#i also love the idea of the birds getting so overwhelmed with emotions that their magic gets unstable and the bird parts start comin out

[myketheartista]

GO MY YURI BE FREE

[jksoftii]

☆♡ JUNGKOOK FIC RECS ♡☆

this is a list of my favorite jungkook fics! most of these contain smut so no minors allowed. please show your love to all these amazing authors :) !!

a - angst f - fluff s - smut

SERIES

Birds by @missbickerbocker a f s strangers to lovers au (Doctor!Jungkook x TravelBlogger!Reader)

Summary - In Jungkook's world stability is key. He knows what exactly is expected of him as head doctor of Seoul's ER Unit. But when an unfortunate collision lands him at your bedside in his own ER unit, his stable world starts to shift. — the angst, the sexual tension, everything about this is just perfect!! doctor jk 😭🙌🏻

Gradation by @shina913 a f s bestfriend to lovers au fwb slow burn (Bestfriend!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - On your wedding day your fiancé leaves you at the altar. While reeling from embarrassment and heartbreak, your bestfriend, Jungkook, wants to do everything that he can to help you heal. — i remember coming back to this fic again and again because the entire storyline in itself was so comforting, everyone around oc was so caring and jungkook especially made my heart burst in this one!

Friday nights and takeout by @ahundredtimesover a f s strangers to friends to lovers (Idol!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - You meet pop star/idol Jeon Jungkook at the café, you get close, and as Hyejin says, you’re like friends with benefits without the sex. But you’re bad at feelings and so is he — i love love love cute happy endings. there was a lot of scolding eachother but their dynamic itself was just endearing 🤧💖 @ahundredtimesover 's other works are also wonderful! you won't be disappointed checking them out!

Lost Stars by @yoongiofmine a f s strangers to friends to lovers au slow burn (Idol!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - Jungkook was lost. He didn’t know who he was anymore, so he decided to leave and find himself. But he wasn’t expecting to find you along the way, an island girl who has no idea who he is. Jungkook has a secret. But so do you. — i read this in one sitting because it was so interesting! the twists in this story kept me engaged, i felt like i was in a movie.

Coquet by @shina913 a f s fake dating au strangers to lovers (Escort!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - On your brother's wedding, you dread traveling to see your family–whom you have successfully avoided for over a year after moving across the country for work. In an effort to save face, you hire an escort to get them off your back and perhaps even make your ex–who happens to be the best man–a little jealous. — another one by @shina913 because i can't get enough of their writing! the angst, fluff, smut everything was balanced so well. top notch literally. sexy escort jungkook made me get on my knees no joke 🙌🏻🤧

Once You Realize by @kooala a f s friends to lovers idol au (Idol!Jungkook x Idol!Reader)

Summary - Seeing your friend regularly turned out to be difficult because of your colliding schedules, but seeing him again after a couple of months something about the way you thought about Jungkook seemed to have shifted. If only you wouldn’t have started getting close with someone else before you had realized how you felt about your best friend — this indeed is the cutest falling in love story! it's a slowburn but not overwhelming. sjdhjsjs it's just adorable 🥲

ONESHOTS

In which drabble series by @onlyswan a f s established relationship au (Idol!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - this is the cutest collection drabbles of boyfriend jungkook!! i recommend all of the installments, the writing is perfect, it's packed with perfectly illustrated details and vivid emotions and you can feel the love radiate from them 🥹 Art is by far my favorite writer on here 🙌🏻 these are a few of my personal favs from the installments -

in which jungkook comes home drunk but bam can’t speak f wc: 2.6k

— no because drunk jk is a menace and we all know it. this was so chaotic and fluffy it made me want to scream!!!

in which jungkook stumbles with his new pair of eyes f wc: 2.8k

— jungkook with glasses. my weakness. but this was so cute and fluffy! it's his little journey figuring out how to handle his glasses with oc!

in which jungkook is giving up on you but you have so much love left to give a f s wc: 8.3k

— this is actually a angsty one but it shows their ups and downs as a couple and gives more insight into their relationship!

The Boy with Galaxies in his Eyes by @oddinary4bts a f s wc: 52.9k strangers to fwb to lovers au (Idol!Jungkook x TattooArtist!Reader)

Summary - you had never thought the night sky could be found in someone’s eyes. That is, until you met Jeon Jungkook and his gravity pulled you in. Will he crush you with the galaxies in his eyes, or will you learn to explore his worlds and make them yours? — this has a LOT of angst, i won't lie i cried a few times reading this too. the character growth in this was just so phenomenonal. i go back a lot to this and read it again and again just to re-live the story. and ofc the smut is an amazing add on toooo 😭🙌🏻

My babysitters a quarterback by @ohpretty-baby a f wc: 30k enemies to lovers high-school au (Quarterback/Babysitter!Jungkook x Cheerleader!Reader)

Summary - after getting cheated on by the star of the hockey team, park jimin, your life (as expected) goes downhill. what you don’t expect is your parents being skeptical of whether or not you’re a good older sibling for your sister. you also don’t expect them to call jeon jungkook—the person you hate most—to babysit the two of you.

or, alternatively: jungkook babysits you even though the two of you are the same age. — i love this so much oh my goshhhhh this is one of the fics which will make you laugh and cry at the same time. it's fluffy and their dynamic is absolutely adorable. it's sooooo beautifully written!! :))

Spring will come again by @baepsaesbae a f s wc: 10.9k strangers to lovers au (Photographer!Jungkook x Baker!Reader)

Summary - Springtime generally brings new beginnings, but being stuck in a small town all your life means nothing ever changes. Finally, something, or rather, someone, stumbles into your life. Can this shy boy manage to change your life forever? — everything in this just feels so warm and comforting and jk is so sweet and so precious in here. there's angst but a very cute happy ending. the writing was so well done and so well articulated!! <333

Safety Net by @pradaksj (TWO-SHOT) a f s enemies to friends to lovers roommates au (Boxer!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - On new year’s eve, you and jungkook reflect on each other’s entire year together. — this is one of my favorite fics ever. it's hilarious and emotional at the same time. both are literally the definition of dumb and dumber 😭 @pradaksj did a lovely job at illustrating their relationship progression. boxer jk just has my entire heart 😵‍💫🙌🏻

Be-Ghoul-Ment by @dokyeomin f wc: 10.1k idiots to lovers university au (Blonde!Jungkook × Reader)

Summary - [beguilement (noun): an entertainment that provokes pleased interest and distracts you from worries and vexations] --- You hate haunted houses more than you’ve ever hated anything. You don’t understand the appeal. But this Halloween, you decide you might hate Kim Taehyung even more. — the cutest fic ever! jk and oc both being a nervous wreck in this was so relatable 😭, and I loved the side friendships with Taehyung and Hobi. It was so sweetly crafted and left me feeling happy inside.

[yukidragon]

Okay question for the queen of ideas and the mother of the Snaccpop fandom. I had started making an au for SDJ based off the song Fall little Wendy Bird Fall, by Lydia the bard, and even came up with a backstory similar to the whole song. I had been a little nervous to ask but how would Alice live in this kind of au? Recently Lydia came out with the sequel to the song, Take the shot. So. If you give those songs a listen you can get the gist of my idea. Jo is captain hook, jack is Peter pan/tink!

I'm so honored and overwhelmed by being given such grand titles. You're so sweet!💕

I think mixing these two concepts together is really creative. I just love your design for Jack as a mixture of Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. He looks so menacing yet whimsical, which really matches the world that the songs create.

By the way, here's the links to both of the songs and animatics. I highly recommend giving them a watch if you haven't seen them yet. They're really such bangers with great visuals. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to the first song on repeat, and now I'm doing it again with the second.

Content Warning: The animatics contain violence against children, murder of a child, toxic relationships, trauma, and emotional manipulation. This post will touch on those themes as well as chronic illness, terminal illness, body horror, childhood abuse, and the Adults Only yandere horror and mature themes present in Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack and Sunshine in Hell.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

It's really interesting how Lydia the Bard takes elements of the original book and the various tales Disney has told about Peter Pan and Tinkerbell to make such a compelling world. I just love what was done with the story. It's a huge improvement over the original novel in my humble opinion.

In this world, fairies are born from a baby's first laugh and live only as long as the human that created them continues to believe in fairies. If the belief disappears, they die. You can really understand why Tinkerbell and the fairies have gone to such lengths due to how fragile their existence is.

The most human monsters are the ones with a motivation that you can understand and even sympathize with, even if you don't agree with what they're doing. It's truly horrifying what lengths a person might go if pushed to their breaking point.

Really, I'd argue that these these fairies have quite a few things in common with Jack. He's tied to the the love his sunshine has for him. He also exists hanging from the fragile thread of belief, and that desperate desire to survive has the potential to drive him to do truly terrible things. He's also close to human, but not quite, and he also has supernatural powers that have yet to truly be unleashed.

Assigning the Roles

So you want to know how I would combine Sunshine in Hell with the Tinkerbell Villain Song series into an AU? Hmm... that might be a bit of a challenge, but I'll take a crack at it!

While I really like the idea of Joseph being Captain Hook and Jack being a combination of Peter and Tinkerbell, I'm more inclined to think that MC fits the role of Peter Pan better in a lot of ways when using the songs as a general guide. Just change Tinkerbell's role from a false mother for the children she kidnapped to one of a yandere keeping his lover someplace they will never leave.

This isn't to discourage your take on blending these characters in your story in any way. I think your ideas sound like a lot of fun! Having an MC torn between Peter Pan/Tinkerbell/Jack and Captain Hook/Joseph would be a delightfully spicy love triangle, with plenty of opportunities for complicated emotions and yandere horror from both. I'm really curious to see what you do with the story.

All that's to say that I'm treating mashing these different stories together as a writing prompt and letting the ideas that the resulting collision sparks drag me off in whatever direction it takes me. Where will I go with this post? Nobody knows, not even me, but I hope you enjoy the ride.

Anyway, getting back to my thoughts about blending the stories together and who might best fit which role...

Tinkerbell is bound to Peter Pan and his belief in fairies, and she'll keep him locked up in a fantasy world to forever play pretend in order to survive. Jack is likewise creating a fantasy life for MC, distracting them from the real world to focus only on their love for him. He wants to take care of MC, and Tinkerbell put herself in the role of caregiver for Peter.

Jack and Tinkerbell won't allow anyone to destroy this fragile life they've built or steal away the one person they love and need more than anyone else.

What's also fitting is how torn Peter is about taking out Tinkerbell despite everything she's done. MC doesn't want to let go of Jack either, and the idea of him disappearing is devastating to them.

Then of course there's Alice's feelings on the matter and whether she fits in the role of Peter. Really, her personality is closest to Wendy's.

Then again, Peter Pan's personality is pretty... ehhh, not Jack. Same with Tinkerbell. Or any of the characters really. Jack is pretty one of a kind after all. So let's not worry about personality and just focus on narrative parallels and general vibes for now.

It's also possible to argue that Joseph as Peter Pan and Jack as Tinkerbell is also fitting. Jack is a persona that Joseph created, much like how fairies are created by human babies and forever connected to that child. Jack and Joseph are forever connected whether they like it or not.

Heck, the aspect of fairies being created by a baby's first laugh is fitting with this comparison. Jack is a clown, and clowns are supposed to make people laugh. I can imagine the actors being tied to fairies that look like their clown counterparts from the SunnyTime Crew Show.

Shifting tracks a bit... I'm reminded of a theory I once heard about Captain Hook representing adulthood encroaching on Neverland, which the eternal child Peter Pan would defeat time after time. In this way, his childhood games never end and the world of adulthood won't ever force him to grow up.

Joseph being Captain Hook while Jack is Peter Pan would be fitting with that sort of comparison. These characters would be reflections of each other. Hell, with both of them looking identical, it'd fit in with a theory I heard that Hook used to be a Lost Boy before Peter ever came to Neverland. In that sense, Peter is Hook's replacement.

Of course, this theory doesn't really fit in with the story we see play out in the animatics. Tinkerbell needs Peter to live, not Hook, so he's not replacing anyone. She's trapped a child in an eternal dream of childhood so that he remains innocent, ignorant, and pliable to her will. It's a chilling story of a person kidnapping a child to become the role of his mother and keep him for herself forever.

The themes of childhood and adulthood that are such a big part of the story of Peter Pan would be symbolic rather than literal when mixing it with the story of Sunny Day Jack. The main characters aren't going to be eternal children, but fully grown adults solidly in their mid-twenties. I mean it is an adults only story after all. I'm not letting children anywhere near the hanky panky.

There are heavy themes of nostalgia in Sunny Day Jack. Nostalgia is something we can't help but seek out, and we risk being chained down by it. I can see those themes working well with the themes of childhood innocence in conflict with the harshness of the adult world and how even as adults we can still cling to the comfortable familiarly and simplicity of childhood. MC can't let go of Ian, who they've known since the first grade in the game after all. In many ways, Ian and the relationship they had represents childhood, nostalgia, and simpler times.

Heh, imagine Jack as Tinkerbell, MC as Peter Pan, and Ian as Wendy. Or, really, any of the other love interests. No matter who is Wendy's role better grow some wings real fast...

All these possibilities and thematic similarities might be the crux of why I keep going in circles about the roles in this ramble. Tinkerbell has the yandere vibes that fit Jack, but Peter Pan also fits Jack because he whisks Wendy off to a magical land of adventure. However, in the story of Tinkerbell as the villain, Peter is one of her victims too, just like Wendy.

Hmm... this makes me think about how Nick was attacked by Jack, and how Jack seemed so shaken up by Shaun's appearance. Wendy can be any or all of the love interests. Her role could potentially be divided between the three of them. Hell, Wendy has two brothers, so the three Darling siblings could be good roles for all three love interests.

MC just has to spend time with other people, don't they. They can't just stay in Neverland where it's safe and always happy and be satisfied with only Jack, no, no. This is a world made just for them, so how is it not enough? Everything they ever wanted is here in this magical land of fantasy! Jack was being generous letting them go off and bring in other people to play in their world for a little while, but now MC wants to leave? Forever!?

Jack can't allow that.

So in this case, Wendy would be whatever love interest MC has fallen in love with that isn't Jack. Shaun, Ian, or Nick fit the role.

Pffffffffffff, I just got this hilarious thought of Barry as Captain Hook. I mean, if MC is Peter Pan, then the "daily grind" they have to deal with constantly is battling the pirates. Jack does try to help make their job more fun, which fits Tinkerbell's whole making everything into one big eternal adventure game for Peter to play.

Hmm... yeah, I think I like the vibes of this setup, so let's run with it. Here's the roles as I see them so far:

Tinkerbell: Jack

Peter Pan: MC

Wendy John, and Michael Darling: Shaun, Ian, and Nick.

Captain Hook: Barry

Mr. Smee: Carol

I know I mashed the Darlings together along with the other three love interests, but I figure since Wendy's role would be whichever love interest the MC chooses instead of Jack. In that sense, they're technically interchangeable for these roles until the MC chooses to pick a Wendy.

Though if I was to decide solidly who is who when casting the roles on just vibes alone...

Shaun gets the role of Wendy. He's important to MC and brings them out of the little fantasy world they were in after they slept with Jack. He's someone they care about deeply already and have some skinship going on with hugs and ear scritches. His presence is refreshing in their life. He's the closest person to them right now after the breakup with Ian.

So I suppose then that Ian would be John, as the second Darling child, and the youngest Michael would be Nick, as Nick was the last love interest to be added. Not much in the way of vibes, I know, but we'll just have to take what we can get. As I said before, they could be easily swapped around in these three roles.

Another way to go could be to make all the love interests Lost Boys, with Jack being Peter Pan, and we have MC as Wendy torn between them in typical dating sim style. Though that might be best left for a mashup between SDJ and vanilla Peter Pan. The Villain Tinkerbell story has decidedly changed a number of very important elements after all.

What role might Joseph have then if I was to give him one separate from Jack? Periwinkle, Tinkerbell's twin sister who is thus also tied to Peter Pan. We even get to see a cameo of her in the second song animatic, even if we don't see her wreaking havoc with her sister.

Adding Periwinkle to the mix with Tinkerbell fits thematically with the way Jack has divided his sense of self into Joseph and Sunny Day Jack. Granted, this is more of a division of identity than becoming two entirely separate people, but it fits the vibes.

Jack and Joseph aren't so separate that they're actually two different people altogether. In Sunshine in Hell, Joseph's personality bleeds all throughout Jack. He's wearing the mask of Sunny Day Jack and trying desperately to live the part. He knows all the SunnyTime Crew Show canon and has lost himself to the role, but all actors, consciously or not, weave themselves into the character they play.

Jack is a mixture of Joseph Cullman and Sunny Day Jack, whether he wants to admit it or not.

Soooooo... unless I want to go the route that he divided himself in two to banish Joseph from himself for good or something like that and eventually merges back into one after learning to accept himself... I don't think Joseph should have a separate role from Jack, at least not when we're talking about using Sunshine in Hell's continuity for this crossover AU.

Joseph and Sunny Day Jack are two aspects of Jack, so this poor mixed up man is sticking with one role to play, which is of a yandere fairy desperate to keep his sunshine. Forever.

Huh. A thought just struck me that further cements Jack in the role of Tinkerbell. Remember the post I made about the issues Jack has with death and how the idea of his sunshine growing old and dying will trigger his trauma? I'm sure he'd consider taking a page from this fairy's playbook by whisking MC off to land where they'll never grow old and die.

Well, now that I've settled the broad strokes of who gets what basic role, I think it's time to start narrowing our scope a bit. The characters might be cast in certain roles, but they each have their own distinct personalities that will change how the story unfolds. The choices they make can lead to good things happening, or a Bad End.

We also need to set the stage a bit in order to understand this world a little better.

Creating Neverland

The choices Alice makes aren't going to apply to most MCs. I mean heck, if she has the role of Peter Pan, she's picking her Tinkerbell Jack rather than Wendy. You all know by now that Alice and Jack are my OTP. She's going to choose to stay with him rather than run away with someone else.

This gives me a thought... Okay, now hear me out. What if the connection between fairies and humans is that they are soulmates?

Remember when I talked about how soulmates work in the Omegaverse AU? Soulmates in that universe share their strengths, pain, and pleasure. If one of them dies, the other will as well.

Yes, yes, I know the crux of the conflict in the animatic is that the fairies can die if their human stops believing, but I'm pretty sure that if Peter Pan died, Tinkerbell would too. Likewise I'd argue that Peter isn't going to survive in Neverland without Tinkerbell and her magic. Not to mention we don't know what might happen to a human who still believes in fairies when their fairy is murdered. The magical connection between them is still active at the time after all...

If the magic can create life, then it might be able to take it away just as easily.

Regardless of how it works in the song universe, we're talking about an alternate universe here, one that mashes in a few other stories with their own rules to how things work. Plus whatever vibes I feel the setting. I think we can be pretty free to do whatever we want here. As we should when writing our own stories. ;3

Really, it's interesting to think of how the fairy tied to their human child would technically be a little younger than them. After all, the baby has to be old enough to have their first laugh. Despite this, fairies appear to be created fully grown, which is how Tinkerbell could take the place of Peter Pan's real mother.

I'm not cool with the implications this sort of mother/child dynamic would have on any sort of romance between the pair, even a yandere one, so this is another detail I'm going to tweak. I'm going to say that fairies age at the same rate as the human that they're connected to. Jack and Alice are basically the same age mentally and physically.

The fairies aren't born beside the baby whose laugh brought them into the world. Instead, when a new fairy is born, it's in their homeland of Neverland, specifically Pixie Hollow. The older fairies communally raise the newborn fairy since they can't reproduce on their own and thus there's no direct bond of parent and child. Jack was no different than any other fairy in this regard.

Soulmates don't necessarily involve just two parties. Much like the example of Periwinkle, Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan, sometimes there is more than one fairy tied to a single human. The reverse can happen as well, when a fairy isn't created until all the humans they are bound to have their first laugh.

So, yes, polycule soulmates can happen in this universe. They're much more rare than pairs, but they do happen sometimes. While I won't be dividing Jack and Joseph into two people, the option is there for those who want to explore it~

The life of a fairy is often very short and getting shorter with each passing generation. Growing cynicism and lack of belief in all things magic among humans shortens how long a child might believe in in the existence fairies. Living a long life as a fairy is painfully rare in the present day.

Not every human can create a fairy, otherwise there would be hundreds of thousands of fairies born every single day given how many human babies are born daily. A human doesn't have to know of the existence of fairies to create one, as a baby wouldn't know what a fairy is when they laugh for the first time. It's theorized among fairy scholars that by being soulmates with a fairy, the human has a natural subconscious belief in them, as well as their own form of magic that they can't consciously access. The creation of fairies is a mysterious miracle that not even they truly understand even after centuries of research and experimentation.

As you might expect, the fairies have a vested interest in understanding how this magic that keeps them alive works when each generation's lifespan is shorter than the last.

Centuries ago, humans and fairies intermingled across the world. It was only natural, given that they are literal soulmates. Long ago a fairy would seek out their human and they would live together happily. The bond they had was special, sacred, and full of love. They completed each other.

Unfortunately, there was no shortage of those who would covet the magic of fairies for themselves. Humans have always outnumbered the fairies, even when belief in fairies and magic was strong. Though humans didn't have magic, they learned ways they could trap or trick a fairy to exploit them. Worst of all, the humans learned how to use the fairies' own pixie dust against them. The power of pixie dust alone was incentive enough to capture, torture, enslave, and even butcher such magical tiny beings. Every part of a fairy's body had magic to it as well and could be used as a potent ingredient for some brew, medicine, or hex.

This forced fairies to go into hiding, even if it meant leaving their human soulmate behind or never finding them to begin with. Unfortunately, these greedy humans were relentless, constantly hunting the fairies down no matter where they hid. They blackmailed and tortured the fairies' human partners in order to get their fairy soulmates.

Finally, in desperation the fairies banded together in a mssive undertaking, pooling an unimaginable amount of pixie dust and other magics together to create a safe haven far, far across the sea they came to call Neverland. It would be an impossible island to find unless someone knew to follow a specific star, as Neverland exists in a space that isn't really on any maps due to magic.

The fairies didn't go to Neverland alone, as they brought allies they could still trust along with them, which consisted mostly of other magical creatures like mermaids. Some fairies insisted on bringing their human partners as well, though was severe resistance to the idea. Understandably, even though fairies are tied so intimately with humans, most were resentful, wary, and afraid of all humans after all the cruelty they suffered. Even soulmates were seen with suspicion, especially when there were rumors that some soulmates betrayed their fairies.

Despite the pushback, a small number of humans were brought to Neverland, but only those bound to fairies who could be even remotely trusted. The pockets of human settlements in Neverland the present day, including the pirates, are the descendants of those original humans and the rare human a fairy would bring in later on from the outside world.

Fun fact: even in the original novel, people did age in Neverland. Lost Boys grew up and left, and even Tinkerbell had passed away well before the end of the novel. Only Peter Pan seems to be immune to the affects of aging and death.

Of course, the Disney movie/shows and the animatics play with different rules than the novel, but who stays an eternal child still seems to be selective. Either way, I'm changing the rules again since no one is staying a child forever in this AU.

I'm just going to say that because Neverland itself is made from the magic of countless fairies, the land itself will nourish and heal them. A fairy's body is eternally replenished as long as they remain in Neverland. This means that while they grow up at a normal rate, they more or less stop aging when their bodies are at peak health. Old age is more or less just the body slowly breaking down after all. This means that the fairies become immune from the affects of old age while in Neverland.

This applies to their soulmates as well due to them being connected to that same magic.

Of course, just because a human or fairy won't die of old age in Neverland doesn't mean that they can't be killed. They have a much greater resistance against death in Neverland and can take a lot of punishment there, but healing magic doesn't make them invincible. The pirates are a very real and constant threat, as are dangerous creatures like the crocodile.

Neverland was created to be a safe haven, but that doesn't make it a perfect paradise.

Hundreds of years of history pass, and for the majority of the fairies have given up on finding their human soulmates. Only a small percentage fairies in each generation have been brave enough to travel back to the human world even attempt to find them among the ever growing sea of humans.

A strong resentment towards humans among the fairies still lingers to this day, exasperated by the bloodthirsty pirate attacks and their ever dwindling life expectancy as belief in magic slowly dies out in the human world. With so many fairies dying without their human soulmate ever even knowing they even existed, the sentiment that the bond between them as sacred has mostly soured.

Not all fairies feel this way of course. Though an elder fairy is rare, they still exist. Not that you would realize they're a hundred or two years old, as they still appear to be in their prime. Despite the growing cynicism among the fairy population towards humanity as a whole, these unions between a fairy and their human that still hold up strong even to the present day serve to spark dreams and hope of love, completeness, and a long life in young fairies.

Jack was one such young fairy who believed in the love of his soulmate. He was absolutely certain that, whoever they were, they would be everything he could ever ask for and more.

However, there are many fairies that want to detach themselves from humanity entirely. To many, the bond between them and humans are shackles keeping them enslaved to the whims of human children.

Just like the humans experimented with fairy magic long ago, the fairies did their own experiments with pixie dust, humans, and other creatures. Countless medicines and treatments have been tried to varying degrees of success to keep a fairy alive even after the belief in them has died.

The fairies haven't found a magical cure to their plight, as no treatment comes without side-effects. A particular blend of pixie dust, human blood, and other varying ingredients is the most effective medicine they have to date, but prolonged usage after the bond between them and their soulmate is severed has led to crack-like scars that glow from beneath the skin. The treatment is hard on a fairy's body, and it must be taken regularly or they risk their body falling apart. Often the exact proportions of ingredients need to be adjusted in order to properly attune with that particular type of fairy's magic.

Elder fairies who need to use these treatments to stay alive often are extremely envious of the fairies who have their human soulmate with them in Neverland. They're prone to letting their bitterness show when teaching the younger fairies to be distrustful of humans in general. It also wasn't unheard of for a fairy who is only surviving on the medicine to take out their anger on another fairy's soulmate in a misdirected form of revenge for being abandoned by their human.

This leads to different factions among the fairies and arguments spring up among the elder fairies. Those rare few who still have their soulmate humans by their side are especially protective of them, even against other fairies, and are much more prone to going yandere in order to keep them safe.

Now that we have the foundation of the worldbuilding more or less set, let's start fitting our characters into this unique version of Neverland.

Alice in Neverland

As the animatic and the many, many spinoffs Disney produced have shown, there's quite a number of fairies in this world. It makes sense since the human population numbers in the billions. If even 0.0001% of those billions of humans created a fairy when they were a baby, that means there's a fair amount of fairies populating Pixie Hollow. Compared to the human population, the fairies are miniscule in number, but you might not think it if you only ever lived in Neverland.

I got to thinking then about what other characters could be fairies. Tinkerbell didn't act alone in the animatic, and she did want to save all her friends. If Jack is in her shoes, then perhaps he needs some fairy friends of his own.

Naturally, my first thought was the SunnyTime Crew. I mean, SunnyTime Town AU with fairies? Sounds fun to me. However, given that fairies would be very prone to becoming yandere in this sort of universe, I think we can go one step further and add a few more yanderes to the mix.

Bo and Elias are also fairies. Bam! Bet you didn't expect this AU to become a crossover, did you?

Well... if you read the tags you did, I suppose, but shush on that detail. I thought of the crossover only now as I'm writing this, and I'm adding in the tags as I go along.

Okay, yes, Elias isn't really a yandere, even if he has the potential. Not all fairies go yandere after all.

As you might expect, Bo's soulmate is Barbie and Elias' is Coraline. While this might strengthen the idea of Alice being cast in the role of Wendy instead of Peter Pan, since we have three siblings coming to Neverland in the original/Disney stories, but I'm giving the formula and the King family a bit of a twist here here.

Lycoris is a fairy as well, one of the rare few elder fairies living in Neverland with her soulmate Ambrose. They don't have biological children of their own in this AU, but they've become like parents to many generations of fairy children. Their love story has been a source of hope for many young fairies hoping to one day find their soulmate, such as Jack.

The pair are also targets for scorn among the fairies embittered by humans and the bond that is supposed to sustain them. Lycoris and Ambrose no longer live in Pixie Hollow itself, but a little ways outside the village due to various conflicts over the centuries. While Lycoris still visits often to help take care of young fairies (and remind her rivals not to cross her or touch her soulmate), Ambrose rarely stops by Pixie Hollow anymore himself to not stir up old resentments.

Lycoris is respected and admired among the fairies, even if she's still got her fair share of enemies among the other elders. There's been rumors that when a fairy tried to harm Ambrose, she didn't hesitate to kill them and ground their body up into pixie dust. Although Lycoris is a warm and loving motherly matron among the fairies, she won't shy away from a fight when protecting someone she loves.

Jack admired Lycoris and Ambrose's love story since he was very young, as well as the love stories of other fairies and their soulmates. Still, he wasn't blind to the sad reality of their situation. No fairy can be ignorant for long when death can come for them so young without any warning.

Few braved traveling to the human world to find their soulmate while their human still believed in fairies. The need to travel to the human world came ever younger with each generation. Often times that belief would die before they were prepared enough to risk the trip. Expeditions did happen fairly regularly by those brave enough to try, but it's hard to find one human among billions. Sometimes fairies never made it back to Neverland...

The expeditions weren't necessarily a complete success either. Often times the fairies would find their soulmate, but that human wouldn't want to leave their home. Some fairies compromised by regularly visiting them. If nothing else, these visits would remind their human of their existence and ensure that their belief in fairies never dies.

At least... not until the human does. When a human dies while believing in fairies, the results can be especially devastating to the fairy.

Jack couldn't stand waiting, despite the danger and discouragement of older fairies. Even as a young child he realized that the longer he waited until he was "ready" for the journey, the greater the chance that his soulmate would stop believing in him.

The last thing Jack wanted was to be forgotten.

Recklessly, Jack ran away, or rather flew away. He went to the human world ill prepared for what he was to find there. He saw aspects of humanity that made showed him that the cautionary stories he had been told all his life were not just fairy tales. Only when he was left alone to fend for himself in the human world did the danger become real to him.

Despite the dangers of the human world and many harrowing situations he went through, Jack refused to return to Neverland, not until he found his soulmate. He learned how to survive on his own, how to use violence if the need called for it. The human world jaded him, but he never let go of that desperate hope he would find the person who would love him more than anyone else in the world.

Lycoris and Ambrose's love story was a source of inspiration for fairies, and that in and of itself was something other fairies criticized. What they had was so rare that some argued that it gave all fairies, especially the young ones, false hope.

Fairies like Jack running away alone and ill prepared to the human to possibly never return was just one such consequence of that hope.

It wasn't just the humans who were growing more cynical as the years and generations went by.

Jack's tale might have ended as just another tragedy, but fate and his sunshine intervened.

Tracking a soulmate isn't easy in such a massive world where magic is absent. The human world feels dead to young fairies who have only lived in Neverland. Neverland is practically a different world from the one they left centuries ago. Magic is in the land, the water, and the very air they breathe. The human world is barren like a desolate desert or the Antarctic in comparison to their homeland. Over the centuries the human world has become a world wholly inhospitable to magical creatures.

Still, Jack persevered. Reckless and stubborn, he followed that thin thread that connected him to his soulmate. So many times he considered going back. This world was so big and cold. He was lost and overlooked by these countless giants filling it that he constantly had to hide from. He was almost run over or crushed, injured by various alien human-made technologies and got into dangerous battles with wild animals. Fairies had tamed the animals of Neverland for companionship and domestication. Jack was used to even large animals being friendly to fairies, so he was shocked to find that the ones in the human world saw little creatures like him only as a potential meal. Securing food and shelter was a constant worry for the young headstrong fairy, as was the gnawing loneliness.

It was when Jack had hidden in an old wooden box, starving, wounded, cold, and so very alone, that Alice found him.

Alice didn't have the best life in this AU. As you might expect, she didn't have Lycoris and Ambrose aren't her birth parents in this world. Although her name isn't Mary, she was born a Phoenix instead of a King in this world, with neglectful parents who cared far more for their son than their daughter.

It was difficult for Alice to connect with other people. She had a hard time due to being pretty nonverbal as a kid. Sadly, the Phoenix matriarch and patriarch didn't bother with getting her therapy or a puppet like Honey Bunny to help her to find her voice.

The only friend Alice could make was a boy who was just as lonely as she was. Ian didn't mind that Alice had a hard time talking. He was used to being silenced by his mom. They could just smile at each other and quiet play games at recess that didn't require much conversation.

Sadly, playdates after school weren't happening. It was too much trouble for the Phoenix parents to bother with, and Karen wasn't going to help her son get close to any girl. It was her duty to keep her son from being tempted by sin after all.

This left Alice at home when she wasn't at school. The backyard was practically the entirety of her world, and she spent countless afternoons pretending that it was a magical land full of wonderous sights and creatures. She decorated the yard with bundled sticks and painted stones that she arranged into landmarks she named like Unicorn Hills and the Rainbow River.

Her parents didn't care about what their daughter got up to on her own as long as Alice cleaned up her "mess" before bed. She was expected to clean up after herself and finish all her chores every single day without fail, no matter how long it took her. If she had to stay up until midnight, then so be it.

When not in use, Alice kept her treasures in an old wooden box she lovingly decorated with crayon and paint, tucked safely away in some overgrown rose bushes. It was the only place where Ezekiel wouldn't dig around in to mess with her things due to all the thorns and flowers. The thought that messing with girly things like flowers was the worst thing in the world to a boy like him who was repulsed by pink and cooties.

It was when Alice went to retrieve her box of treasures for an afternoon of fantasy that she discovered something beyond her wildest dreams.

The sight of a real, living fairy curled up with her things shocked and delighted Alice... until she noticed the poor thing was shaking and her baby blanket that he huddled in desperately for warmth was stained in red.

Alice gently scooped Jack up with the blanket and brought him into the house. Fortunately for her, her parents had taken Ezekiel out to a game, or maybe dinner or to hang out with his friends? They didn't really bother to specify anymore, just that they'd be gone and she was on her own for dinner. For once, she was grateful for their absence, as she was worried what they might do or say about the fairy. What if they forced her to abandon the poor thing like they did with that stray cat that she snuck in to get out of the rain?

Jack woke up to the sting of peroxide on his wound and, understandably, he was alarmed by the unknown human looming before him. He bolted away and got in a defensive stance while Alice backed up and raised her hands with open palms splayed as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

When their eyes met, there was a spark there, something powerful and important. Jack knew, he just knew that this human child before him was his soulmate. Alice didn't identify the feeling as anything more than further excitement and concern for the little fairy, but the moment still struck her as important.

Jack was so relieved. After everything he had gone through, he finally succeeded. He finally found his soulmate... his sunshine. She was just as bright and beautiful and kind as he always knew that she would be.

Alice still struggled to speak beyond giving her name, but Jack had no problem filling the silences. He introduced herself and told her all about Neverland and all the adventures he went through just to find her. She hung on every word, only interrupting him to finish treating his injuries and get him the first real meal that wasn't scrounged scraps since he left Pixie Hollow.

Although only a little recovered from his ordeal, Jack didn't want to waste anymore time. He did his best to convince Alice to come back with him to Neverland. It was so much better than this awful, dangerous place, full of fun things to do and see.

Oh sure Neverland had its dangers too, but Jack knew better than to mention that just yet.

Alice was hesitant, since she wasn't allowed to leave the house. Her parents would scold her, punish her.

Alice squirmed in place, her eyes nervously darting in the direction of the front door. "Mum and Da... they'll be mad."

Jack smiled, brimming with confidence. "Well, then we better leave before they get back."

Despite the difficulty Alice had conveying her worries to Jack, he didn't get frustrated with her fragmented sentences and incomplete thoughts. He learned all about how reluctant humans are to leave their home and family behind, and he was prepared. He had spent many hours planning just what to say to convince his sunshine to come with him.

After everything Jack went through to get this far, a little white lie was nothing.

"Don't worry, we'll be back before they know you were even gone."

Needless to say, they never came back to that house.

It wasn't all that hard for Jack to convince Alice to leave, all things considered. Her parents and brother left her alone all the time, so why shouldn't she do the same? She couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a real adventure with magic and fairies.

When Jack told Alice that with his help she would be able to fly, there was no keeping her there, no matter what punishment she might face later.

The thrill of flight was better than anything Alice experienced before. It gave her a sense of freedom that her life lacked until that point. She couldn't help but laugh and even crowed in delight as she and Jack dipped, dived, and danced together across the night sky.

Neverland was everything Jack promised and more. The other fairies were not just shocked that he came back alive after so long, but that he brought his soulmate with him. Though many fairies were wary of her presence, there were plenty who welcomed her arrival.

Alice was the first human brought to Neverland in several years. Her presence reignited the hope among the fairies, which only grew stronger the longer she chose to stay.

Although Alice did occasionally miss her family and felt the sting of guilt from leaving them behind, these negative feelings nothing compared to the wonder and joy she found in Neverland. A magical land where she could play all day with fairy friends who understood her was like a dream she didn't want to wake up from.

Besides, Jack did a good job of distracting her from any sad thoughts. Whenever he noticed Alice starting to get moody or lost in her thoughts, he always managed to find something to catch her interest or soothe her worries.

Alice learned to open up more during her time in Neverland. She blossomed like a flower that finally had been given sunlight for the first time. She became more outgoing, energetic, and bold. She was adventurous and even a bit wild, learning to unapologetically express herself and enjoy what made her happy.

Jack helped her bloom, unlike her parents.

Lycoris took it upon herself to mother Alice, and Ambrose became like a father to her, helping her get used to being a human among fairies. In time, they became her parents by bond rather than blood. They were far better parents to her than Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix ever were.

Yes, in a way she was reborn from being a Phoenix like Mary was to find a loving new family.

Much like in the canon universe, Alice was only the start of this family. After Jack's success, other young fairies were galvanized to find their soulmates. Bo was especially incensed. He and Jack were good friends, and he was pissed when Jack ran away without a word to anyone, especially him. Jealousy was added on top of this after learning that his friend went on a grand adventure and brought back his soulmate. The very nerve! Jack should have brought Bo along to find his soulmate too!

Bo wanted to run off and do the same as Jack, but the older fairies weren't going to let the young ones rush recklessly off into danger if they could help it. Jack might have been successful in his mission, but he had more than one close call.

Still, not the harrowing tales of what his friend went through were enough to deter Bo from trying. Knowing what Jack had to face wasn't about to hold him back from demanding that help him to make up for leaving him behind before.

After Alice got settled in Neverland, she learned a bit about the bond fairies had with their human. Knowing that she and Jack had this special bond in turn made her feel special. She didn't fully understand everything due to her young age, especially since she wasn't told everything about the fairies' dire situation, but she understood that he would be her best friend forever.

Alice also understood that the other fairies needed their partners too, and she wanted to help.

Jack didn't intend to bring Alice along when he and Bo planned to sneak away from Neverland. He only let her know that he was leaving so that she wouldn't worry about him while he was gone. Plus a shameless part of him kind of wanted to hear her tell him that she wanted him to say or that she'd miss him. He didn't really want to be parted from her, but he wanted to help Bo.

Jack might have found his sunshine, but that didn't rid him of his fear of losing his friends. The threat of death still loomed over every fairy who still didn't find their soulmate and bring them safely to Neverland.

Alice surprised Jack when she insisted on coming with him. He was reluctant at first, of course, afraid that she might decide to go back home even though she was so happy in Neverland.

It was when Alice expressed that she didn't want Jack to get hurt again and that she didn't want to be separated from him that his resolve melted.

The three children came up with a clever plan to sneak off on their own, but they didn't expect Lycoris to see through it. Fortunately, rather than snitching on them and ruining everything when she caught them, instead she insisted that she was coming along to help keep them safe.

Although Bo was determined and had help on his quest, the fairies were out of their depth when it came to the ways of the human world. Fortunately between Lycoris' wisdom, Jack's prior experiences, and Alice's knowledge of how human society worked, they were able to make the journey unscathed.

Eventually, with Bo leading the way, they came across a feisty little girl.

Barbie was someone deemed as a problem child, with guardians who were an even bigger problem than she was. The less said about her home life the better. She was only too happy to leave her broken home behind with a group of fairies and a strange but kind girl.

This was the start of something big for Neverland. It was also the start of a group known as the Lost Kids. It was a name Alice came up with for herself and the other human children. Her logic was that they were always meant to be in Neverland, since they are the most important people in the world to their fairies. They were just "lost" in the human world until they could be found and brought home to Neverland.

As you might be guessing, the rest of the Lost Kids include all of the children who would be Alice's siblings in the regular canon. Coraline was found next, then Jem, and so on.

Like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell going on trips to the human world parodically and bring back more Lost Boys, Alice and Jack would go to help bring back the Lost Kids. She enthusiastically embraced this quest to help find every fairy's human partner and acted both like an older sibling and leader to the other children. She played a big part in convincing the children to leave their homes for a land of magic and adventure.

When the Lost Kids grow up, they gain a different name, one a bit more unsettling to her in retrospect - the Lost Ones.

The success of more lost children coming and happily staying in Neverland galvanized the fairies like never before. Jack especially felt good. He was a hero. So many of the fairies looked up to him, and admiration for him only grew as he and Alice brought back more soulmates to Neverland.

It was addicting to be so loved and needed by so many people. It was also a heavy burden to bear.

As Jack grew, he had a better sense of the weight of his responsibilities. Though he tried his best to lead as many expeditions as possible with the help of his sunshine, it never felt like enough. There were too many fairies who needed his help. Too many of his friends suffered and died before their soulmate could be found.

Living With Death

Although Coraline was the third Lost Kid found and brought to Neverland, she almost never made it. Her health was fragile, and a near death almost ended not only her life Elias' as well.

When a fairy dies because of the death of their soulmate or from lack of belief, they break down, crumbling away to pixie dust.

Before Coraline was found, her heart had stopped beating due to cardiac arrest. Although doctors managed to restart her heart and revive her, for a full minute she was by all accounts dead.

That minute couldn't have happened at a worse moment for Elias.

Another fairy by the name of Violet had gotten into a fight with Elias. She and her brother Gerald attacked him to steal some treasures he possessed. With a single knife and a terrible moment of opportunity and chance, she sliced off Elias' head when his body started to break down from Coraline's brief interlude with death.

Fairies have been fighting with death for centuries. They've worked hard to come up with a way to sustain themselves even without the belief of their human soulmate. When a fairy is born now, they are given regular treatment all throughout their life with certain magics and medicines. This is with the hope to keep them alive just a little longer should they suddenly find themselves alone when their human stops believing in them. It buys them time to be found so that they can treated and hopefully survive the loss.

It was thanks to these medicines, Coraline's revival, and the healing properties of being in Neverland that Elias didn't die even when his head was separated from his body. Jack was the one who found him in time, and the ghastly moment forever scarred him. The fairies scrambled to save Elias' life and through a miracle of magic they somehow managed it.

Sadly they never could properly reattach Elias' head. It's a downright miracle that he's still alive even though it's now floating a little above his neck at all times, with pixie dust always leaking out from the edges. It's fortunate that fairies don't quite have the same biology as humans and are made more of magic than flesh.

Elias requires regular infusions of magic and medical treatment, but at least he's still alive.

Naturally Violet and Gerald, were punished for their savage attack on Elias. After they failed to deny their involvement, they claimed they hadn't intended to kill him, but that didn't save them from punishment.

Jack personally saw to it that they would never hurt anyone like that ever again. The scene sometimes still appears in his nightmares, as do other deaths and near deaths he had the misfortune to witness.

The close call with Elias drove Jack to find his soulmate next like they did for him and Bo. Jack hadn't really planned to keep going back to the human world after helping Bo. He didn't originally have a grand plan to save all the fairies.

But too many fairies he knew had fallen... and seeing the gruesome way Elias nearly died, his life hanging by the fragile thread of some child's belief, made more apparent by this wound that will never truly heal...

It changed something in Jack. Each hardship, each close call, and the success and love and found... the admiration he gained from the other fairies for what he accomplished...

Jack knew something had to change. They couldn't just hide away. Their attempts to separate themselves from their humans was no way to live. He knew full well the happiness he felt with Alice by his side. He couldn't imagine a life without her now.

So many fairies were living a hollow life. They were alone. Even if they hid away in Pixie Hollow surrounded by other fairies, that didn't take away the emptiness they all must have felt.

Jack didn't realize he had this emptiness until Alice filled it. Being with her completed him in a way no one else could. He would do anything to stay with her, to forever bask in her gentle warmth.

Now that Jack knew how empty he used to be, he couldn't imagine going back to it. Worse, he couldn't imagine that connection severed completely. Even when they were apart, a distant part of him was still tied to Alice, still felt the barest hint of her warmth.

There were fairies that still struggled to live even after they lost even that whisper of warmth. There were even those who stubbornly continued to keep going even as it damaged and degraded their bodies. They had been hollowed out to live an empty life of pain and misery.

Now Jack fully understood the bitterness those fairies held. He could never wish that fate on anyone, let alone his friends.

Jack couldn't imagine living in a world without his sunshine.

Seeing a friend of his come so close to death in such a gruesome way changed everything for Jack.

Despite such a traumatic incident, Elias tried his best to stay optimistic. He was still kind to others despite what he had gone through. Even if his body had been changed, he learned to adapt and accept that change.

Jack didn't want to see his friends be forced to accept a pain that would never truly go away. He wanted to change things for all of them so that no one would have to suffer anymore.

The only problem was how.

It was an issue the fairies had struggled with for centuries with no real solution. The best thing Jack could do for his friends was to keep taking trips to the human world, keep finding more soulmates, more Lost Kids, and bring them to Neverland.

There were other fairies who could help Jack come up with ideas. Even if many of the few elder fairies were so bitter, they had much wisdom to share.

They also had many dangerous seeds to plant and take root in fertile young minds.

Some children needed more convincing than others, despite the magic and wonder of Neverland. Not every child was willing to abandon their home and family for some faraway land. As Jack grew older, he got better at communicating with children and figuring out what they needed the most. He found a friendly smile and some careful but encouraging words could do wonders to befriend them.

Alice was an immense help in his quest. With all her experience guiding the other children, her kind and empathetic nature, and her infectious energy, she served as a shining example of how life in Neverland could bring someone endless days filled with joy and fun.

By the time Alice was an adult, she no longer thought about her biological family at all. She didn't think about whether or not they or her brother might miss her. She long assumed that they forgot about her, so she soon forgot about them.

But not every family was like the one she left behind. Not every family was abusive like the one Barbie had been in. Coraline didn't have such a terrible living situation, but still she didn't hesitate to leave her life and her loved ones behind behind.

Coraline knew that she was dying. Doctors had told her so, and she could feel death creeping up on her. Her body was slowing down and she spent more and more time in hospitals listening to the sound of her parents crying. She knew she was going to leave her parents behind and make them sad no matter what she chose. So what was the difference between dying and leaving for Neverland?

At least Coraline could have one last adventure outside of the sterile hospital room walls.

It was fortunate that the fairies and their magic were better equipped to keep Coraline alive than human medicine. When in Neverland, she started to recover, much to her shock. It was a bittersweet revelation when she learned that Neverland could help her stay alive... but only if she stayed in this place that always radiated magic.

Coraline wanted to live. She was happy with Elias, the Lost Kids, and everyone else she befriended in Neverland. She chose to stay. She never even considered leaving the one place where she might live.

Even still... sometimes Coraline couldn't help but stare longingly up at the stars, missing all the people she loved that she had to leave behind.

Even with that lingering longing from Coraline, there was no question that bringing her to Neverland was the right thing to do. She and Elias were alive and they were together.

Bo and Barbie were together. They often teased each other and could play rough, but they were happy. Barbie never wanted to see the human world again.

Whenever Alice started to wonder if what they were doing was right, Jack would be right there to soothe her fears.

They were doing the right thing. Jack knew that this was the right thing, and every day that passed and every child they brought back proved it to him all the more. All they had to do was be happy together and help others find their happiness too.

The only aspect of her former life that Alice looked back on with any lingering regret was the lonely little boy that she left behind.

Rot at the Roots

Although the focus of their expeditions to the human world was on bringing back soulmates to Neverland, there came a day that Alice wanted to deviate from that mission at least once.

Ian had no ties to fairies. If he ever believed in them, his belief in anything magical was stomped out long ago by his mother. When his only friend disappeared, he was left more lonely and isolated than ever.

You can only imagine his surprise when his lost friend came knocking on his bedroom window one night, especially since his bedroom is on the second floor.

Ian could hardly recognize Alice when she first visited him. At this point it had been a few years since she disappeared. Unlike the shy, quiet girl he once knew, she was more outspoken and energetic. She excitedly told him all about her her adventures in Neverland and that she wanted to bring him along to live there too.

Jack was... reluctant, to put it mildly. He didn't like this plan, though he couldn't come up with a good argument to dissuade Alice when she had her heart set on this.

Ian wasn't bound to a fairy. He had the potential to be a threat like the pirates. They were humans unbound to fairies, as greedy and cruel as all the old stories.

More than that, Jack couldn't shake this unease he felt that Ian was someone important enough that Alice would go out of her way to bring him to live with them.

Still... Jack couldn't deny his sunshine something that she truly wanted. Alice wanted to see her friend and to make him happy like she had the other Lost Kids. Even if Ian didn't have a fairy, it would be okay, since she knew already that Ian was a good person. Alice trusted Ian.

Somehow knowing that Alice trusted Ian didn't reassure Jack as much as he knew that it should.

Although Ian missed Alice and was dazzled by the idea of adventure in a magical world, he felt like he couldn't leave his mother. For as cruel as Karen could be, he felt like he owed it to his mother to be there for her and do as she said like a good, obedient son.

Still, Ian couldn't pass the chance up. He did go to Neverland, but for a short trip. Much like Wendy in the novel, he had frequent trips to Neverland over the years as he grew up.

As you might expect, Karen went ballistic the first time Ian disappeared. It was a while before he could summon the courage to do it again, even though he missed the adventure and thrills he found in Neverland upon coming home. It was a place out of a wonderous, if sometimes scary, dream.

Ian also couldn't forget about Alice. She had changed so much since he last saw her, but in the most enchanting of ways. She was confident and bubbly, still so kind and so courageous. She laughed in the face of danger and even faced off against pirates without fear. She had a light in her that shined like no one else he had ever met.

Ian couldn't help but fall in love with Alice.

I guess despite what I said earlier, Ian falls into Wendy's role here... but then again not quite. He has some similarities in the way he's dazzled by Alice like Wendy was captivated by Peter, but Ian and Wendy have vastly different personalities and vibes. While Wendy knew how to lead and guide others as a mother figure, Ian only ever learned to follow others' lead, and he struggled with knowing how to nurture others.

Unlike Wendy in the movie or animatic, Ian isn't going to be convincing the Lost Kids to leave Neverland. He doesn't have the courage to stay, so how could he dare ask any of them to leave such a magical place behind? How could he convince them beyond this feeling that Neverland was too good to be true and that they couldn't stay in a childish world of fantasy and adventure forever.

As the years went by and Ian distanced himself from his mother, he made more trips to Neverland. When he was living on his own, he could spend a bit longer there without anyone realizing where he had gone. He never wanted to stay in Neverland forever, but he kept going there to spend time with Alice.

For as amazing as Neverland is, Ian prefers the more relative calm of the human world. Pirates and dangerous magical creatures might sound like fun set pieces for an adventure, but they are harrowing to face in reality. He also has dreams he wants to achieve one day, and those dreams don't involve Neverland.

There's only one part about Neverland that Ian wants to keep dreaming about. He can't help but dream of one day convincing Alice to stay with him forever. They could even get married! She'd be such a beautiful bride... Maybe if he became someone rich and famous, someone even more amazing than a world full of fairies and magic, then maybe she'd choose him instead of Neverland.

Alice only ever saw Ian as her childhood friend. Though she was sad that he didn't want to live in Neverland, she was happy when he could spend time there to have fun with her and the Lost Kids.

Even after Alice grew up, her feelings for Ian didn't change. Much to his dismay, it was clear to him that she still saw him as that child that she befriended in the first grade. As much as he hated it, he also couldn't help but see that Jack was the person she loved the most.

Ian did try to become friends with Jack. He even envied Jack... but they never quite got along.

Jack tried not to hate Ian, but it was difficult a lot of the time. Alice was his soulmate, not Ian's, and yet Ian dared to lust after her anyway. Jack could see the way Ian looked at her, especially after they hit puberty.

It was only natural. Alice had grown into a beautiful woman, a free spirit who shone as bright as the sun. Her curvy body practically demanded Jack to constantly drink her in. He couldn't get enough of her softness, her warmth.

Jack desired Alice beyond words, and he hated that he saw something similar to what he felt in Ian's eyes.

The audacity. How dare Ian. Jack was being so generous to share his pixie dust to allow Ian to fly and spend time with his sunshine. Too generous.

Jack knew all about the fairy tales of human greed and what it had cost his people.

Alice had to divide her time with so many people. Jack was so content and happy with her. He trusted her. He trusted that she would never, ever leave him. She wanted to be with him. She promised never to forget him or stop believing in fairies. She wanted to spend forever with him. Yet time with her never seemed to be enough. So many people demanded her time and his.

There was so much to do, so many people to help, so many responsibilities.

So many fairies were still dying. Bringing more Lost Kids to Neverland helped, but it was never enough.

Even with his sunshine by his side, even with all the love Alice showed to Jack, he couldn't quite shake his insecurities or jealousy. The fairies weren't safe. Sure he saved his friends and was trying to save more, but it wasn't enough.

Humans were still greedy. They were content to discard and forget them unless they got more and more. By the time Jack was grown, he learned all too well that kind humans like Alice and the Lost Ones were the minority. They were the exception that proved the rule.

Jack was giving more and more of his time and sharing his sunshine far more than he ever wanted. He was already giving so much, and this brat Ian dared to want more?

It was petty of him, maybe even cruel. Jack couldn't help but play little tricks on Ian. Nothing too bad of course! Alice would be sad if Ian died, and the last thing Jack wanted was for Ian to take up even more space in her heart.

Plus, Jack didn't want to cross that line. Not yet. Not if he could help it. Killing someone was something he could never take back. He had tried so hard not to cross that line with anyone after being scarred by so much death all of his life...

Jack didn't want to be someone who killed people. He had so many who looked up to him, and he liked the person they saw in him. Even if his responsibilities were heavy, it all made him feel like he had a sense of worth.

Jack had become important, and important people can never be forgotten.

It got worse when Shaun entered the picture. Alice became friends with him right away. Whether Shaun has a fairy or two or not, it's left up in the air for now. I'm a bit iffy on how or when he and Alice meet. Maybe it was when he was a child or when they were both grown.

Hmm... I say that, but now I think of that image of kid Shaun in the Childhood Friends AU, and I can't help but snatch that cute little boy up. Little Shaun saw Alice flying through the sky and just had to make friends with her. He even got permission to go to Neverland from his parents.

I mean, really, how could Antwon and Leticia not give Shaun permission to go on a magical adventure of a lifetime. Hell, they'd want to come along, and it'd certainly be one way to convince Shaun to go to Neverland if he has a fairy soulmate.

Even if Shaun has a fairy bound to him, a part of Jack can't help but feel a bit jealous. Alice bonded with Shaun far too quickly and she got comfortable enough for hugs so fast.

Still, if Shaun has a fairy, he's not actually a threat. He has a soulmate, and that's not Alice. Maybe he and Jack could become friends in this universe too.

Of course, just because Shaun has a fairy doesn't mean he can't wind up with a crush on Alice. Feelings can be complicated that way. Of course his fairy would certainly not be happy with that crush unless they were interested in open relationships.

I mean, all a human really has to do is keep believing in their fairy. If they're both interested in an open relationship rather than monogamy, then why shouldn't they enjoy it?

After all, the human settlements and pirates living in Neverland had to come from somewhere after all. Humans and fairies might not be able to breed, but humans with other humans have mastered that ability.

Ian has some similar feelings of jealousy towards Shaun when they finally meet. It pushes him to strive even harder to achieve his dreams to become a man that Alice would want to be with before her heart is stolen away forever.

Hell, if anything, Ian is more jealous of Shaun than he is of Jack, shockingly enough.

Oh, sure Ian knew that Alice loved Jack more than him, but Jack was just a fairy. It was hard for him not to see the fairies as child-like due to their size and fantastical nature. It could never work out between them, surely.

If Ian just tried harder, if he just proved that he was a better choice than Jack, Shaun or anyone else, then maybe one day he could convince Alice to come home with him. Maybe one day she would understand that she needed to be among her own kind.

Like the fairies that resented humans, Ian too believed that humans didn't belong in Neverland.

Ian didn't know anything about soulmates. He didn't know how fairy society worked or how delicate their existence was. He didn't know the importance of human belief. It wasn't information meant for outsiders. Without a fairy partner, he would always be seen as an outsider.

To Ian, Jack was more of an annoyance and an obstacle. He resented the pranks the fairy pulled on him all the time. He could never prove it was Jack, but he just knew. The looks Jack gave him sometimes and those all too knowing remarks that never quite crossed the line into overt cruelty reminded him of so many bullies he dealt with all his life.

Jack never allowed Ian the chance to spend time alone with Alice for long, especially after they were grown. He also rubbed his closeness with Alice in Ian's face, often resting on her body or snuggling into her cleavage right in front of Ian.

It was innocent when they were still children. As adults, it was anything but. Still, Jack never did anything overtly sexual to Alice in public. He just made his suggestions of their relationship increasingly clear to Ian, even if Ian refused to believe it.

Jack didn't hold himself back because he didn't want to do naughty, naughty things to Alice while others were watching. Oh heavens no. Jack would make love to Alice in front of an entire audience if she wanted.

No, Alice preferred to keep their more intimate moments private, and Jack respected his sunshine's comfort.

Yeah, I know, the inciting incident of the animatic is Peter falling in love with Wendy, but you know me by now. Alice will always choose Jack, just like Jack will always choose Alice. She's not going to fall for Ian, Shaun, or Nick when she has Jack.

Alice fell in love with Jack long ago. Although he fell in love with her the day they met, her feelings grew slowly over time. Love snuck up on her on quiet cat paws until one day the realization pounced on her like a leopard, and she finally understood just how deep her feelings truly were for him.

Alice loves Jack. He's her partner, and she trusts him completely with her heart. Because of their size and species different, someone might be able to mistake their relationship as platonic. Love is clearly there, but someone like Ian can convince themselves that surely it their relationship is nothing more than friends or as found family.

Well, if you're not into extreme size kink, of course. Plenty of artwork online suggests how that sort of size difference might work for sexy times. We all know how creative Jack can be, especially when it comes to taking care of his sunshine and showing her just how much he loves her~

Fortunately, this is an issue that's long since been addressed by fairy kind. There's a commonly known spell that allows them to grow in size for a limited period of time, or to shrink someone else down to their size.

I mean, humans and fairies being soulmates and lovers is something that's existed since as long as fairies have. It'd be silly to assume that they haven't come up with at least a few workarounds for the size difference by now.

While Alice hasn't mentioned to her friends that she regularly is shrunk down to Jack's size for cuddle time, Jack has occasionally shown off his larger transformation for some human-sized surprise cuddles.

Seeing the tiny fairy suddenly turn into a 6'6" giant can intimidate anyone. Ian was shocked when Jack suddenly blew up to such massive proportions before spooning a giggling and blushing Alice from behind.

Those muscles of his suddenly don't look quite so tiny unthreatening anymore.

It's when Jack actually becomes full size in front of Ian that Ian finally is forced to see Jack as a real threat.

Not that Ian ever really had a chance of convincing Alice to leave Jack for him. This just forces him to start to see the truth.

Really, I'd argue that the inadequacy Ian would feel when comparing himself to Jack at giant size might hurt him worse than any prank Jack has ever pulled on him.

While Ian isn't really a threat, Jack can't totally shake away his feelings of insecurity. The introduction of Shaun and then Nick will only give Jack more reasons to feel uneasy. While I don't have solid ideas how and when Nick comes into the picture, and Shaun's place in the timeline isn't quite solid yet, it feels fitting that the presence of the other love interests unintentionally provoke Jack's yandere instincts.

These potential love interests feel like a threat to Jack. The pirates are a threat, even for as ridiculous as Captain Barry Hook can be sometimes. All the dangers that exist in this cold, cruel world can be a potential threat just waiting to steal his sunshine away from him forever.

The worst threat of all is the fragility of the fairy race. It's not just the lives that are lost, it's the fear. They constantly live in fear of losing their lives or the lives of their friends at any time.

It seems so easy for humans to just... stop believing. It's so cruel, so unfair.

Why did fairies have to live such a fragile existence.

While Jack has Alice to give him a solid sense of security, not even she can keep him safe from all of these fears. Seeing what happened to Elias up close, as well as other incidents, burned the seriousness into his brain like a hot iron.

So, much like the second animatic, a more permanent solution seems to be necessary.

The problem is the humans' lack of faith in fairies. The fairies were made to be loved. They were born when humans find joy in their lives for the first time. They are their human's joy and vice-versa.

They were not meant to be forgotten or exploited for selfish greed.

The humans needed to remember that fairies exist. They must be loved, adored, worshipped.

If humanity won't care about fairies, then they will feel the same fear the fairies have had to live with for centuries.

Jack doesn't talk about these secret plans that he and other fairies start plotting in the shadows. He doesn't want to worry Alice. Her heart is already heavy enough with the burden of convincing kids to leave their families for a better life in Neverland. She's so kind and loving. What they have in mind...

Well, it's just better that Alice and the other Lost Ones are kept unaware. All they have to do is be happy and to make their partners happy. The fairies that have their soulmates are the happiest fairies in the world. Nothing good can come of weighing their hearts down with this terrible guilt and shame for what must be done.

Jack and his conspirators will ensure that all of the fairies can be just as happy. They'll take the weight of this burden.

All the fairies look to Jack as an example. He's their beacon of hope. He can't let them down... even if it means doing things he knows are wrong, so very, very wrong.

If the world understood the bond between fairies and their soulmates... if humans were made aware of the importance of fairies and their belief, even if because they feared what might happen otherwise... then no one would be foolish enough to even try to take away a fairy's soulmate.

It might be difficult, it might be harsh, it might even be cruel... but it's for the best. Everyone, both fairies and humans, will be far, far happier in the end.

It's for the best. Jack has to convince himself of that, just like many of his co-conspirators. The more jaded and bitter among them have no doubts, and they're looking to him to be strong. He can't let his resolve weaken when everyone needs him.

Of course, Alice won't be happy when she learns what Jack intends to do or how far he intends to go. She loves him so deeply and is willing to sacrifice so much for him, but this is wrong. This is going way too far.

Forcing humans to believe in fairies through fear and blind worship won't save anyone.

Alice might not be in love with someone else, thus pushing Jack to murder them, but that doesn't mean she can't find herself in opposition to him. She doesn't need the motivation of revenge to motivate her to stop her lover from conquering the world with a terrible display of magic and power.

Jack and Tinkerbell are two very people, so even if they have similar motivations, they won't necessarily make the same choices. Same for Alice and Peter Pan, or any of the other characters in familiar roles. There can be similar broad strokes, but things change in the fine details, and the story can go in unique directions.

While a lot of elements of the animatics apply in this AU, events aren't going to go the same way.

Jack won't treat Alice like a child and mock her, taunting her to kill him. He knows her better than that. He knows that her heart is his, just like his is hers. He knows that she would never want to hurt him. He doesn't want to hurt her either. That's why he'll talk her out of opposing him, stop her from getting hurt trying to resist plans if he has to.

Likewise, Alice doesn't want Jack to hurt. She knows him. She wants fairies and humans to live together happily in peace like they were meant to. She knows that's what he truly wants too, not this insanity! Conquering the humans might force them to believe in fairies and prevent them from being a threat against fairies ever again, but no one will be happy this way!

Jack might have convinced himself that it won't bother him, but Alice knows him better than that. She knows just how deeply it would damage his already scarred heart.

There has to be a better way. Alice might not know what that way is yet, but she knows what it's like to be contained and controlled. She knows what it's like to be forced to love people who don't actually love her in return. Forcing humanity like this won't result in real love, but submission. Even the soulmates yet to be found will learn to fear their fairies instead of love them. She can't let Jack and the rest of the fairies go down this evil path.

Jack adores Alice and her kind heart, but it's hard not to see her perspective as being naïve. He learned so much of humanity's cruelty and greed. She and the Lost Ones... they're the exception, not the rule... and even they can be tempted to forget the person who truly completes them.

How many fairies have died because their soulmate stopped believing in them?

Jack doesn't want to be cruel, but that's what this delicate existence fairies have to live in is. The world is so cold and cruel. Threats will always come for them unless they fight to eliminate them completely.

Love is beautiful and wonderful and warm. Love is the reason for living... but love alone won't keep them safe. Sometimes a firmer hand is necessary.

Even if that means forcing humans to live with a fear comparable to the one that the fairies have lived with for generations.

The conflict between them is Alice trying to talk Jack and the other fairies down. She has to stop him, even if it means opposing him.

But Alice won't take the shot. She won't even consider shooting Jack or attacking him with her knife. She might've fought pirates on a regular basis, gotten into sword fights so many times, but this is Jack.

Instead, Alice would just be trying to restrain him. She would pin him down with tears in her eyes and beg him to stop. I'd argue seeing that his sunshine in tears and hurting so much because of his actions might do more damage to Jack than an arrow through the heart.

Overall, I can see fairy Jack going down a similar villainous path as Tinkerbell did in the animatic, even if Alice were to choose him rather than any other love interest. He might be safe and loved, but that doesn't stop his heart from being wounded and scarred from all of the death and fear he and his kind have had to live with.

Of course, with my preference for happy endings with my OTP, I don't see this AU having a Bad End. Sure there will be conflict, drama, and plenty of tears, but there's so much love too.

Jack and Alice are soulmates after all. They can't live without each other, nor do they want to.

Somehow, Alice will get through to Jack. Even if it seems impossible, they'll somehow find a better way so that no one has to suffer anymore. Love is stronger than fear.

I think I'll wrap things up on that optimistic note. I'm kind of surprised that this post got as long as it did, but that's what happens when you do a lot of worldbuilding. There's just so many parts of the world and its characters to touch on. For as long as I've gone on, I've still barely scratched the surface!

Please let me know if you would like me to revisit this AU in the future. I hope you enjoyed my attempt at combining Sunny Day Jack, these animatics, and the world of Peter Pan and Neverland in general into one big cohesive story. Thank you for reading!

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

I once had a idea of a couple of villains which are everything ladybug and cat noir aren’t

The boy is the well mannered and destructive person who’s always honest, The girl is the chaotic and overwhelming person who always has a plan

Yet both hate Ladybug and cat noir for their own reasons

The boy doesn’t hate cat noir but hates liars and abusive people, and when he discovers monarch was Gabriel (threw my kid through Paris) agreste and how the heroes never defeated him, he goes off and accidentally ruins Adrien’s life (also Felix’s life for stealing the miraculous, lying to kagami about it and trying to ruin Adrien’s life, he would break the bird boy’s spine), and even his hero life by using cat noir has a example of a bad hero (abandoning Paris a couple of times, letting his emotions get in the way, never taking things seriously, always flirting and always getting brainwashed for he’s incompetence). None of it is personal for the boy but he admits he doesn’t care if Adrien gets hurt since the boy believes himself to be a bad person and being a villain is his punishment so he acts accordingly despite his intentions of revealing a lie and making a true change to destroy the status quo being quite heroic, Adrien gets a burning rage towards the boy

The girl hates ladybug for how she has everything (friends, family, fame and power) yet when she sees how she treats Adrien (lying to him under the excuse of not hurting him when it’s actually just hurting Adrien more by praising he’s abuser, being superficial since she’ll fall in love with anyone who acts like Adrien/cat walker, and the constant stalker behavior) she’ll make sure to hurt Marinette thinking she doesn’t deserve her perfect life when she was all alone before being turned into a villain and meeting the boy, she’ll at first seem like a pure evil character but she’s just someone trying to survive, she’s actually someone pretty sweet and friendly (at difference of the boy which is quite shy and closed despite it seeming otherwise, she helped him go through his traumas and he’s doing the same for her) and when she sees someone like Marinette having a perfect life and treating her partner like that would be enough to make her into a venom like for who’ll do anything to bring justice while knowing justice is the wrong word since she’s breaking several laws while making a teenager suffer

And the best part is how the two constantly emotionally support each other properly and are better working together than the bug and the cat, they talk about their problems, always talk and go out together, help each other train their powers and everything, a genuine healthy relationship built on trust, care and partnership

The point of the arc against them could be A-fixing Ladybug’s and Cat noir’s flaws and problems and make them a genuinely healthy couple, B-break them up because after everything, is there any chemistry at this point? They are the water and bread of relationships and the only good about their relationship has civilians is the “Will they Won’t they” the writers have exploited for 5 seasons and may keep going for another 5, and after everything they’ve done to each other in and out of the suit I can’t ship this two in the show anymore

But we all know Adrien will never know the truth, they’ll probably never question what happen to Gabriel, ladybug won’t ever be on the wrong and cat won’t ever suffer the consequences of his immaturity while being a hero for fun who doesn’t care about the consequences

That's a pretty interesting idea. We really need more villains with their own non-Butterfly Miraculous in this show.

[brucewaynehater101]

Read a fanfic a while ago where Red Robin gets Surgeoned by (OC? Canon? Idk) the villain The Surgeon to have wings that are hinted to work

Now imagine this; Everybody in the Batfamily has bat and bird wings and bat and bird instincts, minutes the token human Timmy

And Tim suddenly has wings thanks to a villain Playing Doctor + God and the Batfamily's bat/bird brains are going crazy going stupid because one of their flock members has wings now!!

Except Tim got wings, and nothing more.

Tim doesn't have the instincts to act as a bird should, he can act, he can pretend, but it can only go so far

He doesn't have any other traits of a bird person, be it Talons, feather sin his hair, natural chirping, etc

He can register that hey, his wings will need to preened but his subconscious doesn't register the gravity unhealthy wings can have

Furthermore energy and blood flow and more has to go into maintaining those wings like he rest of his body. The Surgeon gave him wings and wings only, no other modifications.

Tim's body is only equipped to maintain a human body not a human body with wings

He has to eat for more body mass and feathers and bird bones than his body is made for and—

Yeah Tim is not having a good time and nor is the rest of the family

There's probably ideas I've missed

Feel free but not pressured to expands/explore/etc with this idea as you wish

Hmm... All of the batfam members? I do think it could be interesting if Alfred was human too. This could be a representation of the emotional disconnect he often displayed throughout Bruce's childhood. Not only does Alfred employ a professional distance between him and his charge, but he doesn't understand the instincts (and overwhelming needs).

Besides that, this is a super interesting concept! I love the idea that the instincts the Bats have support their ability to take care of themselves and their wings. I bet finding flock members is part of that end goal. I'm also curious about the dynamics pre-wing transition.

So Tim, as the token human, has never felt any of the flock needs that the others do. Since he's human, would their instinct be similar to a human's adoption tendencies for cute animals? Would Tim treat it as a cultural difference? Like, Tim gets invited to cuddle in the nest, something he doesn't feel the need for and has never done himself, so he politely declines at first. From what he knows (and has researched about hybrid cultural needs, behaviors, traditions, etc.), this is a ritual done with close loved ones.

When does he get invited to the first one, and who invites him? I don't see Bruce, who is at first pushing Tim away, as the one to invite him. Because it is such an intimate moment, it would take Dick awhile too. Even if he saw Tim as a brother, the difference in species, instincts, the grief of just losing a brother, and living in a different city (meaning less quality time over a period of time) probably combined to Dick needing a while before his bird brain could allow it.

I like to imagine maybe Cass, who has less notions about safe flock connections (aka not imprinting on people immediately), saw Tim and immediately invited him to the nest. It's a small point of contention for Dick cause he's been trying the entire time to work up to it (by combing Tim's hair, offering him small gifts, showing his back [a lot to the point Tim becomes concerned] to the younger one, and offering customary greetings in chirps). Dick has been putting in the effort, and then Cass's instincts immediately grab onto Tim.

Tim being human could also explain some of the tension between him with Damian and Jason. Bruce was already breaking some of the typical hybrid standards of conduct by mixing hybrid of different types (prey birds, bats, predator birds, etc.). Then Bruce just throws in a human and claims he's flock despite him not having the instincts at all.

I also love the symbolism of Tim being considered an outskirts member (as maybe not truly apart of the family) until right before he gets his wings. I think we can tie Jason into this as well (like maybe his death fucked with his wings and/or instincts. As he slowly gets integrated into the flock again, he starts to heal or get those instincts back).

Basically, everything is settling down with the batfam dynamics. Then Tim gets his wings.

It's symbolic of him finally feeling accepted in the family, but it also fucks him over. The others see him as a hybrid, their instincts are desperately reaching out, and they unintentionally feel hurt because Tim doesn't reciprocate. Tim is trying, by the gods is he trying to deal with everything new, but he just doesn't have those instincts.

Thus, the family has to rework through their dynamics as the hybrids battle their instincts and Tim has a mental breakdown about his identity.

[mintsbubbletea]

hiiiii! i was wondering if you could do a part two to mi ceilo fic it was so cute and i just love sero

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐞���𝐨 - 𝐌𝐢 𝐂𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐

Word Count: 2,300

Contains: Gender Neutral Reader, cursing, angst, blood, crying, fluff.

Proof read and Edited

A/N: Thank you for the request! and thanks for the being the first one teehee. Anyways I'm very witchy so I added my own herb medicine flare to it. also big thanks to @juixxyoyo for literally the whole fic idea <3.

Part 1

Since the moment Sero discovered your feelings for him and the effort you put into creating plants for him, he has been making more of an effort to spend time with you. He walks you to and from school, even though the dorms are nearby, just to have an excuse to be by your side. During lessons, his gaze is always fixed on you, as if the rest of the world doesn't exist. These small but significant moments have been happening for a week or two now, and it was only a matter of time before he asked you out. He loves taking you on dates that involve nature, knowing it's something you both enjoy. Whether it's going on a hayride to pick apples or visiting a museum filled with different plants, he always finds ways to remind you of him. He even took you to a tea party in a garden filled with butterflies and birds. But it wasn't just him coming up with dates. You took him to a petting zoo where you could feed the animals and enjoy each other's company. He particularly loved it when the birds landed on him, trying to get the seeds from his hands. All of these beautiful memories were captured on your digital camera.

As the school year progressed, you and Sero had been together for seven months. You had become close with his group of friends, as he couldn't keep the secret of your relationship any longer. He wanted to show everyone that he had an incredible person who loved him, and you supported each other through thick and thin. You felt the same way about him. Without him, you would still be that quiet person, solely focused on studying and worrying about grades. But now, you were living life to the fullest and had friends to share it with. You even formed a friendship with Jiro, a bond that no one expected but felt right when they saw the two of you together. When you weren't with Sero, you were with Jiro, listening to music, making mixtapes of your favorite songs, attending concerts, and creating music together. You were truly grateful for Sero and the positive impact he had on your life.

You found yourself in Sero's dorm as usual, lounging on his hammock with the scent of incense in the air. It was then that you noticed some of the plants were out of place. Frowning, you got up to investigate. "Ro?" you called out, catching his attention. "What happened to the plants?" you inquired, picking one up. "Some of them are missing," you noted as you gently stroked the succulent, gazing down at them. Sero quickly approached you. "Really?" he questioned, and you could sense that he was hiding something. "They all look the same to me, mi cielo," he reassured you with a smile. Despite wanting to press him further, you remained silent, aware of your tendency to overthink. You bit your lip before conceding, "Yeah, maybe I'm just overthinking." Sero placed a comforting hand on your shoulder before giving you a quick kiss on the lips. "Stop doubting yourself, it's your perspective," he remarked with a smile before returning to his bed. You nodded before settling back into the hammock, your emotions in turmoil. You tried to push them aside, but you couldn't ignore the absence of the plants from his desk. You recalled nurturing and tending to them, sighing as you gazed at your beloved plants.

Each time you visited, the plants seemed to disappear one by one. Did he grow tired of them? Were they too overwhelming for him? Did he no longer appreciate their presence? Countless thoughts raced through your mind, convincing you that he must have been discarding them and no longer cared for them. You knew you needed to address this with him, but the last time you brought it up, he dismissed it, leaving you hurt. As you sat on his bed, you noticed a small speck of dirt on the floor. Curiosity piqued, you stood up and followed the trail to its source. A gasp escaped your lips as you beheld the broken flower pot on the ground, with the flowers slightly bent. Your lips trembled as you empathized with the pain the plant must have felt. Sero quickly sprang to his feet upon hearing your gasp. "What's the matter?" he asked anxiously, checking if you were injured. You remained silent, fixated on the shattered pot. His gaze followed yours, his face turning pale as he understood your emotions. "Y/n, I'm so sorry-"

"Are you getting rid of them?" you questioned, desperately holding back your tears. You didn't want to break down in front of him because you two had never argued before, and you were trying your best not to cry. "What? No, I would never do that," he replied, watching you stand up. "Then why are the plants missing? I thought I was going crazy, but I know my babies well, and they're not here," you said, tears welling up in your eyes. Sero's mouth dropped open in shock at your accusation. "Mi Cielo, I understand you're upset, but I would never do that in a million years," he said, attempting to reach out and comfort you. You backed away from him, causing him to stop himself. "Then where are they?" you asked, finally letting the tears flow. Sero remained silent, not speaking up. You nodded and bent down to pick up the flowers. "Y/n, it's not what you think. Do you really believe I would do that to you?" he asked, growing a bit frustrated because you were accusing him without any evidence. "I want to believe you, but this one really hurt," you said, showing him the injured flower. "Did you accidentally knock it over? Are you being careless with them?" you questioned. Sero let out a soft scoff. "Y/n, I'm trying not to get upset here. I didn't throw them out, and I wasn't careless. Why would you say that?" he asked, feeling hurt.

You screamed, "I have no idea!" but not directed at him. "I don't know," you whispered, tears streaming down your face. You reached out to touch the flower, attempting to help, but nothing seemed to work. Placing the plant on his desk, you bent down to pick up the pot, only to accidentally cut yourself due to your blurred vision from crying. Wincing in pain, you dropped the pot. "Y/n, you're bleeding," Sero exclaimed, taking hold of your hand. "No, don't touch me," you replied, looking at him with overwhelming emotions. When it came to your plants, your mind became fuzzy, and you were not in the right frame of mind. "Y/n," he said, looking hurt. "I'm sorry," you mumbled before leaving the room, your bloody hand leaving Sero feeling confused, frustrated, and hurt.

The weekend dragged on slowly. You and Sero had not spoken since the argument, as he gave you space to sort through your thoughts. By Monday, you expected him to reach out, but there was no word from him, and he was absent from class, which was unusual. Sniffling, you knocked on Jiro's door. She opened it, seeing you in tears. "Y/n," she said sadly, ushering you inside. "What's the matter?" she inquired. "I think he's upset with me," you confessed. Jiro gazed at you, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. "Why do you think that?" she probed. "He hasn't replied to my messages, and he always does, no matter what. Plus, he didn't show up to school today."

Jiro let out a sigh, concern etched on her face. "Listen, I'm your best friend, and I'm saying this because I care about you. Crying won't solve anything, it'll only make the situation worse," she said, gently wiping away your tears. "I love you, but instead of crying, use that energy to go talk to him. Remember, you're not the only one hurting here," she added, bringing you back to reality.

You bit your lip, feeling a pang of guilt. "I didn't even consider that. I've been blaming him without giving him a chance to explain. I need to go talk to him," you admitted, remorseful. With a grateful smile, you thanked Jiro before she pulled you into a comforting hug. "You're welcome. That's what friends are for, to keep you from doing something foolish," she reassured you.

With newfound determination, you made your way to his dorm and stood in front of his door. Gently knocking, you waited for a response. When you didn't hear anything, you knocked a little harder. "Sero?" you called out, pressing your ear against the door to listen. After a moment of silence, you heard some movement before a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I overreacted the other day and blamed you without giving you a chance to speak. Can I come in?" you asked, hoping for a positive response.

There was a brief pause before you heard a faint voice say, "Come in." Opening the door, you were met with the sight of Sero lying in bed, covered in blankets, his eyes closed and his breathing labored. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, indicating his distress.

You shut the door quietly, hurrying over to his bedside and gently placing your hand on his forehead. "Sero," you whispered, unaware that he had been n bed with illness all this time. "You have a fever," you stated, running your hand across his face to confirm. Sero let out a weak chuckle. "I'm fine," he murmured, opening his eyes. You shook your head, looking at him with concern. "You're far from fine. You've practically been wasting away in bed!" you exclaimed. "I didn't want to bother you. You were still mad at me," he admitted, gripping your hand. "Forget about that. You're sick and you didn't tell me. I don't care if I was upset, I should have been here to take care of you," you said, cupping his face and leaning in closer. "I'm so sorry, Sero," you whispered, planting a gentle kiss on his lips. "You'll get sick if you kiss me," he weakly protested. "You wouldn't be sick if you had told me earlier so I could have helped you," you replied with a smile, kissing him once more. "I'll be right back," you said, heading back to your dorm to gather some supplies. Returning to his room, you set down a cloth, some herbs, and medicine.

You prepared a special herbal tea, a recipe passed down in your family. They claimed it could cure anything, from pain to pregnancy, flu to cramps, headaches to even your dad's broken bone. "Drink this, babe," you said, helping Sero sit up against the wall. He groaned softly, catching a whiff of the herbs. "Is this the family tea?" he asked, recognizing the scent. You nodded, bringing the cup to his lips. "Yes, I made it with extra love so you'll be back on your feet in no time," you teased, watching as he took a few sips and closed his eyes, savoring the taste. You couldn't help but smile as you held the cup, then reached for the cloth, gently placing it on his forehead to help alleviate his fever.

Hours went by before Sero started feeling better, sleeping peacefully through the night with you beside him, waking up each time he moved just to make sure he was okay. The next day, he still didn't go to school, and you felt guilty for leaving him, but you made sure to check on him whenever you had a break. After school, you hurried to his dorm when he messaged you about an emergency. "What's the matter? Did you throw up? Are you feeling worse?" you inquired as he sat on the bed in sweats and a hoodie. You examined his face, and he chuckled while grabbing your wrist. "I'm okay, mi cielo," he chuckled. "Then why did you text me about an emergency?" you asked, tilting your head.

"I wanted to show you something," he replied before getting up and taking your hands, leading you out of the dorm. "Where are we going?" you questioned as you both left the campus. "Just wait," he said, smiling and squeezing your hand. After a few minutes of walking, you arrived at a vast field with a large greenhouse. You looked around, smiling at the beautiful scenery, still unsure of what was happening. "Mi cielo," Sero began, capturing your attention. "You noticed my plants were missing because I was moving them into the greenhouse. Well, your greenhouse," he said with a smile. "Mine?" you gasped, opening your mouth in surprise. "You got me a greenhouse? This huge one?" you asked, beaming with joy. He nodded. "Yes, this is yours. There are multiple units with different temperatures so you can grow various kinds of plants."

Your lips trembled as you glanced around, envisioning the countless hours you would spend in this place. "How? With what money?" you inquired. Sero grinned and then turned to the group waiting in the distance. "Momo's family owns this land, and they were kind enough to let us have it, along with the greenhouse. I had some assistance in building it," he explained, gesturing towards the group, which consisted of Class 1-A and half of Class 1-B, as they began walking towards you. You looked at him and embraced Sero tightly. "You built this for me?" you asked, holding him close. He wrapped his arms around you and nodded. "Of course I did. So when you're not busy being a hero, you can come here and just be yourself," he whispered to you.

"Thank you. Just thank you," you smiled, before gently kissing his lips. "Por nada Mi Cielo

[nwarrior777]

Sir,

Read your hospital notes. Sorry to hear that you were overwhelmed at first and that your room was not comfortable. I am glad that they seem to have moved you to a better one.

The realization of not having your own space is a difficult one to contend with, especially with no quick solution in sight. It's completely understandable to desire privacy and your own place where you can set things up just as you like them. I am sorry that you do not have that now, but I hope that the future you are working towards meets you faster than expected and that you can rejoice in making the space your own. Maybe think of that future as a motivating reward, like your waking up comic? Thinking things like, "When I have my own flat, I'll hang curtains like this" or, "Someday I will keep a set of dishes like these in my kitchen and they'll be my favorites." I am not in my own space right now either, but the idea of a better future comforts me somewhat, so I hope that maybe it could help you, too.

I hope that you continue to have good moments while you are resting and that any surprises when you leave are the good and pleasant kind.

Wishing you well on your journey.

i am sorry i know its all around now in text and this blog is a mess atm but

that bird-bringed letter brings me so much happiness, i can't explain why it can't be just my love for dandy aesthetic vibes right???

its just.. its like i often think, how i will stay in history. i think about that poets which letters and diary now in museums. about artists, who are on conversation even after decades.

and its such a... cute heartwarming feeling to get those Sir, messages yk?? i feel like i am in history, i am some poet some artist. laying sick'ish in renesanse pose on bed with light flickering on face yeah but there is something other

like. its just. some person, anonymously, making it for me. maybe not one even, i can't say cause its anon letters. So much effort of styling this message in such poetic form. So much care. For many times! It just touches my heart so deep

also the bit about me-now getting closer to me from future? like. that is literally poetic. it is a poem itself its such poetic image.

i love it so much and it calms me, it makes me happy and i feel so many emotions, but they are all calm and poetic. Incredible

Thank you so much, thank you. I mean, i have a lot others asks in ask box with support, which i love too so much, but its just so. I mean you get it, just read this i want to print it in old type and on wall i mean, that thing about menow getting closer to future one really got me

Thank you a lot, Dear gentelman Bird Letter Sender

With Love Love Love, Kris! 🖤

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Since I'm a very "the curtains are blue for a reason" kinda person, I want to talk about potential symbolism in the couches of Ai Nan Desu Yo and I Love You! Does that sound weird? Maybe it is, but I think it's kinda fun!

CW Suicide, unhealthy relationships

What first caught my eye is that the couch is (mostly) symmetrical, split right down the middle. Well, the pillows are symmetrical, not the... blanket? Yeah, blanket. Because it's symmetrical, it could be seen as a representation of Mahiru's relationship, with each side representing one of the lovers. Notice how it's yellow-orange, which can represent happiness and warmth, which fits.

[Ai Nan Desu Yo] Do you really think you know what love is? If you do, then let's just overheat together

What I then noticed is that the blanket thing is mostly on the left side (I'm using camera view for this post), which could be interpreted as meaning the partner on the left puts more effort into the relationship, 'gives more warmth'. Meaning the partner on the left would be Mahiru, who is implied to be showing way more affection than the boyfriend to the point of being overwhelming. For example, just looking at the size of the pieces of cake they give each other in I Love You.

(Mahiru left, boyfriend right)

And this idea of 'Mahiru to the left, boyfriend to the right' is corroborated because that's how they're shown sitting in I Love You.

... Well, the couch is slightly different. It's more detailed, possibly because I Love You gives a more realistic look at the complexities of their relationship (?), but it does seem like it's a reference, especially since the green pillows are still there.

Although the green pillows are tattered when we see them in the Purple Background Dimension (<- why is this series so hard to talk about). Could this imply they're actually a representation of the lovers? It feels like this makes sense. Pillows are often filled with feathers, which are an important aspect of these two's symbolism (they're both in the bird cage -> they're both birbs). And it also fits with the "calling" scene, sort of.

[Ai Nan Desu Yo] Ring ring, I'm calling you in the middle of the night Forcing you to wake up, and I say "Good Morning!" But I fall asleep before you, I really feel bad you know? We can both feel lonely sometimes, but wonder if you'll get angry soon I'm going to start relying on you if you're kind to me, so please forgive me, thanks!

We see her call her boyfriend while somewhat-tightly hugging the pillow which apparently represents him, and the lyrics imply she's calling at an inconvenient time. Mahiru has a lot of imagery of smothering and suffocating, as her love is too overwhelming for her boyfriend, which vaguely fits the first two images. In this case, she wants to talk to him at all times, which he likely doesn't appreciate, he gets angry with her being overbearing, they do what seems to be one of the "breakup rituals" mentioned in a later line. Still, she longingly holds onto the pillow, before breaking down when it's no longer in her hands. They always come back to each other, because they've probably become dangerously codependent (I think? <- My aromantic ass does not understand romantic relationships)

Does that sorta work? Maybe.

Then there's the scene where Mahiru jumps into the right side of the couch, possibly a representation of invading boundaries (again, overwhelming affection), and sends a bunch of feathers flying. The feathers are in the middle, because again, both the lovers are birds. And this makes sense, since Mahiru's love in a way was also hurting her by making her love someone who could not meet her emotional needs.

[I Love You] My love, it scored an own goal, destroyed my love and me with its weight

(Also, I swear I remember Mahiru hugging a pillow here, but no, she grabs air. Mandela effect, ig)

The final thing to note is that Mahiru is sleeping on the right side of the couch before her boyfriend's suicide in Ai Nan Desu Yo, but she goes to sleep on the left after the suicide in I Love You.

The former again possibly implying Mahiru's unwillingness to separate from her boyfriend, and her tendency to invade his boundaries, is part of what caused him to commit suicide. Meanwhile, the latter makes sense, as Mahiru is alone and thus has to stick to her side of the couch.

(I'm frankly not sure how this would work with the shinju theory, but to be fair Ai Nan Desu Yo's ending as a whole doesn't work perfectly with that theory anyways)

Uh... so it sorta works? If that's the case, we can look at the stuff around the couch to establish some further potential symbolism.

For one, the diamond pattern in the carpet. Diamonds in general represent love and all the aspects of healthy relationships, which doesn't seem like it should make sense until you realize most of Ai Nan shows an idealized version of the relationship, and the carpet isn't present in the more realistic I Love You. Though I have to disclaim I'm talking about diamond the gemstone, because the shape itself (lozenge) represents "a sown field and female fertility" which I don't think is exactly applicable. Mahiru and her boyfriend aren't farmers.

(As far as we know)

The phone could have really been on either side since it just represents communication, so it's probably on the right for the sake of the "calling" scene.

The potted plant on the left is something which needs taking care of to survive, which may represents Mahiru's unfulfilled desire for attention and matching love from her partner.

[Ai Nan Desu Yo] This is a claim of responsibility From the two of us with matching love

The lamp is odd because I can't tell where it's meant to be pointing, but thankfully it makes sense with all three possibilities. Since it's on the right, it may represent how much attention Mahiru is giving her boyfriend. But it seems pointed to the left, so it could represent Mahiru's desire for her boyfriend to pay attention to her. Or maybe it's pointing at the middle, because the video is focusing on the relationship. The beauty of symbolism is that, if something looks a bit odd, you can just make shit up as long as it doesn't contradict any of your other claims!

Anyways, am I onto something or am I going completely insane? Good question! But I wanted to share this so. Take care!

[definitely-not-outlet]

list of things i find amusing/interesting about normelodie (and hopefully it gives more explanation of their dynamics :3). whenever my brain is evil and tells me My Stuff Sucks, i say "fuck you" and write a whole bunch of things i like about my stuff. list is not comprehensive and i'm trying to not repeat myself. very drabble-y.

Norm thinks Elodie is really tall. She's five inches taller than him, and in the prewar au, she's usually in heels. However, she's only 5'5", so she's like. Average height for a woman. She's technically a little tall for a slavic woman too. But even still, you put her next to his dad or cousin and she's SHORT. Norm doesn't care though. She's tall to him.

short man x curvy woman what more can i say about that. he finds heaven in those thighs. ANYWAYS-

nerd x different type of nerd. like, they're both dorks. elodie will talk about plants for HOURS on end (and in the prewar au she loves birds), and norm just listens. she's completely satisfied watching him play holotape games on her lap. she's fallen asleep this way numerous times.

match each other's freak. elodie will be embarrassed about something and norm's like. shh. no. me too.

match each other's NERD too. i love that they can talk about something scientific or jargon-y and learn from each other. norm isn't super knowledgeable about plants, yes, and elodie knows nothing about his games and tech stuff. but they listen and try to understand. elodie likes learning about anything, and norm just finds new things interesting. especially in fields he knows nothing about prior.

side tangent. i think he gets so bored with his jobs because there's nothing more to learn. he likes hearing what elodie does because it's something new to learn!!!

secretly fiercely protective of each other. norm easily gets jealous, placing his arm around her waist and subtly bringing her closer. elodie is more visible in her jealousy, since her expression tends to sour and she'll get snippier. norm can read it easily and likes to tease her about it, while reassuring her she's not going to lose him. in terms of protectiveness, norm tends to get verbal/argumentative with people to defend her, while elodie just gets MAD. if in the wasteland she's killed for him ❤️

very versatile cuddlers. sometimes he likes to hold her, sometimes she likes to hold him.

elodie holding him close and singing to him to help him sleep. elodie talking about her day to help him sleep. norm softly stroking her hair to help her sleep, running a hand down her back and humming a random song. just helping each other go to sleep.

their love languages are reciprocal!!! elodie feels loved when people spend time with her and give her gifts (personalized ones are peak). norm, of course, loves gifting and coming up with unique ideas for dates. norm feels loved with physical touch and spending time with each other. elodie is very physically affectionate (even if she is anxious about it, once it's established it's ok, she goes crazy). perfect, too, that they enjoy spending time with each other.

fans of lounging around and being in each other's company. imagine them sleeping together all the time ok. being truly relaxed around each other despite it all.

balance out each other's energy. elodie is usually very passionate and full of emotion, so norm helps regulate her. it gets overwhelming for her to feel all of it constantly, especially since she's a hyper-empath. norm feels emotions too, yes, but is able to help her offload them. a very useful re-regulator.

he also helps when she's having bad chronic illness days. she helps whenever he's having a disagreement with his family or otherwise feeling belgh. mutual assistance!!!

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS it's just so peak. relearning about someone as their lover even though you feel like you've already learned everything about them. god.

cooking!!! norm tends to be the cook, and elodie is his sous chef and distraction. when she's not cutting up some veggies (or accidentally nicking herself), she has her arms around him, head on his shoulder. he'll tell her to move, but doesn't actually mean it.

that's all i got for now. i love them ok. thank you normelodie, and thank you for reading.

[ancientgoddessofegypt]

Venus/Pluto/Mars Conjunction : Life Changing Experiences. Internal Changes & Stepping Foot Into Different Lanes.

This beautiful placement gives off the butterfly transformation. The transit that everyone has been waiting for and its been hitting us all week long. Now with venus following behind pluto and mars in aquarius, things are about to take a different turn.

In this post, I will focus more on the beauty and not so much of volative, aggressive experiences. Why? Because not everything is fixated on that energy. Sure that could be happening across the world, but for most people.. the internal struggles are coming out in need for self love, grace and a external outlet for creativity.

This is where I say things get a little interesting, you guys have to let go of the idea of love and transform it into something higher. Because not only is this conjunction in a triple stellium, its in sextile with neptune, the ruler of the higher heart.

The reason why there is so much war, anger, hate coming up to the surface because its time for the world to reach to the higher heavens and talk to God. Doesn't matter if you aren't spiritual, its more so about getting connected to a higher source. If you're a believer of source/universe/god/goddess etc, than this is what I'm talking about.

When I also preach about God, I'm speaking more in terms of society, and connecting with community. The aquarius energy pulling a sextile with the beautiful Neptune is asking for us to search for the highest forms of love through others. THAT is where the higher heart lives, and we've lost it along the way.

With this energy coming through heavily its forcing us to feel our emotions no matter how deep.

You may have felt a little overwhelmed with the energy of the week due to all the mashups of energy spiraling out of control. Neptune sextile this crazy stellium is pushing our shadows into the limelight. And you need to think clearly on where to push this magic.

All that we are is built with love, and at the time it was hard to see. This is where venus comes in, making this mash up of aggressive passionate power come into a sensual creation. A sensual, remarkable love for many, and a interesting experiences for others that took a toll to another unexpected direction.

Tons of healing energy can come out of this, but you have to appreciate the way the world, your environment, your subconscious and the way you feel about your body to come into the surface. I aint say this was going to always be pretty, but I did say there is a need for creative outlets for you. This could possibly bring in inspiration for others in the long run, as Venus and Neptune are both the muses of creation and needs to be mounted in order for you to profess your love to them.

With pluto, it's about uncovering the dark thoughts and giving them the green light to be noticed. Why are you hiding? Don't you know how powerful you are? Being that it is in aquarius, there is a need for our expression, feelings of anxiety, feelings that are trapped in us, wounds, etc to be out in the open. And with mars connecting to both these planets it brings it out as a force, sometimes meant to be untamable. Don't be ashamed of the power within, it's only going the way it wants because its like a caged bird finally getting its wings to go where it wants. You just gotta see it it thru. I hope this helps anyone trying to uncover the magic of this placement, may this help you uncover somethings at this time.

P.S Don't let the words, jealousy, envy of others get you down. Another thing this transit can bring out is the ugliness of others since the shadow is the hot topic of the hour. Silence is necessary to tap into unknown resources sent thru dreams (sextle neptune) and new ideas surrounded by art and beauty (venus) can and will change the trajectory of where your life moves (pluto) if you just move slowly, with grace (venus), and with force (mars). Have a good sunday everybody!

Hope you all enjoyed the reading !

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

Downhill (Preview)

Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader

cause I went downhill at such steep incline...

Word Count: 2,080

This is a fanfic preview! So feedback and comments are greatly appreciated. Writers always thrive on feedback <3

Warnings: this takes place during Half-Blood Prince - there are mentions of Draco's mission to kill Dumbledore and him being tasked with fixing the Vanishing Cabinet to let Death Eaters into Hogwarts, mentions of Draco being forced to become a Death Eater (mostly against his will, with the emotional pressures of 'family duty'); mentions of death/murder in line with the HBP/DH themes; the reader and Draco are engaged - arranged to be married because they are both purebloods (the reader is an orphan and her only living caregiver 'sold' her to the Malfoys to be married to Draco, but her and Draco have grown emotionally close because of this); mentions of dead animals - more specifically a dead bird (the bird that dies in the Vanishing Cabinet); passing mention of Cedric Diggory's death; general emotional angst from Draco's perspective because he is feeling very trapped and hopeless because he feels that he will not be able to complete his mission successfully and he will be killed (and get the reader killed in the process); passing mention of the reader having lived in New York before she met Draco; passing mention of the reader 'wearing' Draco's jacket (over her shoulders, not putting it on, and it specifically says that it doesn't fit her well); there is an argument where Draco takes out his fear/frustration on the reader verbally and he grabs her arm roughly - this is not healthy in a relationship, but they are both trying to function under severe circumstances (also it only happens for a moment and it's not a pattern); mention of Draco being thin/losing weight due to improper eating (from stress); this part does not have smut but the longer/full fic will have smut once it is finished and posted. I believe that's everything for now.

A/N: This fic is titled after the song Downhill by Lincoln, so if you want to know the vibes of the overall fic, definitely listen to that song. It's a very Draco song with the 'if I meant every word that I ever said, you'd probably question the life I have led' - because in his bullying, he probably has just said a lot of harsh things without meaning them. And in this fic, the reader met him after the bulk of his severe childhood bully phase, so she didn't know that he used to be a very outwardly cruel person. I also love the 'I was born into the world on a silken cloud, and I got bored of the world before I hit the ground' - because Draco was born into so so much privilege and he didn't even realize how lucky he was, and now that his privileged position is forcing him to take on a murder and a lot of undue stress, he wants to go back to blissful ignorance. (Basically, it's such a Draco song, and it really really drove home the themes of this fanfic idea for me.) Anyway, I'm really excited about this fic, and I hope you enjoy this preview!

...

Draco brought you to the back of the large room, and you saw that he had already pulled the tarp off the overwhelming tall, ornate Vanishing Cabinet, so the dusty cloth was sitting in the pile at the cabinet’s feet. Without a word, Draco walked up to the cabinet, moving in stiff mechanical motions as he pulled open the doors. You took a few steps closer to get a better look, realising that he was trying to show you whatever was inside - that must be where the primary problem was located. 

You couldn’t hold in the gasp that broke out of your throat when you saw a dead bird sitting in the bottom of the cabinet. 

A bright yellow canary laying against the dark wood, belly up and completely still with its soft feathers rustled, a few of them missing. You had seen very few dead animals in your lifetime. Aside from the occasional New York City pigeon, laying on the sidewalk in a similar fashion after running itself into one of the hyper reflective windows of the tall buildings. You couldn’t even stand to look at those for too long. You still felt the same deep heartache while looking at it. 

“Oh - oh my.” You gaped quietly. 

Draco was entirely surprised when you shouldered him out of the way, letting his ill-fitting borrowed jacket drop off your shoulders onto the dusty ground carelessly as you crouched down carefully in front of him. You then scooped up the small bird in your hands, cradling it gently as though it were entirely precious. 

He thought that seeing the state of things, you might start suggesting spells, telling him ways that he could fix the obvious problem. But no - you were soft-hearted. The true problem hadn’t even occurred to you yet, because you were so caught up on the sight of a dead bird. You were emotional, struck by the shock of an innocent animal having its life prematurely ended. 

Draco envied you quietly for a moment as you sat on your knees in front of the cabinet, looming in his shadow as you held the bird in your hands. He realised that in order for you to be so startled over this, so heartbroken - it must be one of the first times you had been brushed with death. Draco envied that naivety. 

He wished he could rewind to the version of himself from a few years ago. A version that thought not being able to join the Quidditch team because of an age restriction was the worst tragedy in the world. A version that thought he got everything he wanted because he was genuinely deserving of it. Someone who couldn’t see that he was simply a spoiled brat. 

He wished he could go back to a version that hadn’t seen Muggleborns slain in his family’s dining room, begging for mercy where there would be none.  

When he had first seen that bird sitting dead in the cabinet, a still dead body draped in yellow - for a moment, he had been reminded of Cedric Diggory. Someone so undeserving, lifeless before their time. Used up and gone. 

But now, seeing the way you cradled it, fussing over something already dead and unable to benefit from your care - Draco was distinctly reminded of himself, withering and undeserving in your arms. 

“Draco, do - do you think we should bury it?” You asked, the gentle croak of tears in your voice as you considered a pointless funeral for the small dead thing. 

You suddenly rose up to your feet then, walking around Draco to look for something to wrap the poor bird in - some kind of cloth, or perhaps a small box to place it in. 

This caused something inside of him to snap. The way your sweet demeanour ground against his nerves, his worry, his anxiety about everything mounting suddenly as you fussed over something that truly didn’t matter. 

Your good intentions would get you killed. That gentle touch, that willingness to help - it would get you on the wrong end of a Killing Curse one day. (Especially if he didn’t protect you.) 

“It’s not about the bloody bird, woman!” He growled out, entirely frustrated with your delicate ignorance, your lack of seeing the true point. 

Draco turned to you, and grabbed your arm so viciously that your palms jerked and the small, lifeless body dropped onto the floor without a single bit of grace. It dropped against the cold stone so carelessly, as though it were an object that had not once had any life in it at all. You let out another gasp at this, and looked from the dull tuft of yellow feathers at your feet up to Draco’s face. 

“Draco!” You cried out, protesting against his careless nature toward the innocent creature. 

His fingers were gripping your forearm fiercely, blooming small bits of pain - but you didn’t care. You felt a clench in your gut, distinct guilt overwhelming you. You told yourself that his anger was misplaced. You didn’t have words, especially not while he stared you down so coldly. All you could do was stand tall, and stare right back, even while tears formed in your eyes. 

He tightly clenched his jaw. 

You were surprised when he spoke again. 

“How can you be so daft?” He said, almost choking on the words. 

That was when you knew for certain it was misplaced. He had called you brilliant before - it was one of the only things he had said about you that wasn’t sarcastic or backhanded in some effort to deter you. He didn’t think that you were stupid, not one bit. 

“Look, you know if I don’t get this thing working-” He couldn’t even finish his sentence before his throat closed around the words, threatening harsh sobs that he was desperate to contain. 

Instead, he turned abruptly, letting go of your arm - now completely uncaring of the misplaced conflict. You felt a wave crash into your chest as you realised it. How could you have been so stupid? 

Of course, he had no care for a small animal. 

It was about what that animal represented. His failure. Death looming over his head. 

The bird had obviously died in the cabinet, which meant that a living thing had yet to survive the transition from Borgin & Burke’s into Hogwarts. If Draco couldn’t fix that problem - if there was some sort of problem when the Death Eaters tried to use the cabinet to get into Hogwarts and one of them died, Draco would be on the line for it. If they couldn’t use the cabinet at all, Draco would be on the line for it. 

They would kill him if he couldn’t get this right. 

Draco moved slowly, putting a hand on each of the cabinet’s doors and closing them. 

Then, for a few long, painstaking moments - neither of you said a thing. 

Your chest ached. You wished that you could find something comforting to tell him. For some reason, you knew that simply telling him ‘it’s going to be okay’ just wasn’t going to cut it. You muddled in the silence and you hated it. 

He stood with his back still turned to you, with his arms outstretched, leaning on the tall, imposing wooden object. It felt like a shadow of death looming over the two of you. His shoulders held nothing but pure tension, even as he used the object for support, and he dropped his head between his spread arms. 

After a few moments of that terrible silence, with you staring at his back, tossing your mind for something helpful to say as you chewed at your own lip - Draco took in a shuddering breath. Though you knew he was trying to hide it: he began quietly sobbing. 

You couldn’t help yourself then. 

It was something you knew he pretended to hate, but you knew what to do next. You stepped forward, over the dead bird, your shoes quietly clacking against the stone - and you settled yourself right up against his back, tucking your body tightly against him in a hug. You nuzzled your face into the tense muscles of his shoulders, and as you wrapped your arms around his waist from behind and squeezed him tightly, you felt some of the tension melt away as he relaxed into your touch. 

You did worry about how much thinner he felt in your arms than the last time you had done this - obviously, he hadn’t been eating properly. But you didn’t bother to bring it up, not wanting to start another argument. 

Draco felt a grateful warmth spread over him. But he refused to touch you back. At least just yet. 

He kept his hands on the wood of the cabinet, almost like a bold surrender that he wouldn’t give into your softness. He couldn’t. He let out another shuddering sob - a sound he couldn’t contain with the feeling of your warmth at his back. It was something he hated himself for. 

You hushed him gently. And then, miraculously, you found words. 

“We could leave.” You said quietly, turning your head so that your cheek sat parallel with his flesh, muttering the words against the fine silk of his button up shirt. “We could just… run away together. We don’t have to stay here, Draco. We could get to a fireplace and Floo out of here, or-” 

“We can’t.” Draco replied, his voice just as quiet, throttled by tears. “You know that we can’t.” 

You wanted to argue the point more. Obviously, he didn’t hate the idea. He just thought it was illogical. Likely, he thought it was too dangerous. But what was the alternative - possibly being killed anyway? 

“If we leave, they’ll kill my parents because I couldn’t complete my mission.” Draco sniffled quietly. “At the very least, they’ll haul me in and have my head for being a traitor.” 

Draco straightened his stance then, taking his arms off the cabinet. You thought that he might remove your arms from his waist, finally rejecting your touch. But instead, he began tracing fingers from his right hand along the forearm of his left sleeve, almost scratching at it like it was a terrible itch. 

You had been there the day he had gotten the Mark. You had been brought into the room and forced to listen to his screams of pain before you even truly knew what was happening. When you had tried to comfort him about it, he had pushed you off so roughly that you had almost smacked your head into one of the walls, and you knew that he was taking that fear and pain out on you in that terribly misplaced way. 

But that night, when he had been crying, sobbing and running the freshly scorched skin under cool water - he let you run him a bath with soothing soaps and the two of you discussed Shakespeare’s plays (which you were surprised that he had read) while you washed his hair for him. 

“Now that I have the Mark, I can’t run anywhere.” Draco muttered quietly. “I can’t go anywhere I won’t be found.” 

That part had never truly occurred to you before. 

You knew that the Dark Lord used the Dark Mark as a way for his followers to show their loyalty, and as a way for him to summon them or even for them to summon him. And you guessed that Draco having it meant that he could be ‘summoned’ at any time as a part of the loyalty he had so unwillingly pledged. 

Even if he betrayed the Dark Lord morally, mentally, emotionally, and tried to do so physically by running away, as long as his arm was attached, he would still be in service to that horrible man until he and his followers decided otherwise. Especially because you couldn’t imagine Draco wanting to part with his arm anytime soon. 

“We’ll figure something out.” You told him, having little faith in those words yourself. But you knew it was a truth that you had to speak into existence. 

Then you laid a gentle kiss on his shoulder through the fabric of his shirt, spreading more warmth through him. He clenched his fists at his sides, highly resisting the urge to reach for your hands, but silently hoping that you wouldn’t pull away. 

Draco resented your sense of hope. But these days, it was the only thing keeping him afloat in the chaos seas that his life had become.

...

Remember, if you want to see the full fic when it comes out, make sure to follow my fanfiction blog @sundrop-writes and turn on notifications there!

Also, this fic is going to be a prequel to the fic I have already written - My Bleeding Heart, so if you liked this, definitely check that fic out.

[papirouge]

hello, sex isn't sacred, and also even if it was? i don't care. if i'm going to hell because i have casual sex, like ok, cool, i'm still gonna do it

It is. And please, don't try with the "I don't care about hell 🤪" charade

What's so funny with people like you is that you'll do THE MOST about pregnancy and childbearing and the horrible toll it can take for your life and then....be cool about HELL??!!!

Truly tells me you have no idea what hell is. Hell is the absolute separation with God. It does NOT compare to the struggle of childbearing or motherhood (that both can't be dealt with smoothly given proper procedures & help)

There's no hope. Forever.

Even the biggest atheist can still have joy in life (and Loves those who hate Him - Matthew 5:45 ”For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."). The sunset, little birds chirping, a baby laughter, reminding something funny.... Even when you're alive, God blesses us with the capacity to grieve and alleviate the pain away.

But none of that is possible in hell.

The pain, suffering is eternal. It doesn't stop. There's no "it will get better tomorrow" because there's no "tomorrow " in eternity. Many people assume that hell is only physical torture, but many (now) Christians who did NDE and went to hell, said that the most grueling pain was the separation from God. A literal mental torture. I wonder if that's the one Jesus felt on the cross and why for the first time of his life he felt separated of him (by bearing all the sins of humanity) and shout the infamous "Abba Abba why have you forsaken me?". God didn't abandon Jesus, it's just that the sins he bore during the crucifixion de facto separated him from God.

That's what happens in hell. And that's forever. So there's no turning back. It's an emotional and mental pain like you'll never know before because even if you don't believe in God, whether you like it or not, as a human, you are made in the image of God so you have a part of God in you.

Another thing about hell is that: you are alone. I removed the reblogs of my post because I couldn't be less interested by heathens pissy party about being called out for what they are (that's why you're flocking into my message box), but I see what you're all doing. You are a mob circle jerking about how wrong and a religious freak I am. Not that I'm really bothered by that, but I really, really want you to understand that will be not possible anymore in hell. You'll be alone in your pain. Sure, there are plenty of people in hell (way more than heaven) but you'll be still alone. You won't have anyone to kiii with because they'll be themselves too much overwhelmed by their own individual form of torture and demons (literally). And when that happen (because it will if you keep ignoring God trying to warn and make you repent through me) you'll have no one to talk to or complain about. And you'll remember what I just told you. But it will be too late.

[greenpidge101]

hc that richies teeth r a mess and went totally hates it cause it makes him look bad and richie gets braces and hates them but he gets the brightest color they had available cause he loves bright colors

also his style of comedy is so so rachel sennott ( look her up if u dont know who she is please shes hilarious ) which is why i feel like he gets into acting in like absurd comedies and it kinda sticks and eventually falls into actually acting

bill loves drawing the other losers when they r not paying attention and little sketches and doodles cover his school work ( the others think its so endearing )

on days when his stutter is really bad bill goes nonverbal but the losers include him easily cause he is honestly kinda an open book with his intentions and emotions so they always know what he wants

eddie hates walking long distances and is always asking for piggyback rides ( adding to the eddie should hate nyc but when anyone brings it up he gaslights them cause he has always wanted to live there agenda )

however eddie loves running and is always racing people because he knows he will win even though hes short ( richie hates it cause his legs are too long and he is really awkward and oddly slow when he tries to run. if he actually gets fast he almost always trips cause he is so clumsy and then eddie is way in front of him )

bev gives richie and bill amateur piercings full parent trap style and at least one of them gets infected. when they r older she convinces ben to let her pierce his ears. eddie hates it and is always like “i am not helping when it gets infected” but does anyway

she also makes friendship bracelets and the losers freak when they find out and they all are always wearing at least two

in some an au stan becomes an ornithologist but like just in an au where the losers dont split up during the time jump they buy him a bird like as soon as they move out of derry and it is stans favorite thing ever

stan is really good at hiding his emotions but he always stims when he is overwhelmed or upset and it is a clear giveaway. he has been doing it since he was really little and now cant stop

mike loves animals and shows off all the farm animals to the other losers and also def has a dog that eddie loves but pretends not to even though the dog also loves him

mike is also the loser who everyone goes to for advice for literally anything and has the ability to make anyone feel better like instantly the others have no idea how he does it

ben loves the act of designing buildings but was never that good at math so college was a little rough. also his interest in archeology started after he read percy jackson in middle school cuz annabeth loved archeology

he also slips into a country accent whenever he gets really comfortable and the losers think its amazing ( richies country accent is just him trying and failing to copy ben )

richie and ben light up the room when they are truly happy. richie because his happiness is loud and unavoidable and ben because his radiates off him in waves and spreads to those around him

sorry thats a lot im done i just kept going

PLEASE KEEP GOING, THESE ARE SO GOOD OMG!!!!!!

♾️/10

[differenteagletragedy]

If youre still taking requests, id love to see more from each of the boy’s POV in the poly au- specifically how Derek and Cove fell for Baxter. Everyone’s close to the MC, and they were already friends, but in the game Cove isnt super close to Baxter and if i remember correctly Derek only meets him if you take him to the soirée, so im curious how that went down. Youre writing is amazing btw im obsessed with this and the swap au

Ok, so I always picture it like it's Cove and MC first, Derek is the bestie who moves in after Step 4 and whoops, everybody loves everybody what a miracle. Then Baxter comes along.

So Cove wasn't super fond of him when they met in Step 3, and Derek has only heard about the guy, but they both know that he hurt you with the disappearing act. They would be concerned about you running into him again during the planning of Jude and Scott's wedding, checking in a lot, trying to make sure you're ok.

You're busy up until the actual wedding -- listen though, the group chat after the late night groom's cake baking session was crazy -- but Cove and Derek are both invited, so you all catch up face to face there.

And honestly in my heart of hearts I think that Derek would go into the idea of meeting Baxter with a lot of caution but after 2.5 seconds he's like, "No, yeah, I get it."

Cove is like "Seriously?" and Derek IS serious! Baxter is beautiful, that is a fact, but he's also very gentlemanly and polite and well-mannered and that is going to tick a lot of boxes for Derek. Baxter would hold the door while everyone leaves the venue to have a little chat in the parking lot, and he's going to be all "Nice."

Plus once Derek learns the ins and outs of Baxter's emotional problems, he is gonna wanna help that baby bird learn how to fly. That's just the kind of guy he is. So Derek loves Baxter, that's easy. And Cove loves Derek, and he loves you, and if you both have/are developing feelings for that little weirdo that moved next door to him five years ago, then ok lol, whatever

So for Cove it's going to be a little more difficult. I think he'd be more protective over you, and he was the one who was there that first summer and saw firsthand how much Baxter hurt you, so he's not going to be so quick to win over. But it is going to happen, and he's going to be unaware of it for SO LONG.

Cove: Is Baxter coming over tonight?

You: ... Do you want Baxter to come over tonight?

Cove: No, it's not that, I just thought ... he usually ... shut up.

You and Derek: *fist bump behind Cove's back*

Like Cove is going to be a little overwhelmed by Baxter, not necessarily in a bad way because at this point he's a little older and a little more comfortable in his own skin. But Baxter thinks so highly of Cove, in so many ways Cove is everything he wishes he could be.

Baxter: *gentle heart eyes at Cove*

Cove: Do ... do you another slice of pizza?

You and Derek: *fist bump behind Cove's back*

One day Cove is just going to wake up one morning, going about his routine, then suddenly stop and groan and go, "Oh god, I'm in love with that dork." It's cool though, everybody already knew.

[magicratfingers]

Progress report ! ૮ ºﻌºა ✨ kind of a work-in-progress diary for myself. v indulgent.

intense world of dick terrifying - goin good! got a main character, some supporting characters, figuring out the big rivalry today. Gotta figure out a format. I was thinking of basing it off of the Day at the Airport book bc it's only about 11 spreads but there's a lot going on on each one. Could leave it a comic but I also want it to be printable hmm catnips cantrips chooseyer-by-mail test - learning a lot! the world-building has been reallllllly fun - like the kind of fun where you want to go a little deeper bc you like it not bc you have to. perfect situation. Gotta resolve the mix between the DM roleplay and the actual postcards. Made and branded a whole gmail account and character to handle lost postcards - Pizza Kentucky III of the Isekai Post Office. Haven't been keeping up with the blog. But the blog is supposed to be more of a holding container than a 'thing'. One thing I did not expect to be learning was spreadsheets. Keeping track of names and addresses and choices and paths has given me a new perspective on pacing and structure. Also? Been a great excuse to finally play with UV epoxy and it's so straightforward that I'm mad it took me so long. media thats not just webcomics - dunmeshi is out!!! Laios my beloved. Still afraid to find and read Kotteri's Veil bc it will make me too feelings. Started reading books I loved as a kid (Redwall!!!) and some story craft books (found an NPR list somewhere) WRHP s2 - started to feel like work but changing up the backgrounds freed me up, feels fun again Sorcerer comic - paused while I wait for fashion inspiration to pull the ending together Emotional support paladin - paused till I feel like it. It's got such a specific delivery style that I don't wanna force to get the story out, so i gotta wait for some story aspects to firm up Bonnie & Clawd - more of a character study than a comic - fun to practice cutie pies cuddling. But... how DO birds and wolves smooch. Saw a youtube video about how ravens and wolves are friends and work together. So perfect. Valentines day thing - got some supplies coming tomorrow, gonna try out my idea. If it works maybe sell it? If it doesn't work, oh well, probably will learn something. Wanted to make perforated cards and stickers but got a little overwhelmed thinking about printing. Might just do a digital thing if an idea comes to me. Been wanting to make holographic stickers but when I sit down to think of a motif it feels stressful. Maybe I just test the Poodle Broadcasting System logo? I've always loved the aesthetic of valentines day but never felt like it's been delivered right. I certainly never felt indulged - something is always a little not-cute or too-cutesy. Think it could be really fun to have it be an annual 'surprise box'. I lost my halloween fam in the schmivorce so I could use a holiday to go crazy on. (For years I would drive out and help build a whole haunted house in a garage and it was like a week-long party with great food and movies and laughs. Sad to lose it, sadder still to know it was so easy for them to lose me. ) Dishupon - ok not as many players and responses as I'd hoped. But that wasn't really the point. Point was to invent some sanrio-y characters for fun - which i did. And I will also say that the exercise of coming up with a variety of cozy, fun, silly, spicy ways to think about dishes has made MY dishes mostly effortless. Even made a little foam clay Tiger coach and he's sitting on the window above the sink. Perhaps I will think of a game to get my car inspection done.

Overall January is great. Granted, it's the 4th. Had my ten year work anniversary (idk how old everyone thinks I am but it's Not 20) and got to 1010 followers on twitter on the same day. And the new d20 is out on the 10th so that felt real nice and square. Bit worried that all the good vibes I built up over holiday vacay will get smashed when I'm put on a new work project. But i feel like I'm about to level up a little bit art-style wise. Feelin grateful, feelin warm & cozy

[feathersandcranes]

Cranes and Undefeatable Hope

Remember when I said in the butterfly post that there would be more divine creatures celebrated through the arts? The crane cranks that idea to eleven.

The most popular type of origami project, at least in the West, is by and large the paper crane. Whether you’re introduced to it through the novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes which would’ve wrenched your heart out because you read it as a school child, or through entertainment media featuring either the tale of the 1,000 cranes in exchange for a wish or for memorials. Regardless, when you hear of origami the next thing you hear about is the paper crane. Now this craft is what began my entire hobby as I am also seeking a wish in exchange for folding 1,000 little fellas, and there may be a post about that and how fun the crafting journey has been, but for now let’s get into history.

The paper crane is a craft from the early 1600s and onward, the paper crane itself being shown in printed texts and illustrations for centuries. So, safe to say that not only has the practice of folding cranes out of paper been important for so long, but so too is the bird in question. Often depicted as particularly the red-crowned crane in other forms of media like paintings, the bird is a symbol for longevity, beauty, fortune, and healing. The longevity idea stems from the myth that cranes live for 1,000 years, hence the folding of 1,000 paper cranes to acquire either a wish or bestow an honorable memorial (really folding so many cranes is an act of honor and appreciation however it comes about, also a test of patience) which became popularized through the story of Sadako Sasaki. While incredibly moving, her story is not my primary focus, but there are resources to learn more about her, her family, and her tale which I’d encourage you to look through!

Cranes are regarded as messengers of the gods and mythical creatures; one noteworthy folktale is that of “The Grateful Crane” where a young man nursed an injured crane back to health only for it to later take the form of a beautiful woman who would become his wife for a time in exchange for his kindness. But herein lies an interesting idea that is shown in many tales of Japanese origin, that in showing kindness to the wilderness and its inhabitants, that same kindness will come back to you or at least reshape your world. Now, this is usually in the form of some young man being kind to a fox or crane or other beautiful creature who will later become their wife (this happens kinda often) but it’s this reciprocal connection to nature, a love that doesn’t involve inaction of humanity, where instead the two parties ‘human’ and ‘wild’ shape each other.

It recontextualizes this fun hobby of just folding little creatures out of paper into one that is an active celebration of the form that nature takes to interact with us, whether that form is a crane that graces us with love and longevity or a butterfly carrying the soul of a loved one in its wings or any other number of spirits made tangible through nature depicted through paper. It's the subtlety that origami gifts us, something so ironically flimsy in physical strength considering the emotional strength the art form has given through history and continues to give people now, that I believe makes it such a fantastic media of choice when looking at communicating environmental conscientiousness. Since environmental awareness as a whole is such a heavy topic for so many different personal, political, and emotional reasons to so many people, allowing said people to consider new ideas with a light and breathable art form like origami can do so much good in the reframing of how humanity views itself with respect to the wilderness. It doesn't add more heft and force to an already overwhelming idea, it instead gives a new scent to the breeze that flows through the space, it instead plasters itself to the side of the bulging thought-mass that is the current state of the climate like a pale sticky note, it's unobtrusive and more easily welcomed into the minds of people. That's how it worked for me. Through origami, I found myself honoring the real-life counterparts of the critters I was creating under my fingertips to show to my friends and decorate my tablespace without even realizing that the reverence had crept in. This deep seated and slowly growing respect had made itself nice and comfy in my mind palace like a spider, politely catching aphids and flies in the corner, coexisting in my head and keeping the place clean and far less overwhelming. I use this poetic language to further drive the fact that my perception of Human and Nature have been, irrevocably, tied together in a brand new way through this art form, giving me a new thread to tangle together and strengthen my personal idea of unity with the environment in my own way, one that motivates me to do right by it and all the cranes left in the world.

“It is not a pristine sanctuary where the last remnant of an untouched, endangered, but still transcendent nature can for at least a little while longer be encountered without the contaminating taint of civilization. Instead, it is a product of that civilization, and could hardly be contaminated by the very stuff of which it is made” (Cronon, 69).

Told you I’d mention this text again! Cronon just has the idea I want to nail home down cold, that not one force exerts their will over the other between humanity and wilderness, but that they press their respective gravities against each other and share the same shape. Our cities and machines endanger creatures further, but our ancient respect and love for these creatures inspires us to protect them, ensure that their love will stick around long enough to mold us, and our children, further. Just like what’s happening with the red-crowned crane right now, where this endangered bird native to East Asia has a notable population in Hokkaido where they don’t even fully migrate away from the land and are under constant observation for research purposes and the land with which they live is receiving constant donations to be maintained. Would there be so many eyes on the maintenance of this species if not for their cultural significance, the countless illustrations featuring their likeness, the many tales about their gifts in exchange for the kindness of humanity, or for their essentially being a mascot to the hobby of origami entirely? It’s not something I can say definitively, but I doubt all of that outward love is hurting that assumption.