#always love dancing AUs

[blackkatdraws2]

Grown men giggling and kicking their feet.... [Blank Scripts AU]

[anakindoodles]

Always a dance with you

I just think they're neat 🥹

[iron-sparrow]

祝您 ⸺ wishing you ⸺ 新年快樂 a Happy New Year in good health 身体健康 and prosperity year after year 年年有餘 ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.

ft. @lionheartdancers

Lunar New Year is upon us, and while I currently live in a place that does not give us weeks of PTO to celebrate accordingly, I've been eating pineapple cakes and sticky rice cakes for well over a week now. Yum. (Mooncakes are notably not consumed on LNY but during the Mid-Autumn Festival.)

I've not been feeling especially celebratory. Between the fires in my backyard and the current admin holding my passport hostage, the start of the solar calendar year has sent me spiraling into survival mode almost immediately. I am doing my best to draw from the well of my support systems, from kindred spirits to a very good (and expensive) therapist I've finally reached out to again.

Lunar New Year. Spring Festival. Chinese New Year. Whatever you and yours call it, the holiday is meant to be a hopeful time, when we anticipate the eventual transition from winter to spring. I will give hope where I'm able, and I will persist. I hope you will also hold onto yours and persist.

I am determined to hold hands with my anger, and to continue knowing it. We will go into the New Year together as allies. Still, I want to offer you this famous poem about hope, written by historical figure Yu Qian.

《除夜太原寒甚》 寄語天涯客，輕寒底用愁。 春風來不遠，只在屋東頭。

"An Extremely Cold Night in Taiyuan on New Year’s Eve" Please tell the friends living afar, the weather is chilly but no need to worry. The spring wind is arriving and quite close to us, touching the eastern end of our house.

[bbonbonss]

⁺✦ boys on pointe ✦⁺ (one of my pieces for @cerebrusdean 's ballet au)

[phoenixcatch7]

In love with the idea of captain marvel being Billy's imaginary friend. Like, it'd be so easy. Early depictions had them as almost fully separate people sometimes, like one soul with two minds, rather than just two filters like we mostly see now.

But imagine a Billy down on his luck, hurt and hiding from police and criminals alike, daydreaming the hours away as children do, taking inspiration from all the superheroes rising to fame, making little stories to play out his dreams of saving the world with a generic action doll he found while dumpster diving once. Most of the paint's rubbed off.

Red's his favourite colour, his comfiest jumper is a bright ruby even after all the grime and washes. Gold, too, it's shiny and warmer than silver! A hero cape is a must, big and eye catching! And he can fly, of course, like superman, and in his daydreams, when he's sore and frustrated after a long day's grind, his superhero is smart enough and knows all the right words to get the bullies to stop without resorting to fighting.

His superhero fantasy is one he spends a lot of time on, the first one he goes for when struggling to sleep at night, and he can picture it so clearly. Captain marvel is big and bright and kind, strong enough to lift the boxes for the old lady up the road who's moving all by himself, fast enough to catch Jamie who fell out of the tree on Saturday and broke his leg and couldn't come to class for weeks. He appears at the entrance to alleys when Billy is cornered, he steps up behind to cover for him when he gets caught shoplifting, he sits at the bus stop with him when it's pouring rain and the right bus doesn't seem to be coming.

And then the wizard comes, or rather whisks him away, and like a magician from a fairytale breathes life into his imaginary friend until Billy feels thrice his size and a million times more invincible.

From then on, captain marvel is a real hero, just like Billy is a real boy, and as one they save the whole city, and then the whole world, and get cats down from trees and help Mrs Victoria move the last of her boxes and she gives them a pinch in the cheek and cookies for the road and sometimes it hurts but it's so much better than he imagined.

[geraiodli]

Azazel and Jophiel from @/asleepyy's au dining!! I hope nothing ever bad happens to them🫶🫶

Flat colours+line and bonus because I can

[a-cipher]

for the dancing and the dreaming

(inspired by the fic by @oh-snapperss)

not me finding the resistance au a year late and getting obsessed with it. rip 2022 me you would've loved this.

anyways!! there it is! probably the biggest art project thing I've done so far. been working on this for about 4/5 days now. this has been very fun

[softquietsteadylove]

Kisses

Thena looked up as a cup of punch was lowered into her periphery. If it were anyone else she would be launching it straight into the trash, but she accepted with a sigh. "Thanks."

Gil took a seat next to her on the sidelines of things. "Is it that bad?"

The allowed herself a little laugh. No, it wasn't. She didn't enjoy school events at the best of times, but Sersi and Makkari wanted to come, and they wanted her to come too.

They were currently on the dance floor, shuffling around with their 'boyfriends' awkwardly.

Thena sighed again, more heavily this time.

"Okay, yeah, I kind of agree with that," Gil chuckled, tugging at the tie he'd worn and then almost immediately loosened. "But it turned out good! Sersi must be happy about that."

"Thrilled," Thena smiled into her plastic cup of some kind of sparkly cranberry juice mix. "The student council has been going back and forth on all the things they had planned, apparently. They couldn't decide how to decorate, if they should hand out flowers, chocolates, let students elect things to do."

"Huh," Gil scratched at his cheek. She wasn't sure if he was aware of it, but he had a little facial hair just starting to come in around his lip and under his chin. "I mean I think everyone always likes something that involves candy the best. I gave some kisses to Minerva--from geography."

Thena looked at him, eyes wild, nothing short of flabbergasted.

Gil didn't seem to catch onto what had her so shocked she had nearly yelped like a cat with its tail stepped on. "She gave me some first. She knows I like chocolate, so that was nice of her, I guess."

Thena's mind caught up with her and she turned around again, blinking to try and calm her frayed nerves. The chocolates--the little candies shaped like dollops of...well, chocolate. That was what he meant. He didn't mean he had kissed the girl.

Thena really, truly thought Minerva had a thing for Gil, but he denied it backwards and forwards every time they brought it up as his friends. He swore she was just a friend, from the only class of his where he was without any of the rest of their group.

"Did anyone give you any?"

She snorted, taking another sip. She was pretty sure there was glitter in this drink (that couldn't have been healthy to consume).

"What?" he laughed, sitting up from his heavy forward slouch. The dishevelled and uneven ends of his tie swayed as he moved. "It's a fair question."

She rolled her eyes. "No, it is not. No one brings the devil flowers, Gilgamesh."

He rolled his eyes at her full-naming him. But he nudged her arm with his ever so gently. "You are not, and I know plenty of guys like you."

"I'm sure I don't want to know," she muttered, setting aside the noxious liquid. They were on the very top of the bleachers, so concealed by the dark there was no risk of anyone tipping it over by accident.

"No, you don't," Gil agreed, and she managed to laugh a little because of it. He leaned back. "Sometimes they ask me about you and I tell them they have to talk to you for themselves. That seems to scare them out of it."

"Good," she muttered as darkly as possible. But Gil was still laughing, and that always made her laugh. Somehow, no matter how dour and snippy her attitude, it never seemed to affect Gil's good humour.

"What about you?" she asked, attempting to be more than a storm cloud hanging over him. "Aside from Minerva, I mean."

"What, like, did anyone give me a card or something?" he asked, seeming just as taken aback by the question as she had been. But he had no sardonic remark, just a charming and honest blush in his cheeks. "Come on, as if."

"Why not?" she probed him, teasingly but gently, because who in the world could razz someone as sweet as Gilgamesh? She scooched closer to him on the polished wood bench. "People like you."

He stayed quiet, fiddling with his undone tie. He looked out to where their friends were awkwardly but earnestly hovering close together. Sersi and Ikaris were the much more awkward couple, new to their romance.

Druig and Makkari were dancing with their foreheads touching and their eyes closed. It was a little much - mortifying - for a school dance, but that never seemed to affect them. They were off in their own little blissful world.

"Isn't it, like, embarrassing?" he murmured, looking away from their friends in the throes of romance. "That--in public?"

"Hm," Thena agreed with him with a faint laugh. She did think it would be mortifying to display such affections amongst their peers, let alone in the confines of a school auditorium. But from what Sersi and Makkari were always going on and on about, this was the height of their hearts' happiness. "I wouldn't know."

"Me neither."

A pause settled over them. Gil fussed with his tie again and Thena brushed something off the skirt of her dress. It fluttered just below her knees. She looked at him.

Gil grumbled as she took the ends of his tie into her own hands. "Hey, I worked hard to get this thing on."

"And for what--five minutes?" she challenged him, undoing it for him properly so he could at least stop pulling at it. "I've never even seen you wear a tie."

And they had known each other much of their lives.

"Sersi told us all to look our best," he shrugged, because of course he had taken that the most to heart--far more than anyone else their age would.

Because if his friend had planned a fancy party and wanted him to dress to the nines for it, Gil would. That was just what he was like.

Thena shook her head with the utmost fondness. Although, now that Gil's top few buttons could come undone, she also sagged in her seat, leaning her elbow on her knee. "I'm trying to discern how long is long enough to show her we made the effort."

Gil flicked his arm up in the air to get his sleeve to expose his watch. "I mean it's been...an hour?"

One hour--was that all?"

"Maybe another half hour will be okay," he suggested with an impish grin. "If she asks if you danced you can always lie and say she was too distracted by Ikaris to notice."

Thena hid her laughter in her palm. The way Gil sang the name so mockingly touched her heart; that was exactly how she felt about that boy, no matter how infatuated with him Sersi was. "Lie to our friends, Gil? I can't believe you would suggest that."

He shrugged completely remorselessly. "That's what I was gonna tell her."

Another pause loomed over them. Thena resisted the urge to fuss with her dress again, instead tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Hey," Gil leaned in closer--close enough to whisper over the music coming from the sub-par sound system. "Ikaris told me he was gonna...y'know..."

She just blinked at him. She didn't know; she had no idea what any of it was like. She shook her head.

Gil scooched even closer to her, until they were pressed right up together, side to side. He was warm, even with his suit on. "He told me he's gonna try to kiss Sersi tonight."

Thena's jaw dropped as if he had told her the scandal of the century.

"Hey, be cool," he whispered to her, nudging her arm again and then moving his bulkier - much thicker - one out of the way and behind them. "If it were Druig or the others I wouldn't say anything, y'know. But I mean...I don't care about keeping Ikaris' secret as much."

Thena did her best to suppress her laughter again. In truth, she didn't think Gil disliked Ikaris as much as she did. He had mostly started making such jokes when she had confessed to him that bringing Ikaris into their friend group for Sersi's sake had not been her favourite change to happen that year.

"I guess they've been going out for-" he dropped off, somewhat counting on his fingers. He looked at her.

"Two months," she confirmed for him dryly. "Sersi brought up to us that she had hoped tonight might be...something."

Gil raised his brows at that, but Sersi's secrets were much more protected by both of them. He nodded.

"I think she'll accept," Thena mused, observing their deeply smitten friend sway side to side with the young man in the navy blue t-shirt and jeans (she had asked them to dress appropriately; he couldn't do that much?). "If he does try to kiss her."

"I guess," Gil also offered passively. "I dunno, I didn't really think they were that serious."

"Unfortunately, I think Sersi is quite serious," Thena lamented, looking down at her lap. The mood lighting of the room swirled around them, and she caught her reflection in the dark of her phone screen. "She thinks she's utterly and completely in love with him."

"Huh."

"Hm."

Gil scratched at his chin again. Thena wondered if he would have to shave it soon or if he was leaving it on purpose. It did make him look somewhat distinguished. "I guess I don't really know the feeling."

Thena turned her phone over so her reflection wouldn't show in the white case she had on it, clasping her hands even over that. "Same."

"Have you ever, uh...y'know?"

She looked at him, wondering about what vagueries he was asking now. But he looked even more sheepish than before, almost guilty. "What?"

"Like," he paused again, looking around. They were at the furthest, darkest corner away from everyone. Their friends probably wouldn't even be able to see them from the ten feet away they were. "Kissed?"

"Have I kissed someone?" she asked, making sure she had the context right. The lights passed over them again and she caught a funny shade of red in Gil's cheeks. So sweet. "No."

"Oh." That was all he had to say?

"You would know if I had," she postulated, which made him shrug his shoulders at a loss.

"I mean, we don't have to tell each other everything-everything," he excused for himself. "I know you haven't gone out with anyone. But - I dunno - maybe you'd....just...whatever."

He let it go, uncomfortably at that. But she had to admit, he had piqued something in her. She looked at him with a brow raised. "Have you?"

"Have I what?"

Now he wanted to be obtuse? She frowned, "kissed someone."

"No."

"No?"

"No!" he protested more, which only made her more suspicious. "When would I have-?!"

Thena shrugged, also feeling defensive about the suddenly tender subject between them. "Like you said, maybe you'd gone and...done it with someone I don't know."

"Like who?!"

"Minerva," she blurted out before she could think better of it. Because when she did think about it, she was the one who brought up Minerva liking Gil more than their other friends. They did bring it up! She just brought it up...more.

Gil huffed, rolling his eyes. "What is with that? Why don't you believe she doesn't like me?"

"I just," Thena fussed with the sleeve fluttering around her arm, agitating her already frazzled state. "You never seem to take it seriously when I do suggest it."

"Well," he also began winding down from their heightened reactions to each other. He looked down at his shiny dress shoes. He really had gone all out. "Even if she did--and I'm not saying she does!"

Thena huffed; point taken.

He shrugged though, the last of the tension in the air oozing out of him. "I dunno--I guess it wouldn't really matter to me."

"No?" Thena had to question (for the last time, she told herself).

"No," he shrugged again, because he never seemed to get wound as tight as she did. Gil didn't hold grudges, or grind his teeth, or snap at people out of reflex. "She's cool, but I don't like her like that."

"Oh," Thena hoped she could leave it at that. A new feeling settled in her gut, and she couldn't really put a name to it.

"Oh!" Gil blinked, some horror coming back to him. "Did you think--'cause of the thing I said?"

Thena took a second to catch up again, only to realise he was implying that she had misread his initial statement about 'kisses', which she had. But she gratefully - and duplicitous as it was - used it as cover for the multiple misunderstandings. "Y-Yes, I thought...maybe-"

"Oh, n-no! No, I, uh-" Gil fussed with himself again, although now that his tie was hanging limply and loosely around the back of his neck he had nothing to focus on. He toyed with the buttons of his shirt instead. "Never kissed anyone."

"Hm." Thena looked forward again, feeling oddly embarrassed about the mix up. She hadn't meant anything by it. Gil could kiss someone if he wanted to. He didn't have to report anything to her, no matter how close they were. She watched Druig and Makkari, still absorbed in each other.

They leaned in close, and although they were still rotating slowly on the spot, it was quite recognisable even from a distance.

"I do wonder what it's like."

Gil looked at her, and Thena realised with abject horror what she had voiced aloud. He just looked at the dance floor again, though. "Yeah, I guess I am kinda curious."

Suddenly the music coming through the old, rented speakers sounded quieter. Or maybe her heart in her own ears sounded louder. She looked down at her hands, clasped together. She was wearing a bracelet. Why was she wearing a bracelet?

Because Makkari had put it on her wrist, claiming the green beads matched her eyes.

She and Gil both caught each other sliding their eyes over. Then they dashed away again. That silence looming over them was so heavy it was basically lying over them like a blanket.

"Have you ever..." Gil paused, clearing his throat as his voice hiccuped a bit. His voice had changed earlier than their other friends. She liked how nice and smooth it sounded. "Thought about it...kissing?"

She had thought about it, but it was either to disdain it or to assure herself that she had no need for such a thing. She hadn't so much considered what it might actually be like. It was an objectively questionable activity, putting two mouths together. What was the fun in that?

She peeked at Gil again. Would the hair on his upper lip tickle?

He took her silence for something it wasn't and physically leaned away from her. "Sorry, I-"

"Maybe."

She wasn't quite sure what made her say it. But she didn't want him to leave; she didn't want him to have taken her hesitation for rejection. Because she didn't know what she was rejecting, but if it was Gil, she didn't want to reject anything.

"Y-Yeah?"

Her awareness narrowed again. Back to the dark, and the lights, and her own heart pounding in her ears. It was all she could hear; surely Gil could hear it too. She gulped. "Have you?"

He stopped trying to get up and leave, at least. Actually, he leaned closer to her again. She could see his eyes were on her and then all of a sudden he was looking not at her eyes, but still at her face. He was looking at her lips. "I think so."

Had he thought about kissing her? Was he thinking about it now or had he thought about it before? Thena looked at his lips too. They were nice lips. Boys tended not to have much in the lip department but she liked that Gil's were shaped like the letter 'M'. Maybe that was too much to notice about his lips.

Gil swallowed, and she could hear it, they were so close. Her hand was on the bench against her leg. Gil's hand was too. He moved closer. His fingers dallied with hers, his other arm hovered behind her back. He wasn't wrapping it around her or anything, but it was quite impossible to be unaware of where Gil put his massive arms.

"Would you wanna....?"

Thena leaned in first. It was short, and not necessarily romantic. She didn't have the right angle, just pressing her lips directly front facing against his. She expected to have her hypothesis proven; that kissing was overrated and two mouths pressed together did not magic make.

But Gil moved. He tilted his head against hers, moved his lips against hers. His hand moved closer--over hers. His finger slipped into the loop of that stupid bracelet to touch the inside of her wrist.

And then her awareness of that went away. She lost all focus on all sensations other than his lips moving against hers. His lips were soft, and his facial hair did tickle a little. And then he would move his lips again and she would move hers because of reflex. And she found herself enjoying the kiss, possibly even yearning for more.

Gil pulled back first, hovering close but far. Their breathing was harder than it was before, intermingling in their close proximity. She could feel his breath hitting her cheek. It brought up the realisation that it was burning hotter than she could ever remember in her whole life. She just hoped it was dark enough that Gil couldn't see.

And she still felt like he could tell how hard her heart was pounding.

"Uh," he started nervously, and very Gilgamesh. He nearly raised a hand to touch his lips but stopped himself. She was horrified to think she had drooled on him or something. But he looked up, grinning at her. "That was...okay--r-right?"

"Hm," she squeaked out, unable to formulate more thought on it at the moment. They were still sitting so close, and he smelled nice, and he gave off so much warmth. "It was...nice."

Even in the dark of the room, his eyes brightened, and she almost flailed to correct herself, in case she was being overzealous about something only she was feeling.

But he was still holding her hand, and he even threaded their fingers together. "I liked it too."

"Hm," she puffed out, having to look away in order to regain some control of her breathing. One hand was still occupied with his, but the other was free to try and help her feel more composed. She tucked some hair back again, resisting the urge to outright fan her overheated skin.

"Well, uh," Gil hesitated, his usual nerves coming through. But he was still the one holding her hand. "Now we...know."

"Yes," she gulped, still feeling more out of sorts than she felt she should. She managed to peek at Gil, and he was touching his fingers gently to his lips again. She really didn't know what he was looking for, or if she wanted him to find it or not. "Now we know."

The silence returned over them, hand holding aside. Gil was trying to think of what to say; she could tell, because he nearly had smoke coming out of his ears from the effort. Not that she was much better.

His finger toyed with one of the beads on the bracelet again. "This is nice."

It had nothing to do with anything. But she took the out. "It's Makkari's."

"It's pretty," he complimented, maybe lamely, but genuinely. Gil didn't say things he didn't mean. "It matches your eyes."

Her heart wasn't going to calm down at all. She worried if it was too much activity for it all at once. But Gil had made the first leap, and she wanted to know what would happen if she made the second.

"Would you want to...?"

Gil looked at her, eagerly hanging on for her to finish her question.

He was going to make her say it; she squirmed. She looked at their friends again, who were mercifully still engrossed in their own romances. Maybe she did understand just a little more what had happened to their brains to make them the way they were now.

She looked at Gil, and it certainly seemed as if all her sound and reasonable thoughts completely left when she looked at his face. Her eyes looked at his lips again, and that was even worse. "We could...try it again."

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

Does the gang ever try to reenact moments from the cartoon? I like to imagine Dogday and Catnap putting their own romantic spin on things!

They love to joke about it!!!! Even Bubba joins in the fun when he sees the opportunity to make a cartoon reference. They love to be silly together!

There was an episode in the OG cartoon that focused on dancing, and it features a scene of Catnap and Dogday dancing together, except the choreography was EXTREMELY silly when converted to the real world. The duo loves re-enacting that stupid dance, except that in the end Dogday spins Catnap and holds him!

[skitskatdacat63]

Some matador studies :)

+ ref pic I like but couldn't even attempt to draw 😭

[ksbbb]

Don’t look at me. 🫣 i’m like two weeks late. 

[wildflower-otome]

Hannibal Gold: 'No matter how it happened, I'm just glad we were able to finish up without any problems.' ... Peter White: '.....Why are you all acting so happy about it being over? Our precious day off got wasted on some trivial company event, you know?' 'And here I was hoping to invite my girlfriend out to spend a fun weekend together.....Tomorrow I'm definitely getting time off in lieu!' Nightmare Gottschalk: 'Yeah.....you do that. I just want to hole up in a dream already. Even only sitting down makes me so tired.....Ugh.....'

Boris Airay: 'Now wait just a moment.....that's what you always do though, isn't it? That's not something someone who works a desk job should be saying.' Gray Ringmarc: 'It's because he doesn't do any work at his desk. Chief, you only came to work one week this month, right?'

[sanguine-salvation]

more difficult to narrow down, Dark type catch!

also you're making me want an au, I had art I made one time of trainer version of my babe

[ pokemon catching! - ACCEPTING ]

Aside from the whole deathly motif being an easy win, Viktor would just love a Mandibuzz. They adore vultures as animals, and for their nature of culling the sick and dying and cleaning up rot. And hey, they can relate to decorating themself in death. They would give her all sorts of new bones to dress up in.

[twotales]

AU where Laura and Rodney meet when Laura goes to Canada for a tap dancing competition and he's the local kid picked to play the piano for her team.

The two of them interacting as highschoolers would be gold okay, literal gold.

Because they win.

[mxdotpng]

if i had the energy and time to write my orv enchanted au itd be all over. id have fulfilled my lifes goal. thered be nothing left to strive for. which is of course why i cant write it and definitely not because im bad at writing for long projects.

[kowaindar0u]

//

modern AU Sengo was almost a professional dancer (separate from the stripper idea lol)

and I think any college AU Sengo would be a dance major

i think it's more self-indulgent than anything because i just love to imagine him doing any choreography I see ... he would suit any of it so well and I wholeheartedly believe(/headcanon) that once given access to the Internet he would learn dances

(i was watching brave girls and exid videos a little while ago and I just aaaaaaaaa....)