#Because I'll link this post to a chapter in my fic where her name isn't revealed yet

[larkoneironaut]

Made some minor improvements to her portrait 🖤 I already have three more sketches of my Din girl, can’t wait to finish those soon! I also just finished writing chapter 5, so it’s going well, rn! I’m lowkey obsessed with her, not gonna lie 🫶🏽

[sugar-phoenix]

Intro + Masterlist 📖🌱✒️

take two on my big intro post

Introduction

Hello! I'm sugarphoenix (you can call me sugar or phoenix) and I'm a writer and aspiring author from the US. Here's the basic rundown:

19 years old

she/her pronouns

aside from writing, I am an aspiring UX/UI designer. I hope to one day be a pioneer in the industry.

feel free to tag me in anything! I enjoy being tagged in tag games, even if I might not have the time to get around to all of them.

Genres I often write in:

fantasy/romantasy

animal elements i.e. at least one character is an animal shifter/has animalistic traits/characters are compared to animals metaphorically

finding oneself in the mess

dark fantasy/ethereal vibes

You can also find me on ao3 with the same name + here's my kofi if you ever want to tip me <3 taglist: @ashirisu

Current WIP(s)

The Blood That Bonds Us: A fantasy novel that can be succinctly summed up as Rapunzel with Red Riding Hood elements; where Rapunzel is also the Wolf, and the Prince is also Red Riding Hood.

Summary:

There is a prophecy in the kingdom of Venatoria that a Black Wolf will rise from the forest and bring destruction and a new reign to the kingdom. Because of this, generations of royals have hunted down and killed most of the Wolves that reside in the surrounding forest.

Prince Rhydian's father was no different, and he died in a hunt when Rhydian was only a child. But now Rhydian is no longer a child, and he's old enough to prove his worthiness to the crown and possibly take the kingdom back from the greedy crown regent, Alaric. Alaric, however, sets a heavy task for the prince: he must go and rescue a maiden that has been locked in a tower by a witch near a neighboring village. Many young men have tried and failed to rescue her, and the witch is ruthless. But Rhydian will do anything if it means he can reclaim his father's crown and throne.

Daciana has spent all her life in a tall tower. She is protected and held captive by the witch Dame Gothel, who found her in the forest and recognized her for what she is: the Black Wolf. Dame Gothel doesn't hold back on telling her this, and Daciana knows of her fate. She is a monster, a bringer of destruction, and one of the most hated enemies of Venatoria, who are blissfully unaware of her existence. Daciana doesn't feel like a monster, and perhaps life outside the tower isn't that bad, despite what she's been told. But although Dame Gothel has done all she can to keep Daciana within the tower, it's often ill-advised to try and fight destiny. And it will only be so long before the beast is freed from her prison.

CHARACTER TAGS: #♚ . rhydian / #✧ . daciana / #◦ . vincent

This is my main WIP, and the one I'm working the most on.

POSTED WRITING

Blood That Bonds Us Snippets -- screenshots taken directly from my scrivener that give you a little peek into the first draft

Chapter 1 snippet -- snippet of chapter 1 of the first draft

rhydian. -- short character exploration for Rhydian

mourning your captor, your only mother -- short snippet of Daciana's POV (spoilers)

Fanfictions

As of 6/22/2024, any further fanfiction will be posted on my fanfiction blog @sugarphoenixlovesfanfic !!

Fandoms that I'm in:

Honkai Star Rail

Wuthering Waves

My Hero Academia

Deponia

Honkai Star Rail Fics

the new barista -- a super short drabble about a college au in which Dan Heng is the cute barista at your college's cafe.

Death of a Cowboy -- in which I rewrite and expand upon Boothill's past.

𖥔 . overheating . 𖥔 -- Boothill overheats in your getaway vehicle.

cowboy, you have a hard time wrapping things up neatly. ✦ -- Boothill is loud and messy but he grows on you. One day he does something unexpected.

I think I'll take my noodles spicy -- You stop by Jiaoqiu's stall to try his noodles. They are very. Spicy.

My Hero Academia Fics

unfinished hawks x oc fanfic (ao3 link)

"there's this thing I want to say to you" -- short fluffy drabble about Hawks confessing his love to unnamed fem character

Deponia Fics

maudlin -- a short fluffy fic that expands a scene in Deponia Doomsday (spoilers)

All fanfiction can be found under the tag #✤.fanfics .

Short Stories / Miscellaneous

All my writing can be found under the tag #✎ . writings

drabbles in red

complete short stories in pink

Masterlist:

she was a monster (monster) -- short drabble that uses experimental writing

Flash Fiction Friday Prompt "On The Edge" -- short drabble that follows the prompt. it may or may not be somewhat connected to "she was a monster (monster)."

I wrote that one tumblr post -- i wrote a couple of one shots of that one tumblr post with a crow and a cat being familiars and trying to find their witches.

dagger queen -- exercise where I write a drabble using two prompts. dark fantasy/romantasy vibes.

un-satyr -- COMPLETE short story about a satyr who is different from the rest.

vampire x poisoned werewolf -- COMPLETE (?) short story about a vampire and a werewolf putting aside their differences (and perhaps getting a bit too close) in order to save one of them.

cherry red -- flash fiction about a girl and what she leaves behind.

my roommate is a vampire -- currently unfinished short story about a college roommate who is, well, a vampire.

Writing Challenges

2024 November 50k Words Challenge

dividers by cafekitsune!

[pjunicornart]

Okay, so, uh... For some reason my ask isn't showing up on any Tumblr feed, so. I'm just gonna make a post. I got the notif that it was answered, but I can't see the post. I dunno, I think Tumblr is shitting itself.

ANYWAY. Yes, @xskywalker21, I do have a gift for you! It's actually a Meet the Robinsons AU of mine. I'll refer to it as "Compass" for now, but you can change it if you want.

Essentially, this is an AU where Cornelius lived in a cozy cottage in the woods with his pet duck Achilles. He's a field journalist who loves nature and the quiet air of the forest. Venturing outside of the forest was a small town square situated on a pier overlooking the ocean. It was here where Cornelius met Franny.

Franny lived in her parent's bakery after a very ugly divorce with Wilbur's birth father. Wilbur was five years old when Neil first met him. Neil would always visit her family's bakery because he loved the chocolate almond bread... One could say he was a liiiiiiiiittle bit addicted. Anyway, Franny's family (her brothers, mother, and grandmother) knew Neil was a good man, and could sense she was becoming infatuated with him.

One thing led to another, and two years later they're married. They all live in the cottage together now, and Wilbur seems to love it! (Especially Achilles.) I left the story off with Franny announcing to Neil they were having a baby.

That's the basic story, but here's some other stuff I thought you should know: - Achilles got his name because of what happens when you tap the back of his heel. He belly flops. - The whole AU was inspired by Cottagecore aesthetics, and the idea of cozy cottage living. Specifically this one playlist I came across really inspired it, which I can find and link if you want. - Franny's ex was a bad person. I haven't fleshed that guy out, but just know that Wilbur calls Neil "daddy", and not him. - Neil does have his family, they just live out of state. They visit occasionally, and of course they were there for the wedding! They all thought he was too wrapped up in his plants to find love. - Speaking of, instead of having a special interest and knowledge in machinery, this AU Neil is knowledgeable of fauna and flora from across the globe! - Franny can play guitar, flute, and cello. - Neil started frequenting the bakery before Franny got divorced, probably about a year before. When she saw him, it was basically love at first sight. - Their dating life wasn't something I had super fleshed out, but one thing I did have down was Neil's proposal to Franny. He proposed to her overlooking his favorite lake. The water was so clean, the moon and stars glistened in its reflection. - Both Neil and Franny know how to sing. Franny because she's just that kind of person, but Neil knows because he took choir in high school. It was a filler class.

The rest is up to you! I'm giving this AU to you because... Well I dunno. I just thought you'd like it. There's a one shot for it on my AO3 (it's in the Songtober fic, it's the "Lullaby" chapter), but that's pretty much it. That was my attempt to spark interest in it again, but meh... It didn't take. So instead of letting it die, I'm gifting this AU to you!

[gemmahale]

Gemmmmmaaaaa, it's-a me, Sy! 5, 17, and 23 for the writer game, please.

Hi Sy! I got distracted last night and totally spaced answering this, whoops! Here you go now!

Fic Writer Asks

5. First sentence of the 5th paragraph of an unpublished WIP.

Feylands, Chapter 3

“Stop!” His voice reverberates, deep and thundering. Josephine turns and runs faster, breaths puffing ahead of her in delicate little clouds.

(I gave you two, because the first was short. And I know you love Feylands. 😉)

17. Talk about your writing and editing process.

Oof. I'm always thinking about things and drafting scenes in my head (a solid number make it to the WIP eventually). But when I have time to actually sit down to write (and I'm not avoiding reports or anything 😅) I'm actually really...mundane. I don't have a special "writing beverage" or "writing snack" - at this point, I'm curled up in some convoluted shape in my chair with my tablet balanced in some gravity-defying manner (still learning the best way; when it was my phone it was different lol) and keyboard in my lap. Most likely in a blanket because I live with a human furnace named Kallen who keeps the house chilly. (I can put layers on, I only get crabby about it once in a while.) Hopefully when we get my office/craft room squared away, I'll be in there sometimes. Nothing really changes except a desk/table to work on; I am actively looking at lap desks for both crafting and writing purposes. 😄 The first part is picking my WIP - sometimes it's based on vibe, an idea I had, a comment I had when I'm co-brainstorming with someone, etc. I have 18 (oof) direct links on my tablet now to different WIPs. (Five - what the hell Gemma - of which aren't listed on my masterlist because I'm holding them close to my chest still. For an assortment of reasons.) Usually, Kallen and I are watching a livestream or playlist of YouTube videos from a few creators we both enjoy when I'm writing. If he's off to his office to go play with some friends, I put some music or a chill stream on for background noise. And then I go to town. Editing is kind of an ongoing thing for me - I go back and re-read what I've written before to get the vibe, see what's working/what isn't, fix weird spelling errors, etc. So there's always little tweaks happening to documents. I've shared WIPs with some close friends - you included, Sy 😉 - to get vibe checks and/or general feedback. But when (if) I choose to publish, I'll read through the document once or twice, have someone else proof it, and then off it goes and I find a spelling mistake upon posting. So really, I'm a poker and tinker as a writer. I know where I'm headed, we'll get there eventually. Someday.

23. Pick three words that describe your writing.

Evocative, personable, vivid

I used "personable" because I couldn't think of a word that meant "people are written as people - good and bad" because I feel like I do that well.

[fairydares]

fuck it, new fic. let's do this.

(there's a 'keep reading' line so don't worry, this isn't too long.)

Title: Chasing Tails (AO3 Link) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Rating: E (Explicit) because I'm almost positive there will be eventual smut. I'll be clearer about this as I actually decide what I'm going to write lol. Overarching Warning for Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Categories: 2nd gen fic; adventure, humor, romance, fluff, and angst in approximately that order. i guess.

Pairings: Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza, Miraxus+Fried (don't know what that ship's called sorry), Chendy, Sting/Yukino, Baccana-- next gen has pairings, too, but I don't want to reveal those yet.

Tags/TW's: The first chapter contains UFC/MMA-esque violence as well as some implied street violence. There may be more TW's I need to add later, but I honestly haven't written the whole story or decided everything, so that's all I can give you for now. I'll do my best to tag appropriately as I go.

Summary: It’s been almost 12 years since 17-year-old Layla O'Neil was found living alone on the streets and put in foster care, and she likes to think she’s done a pretty good job of forgetting the past. She doesn’t remember her birth family, the name “Nashi [*1] Dragneel,” or where she heard the absurd stories she told the police who found her. Stories about Wizard Guilds, flying cats, and–most cringey of all–her self-proclaimed status as a “Fire Dragon Slayer.”

But the past becomes pretty impossible to ignore when it confronts her in the form of some middle-aged, pink-haired stalker who won’t stop calling her the ridiculous name she’d nearly forgotten, and trying to convince her to come back to “Fairy Tale.”

Oh, and claiming to be her dad.

Like Layla doesn’t have enough problems! The last thing she needs is some delusional freak following around. Especially one who’s starting to make her want to take his hand…

Yep, this is a Second Gen (and therefore post-canon) fic. The idea took root and just would not let go. I’ll warn you ahead of time that the premise is somewhat dark. That said, I’m the kind of writer who likes (and tries to write) stories with sad beginnings, hopeful middles, and triumphant ends. I don't want to give too much away, but you shouldn't expect major character deaths or anything like that, though their may be some forms of lightly implied abuse.

Feel free to reblog, make your own additions with commentary, whatever. I'm quite lax with stuff like that. Hope this was comprehensive enough, and that you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Dragon-Slaying Aliens

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

“That’s correct…a world that exists independently from the one we know. And, unfortunately, a world that’s begun losing its Magic…unlike here, in Edolas, Magic is a finite resource. Without limits on its use, it will one day disappear forever.” -from Episode 78, “Edolas”, (English dub, ~00:09), Carla’s line [*1]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------To say this mission had gone sideways was a big-ass understatement, and even Natsu had to admit it. 

It had started well enough. A relatively small mission. Not even S-Class! Puny wannabe Dark Guilds like the one Shirotsume needed dealt with–what was it called? Bony Jewel or something? Anyways, they were a dime a dozen, these days. Hell, Natsu was pretty sure he and Happy took out, like, a billion of them in the past seven years by pure accident. So how the hell was he supposed to know that this time, he’d get blasted to another world–one even Team Natsu hadn’t wound up in? 

And he was positive they’d never been here. He may have had a bad memory (something he’d begrudgingly been forced to actively acknowledge as he grew into a man) but he was sure he’d have remembered somewhere that made him feel this bad. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use his Magic. If it had just been that, this might have been fun. Hell, a lot of the worlds Team Natsu had visited–even Edolas–had been fun.

This one sucked. 

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought he’d been transported to the future–one where FACE had been activated and all the Magic had been dissipated. Because it had felt, truly, like all the Magic was being sucked out of him. When he’d woken up on the forest floor, he’d felt as if he was dying. His lungs had burned with each breath (and not in the good way). His limbs had felt like lead when he tried to rise. 

He’d quickly realized that couldn’t be the case, though. Even if the Dragons hadn’t destroyed FACE, if all the Magic had been sucked from Earthland he’d have Magical Deficiency Syndrome. He’d either be down or in forced into his END form. 

He’d wandered around the small forest he’d woken up in alone, trying to focus through the stink and noise he was only capable of perceiving through what felt like about a hundred layers of thick blanket, and calling for his best friend as long as he could. It hadn’t been long before he gave up and left; Happy had never shouted back (something he considered fortunate, at this point; hopefully Happy was back in Earthland) his stomach was trying to eat itself, it was dark–and, worst of all–he still couldn’t use his Magic. At all.

Actually, scratch that: the absolute worst part was when a glance at his (as usual) bare shoulder showed him that his guild mark had vanished. It was just gone. So was his scarf, and so was his Mini Communication Lacrima. Obviously, his guild mark and scarf were bigger deals personally, but the Mini Comm was a bigger loss in immediate, practical terms. After That Day, seven years ago, Laxus–now Fairy Tail’s Master–had started putting Navigation Enchantments on everyone’s Comms so that anyone who went missing could be traced. There was a 3D map of Earthland and Edolas visually tracking everyone’s movements in the Master’s Office. It could even find them in Edolas. 

Now, Natsu’s was nowhere to be found. No one would be able to find him, wherever he was, and any hopes of contacting them were obviously dead in the water, too. 

He was gonna have to find his own way back, somehow. He only prayed his scarf was somehow back in Earthland, and that Happy had grabbed it for him. 

As he hobbled down the weird, too-neat walkway he’d found, he had to believe that whatever was preventing him from using his Magic was what kept him from sensing anything beyond the general–the stink, the sound, the pain, the hunger. Normally, with his better-than-normal resilience and enhanced strength, his pain would have mostly taken care of itself by now. Usually, making himself move helped. Now, it seemed to be making things worse. 

After finding the pathway, he’d kept shouting for his little buddy a whole bunch of times, but all he’d gotten were several loud verbal confrontations and one physical one. He’d expected to beat the massive brute towering next to the smaller woman beside him–and he had. But it hadn’t been as easy as he’d expected. His movements had been slower than normal. His limbs had felt like lead. His strength had been lesser. Every time he tried to call up his Magic, a wave of dizziness and lethargy had overcome him. It was like he’d feel the rushing up inside of him only to sputter to coldness at the last second; he hadn’t seen so much as a spark since he’d woken up. 

In the end, it was only experience and determination which had allowed him to level the much larger man, and hard-earned wisdom which had seen him running from the screeching woman and the gun-wielding, uniform-wearing soldiers her screeching had drawn. Yet the punch he’d taken to the nose had made it bleed and the kick to the thigh had made him limp. 

It wasn’t just that his Dragon senses had vanished, making him woozy, making it difficult to stand and excruciating to move. His strength was gone as well. Not even sealstone would have weakened him this much.

He’d wandered, now, for what felt like several hours. The number of Magical Vehicles around were astounding–astounding, and nauseating; just looking at them made Natsu want to vomit. The one good part of having an empty stomach was that he had nothing to give up. He meandered in a stupor, through unbelievably thick crowds, dodging Magic Vehicles and their honking, and glaring down anyone who yelled at him for not understanding something, occasionally barking back to scare them off.

He’d never been so disoriented, and the worst part was that deep down, he knew that there was no one to blame but himself. 

Lucy and Happy had asked him, point-blank, if the Quest he’d chosen had anything to do with his search for their long-lost daughter and kitten. 

It had. Of course it had. 

However, Natsu had denied it. Because if he hadn’t, he and Happy wouldn’t have been able to leave right then. Lucy would have forced him to bring someone else along; she was busy taking care of their son, Luke; the Perve-sicle was already out on his own mission/search for Juvia, and Erza was away, which meant he’d have had to ask someone outside Team Natsu. 

No thanks, he’d decided, covering up the fine print on the mission request with his fingers before holding it up to Lucy’s nose. 

Now, as he snarled at yet another person yelling at him for being in the way, Natsu was starting to consider the possibility that he just maybe should’ve been more upfront, and even that he should–perhaps–have waited for the stripper to get back before taking on Bony Jewel or whatever alone.

But how the hell was he supposed to have known it would end up like this?! It had been going fine–in fact, it had been going great! A couple opponents had offered a real challenge before their Master had shown up. Natsu had been laying down brick in that fight, too. Yet when the guy had been on his last legs, he’d whipped some creepy, sparkly rainbow skull from nowhere (now that he thought about it…that might have been what the Guild was named for!) and shot one last attack. One so big, Natsu had been unable to dodge–though, of course, he’d made to both block and finish the fight with an enormously powerful Fire Dragon Wing Attack. 

Based on his current predicament–he had to assume it hadn’t worked. Even though the skull had shattered in the heat of his flames at the last second, the blast had still hit him. His one consolation was that he was pretty sure his little buddy had heeded his final warning to get back. So he was almost definitely still back in Earthland.  

It had taken Natsu several pathetic attempts to stand. Getting here felt like a blur. Now, he had no idea what he was doing. What he should do. Their money had been in Happy’s knapsack, and without his precious nose, finding food was basically impossible anway. 

Man…Lucy’s gonna kill me, he grumbled internally, grunting at another group who shouted at him for bumping into him. 

Okay, yeah, maybe he should’ve been honest. Maybe he should’ve waited. But how could he do that when the lead was so good? When there was even the smallest chance he might finally find Nashi [*]? 

At the thought, his footsteps halted temporarily. He ducked his head, bangs shadowing his eyes. He balled his fists at his sides. The thought of the missing daughter he’d never stopped searching for never got easier to bear. 

It was the worst thing that could happen to a parent, to lose their child. Something he wouldn’t have wished on Fairy Tail’s most vicious, evil enemy. He and Lucy understood that too intimately. Still, he didn’t let himself get bogged down, not when it might hold him back, not when it might keep him from finding her. Seven years, she’d been gone. Her, Wendy–so many of their nakama and allies. Time had neither hindered nor halted his search for any of his missing comrades, but especially his little girl. She’d be twelve, now. He’d gotten better with birthdays and anniversaries when he married Lucy. He’d woken up and started crying on April 14th this year, the same as his wife. 

Still, even on that day, he’d spoken of her. When he was with Luke, Lucy, and Happy, he talked about it. He talked about how he’d find her and Harley–Happy and Carla’s kitten–how they’d be a family again. He spoke of the future to give it power, just like Igneel had taught him. Just like he’d taught his own kids. Wherever Nashi was, he was sure she must be doing the same; speaking of how she’d find them again, the same as he strove to find her. 

But he couldn’t continue his search (covert or not) until he got home. So getting home was definitely at the top of the to-do list. Right after eating. 

He kept walking.

Wherever he’d wound up was seedy, dark, yet strewn with lights that made paths across his newly-sucky eyes when he looked at them directly. Gross and smelly, too. The people he’d just bumped into started shouting back at him, something about bumping into someone’s girlfriend, and he huffed irritably. Normally, he’d never back down from a challenge like this, but believe it or not, he was too lost, confused, hungry, and tired to deal with another fight–not when the injuries he’d sustained from the previous one were still hurting this much. 

It was humiliating. He’d always been the type of person who refused to back down from a fight, no matter how outmatched he was. These days, a lot of fights were honestly pretty boring for him. Erza would always be scary, and Gray was admittedly pretty strong (if not badass enough to stand up to him, or so he would always insist). He could proudly admit to having achieved (at least) Gildarts-level strength without the clumsiness to make him dangerous. 

Now, he was balking out of fights with people who weren’t even using Magic. 

There was something viscerally terrifying about how much his injuries were troubling him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t limp without worsening whatever injury that asshole had doled out on his knee. His nose felt bigger than his head. 

He stumbled on, brooding. 

The guy whose girlfriend he’d bumped into got louder, closer. Obviously, the freak wasn’t gonna let it go. Cursing, he started hobbling more quickly, turning the next corner. To his relief and curiosity, bright lights, loud voices, and a huge crowd–littered with food stands he might be able to beg food from–appeared. He made his way into the thick of it, ignoring the shouts behind him, and ducked and wove between people. It took him several seconds to realize he was still trying to find food by his nose, which barely even freaking worked. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the source of the light, which seemed to focus down on whatever sat in the middle of the crowd. 

Curiosity shoving past the numbness and hunger, Natsu pushed his way towards it. 

“Ow!” 

“Hey!” 

“Watch it, freak!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Natsu grumbled. “Watch your damn selves!”

He still felt like shit, but the crowd was oddly invigorating. As he crashed through the thickest (front) lines of the crowd, more lights came on while the darkness behind him fell deeper. Natsu winced, blinking. It took him a few moments to register what he’d stumbled upon: a roundish sort of stage, elevated a few feet off the ground and bordered by some kind of chain-link cage thing. Two corners were open to be entered, but fended off  by some big dudes in black suits, holding back the crowd. 

“WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” boomed a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere at once, making Natsu flinch again and the crowd start chattering loudly. 

Match? Natsu wondered despite his disorientation and exhaustion, thinking of the Grand Magic Games. He shoved aside every stranger who tried to take his place at the front of the audience, looking around with wide, curious eyes, shoving his gnawing stomach to the backburner.

“FIGHT FANS! ARE YOU REAAAADDDDYYYYY??!!! ” 

Fight? Natsu thought, perking up, conveniently forgetting his injuries in a burst of excitement. Several people started chattering at the crack of the loud voice that was everywhere and nowhere, making Natsu look around even more fervently. 

“BECAUSE THIS LONG-WAITED MATCH-UP IS… ABOUT…TO…BEGINNNN!!!”

The cheering got louder, the shoving got more aggressive, and Natsu got more aggressive right along with it. He’d be damned if he was going to miss a good fight. Besides. He needed to see what the Magic here was like. He was being smart. So ha! How about that, Lucy?!

“INTRODUCING: OUR FIRST FIGHTER!” the voice shouted while Natsu continued to elbow and shove, anticipation rising. Music rang out, a dude’s loud, snarly voice backed up by a bunch of deep bangs and booms which had Natsu trying to decide if what he was listening to was awesome or fucking awful–nope, definitely fucking awful. For the first time, he was glad he couldn’t hear properly since he got here. 

A light flashed at one corner, drawing his eye. “UNLIKE HIS OPPONENT, THIS FIGHTER IS WELL-ESTABLISHED IN THE SEMI-UNDERGROUND OCTAGON! HAD HIS PERFORMANCES BEEN FORMALLY JUDGED WHILE THE UNDERGROUND WAS STILL ACTIVE, HE WOULD LIKELY HAVE LONG-BEEN PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED! YET, IN SPITE OF A CONTROVERSIAL CAREER, HE HAS REMAINED A STAPLE OF THE SEMI-OCTAGON FIGHTING WORLD FOR TWO YEARS!”

“Er, feels kinda harsh?” Natsu muttered to himself, sweating slightly. Though he didn’t really get what “controversial career” meant. 

“WHILE THIS IS NOT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE, DUE TO HIS HISTORY, MANY WILL NO DOUBT VIEW HIM AS REIGNING CHAMP AND DEFENDER! INNNNTTRRROOODUUUCCCINNNG… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON!” 

A door Natsu hadn’t even seen was slammed open as if it had been kicked, and an enormous man–even bigger than the one that had managed to tag Natsu just a little bit ago, a man built like that potato head guy from Lamia Scale, and actually bearing a similar-shaped bald head–appeared, yanking off headphones and chucking them over his massive shoulder one of the lackeys who’d followed him out. The much shorter guy jumped, barely catching them and fumbling a lot once he had. “Mad Cow” or whatever grinned maniacally as he stormed for the ring, dark eyes wild.

The response from the crowd was mixed but mostly positive, Natsu quickly noticed as he glanced around. His eyes skated quickly over the group next to him (which was booing, unlike most of the crowd) then returned his focus to the stage-circle thing. He could see well enough, he was glad to note, even if his vision was nowhere near as sharp as it was back on Earthland. Big Guy took his place at the corner of the ring and immediately started pacing, lifting tree-like arms and roaring as he did so. Meanwhile his lackey scurried for the bit of protected corner behind him, trying to shout for his attention and getting nowhere as he continued to pace. 

Natsu quickly decided he didn’t like the looks of this guy, intro aside. He was the type of asshole Natsu lived to knock down a peg, and despite his injuries and exhaustion, Natsu found himself appraising the big bastard, hands twitching. Sure, he wasn’t in the best shape, but since when had he been one to turn down the chance to kick some ass? It was more a reflex than anything. For about the billionth time since he’d landed here, he tried conjuring up some fire only to curse internally as all he got for his efforts was a wave of dizziness and a wash of helplessness. 

“NOW FOR OUR CONTENDER,” the voice boomed. “SHE’D ONLY BARELY ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE IT BECAME THE SEMI-UNDER, BUT WAS ALREADY MAKING WAVES! THIS FIGHTER HAS SPARKED INTENSE DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT MEN–IN ANY OCTAGON!” More mixed din. Natsu frowned in confusion. Was it for the other fighters’ safety or something? Because someone should ban Erza from contributing to the guild hall violence. Oh, yes. That was a great idea. He’d have to bring the idea up to Gray when he got home. 

“BUT IT’S DIFFICULT TO ARGUE WITH HER HANDY VICTORIES!” the voice boomed. “THANKS TO HER NEARLY-UNBROKEN STREAK OF INSANE WINS, SHE HAS BEEN NICKNAMED THE THE ‘PHOENIX’, ‘UNDERDOG’, ‘TENMEN’...AND HER PREFERRED NICKNAME…” 

A new song started, and this one was undeniably cool, in Natsu’s opinion. Something hard, fast, and catchy, punctuated by an angry-sounding woman singing something about “not giving a damn” about something or other. The door at the opposite end of the ring swung open. A girl came swaggering out, and Natsu froze.

“THE DRAGONESS, LAYLAAAAA O'NEEEILLLLL!!!!”  

It wasn’t his daughter. It couldn’t be. Her name wasn’t Layla. Her name was Nashi. His Nashi would be twelve, and this girl was in her late teens–maybe even her early twenties. The fact that her fighting nickname was “The Dragoness” was a nasty coincidence, but that’s all it was. This couldn’t be Earthland’s Nashi.

But it was this world’s Nashi. Of that, there was no doubt. And Natsu couldn’t make himself take his eyes off her, couldn’t even make himself blink as he stared, ignoring the cheering and booing all around him. 

A couple strands of unruly pink hair at her bangs had broken free of their tight braids, as adorable and predictably unpredictable as his little girl’s. They clung to her forehead, bouncing as she strutted towards the monster still pacing, practically frothing at the mouth, and Natsu vaguely registered the sound of several peoples’ alarmed murmuring. If he hadn’t been so distracted, he’d have understood; she was about half the guy’s size and about -50% as insane-looking.

Not scared, though. 

And…she looked like Lucy. She looked so much like Lucy that it hurt. He could still remember times when he’d call his little girl’s name, she’d turn around, and he’d gasp–because it really was like an adorable, wild little pink-haired Lucy turning to look up at him, her whole face lighting up like he was the greatest thing in Earthland. The memory choked him up, a feeling he’d gotten used to over the past seven years. He swallowed hard.

But that wasn’t Lucy’s smile. Natsu felt like he had seen that smile somewhere but he wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about it all that deeply, because what mattered was that it was her smile, his little girl’s, big and toothy and unmistakable–a little lopsided, the corners of her lips characteristically curling. 

It hit his chest like a shot from Zeref, making him briefly clutch at his waistcoat’s dirtied fabric. 

Natsu knew, firsthand, just how similar other worlds’ versions of his loved ones could be to his. Hell, Edolas Lucy had chopped off her hair to make it a little easier to distinguish herself from Earthland Lucy. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less to suddenly see another world’s Nashi– Layla, this one was called. That was Nashi’s middle name. It made sense, when you thought about it. Names were one thing that seemed to sometimes differ slightly between worlds, as he’d learned on the 100-Year-Quest [*3]. Her canines were sorta sharp, maybe, but they weren’t Dragon Slayer sharp, like his and daughter’s. Besides. Edo Nashi and Fireball’s canines were a tiny bit sharper than normal, too. 

It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t be. Looking at her still felt like being punched in the chest by Erza. Yet he couldn’t stop watching as the music, cheers, and boos faded, she stripped off her sweats (to much catcalling and whistling) to reveal a black sports bra/shorts getup sort of like “Mad Bull’s” shorts, revealing a body packed with much more muscle than any of Fairy Tail’s women would’ve allowed themselves to accumulate. She looked pretty badass, he decided. 

The voice that was everywhere and nowhere boomed on:

“NOT ONLY A CHANCE AT THE UPCOMING TITLE ON THE LINE, BUT–POTENTIALLY–THE FUTURE OF MIXED SEMI-UNDERS. TWO CHALLENGERS, SQUARING OFF FOR A CHANCE AT THE SEMI-FINALS. THIS IS A GIGANTIC CULTURAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SPORT… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON VS. THE ‘DRAGONESS’ LAYLA O'NEIL!” 

“‘Dragoness’ is fucking right!” Mad Cow or whatever roared while he hugged one arm across his chest, grinning ferally at his much smaller opponent. “Here hoping some man will look at you, fugly?!” 

Several people in the audience laughed. Even the announcer chuckled. Meanwhile, Natsu’s blood boiled. On some level, he knew he needed to separate himself from this. From this fight, from this “Nashi.” Especially when he was this powerless to do anything about any of it. But it was impossible to listen to someone say that to another version of his daughter and not have every protective instinct in his body flare, especially when the spectators apparently thought it was fucking hilarious.

However, her grin didn’t even flicker. “Like you’re one to talk!” she cackled. “You look like Popeye fucked Bigfoot!”

Natsu didn’t flinch at the language like many people in the audience seemed to. In fact, he found the disapproving murmurs confusing. The other guy hadn’t exactly been polite, but he hadn’t gotten the same reaction. Still, a solid number of people were laughing their asses off, including the group next to him which had booed Mad Cow. 

He also had no clue what the hell she’d just said even meant, but the way Mad Cow’s smile dropped off his face, a handful of people started howling with laughter, and the commentator’s chuckles cut off abruptly was enough to make Natsu grin. 

Some random guy in some sort of black, collared uniform entered the arena, signaling to the loud, annoying commentator. Unlike her opponent, no one had followed This Nashi into the arena; she was all alone. So she ran back to her own bit of protected yet empty corner and threw her clothes and a water bottle over the chainlink fence, then ran back towards the middle of the arena. There, she  hopped up and down, shaking out her arms. Stretched them above her head. 

“OUCH!” The commentator finally seemed to recover, though he sounded somewhat vexed. “WELL, ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THE CHALLENGER CAN TALK GAME…WHETHER SHE CAN LIVE UP TO IT IS ANOTHER QUESTION.” 

“God, I fucking hate when Hansis commentates,” the guy next to Natsu muttered, his friends snorting in agreement. Then he glanced at Natsu–only to double take. “Oi, are you related to the Dragoness or something?!” he asked, eyes on his hair. 

“Uhhh…” Natsu chuckled nervously, feeling himself start to sweat. He may have been what Erza would (and frequently did ) call an “impulsive idiot”, but he had no clue how to explain that he was the father of her other self. “Something like that.”

“Whoa, seriously?!” The guy’s friend leaned around him to look at Natsu with wide, shining eyes, then continued, “I won’t ask anymore, ‘cause obviously you’re trying to protect your identities or something, but that’s so cool! We’re huge fans!” 

“Hmm…” Natsu said, scanning their apparel–t-shirts and hats emblazoned with her face and silhouette–and what looked like homemade signs of her name, written in fiery letters. “I can see that…what is this, exactly?” He asked this while looking around at the lights, spectators, an unfamiliar kind of money being exchanged and counted between several people.

Natsu tilted his head, blinking. “No?” he said. 

“The semi-underground tournament?” the only girl in the group said, eyes almost as wide as her friend’s. When Natsu only continued to look confused, she said, “What, do you live under a rock?! You’ve at least heard of MMA, right? Mixed Martial Arts?” 

He perked up at this. “Like a fight?! Hell, yeah! How do I get in on this?!” He grinned, cracking his knuckles, his earlier scuffles and empty stomach completely forgotten. 

“YOU DON’T!” the entire group shouted, eyes bugging. 

The dude who’d first started talking to him huffed, sweating slightly. “The ‘semi-underground’ octagon used to just be called ‘the underground fights,’” he explained loudly, Natsu still having to lean in to catch what he said with his new, bad ears over the increasingly excited din. “It was illegal, but, like, illegal in the ‘everyone knows but won’t squeal’ way, you know?” 

Natsu nodded, fully getting this. After all, how many times had soldiers arrested him only for Queen Hisui to let him off with a finger-wag. Of course, his luck on that front had run out seven years ago…

“The feds finally cracked down on it,” the guy continued, “but didn’t prosecute any of the fighters. Now, it’s called the ‘Semi-Underground’...it’s got no weight-classes (which is why the Dragoness can fight big dudes like Mad Bull). All genders are free to compete and fight each other. It’s a bit more for entertainment than pure fighting prowess– that was different, before,” the guy added with a wistful tone. “But still! You can’t just go waltzing into the octagon, you know? Back in the basement where this used to happen, you could’ve gotten away with that, but now you’ve gotta work for it, you know? Seriously, do you live under a rock or something?” 

Irritated, Natsu opened his mouth, but his response was cut off when a loud voice–not as loud as the announcer, but still–redrew all their attention to the ring. “Alright, fighters,” the black-collar guy said into a microphone which was smaller and not as loud as the commentator’s, quieting the audience. “We’ve been over the rules. Protect yourself at all times. Follow my instructions. We’re going to have a clean fight, you hear me?” He glared at Mad Bull, but This Nashi was the only one who dipped her chin in recognition. Natsu’s eyes narrowed along with hers when her opponent refused to acknowledge the guy’s words. “Now, touch gloves at this time, and come out ready to do this!” 

Both fighters instantly danced away from each other. Black collar guy scowled. Both the commentator and the audience made sounds like “ OOOOOOOH!” 

“NO TOUCH!” came the commentator’s gleeful voice, “I REPEAT, NEITHER FIGHTER TOUCHED GLOVES, AND SO FAR, NEITHER ARE REALLY MOVING FOR EACH OTHER–” 

“SAY YOU’RE PRAYERS, BITCH!” Mad Cow roared. “YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!” 

“BRING IT!” This Nashi roared back, and Mad Cow lunged, swinging in immediately with a big, dramatic overhand hook that would have knocked her out immediately if she hadn’t skated out of its way. It took about three similar exchanges for Natsu to sag in disappointment. 

“Oi!” he shouted, utterly let down, “Where the hell’s the magic?!” 

“Geez!” the guy next to him laughed. “The fight’s only just started: give them a minute to warm up! Then we’ll get to see the cool stuff.”

“What, they’re not allowed to use it at first or something?” Natsu asked, still staring as This Nashi fended off huge, devastating blows raining down from above and leapt back from the powerful kicks, eyes narrowed and expression tight. 

“...Er, what?” the guy asked. 

“Magic–duh!” Natsu huffed, flickering wide eyes between the guy and This Nashi, who was now darting backwards around the round-ish ring, still fending Mad Cow off, weaving and ducking with a speed few could hope to match. “You know?! Fire, Ice, Celestial Magic…?

The guy stared at him for a second along with his companions, all of whom were also sweating. It was then that Natsu knew: 

Something more was going on here. Something he didn’t understand. This place…wherever he was, it was like Edolas. Not now, but back when he, Lucy, and the others had gone there. Magic didn’t just not exist, here; was some kind of… taboo on it.

“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could over the crowd, he continued, “I didn’t mean to say something that would get you in trouble...” 

The group’s only response was to sidle away from him surreptitiously, glancing at him and sharing looks with wide eyes. Natsu was thrown for a loop once more. Ooo- kay, talk about overly-suspicious. Were there guards listening in on their conversation or something? As discreetly as possible, with his hand still at the back of his head, he looked around, eyes narrowed. 

Yet…he saw nothing to warrant their suspicion. An unruly crowd…and an astonishing lack of guards. At the Grand Magic Games, there’d always been a ton of guards. Way more than he wanted to be there, honestly. Did this have something to do with the whole “underground” thing? 

He looked at the group again, then realized something important: it was him they were looking at nervously. Nervously, and like…he was crazy or something. 

It had taken time, but the years had made Natsu wiser–cooler–about situations like this. Even as his stomach sank with the realization that getting home was going to be a much harder task than he’d initially realized, he acknowledged that he’d need to be careful about mentioning Magic here. Dropping his hand, he forced a small smile at them then turned his attention back to the arena, where Mad Cow continued to chase This Nashi around the edge of the arena. Meanwhile, his mind continued to reel, loud to himself and no one else. 

“–IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SHE’S CAUGHT IN A CLINCH, HERE, AND THEN OUR NIGHT WILL BE OVER!” the commentator was blaring. It was sort of surprising, how easily he’d been able to tune out when Natsu’s ears were registering so little. “I HATE TO SAY IT–” (Based on the glee in his tone, Natsu doubted that.) “–BUT HOWEVER MUCH OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FIGHTER SHE IS, SHE’S STILL A FEMALE FIGHTER. HER OPPONENT HAS WELL OVER A HUNDRED POUNDS ON HER [*4]. AND, AGAIN, I HATE TO SAY THIS–BUT THERE ARE JUST PHYSICAL BARRIERS NO CHICK FIGHTER WILL EVER BE ABLE TO OVERCOME! RIGHT NOW, THIS IS A DOG FIGHT, AND NOT ONE SHE CAN KEEP SCRAPPING IN! SHE’S NOT GOING TO COME OUT AS THE ‘UNDERDOG,’ THIS TIME–”

“Man, she’s getting her ass beat!” someone from the group broke the awkward silence as This Nashi was swept aside by a blow that caught the guard at her ear. 

“Maybe she’ll make a comeback!” another guy said, tremulous but hopeful, as a log-like shin crashed into her stomach. 

“She definitely will!” the guy who’d first spoken to Natsu said, though there was a distant note of doubt in his voice as she barely reeled from an arrow-fast straight right. 

Despite the awkwardness of their last interaction, Natsu couldn’t help appreciating these people, who were so devoted to this world’s Nashi. He decided to end their night more positively. “Is that what you think?” he asked in a somewhat bored tone, eyes on the girl still gliding backwards, dancing away from the hits and kicks or else blocking them. He felt, rather than saw, the group’s eyes jumping to him, some of them quickly leaping away only to dart back. 

“What do you mean?” the first guy ventured when he said nothing else, edging a little closer once more.

Natsu crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes thinning as Big Boy brought down a hailstorm of fists on This Nashi’s head. His eyes tracked the way a particularly big hit caught her forearm–but only barely, seeing as she’d slid out of the enormous range even as she blocked. Just like he’d thought…

His stomach churned uncomfortably. It was eerie and cruel, how much her movements and the memories aligned–

“OUCH! That hurt, Daddy!” After the exclamation, Nashi began grumbling, vigorously rubbing her forearm where his fist had just him. 

“Woops!” Natsu chuckled sheepishly, “My bad!” 

Despite the fact that she was still rubbing the arm he’d tapped with a light hit, the little girl who barely came up above his knees scowled. 

It was midday, now. In their front lawn; his and Happy’s house, now much larger with the rooms he’d added for Lucy and their kids. 

“But–” He grew serious. “–you think your enemies will take it easy on you, Nashi? You think they’ll give you a break because you say ‘ouch’?” 

She dropped her arms to her sides and scowled–pouted, really. She was so cute, he couldn’t have kept his lips from quirking into a grin if he tried. Strutting forward, he planted a hand on top of her head, rubbing the unruly locks. He only grinned wider when she turned her scowl/pout up to him. “Sorry, kiddo, but they won’t!” 

Lucy would have lost her mind, if she saw the interaction. Natsu could just hear her now: “NATSU, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?! SHE’S FIVE! BE CAREFUL, WOULD YOU? BLAH BLAH BLURGH BLAH– !” 

He never really got Lucy, when she acted like that. Nashi was a Dragon Slayer, like him. She could take much more than a normal human, but would never learn that she could if he didn’t show her! Not to mention that Igneel had been way tougher on him, when he was five. Besides, he didn’t want his kid to be some weakling! What father did want that? 

Not any good ones, that was for sure. Especially not when their kids had Nashi’s determination and drive. 

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he apologized again, still rubbing her head affectionately. “But you’ve got to understand���if I hurt you, it’s because I know your enemies will hurt you the same way…I don’t want it to surprise you. I want you to be able to fight back, still. You do still want to be a big-time Dragon Slayer, don’t you?” 

She stared up at him dubiously, but the smile caught on quick. She’d never been able to resist smiling back at him. 

“...Yeah,” she admitted finally, feigning reluctance. 

He lifted his hand off her head, cupping it around his ear and leaning down towards her. “What was that?!” he shouted. “I couldn’t hear you…what was it you want?!” 

“I–pfft–I WANT–” Her small smile turned to a grin–the big, corner-curled grin only his daughter ever could or would achieve. The one that always melted his heart. 

“I WANNA BE A DRAGON SLAYER!” she managed to roar through her grin. “NO–I MEAN, I WANNA BE THE STRONGEST DRAGON SLAYER EVER!” 

“HELL YEAH, YOU DO!” he roared back, the pride managing to make his chest burst even as he squared up again, preparing for more training. An adrenaline only teaching one’s prodigy could spark electrocuted his system. “IF THAT’S REALLY TRUE, THEN COME ON, NASHI! YOU’VE GOT MORE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU DO!” 

“OH YEAH? WELL I DO! I GOT WAY MORE IN ME!” She dropped into the stance he’d taught her, grinning for everything she was worth. The sun illuminated her smile. 

He somehow managed to grin even more widely. “Right, then listen up!” he commanded. “When Dragon Slayers fight, they got one big advantage: they can take a whole bunch of hits–then still get up. So that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.” 

“...Huh?!” The little girl’s eyes bulged out of her head. “You’re sayin’ I’m gonna let myself get hit?!” 

“Well, not too hard,” he elaborated. “And not too much…you’re just gonna play defense for a while, see?” He moved for her, throwing a fist much more slowly than he normally would have. Automatically, she wove away, eyes wide on his face. His right fist was followed by his left, then a kick–all too sluggish to be real. She easily moved around and blocked all of them. “This way,” he continued, throwing another kick. “You can learn the guy you’re fighting, how step, how they breathe…” 

“How they step…how they breathe…” she repeated to herself in a murmur, eyes flickering all over his body as he continued to pantomime a real fight. Natsu couldn’t help but grin. Nashi was a distractible kid, but when it came to fighting, she was always on the ball.

Natsu didn’t mind one bit when Lucy blamed him for that. 

“...how they fight,” he finished. 

“...how they fight!” she whispered. 

He started speeding up his movements. Let her orient before he lit up his fists. She mirrored him, flames igniting her much smaller fists. Their dance became even faster “That’s it, Nashi!” he praised as she leapt back from a kick, only letting it clip her shoulder. “Get into the flow of it! Read my movements! Remember, breathe, and–” 

“She’s reading him,” he murmured, voice softer than he’d meant it to be. “Fending him off and waiting for the right moment; his hits are only clipping her.” His hunger was catching up with him again, as was his pain. He ached. He wanted to sleep. And…

…It hurt. It hurt too much. Knowing it wasn’t his Nashi…that just made it hurt more. Each hit, each block, each flash of those brown eyes…they felt like shards of glass piercing his heart.

I can’t stay here, he realized. 

“What was that?” the girl in the group asked, venturing closer to him. 

His heart was heavy, sinking as he watched the girl. Embarrassment washed over him as he realized that had been a stupid thing to say in the first place. This wasn’t his Nashi. She wasn’t using what he’d taught her because he hadn’t been the one to train her. Hell, she probably wasn’t even gauging her opponents’ movements; she was probably fighting for her life, here. 

She would lose. 

“Nothin’,” he replied thickly, dropping his arms even as he watched the girl roll away from a rather impressive and extremely long-ranged crescent kick, not even the man’s big toe catching her at all. “I was wrong…enjoy the rest of the fight, guys.” He used the ensuing beat of silence to stare–for just one more second–at the girl. This world’s version of his girl. 

Without thinking, he went to heft up his backpack, only to sigh in quiet defeat–the exhale almost visible even in the warm air–as he remembered it wasn’t there; he was just a weakling in this world. That’s why his back (and whole body) felt so heavy. 

“Oh, you’re leaving?” the first guy who’d spoken to him said as he turned away, pushing back through the crowd. His tone was an odd mixture of relieved and disappointed. Natsu said nothing, merely waving. 

Overhead, the booming voice–which he’d tuned out during the competition–continued to sound off. “–AN ADMITTEDLY UNBELIEVABLE DODGE, BY ,” it said, clearly shocked, as Natsu pushed past a woman who was obviously excited to be moving closer to the arena. “BUT THE NEXT FLURRY OF BLOWS LANDS, ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS SHE’S BLOCKED MOST OF THEM–” 

“YOU’RE DONE, BITCH!” roared Mad Cow, so loud that he managed to drown out the commentator–who went silent, anyway. This made Natsu pause, his brows knitting with fury. 

It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. She’s not your daughter. He refused to look back, forced himself to take another step, then another. She’s just some fighter from another world who’s, apparently, out of her league. She’s not–

A loud slam, like a body falling on a mat. “SHE’S DOWN! I REPEAT, ’S DOWN!” 

Natsu smirked. “See, dumbass?” he murmured to himself. 

“IT’S ALL OVER, FOLKS! SHE’S–” 

All of a sudden, a fleshy CRACK rang through the air, followed by an enormous chorus of gasps and cries of surprise from the crowd. A deafening silence ensued. 

“... HOLY– UNBELIEVABLE!” the commentator managed. “A KICK FROM THE GROUND–AND O’NEIL'S BACK ON HER FEET! THEY’VE GAINED GROUND FROM EACH OTHER, AND MAD BULL–MAD BULL IS NOW TRYING TO RECOVER!”  

Despite himself, Natsu slowed even as he urged himself to keep walking. Even as he continued to force himself not to turn back. Looking back is only a distraction. It’s not Nashi. That is not Nashi. It’s not–

“Man, I really hate guys like you, you know that?” 

The seething voice was what made him stop, closing his eyes. There was just…something about it. A growl. A fire. Something that punched right back into his memories:

“Remember, breathe, and keep your eyes on my chest! That way, you can see my whole body at the corners of your eyes!” A combo, one which he pumped more speed and power to than before–throwing her off on purpose. 

“Oof!” she grunted as she landed on her butt. 

“There, when you fall– that’s when you make your comeback! Now that you’ve watched your opponent, and tricked him into thinking you’re down– now is when you get back up and blow them away! That’s how a Dragon Slayer fights! That’s how a Fairy Tail Wizard fights!” She stared up at him with huge eyes, shining with admiration, and flushed cheeks. 

He grinned. 

“So?! Get up! Always get back up, Nashi! I’m not asking the impossible of you–you can do this! I know you can!” 

“I–I will!” she scrambled to her feet, fists blazing with gold heat as she lunged for him. “I’ll always get back up! No matter what, I’ll–” 

His chest seized. He clenched his jaw, knowing he needed to make himself keep walking, but unable to do it. Even as people churned around him, trying to push past him, he found himself shoving them off, refusing to move from exactly where he was. One foot planted in front of the other. Half-hovering. Eyes still closed. 

Whatever just happened had quieted the crowd, an anticipatory sort of silence that made him clench his fists, eyes still closed. 

And then, Natsu’s world flipped upside down: 

“You didn’t even bother to study my previous fights, did you?” Her growl carried across the hushed crowd. “Tch, typical…if you had, you’d know: You’d know I always get back up!” 

His eyes flew open. 

He whirled back around and watched, wide-eyed and world rocking, as the pink haired girl rose. Rolled her shoulders against her ears, one at a time. The grin was gone, a heavy, intimidating scowl having taken its place as she recovered, getting her feet back underneath herself, her stance back in place. Her nose was wrinkled in fury. Her eyes burned. 

Natsu’s lips parted on a gasp as he stared. 

Mad Cow scoffed, hunched and rubbing his chin with a hand like a mitt. Natsu guessed that This Nashi must’ve caught him there–probably with a kick, given the size difference. That must have been what made the crowd react with shock. They were recovering now, though, getting louder.

“And why the fuck would I bother to do that?!” Mad Cow shouted, dropping his hand. “I don’t need to! Every guy you’ve faced could’ve beaten you easily if they’d quit acting like even more of a little bitch than you! You shouldn’t fucking be here anyway…fucking birds, knowing dudes will take it easy on you so you can take advantage of it and collect the reward…well I’M NOT ONE OF THEM!” He roared the last part. The bitter fury in his voice was a kind Natsu was familiar with. 

“Studying what you can find of your opponent’s fighting style–that’s basic! And you wanna sit here and bitch about how I don’t deserve to be here, you lumpy-headed fuck?! ” 

“The FUCK you just call me?!” McCow snarled back. 

“YOU HEARD ME, SHITWIT!” 

“THAT’S IT!” the man shouted. “I’ve had it! I was gonna take it easy on you, but–” 

“THAT’S MY LINE!” 

It seemed that was both their limit. 

They flew at each other. But now, everything was different, and Natsu doubted that anyone without a trained eye and fighting experience like him could recognize it. 

Apparently, the commentator was one such person: “THIS IS–THIS IS INCREDIBLE!” the voice boomed, full of disbelief, as the girl caught the fist rocketing towards her face with a hard elbow, making Mad Cow let out a roar of pain. She kicked away an arm flying towards her head, and launched a sidekick at his now-uncovered stomach–one that landed hard. She built on the damage, bearing down on him as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own heels. A right roundhouse followed by a left to his head. Despite the fact he was obviously disorientated, he caught the first one– blocked it and tried, unsuccessfully to catch her foot–but not the second, which cracked into his ear and made him stagger, her chasing him and hammering him with surprisingly powerful blows. Each one of her hits accumulated speed and strength.

The commentator picked up again, saying something or other about “striking machines”, but Natsu didn’t hear. His eyes were wide, now, and glued to the girl cracking her shin into her opponent’s nose, teeth bared. The expression on her face…the fire in her eyes…the speed of her hits…her fighting style…it was like he’d begun watching the fight currently happening through one eye and a stream of memories through the other, his breath going still in his lungs–

“–No matter what, I’ll always get back up!” screamed the little girl, running forward and hammering him with fiery strikes, kicks, and even elbows. They’d only just started elbow work. Natsu staggered back with each good combo she landed. He put in the effort to make it look convincing, pride swelling within his chest. 

“That’s it! Build on it! Faster…harder! C’mon!”  

This Nashi slipped underneath and into one of Mad Cow’s big overhand hooks, the corrected trajectory of his fist barely skidding over her shoulder as her right fist tore up, slamming into his chin. Even as his eyes rolled and he staggered backwards, her expression was so mutinous it was almost funny. 

But as good as the uppercut was, it turned out to be a set-up: 

“LOOK AT THIS COMBO…CROSS, HOOK–WHOA! AN ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING LEG KICK! CLASSIC MUAY THAI-INSPIRED COMBO FROM TURNING–” 

“FUCKING BITCH–!” Mad Cow roared, but his opponent cut him off with a voice like thunder. 

“I’M THE BADDEST BITCH YOU’VE EVER MET!” 

“I’LL ALWAYS GET BACK UP! I WILL! I’M GONNA BE A GREAT DRAGON SLAYER, JUST LIKE YOU! NO–I’LL EVEN BEAT YOU, ONE DAY!” Nashi took a deep breath, and Natsu grinned, allowing the pause in the fight, because he knew what was coming. The catchphrase both like his and not. Inspired by him, but all her own. 

Her fists blazed brighter than ever. The sun illuminated her grin.“JUST WATCH ME, DADDY! DON’T EVEN BLINK! BECAUSE I’VE–” 

“–GOT A FIRE IN ME THAT YOU’LL NEVER PUT OUT!”

Mad Cow’s eyes were wild with fear as he desperately swung for another, big lead cross–one which spelled his downfall. The Dragoness leapt off her left leg–her back leg. Her right shin cracked into his already dipping head. 

He fell forward and bounced off the mat, limp as a ragdoll, while the audience screamed all around him. 

Even as the giant fell still, she made for his prone form, fist raised, but didn’t fight at all when the black-collared man appeared seemingly from nowhere, grabbed her around the waist, and practically threw her away. Instead, This Nashi– The Nashi skipped backwards, smirking, and raised a wrapped fist. 

And that was the realization which thundered through Natsu, now gaping up at the victorious, pink-haired fighter stalking towards the edge of the cage: not This Nashi. The Nashi. 

After seven, grief-filled years, Natsu Dragneel was absolutely sure he had just found his daughter.

*1. Yes, there will be quotes from the original series (the anime dub, sub, or the manga depending on whichever version I like best) at the beginning of each chapter. HOWEVER. The quotes are not spoilers and are often only tangentially related to my plotline. The one for this chapter, for instance, is specifically about Edolas, but is not actually true of the world where Natsu has landed.

*2. Yes, I know the canon Edolas Nalu child is “Nasha.” I decided on “Nashi”, instead, for reasons which will be explained later.

*3. Sorry in advance, but I pretty much kept what little I remembered/liked from 100YQ and ditched everything I didn’t. Same with the original story, but way more with 100YQ. Idk what it is but even though I’ve read the whole thing, 100YQ has this unique quality where a lot of what happens slips straight out of my mind as soon as I’ve read it. In one eye, out the other. So you’ll just have to roll with me, sorry.

*4. Real-life inspiration for Layla (/Nashi) comes mostly from Ronda Rousey, whose biography I read and happen to have on hand, along with Kaoklai Kaennorsing (especially his fighting style). Those are the two main ones. If you’ve read My Fight, Your Fight, you’ll understand how Layla (/Nashi’s) personality is inspired by her–especially as you go on. I highly recommend looking up the Thai kickboxer/Muay Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. He has been called the Giant-Slayer because he did, in fact, defeat opponents who had over 100 pounds on him. Watching his fights is just an incredible experience. Other inspirations include Rose Namajunas, Connor McGregor, and some others. There are also several fictional inspirations including and outside Fairy Tail which I won’t bore you with (some of them I’m sure fellow anime fans will be able to guess lol).

[zeldaelmo]

Is it cheating to ask for more than one?? LOL oh well Imma cheat! Drunk Zelda (NSFW) & TP smut weapon arsenal (NSFW) (PLEASE INSERT SHAKY EYES HERE)

It's absolutely not cheating, dear! (Especially since I posted in the middle of the night for most of my followers and probably nobody will send another ask lmao)

Ok, these two fic ideas couldn't be more different, haha. Drunk Zelda is angsty smut (because as much as I like writing SFW fluff, I live for angsty NSFW stories) with some plot and TP smut weapon arsenal is just a goofy little smutty story. More for both under the cut for suggestive themes. :)

Drunk Zelda (I really should have named that doc better haha):

It's a marriage of convenience scenario (TP). Link has returned to the castle and they've become good friends. The topic of Zelda's marriage comes up and they both think, why not? Totally no major crush involved on both sides, no, no

They celebrate with balls and whatnot, make it passably through the wedding night. The first few weeks are a little bit bumpy and stressful and they often fall dead into their beds, but overall it's a success.

That is, until Link realizes that Zelda only sleeps with him when she's tipsy.

A horrible discovery that leads to spiraling thoughts. Why can't she stand him when she's sober? He tries to kiss her a little more affectionately during the next few days, but as soon as his hands drift, she panics. He gets very sad and withdrawn, thinking she doesn't love him back or he's hurting her. What if him being close to her, seeing the scars that his sword left on her skin, reminds her of how he had to fight her when she was Ganondorfs's puppet? Her own husband has aimed his weapon on her, how could she ever love him back?

Zelda however is just so incredibly shy and unfamiliar with physical affection that she believes she can only give him, an experienced country boy (he isn't any more experienced as she, but it's what she believes), what he wants if she loosens up a bit. It worked well enough on their wedding night, after all... It's not that he could love a mess like her anyway, with her scarred body and her soul that couldn't even withstand Ganondorf's attempt to possess her, so she has at least to fulfill his needs on this level somehow to make up for his sacrifice of marrying her (and not his true love Midna).

One evening, Link has enough and swaps her glass of wine with grape juice and dances with her until she's dizzy enough to believe it's from the 'wine'. They make out but of course, Zelda is a smarty and realizes halfway through that she isn't drunk and gets flustered again. Link confesses his worries and they figure it out together and have a second 'first time' with all the feels. 

I haven't written a single word for this, since it sounds like a multi-chapter monster... oops. But I really like the themes that could be explored in this one, so maybe one day I'll start. An event with a prompt list would be cool for this, so that I'm somewhat forced to prioritize it (she says while organizing an event where she writes the prompt list herself lmao).

***

Ok, the other one is just goofy smut. It's based on this post.

I imagined a scene where a freshly married Link and Zelda try to get a private moment but it's not so easy to get undressed with all the weapons on their bodies. Additionally, someone keeps interrupting them, so at one point, Zelda just throws one of his knives that blocks the door or something to keep the soldiers from being a cock blocker.

That's it, that's the whole plot. 😆 When I saved the tumblr post as inspo, I thought about TP zelink, but actually I think this would work much better with Hyrule Warrior zelink mid-war. So, maybe not freshly-married, but that's really not so important. I thought about this happening during honeymoon, but it works just as well or even better at a battle field-related place. With this fic, it’s a bit similar to the other -- I just need an opportunity to finally write it. It will happen at some point, especially since it’s probably a 2-5k word range that I could finish within a week or two, but... priorities. :):):)

[voltstone]

A YELLOW DRESS FORGOTTEN | TWDG Retelling Ep.1 | BLOOD-STAINED

Walkers. Muertos. Deadheads. Lurkers... The dead which roamed, they wore many names. Monster was yet another one. Though, Clementine knew most monsters didn't decay. Their hearts still throbbed. Their eyes, still with color. The monsters, still with words to asphyxiate.  Because she was one herself: a monster with fire in her breath, and eyes that burned her own Hell. She drank for her life. She drank to forget.

A thank-you to Telltale, a love-letter to Clementine as a character, and a passion project writing out my Clementine's story. Made by my blood, sweat, tears, and probably also mucous from the tears, but it's sanitized, I promise.

— — — Fic Layout:

Ep1 | Between S2 & S3. Ep2-5 | S3. Ep1.5 (Interlude) | S1, Between S1 & S2, Between S2 & S3. Ep6 | Between S3 & S4. Ep7 | Between S3 & S4, S4. Ep8-15 | S4.

— — —

Hello! I got sucked back into writing this fic that I've been working on since 2020. Will probably ping-pong back and forth between two fics (this and LYCOS), and make for damn sure these are both finished by the end of the year.

We'll see.

Regardless, this is my retelling of the TWDG games, with my Clementine. And the biggest catch is…she's an alcoholic. So. Yeah. :D

Full transparency, this isn't truthfully a new update. For one, this fic is the remastered of another. Two, I also already posted this chapter before a couple years ago now on the remastered.

But I have rewritten it, and this is a new Tumblr account, and and, I'm assuming some (very few) new people to TWDG have leaked into the fandom.

For those who've read this before (especially the first chapter), I do change some context(s) around. The basic plotline is the same, but there's different implications that help both a) better hone the horror and realities of an apocalypse, and b) symbolism, narrative stuff, blah.(Or, I've made the last scene significantly more violent.)

Anyway, this fic is on several sites (all of which I've linked to), and there is also a master post that goes more in-depth regarding the overall content, and it'll be the one I'll link more updates to in the future.

There's also a snippet of the first chapter (it's the first scene), so if you're interested, there's that.

Hope you enjoy.

:)

Master Post

AO3 | FFnet | Wattpad | Quotev | RoyalRoad

My story of Clementine, after the events of Season Two…

(Where Clementine alone moves on from Howe's Hardware, guilt-ridden, without sleep, only to find a flask.) 4/25/2022 | Last Edit: 3/05/2024 | [14,803]

“L-Lee…? Did you have to kill those men?”

Snow was Hell’s biting plague.

To her skin, such snowfall sank like glass the more it ravaged the horizon. Her shoes scuffed across that biting plague; she felt it gnaw at her, teethe into her heels. Then there was the gore dressed down her body. The smell of blood was rabid off her. It stained her clothes, leeched onto her flesh. The gore did little to warm her, but it was enough of a cloak.

Amidst her fogged mind, a white static, there was little to truly damn the girl. 

Or little to forsake her, at least, beyond what she was.

His eyes were shot by remorse, she remembered—unequivocally strewn by fear. The world seemed to have held its breath for his sake.

Like the dead who roamed the world alongside her, there was nothing that could. Her mind swayed. Her body swung to another rhythm. There were aches. Her feet throbbed for sleep. She was weighed down by the lone pistol secured at her waist—a grave remnant of days past. There was her shoulder too, and her mouth. One scorched to the muse of ice. As for the other…

Her mouth recalled where the barrel had kissed her its intended farewell. A charge haunted her. One not yet ignited.

She remembered, too, how slow his words had been. Thoughtful as always, spoken with care. But, to the world’s held breath, his strummed vowels sunk deeper than he could’ve ever fathomed. They burrowed the weight of the world down her shoulders. Wormed in place to the shell of her ears. And, as the days grew old and weary, and the world fell around them, and its held breath suffocated itself, those words would fade.

Because they were the wise words of a dead man. Because she was still alive, and he was not.

Her shoes abraded across a stride, down a frigid patch of asphalt. Did so to memory’s fleeting tune.

There was only so much she could cling to. Recollection was nothing but a humble tote bag, after all. So, only the better, sweeter memories were kept safe…

The ones at a motel, mainly, where they were stitched together by candlelight, and woven soundly by sheets and embedded cigarette ash.

Those sweeter memories went rotten long ago. All there was left, within that snow, were his wise, dead words. Shards which clipped her strides. Fallen parasites they were just as well, the more snow stole her complexion away.

“Did you have to kill those men?”

Those shards—the parasites—festered to the muse of ice. Her shoulder was an agony, and she didn’t know what was worse, the fact that it was a rifleman’s puncture, or the fact that…the bullet was hardly the Devil of it. The shards ate through the gore, ignored the jacket. They desolated. They dulled her mind’s eye to slow, rattled drawls of conscious thought. All the girl knew, barely, was the road she was on, and the ways she lagged behind herself.

A phantom amongst the dead, roaming wherever her intuition would wrench her.

…of course, there was the life she kept safe in her arms, deep against her chest. He was safe. Secure.

And as warm as she could manage.

There was that, at least. It wasn’t as though the life was enough to soothe her mind, however. So she roamed. The most she could grasp were the whispers of her fractured mentality.

“Did you have to kill those men?”

Over and over and over again.

A ghost of herself. Perhaps. This sounded like a girl not far younger than what she had grown to, anyway. She couldn’t quite recognize her.

“Did you have to kill those men?”

Her recollection… It was waning. Those sour memories revolted her mind’s eye.

“Did you have to kill those men?”

Over and over. And every time, Lee backed away. One step, then two, then three. Four. Further into the shadows. Away from her.

The world was suffocating.

“Did you have to kill…?”

Because he was a dead man. She was alive, he was not.

A sick mantra that hewn his wise words with ease, as it were.

He was a dead man. She was alive. There was dead. Then alive. Dead. Alive. Human. And then not…

“Did you…?”

She was alive. It had been days since that smoking gun was pocketed. Her hands were flecked by his blood. Her face as well.

Did you, Clementine?

The girl tripped. She lurched over the break in asphalt, staggered for balance, before the life in her arms fidgeted.

Her eyes snapped to him where he was, in his blanket. His own peered at her. She saw a vivacity. Those dark eyes of his, they were truly bright. The white static ebbed away. There was no ignoring her maternal instinct.

The world sharpened. There was clarity, and with that clarity came an agonizing harmony:

Her feet ached. Her mouth burned.

Her shoulder writhed of frostbite.

Clementine managed a pained, cracked smile. It didn’t reach her eyes. It barely crossed her cheeks. She choked on a feeble kind of sob, before her cold lips melted onto his warm crown.

“We’ll be okay…” she whispered, ingrained within another mantra, a somber one, that she’d yet to crawl out of. “A.J…, w-we’ll be okay…”

His dark, truly bright, brilliant eyes held her still for a moment. Consoled her. Had Clementine forget.

For that moment, though. A mere lapse in time.

Because snowfall was Hell’s plague. It slashed down her cheeks to remind her of everything again. So she walked.

Did you have to?

The hellscape around her was a vast, dead acreage. Trees were looming. The cars were decaying. And across the horizon, a great shadow. It spurned a dreadful hope.

So Clementine meandered through. Stepped over the bodies, around the abandoned cars. 

The snow upon this land was scarcely white. There were more reds, and darks, and everything between. Some rotted above the surface. Most were a decomposing reality just beneath, and wore snow as twining, raw layers. As raw flesh, marred by the truth of survival:

You don’t. 

There’s fumbling for that last knock into the dead’s jaw. There’s the scrounge whenever a last bullet is lost. The bleating wail in the one hope that somebody, anybody, would just fall from the clouds and be their savior.

It only ever ends one way. Called it survival’s fallacy.

Across that acreage, there were black pillars erected. In the blur, their arms were wide; they did not shed their light for her. They reached far into the winter, above her head. At the base of one, a truck had lunged itself into its pole. The driver’s body was sagged in the chair. The airbag was wilted across.

She snagged her reflection in its broken windshield.

“My baby, my doll. You have the sun in your eyes. Who wouldn’t want to play with you?”

Clementine found not the dead walking, but a ghost roaming. Her ballcap was a fog in color. There was barely the blue she cherished. Her black hair beneath was strewn with ice. Her face, gaunt in hunger and insomnia’s union, and twinged by hypothermia. 

Then…, her eyes.

There wasn’t a trace of life. Dull instead. Winter had stolen its yellow. Left her with a… A bleak hazel.

“You’re the life of everyone’s day!”

A lie. It had been a lie gifted to her from… Who had said that? An uncle, was it? Her father?

…Lee?

She didn’t know. Couldn’t, the longer she rummaged for his face.

Clementine tore herself away. She kept A.J close to her heart, away from her shoulder. The snow, the ice, still festered. Threatened to spread. Down her arm, for her spine, it threatened to claim her whole.

And she thought of the little girl—the one that asked Lee why? Asked how could you? 

It was the little girl who asked the same of Clementine in that hour.

Did you have to kill him? Did you?

Her weary bones ached, and her wounds begged to be licked clean. So, she slowed in her stride. Meandered to a nearby lamppost. The baby struggled in her arms; a last drone of wind clipped them both. Clementine sagged against the pole, only to flinch away from its scalding frost.

She urged her weary bones for a few more strides, before another dozen. They complied. It was agony…

Winter’s haze cleared as she encroached. The bill to her ballcap followed her eyes. Death and its frigid rot swept for the girl’s nose.

HOWES HARDWARE

Clementine never could decide what that sign meant for her. It may have been a blessing, or the Devil in sheep’s clothing.

It was a place where the world held its breath, anyway. Just as it would wherever she wandered.

To the point of suffocation, for Clementine never wanted to answer the little girl.

AO3 | FFnet | Wattpad | Quotev | RoyalRoad

[lilacssouls]

I'll Love You For Infinity...

group: itzy

pairing: Ryujin x Yeji

genre: soulmate!au, fluff, angst.. a little bit of everything, but mostly angst. Get some tissue.

contents/warning: high school!au, ennemies to friends (kinda) to lovers and you'll see at the end how it will end, communication problem for both actually, traumas too.

warnings: none for now, I'll put some in the next chapters if needed.

synopsis: Soulmate universe where you can hear your soulmate's thoughts without knowing who they are. The closer you get to them, the clearer are the thoughts and the bigger are the chances for you to find who your soulmate is. But what happened when one is ready to give her all for love but the other isn't ?

a/n: Hello everyone. I wanted to post this on Archives Of Our Own first, but apparently I can't for now- So instead I'll just post my little fic here for you all to enjoy. Feel free to comment on it or not !!

════════════════════════════════════════

INTRODUCTION

╭ ──────╯

╰► ﹏ Yeji’s POV

She had to live with thoughts that weren’t hers for a month now.. she couldn’t clearly hear the voice of the person they belong to. But she knew who it was supposed to be for her, and she didn’t like it. That whole soulmate thing, she didn’t like it one bit. She didn’t believe in it at all in fact, yet she was the first one in her group of friends to have her soulmate already linked to her. All of them were the kind of hidden not so hidden big romantic person who just wanted to find the one that will love them for the rest of their lives. But not her. Because to her, it couldn’t exist.

“ Yeji…” whispered Lia, giving her a small slap on her arm to try to get her attention. “Yeji ! You’re doing it again !” She said a little louder between her clenched teeth to remain as discreet as possible.

Yeji finally came out of her trance, not realizing that she had just spent ten minutes staring into nothingness to finally notice the poor teacher who had been calling her all this time.

“I’m.. I’m sorry… Kind of were absorbed elsewhere.” She simply answered to him, who was visibly offended that she didn’t even paid attention to his question once again.

He had finally settled and decided to choose another student, giving the young woman a disdainful look as a silent promise that he would keep an eye on her from now on. It wasn’t the first time. She kept zoning out more and more each time. Because these thoughts began to take more and more space into her head, just like this mysterious person. She had to admit that really wanted to know their name. She knew it was a woman for sure, since she wasn’t interested in men at all. But it didn’t help at all. All she knew is that the thoughts would become clearer each time she seemed to get close to that girl, but there was too many in that school to be able to try to recognize her.

╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴╴

╭ ──────╯

╰► ﹏ Ryujin’s POV

Why so much hatred, oh my god.. She thought as she could “hear” her soulmate’s thought about her. Well… It was really about her, but about this whole soulmate thing.. And about the fact that apparently Ryujin’s thoughts were bothering her future lover. Calm down, I’m trying my best, get some vervain or something.

Class finally ended, she hated math and she couldn’t understand how her best friend Chaeryeong could love it so much. She spent so much time trying to help her understand, but nothing worked.. she just sucks at math.

“It’s not even that hard, you’re just not trying to understand !” She said, Ryeong sounded more offended that her friend couldn’t understand something that seemed so simple her than Ryujin was hearing her best friend implying that she was trying as hard as she could.

“ Why would I try to understand the need to put letters and numbers together ? How can you even calculate a fucking letter ?! ” Ryujin sounded more confused than anything else by her own words. She just couldn’t get it.

But then, she stopped talking and listening as her own name came into her head, but it wasn’t from herself.. She who couldn’t be named YET said her name… or thought about it, or her. She didn’t pay much attention to it so she couldn’t tell the context in which her name appeared. But she knew she wasn’t crazy. “Oh my fucking god Ryeong… Ryeong I heard my name in my head !!”

She didn’t realize yet that what she just said could sound stupid and weird since it made so much sense to her, until she saw the look on Chaeryeong’s face.

“No I mean… The voice, in my head.. it said my name !” Ah shit… it’s worse… “Soulmate ! Soulmate said me’s name !! My name soulmate said !”

There, weirdly she finally understood with that. “ Oh !!! And what did she say ?!” Asked her friend, just as excited as Ryujin was.

“How can you know it’s a she ? It could be a he !”

Chaeryeong then looked at her as if she just said the most unfunny joke ever. She knew that look very well actually; she saw it often. “Come on Jinie… You’re as gay as a penguin. Now answer !”

First, she was offended. But then, confused since she didn’t have any answers to give to her friend. Once again, she didn’t pay attention to the conversation happening in her head, as strange as it may sound. “I… I don’t know I wasn’t listening..”

[aceofstars121]

Thanks for the tags guys! And @revenge-of-the-shit. Sorry for the wait, I always do this.

3 ships: Okay, I'm aroace and not much of a shipper but

#1 Vinture, or Elend Venture/Vin from the mistborn series. Pretty much the only OTP I've ever had. Without going into too many spoilers, they're the best couple ever. They're both extremely supportive of each other's actions and trust each other absolutely. There's this one part where Vin does something and everyone thinks she's gone off the deep end but Elend is the only one to believe in her and is certain she has a reason for what she did. There's barely any romantic conflict between them except in book 2 where they both feel unworthy of each other, but they're always portrayed as a healthy, in love, functional couple growing and working together, and it's awesome. Also they're epic in book 3 but I'm not spoiling one of my favourite character arcs of all time. They love each other, but not to the point of obsession and are able to put their love aside and do the right thing (Anakin take notes). In conclusion, they are life goals and the best couple ever this is very long isn't it.

#2 Catradora or Catra/Adora from the new-ish She-Ra

Less because of the actual romance but because of the way their relationship is the centre of the story and Catra's arc throughout the show (I have a whole post on this that I can link to anyone interested), and how she deals with Adora's abandonment of her. As someone who's gone through similar (but less gay) situations myself, it's extremely relatable, I can see myself in so many of her actions. The ending is just........amazing. I love it. (Although major apologies need to be had) Also there is no heterosexual explanation for Catra's hey Adoras. There just isn't (Honourable mention to Scorpia's huge lesbian crush on Catra. They could have been awesome together if Catra was ready for that)

#3 ehhhhh...... idk really. I have a few ships I like for certain reasons but I'm not a shipper

Last song: Speechless from the new Aladdin. I haven't seen the remake because Disney remakes are.......ya know.......bad and it doesn't sound like an Aladdin song but heck if it isn't amazing. One of my characters is currently vibing to this.

Last movie: The matrix. The idea was great, if a little unrealistic, but seriously mind bending to think about the fact that you could be in the matrix right now and not know it. Effects and action are amazing, especially for the time. Characters are.....meh but I loved the movie anyways. Also it inspired one of my favourite fics so that's also awesome.

Currently reading: The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. Read it. Read all of Cosmere. The characters are some of the best I've ever seen, worldbuilding and magic systems are really interesting. Just read it. Possibly the best books I've ever read. Stormlight is LOTR-era fantasy, but it feels like an actual story with humans instead of a history book (yes, lord of the rings does have some good characters, but Sanderson is a lot more focused on all aspects of the story than Mr. Worldbuilding JRR Tolkien). Also the extended universe is really cool, although I don't 100% understand everything yet because I haven't read everything. Look out for Hoid. Read this. You will not regret it. Then come yell at me somewhere.

Currently watching: The umbrella academy. It's great, although I keep calling Five Fives. I would write more but this is an edit and this post is long enough already.

Currently consuming: My motivation to carry on. Luckily I'm on holidays so that'll help. I can actually do things I like now.

Currently craving: a lightsaber. Please. I'll probably make one. New chapters of a bunch of fics (my loyalties lie, coppertop, mttt au, @jackdaw-kraai's one with the long name, disconnected conduit, the one I've forgotten I'm sorry dude) Guys you're all amazing I love u and your work.

Wow this is long. Sorry.

Tagging eeeehhhh..... I'm pretty sure @cf-2007-vibe is the only member of the Discord gang that hasn't been tagged yet. @valley-o you can have a tag if you want one too. Honorary tag to the rest of the new-sw-canon server even tho no ones going to see it since no one follows me on here.

catch up tag game

aahhh thanks sm for the tag @katierosefun !!

rules: tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better/catch up with

3 ships: hmm I’m not much of a shipper in general, especially in star wars, so I’m gonna go with some non-star wars ships here. Korrasami (!!! I love them), Catradora (they’re canon I still can’t believe it), and hmmm maybe Anastasia and Dimitri from Anastasia the Musical? (I love that musical sm, the soundtrack is so gorgeous)

Last song: “It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton! Before that, it was “Little Miss Perfect” sung by Taylor Louderman

Last movie: Enola Holmes! that was such a cute movie aaaahh

Currently reading: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Currently watching: Cobra Kai! not my usual type of show, I have no idea why I’ve become so invested in these characters lol. also a slow but steady Clone Wars rewatch!

Currently consuming: nothing as of right now, but I had an apple a little while ago :D

Currently craving: time management skills XD

no pressure tags: @ah-nakin @simpskywalker  @sonderwalker  @ayo-cowbelly  @aceofstars144  @alabasterswriting  @jasontoddiefor  @waterrose3 @truncated-tetrahedron