#i would seriously recommend reading on ao3 tho

[alevolpe]

are there any sailor moon fics that you enjoy and recommend?

I definitely do!

These are some of my favorites in no particular order (be mindful of ratings and tags, even tho I avoided any outright explicit fics):

“Night Sky Changing Overhead” by FictoryisMine (I hold this one so close to my heart)

“A seedling among the ashes” by BillK (this person has a massive library of fics within the same continuity, it’s dope!)

The entire library of Crawlspace (both on FF and AO3) Her Fate series is beautiful and her new stuff is also incredibly well written!

“Double Jeopardy” by Neuroleptic (it’s been a LONG time since I read it, but I’m pretty sure it holds up)

”Whatever will be, Will be” by Diana (one of my most recent reads, I love it so much)

“Lonely, not alone” by orphaned_account *crying my eyes out in unfinished*

“Ami and Makoto: 5 years and a day” by TheDrifter (domestic makoami, very gud yep!)

Same Prompt Party - Ami by SittingOverHereDreaming (technically a Tumblr prompt but idc, it’s beautiful and adorable) (fun fact about this one, it’s what initially inspired my Auntie senshi Bday series)

I’m sure I would have many many more, but I’ll cut it here for now. Unfortunately I do not read much ff anymore unless a trusted source recommends it to me (I’m too busy srry), and the ones I read in the past are hard to remember since I read them so long ago (most of the time through google translate lol).

Also giant elephant in the room.. the vast majority of these are all Makoami fics?… s-shut up, you don’t know me!

In all seriousness I used to read so much Makoami back then, that’s really all I read, if it wasn’t that I would have no interest in reading it. Nowadays I broadened my horizons (slightly ..), but again, I’m just not reading enough.

Also feel free to recommend me fics (Makoami or not) that you think I would enjoy!

[preblematic]

hi!

I think my previous message may not have reached you so im resenting it again. Hope this is not awkward or weird or anything but I just wanted to ask whether there are some specific songs or images or movies which you consider has the same vibe and aesthetic as your Desperate Lovers series BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. Seriously I can't wait for your update on Halloween :3. It is legit my favorite piece of literary work. I just freaking love it to put it in short. And also how would describe both mikey and gee's personality? As for the vibe, I did find some songs from MIW's Graveyard Shift album which reminded me of them. I just need your certified recommendations of things associated with the fic lol. I just love it. Thank you so much for writing it! Eternally grateful <3

Hi yes sorry I got both of them. Notably I am flying across the country for an orgy/BDSM event in literally less than 48hrs so my brain is NOT all the way here.

I actually do have a Mikey playlist for this universe. It's......eclectic, much like my music tastes, so sorry in advance lmao.

As far as like Other Media, get ready for a weird collection of recommendations. I CANNOT describe to you why these are the same vibe, but they are. Like all of these are integral to DL existing. Remove one of them and the whole thing falls apart.

S.K. Anon Series on Ao3 by doctor_jasley and gala_apples

As far as a direct inspiration for Desperate Lovers, look no further than The Twelve Steps (to a chalk outline). I read this a decade ago at this point, and it's 100% the reason I wrote Healed at the Horror Show. Sorry if you hate Brendon Urie (relatable).

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Literally cannot describe to you how foundational to my brain chemistry this musical is. 80% chance this is where the necro kink came frm. Terrance Zdunich who wrote it is a PIECE of SHIT tho so absolutely pirate it.

Red vs Blue

DO NOT @ ME ABOUT THIS I WILL TAKE NO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

If you have EVER found ANYTHING I've ever written funny it is because of Geoffrey Lazer Ramsey, Matt Hullum, Joel Heyman, Michael Burnie Burns, and Gustavo Gus Sorola. Like I'm SORRY but they raised me. They created my favorite murder obsessed freak, Felix McScouty, and they are ABSOLUTELY the reason I am so horny about knives.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975 NOT the remake)

I'LL COME BACK LATER AND TALK ABT THEIR INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITIES I am on mobile and literally stopped packing bc I remembered I had this ask. If you have a discord DM me on here and I'll add you also. I LOVE talking abt my boys. I am just. Busy lol.

i truly feel this one is self explanatory. these bitches gay AND murderous.

[yunarim]

ಇ. broken melodies | chapter 2

⇢ ⁺ THE SLIGHTLY CHIPPED FULL MOON ˖ Yuu realizes that Neige has something in common with Snow White and gets alarmed.

— PREVIEW (read for tags and synopsis) — MASTERLIST (open to read previous chapters) — AO3 ⁺ w.c : 12k+ this chapter contains mild usage of obscene language !

A sportswear designed for RSA remained in blue-and-white color scheme with a few additions of golden shades here and there. In contrast to the school uniform with dark blue trousers she wore yesterday, the sports outfit did a flip between top and bottom of the outfit, the pants being white with golden stripes and the t-shirt was dark blue this time, leaving a white jacket remaining optional. Yuu preferred the jacket being pulled on at first, but then, leaving Ambrose’s office and spotting Luan wearing it tied around the waist, she followed his example, tying it around a bit clumsily. She wasn’t really familiar with how it should look, always under the impression all the clothes she wears should look neatly on her, never leaving a room for a leisurely touch Luan seemed to possess.

She was called to the headmaster’s office early in the morning because of two reasons: to get her sports uniform and to get notified that the clock tower’s keeper would come and check it today. Ambrose, though ever so thoughtful and cordial, didn’t mention what the keeper is like. Yuu didn’t even notice herself she was quite attached to creating little scenarios in her head, and, following this habit, she still seemed unaware to imagining their meeting going from normal (meaning she won’t get kicked out of here, that would be normal from her perspective) to extreme (where she not only get kicked out but also get identity revealed and—).

In any case, Yuu spotted Luan and waved to him, corners of her lips rising slightly. A warm aura 

around him made her wash off the worries for some time, and when Luan reciprocated the smile she pulled, Yuu greeted him politely.

“Good morning, Luan,” Yuu caught up with him and they moved towards the sports ground.

“Morning…” Luan yawned and Yuu saw cute little fangs he clicked right after closing his mouth. The hair on his head resembled a bird's nest, he rubbed his eyes with his fists and made an intensified attempt to open his eyelids with his fingers, sighing heavily.

Her smile widened, seeing him being so effortlessly adorable, and returned her gaze to the hall. 

“Not a morning person?”

“Meh,” he shrugged. “Not that early morning, ‘kay? How in the world do you get up so early?”

“Mornings are magnificent,” Yuu started as they walked out of the main building. “The way sun rays feel on the skin resembles taking a bath with liquified gold…”

“Woah chill,” Luan said, astonished in a way with her highfalutin epithets. “It’s literally just morning. A good one though, since we’ve got a PE as a first class today, given I already overslept and missed the training with my personal trainer… Ugh.”

“Trainer?” Yuu repeated, but Luan just hummed mysteriously, nodding to her words. 

“Uh-huh, he’s a toughie. Reasonable tho, you would like him too. Not to mention I highly recommend you to exercise from time to time.”

“That’s why you look so sporty,” Yuu noticed, her gaze sliding down his hands, average for a boy his age and yet quite muscular if tensed. 

“You bet!” Luan’s beaming smile made Yuu giggle. “Even though you look like you might crumble just by a wind blowing. Seriously, are all of the Valley of Thorns girls that thin?”

“Valley of Thorns?..” Yuu repeated weakly when she noticed there were fewer people than in the main building. 

“Not from there? You just have to see Dawnshine Savannah women one day. Hope you won’t get a cultural shock or something.”

Yuu’s head was about to spin with all the new information received. Apparently those were the names of the continents? Countries?.. Yuu wasn’t sure if she should have pushed it further to get to know more without looking suspiciously, so she just chuckled and then suddenly gasped as they entered the sports field.

The sports field was not something as grand as the main building, however, a huge forest looming before her eyes with a carpet of fresh greens lined on it and a forest stretching in the distance fascinated with its beauty.

The air was so hot that Yuu could see it melting into inert, lazy waves, and while Yuu didn't like hot weather, she wondered what PE had in store for her.

She observed the territory, noticing new faces she hadn't seen yesterday, which was a bit strange, given their class was all present (when Luan finally came in the middle of the day), and as for now, Yuu saw unfamiliar individuals, wondering what was the deal. 

“Hm,” Luan said. “Guess we’re having joint classes today.”

“Joint?” She echoed.

“Yea, like, some of these people are second years. I don’t know why we’re having classes today with them, but who actually cares, right? It’s fine as long as it's fun.”

“I believe you’re right,” she agreed, not really following the concept of school as a whole, but accepting nevertheless. Moreover, Luan was definitely right about one thing — she hoped it would be fun.

Yuu talked with Luan for some time before a teacher finally made an appearance. Yuu felt how a gentle breeze came with him, tickling her nostrils and carrying a fresh aroma of green tea leaves, making her mind settle for a moment. Luan caught up with her, following her gaze when she looked somewhere near the gate, and noticed a new arrival.

“Oi, xiaohaizi! Good morning!”

Yuu gasped in amusement when the teacher summoned a broom, jumping on it and rising straight in the air, making a flip around his axis, and flying straight to the group of students gathered in the centre of the field. His long pitch-black hair was tied up with a red ribbon in a high ponytail. Yuu, following her inner beaming inquisitiveness, couldn’t tear her glare off his clothes, which reminded her of hanfu. His eyes of charcoal were slightly laughing at her unconcealed pry, and his child-like, almost pure features created an impression he was quite young.

He didn’t say anything about her curious mind, letting it be, and jumped off the broom he was riding, his hair cascading shoulders beautifully, resembling sea waves gently embracing a shore. 

“First of all, sorry for today’s inconsistency in the curriculum. You might have noticed there’s two classes today,” he said, fixing an unamenable strand of his hair and tacking it behind his ear. “It was overlapping, so we decided it would be best to just let it be. Second years, you’ll have lessons according to the schedule next week, okay?”

Nods of understanding and little ‘okay’s were heard here and there as a response to his words.

“Well then, good,” he nodded, smiling slightly. “Now first years! Let me introduce myself. Come a bit closer, hm?”

Everyone did as he said, and right after Yuu noticed how first years outnumbered second ones, but quickly returned all her attention to the teacher.

“My name’s Xiao Qian. I’m your PE teacher, but we will meet during social sciences classes as well. Let’s get along!”

Yuu bowed politely out of habit, when others just remained silent or at least nodded, and stared back at Qian who found her reaction quite amusing. 

“Where I’m from we appreciate those gestures of politeness,�� Qian addressed to her, replying with a little bow as well, releasing Yuu’s nervousness. “Well then, let’s begin the lesson!”

Qian arranged the students in several rows. Yuu ended up in the first one on the left side, separated from Luan, who was standing at the very end on the right side. He winked at her as she hurriedly turned her gaze to him, and she smiled back, returning to stretching exercises.

Qian, who spoke to everyone in an absurdly friendly tone just a couple of minutes ago, turned out to be a rather serious teacher, whose gaze became stronger, if not even more severe. He carefully glided over each student, noticing the slightest movements, and alternately indicated which exercise was not performed accurately enough.

“Now off to the flying part,” Qian said, nodding when everyone finished stretching, ignoring heavy sighs of exhaustion, mostly let out due exaggeration. “Second years, I’m starting with you. First years, watch them closely.”

Yuu watched as a group of nearly 20 students came closer, making a row. She noticed how drastic the difference was between them and the second years, whose bodies looked obviously stronger, their eyes clearly beaming with a huge amount of experience. She was ready to peer into their movements with respect, extract something for herself, becoming a sponge, absorbing knowledge, but suddenly noticed one young man, slightly out of the crowd.

His pale coral hair, reminiscing sweet meringue, shone in light waves of curls under the bright sun, revealing the gradient of his locks, and light pink, weightless, almost transparent tips framed his delicate pale neck.

Yuu felt as if an otherworldly force caused her to peer into his eyes, riveting her gaze to his long eyelashes. His huge eyes, carved from two aquamarine crystals, endowed him with innocence, and his slightly parted plump lips as well as hummingbird-flutter of his eyelashes betrayed him, revealing his frustration. A fresh scent of salty sea waves embraced his only presence, putting Yuu’s mind at ease instantly. 

Yuu felt something wasn’t right with how otherworldly he looked, which was fun and absurd for her to point that out subconsciously. 

As other students demonstrated their skills, this boy nodded to the teacher and took the broom, taking a deep breath. He grabbed the broom, giving Yuu an impression he would break it with how strong his grip was, but he closed his eyes. Two seconds after, he flew the broom a couple of meters into the air, crossing his legs around the base of the broom, and glanced at the teacher, who smiled approvingly at him.

“That was a nice one,” Qian said when the boy came back to the ground, and thanked him. Yuu shivered at how sweet and gentle his voice sounded. 

She followed him with her curious gaze and parted lips slightly when she noticed a little tremble covering his legs.

Serene voice of pureness, huge spellbinding eyes and trembling legs?.. Think harder, Yuu said to herself quietly when it was their turn to practice broom-riding. Her gaze lingered on the boy, a scent of sea foam and salt was radiating stronger now that she noticed, and when he turned, his eyes met her own, wide and full of realization, to which the boy tilted his head curiously. 

“Ah!” She gasped, drawing the attention of those standing at her left and right, and quickly covered her mouth with hands. 

“Something the matter?” Qian asked, but she shook her head from side to side.

Actually, there was. All those features he possessed reminded her of merfolk she met in Ariel’s realm once or twice when she was far younger. Yuu was fairly hesitant to make an assumption based on just those little features, but, unaware of her own current place in the world she happened to enter, it tempted her to find out. 

As much as curious and eager to grasp the information she was, it would be unwise to do as she pleased, especially taking into consideration she didn’t know the boy. Her surroundings, this school, the people here, her own situation—all those appeared to be unanswered questions, and Yuu wasn’t sure if there was a way to figure out if she could receive answers at all. 

The boy did an enormously great job to conceal his trembling limbs, with how everyone seemed to not care at all. Maybe they knew, indeed, and yet they didn’t seem like it was the case, so there was a possibility the boy was trying to hide how hard it was to just stand with those legs on land, mention of flights remaining unnecessary. Yuu admired him for that, but before she could push her thoughts any further, teacher Qian asked her to try riding a broom.

And that was another issue to be solved. Yuu chuckled nervously, taking a broom from the teacher's hands, carefully observing it. 

“Have you ever tried flying before?” Qian asked, withdrawing a fan from his huge loose sleeve, and covered half of his face with it. 

As a matter of flying, yes, Yuu definitely has tried. Not to mention, she was outstandingly skillful with her flying abilities, but riding a broom? Fairy Godmother hadn’t taught her that, and why would she? There was no particular use in brooms in the first place, so she had no idea how it should have been done.

“... No,” she answered in the end.

“That’s okay,” Qian answered, closing his eyes for a moment. “Flying is a difficult matter. One can be an extremely talented magician but can’t ride a broom for life… Not under my watch though.”

He was right. As much as Yuu could fly, she wondered about broadening her horizons and widening knowledge she possessed. Moreover, she couldn’t fly long distances with her own magic, so broom-flying seemed fascinating enough to try.

“Alright then,” Qian looked strictly at Yuu. “No spell needed to ride a broom. Visualization is the key here. Imagine the broom flying, then put some wind magic in there to make it work. And always keep in mind that making a broom fly is not the main task here.”

“What is?” Yuu asked, making sure to remember all the processes he explained.

“Keeping your balance is,” Qian said. “Consider the streamlining of the broom you use, the way aerodynamic properties change depending on how you ride the broom and how strong wind currents are. Shifting your weight forward will bring the handle down and so make it descend, and also leaning forward and putting some weight in it will make you speed up and… Oh, I’m getting carried away. The main task for you for now is to keep your balance midair and to not fall. Try it. I don’t take ‘I can’t’ as an answer. There’s no option other than to do your best on the battlefield anyway.”

Yuu felt how heavy his last sentence was. Teacher Qian was speaking from experience and Yuu wasn’t sure if she was feeling to find out what kind of experience it was.

Yuu stared at the broom, arranging the information on the shelves of her mind. Technically it was the moment she would reveal her magic to everyone, but at the same time it was okay. The only thing remaining was to try finding out how exactly she needed to perform the right magic arrangements.

Qian mentioned wind magic. Even though Yuu’s magic did divide into elemental types, but it didn’t include wind. She took a deep breath, hurriedly trying to remember if there were any analogues of wind magic despite the flying spell itself, but Qian said it was all about visualization, not spells casting magic.

“I understand it’s your first time practicing, but please do hurry up,” Qian said.

“I’m sorry,” she replied.

He was right. If exposing her magic was dangerous to the point she would be handed out to the government, then trying to make a simile of wind magic could be postponed to the later. Yuu sighed and parted her lips slightly, deciding that for now she should just try combining two magic types together and relying on luck. She placed the broom almost in a horizontal position so she could sit on it, still holding the handle with her bare hands.

“Oh faila maira súrë, á ortëa ni ana the orwa fanyarë.” 

Yuu whispered so that no one could hear her, and recurrented wind flow to the broom, realizing she flew up slightly, her legs being on the same level as teacher Qian’s eyes. 

“Not bad for a rookie,” Qian noticed, smiling approvingly at her. “Try rising a bit.”

Yuu nodded, wondering how in the world did it work and how she remained steady. Still holding the handler tightly, she pointed it up, and the broom followed the direction she noted, making her rise almost half higher than before.

“Good, but you moved a bit further. That’s okay for the first try, but next time try adjusting it so you’ll go just vertically up, okay?”

“Yessir,” Yuu answered, pointing the handle down and going down, then jumping off the broom.

“I see you’re not afraid of heights,” Qian noticed. “Good job. You can come here after 4pm to practice if you want.”

“I appreciate your help,” Yuu said. 

The rest of the class went relatively in a calm manner, reminiscent of a lecture rather than a PE lesson. Qian added more details to how flights worked and then dismissed everyone. Yuu couldn’t manage to notice where Luan went, so she decided it would be okay for her to head out to the next class alone.

First she needed to change her clothes. Even though Ambrose said that it’s all arranged and she can be late for 5-10 minutes for the lessons because there were no places where she could change comfortably within school facilities, leaving the clock tower the only option remaining. Yuu appreciated the thoughtfulness, but decided she would never be late nevertheless, so she hurried back to the ‘dormitory’.

She quickly passed the forest she happened to enter yesterday where she met Neige. Memories flashed in her mind at once, bringing Yuu to recall the sad smile he wore that evening, wondering what could be the reason. Would he be okay with seeing her again?

Yuu never was a person to easily initiate a dialogue, let alone with a person who was apparently quite popular. Neige seemed like he didn’t want other people to know about that scene she appeared to become a part of. Yuu had no intention of telling anyone else—there was no person she could have anyway. And even so, Neige reminded her of a gentle light, leading a moth, that would be Yuu, to it, alluringly bewitching her and making her follow him. That was a fun, if not absurd comparison, given she was the one who possessed a ‘Butterflies’ friend’ title. 

Speaking of which, Yuu made sure no one was around and summoned a pink butterfly that eagerly greeted her, dancing around her face, and fluttered its wings in a joyful way.

“It’s nice to see you too, little one.”

Butterfly followed her to the clock tower, where Yuu summoned her magic wand and quickly changed her clothes with a magic touch, then made the wand disappear, and hurried back to the main building.

A tantalizing aroma of something sweet and baked tickled Yuu’s nose when the class ended and she went out of the auditorium, making her way to the cafeteria. 

Entering a familiar place, she allowed herself to stop for a second and enjoy the pleasant aroma of a pie filled with honey—it’s been a while since she last tried honey cake!—and hurried to gargoyles. 

“Good afternoon, Vittorio,” she greeted the gargoyle, smiling at him slightly. 

“Afternoon,” he confirmed. “Anything you’d like to try?”

“Ah, hmm…” Yuu observed today’s assortment and decided she’d go for avocado salad with cottage cheese as a main dish. “That one salad, please. And one slice of honey pie.”

“Coming right up,” Vittorio said, placing everything she ordered on the tray. “You should try the chamomile tea we’re serving today.”

“If it won’t be hard to serve for me, then I’d be glad to.”

“You sweet child,” Vittorio chuckled and poured hot water into the cup. “Drop the honorifics, kids here don’t use them nowadays. Here you go, enjoy your lunch!”

“Thank you very much!” Yuu ignored the ‘honorifics’ part and still bowed nevertheless, deciding where she should sit today.

She noticed the table she was occupying yesterday during lunch was already taken by someone else, as well as the majority of tables on the second floor. She frowned, trying to find another table for at least two with no one around, and succeeded — a table for three right next to the window. 

Yuu took a seat, enjoying the tea aroma floating in the air, and started consuming food, being quite impatient to try honey cake. She couldn’t be referred to as a sweet tooth, but sugary and honey flavors were still fairly tasty and could be enjoyed once in a while. 

Once Yuu finished the salad, she finally took a bite of honey pie, watching honey slowly flowing out of the cake, soaking the layer even more. She seemed to be out of the process for a moment, staring at the golden liquid absentmindedly, and immediately thought of Neige’s eyes. Would they remind her of honey under the sun rays, shining brightly? Or would his eyes, two precious agates, remain still with an elusive presence of loneliness? 

Yuu knitted the brows, sighing. He was so mysteriously enchanting, that Neige. Yuu hoped everything was alright, but a bitter feeling of something dubious was following her even now. How strange, indeed.

“Man, who would have thought that Neige would do another ad so soon.”

Yuu winced. For a second she thought that her thoughts had materialized out of nowhere and everyone could hear what she was thinking about so hard. She turned to her left, noticing a group of students taking the seats and discussing Neige, and as much as she valued privacy, it couldn’t be helped with how good and accurate her hearing was.

“You don’t say,” another student replied. “Dude’s amazing. No matter how hard we try, there’s no way we can reach his level.”

“To be able to study in the same academy as Neige…” Another boy added. “Sometimes I think I got too lucky.”

“Same here. I kinda think he’s unreachable.”

“Right?” The first to speak student nodded. “But imagine making so much money.”

“Must be funny in a rich man’s world,” a student answered, sighing dreamily. 

As far as Yuu remembered, it never was. People tended to be greedy in princesses’ worlds, but since she couldn’t grasp the main idea of money itself, she was as much from relating to these students talking. She has learnt it’s important to appreciate those who worked and earned money, other people’s effort and mentality for being that strong, but she also never worked for money herself. The word itself was vague and abstract to her, and when her Godmother told she should always pay back, it wasn’t necessarily money. Valuable things were far from just gold and banknotes, but what exactly?..

“Don’t you kinda think his play was overrated in the last movie though?”

Yuu’s ears twitched.

“Huh? Now that you said it… maybe it kinda was, yeah…”

“Doesn’t he like, always smiling and giggling here and there?”

“Hey, it’s not to that extent… Bet if they’d put you into it, you would resemble a robot.”

“Yeah, your acting is extremely lame dude, no offense.”

“Hey!!”

“Hey,”

Why… would they talk about him behind his back? Yuu frowned, drowning deeper in her thoughts. Neige was someone she saw once in her life, and even if he pulled an act during their first meeting, was he really such a hypocrite, yearning for money? Or was his play really that bad as they just said? No, she shouldn’t judge his character just by that and—

“Hey~”

“Oh?”

Yuu raised her gaze and saw Che’nya holding a tray with food with one hand, another one resting on his hip, his tail wiggling cheerfully. Yuu smiled a bit subconsciously, unaware of genuineness beaming from her. 

“Che’nya-san, good afternoon.”

“Good nyafternoon,” he grinned, taking a seat in front of her without asking, but Yuu didn’t seem to mind at all. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Just having a meal. What are you going to have, Che’nya-san?”

“Mmm~ Can’t you tell?”

Yuu threw a quick glance at his meal, recognizing fish in breadcrumbs and sour cream sauce in a small gravy boat. He resembled a real cat so much it was starting to be funny. 

“Fish,” she said. “I was expecting that at some point.”

“Right~” Che’nya consumed a small bite, chewing the food in a cute way as Yuu smiled at him adoringly. “How’s your day going?”

“Pretty much okay,” Yuu nodded, realizing she wasn’t uncomfortable sharing some information with him about herself. It felt good that he asked. “PE was fun.”

“Hmm~” Che’nya hummed mysteriously. 

He stopped talking for some time while eating as Yuu was watching people walking here and there, but when she returned her full attention to Che’nya and turned to him, she found him scrolling something with his finger on a strange device Yuu had no memory of. 

Asking Che’nya wasn’t the best decision. Was it something everyone had in the property? A small little box-shaped thing with purple stripes on its edges, plastic cat ears… Yuu was extremely curious. Is that… machinery?! Yuu felt her fingers trembling slightly in excitement. The box radiated slightly blue light and something Che’nya was looking at was running somewhere far away so fast that even Yuu’s vision couldn’t catch at least something. There was… text? Yes, it was some kind of text. But what exactly? And where did it go as Che’nya scrolled down?? 

Yuu watched closely, thinking the text Che’nya scrolled was coming out of the box, dissolving in the air while she didn’t see. But how? What kind of magic was it?

“O’nya~” Che’nya said, amused by her reaction and widened eyes. 

“C-che’nya-san,” Yuu stumbled, realizing she became too curious, and coughed. “Please don’t mind me.”

“Hm-hm~” He hummed, returning his glance to the thing Yuu thought was a box. “As you say.”

Yuu couldn’t follow Che’nya’s eyes fixing on her own, their roles switching, and now Yuu reminding him of a cat following a trembling sunbeam. And Che’nya didn’t seem to mind at all, quite enjoying her amusing reaction. 

“Oh,” Che’nya suddenly said, stopping his finger scrolling the pages (or what it was) as his smile dropped. 

“Is something the matter?” Yuu asked.

“Hm,” his eyes lost their sparkles for a moment. “I don’t like it…”

“Yes?..”

“Oi, Yuu! Hey!”

Yuu turned at a source of someone calling her name and spotted Luan at the entrance. She smiled at him when he approached their table, the aroma of freshly cooked meat and some herbs—she instantly recognized basil, green onion and a small hint of cilantro being mixed—lingered in the air as he bent down to look right into Yuu’s eyes. 

“Let’s eat together next time!” 

Yuu never realized his smile was that contagious until the corners of her own lips went up. It was the smile that couldn’t be concealed at all costs, Luan revealed his teeth and giggled softly, bright lapis of his eyes shining joyfully. 

“I don’t mind,” she said before thinking. “Even though you were the one to leave early today.”

“Damn, you’re right,” he gasped. Yuu wondered about the very first word he said, the ‘damn’ one. What was that?.. “Sorry ‘bout that. Oh.”

Luan finally spotted Che’nya glancing his way all this time and put his tray on the table before stretching out his hand. 

“I’m Luan!” He greeted his upperclassman. “And you?”

“Nya-ce to meet you, Luan. I’m Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. Che’nya for short~” He shook Luan’s hand, and Yuu noticed just now how strong his grip actually seemed. “Come sit.”

Luan followed his words and took a seat at Yuu’s right, still staring at the upperclassman. Apparently he wasn’t agast to his name.

“Which class are you?” As expected, Luan dropped any honorifics from the very beginning, his tail waving slightly as his ears twitched. 

“3-A, nya.”

“THIRD— Yooo bro you don’t even look like my upperclassman.”

“Luan, I don’t think it’s polite to—”

“Who cares?~” Che’nya reassured you it was okay. “As long as you’re having fun, everything’s nya-kay.”

Yuu blinked twice, awestruck by their similarity in enjoying fun things, but preferred to refrain from saying anything at this point. 

“You seem like a cool guy,” Luan nodded to himself. “Add me on MagiCam.”

“Sure, gimme your phone.”

Luan casually fumbled in his pockets and fished out another box-like device, larger in size than Che’nya’s. It was now decorated with a black-colored shining case with a pattern resembling claw marks and Luan’s name was written in giant impressive letters, and Yuu spotted how fancy and shining his box was, unlike cracked and dented Che’nya’s one.

But at least she could catch the name of the device! That was a phone. Yuu wondered what that little thing could do despite dissolving text in the air after letting it out of the device. She also had yet to find out what ‘MagiCam’ could be… 

“Oi Yuu,” Luan turned to her. “Gimme your MagiCam acc ID too.”

“Uhm…” She frowned. Now it was obvious that the phone was a thing that at least two of them possessed, and according to his words, Yuu obviously should have had it too. 

Even if she hadn’t.

“What’s the matter?”

“I, um,” she smiled sheepishly. “I don’t have a phone.”

Luan blinked at her, showing no emotion for a second before giggling.

“Lmao I almost thought you’re for real,” he laughed. “Ok now gimme your ID.”

Yuu threw a quick glance at Che’nya, thinking he would help her escape this peak of embarrassment, but he only leaned up to them, resting chin on his hands and grinning slyly. 

“No way,” Luan grabbed her by the shoulders. “You can’t be real!”

“I’m afraid I can…”

“Damn…” Luan mumbled and pulled quite a theatrically dramatical facial expression, covering his mouth with hands. “Valley of Thorns is wilder than I thought.”

Again that Valley of Thorns. Yuu started to await geography lessons the next day with quite an eagerness. 

Luan scrolled down the pages on the box—ugh, phone—and suddenly stopped just like Che’nya did not so long ago. Was there something frightening? 

“I guess some people just have a lot of free time,” he said, clicking his tongue. “So lame.”

“Right you are,” Che’nya said, drawing Yuu’s attention.

“Did something happen?” She asked as Che’nya gave her his phone and pointed to a message. An article?.. 

She needed some time to get used to the way text was written and how drastic the difference with a book was, but then checked the content closely and gasped.

↳✉ Neige is so annoying

↳✉ How tf did he win again

↳✉ Pathetic

↳✉ He’s just all about his youthful looks, he’s got no skills

↳✉ He should never play again lol

↳✉ This brat

↳✉ Wasn’t it revealed that his fanbase just bought 20k votes?

↳✉ I fucking hate him

Yuu covered her mouth with a hand, fixing her worried gaze on Che’nya who wasn’t smiling at all and seemed rather annoyed at what he read. Even though she didn’t understand half of the words—brat? Votes? What kind of votes? Also what is fucking?..—she could grasp the gist. The hate was spreading, and the words were surely venomous. 

“Some of Vil’s fans are sure crazy,” Luan exclaimed indignantly. 

Vil? Yuu didn’t know this name but decided not to interfere yet.

“There’s no denying,” Che’nya confirmed. 

Yuu bit her lip. Weren’t people… letting themselves too much to say? As she understood, Neige seemed to be quite popular, someone who was recognized at least within this school quite well. Well enough for people gossiping and saying terrible things. 

“He’s only a burden in the theatre club…” Luan quotted someone, as Yuu presumed. “Huh, there’s also people from this school hating him, too? Gonna give a good old punching.”

“Now now,” Che’nya calmed him down. “Creating more problems for him would be unwise. There’s another road to take…”

“Road?” Yuu echoed, meeting her his deep eyes glimmering with an emotion she couldn’t read. 

Yuu watched Luan’s fingers fly over the phone, a red button appearing on it saying ‘Report and block’, and even if Yuu didn’t fully understand how phones worked, she believed Luan did the right thing to do.

“Come to think of it, were you two introduced to the club system in the academy, hmm?”

“Clubs?” Yuu asked, wondering what was that.

“Yeah, I kinda heard of them. They say club presidents will hold somethin’ like an open day two weeks later to get new members, right?”

“Correct,” Yuu saw his striped purple tail waving cutely. “Is there any club you want to join?”

“I definitely want to, idk which one though. We’ll see,” Luan said, taking a huge bite of the dish he brought, and turned to Yuu. “Oi Yuu, what do you think? Have you found something suited for yourself?”

According to what Luan said, there was a theatre club. And that was the only information she received so far, making it difficult to say anything yet. Then again, what if everyone already knew which clubs existed within the school facilities, and she would look uninformed and even ignorant to the point of stupidity? 

“I’m not sure as well…” She decided to go with the safest option for now, catching Che’nya’s cheeky smile.

“Anything you’re interested in?” He asked her.

Yuu immediately frowned, knitting her brows together. Interests? It’s not like it was a matter of interests and her own preferences when it came to rescuing. Fairy Godmother taught her it was important to be a perfectionist, good in everything and especially in reacting fast when the situation could go under her own control. 

She tried going further to the shelves of her mind, observing them carefully and trying to pick at least something that could be interpreted as an interest or an activity she would genuinely enjoy and be good at. A block, the same as on the mirror she tried to cast, covered her memory. There was no clue. Nothing that could be attached to her, creating a certain characterization and attribute about her own personality. Her as a person.

“Yuu?” Luan looked straight into her eyes, slightly putting a hand over her shoulder. “You ok, buddy?”

“Buddy?..” She floated out of the ocean of her thoughts, taking a deep breath of fresh air when her classmate’s reassuring tone comforted her. “Oh, please pardon me.”

“Damn it sure hit you hard, didn’t it? Come on, you still have two weeks and even more time to think it over. We’ve got to see all the clubs nevertheless. You never know what you could find, right, Che’nya?”

“Indeed,” his tail wiggled, reassuringly reaching for Yuu’s hand and tickling it slightly, and Yuu noticed only now how closely they’ve been sitting. “There’s a way of applying for your own club if you feel like there’s no clubs fitting you.”

Yuu smiled weakly, but appreciated their help. 

Was it even right for her to think about such matters as clubs and interests? Certainly there was a princess, or maybe a prince to be rescued, and it was urgent. Once she rescues them, there will definitely be a way for her to return back home, so Yuu closed her eyes, letting her mind sponge the atmosphere of sweet happy school days and making friends. She must appreciate it while it is available, and once it is not…

She must do her best in order to not get attached.

Something ticklish was echoing within her head, causing Yuu to remember Neige again. Apparently he was a part of the theatre club and an actor himself, from what she heard. Yuu knew almost nothing about acting, but she encountered the consequences of being popular. Being watched. 

Princesses and Neige somehow seemed to have many things in common, and the major one was their popularity. Princesses were seen, there was no room for resting as someone was always watching them. Neige seemed to have minor differences compared to them that Yuu couldn’t confirm for now, such as was he a part of royalty or not, but nevertheless—he was being seen, and to the point of a viscous menacing trace following him. 

Figures of authority, princesses and popular people—indeed, if Yuu would pick the word to characterize all them, it would be ‘limits’. They may pretend well enough it was alright, to pull the masks of genuineness and happiness, as if nothing really happened when it actually did. Harvest of the popularity couldn’t be seen from the very beginning, it all started with seeds, which were growing within society not rapidly, but step by step, leaving the hints of their presence in people’s hearts and minds. Then they would grow, lingering in conversations and rumors, the leaves of rottenness falling everywhere, pollinating minds with already unconcealed hate and desire to see more. 

People tend to crave for more, they always have been, and they surely won’t stop. Yuu swallowed with disgust as someone walked behind her, saying something about Neige again.

And maybe… maybe it was Neige who she needed to rescue all along?

A pink butterfly was flowing around, following Yuu’s unhurried walk to the clock tower. Yuu breathed in a vespertine coldness and freshness, enjoying it after surviving under the hot sun in the morning, and hummed to herself as sea waves enveloped the shore, blowing around salty yet gentle marine fragrance. 

The clock tower was located on a separate from the other land cliff, making it a small island, which was connected to the main one with a stone bridge. Yuu came closer to the main door and stopped for a moment, a butterfly following her stumbling into her back. 

🗒 ➛ The building is currently being on maintaining checking. 

“Ah, so the person came,” Yuu nodded to herself, feeling her heartbeat going a bit more rapidly than before. 

Even if the person was the one who was checking this building for an unknown to Yuu amount of time, she thought of them not as the keeper, but as her guest she needed to welcome cordially. 

She went straight to the small kitchen, not even thinking about changing clothes, and pulled two cups out of the cabinet, then brewed jasmine tea. Gasping at the lack of appetizers, Yuu panicked for a moment. 

“It’s not right to serve tea without anything…�� She mumbled, coming up with an idea.

She snapped her fingers, and a virid butterfly appeared. It gently tapped on Yuu’s nose and flew around with a pink butterfly, which was still there.

“Hello to you,” she greeted a butterfly, pointing at a small flower pot on the windowsill. “Would it be okay for you to grow a small rose? I need some petals.”

The butterfly danced around approvingly, and a cloud of green sparkles surrounded the pot. After making its job, the butterfly disappeared with similar sparkles, leaving a big bright red rose. 

“Great,” Yuu smiled. “Now to the fun part.”

She took a handful of petals and summoned a magic wand. All she needed now required a little visualization and creativity, so Yuu hummed joyfully, holding petals when with a dim light sparkles petals became caramelized and sugary.

“That would do,” she nodded to herself, the magic wand disappearing in the air. “Now I wonder where the keeper would be.”

She put two cups of tea and a small plate of caramelized rose petals on the tray, carrying it with one hand, and decided to go up to the top of the tower, right where the clock was located. 

Yuu saw a figure of a man bent over papers with astrological drawings and notes, and hesitated to approach him, who looked so unbelievably ethereal and unreachable. 

And before she could take at least one step towards him, a strange aura conveying his silhouette leaning over papers refrained Yuu from coming any further. It felt as if chains shackled her body, holding her in one place.

“Good evening.”

Yuu winced slightly. A low, velvety timbre, devoid of emotion, but nonetheless attractive and endearing, vibrated in the air, ricocheting off the walls and echoing around the room.

“Now that you’re here, I can go back,” he said, gathering his things before he straightened his back. “I’ll notify you next time I come. Stay safe.”

“W-wait!”

Yuu outstretched one available hand and tried to stop him with a gesture, and the keeper actually stayed.

“I brought some tea,” she said, pointing at the tray she was holding. “Would you like to share it with me?”

“... Alright. Would you like to have a chat then? Tea is the best when shared with someone,” he fell silent for a moment before chuckling slightly. 

Yuu smiled and finally came closer, still having a strong presence of… lack of the presence itself.

She came closer, putting a tray on a small table when the keeper offered her a chair she took right after him. 

“Is there anything you’re worrying about? Your pupils have been trembling since you stepped into the room.”

Yuu jolted slightly and looked straight into his eyes.

The keeper of the clock tower turned out to be a handsome-looking young man, despite the fact that in Yuu's imagination, he should have been respectably older. Porcelain skin on a pale face was adorned with a scattering of freckles, and yet despite such a childish perky detail, his light blue eyes betrayed an absolute emptiness in him. There was no patch of reflected light shining in them, and Yuu could not see the pupils, as if his eyes were made of void, revealing the fact that the artist had forgotten to finish this detail for him.

The unruly, light curls of his raven-colored hair cascaded over his chiseled cheekbones, and his thin lips were closed in a single line.

However, the most prominent feature was undoubtedly his left arm. The steel mechanism with painted floral patterns and perfectly machined hinges that replaced the original limb looked unequivocally impressive, but not intimidating.

And yet Yuu was frowning, trying to get deeper into his soul, to feel if it was warm or cold, was he radiating gnawing sadness or piercing happiness—he was empty, a bottle with nothing in it. 

As if he was dead.

“You look like you have a question.”

“Yes, that is correct, though I’m not sure if it would be okay to ask…”

“Let me guess… You wonder what I am,” he said so calmly it was startling. 

“I’m sorry for being rude—”

“You aren’t,” he noticed, his voice balancing between steady and emotionless but also cheeky?.. Was it even alright for her to describe his voice that way? “I’m sorry for confusing you.”

“Oh, no, that is alright… Please, enjoy the tea and the appetizer I prepared.”

“Appetizer?” He asked, taking a petal and observing it, a ghosty hint of curiosity appearing in his eyes for a mere moment. “This petal?”

“Yes, I’ve made it myself. It’s caramelized rose petals, they’re sweet but not too much. I hope you’ll enjoy it…”

“Thank you for your cordial welcome,” he bowed to her politely, receiving the same gesture from her. “Well then, my name is Prospero.”

“My pleasure to meet you,” Yuu replied. “I’m Yuu.”

“The pleasure’s mine. Ah,” he said after taking a bite of the rose petal and shifting his gaze to Yuu, his eyes softening slightly. “This is very much enjoyable, you did a good job. Not to mention you’re quite a creative little lady.”

“Thank you!” Yuu answered cheerfully, happy that her work was acknowledged. 

“To answer your curiosity from before,” he continued after sipping tea. “I’m this clock tower’s keeper, the shop keeper as well as an appointed school psychologist and a teacher. Remember well the psychologist part. If anything happens and you’ll feel like anything is too much, please come to me. I’m here to help with any problems you might encounter while studying. School life can be rather harsh sometimes. Especially given you’re the only female here… Seriously, what was Ambrose thinking.”

“N-no, that is alright!! The headmaster gave me a place to live, considering my situation. How could I ask for more…” Yuu mumbled.

Prospero drew a mechanical hand to his chin, humming to himself in a nagging way but not really saying anything, to which Yuu wondered what that could mean, and stared at his hand. Floral patterns shone beautifully in the dim lights of the clock tower, but now that she took a closer look, the steel part appeared to be fairly scratched?.. 

“Apparently you wonder what happened to my arm, right?” He asked, noticing how she winced and shook her head awkwardly. “No, that’s okay, it’s natural. Don’t worry, I just had… rather difficult past.”

“I hope it’s better now…” Yuu said quietly, catching sight of little emotion she couldn’t read at the moment. He was pretty hard to analyze in general. “If I can be of help, then—”

“Children must stay children as long as they can,” he said, spotting how her ears twitched. “No need to age so early. Even though I don’t really know how you faes age.”

“H-huh? You’re aware?”

“As everyone here among the school staff is aware of your situation. Don’t worry, no one will use it against you. Speaking of which, I don’t hide my own being, but would be much appreciated if you don’t blabber about it everywhere. I don’t really want to deal with an extra headache. By the way, I feel like you’ve been wanting to ask me about that all this time, correct?”

How do you even ask if you’re alive or not, Yuu thought, slightly annoyed, and took a deep breath.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Yuu said. “But you’re right about that, I want to know who… or what you are. Oh, forgive me for being rude—”

“Worry not,” he reassured her. “As to your question, I’m a puppet. Bonus points for you if you’ll manage to guess correctly from what material I was made. Don’t forget to visit my shop later on.”

“Puppet…” Yuu echoed.

No wonder his presence wasn’t felt at all. He’s no human, he has no soul or anything that could be counted as one.

Yuu dared to look at him, seeing he didn’t really mind her closer observation, and lost in thoughts and concentration. She had some experience in guessing people’s true beings—she was exceptionally good at finding merfolk—but neither human nor a magical being? Presuming objects’ properties wasn’t her best part, but Prospero wasn’t an object in the first place, though how he should be called if so remained unknown. 

His steel arm was out of place, but Yuu somehow was sure it’s not it. He didn’t smell like steel, there was almost nothing metallic in him, but a slight hint of something sylvan, carrying fragrant herbs aroma alongside with oak bark tickled Yuu’s nose.

“You’re,” Yuu raised her head and looked straight into his eyes, sure of her guess. “Made from wood.”

And with that being said, Yuu winced at her own assumption. Wait a moment, if was a wooden puppet, or rather a doll, then could he be?.. 

Pinocchio. He had a strange, absolutely absurd and unbelievable relation to Pinocchio.

Prospero chuckled and started clapping quietly. 

“Correct,” he grinned, and she wasn’t sure how this emotion felt. He was smiling, but what was the feeling within his chest? Was there anything at all? “I must say, I’m pretty much impressed. People think I’m a porcelain puppet.”

“You look like one,” Yuu admitted. “I was confused at first.”

“My master had outstanding skills. Anyway, as I’ve mentioned, I’ll guarantee a discount for you next time you visit. And please do remember my psychological services require no payment.”

“Oh,” Yuu muttered. “Right, you’ve mentioned that… kind of job?”

“I see you haven’t yet happened to visit a psychologist,” Prospero said. “Which is neither bad nor good. Even when we think we’re okay, it might be that we don’t. If you feel confused or anxious, or maybe even too giddy to the point it’s alarming, let me know. I’m here to help, alright?”

“Thank you very much,” she said, even knowing that there won’t be any need for that. Appreciating his good intentions, yet realizing she will leave soon, Yuu smiled at him and bowed. 

“Don’t mention it.”

The rest of the conversation went quite well as they discussed Yuu’s adjusting to the school and Prospero’s shop. He suggested she visit him tomorrow, at least to take a look at where he works and where to find him if something happens within the clock tower’s walls.  She nodded, thinking that she will definitely need to observe his relation to Pinocchio later on in the library.

And so she decided to do it the next morning before going to the lessons. 

RSA was an enormously large school. Yuu knew schools exist but no to the extent of knowing their average sizes, thus RSA felt grand and majestic in its own way. Every time Yuu walked within the facilities, she was being under an impression that the world is huge, blossoming in its glory and magnificence. 

Princesses' worlds had never been that large. 

What was strange to Yuu is that this world seemed to know no boundaries, whilst whenever she would try traveling in a Princess’s world, she would definitely meet a dead-end. A black wall full of nothing but void, symbolizing its end. At first Yuu was terrified, thinking it was some sort of an obstacle, but somehow Princesses couldn’t even see it, asking Yuu where she would go and for what reason. 

Fairy Godmother told her that their realms had limits and barriers that Princesses weren’t aware of. Which was quite puzzling to Yuu—didn’t it mean she needed to erase them, make Princesses free and enjoy the world they live in? And yet… 

They would giggle straight at her face, calling her cute and silly. Why would they leave when they met the Prince of their dreams? Why travel and broaden horizons? Indeed, they achieved what they needed and wanted, justice was settled, and Yuu’s work finished. 

Their worlds might have resembled big bubbles, very well imitating a real world with its spacious sceneries, but in the end it was nothing but a cage. And Yuu was fascinated with how lively and real this world seemed, given she only has been here, in the Academy, and didn’t know if there is anything else beside it, but the landscape opening out of the window in her room shown an endless sea shimmering with bright sparkles under the moonlight, giving her a ray of light ghosty hope.

She didn’t notice how she made it up to the Prospero’s shop. A small, quaint hut, nonetheless in keeping with the local architecture, appeared before her. Yuu made sure that it was open, and knocked thrice before she heard distant ‘Come in!’ somewhere from the shop, said in Prospero’s deep voice.

As soon as Yuu took a step inside, the wooden floorboard creaked. Had she been taller, she would probably have run into the hat hanging on the rack at the entrance. Fanciful paintings hung on the wall near the hanger, as well as framed dried rare flowers. Directly ahead of them was a cylindrical vendor's counter, behind which Yuu spotted Prospero rummaging through the merchandise. 

Behind him was a spiral staircase. To the right of the vendor's counter, there were many shelves and racks filled with various gear, flasks, boxes, containers, and other amusing crafts. Behind the stairs were racks filled with ordinary food, as well as flower pots randomly placed on the shelves. The crystal elongated hexagon chandeliers shimmered in pale pinks and dull yellows, giving the shop an air of mystery, as if Yuu had walked into a witch's stall.

“Good morning, Prospe— Oh?”

Yuu went further, curious and absolutely spellbound about every little thing in here, but before she could greet the clock tower’s keeper, she almost stumbled upon something… or rather someone?

“Hmph, watch where you’re going!!”

Yuu lowered her gaze and spotted… a dwarf?! It’s been a while since she last saw them!! Yuu stared at him, who was sweeping the floor, and then knelt down, looking straight into his steel gray eyes, fixing the unruly lock of his crimson hair and causing him to shrug her hand. 

“Oh, I’m deeply sorry… Are you alright?”

“What do you think you’re doing?! I’m not a child!!”

“Yes, I know,” Yuu smiled at him, wondering why his eyes would widen so suddenly. “You’re around 17 or 18 years old. Am I correct?”

“Hmph, you fool.”

“Grum, it’s impolite to answer like that.”

Yuu turned around to see another dwarf walking down the stairs and carrying some books. Unlike Grum who appeared to be the dwarf Yuu was talking to, he had ash-colored hair, brown eyes and was wearing glasses, a gentle apologetic smile plastered on his face. 

“Good morning!” He greeted Yuu before standing on tiptoes, and barely reached the shelf, but Yuu quickly ran up to him, helping to place the books at the right height. “Thank you, young lady! Please don’t mind Grum for his rudeness, he’s actually flustered you guessed his age right.”

“Oh!” Yuu gasped. “So is it 17 or 18?”

“We’re 17,” he said, outstretching his hand for Yuu to shake, so she did. “I’m Dominic. And you would be?..”

“I’m Yuu.”

“Here to buy something, Yuu? I can help! What do you need?”

“Oh, no, I was just curious…” She smiled sheepishly. Grum went upstairs, still sulking, as Dominic chuckled. 

“Which is also great!” He exclaimed. “You can pick anything eye-catching, and I’ll tell a story about the item. Or I can also pour some tea.”

“There’s no need, but thank you for your cordial welcome,” Yuu couldn’t help but pat his head, seeing Dominic’s tender smile. They weren’t children, but a child-like appearance made it impossible not to pat them and spoil a little.

“Dominic, look! Maybe this thing could help Neige?!”

Another dwarf came from upstairs, causing both Yuu and Dominic to switch their attention to him, blond strands of his hair were pulled out from under clips in the shape of musical notes.

“Don't run up the stairs,” Dominic nagged softly, but it appeared the dwarf didn’t really care as much. 

Yuu tilted her head curiously. Did he just mention Neige?..

“And before anything, greet the customer.”

“Oh, sorry!~” The sunny cheerful-looking dwarf finally noticed Yuu standing here all along. “Good morning!”

“Good morning indeed,” Yuu smiled. “What is your name?”

“Hop,” he smiled proudly. 

“I’m Yuu, nice to meet you, Hop.”

“So what did you want to show me?” Dominic came closer to Hop, taking a bottle with a soft lilac liquid in it and examining it before frowning. “Hop…”

“It says ‘sleeping pill’!! If Neige can’t sleep, then we must make him!” 

“Hop, no.”

“Why no…”

“I can’t give you that without a prescription,” Prospero said, materializing out of nowhere behind Dominic. “There’s only one person on the campus who can anyway...”

So Yuu wasn’t mistaken, they really have been talking about Neige. Somehow Neige and dwarfs in one sentence sounded extremely familiar to her, but she decided to not rush it yet, and then another dwarf with short jade green hair and hazel eyes wearing an eye sleep mask on his head came from upstairs.

“Dominic…I think… I found something…Useful…”

Dominic chuckled, tilting his head and asking what exactly he found.

“This,” another dwarf said. “Neige plays such a… terrifying loud music at night… Can’t sleep.”

Terrifying loud music?.. Somehow Yuu wondered if that could be true, given his image seemed rather tender and warm, but she shrugged those thoughts, knowing prejudice wouldn’t help. 

Another dwarf gave Dominic two cylindrical things that look like pills?.. Yuu bent over to take a closer look, but this device was unknown to her.

“Earplugs,” Dominic sighed. “Well, if it could help you, Shelpie… How much for earplugs, teacher Prospero?”

Prospero, starting walking upstairs, sighed, closing his eyes, and the next second his voice became dim and slightly annoyed. 

“For you? Nothing. It’s just plugs.”

“But we can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” Prospero already went up, and a loud thud of the boxes he carried was heard. “Timmy, help me out there.”

Timmy? Apparently there were more dwarfs than Yuu saw in the span of last five minutes. 

“I can’t just let him spoil us with so many things already…” Dominic mumbled, returning Yuu’s attention to him as Grum returned to the place where he was sweeping the floor and throwing a glance at her. 

“Do you perhaps work here?”

“We’re part-timing, you’re correct,” Dominic said, fishing out of his pockets a small amount of coins and placing them on Prospero’s desk while he didn’t see. “We sweep the floors, help arrange the goods, wipe the dust... You can see for yourself, although the shop is small, there is always a lot of stuff.”

Yuu looked at the bright red brooch on his jacket—come to think of it, other dwarfs had them. too—she also saw it on Neige that evening, wasn’t it symbolizing they belong to the same dormitory… As far as she remembered, Che’nya said it was called Edelwiese.

“You must be working hard,” Yuu said when Dominic took another broom and joined Grum, who  was still sweeping the floor. “Please remember to take some breaks from time to time.”

“You’re very kind, Yuu,” Dominic smiled at her. “Please don’t worry.”

She observed the shop for a while, carefully taking stuff in her hands, examining it and wondering how in the world did Prospero manage to find all those. Yuu also appeared to be lost in thoughts while observing things and noticing they were fairly… old, so to say, if not ramshackle. Useful even still, but old in any case. Which was strange, Yuu thought, switching her gaze to the shelf with snacks on it, which looked quite modern and unfamiliar to Yuu. What a strange shop it was, indeed.

There were even curious artifacts, enchanted jewelry, rare herbs, and gems that Yuu would love to acquire, but for lack of local currency, there was no point in doing so. Besides, after rescuing the princess or the prince, she must return home anyway, so, overcoming her curiosity, she shook her head and said goodbye to Prospero and the dwarves as she left the shop.

“Good afternoon, everyone.”

Emery ascended the tribunal, checking out if there was anyone absent, and starting the lesson right after.

“Today we’re going to discuss magic properties and to which types it divides,” Emery said, grabbing a chalk. “But before that, tell me which magic type you think you’re pretty much confident in. It’s alright if you’re not sure, just remain silent then.”

Yuu placed her chin on hands, watching Luan start fidgeting slightly in excitement. 

“Is there magic you’re confident in?” She asked him quietly.

“You betcha,” he giggled before raising his hand.

“Yes, Luan?”

“Wind magic!”

The way Luan smiled, raising his chin up, and giggled, reminded her of someone… Was it because of his youthful appearance and cheeky yet playful attitude?—

“Great,” Emery nodded. “Yuu? Maybe you have something?”

Yuu bent her brows, thinking hard. She was, indeed, quite a talented sorceress, but in terms of this world’s magic? It was risky to reveal, not even knowing the types the magic divided. Hearing Luan’s one helped her a bit, meaning it still divided at least on elemental types, but to what extent? Yuu first threw a quick glance on Luan, whose tail was wagging in anticipation, and decided to go with the safest assumption.

“Flora,” she said almost weightlessly. 

“... As expected,” Emery grinned in a mysterious way, which Yuu couldn’t really decipher. As expected?..

“You definitely look like a flora mainer,” Luan chuckled, explaining. “I’m afraid we’re not compatible in our types.”

“And you’re wrong,” Emery sighed, causing Luan to sulk a bit. “I said ‘which magic type you think you’re pretty much confident in’, not ‘you sure are confident’. We’ll see if it’s your best one, moreover, there’s not only one type. Not to mention you most definitely can combine wind and flora together, the one thing remaining is learning how to do it in a correct way. Now, let us continue.”

“Woah chill, you killjoy,” Luan giggled, knowing exactly well that Emery did hear him, but decided to let it slide for this one, continuing the lesson, while Luan earned a reassuring smile from Yuu.

“First of all, I see there are a lot of wind magic users,” Emery said, nodding to himself before turning around. “Or you think so. Next we’ve got fire users.”

Yuu heard a strange noise from Luan, seeing him knitting his brows together, wondering what this reaction could mean. 

As Emery started making simple diagrams and patterns on the blackboard, Yuu was following him, writing down the notes while Luan started swinging his leg under the desk casually, though still listening, quite interested in the subject.

“All in all magic divides into two groups, the first one falling into four elemental types, which are: fire, water, flora, and wind. The other one is the void element, which can be divided into dark and light types of cosmic magic.”

Yuu listened carefully, making colorful well-structured notes. 

“Woah, girl,” Luan bent over to peep into her notebook. “Your notes are so neat.”

“Thank you, it’s nothing,” she shrugged sheepishly. 

“Mine are a mess,” he chuckled, showing her a notebook full of his scribbles done in not so neat handwriting, but surely unique. 

“Does it really matter as long as you understand everything you wrote?”

“Right?? Thanks for saying that, Yuu.”

“Don’t mention it?..”

Yuu continued to listen to Emery from then on. 

According to him, magic could be performed in forms of combining elemental types altogether, or mixing both elemental and void elements. Every magic type had its own properties and features, for instance, water magic had major healing properties, whilst fire was supposed to be mostly damaging. 

Magic studies could be compared to any science — it was developing with time passing. Properties weren't too one-sided anymore, and even if main features remained, it didn’t mean there was no place for creativity and experiments. 

As Emery has mentioned, it didn’t mean that flora and wind couldn’t work together. Depending on the magic spell casted and incantations said, they could perform wonders, just like a fire-water pair and others. 

Yuu noticed that her magic didn’t really differ much. The only problem was, undoubtedly, the way she casted it. With Emery’s demonstration of a very simple wind spell, it appeared to be rough, quite raw and very concentrated. And most importantly, it was a wind swirl itself.

Even if she didn’t possess wind magic, she had other elemental type ones, but in any case her way of casting spells could create great problems, given she didn’t produce magic in its raw, bare form, but in butterflies. 

Moreover, she lacked a void element. Her butterflies could do much more, but she also didn’t really have an idea of what a void element could do in the first place. Not to mention it was yet to be seen if her butterflies and the local magic were equal in power, or did something overpowered one another. 

And the question was, how to convert her butterflies into raw magic forms. 

“Beside elemental and void magic, there is also another type called Unique Magic.”

“Unique?..” Yuu mumbled to herself.

“Some of you might have already discovered your own, but others are yet to do that, if at all. If you haven’t, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad magician. Not to mention some of those can be terrifying to the point you’d rather not use it at all.”

Emery sighed, putting a chalk piece on the desk and wiping his hands with a towel before twisting a strand of hair around his finger.

“Unique magics aren’t based on elemental or void types. They can, but it’s not necessarily. The most difficult and terrifying ones have something to do with a human's condition or mind. Please be especially careful when dealing with those or possessing your own.”

Yuu shivered. Their magic could do something like that?

“They can’t be unambiguously assigned according to a certain system or properties. Unique magics can deal with mind, can deal high damage or, on the contrary, have healing properties, can serve as a conductor, and many many more…” Emery seemed to be deep in his thoughts. “For example, mine is…”

“Excuse me, teacher der Licht,” Yuu suddenly said, raising her hand.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Is it alright for you to reveal one's unique magic?”

“Good question,” he nodded. “You might keep your own magic secret to your classmates, but it is obligatory to let the school staff know. In case something happens, we can take appropriate action and help if needed. As for school staff, our unique magics are open for you to check. Go visit the teacher's room if you’re interested. We also reveal our magics during the lesson, like I was about to do a minute ago. Now, if I answered your question properly, I shall continue.”

“Thank you.”

“So, as I was saying, my unique magic is called ‘I See the Light’. It allows me to declassify one’s own unique magic, so I’ll know how it works and what the conditions are, and cancel it after pronouncing an incantation.” 

Yuu gasped and shivered, eyes widening in shock. Unique magic could do even THAT? But did that mean—

“If you haven't discovered your unique magic yet, I won’t be able to see it.”

Alright, maybe there still was a way for Yuu to create an undercover for her own abilities. 

“And now let’s get back to the magic properties. Oh and please, those who know their unique magic, come to me right after the lesson ends, I’ll register them.” 

“Tch, pain in the ass,” Luan mumbled, scribbling something in his notebook, to which Yuu chuckled softly.

“It appears you already have one,” she whispered to him when he turned to her, smiling proudly.

“Yep,” he pressed a finger to his lips and winked at her. “But it’s a secret~”

“O-okay!” Yuu nodded.

She had her own secrets after all.

“Ugh… I’m… sorry… Are you alright?”

Yuu coughed, holding onto her magic wand and tightening a grip on it, watching a giant swirl of butterflies of different colors dissipating and covering her body, fluttering their wings with a genuine worry.

“Ha-ha, I’m okay, don’t worry about me.”

Yuu stood up slowly, her eyes meeting a majestic starry sky upon her, only glassy cover of the tower separating her and that magnificent scenery. 

Almost fifty butterflies were flying around, their wings reflecting in a dim light of the clock tower, and Yuu sighed heavily. How many hours have passed since she returned here, practicing and trying to adjust her own magic to the local one? She tried converting butterflies into spells, but all in vain — butterflies would just dissolve or scatter, frightened away. 

“Oh, little one, there was no need…” She said when an iridescent butterfly tapped on her hands, causing her to put the magic wand away and heal her fingers, lacking strength and grip. 

“Ouch,” Yuu giggled when a pink butterfly sat on the tip of her nose. “Alright, alright, I’ll take a break! Stop lecturing me~”

Yuu snapped her fingers, and all of the butterflies dissolved midair with a wave of sparkles, and took a deep breath.

All her efforts went in vain, but to her fortune, practical magic lessons will start only next year, so she had time. Which was also a trivial aspect due to her leaving soon right after a princess or a prince will be rescued. 

And there will be no more fascinating magic study. Again.

“It’s late but I wonder if the library is open…”

She took the jacket and threw it over her shoulders, then went out, meeting an exceptionally fresh and even slightly cold evening air, enjoying the way stars shone brightly in the anthracite night sky. 

Entering the main building, Yuu questioned if it was okay in the first place — an insinuating darkness covered school halls, clatter of her heels echoing and ricochetting of the walls. Everyone seemed to be sleeping as they should. Yuu couldn’t really feel the flow of time, orienting on the way sun rays flickered in the morning and how cold the air became at night. The clock she saw on her way to the library announced that it was already one past midnight and hummed, wondering if she should try adjusting to a human's sleeping schedule. 

Yuu opened the door to the library and peeked into it to make sure no one was there. Good, Aell seemed to be absent. She apologized to herself for intruding and went straight to the informational desk, checking out the section she needed. 

She then went upstairs, passing by the shelves with many intriguing books on them, but Yuu, mentally fighting with her own curiosity, swallowed it and came right to the section she needed to study magic adjustment. 

“That could be of help…” She mumbled to herself, choosing books. “And also that. And that also may… Hm?”

She felt a familiar presence somewhere at her left and turned, noticing none other than Neige sleeping at the desk, surrounded by piles of books scattered around his angelic features. Yuu parted her lips, not sure if it was right to come to him, but decided to take a moment to observe the situation.

But before she actually could do anything, she spotted another fairly familiar person approaching the table Neige was sleeping at. 

“Sleeping in the library again, hm?” 

The boy who she encountered at the clock tower on her first night here, the one she also saw here in the library the other day when Che’nya interrupted her! 

Come to think of it, she couldn’t comprehend that during their first, uh, ‘meeting’, but the boy appeared to be really tall. His hair reflected in a moonlight, the blue glow of his eyes looking majestically enchanting. 

He came closer to Neige, who still was sleeping, and bent over him, placing a bottle with something Yuu didn’t know what since the bottle was quite opaque, and smiled rather bitterly as he left. 

Yuu found herself lost in thoughts again, pondering if it would be alright for her to approach Neige and observe him, or maybe to at least check what was in the bottle. She turned around, making certain Che’nya wasn’t here like last time he prevented her from coming closer to the boys she saw, and chuckled to herself.

“Just what am I thinking,” she smirked and shook her head. 

No, it wasn’t right. He was sleeping, and despite him looking absolutely extraterrestrial and lovely, he was obviously tired. Yuu quietly made her way to a separate desk, placing the books on it and opening one of them, deciding to wait. She, unlike humans, had a lot of time.

Silence. There was nothing but silence. 

Yuu broke the silence that hung in the air by flipping pages, and even the muffled sounds of nature outside the window fell silent humbly, giving her a feeling of complete concentration and attentiveness.

Luckily to her, there was a way to modify one’s magic properties so they would take on a different form and shape, but that also meant the powers of the wielderer would change. It doesn’t necessarily mean they would go weak—history has known cases where it would increase greatly—but to make it work required a lot of experience from a magician. 

Yuu sighed, pressing fingers to her chin and tilting her head. Fairy Godmother has always been saying there’s no need for her to dwell on magic study that hard. Yuu knew some attacking and defensive spells to deal with evil powers in Princesses worlds, but nothing much further than that. The mere fact she discovered her magic was casted in a form of butterflies was rather terrifying at first since she thought it was forbidden and she’ll be punished for experimenting. Turned out it was alright but only if she didn’t push it, letting things remain as they were. 

Yuu took another book and was about to dwell on it harder, but heard sweet little mutterings, raising her head and meeting Neige’s sleepy eyes.

“Ugh… Huh? Yuu?..”

She smiled at him, waiting for him to awake fully, and took the books, coming closer to him.

“Is it alright if I sit here?” She asked, receiving a nod in return. “Thank you!”

“Good evening. I must apologize, you saw me in such a pathetic state…”

“That is absolutely okay,” Yuu shook her head. “I’m rather worried you’re having a bad time sleeping… Are you alright?”

Neige saw a bottle placed on the table and opened it. Sweet and gentle black tea aroma lingered in the air, and Yuu caught the notes of chamomile in there. 

Neige ripped off the small sticker Yuu didn’t notice that was stuck to the bottle. He giggled softly, sticking a sticker on one of the pages of his notebook, a ‘Cheer up! 🤗’ in a small handwriting was written down there. Yuu wondered if Neige knew the boy who brought the bottle.

“Please do not worry much,” Neige replied, taking a sip when Yuu looked at the books around him, all about math, history, alchemy, magic… What a vague choice. “Moreover, is it alright for you to be here that late? You should sleep well…”

“Thanks for your advice, but I’m alright.”

A brief silence hung between them. Neige opened one of the books, math one if Yuu wasn’t mistaken, and rubbed his eyes. 

“Um…” She broke the silence, meeting Neige’s lovely but exceptionally drained gaze. “How's the rabbit, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Ah,” he smiled gently. “It’s doing quite well. Dwarfs have been looking after… Ah, you might not know them yet…”

“Dwarfs!” Yuu smiled at him brightly. “I’ve met Dominic, Grum, Hop and, hmmm, Shelpie, was it?” 

“Oh, so you know them!” Neige giggled, his eyes filled with bright sparkles of genuine care and happiness all at once, his cheeks dusting with soft pink, and Yuu caught herself on a thought that the sound of him laughing warmly suited him like nothing else. “Actually, there are seven of them, ha-ha… They took care of the rabbit quite well while I, um, was busy.”

Yuu winced at the word ‘seven’. Seven dwarfs and sweet and kind Neige, possessing a lovely voice and a beauty she has never seen before… Huh. Somehow it didn’t sit right in her.

“Yuu?” He asked her worryingly.

“Sorry,” she shrugged. “I’m glad that the rabbit is okay. The dwarfs are surely thoughtful!”

“They definitely are,” he smiled.

Yuu frowned, still lost in her extremely ridiculous and absurd theory, but decided to try proving it in the most vague way possible.

“Do you perhaps live together? I’ve noticed you all have bright red brooches,” the way Neige didn’t lose his composure but was obviously not so comfortable with answering right away made Yuu to clench a piece of her clothes under the desk. She didn’t want to push him, but could he… could he really be a prince in distress she needed to rescue? If so… “I’m just living all alone in the clock tower since well… You see that my case is rather odd. That’s why I don’t really know about the dorms’ arrangement.”

“Oh!” Neige exclaimed, smiling away all the worry from before, which put Yuu on guard. He surely was genuine and cheerful, but now it was more suspicious and alarming than just carrying an image of an always happy person. “Right, you must be confused. Yes… We live together in one room. Though I must mention our case is rather odd, just like yours. It just… happened to be like that.”

“Is that so…”

The theory of Neige resembling Snow White herself started to sound not so preposterous as it was. Yuu decided she needed solid confirmation. She quietly snapped her fingers, and a pink butterfly appeared. Yuu pointed with her finger at the window, sending a butterfly there. A tingling feeling in her stomach made her frown with worry, but she proceeded to distract Neige.

“Are you perhaps a second-year student? Dwarfs said they’re all seventeen years old,” Yuu grinned.

“I am 17, too,” he answered gently. “What about you?”

“Oh, I am a first-year. As for my age…”

Yuu swallowed her worry when a butterfly flew over to their table. Neige gasped and stretched out a finger, welcoming the butterfly which danced around him. Yuu was sure she didn’t tell the butterfly that it must fly straight to Neige. It’s as if he was spellbinding every nature creature around himself… 

Just like Snow White did.

“What a curious color,” Neige whispered. “I’ve never seen a butterfly like that.”

“Curious indeed…”

A fae couldn’t lie. Yuu couldn’t too, deciding it would be for the best to not comment on that. Moreover, she confirmed her theory, looking straight at Neige and observing his features. Pitch-black hair, eyes shimmering like gold, lips red as blood… 

There was no denying.

“It’s already late,” Yuu said suddenly, gathering the books. “I should get going. I also suggest you go to sleep, Neige. Staying so late is bad for your health.”

“You’re right,” he nodded, seeing the butterfly flying away to the window and watching it with a glimpse of sadness in his eyes. “But I must stay a little longer. Don’t worry, I’ll go back soon.”

“As you say… Well then, see you later.”

“Good night, Yuu.”

She hurried away out of the main building and met the butterfly she sent near the garden. 

“He’s related to Snow White,” she dropped, a genuine worry plastered on her face. “I don’t know in which terms, but he definitely is.” 

The butterfly fluttered its wings rapidly, agreeing with Yuu. 

And if he resembled Snow White, then it meant he was the Prince she needed to rescue in order to return back home and do her duty as a Princesses rescuer. 

It will be a long sleepless night full of connecting the facts she had and making a plan to help him.

★﹒﹒NOTES ✧˖ 小孩子 (xiaohaizi) — little children. ✧˖ Oh faila maira súrë, á ortëa ni ana the orwa fanyarë — “Oh generous splendid wind, rise me to the high sky”. I genuinely hope I understand Quenya grammar right— ✧˖ As I've promised, here's some explanations about word formation used in RSA dorm names! — Pandora Charm (actually we just came up with that and called it a day lmao) — Kifurijua : Royal — kifalme (Swahili) Pride — Kiburi (Swahili) Sun — Jua (Swahili) — Merheronelle : Sea — Mer (French) Hero — Hero (English) Nelle — Just an addition — Huriirada : Freedom — Huriya (Arabic) Will — ‘Iirada (Arabic) — Edelwiese : Gems — Edelsteine (German) Meadow — Wiese (German) — Dýnamieisos : Power — Dýnami (Greek) Heaven — Parádeisos (Greek) — Florevel : To Bloom — Florere (Latin) Vel — Just an addition. — Sidhery : Elf — Sid (Irish)  Ery — An ending from the word ‘Fairy’ in English.

© yunarim 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨��𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

[nijigay]

hiiii :3 I noticed ur one (of a few) ppl who ships boniji on tumblr, and I wanna know if you know any accounts/artists who ships them so I could follow them to satiate my boniji fixation >.< Also, some bocchi x nijika questions I wanna personally ask: what songs do you recommend that reminds you of them? Also, what are some boniji fanfics you recommend/like? I probably already read most of their fics but I wanna know what others like. Lastly, ur personal boniji headcanons if you don't mind sharing... 👉👈

I only ask blogs rarely cuz I'm shy so no need to answer immediately...

I'm just brainrotting over boniji so much! im so normal about them (◔‿◔)

AWAWAWA i love boniji like so much like too much like its become my main personality trait!

but youre right!!! it feels like boniji fans are mostly japan natives and there dont seem to be many english speaking boniji fans! ohhh i wish there was more of a following! imagine a boniji zine in the west! i would pay money to get involved with that

im kind of embarrassed about shoving my ships in ppls faces all the time and this might get long and its just me like rambling about my OTP so like .. gona put it under a read more lol. seriously this post is like almost 2k words long thats longer than my average fanfic chapter

i hate to be a shill but im going to be a shill for my fic recommendations:

ive been working on a lowkey corny boniji hanahaki fic on AO3 and some other oneshots, so maybe you would be willing to check my own stuff out?? (if u want .-. im really amateur with this stuff despite being an art student lol) its been on hiatus for like half a year but im just adhd af and keep restarting. im still working on it frequently tho and im secretly hoping to start updating on a consistent basis soon. but i also liked fics like "Midnight and Daydreams" and "Bubblegum Detergent" and "A Sellout Night" and "Just Enough to be Enough" and "A Kiss is Not A Cure". MANNN i remember that last one fucked me up bad when it was posted. it was only the second ever dedicated boniji fic and like I LOVE angst but with how small the sample size of fics was at the time it was like AUFHAUIJKADGF. all those fics are super super good though! i also love the third one, i love the trans bocchi HC personally

umm as far songs songs tho, i guess the ones i associate with boniji most are:

"veil" by keina suda, i remember drafting some animatic for an angsty AU of Hitori living on post-Kessoku

"STEP&CLAP" by yoshino aoyama (aka yoppi aka bocchis VA <3), i think yoppi making the song speaks for itself but its a rly cute song and i love thinking of Hitori and Nijika like tap dancing to it?? check out the rest of yoppi's debut album too!! her voice is so pretty and i was so happy finding out that there are 11 songs with her voice, instead of the 1 from the anime

idk why but i also think of them a lot when listening to PMMM's ost by yuki kaijuri, like "desiderium" and "not yet" and "mada dame yo"? these r kinda a stretch though but idk!!

i also like compiling music that reminds me of them into spotify playlists, if youd like some inspiration for your own! this one and also this angstier one

i have a lot of boniji headcanons but i feel like its hard for me to like list them all in one spot because they usually come to me with context during relevant conversations?? but ill list whatever i can think of!:

this ones not necessarily boniji but i was thinking about it like an hour ago, but i really like the idea of Seika being a huge boniji supporter. like in the source material she already finds Bocchi really cute, so I get the impression she would really like to be an older sister figure for Bocchi (and probably gets jealous of Kikuri for holding that spot in Bocchi's life lol), and so Nijika being a potential love interest for Bocchi would make Seika double down hard on supporting boniji. she'd probably be the one who brings Bocchi up to Nijika more than Nijika would bring her up to Seika?? i also like to imagine that for Seika she has a similar complex to Yoyoko. but instead of "Bocchi is stealing my spot as Hiroi's younger sister figure," it would be "Kikuri is stealing my spot as Bocchi's older sister figure" LOL . if that makes any sense at all

this ones actually taken from a japanese twitter user, but they moved on from boniji after the anime ended. but they had some headcanons that REALLY stuck with me. my favorite was the idea that Bocchi and Nijika both have inferiority complexes with one another. iirc their (translated) words were along the lines of "Bocchi thinks of Nijika as a pure, comforting light in her life, one that could be muddied if Bocchi got involved with her. On the other hand, Nijika thinks of Bocchi as a reliable hero who outshines an ordinary girl like her." i just REALLY like it. it also reminds me of this conversation that Yoppi and Suzushiro had on the BTR podcast, about Bocchi and Nijika's first meeting! like nijika literally brought light into Bocchi's life awdsfsgdhgfjh

actually that same user above also made a tweet that is the reason why i associate Keina Suda's "veil" with boniji! they made a tweet about an AU idea, where, in the event that Nijika would ever pass away, Seika would give Bocchi her ribbon, which Hitori would wear from that point onwards as she continues to play music to honor Nijika's memory. they also suggested that in the opposite event of Hitori passing away, Nijika would possibly do something very rash out of despair but thats dark hahaha!!!!

i kinda think this goes without saying and i think its actually a fairly common HC for BTR characters in general, but I can definitely see Bocchi being trans

I like to imagine that shortly after Volume 2, Bocchi and Nijika would probably have another conversation

eventually, i'm sure if Bocchi and Nijika pursued a relationship that they'd eventually move in together (or like into the same room? if Kessoku Band had a sharehouse?), and since both Bocchi and Nijika tend to be minimalistic with their room decor, their shared room would again become filled with a ton of Ryo's clothes and items and instruments, like how Nijika's room at Seika's apartment is

i think they'd both end up being really touchy with each other, especially when nervous? Bocchi kind of already does this when she's in new places (eg bringing Kita to Shimokitazawa, or going to FOLT for the first time and being dragged by Nijika), but I think it would grow to them finding comfort with each other?

idk if this is necessarily a HC but i really like how Bocchi and Nijika emotionally support each other, even in source. Nijika is shown to have a really good read on Bocchi (to the point of Bocchi worrying that Nijika is actually a psychic), knowing Bocchi's common thought processes, and picking up from Bocchi's mother during her first visit to Kanazawa that karaage chicken can bring Bocchi out of her anxiety attacks, and seems to be the only character who actually comments on Bocchi's growth as an individual and actively tries to facilitate it; but she also doesn't lovebomb Bocchi with praise, striking what seems to be a good balance for pushing Bocchi but also being a reliable confidant for her too.

one of my favorite details from the anime that i really feel doesnt get talked about as often as it should is when Nijika finally notices that Bocchi is guitarhero! she definitely wasn't the first to notice (Seika noticed first, but it seemed like Seika only knew about guitarhero via Nijika. When she notices that Bocchi's playing sounds familiar, her thought process immediately goes towards wondering why Nijika isn't noticing, and then she just tells them to get back to work) but she was the first one that Bocchi admits it too. but my favorite part is how Bocchi says that she wanted to change and grow as a person before telling them the truth, and she says that she especially wanted to grow before Nijika in particular found out! its just really cute, i love how Bocchi was worried about disappointing Nijika. and i like how, after some growth, Bocchi's dream turns from "becoming popular" to "making Kessoku Band the best band it can be" which is like almost basically the same as Nijika's dream! and so it's really nice when Bocchi doubles down on that goal by not remotely entertaining the idea of leaving Kessoku Band, even when goaded by promises of popularity.

last headcanon! because i ran out of thoughts and just came up with this on the spot. but i also like the idea that as the years go on, Bocchi and Nijika in particular may kind of become more similar in personality. i mean, they'd definitely still be distinctly them, but i like to think that Bocchi would eventually start picking up more optimistic habits and stop grimacing all the time, while Nijika would eventually become a little more lax and not reflexively try to dismiss her own negative feelings via looking at the silver lining. i thought of that when Nijika kinda dismisses her family dynamics with her mother's passing and her father's neglect after Kessoku's first real performance, as well as Nijika seeming to admit after inhaling Bocchi Dust(?) during her and Kita's Kanazawa visit that some of her optimism is performative

ok another one Nijika seems to have her art skills commented on sometimes so i like to imagine she has doodles of Bocchi in her sketchbook (alongside everyone else but mostly Bocchi). like think of like Miles Morales drawing a ton of Gwen Stacy like that kinda deal but with Nijika drawing Bocchi. and like Bocchi finds the sketchbook and Nijika freaks out and Bocchi actually doesnt look bc she doesnt want to do something wrong. but then Ryo or Kita take it and look instead and then show Bocchi and Bocchi melts into a flustered puddle

wowwow this got long! sorry! i really mean it when im like OBSESSED with these two like i think ive thought about them on a daily basis ever since the episode aired where Nijika bought Bocchi a cola. isnt that cute, too!? she picked up on Bocchi's favorite soda so quickly! and her buying a box of energy drinks for Bocchi despite not understanding why at all! girlfriend behavior

i really really want to make more boniji content, i'd like to be more active in posting my fics and drabbles and drawings, someday soon. right now most of my boniji content is just illegible sketches in my sketchbook lol

also thank u so much for like sending this ask im like BEGGING internally all the time to be given the chance to talk about them! i dont think theyre like a rarepair or anything, especially with them seeming to be like the second most popular BTR ship in japan, but i do think that not many people talk to them in the english side of the fandom! theyre super super cute and have really good chemistry.

this entire post is probably like a total carwreck i hope its even readable

ill also use this post as an excuse to post my own HCs for a Kessoku Band's relations chart. it's a bonus for reading this far. i'm sorry for draining 22 HP from you with this brain dump

[silawastaken]

HELLO, ITS CHRIXYTY FROM AO3!!!! i decided to make a tumblr account just so i can interact with you on here :3 why? because i can. dont question me. i do strange things sometimes. (a lot of the time) but dont we all?

(i was serious when i said i would stop hovering like a ghost and start interacting. you better expect a LOT of comments from me from now on BECAUSE I JUST NEED TO SHOW MY APPRECIATION.)

ANYWAYS CHAPTER 13 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ THANK YOU FOR THIS WONDERFUL PIECE OF ART. THIS WHOLE FIC IS A MASTERPIECE AND I LOVE THE ANGST !!! (ESPECIALLY DAZAI ANGST 🤗)

like im not even joking no fic has ever made my heart pound every second i read it before...like literally nothing could be happening and my heart is pounding at 150 bpm like damn its so good you might give me a heart attack frfr.

chuuyas so dense but i can kinda get his point of view :( UGH the slow burn is just making me anticipate the moment he finds out dazai's his soulmate even more...(betting chuuya will punch dazai out of anger because he realises dazai did all those things to himself...and then he'll feel the pain from the punch and be 100% certain and will start bawling cause idk emotion overload?? i can imagine it but yea im yapping a lot haha)

OH AND HIS FRIENDS FINDING OUT ABOUT ODAS DEATH??? AHH

also it makes me happy when authors refer to the canon universe in their fics somewhere like when dazai called his friends his "little detective agency" like its a small detail but it just makes me happy.

okay im SERIOUSLY yapping way too much but i needed to get all this out somewhere. my bsf is getting sick of me talking so much grrrrr >:(

(permission to one day when this fic is finished print it all out and bind it?? so i can forever keep it as like a memento and pass it down to future generations so they too can appreciate this amazing piece of literature??)

wow i wrote a lot. if only i could write this much for my fic in such a short time during writer's block.

WAITWAITWAITWAIT. I NORMALLY TRY TO ANSWER THESE TOPIC BY TOPIC BUT BINDING. MY. FIC???? HELL YES YOU HAVE PERMISSION WHAT THE HELL??? THAT'S SO COOL??? if i ask very nicely would you make me one too..? I'd pay postage and everything 🙏🙏 i wish i had the patience to bind fics into books but it requires so much time and patience that I don't have 😭

My only thing I would want to say is that I plan on revising some of the earlier chapters where it doesn't quite flow the way the rest of the chapters do, so if I finish it before I've done that (which probably won't happen, but just in case), I would recommend waiting a little!

ANYWAY. making an entire tumblr acc just to interact with me here? ...that's dedication man🫡 I already said it but I appreciate EVERY comment i get so i will be waiting with baited breath after every chapter!!

Glad you're loving the angst tho, I'm having a lot of the time throwing dazai and chuuya into a washing machine full of stones every chapter. great character building.

The reveals are gonna be so fun I can't wait to write them honestly. I'm so excited!!! Still got ages to go tho, so strap in it's gonna be a while.

I ALSO LOOOOVE REFERENCING THE CANON WHILE WRITING. THE NYE FLASHBACK WHERE DAZAI THINKS ABOUT HIS CONVERSATION WHERE THEY WANT TO BE DETECTIVES. OMG. I WAS SO PROUD OF THAT. AND THE 'soulmate detective agency'.

Do not feel bad about writing a lot cause I loved reading this and responding and once again YOU HAVE FULL PERMISSION TO BIND IT ONCE IT'S DONE.

[prismaticpichu]

I don't even know where to start asking this so I'm coming to you to ask this: Do you have/know of any dad!vincent to Sephiroth fics? I neeeeeed

No worries, my friendo! I got ya covered! ❤️ (or should I say these blessed authors do!)

Sephiroth was Hojo's son. But he was also Lucrecia's. And that was why, given a chance, Vincent would try to save him. That was why, given a chance, he would go back and try to help keep him on a better path.

Because when you loved someone, and they were gone, you made sure their kids were okay. And he should have realized that the first time around.

Very popular papa Vincent fic!!!! And for good reason! I still gotta get around to catching up to it myself, but I remember some insanely cute moments between him and little Seph <33

Vincent never expected a child to raise, but he was going to make the best of it.

You don’t get more Dadish than a fishing trip!~

In all seriousness tho- very cute read!! <333 Just short and sweet bonding moments between the two of ‘em!

Annnnnnnnd those are my two biggest recs lol!!! I’m sure (positive!) there are more incredible Dad!Vince fics out there, but it’s just admittedly been a bit since I looked for that specific genre 😅 I also recommend scrolling through the “Vincent Valentine is Sephiroth’s Parent” Tag on AO3 and seeing whatcha find!!

[rottentiger-art]

tag people you would like to get to know better

Thank you @gigantomachy1916 and @litterateur97 for the tag!! It's crazy how much we have in common lol

1. Three Ships

Ooof, I got so many, I'm gonna put the three I'm currently obsessed with (bc I'm not sure I could choose just three as favorite)

Vegebul, my beloved, my OTP, the light in my life, the best anime couple imo

Trumai (yes, both versions), the successor of Vegebul, they have me in a hold just as strong as them, it's such a weird but fun pairing, I adore them

Hurrem x Suleiman (look at themmmmm) everytime suleyman spoke his poems to hurrem I melted, no ship has ever have such romantic quotes. Plus, i use a lot of their scenes for royal aus, it's just gold

I know you said three but I gotta give an honorable mention to Lawmane, who's ever present in my mind, even if I dont post about them as often as before. They would've been THE couple if only Misa hadnt fallen for that gay republican

2. First Ever Ship

I think it was either Sparrabeth or Quogan, I'm not too sure (Quogan was the first ship I've read a fanfic of tho). I'm still obsessed with both, maybe more than when I was younger. I remember wanting Spareabeth to be endgame and to know more of Quogan's life after the show's end, but now it's a NEED

3. Last Song

Funeral by Mon Laferte. It's an amazing song, it speaks of being in a loveless/passionless relationship and wondering how it got that way and wanting nothing more than for it to finally reach its end. My favorite part goes something like this: "While I prepare breakfast I feel so terribly alone, suddenly I want to die, I want to run away from you. I wish I was on the ocean, letting the waves carry me away, I want to stop breathing; dont wake me up, I want to keep dreaming about our funeral" not a perfect translation, but you get the point. The narrator feels so helpless and is so desperate to find a way put an end to that relationship, other part of the song reflects her regret on how they both let the relationship die and wishes she could go back in time and prevent it, but nonetheless their love has died and they're both wasting their time by still being together.

I listen to it a lot when I need to think an angst AU or something lol. But the singer is so good and shows such emotions through her voice, it makes me relate, even tho I've never been on that situation (thankfully)

If you want to get into Hispanic music, I definitely recommend Mon Laferte, she's one of my favorite artist, "Se me va a quemar el corazón" is another amazing song of hers that I recommend.

4. Last Movie

The Menu (2022)

Amazing movie, it was fun and light to watch and not to be taken too seriously + it has my gf Anya Taylor-Joy (ORGULLO ARGENTINO), I took a peek at its tag on ao3 out of curiosity and I'm embarrassed to say who I'm shipping now, but if you know me, you can probably guess

5. Currently Reading

Nothing new, I've re read my favorite books, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Chronicle of a Death Foretold by GGM. The little prince was the first book ive ever read, I always heard it's a book you should read as a kid and then later as an adult, and my God, it's true, it's a completely different experience. 6 yo me thought it was a fun book about a man hallucinating in the desert, 24 yo me cred like a baby full of longing for a childhood I didn't appreciate and grief of the kid in me that inevitably died as I grew up and became an adult.

I never tire of reading CoaDF, everytime I expect the end to be different even tho the very beginning tells you what's gonna happen.

I dont have much time, so I choose those too bc they're a short read. However, I'm gonna start to reread asoiaf books too, bc I can never get enough of them

6. Currently Watching

Like I said, I have no time, so I stick to Sitcoms I can put on the bg while I work. I'm currently rewatching The Nanny, I forgot how much I loved it. And I swear, I'll start dressing as Fran as soon as I have time to buy new clothes, her style is just, mwah chef's kiss, obsessed.

And omg, I forgot how slow the burn in this show was, its Season 5 and they're still not dating!!!! Immabout to throw gasoline at them!!!!!

7. Currently Consuming

I ordered some Pizza, it should be here any moment, I'm sure you can guess why

8. Currently Craving

TIME PLEASE, I NEED TIME TO BREATH, I HADNT DRAW ANYTHING IN SO LONG AND ITS AFFECTING ME SO MUCH

I also need to finish my fic and socialize more. So I crave time, I need a vacation.

9. Tagging

@tomwise @emcads @littlewomenpodcast @mslilylashes ❤ anyone that wants to do it, feel free to!

[killerandhealerqueen]

🔪 📖 💀 ✨ yayyyy, am here again for the ask game because although I have asked you already I still have the desire to learn all of your thoughts about the rest of it! ♡♡♡

Shhhh, I always love answering asks and talking about Killer and Healer, feel free to send me as many asks as you want

🔪 What moment feels like they just took a knife to your heart?

Um, there are too many...but I think the one that fucking got me on the first watch was when Jiang Yuelou shot Chen Yuzhi and then had a literal fucking breakdown about it. I was already sobbing because like "JIANG YUELOU, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" but then when you realize that it was all a dream and that they fucking planned it, I'm like..."I hate y'all. Fuck y'all, made me lose my god damn mind". But also seeing how absolutely fucking distraught Jiang Yuelou was when he thought that he had actually killed Chen Yuzhi...fuck me up man. My god. Mao Zijun deserves all the awards for that

📖 Give me a fic recommendation

Well, I'm always down to rec all of my fics, which you can find over on ao3 under: 恨君不似江楼月 | Killer and Healer (I know it has the same title as the rewrite, but I promise you, it's the link to the series)

And as for a fic that's not mine....Waiting (Let Me Pet You) by @bestbuds55. I thoroughly enjoy this fic and go back to read it every now and then because it's just so good.

Or, some other good ones are Reunion and Photograph by @tytangfei. These ones are also really good

But I mainly read/re-read my own fics, so I don't have a lot of Killer and Healer fics bookmarked

💀 Do you have any secret ships? (Including friendships)

As we all know, I ship the usual ships, Jiang Yuelou/Chen Yuzhi, Zhan Junbai/Yu Tangchun as well as Sun Yongren/Song Rong, and Zhong Yiren/Chu Ran. As for Liu Li and Chu Min, I see them more as like Zhan Junbai and Yu Tangchun's kids, so to me, they're siblings, not romantic.

I still think Jiang Yuelou and Wang Meng would make...maybe not good friends, but they could be good allies. They'd get along (maybe) for Chen Yuzhi's sake. And of course, the Chaotic Police Siblings (Jiang Yuelou & Jin Dacheng). I really enjoy their friendship

✨ AU you’d like to see the characters in

*motions to literally any au I've written* I think I've got you covered, babe. But no, seriously, I think I'd like to see the Killer and Healer characters in a wuxia (I've said this many times before, give me Mao Zijun and Ian Yi in a wuxia together, please) or in a mafia au (like Kinnporsche, minus all the sex. I'm down for the blood and violence tho. I'm cool with that)

Killer and Healer Emoji Ask List | send me an emoji

[himi-wiz]

Bram and Nikolai for the bingo, if you wanna do it?

Hihii and yep ended up picking it up. Was surprised people would ask and took a double take at the ask kek

Nikolai — I WANNA STRANGLE HIM BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND HIS THOUGHTS AND I DONT LIKE THAT LEAVE ME ALONE--

In all seriousness, an excellent character and I really enjoyed the fanart and jazz on him, he's sure got a way of charming the audience and standing out in very very few scenes and I'm curious how he'll end up. Though not too certain on community making him too fluffy along with Fyodor, he's deranged and violently so because he wants to and whilst I do believe he does feel guilt about the consequences, it isn't enough to override the fact he does enjoy torturing people to get their reactions. (Poor, poor Sigma). Not too bothered by it tho, just not my cup of tea to oversimplify the clown to his most visible traits but hey, to each their own fun!

All in all, a fascinating creature but one that'll cost me too much brain cells to decipher and I'm horrified by how much I understand his actions when I do a tamer version of sticking to a persona I wholeheartedly perform to. One day I will dive deeper into him but today is not the day.

That said here are some Nikolai artist recommendations:

[Artists on Tumblr I enjoy]

- @/creantzy

- @/destructive-delight

- @/soupyhands

[Fanfics — Mostly Fyolai whoops]

- a means to an end and a foregone conclusion by ao3 maidoutfitsandguns

- wholesomeish fyolai oneshots by ao3 maidoutfitsandguns

Manga Spoilers at your risk!

Bram — bit of bsd spoilers for him but I think he's lovely, I just went: Adopt him and let him be happy when I saw his interactions with Aya yes.

I didn't expect to, cause I did not predict his appearance at all. I mean vampirism? Really Asagiri-sensei? But ended up adoring his character. He's so tired and done with life but he's manages to be precious www

That said yet another character that is trapped under the confines of someone's control in bsd and used as a weapon. But this time it is openly shown how he's used as a weapon and this is against his will compared to some other characters who are complicit in letting people use them.

I am super curious as to how his story will end because unfortunately not looking too pretty rip

I haven't read or seen any new stuff with Bram but do let me know when there's any!

[sometimes-she-becomes-it]

do u have any Uucest fix recs? i cant find any good ones idk why

Ohhhhh boy. Oooohhhhh do *I*. *Do I*.

Yes. Yes I do.

Most of these are on ao3, btw!

First I have to start with my Absolute Favorite Uucest Fic Of All Time. This fic is so good folks! Like so very very good. It is awesome!!!! This fic is what made me actually *like* Uucest, what led to me being as obsessed with it as I am and not just being "eh I guess it's fine". This entire blog? Is because of this fic. All the drabbles I've written, the stuff I've reblogged to keep in my personal archive. All of it. Everything Just because of this one fic. But gog is a hell of a fic!

Onto the stuff I like about it! It has a more work less healthy Uucest dynamic. Like, they're on even grounds, instead of it being purely submissive Callie/Dominant Caliborn as I usually find it. This fic shaped what I would consider a healthy Uucest dynamic to be. But it doesn't *just* have Uucest! It also has Hal+Callie interactions which I think are very much worthwhile! It involves Callie and Cal playing Sburb together. I won't spoil too much, but it is very very good. Although the ship starts out seemingly unrequited on calliope's side, there still seems to be a glimmer of hope by the ending.

Seriously, this fic is so good guys. Also check out the author's fanfictions too. Even if that fic isn't to your liking, they have other pics about other characters which I absolutely adore and might be worth checking out.

Now, in no particular order!

Next is Alternate, a fic about Alternate Caliborn after his death at the hands of Alt!Calliope. I like this one bc it goes a bit into the ideas of cherub culture and such? Which I think is very very interesting I love exploring cherub culture way more people should do it. It also has some dirkuu in it? But it's mostly cherub stuff for now. It does have gore and... Well, the general stuff one would come to expect from a Caliborn centered fic. I still think it is very good tho.

GIVE ME A HAND (NOT LIKE THAT YOu DEGENERATE) is also one of my favorite fics. It's not *directly* Uucest, but it involves caliborn """asking""" (ordering) dirk to do sexual roleplay as calliope so caliborn can jack off to it. So I think it counts? I come back to reread it every once win a while. It is very good. Also has an exploration of how caliborn perceives his and his sister's hatefulness dynamic to be? It's just a few lines but still. Good.

calthisisUs.PNG by mouserato. Basically the two siblings playing a game where caliborn asks Callie questions about her ermmmm redder fantasies. And then he jacks off to the answers. Told through pesterlogs but you can still feel the sheer tension between these two. The comments also have some insights on the author's writing thought process in case that is something you might be interested in!

Actually just read everything by Mouserato. Their fics are very very good!!! Here, lightning round on their fics and why I like them

Acceptance I have read this fic like 5 times already. show no signs of stopping. It involves caliborn in his session struggling to progress, and slowly dealing with his grief over what he did to calliope. I like focus where caliborn needs Callie as much as she needs him, so I enjoy this one quite a lot.

June 28, 1998 technically a flashback fic for another work but it works well enough on its own without context from the other fic. It deal with caliborn's slow rising attraction for calliope as he deals with puberty. I do not want to give off spoilers though, but I would recommend you read the tags very carefully, alright? Thank you.

The Task hadn't been updated in a while, but I like the way Callie acts in this fic. Just two chapters tho which is unfortunate. Seems discontinued.

There are other pics they have but those are Emy favorites!

Onto other authors-

A Different Kind of Game is a strip chess fic and ummm. The tension here??? Like, I'm asexual as the day is long but this is sooo well written!! At least in my opinion.

Red is just. A very good fic. I like how Callie behaves in this one. It is a bit short though, so not much to say.

I am a bit tired rn so I might reblogs this later with more additions, but those are the ones I can think of at the current moment.

[ao3feed-moonknight]

The Crazy No Good Time (Lie) Moon Knight Had With Team Red

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/XTSmUkN by maraudersmqry Spiderman nodded his head, grateful for the support, but here for a different reason. "Be straight with me, dude. Are you on drugs? I can recommend a few places, you would be surprised how many facilities I call a night." Steven maneuvered from the obviously young boy's hold, grasping onto the wall for support. In the double door reflections, he could see Marc and Jake flickering over one another. Concern and annoyance fighting for dominance. Steven nodded his head rapidly. "Yep. All good, mate. No drugs here, just three days of no sleep." He could comically see the white of Spiderman's costume narrow. "A different kind of facility then? I saw you talking to yourself from on top of the building." Even in his suspicion, his voice remained kind and nonjudgemental.   IN WHICH : Moon Knight gets roped along in Team Red’s dragon quest. Thanks a lot, Khonshu. Words: 4158, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Moon Knight (TV 2022), Deadpool - All Media Types, Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Peter Parker, Wade Wilson, Matt Murdock, Khonshu (Marvel), Layla El-Faouly, Marc Spector, Jake Lockley, Steven Grant (Marvel) Relationships: Matt Murdock & Peter Parker & Wade Wilson, Steven Grant & Wade Wilson, Steven Grant & Peter Parker, Steven Grant & Matt Murdock, Marc Spector & Wade Wilson, Peter Parker & Marc Spector, Matt Murdock & Marc Spector, Jake Lockley & Peter Parker, Jake Lockley & Wade Wilson, Jake Lockley & Matt Murdock, Steven Grant & Jake Lockley & Marc Spector, Layla El-Faouly/Marc Spector, Layla El-Faouly/Steven Grant, Layla El-Faouly & Jake Lockley Additional Tags: Fluff, Chaos, Crack Crossover, Crack Treated Seriously, No Plot/Plotless, shit goes down tho, Crossover, Morally Ambiguous Khonshu (Moon Knight), Precious Peter Parker, BAMF Peter Parker, Adorable Steven Grant (Marvel), Anxious Steven Grant (Marvel), BAMF Jake Lockley, Marc Spector Needs A Hug, Protective Marc Spector, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter Parker is Sixteen and People Feel a Way About It, Sassy Peter Parker, Sassy Steven Grant (Marvel), Sassy Khonshu, BAMF Layla El-Faouly, Protective Layla El-Faouly, Married Layla El-Faouly/Marc Spector, Timeline What Timeline read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/XTSmUkN

[subcorax]

Fic: Aubade (ch. 5)

Rating: Teen

Pairing(s): Kageyama Ritsu/Suzuki Shou, Background Teru/Mob Characters: Ritsu, Shou, Teru, Mob Tags: Future fic, college setting, fluff, slow burn Chapter Word Count: 4703 Total Word Count: 21341

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Summary: Ritsu and Shou have been orbiting around each other ever since they were thirteen years old. Really, something like this was inevitable. (Based off of a prompt!)

Read on Ao3

There were six trains leaving Seasoning Station on the day they set off: two in the morning, and four in the afternoon.

Ritsu had immediately and vehemently vetoed the 6 AM train, whereas Shou had objected to taking another night train, on the grounds that he couldn’t sleep on trains at all, and he needed Ritsu awake to keep him company, so that had ruled out the two trains leaving after 6 PM. They’d both been kind of iffy about the early-afternoonish trains, knowing they were the most likely to have families and tourists and the like.

So, their little group had ended up huddled together on the platform, waiting sleepily for the 9 AM train to pull in.

Ritsu’s parents had said their goodbyes the night before at the house, so it’s just Mob, Teru, and Reigen who’ve shown up to send them off at the station. As usual, their group is receiving some odd looks from the sparse groups of people scattered around the station, although every employee they’ve met has recognized Reigen and Mob on sight.

Shou is, Ritsu thinks, not actually awake. Oh, sure, he’s standing, and he’d showered and gotten dressed and dragged luggage behind him on the walk, but he hasn’t actually formed a coherent sentence yet, and he’s been leaning on Ritsu more and more heavily for about the past five minutes. He has no less than three times flipped off Teru, who actually had the nerve to jog ahead of them to the station, is wearing neon pink running shorts, and is drinking something that looks like shit and smells like the ghost of bananas past.

Reigen, for what feels like the thousandth time, starts to drill Ritsu. “You have your phone? Your wallet?” “Yes, of course.” “Your chargers?” “Yeah, we-- wait.” It’s always worth double-checking the chargers. He leans down and partially unzips one of the pockets of the suitcase at his feet, and finding a horrifically tangled ball of two phone chargers and two laptop chargers exactly where they’d been when he’d last checked three minutes ago, nods. “Got the chargers.” Reigen still looks dissatisfied. Between his supply checks and Mob’s constant drifting back and forth from where the train schedule is posted, Ritsu thinks that the two of them are going to worrywart each other into a full blown panic. “Do you have your passport?” Ritsu blinks in confusion. “My passpo– Dad, we’re not fleeing the country!”

“Not yet!” Reigen replies, waving his arms frantically as if this is a legitimate possibility that Ritsu should’ve prepared for. He snorts and doesn’t reply, instead opting to mull over what’s more likely to get someone from his family deported from the country: Reigen’s scam business, or Teru’s fashion choices. While, sure, aspects of Reigen’s business are technically illegal, Teru’s outfits are simply in bad taste.

They hear the train before they see it, a distant chugging that breaks through the annoying bird noises and the vague chatter of the other people at the station. Around them, Ritsu sees most of the other people waiting on the platform straighten up, readjust their backpacks and jackets, start shifting around in anticipation. Surprisingly, Shou’s the same, pulling himself away from Ritsu’s side and blinking around them, looking fully awake for the first time that morning. Ritsu pushes down the handle on his little wheely case and hefts it onto his back, reaching out to take the larger suitcase from Mob. He’s not sure how he ended up carrying the most stuff, considering that out of the three bags they’ve brought, most of the stuff inside of them belongs to Shou. While Ritsu had only grabbed the bare necessities and a few jackets and shirts from his room, packing up Shou’s belongings had been a goddamn ordeal, including doing three loads of laundry from his already packed suitcase, and a two-hour long argument about whether or not it was appropriate to bring an entire desk lamp on a new move.

(“It’s my oldest friend!” Shou had argued, trying to wrestle it from Ritsu’s hands. “Six years I have known you, Suzuki, and never once has there been a working bulb in this lamp.”) Ritsu is eternally grateful that he doesn’t have a family that sobs as they send him off somewhere. The sadness he’s feeling is familiar, a pre-emptive homesickness that sinks into his stomach, makes him want to look around and take everything in so that he’ll remember the exact details of Seasoning City forever, makes him want to call the whole thing off and just stay home. Mob is smiling though, just a little, when he pulls him in for a hug, and all he feels from the aura that envelops him is warmth. “Be safe,” he murmurs into Ritsu’s shoulder. “Text me when you get there.” He receives quick but back-breaking hugs from Teru and Reigen that leave him gasping for air, but he finds that Shou got the short end of the Farewell Stick, because he looks over to see Mob giving him a hug that has him flailing with his feet a good few inches off the ground.

Reigen ushers them onto the train before they can be idiots and miss it, and Shou half climbs over Ritsu in the seats to wave out of the windows as the train starts to move. A quick jolt sends Shou sprawling, and it’s only bracing himself between the table and Ritsu’s shoulder that stops him from whacking his head on the window. Ritsu’s laughing even as he pushes Shou out of his lap, trying to get him to sit in his own goddamn seat for, oh, two minutes? Admittedly, there’s been an odd feeling of dread tinging his excitement, keeping him subdued over the past few days as they planned. It was the lingering worry that even though their plans, their situation, was becoming more and more concrete, that it wouldn’t actually happen. That some intangible, nonexistent problem would suddenly pop up and stop everything. He feels it settle, dissipate. He watches Shou move into the seats on the other side of the table, settling with his back against the window and his legs stretched out in front of him, and thinks, We’re actually doing this. It sounds almost stupidly awed to his own mind, and it’s threatening to put a giddy sort of smile on his face, and he manages to tamp down on it only because he knows that if Shou notices, he’ll ask about it, which will eventually lead to Ritsu being forced to admit that he’s feeling things, which, well, no.

Shou, for his part, manages to stay quiet and relatively still for all of three minutes before he starts fidgeting. He pulls out his phone, but seems to think better of it, because he puts it down in favour of looking over at Ritsu. “Can I borrow your phone?” On autopilot, he reaches into his pocket to hand it over, but stops himself. “Why…?” He asks, squinting, knowing he probably doesn’t want to know the answer. Shou leans over the table, making grabby hands at the phone, pouting when Ritsu moves his hand so that it’s just out of his reach. “Please? It’ll be funnier if I do it on yours!” On one hand, Shou’s desperation is kind of hilarious, and Ritsu isn’t sure he wants to know exactly what he’s planning. On the other hand, he’s got another ten hours on this train, and if he doesn’t give in now, Shou will literally carry on at him the entire time until he does. With a resigned sigh, he hands his phone over, and then groans when Shou immediately points it at him, obviously taking pictures. Instinctively, he flips Shou off, sending him a death glare, before looking at the camera and throwing up a peace sign with dead eyes. He relaxes when Shou finally puts the phone down and starts tapping away at the screen, and contents himself with staring out the window until Shou breaks the silence. “What the fuck is a Shigeo?” He asks, incredulous. Ritsu reaches out to try and snatch the phone back from Shou. “It’s my brother, you fuck, what are you sending to him?” Shou holds the phone out of his reach, contorting himself so that he can keep typing with it held above his head. Finally, he finishes and hands it back to Ritsu with a self-satisfied grin. Like the cat that got the cream, he thinks, and then two moments later, Oh god, what did he do. He taps in his passcode and finds his messaging app already open. TO: SHIGEO, TERUKI, DAD, YOUR FAVOURITE ;) [Picture Attached] [Picture Attached] we r. on the fuckin train.

FROM: DAD Language.

FROM: SHIGEO Be safe!!! <33

FROM: TERUKI Don’t look up anything inappropriate on his phone or he might kill you ;p

TO: SHIGEO, TERUKI, DAD, YOUR FAVOURITE ;) wow r00d TO: SHIGEO, TERUKI, DAD, YOUR FAVOURITE ;) I have my phone back. ignore him entirely.

FROM: YOUR FAVOURITE ;) WOW R00D

Shou, when he’s jetlagged at least, is a little like a windup toy.

He’ll run around at the speed of sound for a while, and talk your ear off given half the chance, but after a while he starts to grow noticeably… slower. Of course, he’ll protest the fact, still make a decent imitation of a hyperactive kitten, but all in all, it grows more sluggish until finally, inevitably, he keels over.

On the train? He doesn’t even last an hour. It’s easy to get drawn into a conversation with Shou, even easier to let him jump from topic to topic as something new strikes his fancy, and so Ritsu learns about Shou’s year overseas in a patchwork of unrelated information, one minute hearing about the godawful coffee served by this one particular Korean hotel, and the next about some strange western kids’ cartoon he’d seen at some ungodly hour of the morning. It’s always a fun little game with this, trying to piece together the snippets of information like puzzle pieces, except he’s working with about three different puzzles, and he can’t find any edge pieces. In this state, waving his arms around wildly to emphasize his points and cutting himself off every other sentence, Ritsu thinks it’s basically impossible to get a coherent story out of Shou. The probability goes even further down when Shou pauses mid-sentence to yawn. Ritsu finds himself yawning in response, but he manages to ask around it, “You tired?” Shou snorts. “Pff, nah. I’m great. I slept for like, seven hours yesterday.” Now, Ritsu, because he actually wanted to be awake in time to, oh, catch the train, had gone to bed at a half-decent time the previous night. He had, however, woken up for the bathroom at some point, and he knows for a fact that Shou is rather generously rounding up from not much more than three. While Shou looks awake, it’s a bad sort of awake, an ‘I really should be sleeping now oh god’ sort of awake, an ‘I am awake out of sheer determination not to be asleep’ sort of awake, the type of slow-blinking, faux-happy sort of awake that Ritsu forces after he’s just pulled an all-nighter for an essay. God, at least he’s usually had coffee or cereal or something. Shou, with a bad tendency to get nauseous in the mornings, hadn’t so much as been able to touch the water Ritsu had offered, let alone the leftover smoothie Teru had tried to shove in his face.

He tugs a jacket out of his bag and hands it over wordlessly. Shou eyes it for a moment, like a deer liable to be spooked, before reaching out and snatching it from him. There are a few moments of adjustments before he settles, arms folded on the table and the hoodie bundled on top of it as a pillow. Ritsu sees him blink heavily for a little before his eyes fall closed, and then he’s out like a light. He’s vaguely disturbed by how quickly Shou manages to fall asleep, especially in a weird position like that. Sure, he’d managed it back in high school, when his only options for quick naps had been to rest his head on the desk or risk it falling out of his cupped hands when he nodded off. Still, it had always left him stiff and vaguely sick, his stomach protesting being bent over in the single laziest yoga position in existence for any length of time. So, he doesn’t really understand why it’s Shou’s first choice, when there’s a perfectly good window right there. For his part, Ritsu isn’t quite drowsy enough to sleep, so he messes around on his phone for a while, switching from app to app until it buzzes with an email. FROM: gcuhousing@gcustaff.org TO: r-kageyama@gcustudent.org

Mr. Kageyama,

This email is to inform you that we have received your notification of residence change.

You will be required to vacate your dormitory at least one (1) week prior to the beginning of the new academic year, on June 30th. You must notify the University’s department of Student Housing within three (3) days of your vacating your dormitory. The department of Student Housing can be reached at +81-429-884915 .

Ritsu leans back and pulls one knee to his chest, sighing.

This was what it came down to, really, actually finding a place to live. Somewhere within walking distance of the university, with four walls, a roof, and a floor, two bedrooms, working plumbing, and included appliances. It seemed impossible. This, he had thought, this is where it will all come crashing down. And yet. They’d spent most of yesterday looking at online listings, emailing and calling landlords, setting up viewings. The less time spent in Ritsu’s dorm, the better, after all. They’d actually had to narrow down their choices, from ten to seven to about four or five places that they both agreed looked promising. He decides he might as well get something productive done while he’s here, and starts to tap out an email. FROM: kageyamaritsu@hotmail.com TO: nishigori-k77@yahoo.com

Mr. Nishigori, My name is Kageyama Ritsu; we spoke a few days ago on the phone, about a possible tour of your apartment on Rye Street. My friend and I will be in town later tonight, and were hoping to set up a time as soon as possible. We would greatly appreciate if you could give us a set of times that work for your schedule over the next couple of days. Thank you for your time,

Kageyama Ritsu +81-9064625949

He sends a couple more emails along those lines, even gets a couple of replies, before it suddenly hits him again, this light, giddy feeling, like his heart is filled with helium and it’s trying to float into his throat. We’re actually doing this, he thinks, and stifles a vaguely hysterical giggle.

On instinct, he gives a cursory sweep of the train to make sure that nobody actually noticed the weirdo laughing to himself. Thankfully, the only other people in the compartment with them are a small family that seem to be occupying themselves with some travel game, the kind of “what can you see out of the window” tactic that his parents employed on him and Mob when they were kids in the car, and then a few more people scattered around in individual seats, either occupied by their own phones or fast asleep.

He’d shrugged on a thin hoodie this morning, to face the early morning chill as they walked to the station, but now that the sun has properly risen he finds himself uncomfortably warm and vaguely sweaty. He pulls it off, leaving it bunched at his back, and notes with absent interest that they’re driving through a forest of some sort. For the most part, the sun only manages to break through the foliage in bits and pieces, painting the compartment in shadowed, dappled greens. Occasionally though, there’ll be a gap in the trees allowing the sun to hit him. Right in the eyes. Inevitably, they chug past the forest, and Ritsu is left completely defenseless against the ball of burning hellfire in the sky. He tries holding his hand in the exact position needed to block it out, but, well, his arm gets tired pretty quickly. He tries draping his hoodie over his head, but the cavern of black fabric gets too hot to breathe in pretty quickly, and Ritsu has little-to-no interest in becoming a baked potato. He’s pretty sure this is a decent argument as to why they should’ve taken the night train, but whatever, he can’t really be bothered to wake Shou up to make a point.

Heaving a greatly put-upon sigh, he stands, steadying himself on the table. He grabs Shou’s backpack from the spare seat and chucks it unceremoniously across to where he was just sitting, and plops down beside Shou. Now that the sun isn’t making a concerted effort at blinding him, he can see the light glinting off of Shou’s hair, lighting it up like some sort of precious metal. There are a lot of dust motes floating around his head.

Shou only wakes up once in the next six or so hours, and then only briefly. By the three and a half hour mark, Ritsu has done everything he can think of to keep himself occupied, including looking for shapes in the clouds, doing terrible little stick figure doodles in his notebook, doing what little he can without wifi on his laptop (about fifty seven games of solitare, not that he’s keeping track,) and a short-lived and incredibly uncomfortable nap. He feels like he should be able to sleep, given the easy, lazy warmth of the train, given how easily Shou has been able to slip into it, the soft lines of his shoulders in his white shirt rising and falling as he breathes, blending seamlessly with the almost ethereal summer light.

He’d managed to entertain himself with his phone, for a little while, but once it had hit less than half battery he’d decided to turn it off and definitely not think about it at all, in case he needed to use it for something actually important.

So, he half jumps out of his skin when it starts vibrating like mad in his back pocket. He fumbles with it until he can see that Matsuo is calling him.

“Hey! Kageyama! My bro! Rumor around here is that you’re ditching us, bro!” Ritsu forces himself to bite back ‘I’m not your bro, bro,’ instead deciding on a polite, “Hello, Matsuo. Yes, I’m moving out.” “Ha, dude, nice! Did you score with some chick? Are you actually moving in with your girl? You always seemed like a player, bro!” Ritsu squints. How in the fuck would I strike anyone as a player? A movement to his left draws his attention, and he looks over to see Shou stirring, propping himself up on one elbow to blink blearily at Ritsu. There are red lines in the pattern of the hoodie fabric all over his cheek, and Ritsu has to hold back a laugh at the knockoff Two-Face vibes. He waves dismissively at Shou’s questioning look, a sort of ‘tell you in a minute’ kind of gesture that he hopes Shou understands. “Yeah, about that,” he starts, unsure how to breach the topic. “I’m actually moving in with a friend of mine, but he just got back from overseas, so neither of us actually have a place yet. Is it cool if he sleeps on the couch for the next couple of days, until we’re good?”

“Ha, I can do you one better, bro! Daichi’s still chillin’ with his girlfriend until the end of break, so your dude can just crash in his bed instead!” A pause, and then, “...Yo, Kageyama, is this buddy of yours the one that drank five Red Bulls when you were skyping him, like, to prove that he could?” Ritsu sighs. Naturally, Matsuo has his priorities straight. “Yes. Yes it is.” “Tell him I said hi, yo. He’s hardcore.” A hardcore dumbass, Ritsu thinks, but what manages to come out of his mouth is, “Will do. Thanks, Matsuo.” “Anytime, bro!” As soon as he hangs up he turns to Shou, who’s back at it with the questioning eyes in full force. He’s not quite upright anymore, having slipped downwards so that his head is half-pillowed between the crook of his elbow and the hoodie. Ritsu shakes his head, summarizing. “Just my roommate. He wanted to know if I was actually leaving. Also, Daichi’s gone, so you can take his bed until we get a place.” Shou nods, which is an action really more to the effect of rubbing his face against the jacket, but Ritsu gets the general idea.

“Daichi’s the one you sleep with, right?” He murmurs. “Again, phrasing, but yeah, he’s in my room. I emailed a few of the landlords for the places we were looking at, so hopefully we can decide within a couple days what we’re–” He interrupts himself, in favour of asking the real questions. “Are you… alright? Shou has buried his face entirely in the hoodie. Ritsu isn’t sure exactly how he can be breathing. After a few moments of complete silence, Shou turns his head back to face him. “Not to be creepy, but this jacket smells like your house. It’s. It’s good.”

Ritsu blinks, raises one eyebrow. He feels like he maybe should find that creepy, but it’s not the weirdest thing Shou has ever said to him, and in this state, delirious and actually nuzzling his jacket, it’s almost… is cute the right word for it? Flattering, maybe. Endearing. Something like that, some word he can’t name for the fond exasperation colouring his smile and his voice as he says, “Oh? And what does my house smell like?” “Hmmmmmmmmmn.” Shou makes a long noise of consideration, burrowing his nose into the fabric again. “Smells like you.”

He’s asleep again before Ritsu can even try to think of a response to that one.

He’d had to physically drag Shou away from Matsuo, who had a six pack of some godawful energy drink and some very, very bad ideas which were right up Shou’s avenue.

It feels oddly intimate, having Shou sitting across from him in a pair of faded Sonic boxer shorts on his tiny, creaky bed in his tiny, creaky dorm room. He’s cross-legged, coveting a pile of snacks he’d pillaged from the communal pantry in his lap, but he doesn’t complain when Ritsu snatches a chip from his hand every now and again. Ritsu’s been trying to keep them on-topic, but it’s difficult, when Shou’s been wound up again, and he’s bouncing off the walls. He chews thoughtfully for a moment, then asks, “Do you guys have any soda?” Ritsu sighs. “The last thing you need is more sugar.”

At that, Shou perks up, and then he’s gone, bouncing off of the bed and running to the other side of the room with a force that Ritsu thinks must’ve woken up everyone in the next three floors below them. Somehow, his pile of snacks is still on the bed, looking relatively undisturbed. He rummages around in the pockets of his backpack, dumped on top of his suitcase at the foot of Daichi’s bed, until he eventually comes up with– “Shou, no.”

Shou jumps back onto the bed, and this time, a granola bar goes flying. Shou doesn’t seem to notice, because all of his attention is on the bag of melted chocolate and broken dreams that used to be his mother’s cookies. “No, nonononono no,” Ritsu says as Shou starts to open the bag, and leans back so that he can dig his heels into Shou’s back and forcefully push him to the floor. Shou goes willingly, rolling onto his back with the cookies curled close to his chest, and giggling like a maniac. It makes him laugh in return, despite himself. “No. You eat that on Daichi’s bed, you little shit, or you get nothing.”

Shou already somehow covered in melted chocolate, scurries over to Daichi’s bed and hops on with an evil sort of grin that almost makes Ritsu feel sorry for Daichi, the poor ass. Ritsu dumps the rest of the snacks onto the floor and stretches out on his newly free bed. “As I was saying,” he begins, as if it hadn’t been twenty minutes since he’d last been derailed, “We’re looking at three apartments tomorrow, so we’ll need to leave here kind of early. I know a place we can get lunch. Most of the ones we’re looking at are pretty much fully furnished, so if we do decide on a place tomorrow, we might be able to talk the landlord into letting us sleep there tomorrow night. Especially if we can wave some money around, or whatever. If we can’t…” he sighs. “I can’t say I want to spend much more time here, but it won’t be the end of the world.” He turns his head to look at Shou. “Sound alright?” The look on Shou’s face is something Ritsu doesn’t get to see much out of him: awe. He’s staring, wide eyed and blank for a few beats before he seems to shake himself. “Yeah,” he says, firmly, and then, “Yeah, that’s…” this time, much less so. The silence hangs in the air, pensive and waiting to be filled, so Ritsu waits. Eventually, Shou rolls onto his back, staring resolutely at the ceiling. He starts. “You’re so… on top of this.” Ritsu bites back his immediate retort of ‘well, one of us has to be.’ It’s a joke, but from the vulnerable, almost reticent tone of Shou’s voice, he has the feeling it might hit a little too close to home. At a lack of response, Shou keeps going. “I guess I thought… I, I don’t know what I thought! I didn’t think I’d get this far, I didn’t think you’d agree to this in the first place! It was just some… some dumb idea I had that seemed fun in my head and you’re…” he waves his hands around in some gesture that could mean anything, that sends panic deep into Ritsu’s mind, because he’s sure that Shou is about to finish that sentence with “You’re actually taking this seriously.” What he says instead, is “...You’re actually making this work!” And then he puts voice to what Ritsu’s been thinking for almost a week now, spoken softly, like if one of them finally says it aloud, then, then is when it becomes real. “We’re really doing this.”

Ritsu breathes, “Yeah, we are.” It’s a stupid worry, really, but he can’t help but pray that this isn’t the moment Shou decides he regrets it.

“Thank you,” he says, and it’s almost painfully earnest. “I seriously don’t know how any of this stuff works, and I was just sort of going to, I don’t know, wing it? When I thought I was doing this on my own. But you’re just sort of… doing it. We’re actually looking at apartments tomorrow. And I’m…” And this time, Ritsu can’t resist the jab. “Lying on my roommate’s bed covered in chocolate?” Luckily, neither can Shou. “At least I’ll always bring the sex appeal to our duo,” he says, glancing quickly over at him with a barely veiled grin. “Hm. Debatable.” “Hey!” Ritsu makes himself turn towards Shou, after a while, propping himself up on his elbow. “It’s fine, you know. That you’re not really doing the organizing stuff.” Before he can tell himself not to, he more or less blurts, “I wouldn’t want to do it half as much if it were anyone other than you.” Shou hasn’t moved, hasn’t looked away from the ceiling above him, and Ritsu doesn’t think Shou knows he’s watching him, because the smile that spreads across his face, slowly, and then like a flashbang, like a grenade, God, it could’ve outshone the sun. Shou laughs, a small, shaky thing. “Well, someone has to provide the comic relief.”

[katierosefun]

hi caroline may i ask you some beyond evil fic recs? i read yours and now I'd like to know some of your favorites, only if you'd be comfortable with it tho of course! 🎀

of course, anon! almost all of my bookmarked fics count as recs, so if you're ever looking for some more than the ones i've listed, feel free to peruse through them as well! but here are some that i find myself going back to a lot:

general/teen rating:

the topography of your touch by pepperfield: "After returning to Manyang, Ju-won navigates the ways bodies can interact. Dong-sik adjusts accordingly."

a really lovely character study into dong sik and his relationships. there are some absolutely poetic lines in this story, and perhaps one of the loveliest first kiss scenes that i've read. (i was kicking my feet and giggling through this one, and this story is also just so . . . quiet? in a really lovely way.)

the way home by whir: "Juwon breaks himself apart and puts himself back together, then he returns to Manyang thinking he’s found his way home. In part, it’s true. He’s just wrong about one thing—home doesn’t have to be a place. Sometimes, it can exist in a person. And it’s unfortunate, because Dongsik starts feeling a lot like home."

one of the first beyond evil fics i read, so this one has a special place in my heart! 16k words of a character study on han joo won working through his feelings about dong sik and also, really, what it means to actually have a home. also some stuff about joo won reflecting on his mom too, which is something that really touched my heart. past relationships affecting your perception of your present, etc, etc.

and i watch you breathe, as i stood breathing by @electricalkittens / satiricalsmiles on ao3:  “Han Juwon, you…” Dongsik’s voice is growing smaller, and it is wavering, trembling in the hollowness of his throat. “Why do you keep getting hurt lately?”

okay, so i actually love all of her works, so i do seriously recommend just going through all of her stories, just because the writing is very poetic and makes me see shrimp colors. but i really do adore this one, just because something about feeling like you need to punish yourself, something about not having the best coping mechanisms in the world, something something about i think about that one scene towards the end where i thought oh, god, that’s what it looks like to love someone desperately and mm. i can go on about this fic for a while, but i feel like it’s one of those beyond evil starter pack fics because it really gets at what their future might look like. 

to the stars by merryofsoul:  Juwon has never gotten along with Dongsik. Not since the first day he stepped foot on the Gaenari almost a year ago.An away mission changes that.

god bless this writer because STAR TREK JWDS AU . . . STAR TREK JWDS AU . . . admittedly a little niche, but i don’t think you need to be incredibly well-versed in star trek in order to appreciate this absolute delight of a fic. but you see, i was a star trek girlie at some point in my life, so i was so delighted to read this story . . . because listen. it’s got the classic enemies to lovers element, but also lots of away mission shenanigans in “i am going to pretend that we are lovers for the sake of covering our asses” trope and also the “i can’t stand your ass but also if anything happens to you i would be outrageously upset” beat and i literally had assignments to work on but as soon as i saw this fic i could not resist reading and giggling over it, what a fun ride.

netflix and chill by starlight bloom:   Dong Sik invites Joo Won to Netflix and chill. Turns out they have very different definitions of the expression.

if you’re in the mood for something really just. hilarious and cute. i highly recommend this one, because i could not stop giggling when i read this the first time. a very lighthearted read, and also, there’s something very hilarious about joo won panicking inside because “oh god i am screwed” and dong sik being like “???? !!!! ?!?!?!!??!”. i think we, as a fandom, need to realize that dong sik and joo won also just. very funny when they’re around each other. this fic delivers on that count!

mature/explicit: 

cosmonauts by @b1uetrees / bluetrees on ao3: “ To promise a future is impossible. To choose it is to live.”

i also recommend going through all of this writer’s works, because they’re all so . . . good and tender and gentle and they make my heart sing. i have a special place in my heart for this fic in particular though, just because i think when i first read it, it was like. 4 am. and i was getting ready for the day and this fic had me in such a chokehold that i literally couldn’t do anything for the next 3 hours and then i remember scrambling because shit, i have to go to class--

what isn’t the grave by isozyme: “Juwon moves in unannounced.”

this is one of those fics that i kinda had to force myself to read super slowly, just because i wanted to digest every single sentence and turn it around in my head for a little bit. also, perhaps one of my favorites just because this fic really looks at dong sik and goes “oh yeah, this guy absolutely isn’t going to heal immediately”, and i sort of adore it for that exact reason. dong sik still feels very much so wobbly around the edges in this fic, and that’s like. what i adore. also, there’s one specific image in this fic that has been haunting me ever since. 

no son of mine by ripeteeth:  "What do you want from me?" Juwon asked, and no one has ever said just you. “

do mind the tags on this one!

but god. god i remember when i read this fic for the first time, it unlocked some kind of emotion that i didn’t even realize was sitting there lololol--but anyways! perhaps one of the most . . . most character study on han joo won. a lot of quiet stuff about joo won and his relationship with his dad specifically, so you know it’s going to really hit where it hurts. and, of course, a lot of joo won in post-canon not knowing how to navigate his relationship with dong sik (ah, yes. the quiet fear and wariness that comes with examining love but if the version of love you grew up with comes with conditions and etc, then what the hell do you do when legitimate love decides to eat at your table?)  

to the sun and all the cities in between by 64907: “ Han Joowon and all his firsts after, shared with Lee Dongsik and fondly remembered. “

this fic just . . . . .. i felt like it really re-awakened some of my love for joo won and dong sik, just because it had been a hot second since i read a fic that really examined dong sik and joo won’s relationship as it’s trying to like . . . wiggle through what it might look like post-canon. also, this fic really utilizes how joo won has absolutely or most likely never been in a romantic relationship ever, and there’s something so endearing about that? just like, the slow development of a relationship and joo won and dong sik trying to figure out the odds and ends with that because this is still ultimately new to both of them, and this fic just makes me so happy for them. you’ve got time and etc. :’)

[solarishashernoseinabook]

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

Thank you! Answering them all as one as per usual :3

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?) Hmmmmmmm that's a good question actually! I think maybe Richard Thompson Learns About Rangers, it's short, fluffy, has worldbuilding and a focus on found family :3

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits? Whelp, we've got fluff (used 12 times), light angst (used 4 times), and angst, injury, and reminiscing (all used 3 times). That's, er, fairly accurate lol. I do be writing a lot of fluff.

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics? I think I mainly focus on character relationships! Not just romantic ones, I take time to build up platonic and familial ones too. And when there's hurt, there's almost always comfort. In fics like The Ward Ghost I spend more time showing recovery from trauma and characters looking after each other than I spend showing the trauma itself, and this goes doubly so for The Royal Ranger - most of the trauma went through as an autistic child raised by unsupportive parents is implied or shown in brief flashbacks, and more of it is about Crowley giving him space to be autistic in an environment that won't punish him for it

11. Are you partial to a certain character/pairing or are you more equal-opportunity? If you are partial to any character/pairing, why do you think that is? Either Will/Horace or Will & Halt lol. I like both the dynamics. It's fun to write Will and Horace in love, and showing Halt being a father and mentor is just great, especially when contrasted with how gruff he is

15. What’s your favourite AU that you’ve written? You're gonna make me choose between my two largest AUs? You're a cruel, cruel person /j

Okay but seriously, I like both The Ward Ghost and The Royal Ranger equally for different reasons. The Ward Ghost asks one simple question - what if Will hadn't gotten his apprenticeship? - and continues on from there. I have to put a lot of thought into what the characters would be like after the six years that have elapsed since, and what canon events I can or can't include, and if I can include them, how. The Royal Ranger is really fun because I get to play with narrative conventions to show how Halt sees the world through an autistic lens. When we're following Halt's POV, for example, I typically barely describe other character's facial expressions or tones of voice, to indicate that he has trouble picking up on them.

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to? I want to write an RA fic featuring predominantly - almost entirely - original characters. I've got it planned, sort of. Built With My Own Two Hands briefly features Will's last apprentices before he retires, identical twins named Joey and Roy, and I had a lot of fun writing them for the couple of paragraphs they appear in.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write? Yeah! A lot of scenes are ones I visualised beforehand so I could plan them out before writing them

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about! Yay, a choice!

46. Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

Okay, firstly, I never trust people who can type easily on phones /j

(in all seriousness tho modern phones are so uncomfortable to type on. No proper tactile feedback - and no, vibration doesn't count - and they're just too big and awkward to hold. The only phone I was able to type comfortably on was my old Blackberry Curve)

I actually most prefer writing by hand, with pen and paper! There's the obvious advantage of not having tumblr on hand to easily check, but it has other perks as well. Without the option to easily delete what I just wrote, I spend less time agonising over phrasing and just get the raw ideas down. If I realise I need to add something to what I've already written, instead of wondering where or thinking of how to transition to it, I just make a note to put it somewhere and continue on. There's a layer of portability to a notebook and pen that laptops don't have, and I don't have to worry about battery life or notifications breaking the flow of writing, and I can curl up more easily to write (which is a huge advantage when you're queer and autistic and can't sit in a chair without curling up). Finally, writing is a tactile stim for me (so's typing, but that depends heavily on the type of keyboard I'm using) so I feel motivated to do it just because! When I go to transcribe it to the computer later, that's when I do my editing.

I also regularly switch back and forth between handwriting and typing my fics - mainly if I get stuck. If I'm stuck typing something, I close my computer, pick up my notebook, and start writing from the last sentence I remember - even if it doesn't gel perfectly with what I already wrote, that's something I can fix later. If I'm well and truly stuck while handwriting, I go to my computer and transcribe what I wrote. Going over it and thinking about it often helps me realise what was causing the issue that stopped me writing - either I didn't set something up properly, or something was happening in the wrong spot in the story, or the character's POV doesn't fit the scene very well.

Link to the ask game if you want to play!

[batarangsoundsdumb]

guess fucking what? my inbox is so fucking full right now i'm unloading all of this shit in one post.

For the 11th gotham memes: gothamites react to bruce being jacked in a tiktok he made with kids, like super yoked, ripped as hell

fucking hilarious thanks. i think i did it in one meme post, but i genuinely don't remember which one

i dunno which of the batfam would do this but one time i was sleeping over at a friends house and ended up on the floor bc the bed was so very small and i just stayed there because the rug was soft

that's a drunk jason move i don't know what to tell you

tim and jason are "i listen to pop punk" solidarity. whenever jason highjacks the batmobile theyll go on long ass car rides blaring mcr and paramore and then never talk about it again

as they should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim: no jason it's my turn using the aux cord i gotta put on my jams jason: don't you dare put on weird shit tim: don't worry, you're gonna love this *plays fearless (taylor's version)

hear me out hear me out, red hood stans 🤝 nightwing stans t h i g h s

holy shit yes.

SNL au: Bruce breaks character when pretending to superman and says something like "I'm not superman! You've seen his gps!! It's from 2001!!!" @sabeanybabe

superman flies past the snl building the next day just to say 'actually it's from 2005, i'm not a heathen'

does your back hurt from carrying the batfam fandom

it hurts more from the exotic rock collection i keep in my backpack, but thanks for the concern.

I love your posts by why would you always leave the best parts in the tags?

as a treat for the people that check the tags ;) (and also because i'm committed to the short post aesthetic)

somehow your playlist was everything i never knew i needed. i mean it. this is my new favorite playlist.

and don't you dare get a new favourite playlist!

babe ur stoner tim playlist is exactly too perfect, earth is literally blessed by ur existence

babe thanks so much! i love my stoner tim playlist because it's just my usual playlist but people think it's an artistic choice that i put taylor swift and britney spears in there, when it's just what i unironically like listening to

JANDKSKDK BILLY RAY CYRUS ON THE STONER TIM PLAYLIST I LOVE IT IT

again it's not even an ironic choice, i know every single word and i genuinely like the song

The last chapter of Fundamentals of Casework has me crying at work. Thanks I love it @dudelookitsalesbian

oh babe, i'm sorry, but also, not sorry i love chapter 4 so much it's my lovechild with the 'mental illness' tag

soooo....stumbled on your tumblr by some stroke of fate??? read your DC fanfic first. which is PHENOMENAL btw. then found all the batmemes; the funniest thing EVER bc everyone forgets about regular old gothamites. kept scrolling and your blog pops up as recommended. clicked on the ao3 for shits and giggles and waddaya know?!?!? it's YOU!!! you're LEGEND!!!! ever seen that meme? it's a video of a cat that got into a baseball field and the two announcers get really invested in his escape attempt and start giving a play by play of the cat instead of the game. memeable moment: "GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!"

i seriously think about this ask every single day and it's so fucking funny to me that i've never seen the meme you're referencing, but i still find myself going 'GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!' whenever i see something funny. but wow i'm glad you liked this steaming pile of garbage

Fav dc character overall? And fav batfamily character?

don't ask me to pick between the loves of my life, but i can tell you i've cried about every single batfamily member and also wally west (my beloved)

What's your opinion on fans having a problem with batfam being "too big"? And some even claim that batfam is just "Bruce Alfred Dick Damian" and the rest of them are just "friends and allies" (source: reddit) Personally, I like batfam because of this reason but idk

stupid. a family can never be too big. i'm not that big a fan of like huge batfam stuff with everybody from every single universe, because as much as it's funny for bruce to have like 30 kids, it just feels a little too OOC for me.

This is the best tag I've seen involving the batfam, thanks for thinking of it

This is canon now @nctxrejects

lmao yeah i think at that point alfred has had to sit through like at least a dozen coming out talks and just has a pride flag collection in the attic that he pulls out whenever a kid comes out

idk why batfam hits different as compared to any other superhero family

bc it's found family and usually the other superhero families are almost all genetically related in one way or another

I don't know if you watch the umbrella academy but I saw your last post about batcest and saw the similarities. But the thing is (although I think it's weird) in TUA, they addressed it by saying "they were raised as weapons, not siblings" or something along those lines, which is simply not the case with batfam.

yeah i watched tua but i also thought it was ridiculous and they still treated each other as siblings so i didn't like the luthor/allison thing, and am glad they stopped doing that shit bc it fucking sucked.

Hot take: Batcest shippers are the same people who believe adopted siblings are not actual siblings

smoking hot take: batcest shippers are the people who watch 'my sister got stuck in the washing machine' porn

Duke was adopted by Bruce?

not technically no, but do i, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb, look like i care?

True story but I had to change my freaking name because it used to be "Damien" and most people would go "OH LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE" like please I'm just tryna live

true story, but i don't actually think of damian when i hear the name damian, literally the first thing that pops up is damian darkh like bruh what?

apparently dc comics company supported comic stores by giving out new titles and stuff during the beginning of the pandemic to help them run and I just think that's wholesome

ah yeah that's so fucking cool, still don't like dc, the company, because this world is a capitalist hellhole and we're all owned by warner brothers or disney with no in between.

ayo looking at tumblr head canons and finding out bruce is actually a terrible father is a punch in the gut

lmao yes, in like 50% of comics bruce is a terrible father and it gives me whiplash

oooh I just saw the jason todd vs winter soldier post and the real question is: batman vs iron man

while iron man has like hundreds of cases of armor, batman could throw out an emp and have the guy dropping out of the sky in 2 seconds.

dickfast = fastdick = quickdick = quickie

magnum hot take

hey bata(?) just thought I'd let you know I have copied the obnoxious emoji and Billy Ray post for use on simping men going forth

thank you 😘🌷 (@spacebarsidecar)

why would you do that to your followers???? i get why i did it, but why would you???

what is scarecrow made the nightwing funko pop himself, like those diy-ers that paint over other ones

oh god no, horrible take, horrible take, that's a disgusting thought oh no

I see your HC that Bruce and Oliver fucked and raise you this: Dick and Roy ALSO fucked

yes they did and it was a horrible moment for jason to find out dick has fucked both of his best friends

"at this rate bruce adds like 1 child to his family every decade or so" Duke is introduced in 2013, Damian as Damian, not as an unnamed child, in 2006. And he is already 14 years old, Robins rarely remain Robins after 16 😬 It looks like a new Robin and Batkid will appear in a couple of years

i mean i can't wait? but somebody will probably die first tho, we're due for another major character death. my money's on either cass or duke this time.

BRO you're so right all of your Bruce's ex headcanons are amazing but they aren't ships, that's kinda wild. Like I don't want any peeks into how their relationship was I just want to see everyone make fun of them

lmao YES it's just i love bruce being a slut, like good for him.

I am in love with your posts your honour thank you

omg thanks are we like,, gonna kiss now?

The justice league needs to have a meeting to discuss how many of their members/partners have slept with bruce. Because through a combination of cannon & fannon (if DC wasn’t homophobic) we have AT LEAST: 1) clark 2) lois 3) oliver 4) dinah 5) john

Thats not counting villains or random civilians @dudelookitsalesbian

yes yes yes, they'll have a yearly meeting about how many of their collective exes could be out for revenge and batman's list just keeps getting longer.

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

and what about it?

when steph's fighting livewire and she zaps her with lighting and nothing happens and then they both just. stand there awkwardly for a second and talk. yeah i couldn't stop laughing at that batgirl steph is the BEST

oh yeah that was fucking hilarious and i think it would be so cool and sexy of dc to give steph a little comic series,,, as a treat

Hi I absolutely adore all of yours "Bruce and Oliver very badly pretending they didn't fuck each other" memes

lmao i do too

I need you to know that “Bruce Wayne had frosted tips” is one of my favorite Bruce takes of all time it’s so galaxy brained. you’re right and you should say it

he also painted his hair blonde once when he was travelling and in conclusion, this is why he's being blackmailed by the gotham gazette.

you know my thing about gordon being branded as the only good cop in gotham is its a load of shit like arguably he's a good person and not working to screw people over or anything but the fact that he also works w. batman makes him a shit cop. like yea batman is better than the mob but its still illegal its still an abuse of power he just not making bank

babe, all cops are bad cops. (but yeah youre absolutely right, working with vigilantes makes you a shit cop, but also working against vigilantes just makes you an asshole cop yanno?)

ruh roh i think i’m about to add “so not yeehaw” every time i don’t like something

that's a very good vocabulary upgrade

somehow i feel like steph already knew. like babs obviously knew but i feel like bruce got high/drunk in front of steph and started telling his boarding school stories and steph was just like “oh you fucked up i’m never gonna forget this”

steph and bruce have weird uncle/rebellious niece dynamic and they just hang out sometimes and bruce will be like 'i once broke my arm when i tripped over a hedge when i was drunk so oliver drove me to the hospital on an electric scooter' and steph will just have to sit there with that knowledge in her head.

Hello I just wanted to tell you you are So right in all your steph opinions bc she is, in fact amazing and I think that's very sexy of you. Ps. Your Bruce/Oliver fic is hilarious

babe, thank you so much and yes steph is amazing and i love her and she deserves the world and she's the best member of the batfam hands down. also thanks

In Supersons we see a couple of kids that are implied to be Damian and Jon's children and the boy has laser eyes and can fly, so I asume he's not adopted. The girl, who calls Bruce grandpa, can also fly, btw. So it's canon (probably by accident) that Jon can have kids and he must have married one of Bruce's kids. (I'm hoping for Damian, mostly because any other of his children would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too old.) @artemisa97

lmao that was probably an accident seeing as jon is a 17 year old superhero in the year 3000 (by the jonas brothers)

You know, I'm a die hard fan of your memes, but I gotta say one thing: if Gothamites actually took gas mask everywhere with them, then the Scarecrow would just be a weird dude in a weird costume, and not a villain oh so scary. DC really should just takes notes from you.

bold of you to assume there's no gothamite anti-maskers

How does it feel being the funniest person on this app?

horrible, next question.

I can't listen to Green Day or Billy Joel without thinking of your post about how Bruce got arrested at a Billy Joel concert @nightwings-kid

yeah that's your mistake, i on the other hand can't enjoy billy joel without thinking about the glee rendition of 'uptown girl'

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

superman: so what do you do in your free time? batman, thinking about the superman fanfiction he's writing on the batcomputer: i have no free time

bruce and oliver be like boyfriends to co-workers 401k (do the justice leagues get 401ks??? not that bruce and ollie would need them, but-)

lmao yes just 400 thousand words of bruce realising 'oh dip oliver is such a fucking dumbass' (also i don't know what a 401 k is but i assume they don't?)

Gothamites would totally boo superman as he saves Gotham while batman is out. @meenje

he's like 'okay think about that next time you want to be saved from an alien octopus'

I just took long break from dc comics and I come back to see ric grayson ??

i think it's very cool and sexy of dc to see dick and just think 'you know what? let's just give him a traumatic brain injury' and then didn't develop his character in any real way

SPEAKING OF RIC GRAYSON, gothamites making confused memes out of ric grayson is much needed

'dick grayson is my taxi driver? can anyone explain what the fuck happened he looks like an italian plumber?'

i hate to say it but batfam are def "marvel characters" in that sense they are characters who are human but become superheroes unlike most dc characters who are gods trying to be human maybe this is why I like batfam

fair enough

[wangxianficrecs]

Fic Finder

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1.  Hi, I'm looking for an Untamed fic, maybe you'll be able to help. It's a canon divergence AU in which WWX doesn't lose his core, Jiang Fengmian lives and it's implied that his core was transferred to JC (heavily implied; JFM retires as the Sect Leader after that). This is absolutely not the most important part of this fic but it's a paragraph that I've got stuck in my head and now I'm searching for the rest @_@ Thanks in advance! ~ @otemporaetmores

FOUND! by @notsobabblespace, who was reminded of  I’m aching and I know you are too by edenwolfie (part 3 in series, M, 23k, wangxian)

FOUND!  by @jim-is-spocks-thyla, who suggests ❤️ to arrive late is better than not to arrive at all by Moominmammashandbag (M, 35k, wangxian) [ETA:  Oops, not this one.  JFM has no core, but he didn’t give it to JC]

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2.  Hi Mojo! I’m in need of you/your followers help in finding a fic that I read a little while ago. It was a fic where Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi lived together in Cloud Recesses and their children were Sizhui and an OOC that was younger than him. I remember SiZhui faced a lot of criticism for not being the chief cultivator’s real child? And they were happy he had a younger sibling that would be sect leader in the future because he was blood. Come to think of it, this is probably an ABO fic too. Thanks for your time 💜

FOUND! @andidontmeanto believes this is Blue Blood by PotterheadAvengerDemigod (T, 91k, wangxian, my post)

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3.  Aksks it's like 3 am but I just remembered a fic and I can't find it?? I'd really, really appreciate your help. It was a wangxian fic, maybe a oneshot idk, and lwj was kind of a nerd and wwx a badboy? So basically lwj has a massive crush on him and dresses up like wwx etc. (i think he even got an undercut) and after a party they sleep with each other at lwj's place?

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4.  i’m looking for a fic set in the where lwj’s mother killed his father? i don’t think that was a main plot point but it did show up in his backstory - any idea what this might be? ~ @thehype

FOUND!  @rentslirott thinks this could be ❤️the best of you by sysrae (E, 42k, wangxian, my post)

FOUND!  @castaways-logbook offers  The Right to Care by travelingneuritis (E, 39k, wangxian, WIP)

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5.  ... same as #6 ...

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6.  Hello friend, sorry for the inconvenience but I wanted to see if you could please find me a fic that I lost but I only remember more or less the final part, it goes more or less like this, lan zhan and wei ying are kidnapped by jin guangyao and lock them up if not I'm wrong in some cells next to lan xichen after the fights jin guangyao dies but lan xichen did know how bad jin guangyao had done and he didn't care and then to get revenge he wants to kill wei ying but lan zhan kills him and sizhui gets scared It was more or less like that, please help me ~ @isa0123lol

FOUND!  by @wangxiansfics who says that tragically it’s no longer available, but @dulachodladh found it on WaybackMachine here: Thread and Needle by haysel (M, 86k, wangxian)

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7.  Hi, Mojo! I'm glad that you're back but I hope you enjoyed your time off tumblr! Can you and/or your followers help me find a fic? I think the summary was talking about wwx and somehow they were asking mingjue for help since he's the only one who can help. The summary was in italics and it's a dialogue from some guy? And a shorter summary below. Sadly this is the only thing I can remember but I hope you can still help me

FOUND!  @alwayswenning suggests love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, wangxian, has it’s own fanfic here, I just finished this last night!, my bookmark)

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8.  Sorry to bombard you as soon as you're back, but this one's driving me crazy--a modern AU where they met online. WWX thinks LWJ is an old man from how he talks. I don't remember much except the excerpt made it seem like he still was amused by/enjoyed talking to him, and Wen Qing was telling him it was a bad idea and to stop. It's not How to Fall In Love With a Catfish, tho that one is brilliant! (Also any top notch identity porn would be great) Hope your break was restful, you deserve it! Thanks

Here’s my #identity porn tag, but I’m not sure about this exact story.

I'm the anon for #8 on the fic finder. Though I'm excited to read it, the suggested fic isn't the one I was looking for. I swear I thought I saw it on here around a month ago or slightly more, but searches have failed me.

FOUND!  Rating: General Audiences by Mishaa (T, 18k, wangxian WIP) -  mysterious author LWJ (speculated to be an old man because of his formality) and infamous artist WWX paired up for an Untamed Big Bang (in an AU where JGY was the series’ antiheroic protagonist; this fic was written before the release of CQL.)

FOUND?  could you be looking for  Something Real by Latios (G, 5k, wangxian, my post) - wwx thinks lwj is an old man, but there’s no WQ.  There are many pictures of bunnies.

SIMILAR! @emilysidhe thought of ID Bro Saga by Bowandtie (T, 39k, wangxian)

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9.  Hey, how are you? Could you help me please? I've read 3 fanfics once, but I can't find them anymore. 1 - Nanny Problem, Wei is going to be the babysitter of A-Yuan, he is an omega and Lan is an alpha. 2 - Doctor Perfect, Yibo is an omega nurse and Xiao is an alpha doctor. 3 - The Baby of my Omega, Yibo is omega and Xiao is alpha, both of them are bodyguards, but Yibo has to protect Xiao in the beginning. I think they were at ao3, but I really can't find them. Can you help me please? Thank you!! ~ @weallmad

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10.  Hi! Im happy you’re back. I hope you had a good break. I missed your recommendations, but at the same time i got a break from fics and actually studied to my tests haha.  [Ah!  I’m glad to hear your time was spent productively!]  I’m looking for a fic like Linger in the Sun by etymologyplayground. In the fic im looking for wangxian slowly lose their senses instead of all of them at once. Like they lose their hearing, then touch, sight etc, They can’t see each other or hear each other. I’m sorry i can’t explain very well.

FOUND?  Could you be thinking of  ❤️shadows in the sun rise by Yuu_chi (E, 25k, wangxian)?  Only lwj losese his senses one by one in this one, though.

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11.  heyyy im trying to find this fic where wwx died the first time he was thrown in to the burial mounds then 10 years later he gets resurrected or something. I can't find it on AO3 and it's been bugging me for days. Thank you!

FOUND!  Well, @moku-youbi offers both of these as possibilities:

Did I Not Explain Why the Sunset Turns Red? by 3988Akasha (E, 100k, wangxian)

we're starting at the end by Miss_Enthusiasimal (M, 95k, wangxian)

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12.  Hi I am looking for a fic where wwx is a witch (/mage?) in a world where magic is being persecuted (especially in Gusu) except for Yunmeng/Lanling I think but they're still frowned upon nonetheless. Then after accidentally hurting Shijie, wwx runs away, and ends up hiding in Gusu pretending to be a servant to lwj (lwj is a prince, lxc is the emperor) but lwj actually knows of his identity and tries not-so-discreetly to protect him from being caught. Thanks!

FOUND! by @bibliobasilisk who gives us Witchfinder by misbehavingvigilante (E, 86k, wangxian)

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13.  Hi! Firstly, I'm glad to see you're back, and I hope your break was a good one! I'm trying to find a LWJ/WWX story that I had planned to read and ending up losing before I could. It was set in the immediate aftermath of the 33 lashes, LWJ is in the Jingshi recovering when a healer(?) discovers he's pregnant (by WWX). It may have been a/b/o verse, but I'm not 100% on that. Part of the story was a flashback to when WWX was still alive. Thank you!

FOUND!  by nonny themself.  It’s Unexpected Surprise by Glucose_Gremlin (E, 4k, wangxian)

SIMILAR! @mondelgel suggests my heart is kept as pure as ice in a jade vase/一片冰心在玉壶 by Daledesu (M, 21k, wangxian, WIP)

SIMILAR! from @impending-cuttlefish:  something new, something white, something blue by ariskamalt (E, 140k, wangxian, WIP)

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14.  I'm trying to find this one fic where Jin Ling finds this diary that Wei Ying wrote as the Yiling Patriarch that basically reveals everything, including the golden core reveal and it even has training tips that helps Jon Ling improve. When Wei Ying comes back, he tries everything to keep him there because he is THE best uncle now. I need to find it because it is a N E E D.

FOUND? by @theladypeartree who says, “The Truth (Untold) is jl reading jyl's journals, not wwx's though. And mordant is jl returning wwx's journals that he found, not grew up with. Neither fit #14 properly, but I seriously could not find anything closer after two solid days of searching. Good luck!“

The Truth (Untold) by anxiouswreck0_0 (g, 3k, wangxian, jin ling & wei wuxian)

or this one on ffn:

mordant by tennisnotensai (M, 18k, wangxian, here’s the link for mobile)

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15.  I have heard tell of a Sizhui/Jingyi fic where the boys end up going to Wangxian for advice about how to be intimate. Can you help me find it?

FOUND!  @manaika-chan says this one is On Advisement by LaMachina17 (M, 19k, wangxian, zhuiling, chengyi)

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16.  nm

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17.  Hi! Sorry, do you happen to know that nsfw fic where wwx is still studying in the cloud recesses and he’s reading a novel (im not sure if it was from nhs) that features a cultivator couple and there’s a scene in the book where the woman was pegging her husband? Basically wwx got curious about this and tried fingering himself. I remember he was hiding in the back mountains and then lwj eventually caught him

FOUND?  Could you be thinking of  Deep in the Woods by malkinmalkout (E, 5k, wangxian, my post)?

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18.  Ahhh I'm going crazy trying to think of a fic that I've read where Lan Zhan killed Wen Chao in a locker room and nie huaisang stood guard outside the door! Then lan zhan went to lan huan and said I killed someone and he said did they deserve it? Then it's fine. And I can't remember the name of the fic! Have you heard of it? ~ @uchihaautumn

FOUND! @artemisisdiana offers So Full Of Love (Wouldn't Know Where to Start) by witchupbitch (M, 54k, wangxian, WIP)

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19.  Hi, I was wondering if you could help me find a fic. I read it a while ago and I don't really remember all the details but it was a modern au where Lan Wangji was a police officer in this small town and Wei Wuxian comes back after years, having left the town due to some stuff. Thank you in advance.

Btw love your blog. I live for your fic recs.  [Thank you!]

FOUND?  Could you be looking for medium blues by dark_and_terrible (E,193k,  wangxian)?  It appears to be taken down atm, but it might come back (it’s done it before).

FOUND! by @grannyweatherwaxshat who offers When a Bird Flies, It Leaves Feathers by Bem_Kofi (not rated, 75k, wangxian)

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20.  Hi mojo!! First of all I luv your blog Thank you so much for all those ficrecs.  [You’re welcome!]  Actually I’m looking for a fic I read months ago. I probably found the fic from your blog. But I can’t seem to find it now 😢 it was a modern au wangxian fic (inspired by call me by ur name?) wwx was like 5 years older than lwj. (And lwj was like 16?) Wwx lives in another city but he spent around a year in cloud recesses with lwj in the past. And wwx yanli and jc visits cloud recesses again and wangxian gets 2gether

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[My ko-fi.]