#Hell Wanderer of Spirits has literally already done it

[scribe-of-stories]

heyyy happy STS!! since we writers do way more worldbuilding and backstory work than we actually get to show in the story, what's something that you're proud of creating/really like but won't get the chance to explore in the story?

Cee this is an extremely dangerous question to ask me, thank you.

By and large Lexical doesn't have a "main narrative", so I end up perusing most stories I think of and turn them into shorts. That said, the flood gates are open and I'm attempting to keep Lexical to one Genre of fiction: modern fantasy.

That said I know how Lexical as a universe ends, kind of. As said I like to think of an endpoint then go back to an interesting start. 2000 CE give or take 20 years was the interesting start. Given enough time Lexical would change genre from modern fantasy to science fantasy. Alien cultures would be met, the wyrd things from said cultures would be challenged and embraced, and the horrors from between the stars that are the answer to Lexical's fermi paradox would be overcome (hint: the answer is dark forest).

I have this story idea about Humanity coming to grips with having to face what it is, why it exists, and what comes next. The spoiler answer to that is that the creation of Entities like itself is the natural process of the Lexical universe.

Maybe one day I'll write a far in the future story about Humanity discovering these things, and it's Inscribed living in a Culture type civilization.

Thanks again for the ask, this was very fun to answer.

[multifandom-nerds-blog]

Season 2 part 1 of DR was just fucking amazing and I have so many feelings about it. I feel like I'm talking about this pretty late cause the first 5 episodes also aired on TV for me like a week before they dropped everywhere else. (Win for the german fans.) But then I couldn't even watch the recorded episodes of this week till yesterday cause I wasn't home and nevermind I'm rambling again.

Cole and Geo are so perfect for each other. I love them. And at this point I have to confess: I never shipped lava. (don't kill me please) Lostshipping (that's their shipname right?) is supreme.

Generally I am so happy that Geo, Bonsel and the kids were able to leave the forgotten land. Even if it was due to a villian attack. But hey. Everything has a positive side. (I'm literally so happy for them, especially the kiddos.)

Lloyd was just stressing all the damn time and I'm here for it. Sleep deprived Lloyd was also perfect.

(-> It makes me whonder why Zane hasn't really had any visions anymore since this used to be his thing. And what exactly the reasons for visions are. Since Lloyds visions seem to predict the general bad future. Zanes visions were more centered around him I think.)

Also Zane just being the designated guy to stay at the monastery with frog dude

SIBLINGS. So much good Kai and Nya sibling content, especially with the flashback. The last season was already good on RGB sibling content so I really love them continuing that.

Also Kai still being a dad/older brother/mentor to Wildfyre. He just took full custody over her. On accounts of that Wildfyre not listening to him like the little gremlin she is.

So much good Kai in general.

Bonsel and her witch mom. That scene was so beautiful. I'm not the only one that saw the coming out allegory here right?

Jay showing up again and him just being absolutely done working with the administration. Bureaucracy is truly hell.

On that note. The bureaucratic back and forth between Zane and the two agents was amazing.

The dehumanizing of Zane from the Agent wasn't very amazing.

KAI AND BONZEL ARE TRAPPED IN THE OTHER DIMENSION 😭😭😭😭 It's destroying me innerly. Especially with how Kai did not care about his own safety at all. My dude. You're trapped in a dimension with 4 of 5 evil spirits wandering around in there somewhere. Not to forget the only (known) ways to get out there are another blood moon in like a million years or smthng or a core dragons power who are scattered around who knows where.

So yeah. Lots of feelings. About Kai especially. I might even start write Ninjago fanfiction. (Surprised I didn't do that yet)

[astaroth1357]

The MC Accidentally Kisses the Brothers

Due to incredibly popular demand (and because it’s a cute prompt).

Lucifer

It was just a childish prank, but pretty much all of Satan’s pranks were childish at their core (even the more homicidal ones).

This one wasn’t even that bad in the grand scheme of things. The angry boi was just trying to see if he could get Lucifer to fall down the stairs...

...admittedly, saying it out loud makes it sound much more cruel than intended. But this is Lucifer we’re talking about. A tumble down a flight or two wouldn’t leave him too injured… Unfortunately for Satan, he wasn’t the only one who took a tumbling.

The plan was pretty simple, put an enchantment on the stairs to the Conference Hall, lay in wait, and trigger it right as Lucifer was leaving a meeting. He’s always the last to go, so it should have been foolproof.

But the MC hung back to leave with Lucifer that day and just so happened to jump forward right as Satan was timing his step… getting themselves thrown down along with him.

Fortunately for them both, the firstborn’s reflexes were astounding. He was already holding the MC in his demon form and cushioning their fall before they could even hit the first stair. And it was quite a long way down…

By the time they hit the bottom, Lucifer had them fully wrapped up in his wings and Satan couldn’t what had happened until they unfolded… whereupon he saw the MC laying on top of Lucifer with their lips far FAR too close together for his liking…

Yeah, that backfired pretty hard and Satan was left fuming over it for days… Not that Lucifer minded in the slightest.

Mammon

Sometimes when Mammon does his photoshoots he brings the MC along as one part cheerleader, one part pit crew. It’ll be their job to hold onto his stuff, make sure he has enough to drink, and generally stand there and be impressed by his awesomeness until they leave.

Well that day things had been going well… until a particularly nosy worker started hovering around the MC too much for Mammon’s liking.

He tried to put it past him, since he had a shoot to do and all, but he snapped about halfway through when the guy kept trying to force a conversation with the very not interested MC.

Oh, he was ready to tell him off. He made the photographer stop mid-shoot just so he could march over there himself and give that asshole a piece of his mind! He was going to absolutely tear him to shreds and then-!!

Okay, that didn’t exactly happen because right as he got up to the MC, ready to start shouting, our lovable moron tripped… again…

But unlike the first time, where he more or less face-planted the floor, this time he smacked lips first into a surprised MC in front of the jerk he was trying to scare off.

… Yeah. He meant to do that.

And that’s exactly how he played it off, keeping his lips right where they were and flipping the other guy off so he’d leave them alone (which, thankfully, he did).

Totally what he intended to do and he'll swear so to this day.

Leviathan

… how in the world do you mess up the Kabedon?

Levi had seen the move done hundreds of times before in anime. It’s a very simple concept: put someone up against a wall, put one of your hands by their head, and just lean. That’s it. Not rocket science.

Levi had been mentally preparing himself for this moment for days… He may or may not have even practiced this (very simple) move in his room countless times. He genuinely thought he was ready to try it on the MC.

So, on one of those rare days he went to RAD, he gave it a shot. He waited until he and the MC were walking alone together, got them up against the wall, annnnd…

...rather than touching the wall next to them, his hand completely missed any sort of hard surface because in his panic he stopped them right next to a blind corner…

Naturally, his body fell forward some but since there wasn’t that much space between them by that point he uh… he… well he now knows their preferred Chapstick.

No matter what the MC’s reaction ultimately was, he leapt away from them like he just licked an electric fence and bolted.

His embarrassment genuinely cannot be overstated... He practically broke a window in his attempt to get the hell out of there and back to his room, where he didn’t leave for three days straight… Poor Levi...

Satan

It started out as easily one of the best days of his life. 

The MC, the exchange students, and the Royal Court had all decided to surprise him on his birthday with a Devildom-style cat cafe… Kitties were on practically every surface around him! 

Admittedly, Satan had been pretty distracted throughout most of his time there. There were just so many kitties for him to see that he sort of forgot about the MC in the process…

So in order to get his attention a little, the MC thought it would be cute to pick up one of the furry bundles and hold it in front of their face, doing that little thing where you pretended to “talk” for the cat and even waved one of its little paws at him.

They hadn’t predicted that Satan would find the display utterly, heart-meltingly adorable...

He attempted to plant a kiss on top of the furry critter’s head at the exact time that the MC brought the cat down their face entirely.

It took Satan a second or two to register that his lips were not, in fact, on a cat. And when he pulled back to see the MC’s shocked expression, the full gravity of his actions smacked him in the face like a falling log…

Cue a flustered rush to apologize while the MC hid their face back behind the confused kitty… Getting an accidental kiss in front of the prince of Hell and literal angels was pretty dang embarrassing...

At least the incident was taken in good spirits by most of the people in attendance (minus Luke, who was desperately trying to give MC his bottle of holy water like it was pepper spray by that point). 

Though after that point, Satan noticed that his “guests” kept passive-aggressively giving him cats until he was literally so buried in fluff he could barely move… probably not related, though. Probably.

Asmodeus 

It was another party night with Asmo and the MC at the Fall having a good time.

Now, Asmo was no stranger to Demonus and other assorted demonic beverages. You could say his tolerance is decent enough, but get a few too many in him and he does start to get a little off…

And a drunk Asmo is a very troublesome Asmo. 

The MC, bless their heart, was pretty much playing the sober babysitter to their demon friend when Asmo decided that he HAD to leave the club and get cupcakes right then. Being the good person they were, MC agreed to go with him, as long as he promised to stay with them and not wander off…

But they somehow managed to lose him within three blocks from the club. All they did was check their phone for directions and the guy bailed!!

Little did the MC know, while they were frantically searching for him Asmo hadn’t run away completely… He had just decided it was a great idea to play hide-and-seek at 2am and hid behind a nearby building.

It was his drunken giggling that eventually gave away his position, but he jumped out from behind the corner right as the MC was rounding it. Naturally, they both to collided. If hugging hadn’t been an instinctual action to Asmo by they point, they would have fallen down…

All they did ended up doing instead was getting caught in lip-lock due to Asmo’s sudden vice-grip.

Apparently he laughed and laughed all the way back to the House but his memory of it is pretty hazy… He’ll just have to get the MC to reenact it with him a few dozen times, that ought to jog his memory!

Beelzebub 

The MC was helping Beel out with his workout yet again and things had been going well.

Since Beel is pretty much a one-man army, his weights and routine are usually waaay too advanced for any human to be able to handle. So the MC is less his spotter and more a casual supporter/motivator than anything else.

And motivation was just what they were trying to provide with a fun little experiment of theirs… 

Ever heard of the “carrot-on-the-stick”? Well they decided to try something like that… literally. Just replace the carrot with a roast ham!

They put ham on a fishing pole, set Beel up on a treadmill, and dangled it closer or farther away based on his speed. In theory, it wasn’t the worst idea in the world... but in practice…? 

Well. Someone should have told them not to stand in front of him during this little trial...

Their motivation experiment did work for a few minutes… But soon enough Beel’s stomach got the better of his (marginal) self-control. They just weren’t expecting him to leap over the top of the treadmill...!

The smart thing to do would have been to drop the fishing pole or to just keep it still so Beel could grab the meat, but the MC reflexively drew the pole back behind them… thus putting them right in Beel’s path instead.

And that’s how they ended up caged under lord knows how many pounds of Beelzebub, thankfully kissing their lips rather than trying to chew them off…

Needless to say, Beel climbed off of them, red as a cherry, and the MC let him have that ham before the two agreed to never try this again. Whoopsie!

Belphegor 

Belphie likes sleep. 

Belphie likes cuddles. 

Belphie likes cuddling in his sleep.

Really this was bound to happen eventually…

The MC and Belphie were having a nice nap together in the attic and there wasn’t anything nefarious about it. Just two people snuggled up together in the same bed.

...snuggled up very close together in the same bed.

So close, in fact, that when the MC finally woke up and rolled over some to reposition themselves, they felt the soft lips of their companion brush up against their own.

They, of course, had the appropriate reaction of shock and embarrassment to this… but this cheeky fucker just smirked at them and let one eye slip open.

“What…? Is that it? It’ll take more than that to wake me up…”

Never mind the fact he was awake the whole time...

He really should have expected that pillow to the head, but after they struck the first blow, it was on now.

Don't worry. As it would turn out, an impromptu pillow fight also wakes him up just fine. Who'd have guessed?

[multifandomthoughts]

Dark King of Desire

MINORS DNI

Requested by: Anonymous

Warnings: Penetration, Dry humping

The rain beats down on the Oro Jackson, lightning and thunder making it almost impossible to sail. But to support your captain and his crew, you stayed outside, gripping the side of the ship. The ship rocks and sways but one thing that doesn’t budge is Rayleigh.

His posture is tight, his voice booming through the storm as he shouts commands, muscles glistening from a mixture of the rain and sweat. His arms bulge as he pulls in the sails, and you have to avert your eyes just so you can focus on the task at hand. You’re soaked, and the only thing you want to do is go inside and dry off. But you have your own work to do. You linger a bit longer to watch him work. He’s just so alluring, the moments turn to minutes and soon you’re all settled in to brave the worst of it. Rayleigh looks over the whole deck to make sure everyone is accounted for, and your eyes meet. You look away quickly, hoping that between the distance and the rain he can’t see your blush.

You swear that his eyes having been wandering just like your own, but to what you can’t figure out. It can’t possibly be you, he has much more important things to do than talk to you. But here he comes, long strides and firm shoulders as if he’s talking to the most powerful person in the world. You shudder to think of what could possibly be so important that he’s coming over here for.

You try and find something to do so you look busy, and end up fiddling with a knot in the rope ladder. “Can I… help you, sir?” You ask politely, not looking at him yet. He looms over you, a serious look on his face but mischief in his eyes. “Seems like I should be asking you that. You were looking at me like you needed my attention for something. Mind telling me what that was?”

Gulping loudly, you begin to try to think of an excuse. It was rude to stare, and you had no idea whether or not he was actually looking at you. “I wanted to go down and lay in my room for a bit…the swaying of the boat was making me feel uncomfortable. But once I made eye contact with you I figured that I had been found out and I had to stay. I felt I had to keep looking at you to make sure I was still required above deck.” You mumble out, trying to look past his exposed chest and look him in the eyes

He nods in agreement with this explanation. “Alright, guess I can excuse that then. But going forward, you can just go ahead and slip below decks even if you see me looking. I’ll make the connection as to why, I’m pretty perceptive. For example, your panties are damp… or was that just the storm?” He asks, grinning devilishly

Your face turns a deep red, understanding the entendre almost immediately. Shaking your head, you take a deep breath before responding with a sly “I don’t know, why don’t you follow me and you can find out?” Letting out a deep belly laugh, you were almost certain that you were screwed. Instead, his strong firm hand clasps yours as he walks you down to your private quarters.

As you’re led inside and get a chance to think things over, you come to the embarrassing realization his innuendo was actually quite correct. Without even realizing, you had indeed become aroused. Mentally setting that aside as a fun surprise for Rayleigh later down the line, you squeeze his hand as you enter your room. Now comes the moment of truth, he called your bluff before so you have to follow through for the sake of your dignity. “Guess I should get out of these wet clothes before I catch pneumonia or something…” you sigh playfully, seeing Rayleigh has already dropped his wet coat and taken a seat on your bed to watch.

Your pants were torn, not from wear and tear but from slashes and stabs. That being said, it made it a breeze to drop them. Sighing, you step out of the soaking puddle around your feet. You bend over, pulling a bandana out of you hair and whip it back, allowing your hair to be free. However, it releases all the water, causing you to shiver slightly. Next was your crop top that you had created yourself; it was too fancy and frilly upon your purchase. As you cross your arms to pull it up and off from the bottom, you glance over to see his reaction. He’s just tapping his finger and giving an easy going smile, as if this means nothing to him. Frowning, you turn around so he’ll have to stare at your back rather than the perky breasts you’re now exposing to the cool night air.

You toss your top over your shoulder at Rayleigh, not even looking at him now. If he wants the show to continue he has to ask, otherwise he better be content with wet fabric. You hear the sound of a weight being removed your bed, then the soft creak of footsteps across the floor, and the next thing you know Rayleigh’s arms are around your waist. “Might if I help with the grand finale?”

You try to act indignant. “Hmph! I don’t see why you should get to, you weren’t nearly appreciative enough of what I’ve done so far.” You haven’t given me one look over, not one compliment, nothing! I might as well let your wet clothes cause you shrinkage. You turn away from him and pout, not letting your true emotions be known.

Rayleigh rest his head atop yours in a pout. “Don’t be like that. I was just being patient; you don’t applaud in the middle of a great concert, you wait until it ends.” It’s a great line, and he knows you liked it. Damn smooth talker… “I guess that logic is acceptable. Fine, I’ll let you do the last bit, but you have to show off for me first. And I’m not turning around until you say something else nice.” You can feel the chuckle ripple through his chest to his jaw, then he leans down to kiss your neck. “If I didn’t have my spirits literally dampened by these clothes I’d be rock hard and dying to feel you… How does that sound?” A delighted shiver runs down your back, and suddenly you’re soaked all over again.

In an impressive feat of strength, he rips off his shirt with only his bare hands. Drops of rain still cling to his smooth chest, a sigh escaping his lips. “I’m at least a little bit warmer now, but now my upper body is cold.” You don’t understand, what does he mean? Oh. Oh. He smirks, watching as you struggle to respond. You decide to tease him one more time. “Then go ahead and lie back on my bed. I’ll handle those pants, and then we’ll see if you even want to sit up again to get me naked?” Now it’s his turn to feel flustered, biting his lip to hold back a devilish grin. “I don’t know, most people can’t handle what I’ve got. But you, sweetheart? You seem like you’ll be a formidable challenge for me.” He coos, throwing hot and heavy words back at you.

“Then lie back and let me feel challenged, stud.” You order, sitting on your knees on the edge of the bed and waiting for his obedience. When he complies your hands immediately dive to his fly and within seconds his pants are around his ankles… and you were so eager you yanked off his underwear too. Leaning over his waist, you’re now staring down the barrel of his sex pistol, and it’s every bit the monster you expect from Roger’s right hand man.

You rub yourself up against Rayleigh’s thigh, kissing him hard. “Does someone want attention? Or are you just going to sit there and make me do all the work?” Firm hands grab your thighs as you squeal, being hoisted into the air and directly onto Rayleigh’s lap. “Ooh, seems I came in for a rough landing…” you jeer, knowing full well what he is doing. “I guess you did my dear, and what are you going to do about it?” He retorts, a sparkle in his eye sending shivers down your spine.

You begin to grind your clothed pussy against his hard length, hoping to making him eat his words. Somehow, he’s going to wish he just shut up. His grip on your thighs immediately tightens, and you can see his brow furrow in concentration. His hips twitch, as if it’s taking a lot of will not to buck and roll against you. Guess he still wants to keep the air of composure. That won’t last much longer.

You can feel how hot and ready his saber is just waiting for you to sheath him. You have to bite your own lip to hide how much fun you’re having with this, and at the rate it’s going you might draw blood before any other fluid.

You run your hand across his cock, it’s warmth evident. Along with your hand on his shaft, you begin to wiggle, pressing into him. “Two can play that game.” He sneers, cupping your bare breasts in his hands. Kneading softly, he carefully runs his thumbs over the gentle buds, eliciting a squeak from you.

As if it couldn’t get any better, he pulls you as tight as he can against his throbbing dick. Every move you make, you can feel it pulse and throb. You stop for a minute, with Rayleigh pressing his face directly into your cleavage. His beard tickles as he gently shifts his face, looking to the left and to the right.

You don’t know how much longer you can wait. You’re not at your breaking point, however, your core aches to have his thick cock inside of you. Even just thinking about him makes your thighs clench, and you feel a damp spot in your panties.

Just as you think you’re about to give in and beg for more, he lets go of your chest and starts pulling at your waistband. Jackpot, he cracked first~ You put a hand over his and tut at him in playful judgment. “Tsk tsk tsk… someone’s run out of patience I see. But these are my favorite panties, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tear them apart like a wild man, okay?” On wobbly knees you climb off of Rayleigh and bend at the waist to slide the damp garment down your thighs. The fresh air reaching your wet and sensitive nethers is enough to overwhelm you for the moment, and you fall forward onto your hands and knees. Without meaning to, you’ve provided him with the perfect view of your bare sex.

“you know I’m going all out after that torturous foreplay, right?” You give a nod, and hope your body can endure it. That’d be a hell of a way to go out, your corpse being found by your crew mates the next morning with a shattered pelvis and signs of a heart attack from over excitement. But before he enters, you feel his hard cock playfully slide between your asscheeks and down to rub against your folds, causing you to let out a loud moan

Smirking to himself upon hearing your reaction, Rayleigh holds you steady by your waist and slowly presses his way in. He gives a guttural groan at the sensation, while your moan raises in pitch with every inch he buries in you. You push yourself against him, trying to attain more friction. Each inch he puts in adds another layer of pleasure, waves causing you to shudder. Once he is all the way in, he begins with a steady pace and hard thrusts.

Your body shakes with each thrust, your hanging breasts jiggling and swaying as his pelvis claps against your ass. Hands gripping the bedsheets, you try not to get lost in thinking about how deep he’s getting and how full you feel. Pleasure like this had been unimaginable before now, but you don’t want to picture what it would be like if it went away again.

Rayleigh is clearly enjoying himself as well, his grunts and moans soft, but audible enough for you to hear what he says. A curse or an oh god slip out of his mouth every so often, and that turns you on more, quickening your release. Meanwhile, Rayleigh is having an internal struggle of his own, your tight and soaking pussy treating him better than he can recall getting from any other. He wants to enjoy this for as long as he can, but between the mad teasing before and this current euphoria it’s hard to hold the tidal wave back for too much longer.

The two of you continue to rock the bed while the ship rocks in the storm, passion deafening all noise but each other. The wave reaches its crest sooner than you would like but later than you thought with how worked up you were to start with, and Rayleigh hunches over you to keep you close and deep as he finishes. Your orgasmic scream is muffled as he cranes your head back for a deep kiss, and you remain joined at both ends as his pulsing member pumps a hearty load into you.

You sigh, collapsing from exhaustion. Always the gentleman, Rayleigh pulls you up into a comfortable position. “Are you alright?” He questions, a slightly glassy look in his eyes. You gently nod to him and run your hand over his chest with a happy sigh. He pulls the covers over you two, and wraps an arm around your shoulder. What an end to the night.

[panharmonium]

i lied, THIS is the last “in-progress naruto thoughts” post:

THOSE LAST SEVEN EPISODES HAD NO BUSINESS BEING SO WONDERFUL AFTER THE HELL THIS SHOW JUST PUT ME THROUGH.  i’m so happy.  i practically want to cry with relief; i’ve been so sad and down for the last two days feeling that my last moments of naruto were going to be something that i hated and that my last feelings about my first watch were going to be anger and disappointment, but THEY WEREN’T; the last arc came in from nowhere and hit me with the howling freight train of hope and joy that the actual ending of this show was supposed to have; and sure, it’s too bad that the real story will never have quite the ending it deserved, but this extra arc captured the spirit that the actual ending should have had; and that’s enough; i’ll take it; it’s enough for me that i was able to watch my last episode of naruto grinning from ear to ear.

this did EVERYTHING RIGHT.*  the hopeful tone, the bittersweet feeling that things are changing and it’s a little sad but also good, the focus on ALL the different characters, the highlighting of ALL the relationships we learned to care about - THIS IS WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO FEEL LIKE.

i can’t even remember everything that made me smile or laugh or Feel something wonderful tonight.  konohamaru making a congratulations video for naruto.  kiba and akamaru tackling ino during team 10′s “congratulations” filming.  iruka being offered the vice principal position but feeling like he wants to keep teaching students one-on-one.  those three academy students who keep defacing the third hokage’s bust in the courtyard (HEROES!!!!  GIVE THOSE KIDS A MEDAL RIGHT NOW!!!!)  kakashi telling every single person who talks to him to stop calling him “lord.”  the five kage having a peaceful, happy, friendly summit and going out to dinner together.  team gai going absolutely bananas together like always and lee bouncing on gai’s bed and the number of times each member of the squad is like ‘neji would never tolerate this’ or ‘what would neji think,’ because he’s still such a present part of their lives.  shikamaru losing it in panic when choji’s smugly says “we???  *i* already got a gift.”  choji planning on using the third gift certificate for himself and being seated at a separate table XD XD XD XD.  TEMARI AND SHIKAMARU.  sakura and ino competing and fighting and reaffirming as always how close they actually are and how much they understand each other.  the fact that sakura has finally learned how to make food pills that don’t taste like sewage.  gaara and lee being friends and wandering the leaf village together.  kankuro saying that naruto would like an extravagant wedding gift, while an image flashes of naruto and hinata up on this wild podium like a circus casino with flashing lights and confetti (kankuro clearly understands naruto better than anyone; i stand by this).  killer bee planning a dance performance by the raikage for the wedding.  kankuro wanting SO BADLY to see gaara dancing too.  gaara deciding that he should honor naruto not as the kazekage, but as a friend.  shino connecting with those academy kids and instinctively teaching them to appreciate and find wonder in things they were initially afraid of/grossed out by; him being so uncertain and afraid of what’s going to happen when team 8 disbands, before finally discovering the confidence to keep moving forward alongside them.  “if you’re someone who’s living in the past, and can’t see the future, are you really living?”  kiba’s relentless confidence, happiness, his aggressive friendship.  iruka telling shino to consider a career in teaching.  kakashi replying “oink oink” to tonton in the weariest, most Done With Everything voice possible.  hinata asking kakashi where he’s going, and him literally responding “i’m going to take a nap.”  kakashi sprawled flat on his back in the grass.  iruka’s ongoing struggle to decide what to say to naruto and in what role to address him.  everyone agreeing to work shifts so they can all go to the wedding and still cover the village’s staffing needs.  kakashi refusing to accept a bad compromise.  COME HELL OR HIGH WATER.  “nobody leaves early, and nobody comes late!”  NARUTO ASKING IRUKA TO COME TO THE WEDDING AS HIS FATHER.  sakura receiving sasuke’s hawk with that one-word message: “congratulations.”

i’m going to CRY.  i’m so happy.  this was such an unexpected gift to receive.  i really thought my days of enjoying new naruto episodes were over, but a miracle happened and i was able to end my first experience with this show on a high note.  i watched those last credits roll while feeling nothing but love for this story, and that’s all i could ever ask for.  

[memeadonna]

Mind Over Monster

I wrote this for a friend, so if you're reading this: Hi RJ!

You and the Bakusquad (plus Shinsou and Jirou, because it is a crime to exclude them) survived the zombie apocalypse, and now roam around hunting down the remaining monsters and rescuing survivors. But you feel like everyone except you has a place in your little group. When someone in your group makes a potentially fatal mistake, you set out to prove yourself. But the question remains: did you ever even need to in the first place?

You kept your eyes closed as you listened, searching in the murmurs around you for something unquiet and unorganized. That was how you would know if there was danger. The mist had long since retreated, but the wind carried it to places where it would rest and collect and re-emerge, using the dead to do its bidding. “Anything?” you jumped and opened your eyes to see one of your companions balancing precariously on the roof of your car.

Kaminari Denki never stopped smiling, no matter what. And considering he was the only reason that you were able to drive this electric car anywhere at all, he was one of your team’s most valuable members. You… also didn’t need to know that he was eye-fucking you right now, but it wasn’t like he could help it. There’s only so much you can turn off in the human mind, and despite your best efforts you usually ended up reading too much into things. It was nice to know that all of your companions thought you were attractive, at least.

This had all started with an accident. An unknown person had been born with some sort of zombification quirk that turned people into mindless zombies forced to do the user’s bidding if they inhaled a mist the user secreted. That person had been killed in a violent car accident that had sent them over the edge of a bridge and plummeting to the dark, angry waters below. As they bled out, their quirk had somehow activated. Maybe it was their way of saying that they did not want to die. Mist had billowed up around them, and within a few hours everybody in that prefecture had been infected by the quirk. The infection had spread across the country and then the world within a few weeks, and now, a year later, this was all that remained. The creatures had never been meant to exist this long, so eventually they began to mutate as well. They gained the ability to infect other creatures through bites, or even absorb body parts and (in the cases of the rare bigger monsters) whole people.

You and your companions had been training to become heroes, but when society had collapsed your goals had changed to survival. Now you travelled around acting like vigilantes, tracking down reported cases of those creatures and protecting civilians. Your class had split off into three groups (as had your grade’s class B), and everybody in your squadron had a purpose.

Bakugou Katsuki was obviously your firepower. He was also your self-appointed leader, and was great at barking orders. Kirishima Eijirou was your muscle – the creatures couldn’t infect him with whatever virus they had (or absorb him, though many had tried), and usually he and Bakugou did most of the heavy lifting when it came to the fighting. Ashido Mina and Sero Hanta were both masters at setting traps or helping with evacuation efforts, and they were also both charismatic and cheerful and kept your group in high spirits. Shinsou Hitoshi could almost always control the monsters to some degree, and even if he couldn’t, he was also adept with his capture weapon and could easily change gears mid-battle. Kiyoka Jirou could detect the monsters moving from miles away, and the speakers on her hero costume were both useful in battle and in evacuation efforts.

Jirou and Shinsou both basically rendered you redundant. Your quirk was a mind reading/telepathy quirk that allowed you to locate monsters (they couldn’t suppress their subconscious thoughts, so it was easier to read their minds), but the more of them there were the more useless you became. You already tended to get lost in your thoughts, but with all of these thoughts swirling around you…

“Hey!” Denki snapped his fingers in front of your face. “Are you okay? Any monsters nearby?”

“Sorry,” you smiled up at him. “No, I don’t hear anything. Should be safe to stop here and recharge.” You hopped off the roof and went to go help pitch your tents.

While you loved the electric vehicle you had looted, it could only go so far with one charge, and it took a lot out of Denki to keep it working, especially considering he couldn’t just charge out of outlets anymore. That meant the group had to stop and make camp in the middle of the day and let him charge up the car. Despite being electric, it wasn’t exactly the most efficient car in the world.

At least it had lots of storage space. That meant you had lots of useful weapons and supplies for killing the zombies. That was no easy task.

The largest beast you had encountered so far had been around eight feet tall and had taken over the corpses of about six people and several dozen animals. These beasts weren’t usually able to use the quirks of the people they had absorbed, but some creatures were anomalies. The one you were hunting now was supposed to be one of those anomalies, and had apparently retained a teleportation quirk, making it tricky to catch. You supposed you could be a little more useful in this case.

“Hey! Stop standing there being useless and start a fire!” Bakugou dumped some of the wood Kirishima had just chopped into your arms, and you struggled to hold all of its weight. He laughed at you as you dropped a piece of the firewood and caught it with your foot. Mina came to your rescue and told Bakugou off with a laugh as you hopped off towards the fire pit. Even he thought you were useless. Especially he. Him. Whatever.

Shinsou used his capture weapon to lift the wood back into your arms, and you smiled at him. He understood you in a way nobody else did, and maybe it was because you both had mind-related quirks, but you found camaraderie in the fact that people tended to be driven away from you or mistrust you. Who would want to be friends with someone that could tell exactly what they were thinking, or with one verbal response could make them do literally anything?

“You okay?” he asked.

You nodded as you knelt by the makeshift fire pit and started to stack the wood. “I’m fine, Shinsou,” you replied. “Just a bit of teasing.”

He walked over to the trunk and returned with a box of kindling. He balled up some of the paper and lit it when you were done. You couldn’t even do this small task without help. How useless did they really think you were?

You stood and looked around for somewhere else to help. Mina, Sero, and Kirishima had already set up the tent, Denki was charging the car, and Bakugou was digging around for something in the trunk. Shinsou walked over to go help him, and as you were about to check if Jirou needed anything you were grabbed from behind and lifted off the ground.

“Gotcha!” Kirishima purred into your ear, pretending to bite into your shoulder as he tickled you. You cried out in involuntary laughter, and kicked and flailed in his arms.

“Hey, put me down!” you tugged at the hands around your waist, and he finally listened to you, only for him to turn you around and pull you into a bone-crushing hug.

He pulled away and tilted your face up by the chin. “No more sad face, okay?” he asked softly. “Cheer up.”

Before you could respond, Bakugou started yelling again. “What useless fucker packed up the supplies?” He shouted, and if you weren’t used to that shout you would have probably flinched at the rough tone in his voice.

“Me and Mina!” Denki looked up from his charging duties. “Why?”

“You forgot our fucking food,” Bakugou growled. “Both crates full of food are missing! Seriously? Even people as inept as Y/n and Sero remember to bring the fucking food when it’s their turn to pack up!”

“Calm down Bakugou!” Sero stepped forward. “Is there any way you just missed it?”

Bakugou’s words washed over you like glass in your heart. You had heard them before – he was always calling you a dumbass, or a burden, and while he was that way with everybody, and they just shrugged it off, you just… never could. Bakugou had one of the most guarded minds you had ever seen, and regularly called you a Voyeur if he caught you staring at him for too long. You hadn’t purposefully read his thoughts very much, but his brain seemed to be full of those harsh words and nicknames. It would have been easier if you knew he didn’t mean them.

While your group argued (Jirou, Mina, and Denki were all screaming at Bakugou while Kirishima and Sero tried to break it up, and Shinsou watched with a tired expression), you snuck around to the back of the truck to retrieve a few weapons. You grabbed a small handgun (Yaomomo made you lots of supplies every time she saw you), and a few rounds of ammo. You also grabbed a metal baseball bat for good measure (better safe than sorry), and one of Bakugou’s mini grenades just out of spite. When you returned to camp with dinner in hand, you were planning on detonating it just to scare the bejesus out of him. You wondered if they would still be arguing when you got back.

Maybe they wouldn’t even notice you leaving?

Nobody stopped you as you set off across the field towards the woods. Nobody even spared you a second thought as their restless minds grew more and more distant. You relaxed as you realized you were alone, and hummed quietly to yourself as you crept through the woods looking for dinner.

The birds were singing, and the trees rustled softly in the wind as you wandered farther and farther away from camp. The small stream you crossed was probably where Jirou had collected water earlier, and just for the hell of it you decided to climb up the waterfall. It probably wasn’t the smartest move, but it was about a thirty-foot climb and it looked like fun. Once you were at the top, you followed the river upstream and searched for any thirsty wildlife.

Being the useless party member was boring. No matter what your companions did, you never seemed to be able to see the value in your own contributions. You were able to broadcast messages across large groups of people all at once, which made you invaluable both in evacuation efforts, and when planning strategies. Your range was somewhat limited unless you really pushed your quirk (if you were scared enough the words and pictures could travel up to five kilometers), but the ability to detect thoughts had less limits. Some people (like Bakugou) naturally suppressed thoughts, while others (like Kaminari) did not. It was easy to tell when the monsters were nearby because they could not repress their thoughts whatsoever. Even less than Kaminari. Everything blurred together in one big, overwhelming jumbled mess, and if there were a lot of them you were easily overwhelmed.

People you could deal with. You had grown up in a big city and gone to school in large classes, you knew what people were like. You could be in crowds with hundreds of voices and be unbothered, purely because it was all background noise. It wasn’t meant to be heard.

Sometimes, the monsters knew you could hear them. Sometimes they wanted you to hear.

You were dragged out of your train of thought as you caught sight of dinner. Drinking at the river was a boar, a yearling probably weighing about 45lbs. It hadn’t noticed you yet, and as you aimed your gun for it, careful not to make a noise, it didn’t stir.

A shot through the eye was all it took, and the animal dropped dead. You grinned to yourself as you approached it, and carefully picked it up and slung it over your shoulder. You couldn’t wait to see the look on Bakugou’s face when he realized just how useful you really were. You carried the boar back downstream, humming one of Jirou’s punk songs to yourself.

“Blood,” was the first thought that filled your head, and it made you halt in your tracks. It was so sudden, and so strong that it had startled you. You looked back the way you came and noticed that about two hundred yards away a figure crouched over where you had killed the boar, and as it uncurled its body vertebrae by vertebrae you felt terror grip your heart.

You were alone. Nobody was going to come save you. You were out of range.

The creature had a massive rack of antlers on its head – it had clearly been feeding off of the local wildlife to make it big and strong. Big and strong it was – towering at probably twelve feet tall with a lanky and deceptively fast body. Its mind was full of violent thoughts, and you heard each and every one. As you noticed it, it also noticed you. You heard its thoughts as they ricocheted around a brain that should not have had the capability to think, and as the word “Need!” filled your mind, it lunged for you.

You screamed in terror, and your quirk activated without your permission, sending the horrifying image of this thing leaping and bounding through the air towards you out in all directions. The image of itself halted it in its tracks, but it quickly shook the feeling off. You dropped your boar and aimed your handgun. The rounds did nothing, and the creature picked up speed again, unhinging its jaw and letting out a shriek so loud your ears rang. You fired into its open mouth, once more discharging an image of its maw. That also gave the creature pause, and as your handgun clicked out of ammunition, you reached for your bat and your grenade. Its eyes were so cold as it watched you change your stance, and you swallowed hard as you noticed tiny hands protruding from its chest. Those hands had once belonged to a child, and that made you angry.

Noticing the pattern, you started to send it random pictures and see what it reacted to. It seemed to recognize itself, so you started sending it pictures of its parts – deer, boar, birds, and eventually people. It kept coming at you, but it seemed almost dazed as it avoided your bat. You grinned to yourself as you assaulted it with more images and increasingly complex thoughts, not caring how you swung your bat. You landed a blow and it shrieked in pain. You then assaulted it again, sending it emotions and increasingly complex feelings. You recited math equations, explained how to start a fire, and told it about yourself in the blink of an eye, still swinging your bat. It connected with the skull-like head and broke the bone apart.

It felt anger now, you could sense it, and it wanted you dead. You kept bashing, overwhelming it psychologically. Then, all at once, you backed off. It shrieked at you as it retreated too, which gave you just enough time to chuck your grenade into its open mouth. You hit the deck as the grenade detonated, and the creature’s throat exploded outwards. As it fell to its knees, folding its long legs under itself, you stood once more. You then raised your bat high and dealt the killing blow to its head, scattering brains everywhere. You kept bashing for another thirty seconds for good measure, until all of the thoughts were gone, and the forest was once again quiet. You panted hard in the silence, and as you once more heard thoughts you gave the creature’s head another few bashes, even though you knew it couldn’t possibly have been the source.

By the time you registered the explosions behind you Bakugou was already sprinting towards you, yelling incoherently. Before you could get a word in, he was blasting the creature’s dead body with all he had. He then turned to you and pulled you into a bone-crushing hug, one so tight that your back popped.

“Bakugou?” you asked in alarm, and he just held you tighter.

“Don’t fucking wander away, dumbass!” he pulled away to growl into your face, eyebrows knit. “We thought we’d lost you.”

The thoughts dancing around his head made you almost shiver. “Thank god they’re safe,” and a thousand variations of that hit you all at once, along with feelings of guilt and fear and pride as he took the time to appreciate the beast you had killed.

Sero was next to arrive, having scaled the waterfall in record time. He swung through the trees towards you, clumsy and graceless. His head was also filled with panic and then joy and then wonder as Bakugou let you go and Sero had his hug.

Jirou and Kirishima clamoured over the waterfall, Mina and Kaminari (who for once, wasn’t smiling) hot on their heels. You were pulled into several more group hugs, and as Shinsou approached even he wrapped you in his arms.

“Why the fuck did you go off on your own?” Bakugou yelled.

“We needed food,” you replied. “So, I hunted a boar, which we can’t eat anymore because this thing showed up.” you gave its carcass a kick. You then walked over to the boar cadaver, which was covered in goo and chunks of brain, and based its head in. You did not want this thing coming back in a new form. Either thing.

“Don’t wander off like that!” Kirishima stressed. “You could have gotten killed! If Bakugou hadn’t been here to kill that thing for you-”

“I killed it,” you cut him off, resting the bat over your shoulder and trying not to sound smug. “Apparently it’s not invulnerable to my quirk. I figured out how to use it. Guess I’m not so useless after all, even if I did ruin dinner. Sorry guys.”

Bakugou’s eyebrows twitched. “Who the fuck said you were useless?” he demanded.

“You did,” you replied. “Earlier today.”

“I told you to stop being useless. There’s a difference,” he grabbed you by the shoulders. “Listen to me. You are not useless. You don’t have to run off on your own and nearly fucking get killed to prove that, and I’m sorry if I ever made you think that’s what we wanted from you.”

Holy shit. Did Bakugou just apologize? To you? Were you dreaming?

He pulled you into another hug. “Don’t run off again, okay, dumbass?” he asked softly.

“Okay,” you smiled softly. “I can promise that.”

“Good,” he growled. “And we found the food crates. Turns out that Shitty Hair over here-” Bakugou punched Kirishima in the shoulder, “-put them away in the tent.”

Kaminari sobbed loudly, interrupting the moment. “Denki, don’t cry!” you were hugging him in an instant, and he clung tightly to you like you would just disappear if he didn’t anchor you. “I’m here, and I’m safe. I promise.”

“It’s not that!” he wailed. “We could have had bacon!”

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed - Episode 02

Warning: Spoilers for all 50 episodes!

(Masterpost ) (Previous Episode) (Next Episode)

Donkey Riding

way ho and away we go, donkey riding donkey riding way ho and away we go, riding on a donkey

Wei Wuxian and Apple are doing their best for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

Xiao Zhan had trouble riding the donkey sitting side-saddle, so the Department of Questionable Practical Effects made him a fake leg to wear while riding regular style. 

Can you spot it? It’s very hard to spot. It is very convincing.

Simple Pleasures

Wei Wuxian takes his time wandering up the nearest mountain, and half of the cultivators in the land also wander up this mountain because...Night Hunting! The cultivators are hot and thirsty from walking because they forgot that they all know how to fly. 

Wei Wuxian relaxes by a well and listens to people stanning him. 

Also

I’m going to say it: Wei Wuxian never met a drinking vessel he couldn’t blow.

Everything is Beautiful at the Ballet

The actress who plays A-Yan is named Zhang Linran. She probably has studied dance since she was 4 and now she gets her big break which turns out to be feeding an apple to a donkey. So let’s pause for a second to look at how beautifully she moves.  

Reunions are Awkward, Part 1

Wei Wuxian meets up with one of his family members and it goes super well. 

I...like Jin Ling? He’s much less of a douchebag than his dad, his uncles Jin, Jiang, and Mo (the three stooges), and every damn one of his Jin cousins. He’s genuinely brave (his Dad’s primary good quality) and his hair is on fleek. He’s still a whiny diaper baby, but I like him. 

(much more after the cut!)

Then Jiang Cheng shows up, looking fine as hell and radiating peak arrogant-prick energy.

When he discovers that ‘Mo Xuanyu” stuck a piece of paper to Jin Ling, he tells the child to literally murder him. Excellent uncleing! A+++++ would recommend.  

“In fact, literally murder anyone who uses Yiling Laozu’s tools, like talismans, lure flags, or spirit compasses - basically murder everyone in the Lan Clan plus those other fanboys we saw coming up the hill. Then get out there and make some friends, goddamn it!”

These nets full of cultivators on this daytime night hunt are the only time we ever see anything in a net during a night hunt.  In fact dudes constantly go night hunting and the only prey we ever see is rock lady, murder turtle, and a couple of rag mops in the lake. 

You Are Not Qualified to Speak to Me

Also radiating arrogant-prick energy on this occasion is Lan Wangji. He has been using pettiness as a weapon since long before he met this Jiang Cheng turkey, and he *brings it* when Jiang Cheng tries to have a conversation with him.

Letting your eyes wander everywhere except to his punchable face while you ignore his passive-aggressive questions? Quality work. 

Dropping a silence spell on his child and then letting your own child explain it to him? Golden. 

Lan Wangji is never ever going to forgive Jiang Cheng for what he did on cliff day, and his silence here is as pointed as an ice pick. I suspect the last words Lan Wangji actually spoke to him were “Jiang Wanyin, stop it,” sixteen years ago. 

Jiang Cheng is actually the bigger person in this particular interaction, visibly mastering his temper and telling Jin Ling to take his medicine. 

Reflecting

Wei Wuxian hangs out by a beautiful river and hallucinates for a while. River Jiang Yanli is nurturing and River Jiang Cheng is pissed off, so there are no surprises there.  River Jiang Cheng thinks that Wei Wuxian is a promise-breaking douchebag. He’s not exactly wrong. 

Courtesy of convenient gossiping cultivators, Wei Wuxian discovers that the 16 year old arrogant kid from the Jin clan who his brother from the Jiang clan has custody of is actually and quite obviously Jin Rulan.

Well fuck I guess now I care about something, that’s inconvenient. 

Needing to help parent the child of the sister who parented him is what draws Wei Wuxian fully into his new life. 

As soon as he has this realization, Apple comes back from roaming around, and never gives him any trouble after this for the rest of the story. Which...probably doesn’t mean anything. 

Wen Gravesite

Does Wen Ning hang out here because it’s where he and his (dead) people came from? Oh great, now I am sad. 

Judging by all the leaves on this grave thingy I’m going to say that this grave tender dude is, ah, not very good at his job. 

Get him, Jingyi!

I feel like maybe we all focus too much on how Lan Jingyi is so hilarious and sardonic and not enough on how he is a such a biscuit. 

Soul Grass

As mentioned in the previous post, Chinese spiritual concepts don’t always translate well into English. Soul grass? Sure, why not. 

This is where Wei Wuxian’s Sherlock Holmes brain starts to work, although he still doesn’t remember really basic stuff about Dafan Mountain. Dying and changing bodies is rough on the old neurochemistry. This creates more opportunities for flashbacks, however, and if there’s one thing The Untamed deffo needs more of, it’s kissing flashbacks.

Temple Statue

Presumably grave-tender dude is also in charge of clearing away spiderwebs at the temple, because it’s not getting done. 

Jin Ling walks into the temple blaspheming at full volume. 

Since this isn’t a Greek story, he isn’t immediately struck blind for this. Then when he wishes for the statue to come alive, it obligingly does.  Everything’s coming up Rulan!

Wei Wuxian shows up to rescue all the kids by throwing talismans at the monster which does not tip anyone off to who he is. 

Baby Cultivator Babysitting

Lan Wangji chills out in the cultivators’ pavilion with Jiang Cheng and their mutual hate boners.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian forgets all about his nephew and turns into cool professor guy, explaining the basics of soul-eating to the baby cultivators and gleefully encouraging their fear of Hanguang-Jun’s punishments. 

Because the Lan babies are good filial children they are super respectful and engaged with this random adult who is lecturing them. They also - like their own Hanguang-Jun at their age - see and admire Wei Wuxian’s intellect. It’s easy to forget how extremely smart Wei Wuxian is, because of how extremely dumb Wei Wuxian is.

Lan Jingyi suddenly figures out Wei Wuxian is not crazy. 

Bis. Kit. 

Then Rock Lady shows up and Jin Ling sticks 6 arrows into her while Lans Jingyi and Sizhui stand around not bothering to draw their swords.

I see a lot of comments about the bad effects in the statue sequences but I think Rock Lady is all right. The figure animation is decent and the lighting is no worse on her than on everything else in the scene. Her hair is nice, for a rock person.

Admittedly I just finished watching Guardian which has CGI monsters so bad they may have injured my retinas and possibly also my DNA, so the bar, for me, is pretty low. Rock lady clears it with room to spare.   

Note: Wei Wuxian’s flute playing does zippity towards controlling the statue. Not sure what his plan was here.

Wen Ning Kicks Ass

Now we get to meet Wen Ning, who appears to be a stone-cold badass. Later we will discover how hilariously inaccurate that assessment is. 

While all versions of Wen Ning are delightful, this version of Wen Ning is also...strangely attractive? He’s got a Patti-Smith-Horses-Era vibe here, instead of his more usual lost-baby-dork vibe. And his dreamy “I have nails in my head” expression is intriguing. 

I mean, he’s not a total snack like zombie Song Lan or pre-zombie Song Lan or blind Song Lan or post-zombie Song Lan, but this look is a good one for Wen Ning, is what I’m saying.

Reunions are Awkward, Part 2

Lan Wangji, who has 99% already recognized Wei Wuxian because of the haunted sword and the fierce jawline and beautiful neck and tiny tiny waist, is summoned by his flute playing as inexorably as the Ghost General was. 

Jiang Cheng also recognizes Wei Wuxian and goes into full beatdown mode, thwarted (silently) by Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian attempts to preserve his incognito by sassing Jiang Cheng in as sibling-like a manner as possible. 

Hanguang-Jun’s Pro-Ghost Agenda Has Been Clear for Some Time

This Jiang/Lan fight is hilarious when you consider the implications.

Macroexpression vs. Microexpression

Mo Xuanyu brought Wei Wuxian back using sacrifice summons, a dark ritual invented by Wei Wuxian that he, most likely, did NOT show to Lan Wangji back in the day. So it’s a pretty safe bet that Lan Wangji doesn’t know that Wei Wuxian was gifted a body, rather than stealing one.

when your brother turns around, you must whip him you will never live it down unless you whip him

When Jiang Cheng lets loose with Zidian, it’s not just because he’s angry. He’s using purple power to force Wei Wuxian’s ghost out of the body he’s apparently possessed. And Lan Wangji instantly STOPS him from doing that.

Clan Leader Jiang: this person has been possessed, against their will, by an evil ghost

Future Chief Cultivator Lan: Counterpoint: I am banging the ghost

Flashback Time

Welcome to your 30-episode flashback!

Once I used to join in Every boy and girl was my friend Now there's revolution, but they don't know What they're fighting

Let us close our eyes Outside their lives go on much faster Oh, we won't give in We'll keep living in the past

Road Tripping to Summer School

Gosh I’m looking forward to younger, kinder, more relatable Jiang Cheng.

...prick. 

Incidentally, until now this episode didn’t know that Jiang Cheng has smile muscles, and neither did the person who glued his wig on for him.

I Like Rabbits

Here we have our first rabbit in a large collection of rabbit iconography that appears in The Untamed. 

Instead of sending everyone to the Wikipedia page for Tu'er Shen I’m going to take this opportunity to rec the short film Kiss of the Rabbit God by Andrew Thomas Huang (tw: blood, tw:body-mod cutting) which you can read about and watch over at  Nowness.com 

Particularly if you are a queer person of Chinese heritage, check it out. 

So. What the fuck are these? Are they food? 

Are they made from wax? Or corn starch? or pig intestines? 

Wei Wuxian runs off to get laid drunk and Jiang Cheng grumps about it. Jiang Yanli reminds him that being free is a Jiang Clan Rule, so really Wei Wuxian is following the rules by not following the rules. Does that mean he’s not free? My head hurts. 

Jiang Cheng: yes but grump grump grump

Jiang Yanli: Nothing bad will ever happen because of A-Xian’s choices, trust me

Outro

Wei Wuxian faint tally: one  Caught by: the cold hard ground

Soundtrack: 1. Donkey Riding by Great Big Sea 2. Living in the Past by Jethro Tull 3. Whip It by Devo

Fic prompt:  Lan Wangji’s internal monologue while he sits in the pavilion with Jiang Cheng 

If you write a fic from this prompt and want to share, please post a link in comments!

Bonus: Wang Zuocheng, macro-expression king

Episode 03 Restless Rewatch coming soon!

[kurooskorner]

surprise!! — [♡] ‧₊˚✩彡.

warnings: some cursing I think? the dead, and that's all !

To say the Black Cat B & B was bustling with people, would be an understatement. In one swift night the building had gained over 30 new guests, though they weren't exactly new. Every year, on Halloween day some higher entity granted the spirits that loomed in the Black Cat halls to become human once more, and every year since the very first opening of the B & B it grew more and more packed.

The tradition to throw a party for the residents that quite literally gave them a name was started long ago by Y/N's grandmother, she was a sweet woman, and she wanted to give back, asking the spirits at the time what she should do, they simply asked if she'd make it a night to remember.

So, Y/N and her fellow Black Cat members found themselves on the morning of October 31st, standing in front of multiple familiar faces, voices, and overall presences.

"Hello everyone, I know I do this every year but, it's great to have you all back, it's been an amazing year with all of you, we've had our ups and downs," she broke off, glancing towards the smirking twins, "but overall it's been amazing. I hope today is up to par and you enjoy it till your hearts can't anymore!" The speech had finished and with one swift nodd of contentment, the spirits howled a chorus of thank you's.

A knock on Iwaizumi's door startled him, while he was expecting someone he didn't think it'd be so early, perhaps she got the wrong time, he thought, but he was far from being right, for a pair of brightly colored haired twins stood await at his door frame. "Hey, we need to have a serious," the first twin paused and walked through the frame, shoulder bumping his, while the second twin continued. "Talk with you, hope you don't mind," replied the other, already in the room and sitting aloof Iwaizumi's bed. "Who the hell are you two? Did shittykawa put you up to this? I told him I didn't want any pranks this Halloween — would you get off my bed? Don't touch that!" He rambled out different strings of sentences but the twins paid no mind to them at all, continuing to invade the boy's privacy as they'd once done when they were invisible. "You have to treat our Y/N right, she's kinda crazy, and sometimes she doesn't think, although she'd like you to think she does, she's impulsive and needs lots of reassurance so be sure to give her that, " said the twin on the left. "And make sure you don't forget the little things, be a good boyfriend to her, we're trusting you with our girl," said the other. Both taking steps towards him, each patting his shoulder, seemingly in approval, they spoke once more in perfect unison, "Treat her right, or we'll end you," and with ghostly smiles they left the room, pure content on their faces.

In another room, Makki and Matsu sat fanning themselves, long hours of trying on their Halloween costumes had made their body temperatures high and they'd decided on a break, until a small, soft, knock interrupted them. "Oi get the door Makki," poked Matsu from the foot of his bed. The pink haired boy gave him a puzzled look from the other side of the room, "You're literally like ten steps away from it, YOU do it," he jabbed back, finger pointing accusingly at the space between Matsu and the door. The knocking came once again, Matsu lifted himself off his bed and walked towards the door, he wasn't sure what to expect but when he opened the door and in walked Kami, he screamed.

Satori and Kiyoomi had to share ingredients, Omi got first usage of course and Satori waited for him to finish, it was a dynamic that the two had gotten used to over time and all in all it worked really well...until you mixed in one mischief woman named Kanako. Normally she sits back and just watches Omi cook, but today is the one day shes allowed to actually help, feel, and offer herself as his true assistant. Kiyoomi quite frankly does not like it but it's better then hearing her whining 24/7 and upsetting her as he's done so many times (all accidents he swears). So, Kanako gets to help him however, yes she is always with him in the kitchens, she isn't exactly the best cook, but she's trying her best!

As night approaches and it's time for the real festivities to begin, the guest have gotten a few hours to socialize and meet the once a year guest, the twins are on their best behavior for Y/N and so is Hoshi, many of the spirits such as Blu or Izumi, are no where to be found, they're allowed to wander around so maybe just maybe they can be spotted later but as for right now, Y/N is worried about one thing and one thing only.

masterlist | prev.

taglist: @vanilla-beanzz @atomicpie1115 @momo-has-a-gun @toobsessedsstuff @peachacolada @virgoamajiki @ptv-hades @myeggodied @satorisupremacy @confusedturtle @akaashikeijisthighs @elianetsantana @mint-mai @haikyuufairy @iloveyouasmuchaspoohloveshoney @heyyourecute @v0dkadaddy @abswrites @sakusasbleachbottle @crybabbicus @karasunobbys @kuroosleftkneecap @talkaboutaliens @uhmdaddychill @ditu-m9 @sbaepsae @prettysetterboiss @bbyouamazin @tvnaka @lovinnoya @iidanotlida @winunk @jeffsbarbershop @mirdy47707 @peteunderoos @jvhoons @paytra @insomniish @faewraithsworld @rirk-ke @heavenini @sugasloverr @sugawaaras @ceeswrites-main @jaectizen @ariasnight @tchalameme @nerdynstoned @franklyrobin @8zmingi

taglist is closed!

angie's love note: yeah I truly do not feel like this is my best smau-wise but writing wise I'm super proud of it !! anyways tomorrow y/n and iwa's journey ends! yes I'm crying about it

fun facts:

- the Halloween party was a success !

- iwaizumi and y/n danced almost all night, they shared a sweet kiss under the moonlight (much to the twins dismay)

- each twin danced with y/n and they shot smug looks at iwaizumi the entire time

- makki, matsu, and kami all got along surprisingly well and they even got him his own teletubby costume (originally for oikawa but he refused it)

- all the spirits had an amazing night and they loved every bit of it, in the end they all thanked y/n and the boys :)

[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 19

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 19: Got Your Back (And Maybe Your Heart)

“Okay let me get this straight-”

“No one here is, but go on.”

“Hush, I’m still mad at you,” Tang gave a stink eye to the Kappa before turning back to Macaque. “So let me get this straight, so not only are you the same Six Eared Macaque that has fought the Monkey King and the deity that’s known as the Wandering Healer-”

“Not actually a deity,” he inputted.

“Whatever, but I’ve been coming here for years and just now I find out that there are mythical deities and magical plants within the forest! The Yao grass that is said to be a component to the Immortality Pills, an actual Qilin living here?! And the brown bunny and that little shit stain, who probably wants to laugh his ass off, is actually a Kitsune and spirit!”

“Guilty as charged,” the Shui Gui chortled.

“Pretty much,” the monkey shrugged his shoulders.

“Yup,” Ní nodded in her fox form.

“…I am both very angry and very excited,” he grumbled. “Do you know how many questions I have?! Do you know how many things I could have tested? Do you know how long I have wanted to meet someone like you guys? Do you know how many questions I have?!”

“I think you already said that,” said the water spirit though he froze as he saw an ominous glint in his eyes.

“Oh yes I did, because by the time I leave here,” he mysteriously whipped out his phone, “I will have all my questions answered.”

“Just how many do you have?” Macaque cautiously asked.

Tang said nothing as he instead showed a folder containing many files within them. “Quite a few. Quite. A. Few.”

All three immortals, the ones who have faced many fierce opponents throughout their life, gulped at the looming trials ahead.

“Fuck,” they all unanimously said.

It was cold, damp, and thoroughly disgusting with all of the worthless piles of junk lying around, but she supposed she would have to work with what she had under these…conditions.

Lady Bone Demon quietly walked through the open sewer as she attempted to distinguish where exactly she should strike next while her underling, who has been waiting for all these years, searches for the one item she hasn’t quite found.

It was quite tricky, to say the least, all the rest of the ingredients she needed to procure, albeit a bit rare, would be much easier to obtain even if those incompetent bugs mess it up. It won’t be too hard to find a replacement for those, she just decided on them for the proximity, she does not desire to leave the city before she achieves her prize. The last item though is something that is an ingredient that is not so easily replaceable, so she will need to take her time and look through every crack and back alley down until she does.

It was quite irritating, from the conditions she found herself into the annoying bugs that seem to think they are above her to Sun Wukong.

Sometimes she just wished that she could be over and done with this little game entirely and reach the end, but alas that’s not how life works. But she will admit that it will be fun watching them all struggle to get one step ahead of her, though she can’t decide which one she’ll enjoy more, Sun Wukong look when she finally drains him of every last bit of power and torture what he cherishes in front of his very eyes or Spider Queen expression as she stabs her in the back when she becomes the component to her plans. Both sound absolutely delightful when the time comes, but for that to happen she suppose she will have to achieve this the long way, no shortcuts or cheats allowed.

But she doesn’t mind the wait, after all, she had been imprisoned for over five hundred centuries.

She has nothing but time and she intends to play this little game all the way to the end.

“So your not just some random ass immortal,” Macaque bluntly said when Shen met up with him again.

“Took you that long to figure that out,” the frizzy hair old man laughed.

“Well, how am I supposed to know that you were literally giving me Immortal wine when I have never tasted it before you all but shoved it to me?” He grumbled as he held the bottle of very rare wine once more. “You know I don’t really need this, I am still perfectly immortal without it.”

“Oh I know, Yama sometimes grumbled about it from time to time when we get together. Gods know he wants to strangle Sun Wukong's scrawny neck when he gets the chance,” he said while drinking some of the wine.

“You regularly drink with the King of the Dead?” He deadpanned, “Who the fuck are you? Cause that right there shows that you're not just a regular ass deity.”

“Hmm I’ll tell you if you tell me how you figured out how to make the Immortality pills,” he smirked at the monkey still look.

“What do you mean?”

“I may be old, but I can smell a lot of the ingredients for the pills in this forest alone. Yao grass, Biya berries, Voya roots, Gracidea flowers, just to name a few,” he tapped his nose.

“Can’t really hide the smell,” he clicked his teeth. “Alright fine I’ll talk, but you better keep your end of the deal.”

“Will do.”

And so they talked and talked and when Shen spoke of who he was Macaque all but threw the bottle in his hand.

“What the fuck Ping?!” He hissed out as he had to stop himself from bashing his head against the tree. “How the fuck?!”

“He was an interesting one,” he laughed. He met his old friend by the river where he was doing his laundry, they spoke and then he found himself another drinking buddy.

Macaque’s eyes twitched as he just slumped over and groaned loudly. “What the fuck!”

Shen just laughed wildly next to him.

“Yeah yeah laugh it up,” he hissed before letting out a sigh and sat himself up. “Shit I don’t know if I can ask you this but I might as well fucking try?”

“Hmm?” He curiously questioned.

“I may need something soon that I can’t quite get on normal means and I think-no I know I will need your help to get it,” he asked with an almost pleading voice.

“Hmm, why do you need it?” He noted the tone in his voice but didn’t say a word about it.

“There is a demon that wants to take over the land and almost nobody would be able to stop her,” the simian admitted.

“Eh, there will always be some creature that wants to take over the world, been there, seen that, but that never really happens now does it,” he easily dismissed it as he leaned in closer, “but why do you need it?”

“Because there are people that I want to protect and I know that they will be the ones that will be fighting against that monster and like hell I am letting them do this alone,” he growled.

“Oh now I have your reason, so here’s another question. How much are you willing to give for my favor?”

“Anything,” he determinedly said.

“Anything you say? Even your life?” His green eyes challenged his violet ones.

“Yes,” he replied with no hesitation as the question didn’t even make him flinch.

There was a long silence as both beings stared the other down until the red haired man broke off his gaze and chuckled lightly.

“…hehehe, always knew Ping was fond of the stubborn ones,” he grinned.

“Ping is an old coot with the perchance of running into the weirdest fucking things,” he huffed as the air around them seem to settle down.

“You're not wrong,” he nodded. “Alright I’ll help ya, but next time I drop by I expect some high quality drinks.”

“Tch, fine you alcoholic bastard. Hope you don’t mind Plum wine, have a few sitting for a couple of centuries.”

“Are you kidding? The longer the age, the better it is! It’s like you don’t know me sapling,” he said with a mock hurt expression.

“I mean I might as well as you just told me who the fuck you are!” He threw his hands in the air.

“But you know my wine tastes!”

“You've only given me one kind of wine bastard!”

“Still!”

“Don’t you fucking pout you overgrown child!”

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” MK cursed as he dashed his way through the volcanic land and ducked from a large fiery boulder aimed straight towards him. “Why does this happen to me!?”

Now you may be wondering how and why MK found himself stuck in the volcano arena, well he was visiting one of the more interesting customers he had delivered to before, as in she was trying to learn more about magic, with Red and Mei. Which is cool and all, especially since she has mastered how to change her hair color on will, but she was showing him her more advanced spells. Now it was very fun with the Bull Prince trying to explain to the young girl how each spell works and how much energy must be put into it. They were even going to try out a new spell together, but the thing about her is that while she does have quite a bit of talent, she is extremely clumsy. As she took a step forward and accidentally pushed him into the symbol on the ground and then ‘poof’ he teleported right in the middle of the fire imp territory.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, he can handle a few enemies on his own and he did with such ease that not even a scratch was laid on him. It’s just that the problem was that they all happened to be a bit too loud and woke up a humanoid creature that was three times his size, entirely made up of molten magma and rock crystals, and looked very pissed.

Needless to say all of them booked it as fast as they could, but unfortunately it had their eyes on one creature that looked different from the rest.

“Seriously!” He yelled as he climbed up the mountain and quickly hid and he held his burnt side. He knows that he is quick on his feet, but even he can’t dodge all of those boulders and swipes aimed at him. It doubly hurts as he can feel the burning of the magma touch his skin, he desperately wants an ice bath when he escapes this.

SMASH

But until then he will continue to make his way to the ocean ahead where he hopes that it would be enough to stop the beast in its tracks. He will swim all the way back home if he has to, he can deal with the sickness later after he saves his skin.

He felt the beast let out a devastating roar and a glance back he saw the creature lift the largest boulder that he didn’t even think he could dodge. So, he instead prepared himself as he was about to bring out his staff when-

“Here comes Jade Dragon/ Blazing Bull!” Twin voices shouted as the next second two terrifying forces slammed into the creature and with a pained roar he flew back.

He blinked as he saw Mei and Red Son, one who is surrounded by ethereal viridian energy and the other encaptured in a fiery crimson aura, jump in front of him protectively.

“MK/Noodle boy! Are you okay?!” Both of them have been trudging through not only ashes clogging their lungs and spot marking their skins, but also all different types of books and ruins trying to find the right activation phrase to reopen the portal to where their friend had disappeared to. They were tired, dirty, clothes ripped, and pissed off, but in MK eyes they were the most beautiful people he has ever seen as he couldn’t stop the blush forming on his cheeks as he took in their perfectly disheveled appearance, the muscles peeking from their ripped sleeves, sweat dripping from their face, and the worried look in their gorgeous eyes.

“Y-Yep!” He involuntarily squeaked. ‘I really should not have read some of those romance books with Jin,’ he thought as he cleared his throat. “I mean yeah, yeah you guys are perfect-I mean you got here at perfect timing!” He nervously said as he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to avoid eye contact.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head along the way,” she lightly teased as she kept a firm stance in front of him.

“Would be an improvement,” he smirked, but his eyes didn’t leave the Cherufu dazed form.

“Heyyy,” he whined before he realized what they said before, “Do you guys have names and you didn’t tell me!”

“Umm.”

“We’ll you see-”

“They are so cool!” His eyes sparkled, “they fit you both so perfectly, and the way you guys came in and shouted it made the scene even more awesome!”

Both of them couldn’t stop both smiles and blushes as their smaller friend, and small crush, kept on praising them, but unfortunately, their little bubble popped as the beast roared once more.

“Tch,” Mei irritably clicked her tongue at the beast ride interruption, showing off her fangs (after countless of honing to both tracing and the dragon sword, she was more than ecstatic to see that she matched with both of her boys) “I actually forgot about that.”

“You mean the walking miniature mountain that was just chasing me down,” MK huffed as he shook his head. Hopefully, the two would just blame his fluster on the heat and not drift towards the thought that he may like them more than friends.

“Yeah that.”

“You both need to really get up to speed with your Mythical beings,” Red grunted as he opted to not use his fire against the creature made of lava.

“Says the one who never knew what Advil was,” MK muttered.

“It’s not my fault you mortals inconsistently change their names for no reason!” He hissed as his hair flared up.

“Surrrreee,” both mortals said.

“Let’s just focus on getting out of here.”

“You just don’t want to admit that your wrong~”

“Shut it!

“And where do you think you're going?” Wukong flinched as he heard Macaque's voice behind him.

“Oh you know, just a little road trip,” he smiled wider than normal as he quickly turned around to hide his suitcase, “I thought that it was time I get off of my mountain and see what else I missed.”

“Uh Huh,” he noncommittally said as he casually walked forward, “and you just decided that right this week?”

“Yep!”

“Just out of the blue.”

“You know it!”

“With no thoughts in mind.”

“None whatsoever!”

“Sunny, I know you’re bullshitting me,” he bluntly said.

“Whattt?” He nervously laughed, “I’m serious, I am just going to go sightseeing for a bit and-”

“You still have that same tell when you lie, you know. Smiling too widely,” he pointed out.

“I thought I got that under control,” he muttered to himself and sighed, “alright yeah, you caught me. I was gonna go out and look for a weapon to stop her, but I have to do this, Lady Bone Demon is not someone to trifle with. You know how she can easily command someone under her will and that was when she just got out of centuries of captivity! Imagine what she could accomplish once she regains more and more power! I just can’t sit here and wait for that to happen.”

“I know, that’s why you're not doing it alone,” he pointed out.

“Huh?”

“Did you really think that talk we had the other day was just a one off thing? No no no, there are so many people and demons solely invested in this, because what Spider Queen did really pissed off a lot of people and they want revenge on not only her, but those who helped her,” he said as summoned a map and showed him. “Just see for yourself.”

The monkey took the map and he became confused about what he was looking at. “There’s just a bunch of doodles in certain areas.”

“Those are the areas that have been hit and investigated thoroughly, the ones with X are the no goes of anything suspicious or useful, the ones with question marks are the clues or hints, and the few with checks are the ones where they found positive report and/or confirmation on successful supplies that we need. All of these are for finding the necessary materials to end the Bone Demon life once and for all.”

Wukong's eyes were wide at the end of his statement, “You know how to destroy her?! How long were you planning this? How have you managed to search all of these areas?”

“Well, it helps that I have so many favors stacked up from my former clients. I usually don’t care what they pay me, but usually, it’s in either money, food, or favors and I have a lot of those. I mean just Po and his students alone have them all checking the western areas for it by themselves. He says it’s a good training exercise for them, but I think he just wants a break from those brats. And for your first one, we’ll ever since BK got possessed the family has promised vengeance upon her, and Queen Iron Fan happens to have knowledge of a permanent kill switch to ending that demon life,” he said as he showed him the formula.

Wukong examined it and after a while, he nodded his head and faintly said, “Yeah…yeah that might actually work…there is something to destroy her.” He still couldn’t believe his eyes, but it was right there in front of him, then the first part of his words hit him, “Wait, that long?”

“Yes that long,” he said with exasperation, “Am I the only one who found it fucking weird that the Demon Bull King, one of the strongest beings in the realm, got possessed out of fucking nowhere? That right there was already suspicious by itself and the ominous whispers were sure not helping her case, that just added it on. So we decided to get to the bottom of this and boy is this one deep chasm we got ourselves into.”

“It really is,” he agreed as he looked over the map and saw that some of the places that were marked were the ones he was going to go to, even some that only celestial beings can access, “You already investigated these realms?”

He looked over to see what he was pointing at and nodded, “Yeah, pretty much. As I said, I have clientele all over and I don’t really restrict unless they have really done something so fucked up that I would rather kill them.”

“You have favors with Celestial deities,” he emphasized.

“Just some minor ones,” the doctor tried to brush it off, but judging by his friend's look, it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Celestial. Deities.”

“How about we talk about this later.”

“Oh we are so talking about this later, but I still have to do this. I have to make sure that she doesn’t cause any more harm to people anymore, this is my duty that I have to do-”

“You're not understanding!” He gripped his hair in frustration. “I literally gave you a map and you still don’t understand what I’m trying to say!”

“What!” He threw his hands in the air, “What can you possibly-”

“You aren’t alone dumbass!” He hissed out and froze the Monkey Sage.

“Wha-” he was cut off once more by a furious finger poking his chest at each word Mac hissed out.

“You. Are. Not. Alone. I don’t know how many different ways I have to say this, but if it gets through your thick skull then god damn it, I will.”

“I-”

“I know what you were about to do, you were about to galavant off and try to do everything on your own and not say a single word to nobody like a stupid martyr, cause apparently this is a shared trait between you and MK about being so self sacrificial that you wish to take on the burden yourself! Well fuck that! I’m putting my foot down for both of you, you don’t have to recklessly go out there and hope that one of them will stick!”

“What else am I supposed to do!” He leaped to his feet, “I basically serve no purpose other than this glorified title of hero, which I am really sick of hearing, and that Bone witch could strike at any moment and we won’t be prepared. If I leave the city then that would mean that not only would I be faster on looking for the weapon, but I would be far away from her and her attempt to sap my power.”

“But you would also be away from the city and by the time you come back, there might not be anything left to come back to,” he said with a final tone. “No one would be able to stand against her, not the demons, not the people, not MK, not the Bull Family, not even me. We would all fall by the time the morning sun rises if we tried to face her head on. We would all be corpses below her feet.”

The Monkey King stilled as the morbid images flooded into his head.

City in ruins.

Bodies sprawled everywhere.

Familiar faces all dead eyed.

Bodies collapsed.

Heart stilled

His precious student.

All of his tribe members.

The rambunctious Demon quartet.

His family to the West.

The headstrong Dragon successor.

Demon Bull with his wife and son.

Yanyu surrounded by her siblings.

Macaque

Macaque

Macaque

They're all dead.

Dead

Dead

Dead

Deaddeaddeadeadeadeadeadead

“Wukong!” He snapped out of his thoughts by black furred hands and looked up to see Macaque worried Violet (alive there so alive and bright, so so bright and alive) eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m-” he stopped himself and remend what he was about to say, “I will be fine…I’ll stay.”

The Six Eared monkey let out a sigh of relief, “Good, that’s good. Sorry for putting that image in your head.”

“No, no I needed to hear that. I-I can’t be impulsive, not right now, not when things are becoming dangerous, I need to think things through,” he sighed as he sat down.

“You're not going to be out of the loop, you are the one who knows where a weapon may be hidden, so you can easily tell them which spot to tackle more thoroughly,” he reassured him as he sat by him.

“That would be more efficient than me just searching one at a time, okay I’ll do that,” he let out a small puff of air and managed a small smirk, “I guess that’s why I have you in my life, you somehow manage my little quirks.”

“‘Little quirks’ is an understatement,” he deadpans and leans on him, “but yeah we do fit well for some odd reason.”

“Like peaches and congee,” he grins.

“I think you are the only ones who actually dip it into the food.”

“Oh like I haven’t seen you do the same with mango,” he pointed out.

“There’s a difference okay! It just tastes better that way,” he huffed.

“Surrrre it does,” he drawled out.

“It does.”

“Whatever you say.”

[juminly]

As The Rush Comes (Ikémen Vampire Theodorus Van Gogh x Reader)

Summary: You are at a nightclub with your friend Theodorus Van Gogh. The problem is, you want to be more than friends. Does he feel the same? Hell yes. Change is bound to happen. And it does. This one-shot was inspired by the song As the Rush Comes.   Read all 3 parts on AO3. Rating: Mature (explicit/coarse language, detailed mention of sexual acts) 

Tags: Modern AU, mutual pining, sexual tension/frustration, jealousy, dirty dancing. 

Warning: mention of the reader not remembering the events of a past night of heavy drinking and partying.  Word Count: 3500 approx. 

Club Music Playlist *Kiss you by Nadia Ali **Down to Love (Kyau & Albert Remix) by Armin Van Buuren feat. Ana Criado

***Still I Wait (Richard Durand’s In Search of Sunrise Remix) by Jonas Steur feat. Jennifer Rene. 

Song lyrics are in bold; look at this asterisks to know which song is playing in the background and play the song as you read -------------------------- *I'd wake up, and make love to you if I had you, I would touch you so much, but I'm not allowed to… Nadia Ali, bless her heart, was only adding salt to your wounds. You were already feeling salty enough for feeling the way you did and she didn’t make it any better. Why were you salty? While the song went on and on about how the vocalist just needed to wait for the perfect moment to kiss the one she wanted to show love to, you were here lamenting pathetically over Theodorus Van Gogh, the man that occupied your every waking thought and dream… and most recent fantasies.

The music was thrumming loudly in your ears, the discographies selected by this particular local DJ was always to your liking. The rhythmic beat of trance sending the club-goers into an ephemeral state of rapture as the dancefloor flocked with writhing bodies, the scent of alcohol, sweat and sex heady in the air. Were people living in some sort of state of drought? The thirst was real… and so palpable. You were not one to judge, you felt it too.

Thud… Thud… Thud… Was that the music or your pulse? You couldn’t tell anymore.

Would you pretend, we're only friends, if I kissed you, At least I can dream of you in a scene, when I'd kiss you.

You’ve dreamed of so many scenes, in so many different locations and in all of them, you were in the most compromising situations and positions. Holy fuck, just thinking about how those icy blue eyes staring into you while he lazily ran his tongue over his swollen lips, the ones you wanted to kiss and bite so damn much, that chiseled body of his positioned between your… No.. No… You told yourself you wouldn’t go there but your mind couldn’t help but wander.  The song had just been coaxing you to act on your impulses and you covered your ears, just to keep Nadia from tempting you more than you already were.

How many months has it been since the incident?

The office hottie, Arthur Conan Doyle, had thrown an extravagant birthday bash in his so-called crib, and to your own surprise, the man had exquisite taste and the entire thing was planned immaculately. Who had been his wingman during the entire process? The hot mister that was your companion at the club for the night. That was how, when and where you met him, much to your dismay.

You heard that things had gotten hot and heavy between you during that birthday party and you were literally flung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried into Arthur’s bedroom. Things had gotten that heated… However, big emphasis on the word “heard” cause you unfortunately don’t remember jackshit from that fateful night and cursed yourself all the time for this.

His hands roughly groping you and his lips fiercely crashing down on yours… The things that could’ve happened… The things you could’ve done… You could ONLY imagine. Imagine, yes. Remember, no. The heavens indisputably had some mocking plot to make you miserable. Miserable? You definitely were. After that night, you were thrown into the friendzone. With a capital F.

Pining after a man that wouldn’t lay a finger on you unless it was to ruffle your hair like some puppy. You almost got your chance at some type of romance in your uneventful life… Still, things only got interesting when that asshole suddenly showed up, but it wasn’t like you were actually willing to admit that to him. You’d rather swallow his… Brain and heart, focus. Libido and hormones, get the fuck away. He wants me… He wants me not… I want everything he’s got.

Shut it, Nadia. You were already drowning in heaps of doubt and you’ve clearly… clearly had enough of her feeding you more fantasies and unlawful and excessively unadulterated thoughts and you were doubting yourself already. And what you decided to do? Drink yourself into oblivion, accompanied by the vexing perpetrator who had just gotten back from the men’s room. It was admiration and pining time for you. As he slowly approached you with long and sure strides, Theodorus was, is and will always be probably the most gorgeous, handsome piece of eye-candy that you’ve ever laid your eyes on and you were 99.99% sure that this statement was your true and unbiased opinion.

Beige dress pants hugged the length of those legs that carried him, giving you the chance to drool over the definition of his stature that you could see thanks to the tightness of the fabric, emphasizing a bit too much for your liking on his… No, don’t go there. Heat flooded your reddened cheeks as your thoughts scrambled wildly in your mind as he found his seat next to you. That’s always where you found yourselves. Together. Always. You get along so well. It’s bound to be this way, right? The string of fate and the butterflies of time managed to find a way to bring you together. While your internal ruminations besieged your mind, a rich baritone touched your ears, unmistakably his. “We probably should leave soon. I don’t want to suffocate in this clothed orgy.” You shot him an inquisitive look, silently asking him to elaborate on his point. “You look like you’re about to melt in that pretty little dress of yours, Hondje. I’d rather hop to any pub or have a drink at that klootzak’s place and deal with his moaning than this. At least his place isn’t as filthy as this hellish kennel.”

“You talk like an old man, Theo. Why don’t we just try to live a little?” He simply gave you a glare, a response that you knew very well. He wasn’t going to waste his breath on such mundane frivolities. It seemed that you would have to take the drinking party elsewhere. Clubs were clearly not Theo’s favourite destination.

You couldn’t help but giggle at this man’s dog analogies. As much as they pissed the shit out of you… Wait. Rewind. Did he just compliment what you were wearing...? He noticed?

For the first time in a while, you decided to try “letting loose” and go for something different. You would usually go for something, more like, anything black but today was different. In celebration of whatever weird feeling and eccentricity that came over you, you decided to go for a skimpy off-the-shoulder purple dress that kissed every curve of your luscious form, barely reaching the top of your mid-thigh and pushed your bosom in a way that accentuated your cleavage. You felt hot and you wanted to feel hot too.

**It's down to love tonight, This is where we are, As we turn into the light, Let’s make it last...

On any other day, Down to Love would’ve been one of your favourite songs to listen to but definitely not today. You were clearly not down to any kind of love. This is not where you wanted to be and you didn’t want this to last. You growled under your breath, enough to have Theodorus, the man of the hour… no, he was the man of your every-fucking-day and your every-goddamn-dream and fantasy, tilt his head to the side to cast a judging gaze at you, raising an arched eyebrow with a silent what-the-fuck is wrong with you.

There was so much that was wrong with you and he was the cause of it all. The prime suspect. The only one, this maddeningly handsome asshole.

Lips slick with moisture, your eyes lingered a little too long on the inviting gleam before you attempted to relax in your seat, while Theo remained hunched apathetically over the bar counter, nursing his drink thoughtlessly. Both of you were so accustomed to whatever it was that you were doing, you fell into a pattern that soon began to feel more like a ritual. You couldn’t even remember how you became his drinking buddy but there was something that Arthur said once… Both of you were not the type to party hard so it made it hard for him to have fun with the both of you, even though Theo and him spent an obscene amount of time together. You were kindred spirits. That was a fact.

Being around him made it hard to breathe. You noticed that not only the first button of his shirt was open, but now, the second one was too, giving you a good look of impeccably sculpted pectorals, his skin shining under the epilepsy-inducing lights of the nightclub while drops of sweats meandered down to places unknown, unexplored… and desired. With one arm propped on the counter and leaning his full weight to one side, his form was completely angled towards you and his eyes roamed appraisingly over your provocative dress and your overall physique. You knew that look, you’ve seen it before. It was the same way he scrutinized and examined art.

His gaze was now posed on your thighs, your dress hiked up even more on your silky skin as you crossed and uncrossed your legs restlessly. “Looking at something, big guy? My eyes are up here. You’ve been checking me out since we got here.” you quipped with a smirk. “Hm?” he hummed, as if you had ripped him away from the depth of his thoughts. You could see a faint blush on the top of his cheekbones… It was clearly only a sign of inebriation. Right? “Oh, I was just wondering who you’re trying to seduce.” he replied blankly before continuing. “You wouldn’t need to dress up like this to impress me.” His tongue swiped over his lower lip, wettening it before throwing his head back, draining his glass of whiskey and turning his body away, leaving you perplexed by his words.  What… What exactly did he mean by that? Shaking your thoughts away, you had enough wine in your system to finally get the words spilling from your lips. “Theo… Wanna dance?” Those three words prickled his ear drums and he turned to look at you with a judging smirk. “Is it playtime, Hondje?” You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms at his expected remark, climbing off your bar stool and tapping your heeled foot on the black tile beneath you. Looking at him expectantly, your heart clenched, momentarily regretting your decision to build up the courage to take the first step. He was bound to embarass you somehow.

“I’m sure you can find lots of other pups and mutts to play with in that disgusting pile of bodies.” An affronted expression washed over his handsome face and you resisted the need to slap his smugness away. You began to tremble slightly and snapped at him “You suck, Theo!”. His reaction made you freeze for a second. His eyes were taking you in, gliding over your body from head to toe before locking with yours. “Would you like to take me for a test drive? Are you in heat, Hondje?” he practically purred.

“Fuck you, Theo.” Was he capable of doing anything but frustrate (and arouse) you? You could feel an intense heat building inside of you, your heart beating angrily in your chest as you seethed from his response. You blinked, completely outraged and offended as he dared to freaking chuckle at your contained outburst.

“You wish. Now, can you go bark at someone else and let me enjoy my bloody drink?” Not wanting to give him more of your precious time, you actually flipped him the bird this time, scowling at him in disbelief, all that wine in your blood giving way for your tongue to sharpen as the night went on. “Do you always have to be such an ass?”

The ear-splitting grin on Theo’s face suddenly transformed into a smirk… and a scowl? when a young man behind you asked you to dance. You couldn’t really register what the guy was saying. Something along the lines of “ I don’t know if he’s just stupid or blind” and honestly, you kind of agreed with him. As much as Theodorus Van Gogh was a genius at what he did, he was stupid for not giving in to you. You were ready to give him… your everything. You were in deep shit, being so in love with a man who would possibly not return your affections? He looked like the incarnation of heartbreak and didn’t that just make you giddy? Being around him almost made you… sarchotic.

Sarchotic or not. Now you had his full attention.

Those ocean blue eyes were trained on you, an unfamiliar predatorial aura reverberating from him, still seeping through Theodorus’ attempt to enshroud it with the negligible quirk of those lips, that half-smile that you knew too well. If he wanted a show, he’s gonna be getting one. Not that you really cared whether he enjoyed it or not, but the least you could do is actually enjoy the company of the… You looked at your newly appointed dance partner, who had just lead you to the dancefloor, to evaluate him.

Okay, he wasn’t too bad: a bit shorter and less muscular than Theo but his hair were waves of chocolate brown that were simply asking to be threaded through and pulled. You beamed at your partner, feeling a rush of adrenaline course through your blood, knowing that the handsome Dutch man had his eyes on you and you were going to put a damn show. Wait, it wasn’t a show. You were doing this for you. You didn’t give a fuck and just wanted to have some fun. Looking at the cutie in front of you, you raised your arms in the air and jumped to the beat of the music, body-rolling as you let the sinful rhythm of your racing thoughts lead your every movement. ***I wanted it, I needed it, I love the way your skin felt upon my skin, And I thought you felt the same but you threw me away, Threw me away and still

The man in front of you was definitely getting into the groove, slowly inching close to you and you were more than ready to welcome him. Your hands that were in the air were now resting on his shoulders, your fingers finding the inviting chocolate strands of his hair. His hands were on both sides of your hips, claiming control over the frantic sway of your hips, matching the booming tempo that filled the room. You licked your lips and bit them, feeling your heart race as you snuck a quick look at the bar counter, the expression on Theodorus’ face was absolutely feral… and bloodthirsty.

Good thing you had bitten your lips because you were about to let out an obscene moan as he looked like he was ready to slam you into a wall and fuck you senseless, growling in your ear: You’re already so wet for me, Hondje, so ready for me to slide inside you…. You’ve been teasing me all damn night and when I stuff you with my cock, make you mine… You’ll be screaming my name. A looming presence was suddenly behind you, a hand gripping your hip and forcefully pulling you away from the “cutie”. You had absolutely no idea what happened, when it happened and how it happened. You could’ve sworn that you heard something along the lines of “She’s mine” but it was most probably your brain playing tricks on you. Or not.

“Are you trying to play games with me, Knabbeltje?” His heavy hand on your hip clenched tightly, his fingertips digging in your soft flesh while you drank in the rumble of his voice in your ear, velvety smooth yet deep enough to shake you to the bone, capable of making your knees buckle in weakness. You fought the temptation to rub your legs together and continued the lascivious sway of your hips from side to side in a rhythm that was your own and one that Theodorus would come to learn. Cutie, who? Theodorus was the only person you knew. All your senses acutely aware of him and he made sure of that. Only a breath of air seperated your bodies yet, he was so close but still felt so far before he yanked your back brusquely, your back hitting the vast plain of his chest and the softness of your derriere grazing his crotch. You closed your eyes and hummed with a nonchalant tone, your back arching as you reached your arms behind you, gripping Theo by his nape and threading your digits leisurely through his chestnut locks.

“You really want to know, hm?” You crooned and he tensed briefly but soon relaxed behind you, one hand caressing the curve of your hips, his hold on you was firm and steady, making you feel the heat radiating from his body and enveloping you with the scent of his cologne mixed with whiskey, intoxicating you even more than the wine you drank.

One of his large hands snakes up the curve of your waist, lightly grazing the side of your soft mound and trailing up your neck and resting there. He rolled his hips against yours, your body following his every moment as he dictated your every single motion. The warmth of his breath tickled your ear as he crooned sultrily in your ear. “I could eat you all up, Knabbeltje… right fucking now.” I don't wanna feel rejection, don't wanna have no regrets… Is this a good decision or will you look for someone else? Leave me all by myself...

“Is that so?” you could hear your own smile in your voice and could hear an inherent raspiness in it too. Your thoughts swiveled with yearning and your judgement was clouded by your love for this man… and your inebriation. Your mutual ministrations continued as he grinded his hips at an excruciating pace, drawing out the torture that you were both suffering from. His long fingers were now teasing the column of your neck, careening over your sensitive skin and sending shivers up and down your spine. Slowly, he wrapped his hand on your neck, pressing only lightly and bit the tip of your earlobe before sucking on it, letting his tongue glide over its seams. “I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. You want me to repeat myself?”

“I didn’t say any such thing, Theodorus.” You dared to use his full name, intentionally triggering him. His grip tightened on your neck and warm breath caressing your ear. “I’m not all bark like you.” He truly thought that you were all bark but you were prepared and intended to do lots of biting, now that he was so near. You tightened your grip on his strands, making him groan in response. “I hate that you make me feel this way.” you breathed out slowly, trying to ignore the tightening of anticipation rousing in your chest. “Enlighten me… What kind of way do I make you feel, hm?” It was now his turn to tease you. “You know how I feel about you…” you pouted, grudgingly taking a sharp inhale before you carried on with this morphed, semblance of a confession. “You keep… you keep messing with my head, Theo.”

“You’re doing much worse to me, mijn liefste.” Oh God, you didn’t know what he said but you were positive that it was not some dog related insult and your heart drummed even harder in your chest. Why did this man have so much control over you? His voice was like whiskey and chocolate, dark, decadent and  heavy with yearning, a blazing fire in your core, an excited tremor coursed through your veins like lightning, but not once did you rush the wicked to and fro of your hips, brushing your softness against the harsh ropes of sinew that made him the Adonis that he was.

Your cheeks were rosy as the pink dusk that painted clear skies and he saw that as you twisted your chest to look back and up at him. His fierce stare reflected in your glimmering eyes, your pupils dilating clearly, making them appear almost darkened in their shade. It would be blasphemous to say that Theodorus was anything but completely mesmerizing. “Don’t give me those eyes, Knabbeltje... or I promise I’ll take you here and now.”

I love to see you smile, I love, my love… As much as the thought had you reeling, you wanted the awaited spectacle to be a private one. Gazing straight in his almost glowing orbs of sapphire, he had the look of a man who was born ready to ravage you and rearrange your insides. Leaning down, he drawled against your lips with a huskiness that sent you into a frazzled state of need.

“When I fuck you, I’m going to make sure you always remember it. The only thing that’s gonna spill from those pretty lips is my name.”

------------ Read Part II  HERE.  Tagging le Theo simp squad + those who have been so kind to send me their ideas on what the “dirty dancing scenario” should be like: @delicateikemenmemes @sweetlittlemouse @nad-zeta @nafeary @raymiazaki @munarisblog @karmaaf​ (sorry if I forgot anyone else)  Hope you enjoyed this 💜 Please feel free to leave comments/feedback! Masterlist

[neonir]

LETS TALK ABOUT THE PLANES

D&D has a bunch of planes, these are essentially a whole list of universes within the universe, while most adventures will take place on the material, many will dive into some other planes, or at the very, very least will interact with some of their inhabitants.

Gunna go over a handful of them for now

Structure: What the plane looks like, it’s general layout

Inhabitants: Who lives there, what they do.

Main threats: What your tombstone will say

Notable things: Fun facts about a neat place!

Further reading: If you want some things to look into on your own time

THE BLOOD WAR DUO FIRST:

These next two guys *hate each other*. The exaaact reason behind this can change on the setting, but essseeeentially a whole bunch of angels came down to act as vanguards against the abyss to stop demons from coming up and ruining everything. But it turns out, being in a super evil charged plane for extended periods of time, doing nothing but killing and being killed will do a number on you. Needless to say, they all kinda "fell" and are now devils, holding onto their old lawful nature, but replacing their good with evil and remain almost entirely dedicated to just killing every devil they can get their hands on

Demons meanwhile just kinda wanna ruin everything cause that's just what they like to do.

Anyways depending on the setting the blood war is either done and demons are in an even deeper pit for now, it never ended and they’re still at it to this day, or maybe it wasn’t called the blood war in that setting they just hate each other. Either way this is one of those wonderful cases where the guy you hate and the other guy you hate, both hate each other more, and constantly kick each others heads in. It’s swell.

THE NINE HELLS:

Structure: There's 9 layers of it, each one is ruled by an archdevil. Each layer has a different theme, each theme is more or less based on the guy running it. Or vice versa. Don't ask me they're matchy is the point.

Inhabitants: This is where devils live. The Devil is in the details, because of this they make deals. Lawful evil. Bad guys, but when they agree to something, they'll keep their end of the deal. By the letter of the law, not the spirit. Again, ruled by Archdevils, which are just the most powerful (politically, magically and physically typically) of the inhabitants of that layer.

Main threats: Devils are rude and super duper want your souls. Also demons keep invading. Which the devils really, really, REALLY hate. Also each layer can be anywhere from "on fire" to "Literally colder than the antarctic" so just jot that down.

Notable things: Devils like to make deals for the souls of mortals, specifically because they can claim these souls and either use them as a fun alternative to firewood, or can have them turned into handy dandy devil soldiers to fight demons for eternity.

Further reading: Archdevils are each different types of interesting and have a lot of shared lore to play with. Asmodeus is the top dog and has a lot of drama history with pretty much every archdevil in the place.

THE ABYSS:

Structure: Depends a little on the setting, but it can be anywhere from 99 layers to infinite layers, but it's essentially a big roiling pit of bad. Nothing is consistent and the only thing it exists for is to tear the rest of the cosmology apart. It's bad limbo, and limbo's already a mess.

Inhabitants: Demons live here, yes, that's different from devils. Chaotic evil. This is just a bunch of assholes. Literally looked up "How to be a dickhead" in the dictionary and then ate the book and spat on its writer because that's literally all they know how to do. They're ruled by Demon Lords, who are just kinda the biggest dicks of them all.

Main threats: This whole place is pretty much just the worst. Everything here just wants to ruin your whole deal. The only organization is enforced by big bad dude's literally beating the less big bad dudes into submission so they can order them to beat up less bad big dudes.

Notable things: Many powerful beings have carved out chunks of the abyss to call their own personal homes. These guys tend to freaking suck.

Further reading: Really you're gunna wanna investigate the river styx, it'll kinda cover a lot of useful stuff about how these guys go about stuff. More or less these guys are just bad for the sake of it.

THE AXIOMATIC ANACHRONISTIC PALS:

So these two are just kinda "Raw chaos" and "Pure order" There's actually other similar planes that share a lot in common with each of them, Archeron and Pandemonium, but they're just kinda like "What if you had these two planes...but they were kinda BAD!!!!" And we've just covered the bad versions of law and chaos so screw that nonsense tbh.

MECHANUS:

Structure: A wonderfully designed infinite series of interlocking floating continent sized gears that are in constant motion, be it fast or slow all simultaneously fitting into one grand ever turning perfect machine. This'd probably be one of the most wonderful to behold things in the setting. Shame if you kick a rock over you might be sent to infinite jail.

Inhabitants: Modrons! The lovely little goofy mechanical box/ball boys who fly around with very specific tasks (Such as counting every single living thing alive in the entire universe) or just organizing things "The right way". Each one listens to the one above it, which comes to an ultimate point with Primus, the ultimate law in the realm of absolutes.  There are also some very cool dudes called "Inevitables" which are just the shit.

Main threats: Well, Primus likes for its shit to stay the way it put it. Don't make a mess. If you are here, be here the way it allows people to be here. Otherwise you get an inevitable on your ass and these guys *do not* fuck around. They literally can't.

Notable facts: Did you know you can go to get contracts done up in primus' halls to ensure legitimacy? Did you know if you try to break one of these contracts one of types of inevitable called a marut comes over and rather politely yanks you and the person whose contract you broke back to Primus. You may then attempt to justify WHY you thought it was a good idea to break your contract, and should it not be a good enough reason, the Marut will then proceed to beat you unerringly into a fine paste.

Further reading: Look into modrons and the plane itself mostly, it can be hard to find details on the inevitables so don't stress too much about that. Primus can be interesting to investigate depending on how much history you wanna look into.

LIMBO:

Structure: Man fuck I ain't even gunna try. This place is a mess. It's literally whatever the fuck it happens to be at the time.

Inhabitants: A lot actually! Lots of folk call this place home from the very zen and chill Githzerai and their "Live and let live" jedi vibes, to the remarkably less chill Slaadi, who are big funky many coloured frog men who vary from "silly frog man" to "Sentient Hole in Reality" depending on how far up the pokemon style evolution chain they've climbed.

Main threats: Well, the whole place is more or less non euclidean mass of ever churning raw chaos. Aside from that, watch out for Slaad Lords, which themselves can vary from "Funky dude with god like powers who uses them to wander around doing whatever comes to mind" to "Lord of entropy who wants to more or less bring about the heat death of the universe"

Notable facts: With some force of will, one can actually instill some amount of order into this place, which is how the Githzerai make their homes, literally just concentrating on keeping an area of it "approximately home shaped" collectively defining the place they live as what it is.

Further reading: Honestly the slaad lords are equal parts fascinating, hilarious and on occasion a little dissapointing. The history of the slaad is neat (Primus is kinda responsible for their existence) and the plane itself has been through some stuff. The githzerai are one half of the race that once gave the mindflayers an unparalleled beating before turning their sights on each other and then bugging off in their separate ways.

NEXT TIME MAYBE: ELEMENTAL PLANES, THE ETHEREAL AND THE ASTRAL.

IF I’M LUCKY I WILL NEVER HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT THE FEYWILDS OR THE SHADOWFELL.

[phoebehalliwell]

Oh could u do Prue/Micah? S4

okay okay okay so we're doing all hallow's eve in early s3 micah's reincarnation does Not show up at the end of the episode because we're saving him for something bigger. but we'll say that something on a later vanquish a physical item triggers something in prue she's like hey does that remind you of anything?? and piper and phoebe are like ??? no? it's just a(n) [item]? and prue's like really? nothing? and they're like idk what does it remind you of and she's like i don't know... the past? samhain, maybe? do you think it's one of our ancestor's? and piper and phoebe are like prue i don't know can we get out of here??? and she's like yeah yeah but she takes it with her and like. uses her auction house knowledge to like correctly id it back to the time they were in salem (or not maybe idk but if it is from the past she realizes that a) either it was something micah owned or b) it was the knife that killed him. if it's neither of those than it's modern and she can't figure out what about it is calling to her). the plot is kind of dropped. then, we enter s4, the battle with the source is on the horizon cole is. we'll say still on their side, successful relationship with phoebe. cole is the first one to pitch going on the offensive, which prue is first to back, then phoebe, and begrudgingly piper. leo's still not a fan but phoebe gets a premonition of something something darklighter so let's stamp that out before it begins. so they shimmer down with cole to the underworld leo doesn't go with them bc well. a) he can't sense as well down there so he won't really be able to find them if they get separated which leads to b) of they're separated the girls have no way out of hell and as a sidenote c) he's a whitelighter. so if the darklighters get him they Also have no way out of hell. so leo stays topside and cole's their ride. something something something they're closing in on where the clan lives or maybe their weapons forge and there's a darklighter just outside piper blow him up no wait and prue like Jumps in front of her and piper quickly deflects and hits the cavern wall next to them and wants to yell what the hell prue but it's too late because all hell breaks loose the darklighters were there waiting for them the seer foresaw this so they all duck for cover prue throws a couple phoebe karate chops cole energy balls piper blows up em and will occasionally freeze the cavern for a couple seconds but she still doesn't have a hold on her powers, but phoebe while fighting one of them gets a premonition: leo, shot. and over the din she's like it's a diversion, they're gonna kill leo like we have to get to leo but they're all hella spread apart right now so in one of piper's freezes cole gets to phoebe and another the pair get to piper but prue's still to far away she redirects an arrow that nearly hits phoebe in the hed she's like there's no time go!! and they're like no!! but prue just squints at cole and cole understands and shimmers them out of there and we'll say the guy who she initially dove in front of was knocked out by like rocks from piper's blast well he's coming to and see's prue fighting for her life and like. you know just starts to stir and prue spares a glance at him and he recognizes her just like he did in puritan times and he's like ...you saved me and prue looks at him and again connection but she can't find the words to say because she has to get right back to kicking ass, we'll say an arrow flies right past her face like through her hair she ducks down again like can you get us out of here? and he just like barely sits up head cradled in one hand, he's bleeding, but he just nods and places his other on prue's shoulder and black orbs them out and now they're in like a loft in san francisco prue still in fight mode and micah still bleeding from a head wound and he just kind of collapses on the ground and prue's like !!! oh shit.

back @ the manor leo's just been shot and piper's running over like help me get him to the attic i'll swap our powers you guys get out of the house so you're not affected go get prue and leo's like ??? go get her and cole's like she's still with the darklighters and leo's like no she's topside she's in the city and they're all like how??? and piper's like who gives a shit how help me get him to the attic then give me some space so phoebe and cole wait in the outside lil backyard type thing they have maybe we get a phole scene piper swaps powers and heals leo but he's still weak and piper hear's prue's call and leo's like go i'm still too weak to heal and piper's i'm not leaving you not while they're out there and leo's like hey don't worry you're still with me right ad blows up idk a lamp and piper just kind of smiles like okay but if you're gonna blow anything else up try to hit that vase because i've always hated it

piper goes downstairs gets phoebe and cole like okay let's go get prue and she orbs them all out into this loft where prue has got this guy slumped over his table pressing a damp towel to his head but jesus that's a lot of blood and she's like leo thank g- where's leo and piper's like he's resting he was shot so i had to tap in. and prue's like you can heal? and piper's like uh huh and prue's like okay great heal him and piper moves forward and then stops because prue is that the darklighter? and prue's like yes but you don't understand and piper's like what part of healing a Darklighter don't i understand prue when they Just tried to kill my husband now you're trying to save him and prue's like come on doesn't he look familiar to you and piper's looking at him like ew bc she can hardly see past the bloodcovered face but phoebe wanders forward and cole instinctively tries to hold her back bc Evil but she just kind of shakes him off bc she knows what she's doing and cole relents and she puts a hand up to his shoulder and she's like it is him. and prue's lookin like exactly! and piper's like who??? and prue's like micah and he stirs at the sound of his own name and piper's like Who??? and prue's like don't you remember he saved our necks--literally--multiple times; he died for us and it's clicking piper's like In Puritan Times??? and cole kinda blanches bc he Might have killed that guy i can't remember and prue's like piper for the amount of times he's saved us, please, just heal him and piper's like you get that that was centuries ago right? a lot changes in a couple hundred years; he's a darklighter now and prue's like piper. please. and piper relents bc what can she say she trusts prue. and micah comes to and sees cole and stumbles back like hits the ground again and prue's like no no it's okay and he looks at her and it's like we can see his world fade around him and just focus on prue and his hand flies up to his head and finds no blood and prue's like it's okay, you're healed and micah's like so that'd be the second time you've saved my neck today? and prue's like consider it returning the favor and piper's like okay well I'm breaking up the balcony scene this time how did the darklighters know we were coming? and micah's like this woman. she visited us and said you were coming, you were leaving your whitelighter vulnerable... and they're like what woman and cole's like the seer. and micah just nods and he's like i've read about you, you know, what you've done, i was hoping i could get away to warn you before... and piper's like Why. Why would you betray your own people and micah's like because i can see what dark magic can do... and it can't be undone [to later be revealed tragic backstory!! micah was raised by his mother topside or maybe his father and we get a complex darklighter situation with his mom potentially even having her defect but no matter when micah was like. idk twelve or something?? there was this bully in school and we're trying to stay with charmed morality and justify this so we'll say this kid was like serial killer bad killed puppies for fun type bad and he was a bully and micah was standing up to him #feminism when they got into a fight and micah was losing like Really losing like about to be beat to death at age twelve losing when his hand started glowing red and he shoved it against the bully and next the you know that kid was fucking dead. micah had killed a guy before he had even gone through puberty. oof. anyways top ten defining moments tried existing on the dl but has also killed a couple other people and we'll keep them Bad murderers and rapists but it's still like you end up in a bar fight and then the next thing you know that guy is dead and it doesn't matter what a cunt he was it doesn't matter than you didn't mean to do it you just have a power you don't know how to control no all that matters is you're getting manslaughter at best unless you go with this man who claims to be your uncle who can teleport like you who has the same deathtouch who can teach you to control your power].

blah blah blah plot progression all that prue and micah fall in love relatively quickly because they can feel that tug in their souls (SIDE TANGENT: i've already said before i like wyatt as a reincarnation of melinda warren but what if prue was Also a reincarnation of melinda warren, ipso facto wyatt is also prue reincarnated retconning why they can't summon her spirit. 👀?) but but BUT the seer foresaw this she new micah would turn to the side of good so she planted something that blew up in a metaphorical sense so now they don't know if they can trust micah prue wants to trust him but she doesn't want to put her family in danger if he really is in league with the source phoebe is advocating for her to follow her heart and piper is Hard No against micah like even before like she really didn't want him around before this bomb dropped even more so now and prue's like okay what's your beef and piper's like he's not safe to have around prue he's a damn darklighter and prue's like you know you keep like using that against him leo doesn't even care why are you so hung up on this and piper's like leo's safety isn't the only one at risk here!! and prue's like what you have some secret whitelighter you haven't told us about?? and piper is just silent and stubborn and prue's still in fight stance until it clicks and she's like piper... and piper's like still not talking and prue's like piper,,, are you pregnant? and piper's like no you know what i shouldn't even have said anything forget you even heard anything and prue's like ???? piper this is great news why why didn't you tell us and tries to hug her and piper just ducks away and prue's like heart is breaking watching her like this because piper's like really maternal she'd be a great mom so why isn't she happy and piper just looks at prue like : ( i didn't tell you because this isn't the first time this has happened. and prue's like ??? and piper's like towards the end of s3,,, i thought i was. well, no. i was pregnant. and, um. i was scared, because of all the demon fighting and everything, but i was excited prue i was so excited to be a mom and then a couple weeks later,,, and gets all choked up and prue just pulls her into a really big hug like sweetie why didn't you tell us and piper's just crying like i don't know we already have so much with the source and with the fighting every day,, i didn't want you guys to feel like i did, you're already going through so much and prue's like honey You're Going Through So Much and just know we're always here for you forget the source and his sorry ass forget the seer nothing's more important that you okay nothing's more important and piper's just okay okay : ((((.

so anyways we vanquish the source for the midseason finale but now we have the seer the real mastermind as the s4b villain and she's got her eyes set on a great prized: a prophesied baby. in one episode prue and micah get knocked back into a past life regression where they keep slipping back further and further in time and they keep finding each other in each life but they need to get out of here and piper leo phoebe cole are on the outside trying to get them out because if they reach their first life their life where their soul was new and slip back further, there's no way to bring them back after that we're not killing prue lol but what that really does is just cements prue and micah's place together like In Every Life they had each other in one form or another they were always destined to find each other....... fin <3

[midastouch4ari]

Haunted:

Summary: AU. The Gemini coven decided on an eye for an eye when it came to Kai’s crimes and never built him a Prison World. Instead, he’s dead, on the Other Side, and dreadfully bored. That is until Bonnie becomes the new Anchor.

Pairing: Bonnie/Kai

Bonnie should have known by the way he had arrived that he was going to be a plague in her life.

“Hey. Hey wake up.”

Bonnie shifts on her dorm room bed, groaning a little into her pillow.

“Wake up sleepyhead,” the deep voice taunts.

She knows, she gets it- people can’t choose when they die but being woken up before sunrise on a Saturday morning to have a crossover is admittedly... inconvenient. But so is being dead, her mind intones and a little shiver of guilt runs through her. Bonnie peels her eyes open to see an impish looking young man sitting on the end of her bed.

“There we go.” He grins as she sits up rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Looking for me?” Usually their spirits just come straight to her, like a magnet. How long has this one been wandering?

“I knew it,” the man, boy really, just shy of being one, says. He studies her. “There was a shift in the... non-air, you can call it. I knew something had changed.”

“What are you talking about?” Bonnie asks, all relaxation leaving her quickly. Who is this and why is he in her dorm room? And where are Elena and Caroline and why were they always with at least one Salvatore brother at times like these?

“You’re the new anchor right?” Bonnie blinks. “You’ve got the ‘weight’ of the anchor. The pull of being the fence between life and death...” he peers at her some more, as if she is fascinating. Then he laughs. “They finally booted ol crazy pants out, huh? Man by the time I got here she had lost it. Was zero fun to talk to. And everyone on this side is bitter as hell. And I’m like ‘be happy we aren’t actually in Hell,’ which I personally think is great advice-“

“You’ve already passed through?” She eyes him as he nods. “Then what do you want?”

“God, that’s a loaded question.” He sighs deeply. “I want pork rinds . And jam, ten years ago I’d say strawberry but now I’d even eat grape. I want to touch something, anything, real. I want to fuck. I want to be alive again. Can’t have any of those though.” He sighs again and shifts to lay sideways on the end of her bed at her feet like they’re bffs. “But conversation, that I can have. And I want that more than anything. Even the fucking, which- insane right? Who would have thought-“.

“You want to talk?” Bonnie says flatly.

He nods, smiling at her, teeth astonishingly, perfectly straight, dark blue eyes dancing. Whatever supernatural creature he was before he died Bonnie gets a feeling he wasn’t the kind with pure intentions, despite this adorable visage.

“What about?” she asks, suspiciously.

“Oh, anything. Literally anything. When I tell you, it’s a bore on this side. Everyone is either trying to reach enlightenment or swearing revenge on something or another. Do you know, there’s a witch who’s been here for like, a million years just watching and waiting for her ex to die? Just to laugh in his face because he cheated. He cheated when they dressed like Jesus did and she’s still mad, and I thought I had a problem letting go of things.”

“And you’re doing neither?”

“Hm?”

“You’re not trying to reach peace or get revenge?”

“After twenty years?” He shakes his head “Nah. I mean don’t get me wrong - I’d love to strangle my father with my bare hands, but I’m dead. I can’t do anything. And when it comes to enlightenment if there’s a God, let’s just say I am not invited in.” He chuckles to himself.

Bonnie shrinks away from him a little more at the dark sound. “Well, I don’t know what Amara-“ he looks at her quizzically “the old Anchor, had set up, but I don’t commune with the passed. Once you’ve gone through my job is done.”

“That’s cute,” he says moving to lie on his back. “That you think you can do that. The others have probably sensed the shift too; I’m surprised there aren’t more souls gathered, but I am the smartest one,” he muses. He turns his head to look at her curled away from him. “Tip: Don’t want to be bothered? Act crazy like Alana; they’ll leave you alone, quick. But I know you’re not a raving lunatic and, I cannot emphasize this enough, it blows over here.”

“I can’t help you.”

“But you can,” he implores. “You’re helping right now. Just this; if I could still breathe I’d say it’s like a breath of fresh air, talking to someone who’s alive.”

“I’m going back to sleep,” Bonnie says firmly.

“C’mon,” the man says in an annoyingly persistent voice. “Let’s at least introduce ourselves. I’m Kai.”

“I’m not interested.”

“That’s a lie, I snooped a little. Your school ID says Bonnie Bennett. Any relation to Sheila?”

Bonnie’s attention sharpens. “That was my grandmother. Why? Did you know her?”

“Ohhh, no reason, not a big deal,” Kai says lightly, letting his leg swing. “She was just the only one who voted to keep me alive. I was bummed to see she made it here. I was sure she’d find Peace, immediately.”

“What do you mean?” and Bonnie knows that she’s falling into that trap of letting any mention of her Grams keep her engaged. But she still has so many questions, years later.

“I thought you were going back to sleep,” Kai grins at the ceiling.

“Kai,” and the moment she says his name Bonnie knows she’s going to be saying it a lot from now on, probably in that same irritated tone.

“Bonster,” he replies serenely.

“Don’t call me that,” she replies automatically, “And what do you know about my Grams?”

“You’ll get used to it,” he counters easily. “And I think we’ll save that for next time. Gives us something to chat about.” Then he winks out of existence like he was never there in the first place and Bonnie is alone again.

[the-evil-authoress]

GX Month Day 6: “Heartfelt Appeal”

You find two characters that click so well, look them up...and there’s no content! ‘Why?? Someone please make content!’ The pleas go unheard. You’ll just have to make it yourself. Show some love for your rare pairs today!

MORE FANTASYSHIPPING! 8D

Year 2’s Duel Monster Spirit Day! Friendly reminder that ‘Mana’ is the name Dark Magician Girl gave when she introduced herself to Syrus last year.

Colorful banners and streamers hang from the entrance hall once more, market tents set up in the main yard with flashy signs and flags announcing their wares or food or other activities. Syrus stares at it all with the same wonder as last year, and peers through the throng of students hopefully. His other friends have already gone off to find the activities they like best, be it duels or carnival games or the kissing booth, so Syrus is free to wander at his leisure and search.

It’s stupid, it’s silly, and Syrus still wonders if last year was a fever dream regardless of the way Christina keeps teasing him and the ghost of arms he sometimes feels around his shoulders. But still, he hopes and maybe this year he can confirm it for sure.

“Syrus!” a voice calls out that tickles his memory and Syrus swings to face-

“Mana!” Heat floods his cheeks. Dear Ra, did she get prettier or is he just hopelessly, stupidly crushing? “You...you just disappeared last time,” he squeaks out the first thing that comes to mind that isn’t a jumbled mess of pretty hug magic like, and wants to kick himself when Mana’s expression falls.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she says, looking so sad it physically hurts. “I didn’t want it to end that way. I lost track of the time and I wasted too much of it showing off.” Her voice turns a bit bitter before she shrugs it off and smiles again. “But not this time. This time you have my full attention.”

“No, no!” Syrus frantically waves his hands in front of him. “I didn’t mean- I what?”

Mana giggles and leans down. “Just for today, you have me all to yourself!” Winking, she taps his nose and Syrus wheezes as his heart makes a valiant attempt at pounding straight out of his chest. Leaning back, Mana clasps her hands behind her back. “So what do you want to do?”

“Ah, well, um, we, we could, we could check out the carnival games,” Syrus finally stammers out a full sentence. Gods he hasn’t been this bad about it since the beginning of the year!

Mana only giggles again as she takes his hand and heads off toward the game booths. “Don’t go hiding in a trashcan on me now.”

Syrus’ brain freezes for a full second. “YOU SAW THAT?”

“I see everything Chinatsu sees! Well, almost.”

Who the hell is Chinatsu?!

*

It takes a solid 30 minutes and two botched carnival games to finally work himself out of that last anxiety attack, but finally his heartrate feels normal and he doesn’t want to die of mortification. If he dies he won’t get to see Mana smile or hear her squeal over the stuffed Happy Lover she won from the last game. Her throwing arm is ridiculously good. She’s also amazingly child-like for...however old she’s supposed to be.

“Ooo! I wanna try that! I wanna try that!” she squeals, pointing animatedly at the food stall with an assortment of pastries. “The bean fishies! Chinatsu loves these! I always wanted to try one!”

Syrus orders them a taiyaki each and ends up going back for seconds when Manna practically melts where she stands. “It’s so rich and sweet~!”

The next half hour ends up devoted purely to letting Mana sample all the food at the festival and discover her favorites. They compare tastes and Syrus offers recommendations. Mana ends up leaning more towards milder flavors of the sweet and savory variety; too much flavor and she’ll gag on it even if she likes the taste. Syrus prefers saltier foods with just a tiny extra kick. Mana’s reaction to hot spices had been concerning but strangely fun.

“Hey, um, if it’s not rude to ask...” Syrus starts as they sit on a bench nibbling on dango. Mana tilts her head to show she’s listening and Syrus ploughs ahead before he can talk himself out of it. “Are you really the Dark Magician Girl?”

Manna chews slowly before swallowing. “What do you think, silly?”

He thinks she is, and he’d call it crazy if not for, well, everything else crazy about the last two years of his life. After literally sentient murder crazy light, he might be ready to believe anything. But then- “Why me?”

“Because you wanted to get to know me,” Manna says without missing a beat. “You didn’t just see a pretty face or a powerful mage; you wanted to know the real me beneath all of that.”

“Oh...” Syrus remembers that conversation. Christina asked him why he had a card crush on the Dark Magician Girl. Did she ask because...

“And because I want to get to know you too,” Mana continues and Syrus sputters as his poor heart makes itself known again. “I’ve gotten to watch you a lot but that’s not the same as interacting. I want you to show me who you are. And I want to show you who I am.”

“Me? But I’m...I’m not...” His eyes fall to the ground as he thinks of that embarrassing episode of hiding in a trash can, of his brother who he couldn’t even stand up to in the end, of the Society of Light that he did absolutely nothing to help stop and even got himself kidnapped by a digital woman and her duel monster lackeys.

“Syrus.” A hand on his cheek brings him back to face Mana’s deep green eyes. “You can do anything and be anyone you want to be. I mean, just look at you already.” She plucks at the yellow blazer and Syrus’ chest fills with pride at the reminder. That’s right. He did do that. All on his own. “You look so good in yellow!” Mana cheers and Syrus’ ducks his face away again. He doesn’t know how to handle all these compliments! “Believe in yourself, and when that’s hard to do, believe me when I say I believe you can do anything.”

Those words might mean more to him than any other praise or pep talk he’s gotten before, simply because they sound so genuine. He’ll hold those words close to his heart for the rest of his life, because someone as strong and powerful as the freaking Dark Magician Girl believes in him. Swallowing, he nods and clears his throat to find his voice. “So, um, what do you wanna know?”

Smiling, Mana stands and pulls him straight back to the carnival games. Oh, so they’re not talking more? Syrus has to admit to being disappointed.

“Favorite color?” Mana asks as they try to catch tiny goldfish and distracts Syrus from the extra shiny one he almost caught.

“Actually...it’s orange,” he amidst sheepishly. “But I look horrid in it.”

“Aw, I think you’d look cute in orange! Like a little pumpkin.”

“A pumpkin?!”

“Oh? I’m sorry, was that an insult?” Mana asks with such genuine concern and confusion that Syrus can’t even be mad.

Shaking his head, Sryus flips the question around on her. “What about you?”

Mana stares at the water in the plastic pool. “It used to be purple...but I think I like grey a little better now.” She looks up and smiles and Syrus can’t help but feel like he’s missed something significant in that response.

“Favorite animal?” Mana asks once they’ve moved on to a ring toss game.

“Dogs,” Syrus says immediately, then feels self conscious about it. “I mean, they’re loyal and fluffy and I’ve always wanted one, they look fun to play with-”

Mana laughs. “Dogs are man’s best friend, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Mine are birds.” Mana looks up to the sky. “Because they can fly. I always wanted that freedom.”

“But you can fly too, can’t you?”

“In spirit form. But I can’t go too far from my card. Like this I can only float a bit.” With a snap of her fingers, her feet lift a couple centimeters off the ground in demonstration.

“That’s so cool.” Syrus stares in awe as Mana sets her feet back on the ground.

“The silliest thing you’ve ever done?”

A deep breath as a laundry list of his most mortifying experiences assault him. Breath out. He digs deeper for an older memory less tarnished by years of ridicule and insecurity. “I wore a sand bucket on my head and called myself a king.”

Mana laughs, loud and sudden, and Syrus takes pride in his four year old self for managing to entertain two people. He doubts he’d share that memory with anyone else; it’s one of the few he has of Zane smiling.

“I used to hide in giant vases then jump out and scare the crap out of my best friend,” Mana says with a wide grin, and Syrus snorts because he can picture it clearly. “Master always scolded me, but his reactions were too fun.”

Her master? Dark Magician then? Syrus wonders what kind of person would get to hang out with both of them. Probably another powerful spellcaster. “What is he like? Your master? Or...is he here today too?”

“Mahad? No, his situation is different from mine so it’s harder for him to cross the border,” Mana says, scanning the festival for their next game. “He’s pretty strict, and doesn’t know how to take a joke. But he’s kind and selfless.” Her voice grows soft and wistful, then she shakes herself and scratches her cheek. “Honestly, we’re kinda opposites, but that’s what makes it fun.”

She points to a shooting game booth before eagerly charging toward it; Syrus shows her how to use the toy gun and manages to beat her at this game. He still lets her pick out the prize, giggling when she picks out a lucky cat keychain.

“Dream career?” The key chain sways as it dangles from her finger.

Syrus fidgets. “It may seem kinda obvious, but I wanna be a pro duelist. A really famous one,” he mumbles, eyes turning to the ground.

“I bet you’ll be more famous that Yugi!” Mana cheers and Syrus quickly waves his hand in front of him.

“No! No, I doubt that!”

“Do you wanna have kids?” she asks while they fish for balloons with little hooks on strings.

Syrus chokes and drops his string straight into the water. “I mean, uh, maybe?? I guess I’d like- like to settle down and- and have a family- eventually...”

Mana smiles, but it looks a bit sad. “Yeah. I definitely want that too.”

“Best childhood memory?” Nimble fingers rifle through the Senbonbiki strings before giving one a tug.

Syrus answers without hesitation. “Zane teaching me how to duel.”

The string is a dud without a prize attached; Mana turns from pouting to look at Syrus with curious eyes. “Oh?”

“Yeah... we...” Syrus looks away, tries to keep the melancholy out of his voice. “We had a good relationship back then.”

Mana hums, reaching out to take his hand and wander back through the festival. “I think...mine is meeting Atem for the first time.”

Atem. That’s Christina’s ace card. Syrus shouldn’t be surprised he’s a duel spirit too. “Are all monster cards duel spirits?”

“Not every card has a spirit attached, but I have noticed almost every design mirrors a creature or person that actually exists.”

“Weird.” Honestly, Syrus never thought about it before, but it’s really weird that a game on Earth could accurately depict creatures from another dimension. Sure, Pegasus based the original cards off carvings he found in Egypt, but those were 3000 years old! Some of the new archetypes look distinctly futuristic, and Jaden designed the Neo Spacians so explain that! Just thinking about it gives Syrus a headache.

“Have you ever lost a fight?” he ventures to ask as they nibble on chocolate bananas.

“Lots of times,” Mana laughs at herself. “Especially during training. And no matter how good you are there’s always someone stronger, so tactical retreat is necessary!”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Syrus nods. The sky’s getting darker. Will Mana still be here for the fireworks? “What’s it like being a spirit?”

She doesn’t answer immediately. “It’s...lonely sometimes,” she admits, voice soft, almost forlorn. “Not many people can see us. We entertain ourselves by watching the world and taking bets on what kind of trouble Jaden will get into next.” Mana shrugs and smiles, an obvious attempt to make light of the situation, but Syrus can see straight through it.

“Oh,” he says, wishing he could put his emotions into words that wouldn’t hollow.

Mana glances out at the darkening sky, voice soft as she asks, “One thing you really wanna do before you die?”

“Huh?” The question startles Syrus as much as the oddly wistful tone. “I guess...” He hesitates. One thing? The thing he wants to do most? That he’d regret never doing? “I wanna be happy. With someone I mean!” he quickly amends and the word babble spills out from there. “I wanna get married and buy a house and share my life with someone. I know it probably doesn’t sounds that ambitious but-”

“No, that’s a great ambition.”

Syrus can’t really name the emotion on Mana’s face. Nodding, he looks down at his feet and fiddles with his hands. “Maybe...if we get to know each other better...you could be that person?” He squeezes his eyes shut, not daring to look up.

An intake of breath. “Syrus...”

The boom rattles through his bones and Syrus screams, flinging himself towards the nearest source of comfort and shelter, straight into Mana’s arms. Oh. Oh, the fireworks! Prying his eyes open reveals bursts of color lighting up the sky as another boom shakes the air. He laughs awkwardly and rights himself, murmuring an apology.

“I don’t have much time left,” Mana says, colored light illuminating her mournful expression, and the dread seizes Syrus by the throat.

“Ki-kiss me properly this time!” Oh gods his voice cracked and got really screechy, but he said it! His hands fist against his legs, trembling as her heart goes off on another marathon, and what if she rejects him? What if he read this all wrong? What if-

“Okay.”

Her kiss lingers on his lips long after the fireworks fade and she disappears back to being a spirit. He can still feel her hand against his own, and this time he knows it’s real.

[ruzek-halstead]

🌺 challenge accepted 🌺 prologue 🌺

pairing: luke patterson x julie molina 

luke and julie go to rival high schools, but come together at a party after their latest ‘friendly’ match. luke starts off on the wrong foot but redeems himself by the end of the night, by inadvertently becoming julie’s knight in shining armour.

“save it for your groupies, patterson.”

high school au

series masterlist || masterlist || ao3 

warnings: swearing, non-con elements (nothing graphic), fluffery

“Go Nick! You’ve got this baby!”

Julie rolled her eyes as her best friend Carrie screamed her support for her boyfriend directly in her ear.

She was never overly fond of these school events, what with all the testosterone, but Carrie made sure to drag her along to this soccer game. It was a friendly game, mostly for practice, but there was nothing friendly about it. Cornwall High School has had a rivalry with Illyria High School for as long as she can remember; it’d always been talked about in the local news. And now that she was a senior, it still hadn’t changed.

She didn’t know many of the Illyria students. All she knew was that her best friend Nick (who was also the captain of their soccer team) had an intense rivalry with Illyria’s team captain, and so she had no choice but to support him and hate Illyria’s soccer team too.

It’s friendship; you don’t question it.

“Yes baby, GO!”

Julie rolled her eyes again, shoving Carrie away from her. “Shit Carrie,” she snickered, “stop screaming in my ear!”

“I’m sorry,” Carrie replied sheepishly, “but I have to make it loud so he thinks I’m paying attention and actually know what’s going on.”

The girls pass the time by chatting about their latest English essay due this weekend; Carrie had most of it done already, while Julie merely had her topic picked out. It was then that they heard the tell-tale sounds of a goal. Carrie straightened instantly, getting ready to jump to her feet and cheer on her team, but was instantly silenced by the sea of red cheering excitedly. Player number seven, dressed in a red jersey with the name Patterson had scored a goal against Cornwall, and they were most definitely not shy about it.

Julie watched as Illyria’s team players gathered together for a group tackle (they literally tackled each other to the ground; seriously, what’s the appeal?). Player number seven, who she could now identify as Patterson, was smiling proudly, appreciating all the attention from his teammates. She recognized him as the team captain that Nick loathed.

Nick may hate him (which by extension, means she does too), but she had to admit, he was unfairly attractive. Like so much so, that it pained her to actually have to hate him so much (he had the cutest smile). But from what she’s heard from Nick, Patterson was a bit of a douchebag; however, Nick was a teeny bit biased.

“Damn, I’ll be hearing about that later,” Carrie huffed, eyeing her boyfriend on the field. Nick was wearing a royal blue jersey with the number fourteen and even from their distance away, they could pick out his sagging shoulders.

The referee blew the whistle for half time shortly after Illyria’s first goal and within seconds, Carrie was already tugging on Julie’s sleeve. She knew there was no point in fighting the tiny blonde, but she also wanted to check in with Nick, since she didn’t get to see him before the game. So, Julie allowed herself to be dragged down the bleachers to where her team was hydrating and cooling themselves down.

“Hey babe!” Nick greeted Carrie with a cheery smile, much to the ladies’ confusion. “Jules, you came!”

Carrie shared a hesitant look with Julie. “You’re not upset about Illyria’s goal?”

Nick’s jaw clenched so quickly, Julie would have missed it if she blinked. “There’s still time to turn it around; it’s just a friendly game.”

Julie raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. Coach said I have to ‘be the bigger person’ and ’set an example’ or we’ll be banned from finals if there’s so much as one fight.”

Julie laughed, “there it is.”

She surveyed the crimson team a few feet down and quietly admired how unbelievably attractive they all were. Aren’t boys supposed to be awkward and dorky looking in high school? She took notice of the team captain sauntering in their direction with some lackeys. Julie instantly knew it was a recipe for disaster.

“What’s the matter, Miller?” Patterson sniggered with a malicious bite in his tone. “Need your groupies to console you before your unavoidable loss?”

Immediately, Nick threw his water bottle to the ground and charged in their direction. “Are you kidding me, Patterson?” He snapped, as Julie, Carrie and a few of his teammates held him back. They cannot afford to get into any more fights.

“Who are you calling a groupie?” Julie whirled around and barked at him. If Patterson was surprised at her response, he didn’t show it. “Now, shut the hell up before I go over there and shove my foot up your ass!”

She could hear howls from all around her, including from Patterson’s lackeys. The captain himself just smirked as he backed away, hanging off his taller blonde friend. Then he had the audacity to drop his right eyelid in a wink.

“Ugh!” Julie groaned, whirling back around in disgust. “What a douchebag.”

Nick threw an arm around Julie’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “Thanks for that, Jules,” he murmured softly, “or else I definitely would’ve punched him and gotten suspended.”

“Anytime bro, you know I’ve got you,” Julie replied, bumping fists.

Carrie smiled fondly in their direction, “wow, how did I get so lucky?”

“Not sure,” Nick quipped, “because we definitely got the short end of the stick.”

He doesn’t move fast enough when Carrie aims a punch at his gut.

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

The game ended 2-0 with Illyria taking the win. It was a tense finale, but everyone left the field in one piece and ready to blow off steam in other ways. A Cornwall student was throwing a party in their house (re: mansion) and both teams were invited out of respect.

It was honestly a recipe for disaster but Julie was excited.

So, when she arrived, she headed straight for the kitchen to grab herself a soda. She already knew Carrie would be spending most of her time with Nick, but it was alright because Julie respected that and she honestly liked being a free spirit at parties. She could mingle with whoever she wanted and do whatever her little heart desired.

She noticed Illyria’s students celebrated their victory in a respectful manner, which was surprising to everyone. It seemed as if both team’s players were getting along, and that was highly unusual and unexpected.

But Julie was alright with that. She highly expected someone to bust out the karaoke machine, because there was nothing better than watching soccer players absolutely butcher everyone’s favourite songs.

She decided to venture throughout the house and look for familiar faces. She spotted Nick and Carrie dominating at the beer pong table (they were playing with soda of course; while they could all be relatively reckless, none were above the law). She watched as Carrie sank the winning cup and Nick wrapped her up in a spinning hug.

They’re absolutely adorable, Julie thinks as she takes another sip of her drink.

“Hey!” She heard a soft voice from her right and turned to see a tall blonde boy with a friendly smile; he was the one Patterson was hanging off of earlier when he winked at her. “Sorry to bother you, I’m Alex.”

Julie shoots him a nervous smile, curious as to why the hell he went out of his way to talk to her. “I’m Julie,” she replied, shaking his outstretched hand. “You’re on Illyria’s team, aren’t you?”

Alex nodded his head. “Yeah. My best friends and my boyfriend are on the team too,” he explained. “I just wanted to apologize about what happened at halftime.”

Julie blinked in surprise. “Oh,” she mumbled dumbly, “it’s alright. I’m pretty good at dealing with ignorant douchebags.” She doesn’t think she's said anything wrong until she sees Alex’s awkward smile. “Oh no, was your boyfriend the ignorant douchebag I told off?”

“No,” Alex laughed, “I’m dating the goalie, Willie.”

Julie breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

“That ignorant asshole is Luke,” he explains, grinning mischievously. “He’s my best friend, even though he definitely is a dumbass sometimes. But really, most of the time, he’s a total sweetheart.”

Julie’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “I wonder why I didn’t get that vibe at all?”

Alex laughed, stealing a glance behind Julie. “He really is,” he rushed, “and I’m so sorry but he’s coming over right now.”

In response, Julie whirled around to see Luke, roughhousing with a tall brunet dressed in flannel and another tall boy with his dark black hair tied up in a man bun,

“Hey,” the boy with the man bun greeted Alex, kissing him on the cheek; she assumed that was Willie. He quickly turned his attention to Julie and shot her a friendly smile (why were they all so nice? She’s supposed to hate them!).

The boy in the flannel started waving at her manically, even though he was only a little distance away. “Hi! I’m Reggie!”

She smiled back politely, and her eyes flickered over to Luke. He doesn’t seem to recognize her until his green eyes make eye contact and realization dawns on his features. “Oh hey! I know you! You’re Miller’s groupie!”

Julie watches as Alex’s facial features drop and he reaches across to slap Luke upside the head.

Julie rolled her eyes, because just one short conversation with Luke, and she remembered why she disliked (most) Illyria students. “And I’m leaving,” she responded in a clipped tone. “It was nice to meet you!” She directed towards Alex, and shot the remainder of the group a warm smile.

“Uh — yeah,” Alex replied, surprised she was singling him out. “We should hang out sometime! If you’re uh — up for that,” he trailed off, scratching his head. Julie smiled and moved along. “No? Okay.”

She continued to wander the premises, finding an isolated corner behind the pool. It was a small garden and she was admiring it, while trying not to trip and fall. She had a habit of being the clumsy one out of her friend group.

“Hey cutie,” she heard a deep rumble from behind her. “What’re you drinking?”

Julie whirled around (much too fast apparently) because the unknown figure grabbed her forearm to keep her upright. She didn’t recognize who he was, but she noticed the Illyria keychain hanging out of his jacket pocket.

“Thanks,” she mumbled breathily, moving uncomfortably away from the unknown man. The corner she was in was mostly deserted, but there were still a few people around. She kept her face calm and passive.

His eyes dart down to the red solo cup in her hands. “May I?”

She glanced down at the cup and thrusted it in his direction. If he wanted it, he could have it because she was definitely not taking it back after some stranger helped himself to it. “Yeah, take it. It’s all yours,” she replied, shooting him a small smile. “I should probably go find my friends…”

“Oh, don’t leave yet,” he insisted in a gravelly voice. “We should spend some time together.” Julie was starting to feel slightly uneasy. “Or we could get out of here, go somewhere quieter; have our own party.”

Now Julie was starting to get annoyed.

“No, thank you,” she pushed away from him to try and place some distance between them. She didn’t know who he was, and he was getting much too close for comfort. “I have to go.”

The stranger latched onto her wrist with an iron tight grip; Julie’s eyes widened. “You can’t leave yet,” he emphasized in a menacing tone. “You don’t just lead someone on like that and leave.”

“Excuse me?” Julie snapped angrily, attempting to rip her arm away from his grasp. “What the hell? I literally just met you.”

The unfamiliar stranger still didn’t let up. “You mean you didn’t come out here to a deserted corner so I would follow you?”

Julie’s eyebrows narrowed at the stupidity of his statement. “Of course, I didn’t! Now, let go of my arm, I’m leaving!” When he didn’t let go, she huffed in frustration. “Dude, I’m serious. Let me go right now!”

It felt like she was trapped in a game. She could see the stranger’s eyes and the unhinged glint in them, and she could feel his grip tightening ever so slightly. She was positive she could just throw her knee up and nail him in the groin to make a quick escape, but she found it ridiculous that it would have to get to that point.

Her mysterious stranger seemed to find this amusing, because he was smirking like all hell; Julie wanted to throw up.

She noticed he was starting to inch forward, and she could feel her brain starting to shut down. She could feel the panic bubbling in the pit of her stomach and all she could do was thrash around wildly in hopes that she could escape his grasp.

“Stop moving!” The stranger hissed, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Julie was five seconds away from kneeing him in the groin and making a run for it when she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey O’Donnell! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The stranger holding onto her arm instantly straightened and Julie felt herself stop moving as well. When she peered around O’Donnell, she spotted Luke Patterson. She let out a nervous breath at seeing a familiar face.

“You better let her go unless you want me to knock you on your ass.”

Julie shot O’Donnell a smirk as she finally rips her arm free of his grasp. She can see the marks he left on her skin and she wants to punch him in the throat.

“We were just having some fun,” O’Donnell replied, clearing his throat and meeting Luke’s eye line.

Julie scoffed; she can feel her confidence growing once again now that she feels more comfortable. “Have some fun, my ass!” She shouted in retaliation. “You are disgusting, get the hell away from me!”

She watched in satisfaction as he backed away, like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

“This isn’t over,” Luke threatened in a low voice; Julie had to strain her ears to hear it. “Get out of my sight.”

Julie straightened her clothes angrily; she was annoyed that happened and she was annoyed she wasn’t able to fend off his advances with the same badass energy she tried to exude in everything she did.

“Hey, are you alright?”

She nearly forgot about her saviour until he spoke again. He stood a few steps away from her; he seemed hesitant to approach her, maybe because she was just manhandled by some stranger and he didn’t want to startle her.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied softly. She’s perfectly aware she’s supposed to hate him, but she can’t think of a single reason why she should right now. “Thank you.”

“Please, don’t thank me for that,” he sighed in disgust, “I would do that for anyone. It just isn’t okay.”

There was a comfortable silence present between them, as they just stood there, listening to the distant thumping music. She couldn’t help but notice he looked really good; he was wearing a white band t-shirt with the sleeves cut off (that did wonders for his bright green eyes) and simple black jeans. She really couldn’t remember why she was supposed to hate him.

“You’re one of Miller’s friends, right?” He asked, looking to continue the conversation. He still kept his distance, and he was looking at her almost as if he was shy. Julie didn’t believe a good looking guy like that could be shy around anyone.

At the reminder of Nick and the rest of her friends, she also remembered how he referred to her earlier. “Yeah, I’m one of his groupies,” she teased with a smirk.

“Ah, I’m sorry about that,” he apologized, scratching the back of his head with a forced, painful smile. “I tend to say stupid things around pretty girls.”

The smirk Julie was wearing instantly dropped. She’s all good with fun and games when flirting, but as soon as it gets serious and someone shows an interest in her, she shuts down and becomes as socially awkward as they get.

She’s positive she’s going to say something stupid.

“Save it for your groupies, Patterson.”

There it is.

He doesn’t seem phased, mostly just amused. “I gave them the night off,” he chuckled. “My name’s Luke, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“Luke Patterson.”

“Ah yes, you’re my best friend’s rival,” Julie recounted, feigning innocence. “Oh, he would absolutely die right now.”

Luke smirked, finally moving closer in her direction. “You really think he’d mind if I were talking to you?”

Julie seemed oblivious to his obvious interest in her. He was moving closer, maintaining eye contact and admiring all of her features. “Are you kidding? The only reason he didn’t beat your ass earlier is so they didn’t get banned from finals,” she explained, “but clearly I had no problem holding my own when it comes to pretentious, pretty boys.”

“Honestly, all I took away from that was that you think I’m pretty,” he admitted honestly. “And that you’re a badass.”

Julie’s smile dimmed slightly, remembering the earlier events that transpired.

“Hey,” Luke murmured softly, reaching a tentative hand onto her shoulder. “What happened before was not your fault. I have no doubt in my mind you would have kicked his ass to hell and back. I can’t imagine how you felt, but I’m really glad I was here.”

Julie glanced at his hand on her shoulder, but he didn’t move it. “I’m glad you were here, too.”

His hand gently trails down her arm, to where a large bruise is already forming on her wrist.

“You still haven’t told me your name.”

She sent him a shy smile. “I think you’re going to have to fix me a drink first if you want to find out.”

Luke’s smile widened, and Julie momentarily forgot to breathe because he had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

“Challenge accepted."

🌺

hope you all enjoyed!! a couple things to note:

the school names come from the movie she’s the man (best movie ever - go watch it now on prime) 

we don’t have a last name for nick yet, so i made one up. was inspired by new girl’s nick miller (best character ever - go watch new girl on netflix now)

[kariachi]

Okay i straight got ready for bed but now I must hop back on the computer because I have thoughts in my brain

Namely thoughts of the “wait a second you could totally crossover Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles with Digimon, I mean technically you could do it with anything but come on, Digimon” variety, because I’m sure you’ve met me

And of course the obvious choice is to place it after the main series, when things are calmer and you don’t have to figure out how the fuck to change shit to accommodate digis without completely destroying the story

“But Achi, they couldn’t keep the cool bond things from the first world so-” No. Because those fuckers were specifically exclusive to one country and one world and were actual gods. Digimon have already been established as spirits that exist even without computers and shit and could, theoretically, exist in every world. This would involve our heroes just ending up in one of the ones where you can actually bond with one instead of one of the ones where they just exist as a result of our hopes and dreams and nebulous shit like that. Could totally keep the digis

But then, you get the other option, which is to place it during the main series, which would allow for things like the clones getting their own digimon partners and all the support and full personhood that implies despite them being ‘just images’ which would be amazing. Let’s see Reed respond to that

(Please picture Acid Tokyo but our main lot have digimon. Please picture Syaoran’s own digimon fighting him after he goes full ‘clone on a mission’ in order to protect Fai and his digi. They don’t know what’s going on or why he’s suddenly acting like this but they know he would regret what he’s trying to do and so they do their best to stop him. I’m picturing him managing to kill his own digi in the process before Syaoran .5 can sweep in and get involved. The others end up taking care of their egg for the next while, eventually leaving them in the care of probably Yuuko while Big Plot Stuff happens. Tiny baby digi insists on joining the ‘wander the multiverse’ crew after everything is said and done so they can get a body for their partner. Sakura’s digi ends up staying in Clow to watch over the other Sakura, since the kids don’t have digis of their own)

Also Fai’s first curse gets triggered so much sooner! Because he’s powerful as hell but they hit a Digital World and the first mega they come across sets his ‘kill a bitch’ curse going like a smoke detector at a barbeque

And guys pls, pls imagine the Ceres arc, but it ends so much differently because Fai’s digi digivolves- powered by Fai’s love of literally everybody present and all the shit going on with his emotions, possible even dark-digivolved as a result of them- and offs Ashura and the second curse just goes completely fucking haywire because it has no idea what do do with that. Because Fai didn’t kill him so must activate but Fai’s digimon partner did while powered by Fai’s emotions so, maybe activate? And it’s just even more chaos.

Y’all crests could be a thing

Sakura is Kindness of course, that’s her whole thing. Syaoran and Fai get Love because have these two ever made a decision in their lives that wasn’t in some way tied to their love of another person? Mokona gets Sincerity (of course Mokona gets a crest and a digimon partner who is obviously many times larger than her why would you ever think otherwise?) because look at her she’s either Sincerity or Light. And Kurogane I kinda wanna say Reliability but Sincerity may also work here.

I don’t know what partners they would get but I know it would be wonderful

Sakura realizes she’s a clone and gets all depressed and her partner just isn’t having any of it.

“It doesn’t matter if you were made or born or hatched or programmed! You’re my Sakura, and always will be!”

Kurogane’s partner first reaches a serious level during the Ceres arc same as Fai’s, except theirs is while they’re saving everybody from the curse gone haywire and possibly Fai’s partner also gone haywire (and gods can you picture his reaction to his digimon being the one to dark digivolve? ‘cursed twin’ shit all over again...)

Syaoran’s never reaches a high stage in the page because 1) they spend a lot of time dead or an infant, and 2) even when they are reunited eventually their bond needs to be repaired before it’s possible