario was so alarming that he immediately shook his head to expel it, throwing the embarrassing thought away. His giggles suddenly became much more difficult to keep at bay and, were it not for that, he would have some good words to share about Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s clearly childish provocations!

“San Lang, don’t tease.” But Xie Lian’s tune was much more amused than chiding, hiding something in the depths of his words.

Lang Qianqiu turned around to demand he take his weapon away, but, just as he opened his mouth, Rouye decided to run across his spine and unleash an onslaught of unrelenting pokes and prodding on his sides, which made him arch his back and freed laughter to pour in waves from him, hysterical giggles twirling around every squeak and snort and suddenly the memory that had been itching in the back of his mind resurfaced.

The afternoon that Fang Xin Guoshi completed one year teaching him. Xie Lian never shared with the royal family the date of his birthday, so they decided to begin the tradition of celebrating this accomplishment instead. Lang Qianqiu couldn’t stay still during the entire day, excitedly waiting for the end of his lesson, when he would be free to drag the imperial preceptor to his surprise gathering. His focus had been completely impossible to hold and he only managed to get distracted from the commissioned gift he had asked for Xiao Mengyou to bring him when, out of nowhere, during their spar…

He then gasped in realization, turning his gaze at Xie Lian, narrowing eyes glistening in accusation, even if he was still unable to stop his uncontrollable loud laughter, especially as the prodding traveled to his ribs, spidering on them while getting dangerously closer and closer to his armpits, making him involuntarily squirm and snicker even more in anticipation. 

Even so, he obligated his laughing mind to concentrate on his former mentor's silly shiny gaze.

“It was you!” And, as if reading his mind and acting in protest, Ruoye drummed in that awful space where his pits and ribs connected, pulling a high pitched squeal out of his throat together with, of course, more crackles. “And Ruoye! You were the ones tickling me that day, not Mengyou!”

Xie Lian looked to the side with a way too innocent face to be genuine, a tiny, closed lip grin resting in his face, an almost silently amused, bigger smile escaping him. He didn’t say nor deny anything. It was all the confirmation the former king needed.

As he continued to snicker, giggle and squeal, Qianqiu remembered about his “revenge” taken on his actually innocent childhood friend…Xiao Mengyou definitely was going to kill him when he went to apologize that night. He could only hope it was not by the same way that Ruoye had decided to kill him that moment.

(Lang Qianqiu knew it was all a false hope, though.)

Xie Lian’s voice cut his thoughts.

“Now, again. Give me at least three ways you could have avoided this and Ruoye will let you go.”

Qianqiu felt the urge to grumble at this, but he snorted instead, starting to kick and protest when the soft silk gave the underside of his knee a curious poke. 

It was all futile, though, his mentor was known for using different methods of teaching and centuries didn’t change any of that, as it seems. 

Lang Qianqiu could relate, he also had at least one feeling that truly didn’t change after all this time, as well.

He would rather be running laps.

[saltyb0ba]

Summary:

The gang faces off against Chai.

[atlantis-just-drowned]

hi!! hope youre having a good day :) would you write a short like,, makeout fic with pluto if you dont mind? thank you!! i love your writing sm

A/N: HI ANON YOU'RE SO KIND OMG!! Thank you for being so patient with me aghgfhgehfg- I just started college and moved in on my own, which is like, a huge change. So yeah life has been hectic those last few months. But hey! Here it finally is!

On a calm afternoon

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Masterlist

You could hear the oxygen getting engulfed in his lungs as he breathed in. From where you were resting on Pluto's chest, eyes half-lidded, you could hear every calm breath he took. Your head rising up, then down. Up, then down. Over and over again, to the same rhythm.

It was peaceful, you thought.

The way the sunlight sipped through the window of his room, and the comfortable silence between the two of you as he focused on the book he was reading, sitting on his bed with his legs on each side of your figure.

In your drowsy state, you heard the harmonious sound of air filling his lung, and felt your head raise a little higher as he took a deep breath, grounding you back on earth and taking you away from the sweet slumber you were about to fall into.

You tried to reposition your head with a groan. Somehow, gaining consciousness has made your position less comfortable than it was before, and you let out a small huff.

Just as you stopped moving, you felt the touch of five fingertips grazing at the skin of your skull; the sensation made your eyes flutter open, and you looked up at your boyfriend.

He has that calm, relaxed position. Expression neutral, his eye moving slightly from left to right has he keeps reading his book line after line. In the same time, you could still hear the air in his lungs, and his fingers threading through your hair.

This was everything you had ever wanted.

The circumstances around the two of you were so strange, you had to admit. You still struggled to understand how death could be such a lively experience – having you running around, discovering and learning when you should be laying still, somewhere under the dirt.

But this, this relationship that Pluto and you shared, it was enough to make you forget about it all.

It felt way too much like life to be anything you could possibly find in death. It was so real that it made anything else seem pale and meaningless in comparison.

It was love, your heart told you. And you knew it was true.

The sensation of his hand leaving your hair brought you back to earth, and you pouted at the loss of his delicate touch.

The faintest ghost of a smile painted his lips for a moment as he used his now free hand to turn another page, his eye still fixed on the words.

You couldn’t help but to crave more of him.

The absence of his left hand on your scalp didn’t seem right. It was suddenly making you feel so cold and empty – you wanted his warmth again.

Still against him, you moved further up on his figure, passing your arms underneath him to capture his torso.

His reaction was almost immediate.

You heard a small surprised cry leave him, and felt the muscles in his back and shoulders tense immediately against the palms of your hands.

“Wh… What are you doing?!”

A few weeks ago, Pluto’s anxiousness and bewildered tone would have made you back off instantly, but you were starting to know better. Instead, you melted further against him, nuzzling your face in his neck, earning a shudder from him when your breath hit the base of his jawline, just below his left ear.

“Just cuddling you.” You breathed out with a relaxed tone.

You didn’t move a muscle. After a while of you simply laying on top of him, you felt his breathing slow down little by little, falling back into a calm and even rhythm. His left hand falling onto the back of your head once again, with his fingers threading through your hair.

Another silent moment passed, where you took a deep breath, and sighed. You knew you couldn’t go back to sleep. The yearning for his touch was so addictive – you only wanted to bask in his affection now. To have him as close to you as possible.

Tightening your grip around him, you pressed a firm kiss on his shoulder through the fabric of his clothes.

This time, despite tensing up for a split second, he let out a chuckle in reaction. His chest jumping up and down against yours.

“Now I’m starting to think you might…” he started with a grin, before your teeth grazed slightly against the crook of his neck, the sensation attenuated by his turtle-neck, but still present. He sucked in a breath, and you felt him arch into your touch, his knees bending on each side of you. You were unable to say if the movement was voluntary or not as the rest of his sentence came out in a repressed moan, struggling to form coherent words. “b-be ge-etting a l-little clingy!”

You stopped your attack and grinned pridefully, loving every reaction you could get from him. His left hand was still in your hair, a lot more tense than it was a few seconds ago. Meanwhile, the book he was previously reading was still in his right hand, now closed and held so firmly you were starting to get concerned he might puncture the cover with his fingers.

It didn’t stop you, though.

Pressing another gentle kiss on the dark-haired man’s left shoulder, you dived down to kiss his collarbone through his turtle-neck, your hands tracing the outline of his waist and earning you another shiver, before you slipped them underneath the fabric and against his warm skin.

Pluto let out a groan, his back instantly arching against you like your fingers were burning him in the gentlest way. The book he held fell from his hand as he abandoned it to encircle your shoulders with his arms, hands clawing and gripping at the back of your shirt for support.

He gasped in, stuttering your name before trying to articulate. “W-Wait… T-That’s… That’s n-not cuddling…!”

Your head shot up to look at him. His breath was uneven, his face so warm you wouldn’t be surprised if he started seething. He looked at you with wide opened eyes, his eyebrows pinching up in an anxious expression.

Oh.

Maybe the teasing has gone a bit far, you realized.

Giving him an apologetic smile, you muttered “Sorry. Got a little carried away.” before pressing a gentle, chaste kiss on his lips. “Do you want me to stop?”

There was a silence, and you could feel his hands on each sides of you face, where he has placed them when you had kissed.

He looked at you for a moment, seemingly calming down a little. You could still feel his pulse racing, but the way he detailed your face – your lips – seemed less panicked now. He seemed almost… stunned. Like he was amazed to see you here. Like he struggled to realise this was real.

It was this peculiar look he gave you, that made you want to shout from all rooftops how much you loved him.

His hands held you a little firmer, and he shook his head timidly, your faces so close his nose almost brushed yours.

“No.” He answered in a whisper. So low, yet you could hear the conviction in his tone. “Please don’t.”

The grip Pluto has on you was still gentle as he brought you closer, until you went in and kissed him with a smile.

He wasn’t tense or scared anymore – it was far from being your first kiss by this point. He knew he could trust you to be kind on him.

When your hands roamed higher in his back, pushing his shirt up in the process, he shivered and let out a small moan in response. His arms laid around your neck again, one of his hand messing with your hair.

You couldn’t feel more like a teenager than in that moment. It was insane, you knew it. The way every touch, every second was like you were both seventeen again, smiling and kissing and touching each other for the first time.

You wished this could go on forever.

The way his chest arched into yours when you deepened the kiss, the feeling of his tongue lapping at yours tentatively and the sounds he made at every caress of your fingers. You could never get enough of it.

Your heart was stammering against your ribcage, fuelled by how perfectly your hand could fit on his waist, and how his own hands held you ever-so firmly despite the way they trembled, in an attempt to keep you as close to him as possible, knees locked around you and pushing your body against his.

You were both panting by the time you parted, and Pluto’s face was just as red as your mind was hazy.

Dipping your head down in his neck, you brought your left hand up to hook a finger in the collar of his top, pealing it away from his skin to suck a hickey there.

The dark-haired man tried to hold back a whine through his teeth, tightening his hold on you in an attempt to bring you even closer. He was so precious, you thought. Breathing in and out so fast you doubted the oxygen got through his whole body, as he arched and kept holding on to you like you were a life line. Feeling his skin on your fingertips was a pleasure you couldn’t deny yourself.

And suddenly you heard a knock at the door.

Your arms immediately straightened up to push yourself off of your boyfriend and look at the door. Pluto almost fell from his bed with how far he jumped, gripping your shoulders so tightly it was almost painful. You assumed it would probably hurt a lot more, if being his partner didn’t mean being on the receiving hand of those death grips anytime he got scared.

“Pluto?” You heard his best-friend’s – and roommate’s – voice call from the other side. “Can I come in or is there anything… tricky, going on?”

Your brain was empty. Not a single thought going on. You couldn’t find anything to say.

Given the silence from Pluto, he was probably in the same state of mind. Maybe just more panicked.

Well, one of you had to say something – anything, really. You searched for appropriate words to piece out together into a coherent sentence. It was harder than it should have been. “Uuuuuh…”

“Okay!” Duke’s voice cut you out with a nervous tone before you could even have figured out what to tell him. “That’s enough of an answer, I’ll come back later!”

And then he just… left.

Wow. Okay. What just happened.

You blinked a few times in disbelief. This whole interaction seemed surreal.

When you turned toward your boyfriend again, he gave you the same dumbfounded look you were probably giving him, confirming this whole thing was just as unexpected to him as it was to you.

You stared at each other in complete silence for a moment, until he finally processed the whole chain of events. You saw his face progressively turn a dark shade of red, while his expression slowly went from one of pure shock, to a profound embarrassment.

“Bloody heck…”

He buried his face in your shoulder like you’d be able to hide him from his own discomfort, and you couldn’t help but giggle as you realized what has happened too.

“Stop laughing!” He called out without looking up, trying to scold you but you could hear the smile in his voice. “How am I going to explain this to him, now?!”

If that was supposed to stop you, it sure failed. You only kept laughing as you answered “I don’t think he wants you to explain anything.”

This time, you felt him nuzzling further into the crook of your neck, letting out an embarrassed sound as he swore again. “Oh dammit…”

Sympathizing with his unease, you let your laugher die down and ran a hand through his hair until he calmed down.

[cowboyskeletons]

*insane about media voice* i am normal about media